4. Why must we believe all that God has revealed ? Because God is the eternal and infallible truth.

5. What means, "all that God has revealed?" It means all that God has made known for our salvation by the Patriarchs and Prophets, and at last, by His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Apostles.

"God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the Prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by His Son." (Hebr. 1, 1. 2.)

6. Was it necessary that God should have revealed to us the truths of salvation, in order that we might know them?

Yes, because without Divine Revelation, we should have known many of them but with great difficulty, and very imperfectly; and most of them would have remained entirely unknown to us.

"And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth and with labour do we find the things that are before us. But the things that are in Heaven, who shall search out? And who shall know Thy thought, except Thou give wisdom, and send Thy Holy Spirit from above ?" (Wisd. 9, 16. 17.)

7. How did Divine Revelation come down to us? Divine Revelation came down to us, partly by writing, that is, by the Holy Scripture, or the Bible; partly by word of mouth, that is, by Tradition.

8. What is the Holy Scripture ?

The Holy Scripture is a collection of books which were written by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and acknowledged by the Church as the Word of God.

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Prophecy came not by the will of man at any time but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost." (2 Pet. 1, 21.)

9. How is the Holy Scripture divided ?

The Holy Scripture is divided into the books of

the Old and New Testament, or of the Old and New Law.

10. What Revelations does the Old Testament contain ?

The Old Testament contains the Divine Revelations which were made to man before the coming of Christ.

11. Of what books does the Old Testament consist? The Old Testament consists, 1. Of Twenty-one Historical Books, which relate the Creation of the world, the lives of the Patriarchs, and the History of the Jewish nation; 2. Of Seven Moral Books, which are collections of Psalms, of holy maxims, and of rules of life; and 3. Of Seventeen Prophetical Books, which mostly contain prophecies.

The Historical Books are: The Pentateuch, or five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy); the Book of Josue; the Book of Judges; the Book of Ruth; the four Books of Kings; the two Books of Chronicles or of Paralipomenon; the Book of Esdras; the Book of Nehemias, which is also called the Second of Esdras; the Book of Tobias; the Book of Judith; the Book of Esther; and the two Books of the Machabees.

The Moral Books are The Book of Job; the Psalms; the Proverbs; Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher; the Canticle of Canticles; the Book of Wisdom; and Ecclesiasticus, or Jesus the Son of Sirach.

The Prophetical Books: Isaias; Jeremias ; Baruch ; Ezechiel; Daniel; Osee; Joel; Amos; Abdias; Jonas; Micheas; Nahum ; Habacuc; Sophonias; Aggeus ; Zacharias; and Malachias.

12. What Revelations does the New Testament contain?

The New Testament contains the Revelations which we have received through Jesus Christ and the Apostles.

13. Of what books does the New Testament consist?

The New Testament consists, 1. Of the four

Gospels according to St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, which relate the history of Jesus; 2. Of the Acts of the Apostles, by St. Luke; 3. Of fourteen Epistles of St. Paul, and seven by other Apostles, which contain dogmatical and moral instructions; and 4. Of the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of St. John, which foretells the combats and victories of the Church.

The Epistles of St. Paul are: One to the Romans; two to the Corinthians; one to the Galatians; one to the Ephesians; one to the Philippians; one to the Colossians; two to the Thessalonians; two to Timothy; one to Titus; one to Philemon; and one to the Hebrews.

The other Epistles are: One of St. James; two of St. Peter; three of St. John; and one of St. Jude, surnamed Thaddeus.

14. Is it enough to believe that only which is contained in the Holy Scripture ?

No; we must also believe Tradition, i.e., those revealed truths which the Apostles preached, but did not commit to writing.

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St. Paul, therefore, exhorts the first Christians by saying: Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our Epistle." (2 Thess. 2, 14.)

15. Have not then the Apostles written all that Jesus Christ has taught?

No; the Apostles have not even written all that Jesus has done, far less, all that He has taught; for Christ did not commission them to write, but to preach His doctrine. (Mark 16, 15. Matt. 28, 19.)

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Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of His disciples, which are not written in this book." (John 20, 30.)

The Bible, therefore, does not contain the entire Revelation of God. The Bible nowhere tells us, how many Divine books there are, and which they are; if we did not know this for certain from Tradition, we should not even have a Bible.-The Bible does not, in doubtful passages, decide upon the true meaning of its words;

therefore, all Sects always appealed to the Bible, in order to prove their contradictory doctrines, and each one of them pretended to have hit on its true meaning.-If we would consult the Bible only without Tradition, we ought, for instance, still to keep holy the Saturday with the Jews, instead of the Sunday, and refrain ourselves from things strangled, and from blood (Acts 15, 20.) moreover, we ought, with the Anabaptists, to let little; children, who are incapable of being instructed, die without Baptism; since Christ has commanded, first to teach, and then to baptize. (Matt. 28, 19.)

16. Why is the unwritten doctrine of the Apostles called "Tradition ?"

It is called Tradition, because, since the times of the Apostles, it has, without interruption, been transmitted or handed down in the Catholic Church from generation to generation.

"And the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also." (2 Tim. 2, 2.)

17. How has Tradition been handed down to us ? It has been handed down to us partly by word of mouth, and partly by the decrees and rites of the Church, and the writings of the Holy Fathers.

18. What is to be thought of the writings or of the doctrine of the Holy Fathers?

The uniform doctrine of the Holy Fathers is the doctrine of Jesus Christ, which they have received from the Apostles or their Successors; therefore, we are never to deviate from it.

19. But why must we believe Tradition, as well as what is contained in the Holy Scripture?

Because Catholic Tradition was revealed by God, as well as that which is contained in the Holy Scripture.

20. What then must the Catholic Christian in general believe?

He must believe all that God has revealed, and the

Catholic Church proposes to his belief, whether it be contained in the Holy Scripture or not.

The Church is considered to propose a truth to our belief, when recognizing it to be revealed by God, she commands us to believe it.

21 Why is it necessary that the Catholic Church should propose the revealed truths to our belief? Because it is only from the Catholic Church that we can infallibly know what God has revealed.

22. Why can we from the Catholic Church alone infallibly know what God has revealed ?

1. Because it is only from the Catholic Church that we have the Scripture and Tradition, which contain the Divine Revelations; and 2. Because it is through her alone that we infallibly know the true meaning of the Scripture and of Tradition.

23. Why do we say that it is only from the Catholic Church that we have the Holy Scripture and Tradition ?

1. Because the Catholic Church alone has received the Scripture and Tradition from the Apostles, and has always, with the special assistance of the Holy Ghost, preserved them uncorrupted; and 2. Because it is she alone who gives us incontestable security for their Divine origin.

It is from his Church alone that the Catholic receives with full confidence the Books of the Holy Scripture. He is not only sure, 1. Of their Authenticity and Credibility, because this has been so frequently and undeniably proved, that it is impossible to question it without rejecting all historical truth (see Short History of Religion: Concluding Remarks §§. 3 and 4); and 2. Of their Integ rity or Incorruptness; because the Holy Scripture has always been revered by the Church as the Word of God, and, consequently, most scrupulously preserved from any corruption whatever; but he is also sure, 3. Of their Divine Origin; because this is founded on the testimony of the Catholic Church, which was established by Christ