The PROTESTANT RULE OF FAITH. § 1. Statement of the Doctrine.'*
All Protestants agree in teaching that " the word of God, as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only infallible rule of faith and practice."
In the Smalcald Articles,^ the Lutheran Church says : " Ex pa- trum — verbis et factis non sunt exstruendi articuli fidei — Regu- 1am autem aliam habemus, ut videlicet verbum Dei condat articulos fidei et prseterea nemo, ne angelus quidem." In the " Form of Concord,"^ it is said: "-Credimus, confitemur et docemus, unicam regulam et normam secundum quam omnia dogmata omnesque doctores gestimari et judicari oporteat, nullam omnino aliam esse, quam prophetica et apostolica scripta cum V. turn N. Testamenti."
The symbols of the Reformed churches teach the same doctrine. Confessio Helvetica, 11.^ says : " In scriptura sancta habet uni- versalis Christi Ecclesia plenissime exposita, quaecunque pertinent cum ad salvificam fidem, turn ad vitam Deo placentem.* Non alium in causa fidei judicem, quam ipsum Deum per Scripturas sacras pronuntiantem, quid verum sit, quid falsum, quid sequendum sit quidne 'fugiendum. Confessio Gallicana : ^ Quum haec (SS.) sit omnis veritatis summa, complectens quidquid ad cultum Dei et salutem nostram requiritur, neque hominibus neque ipsis etiam angelis fas esse dicimus quicquam ei verbo adjicere vel detrahere vel quicquam prorsus in eo immutare." In the Thirty-Nine Arti- cles of the Church of England,^ it is said : •" Holy Scripture con- taineth all things necessary to salvation : so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." The Westminster Confession <" teaches : " Under the name of Holy Scripture, oi the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testament, which are these : etc All
1 Part ii. 2, 15; Hase Lib. Sym. p. 308. 8 Page 570, ibid.
3 C. i. p. 467, ibid. * C. ii. p. 479, ibid.
6 Art. V. p. 330, ibid. 6 Art. 6. T Ch. i. § 2.
152 INTRODUCTION. [Ch. VI. —P. R. of Faith.
which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.^ The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either ex- pressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary conse- quence may be deduced from Scripture ; unto which nothing at any time is to be added whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men.^ All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all ; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them."
From these statements it appears that Protestants hold, (1.) That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and are therefore infallible, and of divine authority in all things pertaining to faith and practice, and consequently free from all error whether of doctrine, fact, or precept. (2.) That they contain all the extant supernatural revelations of God designed to be a rule of faith and practice to his Church. (3.) That they are sufficiently perspicuous to be understood by the people, in the use of ordinary means and by the aid of the Holy Spirit, in all things necessary to faith or practice, without the need of any infallible interpreter
The Canon. Before entering on the consideration of these points, if is neces- sary to answer the question. What books are entitled to a place in the canon, or rule of faith and practice ? Romanists answer this question by saying, that all those which the Church has decided to be divine in their origin, and none others, are to be thus received. Protestants answer it by saying, so far as the Old Testament is concerned, that those books, and those only, which Christ and his Apostles recognized as the written Word of God, are entitled to be reo-arded as canonical. .This recognition was afforded in a twofold manner: First, many of the books of the Old Testament are quoted as the Word of God, as being given by the Spirit ; or the Spirit is said to have uttered what is therein recdrded. Secondly, Christ and his Apostles refer to the sacred writings of the Jews — ^ the volume which they regarded as divine — as being what it claimed to be, the Word of God. When we refer to the Bible as 2 Ibid. § 6. * Ihid. § 7.