Article 2.

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.

While God speaks to us in many ways, and spoke most clearly in his Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), the Scriptures are the fount from which Christians are called to drink that we might receive Christ. Indeed, the Words of God lead us to the Word of God himself (John 5:39-40). As the First Homily rightly declares:

Unto a Christian man there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable than the knowledge of holy Scripture; forasmuch as in it is contained God’s true word, setting forth his glory and also man’s duty.And there is no truth nor doctrine necessary for our justification and everlasting salvation, but that is or may be drawn out of that fountain and well of truth. Therefore as many as be desirous to enter into the right and perfect way unto God must apply their minds to know holy Scripture; without the which they can neither sufficiently know God and his will, neither their office and duty.

The Drama of Scripture

God reveals through a dramatic narrative his redemption of mankind in the Scriptures. The Old Testament bears witness to God’s mighty acts of salvation for his people under the Old Covenant while the New Testament records the sending of the Son and the Spirit for the salvation of the world under the New Covenant.

Therein we read of God’s creation and order of the universe so that it might reflect his goodness. We remember Man’s fall from grace, which subjected him to the tyranny of sin, death, and the devil. We learn of God’s promise to crush the head of the Serpent through the Seed of the Woman. We see God’s unilateral grace to Abraham, promising that his Seed would inherit the earth. We hear the cry of Israel to be delivered from slavery, the cry of Moses to set his people free, and the cry of Egypt as God issues his judgements. We see God raise up Prophets, Priests, and Kings, each images of that final Redeemer promised in the Garden. We watch Israel and Judah fall into idolatry and, as promised, be led into captivity that the land may rest. We harken to the promise of a coming anointed one who will be cut off, bearing his people’s sin, but seeing his posterity. We see Israel return to the land, but foreign invasion after foreign invasion leaves God’s people crying out, “How long?”

In the midst of Roman occupation and priestly corruption, a voice in the wilderness cries out: “Behold the Lamb of God!” The promised Seed, born of a woman, born under the Law, has come to ransom for himself a people to God. Jesus of Nazareth gathered disciples to himself and traveled throughout Judea preaching that the Kingdom of God has come near, teaching how to live now in the Kingdom to come, and demonstrating the renewal of all things through healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead. After three years of ministry Jesus was betrayed by one of his own and condemned by the people he came to save. Nailed to the cross, he draws all men to himself. Buried for three days, his soul descends to the underworld to announce victory over fallen angels and preach the Gospel to the dead. On the third day his body and soul are united again as women rush to the disciples proclaiming the resurrection of the Son. After forty days he ascends to the right hand of God, and after ten days, he sends the Holy Spirit to anoint the Church for mission. Peter, John, James and the other Apostles preach Christ crucified, suffer affliction, and rejoice that they have been counted worthy to suffer for the Name. Saul, who becomes Paul, learns himself how much he will suffer for the very Christ he once persecuted. Traveling through the provinces of the empire, Paul preaches the Gospel and plants church after church. These same Apostles write letters to these churches, encouraging them to hold to the faith once delivered to the saints, even while the one who leaned upon our Lord’s breast receives a vision of the end of the age.

Containing All Things Necessary for Salvation

But the Scripture is more than just a narrative of redemption. Rather, as Article Six of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion states concerning the Scriptures, “whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.” This protects the faithful from modern Pharisaism, which asserts that the personal pieties of individuals must be received by all, even if they cannot be proved by Holy Writ. We must always distinguish private interpretation from God’s spoken Word.¹ For example, while it is permissible for one to hold that Mary was assumed into Heaven, the deposit of faith contained in the Scriptures makes no such assertion and therefore the faithful are not required to believe this for their salvation.

The Second Council of Constantinople (A.D. 553) makes this fascinating declaration: “For although the grace of the Holy Spirit abounded in each one of the Apostles, so that no one of them needed the counsel of another in the execution of his work, yet they were not willing to define on the question then raised touching the circumcision of the Gentiles, until being gathered together they had confirmed their own several sayings by the testimony of the divine Scriptures.” What the Ecumenical Council describes is that although the Apostles had the ability and authority to speak infallibly under the Spirit’s inspiration – they are the human authors of the infallible Scriptures, after all – still at the Jerusalem Council they did not dare to speak before confirming their individual sayings by the Scriptures. What is even more telling, is that the Acts of the Apostles say: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit ” (Acts 15:28). The Second Council of Constantinople’s gloss on this passage equates “good to the Holy Spirit” with the Apostles’ consultation of the Holy Scriptures; to consult the Scriptures is to consult the Holy Spirit. When it pertained to the Salvation of the Gentiles, the Apostles consulted the higher authority of the Holy Scriptures, which are “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

