council held about the year 90, a long time after both parties had fallen into schism.* The Jews of Egypt, and many others in different parts of the world, used the Greek version of the Scriptures, commonly called the Septuagint, which had been begun about the year 280 B. C., under the patronage of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, by a committee of seventy-two of the most learned Israelites, selected for the purpose by the high priest and the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem. This version, in its final form, contained the books mentioned above, which had been written since the time of Esdras in the Greek language. The opinion of the Hellenistic Jews derives great weight not only from their superior learning and culture, but from the fact that since 180 B. C., the pontifical line had been transferred from Jerusalem to Egypt. According to the Mosaic law, the high priesthood could be made vacant only by death, and descended from father to son according to the law of primogeniture, and the lawful incumbent of that office was to be the principal teacher of the people. After the expulsion of the true high priest Onias from Jerusalem and his subsequent murder, his sons fled to Egypt, where their descendants continued to reside, administering the Jewish worship in a temple built near Heliopolis. So the authority of the lawful high priest can be appealed to in behalf of the Alexandrian canon, for which there is a still higher authority, anterior to the formal decisions of the church, no less than that of our Lord himself and of the Apostles; for nearly all the quotations in the New Testament books are from the Septuagint, and St. Augustine states expressly that that version had been approved by the Apostles. It should be remem 5 8 4 According to the author of the article on the Canticle of Canticles in the work just cited, it was not yet ended, even in the time of the Mishnah, about 200 A. D. 5 Exodus xxx, 21; Leviticus, xvi, 32, xxi, 10; Numbers iii, 10, xx, 26; Ecclesiasticus, xlv, 30. See Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, xv, 6, xx, 10; Wars, iv, 3, 2 8. "Malachias, ii, 7. f. Josephus, Ant. xii, 9, ? 7; xiii, 11, ? 4; xx, 10. See Isaias xix, 18–21. Epistle 28. See for a full discussion of the canonicity of the deuterocanonical books the article Canon in Addis and Arnold's Catholic Dictionary, which gives the testimony of the best Protestant Biblical scholars, such as Delitzsch, Keil, and Westcott; also the article Canon in Smith's Bible Dic bered that without the books in question, there would be a serious break in the inspired record. For example, the books of Machabees are necessary to fill the gap between the historical narratives of Esdras and St. Luke, and the books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus show the development of the doctrine of the Logos from its germ in the Proverbs to its majestic completeness in the Gospel of St. John. III.-EXCELLENCE OF THE BIBLE, AND ITS Among all the precious gifts and privileges which God has bestowed upon the world through His Holy Church, a foremost rank must be assigned to these seventy-three inspired books of the Old and New Testament. Written under the guidance of our heavenly Father, they come to us as letters from our dear eternal home. Their words must ever be sweeter to us than any mere human ones can be, and will form in the future, as they have always done in the past, the native language of the Catholic and the natural expression of the spiritual life. The sacred liturgies, the writings of the fathers and doctors of the Church, the decrees of the councils and pontiffs, and, indeed, all the varied divisions of Christian literature, centre around the sacred volume, whose words adorn every hymn of praise or revery of devotion, and serve to give additional force to all expositions of divine truth. Like every other holy thing, this wonderful collection of writings is often misused and desecrated. Just as many unrepentant sinners dare to lightly approach the Holy Table and receive unworthily the Living Bread which cometh down from Heaven, so others enter presumptuously into the mysteries of the written word, and both alike, because of their lack of reverence, humility, and love, receive to themselves condemnation. Another class, who fail to discern the Lord's Body, not believing tionary. The Septuagint is far more trustworthy than the modern Hebrew text, upon which all standard Protestant translations are based, as is indicated by the admission of Rabbi Maimonides, considered by modern Jews their greatest commentator on the Scriptures, that "the Hebrew having been for many years a dead language it is difficult to estimate with certainty the power of its phrases." (Moreh Nebukhim; cited by the Protestant scholar Beausabré, Histoire de Manichée, liv. V, chap. IV, p. 207). in this crowning proof of His love and condescension, have their counterparts in those others, who, alike separated from the unity of the Faith, reduce to a minimum the inspiration and the value of the Scriptures. In the third place, as there are those who exhibit a satanic hatred towards the incomparable Sacrament, so also there are many misguided men who treat the Bible with open and complete contempt. For those who hate both the Church and her sacred books we can only pray that they may, before it is too late, be converted to the God whom they now defy. To the fair-minded who have thus far failed to find sufficient evidence of the divine-human origin and