As for those wingy mysteries in divinity, and airy subtleties in
religion, which have unhinged the brains of better heads, they never
stretched the _pia mater_ of mine. Methinks there be not impossibilities
enough in religion for an active faith; the deepest mysteries ours
contains, have not only been illustrated, but maintained by syllogism,
and the rule of reason. I love to lose myself in a mystery, to pursue my
reason to an _O altitudo_! It is my solitary recreation to pose my
apprehension with those involved enigmas and riddles of the Trinity, with
incarnation and resurrection. I can answer all the objections of Satan
and my rebellious reason, with that odd resolution I learned of
Tertullian, _Certum est quia impossible est_. I desire to exercise my
faith in the difficultest point; for to credit ordinary and visible
objects, is not faith, but persuasion. Some believe the better for
seeing Christ's sepulchre; and when they have seen the Red Sea, doubt not
of the miracle. Now, contrarily, I bless myself, and am thankful that I
lived not in the days of miracles; that I never saw Christ nor His
disciples. I would not have been one of those Israelites that passed the
Red Sea, nor one of Christ's patients on whom He wrought His wonders;
then had my faith been thrust upon me, nor should I enjoy that greater
blessing pronounced to all that believe and saw not.
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