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diff --git a/44035.txt b/44035.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..380040b --- /dev/null +++ b/44035.txt @@ -0,0 +1,31060 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Systematic Theology (Volume 1 of 3) by +Augustus Hopkins Strong + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: Systematic Theology (Volume 1 of 3) + +Author: Augustus Hopkins Strong + +Release Date: October 25, 2013 [Ebook #44035] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY (VOLUME 1 OF 3)*** + + + + + + Systematic Theology + + A Compendium and Commonplace-Book + + Designed For The Use Of Theological Students + + By + + Augustus Hopkins Strong, D.D., LL.D. + +President and Professor of Biblical Theology in the Rochester Theological + Seminary + + Revised and Enlarged + + In Three Volumes + + Volume 1 + + The Doctrine of God + + The Judson Press + + Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Kansas City, + Seattle, Toronto + + 1907 + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Preface +Part I. Prolegomena. + Chapter I. Idea Of Theology. + I. Definition of Theology. + II. Aim of Theology. + III. Possibility of Theology. + 1. The existence of a God. + 2. Man's capacity for the knowledge of God + 3. God's revelation of himself to man. + IV. Necessity of Theology. + V. Relation of Theology to Religion. + 1. Derivation. + 2. False Conceptions. + 3. Essential Idea. + 4. Inferences. + Chapter II. Material of Theology. + I. Sources of Theology. + 1. Scripture and Nature. + 2. Scripture and Rationalism. + 3. Scripture and Mysticism. + 4. Scripture and Romanism. + II. Limitations of Theology. + III. Relations of Material to Progress in Theology. + Chapter III. Method Of Theology. + I. Requisites to the study of Theology. + II. Divisions of Theology. + III. History of Systematic Theology. + IV. Order of Treatment in Systematic Theology. + V. Text-Books in Theology. +Part II. The Existence Of God. + Chapter I. Origin Of Our Idea Of God's Existence. + I. First Truths in General. + II. The Existence of God a first truth. + 1. Its universality. + 2. Its necessity. + 3. Its logical independence and priority. + III. Other Supposed Sources of our Idea of God's Existence. + IV. Contents of this Intuition. + Chapter II. Corroborative Evidences Of God's Existence. + I. The Cosmological Argument, or Argument from Change in Nature. + II. The Teleological Argument, or Argument from Order and Useful + Collocation in Nature. + III. The Anthropological Argument, or Argument from Man's Mental and + Moral Nature. + IV. The Ontological Argument, or Argument from our Abstract and + Necessary Ideas. + Chapter III. Erroneous Explanations, And Conclusion. + I. Materialism. + II. Materialistic Idealism. + III. Idealistic Pantheism. + IV. Ethical Monism. +Part III. The Scriptures A Revelation From God. + Chapter I. Preliminary Considerations. + I. Reasons _a priori_ for expecting a Revelation from God. + II. Marks of the Revelation man may expect. + III. Miracles, as attesting a Divine Revelation. + 1. Definition of Miracle. + 2. Possibility of Miracle. + 3. Probability of Miracles. + 4. Amount of Testimony necessary to prove a Miracle. + 5. Evidential force of Miracles. + 6. Counterfeit Miracles. + IV. Prophecy as Attesting a Divine Revelation. + V. Principles of Historical Evidence applicable to the Proof of a + Divine Revelation. + 1. As to documentary evidence. + 2. As to testimony in general. + Chapter II. Positive Proofs That The Scriptures Are A Divine + Revelation. + I. Genuineness of the Christian Documents. + 1. Genuineness of the Books of the New Testament. + 1st. The Myth-theory of Strauss (1808-1874). + 2nd. The Tendency-theory of Baur (1792-1860). + 3d. The Romance-theory of Renan (1823-1892). + 4th. The Development-theory of Harnack (born 1851). + 2. Genuineness of the Books of the Old Testament. + II. Credibility of the Writers of the Scriptures. + III. The Supernatural Character of the Scripture Teaching. + 1. Scripture teaching in general. + 2. Moral System of the New Testament. + 3. The person and character of Christ. + 4. The testimony of Christ to himself--as being a messenger from + God and as being one with God. + IV. The Historical Results of the Propagation of Scripture Doctrine. + Chapter III. Inspiration Of The Scriptures. + I. Definition of Inspiration. + II. Proof of Inspiration. + III. Theories of Inspiration. + 1. The Intuition-theory. + 2. The Illumination Theory. + 3. The Dictation-theory. + 4. The Dynamical Theory. + IV. The Union of the Divine and Human Elements in Inspiration. + V. Objections to the Doctrine of Inspiration. + 1. Errors in matters of Science. + 2. Errors in matters of History. + 3. Errors in Morality. + 4. Errors of Reasoning. + 5. Errors in quoting or interpreting the Old Testament. + 6. Errors in Prophecy. + 7. Certain books unworthy of a place in inspired Scripture. + 8. Portions of the Scripture books written by others than the + persons to whom they are ascribed. + 9. Sceptical or fictitious Narratives. + 10. Acknowledgment of the non-inspiration of Scripture + teachers and their writings. +Part IV. The Nature, Decrees, And Works Of God. + Chapter I. The Attributes Of God. + I. Definition of the term Attributes. + II. Relation of the divine Attributes to the divine Essence. + III. Methods of determining the divine Attributes. + IV. Classification of the Attributes. + V. Absolute or Immanent Attributes. + First division.--Spirituality, and attributes therein involved. + 1. Life. + 2. Personality. + Second Division.--Infinity, and attributes therein involved. + 1. Self-existence. + 2. Immutability. + 3. Unity. + Third Division.--Perfection, and attributes therein involved. + 1. Truth. + 2. Love. + 3. Holiness. + VI. Relative or Transitive Attributes. + First Division.--Attributes having relation to Time and Space. + 1. Eternity. + 2. Immensity. + Second Division.--Attributes having relation to Creation. + 1. Omnipresence. + 2. Omniscience. + 3. Omnipotence. + Third Division.--Attributes having relation to Moral Beings. + 1. Veracity and Faithfulness, or Transitive Truth. + 2. Mercy and Goodness, or Transitive Love. + 3. Justice and Righteousness, or Transitive Holiness. + VII. Rank and Relations of the several Attributes. + 1. Holiness the fundamental attribute in God. + 2. The holiness of God the ground of moral obligation. + Chapter II. Doctrine Of The Trinity. + I. In Scriptures there are Three who are recognized as God. + 1. Proofs from the New Testament. + A. The Father is recognized as God. + B. Jesus Christ is recognized as God. + C. The Holy Spirit is recognized as God. + 2. Intimations of the Old Testament. + A. Passages which seem to teach plurality of some sort in the + Godhead. + B. Passages relating to the Angel of Jehovah. + C. Descriptions of the divine Wisdom and Word. + D. Descriptions of the Messiah. + II. These Three are so described in Scripture that we are compelled + to conceive of them as distinct Persons. + 1. The Father and the Son are persons distinct from each other. + 2. The Father and the Son are persons distinct from the Spirit. + 3. The Holy Spirit is a person. + III. This Tripersonality of the Divine Nature is not merely economic + and temporal, but is immanent and eternal. + 1. Scripture proof that these distinctions of personality are + eternal. + 2. Errors refuted by the foregoing passages. + A. The Sabellian. + B. The Arian. + IV. This Tripersonality is not Tritheism; for, while there are three + Persons, there is but one Essence. + V. The Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are equal. + 1. These titles belong to the Persons. + 2. Qualified sense of these titles. + 3. Generation and procession consistent with equality. + VI. Inscrutable, yet not self-contradictory, this Doctrine furnishes + the Key to all other Doctrines. + 1. The mode of this triune existence is inscrutable. + 2. The Doctrine of the Trinity is not self-contradictory. + 3. The doctrine of the Trinity has important relations to other + doctrines. + Chapter III. The Decrees Of God. + I. Definition of Decrees. + II. Proof of the Doctrine of Decrees. + 1. From Scripture. + 2. From Reason. + A. From the Divine Foreknowledge. + B. From the Divine Wisdom. + C. From the Divine Immutability. + D. From the Divine Benevolence. + III. Objections to the Doctrine of Decrees. + 1. That they are inconsistent with the free agency of man. + 2. That they take away all motive for human exertion. + 3. That they make God the author of sin. + IV. Concluding Remarks. + 1. Practical uses of the doctrine of decrees. + 2. True method of preaching the doctrine. + + + + + + + [Cover Art] + +[Transcriber's Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter +at Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.] + + + + + +Christo Deo Salvatori. + +"THE EYE SEES ONLY THAT WHICH IT BRINGS WITH IT THE POWER OF +SEEING."--_Cicero._ + +"OPEN THOU MINE EYES, THAT I MAY BEHOLD WONDROUS THINGS OUT OF THY +LAW."--_Psalm 119:18._ + +"FOR WITH THEE IS THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE: IN THY LIGHT SHALL WE SEE +LIGHT."--_Psalm 36:9._ + +"FOR WE KNOW IN PART, AND WE PROPHESY IN PART; BUT WHEN THAT WHICH IS +PERFECT IS COME, THAT WHICH IS IN PART SHALL BE DONE AWAY."--_1 Cor. 13:9, +10._ + + + + + +PREFACE + + +The present work is a revision and enlargement of my "Systematic +Theology," first published in 1886. Of the original work there have been +printed seven editions, each edition embodying successive corrections and +supposed improvements. During the twenty years which have intervened since +its first publication I have accumulated much new material, which I now +offer to the reader. My philosophical and critical point of view meantime +has also somewhat changed. While I still hold to the old doctrines, I +interpret them differently and expound them more clearly, because I seem +to myself to have reached a fundamental truth which throws new light upon +them all. This truth I have tried to set forth in my book entitled "Christ +in Creation," and to that book I refer the reader for further information. + +That Christ is the one and only Revealer of God, in nature, in humanity, +in history, in science, in Scripture, is in my judgment the key to +theology. This view implies a monistic and idealistic conception of the +world, together with an evolutionary idea as to its origin and progress. +But it is the very antidote to pantheism, in that it recognizes evolution +as only the method of the transcendent and personal Christ, who fills all +in all, and who makes the universe teleological and moral from its centre +to its circumference and from its beginning until now. + +Neither evolution nor the higher criticism has any terrors to one who +regards them as parts of Christ's creating and educating process. The +Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge himself +furnishes all the needed safeguards and limitations. It is only because +Christ has been forgotten that nature and law have been personified, that +history has been regarded as unpurposed development, that Judaism has been +referred to a merely human origin, that Paul has been thought to have +switched the church off from its proper track even before it had gotten +fairly started on its course, that superstition and illusion have come to +seem the only foundation for the sacrifices of the martyrs and the +triumphs of modern missions. I believe in no such irrational and atheistic +evolution as this. I believe rather in him in whom all things consist, who +is with his people even to the end of the world, and who has promised to +lead them into all the truth. + +Philosophy and science are good servants of Christ, but they are poor +guides when they rule out the Son of God. As I reach my seventieth year +and write these words on my birthday, I am thankful for that personal +experience of union with Christ which has enabled me to see in science and +philosophy the teaching of my Lord. But this same personal experience has +made me even more alive to Christ's teaching in Scripture, has made me +recognize in Paul and John a truth profounder than that disclosed by any +secular writers, truth with regard to sin and atonement for sin, that +satisfies the deepest wants of my nature and that is self-evidencing and +divine. + +I am distressed by some common theological tendencies of our time, because +I believe them to be false to both science and religion. How men who have +ever felt themselves to be lost sinners and who have once received pardon +from their crucified Lord and Savior can thereafter seek to pare down his +attributes, deny his deity and atonement, tear from his brow the crown of +miracle and sovereignty, relegate him to the place of a merely moral +teacher who influences us only as does Socrates by words spoken across a +stretch of ages, passes my comprehension. Here is my test of orthodoxy: Do +we pray to Jesus? Do we call upon the name of Christ, as did Stephen and +all the early church? Is he our living Lord, omnipresent, omniscient, +omnipotent? Is he divine only in the sense in which we are divine, or is +he the only-begotten Son, God manifest in the flesh, in whom is all the +fulness of the Godhead bodily? What think ye of the Christ? is still the +critical question, and none are entitled to the name of Christian who, in +the face of the evidence he has furnished us, cannot answer the question +aright. + +Under the influence of Ritschl and his Kantian relativism, many of our +teachers and preachers have swung off into a practical denial of Christ's +deity and of his atonement. We seem upon the verge of a second Unitarian +defection, that will break up churches and compel secessions, in a worse +manner than did that of Channing and Ware a century ago. American +Christianity recovered from that disaster only by vigorously asserting the +authority of Christ and the inspiration of the Scriptures. We need a new +vision of the Savior like that which Paul saw on the way to Damascus and +John saw on the isle of Patmos, to convince us that Jesus is lifted above +space and time, that his existence antedated creation, that he conducted +the march of Hebrew history, that he was born of a virgin, suffered on the +cross, rose from the dead, and now lives forevermore, the Lord of the +universe, the only God with whom we have to do, our Savior here and our +Judge hereafter. Without a revival of this faith our churches will become +secularized, mission enterprise will die out, and the candlestick will be +removed out of its place as it was with the seven churches of Asia, and as +it has been with the apostate churches of New England. + +I print this revised and enlarged edition of my "Systematic Theology," in +the hope that its publication may do something to stem this fast advancing +tide, and to confirm the faith of God's elect. I make no doubt that the +vast majority of Christians still hold the faith that was once for all +delivered to the saints, and that they will sooner or later separate +themselves from those who deny the Lord who bought them. When the enemy +comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard +against him. I would do my part in raising up such a standard. I would +lead others to avow anew, as I do now, in spite of the supercilious +assumptions of modern infidelity, my firm belief, only confirmed by the +experience and reflection of a half-century, in the old doctrines of +holiness as the fundamental attribute of God, of an original transgression +and sin of the whole human race, in a divine preparation in Hebrew history +for man's redemption, in the deity, preexistence, virgin birth, vicarious +atonement and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, and in his +future coming to judge the quick and the dead. I believe that these are +truths of science as well as truths of revelation; that the supernatural +will yet be seen to be most truly natural; and that not the open-minded +theologian but the narrow-minded scientist will be obliged to hide his +head at Christ's coming. + +The present volume, in its treatment of Ethical Monism, Inspiration, the +Attributes of God, and the Trinity, contains an antidote to most of the +false doctrine which now threatens the safety of the church. I desire +especially to call attention to the section on Perfection, and the +Attributes therein involved, because I believe that the recent merging of +Holiness in Love, and the practical denial that Righteousness is +fundamental in God's nature, are responsible for the utilitarian views of +law and the superficial views of sin which now prevail in some systems of +theology. There can be no proper doctrine of the atonement and no proper +doctrine of retribution, so long as Holiness is refused its preeminence. +Love must have a norm or standard, and this norm or standard can be found +only in Holiness. The old conviction of sin and the sense of guilt that +drove the convicted sinner to the cross are inseparable from a firm belief +in the self-affirming attribute of God as logically prior to and as +conditioning the self-communicating attribute. The theology of our day +needs a new view of the Righteous One. Such a view will make it plain that +God must be reconciled before man can be saved, and that the human +conscience can be pacified only upon condition that propitiation is made +to the divine Righteousness. In this volume I propound what I regard as +the true Doctrine of God, because upon it will be based all that follows +in the volumes on the Doctrine of Man, and the Doctrine of Salvation. + +The universal presence of Christ, the Light that lighteth every man, in +heathen as well as in Christian lands, to direct or overrule all movements +of the human mind, gives me confidence that the recent attacks upon the +Christian faith will fail of their purpose. It becomes evident at last +that not only the outworks are assaulted, but the very citadel itself. We +are asked to give up all belief in special revelation. Jesus Christ, it is +said, has come in the flesh precisely as each one of us has come, and he +was before Abraham only in the same sense that we were. Christian +experience knows how to characterize such doctrine so soon as it is +clearly stated. And the new theology will be of use in enabling even +ordinary believers to recognize soul-destroying heresy even under the mask +of professed orthodoxy. + +I make no apology for the homiletical element in my book. To be either +true or useful, theology must be a passion. _Pectus est quod theologum +facit_, and no disdainful cries of "Pectoral Theology!" shall prevent me +from maintaining that the eyes of the heart must be enlightened in order +to perceive the truth of God, and that to know the truth it is needful to +do the truth. Theology is a science which can be successfully cultivated +only in connection with its practical application. I would therefore, in +every discussion of its principles, point out its relations to Christian +experience, and its power to awaken Christian emotions and lead to +Christian decisions. Abstract theology is not really scientific. Only that +theology is scientific which brings the student to the feet of Christ. + +I would hasten the day when in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow. I +believe that, if any man serve Christ, him the Father will honor, and that +to serve Christ means to honor him as I honor the Father. I would not +pride myself that I believe so little, but rather that I believe so much. +Faith is God's measure of a man. Why should I doubt that God spoke to the +fathers through the prophets? Why should I think it incredible that God +should raise the dead? The things that are impossible with men are +possible with God. When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the +earth? Let him at least find faith in us who profess to be his followers. +In the conviction that the present darkness is but temporary and that it +will be banished by a glorious sunrising, I give this new edition of my +"Theology" to the public with the prayer that whatever of good seed is in +it may bring forth fruit, and that whatever plant the heavenly Father has +not planted may be rooted up. + +ROCHESTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, +ROCHESTER, N. Y., AUGUST 3, 1906. + + + + + +PART I. PROLEGOMENA. + + + + +Chapter I. Idea Of Theology. + + + +I. Definition of Theology. + + +Theology is the science of God and of the relations between God and the +universe. + + + Though the word "theology" is sometimes employed in dogmatic + writings to designate that single department of the science which + treats of the divine nature and attributes, prevailing usage, + since Abelard (A. D. 1079-1142) entitled his general treatise + "Theologia Christiana," has included under that term the whole + range of Christian doctrine. Theology, therefore, gives account, + not only of God, but of those relations between God and the + universe in view of which we speak of Creation, Providence and + Redemption. + + John the Evangelist is called by the Fathers "the theologian," + because he most fully treats of the internal relations of the + persons of the Trinity. Gregory Nazianzen (328) received this + designation because he defended the deity of Christ against the + Arians. For a modern instance of this use of the term "theology" + in the narrow sense, see the title of Dr. Hodge's first volume: + "Systematic Theology, Vol. I: _Theology_." But theology is not + simply "the science of God," nor even "the science of God and + man." It also gives account of the relations between God and the + universe. + + If the universe were God, theology would be the only science. + Since the universe is but a manifestation of God and is distinct + from God, there are sciences of nature and of mind. Theology is + "the science of the sciences," not in the sense of including all + these sciences, but in the sense of using their results and of + showing their underlying ground; (see Wardlaw, Theology, 1:1, 2). + Physical science is not a part of theology. As a mere physicist, + Humboldt did not need to mention the name of God in his "Cosmos" + (but see Cosmos, 2:418, where Humboldt says: "Psalm 104 presents + an image of the whole Cosmos"). Bishop of Carlisle: "Science is + atheous, and therefore cannot be atheistic." + + Only when we consider the relations of finite things to God, does + the study of them furnish material for theology. Anthropology is a + part of theology, because man's nature is the work of God and + because God's dealings with man throw light upon the character of + God. God is known through his works and his activities. Theology + therefore gives account of these works and activities so far as + they come within our knowledge. All other sciences require + theology for their complete explanation. Proudhon: "If you go very + deeply into politics, you are sure to get into theology." On the + definition of theology, see Luthardt, Compendium der Dogmatik, + 1:2; Blunt, Dict. Doct. and Hist. Theol., art.: Theology; H. B. + Smith, Introd. to Christ. Theol., 44; cf. Aristotle, Metaph., 10, + 7, 4; 11, 6, 4; and Lactantius, De Ira Dei, 11. + + + +II. Aim of Theology. + + +The aim of theology is the ascertainment of the facts respecting God and +the relations between God and the universe, and the exhibition of these +facts in their rational unity, as connected parts of a formulated and +organic system of truth. + + + In defining theology as a science, we indicate its aim. Science + does not create; it discovers. Theology answers to this + description of a science. It discovers facts and relations, but it + does not create them. Fisher, Nature and Method of Revelation, + 141--"Schiller, referring to the ardor of Columbus's faith, says + that if the great discoverer had not found a continent, he would + have created one. But faith is not creative. Had Columbus not + found the land--had there been no real object answering to his + belief--his faith would have been a mere fancy." Because theology + deals with objective facts, we refuse to define it as "the science + of religion"; _versus_ Am. Theol. Rev., 1850:101-126, and + Thornwell, Theology, 1:139. Both the facts and the relations with + which theology has to deal have an existence independent of the + subjective mental processes of the theologian. + + Science is not only the observing, recording, verifying, and + formulating of objective facts; it is also the recognition and + explication of the relations between these facts, and the + synthesis of both the facts and the rational principles which + unite them in a comprehensive, rightly proportioned, and organic + system. Scattered bricks and timbers are not a house; severed + arms, legs, heads and trunks from a dissecting room are not living + men; and facts alone do not constitute science. Science = facts + + relations; Whewell, Hist. Inductive Sciences, I, Introd., + 43--"There may be facts without science, as in the knowledge of the + common quarryman; there may be thought without science, as in the + early Greek philosophy." A. MacDonald: "The _a priori_ method is + related to the _a posteriori_ as the sails to the ballast of the + boat: the more philosophy the better, provided there are a + sufficient number of facts; otherwise, there is danger of + upsetting the craft." + + President Woodrow Wilson: " 'Give us the facts' is the sharp + injunction of our age to its historians ... But facts of + themselves do not constitute the truth. The truth is abstract, not + concrete. It is the just idea, the right revelation, of what + things mean. It is evoked only by such arrangements and orderings + of facts as suggest meanings." Dove, Logic of the Christian Faith, + 14--"The pursuit of science is the pursuit of relations." Everett, + Science of Thought, 3--"Logy" (_e. g._, in "theology"), from {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, + = word + reason, expression + thought, fact + idea; _cf._ _John + 1:1--_"In the beginning was the Word." + + As theology deals with objective facts and their relations, so its + arrangement of these facts is not optional, but is determined by + the nature of the material with which it deals. A true theology + thinks over again God's thoughts and brings them into God's order, + as the builders of Solomon's temple took the stones already hewn, + and put them into the places for which the architect had designed + them; Reginald Heber: "No hammer fell, no ponderous axes rung; + Like some tall palm, the mystic fabric sprung." Scientific men + have no fear that the data of physics will narrow or cramp their + intellects; no more should they fear the objective facts which are + the data of theology. We cannot make theology, any more than we + can make a law of physical nature. As the natural philosopher is + "Naturae minister et interpres," so the theologian is the servant + and interpreter of the objective truth of God. On the Idea of + Theology as a System, see H. B. Smith, Faith and Philosophy, + 126-166. + + + +III. Possibility of Theology. + + +The possibility of theology has a threefold ground: 1. In the existence of +a God who has relations to the universe; 2. In the capacity of the human +mind for knowing God and certain of these relations; and 3. In the +provision of means by which God is brought into actual contact with the +mind, or in other words, in the provision of a revelation. + + + Any particular science is possible only when three conditions + combine, namely, the actual existence of the object with which the + science deals, the subjective capacity of the human mind to know + that object, and the provision of definite means by which the + object is brought into contact with the mind. We may illustrate + the conditions of theology from selenology--the science, not of + "lunar politics," which John Stuart Mill thought so vain a + pursuit, but of lunar physics. Selenology has three conditions: 1. + the objective existence of the moon; 2. the subjective capacity of + the human mind to know the moon; and 3. the provision of some + means (_e. g._, the eye and the telescope) by which the gulf + between man and the moon is bridged over, and by which the mind + can come into actual cognizance of the facts with regard to the + moon. + + +1. The existence of a God. + + +_In the existence of a God who has relations to the universe._--It has been +objected, indeed, that since God and these relations are objects +apprehended only by faith, they are not proper objects of knowledge or +subjects for science. We reply: + +A. Faith is knowledge, and a higher sort of knowledge.--Physical science +also rests upon faith--faith in our own existence, in the existence of a +world objective and external to us, and in the existence of other persons +than ourselves; faith in our primitive convictions, such as space, time, +cause, substance, design, right; faith in the trustworthiness of our +faculties and in the testimony of our fellow men. But physical science is +not thereby invalidated, because this faith, though unlike +sense-perception or logical demonstration, is yet a cognitive act of the +reason, and may be defined as certitude with respect to matters in which +verification is unattainable. + + + The objection to theology thus mentioned and answered is expressed + in the words of Sir William Hamilton, Metaphysics, 44, + 531--"Faith--belief--is the organ by which we apprehend what is + beyond our knowledge." But science is knowledge, and what is + beyond our knowledge cannot be matter for science. Pres. E. G. + Robinson says well, that knowledge and faith cannot be severed + from one another, like bulkheads in a ship, the first of which may + be crushed in, while the second still keeps the vessel afloat. The + mind is one,--"it cannot be cut in two with a hatchet." Faith is + not antithetical to knowledge,--it is rather a larger and more + fundamental sort of knowledge. It is never opposed to reason, but + only to sight. Tennyson was wrong when he wrote: "We have but + faith: we cannot know; For knowledge is of things we see" (In + Memoriam, Introduction). This would make sensuous phenomena the + only objects of knowledge. Faith in supersensible realities, on + the contrary, is the highest exercise of reason. + + Sir William Hamilton consistently declares that the highest + achievement of science is the erection of an altar "To the Unknown + God." This, however, is not the representation of Scripture. _Cf._ + _John 17:3--_"this is life eternal, that they should know thee, the + only true God"; and _Jer. 9:24--_"let him that glorieth glory in + that he hath understanding and knoweth me." For criticism of + Hamilton, see H. B. Smith, Faith and Philosophy, 297-336. Fichte: + "We are born in faith." Even Goethe called himself a believer in + the five senses. Balfour, Defence of Philosophic Doubt, 277-295, + shows that intuitive beliefs in space, time, cause, substance, + right, are presupposed in the acquisition of all other knowledge. + Dove, Logic of the Christian Faith, 14--"If theology is to be + overthrown because it starts from some primary terms and + propositions, then all other sciences are overthrown with it." + Mozley, Miracles, defines faith as "unverified reason." See A. H. + Strong, Philosophy and Religion, 19-30. + + +B. Faith is a knowledge conditioned by holy affection.--The faith which +apprehends God's being and working is not opinion or imagination. It is +certitude with regard to spiritual realities, upon the testimony of our +rational nature and upon the testimony of God. Its only peculiarity as a +cognitive act of the reason is that it is conditioned by holy affection. +As the science of aesthetics is a product of reason as including a power of +recognizing beauty practically inseparable from a love for beauty, and as +the science of ethics is a product of reason as including a power of +recognizing the morally right practically inseparable from a love for the +morally right, so the science of theology is a product of reason, but of +reason as including a power of recognizing God which is practically +inseparable from a love for God. + + + We here use the term "reason" to signify the mind's whole power of + knowing. Reason in this sense includes states of the sensibility, + so far as they are indispensable to knowledge. We cannot know an + orange by the eye alone; to the understanding of it, taste is as + necessary as sight. The mathematics of sound cannot give us an + understanding of music; we need also a musical ear. Logic alone + cannot demonstrate the beauty of a sunset, or of a noble + character; love for the beautiful and the right precedes knowledge + of the beautiful and the right. Ullman draws attention to the + derivation of _sapientia_, wisdom, from _sapere_, to taste. So we + cannot know God by intellect alone; the heart must go with the + intellect to make knowledge of divine things possible. "Human + things," said Pascal, "need only to be known, in order to be + loved; but divine things must first be loved, in order to be + known." "This [religious] faith of the intellect," said Kant, "is + founded on the assumption of moral tempers." If one were utterly + indifferent to moral laws, the philosopher continues, even then + religious truths "would be supported by strong arguments from + analogy, but not by such as an obstinate, sceptical heart might + not overcome." + + Faith, then, is the highest knowledge, because it is the act of + the integral soul, the insight, not of one eye alone, but of the + two eyes of the mind, intellect and love to God. With one eye we + can see an object as flat, but, if we wish to see around it and + get the stereoptic effect, we must use both eyes. It is not the + theologian, but the undevout astronomer, whose science is one-eyed + and therefore incomplete. The errors of the rationalist are errors + of defective vision. Intellect has been divorced from heart, that + is, from a right disposition, right affections, right purpose in + life. Intellect says: "I cannot know God"; and intellect is right. + What intellect says, the Scripture also says: _1 Cor. 2:14--_"the + natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for + they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because + they are spiritually judged"_; 1:21--_"in the wisdom of God the + world through its wisdom knew not God." + + The Scripture on the other hand declares that "by faith we know"_ + (Heb. 11:3)_. By "heart" the Scripture means simply the governing + disposition, or the sensibility + the will; and it intimates that + the heart is an organ of knowledge: _Ex. 35:25--_"the women that + were wise-hearted"; _Ps. 34:8--_"O taste and see that Jehovah is + good" = a right taste precedes correct sight; _Jer. 24:7--_"I will + give them a heart to know me"; _Mat. 5:8--_"Blessed are the pure in + heart; for they shall see God"; _Luke 24:25--_"slow of heart to + believe"; _John 7:17--_"If any man willeth to do his will, he shall + know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak + from myself"; _Eph. 1:18--_"having the eyes of your heart + enlightened, that ye may know"; _1 John 4:7, 8--_"Every one that + loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not + knoweth not God." See Frank, Christian Certainty, 303-324; Clarke, + Christ. Theol., 362; Illingworth, Div. and Hum. Personality, + 114-137; R. T. Smith, Man's Knowledge of Man and of God, 6; + Fisher, Nat. and Method of Rev., 6; William James, The Will to + Believe, 1-31; Geo. T. Ladd, on Lotze's view that love is + essential to the knowledge of God, in New World, Sept. + 1895:401-406; Gunsaulus, Transfig. of Christ, 14, 15. + + +C. Faith, therefore, can furnish, and only faith can furnish, fit and +sufficient material for a scientific theology.--As an operation of man's +higher rational nature, though distinct from ocular vision or from +reasoning, faith is not only a kind, but the highest kind, of knowing. It +gives us understanding of realities which to sense alone are inaccessible, +namely, God's existence, and some at least of the relations between God +and his creation. + + + Philippi, Glaubenslehre, 1:50, follows Gerhard in making faith the + joint act of intellect and will. Hopkins, Outline Study of Man, + 77, 78, speaks not only of "the aesthetic reason" but of "the moral + reason." Murphy, Scientific Bases of Faith, 91, 109, 145, + 191--"Faith is the certitude concerning matter in which + verification is unattainable." Emerson, Essays, 2:96--"Belief + consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul--unbelief in + rejecting them." Morell, Philos. of Religion, 38, 52, 53, quotes + Coleridge: "Faith consists in the synthesis of the reason and of + the individual will, ... and by virtue of the former (that is, + reason), faith must be a light, a form of knowing, a beholding of + truth." Faith, then, is not to be pictured as a blind girl + clinging to a cross--faith is not blind--"Else the cross may just as + well be a crucifix or an image of Gaudama." "Blind unbelief," not + blind faith, "is sure to err, And scan his works in vain." As in + conscience we recognize an invisible authority, and know the truth + just in proportion to our willingness to "do the truth," so in + religion only holiness can understand holiness, and only love can + understand love (_cf._ _John 3:21--_"he that doeth the truth cometh + to the light"). + + If a right state of heart be indispensable to faith and so to the + knowledge of God, can there be any "theologia irregenitorum," or + theology of the unregenerate? Yes, we answer; just as the blind + man can have a science of optics. The testimony of others gives it + claims upon him; the dim light penetrating the obscuring membrane + corroborates this testimony. The unregenerate man can know God as + power and justice, and can fear him. But this is not a knowledge + of God's inmost character; it furnishes some material for a + defective and ill-proportioned theology; but it does not furnish + fit or sufficient material for a correct theology. As, in order to + make his science of optics satisfactory and complete, the blind + man must have the cataract removed from his eyes by some competent + oculist, so, in order to any complete or satisfactory theology, + the veil must be taken away from the heart by God himself (_cf._ + _2 Cor. 3:15, 16_--"_a veil lieth upon their heart. But whensoever + it_ [marg. 'a man'] _shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken + away_"). + + Our doctrine that faith is knowledge and the highest knowledge is + to be distinguished from that of Ritschl, whose theology is an + appeal to the heart to the _exclusion_ of the head--to _fiducia_ + without _notitia_. But _fiducia_ includes _notitia_, else it is + blind, irrational, and unscientific. Robert Browning, in like + manner, fell into a deep speculative error, when, in order to + substantiate his optimistic faith, he stigmatized human knowledge + as merely apparent. The appeal of both Ritschl and Browning from + the head to the heart should rather be an appeal from the narrower + knowledge of the mere intellect to the larger knowledge + conditioned upon right affection. See A. H. Strong, The Great + Poets and their Theology, 441. On Ritschl's postulates, see + Stearns, Evidence of Christian Experience, 274-280, and + Pfleiderer, Die Ritschl'sche Theologie. On the relation of love + and will to knowledge, see Kaftan, in Am. Jour. Theology, + 1900:717; Hovey, Manual Christ. Theol., 9; Foundations of our + Faith, 12, 13; Shedd, Hist. Doct., 1:154-164; Presb. Quar., Oct. + 1871, Oct. 1872, Oct. 1873; Calderwood, Philos. Infinite, 99, 117; + Van Oosterzee, Dogmatics, 2-8; New Englander, July, 1873:481; + Princeton Rev., 1864:122; Christlieb, Mod. Doubt, 124, 125; Grau, + Glaube als hoechste Vernunft, in Beweis des Glaubens, 1865:110; + Dorner, Gesch. prot. Theol., 228; Newman, Univ. Sermons, 206; + Hinton, Art of Thinking, Introd. by Hodgson, 5. + + +2. Man's capacity for the knowledge of God + + +_In the capacity of the human mind for knowing God and certain of these +relations._--But it has urged that such knowledge is impossible for the +following reasons: + +A. Because we can know only phenomena. We reply: (_a_) We know mental as +well as physical phenomena. (_b_) In knowing phenomena, whether mental or +physical, we know substance as underlying the phenomena, as manifested +through them, and as constituting their ground of unity. (_c_) Our minds +bring to the observation of phenomena not only this knowledge of +substance, but also knowledge of time, space, cause, and right, realities +which are in no sense phenomenal. Since these objects of knowledge are not +phenomenal, the fact that God is not phenomenal cannot prevent us from +knowing him. + + + What substance is, we need not here determine. Whether we are + realists or idealists, we are compelled to grant that there cannot + be phenomena without noumena, cannot be appearances without + something that appears, cannot be qualities without something that + is qualified. This something which underlies or stands under + appearance or quality we call substance. We are Lotzeans rather + than Kantians, in our philosophy. To say that we know, not the + self, but only its manifestations in thought, is to confound self + with its thinking and to teach psychology without a soul. To say + that we know no external world, but only its manifestations in + sensations, is to ignore the principle that binds these sensations + together; for without a somewhat in which qualities inhere they + can have no ground of unity. In like manner, to say that we know + nothing of God but his manifestations, is to confound God with the + world and practically to deny that there is a God. + + Staehlin, in his work on Kant, Lotze and Ritschl, 186-191, 218, + 219, says well that "limitation of knowledge to phenomena involves + the elimination from theology of all claim to know the objects of + the Christian faith as they are in themselves." This criticism + justly classes Ritschl with Kant, rather than with Lotze who + maintains that knowing phenomena we know also the noumena + manifested in them. While Ritschl professes to follow Lotze, the + whole drift of his theology is in the direction of the Kantian + identification of the world with our sensations, mind with our + thoughts, and God with such activities of his as we can perceive. + A divine nature apart from its activities, a preexistent Christ, + an immanent Trinity, are practically denied. Assertions that God + is self-conscious love and fatherhood become judgments of merely + subjective value. On Ritschl, see the works of Orr, of Garvie, and + of Swing; also Minton, in Pres. and Ref. Rev., Jan. 1902:162-169, + and C. W. Hodge, _ibid._, Apl. 1902:321-326; Flint, Agnosticism, + 590-597; Everett, Essays Theol. and Lit., 92-99. + + We grant that we can know God only so far as his activities reveal + him, and so far as our minds and hearts are receptive of his + revelation. The appropriate faculties must be exercised--not the + mathematical, the logical, or the prudential, but the ethical and + the religious. It is the merit of Ritschl that he recognizes the + practical in distinction from the speculative reason; his error is + in not recognizing that, when we do thus use the proper powers of + knowing, we gain not merely subjective but also objective truth, + and come in contact not simply with God's activities but also with + God himself. Normal religious judgments, though dependent upon + subjective conditions, are not simply "judgments of worth" or + "value-judgments,"--they give us the knowledge of "things in + themselves." Edward Caird says of his brother John Caird (Fund. + Ideas of Christianity, Introd. cxxi)--"The conviction that God can + be known and is known, and that, in the deepest sense, all our + knowledge is knowledge of him, was the corner-stone of his + theology." + + Ritschl's phenomenalism is allied to the positivism of Comte, who + regarded all so-called knowledge of other than phenomenal objects + as purely negative. The phrase "Positive Philosophy" implies + indeed that all knowledge of mind is negative; see Comte, Pos. + Philosophy, Martineau's translation, 26, 28, 33--"In order to + observe, your intellect must pause from activity--yet it is this + very activity you want to observe. If you cannot effect the pause, + you cannot observe; if you do effect it, there is nothing to + observe." This view is refuted by the two facts; (1) + consciousness, and (2) memory; for consciousness is the knowing of + the self side by side with the knowing of its thoughts, and memory + is the knowing of the self side by side with the knowing of its + past; see Martineau, Essays Philos. and Theol., 1:24-40, 207-212. + By phenomena we mean "facts, in distinction from their ground, + principle, or law"; "neither phenomena nor qualities, as such, are + perceived, but objects, percepts, or beings; and it is by an + after-thought or reflex process that these are connected as + qualities and are referred to as substances"; see Porter, Human + Intellect, 51, 238, 520, 619-637, 640-645. + + Phenomena may be internal, _e. g._, thoughts; in this case the + noumenon is the mind, of which these thoughts are the + manifestations. Or, phenomena may be external, _e. g._, color, + hardness, shape, size; in this case the noumenon is matter, of + which these qualities are the manifestations. But qualities, + whether mental or material, imply the existence of a substance to + which they belong: they can no more be conceived of as existing + apart from substance, than the upper side of a plank can be + conceived of as existing without an under side; see Bowne, Review + of Herbert Spencer, 47, 207-217; Martineau, Types of Ethical + Theory, 1; 455, 456--"Comte's assumption that mind cannot know + itself or its states is exactly balanced by Kant's assumption that + mind cannot know anything outside of itself.... It is precisely + because all knowledge is of relations that it is not and cannot be + of phenomena alone. The absolute cannot _per se_ be known, because + in being known it would _ipso facto_ enter into relations and be + absolute no more. But neither can the phenomenal _per se_ be + known, _i. e._, be known as phenomenal, without simultaneous + cognition of what is non-phenomenal." McCosh, Intuitions, 138-154, + states the characteristics of substance as (1) being, (2) power, + (3) permanence. Diman, Theistic Argument, 337, 363--"The theory + that disproves God, disproves an external world and the existence + of the soul." We know something beyond phenomena, viz.: law, + cause, force,--or we can have no science; see Tulloch, on Comte, in + Modern Theories, 53-73; see also Bib. Sac., 1874:211; Alden, + Philosophy, 44; Hopkins, Outline Study of Man, 87; Fleming, Vocab. + of Philosophy, art.: Phenomena; New Englander, July, 1875:537-539. + + +B. Because we can know only that which bears analogy to our own nature or +experience. We reply: (_a_) It is not essential to knowledge that there be +similarity of nature between the knower and the known. We know by +difference as well as by likeness. (_b_) Our past experience, though +greatly facilitating new acquisitions, is not the measure of our possible +knowledge. Else the first act of knowledge would be inexplicable, and all +revelation of higher characters to lower would be precluded, as well as +all progress to knowledge which surpasses our present attainments. (_c_) +Even if knowledge depended upon similarity of nature and experience, we +might still know God, since we are made in God's image, and there are +important analogies between the divine nature and our own. + + + (_a_) The dictum of Empedocles, "Similia similibus percipiuntur," + must be supplemented by a second dictum, "Similia dissimilibus + percipiuntur." All things are alike, in being objects. But knowing + is distinguishing, and there must be contrast between objects to + awaken our attention. God knows sin, though it is the antithesis + to his holy being. The ego knows the non-ego. We cannot know even + self, without objectifying it, distinguishing it from its + thoughts, and regarding it as another. + + (_b_) _Versus_ Herbert Spencer, First Principles, 79-82--"Knowledge + is recognition and classification." But we reply that a thing must + first be perceived in order to be recognized or compared with + something else; and this is as true of the first sensation as of + the later and more definite forms of knowledge,--indeed there is no + sensation which does not involve, as its complement, an at least + incipient perception; see Sir William Hamilton, Metaphysics, 351, + 352; Porter, Human Intellect, 206. + + (_c_) Porter, Human Intellect, 486--"Induction is possible only + upon the assumption that the intellect of man is a reflex of the + divine intellect, or that man is made in the image of God." Note, + however, that man is made in God's image, not God in man's. The + painting is the image of the landscape, not, _vice versa_, the + landscape the image of the painting; for there is much in the + landscape that has nothing corresponding to it in the painting. + Idolatry perversely makes God in the image of man, and so deifies + man's weakness and impurity. Trinity in God may have no exact + counterpart in man's present constitution, though it may disclose + to us the goal of man's future development and the meaning of the + increasing differentiation of man's powers. Gore, Incarnation, + 116--"If anthropomorphism as applied to God is false, yet + theomorphism as applied to man is true; man is made in God's + image, and his qualities are, not the measure of the divine, but + their counterpart and real expression." See Murphy, Scientific + Bases, 122; McCosh, in Internat. Rev., 1875:105; Bib. Sac., + 1867:624; Martineau, Types of Ethical Theory, 2:4-8, and Study of + Religion, 1:94. + + +C. Because we know only that of which we can conceive, in the sense of +forming an adequate mental image. We reply: (_a_) It is true that we know +only that of which we can conceive, if by the term "conceive" we mean our +distinguishing in thought the object known from all other objects. But, +(_b_) The objection confounds conception with that which is merely its +occasional accompaniment and help, namely, the picturing of the object by +the imagination. In this sense, conceivability is not a final test of +truth. (_c_) That the formation of a mental image is not essential to +conception or knowledge, is plain when we remember that, as a matter of +fact, we both conceive and know many things of which we cannot form a +mental image of any sort that in the least corresponds to the reality; for +example, force, cause, law, space, our own minds. So we may know God, +though we cannot form an adequate mental image of him. + + + The objection here refuted is expressed most