Religious Affections in Vol I of the Works - Edwards - VIII - Part 3 continued

Required readingReligious affections in Volume I of the Works by Jonathan Edwards (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Part 3 by reading Section 5.

My summary.

Now Edwards asserts that truly gracious affections are attended with a conviction of the reality and certainty of divine things.

The view of the divine glory has a tendency to convince the mind of their divinity in two ways:

(i) directly - his conviction is agreeable to reason;

(ii) indirectly - removing prejudices of reason;

What grabbed me

I appreciated Edwards' explanation of how the divine beauty shows us our ugliness:

'This sense of the spiritual excellency and beauty of divine things, also tends directly to convince the mind of the truth of the gospel. Very many of the most important things declared in the gospel are hid from the eyes of natural men, the truth of which in effect consists in this excellency, or so immediately depends upon it, and results from it, that in this excellency being seen, the truth, of those things is seen. As soon as ever the eyes are opened to behold a holy beauty and amiableness in divine things, a multitude of most important doctrines of the gospel that depend upon it, (which all appear strange and dark to natural men,) are at once seen to be true. As for instance, hereby appears the truth of what the word of God declares concerning the exceeding evil of sin; for the same eye that discerns the transcendent beauty of holiness, necessarily therein sees the exceeding odiousness of sin: the same taste which relishes the sweetness of true moral good, tastes the bitterness of moral evil. And by this means a man sees his own sinfulness and loathsomeness; for he has now a sense to discern objects of this nature; and so sees the truth of what the word of God declares concerning the exceeding sinfulness of mankind, which before he did not see. He now sees the dreadful pollution of his heart, and the desperate depravity of his nature, in a new manner; for his soul has now a sense given it to feel the pain of such a disease. This shows him the truth of what the Scripture reveals concerning the corruption of man's nature, his original sin, his ruinous condition, his need of a Saviour, and of the mighty power of God to renew his heart, and change his nature.'

As I look at him in his holiness, I am attracted to him.  As I look at myself in my unholiness, I am further attracted to him.

Next week's reading

Continue Part 3 by reading Section 6.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.