by faith only is here said to be a saying; consider how astonished and pained we should be, were the doctrine of the Atonement or of Christ's divinity insisted upon merely as a proposition, saying, or form of speaking.

This last-mentioned title is actually given it in another passage:-" This form of speaking use we, in the humbling of ourselves to God, and to give all the glory to our Saviour Christ, who is best worthy to have it."

9.

Enough has now been said upon the symbolical office of faith. If more were needed, it might be further observed that such a view of it is congenial to the tone of thought which the Reformers discover in other matters. As they considered prayers as lectures, Absolutions as declarations, the Eucharistic Commemoration as a visible memento, Mystical Rites as edifying exhibitions (which they certainly are also), so they regarded faith as the symbol of justification. Of course this is not the highest view of the doctrine; and our own Homilies, in another portion of the Book, go on to the higher, according to which it is an instrument, as has been shown. Well would it have been if all Protestant writers had done the same; but others, following out the view which was more peculiarly their patrimony as Protestants, have ended in

because faith directly "sendeth us to," or preaches "Christ." Observe, too, that still, as in the former cases, the Homily does not so much affirm that faith only does justify, "but is said to justify." Elsewhere faith is compared to the Baptist, who "did put the people from him, and appointed them unto Christ." Was St. John an instrument, or only a preacher? "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance," etc.

the notion, that justification is the feeling of satisfaction which belief in God's mercy inspires, and nothing more.

To sum up what has been said :—the question has been in what sense faith only justifies, for that it is necessary to our justification, all parties allow. I answer, it justifies only, in two ways, as the only inward instrument, and as the only symbol. Viewed as an instrument, it unites the soul to Christ through the Sacraments; viewed as a symbol it shows forth the doctrine of free grace. Hence it is the instrument of justification after Baptism; it is a symbol both before and after.1

1 The reader will find several statements contained in this and in the 4th and 6th Lectures, more or less confirmed by Waterland (on Justification, Works, vol. ix.)

A

LECTURE XI.

THE NATURE OF JUSTIFYING FAITH.

FTER considering the office of Faith, it fitly follows

to inquire what it is, both in itself, and as existing in the regenerate. This I propose now to do, and in doing it shall have the guidance of a text, which approaches as nearly as any statement in Scripture to a formal definition :-"Faith is the substance of things. hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Our Church has nowhere defined faith. The Articles are entirely silent; and though the Homilies contain many popular descriptions, they present, as is natural, nothing consistent and accurate.

Religious faith is "the substance," or the realizing of what as yet is not here, but only "hoped for;" it is the making present what is future. Again: it is "the evidence" of what is not seen, that is, the ground or medium of proof, on or through which the unseen is accepted as really existing. In the way of nature, we ascertain the things around and before us, by sight; and things which are to be, by reason; but faith is our informant about things present which we do not see, and things future which we cannot forecast. And as sight contemplates form and colour, and reason the processes of argument, so faith rests

on the divine word as the token and criterion of truth. And as the mind trusts to sense and reason, by a natural instinct, which it freely uses prior to experience, so in a parallel way, a moral instinct, independent of experience, is its impelling and assuring principle in assenting to revelation as divine. By faith then is meant the mind's perception or apprehension of heavenly things, arising from an instinctive trust in the divinity or truth of the external word, informing it concerning them. Whether it acts upon that knowledge so obtained, depends upon something beyond with which we are not now concerned, -its particular moral state in a given case.

In other words, faith, as such, is not a practical principle or peculiar to religious men. Thus, in matters of this world, men believe, but are not influenced, unless they feel the matter to be important. On the other hand, if they are interested in it, they believe what they otherwise would not believe. So far, then, from faith directly causing action, action in a particular case may depend on circumstances on which faith also depends. Accordingly, there is nothing in the text to confine its definition to religious faith, except the indirect expression "hoped for;" which no one would say was strictly part of the definition. None, doubtless, but religious men can hope for what God's word announces; but leaving out this incidental word, the text might even be taken to describe the faith of evil spirits, which St. James both recognises as faith, and discriminates from religious faith. Reli

1 ὥσπερ ὀφθαλμὸς δεῖται φωτὸς ἐπιδεικνύντος τὰ ὁρατὰ, οὕτω δὴ αὖ καὶ ὁ νοῦς δεῖται πίστεως ἐπιδεικνυούσης τὰ θεῖα, καὶ τὴν περὶ τούτων δόξαν puλaтTOúons ßeßalav.-Theodor. adv. Gent. i. P. 714.

gious men believe and "hope;" "the devils believe and tremble." They believe in a judgment to come, for on one occasion they exclaimed against being "tormented before their time;" and on what, but on God's infallible word announcing it? Thus dread and despair are inseparable attendants upon the devils' faith; hope and trust upon religious faith; but both are in their nature one. and the same faith, as being simply the acceptance of God's word about the future and unseen. Religious faith is nothing else but the faith of the religious, and despairing faith is the faith of the despairing. Dead faith is the faith of the dead; lively faith is the faith of the living. Justifying faith, strictly speaking, is not trust, or adherence, or devotedness, though in familiar language it allowably be so called, but faith,—the faith of trusting, adhering, devoted minds.

Faith, then, is not a virtue or grace in its abstract nature; else evil spirits could not possess it. It is so only under circumstances or in the particular case; Abraham's faith involved self-denial, the Blessed Virgin's faith implied love and hope. Faith is but an instrument, acceptable when its possessor is acceptable. And in this respect it differs from most other virtues, that it is not an excellence, except it be grafted into a heart that has grace. The devils cannot have love, humility, meekness, purity, or compassion,-they have faith. When, however, it is so grafted, then it makes progress, and the last becomes the first. "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." And then it becomes the instrument of secur