Johannes Marck’s Marrow of Christian Theology, Didactic-Elenctic II
James Dodson
[Page 11]
Chapter II
On the Principle of Theology, or Holy Scripture
I. Scripture is called sacred, not only because it treats of sacred things, but especially because it is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is to be received by us with holy veneration of soul. 2 Pet. 1:19–21; Rom. 1:2, etc.
II. It is defined as: the Word of God, written by θεοπνεύστους [God-inspired] men in the canonical books of the Old and New Testament, and containing the doctrine of true religion, so that it might be the perfect and perpetual norm of this doctrine in the Church, and that men, reading it thus, might be led to true salvation and the glory of God.
III. Its genus is the Word of God. This is not because one part of it is written and another unwritten, but because what is today Scripture was formerly, before Moses, non-Scripture by divine command. For although Jude, verses 14–15, says that Enoch prophesied, nevertheless he does not testify that that prophet wrote his prophecy. The reason why God then chose to preserve His Word without writing is sought from the long life of the fathers, the small number of the faithful, the multiplied appearances of God, and the still lesser craft of Satan.
IV. Afterwards, however, God gave to His ministers the command to write. Exod. 17:14: “Write this memorial in a book.” Isa. 8:1: “Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen.” Hab. 2:2: “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run who readeth it.” Rev. 1:19: “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which—”
[Page 12]
“—are, and the things which shall be hereafter,” etc. All those also had such a command again in the impulse of the Holy Spirit, 2 Tim. 3:16, etc. And at the same time He gave to the faithful the command to read, Isa. 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony,” etc.; John 5:39: “Search the Scriptures,” etc.
From this falls the twofold error of the Papists:
1. That Scripture was written only by chance, and by the bare will of men. This must be wholly denied, although God observed suitable occasions for writing and brought forth the will of men by His own power.
2. That Scripture is not necessary. Although we do not assert either an absolute or a perpetual necessity, but grant that God could have provided otherwise for His Church if He had wished, and that before the time of Moses writing was not so necessary, for the reasons just given.
V. Scripture is chiefly called the Word of God because of infallible inspiration. 2 Tim. 3:16: Πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος [all Scripture is God-breathed], etc. 2 Pet. 1:20–21: “Knowing this first, ὅτι πᾶσα προφητεία γραφῆς ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως οὐ γίνεται [that no prophecy of Scripture is of one’s own interpretation], for prophecy was not brought in old time by the will of men, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ πνεύματος ἁγίου φερόμενοι ἐλάλησαν οἱ ἅγιοι Θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι [but holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Ghost].”
This pertains:
1. To all persons, both those who wrote and those who are presented as having been moved by the Spirit to speak.
2. To all matters: both dogmatic and historical, of whatever time; both good and evil things, the latter having the authenticity of history, not the authority of a norm; and both weightier and lighter things, compared with 2 Tim. 3:16 and Ps. 12:7: “The words of Jehovah are pure words, silver tried in an earthen furnace, purified seven times.” Contrary to this, the Socinians maintain that in lighter matters the writers lacked the infallible—
[Page 13]
—impulse of the Spirit. This is because of troublesome doubts which occur here, but which ought to be solved in another way, and by no means cut off in that manner.
3. Finally, it pertains to the words as much as to the things; and therefore nothing unsuitable occurs in them. Yet in writing, God prudently accommodated Himself to the style of the individual amanuenses, just as in speaking He accommodated Himself to the sound of the voice.
VI. We know that Scripture is thus inspired by God, and hence that we are bound to faith in it and obedience to it:
1. By the illumination of the Spirit. Ps. 119:18: “Uncover mine eyes, and I shall behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” 2 Cor. 4:13: “Having the same Spirit of faith.” 1 John 5:6: “And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is truth.”
2. From the implanted marks of divinity, since our faith is ultimately resolved into Scripture. 2 Pet. 1:19: “And we have a more firm prophetic word, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place,” etc. Luke 16:29: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” These marks are: the holiness, sincerity, and natural plainness of the writers, etc.; the sublimity of the doctrine, its holiness, truth in prophecies, etc.; the holy simplicity of the style, and wonderful harmony, etc.; efficacy in converting men; antiquity; preservation; confirmation by many and public miracles, etc.
3. Through the intervening ministry of the Church. Yet the authority of Scripture, as to us, does not depend on its testimony as a foundation or sole argument. John 5:34: “I receive not testimony from man.” Eph. 2:20: “Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,” etc.; since the Church itself is also fallible, and subject to Scripture.
