The Savannah morning news., 1904-01-10
AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE.
Discussed from Standpoint Opposing Bishop
Kelley

Editor Morning News: In your is
caption, Bishop Kelley, in a review Of
an article in the New York Examiner,
among many other things, writes as
follows:
est. Augustine says that in his lays
there was a great number of Latin
versions of the Holy Scripture. This
version the middle of the fourth CEN
fury. There were many discrepancies
in those various versions, but amongst
them was one which was universally
recognized as superior to all others,
and this was called the ITALIA version
St. Jerome who died in 420, called it
the Vulgate. AS I write, there lies
before me an account of a council
held in Rome in 494, and to the canon
of the Old and New Testament 1
find this preface: The order of the
books of the Old Testament which the
orderly and holy Catholic Church re-
ceives and venerates, arranged by
blessed Gelasius I Pope, together with
seventy bishops. The catalogue of
both Testaments is there given as we
have them to-day.
Thus far Bishop Kelley. The great
Council of Trent, which first and for
ever established the complete canons
Of the Catholic Bible and its articles
Of Faith and Morals, and denounced
anathemas against all persons who
should reject them, gave, as reported
by their own historian, Dupin, a diff
ferent account of this matter from
that of Bishop Kelley. This. regarded
as the greatest of all councils by the
Roman Catholic world, was held in the
middle of the sixteenth century, 1916
1868. l quote from Dupin as follows:
I'm a congregation, after the third ses-
sion (Feb a. 1546,) they agreed that
they should compose a catalogue of the
Canonical Books, according to the ex-
ample of the Council of Saodicea, under
Innocent l., and of the third Council
of Carthage, under Pope Gelasius, in
which those books which are used in
the Church of Rome should be mark
ed also those which the Jews do not
admit. On this the divines were d.
vided into four opinions. Some were
in favor of two lists. "a, of those
books which were universally received,
(2) of those formerly rejected or
doubtful. Some of three lists; ID those
always looked upon as divine; (2)
those doubtful at first, but made
canonical by usage; (S). Those never
put into the canon. Some, that the
canon of Carthage should be followed.
Some, that all should be equally de-
clared canonicaL as they be in the
Latin Bible.
The general congregation Of Feb.
~, unanimously concluded to receive
all the books contained in the Latin
Bible for eanonical, because the great
est mart Of than baa 49,.
received in the concii in Trullo and
in that of Laodicea; that the third
Council Of Carthage had placed Judas,
and the Revelation amongst the Di-
vine books; and lastly, that the Coun-
Gil of Florence had received them
all sacred; that the book of Baruch
was regarded by the Council of Garth
age as comprehended under jeremiah
whose secretary Baruch was, and that
the church had owned that book as
canonical by using it in its offices for
Easter Eve, and the Eve of the Pente-
cost.
1T was also agreed in this congre-
CATION to declare Tradition to be of
equal authority with the Scripture.
In the congregation of March is,
it was carried by plurality of voices
to make a catalogue of them all I'M
der the same class and to make them
all equal.
Dorm Isidorius Clarius, a learned
Benedictine, said, the primitive
Church had several Greek versions of
the Old Testament which origin put
together into one volume, where they
were ranged under six columns, that
the principal Of these was that Of the
Xxx (Sepluagist) from which sew
eral Latin translations were made; that
several translations were made of the
Greek New Testament, one of which
called the Italic ("Itala'') was read in
the church; that st. Augustine who
valued it, yet owned nevertheless that
the Greek text was unquestionably to
be preferred before it; that st. Jer-
ONE perceiving that the version of the
Old Testament did not give the true
sense of the Hebrew, because the
Greek interpreter and the Latin trans
lator were both mistaken. made his
own upon the Greek text; that the
credit of his father caused very many
to receive his translation, but that
those who were most obstinate, bent
to retain the ancient errors, rejected
il, either from envy or through hatred
of novelty, and that at last it was re-
ceved by all the Latins and called
the New Version; that st. Gregory
declared that the holy apostolic see
made use of both versions, but loved
the new better, as being agreeable to
the Hebrew; that in following times,
one was made out OF them both by
mixing some Of the old and some of
the new together. which was called
the vulgate. (Note by the transla-