Chapters of Bible Study Part 9

The G.o.d of all Providence, who in the wondrous counsel of His love raised the human race in its beginning to partic.i.p.ation of the divine nature, and afterwards delivered it from universal guilt and ruin, restoring it to its primitive dignity, has, in consequence, bestowed upon man a singular safeguard--making known to him, by supernatural means, the hidden mysteries of His divinity, His wisdom, and His mercy.

Although in divine revelation some things are comprehended which are not beyond the reach of human reason, they are made the objects of revelation in order that all may come to know them with facility, certainty, and freedom from all error. It is not, however, on this account that revelation can be said to be absolutely necessary; but because G.o.d of His infinite goodness has ordained man to a supernatural end. This supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition and in written Books. These are called sacred and canonical because, being written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have G.o.d for their author, and as such have been delivered to the Church. This belief has been perpetually held and professed by the Church with regard to the Books of both Testaments. There are well-known doc.u.ments of the gravest character, coming down to us from the earliest times, which proclaim that G.o.d, who spoke first by the Prophets, then by Himself, and thereafter by the Apostles, composed the Canonical Scriptures. These are divine oracles and utterances--a Letter, written by our heavenly Father, and transmitted by the sacred writers to the human race on its pilgrimage afar from its fatherland. If, then, such and so great is the excellence and the dignity of the Scriptures that G.o.d Himself has, as the author of them, composed them, and that they treat of G.o.d's deepest mysteries, counsels, and works, it follows that the branch of sacred theology which is concerned with the defence and interpretation of these divine books must be most excellent and in the highest degree profitable.

Now We, who by the help of G.o.d, and not without fruit, have by frequent letters and exhortation endeavored to promote other branches of study, which seemed well fitted for advancing the glory of G.o.d and contributing to the salvation of souls, have for a long time cherished the desire to give an impulse to the most n.o.ble study of the Sacred Scriptures, and to impart to it a direction which is suitable to the needs of the present day. The solicitude of the Apostolic office naturally urges, and even compels Us, not only to desire that this grand source of Catholic revelation should be made more safely and abundantly accessible to the flock of Jesus Christ, but also to prevent it from being in any way violated, on the part either of those who impiously and openly a.s.sail the Scriptures, or of those who are led astray into fallacious and imprudent novelties.

We are not ignorant, indeed, Venerable Brethren, that there are Catholics not a few, men abounding in talent and learning, who do devote themselves with alacrity to the defence of the Divine Books, and to making them better known and understood. But while giving to these men the commendation which they deserve for their labor and the fruits of it, We cannot but earnestly exhort others also, from whose skill and piety and learning we have a right to expect the very best results, to give themselves to the same most praiseworthy work. It is Our wish and fervent desire to see an increase in the number of approved and unwearying laborers in the cause of Holy Scripture; and more especially that those whom Divine Grace has called to Holy Orders should, day by day, as is most meet, display greater diligence and industry in reading, meditating, and explaining it. Among the reasons for which this study is so worthy of commendation--in addition to its own excellence and to the homage which we owe to G.o.d's word--the chief reason of all is the manifold benefit of which it is the source. This we know will flow therefrom on the most certain testimony of the Holy Ghost Himself, who says: "All Scripture, inspired of G.o.d, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of G.o.d may be perfect, furnished to every good work." That such was the purpose of G.o.d in giving the Scriptures to men is shown by the example of Christ our Lord and of His Apostles. He who obtained authority by miracles, merited belief by authority, and by belief drew to Himself the mult.i.tude, was accustomed in the exercise of His Divine Mission to appeal to the Scriptures. He uses them at times to prove that He was sent by G.o.d, and that He is G.o.d. From them He draws arguments for the instruction of His disciples and the confirmation of His doctrine. He vindicates them from the calumnies of objectors. He quotes them against Sadducees and Pharisees. He retorts from them upon Satan himself, when he impudently dares to tempt Him. At the close of His life His utterances are from Holy Scripture. It is the Scripture which He expounds to His disciples after His resurrection, and during all the time till He ascends to the glory of His Father. Faithful to His precepts, the Apostles, although He Himself granted "signs and wonders to be done by their hands," nevertheless used with the greatest efficacy the sacred writings, in order to persuade the nations everywhere of the wisdom of Christianity, to break down the obstinacy of the Jews, and to suppress the outbursts of heresy. This is manifest in their discourses, especially in those of St. Peter. These were almost woven from sayings of the Old Testament, which made in the strongest manner for the new dispensation. We find the same thing in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, and in the Catholic Epistles.

Most remarkably of all is it to be found in the words of him who boasts that he learned the law at the feet of Gamaliel, in order that, being armed with spiritual weapons, he might afterwards say with confidence: "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty unto G.o.d."

Let all, therefore, especially the novices of the ecclesiastical army, understand how much the divine Books should be esteemed, and with what determination and reverence they should approach this great a.r.s.enal of heavenly arms. Those whose duty it is to handle Catholic doctrine before either the learned or the unlearned will nowhere find more ample matter or more abundant exhortation, whether on the subject of G.o.d, the supreme and all perfect Good, or of the works which display His glory and His love. Nowhere is there anything more full or more express on the subject of the Saviour of the human race than that which is to be found throughout the Bible. St. Jerome has rightly said "ignorance of the Scripture is ignorance of Christ." In its pages His Image stands out as it were alive and breathing; diffusing everywhere consolation in trouble, encouragement to virtue, and attraction to the love of G.o.d.

