Institutes of Elenctic Theology by Francis Turretin
It is one thing to discern and to declare the canon of Scripture; quite another to establish the canon itself and to make it authentic. The church cannot do the latter (as this belongs to God alone, the author of Scripture), but it does only the former, which belongs to it ministerially, not magisterially. As the goldsmith who separates the dross from the gold (or who proves it by a touchstone) distinguishes indeed the pure from the adulterated, but does not make it pure (either as to us or as to itself), so the church by its test distinguishes indeed canonical books from those which are not and from apocryphal, but does not make them such. Nor can the judgment of the church give authority to the books which they do not possess of themselves; rather she declares the already existing authority by arguments drawn from the books themselves.
Source Evidence
Community verification
Help verify accuracy, sources, and attribution. Pick one action below — you don't need to fill out everything.
0 ratings
Rate this quote (sign in required)
Sign in to rate this quote and affect community trust scores.
Contribute
Choose what you want to add. Each option opens its own short form.
Discussion
Share context, ask questions, or discuss this quote. Comments are separate from source proposals and verification ratings.
No comments yet.