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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA 7 dignity of mission which have brought to the church the confidence, the respect, the admiration and alle giance of the mass of the people.” The country knows well enough that the churches of all denominations may be counted upon to give ac tive support to the prohibition movement. It is a recognized moral obligation of the church, and any undertaking to stir up strife in the religious ranks is one which must cause unconcealed regret by the friends of prohibition. It was the same influence which is now moving in the direction of antagonizing the great influence of the Catholic Church that drove Colonel Bryan from the missionary field in New York. It is to be hoped that fanatical leadership in the pres ent movement may be confined to the State of New York. It is a queer notion some people have that the best way to help a cause is to make as many enemies as possible for it. SUNDAY; THE COMMANDMENTS; ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE; TRADITION (Note: Below follows in catechetical form a letter recently sent to an inquirer. It covers such a wide range of subjects that it is reproduced in The Bulletin, not only for the information it contains, but as a speci men of some of the shorter answers given. The last Bulletin contained a long letter, the subjects treated requiring more explanation. This one contains much information not at the finger tips of the average lay man, but which is avaliable in that most of the topics are frequently heard in every-day conversation:) Q. Did the Catholic Church change the day of worship from the seventh day to the first day of the week, and when and why? A. The Catholic Church holds every day of the week to be a day of worship, but she recognizes the first day, or Sunday, as being in particular the Lord’s Day, upon which men should abstain from all servile works and gainful occupations and pay special homage to Jesus Christ. The custom of observing the first day of the week instead of the seventh originated with the first Christians, and was practiced in the time of the Apostles, as is indicated in Acts XX-7, and in I. Corinthians XV-2. The change was made because our Lord arose from the dead on the first day of the week; and on this day He broke bread with the Apos tles; and on this day the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles. Accordingly, we read in the Epistle of the Apostle Barnabas XV, which, though not canon ical, is historically true: ‘‘Wherefore, we keep the eighth day (i. e., the first day of the week) with joy fulness, as the day on which Jesus arose from the dead.” In the writings of St. Ignatius, who was taught by the Apostles themselves, we read (Ep. Ad Magnos, LX) : ‘‘Christians no longer observe the Sabbath, but live in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our LIFE arose again.” The Ten Commandments. Q. Is it a fact that the Commandments as you have them are different from the Commandments in the non-Catholic Bible? A. No, the Ten Commandments taught to Cath olics are the same as are found in non-Catholic ver sions of the Bible. They are not numbered alike, but the numbering is not strictly biblical in either case, as you will observe by reference to Chapter XX of Exodus, verses 3-17. The numbering of the verses in the non-Catholic version of the Bible follows that of the Catholic. In usage, however, if I am not mis taken, non-Catholics number verses three and four as two separate Commandments, and number third, the Commandment, ‘‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, Thy God in vain.” Catholics join the words in verses three and four and include the words in verse five in the First Commandment, and number Seco nd the command, ‘‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, Thy God, in vain.” Thus the command, ‘‘Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath Day,” is known to Catholics as the Third Commandment, while it is known to non-Catholics as the Fourth. Thus for the remainder of the Decalogue to the Ninth Com mandment, what Catholics know as the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Commandments, respectively, are known to Protestants as the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Commandments. ‘‘Thou shalt not bear false wit ness against thy neighbor” is the Eighth Command ment to a Catholic, the Ninth to a Protestant. What are known to Catholics as the Ninth and Tenth Com mandments, namely, ‘‘Thou shalt not covet thy neigh bor’s wife,” and ‘‘Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- ;bor’s goods,” are known as one Commandment to non-Catholics, being united by them in the Tenth Commandment. The Catholic Bible. Q. Was the Catholic Bible taken from the Protes tant, or the Protestant Bible taken from the Cath olic? Why the difference in the two Bibles today? A. The Bible consists of various books written at different times and by different persons, and in dif ferent places. Some of them were written by the Apostles, and others by those who were not Apos tles. Some writings by Apostles are not in the Bible. For three hundred years after the Apostles all of these writings existed in one or another of the different Churches in the Church of Corinth, of Thessalonica, of Jerusalem, of Rome, etc. Early in the fourth century the Catholic Church appointed a commission to collect all the writings thought to be inspired. St. Jerome, perhaps the great est scholar of his century, was the head of the com mission. After the various writings thought to be