The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

"TakeTHE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE.10Sof your preaching sermons and catechizing theyoung, if the Bible at home is a sufficient guide foryour people ? The fact is, you Reverend gentlemencontradict in practice what you so vehemently advance in theory. Do not tell me that the Bible isall-sufficient ; or, if you believe it is self-sufficient,cease your instructions. Stand not between thepeople and the Scriptures.I will address myself now in a friendly spirit toa non-Catholic, and will proceed to show him thathe cannot consistently accept the silent Book ofScripture as his sufficient guide.A copy of the sacred volume is handed to you byyour minister, who says:this book ; you willfind it all-sufficient for salvation."your But here 8serious difficulty awaits you at the very threshold ofyour investigations. What assurance have you thaithe book he hands youis the inspired Word of God ;for every part of the Bible is far from possessing intrinsic evidences of inspiration ? It may, for aughtyou know, contain more than the Word of God, orit may not contain all the Word of God. We mustnot suppose that the Bible was always, as it is now,a compact book, bound in a neat form. It was forseveral centuries in scattered fragments, spread overdifferent parts of Christendom. Meanwhile, manyScripture, werespurious books, under the name ofcirculated among the faithful. There was,for instance, the spurious Gospel of St. Peter ;there wasalso the Gospel of St. James and of St. Matthias.