The sacred and holy, ecumenical, and general Synod of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, receiving the books of the Old and New Testament, since one God is the author of both, as also the said traditions, as well those appertaining to faith as to morals, as having been dictated either by Christ's own word of mouth or by the Holy Ghost, and preserved in the Catholic Ch…

We believe and confess the canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and to have sufficient authority of themselves, not of men. For God himself spoke to the fathers, prophets, apostles, and still speaks to us through the Holy Scriptures. And in this Holy Scripture, the universal Church of Christ has the most complete …

The apostle Peter has said that the Holy Scriptures are not of private interpretation, and thus we do not allow all possible interpretations. We hold that the true and genuine interpretation of Scripture is that which is gleaned from the Scriptures themselves, taken from the character of the language in which they were written, considered according to the circumstances, and exp…

We believe the Divine and Sacred Scriptures to be God-taught; and, therefore, we ought to believe the same without doubting; yet not otherwise than as the Catholic Church hath interpreted and delivered the same. For every foul heresy receiveth, indeed, the Divine Scriptures, but perversely interpreteth the same, using metaphors, and homonymies, and sophistries of man's wisdom, …

We believe the Catholic Church to be taught by the Holy Spirit. For He is the true Paraclete, whom Christ sendeth from the Father, to teach the truth and to drive away darkness from the minds of the faithful. The teaching of the Holy Spirit, however, doth not immediately illuminate each individual, but through the holy Fathers and Leaders of the Catholic Church doth illuminate.…

We affirm that the Holy Scriptures are to be received as the authoritative Word of God. We deny that the Scriptures receive their authority from the Church, tradition, or any other human source.

Tertullian declares that heretics have no right to appeal to Scripture, for Scripture belongs to the church that received it from the apostles. The church is "the pillar and ground of truth." Private interpretation apart from the church's apostolic teaching leads to endless distortion and contradiction.