Inspiration of Scripture
The divine authorship of Scripture: God moved the will of the writers, aroused and directed their thoughts, so that the Scriptures are not merely an admirable human edifice but a divine work, in which the prophets contributed only the garment of their style. Lacordaire emphasizes the unity of one intelligence presiding over four thousand years of composition.
Pope Clement VIII, Jerome's Prefaces, On Worship
-
ON THE WORSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SCRIPTURES.
— Lacordaire describes the Scriptures as traced under the inspiration of God's breath, with God moving the writers' wills and directing their thoughts, making them a divine edifice of infinite truth.
"they were traced under the inspiration of the breath of God, who moved the will of the writers, aroused and directed their thoughts, and that thus they are not merely an admirable edifice of antiquity, of unity, and of holiness, but a divine edifice, the substantial work of infinite truth"
-
ON THE WORSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SCRIPTURES.
— A single intelligence presides over four thousand years and many authors; the variable accidents of the human element make the immutable divinity of substance appear all the more.
"A work of four thousand years, the hand of many appears in it, but a single intelligence presides over it, and it is the meeting of the one and the many over so long a span that is the first miracle of this sublime composition."
-
ON THE WORSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SCRIPTURES.
— The first line of Genesis dispels both idolatry (seeing God everywhere) and pantheism (seeing Him nowhere).
"from the very first line, the error of man in his infancy and the error of degenerate man fall at our feet, together with the fictions of idolatry, which sees God everywhere, and the negations of pantheism, which sees Him nowhere."
-
ON THE WORSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SCRIPTURES.
— Lacordaire reflects on the sweetness and power of the word of God as compared to the word of man.
"What must the word of God be for one who knows how to recognize it and hear it? What must it be to be able to say to oneself: God inspired this thought; it is He who speaks to me through it"
-
ON THE WORSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SCRIPTURES.
— Genius alone does not dictate such things as the parable of the Prodigal Son; heaven dictated them.
"Genius alone does not dictate such things, and heaven, which dictated them, will never manifest itself in an accent that surpasses language."
Preface and Praise of Sacred Scripture
-
Sacred Writers as Pens of the Holy Spirit
— Moses, David, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, and John drew wisdom from the fountain of truth; their tongues and hands were pens of the Holy Spirit.
"the tongues and hands of these sacred Writers were nothing other than the pens of the same Holy Spirit, so much so that they seem not so much to have been different writers, as different pens of one writer"
-
Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers
— St. Paul attributes the ability to interpret Scripture not to natural intellect but to distributions of graces of the Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation.
"to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, to another faith, to another the grace of healing, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another kinds of tongues, to another finally the interpretation of speeches"
-
Chapter IV: The Judgments and Examples of the Fathers
— St. Peter teaches that no prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation, but holy men of God spoke inspired by the Holy Spirit.
"No prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation; for prophecy was not brought at any time by the will of man, but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Spirit"
Commentary on the Pentateuch of Moses
-
Argumentum
— Moses is affirmed as the author of the Pentateuch, attested by Christ himself
"The author of the Pentateuch is Moses: so teach all the Greeks and Latins, indeed Christ himself"
-
Argumentum
— Joshua or someone like him arranged Moses' annals and added passages; Moses preceded all Greek sages in time
"Moses simply wrote the Pentateuch in the manner of a diary or annals; yet Joshua, or someone like him, arranged these same annals of Moses into order"
-
Argumentum
— Moses' threefold sources: tradition, divine revelation, and personal observation
"Moses learned and received these things partly by tradition, partly by divine revelation, and partly by personal observation"