GREAT QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 40, 5 October 1905, Page 4

GREAT QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

(Continued from Lint \\\\'k.)

THE AUSTRALIAN PLENARY COUNCIL'S PASTORAL LETTfcK

Man has a right to his 'family ; and Clod lia.s protected his right by establishing the Indissoluble Bout] >of Marriage, and by forbidding in the Sixtih Commandment the -\iolation. of that right The bond of niaiHa-ge when it has been completely established between two Christians can be bioken "only by death. This fundamental piiinciple ot the I hnstuaii family, and therefore of Christian society, winch is made up of families, has been tampered with in many countries by modern civil legislation on "divorce, and is flatly 'denied by those woukl-be social reformers whose paths would lie over the ruin's of the present social order. It has always bo-en the aim of the Catholic Church to mam bain amongst Christians this divinely appointed prerogative of Uhristian marriage, which she 'Knows well to be necessary for the -very existence of ' Christian society , ajnd, as history testifies, she has not faltered in nor purpose, even when the tyrant's might threuUmeU her destruction in his dominions. To the modern Socialist, nisi as to the io> al libeitine, the Church says with dmne authority: ''What :(lod has joined together, let no man put asunder,' and we warn you, dearly belo\ed brethren, to beware of any doctrine which tends to abolish the bond of Christian marriage -or to weaken its efficacy in maintaining, our social order. Man's right to hold as his own the goods of this world is declared and protected by the Seventh Co-m-m and liven t. Kvcu be-fore the finger of (rod wioto on the tajbles of the law, ' Thou shalt not steal,' man's light to possess what the Creator made for his use and (benefit was acknowledged a ml respected. Mail's individual tight, therefore, to possess property 'of his own, a light he has from Nature itself, must not be called in question. This truth, dearly beloved brethren, contains a principle by which ( 'at holies must l,e guided in considering systems that are propounded for the amelioration of the condition of the laboring classes. Vvo set it before you as a useful criterion on which you may form your judgment It is not our intention to 'treat eixivaust ively of a Mibvect which Urn vvoild over is now oceupvmg the minds of the thoughtful, aiud aiousing in many places the desires of all true loveis of the welfare of Chnstian sot let \ . 1 n that so< let y labor lias Ever Had a Dignity unknown to the woiKl before (iod became Inornate in the S.HK'I Pel son of linn Who was known as the Caipenlei oi \a/aieth, and, as we arc peifectly certain, impossible apart fiom the religion lie has lonnded and maintained His Chinch will nevei flown on labor 01 on p(»verlv , but will e\ci enable both to sanctih by viituc these < oiidii i >ns which llisPiovidence has m wi-doni pei mancnt 1\ maintains! Nor will she d'scoutage men lrom using e\ ci v law tul meat's of hetteiing rt lie condition of then earthly eaicei, whether it lie mdiv ldually or collectively, pro'V i led thai alvvavs tliev ohev Our Loid's command, which was made with a ])iomise, ' Seek ye first the Kiiiudom of Cod and I T is uislue, and all ih se idinnus shall be added uirto von ' We conclude, this/ su'bieet with Hie remark, that a,s to all such schemes as have for their o-foiec 1 the s>et<tlement of fie re iple on the land anil the amelioration of the MH'ial condition of the laboring clas-scs, and as to the State monopoly of such public c oiiv em en cos, viewing them as fai as they may be attained consistently with exist mat tigjhts whatever be then e<<noniu e!Tic icnie\ , we do nut lcg.ird them as necessarily at vatiance with the- principles of Cluistian morality The Church and Public Education Tn a deiiKM latir- community a nvinomv is sometune's the vie Inn ot disabilities ot'iei than civ'i', or oily dnectlv civil , and of Mich lniustue have we 1 o com j ,lam m ' the matter of piovisun foi public education The ('aljiolu Church is ton old and too experienced an institution to insist evervwhoie and always oin onv inenute urolving sat i idee and trouble to hdr people, unless such mc\asnie is of \itnl importance for the welfaie of souls and ">f society \nw the Church throughout the vvoild insists omluuinp in her own can 1 the education of Ihe (hildien

