Chapter XIX.—Appeal, in Discussion of Heresy, Lies Not to the Scriptures. The Scriptures Belong Only to Those Who Have the Rule of Faith.

Our appeal, therefore, must not be made to the Scriptures; nor must controversy be admitted on points in which victory will either be impossible,196    Nulla. or uncertain, or not certain enough.197    Parum certa. But even if a discussion from the Scriptures198    Conlatio scripturarum, or, “a polemical comparison of the Scriptures.” should not turn out in such a way as to place both sides on a par, (yet) the natural order of things would require that this point should be first proposed, which is now the only one which we must discuss: “With whom lies that very faith to which the Scriptures belong.199    Quibus competat fides ipsa cujus sint Scripturæ. From what and through whom, and when, and to whom, has been handed down that rule,200    Disciplina [or, where was the guide-post set?] by which men become Christians?” For wherever it shall be manifest that the true Christian rule and faith shall be, there will likewise be the true Scriptures and expositions thereof, and all the Christian traditions.

CAPUT XIX.

Illud itaque solum disputandum, quibus competat fides, cujus sint Scripturae, a quo, per quos, et quibus sit tradita disciplina qua christiani fiunt.

Ergo non ad Scripturas provocandum est; nec in his constituendum certamen, in quibus aut nulla, aut incerta victoria est, aut par incertae . Nam etsi non ita evaderet conlatio Scripturarum, ut utramque partem parem sisteret, ordo rerum desiderabat illud prius proponi, quod nunc solum disputandum est: Quibus competat fides ipsa? Cujus sint Scripturae? A 0031B quo, et per quos, et quando, et quibus sit tradita disciplina qua fiunt christiani? Ubi enim apparuerit esse veritatem et disciplinae et fidei christianae, illic erit veritas Scripturarum, et expositionum, et omnium traditionum christianarum .