[1] "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to
salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may
be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that
it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be
thought requisite or necessary to salvation."
Here also may be quoted the declaration of the Westminster
Assembly of Divines:--
"VI. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things
necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith, and
life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good
and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture:
unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by
new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men.
Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the
Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding
of such things as are revealed in the Word; and that there
are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and
government of the Church, common to human actions and
societies, which are so ordered by the light of nature and
Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the
Word, which are always to be observed.
"VII. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in
themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things
which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for
salvation, are so clearly propounded or offered in some
scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the
unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain
unto a sufficient understanding of them. . . .
"X. The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of
religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils,
opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men and private
spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are
to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in
the Scripture."--_The Confession of Faith._
[2] Just as it would be conclusive proof of ignorance of
geology if a prospecting party of miners left unexplored
the very spot concerning which the character of the rocks
and soil cried loudly, _Gold!_ Or if some professional men,
perplexed by a serious and embarrassing case, should leave
unconsulted the standard works containing the solution of
the problem.
[3] Lawyers and doctors, professedly consulting the standard
works of their profession, have misled their clients and
killed their patients; but the fault has not been in those
standard works, but in the men who failed to use them
aright. Bradshaw's Railway Guide is not a safe guide in the
hands of every traveller.
[4] The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the
Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question
about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is
not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by
other places that speak more clearly.--_The Confession of
Faith._
[5] The Holy Scriptures are to be read with an high and
reverent esteem of them; with a firm persuasion that they
are the very Word of God, and that He only can enable us to
understand them; with desire to know, believe, and obey the
will of God revealed in them; with diligence and attention
to the matter and scope of them; with meditation,
application, self-denial, and prayer.--_The Larger
Catechism._