VII. Con—
[Page 14]
VII. The Papists hold the contrary, namely, that the authority of Scripture depends solely or chiefly upon the testimony of the Church. And they object:
1. Against the illumination of the Spirit, that it is enthusiastic, and that we commit a circle, proving the divinity of the Spirit from Scripture, and the divinity of Scripture from the Spirit.
Reply:
α. Our Spirit differs greatly from the enthusiastic spirit, since He is not private, but common to all Christians; nor is He contrary to the Scriptures, but leads to them and binds us to them.
β. We do not properly believe the Scriptures because of the Spirit, but by the operation of the Spirit; and we believe the Spirit because of the Scriptures.
2. Against the implanted marks, that they do not convince unbelievers, and that no one can give authority to himself.
Reply:
α. For saving conviction we also require the operation of the Holy Ghost.
β. Real arguments can give a certain authority to the thing itself, nor are the testimonies of others worthy to be compared with such arguments.
3. For the testimony of the Church, they say that the Church is older than Scripture; and that Paul calls it the pillar and foundation of the truth, ἑδραίωμα [foundation/support], 1 Tim. 3:15.
Reply:
α. Antiquity alone does not give greater authority, as appears from the example of John the Baptist and Christ.
β. That praise is not of the Church as such, but of the firm subject matter of the Gospel: μέγα ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον· Θεὸς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί [great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh], etc.; or else the Church is called a pillar politically, not architectonically, or the mere ministerial office of the Church is noted.
VIII. The independent and authentic authority of Scripture is in the Hebrew text alone of the Old Testament and the Greek text of the New—
[Page 15]
—Testament; to which, therefore, we must have recourse in all doubts, because this text is most authentic, original, and inspired by God. These things belong to no version.
IX. The Papists chiefly object to the present corruption of these texts, which many also wish to have been done deliberately by the Jews; and they prove it by various examples: Ps. 19:5, “their line went out through all the earth,” קו [line], instead of קולם [their sound]; Ps. 22:17, כארי [like a lion], instead of כארו [they pierced / dug], “my hands and my feet”; Isa. 9:5, ויקרא [and he shall call], instead of יקרא [he shall be called], “His name,” etc.
But we deny that such corruption was done by the Jews with design, since the Savior and the apostles never accused them of this crime, and after those times the sacred books were in the hands of Christians. We also deny a frequent and sensible corruption of all the manuscripts, and of such a kind that it could no longer be detected in the context or parallels, such as does not appear in the places adduced, the words קו / קולם [line / their sound], כארי / כארו [like a lion / they pierced], and the like. Finally, by the corruption of some text, all texts are by no means at once placed below the originals.
X. The Papists wish the Latin version, called the Vulgate, to be authentic. But it is set aside because it is everywhere adorned in this way and is full of very many faults, even those by which the doctrine of faith is wounded; as when it has “to merit God” for εὐαρεστεῖν [to please], Heb. 13:16; “men of good will” for God’s εὐδοκία [good pleasure], Luke 2:14; and “she shall crush the serpent’s head” for “He,” or the seed of the woman, Gen. 3:15.
Objection 1. That this version is most ancient.
Reply: The original text is older—
[Page 16]
—and so are other versions.
Objection 2. That the dignity of the Latin Church requires the authentic text to be of its own language.
Reply: The dignity of the Roman Church above all others is falsely assumed; nor can or ought the authentic text to be sought in its language.
XI. Nor is the Greek version of the Old Testament, commonly and fabulously called the Septuagint, authentic; since it was made after the gift of prophecy had ceased, and abounds with many faults.
Objection 1. That the Fathers used it with many praises.
Reply: Not as authentic, but only as better understood by them.
Objection 2. That the writers of the New Testament also use it.
Reply: Not always; nor because it was authentic, but because it was then commonly familiar.
Objection 3. That it was inspired by a heavenly miracle.
Reply: That whole narrative, concerning the separate cells, the very rapid writing, and the agreement of the interpreters, is a fiction.
XII. In writing Scripture, God formerly used the ministry of the prophets, and afterwards of the apostles, Eph. 2:20. Nor is it necessary that we know by name the individual writers of the individual books. Nevertheless, it must certainly be believed that those are the authors of the books who are presented to us as such in Scripture itself. Thus Moses, for example, is the author of the Pentateuch from Luke 16:29, “They have Moses and the prophets,” etc.; and Paul is the author both of the other epistles to which he prefixed his name, and also of the Epistle to the Hebrews, from 2 Pet. 3:15–16: “Even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are δυσνόητά τινα [some things hard to be understood],” etc.
