nually published throughout
the world; and his oath of obedience would have prevented him from
reading them if he had. But he saw no reason why, as part preparation
for his work of moral uplift, he should not continue to seek, at first
hand, the answer to the world-stirring query, What does the Bible
mean? If God gave it, if the theory of verbal inspiration is correct,
and if it is infallible, why then was it necessary to revise it, as
had been done in the wonderful Jerusalem Chamber which he had once
visited? Were those of his associates justified who had scoffed at
that work, and, with a sneer on their lips, voiced the caustic query,
"Fools! Why don't they let the Bible alone?" If the world is to be
instructed out of the old sensual theology, does the Bible contain the
truth with which to replace it? For to tear down an ideal without
substituting for it a better one is nothing short of criminal. And so
Jose plunged deeply into the study of Scriptural sources.

He had thought the rich treasures of the Vatican library unrestrictedly
open to him, and he therefore brought his fine Latin and Greek
scholarship to bear on its oldest uncial manuscripts. He began the study
of Hebrew, that he might later read the Talmud and the ancient Jewish
rabbinical lore. He pursued unflaggingly his studies of the English,
French, and German languages, that he might search for the truth
crystallized in those tongues. As his work progressed, the flush of
health came to his cheeks. His eyes reflected the consuming fire which
glowed in his eager soul. As he labored, he wrote; and his discoveries
and meditations all found lodgment in his sole confidant, his journal.

If the Church knew what Christianity was, then Jose was forced to
admit that he did not. He, weak, frail, fallible, _remit sins_?
Preposterous! What was the true remission of sins but their utter
destruction? He change the wafer and wine into the flesh and blood
of Jesus? Nay, he was no spiritual thaumaturgus! He could not do even
the least of the works of the Master, despite his priestly character!
Yet, it was not he, but the Christ, operating through him as a
channel, who performed the work. Then why did not the Christ
through him heal the sick and raise the dead? "Nay," he deplored,
as he bent over his task, "the Church may teach that the bones, the
teeth, the hair, and other human relics of canonized Saints can heal
the sick--but even the Cardinals and the Holy Father when the