History of the Canon of the Holy Scriptures in the Christian Church, Tr., with the Author's Own Corrections, by D. Hunter (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1884. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XVI. THE THEOLOGY OF THE REFORMERS. I USE the term theology designedly in the title of this chapter, with which we enter on the most interesting part of this history, and at the same time conclude our investigations. Up to this point we have constantly seen that the collection of the Holy Scriptures, formed at first by practical needs and according to varying local usages, was also preserved and transmitted under the rule of a tradition sometimes uncertain and capricious, and that science made vain efforts to determine its form and contents in a definite manner and according to theoretical principles. For the Catholic Church, as we have seen, the official definition of the canon was not given till the Council of Trent, and even then it was not guided by any theological axiom; it was simply and purely the consecration of a state of things founded on usage. It may be said, without fear of error, that the leaders of the reforming movement had from the first some perception of the necessity for placing the question of the canon on another basis, and connecting it with some ruling principle which should be based on the theology of the Gospel. At the beginning of their work, they saw themselves forced to break with the tradition of the Church on more than one point; and in order to justify their opposition, and maintain the struggle with confidence and success, they had constantly to appeal to the holy books. These very facts compelled them to place the authority of these books on an independent basis, to free them, so to speak, from the tutelage of the Church, and vindicate for them a position which would shelter them from the caprices of opinion and the weaknesses of exegesis. For just as it became necessary to seek the criterion of the true meaning o...