Gospel this Well is so deep as the Woman told Christ in another case John 4.11 that unless we have the Bucket of the Spirit of God to draw with we shall never be able by the improvement of our Reason to bring up this living Water unless we have the Spirit of Light and Power to dig with we shall never find this spiritual Treasure Nature indeed will go far and the improved natural man may do much by his Skill and Industry in finding out and discovering the mysteries of Nature things that are excellent in their kind Such a man as Job speaks Chap. 28.7 11 12 13 21 23 can dig out of the Earth Gold Iron Brass Brimstone and all sorts of Metals nay he can see further then the Birds of prey which though they be quick-sighted yet can they not behold these Metals which he by his Skill can discover and dig out of the earth There is a path which no Fowl knoweth and which the Vultures eye hath not seen yet Man traceth it by his Skill yea the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light but yet he cannot by all his natural Reason and Skill though never so much improved spiritually and savingly discern the excellency of Christ and the mysteries of the Gospel But where shall Wisdom be found namely Christ who is the essential Wisdom of God and who is made of God Wisdom to us And where is the place of understanding Go over the whole Creation and every part of it and it will say It is not in me man knoweth not the price thereof neither is it found in the Land of the living it is not within the reach or sphere of the wisest natural men in the World they cannot dig this Mine or find out this Treasure they cannot comprehend this divine and supernatural mystery for it is hid from the eyes of all that are living and kept close from the Fowls of the Air Whence then cometh this divine Wisdom Where is it to be had and how shall we attain to it He tells you ver 23. that this Wisdom is in the Bosom of God and must be revealed by him or else we shall never savingly apprehend it God understandeth the way and knoweth the place thereof for Wisdom was with him from eternity when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder then did he prepare it yea and searched it out Or as it is Prov. 8.29 30. a place parallel with this of Job When he gave to the Sea his decree that the waters thereof should not pass his Command when he appointed the foundations of the earth then was I by him saith Christ as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight rejoycing alwayes before him Secondly The Light of Reason cannot truly discover the sinfulness of mans nature and the deep deceits of his heart which are only made known by Scripture light and revelation Jer. 17.9 darkness cannot discover darkness nor can corruption discover it self Indeed by the Light of Nature improved by education and the knowledge of humane Arts and Sciences men may discover a great languishment and infirmity that is come upon them Divers learned Writers have shewed that many of the ancient Platonists agree in this That mans Soul is now vassalized to the senses and affections and that her wings are cut so that she cannot mount upward by divine Contemplation but as for the nature and kind of original corruption and how it was brought upon us together with the woful concomitants and effects thereof these can only be known by Scripture light And therefore the Apostle saith He had not known lust to be sin had not the Law said Thou shalt not lust The Light of Nature and Reason is altogether insufficient to prescribe or set down the true worship of God Hence it is that God doth so often forbid us to walk after our own imaginations in the matters of his House and Worship and the Apostle calls it will-worship Col. 2.23 when a man 's own will or invention is the framer of it If men be taught only by the Light of Nature (x) Vide Calvin Instit lib. 1. cap. 5. sect 12. they can know nothing certainly and soundly touching the worship of the true God but their thoughts and apprehensions will be confused and carnal and exceeding unsuitable to God who is a holy Spirit and will be worshipped in spirit and truth And though there were a few amongst the Heathens that were not altogether so mad as the common people yet the most excellent of them did exceedingly wander and go astray devising and contriving the worship of God according to their own vain opinion and imagination Socrates the wisest Philosopher in Zenophon praised the Answer of Apollo wherein he willed that every man should worship the Gods after the manner and custom of his Country or City But oh what folly and madness is this How came mortal men by this power that of their own authority they should determine that which far surmounteth the wisdom of the World Natural Reason would have the worship of God sensible and pleasing to the eye and is apt to appoint other Mediators between God and Man besides Christ and to perform all duties of worship in its own strength and by way of compensation and satisfaction to God and therefore in this case Reason comes far short and is no competent Judge how and after what manner God will be worshipped though we deny not but the Light of Reason and moral Prudence when God hath appointed his own worship may be very useful and instrumental in ordering some civil circumstances relating thereunto and in the exercise of Church affairs Nor doth that Text Rom. 12.1 argue that mans reason can devise or find out that worship and service which is acceptable to the most wise and holy God this is more then the greatest Rationalists