Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/287



THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. 281

the labor and solicitude of Catholics have never been Avanting; for, as time went on, eminent scholars have if carried on biblical studies -^ith success, and have defended pHoly Scripture against r ationalism with the same weapons of philology and kindred sciences with which it had been attacked. The calm and fair consideration of what has been said vdW clearly show that the Church 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 upon her by Almighty God for the protection and glory of His Holy Word; so that she has never required, nor does she now require, any stimulation from without.

We must now, Venerable Brethren, as Our purpose demands, impart to you such counsels as seem best suited for carrjdng on successfully the study of bibhcal science.

But first it must be clearly understood whom we have to oppose and contend against, and what are their tactics and their arms. In earher times the contest was chiefly wdth those who, relying on private judgment and repudi- ating the di\ine traditions and teaching office of the Church, held the Scriptures to be the one source of revela- tion and the final appeal in matters of faith. Now W( have to meet the rationahsts, true children and iaheidtoi of the older heretics, who, tmsting in their turn to thei, own way of thinking, have rejected even the scraps an| remnants of Christian belief which had been handed do^ to them. They deny that there is any such thing as revelation or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all; they see, instead, only the forgeries and falsehoods of men;^ they set dowm the Scripture narratives as stupid fabl^^ and Ijdng stories: the prophecies and oracles of God are to them either predictions made up after the event or forecasts formed by the fight of nature; the miracles and wonders of God's power are not what they are said to be, but the startling effects of natural law, or else mere tricks and myths; and the apostolic Gospels and writings are

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