uncharitable I would suggest that you are labouring under the influence of a

A.--What is it I pray? let me not rest on unscriptural foundations.

B.--Well, I think I should be right if I said that in your way of thinking the "heart" is set

in contrast with the "head".

A.--Yes, that is so.

B.--The Scripture does not make the distinction. The brain is never mentioned, and the

idea of thinking with the head as opposed to believing with the heart is unscriptural. Let

us see what Scripture says.  Where is the first occurrence of the word "heart" in

A.--Gen. 6: 5.

B.--What does it connect with it?

A.--"The imagination of the thoughts of the heart."

B.--Will you turn to Matt. 9: 4, 13: 15, 15: 19 and Mark 2: 8 and see what is said?

A.--The passage connect "thinking", "understanding", "thoughts" and "reasoning"

with the heart.

B.--You will find, moreover, that the Hebrew word for heart (leb) is translated 12 times

by the word "mind", and such passages as Heb. 8: 10 shows a great affinity between

heart and mind. Without prosecuting this point further I think you will see that it is not

quite in harmony with Scripture to speak of "believing with the heart" as something very

different from merely "intellectual faith".

A.--While I readily accept the facts of Scripture on this point, the difficulty I had in mind

remains untouched.

B.--I think I know your difficulty, and will do my best to help you to solve it, but I felt

that we must first get rid of unscriptural ideas, as otherwise we should only add to our

confusion. Your problem is something like this:--

If believing the gospel and the Word of God is the exercise of that

same faith which we put into operation upon the testimony of accredited

witnesses, "for if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is

greater", how is it that men who are possessed with normal faculties and

exercise faith in everyday matters appear to be utterly unable to believe

the truth apart from some act of grace?