Chapter 6: Theology as Spiritual Gift

Theology as a complex of spiritual gifts — Extraordinary or ordinary gifts — Ordinary gifts peculiar to the ministry or common to all — Christ the bestower of all gifts (Psalm 68:19; Acts 2:33; Ephesians 4:8) — The Hebrew word signifies both to receive and to give — Christ the author of spiritual gifts through the Spirit (John 7:39; Acts 19:2; John 16:14; 1 Corinthians 12:11) — That theology is a spiritual gift is proved (Matthew 13:11; James 1:5, 17; 1 John 5:20; 1 Corinthians 12:8; 1 Corinthians 1:5; Romans 6:17; Ephesians 1:17-20) — The nature and growth of spiritual gifts — The foundation of evangelical theology, the salvific light — Its progress through superadded gifts — The special nature of theology — What the Holy Scripture teaches us to teach — The many names of theology; its opposites — Definition — It is wisdom (Deuteronomy 4:6; 1 Corinthians 2:7; 2 Timothy 3:15; Daniel 12:3; Psalm 19:8, 9; Deuteronomy 4:6; Psalm 119:98, 99; Proverbs 8, 9; Colossians 1:9, 3:16) — Its mode of communication — Its immediate object — Its primary effect — It conforms the mind to Christ, and another — Knowledge of the will of God revealed in Holy Scripture — The character of this knowledge — The new understanding — The practice of piety (Job 28:12-23, or John 7:17, 8:31, 32; Colossians 1:9, 10; 2 Peter 1:8, 9) — Summary recapitulation of the whole discussion — Conclusion.

I. We define the SUBJECT of evangelical theology to be the mind of man renewed by the Holy Spirit. Let us now approach theology itself. It is a spiritual charism, or rather a complex of spiritual gifts. Now since these spiritual gifts are either extraordinary or ordinary, we must treat only of the latter here. Those gifts, then, are certain spiritual powers and capacities of the mind, instilled into it by the Holy Spirit, by which it is made fit and capable for the perception and comprehension of spiritual things, and for their application to spiritual uses and ends. Of those gifts, moreover, that are mentioned in the holy Scriptures, there is a varied distribution on account of the various respects and various uses. That distribution, since it does not directly pertain to our purpose, let us here pass over. Let it suffice to note only this: that some of them, in a special manner, pertain to the office of the evangelical ministry (of which they are the foundation (Ephesians 4:8, 11; 1 Corinthians 12:7)), while others are common to all the faithful, each according to his own degree and measure. The power to confer these gifts is the fruit and companion of the exaltation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the right hand of the Father — the most eminent part of His royal inheritance. So speaks the Psalmist (Psalm 68:19): "You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive" — "You have received gifts among men." This passage Peter interprets (Acts 2:33): "Being therefore exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you now see and hear." This referred to those gifts of tongues and prophecy at the sight and sound of which the Jews were astonished. He does not, indeed, expressly mention the gifts themselves received from Christ, but the promised Spirit, who immediately works them in all. Paul repeats the words (Ephesians 4:8): "When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men." He departs from the most customary signification of the Hebrew word, in order to set forth the matter more plainly. I marvel that those who undertook the task of inserting into the ancient Greek version attributed to the Seventy Elders the testimonies cited from the Old Testament in the New, using the very words that the inspired writers employed, should have passed over this passage; for it still reads "you received gifts," not "he gave gifts," as in the apostle. Moreover, the Hebrew word sometimes signifies "to give," or at least "to receive with the mind and purpose of giving": Hosea 14:2, "Receive good" — that is, "Give us grace" — or, as our own translators render the sense, "Receive us graciously" — that is, "Be You the bestower of grace and favor upon us." Exodus 25:2, "Speak to the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering" — that is, "that they give." Hence "the word of receiving signifies giving when they receive from another in order to give," say the masters of the Hebrews. Paul therefore accurately rendered the sense of the words, and so translated the words themselves. Christ received all spiritual gifts from the Father in order to give them to men; Christ therefore is the author of all spiritual gifts. Moreover, the authority of this conferral upon the Spirit was conspicuously given after the ascension. Hence that word of the evangelist: "The Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified" (John 7:39) — that is, not yet given and poured out in the manner of which he speaks. And this was the ignorance of the disciples of John, recorded in Acts 19:2: "But," they say, "we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." Do not suppose that those who had been brought up in the bosom of the Jewish church and initiated by the baptism of John were ignorant of whether the Holy Spirit really existed or not; they knew the Spirit — they had simply heard nothing at all about His extraordinary gifts. These ordinary gifts the Holy Spirit distributes most freely to all, in the name and in the place of Christ — for Whom, as Tertullian says, He performs a vicarious service (John 16:14) — "as He wills" (1 Corinthians 12:11). "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good," v. 7.

