Quest. IV. (continued 2)

2. As to what is said concerning the historical parts of scripture, that it is not necessary for them to have been transmitted to us by divine inspiration, it may be replied, that these, as well as other parts thereof, were written for our learning, Rom. xv. 4. so that what is excellent in the character of persons, is designed for our imitation; their blemishes and defects, to humble us under a sense of the universal corruption of human nature; and the evil consequences thereof, to awaken our fears, and dehort us from exposing ourselves to the same judgments which were inflicted as the punishment of sin: and the account we have of the providential dealing of God with his church, in the various ages thereof, is of use to put us upon admiring and adoring the divine perfections, as much as the doctrinal parts of scripture; and therefore it is necessary that we have the greatest certainty that the inspired writers have given us a true narration of things, and consequently that the words, as well as the matter, are truly divine.

3. When, that they may a little palliate the matter, they allow that the inspired writers, though left to the weakness of their memory, and the impropriety of their style, were, notwithstanding, preserved, by the interposure of divine providence, from committing mistakes in matters of the highest importance; it may be replied, That it will be very difficult for them to assign what doctrines are of greater, and what of less importance, in all the instances thereof, or wherein providence has interposed, to prevent their running into mistakes, and when it has 112not; so that we are still in an uncertainty what doctrines are delivered to us, as they were received by inspiration, and what are misrepresented by the penmen of scripture; and we shall be ready to conclude, that in every section or paragraph thereof, some things may be true, and others false; some doctrines divine and others human, while we are left without any certain rule to distinguish one from the other, and accordingly we cannot be sure that any part of it is the word of God; so that such a revelation as this would be of no real service to the church, and our faith would be founded in the wisdom, or rather weakness of men, and our religion, depending on it, could not be truly divine; so that this method of reasoning is, to use the word inspiration, but to destroy all the valuable ends thereof.

VI. Another argument, to prove the scriptures to be the word of God, may be taken from their antiquity and wonderful preservation for so many ages; this appears more remarkable, if we consider,

1. That many other writings, of much later date, have been lost, and nothing more is known of them, but that there were once such books in the world; and books might more easily be lost, when there were no other but written copies of them, and these procured with much expense and difficulty, and consequently their number proportionably small.

2. That the scripture should be preserved, notwithstanding all the malice of its avowed enemies, as prompted hereunto by Satan, whose kingdom is overthrown by it. Had it been in his power, he would certainly have utterly abolished and destroyed it; but yet it has been preserved unto this day, which discovers a wonderful hand of providence; and would God so remarkably have taken care of a book, that pretends to advance itself by bearing the character of a divinely inspired writing, if it had not been really so? Which leads us to the next argument, containing an advice, which is more convincing than any other; or, at least, if this be added to those arguments which have been already given, I hope it will more abundantly appear that the scriptures are the word of God; since,

VII. The divine authority thereof is attested by God himself; and if, in other cases, we receive the witness of men, surely, as the apostle observes, the witness of God is greater, 1 John v. 9.

Now the testimony of God to the authority of scripture is twofold; First, Extraordinary; Secondly, Ordinary; the extraordinary testimony of God is that of miracles; the ordinary is taken from the use which he makes of it, in convincing and converting sinners, and building up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.

1. As to the former of these, God has attested the truth hereof by miracles. A miracle is an extraordinary divine 113work, whereby something is produced, contrary to the common course and laws of nature: thus the magicians confessed, that one of the miracles which Moses wrought was the finger of God, Exod. viii. 19. Of these there are many undeniable instances recorded in scripture, both in the Old and New Testament; and these being above the power of a creature, and works peculiar to God, they contain a divine testimony to the truth that is confirmed thereby, for the confirmation whereof an appeal was made to them. Now when we say that the divine authority of scripture was confirmed by miracles, we mean,

(1.) That God has wrought miracles to testify his approbation of most of the prophets and apostles, who were the inspired writers thereof, whereby their mission was declared to be divine; and we cannot think that God, who knows the hearts and secret designs of men, would employ or send any to perform so great and important a work, if he knew them to be disposed to deceive and impose on the world; or that they would in any instance, call that his word which they did not receive from him. The reason why men sometimes employ unfaithful servants about their work is, because they do not know them; they never do it out of choice; and therefore we cannot suppose that God, who perfectly knows the hearts of men, would do so; therefore, having not only employed the penmen of scripture as his servants, but confirmed their mission, and testified his approbation of them, by miracles, this is a ground of conviction to us that they would not have pretended the scriptures to be the word of God, if they were not so.

