they were also termed, arrow-headed, characters on the ruined monuments
of Persepolis and other ancient sites in Persia. Some of these
monuments were known to have been erected by the Achaemenian
princes--Darius, the son of Hystaspes, and his successors--and it was
therefore inferred that the inscriptions also had been carved by order
of the same kings. The inscriptions were in three different systems of
cuneiform writing; and, since the three kinds of inscription were
always placed side by side, it was evident that they represented
different versions of the same text. The subjects of the Persian kings
belonged to more than one race, and, just as in the present day a
Turkish pasha in the East has to publish an edict in Turkish, Arabic,
and Persian, if it is to be understood by all the populations under his
charge, so the Persian kings were obliged to use the language and
system of writing peculiar to each of the nations they governed
whenever they wished their proclamations to be read and understood by
them.
"It was clear that the three versions of the Achaemenian inscriptions
were addressed to the three chief populations of the Persian empire,
and that the one that invariably came first was composed in ancient
Persian, the language of the sovereign himself. Now this Persian
version happened to offer the decipherer less difficulties than the two
others which accompanied it. The number of distinct characters
employed in writing it did not exceed forty, while the words were
divided from one another by a slanting wedge. Some of the words
contained so many characters that it was plain that these latter must
denote letters, and not syllables, and that consequently the Persian
cuneiform system must have consisted of an alphabet, and not of a
syllabary. It was further plain that the inscriptions had to be read
from left to right, since the ends of all the lines were exactly
underneath one another on the left side, whereas they terminated
irregularly on the right; indeed, the last line sometimes ended at a
considerable distance from the right-hand extremity of the inscription.
"The clue to the decipherment of the inscriptions was first discovered
by the successful guess of a German scholar, Grotefend. Grotefend
noticed that the inscriptions generally began with three or four words,
one of which varied, while the others remained unchanged. The variable
word had three forms, though the same form always appeared on the same
monument. Grotefend, therefore, conjectured that this word represented
the name of a king, the words which followed it being the royal titles.
One of the supposed names appeared much oftener than the others, and,
as it was too short for Artaxerxes and too long for Cyrus, it was
evident that it must stand either for Darius or for Xerxes. A study of
the classical authors showed Grotefend that certain of the monuments on
which it was found had been constructed by Darius, and he accordingly
gave to the characters composing it the values required for spelling
'Darius' in its old Persian form. In this way he succeeded in
obtaining conjectural values for six cuneiform letters. He now turned
to the second royal name, which also appeared on several monuments, and
was of much the same length as that of Darius. This could only be
Xerxes; but if so, the fifth letter composing it (r) would necessarily
be the same as the third letter in the name of Darius. This proved to
be the case, and thus afforded the best possible evidence that the
German scholar was on the right track.
"The third name, which was much longer than the other two, differed
from the second chiefly at the beginning, the latter part of it
resembling the name of Xerxes. Clearly, therefore, it could be nothing
else than Artaxerxes, and that it actually was so was rendered certain
by the fact that the second character composing it was that which had
the value of r.
"Grotefend now possessed a small alphabet, and with this he proceeded
to read the word which always followed the royal name, and therefore
probably meant 'king.' He found that it closely resembled the word
which signified 'king' in Zend, the old language of the Eastern
Persians, which was spoken in one part of Persia at the same time that
Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenian princes, was spoken in
another. There could, consequently, be no further room for doubt that
he had really solved the great problem, and discovered the key to the
decipherment of the cuneiform texts.
"But he did little further himself towards the completion of the work,
and it was many years before any real progress was made with it.
Meanwhile, the study of Zend had made great advances, more especially
in the hands of Burnouf, who eventually turned his attention to the
cuneiform inscriptions. But it is to Burnouf's pupil, Lassen, as well
as to Sir Henry Rawlinson, that the decipherment of these inscriptions
owes its final completion. The discovery of the list of Persian
satrapies in the inscription of Darius at Naksh-i-Rustem, and above all
the copy of the long inscription of Darius on the rock of Behistum,
made by Sir H. Rawlinson, enabled these scholars independently of one
another to construct an alphabet which differed only in the value
assigned to a single character, and, with the help of the cognate Zend
and Sanskrit, to translate the language so curiously brought to light.