XIII. The books of Holy Scripture are called canonical—
[Page 17]
—from Phil. 3:16, τῷ αὐτῷ στοιχεῖν κανόνι [to walk by the same rule], and Gal. 6:16, ὅσοι τῷ κανόνι τούτῳ στοιχήσουσιν [as many as shall walk according to this rule], “peace be upon them,” etc.; because they constitute the canon, or rule, of faith and morals.
They are divided into the books of the Old and New Testament, from 2 Cor. 3:14, “Until this day the veil remains untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament,” etc.; and Eph. 2:20, “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,” etc.
The books of the Old Testament are thirty-nine, and are again distributed either into Moses and the prophets, from Luke 16:29, or into Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms, from Luke 24:44, “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me,” etc. Again, the prophets are divided into the Former and Latter Prophets, and the latter into the four Major and twelve Minor Prophets.
The books of the New Testament are twenty-seven, and are divided into historical books, namely the four Gospels and Acts; dogmatic books, namely the fourteen epistles of Paul and the seven of others called catholic; and one prophetic book, or the Apocalypse.
XIV. These books were formerly received into the canon by the Church through the infallible illumination of the prophetic Spirit, which still obtained in the Jewish Church and the primitive Christian Church at the time when the canon of the Old and New Testament was sealed. But the order of the books, their inscriptions, subscriptions, and division into chapters and verses, is not divine, but human.
XV. These canonical books were by no means utterly lost in the Babylonian devastation of the city and temple of Jerusalem, as the fable of the apocryphal Fourth Book of Ezra, chapter 14, would have it; but even then they were preserved, since Daniel in captivity—
[Page 18]
—and Ezra soon after the captivity read them, Dan. 9:2; Neh. 8:2, 4.
XVI. Indeed, no canonical books have perished even to this day. Yet some theologians, even of our own, grant this concerning certain books, believing that the doctrines and precepts necessary for salvation are nevertheless sufficiently contained in the books which remain.
But against this opinion stand both the promises of perpetuity, Matt. 5:18: “Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”; and also the continual providence of God and care of the Church.
As to the examples of lost books which are objected, we must answer:
α. Either they never existed, as no epistle to the Laodiceans is mentioned, but rather ἡ ἐκ Λαοδικείας [the one from Laodicea], Col. 4:16.
β. Or they were not canonical, which must be said of many writings of Solomon, 1 Kings 4:33.
γ. Or they still exist today under another name, as many of Solomon’s Proverbs, and the words of Gad and Nathan.
XVII. The canonical books always remain canonical; and therefore the books of the Old Testament, even under the New, have the same authority, as the perpetual duration of the law teaches, Matt. 5:17–19: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven,” etc.
This is also taught by the frequent commendation of the prophetic writings in and under the New Testament: Luke 16:29, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them”; John 5:39, “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal—
[Page 19]
—life, and they are they which testify of Me”; 2 Pet. 1:19, “And we have the more sure prophetic word, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn and the daystar arise in your hearts,” etc.
The Anabaptists hold the contrary, and object:
1. That the law endured until John, and that the faithful of the New Testament are not under the law, according to Luke 16:16, “The law and the prophets were until John,” etc.; and Rom. 6:14, “Ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
Reply: The rigid ministry of the law endured only so far, and now has ceased; yet the necessary use of the books of the written law remains.
2. That the doctrine of the Old and New Testament is opposed.
Reply: This is false; since the same doctrine is contained more obscurely in the former, but more clearly in the latter.
XVIII. The canonical books also have equal authority. Hence it is the same whether something is proposed to us in them by way of command or by way of counsel. Nor must the distinction of certain Papists be admitted, who call some books proto-canonical and others deutero-canonical.
XIX. The books which are called apocryphal, because their authority is rejected, are not to be numbered among the canonical books:
1. Because Malachi sealed the canon of the Old Testament, Mal. 4:4–5: “Remember the law of Moses My servant,” etc.; “Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes,” etc.
2. Because they were written in the Greek language under the time of the Old Testament, when the oracles of God had been committed to the Jews.
3. Because their authors sufficiently distinguish themselves from the prophets, 1 Macc. 9:27; 2 Macc. 2:24, 27; 15:39, etc.
