The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

"THE CHUKCH AND THE BIBLE. 99And, in fact, very few of the children of Israel,except the priests, were in possession of the divineBooks. The holy manuscript was rare and precious.And what provision did God make that all the people might have an opportunity of hearing the Scriptures? Did He command the Sacred Volume to bemultiplied No ? but;He ordered the priests andLevites to be distributed through the different tribes,that they might always be at hand to instruct thepeople in the knowledge of the law. The Jews wereeven forbidden to read certain portions of the Scripture till they had reached the age of thirty years.Does our Saviour reverse this state of things whenHe comes on earth ? Does He tell the Jews to be"their own guides in the study of the Scriptures?By no means but;He commands them to obey theirconstituted teachers, no matter how disedifyingmight be their private lives. Then said Jesus tothe multitudes and to His disciples: The Scribesand Pharisees situpon the chair of Moses. Allthings therefore , whatsoever they shall*observe and do."say to you,It is true, our Lord said on one occasion : Searchthe Scriptures, for you think in them to havelifeeverlasting, and the same are they that givetestimony to Me." 2This passage is triumphantlyquoted as an argument in favor of private interpretation. But itproves nothing of the kind. Manylearned commentators, ancient and modern, express^-Matt. xxiii. 2, 3. 3John v. 33.