The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-28

The divine authorship Is brought out very
clearly In the Scriptures themselves. Chris
Himself and the Apostles repeatedly represent
God or the Holy Ghost az speaking through the
Scripture or through the mouth Of the in.
spired writer's. while in other passages they
represent the inspired writers as speaking In
the Holy Ghost. and sometimes the Scriptures
Themselves are pcrsonilcd ns tho divine voice.
st. Paul expressly calls the Scriptures in
spired ~. Peter assures us that the holy men
OF God, the sacred authors. spoke inspired by
the Holy Ghost. The Council Of Florence de-
clarcs that "orc and the same God is the au-
thor Of the Old and the New Testaments that
is. OF the Law. the Prophets and the Gospels.
since. inspired by one and the same Holy
Ghost. the saints Of both Testaments have
spoken The same doctrine is taught by tho
Council Of Trent, which extends this inspira-
ton to the entire books, with all their parts. as
contained in the ancient Latin vulgate edition
and the Council OF the Vatican rciterates the
same doctrine on inspiration. Leo MIL. In
his oncyciical on the study Of the Scriptures.
rcaflrms the same definitions.
Some Catholic writer's. however. are incliLed
to limit the inspiration of the Scriptures from
another aspect. They admit all that had been
defined 10y the Councils OF Trent and the Vati-
can. the divine inspiration extending to all the
hooks OF the Tridentine canon. taken In their
tNllIcty anu III tH'lT 'ctili't parts, Dut Nv
parts" they would have us understand only
those portions that pertain TO faith and morals
or to the "upbuilding Of the Christian doc
trine.' To such parts only they would vindi-
cate divine Inspiration. while portions OF the
Scripture not appertainlng to faith or morals
need not be regarded as inspired, and may
| therefore be subject to errors in historic and
scientific facts and statements not regarding
faith and morals. This. however. seems i'll In
keeping with the teachings OF the fathers and
the canons of the councils. The councils make
no distinction between part and part. God is
the author OF each part. and Is therefore re-
sponsiblc for the truth of each fact or state
ment as it proceeded from the pen Of the in
spircd writer's. The holy fathers have been
| very solicitous to reconcile every apparent
contradiction to the Scriptures. however slight
they may have seemed. convinced OF the abso-
lutte inerrancy OF the sacred writer's. also in
matters not pertaining to faith and morals.
Hence the inviolablc canon OF 81. Augustine:
II in the Scriptures we should meet any error,
we are not permitted to say the author has
not attained to the truth. but either the manu-
script is faulty or the translator has erred. or
thou dost not understand it, In Ps. Serm.
11SD
1t is not to be wondered at. then. that the
more conservative schools OF theology have
expressed themselves as strictly opposed 10
the Obiter dicd theory. which left the sacred
writer's free to err in certain minor details not
pertaining to faith and morals. and that they
regarded such doctrines as fraught with dan
gerous consequences for the integrity OF the
Scriptures. A modern French writer does not
seem to put 1t too strongly when he says: We
cannot disguise from ourselves that the new
opinion. which limits inspiration and freedom
from error simply TO those passages of Scrip
tlrp which pcnpern faith and morale hos lota-
~ made rapid strides. This being admitted,
the conclusion may be drawn that the his
torical books-e. o.. Kings. Chronicles. Judges,
MAY be inspired and free from error only
In their and moral parts. In this
case We shall soon have to suppress two-thirds
OF the Bible The encyclical Of Pope Leo XIII.
rejects this theory in most unmistakable terms.
1t would be altogether wrong writes the
sovereign Pontiff. ito restrict the inspiration
to some parts Of the Scriptures. or to allow that
the sacred writer has erred. For the method
OF those IL not to be tolerated who endeavor TO
extricate themselves from difficulties by con-
ceding that the inspiration extends. indeed. to
matters Of faith and morals. but no further.
For all those books which the Church receives
as sacred and canonical in their entirety and In
their parts have been written at the dlctation
OF the Holy Ghost. But divine Inspiration, far
from being compatihl" with any error. of its
very nature not only excludes every error, but
excludes and rejects it with the selfsame
necessity in virtue OF which God. the supreme
Truth, cannot be the author of any error what
soevcr.'
3. 1t must be OF particular interest to know
the Pope's mind upon the so-called higher
criticism" There Is a higher criticism for
which the Pope has the highest possible ap-
probation. II is the broad criticism that Is
based. not on gratuitous assumptions, arbI-
trary rules and pathological subtleties, but on
thorough knowledge Of philosophy and dog
matte theology. On familiarity with the original
languages OF the Scriptures and OF the cognate
idioms. on history. ethnology. archaeology and
profound scientific research. To this kind OF
higher criticism his Holiness exhorts the
scripturist and the student OF the sacred
SCIENCES generally. But for the so-called
higher criticism of the age. which is based
only on grammatical subtleties. philolc gical
hair-splitting and historic surmises the Pope
has no use. and thus he writes: Without rea-
son, and to the detrimcnt OF religion, has been
introduced an artiiice called by the specious
name Of higher criticism according to which
the origin. scnuineness and authority OF each
book are wont to be decided from so-callcd
intrinsic reasons. On the contrary. 1t il
manifest that in questions of a historical
nature. such as that OF the origin and
the preservation OF the sacred books, the evil
dcnces OF history are paramount, and are to
be most carefully explored and examined, that,
on the other hand. those intrinsic reasons are
not Of such weight that they should be brought
TO bear on the matter. except as subsidiary
evidence, Else great inconvenience are GER
tain to follow. for the enemy shall then gain
greater confidence in attacking and discredit-
ing the authenticity OF the sacred books. That
which is called higher criticism will eventually
lead to this. that each one will follow his
whims and prejudiccs In the Interpretation Of
the Scriptures. Hence no light will be thrown
ON Holy Writ. no benefit will accrue to science.
but that wide diversity II opinion which is the
ind iof error will prevail. as ~ leaders Of
tIIls novel science give ample evidence. More
over. since most OF It's advocates are imbued
with the doctrine OF false philosophy and RAJ
tionalism, they will not shrink from eliminate
ing from the books prophecies, miracles, and
whatever else there IL Of a supernatural char
actcr," These are the well-wcighcd words Of
the great PontiT OF the age.
!. Another point upon which modern theolo-