clearly in the words + of Herbert Spencer, First Principles, 25-36, 98--"The reality + underlying appearances is totally and forever inconceivable by + us." Mansel, Prolegomena Logica, 77, 78 (_cf._ 26) suggests the + source of this error in a wrong view of the nature of the concept: + "The first distinguishing feature of a concept, viz.: that it + cannot in itself be depicted to sense or imagination." Porter, + Human Intellect, 392 (see also 429, 656)--"The _concept_ is not a + mental image"--only the _percept_ is. Lotze: "Color in general is + not representable by any image; it looks neither green nor red, + but has no look whatever." The generic horse has no particular + color, though the individual horse may be black, white, or bay. So + Sir William Hamilton speaks of "the unpicturable notions of the + intelligence." + + Martineau, Religion and Materialism, 39, 40--"This doctrine of + Nescience stands in exactly the same relation to causal power, + whether you construe it as Material Force or as Divine Agency. + Neither can be _observed_; one or the other must be _assumed_. If + you admit to the category of knowledge only what we learn from + observation, particular or generalized, then is Force unknown; if + you extend the word to what is imported by the intellect itself + into our cognitive acts, to make them such, then is God known." + Matter, ether, energy, protoplasm, organism, life,--no one of these + can be portrayed to the imagination; yet Mr. Spencer deals with + them as objects of Science. If these are not inscrutable, why + should he regard the Power that gives unity to all things as + inscrutable? + + Herbert Spencer is not in fact consistent with himself, for in + divers parts of his writings he calls the inscrutable Reality back + of phenomena the one, eternal, ubiquitous, infinite, ultimate, + absolute Existence, Power and Cause. "It seems," says Father + Dalgairns, "that a great deal is known about the Unknowable." + Chadwick, Unitarianism, 75--"The beggar phrase 'Unknowable' + becomes, after Spencer's repeated designations of it, as rich as + Croesus with all saving knowledge." Matheson: "To know that we + know nothing is already to have reached a fact of knowledge." If + Mr. Spencer intended to exclude God from the realm of Knowledge, + he should first have excluded him from the realm of Existence; for + to grant that he is, is already to grant that we not only may know + him, but that we actually to some extent do know him; see D. J. + Hill, Genetic Philosophy, 22; McCosh, Intuitions, 186-189 (Eng. + ed., 214); Murphy, Scientific Bases, 133; Bowne, Review of + Spencer, 30-34; New Englander, July, 1875:543, 544; Oscar Craig, + in Presb. Rev., July, 1883:594-602. + + +D. Because we can know truly only that which we know in whole and not in +part. We reply: (_a_) The objection confounds partial knowledge with the +knowledge of a part. We know the mind in part, but we do not know a part +of the mind. (_b_) If the objection were valid, no real knowledge of +anything would be possible, since we know no single thing in all its +relations. We conclude that, although God is a being not composed of +parts, we may yet have a partial knowledge of him, and this knowledge, +though not exhaustive, may yet be real, and adequate to the purposes of +science. + + + (_a_) The objection mentioned in the text is urged by Mansel, + Limits of Religious Thought, 97, 98, and is answered by Martineau, + Essays, 1:291. The mind does not exist in space, and it has no + parts: we cannot speak of its south-west corner, nor can we divide + it into halves. Yet we find the material for mental science in + partial knowledge of the mind. So, while we are not "geographers + of the divine nature" (Bowne, Review of Spencer, 72), we may say + with Paul, not "now know we a part of God," but "now I know [God], + in part"_ (1 Cor. 13:12)_. We may know truly what we do not know + exhaustively; see _Eph. 3:19--_"to know the love of Christ which + passeth knowledge." I do not perfectly understand myself, yet I + know myself in part; so I may know God, though I do not perfectly + understand him. + + (_b_) The same argument that proves God unknowable proves the + universe unknowable also. Since every particle of matter in the + universe attracts every other, no one particle can be exhaustively + explained without taking account of all the rest. Thomas Carlyle: + "It is a mathematical fact that the casting of this pebble from my + hand alters the centre of gravity of the universe." Tennyson, + Higher Pantheism: "Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of + the crannies; Hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little + flower; but if I could understand What you are, root and all, and + all in all, I should know what God and man is." Schurman, + Agnosticism, 119--"Partial as it is, this vision of the divine + transfigures the life of man on earth." Pfleiderer, Philos. + Religion, 1:167--"A faint-hearted agnosticism is worse than the + arrogant and titanic gnosticism against which it protests." + + +E. Because all predicates of God are negative, and therefore furnish no +real knowledge. We answer: (_a_) Predicates derived from our +consciousness, such as spirit, love, and holiness, are positive. (_b_) The +terms "infinite" and "absolute," moreover, express not merely a negative +but a positive idea--the idea, in the former case, of the absence of all +limit, the idea that the object thus described goes on and on forever; the +idea, in the latter case, of entire self-sufficiency. Since predicates of +God, therefore, are not merely negative, the argument mentioned above +furnishes no valid reason why we may not know him. + + + _Versus_ Sir William Hamilton, Metaphysics, 530--"The absolute and + the infinite can each only be conceived as a negation of the + thinkable; in other words, of the absolute and infinite we have no + conception at all." Hamilton here confounds the infinite, or the + absence of _all_ limits, with the indefinite, or the absence of + all _known_ limits. _Per contra_, see Calderwood, Moral + Philosophy, 248, and Philosophy of the Infinite, 272--"Negation of + one thing is possible only by affirmation of another." Porter, + Human Intellect, 652--"If the Sandwich Islanders, for lack of name, + had called the ox a _not-hog_, the use of a negative appellation + would not necessarily authorize the inference of a want of + definite conceptions or positive knowledge." So with the infinite + or not-finite, the unconditioned or not-conditioned, the + independent or not-dependent,--these names do not imply that we + cannot conceive and know it as something positive. Spencer, First + Principles, 92--"Our consciousness of the Absolute, indefinite + though it is, is positive, and not negative." + + Schurman, Agnosticism, 100, speaks of "the farce of nescience + playing at omniscience in setting the bounds of science." "The + agnostic," he says, "sets up the invisible picture of a _Grand + Etre_, formless and colorless in itself, absolutely separated from + man and from the world--blank within and void without--its very + existence indistinguishable from its non-existence, and, bowing + down before this idolatrous creation, he pours out his soul in + lamentations over the incognizableness of such a mysterious and + awful non-entity.... The truth is that the agnostic's abstraction + of a Deity is unknown, only because it is unreal." See McCosh, + Intuitions, 194, note; Mivart, Lessons from Nature, 363. God is + not necessarily infinite in every respect. He is infinite only in + every excellence. A plane which is unlimited in the one respect of + length may be limited in another respect, such as breadth. Our + doctrine here is not therefore inconsistent with what immediately + follows. + + +F. Because to know is to limit or define. Hence the Absolute as unlimited, +and the Infinite as undefined, cannot be known. We answer: (_a_) God is +absolute, not as existing in _no_ relation, but as existing in no +_necessary_ relation; and (_b_) God is infinite, not as excluding all +coexistence of the finite with himself, but as being the ground of the +finite, and so unfettered by it. (_c_) God is actually limited by the +unchangeableness of his own attributes and personal distinctions, as well +as by his self-chosen relations to the universe he has created and to +humanity in the person of Christ. God is therefore limited and defined in +such a sense as to render knowledge of him possible. + + + _Versus_ Mansel, Limitations of Religious Thought, 75-84, 93-95; + _cf._ Spinoza: "Omnis determinatio est negatio;" hence to define + God is to deny him. But we reply that perfection is inseparable + from limitation. Man can be other than he is: not so God, at least + internally. But this limitation, inherent in his unchangeable + attributes and personal distinctions, is God's perfection. + Externally, all limitations upon God are self-limitations, and so + are consistent with his perfection. That God should not be able + thus to limit himself in creation and redemption would render all + self-sacrifice in him impossible, and so would subject him to the + greatest of limitations. We may say therefore that God's 1. + _Perfection_ involves his limitation to (_a_) personality, (_b_) + trinity, (_c_) righteousness; 2. _Revelation_ involves his + self-limitation in (_a_) decree, (_b_) creation, (_c_) + preservation, (_d_) government, (_e_) education of the world; 3. + _Redemption_ involves his infinite self-limitation in the (_a_) + person and (_b_) work of Jesus Christ; see A. H. Strong, Christ in + Creation, 87-101, and in Bap. Quar. Rev., Jan. 1891:521-532. + + Bowne, Philos. of Theism, 135--"The infinite is not the + quantitative all; the absolute is not the unrelated.... Both + absolute and infinite mean only the independent ground of things." + Julius Mueller, Doct. Sin, Introduc., 10--"Religion has to do, not + with _an_ Object that must let itself be known because its very + existence is contingent upon its being known, but with _the_ + Object in relation to whom we are truly subject, dependent upon + him, and waiting until he manifest himself." James Martineau, + Study of Religion, 1:346--"We must not confound the _infinite_ with + the _total_.... The self-abnegation of infinity is but a form of + self-assertion, and the only form in which it can reveal + itself.... However instantaneous the omniscient thought, however + sure the almighty power, the execution has to be distributed in + time, and must have an order of successive steps; on no other + terms can the eternal become temporal, and the infinite + articulately speak in the finite." + + Perfect personality excludes, not _self_-determination, but + determination _from without_, determination _by another_. God's + self-limitations are the self-limitations of love, and therefore + the evidences of his perfection. They are signs, not of weakness + but of power. God has limited himself to the method of evolution, + gradually unfolding himself in nature and in history. The + government of sinners by a holy God involves constant + self-repression. The education of the race is a long process of + divine forbearance; Herder: "The limitations of the pupil are + limitations of the teacher also." In inspiration, God limits + himself by the human element through which he works. Above all, in + the person and work of Christ, we have infinite self-limitation: + Infinity narrows itself down to a point in the incarnation, and + holiness endures the agonies of the Cross. God's promises are also + self-limitations. Thus both nature and grace are self-imposed + restrictions upon God, and these self-limitations are the means by + which he reveals himself. See Pfleiderer, Die Religion, 1:189, + 195; Porter, Human Intellect, 653; Murphy, Scientific Bases, 130; + Calderwood, Philos. Infinite, 168; McCosh, Intuitions, 186; + Hickok, Rational Cosmology, 85; Martineau, Study of Religion, + 2:85, 86, 362; Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, 1:189-191. + + +G. Because all knowledge is relative to the knowing agent; that is, what +we know, we know, not as it is objectively, but only as it is related to +our own senses and faculties. In reply: (_a_) We grant that we can know +only that which has relation to our faculties. But this is simply to say +that we know only that which we come into mental contact with, that is, we +know only what we know. But, (_b_) We deny that what we come into mental +contact with is known by us as other than it is. So far as it is known at +all, it is known as it is. In other words, the laws of our knowing are not +merely arbitrary and regulative, but correspond to the nature of things. +We conclude that, in theology, we are equally warranted in assuming that +the laws of our thought are laws of God's thought, and that the results of +normally conducted thinking with regard to God correspond to the objective +reality. + + + _Versus_ Sir Wm. Hamilton, Metaph., 96-116, and Herbert Spencer, + First Principles, 68-97. This doctrine of relativity is derived + from Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, who holds that _a priori_ + judgments are simply "regulative." But we reply that when our + primitive beliefs are found to be simply regulative, they will + cease to regulate. The forms of thought are also facts of nature. + The mind does not, like the glass of a kaleidoscope, itself + furnish the forms; it recognizes these as having an existence + external to itself. The mind reads its ideas, not _into_ nature, + but _in_ nature. Our intuitions are not green goggles, which make + all the world _seem_ green: they are the lenses of a microscope, + which enable us to see what is objectively _real_ (Royce, Spirit + of Mod. Philos., 125). Kant called our understanding "the + legislator of nature." But it is so, only as discoverer of + nature's laws, not as creator of them. Human reason does impose + its laws and forms upon the universe; but, in doing this, it + interprets the real meaning of the universe. + + Ladd, Philos. of Knowledge: "All judgment implies an objective + truth according to which we judge, which constitutes the standard, + and with which we have something in common, _i. e._, our minds are + part of an infinite and eternal Mind." French aphorism: "When you + are right, you are more right than you think you are." God will + not put us to permanent intellectual confusion. Kant vainly wrote + "No thoroughfare" over the reason in its highest exercise. + Martineau, Study of Religion, 1:135, 136--"Over against Kant's + assumption that the mind cannot know anything outside of itself, + we may set Comte's equally unwarrantable assumption that the mind + cannot know itself or its states. We cannot have philosophy + without assumptions. You dogmatize if you say that the forms + correspond with reality; but you equally dogmatize if you say that + they do not.... 79--That our cognitive faculties correspond to + things _as they are_, is much less surprising than that they + should correspond to things _as they are not_." W. T. Harris, in + Journ. Spec. Philos., 1:22, exposes Herbert Spencer's + self-contradiction: "All knowledge is, not absolute, but relative; + our knowledge of this fact however is, not relative, but + absolute." + + Ritschl, Justification and Reconciliation, 3:16-21, sets out with + a correct statement of the nature of knowledge, and gives in his + adhesion to the doctrine of Lotze, as distinguished from that of + Kant. Ritschl's statement may be summarized as follows: "We deal, + not with the abstract God of metaphysics, but with the God + self-limited, who is revealed in Christ. We do not know either + things or God _apart from_ their phenomena or manifestations, as + Plato imagined; we do not know phenomena or manifestations + _alone_, without knowing either things or God, as Kant supposed; + but we do know both things and God _in_ their phenomena or + manifestations, as Lotze taught. We hold to no mystical union with + God, back of all experience in religion, as Pietism does; soul is + always and only active, and religion is the activity of the human + spirit, in which feeling, knowing and willing combine in an + intelligible order." + + But Dr. C. M. Mead, Ritschl's Place in the History of Doctrine, + has well shown that Ritschl has not followed Lotze. His + "value-judgments" are simply an application to theology of the + "regulative" principle of Kant. He holds that we can know things + not as they are in themselves, but only as they are for us. We + reply that what things are worth for us depends on what they are + in themselves. Ritschl regards the doctrines of Christ's + preexistence, divinity and atonement as intrusions of metaphysics + into theology, matters about which we cannot know, and with which + we have nothing to do. There is no propitiation or mystical union + with Christ; and Christ is our Example, but not our atoning + Savior. Ritschl does well in recognizing that love in us gives + eyes to the mind, and enables us to see the beauty of Christ and + his truth. But our judgment is not, as he holds, a merely + subjective value-judgment,--it is a coming in contact with + objective fact. On the theory of knowledge held by Kant, Hamilton + and Spencer, see Bishop Temple, Bampton Lectures for 1884:13; H. + B. Smith, Faith and Philosophy, 297-336; J. S. Mill, Examination, + 1:113-134; Herbert, Modern Realism Examined; M. B. Anderson, art.: + "Hamilton," in Johnson's Encyclopaedia; McCosh, Intuitions, + 139-146, 340, 341, and Christianity and Positivism, 97-123; + Maurice, What is Revelation? Alden, Intellectual Philosophy, + 48-79, esp. 71-79; Porter, Hum. Intellect, 523; Murphy, Scientific + Bases, 103; Bib. Sac. April, 1868:341; Princeton Rev., 1864:122; + Bowne, Review of Herbert Spencer, 76; Bowen, in Princeton Rev., + March, 1878:445-448; Mind, April, 1878:257; Carpenter, Mental + Physiology, 117; Harris, Philos. Basis of Theism, 109-113; + Iverach, in Present Day Tracts, 5: No. 29; Martineau, Study of + Religion, 1:79, 120, 121, 135, 136. + + +3. God's revelation of himself to man. + + +_In God's actual revelation of himself and certain of these relations._--As +we do not in this place attempt a positive proof of God's existence or of +man's capacity for the knowledge of God, so we do not now attempt to prove +that God has brought himself into contact with man's mind by revelation. +We shall consider the grounds of this belief hereafter. Our aim at present +is simply to show that, granting the fact of revelation, a scientific +theology is possible. This has been denied upon the following grounds: + +A. That revelation, as a making known, is necessarily internal and +subjective--either a mode of intelligence, or a quickening of man's +cognitive powers--and hence can furnish no objective facts such as +constitute the proper material for science. + + + Morell, Philos. Religion, 128-131, 143--"The Bible cannot in strict + accuracy of language be called a revelation, since a revelation + always implies an actual process of intelligence in a living + mind." F. W. Newman, Phases of Faith, 152--"Of our moral and + spiritual God we know nothing without--everything within." Theodore + Parker: "Verbal revelation can never communicate a simple idea + like that of God, Justice, Love, Religion"; see review of Parker + in Bib. Sac., 18:24-27. James Martineau, Seat of Authority in + Religion: "As many minds as there are that know God at first hand, + so many revealing acts there have been, and as many as know him at + second hand are strangers to revelation"; so, assuming external + revelation to be impossible, Martineau subjects all the proofs of + such revelation to unfair destructive criticism. Pfleiderer, + Philos. Religion, 1:185--"As all revelation is originally an + _inner_ living experience, the springing up of religious truth in + the heart, no external event can belong in itself to revelation, + no matter whether it be naturally or supernaturally brought + about." Professor George M. Forbes: "Nothing can be revealed to us + which we do not grasp with our reason. It follows that, so far as + reason acts normally, it is a part of revelation." Ritchie, Darwin + and Hegel, 30--"The revelation of God is the growth of the idea of + God." + + +In reply to this objection, urged mainly by idealists in philosophy, (_a_) +We grant that revelation, to be effective, must be the means of inducing a +new mode of intelligence, or in other words, must be understood. We grant +that this understanding of divine things is impossible without a +quickening of man's cognitive powers. We grant, moreover, that revelation, +when originally imparted, was often internal and subjective. + + + Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 51-53, on _Gal. 1:16--_"to reveal + his Son in me": "The revelation on the way to Damascus would not + have enlightened Paul, had it been merely a vision to his eye. + Nothing can be revealed _to_ us which has not been revealed _in_ + us. The eye does not see the beauty of the landscape, nor the ear + hear the beauty of music. So flesh and blood do not reveal Christ + to us. Without the teaching of the Spirit, the external facts will + be only like the letters of a book to a child that cannot read." + We may say with Channing: "I am more sure that my rational nature + is from God, than that any book is the expression of his will." + + +(_b_) But we deny that external revelation is therefore useless or +impossible. Even if religious ideas sprang wholly from within, an external +revelation might stir up the dormant powers of the mind. Religious ideas, +however, do not spring wholly from within. External revelation can impart +them. Man can reveal himself to man by external communications, and, if +God has equal power with man, God can reveal himself to man in like +manner. + + + Rogers, in his Eclipse of Faith, asks pointedly: "If Messrs. + Morell and Newman can teach by a book, cannot God do the same?" + Lotze, Microcosmos, 2:660 (book 9, chap. 4), speaks of revelation + as "either contained in some divine act of historic occurrence, or + continually repeated in men's hearts." But in fact there is no + alternative here; the strength of the Christian creed is that + God's revelation is both external and internal; see Gore, in Lux + Mundi, 338. Rainy, in Critical Review, 1:1-21, well says that + Martineau unwarrantably _isolates_ the witness of God to the + individual soul. The inward needs to be combined with the outward, + in order to make sure that it is not a vagary of the imagination. + We need to distinguish God's revelations from our own fancies. + Hence, before giving the internal, God commonly gives us the + external, as a standard by which to try our impressions. We are + finite and sinful, and we need authority. The external revelation + commends itself as authoritative to the heart which recognizes its + own spiritual needs. External authority evokes the inward witness + and gives added clearness to it, but only historical revelation + furnishes indubitable proof that God is love, and gives us + assurance that our longings after God are not in vain. + + +(_c_) Hence God's revelation may be, and, as we shall hereafter see, it +is, in great part, an external revelation in works and words. The universe +is a revelation of God; God's works in nature precede God's words in +history. We claim, moreover, that, in many cases where truth was +originally communicated internally, the same Spirit who communicated it +has brought about an external record of it, so that the internal +revelation might be handed down to others than those who first received +it. + + + We must not limit revelation to the Scriptures. The eternal Word + antedated the written word, and through the eternal Word God is + made known in nature and in history. Internal revelation is + preceded by, and conditioned upon, external revelation. In point + of time earth comes before man, and sensation before perception. + Action best expresses character, and historic revelation is more + by deeds than by words. Dorner, Hist. Prot. Theol., 1:231-264--"The + Word is not in the Scriptures alone. The whole creation reveals + the Word. In nature God shows his power; in incarnation his grace + and truth. Scripture testifies of these, but Scripture is not the + essential Word. The Scripture is truly apprehended and + appropriated when in it and through it we see the living and + present Christ. It does not bind men to itself alone, but it + points them to the Christ of whom it testifies. Christ is the + authority. In the Scriptures he points us to himself and demands + our faith in him. This faith, once begotten, leads us to new + appropriation of Scripture, but also to new criticism of + Scripture. We find Christ more and more in Scripture, and yet we + judge Scripture more and more by the standard which we find in + Christ." + + Newman Smyth, Christian Ethics, 71-82: "There is but one + authority--Christ. His Spirit works in many ways, but chiefly in + two: first, the inspiration of the Scriptures, and, secondly, the + leading of the church into the truth. The latter is not to be + isolated or separated from the former. Scripture is law to the + Christian consciousness, and Christian consciousness in time + becomes law to the Scripture--interpreting, criticizing, verifying + it. The word and the spirit answer to each other. Scripture and + faith are cooerdinate. Protestantism has exaggerated the first; + Romanism the second. Martineau fails to grasp the cooerdination of + Scripture and faith." + + +(_d_) With this external record we shall also see that there is given +under proper conditions a special influence of God's Spirit, so to quicken +our cognitive powers that the external record reproduces in our minds the +ideas with which the minds of the writers were at first divinely filled. + + + We may illustrate the need of internal revelation from Egyptology, + which is impossible so long as the external revelation in the + hieroglyphics is uninterpreted; from the ticking of the clock in a + dark room, where only the lit candle enables us to tell the time; + from the landscape spread out around the Rigi in Switzerland, + invisible until the first rays of the sun touch the snowy mountain + peaks. External revelation ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, _Rom. 1:19, 20_) must be + supplemented by internal revelation ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, _1 Cor. 2:10, + 12_). Christ is the organ of external, the Holy Spirit the organ + of internal, revelation. In Christ (_2 Cor. 1:20_) are "the yea" + and "the Amen"--the objective certainty and the subjective + certitude, the reality and the realization. + + Objective certainty must become subjective certitude in order to + be a scientific theology. Before conversion we have the first, the + external truth of Christ; only at conversion and after conversion + do we have the second, "Christ formed in us"_ (Gal. 4:19)_. We + have objective revelation at Sinai (_Ex. 20:22_); subjective + revelation in Elisha's knowledge of Gehazi (_2 K. 5:26_). James + Russell Lowell, Winter Evening Hymn to my Fire: "Therefore with + thee I love to read Our brave old poets: at thy touch how stirs + Life in the withered words! how swift recede Time's shadows! and + how glows again Through its dead mass the incandescent verse, As + when upon the anvil of the brain It glittering lay, cyclopically + wrought By the fast throbbing hammers of the poet's thought!" + + +(_e_) Internal revelations thus recorded, and external revelations thus +interpreted, both furnish objective facts which may serve as proper +material for science. Although revelation in its widest sense may include, +and as constituting the ground of the possibility of theology does +include, both insight and illumination, it may also be used to denote +simply a provision of the external means of knowledge, and theology has to +do with inward revelations only as they are expressed in, or as they agree +with, this objective standard. + + + We have here suggested the vast scope and yet the insuperable + limitations of theology. So far as God is revealed, whether in + nature, history, conscience, or Scripture, theology may find + material for its structure. Since Christ is not simply the + incarnate Son of God but also the eternal Word, the only Revealer + of God, there is no theology apart from Christ, and all theology + is Christian theology. Nature and history are but the dimmer and + more general disclosures of the divine Being, of which the Cross + is the culmination and the key. God does not intentionally conceal + himself. He wishes to be known. He reveals himself at all times + just as fully as the capacity of his creatures will permit. The + infantile intellect cannot understand God's boundlessness, nor can + the perverse disposition understand God's disinterested affection. + Yet all truth is in Christ and is open to discovery by the + prepared mind and heart. + + The Infinite One, so far as he is unrevealed, is certainly + unknowable to the finite. But the Infinite One, so far as he + manifests himself, is knowable. This suggests the meaning of the + declarations: _John 1:18--_"No man hath seen God at any time; the + only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath + declared him"; _14:9--_"he that hath seen me hath seen the Father"; + _1 Tim. 6:16--_"whom no man hath seen, nor can see." We therefore + approve of the definition of Kaftan, Dogmatik, 1--"Dogmatics is the + science of the Christian truth which is believed and acknowledged + in the church upon the ground of the divine revelation"--in so far + as it limits the scope of theology to truth revealed by God and + apprehended by faith. But theology presupposes both God's external + and God's internal revelations, and these, as we shall see, + include nature, history, conscience and Scripture. On the whole + subject, see Kahnis, Dogmatik, 3:37-43; Nitzsch, System Christ. + Doct., 72; Luthardt, Fund. Truths, 193; Auberlen, Div. Rev., + Introd., 29; Martineau, Essays, 1:171, 280; Bib. Sac., 1867:593, + and 1872:428; Porter, Human Intellect, 373-375; C. M. Mead, in + Boston Lectures, 1871:58. + + +B. That many of the truths thus revealed are too indefinite to constitute +the material for science, because they belong to the region of the +feelings, because they are beyond our full understanding, or because they +are destitute of orderly arrangement. + +We reply: + +(_a_) Theology has to do with subjective feelings only as they can be +defined, and shown to be effects of objective truth upon the mind. They +are not more obscure than are the facts of morals or of psychology, and +the same objection which would exclude such feelings from theology would +make these latter sciences impossible. + + + See Jacobi and Schleiermacher, who regard theology as a mere + account of devout Christian feelings, the grounding of which in + objective historical facts is a matter of comparative indifference + (Hagenbach, Hist. Doctrine, 2:401-403). Schleiermacher therefore + called his system of theology "Der Christliche Glaube," and many + since his time have called their systems by the name of + "Glaubenslehre." Ritschl's "value-judgments," in like manner, + render theology a merely subjective science, if any subjective + science is possible. Kaftan improves upon Ritschl, by granting + that we know, not only Christian feelings, but also Christian + facts. Theology is the science of God, and not simply the science + of faith. Allied to the view already mentioned is that of + Feuerbach, to whom religion is a matter of subjective fancy; and + that of Tyndall, who would remit theology to the region of vague + feeling and aspiration, but would exclude it from the realm of + science; see Feuerbach, Essence of Christianity, translated by + Marian Evans (George Eliot); also Tyndall, Belfast Address. + + +(_b_) Those facts of revelation which are beyond our full understanding +may, like the nebular hypothesis in astronomy, the atomic theory in +chemistry, or the doctrine of evolution in biology, furnish a principle of +union between great classes of other facts otherwise irreconcilable. We +may define our concepts of God, and even of the Trinity, at least +sufficiently to distinguish them from all other concepts; and whatever +difficulty may encumber the putting of them into language only shows the +importance of attempting it and the value of even an approximate success. + + + Horace Bushnell: "Theology can never be a science, on account of + the infirmities of language." But this principle would render void + both ethical and political science. Fisher, Nat. and Meth. of + Revelation, 145--"Hume and Gibbon refer to faith as something too + sacred to rest on proof. Thus religious beliefs are made to hang + in mid-air, without any support. But the foundation of these + beliefs is no less solid for the reason that empirical tests are + not applicable to them. The data on which they rest are real, and + the inferences from the data are fairly drawn." Hodgson indeed + pours contempt on the whole intuitional method by saying: + "Whatever you are totally ignorant of, assert to be the + explanation of everything else!" Yet he would probably grant that + he begins his investigations by assuming his own existence. The + doctrine of the Trinity is not wholly comprehensible by us, and we + accept it at the first upon the testimony of Scripture; the full + proof of it is found in the fact that each successive doctrine of + theology is bound up with it, and with it stands or falls. The + Trinity is rational because it explains Christian experience as + well as Christian doctrine. + + +(_c_) Even though there were no orderly arrangement of these facts, either +in nature or in Scripture, an accurate systematizing of them by the human +mind would not therefore be proved impossible, unless a principle were +assumed which would show all physical science to be equally impossible. +Astronomy and geology are constructed by putting together multitudinous +facts which at first sight seem to have no order. So with theology. And +yet, although revelation does not present to us a dogmatic system +ready-made, a dogmatic system is not only implicitly contained therein, +but parts of the system are wrought out in the epistles of the New +Testament, as for example in Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4; 8:6; 1 Tim. +3:16; Heb. 6:1, 2. + + + We may illustrate the construction of theology from the dissected + map, two pieces of which a father puts together, leaving his child + to put together the rest. Or we may illustrate from the physical + universe, which to the unthinking reveals little of its order. + "Nature makes no fences." One thing seems to glide into another. + It is man's business to distinguish and classify and combine. + Origen: "God gives us truth in single threads, which we must weave + into a finished texture." Andrew Fuller said of the doctrines of + theology that "they are united together like chain-shot, so that, + whichever one enters the heart, the others must certainly follow." + George Herbert: "Oh that I knew how all thy lights combine, And + the configuration of their glory; Seeing not only how each verse + doth shine, But all the constellations of the story!" + + Scripture hints at the possibilities of combination, in _Rom. + 5:12-19_, with its grouping of the facts of sin and salvation + about the two persons, Adam and Christ; in _Rom. 4:24, 25_, with + its linking of the resurrection of Christ and our justification; + in _1 Cor. 3:6_, with its indication of the relations between the + Father and Christ; in _1 Tim. 3:16_, with its poetical summary of + the facts of redemption (see Commentaries of DeWette, Meyer, + Fairbairn); in _Heb. 6:1, 2_, with its statement of the first + principles of the Christian faith. God's furnishing of concrete + facts in theology, which we ourselves are left to systematize, is + in complete accordance with his method of procedure with regard to + the development of other sciences. See Martineau, Essays, 1:29, + 40; Am. Theol. Rev., 1859:101-126--art. on the Idea, Sources and + Uses of Christian Theology. + + + +IV. Necessity of Theology. + + +The necessity of theology has its grounds: + +(_a_) _In the organizing instinct of the human mind._ This organizing +principle is a part of our constitution. The mind cannot endure confusion +or apparent contradiction in known facts. The tendency to harmonize and +unify its knowledge appears as soon as the mind becomes reflective; just +in proportion to its endowments and culture does the impulse to +systematize and formulate increase. This is true of all departments of +human inquiry, but it is peculiarly true of our knowledge of God. Since +the truth with regard to God is the most important of all, theology meets +the deepest want of man's rational nature. Theology is a rational +necessity. If all existing theological systems were destroyed to-day, new +systems would rise to-morrow. So inevitable is the operation of this law, +that those who most decry theology show nevertheless that they have made a +theology for themselves, and often one sufficiently meagre and blundering. +Hostility to theology, where it does not originate in mistaken fears for +the corruption of God's truth or in a naturally illogical structure of +mind, often proceeds from a license of speculation which cannot brook the +restraints of a complete Scriptural system. + + + President E. G. Robinson: "Every man has as much theology as he + can hold." Consciously or unconsciously, we philosophize, as + naturally as we speak prose. "Se moquer de la philosophie c'est + vraiment philosopher." Gore, Incarnation, 21--"Christianity became + metaphysical, only because man is rational. This rationality means + that he must attempt 'to give account of things,' as Plato said, + 'because he was a man, not merely because he was a Greek.' " Men + often denounce systematic theology, while they extol the sciences + of matter. Has God then left only the facts with regard to himself + in so unrelated a state that man cannot put them together? All + other sciences are valuable only as they contain or promote the + knowledge of God. If it is praiseworthy to classify beetles, one + science may be allowed to reason concerning God and the soul. In + speaking of Schelling, Royce, Spirit of Modern Philosophy, 173, + satirically exhorts us: "Trust your genius; follow your noble + heart; change your doctrine whenever your heart changes, and + change your heart often,--such is the practical creed of the + romanticists." Ritchie, Darwin and Hegel, 3--"Just those persons + who disclaim metaphysics are sometimes most apt to be infected + with the disease they profess to abhor--and not to know when they + have it." See Shedd, Discourses and Essays, 27-52; Murphy, + Scientific Bases of Faith, 195-199. + + +(_b_) _In the relation of systematic truth to the development of +character._ Truth thoroughly digested is essential to the growth of +Christian character in the individual and in the church. All knowledge of +God has its influence upon character, but most of all the knowledge of +spiritual facts in their relations. Theology cannot, as has sometimes been +objected, deaden the religious affections, since it only draws out from +their sources and puts into rational connection with each other the truths +which are best adapted to nourish the religions affections. On the other +hand, the strongest Christians are those who have the firmest grasp upon +the great doctrines of Christianity; the heroic ages of the church are +those which have witnessed most consistently to them; the piety that can +be injured by the systematic exhibition of them must be weak, or mystical, +or mistaken. + + + Some knowledge is necessary to conversion--at least, knowledge of + sin and knowledge of a Savior; and the putting together of these + two great truths is a beginning of theology. All subsequent growth + of character is conditioned upon the increase of this knowledge. + _Col. 1:10--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} [omit {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}] = + _"increasing by the knowledge of God"--the instrumental dative + represents the knowledge of God as the dew or rain which nurtures + the growth of the plant; _cf._ _3 Pet. 3:18--_"grow in the grace + and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." For texts + which represent truth as nourishment, see _Jer. 3:15--_"feed you + with knowledge and understanding"; _Mat. 4:4--_"Man shall not live + by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth + of God"; _1 Cor. 3:1, 2--_"babes in Christ ... I fed you with milk, + not with meat"; _Heb. 5:14--_"but solid food is for full-grown + men." Christian character rests upon Christian truth as its + foundation; see _1 Cor. 3:10-15--_"I laid a foundation, and another + buildeth thereon." See Dorus Clarke, Saying the Catechism; Simon, + on Christ Doct. and Life, in Bib. Sac., July, 1884:433-439. + + Ignorance is the mother of superstition, not of devotion. Talbot + W. Chambers:--"Doctrine without duty is a tree without fruits; duty + without doctrine is a tree without roots." Christian morality is a + fruit which grows only from the tree of Christian doctrine. We + cannot long keep the fruits of faith after we have cut down the + tree upon which they have grown. Balfour, Foundations of Belief, + 82--"Naturalistic virtue is parasitic, and when the host perishes, + the parasite perishes also. Virtue without religion will die." + Kidd, Social Evolution, 214--"Because the fruit survives for a time + when removed from the tree, and even mellows and ripens, shall we + say that it is independent of the tree?" The twelve manner of + fruits on the Christmas-tree are only tacked on,--they never grew + there, and they can never reproduce their kind. The withered apple + swells out under the exhausted receiver, but it will go back again + to its former shrunken form; so the self-righteousness of those + who get out of the atmosphere of Christ and have no divine ideal + with which to compare themselves. W. M. Lisle: "It is the mistake + and disaster of the Christian world that effects are sought + instead of causes." George A. Gordon, Christ of To-day, + 28--"Without the historical Christ and personal love for that + Christ, the broad theology of our day will reduce itself to a + dream, powerless to rouse a sleeping church." + + +(_c_) _In the importance to the preacher of definite and just views of +Christian doctrine._ His chief intellectual qualification must be the +power clearly and comprehensively to conceive, and accurately and +powerfully to express, the truth. He can be the agent of the Holy Spirit +in converting and sanctifying men, only as he can wield "the sword of the +Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17), or, in other language, only +as he can impress truth upon the minds and consciences of his hearers. +Nothing more certainly nullifies his efforts than confusion and +inconsistency in his statements of doctrine. His object is to replace +obscure and erroneous conceptions among his hearers by those which are +correct and vivid. He cannot do this without knowing the facts with regard +to God in their relations--knowing them, in short, as parts of a system. +With this truth he is put in trust. To mutilate it or misrepresent it, is +not only sin against the Revealer of it,--it may prove the ruin of men's +souls. The best safeguard against such mutilation or misrepresentation, is +the diligent study of the several doctrines of the faith in their +relations to one another, and especially to the central theme of theology, +the person and work of Jesus Christ. + + + The more refined and reflective the age, the more it requires + reasons for feeling. Imagination, as exercised in poetry and + eloquence and as exhibited in politics or war, is not less strong + than of old,--it is only more rational. Notice the progress from + "Buncombe", in legislative and forensic oratory, to sensible and + logical address. Bassanio in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, + 1:1:113--"Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing.... His + reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff." + So in pulpit oratory, mere Scripture quotation and fervid appeal + are no longer sufficient. As well be a howling dervish, as to + indulge in windy declamation. Thought is the staple of preaching. + Feeling must be roused, but only by bringing men to "the knowledge + of the truth"_ (2 Tim. 2:25)_. The preacher must furnish the basis + for feeling by producing intelligent conviction. He must instruct + before he can move. If the object of the preacher is first to know + God, and secondly to make God known, then the study of theology is + absolutely necessary to his success. + + Shall the physician practice medicine without study of physiology, + or the lawyer practice law without study of jurisprudence? + Professor Blackie: "One may as well expect to make a great patriot + out of a fencing-master, as to make a great orator out of a mere + rhetorician." The preacher needs doctrine, to prevent his being a + mere barrel-organ, playing over and over the same tunes. John + Henry Newman: "The false preacher is one who has to say something; + the true preacher is one who has something to say." Spurgeon, + Autobiography, 1:167--"Constant change of creed is sure loss. If a + tree has to be taken up two or three times a year, you will not + need to build a very large loft in which to store the apples. When + people are shifting their doctrinal principles, they do not bring + forth much fruit.... We shall never have great preachers till we + have great divines. You cannot build a man of war out of a + currant-bush, nor can great soul-moving preachers be formed out of + superficial students." Illustrate the harmfulness of ignorant and + erroneous preaching, by the mistake in a physician's prescription; + by the wrong trail at Lake Placid which led astray those ascending + Whiteface; by the sowing of acorns whose crop was gathered only + after a hundred years. Slight divergences from correct doctrine on + our part may be ruinously exaggerated in those who come after us. + Though the moth-miller has no teeth, its offspring has. _2 Tim. + 2:2--_"And the things which thou hast heard from me among many + witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able + to teach others also." + + +(_d_) _In the intimate connection between correct doctrine and the safety +and aggressive power of the church._ The safety and progress of the church +is dependent upon her "holding the pattern of sound words" (2 Tim. 1:13), +and serving as "pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). Defective +understanding of the truth results sooner or later in defects of +organization, of operation, and of life. Thorough comprehension of +Christian truth as an organized system furnishes, on the other hand, not +only an invaluable defense against heresy and immorality, but also an +indispensable stimulus and instrument in aggressive labor for the world's +conversion. + + + The creeds of Christendom have not originated in mere speculative + curiosity and logical hair-splitting. They are statements of + doctrine in which the attacked and imperiled church has sought to + express the truth which constitutes her very life. Those who + deride the early creeds have small conception of the intellectual + acumen and the moral earnestness which went to the making of them. + The creeds of the third and fourth centuries embody the results of + controversies which exhausted the possibilities of heresy with + regard to the Trinity and the person of Christ, and which set up + bars against false doctrine to the end of time. Mahaffy: "What + converted the world was not the example of Christ's life,--it was + the dogma of his death." Coleridge: "He who does not withstand, + has no standing ground of his own." Mrs. Browning: "Entire + intellectual toleration is the mark of those who believe nothing." + E. G. Robinson, Christian Theology, 360-362--"A doctrine is but a + precept in the style of a proposition; and a precept is but a + doctrine in the form of a command.... Theology is God's garden; + its trees are trees of his planting; and 'all the trees of the + Lord are full of sap'_ (Ps. 104:16)._" + + Bose, Ecumenical Councils: "A creed is not catholic because a + council of many or of few bishops decreed it, but because it + expresses the common conviction of entire generations of men and + women who turned their understanding of the New Testament into + those forms of words." Dorner: "The creeds are the precipitate of + the religious consciousness of mighty men and times." Foster, + Christ. Life and Theol., 162--"It ordinarily requires the shock of + some great event to startle men into clear apprehension and + crystallization of their substantial belief. Such a shock was + given by the rough and coarse doctrine of Arius, upon which the + conclusion arrived at in the Council of Nice followed as rapidly + as in chilled water the crystals of ice will sometimes form when + the containing vessel receives a blow." Balfour, Foundations of + Belief, 287--"The creeds were not explanations, but rather denials + that the Arian and Gnostic explanations were sufficient, and + declarations that they irremediably impoverished the idea of the + Godhead. They insisted on preserving that idea in all its + inexplicable fulness." Denny, Studies in Theology, 192--"Pagan + philosophies tried to capture the church for their own ends, and + to turn it into a school. In self-defense the church was compelled + to become somewhat of a school on its own account. It had to + assert its facts; it had to define its ideas; it had to interpret + in its own way those facts which men were misinterpreting." + + Professor Howard Osgood: "A creed is like a backbone. A man does + not need to wear his backbone in front of him; but he must have a + backbone, and a straight one, or he will be a flexible if not a + humpbacked Christian." Yet we must remember that creeds are + _credita_, and not _credenda_; historical statements of what the + church _has_ believed, not infallible prescriptions of what the + church _must_ believe. George Dana Boardman, The Church, + 98--"Creeds are apt to become cages." Schurman, Agnosticism, + 151--"The creeds were meant to be defensive fortifications of + religion; alas, that they should have sometimes turned their + artillery against the citadel itself." T. H. Green: "We are told + that we must be loyal to the beliefs of the Fathers. Yes, but who + knows what the Fathers believe now?" George A. Gordon, Christ of + To-day, 60--"The assumption that the Holy Spirit is not concerned + in the development of theological thought, nor manifest in the + intellectual evolution of mankind, is the superlative heresy of + our generation.... The metaphysics of Jesus are absolutely + essential to his ethics.... If his thought is a dream, his + endeavor for man is a delusion." See Schaff, Creeds of + Christendom, 1:8, 15, 16; Storrs, Div. Origin of Christianity, + 121; Ian Maclaren (John Watson), Cure of Souls, 152; Frederick + Harrison, in Fortnightly Rev., Jan. 1889. + + +(_e_) _In the direct and indirect injunctions of Scripture._ The Scripture +urges upon us the thorough and comprehensive study of the truth (John +5:39, marg.,--"Search the Scriptures"), the comparing and harmonizing of +its different parts (1 Cor. 2:13--"comparing spiritual things with +spiritual"), the gathering of all about the great central fact of +revelation (Col. 1:27--"which is Christ in you, the hope of glory"), the +preaching of it in its wholeness as well as in its due proportions (2 Tim. +4:2--"Preach the word"). The minister of the Gospel is called "a scribe who +hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven" (Mat. 13:52); the +"pastors" of the churches are at the same time to be "teachers" (Eph. +4:11); the bishop must be "apt to teach" (1 Tim. 3:2), "handling aright +the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15), "holding to the faithful word which is +according to the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in the sound +doctrine and to convict the gainsayers" (Tit. 1:9). + + + As a means of instructing the church and of securing progress in + his own understanding of Christian truth, it is well for the + pastor to preach regularly each month a doctrinal sermon, and to + expound in course the principal articles of the faith. The + treatment of doctrine in these sermons should be simple enough to + be comprehensible by intelligent youth; it should be made vivid + and interesting by the help of brief illustrations; and at least + one-third of each sermon should be devoted to the practical + applications of the doctrine propounded. See Jonathan Edwards's + sermon on the Importance of the Knowledge of Divine Truth, in + Works, 4:1-15. The actual sermons of Edwards, however, are not + models of doctrinal preaching for our generation. They are too + scholastic in form, too metaphysical for substance; there is too + little of Scripture and too little of illustration. The doctrinal + preaching of the English Puritans in a similar manner addressed + itself almost wholly to adults. The preaching of our Lord on the + other hand was adapted also to children. No pastor should count + himself faithful, who permits his young people to grow up without + regular instruction from the pulpit in the whole circle of + Christian doctrine. Shakespeare, K. Henry VI, 2nd part, + 4:7--"Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge the wing wherewith + we fly to heaven." + + + +V. Relation of Theology to Religion. + + +Theology and religion are related to each other as effects, in different +spheres, of the same cause. As theology is an effect produced in the +sphere of systematic thought by the facts respecting God and the universe, +so religion is an effect which these same facts produce in the sphere of +individual and collective life. With regard to the term "religion", +notice: + + +1. Derivation. + + +(_a_) The derivation from _religare_, "to bind back" (man to God), is +negatived by the authority of Cicero and of the best modern etymologists; +by the difficulty, on this hypothesis, of explaining such forms as +_religio_, _religens_; and by the necessity, in that case, of presupposing +a fuller knowledge of sin and redemption than was common to the ancient +world. + +(_b_) The more correct derivation is from _relegere_, "to go over again," +"carefully to ponder." Its original meaning is therefore "reverent +observance" (of duties due to the gods). + + + For advocacy of the derivation of _religio_, as meaning "binding + duty," from _religare_, see Lange, Dogmatik, 1:185-196. This + derivation was first proposed by Lactantius, Inst. Div., 4:28, a + Christian writer. To meet the objection that the form _religio_ + seems derived from a verb of the third conjugation, Lange cites + _rebellio_, from _rebellare_, and _optio_, from _optare_. But we + reply that these verbs of the first conjugation, like many others, + are probably derived from obsolete verbs of the third conjugation. + For the derivation favored in the text, see Curtius, Griechische + Etymologie, 5te Aufl., 364; Fick, Vergl. Woerterb. der indoger. + Spr., 2:227; Vanicek, Gr.