II. Of these gifts, as we have said, theology is a certain complex, such that within it — as virtues within justice — all are contained: Matthew 13:11, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" — that is, it is given to you to be evangelical theologians. James 1:5, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously." We have already shown that wisdom is theology, and we will prove it further. Concerning this same wisdom again, v. 17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." 1 John 5:20, "We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, so that we may know Him who is true." "To know Him who is true," moreover, is theology — or else I confess I am entirely ignorant of what theology is: 1 Corinthians 12:8, "To one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom"; 1 Corinthians 1:5; Romans 6:17. The apostle sets the whole matter before our eyes (Ephesians 1:17-20): "I pray," he says, "that God may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your understanding enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe." Would that some of those who wander in darkness might be willing and able to learn from these words of the apostle.

III. Our theology, therefore, is a spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 2:7-9). Now, since that almighty Spirit of God works all things in all, in order that we may establish a distinction between this gift and those very many gifts which He distributes to merely natural men for various uses, we show that it proceeds and is given from Christ the Mediator. This anointing is from that Holy One (1 John 2:20).

IV. Now, these gifts are of such a nature that they are immediately created in the minds of men by the Holy Spirit Himself, and therefore cannot be obtained by anyone through his own effort, however great his use of reason; as a learned man once aptly said concerning the rational soul: "By being infused they are created, and by being created they are infused." Yet they are capable of degrees and of growth. With respect to these gifts, the assiduous use of those means which God has appointed for their increase is not merely highly useful, but absolutely necessary. Let the theology we are discussing serve as our example. Let the principle, foundation, and root of it — in which all its nature and its productive power are contained — be that salvific light by which the mind of the sinner is made fit and capable of understanding those things that belong to the Spirit of God spiritually. This light no mortal can acquire by his own powers, or by the benefit of any common assistance whatever. God, who at the first creation of all things commanded light to go forth out of darkness, irradiates our minds with this most holy light by no lesser exercise and efficacious going-forth of His infinite power (2 Corinthians 4:6). But after the mind of man has been furnished with this salvific light, according to the measure and nature of other gifts — either superadded to it or communicated together with it — and through the efficacy of other means, that very light is increased day by day, and the mind perceives and discerns spiritual objects more and more clearly. From this let us learn what the true use of diligence, studies, and learning in acquiring theology actually is: insofar as they serve to advance the spiritual light, to that extent — and no more — they have their use.

V. But let us now at last look more closely at the special nature of theology. Here it is resolved to follow, as far as is permissible, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and to use those words that true wisdom teaches. For I hold it as most certain that Holy Scripture sets forth this spiritual disposition of the renewed mind in a manner entirely different from all the rules of human wisdom or of commonly received philosophy; and that the sense of that exposition is far more open and perspicuous to the understanding of the faithful than are the precise, thorny, and artificially contrived definitions of the philosophers; and that he will never rightly, properly, and profitably attain the mind of the Holy Spirit who bends His words to the Lesbian rule of philosophical notions and testimonies —

CHAP. VI.] CONCERNING EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY. [p. 443]

— bending them to be shaped by it; whereas one ought to follow in the footsteps of Scripture, to use its words, and to rest content regarding their philosophical sense.

