The following is an abridged version of Fr. Arnold Damen's talk from 1837 called "The Church or the Bible."
"One cannot have God for his Father, who will not have the Church for his Mother," and likewise one cannot have the Word of God for his faith who will not have the Church for his teacher....lest while reading the Scriptures "they wrest them to their own destruction." (2 Peter 3:16)
"He that believeth and is Baptized," said the Son of the Living God, "shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned." (Mark 16:16). Here, then, Our Blessed Lord laid down the two conditions of salvation:
1.) Faith
2.) Baptism.
...we must have Divine Faith, not human faith.
What is Divine Faith? It is to believe, upon the authority of God, all the Truths that God has revealed...to believe without doubting, without hesitating.
Human faith is when we believe a thing upon the authority of men – on human authority.
You hear it said nowadays in this Nineteenth Century of little faith that it matters not what religion a man professes, providing he be a good man. That is heresy.
If a man is at liberty to reject what God revealeth, what use for Christ to send out His Apostles and disciples to teach all nations, if those nations are at liberty to believe or reject the teachings of the Apostles or disciples?
If God reveals a thing or teaches a thing, He means to be believed.
He wants to be believed whenever He teaches or reveals a thing. Man is bound to believe whatsoever God has revealed... bound to worship God, both with our reason and intellect, as well as with our heart and will.
Man must profess the true religion if he would be saved.
What is the true religion? To believe all that God has taught. I am sure that even my Protestant friends will admit this is right...
"But what is the true Faith?"
"The true Faith," say my Protestant friends, "is to believe in the Lord Jesus."
Agreed, Catholics believe in that. Tell me what you mean by believing in the Lord Jesus?
"Why," says my Protestant friend, "you must believe that he is the Son of the Living God."
Agreed again. Thanks be to God, we can agree on something. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, that He is God. To this we all agree, excepting the Unitarians and Socinians, but we will leave them alone tonight. If Christ be God, then we must believe all He teaches. Is this not so, my dearly beloved Protestant brethren and sisters? And that's the right Faith, isn't it ?
"Well, yes," says my Protestant friend "I guess that is the right Faith. To believe that Jesus is the Son of the Living God we must believe all that Christ has taught."
Without that Faith there is no salvation, without that Faith there is no hope of Heaven, without that Faith there is eternal damnation! We have the words of Christ for it. "He that believeth not shall be condemned." (Jn 3:18)
If Christ commands me under pain of eternal damnation to believe all that He has taught, He must give me the means to know what He has taught, for Christ could not condemn me for believing a thing I do not know. Christ is a good and just God, loves us and desires our salvation...(1 Tim 2:4)
If, therefore, Christ commands me upon pain of eternal damnation, He is bound to give me the means of knowing what He has taught. And the means Christ gives us of knowing this must have been at all times within the reach of all people.
The means that God gives us to know what He has taught must be a means adapted to the capacities of all intellects – even the dullest. For even those of the dullest of understandings have a right to salvation...
The means that God gives us to know what he has taught must be an infallible means. It must be an infallible means, so that if a man makes use of that means, he will infallibly, without fear of mistake or error, be brought to a knowledge of all the truths that God has taught.
RECAP OF NECESSARY MEANS OF SALVATION:
1.) Accessible at all times to all people
2.) Easy to understand
3.) Infallible
Who can object to my premises?
Has God given us such means?
"Yes," say my Protestant friends, "He has."
And so says the Catholic: God has given us such a means.
What is the means God has given us whereby we shall learn the Truth that God has revealed?
"The Bible," says my Protestant friends, "the Bible, the whole of the Bible, and nothing but the Bible."
But we Catholics say, "No; not the Bible and its private interpretation, but the Church God."
