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Show 1 HOLY WRIT WHITTLED BY HIGHER CRITICS" Iquivocation in Recital of Apostles Creed by .the Cult Named, Causes Conster-f Conster-f j , nation In Bible Ranks. ' " j (Written for The Inte;inountain Catholic.) I The stand taken by the American Biblical j League, an organization recently formed, against I tin.- higher criticism of the Bible, was the subject f vi ur hast communication. It was shown that the I "higher critics'' in pushing the principles of pri-vtc pri-vtc judgment to ihcir logical conclusion, were ! Thoroughly consistent, whilst the League, which as- mined not only to criticize but condemn ..the i "higher critics"' had no standing in court, v When the members of the. League connect the Bible with the name of their organization. "because I they believe it to be the word of God," very natur- ;i!ly the Jiigher critics, who deny this, would de- . maud proof. The proof must be logical. The favorite fa-vorite proof given by the Keformers was: "The I Scriptures declare they are inspired;, therefore j ihcy are inspire-d." Without even demurring, the ; Jiigher critics deny this conclusion as simply grat-l grat-l nitous. If the simple declaration made in writing j be sufiicient to prove that the book is inspired, then (say the cricits) why not apply this same logic 10 Mahomet's Koran! There must be some author-1 author-1 ity, or infallible court, apart from and independent uf the Bible to pronounce judgment on its inspira- tiou. - - ; Can the "American Bible League" give any Mich authority! No. Then, say the 'critics as in-t-piration is a purely internal fact, not external, no proof drawn from the Bible itself is admissible. The only possible way for the members of the League to convince the critics," iiflidels and agnos-iies, agnos-iies, that the testimony of the Bible regarding its inspiration is conclusive, is to work some "miracle, which would serve as God's seal that it was 'inspired, 'in-spired, y ' If. for example, the members. of the League would or .could say to the enemies 1 of the Bible, i"You set this church on fire,-and by the magic V'Ui h of the Bible it will bo immediately , extinguish.-!,' then, iudot-d, could I hey say to the higher critics, infidels, and agnostics: Now you have an j "nvlnigible proof, tcstinumy from heaven, that ' the Bible is the inspired word of God.' .But this ; they will not dare attempt. Ignoring the testimony f the Catholic church, they simply appeal to the -ivdulity, and not to the reason of their followers io accept as inspired the written word without any logical proof that it. is. . . The higher critics who are betler and. more consistent Protestants, join isnue with them, and say, "We have long since rejected the infallible I authority of the Catholic church' in defining what t is the inspired word. You, with us pronounce it I intolerable arrogance on the part of that church I in dictate and say for certain what books are the I inspired word of God and what hooks "are not. I Now. following out the logical consequence of our protest, we carry that protest to its final conso- !''enee, and conclude, that as we reject the infallible infal-lible authority of the Catholic church in declaring tli" inspiration of the Bible, we have no logical, proof that it is inspired. As good Protestants, who are the vanguard of reason, enlightenment, and civilization w can not suffer our faith to be reduced re-duced to a mere matter of credulity. To do so wi.uld be to stand on the same plane as the Mahometans Ma-hometans who accept the Koran as the inspired word or God.' This was the gist of St. Augustine's in vincible logic in his epistle against the Maniche- ims at the end of the fourth century when he wrote: "I would not believe the Gospel, if I were not nicvel by the authority of the Catholic church. If, I . then. I oley them when they tell me 'Believe in the t Gospel.' why should I not obey them when they ; i' !! me. 'Believe not in Manioheism.' " Willi the Bible as the inspired word of God, j iliere is only ohc question, and that is the infalli ble authority of the Catholic Church in declaring I i: u be such. This momentous question can not be blinked at or set aside. Even. the members of i i' L;iguo reluctantly admit this. At a recent Meeting in New York, one speaker said: "If the do.-trine of holy writ is whittled by ministers with- j ". ;n the Protestant denominations, the only refuge j j ef thp 'always faithful' would be in the Roman j Catholic church.' Another speaker at the same if i Meeting. Bo v. Robert Rusedl Booth, moderator of , i ' ill-: Presbyterian general assembly and pastor emrrilus of Rutgers Presbyterian, church, discuss- : liin "The Practical Consequences of the Attack on ;'.n Bible," deploringly said: "A minister in this city as prominent as there is 1 in tli land, reads his Apostles' Creed : "Jesus Christ, ' 'ho. thfv say, was born .01. the Virgin Mary' and "J-sus Christ who, they say. was raised after the I third dav.' "o wonder men find excuse for easy virtue when I Ministers ordained of God insert "they say in the Apostles' Creed. We are livins in a time ?f financial "i..rality appalling' to old fashioned men. And there t 1ms come a change over our ministers which makes ; the people suspicious of th?'ir' honesty. ' If this continues, if the. word of God given our f .:hers is whittled away by ministers of our Proliant Pro-liant denominations, the time must come when ; tj those alwavs faithful-to God there will be but n.. refuge and that will be the . Roman Catholic ' b'jrch. which, whatever It has added, to the word of. i '")'. has taken nothing from it. t '"We of this League expect Archbishop Farley, and Tiishop rotter will join this movement, if not by cn- ) "llment, in heart and spirit. "It is an imaginative and fictitious consensus of opinion for which journalists are to. blame that liniarship is all on the side of critics. I say that ; the ablest scholars will line up on our side five .to i one." " , The would-be heretics, of whom the Tenerablc ; ex-pastor speaks, doubtless would and justly". ;t I ' op Protestant principles, deny the charge of heresy. If Tint waiving what the ''higher critics' could' logic- :; ally say to the Ieaguers, we could retort on Dr. Hohert Russell Booth in his allusion to the promi- ! n nt Xew York minister who practically denies the apostolic creed, by asking, if the Apostolic Creed is ' a matter of vital importance to Presbyterianism hy not place it at the 'head. .of their Confession? ; l This learned divine, who is well rersed in ihr con- i '"iiulionf the Presbyterian' church. the;.Confcs- I fcion of Taith, etc., (which was ratified by the Gen- i . ; oral Assembly in May, 1621, and amended in 1S33), must be aware that the Confession makes no mention men-tion of the Apostle's Creed. It. merely added on to the Shorter Catechism, yet notably eliminating the term Apostles' and simply calling it .a 'Creed.'' In relegating the symbol of the -Apostles to- the end of their book, and making no mention of it in . the text and finally terming, it simply a "Creed," would seem to pave the way for the prominent minister min-ister who now professes his faith in '"Jesus Christ, who, they say, wa-born of the Virgin Mary," and "Jesus Christ, who, they -say1, was raised after the . third day." . -' But enough. Error always was, rs, and ever will be inconsistent. Wc heartily endorse the expectation expecta-tion pf the Presbyterian divine lhat Archbishop Farley mav join the League, yet His Grace, without with-out an infallible authoritative church to back him up would be of very little assistance to the American Ameri-can Bible League, in proving that1 the Bible is the inspired word. . . , . v w Xllis subject is not concluded. . Jr . JJ. , f . . J , |