Page:Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent Buckley.djvu/387

354  ; one sole Christ made up of many holy, whereof he is the sanctifier. Eph. ii. 14, 15, 16.

Nothing is more spacious than the Church of God, seeing that all the elect and just of all ages compose it. Eph. ii. 22.

He who leads not a life worthy a son of God and a member of Christ, ceases meanwhile to hold God as his father, and Christ as his head. 1 John ii. 24. 1693.

A man is separated from the elect people, of which the Jewish people was a type, and Jesus Christ is the head, as well by not living according to the Gospel, as by not believing the Gospel. Acts iii. 23.

It is useful and necessary at every time, in every place, and for every kind of persons, to study and know the spirit, piety, and mysteries of sacred Scripture. 1 Cor. xiv. 6.

The reading of sacred Scripture is for all. Acts viii. 28.

The obscurity of the holy word of God is not a reason for the laity to excuse themselves from the reading thereof. Acts viii. 31.

The Lord's day ought to be sanctified by Christians with the readings of piety, and above all, of the holy Scriptures. It is damnable to wish to restrain a Christian from such reading. Acts xv. 21.</li>

<li>It is an illusion to persuade oneself that a knowledge of the mysteries of religion ought not to be communicated to females by the reading of the sacred books. The abuse of the Scriptures has arisen, and heresies have sprung up, not from the simplicity of women, but from the haughty knowledge of men. John iv. 26.</li>

<li>To snatch the New Testament out of the hands of Christians, or to keep it closed to them, by taking from them that method of understanding it, is to shut the mouth of Christ against them. Matt. v. 2.</li>

<li>To interdict to Christians the reading of sacred Scripture, especially of the Gospel, is to interdict the use of light to the sons of light, and to cause them to suffer a certain kind of excommunication. Luke xi. 33. 1693.</li>

<li>To snatch from the simple people this consolation, of joining their voice to the voice of the whole Church, is a custom contrary to the apostolic practice, and to the intention of God. 1 Cor. xiv. 16.</li> </ol>