I will prove the facts, then, that it is not the private interpretation of the Bible that has been appointed by God to be the teacher of man, but the Church of the living God. (1 Tim 3:15)
Sola Scriptura invented 1500 years after Christ
If God had intended that man should learn His religion from a book – the Bible – surely God would have given that book to man; Christ would have given that book to man. Did He do it? He did not. Christ sent His Apostles throughout the whole universe and said: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (Mt 28:19)
Christ did not say, "Sit down and write Bibles and scatter them over the earth, and let every man read his Bible and judge for himself."
That injunction was reserved for the Sixteenth Century, and we have seen the result of it. Ever since the Sixteenth Century there have been springing up religion upon religion, and churches upon churches, all fighting and quarreling with one another. And all because of private interpretation of the Bible.
65 years without the Bible
Christ sent His Apostles with the authority to teach all nations, and never gave them any command of writing the Bible.
The first word written was by St. Matthew...about seven years after Christ left this earth, so that the Church of God, established by Christ, existed seven years before a line was written of the New Testament.
St. Mark wrote about ten years after Christ left this earth;
St. Luke about twenty-five years,
and St. John about sixty-three years after Christ had established the Church of God.
St. John wrote the last portion of the Bible – the Book of Revelation – about sixty-five years after Christ had left this earth and the Church of God had been established.
The Catholic religion had existed sixty-five years before the Bible was completed, before it was written.
Now, I ask you, my dearly beloved separated brethren, were these Christian people, who lived during the period between the establishment of the Church of Jesus and the finishing of the Bible, were they really Christians, good Christians, enlightened Christians? Did they know the religion of Jesus?
It is admitted on all sides, by all denominations, that they were the very best of Christians, the first fruit of the Blood of Jesus Christ.
But how did they know what they had to do to save their souls? Was it from the Bible that they learned it?
Most assuredly not.
None of the Apostles ever read the Bible; not one of them except, perhaps, Saint John. For all of them had died martyrs... heroes for the Church of Jesus before the Bible was completed.
How, then, did those Christians...know what they had to do to save their souls?
From the teaching of the Church of God.
397 years without the Bible
Not only sixty-five years did Christ leave the Church He had established without a Bible, but over three hundred years.
In the days of the Apostles there were many false gospels. There was the Gospel of Simon, of Nicodemus, of Mary, of Barnabas, and the Gospel of the infancy of Jesus. All of these gospels were spread among the people, and the people did not know which of these were inspired and which were false and spurious.
And so it was in regard to the epistles...people were at a loss for over three hundred years to know which was false or spurious, or which inspired.
It was not until the Fourth Century that the Pope of Rome, the Head of the Church, the successor of Saint Peter, assembled together the Bishops of the world in a council. And there in that council it was decided that the Bible, as we Catholics now have it.
1400 years without the Bible
Not only for three hundred years was the world left without the Bible, but for one thousand four hundred years the Christian world was left without the Sacred Book.
Before the art of printing was invented, Bibles were rare, costly things. You must all be aware that the art of printing was invented about the middle of the Fifteenth Century.
Historians tell us that in the Eleventh Century Bibles were so rare and costly that it took a considerable fortune to buy oneself a copy of the Bible.
Let us suppose that a man should work at the copying of the Bible for twenty years, as historians say it would have taken him that long, not having the conveniences and improvements to aid him that we have now. Then, at a dollar a day, for twenty years, the cost of a Bible would be nearly $8,000. (~$1-2M in 2016)
Salvation for the Wealthy Only?
You ask, "What are we to do to save your souls?" The Protestant preacher would say to you, "You must get a Bible; you can get one at such-and-such a shop." You would ask the cost, and be told it was $8,000 $2,000,000. You would exclaim: "The Lord save us! And can we not go to Heaven without that book?" The answer would be: "No, you must have the Bible and read it."
This would be a hopeless condition, indeed.
For fourteen hundred years the world was left without a Bible – not one in twenty thousand, before the art of printing was invented, had the Bible. And would our Divine Lord have left the world without that book if it was necessary to man's salvation?