-Lat. Etym. Woerterb., 2:829; Andrews, + Latin Lexicon, _in voce_; Nitzsch, System of Christ. Doctrine, 7; + Van Oosterzee, Dogmatics, 75-77; Philippi, Glaubenslehre, 1:6; + Kahnis, Dogmatik, 3:18; Menzies, History of Religion, 11; Max + Mueller, Natural Religion, lect. 2. + + +2. False Conceptions. + + +(_a_) Religion is not, as Hegel declared, a kind of knowing; for it would +then be only an incomplete form of philosophy, and the measure of +knowledge in each case would be the measure of piety. + + + In a system of idealistic pantheism, like that of Hegel, God is + the subject of religion as well as its object. Religion is God's + knowing of himself through the human consciousness. Hegel did not + utterly ignore other elements in religion. "Feeling, intuition, + and faith belong to it," he said, "and mere cognition is + one-sided." Yet he was always looking for the movement of + _thought_ in all forms of life; God and the universe were but + developments of the primordial _idea_. "What knowledge is worth + knowing," he asked, "if God is unknowable? To know God is eternal + life, and thinking is also true worship." Hegel's error was in + regarding life as a process of thought, rather than in regarding + thought as a process of life. Here was the reason for the + bitterness between Hegel and Schleiermacher. Hegel rightly + considered that feeling must become intelligent before it is truly + religious, but he did not recognize the supreme importance of love + in a theological system. He gave even less place to the will than + he gave to the emotions, and he failed to see that the knowledge + of God of which Scripture speaks is a knowing, not of the + intellect alone, but of the whole man, including the affectional + and voluntary nature. + + Goethe: "How can a man come to know himself? Never by thinking, + but by doing. Try to do your duty, and you will know at once what + you are worth. You cannot play the flute by blowing alone,--you + must use your fingers." So we can never come to know God by + thinking alone. _John 7:17--_"If any man willeth to do his will, he + will know of the teaching, whether it is of God." The Gnostics, + Stapfer, Henry VIII, all show that there may be much theological + knowledge without true religion. Chillingworth's maxim, "The Bible + only, the religion of Protestants," is inadequate and inaccurate; + for the Bible, without faith, love, and obedience, may become a + fetich and a snare: _John 5:39,40--_"Ye search the Scriptures, ... + and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life." See Sterrett, + Studies in Hegel's Philosophy of Religion; Porter, Human + Intellect, 59, 60, 412, 525-536, 589, 650; Morell, Hist. Philos., + 476, 477; Hamerton, Intel. Life, 214; Bib. Sac., 9:374. + + +(_b_) Religion is not, as Schleiermacher held, the mere feeling of +dependence; for such feeling of dependence is not religious, unless +exercised toward God and accompanied by moral effort. + + + In German theology, Schleiermacher constitutes the transition from + the old rationalism to the evangelical faith. "Like Lazarus, with + the grave clothes of a pantheistic philosophy entangling his + steps," yet with a Moravian experience of the life of God in the + soul, he based religion upon the inner certainties of Christian + feeling. But, as Principal Fairbairn remarks, "Emotion is impotent + unless it speaks out of conviction; and where conviction is, there + will be emotion which is potent to persuade." If Christianity is + religious feeling alone, then there is no essential difference + between it and other religions, for all alike are products of the + religious sentiment. But Christianity is distinguished from other + religions by its peculiar religious conceptions. Doctrine precedes + life, and Christian doctrine, not mere religious feeling, is the + cause of Christianity as a distinctive religion. Though faith + begins in feeling, moreover, it does not end there. We see the + worthlessness of mere feeling in the transient emotions of + theatre-goers, and in the occasional phenomena of revivals. + + Sabatier, Philos. Relig., 27, adds to Schleiermacher's passive + element of _dependence_, the active element of _prayer_. Kaftan, + Dogmatik, 10--"Schleiermacher regards God as the _Source_ of our + being, but forgets that he is also our _End_." Fellowship and + progress are as important elements in religion as is dependence; + and fellowship must come before progress--such fellowship as + presupposes pardon and life. Schleiermacher apparently believed in + neither a personal God nor his own personal immortality; see his + Life and Letters, 2:77-90; Martineau, Study of Religion, 2:357. + Charles Hodge compares him to a ladder in a pit--a good thing for + those who wish to get out, but not for those who wish to get in. + Dorner: "The Moravian brotherhood was his mother; Greece was his + nurse." On Schleiermacher, see Herzog, Realencyclopaedie, _in + voce_; Bib. Sac., 1852:375; 1883:534; Liddon, Elements of + Religion, lect. I; Ebrard, Dogmatik, 1:14; Julius Mueller, Doctrine + of Sin, 1:175; Fisher, Supernat. Origin of Christianity, 563-570; + Caird, Philos. Religion, 160-186. + + +(_c_) Religion is not, as Kant maintained, morality or moral action; for +morality is conformity to an abstract law of right, while religion is +essentially a relation to a person, from whom the soul receives blessing +and to whom it surrenders itself in love and obedience. + + + Kant, Kritik der praktischen Vernunft, Beschluss: "I know of but + two beautiful things, the starry heavens above my head, and the + sense of duty within my heart." But the mere sense of duty often + distresses. We object to the word "obey" as the imperative of + religion, because (1) it makes religion a matter of the will only; + (2) will presupposes affection; (3) love is not subject to will; + (4) it makes God all law, and no grace; (5) it makes the Christian + a servant only, not a friend; _cf._ _John 15:15--_"No longer do I + call you servants ... but I have called you friends"--a relation + not of service but of love (Westcott, Bib. Com., _in loco_). The + voice that speaks is the voice of love, rather than the voice of + law. We object also to Matthew Arnold's definition: "Religion is + ethics heightened, enkindled, lit up by feeling; morality touched + with emotion." This leaves out of view the receptive element in + religion, as well as its relation to a personal God. A truer + statement would be that religion is morality toward God, as + morality is religion toward man. Bowne, Philos. of Theism, + 251--"Morality that goes beyond mere conscientiousness must have + recourse to religion"; see Lotze, Philos. of Religion, 128-142. + Goethe: "Unqualified activity, of whatever kind, leads at last to + bankruptcy"; see also Pfleiderer, Philos. Religion, 1:65-69; + Shedd, Sermons to the Natural Man, 244-246; Liddon, Elements of + Religion, 19. + + +3. Essential Idea. + + +Religion in its essential idea is a life in God, a life lived in +recognition of God, in communion with God, and under control of the +indwelling Spirit of God. Since it is a life, it cannot be described as +consisting solely in the exercise of any one of the powers of intellect, +affection, or will. As physical life involves the unity and cooeperation of +all the organs of the body, so religion, or spiritual life, involves the +united working of all the powers of the soul. To feeling, however, we must +assign the logical priority, since holy affection toward God, imparted in +regeneration, is the condition of truly knowing God and of truly serving +him. + + + See Godet, on the Ultimate Design of Man--"God in man, and man in + God"--in Princeton Rev., Nov. 1880; Pfleiderer, Die Religion, 5-79, + and Religionsphilosophie, 255--Religion is "Sache des ganzen + Geisteslebens": Crane, Religion of To-morrow, 4--"Religion is the + personal influence of the immanent God"; Sterrett, Reason and + Authority in Religion, 31, 32--"Religion is the reciprocal relation + or communion of God and man, involving (1) revelation, (2) faith"; + Dr. J. W. A. Stewart: "Religion is fellowship with God"; Pascal: + "Piety is God sensible to the heart"; Ritschl, Justif. and + Reconcil., 13--"Christianity is an ellipse with two foci--Christ as + Redeemer and Christ as King, Christ for us and Christ in us, + redemption and morality, religion and ethics"; Kaftan, Dogmatik, + 8--"The Christian religion is (1) the _kingdom of God_ as a goal + above the world, to be attained by moral development here, and (2) + _reconciliation with God_ permitting attainment of this goal in + spite of our sins. Christian theology once grounded itself in + man's natural knowledge of God; we now start with religion, _i. + e._, that Christian knowledge of God which we call faith." + + Herbert Spencer: "Religion is an _a priori_ theory of the + universe"; Romanes, Thoughts on Religion, 43, adds: "which assumes + intelligent personality as the originating cause of the universe, + science dealing with the _How_, the phenomenal process, religion + dealing with the _Who_, the intelligent Personality who works + through the process." Holland, in Lux Mundi, 27--"Natural life is + the life in God which has not yet arrived at this recognition"--the + recognition of the fact that God is in all things--"it is not yet, + as such, religious; ... Religion is the discovery, by the son, of + a Father who is in all his works, yet is distinct from them all." + Dewey, Psychology, 283--"Feeling finds its absolutely universal + expression in religious emotion, which is the finding or + realization of self in a completely realized personality which + unites in itself truth, or the complete unity of the relations of + all objects, beauty or the complete unity of all ideal values, and + rightness or the complete unity of all persons. The emotion which + accompanies the religious life is that which accompanies the + complete activity of ourselves; the self is realized and finds its + true life in God." Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 262--"Ethics is simply + the growing insight into, and the effort to actualize in society, + the sense of fundamental kinship and identity of substance in all + men; while religion is the emotion and the devotion which attend + the realization in our self-consciousness of an inmost spiritual + relationship arising out of that unity of substance which + constitutes man the true son of the eternal Father." See Van + Oosterzee, Dogmatics, 81-85; Julius Mueller, Doct. Sin, 2:227; + Nitzsch, Syst. of Christ. Doct., 10-28; Luthardt, Fund. Truths, + 147; Twesten, Dogmatik, 1:12. + + +4. Inferences. + + +From this definition of religion it follows: + +(_a_) That in strictness there is but one religion. Man is a religious +being, indeed, as having the capacity for this divine life. He is actually +religious, however, only when he enters into this living relation to God. +False religions are the caricatures which men given to sin, or the +imaginations which men groping after light, form of this life of the soul +in God. + + + Peabody, Christianity the Religion of Nature, 18--"If Christianity + be true, it is not _a_ religion, but _the_ religion. If Judaism be + also true, it is so not as distinct from but as coincident with + Christianity, the one religion to which it can bear only the + relation of a part to the whole. If there be portions of truth in + other religious systems, they are not portions of other religions, + but portions of the one religion which somehow or other became + incorporated with fables and falsities." John Caird, Fund. Ideas + of Christianity, 1:25--"You can never get at the true idea or + essence of religion merely by trying to find out something that is + common to all religions; and it is not the lower religions that + explain the higher, but conversely the higher religion explains + all the lower religions." George P. Fisher: "The recognition of + certain elements of truth in the ethnic religions does not mean + that Christianity has defects which are to be repaired by + borrowing from them; it only means that the ethnic faiths have in + fragments what Christianity has as a whole. Comparative religion + does not bring to Christianity new truth; it provides + illustrations of how Christian truth meets human needs and + aspirations, and gives a full vision of that which the most + spiritual and gifted among the heathen only dimly discerned." + + Dr. C. H. Parkhurst, sermon on _Proverbs 20:27--_"The spirit of man + is the lamp of Jehovah"--"a lamp, but not necessarily lighted; a + lamp that can be lit only by the touch of a divine flame"--man has + naturally and universally a capacity for religion, but is by no + means naturally and universally religious. All false religions + have some element of truth; otherwise they could never have gained + or kept their hold upon mankind. We need to recognize these + elements of truth in dealing with them. There is some silver in a + counterfeit dollar, else it would deceive no one; but the thin + washing of silver over the lead does not prevent it from being bad + money. Clarke, Christian Theology, 8--"See Paul's methods of + dealing with heathen religion, in Acts 14 with gross paganism and + in Acts 17 with its cultured form. He treats it with sympathy and + justice. Christian theology has the advantage of walking in the + light of God's self-manifestation in Christ, while heathen + religions grope after God and worship him in ignorance"; _cf._ + _Acts 14:16--_"We ... bring you good tidings, that ye should turn + from these vain things unto a living God"_;_ _17:22--_"I perceive + that ye are more than usually reverent toward the divinities.... + What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto + you." + + Matthew Arnold: "Children of men! the unseen Power whose eye + Forever doth accompany mankind, Hath looked on no religion + scornfully That man did ever find. Which has not taught weak wills + how much they can? Which has not fallen on the dry heart like + rain? Which has not cried to sunk, self-weary man, Thou must be + born again?" Christianity is absolutely exclusive, because it is + absolutely inclusive. It is not an amalgamation of other + religions, but it has in it all that is best and truest in other + religions. It is the white light that contains all the colored + rays. God may have made disclosures of truth outside of Judaism, + and did so in Balaam and Melchisedek, in Confucius and Socrates. + But while other religions have a relative excellence, Christianity + is the absolute religion that contains all excellencies. Matheson, + Messages of the Old Religions, 328-342--"Christianity is + reconciliation. Christianity includes the aspiration of Egypt; it + sees, in this aspiration, God in the soul (Brahmanism); recognizes + the evil power of sin with Parseeism; goes back to a pure + beginning like China; surrenders itself to human brotherhood like + Buddha; gets all things from within like Judaism; makes the + present life beautiful like Greece; seeks a universal kingdom like + Rome; shows a growth of divine life, like the Teuton. Christianity + is the manifold wisdom of God." See also Van Oosterzee, Dogmatics, + 88-93. Shakespeare: "There is some soul of goodness in things + evil, Would men observingly distill it out" + + +(_b_) That the content of religion is greater than that of theology. The +facts of religion come within the range of theology only so far as they +can be definitely conceived, accurately expressed in language, and brought +into rational relation to each other. + + + This principle enables us to define the proper limits of religious + fellowship. It should be as wide as is religion itself. But it is + important to remember what religion is. Religion is not to be + identified with the capacity for religion. Nor can we regard the + perversions and caricatures of religion as meriting our + fellowship. Otherwise we might be required to have fellowship with + devil-worship, polygamy, thuggery, and the inquisition; for all + these have been dignified with the name of religion. True religion + involves some knowledge, however rudimentary, of the true God, the + God of righteousness; some sense of sin as the contrast between + human character and the divine standard; some casting of the soul + upon divine mercy and a divine way of salvation, in place of + self-righteous earning of merit and reliance upon one's works and + one's record; some practical effort to realize ethical principle + in a pure life and in influence over others. Wherever these marks + of true religion appear, even in Unitarians, Romanists, Jews or + Buddhists, there we recognize the demand for fellowship. But we + also attribute these germs of true religion to the inworking of + the omnipresent Christ, "the light which lighteth every man"_ + (John 1:9),_ and we see in them incipient repentance and faith, + even though the Christ who is their object is yet unknown by name. + _Christian_ fellowship must have a larger basis in accepted + Christian truth, and _Church_ fellowship a still larger basis in + common acknowledgment of N. T. teaching as to the church. + _Religious_ fellowship, in the widest sense, rests upon the fact + that "God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that + feareth him and worketh righteousness is acceptable to him"_ (Acts + 10:34, 35)_. + + +(_c_) That religion is to be distinguished from formal worship, which is +simply the outward expression of religion. As such expression, worship is +"formal communion between God and his people." In it God speaks to man, +and man to God. It therefore properly includes the reading of Scripture +and preaching on the side of God, and prayer and song on the side of the +people. + + + Sterrett, Reason and Authority in Religion, 166--"Christian worship + is the utterance (outerance) of the spirit." But there is more in + true love than can be put into a love-letter, and there is more in + true religion than can be expressed either in theology or in + worship. Christian worship is communion between God and man. But + communion cannot be one-sided. Madame de Stael, whom Heine called + "a whirlwind in petticoats," ended one of her brilliant + soliloquies by saying: "What a delightful conversation we have + had!" We may find a better illustration of the nature of worship + in Thomas a Kempis's dialogues between the saint and his Savior, + in the Imitation of Christ. Goethe: "Against the great superiority + of another there is no remedy but love.... To praise a man is to + put one's self on his level." If this be the effect of loving and + praising man, what must be the effect of loving and praising God! + Inscription in Grasmere Church: "Whoever thou art that enterest + this church, leave it not without one prayer to God for thyself, + for those who minister, and for those who worship here." In _James + 1:27--_"Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is + this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and + to keep oneself unspotted from the world"--"_religion_," {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, + is _cultus exterior_; and the meaning is that "the external + service, the outward garb, the very ritual of Christianity, is a + life of purity, love and self-devotion. What its true essence, its + inmost spirit may be, the writer does not say, but leaves this to + be inferred." On the relation between religion and worship, see + Prof. Day, in New Englander, Jan. 1882; Prof. T. Harwood Pattison, + Public Prayer; Trench, Syn. N. T., 1; sec. 48; Coleridge, Aids to + Reflection, Introd., Aphorism 23; Lightfoot, Gal., 351, note 2. + + + + +Chapter II. Material of Theology. + + + +I. Sources of Theology. + + +God himself, in the last analysis, must be the only source of knowledge +with regard to his own being and relations. Theology is therefore a +summary and explanation of the content of God's self-revelations. These +are, first, the revelation of God in nature; secondly and supremely, the +revelation of God in the Scriptures. + + + Ambrose: "To whom shall I give greater credit concerning God than + to God himself?" Von Baader: "To know God without God is + impossible; there is no knowledge without him who is the prime + source of knowledge." C. A. Briggs, Whither, 8--"God reveals truth + in several spheres: in universal nature, in the constitution of + mankind, in the history of our race, in the Sacred Scriptures, but + above all in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord." F. H. Johnson, + What is Reality? 399--"The teacher intervenes when needed. + Revelation _helps_ reason and conscience, but is not a + _substitute_ for them. But Catholicism affirms this substitution + for the church, and Protestantism for the Bible. The Bible, like + nature, gives many free gifts, but more in the germ. Growing + ethical ideals must interpret the Bible." A. J. F. Behrends: "The + Bible is only a telescope, not the eye which sees, nor the stars + which the telescope brings to view. It is your business and mine + to see the stars with our own eyes." Schurman, Agnosticism, + 178--"The Bible is a glass through which to see the living God. But + it is useless when you put your eyes out." + + We can know God only so far as he has revealed himself. The + immanent God is known, but the transcendent God we do not know any + more than we know the side of the moon that is turned away from + us. A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 118--"The word 'authority' is + derived from _auctor_, _augeo_, 'to add.' Authority adds something + to the truth communicated. The thing added is the personal element + of _witness_. This is needed wherever there is ignorance which + cannot be removed by our own effort, or unwillingness which + results from our own sin. In religion I need to add to my own + knowledge that which God imparts. Reason, conscience, church, + Scripture, are all delegated and subordinate authorities; the only + original and supreme authority is God himself, or Christ, who is + only God revealed and made comprehensible by us." Gore, + Incarnation, 181--"All legitimate authority represents the reason + of God, educating the reason of man and communicating itself to + it.... Man is made in God's image: he is, in his fundamental + capacity, a son of God, and he becomes so in fact, and fully, + through union with Christ. Therefore in the truth of God, as + Christ presents it to him, he can recognize his own better + reason,--to use Plato's beautiful expression, he can salute it by + force of instinct as something akin to himself, before he can give + intellectual account of it." + + Balfour, Foundations of Belief, 332-337, holds that there is no + such thing as unassisted reason, and that, even if there were, + natural religion is not one of its products. Behind all evolution + of our own reason, he says, stands the Supreme Reason. + "Conscience, ethical ideals, capacity for admiration, sympathy, + repentance, righteous indignation, as well as our delight in + beauty and truth, are all derived from God." Kaftan, in Am. Jour. + Theology, 1900; 718, 719, maintains that there is no other + principle for dogmatics than Holy Scripture. Yet he holds that + knowledge never comes directly from Scripture, but from faith. The + order is not: Scripture, doctrine, faith; but rather, Scripture, + faith, doctrine. Scripture is no more a direct authority than is + the church. Revelation is addressed to the whole man, that is, to + the _will_ of the man, and it claims _obedience_ from him. Since + all Christian knowledge is mediated through faith, it rests on + obedience to the authority of revelation, and revelation is + self-manifestation on the part of God. Kaftan should have + recognized more fully that not simply Scripture, but all knowable + truth, is a revelation from God, and that Christ is "the light + which lighteth every man"_ (John 1:9)_. Revelation is an organic + whole, which begins in nature, but finds its climax and key in the + historical Christ whom Scripture presents to us. See H. C. + Minton's review of Martineau's Seat of Authority, in Presb. and + Ref. Rev., Apr. 1900:203 _sq._ + + +1. Scripture and Nature. + + +By nature we here mean not only physical facts, or facts with regard to +the substances, properties, forces, and laws of the material world, but +also spiritual facts, or facts with regard to the intellectual and moral +constitution of man, and the orderly arrangement of human society and +history. + + + We here use the word "nature" in the ordinary sense, as including + man. There is another and more proper use of the word "nature," + which makes it simply a complex of forces and beings under the law + of cause and effect. To nature in this sense man belongs only as + respects his body, while as immaterial and personal he is a + supernatural being. Free will is not under the law of physical and + mechanical causation. As Bushnell has said: "Nature and the + supernatural together constitute the one system of God." Drummond, + Natural Law in the Spiritual World, 232--"Things are natural or + supernatural according to where we stand. Man is supernatural to + the mineral; God is supernatural to the man." We shall in + subsequent chapters use the term "nature" in the narrow sense. The + universal use of the phrase "Natural Theology," however, compels + us in this chapter to employ the word "nature" in its broader + sense as including man, although we do this under protest, and + with this explanation of the more proper meaning of the term. See + Hopkins, in Princeton Review, Sept. 1882:183 _sq._ + + E. G. Robinson: "Bushnell separates nature from the supernatural. + Nature is a blind train of causes. God has nothing to do with it, + except as he steps into it from without. Man is supernatural, + because he is outside of nature, having the power of originating + an independent train of causes." If this were the proper + conception of nature, then we might be compelled to conclude with + P. T. Forsyth, in Faith and Criticism, 100--"There is no revelation + in nature. There can be none, because there is no forgiveness. We + cannot be sure about her. She is only aesthetic. Her ideal is + harmony, not reconciliation.... For the conscience, stricken or + strong, she has no word.... Nature does not contain her own + teleology, and for the moral soul that refuses to be fancy-fed, + Christ is the one luminous smile on the dark face of the world." + But this is virtually to confine Christ's revelation to Scripture + or to the incarnation. As there was an astronomy without the + telescope, so there was a theology before the Bible. George + Harris, Moral Evolution, 411--"Nature is both evolution and + revelation. As soon as the question _How_ is answered, the + questions _Whence_ and _Why_ arise. Nature is to God what speech + is to thought." The title of Henry Drummond's book should have + been: "Spiritual Law in the Natural World," for nature is but the + free though regular activity of God; what we call the supernatural + is simply his extraordinary working. + + +(_a_) Natural theology.--The universe is a source of theology. The +Scriptures assert that God has revealed himself in nature. There is not +only an outward witness to his existence and character in the constitution +and government of the universe (Ps. 19; Acts 14:17; Rom. 1:20), but an +inward witness to his existence and character in the heart of every man +(Rom. 1:17, 18, 19, 20, 32; 2:15). The systematic exhibition of these +facts, whether derived from observation, history or science, constitutes +natural theology. + + + Outward witness: _Ps.19:1-6--_"The heavens declare the glory of + God"; _Acts 14:17--_"he left not himself without witness, in that + he did good, and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons"; + _Rom. 1:20--_"for the invisible things of him since the creation of + the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things + that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity." Inward + witness: _Rom. 1:19--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} = _"that which is known of + God is manifest in them." Compare the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} of the gospel + in verse 17, with the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} of wrath in verse 18--two + revelations, one of {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}, the other of {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}; see Shedd, + Homiletics, 11. _Rom. 1:32--_"knowing the ordinance of God"; + _2:15--_"they show the work of the law written in their hearts." + Therefore even the heathen are "without excuse"_ (Rom. 1:20)_. + There are two books: Nature and Scripture--one written, the other + unwritten: and there is need of studying both. On the passages in + Romans, see the Commentary of Hodge. + + Spurgeon told of a godly person who, when sailing down the Rhine, + closed his eyes, lest the beauty of the scene should divert his + mind from spiritual themes. The Puritan turned away from the + moss-rose, saying that he would count nothing on earth lovely. But + this is to despise God's works. J. H. Barrows: "The Himalayas are + the raised letters upon which we blind children put our fingers to + spell out the name of God." To despise the works of God is to + despise God himself. God is present in nature, and is now + speaking. _Ps. 19:1--_"The heavens declare the glory of God, and + the firmament showeth his handiwork"--present tenses. Nature is not + so much a _book_, as a _voice_. Hutton, Essays, 2:236--"The direct + knowledge of spiritual communion must be supplemented by knowledge + of God's ways gained from the study of nature. To neglect the + study of the natural mysteries of the universe leads to an + arrogant and illicit intrusion of moral and spiritual assumptions + into a different world. This is the lesson of the book of Job." + Hatch, Hibbert Lectures, 85--"Man, the servant and interpreter of + nature, is also, and is thereby, the servant and interpreter of + the living God." Books of science are the record of man's past + interpretations of God's works. + + +(_b_) Natural theology supplemented.--The Christian revelation is the chief +source of theology. The Scriptures plainly declare that the revelation of +God in nature does not supply all the knowledge which a sinner needs (Acts +17:23; Eph. 3:9). This revelation is therefore supplemented by another, in +which divine attributes and merciful provisions only dimly shadowed forth +in nature are made known to men. This latter revelation consists of a +series of supernatural events and communications, the record of which is +presented in the Scriptures. + + + _Acts 17:23_--Paul shows that, though the Athenians, in the + erection of an altar to an unknown God, "acknowledged a divine + existence beyond any which the ordinary rites of their worship + recognized, that Being was still unknown to them; they had no just + conception of his nature and perfections" (Hackett, _in loco_). + _Eph. 3:9--_"the mystery which hath been hid in God"--this mystery + is in the gospel made known for man's salvation. Hegel, in his + Philosophy of Religion, says that Christianity is the only + revealed religion, because the Christian God is the only one from + whom a revelation can come. We may add that as science is the + record of man's progressive interpretation of God's revelation in + the realm of nature, so Scripture is the record of man's + progressive interpretation of God's revelation in the realm of + spirit. The phrase "word of God" does not primarily denote a + _record_,--it is the _spoken_ word, the _doctrine_, the vitalizing + _truth_, disclosed by Christ; see _Mat. 13:19--_"heareth the word + of the kingdom"; _Luke 5:1--_"heard the word of God"; _Acts + 8:25--_"spoken the word of the Lord"; _13:48, 49--_"glorified the + word of God: ... the word of the Lord was spread abroad"; _19:10, + 20--_"heard the word of the Lord, ... mightily grew the word of the + Lord"; _1 Cor. 1:18--_"the word of the cross"--all designating not a + document, but an unwritten word; _cf.__ Jer. 1:4--_"the word of + Jehovah came unto me"; _Ez. 1:3--_"the word of Jehovah came + expressly unto Ezekiel, the priest." + + +(_c_) The Scriptures the final standard of appeal.--Science and Scripture +throw light upon each other. The same divine Spirit who gave both +revelations is still present, enabling the believer to interpret the one +by the other and thus progressively to come to the knowledge of the truth. +Because of our finiteness and sin, the total record in Scripture of God's +past communications is a more trustworthy source of theology than are our +conclusions from nature or our private impressions of the teaching of the +Spirit. Theology therefore looks to the Scripture itself as its chief +source of material and its final standard of appeal. + + + There is an internal work of the divine Spirit by which the outer + word is made an inner word, and its truth and power are manifested + to the heart. Scripture represents this work of the Spirit, not as + a giving of new truth, but as an illumination of the mind to + perceive the fulness of meaning which lay wrapped up in the truth + already revealed. Christ is "the truth"_ (John 14:6)_; "in whom + are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden"_ (Col. + 2:3)_; the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, "shall take of mine, and shall + declare it unto you"_ (John 16:14)_. The incarnation and the Cross + express the heart of God and the secret of the universe; all + discoveries in theology are but the unfolding of truth involved in + these facts. The Spirit of Christ enables us to compare nature + with Scripture, and Scripture with nature, and to correct mistakes + in interpreting the one by light gained from the other. Because + the church as a whole, by which we mean the company of true + believers in all lands and ages, has the promise that it shall be + guided "into all the truth"_ (John 16:13)_, we may confidently + expect the progress of Christian doctrine. + + Christian experience is sometimes regarded as an original source + of religious truth. Experience, however, is but a testing and + proving of the truth objectively contained in God's revelation. + The word "experience" is derived from _experior_, to test, to try. + Christian consciousness is not "norma normans," but "norma + normata." Light, like life, comes to us through the mediation of + others. Yet the first comes from God as really as the last, of + which without hesitation we say: "God made me," though we have + human parents. As I get through the service-pipe in my house the + same water which is stored in the reservoir upon the hillside, so + in the Scriptures I get the same truth which the Holy Spirit + originally communicated to prophets and apostles. Calvin, + Institutes, book I, chap. 7--"As nature has an immediate + manifestation of God in conscience, a mediate in his works, so + revelation has an immediate manifestation of God in the Spirit, a + mediate in the Scriptures." "Man's nature," said Spurgeon, "is not + an organized lie, yet his inner consciousness has been warped by + sin, and though once it was an infallible guide to truth and duty, + sin has made it very deceptive. The standard of infallibility is + not in man's consciousness, but in the Scriptures. When + consciousness in any matter is contrary to the word of God, we + must know that it is not God's voice within us, but the devil's." + Dr. George A. Gordon says that "Christian history is a revelation + of Christ additional to that contained in the New Testament." + Should we not say "illustrative," instead of "additional"? On the + relation between Christian experience and Scripture, see Stearns, + Evidence of Christian Experience, 286-309: Twesten, Dogmatik, + 1:344-348; Hodge, Syst. Theol., 1:15. + + H. H. Bawden: "God is the ultimate authority, but there are + delegated authorities, such as family, state, church; instincts, + feelings, conscience; the general experience of the race, + traditions, utilities; revelation in nature and in Scripture. But + the highest authority available for men in morals and religion is + the truth concerning Christ contained in the Christian Scriptures. + What the truth concerning Christ _is_, is determined by: (1) the + human reason, conditioned by a right attitude of the feelings and + the will; (2) in the light of all the truth derived from nature, + including man; (3) in the light of the history of Christianity; + (4) in the light of the origin and development of the Scriptures + themselves. The authority of the generic reason and the authority + of the Bible are co-relative, since they both have been developed + in the providence of God, and since the latter is in large measure + but the reflection of the former. This view enables us to hold a + rational conception of the function of the Scripture in religion. + This view, further, enables us to rationalize what is called the + inspiration of the Bible, the nature and extent of inspiration, + the Bible as history--a record of the historic unfolding of + revelation; the Bible as literature--a compend of life-principles, + rather than a book of rules; the Bible Christocentric--an + incarnation of the divine thought and will in human thought and + language." + + +(_d_) The theology of Scripture not unnatural.--Though we speak of the +systematized truths of nature as constituting natural theology, we are not +to infer that Scriptural theology is unnatural. Since the Scriptures have +the same author as nature, the same principles are illustrated in the one +as in the other. All the doctrines of the Bible have their reason in that +same nature of God which constitutes the basis of all material things. +Christianity is a supplementary dispensation, not as contradicting, or +correcting errors in, natural theology, but as more perfectly revealing +the truth. Christianity is indeed the ground-plan upon which the whole +creation is built--the original and eternal truth of which natural theology +is but a partial expression. Hence the theology of nature and the theology +of Scripture are mutually dependent. Natural theology not only prepares +the way for, but it receives stimulus and aid from, Scriptural theology. +Natural theology may now be a source of truth, which, before the +Scriptures came, it could not furnish. + + + John Caird, Fund. Ideas of Christianity. 23--"There is no such + thing as a natural religion or religion of reason distinct from + revealed religion. Christianity is more profoundly, more + comprehensively, rational, more accordant with the deepest + principles of human nature and human thought than is natural + religion; or, as we may put it, Christianity is natural religion + elevated and transmuted into revealed." Peabody, Christianity the + Religion of Nature, lecture 2--"Revelation is the unveiling, + uncovering of what previously existed, and it excludes the idea of + newness, invention, creation.... The revealed religion of earth is + the natural religion of heaven." Compare _Rev. 13:8--_"the Lamb + that hath been slain from the foundation of the world" = the + coming of Christ was no make-shift; in a true sense the Cross + existed in eternity; the atonement is a revelation of an eternal + fact in the being of God. + + Note Plato's illustration of the cave which can be easily threaded + by one who has previously entered it with a torch. Nature is the + dim light from the cave's mouth; the torch is Scripture. Kant to + Jacobi, in Jacobi's Werke, 3:523--"If the gospel had not previously + taught the universal moral laws, reason would not yet have + obtained so perfect an insight into them." Alexander McLaren: + "Non-Christian thinkers now talk eloquently about God's love, and + even reject the gospel in the name of that love, thus kicking down + the ladder by which they have climbed. But it was the Cross that + taught the world the love of God, and apart from the death of + Christ men may hope that there is a heart at the centre of the + universe, but they can never be sure of it." The parrot fancies + that he taught men to talk. So Mr. Spencer fancies that he + invented ethics. He is only using the twilight, after his sun has + gone down. Dorner, Hist. Prot. Theol., 252, 253--"Faith, at the + Reformation, first gave scientific certainty; it had God sure: + hence it proceeded to banish scepticism in philosophy and + science." See also Dove, Logic of Christian Faith, 333; Bowen, + Metaph. and Ethics, 442-463; Bib. Sac., 1874:436; A. H. Strong, + Christ in Creation, 226, 227. + + +2. Scripture and Rationalism. + + +Although the Scriptures make known much that is beyond the power of man's +unaided reason to discover or fully to comprehend, their teachings, when +taken together, in no way contradict a reason conditioned in its activity +by a holy affection and enlightened by the Spirit of God. To reason in the +large sense, as including the mind's power of cognizing God and moral +relations--not in the narrow sense of mere reasoning, or the exercise of +the purely logical faculty--the Scriptures continually appeal. + +A. The proper office of reason, in this large sense, is: (_a_) To furnish +us with those primary ideas of space, time, cause, substance, design, +right, and God, which are the conditions of all subsequent knowledge. +(_b_) To judge with regard to man's need of a special and supernatural +revelation. (_c_) To examine the credentials of communications professing +to be, or of documents professing to record, such a revelation. (_d_) To +estimate and reduce to system the facts of revelation, when these have +been found properly attested. (_e_) To deduce from these facts their +natural and logical conclusions. Thus reason itself prepares the way for a +revelation above reason, and warrants an implicit trust in such revelation +when once given. + + + Dove, Logic of the Christian Faith, 318--"Reason terminates in the + proposition: Look for revelation." Leibnitz: "Revelation is the + viceroy who first presents his credentials to the provincial + assembly (reason), and then himself presides." Reason can + recognize truth after it is made known, as for example in the + demonstrations of geometry, although it could never discover that + truth for itself. See Calderwood's illustration of the party lost + in the woods, who wisely take the course indicated by one at the + tree-top with a larger view than their own (Philosophy of the + Infinite, 126). The novice does well to trust his guide in the + forest, at least till he learns to recognise for himself the marks + blazed upon the trees. Luthardt, Fund. Truths, lect. viii--"Reason + could never have invented a self-humiliating God, cradled in a + manger and dying on a cross." Lessing, Zur Geschichte und + Litteratur, 6:134--"What is the meaning of a revelation that + reveals nothing?" + + Ritschl denies the presuppositions of any theology based on the + Bible as the infallible word of God on the one hand, and on the + validity of the knowledge of God as obtained by scientific and + philosophic processes on the other. Because philosophers, + scientists, and even exegetes, are not agreed among themselves, he + concludes that no trustworthy results are attainable by human + reason. We grant that reason without love will fall into many + errors with regard to God, and that faith is therefore the organ + by which religious truth is to be apprehended. But we claim that + this faith includes reason, and is itself reason in its highest + form. Faith criticizes and judges the processes of natural science + as well as the contents of Scripture. But it also recognizes in + science and Scripture prior workings of that same Spirit of Christ + which is the source and authority of the Christian life. Ritschl + ignores Christ's world-relations and therefore secularizes and + disparages science and philosophy. The faith to which he trusts as + the source of theology is unwarrantably sundered from reason. It + becomes a subjective and arbitrary standard, to which even the + teaching of Scripture must yield precedence. We hold on the + contrary, that there are ascertained results in science and in + philosophy, as well as in the interpretation of Scripture as a + whole, and that these results constitute an authoritative + revelation. See Orr, The Theology of Ritschl; Dorner, Hist. Prot. + Theol., 1:233--"The unreasonable in the empirical reason is taken + captive by faith, which is the nascent true reason that despairs + of itself and trustfully lays hold of objective Christianity." + + +B. Rationalism, on the other hand, holds reason to be the ultimate source +of all religious truth, while Scripture is authoritative only so far as +its revelations agree with previous conclusions of reason, or can be +rationally demonstrated. Every form of rationalism, therefore, commits at +least one of the following errors: (_a_) That of confounding reason with +mere reasoning, or the exercise of the logical intelligence. (_b_) That of +ignoring the necessity of a holy affection as the condition of all right +reason in religious things. (_c_) That of denying our dependence in our +present state of sin upon God's past revelations of himself. (_d_) That of +regarding the unaided reason, even its normal and unbiased state, as +capable of discovering, comprehending, and demonstrating all religious +truth. + + + Reason must not be confounded with ratiocination, or mere + reasoning. Shall we follow reason? Yes, but not individual + reasoning, against the testimony of those who are better informed + than we; nor by insisting on demonstration, where probable + evidence alone is possible; nor by trusting solely to the evidence + of the senses, when spiritual things are in question. Coleridge, + in replying to those who argued that all knowledge comes to us + from the senses, says: "At any rate we must bring to all facts the + light in which we see them." This the Christian does. The light of + love reveals much that would otherwise be invisible. Wordsworth, + Excursion, book 5 (598)--"The mind's repose On evidence is not to + be ensured By act of naked reason. Moral truth Is no mechanic + structure, built by rule." + + Rationalism is the mathematical theory of knowledge. Spinoza's + Ethics is an illustration of it. It would deduce the universe from + an axiom. Dr. Hodge very wrongly described rationalism as "an + overuse of reason." It is rather the use of an abnormal, + perverted, improperly conditioned reason; see Hodge, Syst. Theol., + 1:34, 39, 55, and criticism by Miller, in his Fetich in Theology. + The phrase "sanctified intellect" means simply intellect + accompanied by right affections toward God, and trained to work + under their influence. Bishop Butler: "Let reason be kept to, but + let not such poor creatures as we are go on objecting to an + infinite scheme that we do not see the necessity or usefulness of + all its parts, and call that reasoning." Newman Smyth, Death's + Place in Evolution, 86--"Unbelief is a shaft sunk down into the + darkness of the earth. Drive the shaft deep enough, and it would + come out into the sunlight on the earth's other side." The most + unreasonable people in the world are those who depend solely upon + reason, in the narrow sense. "The better to exalt reason, they + make the world irrational." "The hen that has hatched ducklings + walks with them to the water's edge, but there she stops, and she + is amazed when they go on. So reason stops and faith goes on, + finding its proper element in the invisible. Reason is the feet + that stand on solid earth; faith is the wings that enable us to + fly; and normal man is a creature with wings." Compare {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} (_1 + Tim. 6:20--_"the knowledge which is falsely so called") with + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} (_2 Pet. 1:2--_"the knowledge of God and of Jesus our + Lord" = full knowledge, or true knowledge). See Twesten, Dogmatik, + 1:467-500; Julius Mueller, Proof-texts, 4, 5; Mansel, Limits of + Religious Thought, 96; Dawson, Modern Ideas of Evolution. + + +3. Scripture and Mysticism. + + +As rationalism recognizes too little as coming from God, so mysticism +recognizes too much. + +A. True mysticism.