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without the conviction that they are true. Some modern liberals take this view and
consequently like to speak of faith as a venture. It is a spiritual insight into the truths of the
Christian religion that find response in the heart of the sinner.
(2) The certainty of this knowledge.
The knowledge of faith should not be regarded as less
certain than other knowledge. Our Heidelberg Catechism assures us that true faith is among
other things also “a certain (sure, incontestable) knowledge.”[Q. 21.] This is in harmony with
Heb. 11:1, which speaks of it as “the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not
seen” It makes future and unseen things subjectively real and certain for the believer. The
knowledge of faith is mediated for, and imparted to, us by the testimony of God in His Word,
and is accepted by us as certain and reliable on the basis of the veracity of God. The certainty of
this knowledge has its warrant in God Himself, and consequently nothing can be more certain.
And it is quite essential that this should be so, for faith is concerned with spiritual and eternal
things, in which certainty is needed, if anywhere. There must be certainty as to the reality of
the object of faith; if there is not, faith is in vain. Machen deplores the fact that many lose sight
of this fact in the present day. Says he: “The whole trouble is that faith is being considered as a
beneficent quality of the soul without respect to the reality or unreality of its object; and the
moment faith comes to be considered in that way, in that moment it is destroyed.”[What Is
Faith? p. 174.]
(3) The measure of this knowledge.
It is impossible to determine with precision just how much
knowledge is absolutely required in saving faith. If saving faith is the acceptance of Christ as He
is offered in the gospel, the question naturally arises, How much of the gospel must a man
know, in order to be saved? Or, to put it in the words of Dr. Machen: “What, to put it baldly, are
the minimum doctrinal requirements, in order that a man may be a Christian?”[Op cit., p.
155.] In general it may be said that it must be sufficient to give the believer some idea of the
object of faith. All true saving faith must contain at least a minimum of knowledge, not so much
of the divine revelation in general as of the Mediator and His gracious operations. The more
real knowledge one has of the truths of redemption, the richer and fuller one’s faith will be, if
all other things are equal. Naturally one who accepts Christ by a true faith, will also be ready
and willing to accept God’s testimony as a whole. It is of the utmost importance, especially in
our day, that the churches should see to it that their members have a fairly good, and not
merely a hazy, understanding of the truth. Particularly in this undogmatic age, they should be
far more diligent than they are in the indoctrination of their youth.
b. An emotional element (assensus).
Barth calls attention to the fact that the time when man
accepts Christ by faith is the existential moment of his life, in which he ceases to consider the
object of faith in a detached and disinterested way, and begins to feel a lively interest in it. It is