and Moralists amongst the Heathen Philosophers could ever attain to but whereas the Apostle calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Your reasonable serving of God he understands that service which is not only or chiefly with the body but with the mind and spirit for so will God be worshipped John 4.23 And so Chrysostome and others call this reasonable service Spiritualem cultum spiritual worship or service when the mind and Spirit is offered up to God This interpretation is further confirmed out of 1 Pet. 2.2 where the Apostle Peter calls the Word of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The reasonable that is spiritual milk and ver 5. The service or sacrifice of a Christian is spiritual and so it is acceptable unto God And 't is well observed by divers learned Interpreters on Rom. 12.1 that there is a secret opposition between this reasonable service and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or will worship as it is called Col. 2.23 when men invent a religious worship suitable to their own carnal humours and interests whereas that is
are proved by the Scriptures but as for the Scriptures they prove and evidence themselves sufficiently to the judgment of every true Christian by their own light manifesting their divine Original They are primum visibile not like colour that cannot be seen till light make it apparent but like light it self which maketh all other things manifest and it self too by its own proper quality Now then if a true believer should be ask'd why he believes the Articles of the Christian Religion he may truly answer thus because they are revealed in the holy Scriptures If it be further demanded how he can assure himself that the Scriptures are the word of God he may answer that he knows it by the Scriptures themselves the Spirit of God enlightning his understanding to see those lively characters of divine truth which are imprinted upon those sacred Volumes If yet it be further demanded how he knows whether that is the right meaning of such or such a place of Scripture he may likewise truly say that he knows it by the Scriptures which being diligently examined and compared together do plainly discover to the humble teachable Soul their own true sense and meaning in the things which concern everlasting Salvation And thus the faith of a Christian is finally and ultimately resolved into the infallible word of God or a divine Testimony and into nothing less As for the Authority and Testimony of the Church and the judgments and writings of the Godly learned they are good helps to make us see the Truth but no causes why we believe it this we do for its own sake not for their sayings or determinations which if they do not accord with the Scriptures we ought not to assent thereunto Though we should give due Reverence to the Assemblies of Godly judicious men and thoroughly examine and weigh with humility and self-denyal the grounds of our dissent from them yet the bare Authority of men though never so eminent for learning and piety should not command our assent to any Article of Religion that shall be proposed to us For our faith should not stand in the wisdome of men as the Apostle speaks but in the power of God and the Testimony and demonstration of his Spirit 1 Cor. 2.4 5. The first and chiefest ground whereon is built the certainty of faith's assent is the infallible truth and Authority of divine Revelation because God hath said it we are to believe it and assent to it for whatsoever God saith is true now this is a principle of Nature and Reason which is deeply ingraven into the heart and Conscience of every Rational man that God himself is so infinitely wise that he can be ignorant of nothing nor can any Creature circumvent and over-reach him and withal he is so infinitely good holy and just that no lye or untruth can proceed from him wisdome it self cannot be deceived truth it self cannot deceive and God is both And therefore wheresoever any Revelation is certainly known or believed to be of God there the reasonable Creature doth fully assent to the truth of things revealed But now the great question will be how we know infallibly that God is the Author of the Scriptures and that what we find written therein is of divine inspiration the very Oracles of God Here lyes the great yea the irreconcileable difference between the Church of Rome and us for whereas we maintain according to the truth that the Scriptures are known to be of God by themselves and by their own light and power they hold that we cannot be certain of their divine Authority but by the Testimony of the Church which as they say doth infalliby propose unto us what is to be believed and what is not to be believed And so by this means our faith shall be resolved either into nothing at all for they differ exceedingly about the Church representative and the supreme Judge of controversies here on Earth or at the furthest it shall be resolved but only into humane Authority and so shall be but a humane faith That Circle which they falsly charge upon us (m.) Mr. W. Pemble nature and properties of grace and faith P. 210 211. they themselves are guilty of and can never be dis-intangled therefrom by their Principles For ask a Romanist why do you believe that the Pope cannot err he will tell you because the Scripture saith so thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church and I have prayed that thy faith may not fail and the like Texts of Scripture But how know you that this is the infallible word of God and that your interpretation