(i.) The fundamental conception of it (§ 12) XX Contents. PAGE Grace personal in its mode of operation (§ 1) I. FOREKNOWLEDGE AND ELECTION (§ 2) CHAPTER I. The Being and Nature of God. The Existence of God a matter of Faith, not of Proof—Its reasonable Certainty-Argument from Consent of Mankind---Argument from the Phenomena of Nature, from Life, and from ConsciousnessArgument from Human Ideals and Conscience-RevelationVerification of the Doctrine by Experience-Nature of God as Spirit-His Absolute Existence-His Unity-His Infinity-His Omniscience-His Omnipresence in Space and in Time-His Omnipotence-His Moral Character-His Love. § 1. Ir is no part of the duty of one who expounds the Christian doctrine to prove the existence of God. The attempt to exhibit such a proof belongs to a different department of study. The Christian Church does not, in the first instance, seek to convince men by argument that God is. Her voice is that of a witness, not of an uncertain inquirer. She bears testimony to what she knows; and, instead of speculating how to establish God's existence, she teaches men, on God's authority, what God is. Indeed, if we follow the guidance of Holy Scripture, we shall not be led to expect that God's existence can be demonstrated like a problem in mathematics. Although the Bible is full of appeals to nature and B |