4. Because in canonical—
[Page 20]
—Scripture they are nowhere praised or cited.
5. Because they contain several errors: Tob. 7:12, 15; Judith 9:2–3; Ecclesiasticus 45:23; 2 Macc. 12:43.
6. Finally, because they were received neither by the ancient Jews nor by the first Christians.
XX. Yet the Papists hold six of those books as canonical, and object:
1. That they are cited in the New Testament.
Reply: They are nowhere cited, although perhaps in certain moral matters some likeness of words or meaning occurs; nor does divinity follow merely from citation.
2. That the Church determined this many centuries ago, and most recently in the Council of Trent.
Reply: This is false concerning the ancient Church; nor can the authority of the Tridentine Synod, as Antichristian, convince us.
XXI. The subject matter of Scripture is true religion. Ps. 19:8: “The law of Jehovah is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of Jehovah is faithful, making wise the simple,” etc. John 5:39: “Ye think that in them,” that is, the Scriptures, “ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me.” 2 Tim. 3:15–17: “The sacred letters are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus; all Scripture is θεόπνευστος [God-breathed], and profitable for doctrine,” etc., “that the man of God may be perfect, ἐξηρτισμένος [thoroughly furnished] unto every good work,” etc. To this all natural, historical, and other matters also have regard and tend.
XXII. In natural matters Scripture teaches truth no less than in spiritual matters. Since both have been dictated by the same infallible Spirit, and the whole Scripture is purest truth, Ps. 12:7: “The words of Jehovah are pure words, silver tried in an earthen furnace, purified seven times,” etc.
[Page 21]
And, if the opposite hypothesis is posited, one might twist the whole Scripture according to our pleasure. Therefore it must not be admitted that Scripture in natural matters speaks merely according to external appearance and the erroneous opinion of the common people, as the modern philosophers wish, because some of their philosophical notions are found to conform less with the Scriptures.
Objection 1. Scripture often names things, or narrates histories, according to external appearance.
Reply: In many places this is assumed without proof; and when it happens, Scripture sufficiently explains itself either in the context or elsewhere.
Objection 2. The end of Scripture is not to teach natural things.
Reply: It is not the principal end; nor does Scripture ever teach false things.
XXIII. There is no true contradiction in the things delivered by Scripture, although some things are ἐναντιοφανῆ [apparently contrary] for our exercise. Hence every possible mode of reconciliation is to be used; and if even so no reconciliation can be found, then either the excessive blindness of our understanding is to be blamed, or else the negligence of copyists, to which we must rarely and not rashly flee, as in Luke 3:36, τὸ Καϊνάν [Cainan].
XXIV. The matters of religion which in themselves are obscure are delivered by Scripture in a clear manner, especially the necessary things, so that they can be understood by those reading piously. Yet Scripture cannot be understood savingly without the illumination of the Holy Ghost. 1 Cor. 2:14: “The natural man does not receive the things which are of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Ps. 119:18: “Open Thou mine eyes, and I shall behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” 1 John 2:27: “And the anointing which ye have received—
[Page 22]
—from Him abides in you,” etc.; “as that anointing teaches you concerning all things,” etc.
The Socinians urge the contrary in vain, and object:
1. That Scripture is called light.
Reply: That name implies only objective perspicuity; for although the sun is most truly light, the blind cannot see it.
2. That man has entire powers of understanding and judging.
Reply: This is most false, since the whole man, and therefore also his understanding, is corrupt.
XXV. But the objective perspicuity of Scripture is proved against the Papists from Deut. 30:11–14: “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off,” etc.; “but the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it,” etc.; from 2 Cor. 4:2–4: “By manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who perish; in whom the god of this world has blinded,” etc.; then from the likeness of a lamp, Ps. 119:105: “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”; 2 Pet. 1:19: “whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place,” etc.; and also from the wisdom of God, by which He was able, and from His goodness, by which He willed, to speak clearly in a word appointed for the salvation of unlearned men.
XXVI. The Papists object:
1. The example of David, who asks that his eyes be opened, Ps. 119:18.
Reply: We do not exclude the illumination of the Spirit from objective perspicuity.
2. The testimony of Peter concerning the Pauline epistles: ἐν αἷς ἐστὶ δυσνόητά τινα [in which are some things hard to be understood],—
[Page 23]
—2 Pet. 3:16.
Reply: The passage treats of some things, not all things; and of the matters rather than of the manner of delivering them; and finally of unlearned men, ἀμαθεῖς καὶ ἀστήρικτοι [untaught and unstable].
