...[W]e must remember, that there is an inseparable connection between faith and the Word, and that these can no more be disconnnected from each other than the rays of light from the sun.
Take away the Word, therefore, and no faith will remain.
...[W]hether God uses the agency of man, or works immediately by his own power, it is always by his Word that he manifests himself to those he designs to draw to himself.
So long as your mind entertains any misgivings as to the certainity of the Word, its authority will be weak and dubious, or rather it will have no authority at all. Nor is it sufficient to believe that God is true, and cannot lie or deceive, unless you feel firmly persuaded that every word which proceeds from him is sacred, inviolable truth.
--John Calvin, Institutes (3.2.6)
