food upon the soul may be more especially looked for in the celebration of that sacramental rite which is an ordinance of Christ's own appointment for the faithful and thankful commemoration of his death.

Now there is nothing in all this beyond the power of any man of good common understanding, who will make the Bible his study. And such is the clearness and fulness of the Divine volume, on all important points, that it is sometimes found (I appeal to the experience of those who have had opportunities of making the observation) that a poor unlearned cottager, who has been a diligent student of his Bible, may have a firmer hold of truth, and a better insight into the genius and doctrines of Christianity, than those who have been labouring for years in the field of theological study.

But the misfortune is, that men will not generally thus study their Bibles. And no doubt it must be added that there are some understandings that need guidance and instruction. Such, also, is the negligence and indifference of men in spiritual things, that they need to have the truth urgently set before them; to have even that information which is accessible to them, and placed within their reach, put, as it were, in their hands, with a call upon them to attend to it.

Here, then, comes in the office of the minister of Christ; and we are thus reminded of an objection sometimes made to the views we have been advocating, and the answer to it.

It is objected,

If the Scriptures are perspicuous enough to teach the faith, then the ministerial office, and all such helps, are useless; but the latter is inconsistent with the declarations of Scripture and experience, and therefore the former.

Here, though the premises are most true, the conclusion is altogether inconsequent and absurd. The clearness and fulness of the written word to those who can and will make use of it, are far from affecting the value and importance of the labours of the minister of Christ. For,

not to mention other duties of his office, such as the ministration of the sacraments, &c., there are, in the first place, children and illiterate persons, who cannot even read, and there are a large number,-must I say the majority?—who will not read, to be instructed by him. Further, there is a large number, whose secular engagements are allowed to stand in the way of an earnest and attentive perusal of Scripture, who therefore need to have things plain to the student of Scripture pointed out to them. Above all, he has to contend with the corruptions and prejudices of human nature, to induce it to receive the truths of Scripture as there delivered. The negligence, the indifference, the prejudices, the voluntary ignorance of men, require all, and more than all, his energies. It is his to be the diligent prayerful student of the word of God, and point out to men what he finds there. It is his to direct and quicken the researches of his flock into that sacred volume. It is his to point out what is, indeed, accessible to all, by a little attention and study; but which, through indifference and worldly-mindedness, needs to be enforced on their attention.

And in this matter, as far as concerns the articles of faith contained in the creed, even Thomas Aquinas will teach us better doctrine than our opponents. Speaking of the creed, he proposes this objection to be solved; "It appears that the articles of the faith are placed improperly in a creed. For Holy Scripture is the rule of faith, which it is not lawful to add to, or take away from. For it is said, Deut. 4. 'Ye shall not add to the word which I speak unto you; neither shall ye take away from it.' Therefore it was unlawful to constitute any creed a rule of faith, after the Holy Scripture was published." To this he replies as follows;-"To this it is to be answered, that the truth of the faith is contained in Holy Scripture diffusely, and in various ways, and in some obscurely; so that, to extract the truth of the faith from the Holy Scripture, there is required long study and exercise; to which all those to whom it is necessary to know the truth of the faith can

not attain, most of whom, being occupied with other business, have no time for study; and therefore it was necessary that, from the declarations of the Holy Scripture, something clear should be collected in the way of summary, which might be proposed to all for their belief; which is not, indeed, added to the Holy Scripture, but rather taken from the Holy Scripture."1

Here, then, no obscurity is supposed but what the study of the Scriptures is sufficient to remove; and the use of the Church in making the creed is, not to lay down articles of faith as from the Scriptures, which men studying the Scriptures could not themselves find there, but to abridge the time and consideration required for a comprehensive view of and search into the Scriptures, in aid of those who are occupied in worldly business.

And if we go beyond the prime articles of the faith, (which, however, be it observed, I do not limit to those in the Apostles' Creed,) who will deny that there are points, important points, revealed in Scripture, in which all may be much indebted to the labours of those who, at various periods of the Church, have, by extensive collation of Scripture with itself, by long and deep thought, study, and meditation, and doubtless, in many cases, by the guidance of the Spirit of God, elucidated the declarations of Scripture. It was well said by Gregory the Great, that there are in Scripture shallows which a lamb might ford, and depths in which an elephant might swim. There

.....