As regards the Church, her inst.i.tutions, her nature, her functions, and her gifts, we find in Holy Scripture so many references, and so many ready and convincing arguments, that, as St. Jerome again most truly says: "A man who is thoroughly grounded in the testimonies of the Scriptures is a bulwark of the Church." If we come to moral formation and to discipline, an apostolic man finds in the sacred writings abundant and most excellent aid, precepts full of holiness, exhortations framed with sweetness and force, shining examples of every kind of virtue, and, finally, the promise of eternal reward, and the threat of eternal punishment, uttered in weightiest terms, in G.o.d's name and in G.o.d's own words.

This peculiar and singular power of the Scriptures, springing from the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, adds to the authority of the sacred orator, fills him with apostolic liberty of speech, and communicates to him a forcible and convincing eloquence. Those who infuse into their speech the spirit and strength of the Word of G.o.d speak, "not in words only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fulness."

Hence those preachers are foolish and improvident who, in preaching religion and proclaiming the precepts of G.o.d, use no words but those of human science and human prudence, trusting to their own reasonings rather than to those that are divine. Their discourses may be glittering with lights, but they must be cold and feeble, for they are without the fire of the utterance of G.o.d. They must fall far short of that power which the speech of G.o.d possesses. "The Word of G.o.d is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit." All the more far-seeing are agreed that there is in the Holy Scriptures an eloquence that is marvellous in its variety and richness, and that is worthy of the loftiest themes. This St. Augustine thoroughly comprehended, and this he has abundantly set forth. It is confirmed also by the best of the preachers of all ages. They have gratefully acknowledged that they owed their repute chiefly to a.s.siduous familiarity with the Bible, and to devout meditation on the truths which it contains.

The Holy Fathers well knew all this by practical experience. They never cease to extol the Sacred Scripture and its fruits. In innumerable pa.s.sages of their writings we find them applying to it such phrases as--"an inexhaustible treasury of heavenly doctrine," or "an overflowing fountain of salvation," or as "fertile pastures and most lovely gardens, in which the flock of the Lord is marvellously refreshed and delighted." Let us listen to the words of St. Jerome, in his Epistle to the cleric Nepotian: "Often read the divine Scriptures; yea, let holy reading be always in thy hand; study that which thou thyself must preach.... Let the speech of the priest be ever seasoned with Scriptural reading." St. Gregory the Great, than whom no man has more admirably described the functions of the pastors of the Church, writes in the same sense: "Those," he says, "who are zealous in the work of preaching, must never cease from study of the written word of G.o.d." St. Augustine, however, warns us that "vainly does the preacher utter the word of G.o.d exteriorly unless he listens to it interiorly."

St. Gregory instructs sacred orators "first, to find in Holy Scripture the knowledge of themselves, and then to carry it to others, lest in reproving others they forget themselves." This had already, after the example and teaching of Christ Himself, who "began to do and to teach,"

been uttered far and wide by an apostolic voice. It was not to Timothy alone, but to the whole order of the clergy, that the command was addressed: "Take heed to thyself and to doctrine; be earnest in them.

In doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee."

For the saving and for the perfection, both of ourselves and of others, we have at hand the very best of aids in the Sacred Scriptures, and most abundantly in the Book of Psalms. Those alone will, however, find it who bring to the divine oracles not only a docile and attentive mind, but a habit also of will which is both pious and without reserve.

The Sacred Scripture is not to be regarded like an ordinary book.

Dictated by the Holy Ghost, it contains matters of the most grave importance, which in many instances are difficult and obscure. To understand and to explain them there is always required the "coming" of the same Holy Spirit; that is to say, His light and His grace. These, as the Royal Psalmist so frequently insists, are to be sought by humble prayer, and to be preserved by holiness of life.

It is in this that the watchful care of the Church shines forth conspicuously. By her admirable laws and regulations she has always shown herself solicitous that the celestial treasure of the Sacred Books, so bountifully bestowed upon man by the Holy Spirit, should not lie neglected. She has arranged that a considerable portion of them should be read, and with pious mind considered by all her ministers in the daily office of the sacred psalmody. She has ordered that in cathedral churches, in monasteries, and in convents of other regulars, which are places most fit for study, they shall be expounded and interpreted by capable men. She has strictly commanded that her children shall be fed with the saving word of the Gospel at least on Sundays and on solemn feasts. Moreover, it is owing to the wisdom and the diligence of the Church that there has always been, continued from century to century, that cultivation of Sacred Scripture which has been so remarkable and which has borne such ample fruit.

And here, in order to strengthen Our teaching and Our exhortations, it is well to recall how, from the first beginnings of the Christian religion, so many who have been renowned for holiness of life and for sacred learning have given their deep and most constant attention to Holy Scripture. If we consider the immediate disciples of the Apostles, St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St.

Polycarp--or the Apologists, such as St. Justin and St. Irenaeus, we find that in their letters and in their books, whether in defence of the Catholic faith or in commendation of it, they draw faith and strength and unction mainly from the word of G.o.d. When there arose, in various Episcopal Sees, catechetical and theological schools, of which the most celebrated were those of Alexandria and of Antioch, there was little taught in those schools but what consisted in the reading, the unfolding, and the defence of the divine written word. From these schools came forth numbers of Fathers and of writers whose laborious studies and admirable writings have justly merited for the three following centuries the appellation of the golden age of biblical exegesis.

