The Wonders of Divine Faith

OF DIVINE FAITH

(a) Psalm 115.

(b) Romans 3:4.

...anything should be believed, and absolutely no human faith original: "fides humana," meaning the trust placed in human testimony is to be found on earth. But the entire world offers the truest testimony that rational man is worthy of trust, and that God, above all men, is most deserving of all faith. Therefore, one must assert divine faith, which is owed to God alone, no less than human faith, which is appropriate for man, unless one fears being found guilty of the foulest insanity or blasphemy. Nor does it do away with human faith that the royal Prophet King David, with daily experience as his witness, says: Every man is a liar (a), to which the Apostle Paul also subscribes: (b) But God is true, and every man is a liar. Look! By infallible testimony every man is called a liar, and God alone is said to be truthful; yet, by no one of sound mind is human faith denied. How great, then, is the impudence of many men—with whom this critical age The author likely refers to the rise of Enlightenment skepticism and rationalist critique of religion abounds—to admit no divine Faith, or, what is the same thing, to deny all credit to the most truthful God! These most deceitful men judge themselves worthy of trust, but by their very unfair actions, they judge God Himself unworthy of trust as they eliminate all divine Faith. They proclaim it so necessary that God exists and that He is truth itself, that unless He were most true, He would no longer be the true God, but a false one—that is, He would be no God at all. But God is most true in His essence, and most truthful in His speech; He can neither deceive by His word, nor be deceived. Who, then, in possession of their reason, would not believe God when He speaks? Who would not believe the Truth when it speaks? Therefore, every rational man should draw this conclusion: A true God exists, most worthy of all faith: therefore, human liberty is bound to worship the speaking God with Divine Faith. Do not run your eyes over this line with a hurried glance, friend Reader, but pause the progress of your reading for a moment, and maturely weigh this conclusion—like a most tenacious bond that constricts Libertinism Libertinism: In this theological context, a mindset of extreme freethinking that rejects the authority of divine revelation in favor of human reason or impulse so tightly that it cannot even move. And if this first, second, or third discourse seems to you like a small and unarmed flock because it lacks a more prolific display of the authority of the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers, reflect graciously that the force of an argument does not [rest on] the abundance...

original vocabulary: Divine Faith, Human Faith, Truth, Libertinism, Holy Scripture, most deserving