CHAPTER ONE: The Knowledge of God (part 2 of 2)
Thus we see that Abraham communicated to his household the covenant of eternal life that had been given to him and took care that it should be preserved for the generation to come.
From that time onward, the descendants of Abraham were distinguished from the other nations by this difference: through a singular grace of God, they had been received into this fellowship of the Word.
Then, when it pleased the Lord to establish a church yet more distinctly separated from others, he published that same Word more solemnly and willed that it should be committed to writing as an authoritative document.
From that time, therefore, the oracles and revelations of God’s Word began to be recorded in writing. Previously, they had been preserved among the faithful people by being handed down from one person to another.
In this matter, the Lord provided for the welfare of later generations by a singular providence. For if we consider how inclined the human understanding is to fall into forgetfulness of God, how easily it is led into error, and how fickle it is in devising new and counterfeit religions at every moment, we can readily recognize how necessary it was for heavenly doctrine to be committed to writing, so that it might not perish through forgetfulness, vanish through error, or be corrupted by the audacity of men.
It is therefore evident that God employed his Word toward those whom he willed to instruct fruitfully, because he saw that the figure and image of himself imprinted upon the structure of the world was not sufficient. We must consequently walk by this path if we sincerely aspire to the right contemplation of his truth.
We must, I say, return to the Word, in which God is most clearly shown to us and vividly portrayed through his works, when those works are judged not according to the perversity of our understanding, but according to the rule of eternal truth.
If we turn aside from that Word, then no matter how swiftly we run, we shall never reach the goal, because we are running outside the path.
For we must understand that the light of God, which the apostle calls inaccessible, is like a labyrinth in which we shall lose ourselves unless we are guided through it by the direction of the Word. Thus, it is better to limp along this path than to run swiftly outside it.
Accordingly, after David has recounted how the glory of God is proclaimed by the heavens, how the works of his hands are declared by the firmament, and how his majesty is manifested through the beautifully ordered succession of day and night, he then proceeds to speak of God’s Word:
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, giving wisdom to the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes.
By this he signifies that instruction through the creatures is common to all, but instruction through the Word is the particular school of the children of God.
Once it has been established that the Word set before us is from God, no one could be so desperately audacious—unless he were altogether destitute of natural sense and even of humanity—as to dare withhold belief from it.
But because new oracles are not brought down from heaven every day, and we possess only Scripture, in which it pleased God to preserve his truth in everlasting remembrance, we must briefly explain why Scripture possesses among believers the same authority that the voice of God would possess if heard from his own mouth.
This matter certainly deserves to be treated more fully and considered more diligently. Nevertheless, readers will pardon me if I pay greater regard to what the plan of the present book permits than to what the magnitude of the subject requires.
Many are entangled in this most pernicious error: that Scripture possesses no more authority than is granted to it by the consent of the church—as though the eternal and inviolable truth of God rested upon the pleasure of men.
With great dishonor to the Holy Spirit, they ask: Who will certify to us that Scripture proceeded from God? Who will assure us that it has been preserved entire down to our time? Who will persuade us that one book ought to be received with obedience and another rejected, unless the church supplies a certain rule concerning all these matters?
They therefore conclude that determining what reverence we owe to Scripture and what books ought to be included within it rests upon the decision of the church.
In this manner, these blasphemers, desiring to establish an unrestrained tyranny under the pretense of the church, care nothing about the absurdities in which they entangle themselves and others, provided they can persuade the simple that everything is lawful for the church.
But if this were so, what would become of poor consciences seeking certain assurance of eternal life, when they saw all its promises resting and depending upon the judgment of men alone? If they held such an opinion, how could they ever cease trembling and wavering?
Moreover, to what mockery by unbelievers would our faith be exposed? How suspect would it become in the eyes of the whole world if it were thought to rest upon the mercy and good pleasure of men?
But such liars are easily refuted by a single statement from Saint Paul, who testifies that the church is supported upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles. —Ephesians 2:20.
If the doctrine of the prophets and apostles is the foundation of the church, then that doctrine must possess its certainty before the church begins to appear.
Nor can they evade the matter by arguing that although the church originated from that source, it nevertheless remained uncertain which books ought to be attributed to the prophets and apostles until the church rendered its judgment upon them.