Now that miracles have been wrought for this end, I think, needs no proof; for we are assured hereof, not barely by the report of those prophets, whose mission is supposed to have been confirmed thereby, but it was universally known and received in the church, in those times, in which they were wrought, and it is not pretended to be denied, by its most inveterate enemies; the truth hereof, viz. that Moses, and several other of the prophets, and our Saviour, and his apostles, wrought miracles, can hardly be reckoned a matter in controversy; for it is a kind of scepticism to deny it: and it is certain, that herein they appealed to God for the confirmation of their mission; as Elijah is said explicitly to have done, when he prays to this effect; Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant; and that I have done all these things at thy word, 1 Kings xviii. 36. and we read, that God answered him accordingly, By the fire from heaven consuming the burnt-sacrifice, &c. ver. 38.

(2.) Such appeals to God, and answers from him, have attained their end, by giving conviction to those who were more immediately concerned; this is evident from what is said; in 114that the same prophet, having had his request granted him, when God wrought a miracle, in raising the dead child to life, the woman of Zarephath confessed, that by this she knew that he was a man of God, and that the word of the Lord, in his mouth, was truth, 1 Kings xvii. 21-24. And it is not denied by the Jews, the most irreconcileable enemies to Christianity, that what is related in the New Testament, concerning our Saviour’s, and his apostles, working miracles, was true in fact; but the only thing denied by them is, that this was a divine testimony, or that they were wrought by the hand of God; and therefore the common reproach which is cast on them is, that they were wrought by magic art, as the Jews of old objected to our Saviour, that he cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, Matth. xii. 24. and his reply to them was unanswerable, when he said, that this objection would argue Satan divided against himself; intimating, that he would never take such a method as this to overthrow the Christian religion, which he could not but know was more conducive to the establishment of it, than any other that could be used.

Object. 1. But if it be objected, that though miracles were wrought to confirm the mission of several of the prophets, yet none were wrought to confirm the divine authority of the subject matter of the scriptures:

Answ. To this it may be easily answered; that it is sufficient, if we can prove that God has given his testimony, that he made choice of those prophets to declare his mind and will to the world; and that he has accordingly deemed them fit to be credited, and that they were not men liable to any suspicion of carrying on a design to deceive the world; so that if God himself not only styles them holy men, as he does all the inspired writers in general, when he says, 2 Pet. i. 21. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, but also wrought miracles to prove that they were his servants and messengers, employed in this work; this is as convincing a testimony, as though every part of scripture wrote by them had been confirmed by a miracle. Besides, it is not unreasonable to suppose, that the church lived in those ages, in which the various parts of scripture were written, had some extraordinary proofs of their divine authority; since, in many of them, miracles were very common, and, at the same time that the penmen of scripture had the gift of inspiration, others had, what the apostle calls, a discerning of spirits, 1 Cor. xii. 10. so that they were enabled, by this means, to know whether the prophet, that pretended to inspiration, was really inspired: this, to me seems very probably, the sense of the apostle, when he says, 1 Cor. xiv. 32. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, for he is discoursing before of prophets speaking by divine revelation, 115and others judging thereof: now if there was this extraordinary gift of discerning of spirits in the ages, in which particular books of scripture were written, they who were favoured herewith, had a convincing testimony of the inspiration of the prophets and apostles, from the same Spirit by whom they were inspired, by which means the divine authority of scripture was infallibly known to them, and so imparted to others for their farther confirmation as to this matter.

