Cardinal Gibbons Praises the Bible

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 2, 1915

Cardinal Gibbons Praises the Bible

CARDINAL GIBBONS says:—

The Word of God is the most fearless preacher you can listen to. Your most intimate friend will hesitate to remind you of your faults, from a sense of delicacy and from fear of being considered censorious. Even the ministers of God, though they are commanded by the Holy Ghost to preach the word, to reprove, entreat, and rebuke with authority, are cautious not to lay bare the diseases of the soul in their naked deformity, from a dread of suggesting evil thoughts to the innocent, or giving personal offense to the guilty, or of shocking the sensibilities of their hearers generally. But the Inspired Volume is never ashamed to tell us the plain, unvarnished truth, for people can never suspect its authors of being personal. Moreover, you cannot usually hear the living voice of a preacher more than once or twice a week. His words pass away, but the written Word remains. You have always the Sacred Book, which has impressed you, and you can imprint it on your heart and memory.—Religious Telescope, October 6.

This extract is from a sermon the cardinal preached this fall in Baltimore. These words are surely good and true; yet the very church of which the cardinal is an official member forbids the common people to read the Bible in their own language without Catholic notes, and destroys copies of the Scriptures not having such notes.