The decipherment of the Persian cuneiform texts thus became an
accomplished fact; what was next needed was to decipher the two
versions which were inscribed at their side.
"But this was no easy task. The words in them were not divided from
one another, and the characters of which they were composed were
exceedingly numerous. With the assistance, however, of frequently
recurring proper names, even these two versions gradually yielded to
the patient skill of the decipherer; and it was then discovered that
while one of them represented an agglutinative language, such as that
of the Turks or Fins, the other was in a dialect which closely
resembled the Hebrew of the Old Testament. The monuments found almost
immediately afterwards in Assyria and Babylonia by Botta and Layard
soon made it clear to what people this dialect must have belonged. The
inscriptions of Nineveh turned out to be written in the same language
and form of cuneiform script; and it must therefore have been for the
Semitic population of Assyria and Babylonia that the kings of Persia
had caused one of the versions of their inscriptions to be drawn up.
This version served us a starting-point for the decipherment of the
texts which the excavations in Assyria had brought to light."
In this way results which stood the test of severe criticism were
obtained until the most difficult inscriptions have become a
comparatively open book to the historian of to-day. Thus it has come
about that, as Prof. Ira Price says: "Since 1850 the Old Testament has
been gradually appearing in the ever-brightening and brighter light of
contemporaneous history. The new light now pours in upon it from all
sides. It is the one history made rich by that of all its neighbors.
Israel is the one people whose part in the drama of ancient nations is
just beginning to be understood.... The cuneiform letters discovered
at Tel el-Amarna in Egypt, in 1887, have opened up new territory in the
fifteenth century, B.C. They are despatches and official
communications sent by a large number of rulers, kings, and governors,
mainly of countries and provinces and cities of Southwestern Asia, to
the king of Egypt. These documents disclose a marvellously advanced
stage of development, intellectually, politically, and socially, among
the people who were soon to be Israel's nearest neighbors. They formed
the early background of Israel's settlement in Canaan, and prepare us
for no surprises in Israel's growth. In fact, we see that Joshua and
his army actually settled in a land of cities and fortresses, already
containing many of the elements of civilization, but sadly reduced by
internal and external warfare."
The labor of the excavator in the Biblical countries, such as the
unearthing of the immense library of brick tablets in the neighborhood
of Nineveh, and the result of new discoveries which the ground of
Palestine, so long and strangely neglected, promises to yield, widen
the field of Biblical research immensely, and from it all we may with
perfect assurance look for fresh arguments in behalf of the
authenticity and substantial integrity of the Sacred Scriptures. At
the same time the interpretation of many of its passages, now obscure,
will become clearer in the light of contemporary history.
Surely this is a hopeful sign, and should encourage us in the study of
the Bible, which is on so many accounts a source of intellectual
pleasure, of abiding peace of heart, and of that high moral refinement
which comes from contact with noble minds. There are none better on
earth than the sacred writers--men who walked and spoke with God, and
whose living contact we may enjoy in the participation of that
celestial inspiration which breathes through their writings.
CONCLUSION.
The foregoing chapters are nothing more than a brief illustration of
the principles laid down by the Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII., in his
Encyclical Letter "On the Study of the Sacred Scriptures."[1] The
careful reading of this Letter must convince us how important a part
the study of the Bible has always played in the Church. The
conclusions of Leo XIII. are not of yesterday, nor does he claim them
as of his own invention. He cites the Fathers and Doctors of the
Church, and the Decrees of Councils, from Antioch to Trent and the
Vatican, as witnesses to the fact that all Catholic teaching rests upon
the Sacred Scriptures as one of the two great foundation stones which
support the grand archway leading into the domain of divine truth.