is the right sence and meaning of these places To this he answers because the Pope and the Councel of Trent say so or as some of them hold because the Pope only saith so or as others of them because a general Councel saith so If we further urge him yea but how know you infallibly that the Pope and Councel do not err in saying so he will answer you because the Scripture affirms they cannot err for thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church c. And thus they run round in a Circle (n.) The Popish Circle described and are so intangled that the wisest and most learned of them know not how to deliver themselves Indeed they accuse us with open mouth as if we were intangled in a Circle running round from the Scriptures to the Spirit and again from the Spirit to the Scriptures as thus how know you the Scriptures to be the word of God by the Spirit revealing the same to my heart and Conscience but how know you this Revelation of the Spirit to be true By the Scriptures which testifie that the secret of the Lord is revealed to them that fear him But then further how know you this and the like places of Scripture to be the word of God we know it by the Spirit which reveals to us the things that are freely given us of God And thus they pretend that they have caught us in a Circle but they greatly mistake us though we do not mistake their Doctrine we teach indeed that we know the Scriptures infallibly to be the word of God by the Spirit of God inwardly revealing and testifying the truth of them to our Consciences But what kind of Revelation or Testimony is this It is not any inward suggestion or immediate inspiration different from those Revelations of Divine truth that are in the Scriptures themselves as if the Spirit of God did by a second private immediate Revelation assure me of the truth of those former Revelations contained in the Scriptures we have no warrant for this in an ordinary way but the Spirit of God reveals and testifies to our Consciences the divine Authority and truth of the Scriptures by removing those impediments that hindred as namely our ignorance and unbelief and by bestowing upon us those graces that make us capable of
Court of his own Conscience and in reference to his own faith and practice he should so examine and judge of the things that relate thereunto as to be fully perswaded in his own mind Rom. 14.5 He should so prove all things as to hold fast that which is good 1 Thes 5.21 Thus Christ in his infinite wisdome goodness and faithfulness hath given two sorts of judgment to his Church and people One publick belonging to an Assembly of Godly Pastors and Elders for of that which the Prophets teach let the Prophets judge and the Spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets The other is a more private personal judgment which concerns all the faithful who are to judge of what is taught and to try the Spirits in both these judgments we should remember that Christ hath committed nothing to the Church but the ministry of giving judgment for as touching the Soveraignty of Judgment and Authority it belongs only to him Councels may expound and declare the doctrine of the Scriptures but they have no power from Christ to make any new Doctrines or Articles of faith And every Christian ought in a rational way to judge of their determinations according to the word of God and not yeild blind obedience thereunto for this were to unchristian yea to unman himself Of this opinion are all the Protestant Churches in general and particularly the Church of England (k.) See Rogers on 39. Articles P. 103. who maintains that every sound member of the Church hath Authority from Christ to judge in controversies of faith and so to imbrace truth and avoid error The Church as a faithful witness should give Testimony of the Doctrine of Christ but ought not to judge the word nor to judge otherwise then Gods word judgeth General Councels consisting of men that are not infallible may err The things therefore that are ordained by general Councels do so far bind as they are Consonant to the word of God and no further for we are not to ground our faith upon them but only upon the Authority of Gods word Now that such a rational judgment or a judgment in foro interno as hath been asserted belongs to every Christian so as he may and ought to make use of his Reason in judging of the Doctrines of Religion and of Ecclesiastical Laws and determinations is thus proved and demonstrated First From those plain Texts of Scripture Take heed that no man deceive you Mat. 24.4 Prove all things and hold that which is good 1 Thes 5.21 Beloved believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God 1 Joh. 4.1 He that is Spiritual judgeth all things yet he himself is judged of no man 1 Cor. 2.15 Which Texts together with many other that might be alledged do not only concern publick Ministers but also private Christians yea chiefly them as being most in danger to be seduced Secondly This hath been also the approved practice of the faithful thus to search the Scriptures and try the Spirits and exercise their Spiritual Senses that they might discern things that differ Heb. 5.14 The Bereans are counted more noble then others because they searched the Scriptures and tryed Pauls Doctrine by the Scriptures though he spake from an infallible Spirit Acts 17.11 The Church at Ephesus is commended for trying them that said they were Apostles and were not and finding them lyers and deceivers after tryal Rev. 2.2 And Christ tells us that his true Sheep will follow him