A Golden Chain

VI.

¹The manner that God useth in the begetting of faith is this. First, he prepareth the heart that it may be capable of faith. Secondly, he causeth faith by little and little to spring and to breed in the heart. The preparation of the heart is by humbling an softening of it: & to the doing of this there are four things requisite. The first of them is the knowledge of the word of God, both of the law and of the gospel,² without the which there can be no faith; according to that saying of Isaiah: ^sBy his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. And that of John:^t This is eternal life that they know thee to be the only very God, and whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ. The ^uonly ordinary means to attain faith by, is the word preached: which must be heard, remembered, practised, and continually hid in the heart. The least measure of knowledge, without which a man cannot have faith, is the knowledge of Elements, or the fundamental doctrines of a Christian religion•. A fundamental doctrine is that, which being obstinately denied, all religion, and all obtaining of salvation is overthrown. This knowledge hath a general faith going with it, which is an assent of the heart to the known trueth of Gods word. This faith when it is grown up to some great measure, it is called [Greek or Hebrew], the ⁶full assurance of understanding, and it is to be seen in the martyrs who maintained Gods trueth against the persecutions of the false Church, unto death.