Protestantism in England From the Times of Henry VIII - James Aitken Wylie

thoroughly versed in theology, both in its history
and in its substance, from Bishop Burner
downwards, have acknowledged that, in the main,
the Articles follow in the path of the great doctor of
the West, Augustine. The archbishop in framing
them had fondly hoped that they would be a means
of "union and quietness in religion." To these fortytwo
Articles, reduced in 1562 to thirty-nine, he
gave only a subordinate authority. After dethroning
the Pope to put the Bible in his room, it would have
ill become the Reformers to dethrone the Bible, in
order to install a mere human authority in
supremacy over the conscience. Creeds are the
handmaids only, not the mistress; they are the
interpreters only, not the judge; the authority they
possess is in exact proportion to the accuracy with
which they interpret the Divine voice. Their
authority can never be plenary, because their
interpretation can never be more than an
approximation to all truth as contained in the
Scriptures. The Bible alone must remain the one
infallible authority on earth, seeing the prerogative
of imposing laws on the consciences of men
belongs only to God.
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