VI. First, therefore, its many-namedness must be considered. For theology is designated by the Holy Spirit under several names. It is called both "wisdom" and "prudence" and "knowledge" and "the disposition for discerning good and evil" and "doctrine" and "light" and "understanding" and "the indwelling word" and "sense" and "the acknowledgment of truth" and "the fear of God." No one doubts that most of these signify different things among the philosophers; it is also evident that some of them cannot be said of any science properly so called. Moreover, the Holy Spirit does not oppose to these merely the ignorance of a knowable object, but also "blindness," "foolishness," "vanity," and "darkness of mind," and even "the perversity of the heart," "the love of sin," and "friendship with this world." You may perhaps say that, although all these may be employed in a general description of theology, yet if we wish to speak accurately and properly, we find it comprehended under some one disposition. I would not indeed deny that some single designation, which is more general than the rest, may be employed in setting forth the nature of theology, offering greater light on the matter to the understanding; provided this is never done with the rejection of the others, or in such a way as to twist theology to philosophical senses. For beyond all doubt, if it is knowledge — whether speculative or practical properly so called — it is not wisdom according to the tenets of the philosophers. And if it is wisdom, it is not prudence; it is not the disposition for discerning good and evil; it is not understanding — yet we know that it is all these things. We shall be laboring in vain if we suppose we can philosophize more accurately in these matters than we have been taught by the Holy Spirit. VII. Evangelical theology, therefore, is "a spiritual gift instilled by the Holy Spirit in the name of Christ into the minds of faithful men — that is, those renewed by the grace of God — by which they become wise, prudent, and understanding in the acknowledgment of the mystery of godliness, or of God and His will as revealed in Christ through the gospel; conforming the whole soul to the known truth and making it wise to eternal life; and directing them to the obedience and worship due to God in Christ, to be rendered according to the sole rule of the word through the Holy Spirit, that they may at last enjoy God eternally."

VIII. We have proved above that the proper subject of this theology is the mind of the renewed man. We have also shown that it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, who performs the office of Christ among men. What is peculiar to this gift is that it makes the faithful wise in the mystery of the gospel, or of Christ, in whom all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom are hidden. We therefore say that theology is first and foremost spiritual wisdom — so Scripture calls it: (Deuteronomy 4:6) "This is your wisdom and your understanding" (or prudence). (1 Corinthians 2:7) "We speak wisdom in a mystery." And he who is furnished with it is called wise, (2 Timothy 3:15) "You have learned the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise" — "to make you wise"; and also understanding; hence the term for the intelligent in Daniel 12:3. And the word of God is called faithful: "making wise the simple," and "enlightening the eyes," (Psalms 19:8, 9). For this reason the people of God are called "a wise and prudent people" (Deuteronomy 4:6). (Psalms 119:98) David says: "You make me wiser than my enemies with Your commandments." V. 99, "I have more understanding than all my teachers." For this reason, among others, Christ Himself is called wisdom, because He alone instructs men in this wisdom (Proverbs 8, 9). And this is what the apostle intends in that solemn prayer he offers for the saints at Colossae: (Colossians 1:9) "We do not cease to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding." And again, (Colossians 3:16) "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom."

IX. The mode of communication peculiar to this wisdom proves that it differs most greatly from all secular wisdom and from systematic or disciplinary knowledge. "We have the mind of Christ," says the apostle (1 Corinthians 2:16) — that is, we know, we understand. But who is it that has this? He says, v. 12, "We have received not the spirit of the world" — namely, the spirit that is the author of worldly wisdom — "but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given us by God." We attain this wisdom only through the Holy Spirit graciously granted to us (John 16:13). He produces this effect in us in a manner altogether wonderful. The same apostle teaches us thus: (2 Corinthians 4:6) "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," etc. The manner of producing this salvific light is no different from that by which light was once brought out of the midst of darkness at the first creation of all things. The knowledge that is thus produced is "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" — for it is the fruit of the efficacious divine irradiation that illuminates our minds. And again the same apostle, (Ephesians 1:17, 18): "May God give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him" (that is, of Christ), "having the eyes of your understanding enlightened." For this gift is from the Father through Christ. There is given a spirit of wisdom and of revelation — which, namely, through the revelation of the mystery of the gospel makes us wise, not with bare knowledge, but with the acknowledgment, or recognition, of Christ as well. There is nothing human here, nothing that in any way savors of human wisdom.

