The Remains of John Corbet, Section 19
§ 19. Of the infallible knowledg of the truth of the Chriſtian Religion, and Divine Authority of the Scripture.
UPON the grounds here laid, as the Exiſtence and Attributes of God, and mans dependance on him, and relation to him, and his obligations thence ariſing, may be demonſtrated; ſo alſo that the Chriſtian Religion and the Holy Scriptures are of God as the Author, and that the contrary would involve a contradiction: And I take this to have been demonſtrated by learned men, and need not here be largely inſiſted on: Only I ſhall ſet down a little of that much that hath been written by Mr. Baxter.
We may infallibly know the Chriſtian Doctrine to be of God by his unimitable image or impreſſion which is upon it, ſuppoſing the truth of the hiſtorical part. Likewiſe the truth of the hiſtorical part, namely, that this doctrine was delivered by Chriſt and his Apoſtles, and that thoſe things were done by him and them, which the Scriptures mention, we may know infallibly.
The Apoſtles and other firſt witneſſes knew it infallibly themſelves by their preſent ſenſe and reaſon, with the concomitance of ſupernatural help in remembring and atteſting it.
The firſt Churches received the Teſtimony from the firſt witneſſes upon naturally certain and infallible evidence, it being impoſſible that thoſe witneſſes could by combination deceive the world in ſuch matters of fact in the very age and place, when and where the things are pretended to be done and ſaid: And theſe Churches had the concomitance of ſupernatural atteſtation in themſelves by the ſupernatural gifts of the Holy Ghoſt, and by miracles wrought by them.
The Chriſtians or Churches of the next age received the teſtimony from thoſe of the firſt with a greater evidence of natural infallible Certainty; for that the Doctrine was delivered to them in the records of ſacred Scripture, and both the miracles and reporters were more numerous, and they were diſperſed over much of the world: and with theſe alſo was the ſupernatural evidence of miracles.
We of the preſent age receive it inſallibly from the Churches of all precedent ages ſucceſſively to this day by the ſame way, with greater advantages in ſome reſpects, and with leſſer in others; not upon the Churches bare authority, but the natural Cerainty of the infallible tradition of the Holy Scriptures or records of this religion, and of the perpetual exerciſe thereof according to thoſe records in all eſſential points, wherein it was naturally impoſſible for the precedent ages to impoſe falſhoods upon the ſubſequent: And this rational evidence of the Churches tradition was in conjunction with the hiſtories of heathens, and the conceſſions of the Churches enemies, infidels and hereticks, all which did acknowledg the verity of the matters of fact.
There is natural evidence of the impoſſibility, that all the witneſſes and reporters, being ſo many, of ſuch condition, and in ſuch circumſtances, ſhould agree to deceive, and never be detected; for there is no poſſible ſufficient cauſe that ſo many thouſand believers and reporters in ſo many ſeveral countries throughout the world ſhould be deceived, or be herein mad or ſenſleſs; and that thoſe many thouſands ſhould be able in theſe matters unanimouſly to agree to deceive more than themſelves into a belief of the ſame untruth in the very time and place where the things were ſaid to be done: And no ſufficient cauſe can be given, but that ſome among ſo many malicious enemies ſhould have detected the deceit, eſpecially conſidering the numbers of Apoſtates, and the contentions of Heriticks.
Beſides all this, there is a ſucceſſion of the ſame ſpirit of Wiſdom and Goodneſs, which was in the Apoſtles and their hearers, continued to this day, and is wrought by their Doctrine.