Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/293



THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.

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themselves, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost (as in many places of the New Testament), or from the Church, under the assistance of the same Holy Spirit, whethfij by her solemn judgment or by her ordinary and uiuyers^ magisterium'^â€” to interpret these passagesiTrrKatTdentical sense, and to prove by all the resources of science that sound hermeneutical laws admit of no other interpretation. In the other passages the analogy of faith should be fol- lowed, and Catholic doctrine, as authoritatively proposed by the Church, should be held as the supreme law; for, seeing that the same God is the author both of the sacred books and of the doctrine committed to the Church, it is clearly impossible that any teaching can, by legitimate means, be extracted from the former which shall, in any respect, be at variance with the latter. Hence it ^ws that all interpretation is foolish or false w^hich either makes the sacred writers disagree one with anothe ^ris opposed to the doctrine of the Church. The professor^ of Holy Scripture, therefore, amongst other recomme: dations, must be well acquainted with, the whole circle of theolog}'" and deeply read in the commentaries of the holy Fathers and Doctors, and in other interpreters of mark.^ This is inculcated by St. Jerome, and still more frequently by St. Augustine, who thus justly complains: "If there is no branch of teaching, however humble and easy to learn, which does not require a master, what can be a greater sign of rashness and pride than to refuse to study the books of the divine mysteries by the help of those who have interpreted them?" ^ The other Fathers have said the same, and have confirmed it by their example, for they "endeavored to acquire the undei*standing of the Holy Scriptures not by their own Hghts and ideas but from the writing and authority of the ancients, who, in their turn, as we know, received the rule of interpreta- tion in direct line from the apostles." * The holy Fathers


 * Cone. Vat. sess. iii. cap. ii. de fide. ^ Ibid.


 * Ad Honorat de util. cred. xvii. 35. * Rufinus Hist. eccL li. 9.