yet it is not lawful for the church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the church be a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ, yet as it ought not to decree any thing against the same, so besides

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d The written word of God is the rule of our faith and practice, and no consideration whatever can justify a departure from it.

e All Scripture being given by inspiration of God, there must be a perfect consistency and agreement in all its parts: and consequently no church can have a right to interpret one passage of Scripture in such a manner as to make it contradictory to another. Rom. iii. 4. "Let God be true, but every man ́a liar as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged." 1 Pet. iv. 11. "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God."

f It appears by historical evidence that the Holy Scriptures have been constantly extant in the church; and that she has in all ages received the same Scriptures, which we now enjoy, and therefore she is a witness and keeper of them as the Jews were of the Old Testament. Rom. iii. 2. "Unto them were committed the oracles of God."

YET LIMITED BY THE WORD OF GOD.

Acts iv. 19. "Peter and John answered, and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye."

h Gal. iii. 15. "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto." And, Gal. i. 9. "As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Deut. xii. 32. "What thing soever I command you,

the same ought it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of salvation.h

observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."

The latter part of this article seems directed against the Roman Catholics, many of whose peculiar tenets were founded on single texts of Scripture, perverted from their proper meaning, and which would not stand the test of being compared with other passages of Scripture.

ARTICLE XXI.

Of the Authority of General Councils.

GENERAL Councils may not be gathered together without the commandment and will of princes. And when they be gathered together, (forasmuch as they

a In the last article the power of an individual church was considered. This relates to the authority of general councils, which are the aggregate of all particular churches, that is, of persons lawfully appointed to represent them.

GENERAL COUNCILS SUBJECT TO THE HIGHER POWERS.

b Since it is not lawful for bishops to leave their own country, and go into other dominions, without the leave of their own princes, it follows, that they cannot without the will of princes assemble at general councils. There were indeed many provincial councils, but no general one before Constantine, by whose authority the first, that is, the Nicene council, was assembled, as also the following ones were, by the authority of the following emperors. Rom. xiii. 1. "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers."

be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and word of God,) they may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture.

The first general council was that of Nice, convened by Constantine, A.D. 325.

The second was held at Constantinople, by order of Theodosius the Great, A.D. 381.

The third at Ephesus, by order of Theodosius the younger, A.D. 431.

The fourth at Chalcedon, by order of Marcian, A.D. 451. The last general council was held at Trent, A.D. 1545. At Nice, it was declared, that the Son is truly God, of the same substance with the Father; at Constantinople, that the Holy Ghost is also truly God; at Ephesus, that the divine nature was truly united to the human in Christ, in one person; at Chalcedon, that both natures remained distinct, and that the human nature was not lost or absorbed in the divine.

GENERAL COUNCILS NOT INFALLIBLE.

• Since bishops are still but men, as well when they are in a council as when they are out of it, and still liable to the weaknesses and imperfections of human nature, it is no wonder that what is human should err, and it is manifest that even they have actually erred.

d For the proof of this, take a remarkable instance. The council of Arminium consisted of about four hundred bishops from all parts of the Christian world; a number much superior to that which assembled at Nice. And yet, though it was orthodox at first, it fell in at last with the Arians; and conse quently "erred even in things pertaining to God."

ARTICLE XXII.

Of Purgatory.

b

THE Romish doctrine concerning Purgatory, Par

a This article is entitled, Of Purgatory; but it relates to four other doctrines as well as Purgatory, all of which were maintained by the Church of Rome, and were rejected by our church, and indeed by all protestants at the time of the Reformation.

ONLY ONE ATONEMENT FOR SINS.

b The first of the particulars here rejected is purgatory; concerning which the doctrine of the Church of Rome is, that every man is liable both to temporal and eternal punishment for his sins: that God, upon the account of the death and intercession of Christ, does indeed pardon sin as to its eternal punishment: but the sinner is still liable to temporal punishment, which he must expiate by acts of penance and sorrow in this world, together with such other sufferings as God shall think fit to lay upon him but if he does not expiate them in this life, there is a state of suffering and misery in the next world, where the soul is to bear the temporal punishment of its sins, which may continue longer or shorter, till the day of judgment. And, in order to the shortening of this, the prayers and supererogations of men here on earth, or the intercession of the saints in heaven, but above all things, the sacrifice of the mass, are of great efficacy. This is the doctrine of the Church of Rome, asserted in the councils of Florence and Trent; against this doctrine are the following texts.

1 John i. 7. "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." And, Rev. xiv. 12. "I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea,

dons, Worshipping, and Adoration, as well of Images

saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." Luke xxiii. 43. "And Jesus said unto him, (the thief on the cross,) Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise."

GOD ALONE CAN PARDON SINS.

c Or indulgences. The Romanists raise a fund out of the superabundant merits of Christ and the saints, of which the pope is the chief manager, who applies to whomsoever he pleases as much of these merits as he thinks fit, for the remis sion of such punishments as remain to be inflicted after the faults themselves are remitted. And this special grace or favour is called an indulgence. But, 1 John i. 9. "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Also, Daniel ix. 9. "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him." Psalm xlix. 7. "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him."

OLATRY FORBIDDEN.

d The worshippers of images would fain clear themselves from the charge of idolatry, by distinguishing between an image and an idol, and between an absolute and a relative worship; but in vain for God hath forbidden us to pay any religious worship to images. Exodus xx. 4, 5. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." And whence comes it that reliques are to be adored? The saints themselves, while they lived upon earth, rejected the adoration which was offered to them, and that, too, with indignation: as appears from Acts x. 25, 26. "And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, stand up; I myself also am a man.' Also, Acts xiv. 14, 15. "When the men of Lystra would have worshipped

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