consequent doctrinal and moral truthfulness of the Scriptures, we would say: "Seek to verify the claims of Holy Church, for her authority is the strongest evidence," reminding them of the Master's assurance, He that asketh, receiveth, and he that seeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. There are many who hold the Bible in the highest esteem, and yet use it for another purpose than that for which it was designed, and disregard in their study of it the plainest rules which it contains; and it sometimes happens that even Catholics, the children of the Bible Church, are tainted with such errors, or, on the other hand, neglect to give to the sacred volume the reverence and attention which are demanded for it by the Church. It is for the assistance of such that the paragraphs which follow have been written. We may look for direction as to the true methods which the Bible student should pursue to three sources: the book itself,, patristic tradition, and our own reason. IV. THE TEACHING OF THE SCRIPTURES Before entering upon the discussion, it is desirable to note a few axiomatic truths, which will at once rid us of a large quantity of the rubbish which has been heaped about this question by more or less well-meaning persons, who have tried to thrust the Scriptures into a false position. 1. No statement which one book of the Bible makes regarding itself can be adduced as evidence in the case of another not This follows from the fact expressly mentioned in the text. that the books were written at different times and by different men, and were not gathered into one volume until several centuries after the last of them were written. 2. No references to the "Scriptures," without any qualifying clause, can be held to refer to books not written at the time of the reference; but they might refer to even uninspired books which were then in existence. 3. The expression "word of God" means divinely revealed truth, however expressed, and is not to be limited to the inspired writings.9 Any one, who, bearing in mind these almost self-evident propositions, will give careful examination to the various books between Genesis and the Apocalypse will find that, with very few exceptions, they do not lay claim to divine inspiration, much less to be "the only infallible rule of doctrine and duty; "10 and he will see how entirely the doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures is dependent upon that of the infallibility of the Church. Now let us see what are the directions given in Holy Writ for its own study. The Doctor of the Gentiles writing to Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus, says: All scripture inspired of God is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work;" and the Apostle of the Circumcision, Primate of the Apostolic College, addressing the whole Catholic communion, urges the faithful to be diligent that they may be found undefiled and unspotted before the Lord in the day of His coming "as, also, our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do the other scriptures, to their own destruction." These then are the qualifications of the Bible student. He must be a man of God; he must be learned and stable in the Faith. 12 See Luke, v, 1; Acts, iv, 31; Acts, xiii, 46, etc. 10 Westminster (Presbyterian) Catechism. 11 II Tim. iii, 16, 17. 12 II Peter, iii, 15, 16. What is it to be a man of God? He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and is a rewarder to them that seek Him.13 But this is not enough. Whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father.14 This is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He hath given commandment to us.15 If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, as He also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.16 Furthermore, Whosoever revolteth and continueth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God.1 A man of God, then, is one who believes in the Divine Being and Providence, in the divine nature and mission of Jesus, and, in short, in the whole Christian doctrine originally revealed to the twelve Apostles of the Lamb; and whose daily life and dominating affections are consistent with this light which he possesses. The question arises, What must one do in order to become a man of God, learned and stable? St. John has partly answered this question in proclaiming, in behalf of the apostolic ministry of all ages, We are of God; he that knoweth God, heareth us; he that is not of God, heareth us not; by this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.18 The one who seeks the godliness which will qualify him for the study of the sacred books must, then, follow the teachings of the Apostolic Body, which has held forth the word of life with uninterrupted voice since the day of Pentecost. He must, also, as the Beloved Disciple tells us above, walk in the light. This need not require any great learning, provided there is a profound humility, distrust of self, and confidence in God and His Holy Church. The High and Eminent One, that inhabiteth eternity, dwelleth in the high and holy place and with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit.19 Even the lowly craftsman, applying his soul with such dispositions, may search in the law of the Most High.20 This teaching of Holy Scripture is reasonable in the highest degree; for if we have divinely inspired books, every passage in 13 Hebrews, xi, 6. 14 I John, ii, 23. 17 II John, 9. 20 Ecclesiasticus, xxxviii, 39. 15 I John, iii, 23. 18 I John, iv, 6. |