Of Saving Faith, Section 7
SECT. VII.
Page 380. TO your fifth Reason, 1. I grant both your Conclusion stil, and that Habits are distinguished specifically when the formal Objects are so distinct. 2. And I am of the same mind with Rob. Baronius, as you cite him; that no man but the Regenerate is truly a Divine or Christian, and hath properly Theologie, but only Analogically: Though perhaps I may have censures enough for coming so neer to you in this, for all you think me to differ so much from you. It is but the same thing that Disput. 5. of Right to Sacraments I maintained. 3. But I am not yet satisfied that saving faith believes many things or any thing materially, which a common faith doth not believe in his manner, of which more anon.
4. That which is the formal Object of the Act of Faith, is it you say, specifieth the Habit: and therefore you afterward describe it as respecting the Act. But it is not all the Motives and M…dia that are the formal objects of the act of Faith; but it is the Veracity of the Revealer, or Speaker, or Testifier. He that believeth the same material Truths because of the Veracity of God the Revealer, hath a true Divine faith; though in regard of the Motives or Media by which men discern or are perswaded, that the Revelation is indeed Divine, there may be differences between several true Believers, and some of them may make use of insufficient or mistaken mediums or motives. If you deny this, you will leave but few Christians among Christians, and perhaps not any of the ignorant sort; nay perhaps not one at all in the world, as to their first Act of Faith, if your following grounds be annexed. For my part, if I see a poor Christian that believeth all the Articles of the faith, because God hath Revealed them, who he is fully perswaded cannot lie, to be yet at a loss as to the Media or Motives that should perswade him to take the Scripture to be a Divine Revelation; or if he Receive this but on insufficient grounds or Receive the Articles of Faith by Tradition without Scripture and yet give up himself hereupon to the Obedience of the Doctrine which he receiveth, I shall take him to be a Believer or Christian indeed. Many thousands believe the Doctrine of Scripture upon Gods credit, and therefore with a Divine Faith, that are not able to give you such proofs of the Revelation being Divine, as the cause requires or deserves.
5. The Divine Veracity is so far known by men, as they know indeed that there is a God: For a lying god is not God, but an Idol. And so far as common grace may lead men from Atheism, so far it may lead them so believe upon the credit of God, or to acknowledge Gods Veracity, and so to Believe the Gospel fide Divinâ, when they once take the Gospel to be the Word of God. So that the faith of Temporaries may have the same objectum formale, as the faith of Saints: that is, the Veracity of God: And the Media to prove the Revelation Divine, are not the formal object of faith; though the Revelation be of necessity, as a Condition sine qua non, to the act of Faith, as Promulgation of a Law is to the Act of Obedience. Of this I have spoken more largely in the Preface to part. 2. of the Saints Rest.
6. Where you say pag. 381. [That saving Faith is built on better Principles, as proceeding from the Spirit of Christ and being built upon his immediate Revelation and Testimony, &c.] I Answer, I doubt I differ from you more in this, then in the Conclusion. I have in the first and second part of my Treat. against Infidelity, specially, pag. 82. part. 2. § 2. and through that part purposely shewed how much I ascribe to the Spirits Testimony in our Belief. As also in the Saints Rest, part. 2. pag. 197. (Impression 7,) c. 2. § 1. and in the Preface to that part: and its fully and Judiciously handled by the Amyrald in Thes. Salm. Vol. 1. pag. 122. Thes. de Testimon. Spirit. And by Rob. Baronius in Apodix. ad Turnbull. pag. 733. I readily yield that the illumination of the Spirit is necessary, and that when once men have Received the impress of the Word, and the Image of God by the Spirit on their hearts, they have then in themselves a Medium whence they may conclude that Scripture is the Word of God. But your plain Doctrine is [that common Belief hath only an uncertain fallible Medium, and all saving faith hath a certain infallible Medium, and that is the Testimony (immediate) of the Spirit within us. Now 1. Here I may well take it for granted that by this Testimony, you mean not the Spirit as a meer efficient cause, giving us the Rectified power of Believing, or the Habit, or exciting and educing the Act, as a Pre-determining, or other efficient cause: For as we all confess this Medicinal Grace and efficient illumination as well as you; So this is none of the Controversie, nor the thing that you express. Its one thing to