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the Christian faith, as in all things so in this, deserveth 

 to be highly magnified ; holding and preserving the 

 golden mediocrity in this point between the law of the 

 heathen and the law of Mahumet, which have embraced 

 the two extremes. For the religion of the heathen had 

 no constant belief or confession, but left all to the 

 liberty of argument ; and the religion of Mahumet on 

 the other side interdicteth argument altogether : the 

 one having the very face of error, and the other of 

 imposture : whereas the Faith doth but admit and 

 reject disputation with difference. 



5. The use of human reason in religion is of two sorts : 

 the former, in the conception and apprehension of the 

 mysteries of God to us revealed ; the other, in the in- 

 ferring and deriving of doctrine and direction there- 

 upon. The former extendeth to the mysteries them- 

 selves ; but how ? by way of illustration, and not by 

 way of argument. The latter consisteth indeed of pro- 

 bation and argument. In the former we see God 

 vouchsafeth to descend to our capacity, in the expres- 

 sing of his mysteries in sort as may be sensible unto 

 us ; and doth grift his revelations and holy doctrine 

 upon the notions of our reason, and applieth his 

 inspirations to open our understanding, as the form 

 of the key to the ward of the lock. For the latter, 

 there is allowed us an use of reason and argument, 

 secondary and respective, although not original and 

 absolute. For after the articles and principles of religion 

 are placed and exempted from examination of reason, it 

 is then permitted unto us to make derivations and in- 

 ferences from and according to the analogy of them, 

 for our better direction. In nature this holdeth not ; 

 for both the principles are examinable by induction, 

 though not by a medium or syllogism ; and besides, 

 those principles or first positions have no discordance 

 with that reason which draweth down and deduceth 

 the inferior positions. But yet it holdeth not in religion 

 alone, but in many knowledges, both of greater and 

 smaller nature, namely, wherein there are not only 

 posita but placita ; for in such there can be no use of 



