, 1881-08-13

nnIo,int If chanE9 n lilo hackgrolInh II . ptct
!lre car 1nakn wfltnhinck or tlack white. though
brn destroyed tho inrnt,,.y and t,aInleu Of tho
proved,
'rhn SECOND lecture treats OF "Clrtstian
Interpretation aini Jewish Tradition" III
this chapter Prof. Smith seeks 10 correct our
EnElis, version nf Tic Oil Testament (lBin
Will Tito orlEnnl nutoRrap!!a II tho sacred
G"tii Frotcxtanis ai'tI Gatiioics I aiislt!st t',e
antl,o'ityof tlle Scriptures, but wero tflvslctl
on tho question Of 1t. true meaning. ."1'lie
orthMf0x found In the l}fble tho Ortlotlux
tGste sfq w e pee;r t5 w 1ows sTsef fYH st Il s i
there were l,nt fuw lfubrew aclloIars, ulltl
~ t'e;%'ns1ais HIN, orq "psdst ,H" te
attl current among the Jcws f,t Alexanatiaa II
co,,slEural,!s tn,e bcto?rc tho Christian ern.
anil ,wltcl, ".sprrati contnnlporaI,eoasl
wt!i i!e preacn9 # The G5osoI, thr1oug
ltnderstpnl." About A. d. 4U ,turotne. q fte-
brew scholar formed q new traltsla latl0n direct
from llie i!ebrGw wiIicli ea1lo 70 !a aeceptgt!
1scaSo r. t 1 . sqfs "f o u GIe e aseate a .s mo n
VMirntu rGparet1 tho nd Vulgalc. the tsruett
Scpttngint translation made b., the .tews III
Egypt belare the time Of Chrlst." After the
i!sforntio tE Church of lsomo adopted
j. Tlu supreme r'!le Of faith and life is
cotltained Iii tho written bouks md Tho I'M
wrilten tra;t[tfnns Of Christ ntl Ills Apostles,
ctv,, denntsd t. " tc l"y sGrt q n H. h2s
lle Church.
IL. THO cnnonicn1 l,ooks are those books
III all thcir paris which are rea! III the Cath
euta version, the authenticity Of which Is nc.
III tho Catholic Church.
iii. ,ri!o lgirepretntion of Scripture must
be conforn,ed TO tho tencts OF Holy Mother
Church nnd tile unanimous CONSENT OF tlio
.Y'llu Refornlcrs traverscd each OF these po-
sttlons, denying the. validity OF iltiwrltten
oriEinai fireck text aver tke V9I9ate, ND
tlon of ta Bblc sws tat wS, not ai BE- soi,n Il
applied. to another, book. Prof. Smith
sti all books rs apecryphai wllcIi lie @ dii aot
translate directly from the Hebrew; but tic
counci! Of Trent accepted them all Us canon-
tcnl Tlien rs to tue true lnterpretattoll 0f
fsa learned ilebfew, ,a1rd 1 ,tlsir 'tra''siatioss
differed from JeroliN's. Tiny were ,lepelld-
elt upon the Jews for their VERSIONS. But
they tlltl not adopt 4 us principle Of faith
sip u @ aoye s oi,wrs, % and III Is 1; researe V Was
carried further 1t gradually bccane plain
TINT 1t was posslblo for l3iblicNl students, with
the material still preserved tU them. tn get
translnors wore sit! dependent. md 10 draw
from tho ,sacred strean NJ q noiGt nenrer
Its source" Now Itcbrow, tho language II.
which th9 Oh Testament Was written, was
The oral iIistrGcti0'l' oi tfe teacher, rand BY
dint uf sheer memory" But memory. Is
fallibte, md. Gwen 1t tho wflole Of tho Bible
Ind bcuM taught word by word. It wouls!
tho lessons perfectly anl without writing
through long generations. There were,
moreover, grnve arrors III this "traditionnl
teaching Of TIC Jews":
1t WIS not complete; that Is, thero never wna
nm authoritative Interpretation Of tho wholc
lSfblo. It WIS not oontinuulls that Is. III any III,
terpretattons, which at s0no ttnlU had Honernl
a1d io nuthor were tFnents; rt;, ct the
Hebrew became t9ad IanEsaRo much
Us fsp rss .hs nS'
rereIyed by orgmn Tradition but devised by tho
"hhG; 9t # 'NF 9% VI. hs sat Aaa aa
is tho interpretation and avnn tho rca'lhR Of i'll
tivlduhl texts was often 4 subject of oontrovcr.
ttluGa lind different interpretations In tho
eenannt The iilblu WIS copied By sho @ scrioes
Tie third chapter IL devoted to the escrlbes
who were not scholars. mot preachers, bla!
ms,lawyors.n who. III thEir Misrepresentation ol
the rentatenGli, were glftte! by legal l74thci
| klA4 Wy PN%lNAE4AltA RAtN%tpiGos
itself, blf in tho practlcai systcnl Iasssl upon It
~. They nude additions frnm paraltol pas.
afterwards rot l,tu tic text; artl whan copying
from y blntted page they sVmetamos had te
! Etless ut word.
Il was to preserve aNd tralls,nit tlle text d
the Dlblu WGre called tho - 'MnSsOretS," mud
ieast 500 ye,lrs aftcr Christ Moreover. tss
SGrlbcs cltosc tor, us the llebrt'w text whlcl
copies, Including TUG Greek version. Dnt
this Inter version still exists, md by 1t wt
nre cnnhletl to correct tho errors Of the Hc
,rlio fourth lecture. Is deyototl to the Sep
tuagint." Its variations from the Alnssoretit
text nro vlndicated Or explained. Tile author
draws two conclusions: 80
. ETi t 1ay ~ @ Sarpss ssaet sssngf Ege enGs e.
nd. farthor. th,.t Tic ra,,To anl dIstrgutian oi
nsst iss hit iii books 'o Of to IL I'D Testament h. @
mt iii eGual place In tho official service of tht
Syn1lsog
rho variations III the Greek ind Hebrew
texts aru held to prove
thrpngh successive redaoiions.-9r IN o.hol
words, boen edited a ata rttte q M !n different .xes
ata ate %a' aS ~sfk sa esssy wsst s4
il tho presout iiabrow tuxt wl,!oI dll not oxIa1
b tho aiss. ot tho ureuk transint1rs. !.
eapsa o5 P bo @ pe1
with rcgard to tho meaniug rather than TIT
exr,nplcs and quotations. Tho closing ser
tcnco OF the fifth lecllre Is not likely to le
s0Uh forgotten:
Throughout tho history Of the Church + has q!
tls niou. paope OF God has been. triiur, and ha.
lol tho Church III sater pntl, tliAn tho pubis'