--We have seen that there is an illumination of the minds +of all believers by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, however, makes no new +revelation of truth, but uses for his instrument the truth already +revealed by Christ in nature and in the Scriptures. The illuminating work +of the Spirit is therefore an opening of men's minds to understand +Christ's previous revelations. As one initiated into the mysteries of +Christianity, every true believer may be called a mystic. True mysticism +is that higher knowledge and fellowship which the Holy Spirit gives +through the use of nature and Scripture as subordinate and principal +means. + + + "Mystic" = one initiated, from {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}, "to close the eyes"--probably + in order that the soul may have inward vision of truth. But divine + truth is a "mystery," not only as something into which one must be + initiated, but as {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} (_Eph. + 3:19_)--surpassing full knowledge, even to the believer; see Meyer + on _Rom. 11:25--_"I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this + mystery." The Germans have _Mystik_ with a favorable sense, + _Mysticismus_ with an unfavorable sense,--corresponding + respectively to our true and false mysticism. True mysticism is + intimated in _John 16:13--_"the spirit of truth ... shall guide you + into all the truth"; _Eph. 3:9--_"dispensation of the mystery"; _1 + Cor. 2:10--_"unto us God revealed them through the Spirit." + Nitzsch, Syst. of Christ. Doct., 35--"Whenever true religion + revives, there is an outcry against mysticism, _i. e._, higher + knowledge, fellowship, activity through the Spirit of God in the + heart." Compare the charge against Paul that he was mad, in _Acts + 26:24, 25_, with his self-vindication in _2 Cor. 5:13--_"whether we + are beside ourselves, it is unto God." + + Inge, Christian Mysticism, 21--"Harnack speaks of mysticism as + rationalism applied to a sphere above reason. He should have said + reason applied to a sphere above rationalism. Its fundamental + doctrine is the unity of all existence. Man can realize his + individuality only by transcending it and finding himself in the + larger unity of God's being. Man is a microcosm. He recapitulates + the race, the universe, Christ himself." _Ibid._, 5--Mysticism is + "the attempt to realize in thought and feeling the immanence of + the temporal in the eternal, and of the eternal in the temporal. + It implies (1) that the soul can see and perceive spiritual truth; + (2) that man, in order to know God, must be a partaker of the + divine nature; (3) that without holiness no man can see the Lord; + (4) that the true hierophant of the mysteries of God is love. The + 'scala perfectionis' is (_a_) the purgative life; (_b_) the + illuminative life; (_c_) the unitive life." Stevens, Johannine + Theology, 239, 240--"The mysticism of John ... is not a subjective + mysticism which absorbs the soul in self-contemplation and revery, + but an objective and rational mysticism, which lives in a world of + realities, apprehends divinely revealed truth, and bases its + experience upon it. It is a mysticism which feeds, not upon its + own feelings and fancies, but upon Christ. It involves an + acceptance of him, and a life of obedience to him. Its motto is: + Abiding in Christ." As the power press cannot dispense with the + type, so the Spirit of God does not dispense with Christ's + external revelations in nature and in Scripture. E. G. Robinson, + Christian Theology, 364--"The word of God is a form or mould, into + which the Holy Spirit delivers us when he creates us anew"; _cf.__ + Rom. 6:17--_"ye became obedient from the heart to that form of + teaching whereunto ye were delivered." + + +B. False mysticism.--Mysticism, however, as the term is commonly used, errs +in holding to the attainment of religious knowledge by direct +communication from God, and by passive absorption of the human activities +into the divine. It either partially or wholly loses sight of (_a_) the +outward organs of revelation, nature and the Scriptures; (_b_) the +activity of the human powers in the reception of all religious knowledge; +(_c_) the personality of man, and, by consequence, the personality of God. + + + In opposition to false mysticism, we are to remember that the Holy + Spirit works through the truth externally revealed in nature and + in Scripture (_Acts 14:17--_"he left not himself without witness"; + _Rom. 1:20--_"the invisible things of him since the creation of the + world are clearly seen"; _Acts 7:51--_"ye do always resist the Holy + Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye"; _Eph. 6:17--_"the sword of + the Spirit, which is the word of God"). By this truth already + given we are to test all new communications which would contradict + or supersede it (_1 John 4:1--_"believe not every spirit, but prove + the spirits, whether they are of God"; _Eph. 5:10--_"proving what + is well pleasing unto the Lord"). By these tests we may try + Spiritualism, Mormonism, Swedenborgianism. Note the mystical + tendency in Francis de Sales, Thomas a Kempis, Madame Guyon, + Thomas C. Upham. These writers seem at times to advocate an + unwarrantable abnegation of our reason and will, and a "swallowing + up of man in God." But Christ does not deprive us of reason and + will; he only takes from us the perverseness of our reason and the + selfishness of our will; so reason and will are restored to their + normal clearness and strength. Compare _Ps. 16:7--_"Jehovah, who + hath given me counsel; yea, my heart instructeth me in the night + seasons"--God teaches his people through the exercise of their own + faculties. + + False mysticism is sometimes present though unrecognized. All + expectation of results without the use of means partakes of it. + Martineau, Seat of Authority, 288--"The lazy will would like to + have the vision while the eye that apprehends it sleeps." + Preaching without preparation is like throwing ourselves down from + a pinnacle of the temple and depending on God to send an angel to + hold us up. Christian Science would trust to supernatural + agencies, while casting aside the natural agencies God has already + provided; as if a drowning man should trust to prayer while + refusing to seize the rope. Using Scripture "ad aperturam libri" + is like guiding one's actions by a throw of the dice. Allen, + Jonathan Edwards, 171, note--"Both Charles and John Wesley were + agreed in accepting the Moravian method of solving doubts as to + some course of action by opening the Bible at hazard and regarding + the passage on which the eye first alighted as a revelation of + God's will in the matter"; _cf._ Wedgwood, Life of Wesley, 193; + Southey, Life of Wesley, 1:216. J. G. Paton, Life, 2:74--"After + many prayers and wrestlings and tears, I went alone before the + Lord, and on my knees cast lots, with a solemn appeal to God, and + the answer came: 'Go home!' " He did this only once in his life, + in overwhelming perplexity, and finding no light from human + counsel. "To whomsoever this faith is given," he says, "let him + obey it." + + F. B. Meyer, Christian Living, 18--"It is a mistake to seek a sign + from heaven; to run from counsellor to counsellor; to cast a lot; + or to trust in some chance coincidence. Not that God may not + reveal his will thus; but because it is hardly the behavior of a + child with its Father. There is a more excellent way,"--namely, + appropriate Christ who is wisdom, and then go forward, sure that + we shall be guided, as each new step must be taken, or word + spoken, or decision made. Our service is to be "rational service"_ + (Rom. 12:1)_; blind and arbitrary action is inconsistent with the + spirit of Christianity. Such action makes us victims of temporary + feeling and a prey to Satanic deception. In cases of perplexity, + waiting for light and waiting upon God will commonly enable us to + make an intelligent decision, while "whatsoever is not of faith is + sin"_ (Rom. 14:23)_. + + "False mysticism reached its logical result in the Buddhistic + theosophy. In that system man becomes most divine in the + extinction of his own personality. Nirvana is reached by the + eightfold path of right view, aspiration, speech, conduct, + livelihood, effort, mindfulness, rapture; and Nirvana is the loss + of ability to say: 'This is I,' and 'This is mine.' Such was + Hypatia's attempt, by subjection of self, to be wafted away into + the arms of Jove. George Eliot was wrong when she said: 'The + happiest woman has no history.' Self-denial is not + self-effacement. The cracked bell has no individuality. In Christ + we become our complete selves." _Col 2:9, 10--_"For in him dwelleth + all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in him ye are made + full." + + Royce, World and Individual, 2:248, 249--"Assert the spiritual man; + abnegate the natural man. The fleshly self is the root of all + evil; the spiritual self belongs to a higher realm. But this + spiritual self lies at first outside the soul; it becomes ours + only by grace. Plato rightly made the eternal Ideas the source of + all human truth and goodness. Wisdom comes into a man, like + Aristotle's {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}." A. H. Bradford, The Inner Light, in making the + direct teaching of the Holy Spirit the sufficient if not the sole + source of religious knowledge, seems to us to ignore the principle + of evolution in religion. God builds upon the past. His revelation + to prophets and apostles constitutes the norm and corrective of + our individual experience, even while our experience throws new + light upon that revelation. On Mysticism, true and false, see + Inge, Christian Mysticism, 4, 5, 11; Stearns, Evidence of + Christian Experience, 289-294; Dorner, Geschichte d. prot. Theol., + 48-59, 243; Herzog, Encycl., art.: Mystik, by Lange; Vaughan, + Hours with the Mystics, 1:199; Morell, Hist. Philos., 58, 191-215, + 556-625, 726; Hodge, Syst. Theol., 1:61-69, 97, 104; Fleming, + Vocab. Philos., _in voce_; Tholuck, Introd. to Bluethensammlung aus + der morgenlaendischen Mystik; William James, Varieties of Religious + Experience, 379-429. + + +4. Scripture and Romanism. + + +While the history of doctrine, as showing the progressive apprehension and +unfolding by the church of the truth contained in nature and Scripture, is +a subordinate source of theology, Protestantism recognizes the Bible as +under Christ the primary and final authority. + +Romanism, on the other hand, commits the two-fold error (_a_) Of making +the church, and not the Scriptures, the immediate and sufficient source of +religious knowledge; and (_b_) Of making the relation of the individual to +Christ depend upon his relation to the church, instead of making his +relation to the church depend upon, follow, and express his relation to +Christ. + + + In Roman Catholicism there is a mystical element. The Scriptures + are not the complete or final standard of belief and practice. God + gives to the world from time to time, through popes and councils, + new communications of truth. Cyprian: "He who has not the church + for his mother, has not God for his Father." Augustine: "I would + not believe the Scripture, unless the authority of the church also + influenced me." Francis of Assisi and Ignatius Loyola both + represented the truly obedient person as one dead, moving only as + moved by his superior; the true Christian has no life of his own, + but is the blind instrument of the church. John Henry Newman, + Tracts, Theol. and Eccl., 287--"The Christian dogmas were in the + church from the time of the apostles,--they were ever in their + substance what they are now." But this is demonstrably untrue of + the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary; of the treasury of + merits to be distributed in indulgences; of the infallibility of + the pope (see Gore, Incarnation, 186). In place of the true + doctrine, "Ubi Spiritus, ibi ecclesia," Romanism substitutes her + maxim, "Ubi ecclesia, ibi Spiritus." Luther saw in this the + principle of mysticism, when he said: "Papatus est merus + enthusiasmus." See Hodge, Syst. Theol., 1:61-69. + + In reply to the Romanist argument that the church was before the + Bible, and that the same body that gave the truth at the first can + make additions to that truth, we say that the unwritten word was + before the church and made the church possible. The word of God + existed before it was written down, and by that word the first + disciples as well as the latest were begotten (_1 Pet. + 1:23--_"begotten again ... through the word of God"). The grain of + truth in Roman Catholic doctrine is expressed in _1 Tim. + 3:15--_"the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the + truth" = the church is God's appointed proclaimer of truth; _cf.__ + Phil. 2:16--_"holding forth the word of life." But the church can + proclaim the truth, only as it is built upon the truth. So we may + say that the American Republic is the pillar and ground of liberty + in the world; but this is true only so far as the Republic is + built upon the principle of liberty as its foundation. When the + Romanist asks: "Where was your church before Luther?" the + Protestant may reply: "Where yours is not now--in the word of God. + Where was your face before it was washed? Where was the fine flour + before the wheat went to the mill?" Lady Jane Grey, three days + before her execution, February 12, 1554, said: "I ground my faith + on God's word, and not upon the church; for, if the church be a + good church, the faith of the church must be tried by God's word, + and not God's word by the church, nor yet my faith." + + The Roman church would keep men in perpetual childhood--coming to + her for truth instead of going directly to the Bible; "like the + foolish mother who keeps her boy pining in the house lest he stub + his toe, and would love best to have him remain a babe forever, + that she might mother him still." Martensen, Christian Dogmatics, + 30--"Romanism is so busy in building up a system of guarantees, + that she forgets the truth of Christ which she would guarantee." + George Herbert: "What wretchedness can give him any room, Whose + house is foul while he adores his broom!" It is a semi-parasitic + doctrine of safety without intelligence or spirituality. Romanism + says: "Man for the machine!" Protestantism: "The machine for man!" + Catholicism strangles, Protestantism restores, individuality. Yet + the Romanist principle sometimes appears in so-called Protestant + churches. The Catechism published by the League of the Holy Cross, + in the Anglican Church, contains the following: "It is to the + priest only that the child must acknowledge his sins, if he + desires that God should forgive him. Do you know why? It is + because God, when on earth, gave to his priests and to them alone + the power of forgiving sins. Go to the priest, who is the doctor + of your soul, and who cures you in the name of God." But this + contradicts _John 10:7_--where Christ says "I am the door"; and _1 + Cor. 3:11--_"other foundation can no man lay than that which is + laid, which is Jesus Christ" = Salvation is attained by immediate + access to Christ, and there is no door between the soul and him. + See Dorner, Gesch. prot. Theol., 227; Schleiermacher, + Glaubenslehre, 1:24; Robinson, in Mad. Av. Lectures, 387; Fisher, + Nat. and Method of Revelation, 10; Watkins, Bampton Lect. for + 1890:149; Drummond, Nat. Law in Spir. World, 327. + + + +II. Limitations of Theology. + + +Although theology derives its material from God's two-fold revelation, it +does not profess to give an exhaustive knowledge of God and of the +relations between God and the universe. After showing what material we +have, we must show what material we have not. We have indicated the +sources of theology; we now examine its limitations. Theology has its +limitations: + +(_a_) _In the finiteness of the human understanding._ This gives rise to a +class of necessary mysteries, or mysteries connected with the infinity and +incomprehensibleness of the divine nature (Job 11:7; Rom. 11:33). + + + _Job 11:7--_"Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find + out the Almighty to perfection?" _Rom. 11:33--_"how unsearchable + are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" Every doctrine, + therefore, has its inexplicable side. Here is the proper meaning + of Tertullian's sayings: "Certum est, quia impossible est: quo + absurdius, eo verius"; that of Anselm: "Credo, ut intelligam"; and + that of Abelard: "Qui credit cito, levis corde est." Drummond, + Nat. Law in Spir. World: "A science without mystery is unknown; a + religion without mystery is absurd." E. G. Robinson: "A finite + being cannot grasp even its own relations to the Infinite." Hovey, + Manual of Christ. Theol., 7--"To infer from the perfection of God + that all his works [nature, man, inspiration] will be absolutely + and unchangeably perfect: to infer from the perfect love of God + that there can be no sin or suffering in the world; to infer from + the sovereignty of God that man is not a free moral agent;--all + these inferences are rash; they are inferences from the cause to + the effect, while the cause is imperfectly known." See Calderwood, + Philos. of Infinite, 491; Sir Wm. Hamilton, Discussions, 22. + + +(_b_) _In the imperfect state of science, both natural and metaphysical._ +This gives rise to a class of accidental mysteries, or mysteries which +consist in the apparently irreconcilable nature of truths, which, taken +separately, are perfectly comprehensible. + + + We are the victims of a mental or moral astigmatism, which sees a + _single_ point of truth as _two_. We see God and man, divine + sovereignty and human freedom, Christ's divine nature and Christ's + human nature, the natural and the supernatural, respectively, as + two disconnected facts, when perhaps deeper insight would see but + one. Astronomy has its centripetal and centrifugal forces, yet + they are doubtless one force. The child cannot hold two oranges at + once in its little hand. Negro preacher: "You can't carry two + watermelons under one arm." Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, + 1:2--"In nature's infinite book of secresy, A little I can read." + Cooke, Credentials of Science, 34--"Man's progress in knowledge has + been so constantly and rapidly accelerated that more has been + gained during the lifetime of men still living than during all + human history before." And yet we may say with D'Arcy, Idealism + and Theology, 248--"Man's position in the universe is eccentric. + God alone is at the centre. To him alone is the orbit of truth + completely displayed.... There are circumstances in which to us + the onward movement of truth may seem a retrogression." William + Watson, Collected Poems, 271--"Think not thy wisdom can illume away + The ancient tanglement of night and day. Enough to acknowledge + both, and both revere: They see not clearliest who see all things + clear." + + +(_c_) _In the inadequacy of language._ Since language is the medium +through which truth is expressed and formulated, the invention of a proper +terminology in theology, as in every other science, is a condition and +criterion of its progress. The Scriptures recognize a peculiar difficulty +in putting spiritual truths into earthly language (1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Cor. +3:6; 12:4). + + + _1 Cor. 2:13--_"not in words which man's wisdom teacheth"; _2 Cor. + 3:6--_"the letter killeth"; _12:4--_"unspeakable words." God submits + to conditions of revelation; _cf.__ John 16:12--_"I have yet many + things to say into you, but ye cannot bear them now." Language has + to be created. Words have to be taken from a common, and to be put + to a larger and more sacred, use, so that they "stagger under + their weight of meaning"--_e. g._, the word "day," in _Genesis 1_, + and the word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} in _1 Cor. 13_. See Gould, in Amer. Com., on _1 + Cor. 13:12--_"now we see in a mirror, darkly"--in a metallic mirror + whose surface is dim and whose images are obscure = Now we behold + Christ, the truth, only as he is reflected in imperfect + speech--"but then face to face" = immediately, without the + intervention of an imperfect medium. "As fast as we tunnel into + the sandbank of thought, the stones of language must be built into + walls and arches, to allow further progress into the boundless + mine." + + +(_d_) _In the incompleteness of our knowledge of the Scriptures._ Since it +is not the mere letter of the Scriptures that constitutes the truth, the +progress of theology is dependent upon hermeneutics, or the interpretation +of the word of God. + + + Notice the progress in commenting, from homiletical to + grammatical, historical, dogmatic, illustrated in Scott, Ellicott, + Stanley, Lightfoot. John Robinson: "I am verily persuaded that the + Lord hath more truth yet to break forth from his holy word." + Recent criticism has shown the necessity of studying each portion + of Scripture in the light of its origin and connections. There has + been an evolution of Scripture, as truly as there has been an + evolution of natural science, and the Spirit of Christ who was in + the prophets has brought about a progress from germinal and + typical expression to expression that is complete and clear. Yet + we still need to offer the prayer of _Ps. 119:18--_"Open thou mine + eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." On New + Testament Interpretation, see A. H. Strong, Philosophy and + Religion, 334-336. + + +(_e_) _In the silence of written revelation._ For our discipline and +probation, much is probably hidden from us, which we might even with our +present powers comprehend. + + + Instance the silence of Scripture with regard to the life and + death of Mary the Virgin, the personal appearance of Jesus and his + occupations in early life, the origin of evil, the method of the + atonement, the state after death. So also as to social and + political questions, such as slavery, the liquor traffic, domestic + virtues, governmental corruption. "Jesus was in heaven at the + revolt of the angels, yet he tells us little about angels or about + heaven. He does not discourse about Eden, or Adam, or the fall of + man, or death as the result of Adam's sin; and he says little of + departed spirits, whether they are lost or saved." It was better + to inculcate principles, and trust his followers to apply them. + His gospel is not intended to gratify a vain curiosity. He would + not divert men's minds from pursuing the one thing needful; _cf.__ + Luke 13:23, 24--_"Lord, are they few that are saved? And he said + unto them, Strive to enter in by the narrow door; for many, I say + unto you, shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Paul's + silence upon speculative questions which he must have pondered + with absorbing interest is a proof of his divine inspiration. John + Foster spent his life, "gathering questions for eternity"; _cf.__ + John 13:7--_"What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt + understand hereafter." The most beautiful thing in a countenance + is that which a picture can never express. He who would speak well + must omit well. Story: "Of every noble work the silent part is + best; Of all expressions that which cannot be expressed." _Cf.__ 1 + Cor. 2:9--_"Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which + entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared + for them that love him"; _Deut 29:29--_"The secret things belong + unto Jehovah our God: but the things that are revealed belong unto + us and to our children." For Luther's view, see Hagenbach, Hist. + Doctrine, 2:388. See also B. D. Thomas, The Secret of the Divine + Silence. + + +(_f_) _In the lack of spiritual discernment caused by sin._ Since holy +affection is a condition of religious knowledge, all moral imperfection in +the individual Christian and in the church serves as a hindrance to the +working out of a complete theology. + + + _John 3:3--_"Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of + God." The spiritual ages make most progress in theology,--witness + the half-century succeeding the Reformation, and the half-century + succeeding the great revival in New England in the time of + Jonathan Edwards. Ueberweg, Logic (Lindsay's transl.), + 514--"Science is much under the influence of the will; and the + truth of knowledge depends upon the purity of the conscience. The + will has no power to resist scientific evidence; but scientific + evidence is not obtained without the continuous loyalty of the + will." Lord Bacon declared that man cannot enter the kingdom of + science, any more than he can enter the kingdom of heaven, without + becoming a little child. Darwin describes his own mind as having + become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large + collections of facts, with the result of producing "atrophy of + that part of the brain on which the higher tastes depend." But a + similar abnormal atrophy is possible in the case of the moral and + religious faculty (see Gore, Incarnation, 37). Dr. Allen said in + his Introductory Lecture at Lane Theological Seminary: "We are + very glad to see you if you wish to be students; but the + professors' chairs are all filled." + + + +III. Relations of Material to Progress in Theology. + + +(_a_) _A perfect system of theology is impossible._ We do not expect to +construct such a system. All science but reflects the present attainment +of the human mind. No science is complete or finished. However it may be +with the sciences of nature and of man, the science of God will never +amount to an exhaustive knowledge. We must not expect to demonstrate all +Scripture doctrines upon rational grounds, or even in every case to see +the principle of connection between them. Where we cannot do this, we +must, as in every other science, set the revealed facts in their places +and wait for further light, instead of ignoring or rejecting any of them +because we cannot understand them or their relation to other parts of our +system. + + + Three problems left unsolved by the Egyptians have been handed + down to our generation: (1) the duplication of the cube; (2) the + trisection of the angle; (3) the quadrature of the circle. Dr. + Johnson: "Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is better than + none; and the best cannot be expected to go quite true." Hood + spoke of Dr. Johnson's "Contradictionary," which had both + "interiour" and "exterior." Sir William Thompson (Lord Kelvin) at + the fiftieth anniversary of his professorship said: "One word + characterizes the most strenuous of the efforts for the + advancement of science which I have made perseveringly through + fifty-five years: that word is _failure_; I know no more of + electric and magnetic force, or of the relations between ether, + electricity and ponderable matter, or of chemical affinity, than I + knew and tried to teach my students of natural philosophy fifty + years ago in my first session as professor." Allen, Religious + Progress, mentions three tendencies. "The first says: Destroy the + new! The second says: Destroy the old! The third says: Destroy + nothing! Let the old gradually and quietly grow into the new, as + Erasmus wished. We should accept contradictions, whether they can + be intellectually reconciled or not. The truth has never prospered + by enforcing some 'via media.' Truth lies rather in the union of + opposite propositions, as in Christ's divinity and humanity, and + in grace and freedom. Blanco White went from Rome to infidelity; + Orestes Brownson from infidelity to Rome; so the brothers John + Henry Newman and Francis W. Newman, and the brothers George + Herbert of Bemerton and Lord Herbert of Cherbury. One would + secularize the divine, the other would divinize the secular. But + if one is true, so is the other. Let us adopt both. All progress + is a deeper penetration into the meaning of old truth, and a + larger appropriation of it." + + +(_b_) _Theology is nevertheless progressive._ It is progressive in the +sense that our subjective understanding of the facts with regard to God, +and our consequent expositions of these facts, may and do become more +perfect. But theology is not progressive in the sense that its objective +facts change, either in their number or their nature. With Martineau we +may say: "Religion has been reproached with not being progressive; it +makes amends by being imperishable." Though our knowledge may be +imperfect, it will have great value still. Our success in constructing a +theology will depend upon the proportion which clearly expressed facts of +Scripture bear to mere inferences, and upon the degree in which they all +cohere about Christ, the central person and theme. + + + The progress of theology is progress in apprehension by man, not + progress in communication by God. Originality in astronomy is not + man's creation of new planets, but man's discovery of planets that + were never seen before, or the bringing to light of relations + between them that were never before suspected. Robert Kerr Eccles: + "Originality is a habit of recurring to origins--the habit of + securing personal experience by personal application to original + facts. It is not an eduction of novelties either from nature, + Scripture, or inner consciousness; it is rather the habit of + resorting to primitive facts, and of securing the personal + experiences which arise from contact with these facts." Fisher, + Nat. and Meth. of Revelation, 48--"The starry heavens are now what + they were of old; there is no enlargement of the stellar universe, + except that which comes through the increased power and use of the + telescope." We must not imitate the green sailor who, when set to + steer, said he had "sailed _by_ that star." + + Martineau, Types, 1:492, 493--"Metaphysics, so far as they are true + to their work, are stationary, precisely because they have in + charge, not what begins and ceases to be, but what always _is_.... + It is absurd to praise motion for always making way, while + disparaging space for still being what it ever was: as if the + motion you prefer could be, without the space which you reproach." + Newman Smyth, Christian Ethics, 45, 67-70, 79--"True conservatism + is progress which takes direction from the past and fulfils its + good; false conservatism is a narrowing and hopeless reversion to + the past, which is a betrayal of the promise of the future. So + Jesus came not 'to destroy the law or the prophets'; he 'came not + to destroy, but to fulfil'_ (Mat. 5:17)_.... The last book on + Christian Ethics will not be written before the Judgment Day." + John Milton, Areopagitica: "Truth is compared in the Scripture to + a streaming fountain; if her waters flow not in a perpetual + progression, they sicken into a muddy pool of conformity and + tradition. A man may be a heretic in the truth." Paul in _Rom. + 2:16_, and in _2 Tim. 2:8_--speaks of "my gospel." It is the duty + of every Christian to have his own conception of the truth, while + he respects the conceptions of others. Tennyson, Locksley Hall: "I + that rather held it better men should perish one by one, Than that + earth should stand at gaze like Joshua's moon at Ajalon." We do + not expect any new worlds, and we need not expect any new + Scriptures; but we may expect progress in the interpretation of + both. Facts are final, but interpretation is not. + + + + +Chapter III. Method Of Theology. + + + +I. Requisites to the study of Theology. + + +The requisites to the successful study of theology have already in part +been indicated in speaking of its limitations. In spite of some +repetition, however, we mention the following: + +(_a_) _A disciplined mind._ Only such a mind can patiently collect the +facts, hold in its grasp many facts at once, educe by continuous +reflection their connecting principles, suspend final judgment until its +conclusions are verified by Scripture and experience. + + + Robert Browning, Ring and Book, 175 (Pope, 228)--"Truth nowhere + lies, yet everywhere, in these; Not absolutely in a portion, yet + Evolveable from the whole: evolved at last Painfully, held + tenaciously by me." Teachers and students may be divided into two + classes: (1) those who know enough already; (2) those wish to + learn more than they now know. Motto of Winchester School in + England: "Disce, aut discede." Butcher, Greek Genius, 213, + 230--"The Sophists fancied that they were imparting education, when + they were only imparting results. Aristotle illustrates their + method by the example of a shoemaker who, professing to teach the + art of making painless shoes, puts into the apprentice's hand a + large assortment of shoes ready-made. A witty Frenchman classes + together those who would make science popular, metaphysics + intelligible, and vice respectable. The word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, which first + meant 'leisure,' then 'philosophical discussion,' and finally + 'school,' shows the pure love of learning among the Greeks." + Robert G. Ingersoll said that the average provincial clergyman is + like the land of the upper Potomac spoken of by Tom Randolph, as + almost worthless in its original state, and rendered wholly so by + cultivation. Lotze, Metaphysics, 1:16--"the constant whetting of + the knife is tedious, if it is not proposed to cut anything with + it." "To do their duty is their only holiday," is the description + of Athenian character given by Thucydides. Chitty asked a father + inquiring as to his son's qualifications for the law: "Can your + son eat sawdust without any butter?" On opportunities for culture + in the Christian ministry, see New Englander, Oct. 1875:644; A. H. + Strong, Philosophy and Religion, 273-275; Christ in Creation, + 318-320. + + +(_b_) _An intuitional as distinguished from a merely logical habit of +mind_,--or, trust in the mind's primitive convictions, as well as in its +processes of reasoning. The theologian must have insight as well as +understanding. He must accustom himself to ponder spiritual facts as well +as those which are sensible and material; to see things in their inner +relations as well as in their outward forms; to cherish confidence in the +reality and the unity of truth. + + + Vinet, Outlines of Philosophy, 39, 40--"If I do not feel that good + is good, who will ever prove it to me?" Pascal: "Logic, which is + an abstraction, may shake everything. A being purely intellectual + will be incurably sceptical." Calvin: "Satan is an acute + theologian." Some men can see a fly on a barn door a mile away, + and yet can never see the door. Zeller, Outlines of Greek + Philosophy, 93--"Gorgias the Sophist was able to show + metaphysically that nothing can exist; that what does exist cannot + be known by us; and that what is known by us cannot be imparted to + others" (quoted by Wenley, Socrates and Christ, 28). Aristotle + differed from those moderate men who thought it impossible to go + over the same river twice,--he held that it could not be done even + once (_cf._ Wordsworth, Prelude, 536). Dove, Logic of the + Christian Faith, 1-29, and especially 25, gives a demonstration of + the impossibility of motion: A thing cannot move in the place + where it is; it cannot move in the places where it is not; but the + place where it is and the places where it is not are all the + places that there are; therefore a thing cannot move at all. + Hazard, Man a Creative First Cause, 109, shows that the bottom of + a wheel does not move, since it goes backward as fast as the top + goes forward. An instantaneous photograph makes the upper part a + confused blur, while the spokes of the lower part are distinctly + visible. Abp. Whately: "Weak arguments are often thrust before my + path; but, although they are most unsubstantial, it is not easy to + destroy them. There is not a more difficult feat known than to cut + through a cushion with a sword." _Cf.__ 1 Tim. 6:20--_"oppositions + of the knowledge which is falsely so called"; _3:2--_"the bishop + therefore must be ... sober-minded"--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} = "well balanced." The + Scripture speaks of "sound [{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} = healthful] doctrine"_ (1 Tim. + 1:10)_. Contrast _1 Tim. 6:4--[{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} = ailing] _"diseased about + questionings and disputes of words." + + +(_c_) _An acquaintance with physical, mental, and moral science._ The +method of conceiving and expressing Scripture truth is so affected by our +elementary notions of these sciences, and the weapons with which theology +is attacked and defended are so commonly drawn from them as arsenals, that +the student cannot afford to be ignorant of them. + + + Goethe explains his own greatness by his avoidance of metaphysics: + "Mein Kind, Ich habe es klug gemacht: Ich habe nie ueber's Denken + gedacht"--"I have been wise in never thinking about thinking"; he + would have been wiser, had he pondered more deeply the fundamental + principles of his philosophy; see A. H. Strong, The Great Poets + and their Theology, 296-299, and Philosophy and Religion, 1-18; + also in Baptist Quarterly, 2:393 _sq._ Many a theological system + has fallen, like the Campanile at Venice, because its foundations + were insecure. Sir William Hamilton: "No difficulty arises in + theology which has not first emerged in philosophy." N. W. Taylor: + "Give me a young man in metaphysics, and I care not who has him in + theology." President Samson Talbot: "I love metaphysics, because + they have to do with realities." The maxim "Ubi tres medici, ibi + duo athei," witnesses to the truth of Galen's words: {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}--"the best physician is also a philosopher." + Theology cannot dispense with science, any more than science can + dispense with philosophy. E. G. Robinson: "Science has not + invalidated any fundamental truth of revelation, though it has + modified the statement of many.... Physical Science will + undoubtedly knock some of our crockery gods on the head, and the + sooner the better." There is great advantage to the preacher in + taking up, as did Frederick W. Robertson, one science after + another. Chemistry entered into his mental structure, as he said, + "like iron into the blood." + + +(_d_) _A knowledge of the original languages of the Bible._ This is +necessary to enable us not only to determine the meaning of the +fundamental terms of Scripture, such as holiness, sin, propitiation, +justification, but also to interpret statements of doctrine by their +connections with the context. + + + Emerson said that the man who reads a book in a strange tongue, + when he can have a good translation, is a fool. Dr. Behrends + replied that he is a fool who is satisfied with the substitute. E. + G. Robinson: "Language is a great organism, and no study so + disciplines the mind as the dissection of an organism." + Chrysostom: "This is the cause of all our evils--our not knowing + the Scriptures." Yet a modern scholar has said: "The Bible is the + most dangerous of all God's gifts to men." It is possible to adore + the letter, while we fail to perceive its spirit. A narrow + interpretation may contradict its meaning. Much depends upon + connecting phrases, as for example, the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~} and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}, in + _Rom. 5:12_. Professor Philip Lindsley of Princeton, 1813-1853, + said to his pupils: "One of the best preparations for death is a + thorough knowledge of the Greek grammar." The youthful Erasmus: + "When I get some money, I will get me some Greek books, and, after + that, some clothes." The dead languages are the only really living + ones--free from danger of misunderstanding from changing usage. + Divine Providence has put revelation into fixed forms in the + Hebrew and the Greek. Sir William Hamilton, Discussions, 330--"To + be a competent divine is in fact to be a scholar." On the true + idea of a Theological Seminary Course, see A. H. Strong, Philos. + and Religion, 302-313. + + +(_e_) _A holy affection toward God._ Only the renewed heart can properly +feel its need of divine revelation, or understand that revelation when +given. + + + _Ps. 25:14--_"The secret of Jehovah is with them that fear him"; + _Rom. 12:2--_"prove what is the ... will of God"; _cf._ _Ps. + 36:1--_"the transgression of the wicked speaks in his heart like an + oracle." "It is the heart and not the brain That to the highest + doth attain." To "learn by heart" is something more than to learn + by mind, or by head. All heterodoxy is preceded by heteropraxy. In + Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Faithful does not go through the + Slough of Despond, as Christian did; and it is by getting over the + fence to find an easier road, that Christian and Hopeful get into + Doubting Castle and the hands of Giant Despair. "Great thoughts + come from the heart," said Vauvenargues. The preacher cannot, like + Dr. Kane, kindle fire with a lens of ice. Aristotle: "The power of + attaining moral truth is dependent upon our acting rightly." + Pascal: "We know truth, not only by the reason, but by the + heart.... The heart has its reasons, which the reason knows + nothing of." Hobbes: "Even the axioms of geometry would be + disputed, if men's passions were concerned in them." Macaulay: + "The law of gravitation would still be controverted, if it + interfered with vested interests." Nordau, Degeneracy: + "Philosophic systems simply furnish the excuses reason demands for + the unconscious impulses of the race during a given period of + time." + + Lord Bacon: "A tortoise on the right path will beat a racer on the + wrong path." Goethe: "As are the inclinations, so also are the + opinions.... A work of art can be comprehended by the head only + with the assistance of the heart.... Only law can give us + liberty." Fichte: "Our system of thought is very often only the + history of our heart.... Truth is descended from conscience.... + Men do not will according to their reason, but they reason + according to their will." Neander's motto was: "Pectus est quod + theologum facit"--"It is the heart that makes the theologian." John + Stirling: "That is a dreadful eye which can be divided from a + living human heavenly heart, and still retain its all-penetrating + vision,--such was the eye of the Gorgons." But such an eye, we add, + is not all-penetrating. E. G. Robinson: "Never study theology in + cold blood." W. C. Wilkinson: "The head is a magnetic needle with + truth for its pole. But the heart is a hidden mass of magnetic + iron. The head is drawn somewhat toward its natural pole, the + truth; but more it is drawn by that nearer magnetism." See an + affecting instance of Thomas Carlyle's enlightenment, after the + death of his wife, as to the meaning of the Lord's Prayer, in + Fisher, Nat. and Meth. of Revelation, 165. On the importance of + feeling, in association of ideas, see Dewey, Psychology, 106, 107. + + +(_f_) _The enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit._ As only the Spirit +fathoms the things of God, so only he can illuminate our minds to +apprehend them. + + + _1 Cor. 2:11, 12--_"the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit + of God. But we received ... the Spirit which is from God; that we + might know." Cicero, Nat. Deorum, 66--"Nemo igitur vir magnus sine + aliquo adfiatu divino unquam fuit." Professor Beck of Tuebingen: + "For the student, there is no privileged path leading to the + truth; the only one which leads to it is also that of the + unlearned; it is that of regeneration and of gradual illumination + by the Holy Spirit; and without the Holy Spirit, theology is not + only a cold stone, it is a deadly poison." As all the truths of + the differential and integral calculus are wrapped up in the + simplest mathematical axiom, so all theology is wrapped up in the + declaration that God is holiness and love, or in the + protevangelium uttered at the gates of Eden. But dull minds cannot + of themselves evolve the calculus from the axiom, nor can sinful + hearts evolve theology from the first prophecy. Teachers are + needed to demonstrate geometrical theorems, and the Holy Spirit is + needed to show us that the "new commandment" illustrated by the + death of Christ is only an "old commandment which ye had from the + beginning"_ (1 John 2:7)_. The Principia of Newton is a revelation + of Christ, and so are the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit enables us + to enter into the meaning of Christ's revelations in both + Scripture and nature; to interpret the one by the other; and so to + work out original demonstrations and applications of the truth; + _Mat. 13:52--_"Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple + of the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, + who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." See + Adolph Monod's sermons on Christ's Temptation, addressed to the + theological students of Montauban, in Select Sermons from the + French and German, 117-179. + + + +II. Divisions of Theology. + + +Theology is commonly divided into Biblical, Historical, Systematic, and +Practical. + +1. _Biblical Theology_ aims to arrange and classify the facts of +revelation, confining itself to the Scriptures for its material, and +treating of doctrine only so far as it was developed at the close of the +apostolic age. + + + Instance DeWette, Biblische Theologie; Hofmann, Schriftbeweis; + Nitzsch, System of Christian Doctrine. The last, however, has more + of the philosophical element than properly belongs to Biblical + Theology. The third volume of Ritschl's Justification and + Reconciliation is intended as a system of Biblical Theology, the + first and second volumes being little more than an historical + introduction. But metaphysics, of a Kantian relativity and + phenomenalism, enter so largely into Ritschl's estimates and + interpretations, as to render his conclusions both partial and + rationalistic. Notice a questionable use of the term Biblical + Theology to designate the theology of a part of Scripture severed + from the rest, as Steudel's Biblical Theology of the Old + Testament; Schmidt's Biblical Theology of the New Testament; and + in the common phrases: Biblical Theology of Christ, or of Paul. + These phrases are objectionable as intimating that the books of + Scripture have only a human origin. Upon the assumption that there + is no common divine authorship of Scripture, Biblical Theology is + conceived of as a series of fragments, corresponding to the + differing teachings of the various prophets and apostles, and the + theology of Paul is held to be an unwarranted and incongruous + addition to the theology of Jesus. See Reuss, History of Christian + Theology in the Apostolic Age. + + +2. _Historical Theology_ traces the development of the Biblical doctrines +from the time of the apostles to the present day, and gives account of the +results of this development in the life of the church. + + + By doctrinal development we mean the progressive unfolding and + apprehension, by the church, of the truth explicitly or implicitly + contained in Scripture. As giving account of the shaping of the + Christian faith into doctrinal statements, Historical Theology is + called the History of Doctrine. As describing the resulting and + accompanying changes in the life of the church, outward and + inward, Historical Theology is called Church History. Instance + Cunningham's Historical Theology; Hagenbach's and Shedd's + Histories of Doctrine; Neander's Church History. There is always a + danger that the historian will see his own views too clearly + reflected in the history of the church. Shedd's History of + Christian Doctrine has been called "The History of Dr. Shedd's + Christian Doctrine." But if Dr. Shedd's Augustinianism colors his + History, Dr. Sheldon's Arminianism also colors his. G. P. Fisher's + History of Christian Doctrine is unusually lucid and impartial. + See Neander's Introduction and Shedd's Philosophy of History. + + +3. _Systematic Theology_ takes the material furnished by Biblical and by +Historical Theology, and with this material seeks to build up into an +organic and consistent whole all our knowledge of God and of the relations +between God and the universe, whether this knowledge be originally derived +from nature or from the Scriptures. + + + Systematic Theology is therefore theology proper, of which + Biblical and Historical Theology are the incomplete and + preparatory stages. Systematic Theology is to be clearly + distinguished from Dogmatic Theology. Dogmatic Theology is, in + strict usage, the systematizing of