70 THE REASON OF FAITH. [BOOK VI., PAKT I.
to believe it so to be unto whom it is proposed? And the reason why I shall be the briefer herein is, because I have long since, in another discourse, cleared this argument, and I shall not here again call over any thing that was delivered therein, because what hath been unto this day gainsaid unto it or excepted against it hath been of little weight or consideration. Unto this great inquiry, therefore, I say,—
We believe the Scripture to be the word of God with divine faith for its own sake only ; or, our faith is resolved into the authority and truth of God only as revealing himself unto us therein and thereby. And this authority and veracity of God do infallibly manifest or evince themselves unto our faith, or our minds in the exercise of it, by the revelation itself in the Scripture, and no otherwise; or, "Thus saith the Lord," is the reason why we ought to believe, and why we do so, why we believe at all in general, and why we believe any thing in particular. And this we call the formal object or reason of faith. |
And it is evident that this is not God himself absolutely con- sidered; for so he is only the material object of our faith: " He that cometh to God must believe that he is," Heb. xl 6. Nor is it the truth of God absolutely ; for that we believe as we do other essen- tial properties of his nature. But it is the truth of God revealing himself his mind and will unto us in the Scripture. This is the sole reason why we believe any thing with divine faith.
It is or may be inquired, wherefore we do believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, or that God is one in nature, subsisting in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; I answer, It is because God himself, the first truth, who cannot lie, hath revealed and de- clared these things so to be, and he who is our all requireth us so to believe. If it be asked how, wherein, or whereby God hath re- vealed or declared these things so to be, or what is that revelation which God hath made hereof; I answer, It is the Scripture and that only. And if it be asked how I know this Scripture to be a divine revelation, to be the word of God; I answer, — 1. I do not know it demonstratively, upon rational, scientifical principles, because such a divine revelation is not capable of such a demonstration, 1 Cor. ii. 9. 2. I do not assent unto it, or think it to be so, only upon arguments and motives highly probable, or morally uncontrollable, as I am assuredly persuaded of many other things whereof I can have no certain demonstration, 1 Thess. ii. 13. S. But I believe it so to be with faith divine and supernatural, resting on and resolved into the authority and veracity of God himself, evidencing themselves unto my mind, my soul, and conscience, by this revelation itself, and not otherwise.
CHAP. V.] THE ONLY FOUNDATION AND REASON OF FAITH. 71
Here we rest, and deny that we believe the Scripture to be the word of God formally for any other reason but itself, which assureth us of its divine authority. And if we rest not here, we must run on the rock of a moral certainty only, which shakes the foundation of all divine faith, or fall into the gulf and labyrinth of an endless circle, in proving two things mutually by one another, as the church by the Scripture and the Scripture by the church, in an everlasting rotation. Unless we intend so to wander, we must come to some- thing wherein we may rest for its own sake, and that not with a strong and firm opinion, but with divine faith. And nothing can rationally pretend unto this privilege but the truth of God mani- festing itself in the Scripture; — and therefore those who will not allow it hereunto do some of them wisely deny that the Scripture's being the word of God is the object of divine faith directly, but only of a moral persuasion from external arguments and considerations ; and I do believe that they will grant, that if the Scripture be so to be believed, it must be for its own sake. For those who would have us to believe the Scripture to be the word of God upon the autho- rity of the church, proposing it unto us and witnessing it so to be, though they make a fair appearance of a ready and easy way for the exercise of faith, yet when things come to be sifted and tried, they do so confound all sorts of things that they know not where to stand or abide. But it is not now my business to examine their pretences ; I have done it elsewhere. I shall therefore prove and establish the assertion laid down, after I have made way to it by one or two previ- ous observations: —
1. We suppose herein all the motives of credibility before men- tioned,— that is, all the arguments " ab extra," which vehemently persuade the Scripture to be the word of God, and wherewith it may be protected against objections and temptations to the contrary. They have all of them their use, and may in their proper place be insisted on. Especially ought they to be pleaded when the Scripture is attacked by an atheism arising from the love and practice of those lusts and sins which are severely condemned therein, and threatened with the utmost vengeance. With others they may be considered as previous inducements unto believing, or concomitant means of strengthening faith in them that do believe. In the first way, I con- fess, to the best of my observation of things past and present, their use is not great, nor ever hath been in the church of God : for as- suredly the most that do sincerely believe the divine original and authority of the Scripture do it without any great consideration of them, or being much influenced by them; and there are many who, as Austin speaks, are saved " simplicitate credendi," and not " subti- litate disputandi," that are not able to inquire much into them, nor