The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

"108 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.admitting, by these modest words, that he did notpretend of himself to interpret the Scriptures.The Fathers of the Church, though many of themspent their whole lives in the study of the Scriptures,are unanimous in pronouncing the Bible a bookfull of knotty difficulties. And yet we find in ourdays pedants, with a mere smatteringof biblicalat all in the Wordknowledge, who see no obscurityof God, and who presume to expound it from GenesistoRevelation.Fools rush in where angels fearto tread."Does not the conduct of the Reformers conclusivelyshow the utter folly of interpreting the Scripturesby private judgment? As soon as they rejected thoracle of the Church, and set up their own privatejudgment as the highest standard of authority, theycould hardly agree among themselves on the meaning of a single important text. The Bible becamein their hands a complete Babel. The sons ofNoe attempted in their pride to ascend to heavenby building the tower of Babel; and their schemeended in the confusion and multiplication of tongues.The children of the Reformation endeavored in theirconceit to lead men to heaven by the private interpretation of the Bible, and their efforts led to theconfusion and the multiplication of religions. Letme give you one, example out of a thousand. Thesewords of the Gospel,"This isMy werebody,"understood only in one sense before the Reformation. The new lights of the sixteenth century gave