The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

""98 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.religious controversies by a private appeal to theWord of God.""Wheneverany religious dispute arose among thepeople, it was decided by the High Priest and theSanhedrim, which was a council consisting of seventy-two civil and ecclesiastical Judges. The sentenceof the High Priest and of his associate Judges wasto be obeyed under penalty of death. If thou persays the Book of Deuteronomy, that thereceive,"be among you a hard and doubtful matter in judgof the Le-ment, . . . thou shalt come to the priests vitical race, and to the Judge, . . . and they shallshow thee the truth of the .judgment.. . And thoushalt follow their sentence ;neither shalt thou declineto the right hand, nor to the left. . . . But he thatwill . . . refuse to obeythe commandment of thepriest, that man shall . . . die, and thou shalt take1away the evil from Israel."that GodFrom this clear sentence, you perceivedoes not refer the Jews, for the settlement of theircontroversies, to the letter of the law, but to theliving authority of the Ecclesiastical tribunal whichHe had expressly established for that purpose.Hence, the priests were required to be intimatelyacquainted with the Sacred Scripture, because theywere the depositaries of God s law, and were its expounders to the people. The lips of the priestshall keep knowledge, and they (the people) shallseek the law at his mouth, because he is the angela(or messenger) of the Lord of Hosts."1Deut. xvii. 8. et seq. 2 Mai. ii. 7.