Jackson on Article VI: Of the Sufficiency of the holy Scriptures for salvation
Bernard C. Jackson, 1900
Commentaries on Article VI: Rogers (1607)Ellis (1660)Burnet (1699)Beveridge (d. 1708)Welchman (1713)Practical Exposition (1716)Veneer (1725)Madan (1772)Hey (1796)Tomline (1799)Wilson (1821)Jones (1849)Trollope (1850)Browne (1850)Forbes (1867)Boultbee (1871)Maclear & Williams (1895)Green (1896)Gibson (1896)Jackson (1900)Bicknell (1919) · Article 6: text, context and Study
Article VI. Of the Sufficiency of the holy Scriptures for salvation
Holy 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 man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the holy Scripture we do understand those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.
Of the Names and Number of the Canonical Books
Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth The First Book of Samuel The Second Book of Samuel The First Book of Kings The Second Book of Kings The First Book of Chronicles The Second Book of Chronicles The First Book of Esdras The Second Book of Esdras The Book of Esther The Book of Job The Psalms The Proverbs Ecclesiastes or Preacher Cantica, or Songs of Solomon Four Prophets the greater Twelve Prophets the less
And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine; such are these following:
The Third Book of Esdras The Fourth Book of Esdras The Book of Tobias The Book of Judith The rest of the Book of Esther The Book of Wisdom Jesus the Son of Sirach Baruch the Prophet The Song of the Three Children The Story of Susanna Of Bel and the Dragon The Prayer of Manasses The First Book of Maccabees The Second Book of Maccabees
All the Books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive, and account them Canonical.
Text: Book of Common Prayer (1662)
Cleaned OCR; [...] marks passages cut for illegibility. See the scan. Text: The Thirty-nine Articles: a short exposition, by Bernard C. Jackson (London: Church Book Room, 1900). Short notes on each Article. Cleaned OCR from the Internet Archive scan; passages too garbled to recover are marked [...]. Public domain.
This Article begins by empasising the sole sufficiency of Holy Scripture for Salvation. It does this first positively and then negatively. It not only tells us that ‘‘ all things necessary to salvation ’’ are contained in Scripture, but that nothing which is ‘‘ not read therein, nor may be proved thereby ’’ is to be made a condition of salvation to any man. This full and careful treat- ment of the point is due to the fact that the supremacy and sufficiency of Holy Scripture was an essential principle of the Reformation. The statement of this Article repudiates both the error of the Romanists, who placed tradition on a level
with Holy Scripture, and the error of some of the Anabaptists, who claimed immediate know- ledge of Divine truth through the Spirit and therefore presumed to dispense with the authority ‘of the written word.
The second section deals with the question ‘“* What is Scripture?’’ and gives as answer “* those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.’’ In other words, the Church of England teaches that this question must be settled by an appeal to history and not be left to the judgment of the individual. His- tory shows that the books of the Old Testament formed the Bible of our Lord and received His sanction; and that before the end of the fourth century, ‘the general consent of the Christian Church had determined the limits of the whole Bible as they are now. (See Bishop aati on Art. VI. for a full treatment.)
The books of our Bible are called ‘‘ Canonical Me because they conformed to a certain ‘‘ canon ”’ or rule. In the last resort that rule is the authority of Christ Himself. For, in the words of Bishop Harold Browne, He gave His own Divine sane- tion to the Jewish Canon of the Old Testament ; and He gave His own authority to the Apostles to write the New.”
The third section of the Article deals with the position and value of the ‘‘ Apocryphal ”’ (or “hidden ’’) writings. They were included in the Septuagint and the old Latin version, but not in the Hebrew canon. Our Church “ doth read them for example of life and instruction of manners ”’ (e.g., certain Daily and Saints’ Day Lessons and certain offertory sentences); ‘‘ but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrines.”’
ArTICLE VII. OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
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