418 LOGIC : OR, TRIO EMT, USE, OF REASON. Faith is generally distinguished into divine and human, not with regard to the propositions that are believed, but with regard to the testimony upon: which we believe them. When God re- veals any thing to us, this gives us the evidence of divine faith; but what man only acquaints us with, produces a human faith iñ us ; the one being built upon the word of man, arises but to moral certainty ; but the other being founded on the word of God, arises to an absolute and infallible assurance, so far as we understand the meaning of this word. This is called supernatural certainty. Propositions which we believe .upon the evidence of human testimony, are called narratives, rrelñt ohs, reports, historical ob- selvatiasis, &d. but Snell: it are built ón divine testimony, are termed Matters Of i e etatloü ; and if they are of great impor- tance in religion, they are Called articles of faith. There are some propositions or parts of knowledge, which are said to be derived from observation and experience, that is, experience in ourselves, and the observations we have made on other persons or things ; but these are made up of some of the former springs of knowledge joined, together, namely, sense, consciousness, reason, faith, &c. and therefore are not reckoned a distinct kind of evidence. VI. Inspiration is a sort of evidence distinct from all the former, and that is, when such an overpowering impression of any proposition is made upon the mind by God himself, that gives a convincing and indubitable evidence of the truth and divinity of it : so were the prophets and the apostles inspired*. Sometimes God may have been pleased to make use of the outward senses, or the inward workings of the imagination, of dreams, apparitions, visions and voices, or reasoning, or per- haps human narration, to convey divine truths to the mind of the prophet; but none of these would be sufficient to deserve the name of inspiration, without a superior or divine light and power attending them. This sort of evidence is also very distinct from what we usually call divine faith; for every common christian exercises divine faith, when he believes any proposition which God has revealed in the bible upon this account, because. God has said it, though it was by a train of reasonings that he was led to be- lieve that this is the word of God; whereas in the case of in- spiration, the prophet not only exercises divine faith, in believ- iu what God reveals, but he is under a superior heavenly im- pression, light, and evidence, whereby, he is assured that God reveals it. This is the most eminent kind of supernatural certainty. it Note been, Ispeak ebiety of the highest kind of inspiration:
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