3. The examples of many passages in which there is very great difficulty.
Reply: That difficulty is not altogether insoluble; and we also assert the perspicuity of Scripture not so much in all matters and places, but indeed in necessary matters and in certain places.
4. That the exposition of Scripture made by doctors would then be useless.
Reply: This consequence is denied, since clear things must be illustrated and applied, while obscure things must be explained, so that they may be understood unto salvation and observed at the same time.
XXVII. Scripture also delivers the heads of religion necessarily to be believed and done unto salvation, perfectly and sufficiently, either explicitly or implicitly. We prove this both from Ps. 19:8, “The law of Jehovah is perfect,” etc.; and from the fruits added there, especially wisdom, holiness, consolation, and eternal life, which it grants. 2 Tim. 3:15–17: “The sacred letters are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus,” etc. Rom. 15:4: “Whatever things were written before were written before for our instruction, that through patience and the consolation of the Scriptures we might have hope.” John 20:31: “These things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in His name,” etc. It is also proved from every addition being forbidden, Deut. 4:2: “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, nor diminish from it”; Rev. 22:18–19: “I testify unto everyone that hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone—
[Page 24]
—shall add to these things, God shall add unto him the plagues written in this book; and if anyone shall take away,” etc.
Objection 1. Jesus said and did many things which are not written, from John 20:30 and 21:25.
Reply: These were not all necessary to be known for salvation, as is plain from John 20:31.
Objection 2. Neither is the whole Scripture perfect, because many books have been lost; nor are the individual parts perfect, because the remaining parts would then be superfluous.
Reply: It is false that any canonical books have been lost; and the individual parts have a partial perfection.
Objection 3. Christ, while still alive, had many things to say to His disciples, from John 16:12.
Reply: Those things were said to the apostles after the resurrection by Christ personally, and then by the Spirit, so that in their epistles and other writings of the New Testament they might deliver the same to the Church. Nor were they altogether new and unheard before, from John 15:15: “All things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.”
XXVIII. The Papists wish to supply the fictitious imperfection of Scripture by traditions orally propagated in the Church from the apostles onward, which they make the other principle of our faith. We reject this opinion because every addition is forbidden; because traditions are condemned, Matt. 15:6: “Ye have made the commandment of God void by your tradition”; Col. 2:22: “all which things are unto corruption with the using, according to the commandments and doctrines of men,” etc.; because in general they are of uncertain origin; and because, in particular, Papistical traditions are either plainly contrary to Scripture, or uncertain, or sought from it.
XXIX. The Papists object to us:
1. That traditions obtained in the Old Testament before and after Moses.
Reply:—
[Page 25]
—Before the time of Moses, when Scripture did not yet exist, the argument is invalid; and after Moses all traditions had to be examined by Scripture.
2. The place of Paul, 2 Thess. 2:15, where he commends the traditions which the faithful had been taught, εἴτε διὰ λόγου, εἴτε διʼ ἐπιστολῆς [whether by word, or by epistle], etc.
Reply: The doctrine there understood is doctrine delivered by Paul, both personally and likewise in other epistles, and also in this one.
3. Examples of heads of doctrine not read in the Scriptures, such as paedobaptism, the Trinity, the virginity of Mary, purgatory, etc.
Reply: These either are implicitly read in Scripture, or are not necessary to be believed, or are erroneous dogmas sufficiently refuted in the Scriptures.
4. That all nations have a certain unwritten law.
Reply: God has ordered otherwise in His Church, so that the rule of the Church might be more constant.
XXX. In place of traditions, the Enthusiasts again urge private revelations of the Spirit. We refute these from the prohibition of every addition to Scripture, even under such a pretext, Gal. 1:8: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, should evangelize unto you besides that which we have evangelized unto you, let him be accursed”; “as we said before, so now I say again: if anyone evangelizes unto you besides that which ye have received, let him be accursed.” 2 Thess. 2:2: “that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us,” etc. We also refute them from the uncertainty of these revelations, 2 Cor. 11:14: “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light”; and indeed also from the impieties and errors into which these men have been carried away.
XXXI. They object:
1. That Scripture is a dead letter.
Reply: It is such through the fault of man,—
[Page 26]
—and the instruction of the Spirit ought to be added; but this is from the Scriptures, not extraordinary. Besides, Paul there calls not so much Scripture as only the law “letter,” which merely commands, and does not promise the grace by which it is performed.
