Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-25


church watches anxiously over the
translations to protect the people from
any possibility Of error, and that Is why
she has also been so careful in the
copies of the Bible which the people
should read. AS to science, natural his
tory and such matters, Gods purpose
was not 20 reveal science, nor to teach
geology or astronomy, but to instruct
the people I'm divine things, as Baronius
says, Not to teach us how the heavens
go, but how to go to heaven The
writer's used the words and phrases cur
rent as men even Of scientific mind to-
day use most unscientiflc terms in their
ordinary conversation and writing, OUT
side of the purely scientific.
Scriptures Were History
when did the Scriptures begin to be
accepted as inspired? It is a fact that
when our divine Savior entered the
synagogues of Judea i'm obedience to
the law he found n collection of writ
ings which the Jews regarded as sacred
and It was called The Law and the
Prophets the Sacred Books and which
Christ himself afterward referred to as
the Scriptures These writings con-
tanned the history of the Jewish race,
the law and the ceremonial, and the
code OF morals. They were to the Jews
their lives. They we're their sacred
books, the word of God, possessing the
very authority of God, and written by
men Inspired by God, and they believed
the message which those writings cop
veyed to them. They were not n COM
pilation OF the sayings OF God, but the
word of God itself. Christ in his public
life appealed to those writings, rev.
erenced them and never questioned
t1,nfr ottAl t,4N
the time Of Moses to Christ the books
of the law. the prophets and the sacred
writings found in the Jewish canon
were regarded as the inspired word of
God, and so Christ regarded them, and
so the apostles and the early Christian
church regarded them.
THE Jews referred to the Old Testn-
ment writings as the Sacred Book the
Law and the PROPHETS to show their
belief in the divine origin of their
canonical writings. Our divine Savior
frequently refers to the Old Testament
with expressions that indicate the di-
vine character of the writings. In quot
ing he says in one place, David sayeth
by the Holy Ghost, and again, 1T, is
written and again, Sacred Scripture
says" ST. Paul speaks of the Scripture
inspired by God and st. Peter in his
discourses bears witness to the divine
he says, The holy men of God spoke,
inspired by the Holy Ghost
The early Christian writers bear
| ample testimony to their belief in the
inspiration of the Scriptures, which,
with st. Clement, they call the utter
| ances of the Holy Spirit st. Angus
tine. writing to st. Jerome, says: 4
have learned to hold the books of the
| canonical scriptures in such reverance
nigh esteem to
that no one of their authors has fallen
into any error He speaks of the sa-
cred scripture as divine holy the
hand writing Of Cod The teaching of
the early and middle ages is summed
up in the dogmatic formula: God is
the author of scripture which was
solemnly adopted by the council of
Florence in 14S1. Even the reformers
who build their religious views upon
the supremacy of the Bible were clear
In their expression of Gods inspiration.
Teaching of Church
"The teaching Of the church through
the councils has been very well defined
upon inspiration. The council of Flor
ence in 1431 declared that the church
believes most firmly in one and the
same God as the author of the Old and
New Testament, because the same
Holy Ghost spoke through the holy men
vi DOlll Inc council OF
Trent in 1916 reaflirmed the Catholic
tradition in itself, stating that follow
ing the examples of the orthodox faith
ers, 1t receives and venerates with an
equal feeling of piety and reverence
all the books both of the Old and New
Testament, seeing that one God is the
author of BOTH The Vatican council
in 1870 repeats and confirms the
decision of Trent regarding the sa-
cred and canonical character of all the
books Of holy writ and adds an explicit
definition against modern rationalism,
and says: The books of the Old and
New Testament as enumerated by the
council of Trent are held by the church
as sacred and canonical, not because
having been carefully composed by
mere human industry they were after
ward approved by her authority, nor
merely because they contained revela-
ton without any admixture OF error,
but because having been written by in
spiration of the Holy Ghost they have
God for their author and have been de-
livered as such by the church herself
Pope Leo XIII in his letter on the
study of the holy scripture reaf-
firms the teaching of the church con-
cerning the inspiration of the Bible,
and says, inspiration not only excludes
| from error but excludes and rejects il
| as necessarily as 1t is impossible that
Iod nlnselI, the supreme Truth, can
be the author of any untruth,' and he
describes inspiration as supernatural
power by which the Holy Ghost moved
and impelled men to write. The Holy
Spirit was so present to them that the
things which he ordered and those
only they first rightly understood, they
so willed faithfully to write down and
finally expressed in apt words and with
infallible truth. Otherwise it could not
be said that he was the author Of the
| entire scripture. Hence, it follows that
those who maintain that something
false is found in any genuine passage
of the sacred writings either pervert
! the Catholic notion of inspiration or
make God himself the author OF such
error.
Reason for ReIiaf