The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-01-01
Catholic Belief in the Bible.

Before entering on the special topic
of the third Advent talk, last Tuesday,
December IA, at St. Peters, Barclay
street, on THE Church and the BIZ
ble,' Father John Corbett, s. j., asso-
ciate editor of The Messenger OF the
Sacred Heart, read two clippings from
a last Sunday newspaper OF New YORK
City. These quotations from former
Protestant Episcopal rector ana a Jew
ish rabbi served to show that OUTSIDE
of the Church people are fast loslnS
their belief in the inspiration OF oa-
cred Scripture. Father Corbett eA
horted any non-Catholics who might
be present to hold fast to this doc-
trine, even though according to tner
principle of the Bible interpreted by
private judgment as the rule of talth
it might not be possible for them 10
prove the fact of inspiration. Nheth-
er nOn-Catholics can prove 1t or not
it is part of the Catholic faith ana
when people say that the bel1ef IN the
Bible is dying out, they should re
member that there are in the world
250 millions of Catholics and every ons
of them believe the Bible to be Goa
word.
To show that the Church could not
bett appealed to her teaching on the
character of the Bible and then to
history, quoting chiefly from Protest
ant authorities. 1t is due TO the Cath
olic Church that non-Catholics have
any Bible at ALL
She collected the Sacred Books; and
in the days of persecution she taught
her sons TO shed their blood rather
than give up the Scriptures to be
burnt.
During the middle ages her monks
and nuns spent long days in copying
the sacred writings, and it is due to
their labors that we have Bible to-
day. 1t was the school book in all
monasteries, the center of literature
Iand the inspiration of art. Against
the Reformers of the sixteenth CEN
tury, the Church proclaimed anew her
canon of Scripture.
1T is false that Luther was the first
to give the Bible to the people Dur
ing the middle ages whoever could
read at all could read Latin, and the
Scriptures was at his command. When
| the modern languages began to take
shape, the first works were transla-
tions of paraphrases of the Bible ST.
Bede was engaged on his deathbed in
translating the Gospel of st. John into
Anglo-Saxon.
Sir Thomas More tells us that "the
whole Bible was long before Wikliff's S
days, by Yirtuous and well-learned
men, translated into the English
tongue, and good and godly people
with devotion and soberness we'll and
reverently read"
What is true of England is true
also of the other countries of Europe
During the three centuries before the
Reformation the Scriptures were to be
had in Italian, Spanish, German. Dan
ish and Flemish. Immediately after
the invention of printing, Bibles were
printed in these languages. The Ital-
ian Bible was printed in 1471, the
French Bible in 1477, and eighteen edi-
tons of the Bible in German appeared
| before Luther's.
AS long as the Bible was not
abused and set UP as a standard of
revolt against the Church, the reading
was not restricted or prohibited. When,
| however, the Reformers began to cir
culate corrupt translations the Church
| would have failed in her sacred duty
as guardian of the faith had she not
warned her children and condemned
such corruptiOns of Gods word.
The legislation of the Church on Bi-
| bic reading was then reviewed, and it
was shown t-lat for the last $50 years
there has been no restriction on the
reading in the vernacular of versions
approved by the Holy See or the Bish-
ops. Pope Leo XII granted an induI-
gence to all who would read the Cos
peis for fifteen minutes and plen-
| ary indulgence once a month to all
who make such readings daily prac-
| tlce- Some seven years ago a society
was established in Italy for the spread
of the Holy Gospels, and in five years
they distributed 100000. copies of the
Gospels. This society has been highly
commended by Pope Plus X.