John Jewel: The place of scripture in the early Church of England « Awakening Grace
Below is an excerpt from this introductory, first section of Jewel’s famous Apology (defense) of the Church of England. In the quote below Jewel does three significant things. First, he shows that Jesus Christ himself uses Scripture to establish truth. Second, he shows that the early church fathers used Scripture to establish truth. I will take a moment of personal privilege at this point. Many folks who appeal to tradition often appeal to the church fathers, and more often than note quote their favorite proof texts from Tertullian and Irenaeus. But if our find friends who find these appeals so useful were to actual read Tertullian and Irenaeus, or many (if not most!) of the other church fathers, they will find the most frequent appeal is always to scripture and only rarely (even in Irenaeus!) to the authority of the church. Jewel of course picks up on this and illustrates that if you really want to be faithful to catholic tradition you will first and foremost establish truth on Holy Scripture. Finally, Jewel shows that in this great tradition of establishing truth on the authority of scripture first, the Church of England and the other Protestant churches of the continental reformation are leading the way. What then of the role of tradition? It seems for Jewel that it is important for him to read scripture and understand theology in a manner consistent with but not proven by tradition. Thus tradition is an important companion in reading scripture, nevertheless as Jewel, Hooker, and Cranmer in their writings and actions make clear, tradition is never above Scripture. Where tradition cannot reasonably be proven by scripture, it is to be dismissed (for a good example of this principle see Article XXII of the Articles of Religion).
“With this sword (Scripture) did Christ put off the devil when He was tempted of him: with these weapons ought all presumption, which doth advance itself against God, to be overthrown and conquered. “For all Scripture,” saith St. Paul, “that cometh by the inspiration of God, is profitable to teach, to confute, to instruct, and to reprove, that the man of God may be perfect, and thoroughly framed to every good work.” Thus did the holy fathers always fight against the heretics with none other force than with the Holy Scriptures. St. Augustine, when he disputed against Petilian, a heretic of the Donatists: “Let not these words,” quoth he, “be heard between us, ‘I say, or you say:’ let us rather speak in this wise: ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ There let us seek the Church: there let us boult out our cause.” Likewise St. Hierom: “All those things,” saith he, “which without the testimony of the Scriptures are holden as delivered from the Apostles, be thoroughly smitten down by the sword of God’s word.” St. Ambrose also, to Gratian the emperor: “Let the Scripture,” saith he, “be asked the question, let the prophets be asked, and let Christ be asked.” For at that time made the Catholic fathers and bishops no doubt but that our religion might be proved out of the Holy Scriptures. Neither were they ever so hardy as to take any for a heretic whose error they could not evidently and apparently reprove by the self-same Scriptures. And we verily do make answer on this wise, as St. Paul did: “According to this way which they (the Roman Catholics) call heresy we do worship God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and do allow all things which have been written either in the law or in the Prophets,” or in the Apostles’ works.”
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