In the Eastern Church, the greatest name of all is Origen. He was a man remarkable alike for quickness of genius and for persevering labor.

From his numerous writings and his immense work of the _Hexapla_ almost all who came after him have drawn. Others who have widened the field of this science may also be named. Among the more excellent, Alexandria could boast of Clement and Cyril; Palestine, of Eusebius and the other Cyril; Cappadocia, of Basil the Great and the two Gregories, n.a.z.ianzen and Nyssene; and Antioch, of St. John Chrysostom, in whom skill in this learning was rivalled by the splendor of his eloquence.

In the Western Church there were many names as great: Tertullian, Cyprian, Hilary, Ambrose, Leo the Great, Gregory the Great; most famous of all, Augustine and Jerome. Of these two the former was marvellously acute in penetrating the sense of G.o.d's word, and most fertile in the use that he made of it for the promotion of Catholic truth. The latter has received from the Church, by reason of his pre-eminent knowledge of Scripture and the greatness of his labors in promoting its use, the name of the "Great Doctor."

From this period, down to the eleventh century, although biblical studies did not flourish with the same vigor and with the same fruitfulness as before, they nevertheless did flourish, and that princ.i.p.ally through the instrumentality of the clergy. It was their care and solicitude that selected the most fruitful of the things which the ancients had left behind them, placed these in digested order, and published them with additions of their own--as did Isidore of Seville, Venerable Bede, and Alcuin, among the most prominent. It was they who ill.u.s.trated the sacred pages with "glosses," or short commentaries, as we see in Walafrid Strabo and Anselm of Laon, or who expended fresh labor in securing their integrity, as did Peter Damian and Lanfranc.

In the twelfth century many took up with great success the allegorical exposition of Scripture. In this Bernard is easily pre-eminent. His writings, it may be said, are Scripture all through. With the age of the scholastics there came fresh and fruitful progress in the study of the Bible. That the scholastics were solicitous about the genuineness of the Latin version is evident from the _Correctoria Biblica_, or list of emendations, which they have left behind them. They expended, however, more of their study and of their industry on interpretation and on explanation. To them we owe the accurate and clear distinction, such as had not been given before, of the various senses of the sacred words; the weight of each word in the balance of theology; the division of books into parts, and the summaries of the various parts; the investigation of the purpose of the writers, and the unfolding of the necessary connection of one sentence with another. No man can fail to see the amount of light which was thus shed on the more obscure pa.s.sages. The abundance of their Scriptural learning is to be seen both in their theological treatises and in their commentaries. In this Thomas of Aquin bears the palm.

When Our predecessor, Clement V., established chairs of Oriental literature in the Athenaeum at Rome, and in the princ.i.p.al Universities of Europe, our students began to labor more minutely on the original text of the Bible, as well as on the Latin version. The revival amongst us of Greek learning, and, much more, the happy invention of the art of printing, gave the strongest impetus to the study of Holy Scripture. In a brief s.p.a.ce of time innumerable editions, especially of the Vulgate, poured from the press, and were spread throughout the Catholic world; so honored and loved were the divine volumes during that very period against which the enemies of the Church direct their calumnies.

Nor must we forget how many learned men there were, chiefly among the religious orders, who did excellent work for the Bible between the dates of the Councils of Vienne and Trent. These men, by employment of modern means and appliances, and by contribution of their own genius and learning, not only added to the rich stores of ancient times, but prepared the way for the pre-eminence of the succeeding century--the century which followed the Council of Trent. It then seemed almost as if the great age of the Fathers had returned. It is well known, and We recall it with pleasure, that Our predecessors from Pius IV. to Clement VIII. caused to be prepared the celebrated editions of the Vulgate and the Septuagint, which, having been published by the command and authority of Sixtus V. and of the same Clement, are now in common use.

At this time, moreover, were carefully brought out various other ancient versions of the Bible, and the Polyglots of Antwerp and of Paris, most important for the investigation of the true meaning of the text. There is not any one Book of either Testament which did not find more than one expositor, nor is there any grave question which did not profitably exercise the ability of many inquirers. Among these there are not a few--more especially of those who made most study of the Fathers--who have made for themselves names of renown. From that time forward the labor and solicitude of our students have never been wanting. As time has gone on, eminent scholars have carried on biblical study with success. They have defended Holy Scripture against the cavils of _rationalism_ with the same weapons of philology and kindred sciences with which it had been attacked. The calm and fair consideration of what has been said will clearly show that the Church has never failed in any manner of provision for bringing the fountains of the Divine Scripture in a wholesome way within reach of her children, and that she has ever held fast and exercised the guardianship divinely bestowed upon her for its protection and glory.

She has never, therefore, required, nor does she now require, any stimulation from without.

We must now, Venerable Brethren, as Our purpose demands, impart to you such counsels as seem best suited for carrying on successfully the study of biblical science. We must, in the first place, have a clear idea of the kind of men whom we have to oppose, their tactics and their weapons.

