The Irish standard., 1902-11-15
CHURCH AND BIBLE.
An Able Discourse by Catholic
Priest.

me CalnOllc Church and the
Bible" was the theme of an able and
highly interesting discourse delivered
on IL recent Sunday in Our Lady of
Grace church. Hoboken, N. j., by the
Rev. William O'Brien pardow, S. J.
Among the large audience who listen
ed to the eloquent prea cher were many
l'roteStants.
Father PaTiow in the course of his
ser,Hon sad
"Thc old and untrue claim that the
Catholic church has kept the Bible
from the people is still heard from
lrotestants despite the fact that his
tory as it is beginning to be written in
the twentieth century is giving us
some of the truth so long withheld.
Catholic scholarship has been under
rated in the past, and some of the
arguments that have been used
against the church's relation to the
Bible now appear to be so ridiculous
that Catholics are content to ignore
them and permit Protcstants to do all
the refutation. Atheists and agnos-
tics of the present day are doing some
good in the world. The history they
are wrtin" is free from Protestant
prejudice, and the Catholic church is
beginning to come into its own.
"To begin with the church's rela-
ton to the Bible it is necessary to so
back to the fifteenth century. Print
ing was not invented until 143S. and
prior to that time the number of
Bibles in the world was necessarily
small. The church was doing it's ut
most, however, to increase the num-
Der. The ceaseless work in the scrip
forums of the early inconsistencies teSti-
1ics to this fact. Men and women
were kept copying Bibles from morn
ing till night. the beautiful story being
told of German nun whose feat of
writing out two whole Bibles was re-
galued with such vcncration that it
was inscribed on her tombstone. If
the church in the beginning were op-
posed to the Bible. why did it take
such pains to have it preserved?
"The Bible however. has never been
regarded by the church as the only
source of truth, and it is on this point
that it differs With the teaching of
Martin Luther. When Christ came to
earth Tie came to teach Il message
from tho Father, and the early Chris
tians received the faith long before the
New Testament was written. If
Christ wanted the Bible to be made
the foundation of the faith, He would
have been forced to invent printing
several centuries earlier than IT was.
This was clearly not his desire. yet
Luther ordained to his followers that
if they wanted to know what Christ
taught they would have to have re-
course to the Bible.
"4\ STACEY and melodramatic story
is told by a French historian of Luth-
er's discovery of the Bible-how he
came upon it hid away among dusty
tones in the library of his monastery;
how he exclaimed fervcntly, This is
the word of God, and it is being kept
from the people, and how finally he
| launched his Reformation with the
principal object in view of disscminat-
ing the word of God among the pco-
pie That this story is pure fiction I
will attempt to prove to you by the
following prospectus sent out by the
firm which publishes Jacobs Life of
Luther'-a firm which has always
been regarded as cminently partisan
in Protestant way
Father Pardow here read the pros
pectus, which said that the work
would have none Of the culogistic mar
rative on Luther which figured in
D'Aubigne's history the one the
prcac cher referred toy, but would be
critical biography. He continued by
quoting from statutes enacted during
the reign Of Henry VIII, forbidding
"any women, excepting gentlewomen,
iourneymen, artificers, or apprentices"
from reading the Bible. He also quot
ed from Buckingham's "The People
in the Middle Ages" telling how st.
Dunstan, as penance for an offence
committed by the King Edgar. made
him distribute 1893 copies Of the Bible
in the vcrnacular among his people.
"History as said BEFORE" he said,
ais beginning to tell the truth, ana
facts like these are becoming known.
The most interesting affair in some
time was the recent sermon Of Prot
cstant clergyman Of Brooklyn who
quoted the Pope's opinion in support
of the Bible. Imagine n Protestant
clergyman holding up the Pope OF
Rome as an authority on the Bible
the book that the church has hitherto
always been accused of suppresslng!
If is enough to make Martin Luther
turn in his grave.
GAS q matter of fact, 1T is the
Protestant church that is daily bccom-
ing more hostile to the Bible. Different
sccts are tearing it apart, page by
page, and If they keep on little will be
left between the covers. The Rev. DR..
De Costa made this his principal rca-
son for rcnouncing Professionalism
The Catholic church, on the other