X. In this manner the regenerate become wise, prudent, and understanding through the communication of the spirit of wisdom and of revelation, which the world cannot receive.

XI. The immediate object of this wisdom, though it has been sufficiently indicated in what precedes, let us also briefly set forth separately. Holy Scripture calls it generally "all things": 1 John 2:20, "You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things"; and v. 27, "The anointing teaches you about all things" — that is, the things that are necessary for the worship of God, our obedience, consolation, and salvation. Also "all the truth," John 16:13 — namely, all that truth which pertains to the spiritual kingdom of Christ. XII. In this way the faithful are initiated into the sacred things of Christ. For it is "given" to them "to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven," Mark 4:11 — mysteries not revealed in ancient ages (Romans 16:25). "We speak," says the apostle, "wisdom in a mystery," 1 Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:9. And Colossians 2:2, 3: "That you may be established in love, and to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." The foundation is spiritual understanding. To this, through the grace of God, is joined full assurance; and this produces the acknowledgment, or the practical recognition of truth; which truth is indeed the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of the Son — that is, of God revealing Himself to us as Father in the Son: for through the knowledge of Christ we are led to this, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden; as we have shown at length in our work on "The Communion of the Saints with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." This, I say, is the innermost object of evangelical theology — namely those deep things of God which the Spirit searches, in order to reveal them to us (1 Corinthians 2:10). XII. Moreover, through this wisdom by which the renewed mind is illuminated with the knowledge of the evangelical mystery, the whole man is conformed to heavenly truth. This is the first and most distinctively proper effect of this theology. Through it, the image of God lost by sin is renewed once more. We showed in the first book that natural theology — considered materially, as they say — was that image of God to which the first man was created. It consisted in the knowledge of God, together with the readiness to live according to the rule of that knowledge. We have traced at length above the obliteration of that image of God through sin. All confess that we cannot be renewed into the image of Christ except through Christ. He is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4); the image of God (Colossians 1:15); the radiance of glory and the exact imprint of His nature (Hebrews 1:3). The gospel, moreover, is the "image" of Christ — or His "face" — in which "the glory of the Father shines" (2 Corinthians 4:6); or the mirror in which Christ Himself (and thus the glory of the Father) is presented for the contemplation of the renewed mind (2 Corinthians 3:18). Through the beholding of this image, which we have through this wisdom, that same image is introduced into our minds: "we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory." And the new man is renewed "in knowledge after the image of Him who created him" (Colossians 3:10). That is, the image of God which consisted in natural theology and has been lost is renewed through this acknowledgment, which conforms our minds to Christ, who is the image of God.

The holiness also, of which we have been made partakers in this renewal, is called "the holiness of truth" (Ephesians 4:24), because it proceeds from that truth which, exercising its power in our minds, introduces into them the image of Christ. For since it pleased God to express His image in Christ through the word of the gospel, that word in our hearts — as though quickened — becomes a living and efficacious grace, and the whole soul is delivered over to its form (Romans 6:17). From this arises acknowledgment — that is, the recognition of truth as inwardly implanted; and formation, from the real and most immediate efficacy of truth; and also spiritual sense — that is, the spiritual feeling and taste of the evangelical realities themselves. This, I say, is the primary effect of this supernatural theology; had it been incapable of producing it, it could not rightly have been substituted in place of that natural theology which we have lost.

