Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1870-01-29

same epistle, abiding to the writings Of st.
Paul, he says that they contain some things
that are unleatned and unstable wrest, A. they
do the other Scriptures, unto their own de-
struotion," what's the meAning OF this deela.
ration, II not that the sacred volume was not
allowed to DO Interpreted by individuals IN
opposition to the teaching Of Chri.ps duly
appointed mlnistersl But, TO put this argu.
cot more foFcihly, let II be observed that the
preaching and ministry OF the Uhtistian
church were In full operation long before
any portion Of the New Testament was writ
pear until eight years after our Lords Asoen.
sion Into heaven, and that Of st. John, with
the Book Of Revelations, was not published
Church, therefore, as constituted by Christ,
was fully organized, consisting Of apostles
aud other teachers, and Of faithful subject and
SSsd,SH 70 ma osw. hs rom XII es
the New Testament was pfoduoed by the
Church, and not the Church BY the New Tes.
lament. This New Testament, which Is
divine saviour and his apostles, was born Of
volume, and hence she Is the only suthoTita.
tive and nnAl Judge Aa to the meaning Of ita
declarations. ThSt volume Ia but a Written
expression Of what she believed and taught
before It was published, and hence she 10
the ultimate tfibupal for detormininE the
aense 10 which n 10 to be accepted, The
scripture is her property u I. her viii and
height OF rAahneaa and PRIDE" A. St. Auguatin
remarks, TON, viii, De utl, cred. to explain
II In opposition to her belief. ! ask, % not
Take the written Constitution Of the United
States, or any other civil Government, IL Any
Individual allowed TO interpret u according to
ADD CON sonpsiiod 10 accept the traditional sense
OF that instrument Why sol Because the
Constitution OF the nation y not the play.
,hn boorIs \, ,hsi, sSSrssst. ~ y ,ttopsi * A.,
Acter. 1t existed In the minds Of Its trainers
and Of the people before II became the funda-
mental law OF the state, and hence the only
permissible and recognized mode Of ascertain,
Ing Its meaning, 10 Through the decisions Of
the national tribunals which have been regu.
larry constituted as the Interpreters Of the
rule required for the explanation Of the aaored
volumel Hence tho admirable remark Of Ter
tullian, in alludlng 20 those who, not In com.
munion with the Catholic Church, quoted
scripture In defence Of their errors "rhere
must be no appeal to the Scriptures, nor must
the contest be oonahtuted IN these, In which
even though the debate on the Scriptures
party, the order Of things required that fhii
SSS'tSS u. U sSTTa &c &c HSOS
belongs the very faith; whose are the Scrip.
lures by whom, and through whom, and
whereby men bseonis ohriStisnsr FoI, where.
ever both tile true Christian rule and faith
shall DO shown to be, there will be the true
tTuo USFstIsR AMI traditioSsn IL Pt@.orip H III
So much for the necessity OF an authority
as guide to the meaning Of the Scripture.
the same truth viii force itssIf stiii more pow.
sriully upon the mind, When We ask our
selves Whist 10 the teaching Of the Inspired
the question IL, what was the true meaning OF
the sacred text, or how was II UNDERWOOD,
when u nrlt appeared among CHRISTIANS Now,
mi s sTlSsne sSn os isI H.. isS
years ago, aud hence the only possible means
OF aseertAiniug II with certainty, IA special
.syslSslSn sSssPtSa IsD@ The ,s;,inOn Of
i have Si;sAdy PROVED hat tSs i sss,r
one Of the Seets outsids Of ostholIeityi Oa6
any one Of them be named that can trace itl
! existence up to the time Of the original reVe-
] lAtiont Dan we not point out the time when
each one OF them arose. hundreds aud hun-
! dreds Of years subsequently, to the inAugura'
! tion Of the Christian systemi No one Of thsss
he ease v There x bat one living Wines Il
/ the world that can danantly assert itu qualin
cation to sottlo this momehtors question. II
10 that body or society which, exi,thg At q.
