I tare for a kno\vled«j;e of His will. And when he has
80 ON CIIRISTLVN DOCTRINE. [BOOK III.
LOOK T II I li D.
ARGUMENT.
THE AUTHOR, HAVING DISCUSSED IN THE PRECEDING BOOK THE METHOD OP
DEALING WITH UNKNOWN SIGNS, GOES ON IN THIS THIRD BOOK TO TREAT OF AMBIGUOUS SIGNS. SUCH SIGNS MAY BE EITHER DIRECT OR FIGURATIVE.
IN THE CASE OF DIRECT SIGNS AMBIGUITY MAY ARISE FROM THE PUNCTUA-
TION, THE PRONUNCIATION, OR THE DOUBTFUL SIGNIFICATION OF THE WORDS, AND IS TO BE RESOLVED BY ATTENTION TO THE CONTEXT, A COMPARISON OF TRANSLATIONS, OR A REFERENCE TO THE ORIGINAL TONGUE.
IN THE CASE OF FIGURATIVE SIGNS WE NEED TO GUARD AGAINST TWO MISTAKES:—!. THE INTERPRETING LITERAL EXPRESSIONS FIGURATIVELY;
2. THE INTERPRETING FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS LITERALLY. THE AUTHOK LAYS DOWN RULES BY WHICH WE MAY DECIDE WHETHER AN EXPRESSION
IS LITERAL OR FIGURATIVE ; THE GENERAL RULE BEING, THAT WHATEVER CAN BE SHOWN TO BE IN ITS LITERAL SENSE INCONSISTENT EITHER WITH PURITY OF LIFE OR CORRECTNESS OF DOCTRINE MUST^E TAKEN FIGURA-
TIVELY. HE THEN GOES ON TO LAY DOWN RULES FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF EXPRESSIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN PROVED TO BE FIGURATIVE; THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE BEING, THAT NO INTERPRETATION CAN BE TRUE WHICH DOES NOT PROMOTE THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE LOVE OF MAN. THE AUTHOR THEN PROCEEDS TO EXPOUND AND ILLUSTRATE THE SEVEN RULES OF TICHONIUS THE DONATIST, WHICH HE COMMENDS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE STUDENT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE.
CliAP. I. Sunnnary of tlie foregoing hooks, nnd scope of that which follows.
1. nnilE man who fears God seeks diligently in Holy Scrip-
I tare for a kno\vled«j;e of His will. And when he has become meek through piety, so as to have no love of strife when furnished also with a knowledge of languages, so as not to be sto})ped by unknown words and forms of speech, and with the knowledge of certain necessary objects, so as not to be ignorant of the force and nature of those which are used figuratively ; and assisted, besides, by accuracy in the texts, whicli has been secured by skill and care in the matter of;—when tlius prepared, let him proceed to the exacorrection mination and solution of the ambiguities of Scripture. And that he may not be led astray by ambiguous signs, so far as I can give him instruction (it may happen, however, that either from the gi-eatness of his intellect, or the greater clearness of