God, in order that He may reveal Himself to man, sends His messengers,
the Prophets and the Apostles, to announce with living voice His
promises and His judgments; then, as if to confirm their mission for
all time to come, He bids them take a letter, written by Himself, and
addressed "to the human race on its pilgrimage afar from its
fatherland" (Encycl.). That letter is the Holy Scripture. "To
understand and to explain it there is always required the 'coming' of
the same Holy Spirit" who was to abide with the Church. And she, "by
her admirable laws and regulations, has always shown herself solicitous
that the celestial treasure of the Sacred Book ... should not be
neglected" (Ibid.). If men have grown remiss at any time in the use of
that heavenly gift, it cannot be said that the Church failed to keep
before them its admirable utility. "She has arranged that a
considerable portion of it should be read, and with pious mind
considered by all her ministers in the daily office of the sacred
psalmody." For centuries past the solemn promise of every ordained
priest throughout the Catholic world to recite each day the Hours of
the Breviary testifies to the constant practice of not only reading,
but meditating a fixed portion of the Scriptures, so that under this
strictest of his priestly obligations he has practically completed the
entire sacred volume within the limit of each ecclesiastical year.
"She has strictly commanded that her children shall be fed with the
saving word of the Gospel, at least on Sundays and on solemn feasts."
If these laws and this practice receive a fresh impulse from the
Sovereign Pontiff in our day, it is because there have arisen men who
teach that the Sacred Scriptures are the work of mere human industry,
that they contain only fables, which have no claim to be respected as
coming from God. "They deny that there is any such thing as divine
revelation, or inspiration, or Holy Scripture at all. They see in
these histories only forgeries and falsehoods of men.... The
prophecies and the oracles of God are to them either predictions made
up after the event, or forecasts formed by the light of nature. The
miracles and manifestations of God's power are not what they profess to
be, but are either startling effects which are not beyond the force of
nature, or else mere tricks and myths. The Gospels and apostolic
writings are not, they say, the work of the authors to whom they are
assigned" (Ibid.). To confute these errors Leo bids us engage voice
and pen. In the limited space allowed us we have only been able to
indicate the arguments which prove the historical authenticity and the
essentially divine character which points to the true origin of the
Sacred Text, and at the same time to lead the earnest student into the
way of reading with pleasure and profit the grandest of all written
works.
[1] Litterae Encyclicae, "Providentissimus Deus," Nov. 17, A.D. 1893.
THE END.
APPENDIX.
_Encyclical Letter of Leo XIII._
ON
THE STUDY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES.
_To Our Venerable brethren, all Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and
Bishops of the Catholic World, in grace and communion with the
Apostolic See._
LEO P. P. XIII.
VENERABLE BRETHREN,
_Health and Apostolic Benediction._
The God of all Providence, who in the wondrous counsel of His love
raised the human race in its beginning to participation of the divine
nature, and afterwards delivered it from universal guilt and ruin,
restoring it to its primitive dignity, has, in consequence, bestowed
upon man a singular safeguard--making known to him, by supernatural
means, the hidden mysteries of His divinity, His wisdom, and His mercy.
Although in divine revelation some things are comprehended which are
not beyond the reach of human reason, they are made the objects of
revelation in order that all may come to know them with facility,
certainty, and freedom from all error. It is not, however, on this
account that revelation can be said to be absolutely necessary; but
because God of His infinite goodness has ordained man to a supernatural
end. This supernatural revelation, according to the belief of the
universal Church, is contained both in unwritten Tradition and in
written Books. These are called sacred and canonical because, being
written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for
their author, and as such have been delivered to the Church. This
belief has been perpetually held and professed by the Church with
regard to the Books of both Testaments. There are well-known documents
of the gravest character, coming down to us from the earliest times,
which proclaim that God, who spoke first by the Prophets, then by
Himself, and thereafter by the Apostles, composed the Canonical
Scriptures. These are divine oracles and utterances--a Letter, written
by our heavenly Father, and transmitted by the sacred writers to the
human race on its pilgrimage afar from its fatherland. If, then, such
and so great is the excellence and the dignity of the Scriptures that
God Himself has, as the author of them, composed them, and that they
treat of God's deepest mysteries, counsels, and works, it follows that
the branch of sacred theology which is concerned with the defence and
interpretation of these divine books must be most excellent and in the
highest degree profitable.
