I PROLOGUE 31 



Jewish. The validity of the argument from the 

 Messianic prophecies vanishes unless their infallible 

 authority is granted ; and, as a matter of fact, 

 whether we turn to the Gospels, the Epistles, or 

 the writings of the early Apologists, the Jewish 

 scriptures are recognised as the highest court of 

 appeal of the Christian. 



The proposal to cite Christian " antiquity " as a 

 witness to the infallibility of the Old Testament, 

 when its own claims to authority vanish, if certain 

 propositions contained in the Old Testament are 

 erroneous, hardly satisfies the requirements of lay 

 logic. It is as if a claimant to be sole legatee, 

 under another kind of testament, should offer his 

 assertion as sufficient evidence of the validity of 

 the will. And, even were not such a circular, or 

 rather rotatory, argument, that the infallibility of 

 the Bible is testified by the infallible Church, 

 whose infallibility is testified by the infallible 

 Bible, too absurd for serious consideration, it re- 

 mains permissible to ask, Where and when the 

 Church, during the period of its infallibility, as 

 limited by Anglican dogmatic necessities, has 

 officially decreed the " actual historical truth of 

 all records " in the Old Testament ? Was Augus- 

 tine heretical when he denied the actual historical 

 truth of the record of the Creation ? Father 

 Suarez, standing on later Roman tradition, may 

 have a right to declare that he was ; but it does 

 no* lie in the mouth of those who limit their 



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