For if the Christian church was from the beginning founded upon the writings of the prophets and the preaching of the apostles, then wherever that doctrine is found, its authority must have preceded the church, since without it the church could never have existed.
It is therefore a delusion and a falsehood to say that the church has the power to judge Scripture in such a way that it grants Scripture, according to its own pleasure, whatever certainty it possesses.
Accordingly, when the church receives and approves Scripture, it does not thereby make it authentic, as though it had previously been doubtful and uncertain. Rather, because the church recognizes it as the truth of its Lord, it immediately reveres it, as duty requires.
As for their question—How shall we know that Scripture came from God if we do not appeal to the decree of the church?—it is as though someone asked how we learn to distinguish light from darkness, white from black, or bitter from sweet.
For Scripture displays no less evident a testimony to its truth than white and black things display their colors, or sweet and bitter things their tastes.
Nevertheless, if we wish to provide properly for consciences so that they are not continually agitated by doubt, we must derive the authority of Scripture from a higher source than human reasons, evidences, or conjectures. We must, namely, ground it upon the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit.
For although Scripture possesses in its own majesty enough to command reverence, it begins truly to affect us only when it is sealed upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
Being enlightened by his power, we no longer believe—either on the basis of our own judgment or that of others—that Scripture is from God. Rather, above all human judgment, we hold it as indubitable that Scripture was given to us from the very mouth of God through the ministry of men, just as if we visibly beheld the very essence of God in it.
We do not seek arguments or probabilities upon which our judgment may rest. Instead, we submit our judgment and understanding to Scripture as to something exalted beyond any need of being judged.
We do not do this as some are accustomed lightly to receive an unknown thing that later displeases them once it has become known. Rather, we do so because we are entirely certain that in Scripture we possess unconquerable truth.
Nor do we submit as ignorant people are accustomed to make their minds captive to superstitions. We do so because we perceive there the express power of the divine nature displaying its energy. By this power we are drawn and inflamed knowingly and willingly to obey, yet with an efficacy greater than that of human will or knowledge.
It is therefore a persuasion that does not require reasons, yet a knowledge supported by the very best reason: namely, that our minds possess in it a more certain and secure rest than in any reasons.
Finally, it is a conviction that can be produced only by heavenly revelation.
I say nothing other than what every believer experiences within himself, except that words fall far beneath the dignity of the subject and are insufficient to explain it properly.
If we do not possess this certainty—higher and firmer than every human judgment—then in vain will the authority of Scripture be proved by arguments, established by the consent of the church, or confirmed by other evidences. Unless this foundation is laid first, Scripture will always remain in suspense.
Conversely, once Scripture has been received with the obedience properly due to it and freed from every doubt, the reasons that previously possessed little power to fix and implant its certainty within our hearts will then become excellent aids.
It is impossible to express how greatly Scripture is confirmed when we carefully consider how well God has arranged and ordered within it the dispensation of his wisdom; how its doctrine everywhere reveals itself to be heavenly, containing nothing earthly; how beautifully all its parts agree with one another; and the many other characteristics suited to give authority to writings.
Moreover, our hearts are strengthened still more when we consider that it is the majesty of the subject matter, rather than the elegance of the words, that carries us away in admiration.
Indeed, it was not without the great providence of God that the sublime mysteries of the heavenly kingdom were delivered to us in humble words without great eloquence. Had they been supported and adorned by eloquence, the wicked would have slanderously claimed that all their power resided in it.
But now, since this simple, unpolished, and almost rustic manner moves us to greater reverence than all the eloquence of the world’s rhetoricians, what can we conclude except that Scripture contains within itself such power of truth that it has no need of verbal artistry?
It is therefore not without reason that the apostle argues that the faith of the Corinthians was founded not upon human wisdom but upon the power of God, since his preaching among them had not consisted in persuasive words of human wisdom but had been confirmed by demonstrations of the Spirit and of power. —1 Corinthians 2:4–5.
For the truth is free from every doubt when, without external assistance, it is sufficient of itself to stand firm.
How peculiarly this power belongs to Scripture appears from the fact that no human writings, however skillfully polished and adorned, possess equal power to move us.
Let us read Demosthenes or Cicero, Plato or Aristotle, or any others of their company. I readily confess that they will wonderfully attract, delight, and move us, even to the point of transporting the mind.