Now We, who by the help of God, and not without fruit, have by frequent
letters and exhortation endeavored to promote other branches of study,
which seemed well fitted for advancing the glory of God and
contributing to the salvation of souls, have for a long time cherished
the desire to give an impulse to the most noble study of the Sacred
Scriptures, and to impart to it a direction which is suitable to the
needs of the present day. The solicitude of the Apostolic office
naturally urges, and even compels Us, not only to desire that this
grand source of Catholic revelation should be made more safely and
abundantly accessible to the flock of Jesus Christ, but also to prevent
it from being in any way violated, on the part either of those who
impiously and openly assail the Scriptures, or of those who are led
astray into fallacious and imprudent novelties.
We are not ignorant, indeed, Venerable Brethren, that there are
Catholics not a few, men abounding in talent and learning, who do
devote themselves with alacrity to the defence of the Divine Books, and
to making them better known and understood. But while giving to these
men the commendation which they deserve for their labor and the fruits
of it, We cannot but earnestly exhort others also, from whose skill and
piety and learning we have a right to expect the very best results, to
give themselves to the same most praiseworthy work. It is Our wish and
fervent desire to see an increase in the number of approved and
unwearying laborers in the cause of Holy Scripture; and more especially
that those whom Divine Grace has called to Holy Orders should, day by
day, as is most meet, display greater diligence and industry in
reading, meditating, and explaining it. Among the reasons for which
this study is so worthy of commendation--in addition to its own
excellence and to the homage which we owe to God's word--the chief
reason of all is the manifold benefit of which it is the source. This
we know will flow therefrom on the most certain testimony of the Holy
Ghost Himself, who says: "All Scripture, inspired of God, is profitable
to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man
of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work." That such was
the purpose of God in giving the Scriptures to men is shown by the
example of Christ our Lord and of His Apostles. He who obtained
authority by miracles, merited belief by authority, and by belief drew
to Himself the multitude, was accustomed in the exercise of His Divine
Mission to appeal to the Scriptures. He uses them at times to prove
that He was sent by God, and that He is God. From them He draws
arguments for the instruction of His disciples and the confirmation of
His doctrine. He vindicates them from the calumnies of objectors. He
quotes them against Sadducees and Pharisees. He retorts from them upon
Satan himself, when he impudently dares to tempt Him. At the close of
His life His utterances are from Holy Scripture. It is the Scripture
which He expounds to His disciples after His resurrection, and during
all the time till He ascends to the glory of His Father. Faithful to
His precepts, the Apostles, although He Himself granted "signs and
wonders to be done by their hands," nevertheless used with the greatest
efficacy the sacred writings, in order to persuade the nations
everywhere of the wisdom of Christianity, to break down the obstinacy
of the Jews, and to suppress the outbursts of heresy. This is manifest
in their discourses, especially in those of St. Peter. These were
almost woven from sayings of the Old Testament, which made in the
strongest manner for the new dispensation. We find the same thing in
the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, and in the Catholic Epistles.
Most remarkably of all is it to be found in the words of him who boasts
that he learned the law at the feet of Gamaliel, in order that, being
armed with spiritual weapons, he might afterwards say with confidence:
"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty unto God."
Let all, therefore, especially the novices of the ecclesiastical army,
understand how much the divine Books should be esteemed, and with what
determination and reverence they should approach this great arsenal of
heavenly arms. Those whose duty it is to handle Catholic doctrine
before either the learned or the unlearned will nowhere find more ample
matter or more abundant exhortation, whether on the subject of God, the
supreme and all perfect Good, or of the works which display His glory
and His love. Nowhere is there anything more full or more express on
the subject of the Saviour of the human race than that which is to be
found throughout the Bible. St. Jerome has rightly said "ignorance of
the Scripture is ignorance of Christ." In its pages His Image stands
out as it were alive and breathing; diffusing everywhere consolation in
trouble, encouragement to virtue, and attraction to the love of God.
