40 soPTuxz. L'Boox l. with tradition, constitutes his rule of faith, or what he cs?_iln the revealed or inspired word of God. Thus the writers of the Trent Catechism say :--" All the doctrines of Christianity are derived from the word of God, which includes Scripture and tradition." Page 19. Again: "If we would have the whole rule of Christian faith and practice, we must not be content with those scriptures which Timothy knew from his infancy, that is, with the Old Testament alone; nor yet with the New Testament, without taking along with it the traditions of the apostles, and the interpretation o/the church, to which the apesties delivered both the book and the interpretation of it."* "The Catholic rule of Ikith is not merely the written word st' God, but the whole word of God, both written and tinwritten; in other words, Scrii?ture and tra- dition, and these explained by the Catholic Church. This implies that we have a two-fold rule or law, and that we have an interpreter or judge to explain it, and to decide upon it in all doubtful points." Thus Scripture, the apocrypha, tradition, written and unwritten, and all aa interpreted by the church or clergy, form the word of God, or the rule of faith according to the Church of Rome. 2. The doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church on the canon, autho- rity, publication, and use of the Scriptures, is embraced in the decrees of the Council of Trent, in its fourth session, held April 8th, 1546. The decree concerning the canonical Scriptures ( Deereturn de Canonwis $cripturis) is as follows :--"This sacred, holy, meumenical, and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Spirit, the three legates of the apostolical see presiding therein; having constantly in view the removal of error, and the preservation of the purity of the gospel in the church, which gospel, promised before by the prophets in the sacred Scriptures, was first orally published by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who after3vard commanded it to be preached by his apostles to every creature, as the source of all saving truth and discipline; and perceiving that this truth and discipline are contained both in written books and in unwritten traditions, which have come down to us, either received by the apostles fwm the lip of Christ him- self, or transmitted by the hands of the same apesties, under the dic- tation of the Holy Spirit, following the example of the orthodox fathers. doth receive and reverence, with equal piety and veneration, all the books as well of the Old as of the New Testament, the same God being the author of both--and also the aforesaid traditions, pertaining both to faith and manners, whether received from Christ himself, or dictated by the Holy Spirit, and preserved in the Catholic Church by continual succession. Moreover, lest any doubt should arise respect- ing. the sacred books which are received by the council, it has been judged proper to insert a list of them in the present decree."? Here
- Note of the Roman Catholic version on 2 Tim. iii, 16.
t End of Controversy, p. 53. ? "Sacre-sancta, cecumenica et generalis Tridentins Synodus, in Spiritu sancto legitime congregata, presidentthus in ea eisdem tribus Apostolice Sodis Legaris, hoc s/bi perpetuo ante oculos propshens, ut 8ublatis errorthus, puritas ipsa Evangelii in Ec- clesia couscrvetur: qued promissum ante per prophetas in Scriptuffs sanctis, Domlnus noster Jesus Christus Dei Filius, proprio ore primurn promulgavi?; deinde per sues Apostelos, tamquam fontera omnis et salutaris veritatis, et mqrum disciplina? omni creaturm pru.?dicari j,ussit: perspiciensque hanc veritatem et disciplinam contineri in lilms scriptis, et uine scripto traditiombus, quee ab ipsius Christi ore sb Apestolls ac- 1
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