the doctrines as expressed in + the symbols of the church, together with the grounding of these in + the Scriptures, and the exhibition, so far as may be, of their + rational necessity. Systematic Theology begins, on the other hand, + not with the symbols, but with the Scriptures. It asks first, not + what the church has believed, but what is the truth of God's + revealed word. It examines that word with all the aids which + nature and the Spirit have given it, using Biblical and Historical + Theology as its servants and helpers, but not as its masters. + Notice here the technical use of the word "symbol," from {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}, + = a brief throwing together, or condensed statement of the + essentials of Christian doctrine. Synonyms are: Confession, creed, + consensus, declaration, formulary, canons, articles of faith. + + Dogmatism argues to foregone conclusions. The word is not, + however, derived from "dog," as Douglas Jerrold facetiously + suggested, when he said that "dogmatism is puppyism full grown," + but from {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~} to think, to opine. Dogmatic Theology has two + principles: (1) The absolute authority of creeds, as decisions of + the church: (2) The application to these creeds of formal logic, + for the purpose of demonstrating their truth to the understanding. + In the Roman Catholic Church, not the Scripture but the church, + and the dogma given by it, is the decisive authority. The + Protestant principle, on the contrary, is that Scripture decides, + and that dogma is to be judged by it. Following Schleiermacher, + Al. Schweizer thinks that the term "Dogmatik" should be discarded + as essentially unprotestant, and that "Glaubenslehre" should take + its place; and Harnack, Hist. Dogma, 6, remarks that "dogma has + ever, in the progress of history, devoured its own progenitors." + While it is true that every new and advanced thinker in theology + has been counted a heretic, there has always been a common + faith--"the faith which was once for all delivered unto the + saints"_ (Jude 3)_--and the study of Systematic Theology has been + one of the chief means of preserving this faith in the world. + _Mat. 15:13, 14--_"Every plant which my heavenly Father planted + not, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they are blind guides" = + there is truth planted by God, and it has permanent divine life. + Human errors have no permanent vitality and they perish of + themselves. See Kaftan, Dogmatik, 2, 3. + + +4. _Practical Theology_ is the system of truth considered as a means of +renewing and sanctifying men, or, in other words, theology in its +publication and enforcement. + + + To this department of theology belong Homiletics and Pastoral + Theology, since these are but scientific presentations of the + right methods of unfolding Christian truth, and of bringing it to + bear upon men individually and in the church. See Van Oosterzee, + Practical Theology; T. Harwood Pattison, The Making of the Sermon, + and Public Prayer; Yale Lectures on Preaching by H. W. Beecher, R. + W. Dale, Phillips Brooks, E. G. Robinson, A. J. F. Behrends, John + Watson, and others; and the work on Pastoral Theology, by Harvey. + + It is sometimes asserted that there are other departments of + theology not included in those above mentioned. But most of these, + if not all, belong to other spheres of research, and cannot + properly be classed under theology at all. Moral Theology, so + called, or the science of Christian morals, ethics, or theological + ethics, is indeed the proper result of theology, but is not to be + confounded with it. Speculative theology, so called, respecting, + as it does, such truth as is mere matter of opinion, is either + extra-scriptural, and so belongs to the province of the philosophy + of religion, or is an attempt to explain truth already revealed, + and so falls within the province of Systematic Theology. + "Speculative theology starts from certain _a priori_ principles, + and from them undertakes to determine what is and must be. It + deduces its scheme of doctrine from the laws of mind or from + axioms supposed to be inwrought into its constitution." Bib. Sac., + 1852:376--"Speculative theology tries to show that the dogmas agree + with the laws of thought, while the philosophy of religion tries + to show that the laws of thought agree with the dogmas." + Theological Encyclopaedia (the word signifies "instruction in a + circle") is a general introduction to all the divisions of + Theology, together with an account of the relations between them. + Hegel's Encyclopaedia was an attempted exhibition of the principles + and connections of all the sciences. See Crooks and Hurst, + Theological Encyclopaedia and Methodology; Zoeckler, Handb. der + theol. Wissenschaften, 2:606-769. + + The relations of theology to science and philosophy have been + variously stated, but by none better than by H. B. Smith, Faith + and Philosophy, 18--"Philosophy is a mode of human knowledge--not + the whole of that knowledge, but a mode of it--the knowing of + things rationally." Science asks: "What _do_ I know?" Philosophy + asks: "What _can_ I know?" William James, Psychology, + 1:145--"Metaphysics means nothing but an unusually obstinate effort + to think clearly." Aristotle: "The particular sciences are toiling + workmen, while philosophy is the architect. The workmen are + slaves, existing for the free master. So philosophy rules the + sciences." With regard to philosophy and science Lord Bacon + remarks: "Those who have handled knowledge have been too much + either men of mere observation or abstract reasoners. The former + are like the ant: they only collect material and put it to + immediate use. The abstract reasoners are like spiders, who make + cobwebs out of their own substance. But the bee takes a middle + course: it gathers its material from the flowers of the garden and + the field, while it transforms and digests what it gathers by a + power of its own. Not unlike this is the work of the philosopher." + Novalis: "Philosophy can bake no bread; but it can give us God, + freedom and immortality." Prof. DeWitt of Princeton: "Science, + philosophy, and theology are the three great modes of organizing + the universe into an intellectual system. Science never goes below + second causes; if it does, it is no longer science,--it becomes + philosophy. Philosophy views the universe as a unity, and the goal + it is always seeking to reach is the source and centre of this + unity--the Absolute, the First Cause. This goal of philosophy is + the point of departure for theology. What philosophy is striving + to find, theology asserts has been found. Theology therefore + starts with the Absolute, the First Cause." W. N. Clarke, + Christian Theology, 48--"Science examines and classifies facts; + philosophy inquires concerning spiritual meanings. Science seeks + to know the universe; philosophy to understand it." + + Balfour, Foundations of Belief, 7--"Natural science has for its + subject matter things and events. Philosophy is the systematic + exhibition of the grounds of our knowledge. Metaphysics is our + knowledge respecting realities which are not phenomenal, _e. g._, + God and the soul." Knight, Essays in Philosophy, 81--"The aim of + the sciences is increase of knowledge, by the discovery of laws + within which all phenomena may be embraced and by means of which + they may be explained. The aim of philosophy, on the other hand, + is to explain the sciences, by at once including and transcending + them. Its sphere is substance and essence." Bowne, Theory of + Thought and Knowledge, 3-5--"Philosophy = _doctrine of knowledge_ + (is mind passive or active in knowing?--Epistemology) + _doctrine + of being_ (is fundamental being mechanical and unintelligent, or + purposive and intelligent?--Metaphysics). The systems of Locke, + Hume, and Kant are preeminently theories of knowing; the systems + of Spinoza and Leibnitz are preeminently theories of being. + Historically theories of being come first, because the object is + the only determinant for reflective thought. But the instrument of + philosophy is thought itself. First then, we must study Logic, or + the theory of thought; secondly, Epistemology, or the theory of + knowledge; thirdly, Metaphysics, or the theory of being." + + Professor George M. Forbes on the New Psychology: "Locke and Kant + represent the two tendencies in philosophy--the empirical, + physical, scientific, on the one hand, and the rational, + metaphysical, logical, on the other. Locke furnishes the basis for + the associational schemes of Hartley, the Mills, and Bain; Kant + for the idealistic scheme of Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. The two + are not contradictory, but complementary, and the Scotch Reid and + Hamilton combine them both, reacting against the extreme + empiricism and scepticism of Hume. Hickok, Porter, and McCosh + represented the Scotch school in America. It was exclusively + _analytical_; its psychology was the faculty-psychology; it + represented the mind as a bundle of faculties. The unitary + philosophy of T. H. Green, Edward Caird, in Great Britain, and in + America, of W. T. Harris, George S. Morris, and John Dewey, was a + reaction against this faculty-psychology, under the influence of + Hegel. A second reaction under the influence of the Herbartian + doctrine of apperception substituted function for faculty, making + all processes phases of apperception. G. F. Stout and J. Mark + Baldwin represent this psychology. A third reaction comes from the + influence of physical science. All attempts to unify are relegated + to a metaphysical Hades. There is nothing but states and + processes. The only unity is the laws of their coexistence and + succession. There is nothing _a priori_. Wundt identifies + apperception with will, and regards it as the unitary principle. + Kuelpe and Titchener find no self, or will, or soul, but treat + these as inferences little warranted. Their psychology is + psychology without a soul. The old psychology was exclusively + _static_, while the new emphasizes the genetic point of view. + Growth and development are the leading ideas of Herbert Spencer, + Preyer, Tracy and Stanley Hall. William James is explanatory, + while George T. Ladd is descriptive. Cattell, Scripture, and + Muensterberg apply the methods of Fechner, and the Psychological + Review is their organ. Their error is in their negative attitude. + The old psychology is needed to supplement the new. It has greater + scope and more practical significance." On the relation of + theology to philosophy and to science, see Luthardt, Compend. der + Dogmatik, 4; Hagenbach, Encyclopaedie, 109. + + + +III. History of Systematic Theology. + + +1. _In the Eastern Church_, Systematic Theology may be said to have had +its beginning and end in John of Damascus (700-760). + + + Ignatius ({~DAGGER~} 115--Ad Trall., c. 9) gives us "the first distinct + statement of the faith drawn up in a series of propositions. This + systematizing formed the basis of all later efforts" (Prof. A. H. + Newman). Origen of Alexandria (186-254) wrote his {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}; + Athanasius of Alexandria (300-373) his Treatises on the Trinity + and the Deity of Christ; and Gregory of Nyssa in Cappadocia + (332-398) his {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. Hatch, Hibbert Lectures, + 323, regards the "De Principiis" of Origen as the "first complete + system of dogma," and speaks of Origen as "the disciple of Clement + of Alexandria, the first great teacher of philosophical + Christianity." But while the Fathers just mentioned seem to have + conceived the plan of expounding the doctrines in order and of + showing their relation to one another, it was John of Damascus + (700-760) who first actually carried out such a plan. His {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, or Summary of the Orthodox Faith, + may be considered the earliest work of Systematic Theology. + Neander calls it "the most important doctrinal text-book of the + Greek Church." John, like the Greek Church in general, was + speculative, theological, semi-pelagian, sacramentarian. The + Apostles' Creed, so called, is, in its present form, not earlier + than the fifth century; see Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, 1:19. + Mr. Gladstone suggested that the Apostles' Creed was a development + of the baptismal formula. McGiffert, Apostles' Creed, assigns to + the meagre original form a date of the third quarter of the second + century, and regards the Roman origin of the symbol as proved. It + was framed as a baptismal formula, but specifically in opposition + to the teachings of Marcion, which were at that time causing much + trouble at Rome. Harnack however dates the original Apostles' + Creed at 150, and Zahn places it at 120. See also J. C. Long, in + Bap. Quar. Rev., Jan. 1892: 89-101. + + +2. _In the Western Church_, we may (with Hagenbach) distinguish three +periods: + +(_a_) The period of Scholasticism,--introduced by Peter Lombard +(1100-1160), and reaching its culmination in Thomas Aquinas (1221-1274) +and Duns Scotus (1265-1308). + + + Though Systematic Theology had its beginning in the Eastern + Church, its development has been confined almost wholly to the + Western. Augustine (353-430) wrote his "Encheiridion ad + Laurentium" and his "De Civitate Dei," and John Scotus Erigena ({~DAGGER~} + 850), Roscelin (1092-1122), and Abelard (1079-1142), in their + attempts at the rational explanation of the Christian doctrine + foreshadowed the works of the great scholastic teachers. Anselm of + Canterbury (1034-1109), with his "Proslogion de Dei Existentia" + and his "Cur Deus Homo," has sometimes, but wrongly, been called + the founder of Scholasticism. Allen, in his Continuity of + Christian Thought, represents the transcendence of God as the + controlling principle of the Augustinian and of the Western + theology. The Eastern Church, he maintains, had founded its + theology on God's immanence. Paine, in his Evolution of + Trinitarianism, shows that this is erroneous. Augustine was a + theistic monist. He declares that "Dei voluntas rerum natura est," + and regards God's upholding as a continuous creation. Western + theology recognized the immanence of God as well as his + transcendence. + + Peter Lombard, however, (1100-1160), the "magister sententiarum," + was the first great systematizer of the Western Church, and his + "Libri Sententiarum Quatuor" was the theological text-book of the + Middle Ages. Teachers lectured on the "Sentences" (_Sententia_ = + sentence, _Satz_, _locus_, point, article of faith), as they did + on the books of Aristotle, who furnished to Scholasticism its + impulse and guide. Every doctrine was treated in the order of + Aristotle's four causes: the material, the formal, the efficient, + the final. ("Cause" here = requisite: (1) matter of which a thing + consists, _e. g._, bricks and mortar; (2) form it assumes, _e. + g._, plan or design; (3) producing agent, _e. g._, builder; (4) + end for which made, _e. g._, house.) The organization of physical + as well as of theological science was due to Aristotle. Dante + called him "the master of those who know." James Ten Broeke, Bap. + Quar. Rev., Jan. 1892:1-26--"The Revival of Learning showed the + world that the real Aristotle was much broader than the Scholastic + Aristotle--information very unwelcome to the Roman Church." For the + influence of Scholasticism, compare the literary methods of + Augustine and of Calvin,--the former giving us his materials in + disorder, like soldiers bivouacked for the night; the latter + arranging them like those same soldiers drawn up in battle array; + see A. H. Strong, Philosophy and Religion, 4, and Christ in + Creation, 188, 189. + + Candlish, art.: Dogmatic, in Encycl. Brit., 7:340--"By and by a + mighty intellectual force took hold of the whole collected + dogmatic material, and reared out of it the great scholastic + systems, which have been compared to the grand Gothic cathedrals + that were the work of the same ages." Thomas Aquinas (1221-1274), + the Dominican, "doctor angelicus," Augustinian and Realist,--and + Duns Scotus (1265-1308), the Franciscan, "doctor + subtilis,"--wrought out the scholastic theology more fully, and + left behind them, in their _Summae_, gigantic monuments of + intellectual industry and acumen. Scholasticism aimed at the proof + and systematizing of the doctrines of the Church by means of + Aristotle's philosophy. It became at last an illimitable morass of + useless subtilities and abstractions, and it finally ended in the + nominalistic scepticism of William of Occam (1270-1347). See + Townsend, The Great Schoolmen of the Middle Ages. + + +(_b_) The period of Symbolism,--represented by the Lutheran theology of +Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), and the Reformed theology of John Calvin +(1509-1564); the former connecting itself with the Analytic theology of +Calixtus (1585-1656), and the latter with the Federal theology of Cocceius +(1603-1669). + + + _The Lutheran Theology._--Preachers precede theologians, and Luther + (1485-1546) was preacher rather than theologian. But Melanchthon + (1497-1560), "the preceptor of Germany," as he was called, + embodied the theology of the Lutheran church in his "Loci + Communes" = points of doctrine common to believers (first edition + Augustinian, afterwards substantially Arminian; grew out of + lectures on the Epistle to the Romans). He was followed by + Chemnitz (1522-1586), "clear and accurate," the most learned of + the disciples of Melanchthon. Leonhard Hutter (1563-1616), called + "Lutherus redivivus," and John Gerhard (1582-1637) followed Luther + rather than Melanchthon. "Fifty years after the death of + Melanchthon, Leonhard Hutter, his successor in the chair of + theology at Wittenberg, on an occasion when the authority of + Melanchthon was appealed to, tore down from the wall the portrait + of the great Reformer, and trampled it under foot in the presence + of the assemblage" (E. D. Morris, paper at the 60th Anniversary of + Lane Seminary). George Calixtus (1586-1656) followed Melanchthon + rather than Luther. He taught a theology which recognized the good + element in both the Reformed and the Romanist doctrine and which + was called "Syncretism." He separated Ethics from Systematic + Theology, and applied the analytical method of investigation to + the latter, beginning with the end, or final cause, of all things, + viz.: blessedness. He was followed in his analytic method by + Dannhauer (1603-1666), who treated theology allegorically, + Calovius (1612-1686), "the most uncompromising defender of + Lutheran orthodoxy and the most drastic polemicist against + Calixtus," Quenstedt (1617-1688), whom Hovey calls "learned, + comprehensive and logical," and Hollaz ({~DAGGER~} 1730). The Lutheran + theology aimed to purify the _existing_ church, maintaining that + what is not against the gospel is for it. It emphasized the + material principle of the Reformation, justification by faith; but + it retained many Romanist customs not expressly forbidden in + Scripture. Kaftan, Am. Jour. Theol., 1900:716--"Because the + mediaeval school-philosophy mainly held sway, the Protestant + theology representing the new faith was meanwhile necessarily + accommodated to forms of knowledge thereby conditioned, that is, + to forms essentially Catholic." + + _The Reformed Theology._--The word "Reformed" is here used in its + technical sense, as designating that phase of the new theology + which originated in Switzerland. Zwingle, the Swiss reformer + (1484-1531), differing from Luther as to the Lord's Supper and as + to Scripture, was more than Luther entitled to the name of + systematic theologian. Certain writings of his may be considered + the beginning of Reformed theology. But it was left to John Calvin + (1509-1564), after the death of Zwingle, to arrange the principles + of that theology in systematic form. Calvin dug channels for + Zwingle's flood to flow in, as Melanchthon did for Luther's. His + Institutes ("Institutio Religionis Christianae"), is one of the + great works in theology (superior as a systematic work to + Melanchthon's "Loci"). Calvin was followed by Peter Martyr + (1500-1562), Chamier (1565-1621), and Theodore Beza (1519-1605). + Beza carried Calvin's doctrine of predestination to an extreme + supralapsarianism, which is hyper-Calvinistic rather than + Calvinistic. Cocceius (1603-1669), and after him Witsius + (1626-1708), made theology centre about the idea of the covenants, + and founded the Federal theology. Leydecker (1642-1721) treated + theology in the order of the persons of the Trinity. Amyraldus + (1596-1664) and Placeus of Saumur (1596-1632) modified the + Calvinistic doctrine, the latter by his theory of mediate + imputation, and the former by advocating the hypothetic + universalism of divine grace. Turretin (1671-1737), a clear and + strong theologian whose work is still a text-book at Princeton, + and Pictet (1655-1725), both of them Federalists, showed the + influence of the Cartesian philosophy. The Reformed theology aimed + to build a _new_ church, affirming that what is not derived from + the Bible is against it. It emphasized the formal principle of the + Reformation, the sole authority of Scripture. + + In general, while the line between Catholic and Protestant in + Europe runs from west to east, the line between Lutheran and + Reformed runs from south to north, the Reformed theology flowing + with the current of the Rhine northward from Switzerland to + Holland and to England, in which latter country the Thirty-nine + Articles represent the Reformed faith, while the Prayer-book of + the English Church is substantially Arminian; see Dorner, Gesch. + prot. Theologie, Einleit., 9. On the difference between Lutheran + and Reformed doctrine, see Schaff, Germany, its Universities, + Theology and Religion, 167-177. On the Reformed Churches of Europe + and America, see H. B. Smith, Faith and Philosophy, 87-124. + + +(_c_) The period of Criticism and Speculation,--in its three divisions: the +Rationalistic, represented by Semler (1725-1791); the Transitional, by +Schleiermacher (1768-1834); the Evangelical, by Nitzsch, Mueller, Tholuck +and Dorner. + + + _First Division._ Rationalistic theologies: Though the Reformation + had freed theology in great part from the bonds of scholasticism, + other philosophies after a time took its place. The Leibnitz- + (1646-1754) Wolffian (1679-1754) exaggeration of the powers of + natural religion prepared the way for rationalistic systems of + theology. Buddeus (1667-1729) combated the new principles, but + Semler's (1725-1791) theology was built upon them, and represented + the Scriptures as having a merely local and temporary character. + Michaelis (1716-1784) and Doederlein (1714-1789) followed Semler, + and the tendency toward rationalism was greatly assisted by the + critical philosophy of Kant (1724-1804), to whom "revelation was + problematical, and positive religion merely the medium through + which the practical truths of reason are communicated" (Hagenbach, + Hist. Doct., 2:397). Ammon (1766-1850) and Wegscheider (1771-1848) + were representatives of this philosophy. Daub, Marheinecke and + Strauss (1808-1874) were the Hegelian dogmatists. The system of + Strauss resembled "Christian theology as a cemetery resembles a + town." Storr (1746-1805), Reinhard (1753-1812), and Knapp + (1753-1825), in the main evangelical, endeavored to reconcile + revelation with reason, but were more or less influenced by this + rationalizing spirit. Bretschneider (1776-1828) and De Wette + (1780-1849) may be said to have held middle ground. + + _Second Division._ Transition to a more Scriptural theology. + Herder (1744-1803) and Jacobi (1743-1819), by their more spiritual + philosophy, prepared the way for Schleiermacher's (1768-1834) + grounding of doctrine in the facts of Christian experience. The + writings of Schleiermacher constituted an epoch, and had great + influence in delivering Germany from the rationalistic toils into + which it had fallen. We may now speak of a + + _Third Division_--and in this division we may put the names of + Neander and Tholuck, Twesten and Nitzsch, Mueller and Luthardt, + Dorner and Philippi, Ebrard and Thomasius, Lange and Kahnis, all + of them exponents of a far more pure and evangelical theology than + was common in Germany a century ago. Two new forms of rationalism, + however, have appeared in Germany, the one based upon the + philosophy of Hegel, and numbering among its adherents Strauss and + Baur, Biedermann, Lipsius and Pfleiderer; the other based upon the + philosophy of Kant, and advocated by Ritschl and his followers, + Harnack, Hermann and Kaftan; the former emphasizing the ideal + Christ, the latter emphasizing the historical Christ; but neither + of the two fully recognizing the living Christ present in every + believer (see Johnson's Cyclopaedia, art.: Theology, by A. H. + Strong). + + +3. _Among theologians of views diverse from the prevailing Protestant +faith_, may be mentioned: + +(_a_) Bellarmine (1542-1621), the Roman Catholic. + + + Besides Bellarmine, "the best controversial writer of his age" + (Bayle), the Roman Catholic Church numbers among its noted modern + theologians:--Petavius (1583-1652), whose dogmatic theology Gibbon + calls "a work of incredible labor and compass"; Melchior Canus + (1523-1560), an opponent of the Jesuits and their scholastic + method; Bossuet (1627-1704), who idealized Catholicism in his + Exposition of Doctrine, and attacked Protestantism in his History + of Variations of Protestant Churches; Jansen (1585-1638), who + attempted, in opposition to the Jesuits, to reproduce the theology + of Augustine, and who had in this the powerful assistance of + Pascal (1623-1662). Jansenism, so far as the doctrines of grace + are concerned, but not as respects the sacraments, is virtual + Protestantism within the Roman Catholic Church. Moehler's + Symbolism, Perrone's "Prelectiones Theologicae," and Hurter's + "Compendium Theologiae Dogmaticae" are the latest and most approved + expositions of Roman Catholic doctrine. + + +(_b_) Arminius (1560-1609), the opponent of predestination. + + + Among the followers of Arminius (1560-1609) must be reckoned + Episcopius (1583-1643), who carried Arminianism to almost Pelagian + extremes; Hugo Grotius (1553-1645), the jurist and statesman, + author of the governmental theory of the atonement; and Limborch + (1633-1712), the most thorough expositor of the Arminian doctrine. + + +(_c_) Laelius Socinus (1525-1562), and Faustus Socinus (1539-1604), the +leaders of the modern Unitarian movement. + + + The works of Laelius Socinus (1525-1562) and his nephew, Faustus + Socinus (1539-1604) constituted the beginnings of modern + Unitarianism. Laelius Socinus was the preacher and reformer, as + Faustus Socinus was the theologian; or, as Baumgarten Crusius + expresses it: "the former was the spiritual founder of + Socinianism, and the latter the founder of the sect." Their + writings are collected in the Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum. The + Racovian Catechism, taking its name from the Polish town Racow, + contains the most succinct exposition of their views. In 1660, the + Unitarian church of the Socini in Poland was destroyed by + persecution, but its Hungarian offshoot has still more than a + hundred congregations. + + +4. _British Theology_, represented by: + +(_a_) The Baptists, John Bunyan (1628-1688), John Gill (1697-1771), and +Andrew Fuller (1754-1815). + + + Some of the best British theology is Baptist. Among John Bunyan's + works we may mention his "Gospel Truths Opened," though his + "Pilgrim's Progress" and "Holy War" are theological treatises in + allegorical form. Macaulay calls Milton and Bunyan the two great + creative minds of England during the latter part of the 17th + century. John Gill's "Body of Practical Divinity" shows much + ability, although the Rabbinical learning of the author + occasionally displays itself in a curious exegesis, as when on the + word "Abba" he remarks: "You see that this word which means + 'Father' reads the same whether we read forward or backward; which + suggests that God is the same whichever way we look at him." + Andrew Fuller's "Letters on Systematic Divinity" is a brief + compend of theology. His treatises upon special doctrines are + marked by sound judgment and clear insight. They were the most + influential factor in rescuing the evangelical churches of England + from antinomianism. They justify the epithets which Robert Hall, + one of the greatest of Baptist preachers, gives him: "sagacious," + "luminous," "powerful." + + +(_b_) The Puritans, John Owen (1616-1683), Richard Baxter (1615-1691), +John Howe (1630-1705), and Thomas Ridgeley (1666-1734). + + + Owen was the most rigid, as Baxter was the most liberal, of the + Puritans. The Encyclopaedia Britannica remarks: "As a theological + thinker and writer, John Owen holds his own distinctly defined + place among those titanic intellects with which the age abounded. + Surpassed by Baxter in point and pathos, by Howe in imagination + and the higher philosophy, he is unrivaled in his power of + unfolding the rich meanings of Scripture. In his writings he was + preeminently the great theologian." Baxter wrote a "Methodus + Theologiae," and a "Catholic Theology"; John Howe is chiefly known + by his "Living Temple"; Thomas Ridgeley by his "Body of Divinity." + Charles H. Spurgeon never ceased to urge his students to become + familiar with the Puritan Adams, Ambrose, Bowden, Manton and + Sibbes. + + +(_c_) The Scotch Presbyterians, Thomas Boston (1676-1732), John Dick +(1764-1833), and Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847). + + + Of the Scotch Presbyterians, Boston is the most voluminous, Dick + the most calm and fair, Chalmers the most fervid and popular. + + +(_d_) The Methodists, John Wesley (1703-1791), and Richard Watson +(1781-1833). + + + Of the Methodists, John Wesley's doctrine is presented in + "Christian Theology," collected from his writings by the Rev. + Thornley Smith. The great Methodist text-book, however, is the + "Institutes" of Watson, who systematized and expounded the + Wesleyan theology. Pope, a recent English theologian, follows + Watson's modified and improved Arminianism, while Whedon and + Raymond, recent American writers, hold rather to a radical and + extreme Arminianism. + + +(_e_) The Quakers, George Fox (1624-1691), and Robert Barclay (1648-1690). + + + As Jesus, the preacher and reformer, preceded Paul the theologian; + as Luther preceded Melanchthon; as Zwingle preceded Calvin; as + Laelius Socinus preceded Faustus Socinus; as Wesley preceded + Watson; so Fox preceded Barclay. Barclay wrote an "Apology for the + true Christian Divinity," which Dr. E. G. Robinson described as + "not a formal treatise of Systematic Theology, but the ablest + exposition of the views of the Quakers." George Fox was the + reformer, William Penn the social founder, Robert Barclay the + theologian, of Quakerism. + + +(_f_) The English Churchmen, Richard Hooker (1553-1600), Gilbert Burnet +(1643-1715), and John Pearson (1613-1686). + + + The English church has produced no great systematic theologian + (see reasons assigned in Dorner, Gesch. prot. Theologie, 470). The + "judicious" Hooker is still its greatest theological writer, + although his work is only on "Ecclesiastical Polity." Bishop + Burnet is the author of the "Exposition of the XXXIX Articles," + and Bishop Pearson of the "Exposition of the Creed." Both these + are common English text-books. A recent "Compendium of Dogmatic + Theology," by Litton, shows a tendency to return from the usual + Arminianism of the Anglican church to the old Augustinianism; so + also Bishop Moule's "Outlines of Christian Doctrine," and Mason's + "Faith of the Gospel." + + +5. _American theology_, running in two lines: + +(_a_) The Reformed system of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), modified +successively by Joseph Bellamy (1719-1790), Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803), +Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), Nathanael Emmons (1745-1840), Leonard Woods +(1774-1854), Charles G. Finney (1792-1875), Nathaniel W. Taylor +(1786-1858), and Horace Bushnell (1802-1876). Calvinism, as thus modified, +is often called the New England, or New School, theology. + + + Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest of metaphysicians and + theologians, was an idealist who held that God is the only real + cause, either in the realm of matter or in the realm of mind. He + regarded the chief good as happiness--a form of sensibility. Virtue + was voluntary choice of this good. Hence union with Adam in acts + and exercises was sufficient. Thus God's will made identity of + being with Adam. This led to the exercise-system of Hopkins and + Emmons, on the one hand, and to Bellamy's and Dwight's denial of + any imputation of Adam's sin or of inborn depravity, on the + other--in which last denial agree many other New England + theologians who reject the exercise-scheme, as for example, + Strong, Tyler, Smalley, Burton, Woods, and Park. Dr. N. W. Taylor + added a more distinctly Arminian element, the power of contrary + choice--and with this tenet of the New Haven theology, Charles G. + Finney, of Oberlin, substantially agreed. Horace Bushnell held to + a practically Sabellian view of the Trinity, and to a + moral-influence theory of the atonement. Thus from certain + principles admitted by Edwards, who held in the main to an Old + School theology, the New School theology has been gradually + developed. + + Robert Hall called Edwards "the greatest of the sons of men." Dr. + Chalmers regarded him as the "greatest of theologians." Dr. + Fairbairn says: "He is not only the greatest of all the thinkers + that America has produced, but also the highest speculative genius + of the eighteenth century. In a far higher degree than Spinoza, he + was a 'God-intoxicated man.'" His fundamental notion that there is + no causality except the divine was made the basis of a theory of + necessity which played into the hands of the deists whom he + opposed and was alien not only to Christianity but even to theism. + Edwards could not have gotten his idealism from Berkeley; it may + have been suggested to him by the writings of Locke or Newton, + Cudworth or Descartes, John Norris or Arthur Collier. See Prof. H. + N. Gardiner, in Philos. Rev., Nov. 1900:573-596; Prof. E. C. + Smyth, in Am. Jour. Theol., Oct. 1897:956; Allen, Jonathan + Edwards, 16, 308-310, and in Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1891:767; + Sanborn, in Jour. Spec. Philos., Oct. 1883:401-420; G. P. Fisher, + Edwards on the Trinity, 18, 19. + + +(_b_) The older Calvinism, represented by Charles Hodge the father +(1797-1878) and A. A. Hodge the son (1823-1886), together with Henry B. +Smith (1815-1877), Robert J. Breckinridge (1800-1871), Samuel J. Baird, +and William G. T. Shedd (1820-1894). All these, although with minor +differences, hold to views of human depravity and divine grace more nearly +conformed to the doctrine of Augustine and Calvin, and are for this reason +distinguished from the New England theologians and their followers by the +popular title of Old School. + + + Old School theology, in its view of predestination, exalts God; + New School theology, by emphasizing the freedom of the will, + exalts man. It is yet more important to notice that Old School + theology has for its characteristic tenet the guilt of inborn + depravity. But among those who hold this view, some are + federalists and creationists, and justify God's condemnation of + all men upon the ground that Adam represented his posterity. Such + are the Princeton theologians generally, including Charles Hodge, + A. A. Hodge, and the brothers Alexander. Among those who hold to + the Old School doctrine of the guilt of inborn depravity, however, + there are others who are traducians, and who explain the + imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity upon the ground of the + natural union between him and them. Baird's "Elohim Revealed" and + Shedd's essay on "Original Sin" (Sin a Nature and that Nature + Guilt) represent this realistic conception of the relation of the + race to its first father. R. J. Breckinridge, R. L. Dabney, and J. + H. Thornwell assert the fact of inherent corruption and guilt, but + refuse to assign any _rationale_ for it, though they tend to + realism. H. B. Smith holds guardedly to the theory of mediate + imputation. + + On the history of Systematic Theology in general, see Hagenbach, + History of Doctrine (from which many of the facts above given are + taken), and Shedd, History of Doctrine; also, Ebrard, Dogmatik, + 1:44-100; Kahnis, Dogmatik, 1:15-128; Hase, Hutterus Redivivus, + 24-52. Gretillat, Theologie Systematique, 3:24-120, has given an + excellent history of theology, brought down to the present time. + On the history of New England theology, see Fisher, Discussions + and Essays, 285-354. + + + +IV. Order of Treatment in Systematic Theology. + + +1. _Various methods of arranging the topics of a theological system._ + +(_a_) The Analytical method of Calixtus begins with the assumed end of all +things, blessedness, and thence passes to the means by which it is +secured. (_b_) The Trinitarian method of Leydecker and Martensen regards +Christian doctrine as a manifestation successively of the Father, Son and +Holy Spirit. (_c_) The Federal method of Cocceius, Witsius, and Boston +treats theology under the two covenants. (_d_) The Anthropological method +of Chalmers and Rothe; the former beginning with the Disease of Man and +passing to the Remedy; the latter dividing his Dogmatik into the +Consciousness of Sin and the Consciousness of Redemption. (_e_) The +Christological method of Hase, Thomasius and Andrew Fuller treats of God, +man, and sin, as presuppositions of the person and work of Christ. Mention +may also be made of (_f_) The Historical method, followed by Ursinus, and +adopted in Jonathan Edwards's History of Redemption; and (_g_) The +Allegorical method of Dannhauer, in which man is described as a wanderer, +life as a road, the Holy Spirit as a light, the church as a candlestick, +God as the end, and heaven as the home; so Bunyan's Holy War, and Howe's +Living Temple. + + + See Calixtus, Epitome Theologiae; Leydecker, De OEconomia trium + Personarum in Negotio Salutis humanae; Martensen (1808-1884), + Christian Dogmatics; Cocceius, Summa Theologiae, and Summa Doctrinae + de Foedere et Testamento Dei, in Works, vol. vi; Witsius, The + Economy of the Covenants; Boston, A Complete Body of Divinity (in + Works, vol. 1 and 2), Questions in Divinity (vol. 6), Human Nature + in its Fourfold State (vol. 8); Chalmers, Institutes of Theology; + Rothe (1799-1867), Dogmatik, and Theologische Ethik; Hase + (1800-1890), Evangelische Dogmatik; Thomasius (1802-1875), Christi + Person und Werk; Fuller, Gospel Worthy of all Acceptation (in + Works, 2:328-416), and Letters on Systematic Divinity (1:684-711); + Ursinus (1534-1583), Loci Theologici (in Works, 1:426-909); + Dannhauer (1603-1666) Hodosophia Christiana, seu Theologia + Positiva in Methodum redacta. Jonathan Edwards's so-called History + of Redemption was in reality a system of theology in historical + form. It "was to begin and end with eternity, all great events and + epochs in time being viewed 'sub specie eternitatis.' The three + worlds--heaven, earth and hell--were to be the scenes of this grand + drama. It was to include the topics of theology as living factors, + each in its own place," and all forming a complete and harmonious + whole; see Allen, Jonathan Edwards, 379, 380. + + +2. _The Synthetic Method_, which we adopt in this compendium, is both the +most common and the most logical method of arranging the topics of +theology. This method proceeds from causes to effects, or, in the language +of Hagenbach (Hist. Doctrine, 2:152), "starts from the highest principle, +God, and proceeds to man, Christ, redemption, and finally to the end of +all things." In such a treatment of theology we may best arrange our +topics in the following order: + +1st. The existence of God. +2d. The Scriptures a revelation from God. +3d. The nature, decrees and works of God. +4th. Man, in his original likeness to God and subsequent apostasy. +5th. Redemption, through the work of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. +6th. The nature and laws of the Christian church. +7th. The end of the present system of things. + + + +V. Text-Books in Theology. + + +1. _Confessions_: Schaff, Creeds of Christendom. + +2. _Compendiums_: H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology; A. A. Hodge, +Outlines of Theology; E. H. Johnson, Outline of Systematic Theology; +Hovey, Manual of Theology and Ethics; W. N. Clarke, Outline of Christian +Theology; Hase, Hutterus Redivivus; Luthardt, Compendium der Dogmatik; +Kurtz, Religionslehre. + +3. _Extended Treatises_: Dorner, System of Christian Doctrine; Shedd, +Dogmatic Theology; Calvin, Institutes; Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology; +Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics; Baird, Elohim Revealed; Luthardt, +Fundamental, Saving, and Moral Truths; Phillippi, Glaubenslehre; +Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk. + +4. _Collected Works_: Jonathan Edwards; Andrew Fuller. + +5. _Histories of Doctrine_: Harnack; Hagenbach; Shedd; Fisher; Sheldon; +Orr, Progress of Dogma. + +6. _Monographs_: Julius Mueller, Doctrine of Sin; Shedd, Discourses and +Essays; Liddon, Our Lord's Divinity; Dorner, History of the Doctrine of +the Person of Christ; Dale, Atonement; Strong, Christ in Creation; Upton, +Hibbert Lectures. + +7. _Theism_: Martineau, Study of Religion; Harris, Philosophical Basis of +Theism; Strong, Philosophy and Religion; Bruce, Apologetics; Drummond, +Ascent of Man; Griffith-Jones, Ascent through Christ. + +8. _Christian Evidences_: Butler, Analogy of Natural and Revealed +Religion; Fisher, Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief; Row, Bampton +Lectures for 1877; Peabody, Evidences of Christianity; Mair, Christian +Evidences; Fairbairn, Philosophy of the Christian Religion; Matheson, +Spiritual Development of St. Paul. + +9. _Intellectual Philosophy_: Stout, Handbook of Psychology; Bowne, +Metaphysics; Porter, Human Intellect; Hill, Elements of Psychology; Dewey, +Psychology. + +10. _Moral Philosophy_: Robinson, Principles and Practice of Morality; +Smyth, Christian Ethics; Porter, Elements of Moral Science; Calderwood, +Moral Philosophy; Alexander, Moral Science; Robins, Ethics of the +Christian Life. + +11. _General Science_: Todd, Astronomy; Wentworth and Hill, Physics; +Remsen, Chemistry; Brigham, Geology; Parker, Biology; Martin, Physiology; +Ward, Fairbanks, or West, Sociology; Walker, Political Economy. + +12. _Theological Encyclopaedias_: Schaff-Herzog (English); McClintock and +Strong; Herzog (Second German Edition). + +13. _Bible Dictionaries_: Hastings; Davis; Cheyne; Smith (edited by +Hackett). + +14. _Commentaries_: Meyer, on the New Testament; Philippi, Lange, Shedd, +Sanday, on the Epistle to the Romans; Godet, on John's Gospel; Lightfoot, +on Philippians and Colossians; Expositor's Bible, on the Old Testament +books. + +15. _Bibles_: American Revision (standard edition); Revised Greek-English +New Testament (published by Harper & Brothers); Annotated Paragraph Bible +(published by the London Religious Tract Society) Stier and Theile, +Polyglotten-Bibel. + + + An attempt has been made, in the list of text-books given above, + to put first in each class the book best worth purchasing by the + average theological student, and to arrange the books that follow + this first one in the order of their value. German books, however, + when they are not yet accessible in an English translation, are + put last, simply because they are less likely to be used as books + of reference by the average student. + + + + + +PART II. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. + + + + +Chapter I. Origin Of Our Idea Of God's Existence. + + +God is the infinite and perfect Spirit in whom all things have their +source, support, and end. + + + On the definition of the term God, see Hodge, Syst. Theol., 1:366. + Other definitions are those of Calovius: "Essentia spiritualis + infinite"; Ebrard: "The eternal source of all that is temporal"; + Kahnis: "The infinite Spirit"; John Howe: "An eternal, uncaused, + independent, necessary Being, that hath active power, life, + wisdom, goodness, and whatsoever other supposable excellency, in + the highest perfection, in and of itself"; Westminster Catechism: + "A Spirit infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, + power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth"; Andrew Fuller: "The + first cause and last end of all things." + + +The existence of God is a first truth; in other words, the knowledge of +God's existence is a rational intuition. Logically, it precedes and +conditions all observation and reasoning. Chronologically, only reflection +upon the phenomena of nature and of mind occasions its rise in +consciousness. + + + The term intuition means simply direct knowledge. Lowndes (Philos. + of Primary Beliefs, 78) and Mansel (Metaphysics, 52) would use the + term only of our direct knowledge of substances, as self and body; + Porter applies it by preference to our cognition of first truths, + such as have been already mentioned. Harris (Philos. Basis of + Theism, 44-151, but esp. 45, 46) makes it include both. He divides + intuitions into two classes: 1. _Presentative_ intuitions, as + self-consciousness (in virtue of which I perceive the existence of + spirit and already come in contact with the supernatural), and + sense-perception (in virtue of which I perceive the existence of + matter, at least in my own organism, and come in contact with + nature); 2. _Rational_ intuitions, as space, time, substance, + cause, final cause, right, absolute being. We may accept this + nomenclature, using the terms "first truths" and "rational + intuitions" as equivalent to each other, and classifying rational + intuitions under the heads of (1) intuitions of relations, as + space and time; (2) intuitions of principles, as substance, cause, + final cause, right; and (3) intuition of absolute Being, Power, + Reason, Perfection, Personality, as God. We hold that, as upon + occasion of the senses cognizing (_a_) extended matter, (_b_) + succession, (_c_) qualities, (_d_) change, (_e_) order, (_f_) + action, respectively, the mind cognizes (_a_) space, (_b_) time, + (_c_) substance, (_d_) cause, (_e_) design, (_f_) obligation, so + upon occasion of our cognizing our finiteness, dependence and + responsibility, the mind directly cognizes the existence of an + Infinite and Absolute Authority, Perfection, Personality, upon + whom we are dependent and to whom we are responsible. + + Bowne, Theory of Thought and Knowledge, 60--"As we walk in entire + ignorance of our muscles, so we often think in entire ignorance of + the principles which underlie and determine thinking. But as + anatomy reveals that the apparently simple act of walking involves + a highly complex muscular activity, so analysis reveals that the + apparently simple act of thinking involves a system of mental + principles." Dewey, Psychology, 238, 244--"Perception, memory, + imagination, conception--each of these is an act of intuition.... + Every concrete act of knowledge involves an intuition of God." + Martineau, Types, 1:459--The attempt to divest experience of either + percepts or intuitions is "like the attempt to peel a bubble in + search for its colors and contents: in tenuem ex oculis evanuit + auram"; Study, 1:199--"Try with all your might to do something + difficult, _e. g._, to shut a door against a furious wind, and you + recognize Self and Nature--causal will, over against external + causality"; 201--"Hence our fellow-feeling with Nature"; 65--"As + Perception gives us Will in the shape of Causality over against us + in the non-ego, so Conscience gives us Will in the shape of + Authority over against us in the non-ego"; Types, 2:5--"In + perception it is self and nature, in morals it is self and God, + that stand face to face in the subjective and objective + antithesis"; Study, 2:2, 3--"In volitional experience we meet with + objective _causality_; in moral experience we meet with objective + _authority_,--both being objects of immediate knowledge, on the + same footing of certainty with the apprehension of the external + material world. I know of no logical advantage which the belief in + finite objects around us can boast over the belief in the infinite + and righteous Cause of all"; 51--"In recognition of God as Cause, + we raise the University; in recognition of God as Authority, we + raise the Church." + + Kant declares that the idea of freedom is the source of our idea + of personality,--personality consists in the freedom of the whole + soul from the mechanism of nature. Lotze, Metaphysics, § 244--"So + far as, and so long as, the soul knows itself as the identical + subject of inward experience, it is, and is named simply for that + reason, substance." Illingworth, Personality, Human and Divine, + 32--"Our conception of substance is derived, not from the physical, + but from the mental world. Substance is first of all that which + underlies our _mental_ affections and manifestations." James, Will + to Believe, 80--"Substance, as Kant says, means 'das Beharrliche,' + the abiding, that which will be as it has been, because its being + is essential and eternal." In this sense we have an intuitive + belief in an abiding substance which underlies our own thoughts + and volitions, and this we call the soul. But we also have an + intuitive belief in an abiding substance which underlies all + natural phenomena and all the events of history, and this we call + God. Among those who hold to this general view of an intuitive + knowledge of God may be mentioned the following:--Calvin, + Institutes, book I, chap. 3; Nitzsch, System of Christian + Doctrine, 15-26, 133-140; Julius Mueller, Doctrine of Sin, 1:78-84; + Ulrici, Leib und Seele, 688-725; Porter, Human Intellect, 497; + Hickok, Rational Cosmology, 58-89; Farrar, Science in Theology, + 27-29; Bib. Sac., July, 1872:533, and January, 1873:204; Miller, + Fetich in Theology, 110-122; Fisher, Essays, 565-572; Tulloch, + Theism, 314-336; Hodge, Systematic Theology, 1:191-203; + Christlieb, Mod. Doubt and Christian Belief, 75, 76; Raymond, + Syst. Theology, 1:247-262; Bascom, Science of Mind, 246, 247; + Knight, Studies in Philos. and Lit., 155-224; A. H. Strong, + Philosophy and Religion, 76-89. + + + +I. First Truths in General. + + +1. _Their nature._ + +A. Negatively.