As regards the Church, her institutions, her nature, her functions, and
her gifts, we find in Holy Scripture so many references, and so many
ready and convincing arguments, that, as St. Jerome again most truly
says: "A man who is thoroughly grounded in the testimonies of the
Scriptures is a bulwark of the Church." If we come to moral formation
and to discipline, an apostolic man finds in the sacred writings
abundant and most excellent aid, precepts full of holiness,
exhortations framed with sweetness and force, shining examples of every
kind of virtue, and, finally, the promise of eternal reward, and the
threat of eternal punishment, uttered in weightiest terms, in God's
name and in God's own words.
This peculiar and singular power of the Scriptures, springing from the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, adds to the authority of the sacred
orator, fills him with apostolic liberty of speech, and communicates to
him a forcible and convincing eloquence. Those who infuse into their
speech the spirit and strength of the Word of God speak, "not in words
only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fulness."
Hence those preachers are foolish and improvident who, in preaching
religion and proclaiming the precepts of God, use no words but those of
human science and human prudence, trusting to their own reasonings
rather than to those that are divine. Their discourses may be
glittering with lights, but they must be cold and feeble, for they are
without the fire of the utterance of God. They must fall far short of
that power which the speech of God possesses. "The Word of God is
living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and
reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit." All the more
far-seeing are agreed that there is in the Holy Scriptures an eloquence
that is marvellous in its variety and richness, and that is worthy of
the loftiest themes. This St. Augustine thoroughly comprehended, and
this he has abundantly set forth. It is confirmed also by the best of
the preachers of all ages. They have gratefully acknowledged that they
owed their repute chiefly to assiduous familiarity with the Bible, and
to devout meditation on the truths which it contains.
The Holy Fathers well knew all this by practical experience. They
never cease to extol the Sacred Scripture and its fruits. In
innumerable passages of their writings we find them applying to it such
phrases as--"an inexhaustible treasury of heavenly doctrine," or "an
overflowing fountain of salvation," or as "fertile pastures and most
lovely gardens, in which the flock of the Lord is marvellously
refreshed and delighted." Let us listen to the words of St. Jerome, in
his Epistle to the cleric Nepotian: "Often read the divine Scriptures;
yea, let holy reading be always in thy hand; study that which thou
thyself must preach.... Let the speech of the priest be ever seasoned
with Scriptural reading." St. Gregory the Great, than whom no man has
more admirably described the functions of the pastors of the Church,
writes in the same sense: "Those," he says, "who are zealous in the
work of preaching, must never cease from study of the written word of
God." St. Augustine, however, warns us that "vainly does the preacher
utter the word of God exteriorly unless he listens to it interiorly."
St. Gregory instructs sacred orators "first, to find in Holy Scripture
the knowledge of themselves, and then to carry it to others, lest in
reproving others they forget themselves." This had already, after the
example and teaching of Christ Himself, who "began to do and to teach,"
been uttered far and wide by an apostolic voice. It was not to Timothy
alone, but to the whole order of the clergy, that the command was
addressed: "Take heed to thyself and to doctrine; be earnest in them.
In doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee."
For the saving and for the perfection, both of ourselves and of others,
we have at hand the very best of aids in the Sacred Scriptures, and
most abundantly in the Book of Psalms. Those alone will, however, find
it who bring to the divine oracles not only a docile and attentive
mind, but a habit also of will which is both pious and without reserve.
The Sacred Scripture is not to be regarded like an ordinary book.
Dictated by the Holy Ghost, it contains matters of the most grave
importance, which in many instances are difficult and obscure. To
understand and to explain them there is always required the "coming" of
the same Holy Spirit; that is to say, His light and His grace. These,
as the Royal Psalmist so frequently insists, are to be sought by humble
prayer, and to be preserved by holiness of life.