XIV. Furthermore: with the aid of this wisdom we savingly understand the objective truth — that is, the mind of God as set forth in the holy Scriptures. Hence it is called knowledge, science, awareness, and recognition. For since the faithful have an understanding that has been elevated and disposed by spiritual light for the saving perception of the mystery of the gospel, it is necessary that they rightly understand the very doctrine in which that mystery is contained. This is that "knowledge of God" so often celebrated in holy Scripture. But whoever on the basis of this use of the term should contend that our theology is knowledge in the philosophical sense of that word, and so should force it into the category of the other sciences, would err very grossly indeed. A different matter is at hand here, as we have abundantly proved. Moreover, theology is called "knowledge" with respect to the act of the mind in perceiving its object, but is called "light" with respect to the principle by which it acts and the manner in which it is borne toward its object. God called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). For just as those darknesses out of which we were called were not merely objective — that is, mere ignorance of divine truth not yet revealed — but chiefly inward, namely the native blindness of our minds; so that marvelous light into which we are called signifies not only the evangelical doctrine, but also that spiritual light by which we are made capable of rightly perceiving the glory of God. The shining of the gospel of the glory of Christ illuminates us (2 Corinthians 4:4). It is in itself a shining, and it illuminates our minds. The Holy Spirit sent Paul to open the eyes of the Gentiles, to turn them from darkness to light (Acts 26:18). The evangelical truth itself is light; and it is also communicated with those who are to believe, in order, namely, to open their eyes that they may see this light — or "light in the light of God" (Psalm 36:9). This spiritual light so affects the understanding itself that it is called different and new (Psalm 119:18, 130). And "the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true" (1 John 5:20) — as if, forsooth, we had not been furnished with one before. At least He changes it to such a degree that it becomes capable of rightly performing its proper office: "He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45); and Paul says to Timothy, "The Lord will give you understanding in all things" (2 Timothy 2:7); and the Psalmist, "Make me to understand, and I will keep Your law",

Psalm 119:34 and 104. On account of this light, therefore, which perfects the intellect in its own act, the knowledge by which the faithful perceive spiritual things spiritually differs immeasurably from all human knowledge, and not only in respect to the objective truth.

XV. Furthermore: wisdom here, with an indissoluble bond, draws along with it the spiritual affections of the heart conformed to the acknowledged truth, because it produces them; and it makes and guides those who are wise theologians in their whole soul, in cultivating communion with God through Christ, and in diligently rendering the obedience required by the covenant of grace. For he alone is truly wise in the mystery of the gospel who understands God's counsel, love, and grace in and through Christ, according to the revelation of these things made in the word, in such a way that, affected by their spiritual and ineffable taste, he gives himself wholly to God in the obedience of faith. In this practice of piety, or federal obedience — without which everything celebrated under that name is a bare name, or rather a kind of shadow and mask of wisdom — consists the entire vital exercise of this theology. Hence it is called not only the knowledge of the truth according to godliness, at Titus 1:1; but also piety, worship, and the fear of God; in which all its vital acts consist. Noteworthy is that passage of Job, worthy to be held in perpetual memory: Ch. 28:12-23, "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? No mortal knows its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says, It is not in me; and the sea says, It is not with me. It cannot be given for stored gold, nor can silver be weighed out as its price. It cannot be valued in the fine gold of Ophir, in precious onyx, or sapphire. No one can value it in gold or in the most brilliant gem; nor can vessels of finest gold be exchanged for it. No mention shall be made of coral or of pearl; for the acquisition of wisdom surpasses rubies. No one can value it in the topaz of Ethiopia; in pure fine gold it cannot be valued. From where, then, shall wisdom come? And where shall the place of understanding be? Since it is hidden from the eyes of all the living, and concealed even from the birds of the air. Destruction and death say, We have heard a report of it with our ears. God alone understands the way to it, and He Himself knows its place." Ver. 28, "But He said to man, Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." The holy man conducts a sufficiently anxious inquiry into the place, nature, origin, and operations of wisdom. All the works of God confess with one voice that she is precious and altogether inestimable; yet when asked, they openly testify that she does not reside in themselves. For even if someone became most skilled and knowledgeable in their nature and operations, he would not thereby attain to that true wisdom. But lest miserable man should perpetually flounder among difficulties in his inquiry into this wisdom, and after proving himself "a wild donkey's colt," ch. 11:12, should perish eternally, God Himself, graciously taking pity on him, showed him the place and nature of that true wisdom, "and said to man, The fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding" —

