Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-04

prefer against corruption is the text, or
the omission OF important passages or
even books? Life is too short, Biblical
scholarship too rare, opportunities for
research too far removed, to expect
mankind to spend it's life In determining
the accuracy Of a translation or the In
tegrity Of a book.
ut would seem that II God had made
this a test Of salvation he would have
made salvation practically impossible.
realize at once the necessity OF an In
terpreter. It has this popularity that
more meaning Is implied I'm the word Of
God than is expressed. It is indeed,
holy and adorable because it Is the word
OF God, yet II Is a word that remains
silent under Interpretation, It par
takes of the character of the people who
wrote and the times in which It was
written. The oriental thought largely
pervades II and the ordinary reader
cannot without an interpreter or COM
mentator arrive at any clear con-
clusion Of its meaning. The man
Of ordinary education may be able
to master the contents of an or
binary book, yet when that book
deals with specialties II requires
/ the specialist to fathom Its meaning.
II we compare the Bible as a book to
/ be read with the classical authors we
will find II admits of much the same
difficulty of understanding and de-
mands years of careful preparation In
order to be able TO read It,
| THE college man and woman give
years Of unremitting study before they
are able to read Cicero Virgil or
Homer, yet we are expected to read
the Testament just as we read the
ordinary book OF travels or moral In
struCtlon. One may be able to readily
understand the everyday romance, but
when the book of philosophy comes be-
fore the same reader It Is frequently
set aside as unintelligible because It
needs master to explain the meaning
Scriptures Beyond All
Far beyond all of these are the sacred
scriptures, for after one has obtained
all the information within reach upon
the matter contained in the scriptures
1t is found that the meaning has not
been fully exhausted. No matter how
much we read and study the Bible we
will find 1t largely unexplored land,
full of wonders and treasures; how
then expect the ordinary reader to ar
rive at anything like a definite under
standing of its meaning? Even David
calls to God for help that he may
understand the law, and st. Jerome
says: If so great a prophet confessed
ignorance In understanding the law
how great must be our difflculties!'
Jesus Christ found 1t necessary to ex-
plain to his apostles at many different
times what the law and the prophets
said of himself The doctors of the
law had the prophecies before them,
and yet they did not read Christ in
them. The scribes and pharisees diff
fered among themselves as to the duties
imposed by the scriptures, and ST. Paul
himself had to have recourse to severe
spiritual punishments because of heret-
ical opinions prevailing among the
early Christians concerning the very
teaching which he made to them. ST.
Peter reminds the church to which he
wrote that in the Epistles of st. Paul
are certain things hard to be under
stood which the unlearned and the un-
stable wrest as they did the other
scriptures to their own destruction
The very manner in which good men
differ as to the simplest words shows
that God never intended his word to be
subject to the whims and caprices of
human opinion, but like the doctrines
of divine truth the inspired word should
be taught and interpreted by those
commissioned to do so by Jesus Christ
so that man may know with certainty
what God has revealed for his belief.
st. Jerome, one of the worlds greatest
Bible scholars, the translator of our
Latin vulgate, expresses this when he
says: These things I have little
touched upon, that you may understand
that you cannot make your way into
the Holy Scriptures without hav-
ing some one to go before you and
show you the road This was the
word of the eunuch to Philip: How
can I understand what 1 read unless
someone show me?'
1--WE understand the Bible to be
largely bool; of laws moral precepts
for the conduct of life, as well as con-
tanning the principles of belief. Why is
1t not reasonable to believe in the
necessity of an interpreter just as civil
governments establish an interpreter
for their laws? Those who framed the
constitution of the United States also
provided for it's Interpretation. They
did not write the constitution and then
give 1t to every man to interpret for
himself. The supreme court of the |
United States is the interpreter of the |
constitution. We're 1t left to the in |
dividual to interpret our country would |
be as divided as the nom Catholic |
churches The same is true of the laws |
upon our statute books; the interpreta- |
ton Of the law is made by the decision |
of a court. We should attribute Christ |
with equal wisdom and foresight.
'The Catholic reading the Bible has
for his guide the infallible teaching
of the church in which he believes. She |
has the authority of Christ by which |
unerringly she decides all questions of
faith and morals and interprets the
meaning of the scripture according TO
the unanimous acceptance of the doc
tors and the councils of the church.
Thus the word of God is made clear to
us and we are relieved from all pos
sibility of uncertainty and doubt. hav-
ing not only the word of God in the
Bible but the means at hand by which
to have that word definitely explained
to u.s.