In earlier times the contest was chiefly with those who, relying on private judgment and repudiating the divine tradition and the teaching authority of the Church, held the Scriptures to be the one and only source of revelation and the final appeal in matters of Faith. Now, we have to meet the Rationalists, the true children and heirs of the older heretics. Trusting in their turn to their own judgment, they have rejected even the sc.r.a.ps and remnants of Christian belief handed down to them from their fathers. They deny that there is any such thing as divine revelation, or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all. They see in these histories only forgeries and falsehoods of men. They set down the Scripture narratives as stupid fables or lying tales. The prophecies and the oracles of G.o.d are to them either predictions made up after the event, or forecasts formed by the light of nature. The miracles and manifestations of G.o.d's power are not what they profess to be, but are either startling effects which are not beyond the forces of nature, or else mere tricks and myths. The Gospels and apostolic writings are not, they say, the work of the authors to whom they are a.s.signed. These detestable errors, whereby they think to destroy the truth of the divine Books, are obtruded on the world as the peremptory p.r.o.nouncements of a newly-invented "free science." This science, however, is so far from final that they are perpetually modifying and supplementing it. There are some of them who, notwithstanding their impious opinions and utterances about G.o.d and His Christ, the Gospels, and the rest of Holy Scripture, would fain be regarded as being theologians and Christians and men of the Gospel. They attempt to disguise under such names of honor their rashness and their insolence.

To them we must add not a few professors of other sciences who approve and sustain their views, and are egged on to attack the Bible by intolerance of revelation. It is deplorable to see this warfare becoming from day to day more widespread and more ruthless. It is sometimes men of learning and judgment who are a.s.sailed; but these have little difficulty in standing on their guard. The efforts and the arts of the enemy are chiefly directed against the more ignorant ma.s.ses of the people. These men diffuse their deadly poison by means of books and pamphlets and newspapers. They spread it by means of addresses and of conversations. They are found everywhere. They are in possession of numerous schools for the young, wrested from the guardianship of the Church. In those schools, by means of ridicule and scurrilous jesting, they pervert the credulous and unformed minds of the young to contempt of Scripture. Should not these things, Venerable Brethren, stir up and set on fire the heart of every Pastor, so that to this "knowledge, falsely so called," may be opposed the ancient and true science which the Church, through the Apostles, has received from Christ, and that the Sacred Scriptures may find champions that are strong for so great a struggle?

Let our first care, then, be to see that in Seminaries and Academical foundations the study of Holy Scripture is placed on such a footing as both the importance of it and the circ.u.mstances of the time demand.

With this view, that which is of first importance is a wise selection of professors. Teachers of Sacred Scripture are not to be appointed at hap-hazard out of the crowd. They must be men whose character and fitness have been proved by great love of, and long familiarity with, the Bible, and by the learning and study which befits their office.

It is of equal importance to provide in due time for a continuous succession of such teachers. It will be well, wherever this can be done, to select young men of promise, who have studied their theology with distinction, and to set them apart exclusively for Holy Scripture, affording them time and facilities for still fuller study. Professors thus chosen and appointed may enter with confidence on the task that is set before them. That they may be at their best, and bear all the fruit that is possible, there are some other hints which We may somewhat more fully set before them.

At the commencement of a course of Holy Scripture, let the professor strive earnestly to form the judgment of the young beginners, so as to train them equally to defend the sacred writings and to penetrate their meaning. This is the object of the treatise which is called "Introduction to the Bible." Here the student is taught how to prove its integrity and authority, how to investigate and ascertain its true sense, and how to meet and refute all captious objections. It is needless to insist on the importance of making these preliminary studies in an orderly and thorough way, in the company and with the aid of Theology. The whole of the subsequent course will rest on the foundation thus laid, and will be luminous with the light which has been thus acquired.

Next, the teacher will turn his earnest attention to that most fruitful branch of Scripture science which has to do with interpretation.

Therein is imparted the method of using the word of G.o.d for the promotion of religion and of piety. We are well aware that neither the extent of the matter nor the time at disposal allows every single Book of the Bible to be separately studied in the schools. The teaching, however, should result in a definite and ascertained method of interpretation. Hence the professor should at once avoid giving a mere taste of every Book, and the equal mistake of dwelling at too great length on merely a part of some one Book. If most schools cannot do what is done in the larger inst.i.tutions--that is, take the students through the whole of one or two Books continuously, and with some considerable development--yet at least those parts which are selected for interpretation should be treated with some fulness. In this way the students may be attracted, and learn from the sample that is set before them to love and read the rest in the course of their after lives. The professor, following the tradition of antiquity, will use the Vulgate as his text. The Council of Trent has decreed that "in public lectures, disputations, preaching, and exposition," the Vulgate is the "authentic" version; and this is the existing custom of the Church. At the same time, the other versions which Christian antiquity has approved and used should not be neglected, more especially the more ancient MSS. Although the meaning of the Hebrew and the Greek is substantially rendered by the Vulgate, nevertheless, wherever there may be ambiguity or want of clearness, the "examination of older tongues,"

to quote St. Augustine, will be of service. In this matter we need hardly say that the greatest prudence is required, for the "office of a commentator," as St. Jerome says, "is to set forth not that which he himself would prefer, but that which his author says." The question of "readings" having been, when necessary, carefully discussed, the next thing is to investigate and expound the meaning. The first counsel to be here given is this: that the more our adversaries strive in the contrary direction, so much the more solicitously should we adhere to the received and approved canons of interpretation. Hence, while weighing the meanings of words, the connection of ideas, the parallelism of pa.s.sages, and the like, we should by all means make use of external ill.u.s.trations drawn from other cognate learning. This should, however, be done with caution, so as not to bestow on such questions more labor and time than that which is spent on the Sacred Books themselves, and not to overload the minds of the students with a ma.s.s of information which will be rather a hindrance than a help.

