tions. Indeed, it was to prevent pious souls from becoming perplexed that the Roman Catholic church undertook to supervise Bible reading. To be sure, local and universal laws against Bible reading were enacted by some synods, but nevertheless the Roman Catholic church has never objected to the devout perusal of the Bible and has never proscribed the reading of the Bible in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin! Even translations in the vernacular may be read, provided they contain the imprimatur of the bishop and censored explanations! The council of Trent penalized private interpretation. So it would seem that the good Catholic may read his vulgate Bible but may not formulate an opinion regarding it. Contrast with this the pronouncement of the Irish Articles of Religion: "The Scriptures ought to be translated out of the original tongues into all languages for the common use of all men: neither is any person to be discouraged from reading the Bible in such a language as he doth understand, but seriously exhorted to read the same with great humility and reverence, as a special means to bring him to the true knowledge of God and of his own duty."' 37 The most serious feature in regard to the decree on the Bible by the Council of Trent is its 37 Schaff, "Creeds," III, 527. anathema upon any one who does "not receive the entire books with all their parts as they are accustomed to be read in the Catholic Church and in the old Latin Vulgate edition as sacred and canonical, and knowingly and wittingly despises the aforesaid traditions." Fifty-three prelates of whom not one was a specialist in the questions involved ratified this decree which converted ecclesiastical usage into an "absolute article of faith." 38 Ecumenical councils had not determined the limits of the Old Testament or New Testament canon, "by making definite and complete lists of those books which they considered alone to have divine authority." The Roman Catholic Council of Trent did that. Moreover, the acceptance of the Bible as an article of Christian faith is explicitly mentioned for the first time in the creed of Pope Pius IV promulgated in 1564.39 It is after the adoption of the decree on the scriptures by the Council of Trent that Protestant confessions of faith begin to enumerate the canonical books. Finally, that Roman Catholicism accepts a theory of something like verbal inspiration for the entire Bible is borne out by this paragraph from the proceedings of the Vatican Council. "Further, this supernatural revelation, according to the universal belief of the Church, 38 Westcott, "Canon of the New Testament," 473 ff. A declared by the sacred Synod of Trent, is contained in the written books and unwritten traditions which have come down to us, having been received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ himself; or from the Apostles themselves, by the dictation of the Holy Spirit, have been transmitted, as it were, from hand to hand. And these books of the Old and New Testament are to be received as sacred and canonical, in their integrity, with all their parts, as they are enumerated in the decree of the said Council, and are contained in the ancient Latin edition of the Vulgate. These the Church holds to be sacred and canonical, not because, having been carefully composed by mere human industry, they were afterwards approved by her authority, nor merely because they contain revelation, with no admixture of error; but because, having been written by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author, and have been delivered as such to the Church herself." 40 40 Schaff, "Creeds," II, p. 240 ff. CHAPTER V PROTESTANTISM AND THE BIBLE Progress comes through conflict. The curve of history results from the tension between the conserving and expanding forces of life. The human race desires to conform, to be loyal to the group and its ideals, to be led, to follow, to be standardized. On the other hand, it resists pressure and coercion and authority and longs for freedom and independence. never Religion is one of the most conservative elements with which history has made acquaintance and yet it also manifests a pioneering, trail-blazing spirit. The one attitude is characterized by such dogmas as "all change is error, and all error leads to hell-fire"; "the Lord pardon him the Lord blot out his name under heaven. . . There shall no man speak to him, write to him, show him any kindness, stay under the same roof with him"; "to take up arms for the Calvinist is nothing else than to serve under the originator of Calvinism-the Devil." The progressive attitude of religion is marked by such hopes as "force can never persuade men: it only makes hypocrites"; "if all mankind minus one were of one opinion and only one person of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power would be justified in silencing mankind"; "I wholly disapprove of what you say and will defend to the death your right to say it." Protestantism has always been conservative, even to the degree of reaction, and liberal, sometimes to the degree of radicalism, as well. It has insisted upon personalism, upon the freedom of every individual in relation to God and to truth and to fellowman. It has also subjected men to the iron-clad authority of the letter of the Bible. Fundamentalism contends that Christianity is a book religion and regards the Bible as dictated by God and not amenable to the usual vicissitudes of history in its transmission. Liberalism traces the actual story of the Bible in the composition and selection of its books and the alteration of its text in the course of the centuries. It was the action taken by the Roman Catholic Council of Trent that helped harden the Protestant attitude toward the Bible. Martin Luther who in 1517 precipitated the Protestant reformation finally appealed to the Bible as ultimate authority, as "the single and complete source of doctrine." He also limited the Old Testament to the books of the Hebrew canon. He differentiated between the books of the New Testament. He proposed arbitrary principles of translation. He even advanced to criticism of the Bible. |