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We have received the totality of God's revelation and have been enlightened by the infused gift of faith, yet we are not therefore rendered self-sufficing, infallible, and exempt from all danger of error. There is need, further, of a guardian for that revelation and a guide for our belief. Evil besets good at every step; errors intrude themselves into the domain of faith; that which is holiest is liable to be perverted to our destruction. Doctrine goes through a process of development; new cases arise to which it is not easy to apply the old principles; laws need to be explained, extended, modified; on each of these occasions we are in danger of taking a wrong line, and a mistake may have very serious effects. An external authority is required for the administration and maintenance of truth just as much as for its original transmission to us. The individual is not capable of fulfilling these functions for himself; God does not help him to do so when there are delegates duly commissioned for the purpose. The pious eunuch under the influence of grace was reading the Word of God; when asked by St. Philip if he understood, he humbly answered: "How can I unless some one show me? "(Acts viii. 31). The devout centurion, Cornelius, and the destined Apostle of the Gentiles, although enjoying direct revelations from God, were yet directed to submit to appointed men for their instruction in the faith, so "that no flesh should glory in His sight" (1 Cor. i. 29). No man is a judge in his own case. Self-sufficiency is the worst of all guides. Follow humbly the Church which God has made the judge of faith, lest you become the sport of your own fancies and of Satan.
