in which there is possibility of error; the conclusions at which it arrives are not accounted credible, but probable.* Belief then is assurance grounded upon testimony; and since testimony is of two kinds, as it rests upon human or upon Divine authority, so belief is twofold. There is human faith, mutually existing between man and man, which pervades and is necessary for all the transactions and communications in ordinary life; and there is a Divine faith which receives and assents to things credible upon the testimony of God. Here belief relies upon infallible authority, for God being infinitely wise cannot be deceived, being infinitely good cannot deceive. "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater."+ The testimony of God we call Divine revelation, which is either immediate, i.e. communicated directly from God without intervention of men; or mediate, as declared through the medium of prophets. Such direct communication was made to Noah, Abraham, * It may conduce to clearness to state the above definitions in another way, as thus: Faith is an Assent, Not to things evident (e.g. snow is white, iron hard), which is knowledge: Nor to things demonstrable (e.g. mathematical truths), which is science : Nor to things inferred from balance of reasoning, which is opinion: But to what is presented upon testimony; that testimony depending for its value upon the knowledge and integrity of the testifier. † 1 John v. 9. Samuel, Moses.* So Davidt affirms of himself, "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue." He received an immediate revelation, and declared it mediately to men. Zechariah‡ affirms that God "spake by the mouth of His holy Prophets;" and St. Peter,§ that "no prophecy is of private interpretation;" that is, the Prophet in his utterances did not expound thoughts of his own, but thoughts inspired by God, for (as the Apostle further insists), "no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost." Equally direct but different was the revelation of God in the Person of Christ: God "hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son." || The Apostles being assured that He knew all things, and that He came forth from God, ¶ grounded their faith upon His words as upon the immediate testimony of God. And they had further the promise of "the Spirit of Truth" to fix in their remembrance all that He had said unto them. And what the Apostles "received" that they "delivered,”** and the primitive Christians believed through their preaching, for they "received it not as the word of man, but (as it is in truth) the * Gen. vi. 13 (cf. Heb. xi. 7); Gen. xv. 1; xvii. 1; 1 Sam. iii. 7, 21; Exod. iii. 2, 4. † 2 Sam. xxiii. 2. St. Luke i. 70. § 2 Pet. i. 20, idías èπiXúσews. èπíλvois means, solution, as of an enigma; exposition, as of any mysterious saying: so èπéλve St. Mark iv. 34, "He expounded," sc. His parables. The Prophets did not originate, but could not refuse, the exposition of the Divine will. See Jer. xx. 9. T St. John xvi. 30. || Heb. i, 2. **1 Cor. xv. 3. word of God."* Again, the regard due to their testimony ended not with their term of life, but as their converts believed their word when living, so they believed their writings after they were dead : "These things were written that ye might believe . . . and that believing ye might have life." And our faith, and the faith of the Church at large, rests upon the testimony of God delivered to us in the writings of His Apostles and Prophets. We find then a Christian obligation involved in the utterance of the words, "I believe." But the obligation goes further than utterance. Faith, which means religious belief, and also therefore adequately represents the Christian profession, "I believe," is not mere passive assent, but an impulsive force. The good or evil which is presented to its apprehension is an object of real attraction or repulsion. The truth which is revealed to it, it advances to, it embraces, it hangs its hopes upon it. Here is the revelation: "I am the Almighty God."‡ What follows? "Walk before Me, and be thou perfect." Here, from the beginning as in the end, we find that He who is "Author" is also "Perfecter of faith." § "Ye shall know the Truth":|| the effect is, "the Truth shall make you free." It is this combination of thought and action which goes to make "the service of God freedom," and "the knowledge of God eternal life." And so, if we would realise the deep primitive meaning of our Creeds, we must not stop at lip-confession, but * 1 Thess. ii, 13. § Heb. xii. 2. lay hold of their glorious truths with the fulness of our moral being. We must profess" Lord, I believe,"* and go on also to the prayer, "help Thou the weakness and imperfection of my belief." Pearson insists on the personal obligation contained in the singular form, "I believe." "Every own faith, because by This is true. Again it plural form is distinc one is taught to express his that he is to stand or fall." has been observed that the tive of the Oriental Creeds, and that the change to the singular marks the individuality of Western thought. But not less perhaps is due to another fact. The Confessions which have come down to us historically speak with the consentient voice of the Church assembled in council, and naturally are couched in the plural form; also as being antagonistic to heresies, they would add the weight of unity to that of tradition, as in the protest of the old confessor at Nice,† and in the Creed of Lucian, "We believe, according to the tradition of the Gospels and Apostles." But the same formula when adapted to the use of catechumens and worshippers would run in the singular. Thus in the Apostolic Constitutions, the profession (a Greek one) is, "I believe, and am baptized," etc. So in the Creed of Jerusalem and of Antioch, no less than in that of Rome and Aquileia, the singular is found. The original draft is one thing, the applied or liturgical use another.‡ *St. Mark ix. 24. † Wilberforce's Five Empires, p. 224; Bright's History of the Church, p. 22. Bingham's Antiquities, p. 10, c. 4. "I BELIEVE IN GOD." This article declares the existence of God; I believe that God is; which is the first step or movement of faith, and the groundwork of true religion: "For he that cometh to God must believe that He is." * The word God admits of being used in a lower or secondary sense, as when it is applied in the mouth of a heathen king to the object of worship universally; † or to the idols of a false worship, "which by nature are no gods"; § or even to men placed in power and authority.!! But in the proper notion of the word we understand a Being of infinite perfection, of independent existence, on Whom all things depend, and by Whom all are governed. He is set forth in Holy Scripture as the "Blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; Whom no man *Heb. xi. 6. No notice here is taken of the distinction between "believe" and "believe in"; a distinction chiefly observed in Latin, and insisted on by the Western Church. "I believe," expresses acknowledgment; "I believe in," adds love, hope, and affiance, and is therefore properly used only in relation to God Himself. Pearson cites Augustin, Tract. 29 in Joh.: "Quid est credere in Deum? credendo amare, credendo diligere, credendo in Eum ire et Ejus membris incorporari." Again, Tract. 54 in Psalm.: "Credimus Apostolo, sed non credimus in Apostolum." There is an example of this difference in St. John xi. 26, 27 : Martha's "I believe that Thou art the Christ," fails to reach the full meaning of "believeth in Me." In the Creed we simply express belief of its verities; still as living verities with moral issues which we are bound in acknowledging to follow out. † Dan. ii. 47. § Gal. iv. 8. Ps. xcvi. 5. St. John x. 35. |