§. IV.
I would however not be understood as if hereby I excluded those other Means of Knowledge from any Use or Service to Man; it is far from me so to judge, as concerning the Scriptures, in the next Proposition, will more plainly appear. The Question is not, what may be profitable or helpful, but what is absolutely necessary. Many Things may contribute to further a Work, which yet are not the main Thing that makes the Work go on.
The Sum then of what is said amounts to this, That where the true Inward Knowledge of God is, through the Revelation of his Spirit, there is all; neither is there an absolute Necessity of any other. But where the best, highest, and most profound Knowledge is, without this there is nothing, as to the obtaining the great End of Salvation. This Truth is very effectually confirmed by the first Part of the Proposition itself, which in few Words comprehendeth divers unquestionable Arguments, which I shall in brief subsume.
I.First, That there is no Knowledge of the Father but by the Son.
II.Secondly, That there is no Knowledge of the Son, but by the Spirit.
III.Thirdly, That by the Spirit God hath always revealed himself to his Children.
IV.Fourthly, That these Revelations were the formal Object of the Saints’ Faith.
V.And Lastly, That the same continueth to be the Object of the Saints’ Faith to this Day.
Of each of these I shall speak a little particularly, and then proceed to the latter Part.