1. Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence show the goodness, wisdom, and power of God so much as to leave people inexcusable, yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary for salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at various times and in diverse ways, to reveal himself and to declare his will to his Church. Afterwards, in order to better preserve and propagate the truth, and to more surely establish and protect the Church against the corruption of the flesh, the malice of Satan, and the malice of the world, it pleased the Lord to commit this wholly into writing, which makes the Holy Scripture most necessary, those former ways of God’s revealing his will to his people now being ceased.

2. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the written Word of God, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testament, which are these:

3. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are not part of the canon of the Scripture, and therefore have no authority in the Church of God, nor are they to be approved in any way, or made use of, more than any other human writings.

4. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, does not depend on the testimony of any human or of the Church, but wholly on God (who is truth itself), the author of it. Therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.

5. We may be moved and induced to a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture by the testimony of the Church; other arguments by which it abundantly evidences itself to be the Word of God are:

• the heavenliness of the subject matter;
• the effects of its teaching;
• the majesty of its style;
• the agreement of all its parts;
• the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God);
• the full presentation it makes of the only way of the salvation of mankind,
• and its many other incomparable excellences, and the entire perfection of it. Nevertheless, our full persuasion and assurance of the unerring truth and divine authority of Holy Scripture is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.

6. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory and for mankind’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly written down in Scripture or may be deduced from Scripture by good and necessary consequences. Nothing at any time is to be added to Scripture, whether by new revelations of the Spirit or the traditions of mankind. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word, and we acknowledge that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, that are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.

7. Not all things in Scripture are equally plain in themselves, nor are they equally clear to all people. Yet those things that are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation are so clearly discussed and made clear, in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the educated but also the uneducated may reach a sufficient understanding of them with the adequate use of ordinary means.

8. The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which, at the time of the writing of it, was most generally known to the nations), were immediately inspired by God. By His unique care and providence they have been kept pure in all ages and are therefore authentic, so that in all controversies of religion, the Church’s final appeal is to them. However, because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have right to and a legitimate claim to the Scriptures, and who are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, the Scriptures are therefore to be translated into the common language of every nation into which they come, so that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all the nations, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner, and so that, through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures, they may have hope.

9. The unerring rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself. Therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not multiple, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.

10. The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and by which all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose judgment we are to rest, can be nothing other than the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture.