Wesley Corpus

The Advantage of the Members of the Church of England over Those of the Church of Rome Source: The Works of John Wesley, Volume 10 (Zondervan) Author: John Wesley --- I LAY this down as an undoubted truth:--The more the doctrine of any Church agrees with the Scripture, the more readily ought it to be received. And, on the other hand, the more the doctrine of any Church differs from the Scripture, the greater cause we have to doubt of it. 2. Now, it is a known principle of the Church of England, that nothing is to be received as an article of faith, which is not read in the Holy Scripture, or to be inferred therefrom by just and plain consequence. Hence it follows, that every Christian has a right to know and read the Scripture, that he may be sure what he hears from his teachers agrees with the revealed word of God. 3. On the contrary, at the very beginning of the Reform ation, the Church of Rome began to oppose this principle, that all articles of faith must be provable from Scripture, (till then received throughout the whole Christian world,) and to add, if not prefer, to Holy Scripture, tradition, or the doctrine of Fathers and Councils, with the decrees of Popes. And soon after she determined in the Council of Trent, “that the Old and New Testament, and the traditions of the Church, ought to be received pari pietatis affectu ac reverentia, “with equal piety and reverence;’” and that “it suffices for laymen if they believe and practise what the Church believes and requires, whether they understand the ground of that doctrine and practice or not.” (Sess. 4.) 4. How plain is it that this remedy was found out because they themselves observed that many doctrines, practices, and ceremonies of their Church, not only could not be proved by Scripture, but were flatly contradictory thereto? As to the Fathers and Councils, we cannot but observe, that in an hundred instances they contradict one another: Consequently, they can no more be a rule of faith to us, than the Papal decrees, which are not grounded on Scripture. 5. But the Church of Rome does not stop here. She not only makes tradition of equal authority with the Scripture, but also takes away the Scripture from the people, and denies them the use of it.