inion is equally founded upon error,--namely, that which
considers it essential to faith, that a man be assured of his personal
acceptance in the sight of the Deity. It is obvious that this is a
sophism clearly opposed to sound reasoning, and to the first principles
of the philosophy of the moral feelings. For faith, viewed as a mental
process, must always have for its object facts; and these facts must
rest upon such evidence, as is sufficient to convince the understanding
of their truth. To talk of faith, without such facts and such evidence,
is a mere logical fallacy, or an absurdity in terms. But there is no
disclosure of the personal acceptance of any individual, and
consequently, on no principle of sound reasoning can this ever be
considered as the object of faith. This doctrine, therefore, applies a
most important principle of the mind, not to facts, which alone can
warrant the exercise of faith, but to a vision of the imagination, which
admits of no evidence, and cannot be subjected to any test of its truth.

Widely different from all such flimsy and imaginary hypotheses is the
great system of Christian truth,--harmonious and consistent in itself,
and challenging the approbation of the soundest understanding. It
reveals, as we have seen, a dispensation of mercy, in accordance with
the highest ideas we can form of the divine perfections. It is supported
by a chain of evidence, which carries conviction to the mind of the most
rigid inquirer; and thus it is a sound and legitimate object of faith.
It reveals also a provision for purifying the moral nature; and this in
every case accompanies the dispensation of mercy to those who receive
it. The effects of this powerful agency, therefore, become the test and
the evidence of the reality of faith. Does a man seek a proof of his
acceptance,--the reference is to facts in his own moral condition. He is
to look for it in a change which is taking place in his character,--a
new direction of his desires,--a new regulation of his affections,--a
habitual impression, to which he was a stranger before, of the presence
and the perfections of the Deity--and a new light which has burst upon
his view, respecting his relations to this life and to that which is to
come. He is to seek this evidence in a mind, which aims at no lower
standard than that which will bear the constant inspection of infinite
purity;--he is to seek it, and to manifest it to others, in a spirit
which takes no low