Note 542 — Chapter XX

It is interesting here to observe, that as the Anglicans differed from the Romanists, so did the later Puritans from the Reformers, as to the nature of faith. “Quid est fides? Est non tantum notitia qua firmiter assentior omnibus, quæ Deus nobis in verbo suo patefecit, sed etiam certa fiducia, a Spiritu Sancto, per Evangelium in corde meo accensa, qua in Deo acquiesco, certò statuens, non solum aliis, sed mihi quoque remissionem peccatorum, eternam justitiam et vitam, donatam esse, idque gratis ex Dei misericordia propter unius Christi meritum.”—Cat. Rel. Christ. quæ in Eccl. et Scholis Palitinatus, p. 8. Bull, in his Harmonia Ap., Diss. I., cap. iv. s. 6, attributes this doctrine of personal assurance as the essence of faith, to the Reformers generally. Owen admits, “Many great Divines at the first Reformation, did (as the Lutherans generally yet do) thus make the mercy of God in Christ, and thereby the forgiveness of our own sins, to be the proper object of justifying faith, as such.”—Justification by Faith.—Works, xi. 104. Owen’s idea of justifying faith did not include assurance. As we have noticed already, Goodwin’s, at any rate, was much more comprehensive. The Romanists regarded faith as Credence; the Reformers as Assurance; the Anglicans and the Latitudinarians as Obedience; the Puritans as Reliance.