2. That the Spirit is promised and bestowed upon the faithful as a teacher. Joel 2:28, 29: “I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,” etc.; 1 John 2:20: “And ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things,” etc.
Reply: These places either regard extraordinary gifts, which obtained at the beginnings of the New Testament, or they must be understood of the Spirit’s instruction from the Scriptures, sufficient for salvation.
XXXII. The end of Scripture is that it may be the canon and certain rule of faith and morals, because it has all the requisites of a canon; and we are continually referred to it as to a rule. Isa. 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony.” Luke 16:29: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” 2 Pet. 1:19: “whereunto,” that is, to the prophetic word, “ye do well that ye take heed,” etc. Acts 17:11: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, who received the word with all readiness, daily examining the Scriptures whether these things were so,” etc.
The Papists hold the contrary, saying that Scripture is obscure, badly arranged, and useful only as a reminder. They object:
1. That Scripture is called useful, ὠφέλιμος [profitable], 2 Tim. 3:16.
Reply: A rule also is useful.
2. That it was not written systematically.
Reply: The mode of writing was in God’s own choice; and this mode was chosen so that we might exercise our diligence all the more.
XXXIII. In order that the canon of Scripture may have the use of direction—
[Page 27]
—it must be translated into vernacular languages. We prove this further from the fact that it was first written in the vernacular language; that under the New Testament God gave the gift of tongues to the ministers of the Gospel; and that by His providence He has taken care that, in every age, the Word among all nations should be read in vernacular languages.
XXXIV. Moreover, faithful magistrates and ministers must take care that a sound version be provided for the Church. When such a version has once been appointed by public authority, it does not indeed become authentic; yet it ought not to be continually despised and blamed before the common people by private judgment, lest it become entirely contemptible.
XXXV. Scripture must not only be translated, but also read openly and indiscriminately by the Christian people, according to the commands, Deut. 6:6: “And these words which I command thee this day shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt speak of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest in thy way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up,” etc.; Ps. 1:2: “His delight is in the law of Jehovah, and in His law he meditates day and night”; John 5:39: “Search the Scriptures,” etc.
This is also according to the examples of the godly, Acts 8:28: “returning,” the Ethiopian eunuch, “he sat in his chariot and read the prophet Isaiah”; Acts 17:11: οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν εὐγενέστεροι τῶν ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ, οἵτινες ἐδέξαντο τὸν λόγον μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας [these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, who received the word with all readiness]; 2 Tim. 3:15: καὶ ὅτι ἀπὸ βρέφους τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα οἶδας [and that from a child thou hast known the sacred writings], etc. It is also according to the use of Scripture, both for direction, spiritual nourishment, and defense, all of which Scripture cannot furnish without being read.
XXXVI. The Papists condemn this reading of Scripture, and object:
1. That holy things must not be given to dogs, from Matt. 7:6.
Reply: The faithful are not—
[Page 28]
—dogs, but unbelievers, especially the impure and savage.
2. That solid food is not for all, but for adults, Heb. 5:14.
Reply: In Scripture, besides solid food, there is also milk for little ones, 1 Pet. 2:2.
3. Finally, they object its obscurity, because of which its reading is fruitless; indeed, they say it produces heresies, curiosity, pride, and other evils.
Reply: Such great obscurity is assumed without proof; more evils are to be feared from neglect of Scripture; nor does any evil flow from it except accidentally, since Scripture itself leads away from errors and vices.
XXXVII. Reading is followed by the understanding of the sense, which is only one in Scripture; although often the literal and mystical are combined, when both the words and the things signify something, as Exod. 12:46, “Ye shall not break a bone of it”; Hos. 11:1, “Out of Egypt have I called My Son,” etc.
The Papists, however, commonly set down a twofold sense: literal and mystical. The latter they subdivide into allegorical, when something spiritual pertaining to the New Testament is intended; tropological, when there is a relation to morals, Deut. 25:4, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox in his threshing,” compared with 1 Cor. 9:9–10, “Doth God take care for oxen? or saith He it altogether for our sakes?”; and anagogical, when a transfer is made to heavenly things, Ps. 95:11, “If they shall enter into My rest,” compared with Heb. 4:3, 9: ἄρα ἀπολείπεται σαββατισμὸς τῷ λαῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ [there remains therefore a Sabbath-rest for the people of God].
