BOMAN CATHOLIC DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE RULE OF FAITH. § 1. Statement of the Doctrine.
1. Romanists reject tke doctrine of the Rationalists who make human reason either the source or standard of religious truth. It is one of their principles, that faith is merely human when either its object or ground is human. Faith to be divine must have truth supernaturallj revealed as its object, and the evidence on which it rests must be the supernatural testimony of God.
2. They reject the Mystical doctrine that divine truth is revealed to every man by the Spirit. They admit an objective, supernatural revelation.
3. They maintain, however, that this revelation is partly written and partly unwritten ; that is, the rule of faith includes both Scrip- ture and tradition. Moreover, as the people cannot certainly know what books are of divine origin, and, therefore, entitled to a place in the canon ; and as they are incompetent to decide on the luoan- ing of Scripture, or which among the multitude of traditionary doctrines and usages are divine, and which are human, God has made the Church an infallible teacher by which all these points ai'e determined, whose testimony is the proximate and sufficient ground of faith to the people.
So far as the Romish doctrine concerning the Rule of Faith differs from that of Protestants, it presents the following points for consideration : First, The docti'ine of Romanists concerning the Scriptures. Second, Their doctrine concerning tradition. Tiiird, Their doctrine concerning the office and authority of the Church as a teacher.
§ 2. Roman Catholic Doctrine concerning the Scriptures. On this subject Romanists agree Avith Protestants, (1.) In teaching the plenary inspiration and consequent infallible authority of the sacred writings. Of these writings the Council of Trent says that God is their author, and that they were written by the dictation of the Holy Spirit (" Spiritu sancto dictante ")