1 Videtur quod inconvenienter articuli fidei in symbolo ponantur. Sacra enim Scriptura est regula fidei cui nec addere nec subtrahere licet. Dicitur enim Deut. 4. Non addetis ad verbum quod vobis loquor neque auferetis ab eo. Ergo illicitum fuit aliquod symbolum constituere quasi regulam fidei post sacram Scripturam editam . . . . . Ad primum ergo dicendum, quod veritas fidei in sacra Scriptura diffuse continetur et variis modis et in quibusdam obscure; ita quod ad eliciendum fidei veritatem ex sacra Scriptura requiritur longum studium et exercitium, ad quod non possunt pervenire omnes illi quibus necessarium est cognoscere fidei veritatem, quorum plerique aliis negotiis occupati studio vacare non possunt ; et ideo fuit necessarium ut ex sententiis sacræ Scripturæ aliquid manifestum summarie colligeretur, quod proponeretur omnibus ad credendum, quod quidem non est additum sacræ Scripturæ, sed potius ex sacra Scriptura sumptum. THOM. Aq. Summ. Theolog. Sec. sec. q. 1. art. 9. ed. Paris. 1631.

are many passages in which we need all the helps we can obtain; and after all, perhaps, notwithstanding "tradition," must remain uncertain of their meaning.

Nor is it one of the least uses of pastoral teaching, and commentaries upon the Scriptures, to rescue them from the misinterpretations to which, from various causes, and especially from the corrupt prejudices of the natural mind, they have been subjected; and to the influence of which all are more or less exposed. The mind is often prepossessed at an early age in favour of incorrect views; and most come to the Scriptures rather to confirm their preconceived notions, than to learn the truth from the word of God; and, alas! with minds in which, beyond the erroneous ideas that may have been instilled by others, there are sure to be, more or less, many innate prejudices to operate against the reception of the truth. It is of great importance, then, that the objections, difficulties, and misinterpretations that have been, or are likely to be, raised by the natural mind, should be cleared away, that the truth may be more easily seen.

Hence, moreover, the importance of that confirmation of the truth, which we derive from the writings of the Fathers, the creeds, confessions, and Conciliar determinations of the early Church. However clearly the truth may be laid down in Scripture, the prejudices of the natural mind, as well as the various discordant interpretations given to it, throw difficulties in the way of its reception. Both these causes will tend to create self-distrust; and the latter to produce perplexity. A consciousness, then, of a liability to be deceived, will naturally and properly make the humble and sincere enquirer after truth anxious to know how others have understood it. He will be desirous of hearing the explanations which may be offered by those whose opinion he respects; or who, like the early Fathers, might have had some facilities which he does not possess, for learning the right interpretation of Scripture. In a word, he will seek for a confirmation of his view of Scripture truth,

from the writings of the best and wisest of those who have, at various times, been received as teachers in the Church; and if he can find no such confirmation in an important article of faith, he will justly be led to question the correctness of his deductions from Scripture in the

matter.

Such writings, then, will be of essential service in counteracting the tendencies of corrupt prejudices, in showing the incorrectness of plausible misinterpretations, in pointing out the truth to those who care not to study the Scriptures in order to learn it; and as a continual check upon the presumption and extravagance of the human imagination.

We are far indeed, then, from depreciating the value and importance of ministerial labours, and the treasures of sound instruction to be found in the ecclesiastical writers of former times; but we, at the same time, hold, that when God has spoken, man is responsible to God for believing and acting upon what God appears to him to have said. And we hold that the best expositor of the difficulties of Scripture, is Scripture.

Nor is there any ground for the charge of presumption which our opponents are so fond of making against individuals who assume to themselves the right of judging what is the meaning of Scripture in the fundamental articles of the faith; for they forget that there is hardly a single point upon which the authority of doctors and councils may not readily be quoted for views directly at variance with each other.

The only other objection of any weight to the view for which we here contend, is the following.

It is said,

Men differ about the meaning of the Scriptures, or, as it is sometimes stated, The Scriptures do not teach the truth so as to prevent men from erring; and therefore they are not clear, not perspicuous enough to teach the faith.

On this plea I have already had occasion to offer some