trine immediately, or but at a little interval, from the Apostles, when every link almost in the chain was a Saint and Martyr. The agreement of the Church was to them the evidence of God's speaking in the Church. But now that men have forgotten these maxims, and look upon deference to the Church almost as a relic of Papal errors, man, since he is not made to be independent, leans upon his fellows, and the supposed spiritual character of individuals is made the test of truth. Man cannot escape from authority: the question only, in religious truth as in civil society, or in private life, is, whose authority he will follow.
Our controversies with infidels, again, have led to some false maxims as to the tests of truth: for men, instead of setting forth, against these despisers, the efficacy of God's word, the power of the preaching of the Gospel, (which are facts,) have dwelt too much upon its intrinsic tendency to produce such or such effects, the efficacy of particular doctrines, or its contrast in such or such points with other religions; thereby fostering the conviction that we are much more judges in these matters than we are. And we, by applying the test to the particular doctrines of Christianity, have made ourselves judges in matters yet more beyond our grasp. Undoubtedly faithful and sound preaching is likely, by God's blessing, to produce a harvest: the holy and earnest life of a religious pastor is a yet more powerful sermon: his performance of his weekly duties, his greater watchfulness over the right dispensation of the Sacraments, his more earnest prayers, are also means of promoting God's kingdom. Obviously then, the blessed effects of a whole ministry cannot be made a test of the truth of each doctrine preached: and yet more obviously perhaps on this ground, that there is not complete agreement in the doctrines the preaching of which is attended with these apparent effects; add also, that even in this way, one must judge not by the preaching of those, who being already full of fervour preached these doctrines, but by that of their disciples. For since we do not think that incidental error will mar the benefit of a whole ministry, or that fallible man, though richly endowed by God's Spirit, is yet rendered infallible, we cannot infer that because his teaching is blessed, therefore every portion of it must be sound. Rather,
