Reason and Faith [pp. 648-685]

Reason and Faith.
addressed to their reason. It supposes and requires the exercise of reason in ascertaining its evidences and import. It
supposes an intelligent subject whose reason it employs, and at
the same time purifies, enlarges, and perfects. Now there is a
very limited range of subjects in regard to which we cannot
doubt what is true, without a denegation of our rational
nature. No amount of authority can convince us that two
contradictories can be true, i. e., that a thing may be, and
may not be at the same time. If we know that we exist,
we cannot believe the contrary. If we know that a body occupies space, we cannot believe that it does not occupy space.
We cannot believe that things equal to the same thing are
not equal to each other, or that a bit of bread on earth
is the body of our Lord in heaven. So far forth, all competent divines have allowed a judicium contradictionis, in the
interpretation of the word of God, i. e. that it must not be
interpreted to teach contradictories, because contradictories can
never both be true. Yet this principle is allowable only within
very narrow limits. The contradiction must be immediate,
unambiguous, undeniable,-not a matter of inference, or the
result of inaccurate statements, or disputed definitions and
representations of the points to which the alleged contradiction
pertains. The in-evidence of the divinity of the Holy Scriptures, patent to the eye of faith and of unperverted or spiritually illuminated reason, will stop all that tampering with the
plain averments of Scripture, which is known as Rationalism.
Our readers will agree with us that it is time to hasten to
a close. Our specific object has been, not to treat with any
minuteness of Mr. Mansel's book as a whole, but of that theory
which constitutes its novelty and peculiarity, and which it is
specially framed to commend to public acceptance. We do not
wish to disparage the work in other respects. It has excellencies which have not been exaggerated by its warmest admirers.
The notes in the appendix constitute a thesaurus of choice
extracts from the great masters of the different schools of philosophy and theology, such as no mere philosophic pedant
could have gathered. These alone are worth more than the
cost of the volume. The Lectures themselves withal, abound
1860.]
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