--A first truth is not (_a_) Truth written prior to +consciousness upon the substance of the soul--for such passive knowledge +implies a materialistic view of the soul; (_b_) Actual knowledge of which +the soul finds itself in possession at birth--for it cannot be proved that +the soul has such knowledge; (_c_) An idea, undeveloped at birth, but +which has the power of self-development apart from observation and +experience--for this is contrary to all we know of the laws of mental +growth. + + + Cicero, De Natura Deorum, 1:17--"Intelligi necesse est esse deos, + quoniam insitas eorum vel potius innatas cogitationes habemus." + Origen, Adv. Celsum, 1:4--"Men would not be guilty, if they did not + carry in their minds common notions of morality, innate and + written in divine letters." Calvin, Institutes, 1:3:3--"Those who + rightly judge will always agree that there is an indelible sense + of divinity engraven upon men's minds." Fleming, Vocab. of + Philosophy, art.: "Innate Ideas"--"Descartes is supposed to have + taught (and Locke devoted the first book of his Essays to refuting + the doctrine) that these ideas are innate or connate with the + soul; _i. e._, the intellect finds itself at birth, or as soon as + it wakes to conscious activity, to be possessed of ideas to which + it has only to attach the appropriate names, or of judgments which + it only needs to express in fit propositions--_i. e._, prior to any + experience of individual objects." + + Royce, Spirit of Modern Philosophy, 77--"In certain families, + Descartes teaches, good breeding and the gout are innate. Yet, of + course, the children of such families have to be instructed in + deportment, and the infants just learning to walk seem happily + quite free from gout. Even so geometry is innate in us, but it + does not come to our consciousness without much trouble"; 79--Locke + found no innate ideas. He maintained, in reply, that "infants, + with their rattles, showed no sign of being aware that things + which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other." + Schopenhauer said that "Jacobi had the trifling weakness of taking + all he had learned and approved before his fifteenth year for + inborn ideas of the human mind." Bowne, Principles of Ethics, + 5--"That the rational ideas are conditioned by the sense experience + and are sequent to it, is unquestioned by any one; and that + experience shows a successive order of manifestation is equally + undoubted. But the sensationalist has always shown a curious + blindness to the ambiguity of such a fact. He will have it that + what comes after must be a modification of what went before; + whereas it might be _that_, _and_ it might be a new, though + conditioned, manifestation of an immanent nature or law. Chemical + affinity is not gravity, although affinity cannot manifest itself + until gravity has brought the elements into certain relations." + + Pfleiderer, Philosophy of Religion, 1:103--"This principle was not + from the beginning in the consciousness of men; for, in order to + think ideas, reason must be clearly developed, which in the first + of mankind it could just as little be as in children. This however + does not exclude the fact that there was from the beginning the + unconscious rational impulse which lay at the basis of the + formation of the belief in God, however manifold may have been the + direct motives which co-operated with it." Self is implied in the + simplest act of knowledge. Sensation gives us two things, _e. g._, + black and white; but I cannot compare them without asserting + difference _for me_. Different sensations make no _knowledge_, + without a _self_ to bring them together. Upton, Hibbert Lectures, + lecture 2--"You could as easily prove the existence of an external + world to a man who had no senses to perceive it, as you could + prove the existence of God to one who had no consciousness of + God." + + +B. Positively.--A first truth is a knowledge which, though developed upon +occasion of observation and reflection, is not derived from observation +and reflection,--a knowledge on the contrary which has such logical +priority that it must be assumed or supposed, in order to make any +observation or reflection possible. Such truths are not, therefore, +recognized first in order of time; some of them are assented to somewhat +late in the mind's growth; by the great majority of men they are never +consciously formulated at all. Yet they constitute the necessary +assumptions upon which all other knowledge rests, and the mind has not +only the inborn capacity to evolve them so soon as the proper occasions +are presented, but the recognition of them is inevitable so soon as the +mind begins to give account to itself of its own knowledge. + + + Mansel, Metaphysics, 52, 279--"To describe experience as the cause + of the idea of space would be as inaccurate as to speak of the + soil in which it was planted as the cause of the oak--though the + planting in the soil is the condition which brings into + manifestation the latent power of the acorn." Coleridge: "We see + before we know that we have eyes; but when once this is known, we + perceive that eyes must have preexisted in order to enable us to + see." Coleridge speaks of first truths as "those necessities of + mind or forms of thinking, which, though revealed to us by + experience, must yet have preexisted in order to make experience + possible." McCosh, Intuitions, 48, 49--Intuitions are "like flower + and fruit, which are in the plant from its embryo, but may not be + actually formed till there have been a stalk and branches and + leaves." Porter, Human Intellect, 501, 519--"Such truths cannot be + acquired or assented to first of all." Some are reached last of + all. The moral intuition is often developed late, and sometimes, + even then, only upon occasion of corporal punishment. "Every man + is as lazy as circumstances will admit." Our physical laziness is + occasional; our mental laziness frequent; our moral laziness + incessant. We are too lazy to think, and especially to think of + religion. On account of this depravity of human nature we should + expect the intuition of God to be developed last of all. Men + shrink from contact with God and from the thought of God. In fact, + their dislike for the intuition of God leads them not seldom to + deny all their other intuitions, even those of freedom and of + right. Hence the modern "psychology without a soul." + + Schurman, Agnosticism and Religion, 105-115--"The idea of God ... + is latest to develop into clear consciousness ... and must be + latest, for it is the unity of the difference of the self and the + not-self, which are therefore presupposed." But "it has not less + validity in itself, it gives no less trustworthy assurance of + actuality, than the consciousness of the self, or the + consciousness of the not-self.... The consciousness of God is the + logical _prius_ of the consciousness of self and of the world. But + not, as already observed, the chronological; for, according to the + profound observation of Aristotle, what in the nature of things is + first, is in the order of development last. Just because God is + the first principle of being and knowing, he is the last to be + manifested and known.... The finite and the infinite are both + known together, and it is as impossible to know one without the + other as it is to apprehend an angle without the sides which + contain it." For account of the relation of the intuitions to + experience, see especially Cousin, True, Beautiful and Good, + 39-64, and History of Philosophy, 2:199-245. Compare Kant, + Critique of Pure Reason, Introd., 1. See also Bascom, in Bib. + Sac., 23:1-47; 27:68-90. + + +2. _Their criteria._ The criteria by which first truths are to be tested +are three: + +A. Their universality. By this we mean, not that all men assent to them or +understand them when propounded in scientific form, but that all men +manifest a practical belief in them by their language, actions, and +expectations. + +B. Their necessity. By this we mean, not that it is impossible to deny +these truths, but that the mind is compelled by its very constitution to +recognize them upon the occurrence of the proper conditions, and to employ +them in its arguments to prove their non-existence. + +C. Their logical independence and priority. By this we mean that these +truths can be resolved into no others, and proved by no others; that they +are presupposed in the acquisition of all other knowledge, and can +therefore be derived from no other source than an original cognitive power +of the mind. + + + Instances of the professed and formal denial of first truths:--the + positivist denies causality; the idealist denies substance; the + pantheist denies personality; the necessitarian denies freedom; + the nihilist denies his own existence. A man may in like manner + argue that there is no necessity for an atmosphere; but even while + he argues, he breathes it. Instance the knock-down argument to + demonstrate the freedom of the will. I grant my own existence in + the very doubting of it; for "cogito, ergo sum," as Descartes + himself insisted, really means "cogito, scilicet sum"; H. B. + Smith: "The statement is analysis, not proof." Ladd, Philosophy of + Knowledge, 59--"The _cogito_, in barbarous Latin = _cogitans sum_: + thinking is self-conscious _being_." Bentham: "The word _ought_ is + an authoritative imposture, and ought to be banished from the + realm of morals." Spinoza and Hegel really deny self-consciousness + when they make man a phenomenon of the infinite. Royce likens the + denier of personality to the man who goes outside of his own house + and declares that no one lives there because, when he looks in at + the window, he sees no one inside. + + Professor James, in his Psychology, assumes the reality of a + brain, but refuses to assume the reality of a soul. This is + essentially the position of materialism. But this assumption of a + brain is metaphysics, although the author claims to be writing a + psychology without metaphysics. Ladd, Philosophy of Mind, 3--"The + materialist believes in causation proper so long as he is + explaining the origin of mind from matter, but when he is asked to + see in mind the cause of physical change he at once becomes a mere + phenomenalist." Royce, Spirit of Modern Philosophy, 400--"I know + that all beings, if only they can count, must find that three and + two make five. Perhaps the angels cannot count; but, if they can, + this axiom is true for them. If I met an angel who declared that + his experience had occasionally shown him a three and two that did + _not_ make five, I should know at once what sort of an angel he + was." On the criteria of first truths, see Porter, Human + Intellect, 510, 511. On denial of them, see Shedd, Dogmatic + Theology, 1:213. + + + +II. The Existence of God a first truth. + + +1. Its universality. + + +That _the knowledge of God's existence answers the first criterion of +universality_, is evident from the following considerations: + +A. It is an acknowledged fact that the vast majority of men have actually +recognized the existence of a spiritual being or beings, upon whom they +conceived themselves to be dependent. + + + The Vedas declare: "There is but one Being--no second." Max Mueller, + Origin and Growth of Religion, 34--"Not the visible sun, moon and + stars are invoked, but something else that cannot be seen." The + lowest tribes have conscience, fear death, believe in witches, + propitiate or frighten away evil fates. Even the fetich-worshiper, + who calls the stone or the tree a god, shows that he has already + the idea of a God. We must not measure the ideas of the heathen by + their capacity for expression, any more than we should judge the + child's belief in the existence of his father by his success in + drawing the father's picture. On heathenism, its origin and + nature, see Tholuck, in Bib. Repos., 1832:86; Scholz, Goetzendienst + und Zauberwesen. + + +B. Those races and nations which have at first seemed destitute of such +knowledge have uniformly, upon further investigation, been found to +possess it, so that no tribe of men with which we have thorough +acquaintance can be said to be without an object of worship. We may +presume that further knowledge will show this to be true of all. + + + Moffat, who reported that certain African tribes were destitute of + religion, was corrected by the testimony of his son-in-law, + Livingstone: "The existence of God and of a future life is + everywhere recognized in Africa." Where men are most nearly + destitute of any formulated knowledge of God, the conditions for + the awakening of the idea are most nearly absent. An apple-tree + may be so conditioned that it never bears apples. "We do not judge + of the oak by the stunted, flowerless specimens on the edge of the + Arctic Circle." The presence of an occasional blind, deaf or dumb + man does not disprove the definition that man is a seeing, hearing + and speaking creature. Bowne, Principles of Ethics, 154--"We need + not tremble for mathematics, even if some tribes should be found + without the multiplication-table.... Sub-moral and sub-rational + existence is always with us in the case of young children; and, if + we should find it elsewhere, it would have no greater + significance." + + Victor Hugo: "Some men deny the Infinite; some, too, deny the sun; + they are the blind." Gladden, What is Left? 148--"A man may escape + from his shadow by going into the dark; if he comes under the + light of the sun, the shadow is there. A man may be so mentally + undisciplined that he does not recognize these ideas; but let him + learn the use of his reason, let him reflect on his own mental + processes, and he will know that they are necessary ideas." On an + original monotheism, see Diestel, in Jahrbuch fuer deutsche + Theologie, 1860, and vol. 5:669; Max Mueller, Chips, 1:337; + Rawlinson, in Present Day Tracts, No. 11; Legge, Religions of + China, 8-11; Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, 1:201-208. _Per contra_, + see Asmus, Indogerm. Relig., 2:1-8; and synopsis in Bib. Sac., + Jan. 1877:167-172. + + +C. This conclusion is corroborated by the fact that those individuals, in +heathen or in Christian lands, who profess themselves to be without any +knowledge of a spiritual power or powers above them, do yet indirectly +manifest the existence of such an idea in their minds and its positive +influence over them. + + + Comte said that science would conduct God to the frontier and then + bow him out, with thanks for his provisional services. But Herbert + Spencer affirms the existence of a "Power to which no limit in + time or space is conceivable, of which all phenomena as presented + in consciousness are manifestations." The intuition of God, though + formally excluded, is implicitly contained in Spencer's system, in + the shape of the "irresistible belief" in Absolute Being, which + distinguishes his position from that of Comte; see H. Spencer, who + says: "One truth must ever grow clearer--the truth that there is an + inscrutable existence everywhere manifested, to which we can + neither find nor conceive beginning or end--the one absolute + certainty that we are ever in the presence of an infinite and + eternal energy from which all things proceed." Mr. Spencer assumes + unity in the underlying Reality. Frederick Harrison sneeringly + asks him: "Why not say 'forces,' instead of 'force'?" While + Harrison gives us a supreme moral ideal without a metaphysical + ground, Spencer gives us an ultimate metaphysical principle + without a final moral purpose. The idea of God is the synthesis of + the two,--"They are but broken lights of Thee, And thou, O Lord, + art more than they" (Tennyson, In Memoriam). + + Solon spoke of {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} and of {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, and Sophocles of {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. The term for "God" is identical in all the Indo-European + languages, and therefore belonged to the time before those + languages separated; see Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:201-208. In + Virgil's AEneid, Mezentius is an atheist, a despiser of the gods, + trusting only in his spear and in his right arm; but, when the + corpse of his son is brought to him, his first act is to raise his + hands to heaven. Hume was a sceptic, but he said to Ferguson, as + they walked on a starry night: "Adam, there is a God!" Voltaire + prayed in an Alpine thunderstorm. Shelley wrote his name in the + visitors' book of the inn at Montanvert, and added: "Democrat, + philanthropist, atheist"; yet he loved to think of a "fine + intellectual spirit pervading the universe"; and he also wrote: + "The One remains, the many change and pass; Heaven's light forever + shines, Earth's shadows fly." Strauss worships the Cosmos, because + "order and law, reason and goodness" are the soul of it. Renan + trusts in goodness, design, ends. Charles Darwin, Life, 1:274--"In + my most extreme fluctuations, I have never been an atheist, in the + sense of denying the existence of a God." + + +D. This agreement among individuals and nations so widely separated in +time and place can be most satisfactorily explained by supposing that it +has its ground, not in accidental circumstances, but in the nature of man +as man. The diverse and imperfectly developed ideas of the supreme Being +which prevail among men are best accounted for as misinterpretations and +perversions of an intuitive conviction common to all. + + + Huxley, Lay Sermons, 163--"There are savages without God, in any + proper sense of the word; but there are none without ghosts." + Martineau, Study, 2:353, well replies: "Instead of turning other + people into ghosts, and then appropriating one to ourselves [and + attributing another to God, we may add] by way of imitation, we + start from the sense of personal continuity, and then predicate + the same of others, under the figures which keep most clear of the + physical and perishable." Grant Allen describes the higher + religions as "a grotesque fungoid growth," that has gathered about + a primitive thread of ancestor-worship. But this is to derive the + greater from the less. Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, 358--"I can find no + trace of ancestor-worship in the earliest literature of Babylonia + which has survived to us"--this seems fatal to Huxley's and Allen's + view that the idea of God is derived from man's prior belief in + spirits of the dead. C. M. Tyler, in Am. Jour. Theo., Jan. + 1899:144--"It seems impossible to deify a dead man, unless there is + embryonic in primitive consciousness a prior concept of Deity." + + Renouf, Religion of Ancient Egypt, 93--"The whole mythology of + Egypt ... turns on the histories of Ra and Osiris.... Texts are + discovered which identify Osiris and Ra.... Other texts are known + wherein Ra, Osiris, Amon, and all other gods disappear, except as + simple _names_, and the unity of God is asserted in the noblest + language of monotheistic religion." These facts are earlier than + any known ancestor-worship. "They point to an original idea of + divinity above humanity" (see Hill, Genetic Philosophy, 317). We + must add the idea of the superhuman, before we can turn any + animism or ancestor-worship into a religion. This superhuman + element was suggested to early man by all he saw of nature about + him, especially by the sight of the heavens above, and by what he + knew of causality within. For the evidence of a universal + recognition of a superior power, see Flint, Anti-theistic + Theories, 250-289, 522-533; Renouf, Hibbert Lectures for 1879:100; + Bib. Sac., Jan. 1884:132-157; Peschel, Races of Men, 261; Ulrici, + Leib und Seele, 688, and Gott und die Natur, 658-670, 758; Tylor, + Primitive Culture, 1:377, 381, 418; Alexander, Evidences of + Christianity, 22; Calderwood, Philosophy of the Infinite, 512; + Liddon, Elements of Religion, 50; Methodist Quar. Rev., Jan. + 1875:1; J. F. Clark, Ten Great Religions, 2:17-21. + + +2. Its necessity. + + +That _the knowledge of God's existence answers the second criterion of +necessity_, will be seen by considering: + +A. That men, under circumstances fitted to call forth this knowledge, +cannot avoid recognizing the existence of God. In contemplating finite +existence, there is inevitably suggested the idea of an infinite Being as +its correlative. Upon occasion of the mind's perceiving its own +finiteness, dependence, responsibility, it immediately and necessarily +perceives the existence of an infinite and unconditioned Being upon whom +it is dependent and to whom it is responsible. + + + We could not recognize the finite as finite, except by comparing + it with an already existing standard--the Infinite. Mansel, Limits + of Religious Thought, lect. 3--"We are compelled by the + constitution of our minds to believe in the existence of an + Absolute and Infinite Being--a belief which appears forced upon us + as the complement of our consciousness of the relative and + finite." Fisher, Journ. Chr. Philos., Jan. 1883:113--"Ego and + non-ego, each being conditioned by the other, presuppose + unconditioned being on which both are dependent. Unconditioned + being is the silent presupposition of all our knowing." Perceived + dependent being implies an independent; independent being is + perfectly self-determining; self-determination is personality; + perfect self-determination is infinite Personality. John Watson, + in Philos. Rev., Sept. 1893:526--"There is no consciousness of self + apart from the consciousness of other selves and things; and no + consciousness of the world apart from the consciousness of the + single Reality presupposed in both." E. Caird, Evolution of + Religion, 64-68--In every act of consciousness the primary elements + are implied: "the idea of the object, or not-self; the idea of the + subject, or self; and the idea of the unity which is presupposed + in the difference of the self and not-self, and within which they + act and react on each other." See Calderwood, Philos. of Infinite, + 46, and Moral Philos., 77; Hopkins, Outline Study of Man, 283-285; + Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:211. + + +B. That men, in virtue of their humanity, have a capacity for religion. +This recognized capacity for religion is proof that the idea of God is a +necessary one. If the mind upon proper occasion did not evolve this idea, +there would be nothing in man to which religion could appeal. + + + "It is the suggestion of the Infinite that makes the line of the + far horizon, seen over land or sea, so much more impressive than + the beauties of any limited landscape." In times of sudden shock + and danger, this rational intuition becomes a presentative + intuition,--men become more conscious of God's existence than of + the existence of their fellow-men and they instinctively cry to + God for help. In the commands and reproaches of the moral nature + the soul recognizes a Lawgiver and Judge whose voice conscience + merely echoes. Aristotle called man "a political animal"; it is + still more true, as Sabatier declares, that "man is incurably + religious." St. Bernard: "Noverim me, noverim te." O. P. Gifford: + "As milk, from which under proper conditions cream does not rise, + is not milk, so the man, who upon proper occasion shows no + knowledge of God, is not man, but brute." We must not however + expect cream from frozen milk. Proper environment and conditions + are needed. + + It is the recognition of a divine Personality in nature which + constitutes the greatest merit and charm of Wordsworth's poetry. + In his Tintern Abbey, he speaks of "A presence that disturbs me + with the joy Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime Of something + far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting + suns, And the round ocean and the living air, And the blue sky and + in the mind of man: A motion and a spirit that impels All thinking + things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things." + Robert Browning sees God in humanity, as Wordsworth sees God in + nature. In his Hohenstiel-Schwangau he writes: "This is the glory, + that in all conceived Or felt or known, I recognize a Mind--Not + mine, but like mine--for the double joy Making all things for me, + and me for Him." John Ruskin held that the foundation of beauty in + the world is the presence of God in it. In his youth he tells us + that he had "a continual perception of sanctity in the whole of + nature, from the slightest thing to the vastest--an instinctive awe + mixed with delight, an indefinable thrill such as we sometimes + imagine to indicate the presence of a disembodied spirit." But it + was not a disembodied, but an embodied, Spirit that he saw. + Nitzsch, Christian Doctrine, § 7--"Unless education and culture + were preceded by an innate consciousness of God as an operative + predisposition, there would be nothing for education and culture + to work upon." On Wordsworth's recognition of a divine personality + in nature, see Knight, Studies, 282-317, 405-426; Hutton, Essays, + 2:113. + + +C. That he who denies God's existence must tacitly assume that existence +in his very argument, by employing logical processes whose validity rests +upon the fact of God's existence. The full proof of this belongs under the +next head. + + + "I am an atheist, God knows"--was the absurd beginning of an + argument to disprove the divine existence. Cutler, Beginnings of + Ethics, 22--"Even the Nihilists, whose first principle is that God + and duty are great bugbears to be abolished, assume that God and + duty exist, and they are impelled by a sense of duty to abolish + them." Mrs. Browning, The Cry of the Human: " 'There is no God,' + the foolish saith; But none, 'There is no sorrow'; And nature oft + the cry of faith In bitter need will borrow: Eyes which the + preacher could not school By wayside graves are raised; And lips + say, 'God be pitiful,' Who ne'er said, 'God be praised.' " Dr. W. + W. Keen, when called to treat an Irishman's aphasia, said: "Well, + Dennis, how are you?" "Oh, doctor, I cannot spake!" "But, Dennis, + you _are_ speaking." "Oh, doctor, it's many a word I cannot + spake!" "Well, Dennis, now I will try you. See if you cannot say, + 'Horse.' " "Oh, doctor dear, 'horse' is the very word I cannot + spake!" On this whole section, see A. M. Fairbairn, Origin and + Development of the Idea of God, in Studies in Philos. of Relig. + and History; Martineau, Religion and Materialism, 45; Bishop + Temple, Bampton Lectures, 1884:37-65. + + +3. Its logical independence and priority. + + +That _the knowledge of God's existence answers the third criterion of +logical independence and priority_, may be shown as follows: + +A. It is presupposed in all other knowledge as its logical condition and +foundation. The validity of the simplest mental acts, such as +sense-perception, self-consciousness, and memory, depends upon the +assumption that a God exists who has so constituted our minds that they +give us knowledge of things as they are. + + + Pfleiderer, Philos. of Religion, 1:88--"The ground of science and + of cognition generally is to be found neither in the subject nor + in the object _per se_, but only in the divine thinking that + combines the two, which, as the common ground of the forms of + thinking in all finite minds, and of the forms of being in all + things, makes possible the correspondence or agreement between the + former and the latter, or in a word makes knowledge of truth + possible." 91--"Religious belief is presupposed in all scientific + knowledge as the basis of its possibility." This is the thought of + _Psalm 36:10--_"In thy light shall we see light." A. J. Balfour, + Foundations of Belief, 303--"The uniformity of nature cannot be + proved from experience, for it is what makes proof from experience + possible.... Assume it, and we shall find that facts conform to + it.... 309--The uniformity of nature can be established only by the + aid of that principle itself, and is necessarily involved in all + attempts to prove it.... There must be a God, to justify our + confidence in innate ideas." + + Bowne, Theory of Thought and Knowledge, 276--"Reflection shows that + the community of individual intelligences is possible only through + an all-embracing Intelligence, the source and creator of finite + minds." Science rests upon the postulate of a world-order. Huxley: + "The object of science is the discovery of the rational order + which pervades the universe." This rational order presupposes a + rational Author. Dubois, in New Englander, Nov. 1890:468--"We + assume uniformity and continuity, or we can have no science. An + intelligent Creative Will is a genuine scientific hypothesis + [postulate?], suggested by analogy and confirmed by experience, + not contradicting the fundamental law of uniformity but accounting + for it." Ritchie, Darwin and Hegel, 18--"That nature is a system, + is the assumption underlying the earliest mythologies: to fill up + this conception is the aim of the latest science." Royce, Relig. + Aspect of Philosophy, 435--"There is such a thing as error; but + error is inconceivable unless there be such a thing as truth; and + truth is inconceivable unless there be a seat of truth, an + infinite all-including Thought or Mind; therefore such a Mind + exists." + + +B. The more complex processes of the mind, such as induction and +deduction, can be relied on only by presupposing a thinking Deity who has +made the various parts of the universe and the various aspects of truth to +correspond to each other and to the investigating faculties of man. + + + We argue from one apple to the others on the tree. Newton argued + from the fall of an apple to gravitation in the moon and + throughout the solar system. Rowland argued from the chemistry of + our world to that of Sirius. In all such argument there is assumed + a unifying thought and a thinking Deity. This is Tyndall's + "scientific use of the imagination." "Nourished," he says, "by + knowledge partially won, and bounded by cooeperant reason, + imagination is the mightiest instrument of the physical + discoverer." What Tyndall calls "imagination", is really insight + into the thoughts of God, the great Thinker. It prepares the way + for logical reasoning,--it is not the product of mere reasoning. + For this reason Goethe called imagination "die Vorschule des + Denkens," or "thought's preparatory school." + + Peabody, Christianity the Religion of Nature, 23--"Induction is + syllogism, with the immutable attributes of God for a constant + term." Porter, Hum. Intellect, 492--"Induction rests upon the + assumption, as it demands for its ground, that a personal or + thinking Deity exists"; 658--"It has no meaning or validity unless + we assume that the universe is constituted in such a way as to + presuppose an absolute and unconditioned originator of its forces + and laws"; 662--"We analyze the several processes of knowledge into + their underlying assumptions, and we find that the assumption + which underlies them all is that of a self-existent Intelligence + who not only can be known by man, but must be known by man in + order that man may know anything besides"; see also pages 486, + 508, 509, 518, 519, 585, 616. Harris, Philos. Basis of Theism, + 81--"The processes of reflective thought imply that the universe is + grounded in, and is the manifestation of, reason"; 560--"The + existence of a personal God is a necessary datum of scientific + knowledge." So also, Fisher, Essays on Supernat. Origin of + Christianity, 564, and in Journ. Christ. Philos., Jan. 1883:129, + 130. + + +C. Our primitive belief in final cause, or, in other words, our conviction +that all things have their ends, that design pervades the universe, +involves a belief in God's existence. In assuming that there is a +universe, that the universe is a rational whole, a system of +thought-relations, we assume the existence of an absolute Thinker, of +whose thought the universe is an expression. + + + Pfleiderer, Philos. of Religion, 1:81--"The real can only be + thinkable if it is realized thought, a thought previously thought, + which our thinking has only to think again. Therefore the real, in + order to be thinkable for us, must be the realized thought of the + creative thinking of an eternal divine Reason which is presented + to our cognitive thinking." Royce, World and Individual, + 2:41--"Universal teleology constitutes the essence of all facts." + A. H. Bradford, The Age of Faith, 142--"Suffering and sorrow are + universal. Either God could prevent them and would not, and + therefore he is neither beneficent nor loving; or else he cannot + prevent them and therefore something is greater than God, and + therefore there is no God? But here is the use of reason in the + individual reasoning. Reasoning in the individual necessitates the + absolute or universal reason. If there is the absolute reason, + then the universe and history are ordered and administered in + harmony with reason; then suffering and sorrow can be neither + meaningless nor final, since that would be the contradiction of + reason. That cannot be possible in the universal and absolute + which contradicts reason in man." + + +D. Our primitive belief in moral obligation, or, in other words, our +conviction that right has universal authority, involves the belief in +God's existence. In assuming that the universe is a moral whole, we assume +the existence of an absolute Will, of whose righteousness the universe is +an expression. + + + Pfleiderer, Philos. of Religion, 1:88--"The ground of moral + obligation is found neither in the subject nor in society, but + only in the universal or divine Will that combines both.... + 103--The idea of God is the unity of the true and the good, or of + the two highest ideas which our reason thinks as theoretical + reason, but demands as practical reason.... In the idea of God we + find the only synthesis of the world that _is_--the world of + science, and of the world that _ought to be_--the world of + religion." Seth, Ethical Principles, 425--"This is not a + mathematical demonstration. Philosophy never is an exact science. + Rather is it offered as the only sufficient foundation of the + moral life.... The life of goodness ... is a life based on the + conviction that its source and its issues are in the Eternal and + the Infinite." As finite truth and goodness are comprehensible + only in the light of some absolute principle which furnishes for + them an ideal standard, so finite beauty is inexplicable except as + there exists a perfect standard with which it may be compared. The + beautiful is more than the agreeable or the useful. Proportion, + order, harmony, unity in diversity--all these are characteristics + of beauty. But they all imply an intellectual and spiritual Being, + from whom they proceed and by whom they can be measured. Both + physical and moral beauty, in finite things and beings, are + symbols and manifestations of Him who is the author and lover of + beauty, and who is himself the infinite and absolute Beauty. The + beautiful in nature and in art shows that the idea of God's + existence is logically independent and prior. See Cousin, The + True, the Beautiful, and the Good, 140-153; Kant, Metaphysic of + Ethics, who holds that belief in God is the necessary + presupposition of the belief in duty. + + +To repeat these four points in another form--the intuition of an Absolute +Reason is (_a_) the necessary presupposition of all other knowledge, so +that we cannot know anything else to exist except by assuming first of all +that God exists; (_b_) the necessary basis of all logical thought, so that +we cannot put confidence in any one of our reasoning processes except by +taking for granted that a thinking Deity has constructed our minds with +reference to the universe and to truth; (_c_) the necessary implication of +our primitive belief in design, so that we can assume all things to exist +for a purpose, only by making the prior assumption that a purposing God +exists--can regard the universe as a thought, only by postulating the +existence of an absolute Thinker; and (_d_) the necessary foundation of +our conviction of moral obligation, so that we can believe in the +universal authority of right, only by assuming that there exists a God of +righteousness who reveals his will both in the individual conscience and +in the moral universe at large. We cannot _prove_ that God is; but we can +show that, in order to show the existence of any knowledge, thought, +reason, conscience, in man, man must _assume_ that God is. + + + As Jacobi said of the beautiful: "Es kann gewiesen aber nicht + bewiesen werden"--it can be shown, but not proved. Bowne, + Metaphysics, 472--"Our objective knowledge of the finite must rest + upon ethical trust in the infinite"; 480--"Theism is the absolute + postulate of all knowledge, science and philosophy"; "God is the + most certain fact of objective knowledge." Ladd, Bib. Sac., Oct. + 1877:611-616--"Cogito, ergo Deus est. We are obliged to postulate a + not-ourselves which makes for rationality, as well as for + righteousness." W. T. Harris: "Even natural science is impossible, + where philosophy has not yet taught that reason made the world, + and that nature is a revelation of the rational." Whately, Logic, + 270; New Englander, Oct. 1871, art. on Grounds of Confidence in + Inductive Reasoning; Bib. Sac., 7:415-425; Dorner, Glaubenslehre, + 1:197; Trendelenburg, Logische Untersuchungen, ch. "Zweck"; + Ulrici, Gott und die Natur, 540-626; Lachelier, Du Fondement de + l'Induction, 78. _Per contra_, see Janet, Final Causes, 174, note, + and 457-464, who holds final cause to be, not an intuition, but + the result of applying the principle of causality to cases which + mechanical laws alone will not explain. + + Pascal: "Nature confounds the Pyrrhonist, and Reason confounds the + Dogmatist. We have an incapacity of demonstration, which the + former cannot overcome; we have a conception of truth which the + latter cannot disturb." "There is no Unbelief! Whoever says. + 'To-morrow,' 'The Unknown,' 'The Future,' trusts that Power alone. + Nor dares disown." Jones, Robert Browning, 314--"We cannot indeed + prove God as the conclusion of a syllogism, for he is the primary + hypothesis of all proof." Robert Browning, Hohenstiel-Schwangau: + "I know that he is there, as I am here, By the same proof, which + seems no proof at all, It so exceeds familiar forms of proof"; + Paracelsus, 27--"To know Rather consists in opening out a way + Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape Than in effecting + entrance for a light Supposed to be without." Tennyson, Holy + Grail: "Let visions of the night or day Come as they will, and + many a time they come.... In moments when he feels he cannot die, + And knows himself no vision to himself, Nor the high God a vision, + nor that One Who rose again"; The Ancient Sage, 548--"Thou canst + not prove the Nameless, O my son! Nor canst thou prove the world + thou movest in. Thou canst not prove that thou art body alone, Nor + canst Thou prove that thou art spirit alone, Nor canst thou prove + that thou art both in one. Thou canst not prove that thou art + immortal, no, Nor yet that thou art mortal. Nay, my son, thou + canst not prove that I, who speak with thee, Am not thyself in + converse with thyself. For nothing worthy proving can be proven, + Nor yet disproven: Wherefore be thou wise, Cleave ever to the + sunnier side of doubt, And cling to Faith beyond the forms of + Faith." + + + +III. Other Supposed Sources of our Idea of God's Existence. + + +Our proof that the idea of God's existence is a rational intuition will +not be complete, until we show that attempts to account in other ways for +the origin of the idea are insufficient, and require as their +presupposition the very intuition which they would supplant or reduce to a +secondary place. We claim that it cannot be derived from any other source +than an original cognitive power of the mind. + +1. Not from external revelation,--whether communicated (_a_) through the +Scriptures, or (_b_)through tradition; for, unless man had from another +source a previous knowledge of the existence of a God from whom such a +revelation might come, the revelation itself could have no authority for +him. + + + (_a_) See Gillespie, Necessary Existence of God, 10; Ebrard, + Dogmatik, 1:117; H. B. Smith, Faith and Philosophy, 18--"A + revelation takes for granted that he to whom it is made has some + knowledge of God, though it may enlarge and purify that + knowledge." We cannot prove God from the authority of the + Scriptures, and then also prove the Scriptures from the authority + of God. The very idea of Scripture as a revelation presupposes + belief in a God who can make it. Newman Smyth, in New Englander, + 1878:355--We cannot derive from a sun-dial our knowledge of the + existence of a sun. The sun-dial presupposes the sun, and cannot + be understood without previous knowledge of the sun. Wuttke, + Christian Ethics, 2:103--"The voice of the divine ego does not + first come to the consciousness of the individual ego from + without; rather does every external revelation presuppose already + this inner one; there must echo out from within man something + kindred to the outer revelation, in order to its being recognized + and accepted as divine." + + Fairbairn, Studies in Philos. of Relig. and Hist., 21, 22--"If man + is dependent on an outer revelation for his idea of God, then he + must have what Schelling happily termed 'an original atheism of + consciousness.' Religion cannot, in that case, be rooted in the + nature of man,--it must be implanted from without." Schurman, + Belief in God, 78--"A primitive revelation of God could only mean + that God had endowed man with the capacity of apprehending his + divine original. This capacity, like every other, is innate, and + like every other, it realizes itself only in the presence of + appropriate conditions." Clarke, Christian Theology, + 112--"Revelation cannot demonstrate God's existence, for it must + assume it; but it will manifest his existence and character to + men, and will serve them as the chief source of certainty + concerning him, for it will teach them what they could not know by + other means." + + (b) Nor does our idea of God come primarily from tradition, for + "tradition can perpetuate only what has already been originated" + (Patton). If the knowledge thus handed down is the knowledge of a + primitive revelation, then the argument just stated applies--that + very revelation presupposed in those who first received it, and + presupposes in those to whom it is handed down, some knowledge of + a Being from whom such a revelation might come. If the knowledge + thus handed down is simply knowledge of the results of the + reasonings of the race, then the knowledge of God comes originally + from reasoning--an explanation which we consider further on. On the + traditive theory of religion, see Flint, Theism, 23, 338; Cocker, + Christianity and Greek Philosophy, 86-96; Fairbairn, Studies in + Philos. of Relig. and Hist., 14, 15; Bowen, Metaph. and Ethics, + 453, and in Bib. Sac., Oct. 1876; Pfleiderer, Religionsphilos., + 312-322. + + Similar answers must be returned to many common explanations of + man's belief in God: "Primus in orbe deos fecit timor"; + Imagination made religion; Priests invented religion; Religion is + a matter of imitation and fashion. But we ask again: What caused + the fear? Who made the imagination? What made priests possible? + What made imitation and fashion natural? To say that man worships, + merely because he sees other men worshiping, is as absurd as to + say that a horse eats hay because he sees other horses eating it. + There must be a hunger in the soul to be satisfied, or external + things would never attract man to worship. Priests could never + impose upon men so continuously, unless there was in human nature + a universal belief in a God who might commission priests as his + representatives. Imagination itself requires some basis of + reality, and a larger basis as civilization advances. The fact + that belief in God's existence gets a wider hold upon the race + with each added century, shows that, instead of fear having caused + belief in God, the truth is that belief in God has caused fear; + indeed, "the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom"_ (Ps. + 111:10)_. + + +2. Not from experience,--whether this mean (_a_) the sense-perception and +reflection of the individual (Locke), (_b_) the accumulated results of the +sensations and associations of past generations of the race (Herbert +Spencer), or (_c_) the actual contact of our sensitive nature with God, +the supersensible reality, through the religious feeling (Newman Smyth). + +The first form of this theory is inconsistent with the fact that the idea +of God is not the idea of a sensible or material object, nor a combination +of such ideas. Since the spiritual and infinite are direct opposites of +the material and finite, no experience of the latter can account for our +idea of the former. + + + With Locke (Essay on Hum. Understanding, 2:1:4), experience is the + passive reception of ideas by sensation or by reflection. Locke's + "tabula rasa" theory mistakes the occasion of our primitive ideas + for their cause. To his statement: "Nihil est in intellectu nisi + quod ante fuerit in sensu," Leibnitz replied: "Nisi intellectus + ipse." Consciousness is sometimes called the source of our + knowledge of God. But consciousness, as simply an accompanying + knowledge of ourselves and our states, is not properly the source + of any other knowledge. The German _Gottesbewusstsein_ = not + "consciousness of God," but "knowledge of God"; _Bewusstsein_ here + = not a "conknowing," but a "beknowing"; see Porter, Human + Intellect, 86; Cousin, True, Beautiful and Good, 48, 49. + + Fraser, Locke, 143-147--Sensations are the bricks, and association + the mortar, of the mental house. Bowne, Theory of Thought and + Knowledge, 47--"Develope language by allowing sounds to associate + and evolve meaning for themselves? Yet this is the exact parallel + of the philosophy which aims to build intelligence out of + sensation....52--One who does not know how to read would look in + vain for meaning in a printed page, and in vain would he seek to + help his failure by using strong spectacles." Yet even if the idea + of God were a product of experience, we should not be warranted in + rejecting it as irrational. See Brooks, Foundations of Zooelogy, + 132--"There is no antagonism between those who attribute knowledge + to experience and those who attribute it to our innate reason; + between those who attribute the development of the germ to + mechanical conditions and those who attribute it to the inherent + potency of the germ itself; between those who hold that all nature + was latent in the cosmic vapor and those who believe that + everything in nature is immediately intended rather than + predetermined." All these may be methods of the immanent God. + + +The second form of the theory is open to the objection that the very first +experience of the first man, equally with man's latest experience, +presupposes this intuition, as well as the other intuitions, and therefore +cannot be the cause of it. Moreover, even though this theory of its origin +were correct, it would still be impossible to think of the object of the +intuition as not existing, and the intuition would still represent to us +the highest measure of certitude at present attainable by man. If the +evolution of ideas is toward truth instead of falsehood, it is the part of +wisdom to act upon the hypothesis that our primitive belief is veracious. + + + Martineau, Study, 2:26--"Nature is as worthy of trust in her + processes, as in her gifts." Bowne, Examination of Spencer, 163, + 164--"Are we to seek truth in the minds of pre-human apes, or in + the blind stirrings of some primitive pulp? In that case we can + indeed put away all our science, but we must put away the great + doctrine of evolution along with it. The experience-philosophy + cannot escape this alternative: either the positive deliverances + of our mature consciousness must be accepted as they stand, or all + truth must be declared impossible." See also Harris, Philos. Basis + Theism, 137-142. + + Charles Darwin, in a letter written a year before his death, + referring to his doubts as to the existence of God, asks: "Can we + trust to the convictions of a monkey's mind?" We may reply: "Can + we trust the conclusions of one who was once a baby?" Bowne, + Ethics, 3--"The genesis and emergence of an idea are one thing; its + validity is quite another. The logical value of chemistry cannot + be decided by reciting its beginnings in alchemy; and the logical + value of astronomy is independent of the fact that it began in + astrology.... 11--Even if man came from the ape, we need not + tremble for the validity of the multiplication-table or of the + Golden Rule. If we have moral insight, it is no matter how we got + it; and if we have no such insight, there is no help in any + psychological theory.... 