The professor may now safely pa.s.s on to the use of Scripture in matters of Theology. Here it must be observed that, in addition to the usual reasons which make ancient writings more or less difficult to understand, there are some which are peculiar to the Sacred Books. The language of the Bible is employed to express, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, many things which are beyond the powers and scope of human reason--that is to say, divine mysteries and many matters which are related to them. There is sometimes in such pa.s.sages a fuller and a deeper meaning than the letter seems to express or than the laws of hermeneutics indicate. Moreover, the literal sense itself frequently admits other senses, which either ill.u.s.trate dogma or commend morality.

It must therefore be recognized that the sacred writings are wrapt in a certain religious obscurity, and that no one can enter into them without a guide. G.o.d has so disposed it that, as the Holy Fathers teach, men may investigate the Scriptures with greater ardor and earnestness, and that what is attained with difficulty may sink more deeply into the mind and heart. From this also, and mainly, men may understand that G.o.d has delivered the Scriptures to the Church, and that in reading and treating of His utterances they must follow the Church as their guide and teacher. St. Irenaeus long since laid it down that where the _Charismata_ of G.o.d were placed, there the truth was to be learnt, and that Scripture is expounded without peril, by those with whom there is apostolic succession. His teaching, and that of other Fathers, is embraced by the Council of the Vatican which, in renewing the decree of Trent, declares its mind to be this--that "in matters of faith and morals, which belong to the building up of Christian doctrine, that sense is to be considered the true sense of the Sacred Scripture which has been held and is held by our Holy Mother the Church, whose place it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures; and therefore that it is permitted to no one to interpret the Sacred Scripture contrary to this sense, or contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers." By this law, most full of wisdom, the Church by no means prevents or restrains the pursuit of biblical science. She, on the contrary, provides for its freedom from error, and greatly advances its real progress. A wide field lies open to any teacher, in which his hermeneutical skill may exercise itself with signal effect and for the welfare of the Church. On the one hand, in those pa.s.sages of Scripture which have not as yet received a certain and definitive interpretation, such labors may, in the sweetly ordered providence of G.o.d, serve as a preparation for bringing to maturity the judgment of the Church. In pa.s.sages already defined, a private doctor may do work equally valuable, either by setting them forth more clearly to the commonalty of the faithful, or more learnedly before the learned, or by defending them more powerfully from adversaries.

Wherefore the first and most sacred object of the Catholic commentator should be to interpret those pa.s.sages which have received an authentic interpretation--either from the sacred writers themselves, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as in many places of the New Testament), or from the Church, under the a.s.sistance of the same Holy Spirit, whether by her solemn judgment or by her ordinary and universal authoritative teaching--in that identical sense, and to prove, by all the resources of learning, that sound hermeneutical laws admit of no other than that interpretation. In the other pa.s.sages the a.n.a.logy of faith should be followed, and the Catholic doctrine, as authoritatively proposed by the Church, should be held as the supreme rule. Since the same G.o.d is the author both of the Sacred Books and of the doctrine committed to the Church, it is clearly impossible that any teaching can by legitimate interpretation be extracted from the former which shall in any respect be at variance with the latter. Hence it follows that all interpretation is unfounded and false which either makes the sacred writers disagree one with another, or is opposed to the doctrine of the Church.

The professor of Holy Scripture, therefore, amongst other recommendations, must be well versed in the whole of Theology, and deeply read in the commentaries of the Holy Fathers and Doctors, and the best of other interpreters. This is inculcated by St. Jerome, and still more by St. Augustine, who thus justly complains: "If there is no branch of teaching, however humble and easy to learn, which does not require a master, what can be a greater sign of rashness and pride than to refuse to study the Books of the divine mysteries by the help of those who have interpreted them?" Other Fathers have said the same, and have confirmed it by their example. They endeavored to acquire understanding of the Holy Scriptures, not by their own lights and ideas, but from the writings and authority of the ancients, who in their turn, as we know, received the rule of interpretation in direct line from the Apostles.

The Holy Fathers, to whom, after the Apostles, the Church owes its growth--who planted, watered, built, fed, and nourished it--are of supreme authority whenever they all interpret in one and the same manner any text of the Bible as pertaining to doctrine of faith or morals. Their unanimity clearly evinces that such interpretation has come down from the Apostles as a matter of Catholic faith. The opinion of the Fathers is also of very great weight when they treat of these matters in their capacity of private teachers; not only because they excelled in knowledge of revealed doctrine and in acquaintance with many things useful for the understanding of the apostolic Books, but also because they were men of eminent sanct.i.ty and of ardent zeal for the truth, on whom G.o.d bestowed a more ample measure of His light. The commentator, therefore, should make it his care to follow in their footsteps with reverence, and to avail himself of their labors with intelligent appreciation.

He must not, however, on that account consider that it is forbidden, when just cause exists, to push inquiry and exposition beyond what the Fathers have done--provided he religiously observes the rule so wisely laid down by St. Augustine: not to depart from the literal and obvious sense, except where reason makes that sense untenable or necessity requires. This is a rule to which it is the more necessary to adhere strictly in these times, when the thirst for novelty and unrestrained license of thought make the danger of error most real and proximate.

Neither should those pa.s.sages be neglected which the Fathers have understood in an allegorical or figurative sense, more especially when such interpretation is justified by the literal sense, and when it rests on the authority of many. This method of interpretation has been received by the Church from the Apostles, and has been approved by her own practice, as her liturgy attests. The Holy Fathers did not thereby pretend directly to demonstrate dogmas of faith, but used it as a means of promoting virtue and piety, such as, by their own experience, they knew to be most valuable.

The authority of other Catholic interpreters is not so grave. Since, however, the study of Scripture has always continued to advance in the Church, their commentaries also have their own honorable place, and are serviceable in many ways for the refutation of a.s.sailants and the unravelling of difficulties. It is, moreover, most unbecoming to pa.s.s by, in ignorance or contempt, the splendid works which our own scholars have left behind them in abundance, and to have recourse to the works of the heterodox, and to seek in them, with peril to sound doctrine and not seldom with detriment to faith, the explanation of pa.s.sages on which Catholics have long ago most excellently expended their talents and their labor. Although the studies of the heterodox, used with prudence, may sometimes be of use to the Catholic interpreter, he should nevertheless bear well in mind this repeated testimony of the ancients,--that the sense of the Sacred Scriptures can nowhere be found incorrupt outside the Church, and that it cannot be delivered by those who, being dest.i.tute of the true faith, only gnaw the husk of Scripture and never reach its marrow.

Most desirable it is, and most essential, that the whole course of Theology should be pervaded by the use of the Divine Scripture, which should be, as it were, the soul thereof. This is what the Fathers and the greatest theologians of all ages have professed and practised. It was chiefly out of the sacred writings that they endeavored to proclaim and establish the Articles of Faith and the truths which are their consequences. It was in them, together with divine tradition, that they found the refutation of heretical error, and the reasonableness, the true meaning, and the mutual relation of the truths of the Catholic faith. Nor will any one wonder at this who considers that the Sacred Books hold such a pre-eminent position among the sources of Revelation that without the a.s.siduous study of them Theology cannot be rightly treated as its dignity demands. Although it is right and proper that students in academical inst.i.tutions and schools should be chiefly exercised in acquiring a scientific knowledge of dogma by means of reasoning from the Articles of Faith to their consequences, according to the rules of approved and solid philosophy, nevertheless a grave and learned theologian will by no means overlook that method of doctrinal demonstration which draws its proof from the authority of the Bible.

Theology does not receive her first principles from other sciences, but immediately from G.o.d through Revelation. And therefore she does not receive from other sciences as from superiors, but uses them as her inferiors and her handmaids. It is this view of doctrinal teaching which is laid down and recommended by the prince of theologians, St.

Thomas of Aquin. He also shows--such being the essential character of Christian Theology--how a theologian can defend his own principles against attack. "If the adversary," he says, "do but grant any portion of the divine revelation, we have an argument against him. Against a heretic we can employ Scripture authority, and against those who deny one article we can use another. If our opponent rejects divine revelation altogether, then there is no way left to prove the Articles of Faith by reasoning. We can only solve the difficulties which are raised against the faith." Care must be taken, then, that beginners approach the study of the Bible well prepared and furnished; otherwise, just hopes will be frustrated, or perchance--and this is worse--they will unthinkingly risk the danger of error, and fall an easy prey to the sophisms and labored erudition of the rationalists. The best preparation will be a conscientious application to philosophy and theology under the guidance of St. Thomas of Aquin, and a thorough training therein--as We Ourselves have elsewhere shown and prescribed.

By this means, both in biblical studies and in that part of Theology which is called _Positive_, they will pursue the right path and make solid progress.

To prove, to expound, to ill.u.s.trate Catholic doctrine by the legitimate and skilful interpretation of the Bible is much; but there is a second part of the subject of equal importance and of equal laboriousness,--the maintenance in the strongest possible way of the fulness of its authority. This cannot be done completely or satisfactorily except by means of the living teaching authority of the Church herself. The Church, by reason of her wonderful propagation, her shining sanct.i.ty, and her inexhaustible fecundity in good, her Catholic unity, and her unshaken stability, is herself a great and perpetual motive of credibility, and an una.s.sailable testimony of her own divine mission. But since the divine and infallible teaching authority of the Church rests also on the authority of Holy Scripture, the first thing to be done is to vindicate the trustworthiness of the sacred records at least as human doc.u.ments. From this can clearly be proved, as from primitive and authentic testimony, the divinity and the mission of Christ our Lord, the inst.i.tution of a hierarchical Church, and the primacy of Peter and his successors. It is most desirable, therefore, that there should be many members of the clergy well prepared to enter upon a contest of this nature, and to repulse the attacks of the enemy, chiefly trusting in that armor of G.o.d which is recommended by the Apostle, but at the same time not unacquainted with the more modern methods of attack. This is beautifully alluded to by St. John Chrysostom. Describing the duties of priests, he says: "We must use our every endeavor that the 'word of G.o.d may dwell in us abundantly.' Not merely for one kind of light must we be prepared, for the contest is many-sided, and the enemy is of every sort. They do not all use the same weapons, nor do all make their onset in the same way.

It is needful that the man who has to contend against all should have knowledge of the engines and the arts of all. He must be at once archer and slinger, commandant and officer, general and private soldier, foot-soldier and horseman, skilled in sea-fight and in siege.

Unless he knows every trick and turn of war, the devil is well able, if only a single door be left open, to get in his ferocious bandits and to carry off the sheep." The sophisms of the enemy and the manifold strategy of his attack We have already touched upon.

Let Us now say a word of advice on the means of defence. The first means is the study of Oriental languages and of the art of criticism.

These two acquirements are in these days held in high estimation. The clergy, by making themselves more or less fully acquainted with them, as time and place may demand, will the better be able to discharge their office with becoming credit. They must make themselves "all things to all men," always "ready to satisfy every one that asketh them a reason for the hope that is in them." Hence it is most proper that professors of Sacred Scripture and theologians should master those tongues in which the Sacred Books were originally written. It would be well that Church students also should cultivate them, more especially those who aspire to academic degrees in Theology. Endeavors should be made to establish in all academic inst.i.tutions--as has already been laudably done in many--chairs of the other ancient languages, especially the Semitic, and of subjects connected therewith, for the benefit princ.i.p.ally of those who are destined to profess sacred literature. These latter, with a similar object in view, should make themselves well acquainted with and thoroughly exercised in the art of true criticism. There has arisen, to the great damage of religion, an artificial method, which is dignified by the name of the "higher criticism." It pretends to judge of the origin, the integrity, and the authority of every Book from internal indications alone. It is clear, on the other hand, that in historical questions, such as the origin and the handing down of writings, the witness of history is of primary importance, and that historical investigation should be made with the utmost care. In this matter internal evidence is seldom of great value, except by way of confirmation. To look upon it in any other light will be to open the door to many evil consequences. It will make the enemies of religion much more bold and confident in attacking and endeavoring to destroy the authenticity of the Sacred Books. This vaunted "higher criticism" will resolve itself into the reflection of the bias and the prejudice of the critics. It will not throw on the Scriptures the light which is sought, or prove of any advantage to doctrine. It will only give rise to disagreement and dissension, those sure notes of error, which the critics in question so plentifully exhibit in their own persons. Seeing that most of them are tainted with false philosophy and rationalism, it must lead to the elimination from the sacred writings of all prophecy and all miracle, and of everything else that lies outside the natural order.

In the second place, we have to contend against those who, abusing their knowledge of physical science, minutely scrutinize the Sacred Books, in order to detect the writers in a mistake, and so to vilify the books themselves. Attacks of this kind, bearing as they do on matters of experience of the senses, are peculiarly dangerous to the ma.s.ses, and also to the young, who are but beginning their literary studies. The young, if they lose their reverence for divine revelation on any one point, are but too easily led to give up believing in revelation altogether. It need scarcely be pointed out how the science of nature, just as it is so admirably adapted to show forth the glory of the Great Creator, provided it be rightly taught, so, if it be perversely imparted to the youthful intelligence, it may prove most fatal in destroying the principles of true philosophy, and in the corruption of morality. Hence to the professor of Sacred Scripture a knowledge of natural science will be of the greatest service in detecting and meeting such attacks upon the Sacred Books.

There can never, indeed, be any real discrepancy between the theologian and the physicist, as long as each confines himself within his own lines, and so long as both are careful, as St. Augustine warns us, "not to make rash a.s.sertions, or to a.s.sert that which is not known as if it were really known." If dissension should arise between them, here is the rule, laid down by St. Augustine for the theologian: "Whatever they can really demonstrate to be true of physical nature, we must show to be not contrary to our Scriptures. Whatever they a.s.sert in their treatises which is contrary to these Scriptures of ours, that is, to Catholic faith, we must either prove it, as well as we can, to be entirely false, or at all events we must, without the smallest hesitation, believe it to be so." To understand how just is the rule here formulated we must remember, first, that the sacred writers, or, to speak more accurately, the Holy Ghost, who spoke by means of them, did not intend to teach men those things (that is to say, the essential nature of the things of the visible universe)--things which are in no way profitable unto salvation. The sacred writers did not seek to penetrate the secrets of nature. They rather described and dealt with things in more or less figurative language, or in terms which were commonly used at the time, and terms which in many instances are in daily use at this day, even amongst the most eminent men of science.

Ordinary speech primarily and properly describes that which falls under the senses. Somewhat in the same way the sacred writers--as the Angelic Doctor reminds us--"went by what sensibly appeared," or put down that which G.o.d, speaking to men, signified in a way which men could understand, and to which they were accustomed.

The strenuous defence of the Holy Scripture, however, does not require that we should equally uphold all the opinions which every one of the Fathers, or which subsequent commentators have set forth in explaining it. It may be that, in commenting on pa.s.sages where physical matters are in question, they have sometimes expressed the ideas of their own times, and have thus made statements which in these days have been abandoned as unfounded. In their interpretations, therefore, we must carefully note that which they lay down as belonging to faith, or as intimately connected with faith, or that in which they are unanimous.

"In those things which do not come under the obligation of faith, the Saints were at liberty to hold divergent opinions, even as we ourselves are," says St. Thomas. In another place he says most admirably: "When philosophers are agreed upon a point, and that point is not contrary to faith, it is safer, in my opinion, neither to lay down such a point as a dogma of faith, even though it is perhaps so presented by the philosophers, nor to reject it as against faith, lest we thus give to the wise of this world an occasion of despising the doctrine of the faith." The Catholic commentator, although he should show that those facts of natural science which investigators affirm to be now in these days absolutely certain are not contrary to Scripture rightly explained, must nevertheless always bear in mind that much which has been held as proved and certain has afterwards been called in question and rejected. If writers on physics travel outside the boundaries of their own department, and carry their erroneous teaching into the domain of philosophy, let them be handed over by the theological commentator to philosophers for refutation.