of heir flock, and this for the simple reason that she beliieves and knows "that on soich bringing up depends their eternal salvation. Tine Olvurch in Australia has bi-en no exception to this rule, and from the very beginning our Bishops have fnade primary education one of the most indispensable works of religious organization. In Australia, as in many other teounttnes, owing to the State's unwillingness to assist denominational schools, the Church has had to carryout her education programme without her just share of the puiblic moneys spent on the instruction, of the people. .She has thus been compelled to pay twice O'\ er fo<r 'her children's schooling ; and in keeping up a si'ipaiale system in the face of an official and popular opposition almost amounting to hostility, Oatnolics ha\e had to suffer what really amounts to A Civil Disability. But they have acted thi»s for conscience' sake, ai*d the results ha<ve fully justified them. They oan, in the words of St. Paul, say : 'We 'have fought the goad light, we have kept the faith ' ; and they may confidently look forward to the crown of justice, at least on the day of eternal retribution. The easygoing 'neglect of" the spiritual interests of their children, which characterises so many non-Catholics amongst us, and their suspicion of 'the Ohurch's intentions arc likely for the present to preclude from the thoughts of Australian statesmen any change in the actual systefns', but we are confident that one day the cause of uistice shall triumph, and that the giardians of the public welfare will lind it a good and a necessary 'policy t>o assist in her educational etlort an institution which devotes itself, as the Catholic Church does, to the inculcation of the principles of Chnstian morality. In tihe interests of our oouintry, we would wish that tifre inog,lect of Christian tiaming for the children of a Christian people may niot be carried so far as to exclude all hope of preserving tiieir Christianity. For the sonlv of our own children we hope, with (Jod's hies simg, to carry on the work of Catholic education en en more energetically in the future; and on this occasion we remind the clergy of the grave duty of pastors to establish Catholic school's wherever they can.' be maintained, to fioster them with diligence, and to do everyt'himg possible to promal'e their efficiency. The debt we owe to The Religious Teaching Communities on account < f the achievements of Catholic education ks m 'gieaty one Without their zealous assistance t)he sue cvs s acnidvol would have been impossible', and while we 'are thankful to God's Providence for inspiring so many of Australia's 'sons and daughters to enter the lanks ot the religious communities, we exhoit them to keep alvvavs befoie them the highest standard of exct Hence, and not to be content with any lower. It should enooinage our religious teachers to reflect that their LUjois' are Aposiiolic m the strictest sense, because they shale m ona< of the highest and m our day most lavissaiv vsoiks ot the Apostolic ministiy — 'the teaching oi lehgion While spciknij, nf ediucation we deem it our duty to niipitss on all who share with us in any way the past nial burden the gieat linnoi tance of the study of Catholic histoiv Jii our piimary schools we succeed almnablv m teacluTO, the little ones the rudiments of lue I-'inth The children who attend our schools learn then Caiech'sni well , and, for the most part, they are fully traimd in (he difiicult ai( of Christian living; but can we (latter oui selves that their subsequent cairns always fulfil the promise of their prime? Is theie not much room Tor improvement in the Catholic tone of many of our laity '> Here it is that the impoi lance of a k'ii<ivv ledge of Catholic history makes itself filt \ mil ate oui schools, especially our higher sitot/oK, 'doing all they ought to do in this matter? It is ill duestion of the gravest import ; and on the ■n^vvei to it depends in a great measure the influence that lehgion will have m regulating the lives of many individuals, ,ni < since lally Iho influence that the Catholh laity of the land is destined to exert, in promoting The Christianity of its People. Our \omth show themselves most apt in conducting useful societies for literary purposes ; but in these- societieM dc Ciev , by their choice of sunjects and by their in.'ivier <vf ireatinu: ordinary topics, prove themselves to be nlucilel Catholics'' If they do not, it is not because t'Mcir religion nnd history do not afford them the material but because they have not been trained in that' ni( st useful and necessary part of a Catholic education We therefore deem it a most pressing duty to urge on Ihe clergy and on our Catholic teachers, espe-