But if we turn from them to the reading of Holy Scripture, whether we wish it or not, Scripture will pierce us to the very heart. It will so penetrate our hearts and fix itself so deeply within us that, compared with its efficacy, all the power of rhetoricians and philosophers will be nothing but smoke.
From this it is easy to perceive that Holy Scripture possesses a divine quality for inspiring men, since it so greatly surpasses all the graces produced by human skill.
On the other hand, the consent of the church is not without importance. It should not be regarded as nothing that, throughout all the ages since Scripture was published, there has been a perpetual agreement in submitting to it.
Although the devil has striven in many ways to oppress or overthrow it—even to erase it entirely from the memory of men—it has nevertheless always remained, like the palm tree, unconquered and victorious.
For scarcely any philosopher or rhetorician of outstanding intelligence has failed to apply his subtlety against Scripture. Yet all have accomplished nothing. The whole power of the earth has armed itself to destroy its truth, and all its efforts have vanished into smoke.
How could Scripture have resisted when so fiercely attacked from every side if it had been defended only by human support?
We ought rather to conclude that the Holy Scripture we possess is from God, since, in spite of all the wisdom and power of men, it has nevertheless advanced by its own power.
Moreover, it was not merely one city or nation that conspired to receive it. Across the whole breadth and length of the earth, Scripture has obtained its authority through the harmonious consent of peoples who otherwise possessed nothing in common.
Such agreement among peoples so diverse, who otherwise differ in their customs and manner of life, ought to move us, since it is evident that the power of God worked to bring them into agreement.
Nevertheless, this consideration will carry still greater weight when we contemplate the integrity and holiness of those who agreed to receive Scripture. I do not mean every one of them, but those whom our Lord appointed as lamps in his church to enlighten it through the radiance of their holiness.
Moreover, with what certainty ought we to receive this doctrine, which we see sealed and attested by the blood of so many holy persons?
Once they had received it, they did not hesitate to die courageously and even joyfully for it. How, then, can we fail to receive it with a certain and invincible persuasion, since it has been delivered to us with such a pledge and confirmation?
It is therefore no small confirmation of Scripture that it has been sealed by the blood of so many witnesses—especially when we recognize that they did not suffer death for the testimony of their faith through frenzy or madness, as sometimes happens with minds carried away by error and deprived of reason, but through a zeal for God as sober and well regulated as it was firm and constant.
There are many other clear and compelling reasons by which the majesty and dignity of Scripture may not only be established in the hearts of believers but also powerfully defended against the malice of slanderers.
Nevertheless, these reasons are not sufficient in themselves to establish Scripture’s certainty properly until the heavenly Father causes his divinity to shine forth within it, removes it from every doubt and dispute, and establishes firm reverence for it.
Therefore, Scripture will finally satisfy us with the saving knowledge of God only when its certainty rests upon the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit.
The human testimonies that serve to confirm it will then cease to be vain when they follow this principal and sovereign testimony as secondary aids and means provided to support our weakness.
Those who forsake Scripture and imagine some other path by which to reach God are not so much deceived by error as driven by sheer madness.
Certain fanatics of this kind have lately arisen who proudly pretend to possess the teaching of the Spirit. They themselves despise all reading and mock the simplicity of those who still follow what they call the dead and killing letter.
But I should like to ask them: Who is this spirit by whose inspiration they are carried so high that they dare despise the whole doctrine of Scripture as childish and contemptible?
If they reply that it is the Spirit of Christ, their confidence is altogether ridiculous. For I suppose they will concede that the apostles and believers of the primitive church were inspired by the Spirit of Christ. Yet none of them learned thereby to despise the Word of God. On the contrary, each was moved to greater reverence for it, as their writings clearly testify.
Moreover, I should like them to answer this question: Have they received a different spirit from the one the Lord promised to his disciples? Although they are mad beyond measure, I do not suppose they have been carried away by such insanity that they would dare boast of this.
What did the Lord declare that his Spirit would be when he promised him? He said that the Spirit would not speak from himself, but would bring to the apostles’ remembrance what Christ had taught them by his Word. —John 14:26; 16:13.