for they know his voice but a stranger they will not follow but will flee from him Joh. 10.4 5. Now this they could not do unless they did exercise a rational judgment in matters of faith Thirdly Every Christian is to give an account of his faith and practice to God yea he should be alwayes ready to give an Answer to every man that asketh him a Reason of the hope which is in him 1 Pet. 3.15 But how can he do this rationally and understandingly without tryal and examination If he be found to embrace whatever his superiors shall impose upon him truly then the blind implicite faith of the Collier will serve well enough Is this according to the Scripture which tells us that we cannot truly believe unless we have knowledge That every man should be perswaded in his own mind concerning the things which he doth believe and practice and that whatsoever is not of faith is sin Fourthly How shall a Christian cleanse his heart and wayes but by taking heed thereto according to the word of God Psal 119.9 How shall he walk as a Child of light unless the word be a Lamp to his feet and a light to his paths Psal 119.105 How can he walk wisely and Circumspectly as he ought to do understanding what the will of God is as the Apostle speaks Ephes 5.17 if we do not allow him a judgment of discretion and discerning in matters of this nature that so he may try Spirits and Doctrines Fifthly were it the duty of a private Christian to receive all Doctrines that are proposed to him by his Superiors without tryal and examination then could not he be justly charged with sin and guilt who receiveth error in stead of truth from those that are above him in dignity and Authority but we find that this will not excuse him If the Blind lead the Blind both shall fall into the pit Luk. 6.39 and we are to fly from Strangers and not hearken to the words of those Prophets that speak the visions of their own hearts and not out of the mouth of the Lord Jer. 23.16 We must not believe every Spirit but beware of false Prophets and Seducers which no Christian can avoid upon good grounds unless he pass a rational judgment upon them and their Doctrines Why was Ephraim oppressed and broken in judgment but because he willingly walked after the Commandment of his Ruler and Governor corrupting the worship of God and did not impartially examine and judge of the same by the rule of Gods word Hos 5.11 Sixthly God hath furnished a Christian with abilities for this end with Reason as man he hath a reflexive faculty which Beasts have not he hath a rational understanding Soul which is the Candle of the Lord that enableth him to compare one thing with another and to deduce genuine inferences and conclusions from such premises as are laid down and propounded And then further God hath not only given his people the light of humane Reason and understanding as rational men but hath also infus'd into them a principle of divine light and knowledge as Christians to search and try the Doctrines of Religion whether they be true or false God hath given them a Spiritual unction or understanding as the Apostle speaks 1 John 2.27 Chap. 5.20 that they may know him who is truth it self and they need not that any man teach them but as this anointing teacheth them which is truth and is no lye If any man
this Divine knowledge and assurance illuminating our understanding renewing our wills and sanctifying our hearts and affections In which sence the Spirit of God in the Scripture is to us a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation opening the eyes of our understandings that we may see by a spiritual light the excellency of those divine Mysteries that are in the Word of God Ephes 1.17 18. Now this Doctrine of ours is no such Circle as the Papists pretend it to be but a plain and strait way for a sober Christian to walk in Thus How know you that the Scriptures are Gods Word We answer By the Scriptures themselves by that wonderful light and excellency of truth and holiness that shineth in them here we would rest and go no further But yet if we be asked How we come to see this light We answer It is by the only work of the Spirit of God giving us eyes to see and hearts to embrace and love the light If we be further urged for some are thus importunate But how know you that you do indeed perceive such a heavenly light as you speak of Or how can you make it appear to others that you are not deceived Now truly this is but a vain question it being an absurd thing to demand a reason of sense which is as if one should ask him that gazeth on the Sun How know you that you see the light Why he is certain that he sees it and knows that he is not deceived though he cannot convince a blind man of it and if in case he that is blind requires him that sees to prove unto him by sound argument that he beholds such an object he demands an impossible thing of him unless he could give him eyes to see it Some of the most learned Papists after all their disputing and wrangling are driven at last to acknowledge this inward illumination and testimony of the Spirit of God Stapleton himself even in that Book where he defends the Authority of the Church saith That the godly are brought to faith by the voice of the Church but being once brought and enlightened with the light of divine Inspiration then they believe no more for the Churches voice but because of the heavenly light And again in the last Book that ever he wrote against learned Whitaker he tells us plainly That the inward perswasion of the holy Ghost is so necessary and effectual for the