159--We must not appeal to savages and + babies to find what is natural to the human mind.... In the case + of anything that is under the law of development we can find its + true nature, not by going back to its crude beginnings, but by + studying the finished outcome." Dawson, Mod. Ideas of Evolution, + 13--"If the idea of God be the phantom of an apelike brain, can we + trust to reason or conscience in any other matter? May not science + and philosophy themselves be similar phantasies, evolved by mere + chance and unreason?" Even though man came from the ape, there is + no explaining his ideas by the ideas of the ape: "A man 's a man + for a' that." + + We must judge beginnings by endings, not endings by beginnings. It + matters not how the development of the eye took place nor how + imperfect was the first sense of sight, if the eye now gives us + correct information of external objects. So it matters not how the + intuitions of right and of God originated, if they now give us + knowledge of objective truth. We must take for granted that + evolution of ideas is not from sense to nonsense. G. H. Lewes, + Study of Psychology, 122--"We can understand the amoeba and the + polyp only by a light reflected from the study of man." Seth, + Ethical Principles, 429--"The oak explains the acorn even more + truly than the acorn explains the oak." Sidgwick: "No one appeals + from the artist's sense of beauty to the child's. Higher + mathematics are no less true, because they can be apprehended only + by trained intellect. No strange importance attaches to what was + _first_ felt or thought." Robert Browning, Paracelsus: "Man, once + descried, imprints forever His presence on all lifeless things.... + A supplementary reflux of light Illustrates all the inferior + grades, explains Each back step in the circle." Man, with his + higher ideas, shows the meaning and content of all that led up to + him. He is the last round of the ascending ladder, and from this + highest product and from his ideas we may infer what his Maker is. + + Bixby, Crisis in Morals, 162, 245--"Evolution simply gave man such + _height_ that he could at last discern the stars of moral truth + which had previously been below the horizon. This is very + different from saying that moral truths are merely transmitted + products of the experiences of utility.... The germ of the idea of + God, as of the idea of right, must have been in man just so soon + as he became man,--the brute's gaining it turned him into man. + Reason is not simply a register of physical phenomena and of + experiences of pleasure and pain: it is creative also. It discerns + the oneness of things and the supremacy of God." Sir Charles + Lyell: "The presumption is enormous that all our faculties, though + liable to err, are true in the main and point to real objects. The + religious faculty in man is one of the strongest of all. It + existed in the earliest ages, and instead of wearing out before + advancing civilization, it grows stronger and stronger, and is + to-day more developed among the highest races than it ever was + before. I think we may safely trust that it points to a great + truth." Fisher, Nat. and Meth. of Rev., 137, quotes Augustine: + "Securus judicat orbis terrarum," and tells us that the intellect + is assumed to be an organ of knowledge, however the intellect may + have been evolved. But if the intellect is worthy of trust, so is + the moral nature. George A. Gordon, The Christ of To-day, 103--"To + Herbert Spencer, human history is but an incident of natural + history, and force is supreme. To Christianity nature is only the + beginning, and man the consummation. Which gives the higher + revelation of the life of the tree--the seed, or the fruit?" + + +The third form of the theory seems to make God a sensuous object, to +reverse the proper order of knowing and feeling, to ignore the fact that +in all feeling there is at least some knowledge of an object, and to +forget that the validity of this very feeling can be maintained only by +previously assuming the existence of a rational Deity. + + + Newman Smyth tells us that feeling comes first; the idea is + secondary. Intuitive ideas are not denied, but they are declared + to be direct reflections, in thought, of the feelings. They are + the mind's immediate perception of what it feels to exist. Direct + knowledge of God by intuition is considered to be idealistic, + reaching God by inference is regarded as rationalistic, in its + tendency. See Smyth, The Religious Feeling; reviewed by Harris, in + New Englander, Jan., 1878: reply by Smyth, in New Englander, May, + 1878. + + We grant that, even in the case of unregenerate men, great peril, + great joy, great sin often turn the rational intuition of God into + a presentative intuition. The presentative intuition, however, + cannot be affirmed to be common to all men. It does not furnish + the foundation or explanation of a universal capacity for + religion. Without the rational intuition, the presentative would + not be possible, since it is only the rational that enables man to + receive and to interpret the presentative. The very trust that we + put in feeling presupposes an intuitive belief in a true and good + God. Tennyson said in 1869: "Yes, it is true that there are + moments when the flesh is nothing to me; when I know and feel the + flesh to be the vision; God and the spiritual is the real; it + belongs to me more than the hand and the foot. You may tell me + that my hand and my foot are only imaginary symbols of my + existence,--I could believe you; but you never, never can convince + me that the _I_ is not an eternal Reality, and that the spiritual + is not the real and true part of me." + + +3. Not from reasoning,--because + +(_a_) The actual rise of this knowledge in the great majority of minds is +not the result of any conscious process of reasoning. On the other hand, +upon occurrence of the proper conditions, it flashes upon the soul with +the quickness and force of an immediate revelation. + +(_b_) The strength of men's faith in God's existence is not proportioned +to the strength of the reasoning faculty. On the other hand, men of +greatest logical power are often inveterate sceptics, while men of +unwavering faith are found among those who cannot even understand the +arguments for God's existence. + +(_c_) There is more in this knowledge than reasoning could ever have +furnished. Men do not limit their belief in God to the just conclusions of +argument. The arguments for the divine existence, valuable as they are for +purposes to be shown hereafter, are not sufficient by themselves to +warrant our conviction that there exists an infinite and absolute Being. +It will appear upon examination that the _a priori_ argument is capable of +proving only an abstract and ideal proposition, but can never conduct us +to the existence of a real Being. It will appear that the _a posteriori_ +arguments, from merely finite existence, can never demonstrate the +existence of the infinite. In the words of Sir Wm. Hamilton (Discussions, +23)--"A demonstration of the absolute from the relative is logically +absurd, as in such a syllogism we must collect in the conclusion what is +not distributed in the premises"--in short, from finite premises we cannot +draw an infinite conclusion. + + + Whately, Logic, 290-292; Jevons, Lessons in Logic, 81; Thompson, + Outline Laws of Thought, sections 82-92; Calderwood, Philos. of + Infinite, 60-69, and Moral Philosophy, 238; Turnbull, in Bap. + Quarterly, July, 1872:271; Van Oosterzee, Dogmatics, 239; Dove, + Logic of Christian Faith, 21. Sir Wm. Hamilton: "Departing from + the particular, we admit that we cannot, in our highest + generalizations, rise above the finite." Dr. E. G. Robinson: "The + human mind turns out larger grists than are ever put in at the + hopper." There is more in the idea of God than could have come out + so small a knot-hole as human reasoning. A single word, a chance + remark, or an attitude of prayer, suggests the idea to a child. + Helen Keller told Phillips Brooks that she had always known that + there was a God, but that she had not known his name. Ladd, + Philosophy of Mind, 119--"It is a foolish assumption that nothing + can be certainly known unless it be reached as the result of a + conscious syllogistic process, or that the more complicated and + subtle this process is, the more sure is the conclusion. + Inferential knowledge is always dependent upon the superior + certainty of immediate knowledge." George M. Duncan, in Memorial + of Noah Porter, 246--"All deduction rests either on the previous + process of induction, or on the intuitions of time and space which + involve the Infinite and Absolute." + + +(_d_) Neither do men arrive at the knowledge of God's existence by +inference; for inference is condensed syllogism, and, as a form of +reasoning, is equally open to the objection just mentioned. We have seen, +moreover, that all logical processes are based upon the assumption of +God's existence. Evidently that which is presupposed in all reasoning +cannot itself be proved by reasoning. + + + By inference, we of course mean mediate inference, for in + immediate inference (_e. g._, "All good rulers are just; therefore + no unjust rulers are good") there is no reasoning, and no progress + in thought. Mediate inference is reasoning--is condensed syllogism; + and what is so condensed may be expanded into regular logical + form. Deductive inference: "A negro is a fellow-creature; + therefore he who strikes a negro strikes a fellow-creature." + Inductive inference: "The first finger is before the second; + therefore it is before the third." On inference, see Martineau, + Essays, 1:105-108; Porter, Human Intellect, 444-448; Jevons, + Principles of Science, 1:14, 136-139, 168, 262. + + Flint, in his Theism, 77, and Herbert, in his Mod. Realism + Examined, would reach the knowledge of God's existence by + inference. The latter says God is not demonstrable, but his + existence is inferred, like the existence of our fellow men. But + we reply that in this last case we infer only the finite from the + finite, while the difficulty in the case of God is in inferring + the infinite from the finite. This very process of reasoning, + moreover, presupposes the existence of God as the absolute Reason, + in the way already indicated. + + Substantially the same error is committed by H. B. Smith, Introd. + to Chr. Theol., 84-133, and by Diman, Theistic Argument, 316, 364, + both of whom grant an intuitive element, but use it only to eke + out the insufficiency of reasoning. They consider that the + intuition gives us only an abstract idea, which contains in itself + no voucher for the existence of an actual being corresponding to + the idea, and that we reach real being only by inference from the + facts of our own spiritual natures and of the outward world. But + we reply, in the words of McCosh, that "the intuitions are + primarily directed to individual objects." We know, not the + infinite in the abstract, but infinite space and time, and the + infinite God. See McCosh, Intuitions, 26, 199, who, however, holds + the view here combated. + + Schurman, Belief in God, 43--"I am unable to assign to our belief + in God a higher certainty than that possessed by the working + hypotheses of science.... 57--The nearest approach made by science + to our hypothesis of the existence of God lies in the assertion of + the universality of law ... based on the conviction of the unity + and systematic connection of all reality.... 64--This unity can be + found only in self-conscious spirit." The fault of this reasoning + is that it gives us nothing necessary or absolute. Instances of + working hypotheses are the nebular hypothesis in astronomy, the + law of gravitation, the atomic theory in chemistry, the principle + of evolution. No one of these is logically independent or prior. + Each of them is provisional, and each may be superseded by new + discovery. Not so with the idea of God. This idea is presupposed + by all the others, as the condition of every mental process and + the guarantee of its validity. + + + +IV. Contents of this Intuition. + + +1. In this fundamental knowledge _that_ God is, it is necessarily implied +that to some extent men know intuitively _what_ God is, namely, (_a_) a +Reason in which their mental processes are grounded; (_b_) a Power above +them upon which they are dependent; (_c_) a Perfection which imposes law +upon their moral natures; (_d_) a Personality which they may recognize in +prayer and worship. + +In maintaining that we have a rational intuition of God, we by no means +imply that a presentative intuition of God is impossible. Such a +presentative intuition was perhaps characteristic of unfallen man; it does +belong at times to the Christian; it will be the blessing of heaven (Mat. +5:8--"the pure in heart ... shall see God"; Rev. 22:4--"they shall see his +face"). Men's experiences of face-to-face apprehension of God, in danger +and guilt, give some reason to believe that a presentative knowledge of +God is the normal condition of humanity. But, as this presentative +intuition of God is not in our present state universal, we here claim only +that all men have a rational intuition of God. + +It is to be remembered, however, that the loss of love to God has greatly +obscured even this rational intuition, so that the revelation of nature +and the Scriptures is needed to awaken, confirm and enlarge it, and the +special work of the Spirit of Christ to make it the knowledge of +friendship and communion. Thus from knowing about God, we come to know God +(John 17:3--"This is life eternal, that they should know thee"; 2 Tim. +1:12--"I know him whom I have believed"). + + + Plato said, for substance, that there can be no {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} without + something of the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. Harris, Philosophical Basis of Theism, + 208--"By rational intuition man knows that absolute Being _exists_; + his knowledge of _what_ it is, is progressive with his progressive + knowledge of man and of nature." Hutton, Essays: "A haunting + presence besets man behind and before. He cannot evade it. It + gives new meanings to his thoughts, new terror to his sins. It + becomes intolerable. He is moved to set up some idol, carved out + of his own nature, that will take its place--a non-moral God who + will not disturb his dream of rest. It is a righteous Life and + Will, and not the mere _idea_ of righteousness that stirs men so." + Porter, Hum. Int., 661--"The Absolute is a thinking Agent." The + intuition does not grow in certainty; what grows is the mind's + quickness in applying it and power of expressing it. The intuition + is not complex; what is complex is the Being intuitively cognized. + See Calderwood, Moral Philosophy, 232; Lowndes, Philos. of Primary + Beliefs, 108-112; Luthardt, Fund. Truths, 157--Latent faculty of + speech is called forth by speech of others; the choked-up well + flows again when debris is cleared away. Bowen, in Bib. Sac., + 33:740-754; Bowne, Theism, 79. + + Knowledge of a person is turned into personal knowledge by actual + communication or revelation. First, comes the intuitive knowledge + of God possessed by all men--the assumption that there exists a + Reason, Power, Perfection, Personality, that makes correct + thinking and acting possible. Secondly, comes the knowledge of + God's being and attributes which nature and Scripture furnish. + Thirdly, comes the personal and presentative knowledge derived + from actual reconciliation and intercourse with God, through + Christ and the Holy Spirit. Stearns, Evidence of Christian + Experience, 208--"Christian experience verifies the claims of + doctrine by experiment,--so transforming probable knowledge into + real knowledge." Biedermann, quoted by Pfleiderer, Grundriss, + 18--"God reveals himself to the human spirit, 1. as its infinite + _Ground_, in the reason; 2. as its infinite _Norm_, in the + conscience; 3. as its infinite _Strength_, in elevation to + religious truth, blessedness, and freedom." + + Shall I object to this Christian experience, because only + comparatively few have it, and I am not among the number? Because + I have not seen the moons of Jupiter, shall I doubt the testimony + of the astronomer to their existence? Christian experience, like + the sight of the moons of Jupiter, is attainable by all. Clarke, + Christian Theology, 113--"One who will have full proof of the good + God's reality must put it to the experimental test. He must take + the good God for real, and receive the confirmation that will + follow. When faith reaches out after God, it finds him.... They + who have found him will be the sanest and truest of their kind, + and their convictions will be among the safest convictions of + man.... Those who live in fellowship with the good God will grow + in goodness, and will give practical evidence of his existence + aside from their oral testimony." + + +2. The Scriptures, therefore, do not attempt to prove the existence of +God, but, on the other hand, both assume and declare that the knowledge +that God is, is universal (Rom. 1:19-21, 28, 32; 2:15). God has inlaid the +evidence of this fundamental truth in the very nature of man, so that +nowhere is he without a witness. The preacher may confidently follow the +example of Scripture by assuming it. But he must also explicitly declare +it, as the Scripture does. "For the invisible things of him since the +creation of the world are clearly seen" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}--spiritually viewed); +the organ given for this purpose is the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}); but then--and this +forms the transition to our next division of the subject--they are +"perceived through the things that are made" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, Rom. 1:20). + + + On _Rom. 1:19-21_, see Weiss, Bib. Theol. des N. T., 251, note; + also commentaries of Meyer, Alford, Tholuck, and Wordsworth; {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} = not "that which may be known" (Rev. Vers.) but + "that which is known" of God; {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} = are clearly + seen in that they are perceived by the reason--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} expresses + the manner of the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} (Meyer); compare _John 1:9_; _Acts + 17:27_; _Rom. 1:28_; _2:15_. On _1 Cor. 15:34_, see Calderwood, + Philos. of Inf., 466--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} = do not possess + the specially exalted knowledge of God which belongs to believers + in Christ (_cf._ _1 Jo. 4:7--_"every one that loveth is begotten of + God, and knoweth God"). On _Eph. 2:12_, see Pope, Theology, + 1:240--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH YPOGEGRAMMENI~} is opposed to being in Christ, and + signifies rather forsaken of God, than denying him or entirely + ignorant of him. On Scripture passages, see Schmid, Bib. Theol. + des N. T., 486; Hofmann, Schriftbeweis, 1:62. + + E. G. Robinson: "The first statement of the Bible is, not that + there is a God, but that 'In the beginning God created the heavens + and the earth'_ (Gen. 1:1)_. The belief in God never was and never + can be the result of logical argument, else the Bible would give + us proofs." Many texts relied upon as _proofs_ of God's existence + are simply _explications_ of the idea of God, as for example: _Ps. + 94:9, 10--_"He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that + formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the nations, + shall not he correct, even he that teacheth man knowledge?" Plato + says that God holds the soul by its roots,--he therefore does not + need to demonstrate to the soul the fact of his existence. + Martineau, Seat of Authority, 308, says well that Scripture and + preaching only interpret what is already in the heart which it + addresses: "Flinging a warm breath on the inward oracles hid in + invisible ink, it renders them articulate and dazzling as the + handwriting on the wall. The divine Seer does not convey to you + _his_ revelation, but qualifies you to receive _your own_. This + mutual relation is possible only through the common presence of + God in the conscience of mankind." Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, + 1:195-220--"The earth and sky make the same sensible impressions on + the organs of a brute that they do upon those of a man; but the + brute never discerns the 'invisible things' of God, his 'eternal + power and godhood'_ (Rom. 1:20)_." + + Our subconscious activity, so far as it is normal, is under the + guidance of the immanent Reason. Sensation, before it results in + thought, has in it logical elements which are furnished by + mind--not ours, but that of the Infinite One. Christ, the Revealer + of God, reveals God in every man's mental life, and the Holy + Spirit may be the principle of self-consciousness in man as in + God. Harris, God the Creator, tells us that "man finds the Reason + that is eternal and universal revealing itself in the exercise of + his own reason." Savage, Life after Death, 268--"How do you know + that your subliminal consciousness does not tap Omniscience, and + get at the facts of the universe?" Savage negatives this + suggestion, however, and wrongly favors the spirit-theory. For his + own experience, see pages 295-329 of his book. + + C. M. Barrows, in Proceedings of Soc. for Psychical Research, vol. + 12, part 30, pages 34-36--"There is a subliminal agent. What if + this is simply one intelligent Actor, filling the universe with + his presence, as the ether fills space; the common Inspirer of all + mankind, a skilled Musician, presiding over many pipes and keys, + and playing through each what music he will? The subliminal self + is a universal fountain of energy, and each man is an outlet of + the stream. Each man's personal self is contained in it, and thus + each man is made one with every other man. In that deep Force, the + last fact behind which analysis cannot go, all psychical and + bodily effects find their common origin." This statement needs to + be qualified by the assertion of man's ethical nature and distinct + personality; see section of this work on Ethical Monism, in + chapter III. But there is truth here like that which Coleridge + sought to express in his AEolian Harp: "And what if all of animated + Nature Be but organic harps diversely framed, That tremble into + thought, as o'er them sweeps, Plastic and vast, one intellectual + breeze, At once the soul of each, and God of all?" See F. W. H. + Myers, Human Personality. + + Dorner, System of Theology, 1:75--"The consciousness of God is the + true fastness of our self-consciousness.... Since it is only in + the God-conscious man that the innermost personality comes to + light, in like manner, by means of the interweaving of that + consciousness of God and of the world, the world is viewed in God + ('sub specie eternitatis'), and the certainty of the world first + obtains its absolute security for the spirit." Royce, Spirit of + Mod. Philosophy, synopsis in N. Y. Nation: "The one indubitable + fact is the existence of an infinite self, a Logos or World-mind + (345). That it exists is clear, I. Because idealism shows that + real things are nothing more nor less than ideas, or + 'possibilities of experience'; but a mere 'possibility', as such, + is nothing, and a world of 'possible' experiences, in so far as it + is real, must be a world of actual experience to some self (367). + If then there be a real world, it has all the while existed as + ideal and mental, even before it became known to the particular + mind with which we conceive it as coming into connection (368). + II. But there is such a real world; for, when I _think_ of an + object, when I _mean_ it, I do not merely have in mind an idea + resembling it, for I aim at the object, I pick it out, I already + in some measure possess it. The object is then already present in + essence to my hidden self (370). As truth consists in knowledge of + the conformity of a cognition to its object, that alone can know a + truth which includes within itself both idea and object. This + inclusive Knower is the Infinite Self (374). With this I am in + essence identical (371); it is my larger self (372); and this + larger self alone _is_ (379). It includes all reality, and we know + other finite minds, because we are one with them in its unity" + (409). + + The experience of George John Romanes is instructive. For years he + could recognize no personal Intelligence controlling the universe. + He made four mistakes: 1. _He forgot that only love can see_, that + God is not disclosed to the mere intellect, but only to the whole + man, to the integral mind, to what the Scripture calls "the eyes + of your heart"_ (Eph. 1:18)_. Experience of life taught him at + last the weakness of mere reasoning, and led him to depend more + upon the affections and intuitions. Then, as one might say, he + gave the X-rays of Christianity a chance to photograph God upon + his soul. 2. _He began at the wrong end_, with matter rather than + with mind, with cause and effect rather than with right and wrong, + and so got involved in the mechanical order and tried to interpret + the moral realm by it. The result was that instead of recognizing + freedom, responsibility, sin, guilt, he threw them out as + pretenders. But study of conscience and will set him right. He + learned to take what be found instead of trying to turn it into + something else, and so came to interpret nature by spirit, instead + of interpreting spirit by nature. 3. _He took the Cosmos by bits_, + instead of regarding it as a whole. His early thinking insisted on + finding design in each particular part, or nowhere. But his more + mature thought recognized wisdom and reason in the ordered whole. + As he realized that this is a universe, he could not get rid of + the idea of an organizing Mind. He came to see that the Universe, + as a thought, implies a Thinker. 4. _He fancied that nature + excludes God_, instead of being only the method of God's working. + When he learned how a thing was done, he at first concluded that + God had not done it. His later thought recognized that God and + nature are not mutually exclusive. So he came to find no + difficulty even in miracles and inspiration; for the God who is in + man and of whose mind and will nature is only the expression, can + reveal himself, if need be, in special ways. So George John + Romanes came back to prayer, to Christ, to the church. + + On the general subject of intuition as connected with our idea of + God, see Ladd, in Bib. Sac., 1877:1-36, 611-616; 1878:619; Fisher, + on Final Cause and Intuition, in Journ. Christ. Philos., Jan. + 1883:113-134; Patton, on Genesis of Idea of God, in Jour. Christ. + Philos., Apl. 1883:283-307; McCosh, Christianity and Positivism, + 124-140; Mansel, in Encyc. Brit., 8th ed., vol. 14:604 and 615; + Robert Hall, sermon on Atheism; Hutton, on Atheism, in Essays, + 1:3-37; Shairp, in Princeton Rev., March, 1881:264. + + + + +Chapter II. Corroborative Evidences Of God's Existence. + + +Although the knowledge of God's existence is intuitive, it may be +explicated and confirmed by arguments drawn from the actual universe and +from the abstract ideas of the human mind. + +Remark 1. These arguments are probable, not demonstrative. For this reason +they supplement each other, and constitute a series of evidences which is +cumulative in its nature. Though, taken singly, none of them can be +considered absolutely decisive, they together furnish a corroboration of +our primitive conviction of God's existence, which is of great practical +value, and is in itself sufficient to bind the moral action of men. + + + Butler, Analogy, Introd., Bohn's ed., 72--Probable evidence admits + of degrees, from the highest moral certainty to the lowest + presumption. Yet probability is the guide of life. In matters of + morals and religion, we are not to expect mathematical or + demonstrative, but only probable, evidence, and the slightest + preponderance of such evidence may be sufficient to bind our moral + action. The truth of our religion, like the truth of common + matters, is to be judged by the whole evidence taken together; for + probable proofs, by being added, not only increase the evidence, + but multiply it. Dove, Logic of Christ. Faith, 24--Value of the + arguments taken together is much greater than that of any single + one. Illustrated from water, air and food, together but not + separately, supporting life; value of L1000 note, not in paper, + stamp, writing, signature, taken separately. A whole bundle of + rods cannot be broken, though each rod in the bundle may be broken + separately. The strength of the bundle is the strength of the + whole. Lord Bacon, Essay on Atheism: "A little philosophy + inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth + men's minds about to religion. For while the mind of man looketh + upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them and go + no further, but, when it beholdeth the chain of them confederate + and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity." + Murphy, Scientific Bases of Faith, 221-223--"The proof of a God and + of a spiritual world which is to satisfy us must consist in a + number of different but converging lines of proof." + + In a case where only circumstantial evidence is attainable, many + lines of proof sometimes converge, and though no one of the lines + reaches the mark, the conclusion to which they all point becomes + the only rational one. To doubt that there is a London, or that + there was a Napoleon, would indicate insanity; yet London and + Napoleon are proved by only probable evidence. There is no + constraining efficacy in the arguments for God's existence; but + the same can be said of all reasoning that is not demonstrative. + Another interpretation of the facts is _possible_, but no other + conclusion is so _satisfactory_, as that God is; see Fisher, + Nature and Method of Revelation, 129. Prof. Rogers: "If in + practical affairs we were to hesitate to act until we had absolute + and demonstrative certainty, we should never begin to move at + all." For this reason an old Indian official advised a young + Indian judge "always to give his verdict, but always to avoid + giving the grounds of it." + + Bowne, Philos. of Theism, 11-14--"Instead of doubting everything + that can be doubted, let us rather doubt nothing until we are + compelled to doubt.... In society we get on better by assuming + that men are truthful, and by doubting only for special reasons, + than we should if we assumed that all men are liars, and believed + them only when compelled. So in all our investigations we make + more progress if we assume the truthfulness of the universe and of + our own nature than we should if we doubted both.... The first + method seems the more rigorous, but it can be applied only to + mathematics, which is a purely subjective science. When we come to + deal with reality, the method brings thought to a standstill.... + The law the logician lays down is this: Nothing may be believed + which is not proved. The law the mind actually follows is this: + Whatever the mind demands for the satisfaction of its subjective + interests and tendencies may be assumed as real, in default of + positive disproof." + + +Remark 2. A consideration of these arguments may also serve to explicate +the contents of an intuition which has remained obscure and only half +conscious for lack of reflection. The arguments, indeed, are the efforts +of the mind that already has a conviction of God's existence to give to +itself a formal account of its belief. An exact estimate of their logical +value and of their relation to the intuition which they seek to express in +syllogistic form, is essential to any proper refutation of the prevalent +atheistic and pantheistic reasoning. + + + Diman, Theistic Argument, 363--"Nor have I claimed that the + existence, even, of this Being can be demonstrated as we + demonstrate the abstract truths of science. I have only claimed + that the universe, as a great fact, demands a rational + explanation, and that the most rational explanation that can + possibly be given is that furnished in the conception of such a + Being. In this conclusion reason rests, and refuses to rest in any + other." Rueckert: "Wer Gott nicht fuehlt in sich und allen + Lebenskreisen, Dem werdet ihr nicht ihn beweisen mit Beweisen." + Harris, Philos. Basis of Theism, 307--"Theology depends on noetic + and empirical science to give the occasion on which the idea of + the Absolute Being arises, and to give content to the idea." + Andrew Fuller, Part of Syst. of Divin., 4:283, questions "whether + argumentation in favor of the existence of God has not made more + sceptics than believers." So far as this is true, it is due to an + overstatement of the arguments and an exaggerated notion of what + is to be expected from them. See Nitzsch, Christian Doctrine, + translation, 140; Ebrard, Dogmatik, 1:119, 120; Fisher, Essays on + Supernatural Origin of Christianity, 572, 573; Van Oosterzee, 238, + 241. + + "Evidences of Christianity?" said Coleridge, "I am weary of the + word." The more Christianity was _proved_, the less it was + _believed_. The revival of religion under Whitefield and Wesley + did what all the apologists of the eighteenth century could not + do,--it quickened men's intuitions into life, and made them + practically recognize God. Martineau, Types, 2:231--Men can "bow + the knee to the passing _Zeitgeist_, while turning the back to the + consensus of all the ages"; Seat of Authority, 312--"Our reasonings + lead to explicit Theism because they start from implicit Theism." + Illingworth, Div. and Hum. Personality, 81--"The proofs are ... + attempts to account for and explain and justify something that + already exists; to decompose a highly complex though immediate + judgment into its constituent elements, none of which when + isolated can have the completeness or the cogency of the original + conviction taken as a whole." + + Bowne, Philos. of Theism, 31, 32--"Demonstration is only a + makeshift for helping ignorance to insight.... When we come to an + argument in which the whole nature is addressed, the argument must + seem weak or strong, according as the nature is feebly, or fully, + developed. The moral argument for theism cannot seem strong to one + without a conscience. The argument from cognitive interests will + be empty when there is no cognitive interest. Little souls find + very little that calls for explanation or that excites surprise, + and they are satisfied with a correspondingly small view of life + and existence. In such a case we cannot hope for universal + agreement. We can only proclaim the faith that is in us, in hope + that this proclamation may not be without some response in other + minds and hearts.... We have only probable evidence for the + uniformity of nature or for the affection of friends. We cannot + logically prove either. The deepest convictions are not the + certainties of logic, but the certainties of life." + + +Remark 3. The arguments for the divine existence may be reduced to four, +namely: I. The Cosmological; II. The Teleological; III. The +Anthropological; and IV. The Ontological. We shall examine these in order, +seeking first to determine the precise conclusions to which they +respectively lead, and then to ascertain in what manner the four may be +combined. + + + +I. The Cosmological Argument, or Argument from Change in Nature. + + +This is not properly an argument from effect to cause; for the proposition +that every effect must have a cause is simply identical, and means only +that every caused event must have a cause. It is rather an argument from +begun existence to a sufficient cause of that beginning, and may be +accurately stated as follows: + +Everything begun, whether substance or phenomenon, owes its existence to +some producing cause. The universe, at least so far as its present form is +concerned, is a thing begun, and owes its existence to a cause which is +equal to its production. This cause must be indefinitely great. + + + It is to be noticed that this argument moves wholly in the realm + of nature. The argument from man's constitution and beginning upon + the planet is treated under another head (see Anthropological + Argument). That the present form of the universe is not eternal in + the past, but has begun to be, not only personal observation but + the testimony of geology assures us. For statements of the + argument, see Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (Bohn's transl.), 370; + Gillespie, Necessary Existence of God, 8:34-44; Bib. Sac., + 1849:613; 1850:613; Porter, Hum. Intellect, 570; Herbert Spencer, + First Principles, 93. It has often been claimed, as by Locke, + Clarke, and Robert Hall, that this argument is sufficient to + conduct the mind to an Eternal and Infinite First Cause. We + proceed therefore to mention + + +1. _The defects of the Cosmological Argument._ + +A. It is impossible to show that the universe, so far as its substance is +concerned, has had a beginning. The law of causality declares, not that +everything has a cause--for then God himself must have a cause--but rather +that everything begun has a cause, or in other words, that every event or +change has a cause. + + + Hume, Philos. Works, 2:411 _sq._, urges with reason that we never + saw a world made. Many philosophers in Christian lands, as + Martineau, Essays, 1:206, and the prevailing opinions of + ante-Christian times, have held matter to be eternal. Bowne, + Metaphysics, 107--"For being itself, the reflective reason never + asks a cause, unless the being show signs of dependence. It is + change that first gives rise to the demand for cause." Martineau, + Types, 1:291--"It is not existence, as such, that demands a cause, + but the coming into existence of what did not exist before. The + intellectual law of causality is a law for phenomena, and not for + entity." See also McCosh, Intuitions, 225-241; Calderwood, Philos. + of Infinite, 61. _Per contra_, see Murphy, Scient. Bases of Faith, + 49, 195, and Habit and Intelligence, 1:55-67; Knight, Lect. on + Metaphysics, lect. ii, p. 19. + + +B. Granting that the universe, so far as its phenomena are concerned, has +had a cause, it is impossible to show that any other cause is required +than a cause within itself, such as the pantheist supposes. + + + Flint, Theism, 65--"The cosmological argument alone proves only + force, and no mere force is God. Intelligence must go with power + to make a Being that can be called God." Diman, Theistic Argument: + "The cosmological argument alone cannot decide whether the force + that causes change is permanent self-existent mind, or permanent + self-existent matter." Only intelligence gives the basis for an + answer. Only mind in the universe enables us to infer mind in the + maker. But the argument from intelligence is not the Cosmological, + but the Teleological, and to this last belong all proofs of Deity + from order and combination in nature. + + Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 201-296--Science has to do with those + changes which one portion of the visible universe causes in + another portion. Philosophy and theology deal with the Infinite + Cause which brings into existence and sustains the entire series + of finite causes. Do we ask the cause of the stars? Science says: + Fire-mist, or an infinite regress of causes. Theology says: + Granted; but this infinite regress demands for its explanation the + belief in God. We must believe both in God, and in an endless + series of finite causes. God is the cause of all causes, the soul + of all souls: "Centre and soul of every sphere, Yet to each loving + heart how near!" We do not need, as mere matter of science, to + think of any beginning. + + +C. Granting that the universe most have had a cause outside of itself, it +is impossible to show that this cause has not itself been caused, _i. e._, +consists of an infinite series of dependent causes. The principle of +causality does not require that everything begun should be traced back to +an uncaused cause; it demands that we should assign a cause, but not that +we should assign a first cause. + + + So with the whole series of causes. The materialist is bound to + find a cause for this series, only when the series is shown to + have had a beginning. But the very hypothesis of an infinite + series of causes excludes the idea of such a beginning. An + infinite chain has no topmost link (_versus_ Robert Hall); an + uncaused and eternal succession does not need a cause (_versus_ + Clarke and Locke). See Whately, Logic, 270; New Englander, Jan. + 1874:75; Alexander, Moral Science, 221; Pfleiderer, Die Religion, + 1:160-164; Calderwood, Moral Philos., 225; Herbert Spencer, First + Principles, 37--criticized by Bowne, Review of H. Spencer, 36. + Julius Mueller, Doct. Sin, 2:128, says that the causal principle is + not satisfied till by regress we come to a cause which is not + itself an effect--to one who is _causa sui_; Aids to Study of + German Theology, 15-17--Even if the universe be eternal, its + contingent and relative nature requires us to postulate an eternal + Creator; Diman, Theistic Argument, 86--"While the law of causation + does not lead logically up to the conclusion of a first cause, it + compels us to affirm it." We reply that it is not the law of + causation which compels us to affirm it, for this certainly "does + not lead logically up to the conclusion." If we infer an uncaused + cause, we do it, not by logical process, but by virtue of the + intuitive belief within us. So substantially Secretan, and + Whewell, in Indications of a Creator, and in Hist. of Scientific + Ideas, 2:321, 322--"The mind takes refuge, in the assumption of a + First Cause, from an employment inconsistent with its own nature"; + "we necessarily infer a First Cause, although the palaetiological + sciences only point toward it, but do not lead us to it." + + +D. Granting that the cause of the universe has not itself been caused, it +is impossible to show that this cause is not finite, like the universe +itself. The causal principle requires a cause no greater than just +sufficient to account for the effect. + + + We cannot therefore infer an infinite cause, unless the universe + is infinite--which cannot be proved, but can only be assumed--and + this is assuming an infinite in order to prove an infinite. All we + know of the universe is finite. An infinite universe implies + infinite number. But no number can be infinite, for to any number, + however great, a unit can be added, which shows that it was not + infinite before. Here again we see that the most approved forms of + the Cosmological Argument are obliged to avail themselves of the + intuition of the infinite, to supplement the logical process. + _Versus_ Martineau, Study, 1:416--"Though we cannot directly infer + the infinitude of God from a limited creation, indirectly we may + exclude every other position by resort to its unlimited scene of + existence (space)." But this would equally warrant our belief in + the infinitude of our fellow men. Or, it is the argument of Clarke + and Gillespie (see Ontological Argument below). Schiller, Die + Groesse der Welt, seems to hold to a boundless universe. He + represents a tired spirit as seeking the last limit of creation. A + second pilgrim meets him from the spaces beyond with the words: + "Steh! du segelst umsonst,--vor dir Unendlichkeit"--"Hold! thou + journeyest in vain,--before thee is only Infinity." On the law of + parsimony, see Sir Wm. Hamilton, Discussions, 628. + + +2. _The value of the Cosmological Argument_, then, is simply this,--it +proves the existence of some cause of the universe indefinitely great. +When we go beyond this and ask whether this cause is a cause of being, or +merely a cause of change, to the universe; whether it is a cause apart +from the universe, or one with it; whether it is an eternal cause, or a +cause dependent upon some other cause; whether it is intelligent or +unintelligent, infinite or finite, one or many,--this argument cannot +assure us. + + + On the whole argument, see Flint, Theism, 93-130; Mozley, Essays, + Hist. and Theol., 2:414-444; Hedge, Ways of the Spirit, 148-154; + Studien und Kritiken, 1876:9-31. + + + +II. The Teleological Argument, or Argument from Order and Useful +Collocation in Nature. + + +This is not properly an argument from design to a designer; for that +design implies a designer is simply an identical proposition. It may be +more correctly stated as follows: Order and useful collocation pervading a +system respectively imply intelligence and purpose as the cause of that +order and collocation. Since order and useful collocation pervade the +universe, there must exist an intelligence adequate to the production of +this order, and a will adequate to direct this collocation to useful ends. + + + Etymologically, "teleological argument" = argument to ends or + final causes, that is, "causes which, beginning as a thought, work + themselves out into a fact as an end or result" (Porter, Hum. + Intellect, 592-618);--health, for example, is the final cause of + exercise, while exercise is the efficient cause of health. This + definition of the argument would be broad enough to cover the + proof of a designing intelligence drawn from the constitution of + man. This last, however, is treated as a part of the + Anthropological Argument, which follows this, and the Teleological + Argument covers only the proof of a designing intelligence drawn + from nature. Hence Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (Bohn's trans.), + 381, calls it the physico-theological argument. On methods of + stating the argument, see Bib. Sac., Oct. 1867:625. See also + Hedge, Ways of the Spirit, 155-185; Mozley, Essays Hist. and + Theol., 2:365-413. + + Hicks, in his Critique of Design-Arguments, 347-389, makes two + arguments instead of one: (1) the argument from _order_ to + _intelligence_, to which he gives the name Eutaxiological; (2) the + argument from _adaptation_ to _purpose_, to which he would + restrict the name Teleological. He holds that teleology proper + cannot prove _intelligence_, because in speaking of "ends" at all, + it must assume the very intelligence which it seeks to prove; that + it actually does prove simply the _intentional exercise_ of an + intelligence whose existence has been previously established. + "Circumstances, forces or agencies converging to a definite + rational result imply volition--imply that this result is + intended--is an end. This is the major premise of this new + teleology." He objects to the term "final cause." The end is not a + cause at all--it is a motive. The characteristic element of cause + is power to produce an effect. Ends have no such power. The will + may choose them or set them aside. As already assuming + intelligence, ends cannot prove intelligence. + + With this in the main we agree, and count it a valuable help to + the statement and understanding of the argument. In the very + observation of _order_, however, as well as in arguing from it, we + are obliged to assume the same all-arranging intelligence. We see + no objection therefore to making Eutaxiology the first part of the + Teleological Argument, as we do above. See review of Hicks, in + Meth. Quar. Rev., July, 1883:569-576. We proceed however to + certain + + +1. _Further explanations._ + +A. The major premise expresses a primitive conviction. It is not +invalidated by the objections: (_a_) that order and useful collocation may +exist without being purposed--for we are compelled by our very mental +constitution to deny this in all cases where the order and collocation +pervade a system: (_b_) that order and useful collocation may result from +the mere operation of physical forces and laws--for these very forces and +laws imply, instead of excluding, an originating and superintending +intelligence and will. + + + Janet, in his work on Final Causes, 8, denies that finality is a + primitive conviction, like causality, and calls it the result of + an induction. He therefore proceeds from (1) marks of order and + useful collocation to (2) finality in nature, and then to (3) an + intelligent cause of this finality or "pre-conformity to future + event." So Diman, Theistic Argument, 105, claims simply that, as + change requires cause, so orderly change requires intelligent + cause. We have shown, however, that induction and argument of + every kind presupposes intuitive belief in final cause. Nature + does not give us final cause; but no more does she give us + efficient cause. Mind gives us both, and gives them as clearly + upon one experience as after a thousand. Ladd: "Things have mind + in them: else they could not be minded by us." The Duke of Argyll + told Darwin that it seemed to him wholly impossible to ascribe the + adjustments of nature to any other agency than that of mind. + "Well," said Darwin, "that impression has often come upon me with + overpowering force. But then, at other times, it all seems--;" and + then he passed his hands over his eyes, as if to indicate the + passing of a vision out of sight. Darwinism is not a refutation of + ends in nature, but only of a particular theory with regard to the + way in which ends are realized in the organic world. Darwin would + begin with an infinitesimal germ, and make all the subsequent + development unteleological; see Schurman, Belief in God, 193. + + (_a_) Illustration of unpurposed order in the single throwing of + "double sixes,"--constant throwing of double sixes indicates + design. So arrangement of detritus at mouth of river, and warming + pans sent to the West Indies,--useful but not purposed. Momerie, + Christianity and Evolution, 72--"It is only within narrow limits + that seemingly purposeful arrangements are produced by chance. And + therefore, as the signs of purpose increase, the presumption in + favor of their accidental origin diminishes." Elder, Ideas from + Nature, 81, 82--"The uniformity of a boy's marbles shows them to be + products of design. A single one might be accidental, but a dozen + cannot be. So atomic uniformity indicates manufacture." + Illustrations of purposed order, in Beattie's garden, Tillotson's + blind men, Kepler's salad. Dr. Carpenter: "The atheist is like a + man examining the machinery of a great mill, who, finding that the + whole is moved by a shaft proceeding from a brick wall, infers + that the shaft is a sufficient explanation of what he sees, and + that there is no moving power behind it." Lord Kelvin: "The + atheistic idea is nonsensical." J. G. Paton, Life, 2:191--The + sinking of a well on the island of Aniwa convinces the cannibal + chief Namakei that Jehovah God exists, the invisible One. See + Chauncey Wright, in N. Y. Nation, Jan. 15, 1874; Murphy, + Scientific Bases of Faith, 208. + + (_b_) Bowne, Review of Herbert Spencer, 231-247--"Law is _method_, + not _cause_. A man cannot offer the very fact to be explained, as + its sufficient explanation." Martineau, Essays, 1:144--"Patterned + damask, made not by the weaver, but by the loom?" Dr. Stevenson: + "House requires no architect, because it is built by stone-masons + and carpenters?" Joseph Cook: "Natural law without God behind it + is no more than a glove without a hand in it, and all that is done + by the gloved hand of God in nature is done by the hand and not by + the glove. Evolution is a process, not a power; a method of + operation, not an operator. A book is not written _by_ the laws of + spelling and grammar, but _according_ to those laws. So the book + of the universe is not written by the laws of heat, electricity, + gravitation, evolution, but according to those laws." G. F. + Wright, Ant. and Orig. of Hum. Race, lecture IX--"It is impossible + for evolution to furnish evidence which shall drive design out of + nature. It can only drive it back to an earlier point of entrance, + thereby increasing our admiration for the power of the Creator to + accomplish ulterior