It is therefore not the office of the Holy Spirit, as he has been promised to us, to invent new and previously unknown revelations or to devise some new form of doctrine that draws us away from the doctrine of the gospel once received. Rather, his office is to seal and confirm within our hearts the doctrine dispensed to us through the gospel.
From this we readily understand that we must diligently labor both to hear and to read Scripture if we desire to receive any fruit or benefit from the Spirit of God.
Conversely, if any spirit forsakes the wisdom contained in the Word of God and brings us a different doctrine, he ought rightly to be suspected of vanity and falsehood.
What else could we do? Since Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, what authority would the Spirit possess among us if he were not distinguished by a most certain mark?
He is indeed sufficiently and clearly identified for us by the voice of the Lord, unless these miserable people deliberately desire to wander into their own confusion, seeking a spirit from themselves rather than the Spirit who proceeds from him.
But they object that it would be a great absurdity for the Spirit of God, to whom all things ought to be subject, to be made subject to Scripture.
As though it were a dishonor to the Holy Spirit to be everywhere like and consistent with himself, to remain perpetually constant, and never to vary!
Certainly, if he were subjected to some human, angelic, or other standard, one might say that he was thereby lowered and reduced to servitude. But when he is compared with himself and considered according to his own character, who can say that he is thereby injured?
“But in this way,” they say, “he is subjected to examination.”
I admit it. But it is an examination by which he has willed that his majesty should be established among us. It ought to be sufficient for us when he reveals himself. But so that the spirit of Satan may not gain entrance under his name, the Holy Spirit wills to be recognized by us in the image of himself that he has imprinted upon Scripture.
He is the author of Scripture. He cannot be variable or unlike himself. Therefore, he must always remain such as he once revealed himself there.
This brings him no dishonor, unless we would say that it would be honorable for him to degenerate from himself.
As for their accusation that we adhere too closely to “the letter that kills,” they show by this how they do not escape God’s punishment for having despised Scripture.
For it is evident that in this passage Saint Paul is contending against those deceivers who exalt the bare law apart from Christ, thereby turning the people away from the grace of the New Testament, in which the Lord promises that he will engrave his law upon the inward parts of believers and write it upon their hearts.
The law of God, therefore, is a dead letter and kills its disciples when it is separated from the grace of Christ and merely sounds in the ears without touching the heart.
But if by the Spirit of God it is livingly impressed upon the will, and if it communicates Jesus Christ to us, then it is the Word of life, converting souls and giving wisdom to the simple.
Indeed, in the same passage the apostle calls his preaching “the ministry of the Spirit.” —2 Corinthians 3:6–8.
By this he signifies that the Spirit of God is so joined and bound to his truth, which he has expressed in the Scriptures, that he finally displays his power when the Word is received with the reverence properly due to it.
This in no way contradicts what was said shortly before: that the Word possesses little certainty for us unless it is confirmed by the testimony of the Spirit.
For the Lord has bound together, as by a mutual bond, the certainty of his Spirit and of his Word. He has done this so that our understanding may receive the Word with obedience when it sees the Spirit shining within it as a light by which it may contemplate the face of God. Likewise, he has done it so that we may receive the Spirit of God without fear of deception or error, recognizing him in his image—that is, in his Word.
And truly, this is how the matter stands. God did not communicate to men a Word that he intended immediately to abolish when his Spirit came. Rather, he sent the same Spirit by whose power he had previously dispensed his Word, so that by effectually confirming it he might complete his work through it.
In this manner Christ opened the understanding of the two disciples —not to make them wise by themselves through rejecting Scripture, but so that they might understand it. —Luke 24:27, 45.
Likewise, when Saint Paul exhorts the Thessalonians not to quench the Spirit, he does not carry them away into the air toward empty speculations apart from the Word. He immediately adds that they must not despise prophecies. —1 Thessalonians 5:19–20.
By this he certainly signifies that the light of the Spirit is extinguished when prophecies are treated with contempt.
What will these proud fanatics say to this, who regard no illumination as valid except when, forsaking and despising the Word of God, they rashly embrace whatever enters their imagination while dreaming?
A very different sobriety ought to characterize the children of God. Because they see themselves deprived of every light of truth when they are without the Spirit of God, they also know that the Word is the instrument through which the Lord dispenses the illumination of his Spirit to believers.
