Green on Article VI: Of the Sufficiency of the holy Scriptures for salvation

“Holie Scripture conteineth all things necessary to Salvation: So that whatsoever is neither read therein, nor may he proved thereby, although it be sometime receiued of the faithful, as godlie, and profitable for an ordre and comelinesse : yeat no manne ought to bee constreigned to believe it, as an article of faith, or repute it requisite to the necessitie of Saluation.”

The wording was altered to its present form in 1563, and at the same time the clause in thick type was added from the Article “ De Sacra Scrip tura ” in the Wurtemburg Confession.

§ 2 .—OBJECT.

(a) This Article enunciates the great principle which under¬ lay the Reformation,1 the sufficiency of Holy Scripture as

1 With the statement of our Article we may compare the following : —

Tetrapolitan Confession, Cap. I., De Materia Concionum :

“Mandavimus iis, qui concionandi apud nos munere fungebantur, ut nihil aliud quam quae sacris literis aut continentur, aut certe nituntur, e suggestu docerent.”

French Confession, Art. V. :

[…]

“Credimus et confitemur Scripturas Dei sufficienter instruere, et hominem Dei perfectum reddere.”

Belgic Confession, Art. VII. :

[…]

containing all things necessary to salvation. Our Church thus repudiates scholastic errors on the subject of the “unwritten Word.”1

(5) The Article also condemns the sectaries of the period who disparaged the authority of the Bible, as compared with the immediate inspiration of which they conceived themselves to be the channel.2

It is worthy of remark that the Helvetic Confessions and the Westminster Confession0 put an Article on the Holy Scriptures in the first place, beginning by laying down the authority upon which they relied in their departure from the historic Church. The XXXIX. Articles follow the order of the ancient Creeds in opening with a declaration of faith in God. This latter is the logical order ; we first say, “ I believe in God,” before we acknow¬ ledge Holy Scripture as the Word of God.

tatem complecti, et in ilia abunde ea omnia doceri, quaecunque ab hominibus credi necesse est, ut salutem consequantur.”

Second Helvetic Confession, Art. I. :

“Et in hac Scriptura sancta habet universalis Christi ecclesia plenissime exposita quaecunque pertinent, cum ad salvificam fidem, turn ad vitam Deo placentem, recte informandam. Quo nomine distincte a Deo praeceptum est, ne ei aliquid vel addatur vel detrabatur.”

1 Contrast tlie decree of the Council of Trent, Session IV. (April 1546) :

“ Synodus … perspiciensque hanc veritatem et disciplinam contineri in libris scriptis, et sine scripto traditionibus, quae ex ipsius Christi ore ab Apos- tolis acceptae, aut ab ipsis Apostolis, Spiritu Sancto dictante quasi per manus traditae, ad nos usque pervenerunt ; orthodoxorum patrum exempla secuta, omnes libros tarn Veteris quam Novi Testamenti, cum utriusque unus Deus sit auctor, nec non traditiones ipsas, turn ad fidem, turn ad mores pertinentes, tanquam vel ore tenus a Christo, vel a Spiritu Sancto dictatas, et continua successione in ecclesia catholica conservatas, pari pietate affectu ac reverentia suscipit et veneratur.”

See also the Orthodox Confession of the Greek Church, p. 18 :

[…]

2 Cf. Calvin’s Institutes, I. ix. 1 :

“ Emerserunt nam nuper vertiginosi quidam, qui Spiritus magisterium factuosissime obtendentes, lectionein omnem ipsi respuunt, et eorum irrident simplicitatem qui emortuam et occidentem, ut ipsi vocant, literam adhuc con> sectantur.”

s So also the Irish Articles of 1615. See Appendix VI.

§ 3. — EXPOSITION.

(1.) The Rule of Eaith — Holy Scripture.

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation : so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may he proved thereby, is not to he required of any man that it should he believed as an article of the Faith, or he thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

Thus does our Church unmistakably lay down the principle that Holy Scripture contains, explicitly or im¬ plicitly, all things necessary relating both to faith and practice, beyond which God requires nothing from us (2 Tim. iii. 15—17). We may compare the words of S. Cyprian, “ Unde est ista traditio ? Utrumne de dominica et evan- gelica auctoritate descendens, an de apostolorum mandatis atque epistolis veniens ? Ea enim facienda esse quae scripta sunt” (Ep. lxxiv. p. 223, ed. Goldhorn).

We should notice how, in accordance with what is here laid down, Scripture is constantly referred to as the basis of doctrine in the Articles themselves ; see Articles VIII., IX., XIV., XV.,

(2.) What is to be reckoned as Scripture, and upon what Ground is it so reckoned ?

In the name of Holy Scripture we do understand those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.

According to the first clause of our Article, the Church’s teaching must be founded on, or provable by, Holy Scrip¬ ture ; in the second clause, now under consideration (which was borrowed, as we have already seen, from the Wurtem- burg Confession), it is asserted that what constitutes Holy Scripture is determined by the general consent of the Church. The Gospel teaching was at first oral (S. Luke i. 4), and the deposit of sound doctrine was transmitted by word of mouth in the earliest times (2 Tim. i. 13; 1 Tim. i. 10, 1 1 ; Tit. i. 9), but the consent of the Christian com¬ munity as a whole soon singled out certain writings of Apostles and Apostolic men as embodying in permanent form the great truths of the Gospel for the use of the

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whole Church. These books, which were thus stamped as authoritative, constitute the New Testament Canon, and are spoken of as the “ Canonical Books.” The word “ Canon ” properly signifies a rule or standard ; hence “ Canonical ” as applied to the books of Scripture means authorised by the general consent of the Church as a standard of Divine Truth.

When it is said in the Article “ of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church,” we must of course under¬ stand “ the Church Universal,” because in some parts of the Church there was for a time a doubt concerning some of the books we account Canonical, e.y., the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistles of SS. James and Jude, 2 and 3 S. John, and 2 S. Peter, as well as the Eevelation.

In referring to the consent of the Church as determining the Canon of Scripture, the Church of England altogether parts company with those bodies which were influenced by the teach¬ ing of Zwingli, Calvin, and their school, and with which, in the reign of Edward, she had been so closely associated. The insertion of the clause from the Wurtemburg Confession is one of the many indications of a desire on the part of the authorities of the English Church in the early years of Elizabeth to return to a more Catholic position.

Contrast with our Article the following extracts from formu¬ laries of the Swiss School : —

Calvin, Institutes, I. vii. 1 :

[…]

Ibid., I. vii. 5 :

[…]

French Confession, Art. IV. :

“ Hos libros agnoscimus esse Canonicos, id est, ut fidei nostrae normam et regulam habemus, idque non tantum ex communi Ecclesiae consensu, sed etiam multo magis ex testimonio et intrinseca Spiritus sancti persuasione : quo suggerente docemur, illos ab aliis libris ecclesiasticis discernere.”

1 i.e.} Self-authenticated,

Si

Scotch Confession, Art. XIX. :

“ Asserimus itaque quod qui dicunt Scripturas non aliam habere auctoritatem, sed earn quam ab Ecclesia accepit, sunt in Deum blasphemi, et verae Ecclesiae injuriam faciunt.”

Belgic Confession, Art. V. :

“ Ilosce libros solos recipinius tanquam sacros et Canonicos, quibus fides nostra inniti, confirmari, et stabiliri possit. Et credimus absque ulla dubitatione ea omnia, quae in illis con- tinentur, idque non tam quod Ecclesia illos pro Canonicis recipiat et comprobet, quam quod Spiritus Sanctus nostris conscientiis testetur illos a Deo emanasse : et eo maxime quod ipsi etiam per se sacram banc suam auctoritatem et sanctitatem testentur atque comprobent.”

Second Helvetic Confession, Art. I. :

“Credimus et confitemur Scripturas canonicas sanctorum pro- phetarum et apostolorum utriusque Testamenti, ipsum verum esse verbum Dei ; et auctoritatem sufficientem ex semetipsis non ex hominibus habere. Ham Deus ipse loquutus est patribus, pro- pbetis et Apostolis, et loquitur aclhuc nobis per Scripturas sanctas.”

The Westminster Divines, in their revision of the Article, omitted altogether the clause referring to the general consent of the Church,1 and gave expression to their own views in the

Westminster Confession, Art. I. § iv. :

“The authority of the Holy Scripture for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (Who is truth itself), the author thereof ; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the word of God.”

(3.) Estimation of the Apocrypha.2

And the other books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners : but yet it doth not apply them to establish any doctrine.

The Apocryphal Books (commonly so called) are not classed with the Canonical Books, because they do not stand the test laid down, viz., acceptance by the general consent of the Church. At the same time it is distinctly affirmed that these books have a value of their own. The Council

1 See Appendix IV.

2 The precise signification of the title Apocrypha is uncertain. The Greek word literally means “hidden.” The books in question may have been so called (a) on account of the obscurity of their origin, or (b) because they were relegated by the Church to comparative obscurity.

of Trent in a decree of the Fourth Session (April 1546) places Tobias, Judith, Baruch, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and 1 and 2 Maccabees in the Old Testament Canon. The Apocryphal Books were not formally included in the Canon of Scripture by the Eastern Church until 1692. The value set upon the Apocrypha by the English Church may be gathered from the following facts : —

( a ) The Benedicite from the Apocrypha is appointed as a Canticle for use at Morning Prayer.

(b) Lessons are appointed from the Apocrypha at Morning and Evening Prayer. See the Prayer Book Calendar, October 27-November 18, Holy Innocents Hay, and the feasts of S. Luke and All Saints.

(c) Two of the Offertory Sentences in the Communion Service are taken from the Book of Tobit.

(d) In the Homilies the Apocrypha is very often quoted, and is even spoken of as the Word of God, e.g. : —

“And Almighty God by the Wise man saith, That man which sweareth much shall be full of sin, and the scourge of God shall not depart from his house.” — Ecclus. xxiii. 11.

(Against Swearing, p. 75.)

“The invention of them was the beginning of spiritual fornica¬ tion, as the Word of God testifieth, Sap. xiv.” — Wisdom xiv. 12.

(Against peril of Idolatry, p. 258.)

“ The same lesson doth the Holy Ghost also teach in sundry places of the Scripture, saying, Mercifulness and almsgiving purgeth from all […] Tobit iv. 10.

(Of Almsdeeds, p. 414.)

“ Let us learn also here (Wisdom vi. 1-3) by the infallible and undeceivable Word of God.” (Of Obedience, p. in.)

Other examples may be seen on pp. 103, 119, 189, ed.

The passage of S. Jerome to which reference is made in the Article occurs in the Preface to the Books of Solomon: —

“Sicut ergo Judith et Tobiae, et Machabeeorum legit quideni Ecclesia, sed eos inter canonicas Scripturas non recipit ; sic et liaec duo volumina legat ad aedificationem plebis, non ad auctori- tatem ecclesiasticorum dogmatum confirmandam.”

The Old Testament is not con¬ trary to the New, for both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life is offered to Mankind by Christ, Who is the only Mediator between God and Man, being both God and Man.

Wherefore they are not to be heard, which feign that the old Fathers did look only for transitory promises.

Although the Law given from God by Moses, as touching Cere¬ monies and Kites, do not bind Christian men, nor the civil pre¬ cepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth : yet notwithstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral.

Testamentum Yetus Novo con- I trarium non est, quandoquidem I tarn in veteri quam in novo, per Christum, qui unicus est Mediator Dei et hominum, Deus et homo, aeterna vita humano generi est proposita.

Quare male sentiunt, qui veteres tantum in promissiones temporarias sperasse confingunt.

Quanquam lex a Deo data per Mosen, quoad Ceremonias et Ritus, Christianos non astringat, neque civilia ejus praecepta in aliqua republica necessario recipi debeant : nihilominus tamen ab obedientia mandat orum, quae mo- ralia vocantur, nullus (quantum- vis Christianus) est solutus.

§ i.— SOURCE.

We owe the form of this Article to the English Reformers. The latter part, printed in thick type in the Latin Version, was added in 1563, being taken from the 19th of the XLII. Articles of 1 5 53-

§ 2.— OBJECT.

The Article is directed against Anabaptist opinions concerning the Old Testament, which were rife at the Reformation period. See “ Reformatio Legum,” De Haeresibus, c. 4 : —

[…]

praecipue sunt collocandi, ad quos si quis Yetus Testamentum

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alleget, illud pro abrogato jam et obsoleto penitus habent, omnia quae in illo posita sunt ad prisca majorum nostrorum tempora referentes. Itaque nihil eorum ad nos statuunt pervenire debere.”

Some (c.g., Servetus and his followers) denied the vital con¬ nection of Judaism with Christianity/ and maintained that the Old Testament saints had no hope of life beyond the present. Cf. Calvin, “ Institutes,” II. x. i : —

“ Quinetiam quod utilissimum alioqui futurum erat, necessarium nobis fecerunt prodigiosus nebulo Servetus ac furiosi nonnulli ex Anabaptistarum secta, qui non aliter de Israelitico populo sentiunt quam de aliquo porcorum grege, utpote quern nugantur a Domino in liac terra saginatum, citra spem ullam coelestis immortalitatis.”

The latter part of the Article excludes the Antinomianism prevalent amongst the sectaries of the time, as is shown by the words which followed when the latter half of our present Article stood as a separate Article : —

[…]

§ 3.— EXPOSITION.

(1.) The Unity and Vital Connection of the Old and New Testament.