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THat the Church hath no such power to ordaine articles of faith, or impose matters to be beleeued necessarie to saluation not contayned, or prescri∣bed in the holy scriptures: We prooue it thus, and wee are sure, that the true Church of Christ will neuer chalenge any such prerogatiue.
1. All truthes and verities in the scriptures are not so necessary to saluation, that the ignorance thereof should bring perill of damnation: Ergo much lesse are any verities out of scripture of any such necessitie: the first is manifest: for to know the iust chronologie of time or space of yeares, from the beginning of the world to Christ, is a veritie in scripture, yet not necessary: so to beleeue that Marie continued a virgin euer after the birth of our Lord, was thought by Ba∣sile to be no necessarie poynt to saluation, if wee did hold her to haue beene a virgin afore: and many such other poyntes there are in scriptures, which a man may be ignorant of without perill of saluation, Ergo much more may we be ig∣norant of vnwritten verities, or rather Popish fables.
2. The Church hath no more authoritie then the Apostles, nor yet in all things so much: But they had no power to make articles of faith: for Saint Paul deliuereth that which he had receiued concerning the sacrament, he durst not adde vnto it, as the Papists haue been bolde to doe since, 1. Cor. 11. Ergo the Church may explane and open articles of fayth out of the scriptures, but not make new.
3. We prooue it by the confession of our aduersaries. The fathers of Basile, that concluded, it was an article of the Christian fayth to beleeue the superiori∣tie of the councel,* 1.1 did gather it out of the saying of Christ, dic ecclesiae, and ther∣fore enforced it as an article. Whereby wee gather, that they helde, that the Church could establish no article of fayth without scripture. Bellarmine like∣wise sayth, that the Church is not now gouerned by newe reuelations, but wee ought to be contented with those decrees, which wee haue receiued from the Apostles:* 1.2 Ergo, as D. Whitakers doth strongly conclude, the Church cannot coyne new articles of faith.
4. Lastly, we haue before prooued at large out of the worde of God, that the scriptures containe all things necessary to saluation: and therefore all arti∣cles of fayth must be deriued from thence. 1. controu. quaest. 7. And so we con∣clude with Augustine:* 1.3 Linguae sonos, quibus inter se homines sua seusa communicēt, pacto quodā societatis sibi instituere possunt: Quib. autē sacris diuinitati congru∣erent, voluntatem dei sequuti sunt, qui rectè sapuerunt: Quae omnino nunquam defuit ad salutem iustitiae pietati{que} hominum. Men, sayth he, may deuise among themselues what language they will vse to expresse their minde: But howe to serue God, wise men euer followed the will and commaundement of GOD▪ which neuer hath failed men in all necessary matters concerning righteousnes and godlines. By this fathers sentence, the scriptures, which containe the will of God, containe all necessary things. Ergo, we neede not seeke elswhere.