berm. CLXVIII, of a 1Divitte, .`Reitetatioh. 451 Revelation is from God, unlefs he be firft infallibly affured that there is a God, but no Man hath more than, undoubted affurance that there is a God. No Man. pre- tends to a Divine Revelation that there is a God; but Only to have rational fatis. faction of ir, fuch as leaves no juft or reafonable caufe to doubt of it. And why then thould any defire greater affurance ofa Divine Revelation, than he hath of a God ? ç. An undoubted Affurance is fufficient to conftitutea Divine Faith. 11fark i6. 14. ir is Paid, ChriJi upbraided hi;Difciples with their unbelief ; zecaufe they believed not them, who had feen him after be was rifen. Suppofe now the Difciples had believed, which they ought to have done ; this Faith of theirs would have been a truly Divine Faith ; but by no Means Infallible. For that cannot be an infallible Faith which is hunk but upon fallible Grounds : now the Ground upon which they ought to have believed, was the Report of credible Witneflès ; but the Report of credible Witneffes is by no means Infallible : 'tis indeed undoubted, for I have no reafon to doubt of a credible Report ; for that is credible which I have juft caufe to believe ; but I can have no juft caufe to doubt of that which I have juft caufe to believe. As an undoubted Affurance is fufficient to conhitute a Divine Faith, fo is it fufficient to all the Ends and Purpofes of a Divine Faith. To inftance in the Faith of the Promifes of Eternal Life. What is the End and Defign of this Faith, but to encourageour Obedience, and make us continue in it, notwithftandinglhe ha- zard of any thing in this World ? Now I fay, an undoubted Affurance is abun- dantly fufficient to this end. Do not Men venture their Eftates in trafEck to pla- ces they never faw, becaufe they have it fromcrediblePerfons, that there are fuch places; and they have no reafon to doubt theirTeftimony : and Why fhould not the fame Affurance ferve in greater Matters ; if an undoubted Affurance of a Idler Benefit and Advantage will niake Men venture as much. Why thould any Man deliré greater Affurance of any thing, than to have no juft reafon to doubt of it 3 why more than fo much as the thing is capable of ? I cannot poffibly underhand why every Man thould not be contented with fufficient Affurance,-or for what reafon a Man fhould defite more than enough ; and why a Man fbould not be fa- tisfied that a thing is fo, when he bath as great Affurance of it, and as good Evidence for it as he could have, fuppofing it were. And for Men to fay, Nothing lets than infallible Affurance can fatisfie a Man's Mind, that Men will always doubt fo long as there is a poffibility of the contrary, and there will be a poffibility of the contrary, until we have infallible Affurance, is as unreafonableas can be imagined. I ask any Man, whether he be infallibly affured that there was fuch a Man as William the Conqueror ? or that there is fuch a Country as Spain ? if he fay he is, I ask, Where is his infallible Evidence for this ? He will cite feveral $iftorians : but all this is humane Teftimony, and that is Fallible. It feems then he is not infallibly certain there Was fuch a Man, or there is fuch a Countrey ; and confequently there is a poffibility of the contrary. 'Tis granted there is : But is any lober Man unfatisfied in his Mind about thefe things ? I would fain meet with the Man that will tell me in good Barnett, that he harts reafon to doubt, whether there was fuch a Man, or not ; and whether there be fuch a placeas Spain, or not ? So that it is fond for any Man to alledge a bare poffibility of the contrary, as a reafonablecaufe of doubting concerning any thing, for which we have as good evidence as the thing is capable of. , Upon thefe grounds we can eafily refolve our Faith. We believethe Doctrine of Chriftian Religion, becaufe it is revealed by God ; we believe it to be revealed by God, becaufe it was confirmed by unqueftionable Miracles ; we believe fuch Miracles were wrought becaufe we have as great affurance òt this, as any Matter of Fad, at fuch a diftance from the time it was done, is capableof. ; Now if the Papille fay, This Both at last amount tono more than moral Affurance ; I grant it doth not : but then-I have proved this affurance to be as much as in reafon can be expelled, and as much as is fufficient to the Nature and Ends of a Divine Faith, and that an infallible.affurance is not agreeable to a húmaneUnderftanding 5 but an incommunicable Attribute and Prerogative of theDivine Nature, which whoever M m m 2 pretends l'
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