after our Lord's death and ascension, as his Apostles were not to be always with us, it became necessary that the valuable instructions which dropped from his lips should be preserved in written words that his doctrines and precepts should be inscribed on monuments less perishable than the memory of man-and that his example should be set forth for imitation in sure and authentic memorials of his history. And this certain and safe method has God followed for. the benefit and comfort of believers in their gospels and epistles the lips of the Apostles still preserve knowledge in the Church; in perusing them, we continue to receive instruction at the fountainhead, and to draw pure water from the wells of salvation, not after it has become thick and turbid by the impure or poisonous admixtures which ignorance, treachery, or levity, may have mingled with it, as it flowed along the stream of time, now lashed into foam by the harsh and boisterous passions of man, and again slow and slothful, and silently receiving the corrupt effusions of his vile affections. But the testimony of believers is not the only evidence which we have, that the books received by us as the written word of God were indeed the production of persons immediately and divinely inspired, and by them communicated to the Church. We have the authority of the enemies, as well as of the friends, of the Gospel, for many of the facts which it records: the written testimony of Jews and Heathens, as well as of the earliest Christians. We receive it also partly on account of its own reasonableness, and the signature and stamp of God's Spirit, which appear in the majesty and heavenliness of its matter and style, and the efficacy of its doetrines partly on account of the striking testimony which one part of it bears to another and partly in consequence of the striet conformity of sentiment maintained by the various aud distant writers who were engaged in its composition, the sameness of spirit which everywhere pervades it, the minuteness and accuracy, the simplicity and artlessness of its details; all which qualities produce such a harmony and correspondence throughout, and render the Bible so complete and consistent a scheme of religious truth, that we may venture the assertion, it is impossible

juring the beauty and proportions of the fabric. Such is the beautiful provision which God has made for the conviction of our understanding, as if to teach us, that whatever communication comes from Him, will not only convey the most im portant and necessary intelligence, but be attended by such manifold evidences, and stamped so plainly with the seal of heaven, as to leave no room to doubt of its divine original.

This leads us to remark, as a third reason for confining ourselves to the written word of God—and the written word of God only-as the standard of our faith, that in this public and infallible rule, whose heavenly origin is established by such multifarious proofs, we are strictly forbidden to add to, or take away from, the words therein contained. In giving the moral law from mount Sinai, the Almighty specially enforced obedience to the second commandment, by declaring himself a jealous God-jealous of his own glory and sovereignty; and this attribute is manifested not only in his zeal for his own worship, but in his solicitude lest his law should be made void by human traditions. This concern appears, first of all, from the fact, that in the Scriptures the Holy Spirit sends us continually, not to the church, nor to tradition, but to Scripture itself, to learn whether these things were so, alleging God's authority in his own word, as a sufficient ground on which to believe whatever it reveals. To the law, and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." The rich man in the parable, for example, when pleading with Abraham to dispatch an extraordinary messenger from the regions of death on an embassy to his five brethren, is reminded, that they have Moses and the prophets, and that if they hear not them, they would not be persuaded though one rose from the dead. The Bereans also are commended, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily; and our Saviour commands the Jews to search the Scriptures, seeing they are they which testify of him, enforcing the injunction by a question which shows what importance he attached to written records: "If ye believe not Moses' writings, how shall ye believe my words ?” Again, the sufficiency of

the properties which are attributed to it by the divine Spirit. It is described as a sure word of prophecy," unto which we do well to give heed, as unto a light shining in a dark place. It is a "lamp unto the feet," by which we may be directed, as if enveloped in the shadows of night, in all the particular actions of our life; and it is a "light unto the path," by which we are guided, as by the sun during day, in our general walk and conversation. While such is its power to enlighten the eyes and make wise the simple, it possesses likewise a singular efficacy to move the will, to force convictions on the mind, to lay open to inspection the most hidden sources of our vices and errors, and savingly to awaken the conscience. It is no lifeless and feeble instrument of instruction, but is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Now, if the Scriptures do exhibit the whole extent of our relations to the Supreme Being, and the excellency and spirituality of his law; if they discover to us the alienation of our hearts from the fountain of life, and a supernatural remedy for our sins by a Redeemer; and if, by displaying the necessary consequences of our depravity, and the happy fruits of obedience to the way of salvation, which they disclose, they are fitted to draw us to that Redeemer by the cords of love, what need have we to seek farther, and dig amid the dusty traditions of the elders, and the antiquarian rubbish of the fathers, for another foundation to our faith? Such an undertaking may, at least, be deemed a work of supererogation, and, as such, may very properly be abandoned; since, besides that it can be of no benefit to ourselves, it cannot in any way advantage a more worthless neighbour. Certainly the Bible, laying down whatever men are bound to believe and practise, in all ages and countries of the world, is a perfect rule, and worthy of the universal King and Lawgiver; it is able to make us wise unto salvation, and thoroughly to furnish us unto all good works. We are confirmed in this persuasion, when we consider by what express terms its fulness and sufficiency are declared, and by what solemn denunciations any additions to it are forbidden. Just let us revert to the

