Here they were all in a perfect dilemma, and the council was divided. At last the principal Armenians said to their ecclesiastics, "This business does not belong to us, it belongs to you, We know very well that you are all bad men; that, with all your professions of purity, you are the most impure among the defiled; that you have in your cloisters both women and children; and that you annually pay much money, which all comes from our pockets for this abominable purpose. But this is not OUR business, it is YOURS: and we leave it with you to act as you please." After much disputation and recrimination, the following Resolutions were finally agreed upon: 1. That all the former Deacons, and Priests, and Bishops, in the convent at Jerusalem be required to leave the convent immediately; and that the Patriarch put in their place a few persons, whom he may choose; provided they be persons once married, but now widowers. 2. That, from this day, until TWENTY-FIVE YEARS have expired, no individual be allowed to become a Monk or to be ordained a Priest. 3. That boys and women be not permitted to go hereafter on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; and that if men go, they be not allowed to remain more than four days in Jerusalem, and that they never be again permitted to witness the pretended miracle of the Holy Fire! To this last Resolution, the Greek Patriarchs made many objections, and earnestly besought that it might not pass; "For," said they, "if we now let it be known, that the miracle of the Holy Fire was all an imposition, we shall be ridiculed by our enemies, and shall lose all credit with our own people, many of whom will become Turks." But all the Resolutions passed; and the Patriarch of Constantinople sent letters, officially, through all his Patriarchate, to put them in exécution. The first Resolution was passed in consequence of the low state of the convent; the decline of which is attributed, in a great measure, to the influence of the Armenians who are with me. The second Resolution was in consequence of the universal complaint of the ignorance, profligacy, and numbers of the clergy: the high probability at present is, that not another Armenian will ever take the Monastic Vow! To this plain statement, which was made to me yesterday, by an Armenian who was present at the council, and saw and heard all that passed, I need add no comments. You yourself will perceive, that the Armenians are evidently ripe for a moral revolution. The marriage and conduct of the Armenian ecclesiastics, had prepared the members of their communion at Constantinople for Mr. King's letter. Mr. G. writes on this subject: "When the marriage of these men was first reported at Constantinople, it was supposed that they had altogether renounced Christianity; and the general impression was, that, like Judas, they had betrayed their Master; when it was afterward reported, that they still believed in the Christian Religion, and were attentively reading the Bible, it produced some astonishment; but when Mr. King's letter arrived, and it was ascertained what views they had adopted, and in what labours they were actually engaged, it was like an electric shock, making a sudden and powerful impression upon all.” THE REFORMATION. Without entering into minute calculations, we are happy to state, on the authority of a most respectable correspondent, that the cheering work of reformation which has now engaged the public attention for about a twelve months, "is still proceeding surely-though more silently than it did a few months ago." We quite agree with our valued friend "that this is so much the better." We are not aware that it would answer any end to print in our work the monthly list list of recantations, otherwise, we should be most happy to do so, and shall greatly rejoice if we can in any way help to forward this important work It strikes us, however, that a very inadequate idea is formed of the progress of the Reformation, by putting it to the test of arithmetical calculation; and yet we are not without our fears that even many who wish well to the work, are too apt to make their estimate upon this principle, and to extend their views little farther than the weekly or monthly lists will carry them. We hope, as we proceed in our work, to give this subject the attention which it demands; but, till we can do so, it seems best to content ourselves with a general Report. CONVERSIONS FROM POPERY. A great sensation has been created in the city of Hanover, by the conversion of a respectable inhabitant from the Roman Catholic to the Protestant Church. In a book he has just published, justifying his motives, he gives some curious particulars of his life which do not reflect great credit on the priesthood. Our readers are aware that other conversions on the continent have of late, excited considerable attention and if to these we add the conversions in Ireland, which, within the last twelve months have amounted to some six thousands or more, and are still steadily increasing, we may at least conclude that a remarkable spirit of inquiry has gone abroad: nor can we wonder that his Holiness, on a late occasion, should have seen fit to order a special service at Rome for the perils of the Church, adding to the Litany, "Imminentibus periculis in puesentibus Ecclesiæ necessitatibus " We have noticed with pleasure the recent recantations at Somerstown Church, St. Pancras; and had hoped ourselves to report a satisfactory case in the conversion of Mr. Halley, of Preston. It is generally known, however, that after conforming to the Established Church in this place, he again publicly recanted in the Roman Catholle Chapel, and by an act of Contrition was reconciled to the Romish Communion. He proceeded from Preston to Waterford, his native city, in Ireland: and we have reason to believe, notwithstanding the inuendos to the contrary on the part of the Roman Catholics here, that he has again joined the Church of England, and is now in Bristol. Of course the less we say of such a case at present the better. We feel, however, that it becomes us to cultivate the charity which "believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS, &c. To make room for the communications of our friends, we have been obliged to defer till next month, the article promised in our last on the Interpretation of Scripture, and which ought properly to have appeared as the Introductory Article in our present number. We beg our M1 friend to excuse the liberty we have taken with "the Early Reformers." Our limits would not admit of so long an article. Want of room has also compelled us to postpone the continuation of "St. Francis Xavier." It will appear in our next as No. 4 of "Historical Lessons of the Roman Breviary." We thank our correspondents "D."..." A Layman."---"Z."--" S."