Most assuredly not.
Salvation for the Scholars Only? (Illiterate & Monolingual Not Invited)
But let us suppose for a moment that all had Bibles...that Bibles were written from the beginning, and that every man, woman, and child had a copy. What good would that book be to people who did not know how to read it?
Even now one-half the inhabitants of the earth cannot read. (~15% in 2016)
Moreover, as the Bible was written in Greek and Hebrew, it would be necessary to know these languages in order to be able to read it.
But it is said that we have a translation now in French, English, and other languages of the day. Yes, but are you sure you have a faithful translation? If not, you have not the Word of God.
"I do not know Greek or Hebrew," says my separated friend; "for my translation I must depend upon the opinion of the learned."
Well, then, dear friends, suppose the learned should be divided in their opinions, and some of them should say it is good, and some false? Then your faith is gone; you must commence doubting and hesitating...
Salvation Exclusively for King-James-Only Believers?
...the most learned among Protestants tell you that your translation – the King James edition – is a very faulty translation and is full of errors.
Your own learned divines, preachers, and bishops have written whole volumes to point out all the errors that are there in the King James translation, and Protestants of various denominations acknowledge it.
Protestants Admit Their Bible is Not Infallible (Full of Errors in Translation)
When I lived in St. Louis, there was held in that city a convention of ministers. All denominations were invited, the object being to arrange for a new translation of the Bible, and give it to the world.
A very learned Presbyterian stood up, and, urging the necessity of giving a new translation of the Bible, said that in the present Protestant translation of the Bible there were no less than thirty thousand errors.
And you say, my dear Protestant friends, that the Bible is your guide and teacher. What a teacher, with thirty thousand errors! The Lord save us from such a teacher! One error is bad enough, but thirty thousand is a little too much.
Men are fallible, with fallible private interpretations
My dear people, how can you be sure of your faith? You say the Bible is your guide....
Let us suppose for a moment that all should have a Bible – should all read it and have a faithful translation; even then it cannot be the guide of man, because the private interpretation of the Bible is not infallible, but, on the contrary, most fallible... the source and fountain of all kinds of errors and heresies, and all kinds of blasphemous doctrines.
There are now throughout the world three hundred and fifty different denominations or churches [in Fr. Damen's time - some estimate over 30,000 now], and all of them say the Bible is their guide and teacher.
Are all of them true churches? This is an impossibility. Truth is one as God is one, and there can be no contradiction.
"Believers" Divided Amongst Themselves
Opinion #1
Let us suppose that here is an Episcopalian minister.
From the Word of the Bible, he says it is clear that there must be bishops. For without bishops there can be no priests, without priests no Sacraments, and without Sacraments no Church.
Opinion #2
The Presbyterian reads the Bible also, and deduces that there should be no bishops, but only presbyters. "Here is the Bible," says the Episcopalian; and "here is the Bible to give you a lie," says the Presbyterian. Yet both of them are prayerful and well-meaning men.
Opinion #3
Then the Baptist comes in; He is a well-meaning, honest man, and prayerful also. "Well," says the Baptist, "have you ever been baptized?" "I was," says the Episcopalian, "when I was a baby."
"And so was I," says the Presbyterian, "when I was a baby." "But," says the Baptist, "it was done by sprinkling, and that is no baptism at all. Unless you go down into the river, like Christ, it is no baptism." And he gives the Bible for it. "Unless you are baptized over again," says the Baptist, "you are going to Hell as sure as you live."
Opinion #4
Next comes the Unitarian..."Well, allow me to tell you that you are a pack of idolaters. You worship a man for a God who is no God at all." And he gives several texts from the Bible to prove it, while the others are stopping their ears that they may not hear the blasphemies of the Unitarian. And they all contend that they have the true meaning of the Bible.
Opinion #5
Next comes the Methodist, and he says, "My friends, have you got any religion at all?" "Of course we have," they say. "Did you ever feel religion," says the Methodist, "the Spirit of God moving within you?"