designs by unlikely means." + + Evolution is only the method of God. It has to do with the _how_, + not with the _why_, of phenomena, and therefore is not + inconsistent with design, but rather is a new and higher + illustration of design. Henry Ward Beecher: "Design by wholesale + is greater than design by retail." Frances Power Cobbe: "It is a + singular fact that, whenever we find out _how_ a thing is done, + our first conclusion seems to be that _God_ did not do it." Why + should we say: "The more law, the less God?" The theist refers the + phenomena to a cause that knows itself and what it is doing; the + atheist refers them to a power which knows nothing of itself and + what it is doing (Bowne). George John Romanes said that, if God be + immanent, then all natural causation must appear to be mechanical, + and it is no argument against the divine origin of a thing to + prove it due to natural causation: "Causes in nature do not + obviate the necessity of a cause in nature." Shaler, + Interpretation of Nature, 47--Evolution shows that the direction of + affairs is under control of something like our own intelligence: + "Evolution spells Purpose." Clarke, Christ. Theology, 105--"The + modern doctrine of evolution has been awake to the existence of + innumerable ends _within_ the universe, but not to the one great + end _for_ the universe itself." Huxley, Critiques and Addresses, + 274, 275, 307--"The teleological and mechanical views of the + universe are not mutually exclusive." Sir William Hamilton, + Metaphysics: "Intelligence stands first in the order of existence. + Efficient causes are preceded by final causes." See also Thornton, + Old Fashioned Ethics, 199-265; Archbp. Temple, Bampton Lect., + 1884:99-123; Owen, Anat. of Vertebrates, 3:796; Peirce, Ideality + in the Physical Sciences, 1-35; Newman Smyth, Through Science to + Faith, 96; Fisher, Nat. and Meth. of Rev., 135. + + +B. The minor premise expresses a working-principle of all science, namely, +that all things have their uses, that order pervades the universe, and +that the methods of nature are rational methods. Evidences of this appear +in the correlation of the chemical elements to each other; in the fitness +of the inanimate world to be the basis and support of life; in the typical +forms and unity of plan apparent in the organic creation; in the existence +and cooeperation of natural laws; in cosmical order and compensations. + +This minor premise is not invalidated by the objections: (_a_) That we +frequently misunderstand the end actually subserved by natural events and +objects; for the principle is, not that we necessarily know the actual +end, but that we necessarily believe that there is some end, in every case +of systematic order and collocation. (_b_) That the order of the universe +is manifestly imperfect; for this, if granted, would argue, not absence of +contrivance, but some special reason for imperfection, either in the +limitations of the contriving intelligence itself, or in the nature of the +end sought (as, for example, correspondence with the moral state and +probation of sinners). + + + The evidences of order and useful collocation are found both in + the indefinitely small and the indefinitely great. The molecules + are manufactured articles; and the compensations of the solar + system which provide that a secular flattening of the earth's + orbit shall be made up for by a secular rounding of that same + orbit, alike show an intelligence far transcending our own; see + Cooke, Religion and Chemistry, and Credentials of Science, + 23--"Beauty is the harmony of relations which perfect fitness + produces; law is the prevailing principle which underlies that + harmony. Hence both beauty and law imply design. From energy, + fitness, beauty, order, sacrifice, we argue might, skill, + perfection, law, and love in a Supreme Intelligence. Christianity + implies design, and is the completion of the design argument." + Pfleiderer, Philos. Religion, 1:168--"A good definition of beauty + is immanent purposiveness, the teleological ideal background of + reality, the shining of the Idea through phenomena." + + Bowne, Philos. Theism, 85--"Design is never causal. It is only + ideal, and it demands an efficient cause for its realization. If + ice is not to sink, and to freeze out life, there must be some + molecular structure which shall make its bulk greater than that of + an equal weight of water." Jackson, Theodore Parker, + 355--"Rudimentary organs are like the silent letters in many + words,--both are witnesses to a past history; and there is + intelligence in their preservation." Diman, Theistic Argument: + "Not only do we observe in the world the change which is the basis + of the Cosmological Argument, but we perceive that this change + proceeds according to a fixed and invariable rule. In inorganic + nature, general order, or _regularity_; in organic nature, special + order or _adaptation_." Bowne, Review of H. Spencer, 113-115, + 224-230: "Inductive science proceeds upon the postulate that the + reasonable and the natural are one." This furnished the guiding + clue to Harvey and Cuvier; see Whewell, Hist. Induct. Sciences, + 2:489-491. Kant: "The anatomist must assume that nothing in man is + in vain." Aristotle: "Nature makes nothing in vain." On molecules + as manufactured articles, see Maxfield, in Nature, Sept. 25, 1873. + See also Tulloch, Theism, 116, 120; LeConte, Religion and Science, + lect. 2 and 3; McCosh, Typical Forms, 81, 420; Agassiz, Essay on + Classification, 9, 10; Bib. Sac., 1849:626 and 1850:613; Hopkins, + in Princeton Review, 1882:181. + + (_a_) Design, in fact that rivers always run by large towns? that + springs are always found at gambling places? Plants made for man, + and man for worms? Voltaire: "Noses are made for spectacles--let us + wear them!" Pope: "While man exclaims 'See all things for my use,' + 'See man for mine,' replies the pampered goose." Cherries do not + ripen in the cold of winter when they do not taste as well, and + grapes do not ripen in the heat of summer when the new wine would + turn to vinegar? Nature divides melons into sections for + convenience in family eating? Cork-tree made for bottle-stoppers? + The child who was asked the cause of salt in the ocean, attributed + it to codfish, thus dimly confounding final cause with efficient + cause. Teacher: "What are marsupials?" Pupil: "Animals that have + pouches in their stomachs." Teacher: "And what do they have + pouches for?" Pupil: "To crawl into and conceal themselves in, + when they are pursued." Why are the days longer in summer than in + winter? Because it is the property of all natural objects to + elongate under the influence of heat. A Jena professor held that + doctors do not exist because of disease, but that diseases exist + precisely in order that there may be doctors. Kepler was an + astronomical Don Quixote. He discussed the claims of eleven + different damsels to become his second wife, and he likened the + planets to huge animals rushing through the sky. Many of the + objections to design arise from confounding a part of the creation + with the whole, or a structure in the process of development with + a structure completed. For illustrations of mistaken ends, see + Janet, Final Causes. + + (_b_) Alphonso of Castile took offense at the Ptolemaic System, + and intimated that, if he had been consulted at the creation, he + could have suggested valuable improvements. Lange, in his History + of Materialism, illustrates some of the methods of nature by + millions of gun barrels shot in all directions to kill a single + hare; by ten thousand keys bought at haphazard to get into a shut + room; by building a city in order to obtain a house. Is not the + ice a little overdone about the poles? See John Stuart Mill's + indictment of nature, in his posthumous Essays on Religion, + 29--"Nature impales men, breaks men as if on a wheel, casts them to + be devoured by wild beasts, crushes them with stones like the + first Christian martyr, starves them with hunger, freezes them + with cold, poisons them with the quick or slow venom of her + exhalations, and has hundreds of other hideous deaths in reserve, + such as the ingenious cruelty of a Nabis or a Domitian never + surpassed." So argue Schopenhauer and Von Hartmann. + + The doctrine of evolution answers many of these objections, by + showing that order and useful collocation in the system as a whole + is necessarily and cheaply purchased by imperfection and suffering + in the initial stages of development. The question is: Does the + system as a whole imply design? My opinion is of no value as to + the usefulness of an intricate machine the purpose of which I do + not know. If I stand at the beginning of a road and do not know + whither it leads, it is presumptuous in me to point out a more + direct way to its destination. Bowne, Philos. of Theism, 20-22--"In + order to counterbalance the impressions which apparent disorder + and immorality in nature make upon us, we have to assume that the + universe at its root is not only rational, but good. This is + faith, but it is an act on which our whole moral life depends." + Metaphysics, 165--"The same argument which would deny mind in + nature denies mind in man." Fisher, Nat. and Meth. of Rev., + 264--"Fifty years ago, when the crane stood on top of the tower of + unfinished Cologne Cathedral, was there no evidence of design in + the whole structure?" Yet we concede that, so long as we cannot + with John Stuart Mill explain the imperfections of the universe by + any limitations in the Intelligence which contrived it, we are + shut up to regarding them as intended to correspond with the moral + state and probation of sinners which God foresaw and provided for + at the creation. Evil things in the universe are symbols of sin, + and helps to its overthrow. See Bowne, Review of H. Spencer, 264, + 265; McCosh, Christ. and Positivism, 82 _sq._; Martineau, Essays, + 1:50, and Study, 1:351-398; Porter, Hum. Intellect, 599; Mivart, + Lessons from Nature, 366-371; Princeton Rev., 1878:272-303; Shaw, + on Positivism. + + +2. _Defects of the Teleological Argument._ These attach not to the +premises but to the conclusion sought to be drawn therefrom. + +A. The argument cannot prove a personal God. The order and useful +collocations of the universe may be only the changing phenomena of an +impersonal intelligence and will, such as pantheism supposes. The finality +may be only immanent finality. + + + There is such a thing as immanent and unconscious finality. + National spirit, without set purpose, constructs language. The bee + works unconsciously to ends. Strato of Lampsacus regarded the + world as a vast animal. Aristotle, Phys., 2:8--"Plant the + ship-builder's skill within the timber itself, and you have the + mode in which nature produces." Here we see a dim anticipation of + the modern doctrine of development from within instead of creation + from without. Neander: "The divine work goes on from within + outward." John Fiske: "The argument from the watch has been + superseded by the argument from the flower." Iverach, Theism, + 91--"The effect of evolution has been simply to transfer the cause + from a mere external influence working from without to an immanent + rational principle." Martineau, Study, 1:349, 350--"Theism is in no + way committed to the doctrine of a God external to the world ... + nor does intelligence require, in order to gain an object, to give + it externality." + + Newman Smyth, Place of Death, 62-80--"The universe exists in some + all-pervasive Intelligence. Suppose we could see a small heap of + brick, scraps of metal, and pieces of mortar, gradually shaping + themselves into the walls and interior structure of a building, + adding needed material as the work advanced, and at last + presenting in its completion a factory furnished with varied and + finely wrought machinery. Or, a locomotive carrying a process of + self-repair to compensate for wear, growing and increasing in + size, detaching from itself at intervals pieces of brass or iron + endowed with the power of growing up step by step into other + locomotives capable of running themselves and of reproducing new + locomotives in their turn." So nature in its separate parts may + seem mechanical, but as a whole it is rational. Weismann does not + "disown a directive power,"--only this power is "behind the + mechanism as its final cause ... it must be teleological." + + Impressive as are these evidences of intelligence in the universe + as a whole, and increased in number as they are by the new light + of evolution, we must still hold that nature alone cannot prove + that this intelligence is personal. Hopkins, Miscellanies, + 18-36--"So long as there is such a thing as impersonal and adapting + intelligence in the brute creation, we cannot necessarily infer + from unchanging laws a free and personal God." See Fisher, + Supernat. Origin of Christianity, 576-578. Kant shows that the + argument does not prove intelligence apart from the world + (Critique, 370). We must bring mind to the world, if we would find + mind in it. Leave out man, and nature cannot be properly + interpreted: the intelligence and will in nature may still be + unconscious. But, taking in man, we are bound to get our idea of + the intelligence and will in nature from the highest type of + intelligence and will we know, and that is man's. "Nullus in + microcosmo spiritus, nullus in macrocosmo Deus." "We receive but + what we give, And in our life alone does Nature live." + + The Teleological Argument therefore needs to be supplemented by + the Anthropological Argument, or the argument from the mental and + moral constitution of man. By itself, it does not prove a Creator. + See Calderwood, Moral Philosophy, 26; Ritter, Hist. Anc. Philos., + bk. 9, chap. 6; Foundations of our Faith, 38; Murphy, Scientific + Bases, 215; Habit and Intelligence, 2:6, and chap. 27. On immanent + finality, see Janet, Final Causes, 345-415; Diman, Theistic + Argument, 201-203. Since righteousness belongs only to + personality, this argument cannot prove righteousness in God. + Flint, Theism, 66--"Power and Intelligence alone do not constitute + God, though they be infinite. A being may have these, and, if + lacking righteousness, may be a devil." Here again we see the need + of the Anthropological Argument to supplement this. + + +B. Even if this argument could prove personality in the intelligence and +will that originated the order of the universe, it could not prove either +the unity, the eternity, or the infinity of God; not the unity--for the +useful collocations of the universe might be the result of oneness of +counsel, instead of oneness of essence, in the contriving intelligence; +not the eternity--for a created demiurge might conceivably have designed +the universe; not the infinity--since all marks of order and collocation +within our observation are simply finite. + + + Diman asserts (Theistic Argument, 114) that all the phenomena of + the universe must be due to the same source--since all alike are + subject to the same method of sequence, _e. g._, gravitation--and + that the evidence points us irresistibly to some _one_ explanatory + cause. We can regard this assertion only as the utterance of a + primitive belief in a first cause, not as the conclusion of + logical demonstration, for we know only an infinitesimal part of + the universe. From the point of view of the intuition of an + Absolute Reason, however, we can cordially assent to the words of + F. L. Patton: "When we consider Matthew Arnold's 'stream of + tendency,' Spencer's 'unknowable,' Schopenhauer's 'world as will,' + and Hartmann's elaborate defence of finality as the product of + unconscious intelligence, we may well ask if the theists, with + their belief in one personal God, are not in possession of the + only hypothesis that can save the language of these writers from + the charge of meaningless and idiotic raving" (Journ. Christ. + Philos., April, 1883:283-307). + + The ancient world, which had only the light of nature, believed in + many gods. William James, Will to Believe, 44--"If there be a + divine Spirit of the universe, nature, such as we know her, cannot + possibly be its _ultimate word_ to man. Either there is no spirit + revealed in nature, or else it is inadequately revealed there; and + (as all the higher religions have assumed) what we call visible + nature, or _this_ world, must be but a veil and surface-show whose + full meaning resides in a supplementary unseen, or _other_ world." + Bowne, Theory of Thought and Knowledge, 234--"But is not + intelligence itself the mystery of mysteries?... No doubt, + intellect is a great mystery.... But there is a choice in + mysteries. Some mysteries leave other things clear, and some leave + things as dark and impenetrable as ever. The former is the case + with the mystery of intelligence. It makes possible the + comprehension of everything but itself." + + +3. _The value of the Teleological Argument_ is simply this,--it proves from +certain useful collocations and instances of order which have clearly had +a beginning, or in other words, from the present harmony of the universe, +that there exists an intelligence and will adequate to its contrivance. +But whether this intelligence and will is personal or impersonal, creator +or only fashioner, one or many, finite or infinite, eternal or owing its +being to another, necessary or free, this argument cannot assure us. + +In it, however, we take a step forward. The causative power which we have +proved by the Cosmological Argument has now become an intelligent and +voluntary power. + + + John Stuart Mill, Three Essays on Theism, 168-170--"In the present + state of our knowledge, the adaptations in nature afford a large + balance of probability in favor of causation by intelligence." + Ladd holds that, whenever one being acts upon its like, each being + undergoes changes of state that belong to its own nature under the + circumstances. Action of one body on another never consists in + transferring the state of one being to another. Therefore there is + no more difficulty in beings that are unlike acting on one another + than in beings that are like. We do not transfer ideas to other + minds,--we only rouse them to develop their own ideas. So force + also is positively not transferable. Bowne, Philos. of Theism, 49, + begins with "the conception of things interacting according to law + and forming an intelligible system. Such a system cannot be + construed by thought without the assumption of a unitary being + which is the fundamental reality of the system. 53--No passage of + influences or forces will avail to bridge the gulf, so long as the + things are regarded as independent. 56--The system itself cannot + explain this interaction, for the system is only the members of + it. There must be some being in them which is their reality, and + of which they are in some sense phases or manifestations. In other + words, there must be a basal monism." All this is substantially + the view of Lotze, of whose philosophy see criticism in Staehlin's + Kant, Lotze, and Ritschl, 116-156, and especially 123. + Falckenberg, Gesch. der neueren Philosophie, 454, shows as to + Lotze's view that his assumption of monistic unity and continuity + does not explain how change of condition in one thing should, as + equalization or compensation, follow change of condition in + another thing. Lotze explains this _actuality_ by the ethical + conception of an all-embracing Person. On the whole argument, see + Bib. Sac., 1849:634; Murphy, Sci. Bases, 216; Flint, Theism, + 131-210; Pfleiderer, Die Religion, 1:164-174; W. R. Benedict, on + Theism and Evolution, in Andover Rev., 1886:307-350, 607-622. + + + +III. The Anthropological Argument, or Argument from Man's Mental and Moral +Nature. + + +This is an argument from the mental and moral condition of man to the +existence of an Author, Lawgiver, and End. It is sometimes called the +Moral Argument. + + + The common title "Moral Argument" is much too narrow, for it seems + to take account only of conscience in man, whereas the argument + which this title so imperfectly designates really proceeds from + man's intellectual and emotional, as well as from his moral, + nature. In choosing the designation we have adopted, we desire, + moreover, to rescue from the mere physicist the term + "Anthropology"--a term to which he has attached altogether too + limited a signification, and which, in his use of it, implies that + man is a mere animal,--to him Anthropology is simply the study of + _la bete humaine_. Anthropology means, not simply the science of + man's physical nature, origin, and relations, but also the science + which treats of his higher spiritual being. Hence, in Theology, + the term Anthropology designates that division of the subject + which treats of man's spiritual nature and endowments, his + original state and his subsequent apostasy. As an argument, + therefore, from man's mental and moral nature, we can with perfect + propriety call the present argument the Anthropological Argument. + + +The argument is a complex one, and may be divided into three parts. + +1. Man's intellectual and moral nature must have had for its author an +intellectual and moral Being. The elements of the proof are as +follows:--(_a_) Man, as an intellectual and moral being, has had a +beginning upon the planet. (_b_) Material and unconscious forces do not +afford a sufficient cause for man's reason, conscience, and free will. +(_c_) Man, as an effect, can be referred only to a cause possessing +self-consciousness and a moral nature, in other words, personality. + + + This argument is is part an application to man of the principles + of both the Cosmological and the Teleological Arguments. Flint, + Theism, 74--"Although causality does not involve design, nor design + goodness, yet design involves causality, and goodness both + causality and design." Jacobi: "Nature conceals God; man reveals + him." + + Man is an effect. The history of the geologic ages proves that man + has not always existed, and even if the lower creatures were his + progenitors, his intellect and freedom are not eternal _a parte + ante_. We consider man, not as a physical, but as a spiritual, + being. Thompson, Christian Theism, 75--"Every true cause must be + sufficient to account for the effect." Locke, Essay, book 4, chap. + 10--"Cogitable existence cannot be produced out of incogitable." + Martineau, Study of Religion, 1:258 _sq._ + + Even if man had always existed, however, we should not need to + abandon the argument. We might start, not from beginning of + existence, but from beginning of phenomena. I might see God in the + world, just as I see thought, feeling, will, in my fellow men. + Fullerton, Plain Argument for God: I do not infer you, as cause of + the _existence_ of your body: I recognize you as present and + _working_ through your body. Its changes of gesture and speech + reveal a personality behind them. So I do not need to argue back + to a Being who once _caused_ nature and history; I recognize a + _present_ Being, exercising wisdom and power, by signs such as + reveal personality in man. Nature is itself the Watchmaker + manifesting himself in the very process of making the watch. This + is the meaning of the noble Epilogue to Robert Browning's Dramatis + Personae, 252--"That one Face, far from vanish, rather grows, Or + decomposes but to recompose, Become my universe that feels and + knows." "That Face," said Mr. Browning to Mrs. Orr, "That Face is + the face of Christ; that is how I feel him." Nature is an + expression of the mind and will of Christ, as my face is an + expression of my mind and will. But in both cases, behind and + above the face is a personality, of which the face is but the + partial and temporary expression. + + Bowne, Philos. Theism, 104, 107--"My fellow beings act _as if_ they + had thought, feeling, and will. So nature looks _as if_ thought, + feeling, and will were behind it. If we deny mind in nature, we + must deny mind in man. If there be no controlling mind in nature, + moreover, there can be none in man, for if the basal power is + blind and necessary, then all that depends upon it is necessitated + also." LeConte, in Royce's Conception of God, 44--"There is only + one place in the world where we can get behind physical phenomena, + behind the veil of matter, namely, in our own brain, and we find + there a self, a person. Is it not reasonable that, if we could get + behind the veil of nature, we should find the same, that is, a + Person? But if so, we must conclude, an infinite Person, and + therefore the only complete Personality that exists. Perfect + personality is not only self-conscious, but self-existent. _They_ + are only imperfect images, and, as it were, separated fragments, + of the infinite Personality of God." + + Personality = self-consciousness + self-determination in view of + moral ends. The brute has intelligence and will, but has neither + self-consciousness, conscience, nor free-will. See Julius Mueller, + Doctrine of Sin, 1:76 _sq._ Diman, Theistic Argument, 91, + 251--"Suppose 'the intuitions of the moral faculty are the slowly + organized results of experience received from the race'; still, + having found that the universe affords evidence of a supremely + intelligent cause, we may believe that man's moral nature affords + the highest illustration of its mode of working"; 358--"Shall we + explain the lower forms of will by the higher, or the higher by + the lower?" + + +2. Man's moral nature proves the existence of a holy Lawgiver and Judge. +The elements of the proof are:--(_a_) Conscience recognizes the existence +of a moral law which has supreme authority. (_b_) Known violations of this +moral law are followed by feelings of ill-desert and fears of judgment. +(_c_) This moral law, since it is not self-imposed, and these threats of +judgment, since they are not self-executing, respectively argue the +existence of a holy will that has imposed the law, and of a punitive power +that will execute the threats of the moral nature. + + + See Bishop Butler's Sermons on Human Nature, in Works, Bohn's ed., + 385-414. Butler's great discovery was that of the supremacy of + conscience in the moral constitution of man: "Had it strength as + it has right, had it power as it has manifest authority, it would + absolutely govern the world." Conscience = the moral judiciary of + the soul--not law, nor sheriff, but judge; see under Anthropology. + Diman, Theistic Argument, 251--"Conscience does not lay down a law; + it warns us of the existence of a law; and not only of a law, but + of a purpose--not our own, but the purpose of another, which it is + our mission to realize." See Murphy, Scientific Bases of Faith, + 218 _sq._ It proves personality in the Lawgiver, because its + utterances are not abstract, like those of reason, but are in the + nature of command; they are not in the indicative, but in the + imperative, mood; it says, "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not." This + argues _will_. + + Hutton, Essays, 1:11--"Conscience is an ideal Moses, and thunders + from an invisible Sinai"; "the Atheist regards conscience not as a + skylight, opened to let in upon human nature an infinite dawn from + above, but as a polished arch or dome, completing and reflecting + the whole edifice beneath." But conscience cannot be the mere + reflection and expression of nature, for it represses and condemns + nature. Tulloch, Theism: "Conscience, like the magnetic needle, + indicates the existence of an unknown Power which from afar + controls its vibrations and at whose presence it trembles." Nero + spends nights of terror in wandering through the halls of his + Golden House. Kant holds that faith in duty requires faith in a + God who will defend and reward duty--see Critique of Pure Reason, + 359-387. See also Porter, Human Intellect, 524. + + Kant, in his Metaphysic of Ethics, represents the action of + conscience as like "conducting a case before a court," and he + adds: "Now that he who is accused before his conscience should be + figured to be just the same person as his judge, is an absurd + representation of a tribunal; since, in such an event, the accuser + would always lose his suit. Conscience must therefore represent to + itself always some other than itself as Judge, unless it is to + arrive at a contradiction with itself." See also his Critique of + the Practical Reason, Werke, 8:214--"Duty, thou sublime and mighty + name, that hast in thee nothing to attract or win, but challengest + submission; and yet dost threaten nothing to sway the will by that + which may arouse natural terror or aversion, but merely holdest + forth a Law; a Law which of itself finds entrance into the mind, + and even while we disobey, against our will compels our reverence, + a Law in presence of which all inclinations grow dumb, even while + they secretly rebel; what origin is there worthy of thee? Where + can we find the root of thy noble descent, which proudly rejects + all kinship with the inclinations?" Archbishop Temple answers, in + his Bampton Lectures, 58, 59, "This eternal Law is the Eternal + himself, the almighty God." Robert Browning: "The sense within me + that I owe a debt Assures me--Somewhere must be Somebody, Ready to + take his due. All comes to this: Where due is, there acceptance + follows: find Him who accepts the due." + + Salter, Ethical Religion, quoted in Pfleiderer's article on + Religionless Morality, Am. Jour. Theol., 3:237--"The earth and the + stars do not create the law of gravitation which they obey; no + more does man, or the united hosts of rational beings in the + universe, create the law of duty." The will expressed in the moral + imperative is _superior_ to ours, for otherwise it would issue no + commands. Yet it is _one_ with ours as the life of an organism is + one with the life of its members. Theonomy is not heteronomy but + the highest autonomy, the guarantee of our personal freedom + against all servitude of man. Seneca: "Deo parere libertas est." + Knight, Essays in Philosophy, 272--"In conscience we see an 'alter + ego', in us yet not of us, another Personality behind our own." + Martineau, Types, 2:105--"Over a person only a person can have + authority.... A solitary being, with no other sentient nature in + the universe, would feel no duty"; Study, 1:26--"As Perception + gives us Will in the shape of _Causality_ over against us in the + Non-Ego, so Conscience gives us Will in the shape of _Authority_ + over against us in the Non-Ego.... 2:7--We cannot deduce the + phenomena of character from an agent who has none." Hutton, + Essays, 1:41, 42--"When we disobey conscience, the Power which has + therein ceased to _move_ us has retired only to _observe_--to keep + _watch_ over us as we mould ourselves." Cardinal Newman, Apologia, + 377--"Were it not for the voice speaking so clearly in my + conscience and my heart, I should be an atheist, or a pantheist, + or a polytheist, when I looked into the world." + + +3. Man's emotional and voluntary nature proves the existence of a Being +who can furnish in himself a satisfying object of human affection and an +end which will call forth man's highest activities and ensure his highest +progress. + +Only a Being of power, wisdom, holiness, and goodness, and all these +indefinitely greater than any that we know upon the earth, can meet this +demand of the human soul. Such a Being must exist. Otherwise man's +greatest need would be unsupplied, and belief in a lie be more productive +of virtue than belief in the truth. + + + Feuerbach calls God "the Brocken-shadow of man himself"; + "consciousness of God = self-consciousness"; "religion is a dream + of the human soul"; "all theology is anthropology"; "man made God + in his own image." But conscience shows that man does not + recognize in God simply his like, but also his opposite. Not as + Galton: "Piety = conscience + instability." The finest minds are + of the leaning type; see Murphy, Scientific Bases, 370; Augustine, + Confessions, 1:1--"Thou hast made us for thyself, and our heart is + restless till it finds rest in thee." On John Stuart Mill--"a mind + that could not find God, and a heart that could not do without + him"--see his Autobiography, and Browne, in Strivings for the Faith + (Christ. Ev. Socy.), 259-287. Comte, in his later days, + constructed an object of worship in Universal Humanity, and + invented a ritual which Huxley calls "Catholicism _minus_ + Christianity." See also Tyndall, Belfast Address: "Did I not + believe, said a great man to me once, that an Intelligence exists + at the heart of things, my life on earth would be intolerable." + Martineau, Types of Ethical Theory, 1:505,506. + + The last line of Schiller's Pilgrim reads: "Und das Dort ist + niemals hier." The finite never satisfies. Tennyson, Two Voices: + "'Tis life, whereof our nerves are scant, Oh life, not death, for + which we pant; More life, and fuller, that I want." Seth, Ethical + Principles, 419--"A moral universe, an absolute moral Being, is the + indispensable environment of the ethical life, without which it + cannot attain to its perfect growth.... There is a moral _God_, or + this is no _universe_." James, Will to Believe, 116--"A God is the + most adequate possible object for minds framed like our own to + conceive as lying at the root of the universe. Anything short of + God is not a rational object, anything more than God is not + possible, if man needs an object of knowledge, feeling, and will." + + Romanes, Thoughts on Religion, 41--"To speak of the Religion of the + Unknowable, the Religion of Cosmism, the Religion of Humanity, + where the personality of the First Cause is not recognized, is as + unmeaning as it would be to speak of the love of a triangle or the + rationality of the equator." It was said of Comte's system that, + "the wine of the real presence being poured out, we are asked to + adore the empty cup." "We want an object of devotion, and Comte + presents us with a looking-glass" (Martineau). Huxley said he + would as soon adore a wilderness of apes as the Positivist's + rationalized conception of humanity. It is only the ideal in + humanity, the divine element in humanity that can be worshiped. + And when we once conceive of this, we cannot be satisfied until we + find it somewhere realized, as in Jesus Christ. + + Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 265-272--Huxley believes that Evolution is + "a materialized logical process"; that nothing endures save the + flow of energy and "the rational order which pervades it." In the + earlier part of this process, _nature_, there is no morality or + benevolence. But the process ends by producing _man_, who can make + progress only by waging moral war against the natural forces which + impel him. He must be benevolent and just. Shall we not say, in + spite of Mr. Huxley, that this shows what the nature of the system + is, and that there must be a benevolent and just Being who + ordained it? Martineau, Seat of Authority, 63-68--"Though the + authority of the higher incentive is self-known, it cannot be + self-created; for while it is in me, it is above me.... This + authority to which conscience introduces me, though emerging in + consciousness, is yet _objective_ to us all, and is necessarily + referred to the nature of things, irrespective of the accidents of + our mental constitution. It is not dependent on us, but + independent. All minds born into the universe are ushered into the + presence of a real righteousness, as surely as into a scene of + actual space. Perception reveals _another_ than ourselves; + conscience reveals _a higher_ than ourselves." + + We must freely grant, however, that this argument from man's + aspirations has weight only upon the supposition that a wise, + truthful, holy, and benevolent God exists, who has so constituted + our minds that their thinking and their affections correspond to + truth and to himself. An evil being might have so constituted us + that all logic would lead us into error. The argument is therefore + the development and expression of our intuitive idea of God. + Luthardt, Fundamental Truths: "Nature is like a written document + containing only consonants. It is we who must furnish the vowels + that shall decipher it. Unless we bring with us the idea of God, + we shall find nature but dumb." See also Pfleiderer, Die Religion, + 1:174. + + +A. _The defects of the Anthropological Argument are_: (_a_) It cannot +prove a creator of the material universe. (_b_) It cannot prove the +infinity of God, since man from whom we argue is finite. (_c_) It cannot +prove the mercy of God. But, + +B. _The value of the Argument_ is, that it assures us of the existence of +a personal Being, who rules us in righteousness, and who is the proper +object of supreme affection and service. But whether this Being is the +original creator of all things, or merely the author of our own existence, +whether he is infinite or finite, whether he is a Being of simple +righteousness or also of mercy, this argument cannot assure us. + +Among the arguments for the existence of God, however, we assign to this +the chief place, since it adds to the ideas of causative power (which we +derived from the Cosmological Argument) and of contriving intelligence +(which we derived from the Teleological Argument), the far wider ideas of +personality and righteous lordship. + + + Sir Wm. Hamilton, Works of Reid, 2:974, note U; Lect. on Metaph., + 1:33--"The only valid arguments for the existence of God and for + the immortality of the soul rest upon the ground of man's moral + nature"; "theology is wholly dependent upon psychology, for with + the proof of the moral nature of man stands or falls the proof of + the existence of a Deity." But Diman, Theistic Argument, 244, very + properly objects to making this argument from the nature of man + the sole proof of Deity: "It should be rather used to show the + attributes of the Being whose existence has been already proved + from other sources"; "hence the Anthropological Argument is as + dependent upon the Cosmological and Teleological Arguments as they + are upon it." + + Yet the Anthropological Argument is needed to supplement the + conclusions of the two others. Those who, like Herbert Spencer, + recognize an infinite and absolute Being, Power and Cause, may yet + fail to recognize this being as spiritual and personal, simply + because they do not recognize themselves as spiritual and personal + beings, that is, do not recognize reason, conscience and free-will + in man. Agnosticism in philosophy involves agnosticism in + religion. R. K. Eccles: "All the most advanced languages + capitalize the word 'God,' and the word 'I.' " See Flint, Theism, + 68; Mill, Criticism of Hamilton, 2:266; Dove, Logic of Christian + Faith, 211-236, 261-299; Martineau, Types, Introd., 3; Cooke, + Religion and Chemistry: "God is love; but nature could not prove + it, and the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world in + order to attest it." + + Everything in philosophy depends on where we begin, whether with + nature or with self, whether with the necessary or with the free. + In one sense, therefore, we should in practice begin with the + Anthropological Argument, and then use the Cosmological and + Teleological Arguments as warranting the application to nature of + the conclusions which we have drawn from man. As God stands over + against man in Conscience, and says to him: "Thou"; so man stands + over against God in Nature, and may say to him: "Thou." Mulford, + Republic of God, 28--"As the personality of man has its foundation + in the personality of God, so the realization by man of his own + personality always brings man nearer to God." Robert Browning: + "Quoth a young Sadducee: 'Reader of many rolls, Is it so certain + we Have, as they tell us, souls?' 'Son, there is no reply!' The + Rabbi bit his beard: 'Certain, a soul have _I_--_We_ may have + none,' he sneered. Thus Karshook, the Hiram's Hammer, The + Right-hand Temple-column, Taught babes in grace their grammar, And + struck the simple, solemn." + + It is very common at this place to treat of what are called the + Historical and the Biblical Arguments for the existence of God--the + former arguing, from the unity of history, the latter arguing, + from the unity of the Bible, that this unity must in each case + have for its cause and explanation the existence of God. It is a + sufficient reason for not discussing these arguments, that, + without a previous belief in the existence of God, no one will see + unity either in history or in the Bible. Turner, the painter, + exhibited a picture which seemed all mist and cloud until he put a + dab of scarlet into it. That gave the true point of view, and all + the rest became intelligible. So Christ's coming and Christ's + blood make intelligible both the Scriptures and human history. He + carries in his girdle the key to all mysteries. Schopenhauer, + knowing no Christ, admitted no philosophy of history. He regarded + history as the mere fortuitous play of individual caprice. Pascal: + "Jesus Christ is the centre of everything, and the object of + everything, and he that does not know him knows nothing of nature, + and nothing of himself." + + + +IV. The Ontological Argument, or Argument from our Abstract and Necessary +Ideas. + + +This argument infers the existence of God from the abstract and necessary +ideas of the human mind. It has three forms: + +1. That of Samuel Clarke. Space and time are attributes of substance or +being. But space and time are respectively infinite and eternal. There +must therefore be an infinite and eternal substance or Being to whom these +attributes belong. + +Gillespie states the argument somewhat differently. Space and time are +modes of existence. But space and time are respectively infinite and +eternal. There must therefore be an infinite and eternal Being who +subsists in these modes. But we reply: + +Space and time are neither attributes of substance nor modes of existence. +The argument, if valid, would prove that God is not mind but matter, for +that could not be mind, but only matter, of which space and time were +either attributes or modes. + + + The Ontological Argument is frequently called the _a priori_ + argument, that is, the argument from that which is logically + prior, or earlier than experience, viz., our intuitive ideas. All + the forms of the Ontological Argument are in this sense _a + priori_. Space and time are _a priori_ ideas. See Samuel Clarke, + Works, 2:521; Gillespie, Necessary Existence of God. _Per contra_, + see Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, 364: Calderwood, Moral + Philosophy, 226--"To begin, as Clarke did, with the proposition + that 'something has existed from eternity,' is virtually to + propose an argument after having assumed what is to be proved. + Gillespie's form of the _a priori_ argument, starting with the + proposition 'infinity of extension is necessarily existing,' is + liable to the same objection, with the additional disadvantage of + attributing a property of matter to the Deity." + + H. B. Smith says that Brougham misrepresented Clarke: "Clarke's + argument is in his sixth proposition, and supposes the existence + proved in what goes before. He aims here to establish the + infinitude and omnipresence of this First Being. He does not prove + _existence_ from immensity." But we reply, neither can he prove + the _infinity_ of God from the immensity of space. Space and time + are neither substances nor attributes, but are rather relations; + see Calderwood, Philos. of Infinite, 331-335; Cocker, Theistic + Conception of the World, 66-96. The doctrine that space and time + are attributes or modes of God's existence tends to materialistic + pantheism like that of Spinoza, who held that "the one and simple + substance" (substantia una et unica) is known to us through the + two attributes of thought and extension; mind = God in the mode of + thought; matter = God in the mode of extension. Dove, Logic of the + Christian Faith, 127, says well that an extended God is a material + God; "space and time are attributes neither of matter nor mind"; + "we must carry the moral idea into the natural world, not the + natural idea into the moral world." See also, Blunt, Dictionary + Doct. and Hist. Theol., 740; Porter, Human Intellect, 567. H. M. + Stanley, on Space and Science, in Philos. Rev., Nov. + 1898:615--"Space is not full of things, but things are spaceful.... + Space is a form of dynamic appearance." Prof. C. A. Strong: "The + world composed of consciousness and other existences is not in + space, though it may be in something of which space is the + symbol." + + +2. That of Descartes. We have the idea of an infinite and perfect Being. +This idea cannot be derived from imperfect and finite things. There must +therefore be an infinite and perfect Being who is its cause. + +But we reply that this argument confounds the idea of the infinite with an +infinite idea. Man's idea of the infinite is not infinite but finite, and +from a finite effect we cannot argue an infinite cause. + + + This form of the Ontological Argument, while it is _a priori_, as + based upon a necessary idea of the human mind, is, unlike the + other forms of the same argument, _a posteriori_, as arguing from + this idea, as an _effect_, to the existence of a Being who is its + _cause_. _A posteriori_ argument = from that which is later to + that which is earlier, that is, from effect to cause. The + Cosmological, Teleological, and Anthropological Arguments are + arguments _a posteriori_. Of this sort is the argument of + Descartes; see Descartes, Meditation 3: "Haec idea quae in nobis est + requirit Deum pro causa; Deusque proinde existit." The idea in + men's minds is the impression of the workman's name stamped + indelibly on his work--the shadow cast upon the human soul by that + unseen One of whose being and presence it dimly informs us. Blunt, + Dict. of Theol., 739; Saisset, Pantheism, 1:54--"Descartes sets out + from a fact of consciousness, while Anselm sets out from an + abstract conception"; "Descartes's argument might be considered a + branch of the Anthropological or Moral Argument, but for the fact + that this last proceeds from man's constitution rather than from + his abstract ideas." See Bib. Sac., 1849:637. + + +3. That of Anselm. We have the idea of an absolutely perfect Being. But +existence is an attribute of perfection. An absolutely perfect Being must +therefore exist. + +But we reply that this argument confounds ideal existence with real +existence. Our ideas are not the measure of external reality. + + + Anselm, Proslogion, 2--"Id, quo majus cogitari nequit, non potest + esse in intellectu solo." See translation of the Proslogion, in + Bib. Sac., 1851:529, 699; Kant, Critique, 368. The arguments of + Descartes and Anselm, with Kant's reply, are given in their + original form by Harris, in Journ. Spec. Philos., 15:420-428. The + major premise here is not that all perfect ideas imply the + existence of the object which they represent, for then, as Kant + objects, I might argue from my perfect idea of a $100 bill that I + actually possessed the same, which would be far from the fact. So + I have a perfect idea of a perfectly evil being, of a centaur, of + nothing,--but it does not follow that the evil being, that the + centaur, that nothing, exists. The argument is rather from the + idea of absolute and perfect Being--of "that, no greater than which + can be conceived." There can be but one such being, and there can + be but one such idea. + + Yet, even thus understood, we cannot argue from the idea to the + actual existence of such a being. Case, Physical Realism, 173--"God + is not an idea, and consequently cannot be inferred from mere + ideas." Bowne, Philos. Theism, 43--The Ontological Argument "only + points out that the idea of the perfect must include the idea of + existence; but there is nothing to show that the self-consistent + idea represents an objective reality." I can imagine the + Sea-serpent, the Jinn of the Thousand and One Nights, "The + Anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their + shoulders." The winged horse of Uhland possessed every possible + virtue, and only one fault,--it was dead. If every perfect idea + implied the reality of its object, there might be horses with ten + legs, and trees with roots in the air. + + "Anselm's argument implies," says Fisher, in Journ. Christ. + Philos., Jan. 1883:114, "that existence _in re_ is a constituent + of the concept. It would conclude the existence of a being from + the definition of a word. This inference is justified only on the + basis of philosophical realism." Dove, Logic of the Christ. Faith, + 141--"The Ontological Argument is the algebraic formula of the + universe, which leads to a valid conclusion with regard to real + existence, only when we fill it in with objects with which we + become acquainted in the arguments _a posteriori_." See also + Shedd, Hist. Doct., 1:331, Dogm. Theol., 1:221-241, and in Presb. + Rev., April, 1884:212-227 (favoring the argument); Fisher, Essays, + 574; Thompson, Christian Theism, 171; H. B. Smith, Introd. to + Christ. Theol., 122; Pfleiderer, Die Religion, 1:181-187; Studien + und Kritiken, 1875:611-655. + + Dorner, in his Glaubenslehre, 1:197, gives us the best statement + of the Ontological Argument: "Reason thinks of God as existing. + Reason would not be reason, if it did not think of God as + existing. Reason only is, upon the assumption that God is." But + this is evidently not argument, but only vivid statement of the + necessary assumption of the existence of an absolute Reason which + conditions and gives validity to ours. + + +Although this last must be considered the most perfect form of the +Ontological Argument, it is evident that it conducts us only to an ideal +conclusion, not to real existence. In common with the two preceding forms +of the argument, moreover, it tacitly assumes, as already existing in the +human mind, that very knowledge of God's existence which it would derive +from logical demonstration. It has value, therefore, simply as showing +what God must be, if he exists at all. + +But the existence of a Being indefinitely great, a personal Cause, +Contriver and Lawgiver, has been proved by the preceding arguments; for +the law of parsimony requires us to apply the conclusions of the first +three arguments to one Being, and not to many. To this one Being we may +now ascribe the infinity and perfection, the idea of which lies at the +basis of the Ontological Argument--ascribe them, not because they are +demonstrably his, but because our mental constitution will not allow us to +think otherwise. