On March 8th, 1965, in a discussion with a Catholic priest, Robert Knoth, I was told,

"There is outright contradiction in the Bible." I asked him, "Do you believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible?" He said, "No, definitely not." I was reading to him from the Douay version, a Catholic translation, and when I would read passages that teach contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church, his plea would be "You can't take that literal."

I would like to give a few quotations from Catholic approved publications. They all have the imprimatur--"The Bible itself is but a dead letter calling for a divine interpreter" (The Question Box by B. L. Conway, 1929 edition, page 76). "We do not in any way presuppose that the books of the New Testament are inspired, but only that they are genuine authentic documents written by honest men" (The Question Box, page 80). "The teaching by scriptures alone could not have been the method chosen by Jesus Christ" (The Catholic Church and the Bible, by W. G. Hurley, page 10). "If the Bible were the means Christ left why is not the Bible complete? Nowhere do they tell us that it contains all that Christ taught -- If the Bible is the means why does it not give you Christ's teaching clearly? You know it does not do that" (The Catholic Church and the Bible, page 11-12). "Although the Catholic Church has no wish to suppress or destroy the Bible, she does not regard it as necessary" (The Bible Only Theory, by L. Rumble, page 21). "God never intended the Bible to be the Christian's rule of faith independently of the living authority of the church" (Faith of Our Fathers, by Cardinal Gibbons, page 63). "The scriptures can never serve as a complete rule of faith and complete guide to heaven, independently of an authorized living interpreter" (Faith of Our Fathers, page 68). "A rule of faith or a competent guide to heaven must be able to instruct in all truth necessary for salvation. Now, the scriptures alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe" (Faith of Our Fathers, page 72). "A pope's letter is the most weighty authority in the church" (Faith of Our Fathers, page 76). "Great as is our reverence for the Bible, reason and experience compel us to say that it alone is not a competent nor safe guide as to what we are to believe. A competent guide for the Christian religion must possess these three qualifications. (1) It must be within the reach of every inquirer after truth, (2) It must be clear and intelligible to all, (3) It must present all the truth of the Christian religion. The Bible, however, possesses none of these" (Finding Christ's Church, John A. O'Brine, page 23) . "The simple truth is that the Bible, like all dead letters, calls for a living interpreter" (Finding Christ's Church, page 28). "Questions Must I believe in Tradition, Answer--Yes, I must believe in Tradition because it is the word of God and has equal authority with the Bible" (A Catechism for Adults, by W. J. Cogan, page 9).

I have every book from which I quote. You can see the position the Catholic people take toward the Bible and then they tell us the Bible is a Catholic book. If the Bible is a Catholic book, why is it not accepted as their authority in religion? If the Bible were a Catholic book, it would contain the teaching and practice of the Catholic Church.

How can the Bible be a Catholic book when it omits every cardinal doctrine of the Catholic Church? Just as soon as the Catholic people can get one to believing the Bible is not inspired, is not a safe guide, is not clear, is not complete, is not intelligible, is not necessary, does not present all the truth, is a dead letter, the pope's letter is more weighty, and the priests are living interpreters, then one will be saying, 'Father, what does it mean?" Yes, then one will be saying, "Speak, Father Paul VI, thy servants heareth--command and we will obey."

Parents, would you like to live to see your grandchildren taught to believe these things that the Catholics teach about the Bible? If not, now is the time for you to teach your children the evils of Romanism so they will not become involved in a mixed marriage. For in a mixed marriage, they will sign a contract that "all the children of either sex born of this marrige shall be baptized and educated in the faith and according to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church" (Marriage Catholic or Mixed, page 12).

Truth Magazine IX: 10, p. 19
July 1965