believing of every object of faith that without it neither can any thing by any man be believed though the Church testified with it a thousand times and by it alone any matter may be believed though the Church held her peace or were never heard Hereby it appears that we may be infallibly assured of the divine Authority of the Scriptures though the Authority and testimony of the Church be not so regarded by us as the Papists would have it But yet when we have to do with Infidels and Atheists that scoff at this divine light and inward testimony of the Spirit we have more Reason on our side as hath been shewed at large to convince them and to prove that the Christian Religion is the true Religion and that the Scriptures do contain the Word and Laws of the most high God then any other Religion nay then all other Religions in the world As for the inward testimony of the Spirit witnessing the divine authority of the Scripture and how it is to be considered take these following Rules * Rules concerning the Spirits testimony for preventing mistakes First That the Spirit of God doth assuredly perswade the Conscience of a Christian that the Scriptures are the Word of God not by an immediate Vision or Revelation under which pretence Satan transforming himself into an Angel of light hath deluded and ensnared many poor souls but by enlightening the eyes of our understanding to behold the light writing the Law in our hearts and inward parts as God hath promised in the new Covenant sealing up the Promises to our souls and causing us experimentally to feel the powerful effects thereof Secondly This divine supernatural perswasion wrought in Believers by the Spirit of God is more certain and more satisfactory then can be proved by our weak imperfect Reason or expressed in words for things doubtful may be proved but as for things that are in themselves most clear and certain we say they need no rational proof or demonstration as the shining of the Sun which discovers it self by its own light needs not be confirmed by any rational Arguments to him that hath his eyes open to see the light thereof Thirdly It is such a testimony and demonstration of the divine Authority of the Scriptures as is certain and manifest to him that hath the Spirit for it makes it self evident where it comes but this is private and particular not publick and common testifying only to him who is endued therewith but not convincing others nor confirming doctrines to them In this case men must have recourse to the visible standing Rule to the written Law and Testimony if any man speak not according to this let him pretend never so much to the inward testimony and revelation of the Spirit it is because the light and truth of God is not in him Fourthly This testimony of the Spirit therefore is not to be severed from the Word which is the Instrument of the holy Ghost and his publick authentick testimony Nor is it injurious to the Spirit of God to be tried by the Word seeing there is a mutual relation and correspondence between the truth of the party witnessing and the truth of the thing witnessed And this holy Spirit the Author of the Scriptures is every where like unto and doth every where agree with himself as it is in a pair of Indentures there is no difference at all between them but the very same things that are mentioned in the one are also mentioned in the other so it is between the Spirit revealing and the truths of God revealed in the Scriptures Fifthly The testimony of the Spirit doth not teach or assure all and every one of the letters syllables and words of the Scriptures which are only as a vessel to carry and convey the heavenly light unto us but it doth seal in our hearts the saving truth contained in those sacred Writings into what language soever they be translated Hence it is that the Apostle tells the Corinthians that they are the Epistle of Christ written not with Ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of stone but in the fleshly Tables of the heart 2 Cor. 3.3 Sixthly and lastly The Spirit of God doth not lead them in whom he dwelleth and witnesseth absolutely and at once into every truth of God so as utterly to dispel all ignorance and darkness out of the soul but he leadeth them into all truth necessary to salvation and by degrees John 16.12 13. Being a free voluntary Agent he worketh when and
wants this clear evidence and demonstration having no further assurance of what it believes then that which Reason suggests which may rather be termed a conviction that such things must be then an evidence what they be whereby it plainly appears which yet may be more largely and fully proved out of Scripture that true justifying Faith and that Faith which is only temporary and historical differ not only gradually in respect of degrees but specifically in nature and kind the grounds of assurance on which they are built being of a far different nature Fourthly This difference will further appear if we consider that the effectual Faith of the spiritual man rests and depends upon and is ultimately and finally resolved into a divine testimony but historical Faith or the Faith of the natural or meer rational man is built upon a humane testimony which our Saviour calls the revelation of flesh and blood Matth. 