— that is, this wisdom consists in the very fear of God and true holiness; this is its proper work, this is its life and soul. It is prudence, I say, or understanding, directing the whole man in the fear of God and the practice of piety: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," (Psalms 111:10). In it also it places its growth: "The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will make known His covenant to them" (Psalms 25:14). And "If anyone desires to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God" (John 7:17). And with an indissoluble bond these things cohere with one another, so that this wisdom first directs us to do the will of God, or to obey Him in spirit and truth, and then from that practice of evangelical piety it is itself daily advanced and increased. Hence if anyone has not received that spiritual light of which we have spoken, or having received it has not diligently stirred it up by the assiduous use of the means which God has appointed, or having stirred it up has not exercised it in the daily practice of all evangelical duties and in departing from evil in all holiness — he will without any doubt be in vain in his expectation of progress in the study of this theology, either useful to himself or pleasing to God. For such is the force of the evangelical promise: "If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32). Moreover, this bond between wisdom and the universal practice of piety, and the power of theology directing our souls into all evangelical obedience — which is our spiritual prudence — the apostle Paul wonderfully shows in the Epistle to the Colossians (1:9-10): "We do not cease," he says, "praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to walk worthy of the Lord to all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." The apostle prays that the holy Colossians may be filled with the knowledge of God's will, that is, with evangelical theology. That is our wisdom, or spiritual understanding. But it manifests itself in universal obedient practice. Therefore the apostle asks that the faithful may be filled with it, not for the sake of knowledge itself, or that they may delight themselves in the knowledge of spiritual things, but that they may walk worthily before God, to all His good pleasure, bearing fruit in every good work. For such is the nature, such is the character of this wisdom, that it effectively works all these things in those who partake of it. And what will accordingly follow? By that very knowledge of God, by whose power and benefit they have prepared themselves for the exercise of piety, they will be increased and advanced. Thus wisdom and piety mutually foster, advance, increase, and strengthen one another. So blessed Peter, after he had enumerated in a long order the evangelical virtues by whose exercise the spiritual life exerts its powers, adds: "These things being present in you and abounding will render you neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" — namely, because these are the genuine fruits of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, to such a degree that where they are absent, whatever is put forward, there is in reality no knowledge of Christ. For thus the apostle: "But he in whom these things are absent is blind, short-sighted" (2 Peter 1:8-9). XVI. Let a brief summary conclude the entire discussion. God cares for and effects this: that the regenerate may perceive and understand the truth revealed in holy scripture, for their own glory and proper salvation. To this end He pours out salvific light into their minds through the Holy Spirit. By the benefit of this light they become powerful and fit to understand spiritual things spiritually. Without it, all labor and study devoted to acquiring evangelical theology will be in vain. Those equipped with this spiritual light He further enriches with the gift of wisdom, or renders them wise through the spirit of revelation in the mystery of God the Father and of Christ, and in the knowledge of all salvific truth. Through the embrace of truth, their hearts are spiritually expanded, and a new amplitude accrues to their minds in their acts — the amplitude in which the schoolmen of no mean rank say free will consists. But through various means and various degrees, to each one equipped with this wisdom the objective truth, or evangelical doctrine, is laid open, as much as is needed to promote obedience to it and consolation. That perception of truth is knowledge of God and of His will proclaimed in holy scripture. But this by no means exhausts the whole of theology, as it pleases some, but is the operation of a mind equipped with evangelical wisdom concerning its proper object. Hence the whole soul is conformed to the known truth, so that what truth is in the word, grace is in the heart. Moreover, this wisdom perpetually stimulates toward evangelical obedience and directs the mind in the exercise of the same, which is its proximate end. Insofar as it does this, it is our prudence and understanding. Of the ultimate end there is no need to speak; what pertains to it is known from elsewhere. This wisdom is capable of degrees. These regard partly the spiritual light itself, which the Holy Spirit variously bestows according to His own will, and partly the revealed object, or evangelical doctrine. For since divine truth is transmitted variously in the holy scriptures, as it pleased the infinite wisdom of God, according to each one's spiritual capacity and the diligent use of means apt for promoting the investigation of the various modes of revealing evangelical doctrine, there cannot but be various degrees of knowledge of it; yet in such a way that all progress of whatever kind therein should be ascribed to Him who gives us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.