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Show LEO XIII. ON THE BIBLE. (Freeman's Journal.) The apostolic letter of Leo XIII. ap pointing a commission for promoting the study of sacred scriptures, a translation trans-lation of which will be found on another an-other page, will be read with great interest, in-terest, as it sets forth the views of the noiy i-atner as to the manner in which Biblical studies should be pursued. The appointment of such a Commission' Commis-sion' shows " that the church in the twentieth century is as solicitous to preserve the written word of God as she was in the early dawn of Christianity Chris-tianity when she carefully guarded the holy scriptures and transmitted' them from age to age down to our own times. Every educated person, though he be not a Catholic, now recognizes the inestimable in-estimable service the church has rendered ren-dered in this matter. He recognizes also how monstrous is the lie that she who, for so long a time, was the only guardian. of the Bible, was always Its most pronounced enemy. That self- evident lie., now gains credence only among the most ignorant enemies of the church. . ' In these days, when the so-called "higher criticism" is playing such havoc with the Bible, the church again throws round.it her protection as she did in the past. In doing this she is acting consistently, as she has'always held the scriptures in the. highest reverence. Protestantism, which at One time stoutly insisted that the holy scriptures scrip-tures were the sole rule of faith, is now show ing a tendency to regard, them as wholly uninspired, and therefore fallible. falli-ble. The result, is that skepticism which is steadily undermining faith, is making mak-ing headway among the Protestant sects. The Catholic church, through Leo XIII, once more stands between the Bible and those who would have men believe that it is nothing more than a piece of literature which has no claims to divine inspiration. That the work of defending the holy scriptures may be systematically carried on, the holy father has appointed a commission composed of learned men who will devote de-vote themselves exclusively to the examination ex-amination and the elucidation of the biblical texts. His . holiness, in his apostolic letter, thus states his reasons for appointing the commission: "In view of the complexity of modern mod-ern studies and the manifold errors which prevail, it has become impossible impossi-ble for individual interpreters of the sacred books to explain and defend them as the needs of the hour require. It has therefore become necessary that their common studies should receive assistance and direction under the auspices aus-pices and guidance of the apostolic see. We think this can be done by adopting in this matter .the same plans we have followed in promoting other studies. We are, then, pleased to establish a species of council or commission, as it is commonly called, of serious men, whose duty it will be to devote their entire en-tire energy tq insure that the divine words may - receive that more minute explanation of them demanded by the time, and may be not only preserved free from all the taint of error, but even raised above rash opinions. The fitting seat for such a council is Rome, under the very, eyes of the supreme Pontiff himself, that inasmuch as the city is the mistress and guardian of Christian wisdom, so the teaching of this necessary doctrine may flow from its center, sound and incorrupt, throughout. the whole: body . of the Christian republic.!' Leo XIII lays down certain. rules for the guidance of the commissioners in order that the important duties assigned as-signed them may. be properly, discharged.' dis-charged.' In the first-place, they are enjoined to "regard, nothing discovered by modern research as foreign to their purpose' -While making use of these aids to shed light on the meaning of Biblical texts, the commissioners are not to -iose sight of. the fact that the Catholic church is the final authority on the interpretation of -the-Holy Scriptures. Scrip-tures. To quote from Leo XIII's apostolic apos-tolic letter: "It is hardly . necessary to say that in texts the sense of which has been determined either by the sacred sa-cred authors br has been authentically declared by. the church, men must be convinced that this is the. only interpretation inter-pretation that can' be approved according accord-ing to sound hermeneutics." Outside of these limitations there is plenty of cope- for-discussion of Biblical Bib-lical texts, in the' interpretation cf which, to quote once more from the apostolic letter, "doctors of divinity mav follow. and defend tnat opinion i which seems to them individually to be most reasonable." The newly, apopinted commission is to hold regular meetings and publish reports at stated times. A certain portion por-tion of the Vatican library has been set aside for the use of the commissioners, who will be supplied, by orders of the holy father, with a large collection of codices and volumes dealing with B:b-lidal B:b-lidal subjects.' - In concluding his apostolic apos-tolic letter, Leo XIII gives this expression expres-sion of his confidence in the beneficial results of the work of the commission: "We have, indeed, full confidence that this undertaking of ours, inasmuch as it concerns the preservation of the faith and the eternal salvation of souls, will be abundantly favored "by the divine goodness, and that through it all Catholics Cath-olics who have devoted themselves to the Sacred Book will respond with full and unlimited obedience to these prescriptions pre-scriptions of the apostolic see." Thus on the threshold of the' twentieth.- centurv ,does the Bible find its stanchest and mest influential defender in the person of the successor of St. Peter To the Catholic church the world was" originally Indebted for the priceless gift of the' written word of God To her also future generations will owe a debt of gratitude for the great service she is rendering in our days by defending the Bible against those w ho would reduce it to the status of an ordinary book. |