St. Antony and the Imperial Missive
Holy Scripture is a letter written by God to man. St. Antony the Hermit (+ 356), who lived in the Thebaid desert in Egypt, one day received a letter from the Emperor Constantine the Great. His disciples were much struck by the honor conferred upon him by the fact that the emperor should send him an autograph letter. But the saint said: “ You should rather be astonished that Our Lord God, the King of kings, has sent a letter to us poor mortals — I mean Holy Scripture.”
The Protestant’s Bible
If it were not for tradition we should not know which books of the Scripture are canonical. A Catholic and a Protestant were engaged in a disputation concerning the necessity of tradition. The Protestant maintained that the whole of divinely revealed truth was contained in Holy Scripture; thus tradition was superfluous and valueless. “Give me your Bible,” the Catholic said, “and I will prove to you that tradition cannot be dispensed with.” Thereupon the Protestant brought his Bible. The Catholic turned over the pages awhile, then he said: “I meant Holy Scripture, if you please, not this book of fables.” “ Fables! ” the Protestant indignantly exclaimed; “ why, that is the Scripture! ” “ How do you know that it really is Holy Scripture? ” the other inquired. “I know it from my father,” the Protestant replied, “ and all my forefathers, who for eighteen centuries have venerated it as divinely
