reason, consider, &c. then it must signify the intellect; and this must also be meant by the term when doubting or believing is ascribed to it, these being exercises of the understanding or judgment, in relation to the truth or false. hood of things. When Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Ye know in all your hearts, and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you," Josh. xxiii. 14, he was not affirming any thing respecting their will and affections, but that they had a clear experimental proof and full conviction of God's faithfulness to his promise. So Philip, by believing with all the heart, means just a sincere and hearty conviction of mind as to the truth of what he had declared concerning Jesus. And that the eunuch so understood him, is plain from his reply, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God;" where we see he expresses the truth which he believed by a proposition,* which would have been improper had he meant to express the exercise of his will and affections respecting it; for it would not be language to say, I consent, choose, or love that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The same thing may be observed of the expression believing in, or with the heart, Rom. x. 9, 10, where it relates to the proposition, “That God hath raised him from the dead," and is distinguished from confessing with the mouth, and so must import a real inward conviction of the mind, as opposed to a mere verbal or insincere profession of belief. It must always be kept in view that there is no dispute about the immediate effects of faith on the will and affections, but simply about the nature of faith itself.

The other term in the Scripture definition is, THE

* Belief is always expressed in language by a proposition wherein something is affirmed or denied, and without belief there could be neither affirmation or denial, nor any form of words to express either. Dr. Reid on the Intellectual Powers of Man. Essay ii. p. 270.

TRUTH. This Mr. Fuller admits to be the Gospel, p. 10; but when he comes afterwards to explain that truth, he obscures it to such a degree that I can scarcely recognize the apostolic gospel in it. He first specifies some gospel truths, and states them as so many abstract disconnected particulars, keeping out of view their coherence, import, or design, such as, "that there was such a person as Jesus Christ-that he was born at Bethlehem-lived, and wrought miracles in Judea—was crucified, buried, and raised again from the dead-that he ascended to glory, and will judge the world at the last day-that he is God and man, and bears the titles of king, priest, and prophet of his church— that there is an eternal election, a particular redemption, an effectual vocation, a final perseverance," &c. &c. &c. Having run over these particulars, and left us to guess the rest from his three et ceteras, he admits "that these, no doubt, are truths, "and great truths;" but terms them general and external truths, and thinks "they may be believed where no saving faith is," p. 13.

Now, though I must own that Mr. Fuller's list of detached articles is far from giving a proper view of what the Scriptures emphatically call the truth; yet I cannot help observing, that his stating them in such a light not only tends to depreciate the particulars mentioned, but also that great truth with which they stand connected, and which is the subject and scope of the gospel testimony; and thus lead his readers to conceive that the belief of the gospel will be of little service to them, and to imagine that there is some other truth of greater importance, which demands a preferable regard. The grand foundation truth which the gospel testifies is, that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, John i. 34. chap. xx. 31. Acts ix. 20, 22. chap. xviii. 5. All its supernatural evidence unites in attesting this great truth, and all its doctrines are founded on, and derive their meaning, glory, and importance from it. This truth includes in it his

character and also his work, as the Saviour of lost sinners, as that he died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day for our justification, Rom. vi. 25. 1 Corin. xv. 3, 4. And whatever Mr. Fuller may say about what he calls general and external truths, which may be believed where no saving faith is, yet the word of God expressly assures us, that those who believe this truth are blessed, Mat. xvi. 17, have life through Christ's name, John xx. 31, have righteousness imputed to them, Rom. iv. 24, are born of God, and overcome the world, 1 John v. 1, 5, and shall be saved, Rom. x. 9, 1 Cor. xv. 2; so that the belief of this truth is saving faith. This is that truth which Paul terms "a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, viz. that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," and of such the chief, 1 Tim. i. 15. This is the apostolic testimony which the Thessalonians believed, 2 Thess. i. 10, and whose faith is therefore described to be a belief of the truth, chap. ii. 13.

