The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-03-27

documents are inspired. Now can any
r0ir1d grasp the meaning of questioning
a given definite set of documents in cr-
der to find out what and where are
those precise documents? How can
sny one consult an authority without
supposing that authority at least to
exist? A man might as well desire to
be consulted and given a choice he
tween existence and non existence. If
he did not exist he could not be con-
suited, and if he did exist, WELL he was
not consulted. So when we are to'l
that belief in inspiration is found in
Or proved from the Bible, there arises
the unanswerable difficulty, where cid
you get the Bible? Who made the Sc
lection of documents, so termed? How.
ever, accepting what a recent non
Catholic writer terms, and very justly
SO, a, stultifying assumption, let us see
does it lead to what we desire. AS
Shining, then, that Scripture is deter
mined. we again ask the question::
why do you believe the Scripture In
spired? Their answer again is, BE
cause it is contained III or can lie prov.
ed from Scripture" The late provost
of Trinity college, in his work, entitled,
"The 1nfallibility Of the Church, corn
menting on that text OF st.fMatthew.
'"rhou art Peter and upon this rock I
will build my Church. shows his miro
to be that when there is question of
such an important doctrine as the Pri-
macy Of Peter. he required a. more ex.
plicit statement, a less controvertibla
testament on the part of Christ, before
it could gain his belief. He Interpret
ed, presume, the mind of the religious
body Of which he was such a distin-
guished member. Now, surely for his
co-religionists the Inspiration of the
New Testament is question of at
least equal Importance. if not greater.
L, is the foundation-the sole found>.
tion-according to their own excllcit
statement, of the faith which they pro
fess. To be consistent, then, that be-
lief in the inspiration of Scripture dc
mands a. text more explicit, i, SIS con.
trovertible, bringing home conviction
more undeniably, and forcing its way
through pre- judgment more effectively
than does the text for the Prinacy of
Peter. Remember it must be text.
asserting that such and such docu.
ments, now known as the Scriptures.
are inspired. I have read the Scrip
tres several times over. have never
read such a text; of such a text hay @
ever heard. 1 dare assert there is
no such text.
In England, religious thought outside
the Catholic Church is more active
than it is here in Ireland, and as a con-.
sc+Iuence, more conscious of the glariny
logical Inconsistency of it's first princi-
rles. Therefore, we hear of "cr'ses"
passed through, of conferences held
with "the hope of removing mutual
II understandings" of "how these
vell-meant efforts failed" Of hopes
fnr the future. There, belief in the !5i-
bic as an unquestioned and self evident
authority is fading away and other
supports are being sought to prop up
that belief. Some appeal to ali inter-
ior witness or sense enabling them to
distinguish inspired from non-inspired
writings. The Protestant Dean IF
Canterbury holds this, yet bo! lily
states that following that infallib1e
guide, "The Protestant discovers that
,, Rome is the Scarlet Woman. i.
The sscerdotalist sees priesthood.
Eucharistic sacrifice. and sacrsments.
The Protestant agnin cannot
find the faintest trace of q. Eucharis.ic
sacrifice. The Calvanis- re'1s
God as a consuming fire. Th,
Iniversalist explains the most awful
fcrebodings as pictorial rhetoric" I'd
all this under an infallible quito! Oti-
ers give as the ground Of their belief in