Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-01-29
RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY.

The Bishop Thinks Mr.Thomas' Present
Rule of Faith a Great Advance Towards
Treaty of Peace.
To the Editor of the Globe:
regret that 1 have not been able to re-
ply at an earlier date to the late discourse
of Rev. Mr.. Thomas on the 'Apocrypha."
It is remarkable discourse, and forms a
new era in our religious discussions. 1t
gives us what heretofore 1 have vainly
asked from Mr.. Thomas and other Protest
ant ministers of St Paula rule for the ad-
mission of books into the canon of script
ure. "But finally" says Mr.. Thomas, 1--WE
come to what the bishop, by oft repetition,
evidently considers his crucial question:
we can fairly ask Mr.. Thomas what is his
rule for the admission of books into the
canon Yes, finally" 1t has taken, in
deed, long time to compel an enswer.
But I now forgive the delay, and congratu-
late Mr.. Thomas upon the fact that he is
the only one among all Protestant minis
ters in st. Paul who has so far had the
courage to enunciate publicly his ''ruIe for
the admission of books into the canon of
scripture"
Before giving further attention to Mr..
Thomas ''ru)e" 1 will be permitted to re-
view his remarks made in the same dis
course, having reference to our controversy
on the Latin Vulgate.
THE COUNCIL OF Trent AND THE WORD eau
THENTIC.''
My assertion that ''the Vulgate may be
revised in minor matters of no substantial
Importance" Mr.. Thomas tells Us Was a
great surprise to him. No doubt it was, as
it turned the ingenious argument which he
had hopefully built up for the destruction
of the Catholic church into ga castle in
the air." can only beg Of him for the
sake of his arguments in the future,
to study we'll the doctrine of the church
before assailing it. He dislikes to be van
better intelligence of the words of the
Tridentine decree than Catholic theolog-
ians and numerous most noted Protestant
scholars. I must permit him to adhere to
his own intelligence of those words. 1t
should suffice, however, for him to misrep-
resent the Council of Trent, without deal
ing, also, foul blow at Roman iurispru-
dence. "The Latin word Guthenticuna," he
says sis one of the strongest and most I'M
wavering of Roman jurisprudence. An ou-
A6oeaf focf<,a Qn%h fJO
testament or will, was elrher the
original will, or one that
conformed to the original in every particu-
lar" The clause SIN every particular" is
Mr.. Thomas jurisprudence, not Roman
jurisprudence. Jurists define authenticuna
as id Quod certain tidenl facit, that which
affords sure belief, and they never extend
ed the requirements of this sure belief
beyond the matter in hand, for the proof
of which the instrument was produced. An
authentic will, if copy, or yet more, if a
translation of the original, was deemed
authentic if it told exactly all that was
needed to be known for the proper DISPOSE
ton of the inheritance. It never mattered
whether in the translation from the Ian
guage of the original punctuation was
luOI0 VI 10SS SIdD1Ll1CCLCd13 uLllA pOIbc
particles or words were added or elimi-
mated, terms were employed expressing
shades of meaning with greater or lesser
nicely than the original ones possessed, if
they we're Greek, for practiced Attic ear,
if Latin, for scholar of the Augustan
court. In Mr.. Thomas apprehension OF
"authenticuna," no translation would ever
be authentic. Given document, say in
Hebrew, Arabic or Chaldaic, and six schol-
Misunderstanding those languages equally
we'll with Mr.. Thomas, set to work to
render it into English-no one
copy will agree with another
Sin every particular" Which one, if any,
would be the authentic translation?
It is all to no purpose for Mr.. Thomas to
ask why the Council did not so explain its
meaning of the word ''authenticun,," as to
prevent him from attributing to it another
meaning. The Fathers of the Council, IN
fortunately, did not anticipate his peculiar
bias of mind. They employed the word in
its general acceptation. They went even
farther, stating the specific objects for
which the Vulgate was to be deemed au-
thentic-''public lectures, disputations.
sermons, and expositions. * x * X
H1dGIoIo VI 1dl1u3 ono VI 1uO4o1o,
ing to the edifcation of the Christian doc
trine,'' for all which things substantial &C
curacy in the Vulgate sufices. The Council
is clear for general 'Christian scholar
ship" and claim nothing more for it.
Providence works miracles as far as
necessary for his designs, and no farther.
He preserves through ages, as his church
teaches us, the written word in all matters
of moment: minor things connected with
it, affecting in no way the substance, he
leaves to the disputations of men.
Mr.. Thomas must make out one substan-
tial error in the vulgate-thousands of
minor ones are to no purpose-if he
would prove his thesis ''That the Council
of Trent erred in pronouncing the Vulgate
authentic"
DEUTERo- CANoNIOAL BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE
Mr.. Thomas second thesis was "That the
Council of Trent erred in pronouncing
SACRED and Canonical the Apocrypha'
what Catholics call the Deutero- Canonical
books of the Old Testament. Mr.. Thomas
apprehends in this instance most correctly
the words of the council according to which
books contained in the Vulgate, conse-
quently those usually called Deutero-C
nonical, as we'll as others, are all
of equal authority, all equally to
be held as sacred and canonical. But
he has his own views about the meaning
which Catholics allow those words; in fact,