Rule of Faith

Therule of faith(Greek:κανών της πίστεως,Latin:regula fidei) is the name given to the ultimate authority in Christian belief or fundamentalhermeneutic(interpretive) standard (e.g., for biblical interpretation.). It was used byEarly Christianwriters such asTertullian.The phrase is sometimes used for early creeds.

Meaning

Joseph FitzmyerSJnotes that the rule of faith (Latin:regula fidei) (where 'rule' has the sense of a measure such as a ruler) is a phrase rooted in theApostle Paul's admonition to theChristians in Romein theEpistle to the Romans5:1312:6,which says, "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith." (NIV,1984)

The last phrase, "in proportion to his faith" is in Greek κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς πίστεως ( "analogy of faith" ). In Romans 12:6 this refers to one of three possible ideas: the body of Christian teachings, the person's belief and response to the grace of God, or to the type of faith that can move mountains.

As a standard for adherence toorthodoxy,rule of faith originally referred to theOld Roman Symbol,which was an earlier and shorter version of theApostles' Creedand other later statements of faith. As a historical standard for adherence to orthodoxy, rule of faith may also refer to other statements of faith including theNicene Creed,Athanasian Creed,Augsburg Confession,Canons of Dort,Westminster Confessionand others, theinner lightof the spirit, as amongmystics.

The rule of faith is the name given to the ultimate authority or standard in religious belief, such as theWord of God(Dei verbum) as contained in Scripture andApostolic Tradition,as amongCatholics;theoria,as among theEastern Orthodox;theSola scriptura(Bible alone doctrine), as among someProtestants;theWesleyan Quadrilateralof faith, which held that Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience, as among other Protestants; andreasonalone, as among Rationalist philosophers.

Some theologians use "analogy" as an alias for "rule" rather than itsmodern senseof comparison.

Second century usage

In the early church,Irenaeuswas writing in the second century about the "rule of faith" or "rule of truth." InAgainst Heresies1.9.4 he talks about it being received by baptism and continues, in the next chapter, to explain:

…this faith: in one God, the Father Almighty, who made the heaven and the earth and the seas and all the things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who made known through the prophets the plan of salvation, and the coming, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the bodily ascension into heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and his future appearing from heaven in the glory of the Father to sum up all things and to raise anew all flesh of the whole human race…

— Irenaeus,Against Heresies1.10

Elsewhere, in the preface to hisThe Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching,Irenaeus reiterates the need to "hold the rule of the faith without deviation."He goes on again to express the rule of faith across three points or articles:

This then is the order of the rule of our faith…: God, the Father, not made, not material, invisible; one God, the creator of all things: this is the first point of our faith. The second point is: The Word of God, Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, who was manifested to the prophets according to the form of their prophesying and according to the method of the dispensation of the Father through whom all things were made; who also at the end of the times, to complete and gather up all things, was made man among men, visible and tangible, in order to abolish death and show forth life and produce a community of union between God and man. And the third point is: The Holy Spirit, through whom the prophets prophesied, and the fathers learned the things of God, and the righteous were led forth into the way of righteousness; and who in the end of the times was poured out in a new way a upon mankind in all the earth, renewing man unto God.

— Irenaeus,The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching6

Third century usage

Tertullianuses the phrases "rule of faith" and "rule of truth":

Let our "seeking," therefore be in that which is our own, and from those who are our own, and concerning that which is our own, – that, and only that, which can become an object of inquiry without impairing the rule of faith.

— Tertullian,The Prescription Against Heretics12

Catholic usage

Pope Pius XIIinHumani generisused the termanalogy of faithto say that Holy Scripture should be interpreted according to the mind of the Church, not that the teaching of the Church and Fathers should be interpreted by some theorised norm of the Scriptures.

In theCatholic Church,theBibleandsacred tradition(that is, things believed to have been taught byJesusand theapostlesthat were not recorded in the Bible but were transmitted through the church) are considered a rule for all believers for judging faith and practice.The currentCatechism of the Catholic Churchsays, "all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God

TheBaltimore Catechismused the phrase "rule of faith":

Q. 561. Must we ourselves seek in the Scriptures and traditions for what we are to believe? A. We ourselves need not seek in the Scriptures and traditions for what we are to believe. God has appointed the Church to be our guide to salvation and we must accept its teaching us our infalliblerule of faith.

InVerbum Domini(2010), PopeBenedict XVIwrote:

...while in the Church we greatly venerate the sacred Scriptures, the Christian faith is not a 'religion of the book': Christianity is the 'religion of the word of God,' not of 'a written and mute word, but of the incarnate and living Word' (qtd. from St.Bernard of Clairvaux). Consequently the Scripture is to be proclaimed, heard, read, received and experienced as the word of God, in the stream of the apostolic Tradition from which it is inseparable

Protestant usage

In someProtestant theology,it is ahermeneuticalrule of interpreting the Bible that scripture is to interpret scripture (Sacra Scriptura sui interpres:sacred Scripture is its own interpreter). It is an understanding that enforces the Bible as the inspired Word of God, and it is therefore consistent and coherent since God cannot contradict himself.

InconservativeProtestantismRomans 12:6 is viewed as the biblical reference for the term "analogy of the faith"(i.e., αναλογἰα τῆς πἰστεως).

For Protestants, the Bible alone is considered the word of God and the only infallible standard for judgingfaithand practice;hence, for conservative Protestantism, theanalogy of the faithis equivalent to theanalogy of scripture– that is, opinions are tested for their consistency with scripture, and scripture is interpreted by theHoly Spiritspeaking in scripture (comparesola scriptura).

See also

• Biblical law in Christianity
• Faith in Christianity

Further reading

• Sproul, R. C., et al.Knowing Scripture,revised edition, IVP Books, 2009. EBSCO host