March 8, 2006
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John Owen seems to have believed that faith and unbelief are similar, if not identical. Judge for yourself. He writes,
” When the saints enter into rest … Faith shall be heightened into vision, as was proved before; which doth not destroy its nature, but cause it to cease as unto its manner of operation towards things invisible. If a man have a weak, small faith in this life, with LITTLE EVIDENCE AND NO ASSURANCE, so that HE DOUBTS OF ALL THINGS, QUESTIONS ALL THINGS, and HATH NO COMFORT from what he doth believe; if afterward, through supplies of grace, he hath a mighty prevailing evidence of the things believed, is filled with comfort and assurance; this is not by a faith or grace of another kind than what he had before…” http://www.reformed.org/books /owen/vol7/spiritual_006.html
Owen said that believers can have a faith with “no assurance”, “little evidence”, “questions all things” and “has no comfort”. The “greatest Puritan” John Owen thought that Christians can have a faith which “doubts all things”.
Now, certainly unbelief “doubts all things”. Unbelief “questions all things”. Unbelief has “no assurance”. And those that “doubt all things” are unbelievers, right? I mean, they don’t believe and they’re questioning everything the Bible says! If you “doubt all things” is there anything left to believe?? Can you “doubt all things” and still believe the gospel??
And as usual, you strongly seem to not quote and not consider the correct context of Owen, Calvin, and, I venture to say, the rest of us Covenanters. Owen is not condoning or implying doubting faith there especially considering what he says immediately afterwards, “if afterward, through supplies of grace, he hath a mighty prevailing evidence of the things believed, is filled with comfort and assurance;” So, you are not considering that Owen is providing an antidote to doubt and that by Grace, a person may be freed from doubt and have full assurance.
Dido Mr. flyingIrish
Honesty should cause a person to understand the context before a person so misrepresent and slanders a fellow bother in the Christian Faith.
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