is, partly because man has plunged himself into a state of gross infidelity, which in a great measure disqualifies him for the sight; and partly because visions, miracles, and supernatural evidences, would have a tendency to force upon the human mind an external and transient acquiescence in the things seen or heard, rather than a salutary and permanent faith in the great realities of heaven and eternal life. This latter kind of faith can only be implanted by the Holy Word, while man is in the full use of his liberty and rationality. On which account our Lord says of such as duly exercise these faculties, " Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed," John xx. 29: whereas of all those who call out for signs and wonders, he says in another place, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead," Luke xvi. 31.
XLIX. The Reasons why the Lord was pleased to be born on our Earth, rather than on any other.
AMONG the various reasons why the Lord was pleased to assume a Natural Humanity on our earth, and not an another, the principal was for the sake of the Word, that this might be written in the letter, and when written be published through the whole world, and once published be preserved to all posterity; and that thus it might be made manifest, even to all in another life, that God himself became Man. The Word, which is divine truth, teaches that there is a God. that there is a heaven and a hell, and that there is a life after death: it moreover instructs man how he ought to live and to believe, that he may come into heaven, and thereby be happy to eternity.