The salvific quality of the scriptures is not limited to this life. The Homily On The Reading of Holy Scripture asserts that the Scriptures are themselves a “sure, steadfast, and everlasting instrument of salvation.” An everlasting instrument of salvation? This implies that the saints’ engagement with the Bible is not limited to this life only. How? St. Paul writes that “faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). St. Irenaeus says that the mysteries of Holy Scripture cannot all be explained in this world or the next.² Therefore, “Hope” – which desires to receive from God – endures because God is ever teaching His Saints from the Scriptures even in eternity. The assertion that the Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary to salvation is a complete one; it touches the perfecting of souls in both this life and the next.

Translated & Read

The necessity of translating and reading the Word of God in the common language of the people is a deeply Biblical principle. Throughout the Old Covenant we see God condescending to us, speaking our language in order to reveal himself. Though his thoughts are higher than our thoughts,³ he speaks to us in our language so that we might know him.⁴ This principle of accessibly led Jewish scribes in the diaspora to translate the Hebrew text into Greek. This translation, the Septuagint, provided the linguistic foundation for the Apostles and Evangelists. They did not insist that all converts must learn Hebrew to know the revelation of God, but—without hesitation—utilized the translations available to them.

Why is translation of the Sacred Text so intrinsic to the Holy Tradition? Why does the Church not insist on the sanctity of the original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek)? Because on the Day of Pentecost the Spirit of God empowered the Apostles to speak in the tongues of all mankind that all might hear and receive the Gospel. As St. Augustine testifies, “Holy Scripture, which brings a remedy for the terrible diseases of the human will, being at first set forth in one language, by means of which it could at the fit season be disseminated through the whole world, was interpreted into various tongues, and spread far and wide, and thus became known to the nations for their salvation.” ⁵ The work of translation is thus a participation in the evangelization of the nations. If Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation and if Scripture leads us to Christ, then it is the sacred duty of the Church to ensure that God’s Word may be read by and to the people in their own language.

Preached, Taught, & Obeyed

For St. Paul, this is the deposit of faith: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.” And what has been received? “That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures …” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). There has never been a proclamation of the Church which has not been “according to the scriptures.” Although it is certain that the New Testament Church precedes the Canon, at no point was it ever without the Scriptures.

The reception of Holy Scriptures is incomplete, however, unless lived. The preaching of the Scriptures has an effect. Although the Word spoken to the Apostles “cleansed” them, yet it is immediately followed by a command to abide in it, bear good fruit, and keep the commandments (cf. John 15:1-11). St. Paul says that the preaching of the Word results in the new believer calling upon the name of God (Romans 10:14). The road to Emmaus whereon our Lord “interpreted to them in all the Scriptures” terminates in the breaking of the bread, an about-face to Jerusalem, and returning to the Apostolic community from which these disciples fled (Luke 24:13-35). St. James accuses those who hear the Word apart from obedience of being self-deceptive. To receive the Apostolic Preaching is to live accordingly; to do otherwise is to have not received it. Whoever does not receive the Apostolic Preaching – the Word of Christ – does not receive Christ who gave it (cf. Matthew 10:40; Luke 10:16).

For this reason, The Homily on Declining from God provides a warning to those who neglect God by neglecting His Word. It reminds the readers that the final goal of Scripture is for it to be inscribed on their hearts and thereby lived. The homily condemns those who do not obey the scriptures of being negligent in their study. Knowledge of the Word is not the study of the Word. For this reason we may assert confidently that the Demons have never once studied the Word of God because they have never once lived it. Likewise, the Church is not truly teaching the Word unless it is truly obeyed.

