FAITH, RULE OF. That which determines what man is to believe eoncerning his origin, duty, and destiny. (I) Alany persons, denying either the possibility or the fact of a supernatural revelation. maintain that human reason alone, as possessed by all persons of sound mind, is both the source and ground of all religious knowledge and conviction of duty. (2) Others, either deny ing or depreciating the authority of any external revelation, affirm that every man, in connection with his reason, has an inward revelation to which pertains the supreme authority in the belief of truth and knowledge of duty. (3) The Roman Catholic Churelt, insisting that truth supernaturally revealed] is the rule of faith, Imiches that the revelation actually given is partly written (as contained in the Holy Serip tures) and partly unwritten (as contained in the traditions dating from the earliest ages of the Chu ) and t hat, consequently. the rude of faith includes both Scripture and tradition. And as the people cannot surely ono perfectly under stand either of these, the only authorized inter preter of them both is I he 1'1111,111. (4) Protes
tant: believe I hat all extant revealed truth is contained in the canonical of the Old and \ntv Tosl :Intent ti, and therefore teach that these (received by every man, after inc inqidry, as Ihvy word I if God, and interpreted aecording to his own judgment, enlightened through the use of all accessible helps, human and divine) consti tute for him the rule.of faith. Among those hold ing this general principle of Protestantism there are recognized diversities, according as, on the one hand, the authority of the Bible is intensi fied, or, on the other band, the sphere of human reason in interpretation of its spirit is enlarged. Also to the consensus of the Church are assigned differing degrees of authority in the interpreta tion of Scripture among different sections of Protestants. See CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS; RA TIONALISM; INFALLIBILITY; BIBLE.