For they acknowledge no other Spirit than the one who dwelt in the apostles and spoke through their mouths—the Spirit by whom they are continually brought back and led again to attend to the Word.
But since we have taught that the knowledge of God—which is otherwise displayed abundantly enough in the structure of the world and in all creatures—is nevertheless declared to us more familiarly through his Word, we must now consider whether God represents himself in Scripture as he has already been shown to us in his works. This would certainly be a lengthy subject if one wished to treat it thoroughly. I shall be content, however, merely to present a summary by which believing consciences may be instructed concerning what they ought chiefly to seek concerning God in the Scriptures, and may be directed toward a definite goal in order to attain it.
First, then, the Lord declares himself to be the God who, after creating heaven and earth, poured out his infinite grace and beneficence upon the human race. Nevertheless, he has always and continually nourished and sustained believers, preserving them by his particular grace; and he, in turn, has been known and honored by them. Likewise, through the histories of every age, he sets before our eyes—as though in a painting—the constancy of his goodness toward believers: how carefully his providence watches over them; how inclined he is to do them good; how powerful his help is; how ardently he loves them; how great his patience is in bearing with their faults; what fatherly mercy he displays in chastening them; and how faithfully he keeps his promises to them forever.
On the other hand, he shows the severity of his vengeance upon sinners: how terrifying the kindling of his wrath is after he has borne with them for a long time, and how mighty his hand is to confound and scatter them. This description agrees very well with what we have said appears in the whole fabric of the world.
Yet in one particular passage God’s character is expressed in such a way that his face is vividly represented to us, so that we may behold it plainly. For in the description given by Moses, it seems that he intended briefly to comprehend everything that men are permitted to know concerning God. He speaks in this manner:
“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, patient, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity and sins, yet by no means holding the guilty innocent, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and grandchildren.”
Here we must observe that God’s eternity and his self-existent being are proclaimed by the name first attributed to him. This name, repeated twice in Hebrew, means as much as “the One who alone is.”
Then his attributes are recounted, by which he is shown to us—not as he is in himself, but as he is toward us. Thus this knowledge consists more in living experience than in empty speculation.
Moreover, we see that the attributes enumerated here are those which, as we have noted, shine forth in heaven and earth: namely, mercy, goodness, compassion, righteousness, judgment, and truth. His power is included under the Hebrew word given to him as his third title, which means one who contains all powers within himself.
The prophets likewise ascribe these same titles to him when they wish fully to magnify his holy name. So that we need not collect a great many passages, one psalm will suffice for the present, in which the whole sum of his attributes is so diligently recounted that nothing is omitted. Yet nothing is named there that cannot also be contemplated in the creatures. Thus God makes himself known to us by experience as the very same God whom he declares himself to be in his Word.
In Jeremiah, where God declares how he wills to be known by us, he does not give so full a description; nevertheless, it comes to the same thing:
“Let him who glories glory in this: that he knows me, the God who exercises mercy, justice, and judgment in the earth.”
Certainly, these three things are chiefly necessary for us to know: his mercy, in which the salvation of us all consists; his judgment, which he daily executes upon the wicked and reserves for them in a still more severe form unto eternal ruin; and his righteousness, by which his faithful people are graciously preserved. When these things are comprehended, the prophet testifies that we have abundant reason to glory in God.
Yet in saying this, neither his power, his truth, his holiness, nor his goodness is omitted. For how could the knowledge of his righteousness, mercy, and judgment—as required in that passage—stand unless it were founded upon his immutable truth? And how could anyone believe that he governs the earth in righteousness and judgment without first understanding his power? From where does his mercy proceed, if not from his goodness? Finally, if all his ways are mercy, judgment, and righteousness, then his holiness likewise shines forth in them.
Now the knowledge of God presented to us in Scripture tends toward no other end than that which is given to us through the creatures: namely, first to awaken us to the fear of God, and afterward to lead us to place our trust in him, so that we may learn to serve and honor him through innocence of life and sincere obedience, and to rest wholly in his goodness.
Nevertheless, because God does not present himself to be rightly and immediately contemplated except in the face of his Christ—and because that face can be beheld only with the eyes of faith—it will be better to defer what remains to be said concerning the knowledge of God until we come to speak of the understanding of that faith.