Trollope on Article XX: Of the Authority of the Church

1. Is there any drcumstance connected with the first clause of this Article, which may raise a doubt whether it formed a part of the original Articles ; and what appears to be the real view of the case ?

There is a MS. copy of the Articles in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, signed, it should seem, by the Bishops, before they had aneed upon the insertion of the first clause of this Article. The clause appears, however, to have formed part of the Articles, as originally published; though it is wanting in some o^er transcripts. The copy containing it, which was afterwards signed oy the Bishops in the place of that which Arch- bishop Parker left to his College, was deposited in the Register Court of the Province of Canterbury, and was burnt in the fire of London.

2 Upon what principle is it necessary that ‘a certain degree of power and authority should be vested in the Church ?

All assemblies of men are necessarily regulated by certain established rules, without the observance of whioa their harmony and consistencjr would be destroyed ; and upon the same acknowledged principle the Church, in tue person of her rulers, has power to prescribe those forms by

ABTICI^B XX. 85

which order is maintained, and to decide those contro- versies which unsettle her memhers, and undermine her peace.

3. Distdnguisli between rites and ceremonies j shew from the Scriptures that the Church has au- thority to prescribe them, as well as to decide in controversies of faith ; and mark the limits of that authority.

See Questiens on the Liturgy ^ Sect. ni.

4. Had the Jews any institutions and observan- ces which rested only on human authority; and what is the example which Christ has left us with respect to compliance with the ordinances of the Church ?

The Jews had many institutions, such as the feasts of Purim and of Dedication (Esth. ix. 24. sqq. John x. 22, 23.) and certain observances in the celebration of the Passover, which were not commanded in the Law. None of these were censured by our Lord, who seems, indeed to have conformed to such traditional usages and ceremonies, as did not tend to encourage superstition ; thus leaving an exam- ple which Christians will do well to follow in complying with those rites and customs which are adjudged, by the au- thority of the Church, to be conducive to publio decency and religious edification.

5. In what sense is the Church a witness and keeper of Holy Writ ; and upon what basis are her decrees to be founded ?

To the Church are committed the oracles of God ; and, by the practice of reading them publicly in the congr^ations from the earliest times, they have been preserved free from all material errors and con’uptions. Hence she derives all her doctrines ; upon them sne founds all her decrees ; nor would she be justined in departing from them as the rule of her faith and practice, either by ordaining anything contrary to God*s written word, or requiring anything, as necessary to salvation, which is not contained therein. [See also the Questions on Art. vi.]

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6. Upon what principles, and to what end, is the Church to interpret the word of God t

She must be careful not to interpret one passage so as to contradict another ;• for, as all Scripture is given by in- spiration, there must be a perfect harmony and consistency in all its parts, so connected as to form one uniform and comprehensive whole. Doubtless there are some things in Scripture ‘hard to be underatood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest to their own destruction’ (2 Pet. iii. 16.)* Against such perversions, the Church, under the influence of divine grace, is the le^timate bul- wark ; giving stability to the * faith once delivered to the ‘saints,’ ana upholaing ‘the truth as it is in Jesus’ (Jude 3. £ph. iv. 21.)

7. Shew that the primitive Fathers, in maintaining the authority of the Church, looked upon it as built upon that of the Scriptures.

Clem. Rom. I. 40. We must do aU things in order, and make our prayers and oblations at the stated seasons; not irregularly and by chance, but at the times and hours appointed. Tertullian adv. Hermog. I do not admit what you assert on your own authority witTiout the Scriptures, If you are an Apostolic man, think with the Apostles* Clem. AJex. Strom, vii. 15. We must by no means trans- gress the canon qf the Church, Augustine, de Merit, et Rem. Fecc. I. 22. Moly Scripture can neither deceive, nor be deceived. See also Euseb. Hist. Eccl. v. 24. Iren. Hser. iv. 46. Tertull. de PrsBScr. Heer. c. 21. Cyprian de Laps. Epist. 27. Augustin. de Doctr. Chr. Ii.