It may be thought perhaps a strange thing, that God should require us to believe mysteries, while the reason or manner of what we are to believe is above our comprehension, and wholly concealed from us:  neither doth it appear at first sight, that the believing or not believing them doth concern either the glory of God, or contribute to the goodness or wickedness of our lives.  But this is a great and dangerous mistake.  We see what a mighty weight is laid upon faith, both in the Old and New Testament.  In the former we read how the faith of Abraham is praised, who could believe that God would raise from him a great nation, at the very time that he was commanded to sacrifice his only son, and despaired of any other issue.  And this was to him a great mystery.  Our Saviour is perpetually preaching faith to his disciples, or reproaching them with the want of it:  and St Paul produceth numerous examples of the wonders done by faith.  And all this is highly reasonable:  For faith is an entire dependence upon the truth, the power, the justice, and the mercy of God; which dependence will certainly incline us to obey him in all things.  So, that the great excellency of faith, consists in the consequence it hath upon our actions:  as, if we depend upon the truth and wisdom of a man, we shall certainly be more disposed to follow his advice.  Therefore, let no man think that he can lead as good a moral life without faith as with it; for this reason, because he who hath no faith, cannot, by the strength of his own reason or endeavours, so easily resist temptations, as the other who depends upon God’s assistance in the overcoming his frailties, and is sure to be rewarded for ever in heaven for his victory over them.  “Faith,” says the apostle, “is the evidence of things not seen”:  he means, that faith is a virtue by which anything commanded us by God to believe appears evident and certain to us, although we do not see, nor can conceive it; because, by faith we entirely depend upon the truth and power of God.

It is an old and true distinction, that things may be above our reason, without being contrary to it.  Of this kind are the power, the nature, and the universal presence of God, with innumerable other points.  How little do those who quarrel with mysteries, know of the commonest actions of nature!  The growth of an animal, of a plant, or of the smallest seed, is a mystery to the wisest among men.  If an ignorant person were told that a loadstone would draw iron at a distance, he might say it was a thing contrary to his reason, and could not believe before he saw it with his eyes.

The manner whereby the soul and body are united, and how they are distinguished, is wholly unaccountable to us.  We see but one part, and yet we know we consist of two; and this is a mystery we cannot comprehend, any more than that of the Trinity.

From what hath been said, it is manifest that God did never command us to believe, nor his ministers to preach, any doctrine which is contrary to the reason he hath pleased to endow us with; but for his own wise ends has thought fit to conceal from us the nature of the thing he commands; thereby to try our faith and obedience, and increase our dependence upon him.