Even today, there are Catholics and Anglicans who do not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. Cardinal Manning places the confusion on the table of Spinoza. The "sceptical criticism" of Holland and Germany spread to England and America rapidly, undermining the authority of the Church and the authority of Scripture.
Manning clarifies the fact that the Anglicans fell into the heresy of denying the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in such areas as denying the exact words of Jesus Christ and the Apostles as being as these were written. Another error which crept into the universities was that inspiration was only to be found in the Scriptures themselves and not in Tradition.
Inspiration is the enlightenment of the intellect and reason by the Holy Spirit. Of course, God did not "dictate", like grand orator in the sky to a secretary evangelist, but used the gifts of the Holy Spirit within those men to write the truths revealed to them through the Old Testament, Christ while on earth and the Holy Spirit after the Ascension.
Simply put, revelation and inspiration work together within the writers of the Scriptures, books whose Author is the Holy Spirit, the Third Person in the Blessed Trinity.
The Anglicans moved from sola Scriptura to chaos.
The Catholic Church has been very clear on the Scriptures and Manning summarizes these teachings for his readers. I have put these in my own order and words for simplicity.
One, God is the Author of the sacred books.
Two, the writings of the Prophets and the Apostles are Holy Scripture.
Three, that the Canon of Tent is the same as that of the Council of Florence, Carthage and the papal declarations of SS. Innocent and Gelasius.
Four, that all the books in all the parts are sacred and canonical and, therefore, none of the books contain any material of human authorship. In other words, no extraneous or "creative writing"...
Five, the Vulgate is the authentic translation.
Well, many a Scripture instructor in many Catholic universities would not abide by these truths and, therefore, be heretical.
Manning reminds us that both the Eastern and Western Fathers wrote that in substance and in form the Old Testament and the New Testament were revealed and inspired by God.
Here are a few quotations from Manning's choice of Fathers:
"S. Irenaeus says, 'The Scriptures are perfect, being dictated by the Word of God and by His Spirit.'"
"S. Macarius says, "God the King sent the Holy Scriptures as His epistles to men.'"
"S. John Chrysostom says, 'What things the Scriptures promulgate, the Lord pr0mulgated.'"
"S. Basil says, 'Let therefore the Scriptures which are inspired by God decide for us.'"
"S. Gregory Nyssen says, 'Whatever the Sacred Scriptures declare are the utterances of the Holy Ghost.'"
"S. Augustine says of the Scriptures,'In it God Himself speaks.'"
"S. Gregory the Great says, 'The author of the book is the Holy Ghost.'"
Manning notes that until the age of the controversy of the nature of inspiration, these ideas were held by all Christians.
How sad that now the Catholic Church even holds false teachers in Her midst.
to be continued...
