The Daily Alaska empire., 1947-03-15
"Bul Firsi Century Christians Never Saw inc Bible"

For a moment, Billy Barnes was speeches.. With single sentence, Father Warner had completely swept aside the foundation on which his whole religious belief had been bas-- ed From the time he was a little boy. Billy had been told that the Bible-and the Bible only-was the cne source of religious truth. He had been told that First Century Chris tians read the Bible and were guided by it. And now, for the first time, he had learned that these state ments were not true.
 Again he could hear Father Warn CT talking. Such statements cannot be true, Billy" the good priest was saving, because First Century Christians saw only a few portions Of the Bible none Of them saw the complete Bible. Nor did Second, Third or Fourth Century Chrlstlansr Christ Himself never told us to read Bibles: He commanded that we hear His Church. It was not until the sixteenth century that the Bible only theory was invented-and much of the religious confusion prevalent .n- the world today must be traced to this false teaching.
 You can see the results of this Bible only theory all about you. One man reads the Bible and concludes that there are seven SacramentS' another, equally sincere, maintains there are only one or two. Another reads the Bible and says that Wt must confess our sins to one of Gods priests: another Stoutly argues that confession is not necessary. Some sincere Bible readers maintain that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God; others characterize Him as a great teacher or great healer. but deny His divinity. Certainly f the Bible alone is a safe guide Tn matters of religion, it should be clear on a1i of these points; but that it $ not clear is shown by the fact that today there are about 400 different religious groups in this country alone. all claiming to be guided by the Bible, yet all protesting ccn- traditory beliefs.
 "As a matter of fact there are certain truths which Christ and His Apostles taught which are not re- corded in the Bible, but which are embodied in the life, the practice and the teachings of Christ's Church. You will lind these n Her written and unwritten traditions, which sup plement the Biblical record. You must keep in mind, Billy, that the Catholic Church did not come from the Bible the Bible came from the Catholic Church. The Church is not dependent upon the Bible for Her existence, nor is She limited to it in Her teachings. If you Will read the Gospel of St. John, you will notice that he tells us :. there are also many other things which Jesus did which are not written in this book. And St. Paul exhortS us Stand fast; and hold the TRADI- TONS which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle.' l GIT Thes. II,4D
 And finally, Billy, it should be perfectly clear to anyone that the Bible is not a safe guide in matters of religion, because it is not now and ! never has been accessible to all peo- pie: because it is not perfectly clear and intelligible to all; and because it does not contain all religious truth"
 Would you like to now more about 1 the Bible? Where it came from, how it was gathered together, and l by whom? Upon what authority you can safely accept it as the word of God? Then write for your copy of our Free Pamphlet No 5-A, an interesting 24-page pamphlet which gives many highly interesting facts about the Bible Your Free copy of this pamphlet will be sent promptly on request. Just send your postcard or letter Q
 RELIGIOUS INFORMATION
 BUREAU l