16.17 As the Apostle calls the other the demonstration of the Spirit and of power and the revelation of things by the Spirit which are understood only of spiritual men 1 Cor. 2.4 10 14 15. to whom they are manifested and who have the Spirit and Mind of Christ in them which enables them spiritually to understand that manifestation or revelation This way of spiritual demonstration to the spiritual mind of the true Believer is far different from and doth far transcend that way of conviction which is only by reason or rational discourse and in this respect is more excellent and divine then historical Faith or the Faith of the meer rational man which is not chiefly grounded upon a divine Testimony or Authority but relyes upon and is ultimately resolved into an humane testimony or the reasonableness of the truth and wayes of God The glorious Mysteries of the Gospel though they could never be found out by all the reason and wit of man 1 Cor. 2.9 yet they are consonant to right Reason and therefore mans reason doth assent thereunto As for example The Creation of the World the Resurrection of the Body the Incarnation of Christ and the like these may be acknowledged by mans Reason to be possible upon suppositinn of Gods Almighty Power and the Riches of his Grace yea and fit to be done by him whose great design is to make known the glory of his Power and Grace in the Ages to come So that howsoever these Truths are mysteries of Faith and to be believed yet seeing Reason which is a humane testimony may approve them it is evident that such an historical Faith believing these things only for the reasonableness of them is but a humane faith and rests upon a humane testimony And so it may be said concerning the Scriptures themselves if a rational man believe them to be the Word of God chiefly upon the Churches testimony of them or upon the reasonableness of the truths therein mentioned or upon the observation of the truth of those Sacred writings in most things which makes him therefore rationally conclude that they are true in all If this be the chiefest ground of his belief by way of rational inference from such premises then truly he believes upon a humane and not a divine testimony which is alwayes accompanied with a clear spiritual demonstration of divine truths made evident by the light of the Spirit of God to the spirit of a true Believer Fifthly and Lastly True justifying Faith or the Faith of the spiritual man differs from historical Faith or the Faith of the meer rational man in the object of it Historical faith though it may assent to the truth of Gods Promises of Reconciliation Pardon and Salvation by Christ yea and may believe the goodness of them in general yet it doth not embrace and apply the goodness of them in particular as true justifying Faith doth which counts all other things loss that it may gain Christ and be found in him Phil. 3.8 9. and which enables a man heartily and really to close with Christ in the Promise and to apply him particularly saying This is my Beloved this is my Friend who loved me and gave himself for me And thus we see that there is no small difference betwixt the faith knowledge and operations of the spiritual man and the faith knowledge and operations of the meer rational man in and about Christ and spiritual things And if such a man may have some kind of knowledge and faith in Christ and the mysteries of the Gospel and yet come short of eternal life and salvation then certainly no man that is led only by the light of Reason though he improve it never so much can be saved without the knowledge of Christ as Mediator But of this in the next Chapter CHAP. XVII Shewing that none can be saved by the meer improvement of natural Light and Reason WHat the State and Condition of the best Heathens was and is in order to the everlasting Concernment of their immortal Souls we cannot certainly determine nor dare we confidently pronounce that they are all in Hell Though we say not with the Pelagians that the improvements of Nature and Reason or that light that is in every man as others phrase it can make men everlasting happy Nor yet with the Semipelagians that natural preparations and predispositions do bespeak and procure Grace Nor yet with the Papists that works flowing from Grace do meritoriously contribute to more Grace and glory yet this we may safely say That as God gave the Heathens Natural light and abilities and to some of them the improvement thereof more then to others so he might as freely give them in a way that we know not Supernatural Grace and Strength and reveal his Son to them if it pleased him Far be it from us notwithstanding to hold that a man may get to Heaven by those meer improvements which are built upon Natures foundation for if he should accurately and punctually observe every jot and tittle of Natures Law which the exactest Naturalist or Moralist doth not yet this natural obedience would not at all be commensurate to a supernatural happiness Christ is the only way that new and living way by which God assumeth humane nature to himself and maketh it everlastingly happy by which we have access to God and communion with him This made Augustine say Qui dicit hominem servari posse sine Christo dubito an ipse per Christum servari possit Whether the Gentiles could be saved by the Light of Nature and Reason without faith in Christ is a Question I confess much debated both in the writings of the Antient Fathers and some Modern Authors both Protestants and Papists Divers of the Antients as Justin Martyr Clemens Alexandrinus and Chrysostome were of opinion that the moral Heathens might be saved by a general faith and knowledge of God And Justin Martyr thought they might be saved by the light of Reason (q) Justin Martyr Apol. 2. His 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Dictamen rationis