Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/280



274 THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.

persuade the nations everywhere of the wisdom of Chris- tianity, to conquer the obstinacy of the Jews, and to sup- press the outbreak of heresy. This is plainly seen in their discourses, especially in those of St. Peter; these were often little less than a series of citations from the Old Testa- ment making in the strongest manner for the new dispen- sation. We find the same things in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John and in the Catholic Epistles; and, most remarkable of all, in the words of him who "boasts that he learned the law at the feet of GamaUel, in order that, being armed with spiritual weapons, he might after- wards say with confidence, 'the arms of our warfare are not carnal but mighty unto God.'" ^ Let all, therefore, especially the novices of the ecclesiastical army, under- stand how deeply the sacred books should be esteemed, and with what eagerness and reverence they should ap- proach this great arsenal of heavenly arms. For those whose duty it is to handle Catholic doctrine before the learned or the unlearned will nowhere find more ample matter or more abundant exhortation, whether on the sub- ject of God, the supreme Good and the all-perfect Being, or the works which display His glory and His love. No- where is there anything more full or more express on the subject of the Saviour of the world than is to be found in the whole range of the Bible. As St. Jerome says, to be ignorant of the Scripture is not to know Christ.^ In its pages His Image stands out, living and breathing; diffusing everywhere around consolation in trouble, encourage- ment to virtue, and attraction to the love of God. And as to the Church, her institutions, her nature, her office and her gifts, we find in Holy Scripture so many references and so many ready and convincing arguments that, as St. Jerome again most truly says, "A man who is well grounded in the testimonies of the Scripture is the bulwark of the Church." ^ And if we come to morahty and disci-

' St. Hier. de stud. Script, ad Paulin. ep. liii. 3.

" in Isaiam. Prol. ^ in Isaiam liv. 12,