Object. 2. We are not now to expect miracles to confirm our faith, as to the divine original of scripture; therefore how can we be said to have a divine testimony.

Answ. As miracles are now ceased, so such a method of confirming divine revelation is not necessary in all succeeding ages: God did not design to make that dispensation too common, nor to continue the evidence it affords, when there was no necessity thereof. Thus when the scribes and Pharisees came to our Saviour, desiring to see a sign from him, Matt, xii. 38. he would not comply with their unreasonable demand; and the apostle Paul takes notice of humour prevailing among the Jews in his time, who then required a sign, 1 Cor, i, 22. but, instead of complying with them herein, he refers them to the success of the gospel, which is the power of God to salvation, as the only testimony to the truth thereof that was then needful; and our Saviour, in the parable, intimates, that the truth of divine revelation has been so well attested, that they who believe not Moses and the prophets, would not be persuaded, though one rose from the dead, Luke xvi, 31. Therefore, since we have such a convincing evidence hereof, it is an unreasonable degree of obstinacy to refuse to believe the divine authority of scripture, merely because miracles are not now wrought; since, to demand a farther proof of it, is no other than a tempting God, or disowning that what he has done is sufficient for our conviction; and to say, that for want of this evidence, our faith is not founded on a divine testimony, is nothing to the purpose, unless it could be proved that it is not founded on such a testimony formerly given, the contrary to which is undeniably evident, since we have this truth confirmed by the confession of the church in all the ages thereof, and therefore we have as much ground to believe this matter, as though miracles were wrought every day for its confirmation. This will farther appear, if we consider the abundant ground we have to conclude that God has formerly given such a testimony to his word; which leads us to enquire how far the testimony of the church, in all the ages thereof, is to be regarded.

The church has given its suffrage, throughout all the ages thereof, to the divine original of scripture, how much soever it has perverted the sense of it. That this argument may be set 116in a true light, let us consider what the Papists say to this matter, when they appeal to the church, to establish the divine authority of scripture; and wherein we differ from them; and how far its testimony is to be regarded, as a means for our farther conviction. We are far from asserting, with them, that the church’s testimony alone is to be regarded, without the internal evidence of the divine authority of scripture, as though that were the principal, if not the only foundation on which our faith is built. If, indeed, they could prove the infallibility of the church, we should more readily conclude the infallibility of its testimony; but all their attempts of this nature are vain and trifling.

Moreover, we do not mean altogether the same thing by the church as they do, when they intend by it a council convened together, to decree and establish matters of faith, by him whom they pretend to be the visible head thereof; and so a majority of votes of a body of men, every one of whom are liable to error, must determine, and, according to them, give a divine sanction to our faith. Nor do we think that those, whom they call the fathers of the church, are to be any farther regarded, than as they prove what they assert, since there is scarce any error or absurdity, but what some or other of them have given into. We also distinguish between the churches testimony, that the scripture was given by divine inspiration, and the sense they give of many of its doctrines; as to the latter of these, it has given us ground enough to conclude, that its judgment is not much to be depended upon; however, we find that, in all ages, it has given sufficient testimony to this truth, that the scriptures are the word of God, and that they have been proved to be so, by the seal which God has set thereunto, to wit, by the miracles that have been wrought to confirm it. If therefore God has had a church in the world, or a remnant whom he has preserved faithful; and if their faith, and all their religion, and hope of salvation, has been founded, without the least exception, on this truth, that the scriptures are the word of God, we cannot altogether set aside this argument. But there is yet another, which we lay more stress on, namely, the use which God has made of it, which is the second thing to be considered, viz.

2. His ordinary method of attesting this truth; it appears therefore, as is farther observed in this answer, that the scriptures are the word of God, from their light and power to convince and convert sinners, and to comfort and build up believers to salvation. Here let us consider,

1. That the work of conviction and conversion is, and has been at all times, experienced by those who have had any right or claim to salvation; of which there have not only been various instances, in all ages, but the very being of the church, 117which supposes and depends thereon, is an undeniable proof of it.