XXXVIII. We believe that the literal sense is only one; because “one” and “true” are convertible; and otherwise God would have spoken ambiguously and obscurely. Meanwhile the Word of God remains sufficiently ample, since in a few words many—
[Page 29]
—things, either coordinate or subordinate, are noted.
The allegorical sense must not be admitted except where and so far as the Holy Ghost goes before us; since otherwise the interpretation is ἰδία [private / one’s own], not divine. The tropological sense is more truly a use than a sense of Scripture; and so also is the anagogical. Moreover, no sense is to be drawn out from letters after the cabalistic manner.
Nor, finally, is every citation made in the New Testament from the Old Testament according to the literal sense; but also according to the mystical sense, and also by mere accommodation, as Matt. 2:17–18: “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, A voice was heard in Rama, θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὀδυρμὸς πολύς [lamentation and weeping and great mourning], Rachel bewailing her children, and she would not be comforted, because they are not,” from Jer. 31:15.
XXXIX. Judgment concerning the true sense, which is called the judgment of discretion, belongs to all the faithful. Rom. 14:5: ἕκαστος ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ νοῒ πληροφορείσθω [let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind]. 1 Thess. 5:21: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good,” κατέχετε [hold fast]. 1 John 4:1: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they are of God.” Acts 17:11: “daily searching the Scriptures whether these things were so,” etc.
Objection: Obedience must be rendered to rulers, Heb. 13:17.
Reply: Not blind and universal obedience.
Definitive and ministerial judgment belongs to teachers. Mal. 2:7: “The priest’s lips shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth.” Matt. 28:19–20: μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη [make disciples of all nations], etc.; διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν [teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you]. 1 Cor. 4:1: “Let a man so account of us, as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” Yet individual teachers are here subordinated to classes and synods. 1 Cor. 14:29, 32–33: “Let two or—
[Page 30]
—three prophets speak, and let the others judge,” etc.; “and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets,” etc.
The normal and definitive judgment belongs to Scripture itself. Isa. 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony.” 2 Pet. 1:19–20: “Ye do well that ye take heed to the prophetic word,” etc.; “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως [of one’s own interpretation].”
XL. Neither the enthusiastic spirit nor corrupt human reason should be set up as the supreme and infallible judge. For the latter is nowhere infallible, and in matters of faith is blind. 1 Cor. 2:14: ψυχικὸς δὲ ἄνθρωπος οὐ δέχεται τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ Θεοῦ, μωρία γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐστι [but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him], etc. Indeed, it even resists revelation. Rom. 8:7: διότι τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς ἔχθρα εἰς Θεόν [because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God].
Objection 1. By the help of reason we draw out the true sense.
Reply: Reason here does not hold itself principally, but ministerially.
Objection 2. The judgment of discretion belongs to human reason.
Reply: This reason is then enlightened; and the judgment of discretion differs greatly from infallible judgment.
XLI. Nor is the Church to be held as such an infallible and supreme judge, since the judgment of faith must remain free; and all things must be examined by Scripture; and every church is fallible. Rom. 3:4: ἀληθὴς δὲ ὁ Θεὸς, πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ψεύστης [let God be true, but every man a liar]. Hence many examples of erring popes and councils, both under the New Testament and under the Old, are commonly adduced; nor do the Papists dissent from this when they insist that speaking ex cathedra is necessary for infallibility, and indeed further restrict infallibility in various ways.
XLII. The Papists, who ascribe this judgment to the Church, object:
1. The example of the high priest under the Old Testament—
[Page 31]
—from Deut. 17:8–9, etc.
Reply: The consequence does not hold from the high priest of the Old Testament, constituted by God, to the Roman pontiff, who has seized this dignity for himself. Nor is the passage treating of the high priest, but of judges and civil judgments; in which they were not infallible, but nevertheless, as supreme magistrates, were to be heard externally and without resistance in the commonwealth.
2. That God has granted infallibility and heavenly authority to the Church of the New Testament: Luke 22:32, “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not”; Matt. 18:17, “If he will not hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen and a publican.”
Reply: In the former place it treats only of perseverance, not of the Church, but of Peter; and in the latter it teaches that the Church ought to be heard in just reproofs.
3. That besides the rule, a judge is necessary, as in every commonwealth.
Reply: The kingdom of Christ differs from earthly kingdoms; nor is there anywhere in commonwealths an infallible judge.
XLIII. Therefore there is no such infallible judge and interpreter except the Spirit speaking in Scripture, who has all the requisites of such a judge, to whom we are continually referred, and by whose Word therefore the judgment of the prophets also is to be judged. 1 Thess. 2:4; and “He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many peoples,” etc.