"Nonsense," says the Presbyterian, "we are guided by our reason and judgment."
"Well," says the Methodist, "if you have never felt religion, you never had it, and will go to Hell for eternity."
Opinion #6
The Universalist next comes in, and hears them threatening one another with eternal hellfire. "Why," says he, "you are a strange set of people. Do you not understand the Word of God? There is no Hell at all. That idea is good enough to scare old women and children," and he proves it from the Bible.
Opinion #7
Now comes in the Quaker. He urges them not to quarrel, and advises that they do not baptize at all. He is the sincerest of men, and gives the Bible for his faith.
Opinion #8
Another comes in and says: "Baptize the men and let the women alone. For the Bible says, 'unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.' So," says he, "the women are all right, but baptize the men."
Opinion #9
Next comes in the Shaker, and says he: "You are a presumptuous people. Do you not know that the Bible tells you that you must work out your salvation in fear and trembling, and you do not tremble at all. My brethren, if you want to go to heaven – shake, my brothren, shake!"
No Authority = Chaos, Doubt, Uncertainty...DIVISION
I have brought together seven or eight denominations, differing one from another, or understanding the Bible in different ways, illustrative of the fruits of private interpretation. What, then, if I brought together the three hundred and fifty different denominations, all taking the Bible for their guide and teaching, and all differing from one another?
Are they all right?
One says there is a Hell, and another says there is no Hell. Are both right?
One says Christ is God; another says He is not.
One says they are unessential.
One says Baptism is requisite, and another says it is not. Are both true?
This is an impossibility, my dear friends; all cannot be true.
Who, then, is true? He that has the true meaning of the Bible, you say. But the Bible does not tell us who that is – the Bible never settles the quarrel. It is not the teacher.
The need for a Supreme Judge
The Bible, my dear people, is a good book. Every Catholic is exhorted to read the Bible. But good as it is, the Bible, my dear friends, does not explain itself.
Your understanding of the Bible is not inspired – for surely you do not pretend to be inspired!
The Catholic Church says the Bible is the Word of God, and that God has appointed an authority to give us the true meaning.
EXAMPLE: The Constitution of the United States...did not say to the people of the States: "Let every man read the Constitution and make a government unto himself; let every man make his own explanation of the Constitution."
What did Washington do? He gave the people the Constitution and the Supreme Law, and appointed his Supreme Court and Supreme Judge of the Constitution.
All are bound to go by the decisions of the Supreme Court, and it is this and this alone that can keep the people together and preserve the union of the United States. The moment the people take the interpretation of the Constitution into their own hands, that moment there is an end of union.
In every well-ruled country there must be such a thing as this – a Supreme Law, Supreme Court, Supreme Judge, that all the people abide by.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
So our Divine Savior also has established His Supreme Court
His Supreme Judge – to give us the true meaning of the Scriptures, and to give us the true revelation and doctrines of the Word of Jesus. The Son of the Living God has pledged His Word that this Supreme Court is infallible, and, therefore, the true Catholic never doubts.
"I believe," says the Catholic, "because the Church teaches me so. I believe the Church because God has commanded me to believe her. He said: 'Hear the Church, and he that does not hear the Church let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican.' 'He that heareth you heareth Me,' said Christ, 'and he that despiseth you despiseth Me.' "Therefore, the Catholic believes because God has spoken, and upon the authority of God.
But our Protestant friends say, "We believe in the Bible." Very well; how do you understand the Bible? "Well," says the Protestant, "to the best of my opinion and judgment this is the meaning of the text." He is not sure of it, but to the best of his opinion and judgment. This, my friends, is only the testimony of a man – it is only human faith, not Divine Faith.
It is Divine Faith alone by which we give honor and glory to God, by which we adore His infinite wisdom and veracity, and that adoration and worship is necessary for salvation.
