It is manifest, that "the merits of Christ" cannot be here substituted for "Faith;" and still less will it be contended, that "Faith" and merits mean the same thing. Faith in Christ, and Faith of Christ, which Dr. Pearson seems to con sider as conveying different senses, are synonymous expressions, and signify simply the Faith which men have in Christ. But that the expression, "the merits of Christ," cannot be substituted for the word "Faith," will, if possible, be still more evident, by making the trial in the 11th Article, to which also Dr. Pearson refers his idea of meritorious cause. The words of the Article are, "We are justified only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, without our own works or deservings." For "Faith" substitute "the merits of Christ," and then the proposition will be, "We are justified only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by the merits of Christ, without our own works or deservings." To say nothing of the tautology introduced by this substitution, the Justification of man becomes pèrfectly gratuitous and unconditional, and we are required neither to act nor to believe-a doctrine which Dr. Pearson will be very far from supporting. The word "Faith" in this Article, is the only one which conveys the idea of a condition. to be performed, on the part of man, and is

clearly

clearly distinguished from the merits of Christ, to which Faith owes its efficacy. If Dr. Pearson would write in the three Articles upon Justification, and in the whole of the celebrated passage in the Epistle to the Romans, the expression "the merits of Christ" instead of the word "Faith," wherever he meets with it, I am persuaded he would admit, that "the merits of Christ" and "Faith" are not synonymous terms, either in the language of our Church, or of St. Paul when speaking upon the subject of Justification.

The word believe, in all its various inflexions, occurs many hundred times, but, if I mistake not, the word belief occurs only once (q), in the New Testament. It may be right, therefore, to apprize those who are not acquainted with the learned languages, and to remind those who are, that the Greek word translated Faith, is derived from the word which is translated to believe (r), and might with equal propriety have been translated Belief. The word Faith is, I suspect, often supposed to convey some mysterious sense, which is not authorized by the word in the original language. Faith and Belief, strictly speaking, mean the same thing, and are used in the same sense by

our

(q) 2 Thess. c. 2. v. 13. The word unbelief occurs (*) Πίσις a verbo πιςεύω.

frequently.

K

our old Divines: "No man," says the learned and judicious Hooker, "can attain Belief by the bare contemplation of heaven and earth, for that they neither are sufficient to give us as much as the least spark of light concerning the very principal mysteries of our Faith." And Archbishop Tillotson says, "Faith, or which is all one, Belief (s)." That Belief or Faith may exist, unaccompanied by any of the Christian virtues and graces, appears from the case of Simon Magus, referred to in a former Chapter, who is said to have "believed," and yet "his heart was not right in the sight of God;" he was "in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity (t).”

Indeed that there is no necessary connexion between Faith or Belief and Good Works, even according to St. Paul, who is the great advocate for the doctrine of Justification by Faith, is evident from a passage in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, a part of which has been already quoted, "Though I have all Faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." Could St. Paul have described Faith in stronger terms, "all Faith so that I

could remove mountains?" Or could he have inculcated the necessity of Good Works in more decisive language, "though I have all Faith, and

have

(s) Rule of Faith, p. 3. (1) Acts, c. 8. v. 13. 21, & 23.

have not charity, I am nothing (u)?" And at the end of the chapter, he sums up the argument, by saying, "And now abideth Faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity:" We have therefore this Apostle's authority, not only for maintaining the possibility of Faith existing without charity, and its utter inefficacy in that case, but also for considering charity as superior to Faith when they "abide " together. Nor is it difficult to comprehend the reason of this superiority; for surely it is more easy to convince the understanding of the truth of the Gospel, than to correct the selfishness of our nature, and to impress our minds with the principles of divine love or piety towards God, and of universal benevolence towards men, so as to practise both in the degree required by our holy religion, namely, to "love God with all our heart, and soul, and strength (a)," and "our neighbour as ourselves (y)."

That we may have clear and distinct ideas of the doctrines inculcated by the two Apostles, and correctly understand what our Church teaches

relative

(u) 1 Cor. c. 13. v. 2.-" As it is here supposed that this Faith might in fact be separated from love, it cannot signify the same as in the Epistle to the Romans, where it is such an assent to a divine declaration as produces a suitable temper and conduct." Doddridge.

(x) Luke, c. 10. v. 27. (y) Matt. c. 19. v. 19.

relative to Justification and Faith, it will be necessary to take a general and connected view of the whole subject.

Justification, as the word is used in the Epistles, refers to adult persons who were converted to Christianity through the preaching of the Apostles, and is said by St. Paul to be effected by Faith; that is, suppose a person to have been educated as a Jew or a Heathen, and suppose him, which was the case of every Jew and of every Heathen, to have been guilty of a variety of sins; and suppose him, by attending to the evidences of the truth of the Gospel, to have been convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, the promised Saviour of the World: such a person could not but feel contrition for the wickedness of his past life, and be anxious to avoid the punishment to which he was liable. Having understood that baptism was essential to entitle him to the blessings of this new and merciful dispensation, of the divine authority of which he was fully persuaded, he would eagerly apply to some one of those who were commissioned to baptize; and baptism, administered according to the appointed form to a true believer, would convey Justification; or in other words, the baptized person would receive remission of his past sins, would be reconciled to God, and be accounted just and righteous in his sight. Bap

tism

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