Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
Among the Hebrews, as indeed in most nations, particular faculties were connected with particular parts of the body; and we read of ‘bowels’ the seat of sympathy; of the ‘reins’ the seat of deep and anxious thought; and of the ‘heart’ the seat of all inward reflection.
And here we think it of some importance to call attention to the circumstance that the Scriptures do not distinguish, as we do, the heart from the head; and do not make the heart signify mere emotion, but use it to include all that passes through the mind prior to action; and we read of the ‘imaginations’ and of the ‘thoughts’ of man’s heart,—hence the absurdity of arguing that faith consists in feeling, from the fact that we are said to believe with the heart.
For the reference, see James McCosh on erroneous distinctions between heart and head.
And here we think it of some importance to call attention to the circumstance that the Scriptures do not distinguish, as we do, the heart from the head; and do not make the heart signify mere emotion, but use it to include all that passes through the mind prior to action; and we read of the ‘imaginations’ and of the ‘thoughts’ of man’s heart,—hence the absurdity of arguing that faith consists in feeling, from the fact that we are said to believe with the heart.
For the reference, see James McCosh on erroneous distinctions between heart and head.
