The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-10
A Roman Catholic View.

A Roman Catholic View.
To THE EDITOR OF The suN-Sr, Ger
tainly do not believe that any one Of you
CORES pondents has proved the Inspiration o
the Bible. Inspiration can be proved only By
supernatural witness. or ono supernaturall
assisted because inspiration Is . supernaturs
fact, and docs not come under our senses.
10 true a miraole Ia . supernatural fact. bu
then It comes under our senses In the natura
order. The witness. 1t 10 clear. must be credi
bic and competent. Luke or Paul may b,
credible and competent In ordinary matters
but In the matter under discussion are they
witness 10 certainly not competent unlesi
he can take COMPLIANCE OF the fact TO whioi
he testines. Now. man cannot testify TO thu
supernatural. for the fact Of It's being super
natural transcsnds the natural intellect. HI
must have supernatural assistance, the very
| point to be proved. Hence II incompet HI
cannot. therefore. DO credible. II will not dc
TO say antiquity recognized the Inspiration OIL
the Bible. In the estimation OF the Israelites
all old books which treated OF theology were
considered inspired. Philo's writings Wort
looked upon as inspired. Jerome and Angus.
tine looked upon the writings OF the
Apostles a. subsidiary and supplementary
! to other teachings. Tho four Evangelists
were compelled to write. Very truly Paul
writes. all Scripture inspired BY God is prof.
! table to teach I'D Timothy. Ill.,. 81 But
I nrst whore 10 the scripture2 Augustine
writes: For my part. 1 should not believe
/ the Gospel without the authority Of the
| Church." Hence the logical position OF De
Costa. who aflrms the Church was before
| the Scriptures. and that II Ia the Church which
the Apostle called the pillar and ground OF
| truth.
Another correspondent writes: Tho infslli-
bility OF the Sovereign PontiT 10 restricted to
faith and morals" We must b. careful not TO
limit or extend unduy tho infallbility OF the
Church or Pope. The thcologians In charge OF
drafting the document on inialliblity at the
Vatican Council proposed to define tho object OF
infallibllity. The proposal was not carried out.
Restricting the infallibility OF the Church
formed the auintessence Of Doeilingerism.
Josephinism. Febronlasism and Jansenism.
The infallible authority alone can decide the
object or limit OF infallibility and this has not
been done.
Another gentlemen has q difficulty with the
passage. Some OF them that stand here shall
not taste death till they have seen the Kingdom
OF God come with power" The prophecy may
refer ~ to Christ's Church. t2l to His asoen-
sion. but most likely t3l to His TRANSPORTATION.
small minority OF COIN m n tators contends
1t refers to the wandering Jew who Is still
roaming about the world since the day that
Christ spoke Coming In the clouds" is the
same a. coming In power. Iassure Mr.. Stone
that there are millions OF men who believe
that Christ will come In power and
majesty TO Judge the quick and the
dead. 1t Is true people do not 1.-Two as though
they believed II. There are thousands In the
large cities OF tho world who firmly believe in
God. yet II we merely look at the lives they lead
we should Immediately conclude there Is no
God. And II God judges man az We Judge our
fellow being fear we shall not be able to say
that mercy Is an attribute OF God himself
The doctrine OF exclusive salvation has
besotten moro prejudice against tho
Church OF Christ and given rise TO moro
msconception In the mind OF the ration
alist than any other doctrine. I NAV
say that all tho Re'ormsrs and their I'm m ed ate
successors taught the doctrine some time In
their career. But Ia It not unjust and inhuman
to condemn to everlasting destruction the souls
Of thousands Of virtuous men and women who
do not belong TO any Church, Is not such
doctrine opposed TO any consistent theory OF
Gods justice and mercy7 Is IL not brutal to
condemn TO hell the Innocent babe for the fault
OF Adam? Il not the doctrine intoeraut I'M
christian and absurd?
What In the meaning OF saying. you must
belong to tho Church OF Christ TO gain eternal
life' Is actual communion necessary means.
,ust as oxygen Ia a necessary means FOR man to
live' The inculpab.e ignorance which would
deprive me- OF oxygen could not dispense with
the necessity OF my using It, Is communion
with the Church necessary In this sense? Most
certainly not. The necessity OF belonging
to the true Church Ia not an intrinsic or abso-
Lutte necessity. but an extrinsc and conditional
one: the necessity arises from the fact that We
have only adivne precept Hence. the doctrine
may be enuncated in these words OF the theo-
logians: salvation Il impossible for him who
dies outside the true Church"
We may suppose person who has never
heard OF the precept OF joining the true Church.
or person who knows the precep., but 10
ignorant OF tho extent OF tho obligation, or a
person who knows the precept. and also the
extent Of tho obligation. but no does not know
h" IL outside OF the true Church. Salvation In |
those three cases Ii not impossible. for there |
Was NO voluntary violation OF tho precept.
Surely. there IL nothing unreasonable in |
such teaching. You must know the obligation
OF entering the true church. and refuse to |
fulfil II. bsfore you are condemned In other |
words. no man 10 lost except through his own |
fault
What about the millions who mover heard OF |
Christ. and those who belong not to Vis |
Church? Gods judgments says Paul, are in !
COMPREHENSIVE. and His ways are unsearcha-
Bile. and no ono hath been his counsellor. II |
must not be forgotten that we are dealing with |
principles rather than with men. Paul tells n, |
also that the drunkard shall not possess the |
Kingdom OF Heaven, but may he not at the last |
ind mercy with God2 We must not |
sentence against any particular per- |
Ron. Those who are ignorant OF the true ra
ligion. II that ignorance is invinclble. are not
In the sight OF God Who can pre-
sumo to nx the limits OF that ignorancep"
Plus TX. Allocution. Dec. .. 1851. The same
Pontifr wrote in 1853 In an encyollcal: ''Thos.
who are invincibly ignorant OF our holy relI-
zion. yet observe tho precepts OF tho natural
aw and nre prepared to do Gods will and lead
Virtuous lives. may obtain eternal lie" Note
he distinction he draws between those who
ire culpably and those who are inculpably
outside the Church. In some countries igno-
'ance OF the true Church may exist to a
greater extent than In others. Sporer.
Rsnsnstuel. La CroiI. Tourneley, Curry
md many able German theologlans bear
witness to the fact that there are many reo-
'le In Germany who ccnscentiousIy believe
hat they are members OF the true Church;
,enoe clergyman will not refuse absolution