tended church authority, either as appended to the Scriptures, or in assuming to give an infallible exposition of their meaning. Our English divines, reformers in religion, professed the most unqualified adherence to the exclusive authority of the oracles of God. Bishop Hooper, a martyr for Christ, wrote, therefore, in his "Clear Confession of Christian Truth," "I believe that the word of God is of far greater authority than the church; which word alone sufficiently shows and teaches us all things that in anywise concern our salvation, both what we ought to do, and what to leave undone. The same word of God is the truc pattern and perfect rule after which all faithful people ought to govern and order their lives, without turning either to the right hand or to the left hand, without changing anything thereof; without putting to it, or taking from it, knowing that all the works of God are perfect, but most chiefly his word." That great theologian designs in this passage to annihilate that most pernicious dogma of any that had ever been published among the professors of Christianity, and which asserts that the office of a priest, or of a body of the priesthood, under the designation of "The Church," possesses power to give an authoritative interpretation of the Scriptures. Unholy and irreligious men having assumed the office of priests in the Romish, Greek and other churches, have promulgated every form of error, and established the most intolerant and destructive maxims of policy. They have done these things under the deceitful claim of being the ministers of God, and they have, in their way, virtually subverted the divine authority of the Scriptures. Our blessed Lord has wisely and mercifully ordained the preaching of the gospel to be the chief means of "turning men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." But He requires each of his followers to "try the spirits," and examine every doctrine by the light of His sacred word. All upright Protestants hold this principle, in opposition to the contradictory notions of the Romanists. Hence the famous declaration of Chillingworth : "THE BIBLE, I say, THE BIBLE ONLY IS THE RELIGION OF PROTESTANTS. I, for my part, after a long and, as I believe and hope, impartial search of the true way to eternal happiness, do profess plainly that I cannot find any rest for the sole of my foot, but on this rock only. I see plainly, and with my own eyes, that there are Popes against Popes ; councils against councils; some fathers against others; the same fathers against themselves; consent of fathers of one age against a consent of fathers of another age; the church of one age against the church of another age; traditive interpretations of scripture are pretended, but there are none found. In a word, there is no sufficient certainty, but of scripture only, for any considerate man to build upon. Dean Chillingworth's declaration of sound Protestant doctrine is justified by "Article VI." of the Church of England. It is thus expressed :-" Holy *Works. Vol. ii., pp. 410, 411. Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any that it should be believed. In the name of the Holy Scripture do we understand those canonical books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the church." Bishop Jewel, one of the most famous divines who survived the persecutions of the Reformers in the reign of Queen Mary, states this grand principle of Protestantism and of Christianity as follows:-" We receive and embrace all the canonical Scriptures, both of the Old and the New Testament, and we give our gracious God most hearty thanks that he hath set up this light for us, which we ever fix our eyes upon, lest by human frauds, or the snares of the devil, we should be seduced to errors or fables. We own them to be the heavenly voices by which God hath revealed and made known his will to us. They are the very might and power of God unto salvation they are the foundations of the apostles and prophets, upon which the church of God is built; they are the most certain and infallible rule by which the church may be redeemed, if she happen to stagger; slip or err, by which all ecclesiastical doctrines ought to be tried. No law, no tradition, no custom, is to be received or continued, if it be contrary to Scripture; no, though St. Paul himself, or an angel from heaven, should come and teach us otherwise."-Gal. i. 8. ; Dr. Usher, one of the most learned prelates of the age following the Reformation, thus beautifully expresses his decision regarding the rule of religion in the Bible:-"The books of Holy Scripture are so sufficient for the knowledge of the Christian religion, that they do most plentifully contain all doctrine necessary to salvation; they being perfectly profitable to instruct to salvation in themselves, and all other imperfectly unprofitable thereunto, farther than they draw from them; whence it followeth, that we need no unwritten verities, no traditions or inventions of men, no canons of councils, no sentences of fathers, much less decrees of Popes, to supply any supposed defect of the written word, or for to give us a more perfect direction in the worship of God and the way of life than is already expressed in the canonical Scriptures. (Matt. xxiii. 8; John v. 39.) Finally, these Holy Scriptures are the rule and line, the square and light, whereby to try and examine all judgments of men and angels. (John xii. 48; Gal.i. 9.) All traditions, revelations, decrees of councils, opinions of doctors, &c., are to be embraced so far forth as they may be proved out of the Divine Scriptures, and not otherwise, so that from them only all doctrine concerning our salvation must be drawn and derived." Human authority higher than the judgment of these great men cannot be pleaded. Their testimony is decisive, and in manifest accordance with the doctrine of our Saviour and the inspired writers. Considering the origin of the Scriptures, and the wonderful preservation of the sacred books down to our times, we perceive the wisdom and goodness of God in their gift to us for our spiritual instruction. And, as these are designed to promote our present improvement, our activity in duty, and our eternal |
