Page:Delineation of Roman Catholicism.djvu/124

 116 TRADITIOLq. �[!]oor I. through the persons of the Gnostics, rejects and reprobates all such additions to the word of God. In another place lrenmus rectatea, "We have known the method of our salvation by no others than those by whom the gospel came to us: which gospel they then truly preached; but afterwahl, by the will of GOd, they delivered to us in the Scriptures, to be for the future the foundation and pillar of our faith."* Could an), thing be more fully spoken to our purpose than this, whereby he show8 u8 that the ScFip- tures are given us for the foundation of our faith, and not the infallibility of the church or vague tradition ? We will close our quotations from Ireneus b]r two short extracts :-- "Knowing very weI] that the Scriptures are pertect, for they are spoken by the word of God and his $pirit."t He also sa: "Read more diligently that gospel which is given to us by the apostles; and read more diligendy the prophets, and you will find every action and the whole doctrine of our Lord preached in them.": Tertuim, originally of Africa, a Carthaginian, presbyter of Car- thage, a Latin writer. He flourished under the emperors Severus and Caracalla, from the year 194 till toward the year 216. He became Montanist in the year 207, and died about 220. A remark or two will be in place before we give the quotations from Tertullian. In the primitive church, tradition principally referred to doctri, and the great TaAmTW2q wa the same as the apostles' creed, or what in recent times obtained the name of the  of faith. In the work of Tertullian, de Pree 8criptionibus Heereticorum, the Roman controvertists take cam to find in it the tradition of their church, and a rule (fl' faith embracing whatever their church has thought fit to believe and impose on the lief of her subjects; and which has .t last assumed the form and  name of the creed and oath of Pope Plus IV., comprehending the canons and decree8 of the eighteen admitted councils, all the writin s of the ancient fathers, and the Apocrypha. The text of TeYtullian's book, De Preescrip., &c., in common with other books of the fathers, is in many places so obscure or corrupted, as it descended to us, that no mortal can understand some port. ions of it. More, however, is intelligible than the defenders of Rome wish, or find to their purpose, without violent mis- translation or garbling, and without making common cause with the very heretics, the Gnostics, whom Tertullian professes to refute, and does it heartily. From this father it appears that the Gnostics were reluctant to argue from Scripture, because they referred to trad/tionm not the public and known tradition of all the churches, but a secret doctr/ne alleged to have been committed to their sect. This is the origin of the Discipli,a ArC,hi, or secret disdpli, the unfailing refu of modern Romish controvertisis; aud of which Dr. Treveru has mmle so much use in his controversy with Faber. quos evangellum pervenit ad nos; qued quidera tunc pruconiaverunt, postes veto Mr l)ei voluntem in Scri.turis nobis tradiderunt, fundamentum et calumrmm fidei nourm futuram."--l*rot., lib. !ii, c. i. Y "Rect ocientes quia cryturm qukleai perfectm aunt, quippe a verbo Dei et Spiritu ejus dlctm."--/don, lib. it, c. 47. :" __Igite diligentis id qued ab apootolb est evanfelium nobis (htum, et ieSite d' '.dian. ti pt*ophetu, et invenietio unlversant actionera, ot oranore doctlnam notni noem prudiettsm in ipeis.*'--li�m, lib. iv, c. 86, p. 404. 1
 * "Non enim per altos dispoe/t/oneni salutis nestrue cognovimus, qu/rn per eoe, per