CMfcUy those who conduct the higihetr educational establishments,, the necessity of taking every care that those whom they prepare to be leaders in our social life shall not be compelled by their ignorance of the Church's glorious history to so demean themselves as if the popular errors regarding the Church were true, or as if it were no business of theirs to vindicate before the world her rights and her honor. We likewise commend to the parochial clergy the establishment and encouragement of literary socielios, especially in populous centres ; and we request the clergy to make it a point of duty to assist in making these societ/ies the means of propagating among our young men a sound historical knowledge of our holy religion. The Catholic Church and the Bible In the domain of thought also, the Church has had to sustain, a fierce conflict, and she lias been enabled to come forth unscathed. From the 'days of Voltaire and the Encyclopaedists, at tfae end of the eighteenth century, the opposition of what is known as ' modern thought ' and of popular literature to Christianity and ta God has been very acute. Awl, owing to the great spread among the multitudes of the ability to road and the ready zeal of the Church's enemies to supply cheap reading matter, great havioc has been wrought with the faith of Christians, especially«outside the Catholic _ Church. Then the triumphs of scientific discoveries in the domain of physics and chemistry, and their application to the daily needs of life, have given to physical science an undue influence with Ohe multitude, an influence which some of the leading teachers of that science have not hesitated to use to the destruction of the Christian Faith. But in this conflict also we have already entered on a period of comparative triumph for the Church ; and earnest men of every class are coining to realise that in philosophy, science, ami other departments of human knowledge ' Our little systems have their day, They have their day, and fceaso to toe.' But wiben the deluge of opinions subsides there is always found one institution winch, instead of being anguished by the waves, is carried on their surface, and borne to a higher plane than it has previously occupied. That institution is the Catholic Church, fitly typified by the Ark of Noe, in which the only survivors of humankind were saved from the deluge of waters. In the Revolt of Modern 'Rationalism against dogmatic rcwoaled religion, the fiercest attack Df the enemies has been agarnst the Bible, which they would fain depme of its sacicd character and traditional honor among Christians by contending that it ■bears in itself the proofs of human fallibility, and cannot, therefore, bo accepted as the Word <>! (jod It is well known that the section of Christianity called Protestants has made live Bible the full and solo rule of its beliei, and thus, if the contention of rationalism were well founded, Christianity, as represented: t>y Protestantism, would 'be doomed to pass into the region of false and abandoned systems*. And, indeed, every serious student must be filled with g'ra\c misgiving, for the future of Proves torn tusm as a religious system when he finds the authorised ministers- in no smiall number adopting the views of Rationalists on the Bible. For the Catholic, on thtf lot'her hp,firi, there is no such fea/r. The depository of his dogmas and the rule of hisl belief is not the sacred text of Scripture, biut a living- society— a society constituted before one 'page of the 'New Testament was written, and guided in every; moment of its existence by the same Holy Spirit who inspired both prophets amd evangelists. The Catholic Is equally certain that the Church which teaches Mm, and the Bible which that Church interprets for him, 'are both infallible, because both proceed from The. Same Spirit of Truth. But, as a written code of laws would be insufficient to •direct human conduct without living judges to interpret it, so can the Bible bo regarded 'as an infallible guide only so tfar as 4t is presented an,d interpreted by living men, who have been commissioned by its Au/thor to teach its lessons to mankind. The Catholic, therefore, believes Ihe infallibility of the Bible, becamse he believies the in fallibility of Ihe Church ; and he is not disturbed by the opposition of Rationalism, hecause he knows that reason, man's, most God-like natural Endowment, when rightly used, cannot contradict Revelation, which is t'lve supernatural light of God's spirit showing man "his high origin and his exalted destiny. The Catholic of the present day has, moreover, the confidence inspired <by the success with which the Church has defended the teachings of the Bible

