Is that by which we take up any system or opinion of another without examination. This has been one of the chief sources of ignorance and error in the church of Rome. The divines of that community teach, "That we are to observe, not how the church proves any thing, but what she says: that the will of God is, that we should believe and confide in his ministers in the same manner as himself." Cardinal Toletus, in his instructions for priests, asserts, "That if a rustic believes his bishop proposing an heretical tenet for an article of faith, such belief is meritorious." Cardinal Cusanus tells us, "That irrational obedience is the most consummate and perfect obedience, when we obey without attending to reason, as a beast obeys his driver." In an epistle to the Bohemians he has these words: "I assert, that there are no precepts of Christ but those which are received as such by the church (meaning the church of Rome.) When the church changes her judgment, God changes his judgment likewise." What madness! what blasphemy! For a church to demand belief of what she teaches, and a submission to what she enjoins, merely upon her assumed authority, must appear to unprejudiced minds the height of unreasonableness and spiritual despotism. We could wish this doctrine had been confined to this church; but, alas! it has been too prevalent in other communities. A theological system, says Dr. Jortin, is too often no more than a temple consecrated to implicit faith; and he who enters in there to worship, instead of leaving his shoes, after the eastern manner, must leave his understanding at the door; and it will be well if he find it when he comes out again.
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
Read More