--- Clericus." and "H. o. p. e. (D.)" for their communications, which we shall be glad to insert as soon as possible. "St. D." will perceive that his note on "the Pursuits of Literature is reserved for future use. As we do not happen at present to have the work by us, he would oblige us by sending, at his leisure, the extracts which he mentions. We thank him for his last communication, and for the pamphlets which accompanied it. The Cheltenham Journal" was very acceptable. THE PROTESTANT GUARDIAN. NOVEMBER, 1827. REASON THE INTERPRETER OF SCRIPTURE. IN the discussion of the questions at issue between the Roman Church and the Protestant Churches, respecting the property and the interpretation of Scripture, we began from the principle common to both parties, that the Scriptures are the word of God, and, consequently, contain nothing but what is true. The claim to the exclusive property of these sacred records, we observed, must either be founded on a sense which they contain, or else for any other evidence that can be brought to support it, is not worth attending to. We have examined the evidence on the subject which the Scriptures furnish, and have discovered from the history and character of the several component parts of the sacred canon, that it is public property, over which there is no human control.* * We have already cited (p. 69) the 4th Rule of the Council of Trent, De libris prohibitis, by which it is ordered that the Scriptures should circulate only by license from a Bishop or Inquisitor. This restricted permission, granted by Pius IVth's rule, was, however, rendered completely invalid by an ordinance contained in the Index Librorum prohibitorum of Clement VIII, by which the power of granting such licence was actually taken out of the hands of the only persons empowered by the Council of Trent to grant it. The following is the ordinance : "Respecting the above fourth rule of Pope Pius IVth, of happy memory, it is to be observed, that, by the present impression and edition, no fresh power is granted to Bishops or Inquisitors, or superiors of regular orders, of allowing the permission of buying, reading, or retaining Bibles published in the Vulgar tongue; since hitherto, by the command, and according to the practice of the holy and universal Inquisition, they have been deprived of the power of granting such licenses to read or retain Bibles in the Vulgar tongue, or other parts of the Holy Scripture, as well of the Old as the New Testament published in any vulgar language whatever, as also summaries and even historical abridgements of the same Bibles or books of the Holy Scriptures, written in any sort of common idiom; which [ordinance] must be inviolably observed."-The ordinance was modified, however, in 1757. Having asserted our property in the Holy Scriptures, we proceed to enquire whether they give us any clue to the proper mode of ascertaining their meaning; whether it is to be sought in the commentaries of a particular order of Priests, or immmediately from themselves. We shall not stop here to exhibit many invincible reasons which might be produced against the assumed infallibility of the Church of Rome in the interpretation of Scripture,* (for we intend to treat the subject of the infallibility of that Church more at length in a future number than the limits of this article will allow,) but shall confine ourselves to the directions afforded by the Holy Scriptures themselves, respecting the proper mode of ascertaining their meaning. We have seen that the Scriptures are an universal and indiscriminate gift; and that the several parts of the sacred canon were addressed to, or published among whole communities, in such a way as entirely to exclude the intervention of an infallible interpretation, as a means of determining their sense. They were originally subjected to the interpretation of private judgment, and were intended according to the natural and rational interpretation of them, to be of themselves and immediately "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness." Now the right, and the correlative duty, of exercising reason in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, can be annulled by no authority except that which established the right, and made the exercise of it a duty. But that authority has never since been interposed. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was the last and the perfect revelation of the will of God. The matter, therefore, rests just where the Holy Scriptures at the completion of the sacred canon left it; and the right and the duty of exercising reason and judgment on the sense of the Scriptures, remain entire and in their full original force. So entirely do the history and general character of the Scriptures exclude the intervention of an infallible human interpretation, as the appointed means of determining their sense; and establish it as the right and duty of every man to exercise his own reason and form his own judgment concerning their meaning. It is curious to observe how the rejection of private judgment in the interpretation of Scripture, affects the proof which the Church of Rome draws from the Scriptures in support of her infallibility in that respect. We ask of Romanists how they prove to us the infallibility of their Church in fixing the sense of the Scriptures? They answer from the Scriptures themselves. According to what sense of the Scriptures? we enquire; the sense which approves itself to private judgment? or the sense fixed by the infallible interpretation of your Church? Accord ing to the latter is of course the answer;-so that the Church of Rome proves her infallibility in the interpretation of Scripture, by an interpretation which we are previously required to believe to be infallible. We proceed from the evidence furnished by the history and general character of these sacred records, to some particular parts of them, the relation of which, to the subject before us is manifest, and the force irresistible. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." These words make the Holy Scriptures themselves the standard of religious truth-they teach us to measure the doctrines proposed to us by this standard, and to judge of those who speak not according to it that there is no light in them. “Forasmuch as this people draweth near to me with their mouth, but have removed their heart far from me, and THEIR FEAR TOWARD ME IS TAUGHT BY THE PRECEPT OF MEN, behold I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid."+ At how great peril then do we form our religious principles by any other directions than those of the word of God, since he has declared that if we affect to derive our information from any other source, he will infuse poison into the streams which proceed from it; that he will cause the wisdom of our teachers to perish and their understanding to be darkened! This threatening has been signally executed in two instances; -in one by the darkness and delusion to which the Jews were abandoned, in consequence of their receiving the sense of their Scriptures according to the interpretations of the Scribes and Pharisees; in the other, by the blindness and corruption which overspread a great part of Christendom, in consequence of the suppression of the Scriptures and the reception into their place of the arbitrary interpretation of the Church of Rome. Our Saviour commanded the Jews to "search the Scriptures."§ The Bereans were commended by the writer of the Acts of the Apostles for their diligence in searching the Scriptures, which he mentions as their distinguishing excellency. "The Bereans were more noble than those of Thessalonica, because they searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so." St. Paul enjoined the Ephesians to TAKE UNTO THEMSELVES "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” || “From a child," says the same Apostle to Timothy, "thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, § John, v. 39. || Eph. vi. 13. Isaiah, viii. 20. + Isaiah, xxix. 13. Acts, xvii. 11. |