through nineteen centuries against every form of attack that human reason, often impelled by depraved human passions, could devise. And so, even by the test of success, h© judges the Bible still worthy of his trust and reverence as the written code of God's revelation. Not ha# he the least doubt that the ever-living tribunal which can adapt itself to the fresh circumstances that may arise, will be as successful in the future as it has been in the past in protecting and interpreting God'is Written Word for the instruction and edification of man unto life eleinal.. While the Catholic, with a firm faith jt accepts from the Ohurch the Bible, and the interpretation of it,, he does not ignore oar belittle the Value of learned research into the records of the past, by which the origin of the Sacred Writings, the immaediate purpose of their composition, and other similar matters, may be inquired into. On the contrary, in such studies the Churoh's scholars have .always been in) the front) ranks of the learned ; and the Church authorities have fostered and promoted such research, and have never hesitated to acknowledge any corrections of traditional views, when the sound and mature results' of study have shown these corrections to be reasonable. And sa it is to-day. One of the last and. most important of the many golden Encyclicals of the late glorious Pontiff, Leo XIII., was that entitled, ' Providentissimus Dens,' in which that eminent patron of learning and wisdom reviewed the question of Biblical study, and taught as a master the principles that should regulate it. In this letter the Pontiff, in his ' long-cherished desire to give an impulse to the noble science of Holy Scripture, and to impart to Scripture study a direction suitable to the needs of the present dxy,' exalts the importance of these studies, and vindicates to the Church what is often denied to her, the claim,/ * that she has never failed in taking due measures to bring the Scriptures within reach of her children, and that she has ever held fast and exercised profitably that guardianship conferred on her by Almigtifty God for the protection and glory of His Holy Word.' He directs students on various points as to the proper manner of treating the study of the Bible, and of defending it against the attacks of modern criticism and the supposed opposition of physical science. A few months before his> death the indefatigable Pontiff constituted a commission of Cardinals and learned consultors, called the Commission of Biblical Studies. These he charged, not only to defend tine Catholic faith regarding Holy Scripture, but also to keep themselves informed of all that is written on the Bible, and not to neglect any of the special sources, sucJh as philology, the Oriental languages, and the study of early manuscripts, from which light may be gained in this difficult matter. His present Holiness,. Pope Pius X., has enlarged Ihe scope of this Commission, and empowered it to grant degrees in Biblical 'theology. The Study of the Bible by norn-Catholic Christians has not been conducted on these lines. The non-Catholic Christian, having oast aside the authority of a living Church, must needs go forth on tine ocean of enquiry without the staying power which fallible human reason needs in a voyage so full Of difficulty and danger. Instead of looking to the Church which Jesus Christ established, as the depository and guardian of religious truth for all ages, he must regard his own Church as a society of men seeking after the truth, which they have no guarantee of ever finding, no test of recognising If perchance they should come across it in their searching. Then again, with many of them, though professing to be believers and to have divine faith, their assent to the truths of faith is such as to produce rather opinion, than certitude. Having no divinely-appointed teacher 'to look to, they take human reason as their supreme guide, and, studying the supernatural truths of God by the light of mere nature,, setting reason abo\o faith, their conclusions must needs be defective and uncertain. F very day is 'bringing about more fully the undoing of the Christianity of such as these; ' and thoir right to the name of Christian is daily daily growing less. To-day they shock the pious eat si of Christians by calling in question the virginity of the Most Holy Mother of God— denying to thi« most exalted of God's creatures that privilege which she herself hesitated to forego even for the dignity of the Divine Maternity, and which the universal voice of mankind has recognised by calling her The Virgin. IT they sitill regard Jesus Christ as something more than a mero man, it does not reouire a prophet's powers to foretell that before long they will also despoil Him of His claim on the reverence of men by denying His Divinity,