A Consistent Hermeneutic

The Church in all ages and all places has consistently given the prime position of authority to the Holy Scriptures because, in its plain sense, it is the clearest and irrefutable articulation of God’s self-revelation to man. But what about when the text can be interpreted in multiple ways? Who is the interpretative authority? God has revealed himself both through the Holy Scripture and also in his created order; through what we call natural revelation and the natural law. This natural law can be apprehended by our reason as a participation in the Image of God. St. Augustine helpfully articulates this approach:

I have learned to yield this respect and honour only to the canonical books of Scripture: of these alone do I most firmly believe that the authors were completely free from error…[And I only accept other teachings as true] because they have succeeded in convincing my judgment of its truth either by means of these canonical writings themselves, or by arguments addressed to my reason.1

Richard Hooker draws upon this traditional approach to the Scriptures in his Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity and derives from it a simple hermeneutical principle which has been the mainstay of Anglican hermeneutics ever since:

Be it in matter of the one kind or of the other [doctrine or church practice], what Scripture doth plainly deliver, to that the first place both of credit and obedience is due; the next whereunto is whatsoever any man can necessarily conclude by force of reason; after these the voice of the Church succeedeth. That which the Church by her ecclesiastical authority shall probably think and define to be true or good, must in congruity of reason overrule all other inferior judgments whatsoever.⁶

This classic hermeneutical principle forms the bedrock for the concluding section of Article Two of the Jerusalem Declaration and it can be summarized as such:

What Scripture plainly delivers (“plain and canonical sense”), that is what we obey (“the Bible is taught and obeyed”).
This plain and canonical sense is deduced through our reason and the divine revelation’s coherence with natural revelation.
Our obedience then is given to the Church and her Tradition as our interpretative lens (“respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading”).

This threefold interpretive rule, as Hooker says, must overrule all other inferior judgments whatsoever—or as the Article says: must be obeyed.

With this interpretive framework in place, let us explore more deeply each of these concepts:

Plain & Canonical

The Jerusalem Declaration expects us to exegete the text of Scripture in the plain and canonical sense. This means that we seek to read the text according to its genre and the author’s intent. As St. Augustine teaches, “the chief thing to be inquired into, therefore, in regard to any expression that we are trying to understand is, whether it is literal or figurative.” ⁷

Having determined the intention of the text, we may still find difficulty in understanding it. In this case, Augustine teaches that “it is far safer to walk by the light of Holy Scripture; so that when we wish to examine the passages that are obscured by metaphorical expressions, we may either obtain a meaning about which there is no controversy, or if a controversy arises, may settle it by the application of testimonies sought out in every portion of the same Scripture.” ⁸ In principle, then, we allow clear texts to interpret obscure texts, recognizing the diverse authors are inspired by the same Spirit throughout the canon of Scripture.

To read the Scriptures canonically means we do not pit one Testament against the other, but allow the Testaments to inform one another. The Scriptures have one subject in mind: Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 24; John 5:30-47). The Old Testament looks ahead to the revelation of God in his Son while the New Testament, inspired by his Spirit, testifies to his saving work. As Richard Sibbes put it: “Christ is the pearl of the ring, Christ is the object, the center wherein all those lines end: take away Christ—what remains? Therefore, in the whole scriptures let us see that we have an eye to Christ; all is nothing, but Christ.” ⁹ Because every text shares the same Christward orientation, there is an assured salvific perspicuity in the Holy Scriptures. The plain and canonical sense of the Scriptures combine together in perfect harmony, as St. Irenaeus says: “all Scripture, which has been given to us by God, shall be found by us perfectly consistent; and the parables shall harmonize with those passages which are perfectly plain; and those statements the meaning of which is clear, shall serve to explain the parables; and through the many diversified utterances [of Scripture] there shall be heard one harmonious melody in us, praising in hymns that God who created all things.” ¹⁰

The Church’s Historic and Consensual Reading

We rightly hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Holy Scriptures through our respect for the church’s historic and consensual reading. In other words, we read Scripture in the same way that the saints before us and the Bishops in council have read it. This principle of subsidiarity, not only to the Church Militant but to the Church Triumphant, is expressed not only in the succession of our Orders but in the succession of our Doctrine.

E.L. Mascall once pointed out that in the strictest sense, there isn’t an “apostolic succession.” Rather, there is an apostolic expansion.¹¹ These defenders of the Faith have not perished and been substituted, but rather concurrently rule and reign with Christ. There is a great heavenly college of bishops who still stand in judgement and authority over us; every bishop who has ever followed them is not a replacement, but a new addition to their number. The Church’s refusal to deviate from what has been delivered is not borne out of affection for the dead, but out of a charitable duty to those still living in fellowship with the “God of the living” (Matthew 22:32).

In addition, accompanying the canonized text of Holy Scripture are the many canonized interpretations within the text—the negligence of which is the negligence of the Scriptures themselves. Whether or not Isaiah prophesied a virgin birth is not a matter of Christian debate. The “seed of the woman” promised to our first mother is Christ. The identity of the suffering servant is not up for grabs, but Christ is the one who was crushed for our iniquities.. To read these passages otherwise is to no longer engage in the reading of Christian Scripture. Irenaeus warns as early as the Second Century about those who are capable of taking the text of scripture and fashioning all manner of abominations—the end result being no longer a presentation of the Biblical Faith.¹²

St. Jude exhorts all Christians to contend for the Faith “once delivered” (Jude 3). If the Faith has been deposited once—completely and finally—then there ought to be a demonstrable continuity between that Faith and the faith of the contemporary Christian. If the belief and practice of the Church today is contrary to that of the Church of the first few centuries, the deviation lies with the Church of today. Such persons have not followed St. Jude’s exhortation. This continuity applies to all aspects of Christian Faith and Practice, but especially the Church’s engagement with the Holy Scriptures which are themselves the source material of all the rest. The historic and consensual reading of the church, as Hooker said, overrules all other inferior judgments whatsoever. To stand, then, in incongruity with the historic reading of the Scriptures is to remain out of step with the Faith “once delivered.” We must maintain a posture of reception towards this Faith, not of revision.

This is not to say that the Patristic and Conciliar witness is above that of the Scriptures, for we hold both that councils “may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining unto God” (Article XXI) and that the Creeds themselves are received not on their own authority but because “they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture” (Article VIII). Indeed, this principle is made clear throughout the witness of the Fathers. Athanasius could have responded to Arius’ heresies by insisting the Church had spoken in Council at Nicaea, but instead he answers the heretic out of the pages of Sacred Scripture.

While we do not elevate tradition over the Holy Scriptures, we do seek to read the Scriptures in accord with the ancient writers and councils. Indeed, the history of the Patristic, Medieval, Reformed, and Modern eras demonstrate our need to receive the historic and consensual reading in order to continue to banish all erroneous and false doctrine from the Church. No era is without its challenges, but we further buttress those challenges when we neglect the doctrinal discipline of our Fathers and fight heresy with heresy.

If we would free ourselves from error we must submit once again to the yoke of the Church’s historic and consensual reading of Holy Writ. Therein we find wisdom and freedom, not only from falling into the errors of the past, but for us to continue to proclaim the gospel of God today.

An Addendum: Why do Anglicans include the Apocrypha?

It is helpful to note that as Anglicans we receive the whole Old Testament, including the Apocrypha. The reasons for receiving these texts are threefold: New Testament allusions, ancient Church practice, and moral instruction. While the New Testament authors do not quote the texts of the Apocrypha like the canonical Scriptures with the usual phrase, “as it is written,” they make regular allusions to these texts.¹³ Reading them is, therefore, important for understanding Scripture, but the allusions are deep enough to expect all, not just scholars, to be familiar with them. While the texts of the Apocrypha were not included in the Masoretic textual tradition (either its final form or its precursors in the time of Jesus), they were regularly included in the Greek codices used by Jews and Christians alike.¹⁴ Thus, we see St. Athanasius enjoining apocryphal texts to be read to Catechumens, though not including them properly in the canon of Scripture.¹⁵ Therefore, the Sixth of the Articles of Religion cites Jerome, maintaining the practice that the texts of the Apocrypha “the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine.”

↩︎ (On the Jerusalem Declaration)

2 Pet. 1:19-21. ↩︎
Against Heresies, 2.28.3 ↩︎
Isa. 55:9 ↩︎
Isa. 43:10 ↩︎
Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, 2.5 ↩︎
Richard Hooker, Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, V.8.2 ↩︎
Augustine, On Christian Doctrine,3.24 ↩︎
Ibid., 3.28 ↩︎
Richard Sibbes, God Manifest in the Flesh. ↩︎
Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, 2.28 ↩︎
E.L. Mascall, Corpus Christi, 1.3 ↩︎
Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, 1.7 ↩︎
Compare, for example, Wis. 7:24-30 with John 1:1-14 and Heb. 1:1-3, Wisdom 13-14 and Romans 1, or Tobit 3:8 with Matt. 22:23-34. ↩︎
It is important to note, however, that we do not have any ancient codices that include all of the apocryphal texts together. To say they were included in the Septuagint is loosely true, but not quite accurate. For more on the Apocrypha and the Septuagint see “Translation of the Seventy” by Edmon Gallagher. ↩︎
See Athanasius’ Letter 39.7. ↩︎

Global Anglican Commentary

Article 2. The Holy Scriptures