Are those faculties by which we think, reason, judge, &c. "They are so various, " says Dr. Reid, "so many, so connected, and complicated in most of their operations, that there never has been any division of them proposed which is not liable to considerable objections. The most common division is that of understand and will. Under the will we comprehend out active powers, and all that lead to action, or influence the mind to act; such as appetites, passions, affections. The understanding comprehends our contemplative powers, by which we perceive objects; by which we conceive or remember them; by which we analyze or compound them; and by which we judge and reason concerning them. Or the intellectual powers are commonly divided into simple apprehension, judgment, and reasoning."
See Reid on the Active Powers, also on the Human Mind, and the Intellectual Powers; Locke on the Understanding. For the influence Christianity has had on the moral and intellectual powers, see White's admirable Sermons, ser. 9.
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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