It is not a new thing in the world to hear opinions like these. The Ebionites and Corinthians, in the first and second centuries, professed similar views regarding the Virgin birth, and the Arians, in the third century, denied the Divinity of Christ. But all these were deemed 'heretics, ami were cut off from the body of Christian believers- Wlhlat is new in 'the history of Christianity is to see men teaching such, doctrines, and thereafter continuing to foe the accredited ministers of a Christian, Church., St. John said : • Every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God; and this is Anti-Christ' (I. Epist. 4* 3») ; and we may take it as certain that, if that vigorous opponent of heresy were to describe the new Axiansi among our separaW brethren, he would not hesitate to apply to them the words of the prophet : ' In the temple the abomination of desolation ' (Dan. 9, 27(). The Present Attitude of many Protestants towards tibe Bible is strangely inconsistent with the old cry of ' The Bible and the Bible, only ' as a rule of faith, and with theic boasted chamipionsM'p of the sacred volume against the supposed opposition to it of the Catholic Church. In view of later developments among! Bible Ch/ristians, iti does not seem very far to the time when Protestants shall have thrown* the Bible aside as an out-of-date collectiton of doubtful documents, no longer claiming their belief or reverence. It will) then be seen that the Chjuroh 1 which received fromUhe synagogues the Sacred Writings of the Law and the prophets, and witnessed within its own fold the birth of the New Testament, wftiieh presented the whole Bible thus composed to the successive centuries that have passed over her, and interpreted it through them all to Christian beliercrers—it) will then be seen that she has been the trwe protector of God's written word, and by keeping it as a document of His Revelation in its due place in the divine organism of religion, she will stand before the world* tit is to be feared, as the only defender of Christianity. To yo"u, reverend brethren of the clergy, we commend most earnestly a renewed zeal in the constant diligent study of the Sacred Scripture. ' Eat this Book, and go speak to the Children of Israel,' was God's expressive command to the Prophet of old, and it is still the daily prayerful reading of the Divine Word that best prepares the priest for his most necessary and most divine work of preaching. It will senve us priests to reflect how have we kept the resolution mjado in seminary days, to read at least one chapter of the Bible daily, and how easily we might do it, 'and how much we lose by not doing it. Those of the clejrgy who cam. 'do so, should keep themselves acquainted with the progress in Biblical studies made by the learned, and especially witjh the investigations of the Pontifical Commission on these studies, reoentlp organised 6!by the Holy See. To the faithful laity we commend the devout reading of the New Testament, especially of the Gospels*, and we hope that a reverent familiarity with the Sacred Text will become amongst our people more frequent than it has been. The children in our schools should be familiarised with the beautiful stones of Bible history and the important lessons they were intended to convey, and wherever possible, classes of the grownup children! who have just left school should be established; fooD the study of Bible History. Popular Catholic Literature We live in an age that is 'by many considered an age of light, but is certainly an ago of reading. The widespread! facilities of popular education leave few amongst _ our people who do not read ; and a quick commercial instinct keeps trtiem plentifully suippiiod with cheap reading, in book and booklets, magazines, journals* amd.' daily newspapers'; but, under the guidance of that commercial instinct, the supply of reading matter is ordered i)o suit the tastes of the maliions, who, as a rule, care little for serious knowledge, and r^un chiefly in their reading after diversion and frivolity. Neftcr before have St. Paul's words been so fully verified : ' There shall be a time when they shall hot endure sound doctrine ; but according to their own desires they will hea/p to themselves' teachers having itching cars, and will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables (11. Tim. 4, 3-1). The multitude of the itching ears have indeed heaped to themselves teachers ; and to these teachers their mandate is : ' Behold not for us ■tfhoso things that are right : speak unto us pleasant things : see errors for us ' (Isai. 30, 10). The writers who cater for the people's reading are, no doubt, largely influenced by the commercial instinct, but this instinct) 'does not explain fully their marvellous capacity, fox ' seeing errors,' and their singular ingenuity in set-

ting forth! vice in the most attractive garb. To üb« derstand the almost universal animosity of populati writers against the Church, and their glorification ,ol paganism, one would suppose them to be led by the instinct of that Spirit who is the enemy of truth, and to have asi their motto, ' let the Holy One of Israel cease from before us ' (Isai. 30, 11). Tihis hostility ot writers towards Revealed Religion, and especially towards its divinely appointed guardian, the Catholic Church, coupled with the widespread popular taste for reading, m'aikes it necessary to supply an antidote to check the evil of rationalistic literature by the spread of cheap Oatfoolic literature, and to withstand the influence of anti-Catholic newspapers by newspapers that will publish -the truth about Catholic affairs, and enable Catholics to ' convince the guinsayers ' (Tit. 1, 9)-, We have to thank God that His Providence has raised up> to meet the needs of religion in these times, numerous writers of ability and literary merit ; and that in their hands the oause of Christianity baa been vindicated against infidelity and heresy of every kind. But the groat need of the times is to put tihe work of these writers in the hands of the people, in other words-,, to publish them cheaply. (To be concluded next week.)