The principles here laid down will apply to cognate sciences, and especially to history. It is a lamentable fact that there are many men who with great labor make and publish investigations on the monuments of antiquity, the manners and inst.i.tutions of nations, and other ill.u.s.trative subjects, and whose chief purpose in all this is too often to try to find mistakes in the sacred writings, and so to shake and weaken their authority. Some of these writers display not only extreme hostility, but also great unfairness. In their eyes a profane book or an ancient doc.u.ment is accepted without hesitation. Scripture, if they can only find in it a suspicion of error, is set down with the slightest possible discussion as being entirely untrustworthy. It is true, no doubt, that copyists have made mistakes in the text of the Bible. This question, when it arises, should be carefully considered on its merits. The fact, however, is not to be too easily admitted, but only in those pa.s.sages where the proof is clear. It may also happen that the sense of a pa.s.sage remains ambiguous. In this case, sound hermeneutical methods will greatly aid in clearing up obscurity.

It is absolutely wrong, however, and it is forbidden, either to narrow inspiration to certain parts only of Holy Scripture, or to admit that the sacred writer has erred. The system of those who, in order to rid themselves of these difficulties, do not hesitate to concede that divine inspiration regards matters of faith and morals, and nothing beyond them, because (as they wrongly think) in a question of the truth or falsehood of a pa.s.sage we should consider not so much what G.o.d has said as the reason and purpose which He had in mind in saying it, cannot be tolerated. All the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical were written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. So far is it from being possible that any error can co-exist with inspiration, inspiration not only is essentially incompatible with error, but it excludes error as absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible that G.o.d Himself, the Supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the ancient and unchanging faith of the Church. It was solemnly defined in the Councils of Florence and of Trent. It was finally confirmed and more expressly formulated by the Council of the Vatican. These are the words of that Council: The Books of the Old and of the New Testament, whole and entire, with all their parts, as they are enumerated in the decree of the same Council (Trent), and as they are contained in the old Latin Vulgate edition, are to be received as sacred and canonical.

The Church holds them as sacred and canonical, not because, having been composed solely by human industry, they were afterwards approved by her authority, nor only because they contain revelation without error, but because, having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have G.o.d for their Author. Hence we cannot say that, because the Holy Ghost employed men as His instruments, it was these inspired instruments who, perchance, have fallen into error, and not the primary Author. By supernatural power He so moved and impelled them to write--He was so present to them--that all the things which He ordered, and those things only, they first rightly conceived, then willed faithfully to write down, and finally expressed in adequate words and with infallible truth. Otherwise, it could not be said that He was the Author of the whole of the Sacred Scripture. Such has always been the persuasion of the Fathers. "Therefore," says St. Augustine, "since they wrote the things which He showed and said to them, it cannot be said that He did not write them. His members executed that which their Head dictated." St. Gregory the Great maintains: "Most superfluous it is to inquire who wrote these things;--we loyally believe the Holy Ghost to be the Author of the Book. He wrote it who dictated it to be written. He wrote it who inspired its execution."

It follows that those men who maintain that an error is possible in any genuine pa.s.sage of the sacred writings, either pervert the Catholic notion of inspiration, or make G.o.d Himself to be the Author of error.

So emphatically were all the Fathers and Doctors agreed that the divine writings, as left by the hagiographers, are entirely free from all error, that they labored earnestly, with no less skill than reverence, to reconcile one with the other those numerous pa.s.sages which seem to be at variance--the very pa.s.sages which in great measure have been taken up by the "higher criticism." The Fathers were unanimous in laying it down that those writings, in their entirety and in all their parts, were equally from the divine _afflatus_, and that G.o.d Himself, speaking through the sacred writers, could not set down anything that was not true. The words of St. Augustine to St. Jerome may sum up what they taught: "On my own part, I confess to your charity that it is only to those Books of Scripture which are now called canonical that I have learned to pay such honor and reverence as to believe most firmly that no one of their writers has fallen into any error. If in these Books I meet with anything which seems contrary to truth, I shall not hesitate to conclude either that the text is faulty, or that the translator has not expressed the meaning of the pa.s.sage, or that I myself have not understood it."

But with all the weapons of the best of arts, fully and perfectly to fight for the holiness of the Bible is far more than can be looked for from the exertions of commentators and theologians alone. It is an enterprise in which we have a right to expect the co-operation of all Catholic men who have acquired reputation in other branches of learning. As in the past, so at the present time the Church is never without the graceful support of her accomplished children. May their services to the Faith ever grow and increase! There is nothing which We believe to be more needful than that truth should find defenders more powerful and more numerous than are the enemies whom it has to face. There is nothing which is better calculated to imbue the ma.s.ses with homage for the truth than to see it joyously proclaimed by learned men who have gained distinction in some other faculty. Moreover, the bitter tongues of objectors will be silenced. At least they will not dare to insist so shamelessly that faith is the enemy of science when they see that scientific men, of eminence in their own profession, show towards the faith most marked honor and reverence.