But it is evident that Mr. Fuller does not consider this as the main thing intended by the term, for he explains it thus: "By truth I mean (and I think the apostle means the same) to include with the fore-mentioned doctrines their qualities or properties, which make a great, and even an essential part of their truth," p. 13. It will admit of no doubt, that to believe the gospel is to believe (so far as we are enlightened) whatever it testifies, both relating to doctrines and their qualities. The doctrines themselves exhibit the qualities of what they reveal, and it appears to me a contradiction to suppose that a person may really understand and believe the doctrines of the gospel without some perception of their importance and excellence, though the greatest saint upon earth, even when possessed of the full assurance of faith, perceives the excellence of the truth only in part. But I am of opinion that the gospel doctrines are termed the truth, not on account of their qualities as good

or bad, nor only as exhibiting the substance of the legal shadows; but chiefly because they are true as opposed to all falsehood or deceit, 2 Pet. i. 16. 1 John, ii. 21, 22, 27. The agreement of the gospel testimony with the reality of what it testifies, is its truth or veracity; and as it reveals the most important of all truths, and upon the highest authority, it being the testimony of God, who cannot lie, so it is by way of eminence termed The Truth. Now, though a belief of this testimony includes a belief of the qualities or properties of what is testified, yet it is as truths or realities that they are the objects of faith; and till they thus exist as truths in the mind, they can have no influence on the will and affections.

But let us see what those truths or qualities are which Mr. Fuller thinks are more especially the objects of saving faith. He specifies the following, viz. "The infinite excellency of God, the reasonableness and goodness of his law, the exceeding sinfulness of sin in itself considered, men's vile, dangerous, and lost condition, the equity of God in sending them to hell, the infinite loveliness of Christ, and excellency of his way of salvation, the beauty of holiness, &c. &c.; these are truths concerning which every wicked man is an infidel," p. 14, 15. These are, indeed, very important truths, and without some suitable conviction of them the gospel will not appear in its proper light, nor be duly esteemed; yet, excepting two general expressions, viz. the loveliness of Christ and excellence of his way of salvation, I find nothing of what is properly called the gospel in them. These particulars may be learned in a good measure from the law, without any knowledge of the way of salvation; for they are truths altogether independent of the gospel, and would have remained the same immutable truths though Jesus Christ had never come in the flesh. True, indeed, the gospel supposes these truths, the whole scheme of salvation infers them, and is calculated to give

the clearest views and deepest impressions of them, and also to reconcile the mind to them; yet I do not find that our Lord and his apostles, in preaching the gospel, ever dwell on these particulars as the direct and main subject of their testimony, or as that truth which they called upon men to believe unto their salvation. Peter declared the truth on the day of Pentecost, Acts ii. and also to Cornelius and his house, chap. x. and so did Paul at Antioch in Pisidia, chap. xiii. These discourses are plain and simple, and in perfect unison with each other; they were also countenanced of God, and attended with remarkable effects: yet in none of them is there any direct or explicit mention of what Mr. Fuller chiefly considers as The Truth. They seem wholly to consist of what he terms general and external truths, and which he says may be believed where no saving faith is. The apostles declared the testimony of God concerning his Son, and constantly connected salvation with the belief of it; but Mr. Fuller, though he does not exclude the main subject of their testimony, yet he gives it such epithets as tend to depreciate it, while he transfers salvation from it to the belief of some other truths or qualities which he considers as more peculiarly the objects of saving faith.

Hitherto my remarks have been confined to the first edition of his book. He has left out of the second edition the greater part of that description of faith which I have extracted from the first; yet it is with pleasure I observe, that in this last edition his account of faith is exceedingly plain, simple, and scriptural. He says, "That the belief of the truth which God hath recorded in the Scriptures concerning Christ, is saving faith, is evident from the following passages;" for which he cites Mark xvi. 16. John xx. 31. Luke viii. 12. Matt. xvi. 17. Rom. x. 9. 1 John v. 1, 5. John iii. 33. chap. v. 33, 34. 2 Thess. i. 10. chap. ii. 13. From these passages he observes, that a belief of the gospel-of the word-of the gospel-testimony-a belief that