:

two passages from which we have now quoted. Timothy is exhorted by the apostle Paul, to continue in the things which he had learned and had been assured of, knowing of whom he had learned them and that from a child he had known the Holy Scriptures, which were able to make him wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. And then follows that striking declaration :-“ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." In another place, the same Apostle says, But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed." And the apostle John, having completed the canon of Scripture, by his Apocalypse, denounces this frightful curse (or rather the Saviour through him) against the person who may add thereto or diminish from it: "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

While, for the reasons now assigned, we maintain a supreme reverence for the written Word of God, as the rule of our faith and manners here, as the law by which we shall at last be judged, and to which, as the final appeal in every question of a moral and religious nature, we reject not all ecclesiastical history, nor the records of ancient writers, respecting the usages and customs of the church. In passages of doubtful interpretation, we may often be assisted to the proper sense, by knowing how they were understood by the earliest Christians, and what practices they were meant either to reprobate or approve; and there are some doctrines which, as our Confession expresses it, "may be deduced from Scripture by good and necessary consequence," such as the Lord's day, baptisin of infants, and singing of psalms in the public worship; and in these we are confirmed by constant church usage. In these cases, however, tradition

has no more weight with us than human opinion; our reference is ultimately to the law and to the testimony; and if it correspond not with the scope and spirit of this word, we hold that there is no light in it. Nothing but what is enforced by the express declaration of the Word, or by just consequence drawn from it, is considered necessary to christian faith and practice, though "there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed." These circumstances, or innocent customs, we neither reject because anciently practised, nor regard when the law of edification requires that they be omitted.

From the principles now laid down, we are enabled at once to determine, what is the province of reason and faith in reference to the Scriptures. A book having reached us, professing to have come from God, we are bound, in the first instance, to give a most religious attention to its evidence, in order to satisfy ourselves whether its claims are founded in truth; and, its divine origin once satisfactorily established, Our next duty is, by the common rules of interpretation, to judge what is its import; in other words, what are the doctrines and precepts which it inculcates. This is the office of reason. The office of faith is, to receive with undoubting confidence, on the testimony of God, what has been reasonably proved to have been revealed by him; and this faith, with the saving understanding of the truths made known in his Word, our Confession, in accordance with the declarations of the Word itself, asserts to be from the inward work and illumination of the Holy Spirit.

The general conclusions which we draw from the preceding statements and reasonings, are these: That the Scriptures of Truth, penned by the writers under the direction and influence of the Holy Ghost, by them communicated to the Church, and transmitted to us by the constant universal tradition thereof, are the only rule of faith and manners; That it is sufficient for any man's salvation that he believe this rule that he endeavour to believe it, in the true sense of it; And

that he who humbly, and without prejudice, sets himself to study it, as a guide to his steps, will find it so complete as to need no addition-so clear and certain as to require no external interpreter; in other words, that by thus studying and endeavouring to believe it, he will be secure from erring fundamentally and fatally. If we shall appear to have spent too much time in the proof of these very evident propositions, let it be considered, that did our Roman Catholic brethren concur with us in acknowledging them, the controversy between them and us would soon cease to disturb our harmony; since, for the distinguishing doctrines of their faith, no evidence can be alleged from the holy Scriptures. By the articles of their creed it is affirmed-and to find a shadow of proof for their professed doctrines, they are compelled to affirm that the Scripture, of itself, is so imperfect a standard of faith, that without the supplement of unwritten tradition, it is insufficient to the attainment of salvation; and that its import is so obscure and uncertain, that without some infallible interpreter it is little better than a dead letter. Thus, they are at utter variance with us; first, as to the sufficiency of Scripture; secondly, as to its perspicuity and certainty.

I shall now support this representation of their tenets by quoting the words of their standards; but as the history of an error is often the best confutation of it, some account of these standards may first be introduced. By this course we shall at least guard ourselves against the charge of falsely, or erroneously, stating their sentiments-of taking the opinions of private persons for the authorized articles of their faith; for, notwithstanding the boasted unity of their church, and immutability of their creed, their doctors so temporize in the statement of their doctrines, and these doctrines are built on such different grounds-some being established by general synods, some founded on decrees of popes, and others entertained on tradition, custom, and common agreement-that even in matters of notable consideration, it is no unfrequent or trifling difficulty to discover what are truly their principles.

The origin of the Council of Trent may be traced to the Reformation. Pope Leo X., employing the power usurped by his predecessors, and suffering from the pain