Such is Father Hecker's argument in a powerful article in _The Catholic World_ for October, 1883.

He continues: "But suppose that everybody knew how to read, or all men were gifted to read at first sight; suppose that everybody had a copy of the Bible within his reach, a genuine Bible, and knew with certitude what it means; suppose that Christ himself had laid it down as a rule that the Bible, without note or comment, and as interpreted by each one for himself, is the ordinary way of receiving the grace of salvation--which is the vital principle of Protestantism; suppose all these evident assumptions as true.

Would the Bible even in that case suffice to make any one man, woman, or child a Christian?
Evidently not.

And why?
For that is a personal work, and the personal work of Christ; for Christ alone can make men Christians.

And no account of Christ is Christ.