Truth Was From The Beginning

I voraciously read a lot of books on doctrine and theology in the first years of a 'personal' reformation. God was good to show me how to better know Him from His word, and those books helped clear up a lot of wrong notions. Nothing wrong with good, sound theological books.

But I see arguments about doctrinal things (mostly on the Internet) in which the arguments are being based on what this or that author has said, rather than on the Scripture. Some who are advocating for their views refuse to go back to Scripture for honest, heartfelt searching.

So, came across this quote from Matthew Henry this morning. It's in reference to Matthew 19, where the Pharisees were questioning Jesus on divorce. They had the same problem as do modern advocates for their pet position. Because of their hard hearts, the Pharisees didn't really want to hear what God has said about it.

"Corruptions that are crept into any ordinance of God must be purged out by having recourse to the primitive institution. If the copy be vicious, it must be examined and corrected by the original. Thus, when St. Paul would redress the grievances in the church of Corinth about the Lord's supper, he appealed to the appointment (1 Corinthians 11:23): 'So and so I received from the Lord'.

"Truth was from the beginning; we must therefore enquire for the good old way (Jeremiah 6:16), and must reform-- not by later patterns, but by ancient rules."