The Foundation of Protestantism
The Reformation was an appeal from the fallible to the infallible,— an appeal from a fallible priest, a fallible pope, a fallible church council, to the infallible word of God. There would have been no use nor reason in appealing from the fallible to the fallible; for that to which the appeal was made would have been no better as a foundation of faith than was that from which it was made. The whole trouble with the foundation of faith put forward by the papacy was that it was human and fallible. It was just as good a foundation as any other human and fallible foundation, and there was no point in rejecting it unless something infallible were put in its place. And this the Reformers did; they put in the place of the fallible, human authority of pope and council, the infallible authority of divine revelation; and therefore the infallibility of the Bible was a doctrine absolutely essential to Protestantism, and is such to-day. But now, Protestants are rejecting this doctrine. They are declaring that the Bible is fallible, and that we must reject the idea of an infallible Bible “as completely and frankly as we have thrown aside the dogma of an infallible pope.” Not only is this course being advocated, but the thing is being done. But in doing it, so-called Protestants are setting aside the very foundation of Protestantism, and Protestantism itself, as represented in the popular Protestant churches, is being thrown to the ground. This means much for the advancement of the papacy, and of this Rome is fully aware.