2. As this work is truly divine, so the scriptures have been the principal, if not the only direct means, by which it has been brought about; so that we have never had any other rule, or standard of faith, or revealed religion; nor has the work of grace been ever begun, or carried on, in the souls of any, without it; from whence it evidently appears, that God makes use of it to propagate and advance his interest in the world, and has given his church ground to expect his presence with it, in all his ordinances, in which they are obliged to pay a due regard to scripture; and, in so doing, they have found that their expectation has not been in vain, since God has, by this means, manifested himself to them, and made them partakers of spiritual privileges, which have been the beginning of their salvation.

3. It cannot be supposed that God would make this use of his word, and thereby put such an honour upon it, had it been an imposture, or borne the specious pretence of being instamped with his authority, if it had not been so; for that would be to give countenance to a lie, which is contrary to the holiness of his nature.

Thus we have considered the several arguments, whereby the scripture appears to be the word of God; but since multitudes are not convinced hereby, we have, in the close of this answer, an account of the means whereby Christians come to a full persuasion as to this matter, and that is the testimony of the Spirit in the heart of man, which is the next thing to be considered. By this we do not understand that extraordinary impression which some of old have been favoured with, who are said to have been moved by the Holy Ghost, or to have had an extraordinary unction from the Holy One, whereby they were led into the knowledge of divine truths, in a way of supernatural illumination. This we pretend not to, since extraordinary gifts are ceased; yet it does not follow from hence, that the Spirit does not now influence the minds of believers in an ordinary way, whereby they are led into, and their faith confirmed in all necessary truths, and this in particular, that the scriptures are the word of God; for we may observe, that no privilege referring to salvation, was ever taken away, but some other, subservient to the same end, has been substituted in the room thereof; especially, unless a notorious forfeiture has been made of it, and the church, by apostacy, has excluded itself from an interest in the divine regard; but this cannot be said of the gospel-church in all the ages thereof, since extraordinary gifts have ceased; therefore we must conclude, that being destitute of that way, by which this truth was once confirmed, believers have, 118instead of it, an inward conviction wrought by the Spirit of God, agreeable to his present method of acting; otherwise this present gospel-dispensation is, in a very material circumstance, much inferior to that in which God discovered his mind and will to man in an extraordinary way.

But that we may explain what we mean by this inward testimony of the Spirit in the hearts of men, whereby they are fully persuaded that the scriptures are the word of God, let it be considered,

(1.) That it is something more than barely a power, or faculty of reasoning, to prove the scriptures to be divine, since that is common to all; but this is a special privilege, given to those who are hereby fully persuaded of this truth. Moreover, there may be a power of reasoning, and yet we may be mistaken in the exercise thereof; and therefore this is not sufficient, fully to persuade us that they are the word of God, and consequently something more than this is intended in this answer.

(2.) It is something short of inspiration; therefore, though the scripture was known to be the word of God, by the Spirit of inspiration, so long as that dispensation continued in the church, yet that privilege being now ceased, the internal testimony of the Spirit contains a lower degree of illumination, which has nothing miraculous attending it, and therefore falls short of inspiration.

(3.) It is not an enthusiastic impulse, or strong impression upon our minds, whereby we conclude a thing to be true, because we think it is so; this we by no means allow of, since our own fancies are not the standard of truth, how strong soever our ideas of things may be; therefore,

(4.) This inward testimony of the Spirit contains in it a satisfying and establishing persuasion, that the scriptures are the word of God, not altogether destitute of other evidences, or convincing arguments: and that which is more especially convincing to weak Christians, is taken from the use which God makes of the scripture, in beginning and carrying on the work of grace in their souls, who are thus convinced; and this firm persuasion we find sometimes so deeply rooted in their hearts, that they would sooner die ten thousand deaths than part with scripture, or entertain the least slight thought of it, as though it were not divine; and certainly there is a special hand of God in this persuasion, which we can call no other than the inward testimony of the Spirit, whereby they are established in this important truth.^[45]

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