If there was ever a time in which it was necessary to press upon people the importance of the study of Holy Scripture for themselves, in humble dependence upon God for guidance, it is now. The Ritualists would have us take the Bible through the church, or the Bible and the church, to take the church's meaning; for, say they, if you do not, you will have all sorts of new sects arising through individuals taking their own meaning from Scripture.
Even if we allowed the principle that the church teaches, we should first have to settle what church's interpretation we are to receive—is it the Roman, Greek, Anglican, or what? Or where, in this quagmire of human opinions, is the Christian to find a divine and solid foundation for faith? But Scripture itself does not allow this principle of church authority as teacher; on the contrary, it is the Church which is taught.
The Scripture was written by inspired men, vessels chosen and fitted by God for the purpose, and did not come from any church. Nearly all the New Testament writings were addressed to the people, to the assemblies of Christians and, in some cases, it is expressly said that they were to be read "unto all the holy brethren," or that, as in Colossians, "When this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea."
Even in the ordinary affairs of life the principle of direct responsibility is admitted. If the father of a family goes abroad and sends letters to his children for their instruction and guidance, the persons who carry these letters would have no right to say, You must take our interpretation; you must understand these letters in the sense we give; if you do not, you will all take different ideas of your own from them. To so act would be to interfere with the authority of the writer to speak directly to his children and in a manner suited to them, and to meddle with the right of those children to be guided by his words.
The Scripture is a revelation from God to man, and surely He has perfect wisdom; He knows how to speak in a way suited to the needs of all. To say He does not would be blasphemy. If Christians take a wrong meaning out of the Bible, who is to blame? Certainly not the Author of the Book, but themselves. If we bring our own preconceived notions to the Scripture, and then try to make it square with our ideas, we cannot expect divine guidance; but if, feeling our own need of wisdom, we humbly ask of God, we shall find that He "giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not." The Apostle Peter tells those to whom he wrote, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby"; and Timothy from a child had known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make wise unto salvation, and to fully equip the man of God to all good works.
We have a perfect example in our Lord Himself; He met and overcame Satan with "It is written," quoting from the Old Testament Scriptures. The apostles themselves, when about to leave the churches they had watched over with such care, always cast the faithful over on that unfailing safeguard in a day of departure from the faith once delivered to the saints—the Scriptures. Thus Paul, when addressing the Ephesian elders for the last time, does not commend them to a church for wisdom, or a line of successors, but to God and the word of His grace; and the Apostle John, after warning his beloved children in the faith of the evil that was coming in, says, "Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning." New doctrines were continually springing up, but the true foundation for faith is in what they had heard from the beginning; that is, for us, the written Word of God. So Peter says he would endeavor that after his decease they would have these things always in remembrance; this we have today in the inspired epistles. In Revelation, the last voice of inspiration, he who has an ear to hear is told to hear (not the Church, but) what the Spirit saith to the churches; this is contained in the Scriptures.
To look for the truth in the agreement of the various churches of Christendom, or in what people call the unanimous consent of the Fathers, would be a vain and fruitless task, for the doctrines in which the leading churches really agree are not many; and even if they were, their agreement is no guarantee of truth. As for the unanimity of the Fathers, it exists only in people's imagination. If the Bible be an inspired revelation from God—and no one can deny that it is, without taking infidel ground—then it must contain the truth pure and undiluted, adapted to those to whom it comes; and it must carry divine authority, as the voice of God to the soul. This, no human writing can claim. That it is all that has been said, and much more, is an immense blessing; for in it the simple and upright Christian has an all-sufficient light and guide in the darkest and most difficult times, and in days when truth once held is being given up in exchange for medieval speculations.