give us eyes and Sight and to cure their diseases, and set open the windows, and another thing to propose an Object, or to see in our stead. We confess that the Holy Ghost gives us the moral power or Habit, and educeth the Act, and so efficiently causeth us to see, and that sufficient Objects and Reasons for Believing are laid before all men that have but a sufficient internal Sight. But your Testimony which is made the Medium, must needs be supposed to be an objective Medium or Evidence, or an internal Affirmation or Enunciation, as by another within us as saying [This is the Word of God, or this is true] by way of full Testimony, not only opening the eyes to see the evidence already extant in the Word, &c. but also being it self the evidence, as a full inartificial Argument, and as an inward witness that is to be believed himself, and not only causeth us to believe a former word. Now that besides all the efficient illumination that causeth us to believe the Divine Testimony or Enunciations already extant in the Word, there is no such inward word of the Spirit objectively necessary as the Medium of our Belief to the Being of Saving Faith, and to prove its Specifick difference; besides what is said; I briefly add, these few Reasons, 1. This Doctrine is Papall or worse, making the Word of God insufficient in suo genere, to the use it is ordained for. I know that in other kind of Causality, it is no disparagement to the Scripture, to say that it is not sufficient: but it is sufficient in its own kind; which is to contein the matter of our Faith, and objective Testimony of God thereto. And though we yield that the Transcript or effect of this word on the heart is objectively useful, as well as efficiently, to confirm us in the Faith as a secondary Testimony, yet it is not the prime Testimony, nor Necessary to supply any defect in it: nor is Scripture in that kind insufficient without it to afford us a valid Medium for Belief: many Papists, (of whom Baronius against Turnbullus treat… at large) do indeed suppose such an inspiration or immediate Testimony necessary in the Pope or Church to ascertain us that the Scripture is the word of God: but we are not of that mind.
2. If the objective medium be uttered by a voice as it were, or any thing answerable within us, either it is aliunde, fetcht and receited from without, that is, from Scripture, or it is primarily from the inward Testifier, If the first, then the scripture Medium is sufficient, for it is the same receited within; and so the common and saving faith have the same Medium. If the later, then it is meer Inspiration prophetical, and so, 1. None should be Christians or saved but Prophets, which is Euthusi…sm, and more. 2. And the ordinary way of mens Conversion should be without the word, or the word be unnecessary to it. For what need another tell me that by a fall…ble way; which the Spirit within doth primarily utter by an infallible Testimony.
3. The holy Scripture is the medium of the common Believer, (as Gods veracity is his formal object.) But the holy Scripture is no uncertain, humane, fallible Medium, as you say the Temporaries is.
4. Your Doctrine, (as your words import,) doth excuse all Infidels before God as guiltless: For if there be not propounded to them in Scripture, nor any other way, a certain Div…ne, infallible objective Medium of Belief; then cannot they be obliged to believe. For to believe without a necessary Object is naturally impossible. And though moral Impotency, which is but their viciousness, do not excuse, yet natural Impotency at lest, not caused by sin, doth excuse. That their understandings are so blind, as to have need of the Illumination of the Spirit, to enlighten them to see a sufficient Object or Medium of Belief, this is there own fault, But that they cannot see or believe without a certain Medium or object, this is no more their fault, then it is that they see not non-existents, or that which is a thousand miles of, or that they cannot see it in the dark.
5. According to your Doctrine, most of the Christians in the world, and all that I know (as far as I can learn) must be unchristened, and cast into a state of Condemnation. For though I know many that have such a Testimony of the Spirit as I have described in my Treat, against Infidelity, Part 2. Yet I never knew one that had any other, that is, that had an immediate word uttered by the Spirit within him, distinct from Scripture, which his first faith was resolved into, as the Medium that must specifie it. At lest, it is a terrible Doctrine, to put poor Christians on the rack, so by that, few will ever know that they have faith, if they must prove it specified by a Prophetick Revelation. And if you make any difference between this, and the Revelation of the Prophets, let us know wherein the difference lieth.