| faith and eonGoiousneas, with the moment
| when Peter nrat proclaimed the Gospel on tho
day Of Penteeost This witness 10 the Catholic
Church, which mounting up As living body
| to tho very age Of the apostles, can say with
! them That which we have seen aod heard
declare we unto you IJohn, ! EPiSsls =
| rs an Organization invested with any super
natural attributes, but merely Aa 40 histoTieA
| wltnessi and In this sense alone, even humAnlj
! speaking, the testimony Of the Church 10 thu
only tFuatwOrthy source of knowledge Ia re
| gard to the meanlng Of the Scripture. Hence
did Frederick Shlegel one Of the greatest phil
oaophera and historians Of our age, in explain
ing the grounds Of his submission to the Oath
| ollie Church, declare that he found the teati
mony Of that Church to be the greatest histor
zeal authority on earth for the events OF thu
past. How could 1t be otherwisSt Is 1t no
abe, IN fact, that has transmitted the Scrip
lures themselves from the beginning, through
ages Of persecution and barbarian, and despIt,
the assaults OF error and inndelity, down tC
our own timest DO we not know that indie
pendently Of her testimony, we would be alto
New restsment, was !, ri f rom her h.a s'
that the RefoTmera Of the sixteenth century
received the Biblei Were they not all CAtho
forming the Church Of Christ, and was It mo-
upon her testimony that they accepted TIT
! gospel as the inspired word Of 0odi But, 1
tSs, the NsS T Tss,SSeSt Sss SIlttep ~ ' iS.
Gpired men, should It not have been equally
convincing In regard 10 the other fact, that hel
ChristiAnity, in aceordAnee with Its deelAIA
| tlonBl There ID no refuting this argument; fol
II places all opponenta Of the Church, who in.
t ,eLpTet ths New Testament sTains' her, Be,
!
IL impossible to eXtTioAte themselves. TheJ
must either deny the New Testament, or theJ
must accept the Catholic exposition OF 4. Bul
! the Church 10 not only an Historical witness
possessing all the qualities that should com
mand assent she 70 also = divine witness,
preach the gospel TO all nations, He promised
TO be with them all days, even to the end OF
the world. Matthew, xviii, 1870. They
ssmatia' and 10 ne Ss.sraost psrt ~ he
earth. lAets, rs Their testimony, therefore
was not only 20 continue through all time b.
the teaching OF their successors, but II wal
also TO os perpetuAily upheld and guarded
against error BY His speei al assistance. Hence
the Church, both 10 human and supsrnatura
| point OF view, IL the highest and the only pos
hible authority that can testify with oertAlntJ
as TO the origin, the canon, the Inspiration
and the sense Of the Holy Scripture:
l now come 10 the application Of these re-
mNrks to the particular Hubjest under discus
sion. when Protestant quotes the New TeA
lament against the Catholic belief on tn,
" you ask hlmi "HoW can you show that you
Wow IL the true sense ofSorlpturet" the onlJ
answer that he eau give 10, that such 10 hi
only light IL his own falli6ls judEmont, AMI
consequently, the Scripture for hin IL nc
Scripture, and as weapon Ia his hAudS gains
very different thing with the Catholic. II,
appeals with confidence and with certainty Il
the inspired volume in favor OF his belief be
ne IVA. ne s,S ShoTs h V which p
menti having fixed the canon Of the SaereI
books having transmitted them In their pu
rity and Integrity from the beginning to IN,
present time-is the only reliable witness Al
to their meaning and, therefore, when h
quotes Scripture according to her view, he 4
supported by the testimony OF the Christian
world, from the very age OF the apostles, AM
his appeal to the Scripture 10 Invested with al
the evidence that can establish the certainty
OF any past event. Fer this reason did 81
| Augustin, In the fourth century, declare tina
he would not believe In the gospel, II the Au
thoFity Of the Catholic Church did not NOV
him to do so, tom. viii, Oontr Ep, Man.
And this 10 the language OF all Catholics
Take away the authority OF the Church, AM
we must discard the Scriptures Themselves
Hence did Jean Jacques Rousseau, tho philoso
pher OF Geneva, tell the OAlvinlstie divine
who wished TO palm upon him their peoullA
| yiewa Of Christianity; "Show me thAtI ough
to subject my reason to any authority, and
| will be Catholic tomorrow" lie hiniEiF1
Protect dur Witet, &c, quoted by Perone
Project. dc Script Rousseau here uttered
sound prineiple, because there 10 no logieA
medium between tAtionaliam or deiSm, Ant
! the authority Of the Church. Reject this Au'
! thoTity, and you have no certain means o
! AsceFtaining the great fact OF \ Christian rev,
| citation, This fact, rs well 40 the Authenticity
canon, Inspiration, and true sense OF Scrip
tuFe, are all events Of the past they cannot b
learned by reason or private Judgment, bu
only from competent testimony, and thu
Church IL the only witness that can enlIshteI