That was a retort, not a command, and you cannot turn a particular rebuke into a universal law. Were it a universal law, it would have been impossible of fulfillment by the vast majority during the fourteen centuries prior to the invention of the printing press! But take the context. The Jews, who boasted of their fidelity to the Mosaic Law, would not believe in Christ. He challenged them: “(You) search the Scriptures, for you think in them to have life everlasting; and the same are they that give testimony of me.” The Catholic Church could say in the same way to Protestants: “You are ever speaking of searching the Scriptures as opposed to my methods, and think in them to have everlasting life independently of me; yet the same are they that give testimony of me.”
Radio Replies Volume 1 by Rev. Dr. Leslie Rumble MSC and Rev. Charles Mortimer Carty
Historical language and viewpoints in the original collection are preserved. For current official teaching, consult the Catechism and the Holy See.
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