Objection 1. The judge must be different from the rule.
Reply: A different consideration of the same Scripture is sufficient here.
Objection 2. No one can be judge in his own cause.
Reply: Each one is always the best judge of the meaning of his own sayings.
Objection 3. Scripture does not clearly declare the sentence in Scripture.
Reply: To speak thus against clear words is only to blind men,—
[Page 32]
—compared with Acts 6:10–11: “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke”; τότε ὑπέβαλον ἄνδρας λέγοντας, ὅτι ἀκηκόαμεν αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος ῥήματα βλάσφημα [then they suborned men who said, We have heard him speaking blasphemous words].
Objection 4. No end of disputes is thus to be expected.
Reply: Disputes cannot in any way be quieted by the authority of human judgment; and God also wills that heresies should always exist for the exercise of the godly. 1 Cor. 11:19: δεῖ γὰρ καὶ αἱρέσεις ἐν ὑμῖν εἶναι, ἵνα οἱ δόκιμοι φανεροὶ γένωνται ἐν ὑμῖν [for there must also be heresies among you, that those who are approved may be made manifest among you].
XLIV. The whole Scripture must be expounded, not only the Sunday Gospels, compared with Acts 20:27: “I have not withheld from announcing unto you the whole counsel of God”; Rom. 15:4: “Whatever things were written before were written before for our instruction,” etc.; 2 Tim. 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired by God, and profitable for doctrine,” etc. Indeed, interpretation must also be extended to the prophecies. Matt. 24:15: “When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω [let him that readeth understand].” Rev. 1:3: “Blessed is he that reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy,” etc.
Yet in these things we must proceed with all prudence, and we must not draw everything to hypotheses rashly assumed by us. Above all, the exposition of controversial passages must not be neglected, so that we may be fit for the refutation of adversaries. Tit. 1:9: ἵνα δυνατὸς ᾖ καὶ παρακαλεῖν ἐν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ τῇ ὑγιαινούσῃ καὶ τοὺς ἀντιλέγοντας ἐλέγχειν [that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to convict those who contradict].
XLV. The means of interpretation are prayer, Ps. 119:18, “Open Thou mine eyes,” etc.; piety and humility of mind, Jas. 4:6: Θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται, ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσι χάριν [God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble]; the help of other interpretations; inquiry into the original languages; and finally analogy, both of faith, which—
[Page 33]
—we must first and always attend to, and of the context: the preceding things, the following things, and the scope. This must always be joined with the analogy of faith, lest anything at all be drawn from any place whatsoever.
XLVI. The Papists want the unanimous exposition of the ancient Fathers to be the best means and at the same time the most certain criterion of true interpretation. But they are refuted from Matt. 5:21: ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἐρρέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις [ye have heard that it was said to the ancients], etc.; ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν [but I say unto you], etc.; and from the fallibility of all the Fathers; and from the lack of such consenting expositions.
XLVII. Yet they object:
1. That the elders are to be consulted, from Job 8:8.
Reply: There it treats only of this age, as being commonly more instructed by the warnings of prudence through experience.
2. That the spirits of the prophets ought to be subject to the prophets, 1 Cor. 14:32–33, 36.
Reply: There it treats of men living together at the same time, and of the external order of teaching.
3. That the Fathers are outside the parties in present controversies.
Reply: They are also unskillful judges here, because they did not properly inquire into the cause.
XLVIII. The interpretation of Scripture ought for the most part to be made by the clearer words of Scripture itself. Nor must we either rashly depart from the proper meaning of the words, or cling too much to it. The mystical sense is not to be posited without a weighty foundation; but neither is it always to be rejected altogether, especially in prophetic writings.
XLIX. In explanation, the force of the words must also be retained, insofar as the analogy of faith and the context permit. In this sense it is true that, because of the wisdom and goodness of God, words signify all that—
[Page 34]
—to signify whatever they can signify. Although this canon, understood absolutely and without restriction to the context, as it is often foolishly applied, is most false.
L. The end of Scripture is the salvation of the elect. John 20:31: “These things are written that ye might believe,” etc., “and that believing ye might have life in His name.” 2 Tim. 3:15: “The sacred letters are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Rom. 1:16: “The Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth,” etc. The glory of God also belongs here, as is clear from Exod. 34:6–7: “Jehovah, Jehovah God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,” etc.