Historical faith is believing the facts; in particular, believing the facts of Scripture. We can go further. Historical faith describes not only the what of faith, but the how of faith, its nature. The man who has historical faith gives mental assent to facts as stated in testimony by a witness. Take the courtroom. Here, historical faith is exercised every day. Witnesses testify; they are cross-examined; their evidence is accepted by the court, by the jury, or it is not. Historical faith. Historical faith defines both what is believed and how it is believed. The man who has historical faith believes stated facts; he assents in his mind to the truth of those facts. If we are talking about the gospel, historical faith accepts the facts of Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection, and all the rest. And more. Historical faith accepts the facts of gospel commandments, promises, doctrine, and so on. This historical faith is, of course, excellent in its way. But it is not saving. And there is a faith which is not saving, make no mistake about it; there is a faith which is dead faith: |