102 THE REASON OF FAITH. [BOOK VI., PART I.
(1.) That this ability of assent upon testimony is the highest and most noble power or faculty of our rational souls; and, therefore, where it hath the highest evidence whereof it is capable, — which it hath in the testimony of God, — it giveth us the highest certainty or assurance whereof in this world we are capable.
(2.) Unto the assent of divine faith there is required an especial internal operation of the Holy Ghost. This rendereth it of another nature than any mere natural act and operation of our minds; and, therefore, if the assurance of it may not properly be said to exceed the assurance of science in degree, it is only because it is of a more excellent kind, and so is not capable of comparison unto it as to de- grees.
(3.) That the revelation which God makes of himself, his mind and will, by his word, is more excellent, and accompanied with greater evi- dence of his infinitely glorious properties, — wherein alone the mind can find absolute rest and satisfaction (which is its assurance), — than any other discovery of truth, of what sort soever, is capable of; neither is the assurance of the mind absolutely perfect in any thing beneath the enjoyment of God. Wherefore, the soul by faith making the nearest approaches whereof in this life it is capable unto the eternal spring of being, truth, and goodness, it hath the highest rest, satis- faction, and assurance therein, that in this life it can attain unto.
3. It followeth from hence that those that would deny either of these two things, or would so separate between them as to exclude the necessity of either unto the duty of believing, — namely, the in- ternal work of the Holy Spirit on the minds of men, enabling them to believe, and the external work of the same Holy Spirit, giving evidence in and by the Scripture unto its own divine original, — do endeavour to expel all true divine faith out of the world, and to sub- stitute a probable persuasion in the room thereof.
For a close unto this discourse, which hath now been drawn forth unto a greater length than was at first intended, I shall consider some objections that are usually pleaded in opposition unto the truth as- serted and vindicated : —
1. It is, therefore, objected, in the first place, "That the plea hitherto insisted on cannot be managed without great disadvantage to Chris- tian religion ; for if we take away the rational grounds on which we believe the doctrine of Christ to be true and divine, and the whole evidence of the truth of it be laid on things not only derided by men of atheistical spirits, but in themselves such as cannot be discerned by any but such as do believe, on what grounds can we proceed to convince an unbeliever?"
Ans. 1. By the way, it is one thing to prove and believe the doc- trine of Christ to be true and divine ; another, to prove and believe
CHAP. VII.] INFERENCES AND OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 103
the Scripture to be given by inspiration of God, or the divine autho- rity of the Scripture, which alone was proposed unto consideration. A doctrine true and divine may be written in and proposed unto us by writings that were not divinely and infallibly inspired; and so might the doctrine of Christ have been, but not without the unspeak- able disadvantage of the church. And. there are sundry arguments which forcibly and effectually prove the doctrine of Christ to have been true and divine, which are not of any efficacy to prove the di- vine authority of the Scriptures; though, on the other hand, whatever doth prove the divine authority of the Scriptures doth equally prove the divine truth of the doctrine of Christ.
2. There are two ways of convincing unbelievers, — the one insisted on by the apostles and their followers, the other by some learned men since their days. The way principally insisted on by the apostles was, by preaching the word itself unto them in the evidence and de- monstration of the Spirit; by the power whereof, manifesting the authority of God in it, they were convinced, and falling down ac- knowledged God to be in it of a truth, 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5, xiv. 24, 25. It is likely that in this their proposal of the gospel, the doctrine and truths contained in it, unto unbelievers, those of atheistical spi- rits would both deride them and it; and so, indeed, it came to pass, many esteeming themselves to be babblers and their doctrine to be arrant folly. But yet they desisted not from pursuing their work in the same way; whereunto God gave success. The other way is, to prove unto unbelievers that the Scripture is true and divine by ra- tional arguments; wherein some learned persons have laboured, espe- cially in these last ages, to very good purpose. ' And certainly their labours are greatly to be commended, whilst they attend unto these rules: — (1.) That they produce no arguments but such as are cogent, and not liable unto just exceptions; for if, to manifest their own skill or learning, they plead such reasons as are capable of an answer and solution, they exceedingly prejudice the truth, by subjecting it unto dubious disputations, whereas in itself it is clear, firm, and sacred. (2.) That they do not pretend their rational grounds and arguments to be the sole foundation that faith hath to rest upon, or which it is resolved into; for this were the ready way to set up an opinion, in- stead of faith supernatural . and divine. Accept but of these two limitations, and it is acknowledged that the rational grounds and arguments intended may be rationally pleaded, and ought so to be, unto the conviction of gainsayers ; for no man doth so plead the self- evidencing power of the Scripture as to deny that the use of other external motives and arguments is necessary to stop the mouths of atheists, as also unto the farther establishment of them who do be- lieve. These things are subordinate, and no way inconsistent.