The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1918-06-04
CHURCH TEACHES
EVERY Tenet OF
The HOLY WRIT

The Blessed Sacrament church on |
Union avenue was crowded at the be- |
ginning of the mission services at |
7:45 o'evlock last evening. The Rev. |
Francis A. Eadden in his sermon on
Sin dwet on the disloyalty of the |
Christian who holds communication |
with the enemy, and openly seems
true to Christ. The instruction on
1.-THE Holy Scriptures was preached
by the Rev. John E. Wickham, who
said in part:
silent forever be any lips that
would dare pronounce irreverent word
against Gods message to man. The
Bible is Gods book, written for our
spiritual needs and mental education,
sealed with the Divine authority of
His promise, and the unerring wis
dom of His teaching. 1t is the book
that has brought more faith to dis
couraged souls, more balm to bruised
hearts, more hope and strength and
| love to humanity than all the libra
ries of the universe. 1t is gifted with
| immortality; the heavens and earth
may pass away, but it will live on for
ever.
1.-THE Catholic church has always
championed the Scriptures; any
pseudo-scientist that would question
or discredit any fact or doctrine on
the sacred pages, that would con-
slider the Old Testament or the New
a collection of folk lore, legends or
myths, finds an implacable adversary
in the church. For 10 centuries she
has taught every tenet of Holy Writ.
She has suffered many a Gethsemane;
she has been scourged and crowned
with thorns, and borne her Calvary;
she has never compromised in any
teaching of the gospel Neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principali-
ties, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor might, nor
height, nor any other thing shall be
able to separate her from the inspired
volume.
1.-THE Protestant Dean Maitland has
lconclusfvely proven that the charge,
sometimes presented by the i1l-edu-
Gated, that the midd1e-age laity had
little regard for the Scriptures, has
no foundation in fact. It is one of the
grotesque plumbers of untrustworthy
historians that, prior to Luther's edi-
ton in the vernacular, the Bible was
practically a closed book to the COM
mon people.
version appeared, 1913 editions had
been issued in the modern languages.
One hundred and four editions were
complete; 20 in Italian, rs in French,
10 in Flemish, in Spanish, in b.
Ihemian, 1 in Slavonic, and 80 in Ger
man. There were esides "a editions
in modern languages, or separate edi-
tons or special sections of the Scrip
ture, consisting chiefly of copies of
the New Testament and the Psalms.
1.-THE church, in her deep reverence
for the true Bible, has often warned
the faithful against faulty versions
of Holy Writ There have been, I'm
fortunately, lightweight editions of
the book in circulation, as there have
been, unfortunately, lightweight coin
age in circulation. A government will
wisely guard against counterfeit bank
notes being given TO her citizens, and
the church will wisely glard against
counterfeit Testaments being given to
her communicates. But as you can
not argue that the United States
Treasury is opposed to the use of the
money, when she stamps dlsapproval
on faulty coins, SO you cannot declare
that the church is opposed to the real
word of God when she refuses to ac-
cept mutilated versions of the same.
LEO XIII, in a famous letter in
1898, gave precisely the position of
the Catholic church; the sohcitude of
the apostolcil office naturally urges,
land even conpels us not only to de-
sire that this great source of Catholic
revelation should be made safely and
albundartIy to the flock of Jesus
Christ, but also not to suffer any at
tempts to defile or corrupt.
Search the Scriptures in season
and out of season, but search rever-
emily. And when the shadows deepen
and the way is obscure, the church
who listened to Christ nineteen hun
bred years ago, and which existed be
| fore a letter of the New Testament
was written, will be glad to guide the
seeker to the promised land of the
Masters doctrine
Many non-Cathoic women have &C
cepted the invitation of their Catholic
friends to hear Catholic doctrine from
catholic sources of information.
In