6. The undoubted fruit of this Doctrine received, would be the inflation of audacious, fiery, fantastick spirited men, that are ready to think that all strong impulses within them are of the Spirit of God, as poor humble Christians that feel no such thing, must fall into despair, for as they feel it not, so they know not how to come to the feeling of it.
7. If this inward Testimony be the certain Medium of knowing the Scripture to be the word of God, then either all the Scripture or but part: If but part, which part, and why one part rather then another? If all, whence is it that never any of the millions of Christians have from this inward Testimony taught us which Books be canonical, and which not: but all go for that to other Testimonies or Media.
8. If we have infallible certain Media, to prove the Scripture to be the true word of God without any internal Medium as necessary, (supposing the efficient Illumination of our minds by the Spirit to see the Media already extant) then the supposed Medium of the Spirits immediate Testimony, is not of necessity to saving Faith. But that the Antecedent is true, is manifest thus: we can without that inward word or Medium, shew sufficient proof. 1. That all that God saith is true. 2. And that the Scripture is his word. And. 3. Consequently that all in Scripture is true. Ergo. &c. 1. That God is verax, and cannot lie, is as easie to prove as that he is God. 2. That the Scripture is his word, is proved by certain Arguments, by Eusebius, Angustine, and many other Fathers, by Ficinus, Vives, Duplessit, Grotius, Davenport, Garbut, Camero, Polanus, and an hundred more. Yet still we maintain. 1. That a natural Light is necessary to such a belief of this, as the meer natural man may reach. 2. A common Illumination is necessary to the higher apprehensions, and faith of the temporary. 3. And a special Illumination is necessary to saving Belief.
9. If we are in doubt of an inward word of Testimony, whether it be from the Spirit of God or not, how shall we know but by trying the Spirits, and how shall we trie them, but by the Word? The word therefore is a sufficient Medium, (though not sufficient to enlighten us to discern it.)
10. The medium that is an inward objective Testimony, must be some word, or some work of the Spirit on the soul, A word distinct from a work: the common experience of Believers doth deny, or not know, such a work, that is the objective motive, must be in order before the Faith that is caused by it: But before the first Act of saving Faith, there is no such experience or objective motive or Medium in the soul: therefore the first act of saving Faith is not thus specified: and therefore it is not necessary to the specification. Yea, and thus there should no man ever be bound to believe, because he must have that inward experiment, Word, Medium, or Motive extant in him, before he first believe (if this were necessary as is said) and yet its certain that no man hath that experiment, Medium, &c. till he do believe: for Infidels have it not.
I confess that a sanctified man hath an inward Principle and Habit, which others have not, and that for confirmation after his first belief, the experience of that may be a subservient Medium. But I know not of any one Article of Faith, or any Medium objective for the discerning of that Truth which is necessary to a saving Faith, which Temporaries have not some knowledge of. They know all the same Articles of faith, and believed them by the same Media, though not by the same illuminated, sanctified minds and not with a faith of the same species saith Pemble truly, (vindict, Grat. pag. 215.) But it must be diligently observed what kind of Revelation and testimony of the Spirit it is, whereby we may be said to be assured of the Scriptures divine Truth. It is not any inward suggestion and inspiration different from those Revelations that are in the Scriptures themselves, as if the Spirit did by a second, private particular Revelation assure me of the Truth of those former revelations made in the Scriptures: we have no warrant for any such private Revelation now, nor is there any need of them. How then doth the holy Ghost reveal to us the Truth of Scriptures? I answer, by removing those impediments that hindred, and by bestowing those Graces that makes us capable of this Knowledge. There's a twofold Impediment. 1. Ignorance.—2. Corruption.—This holy Spirit cureth the. 1. By Illumination restoring our decayed understanding.—The second by Sanctification, infusing into our Desires and Affections some Degrees of their primitive Holyness.— pag. 216. Other inward and secret Revelations of the Spirit we acknowledge not in this Business.]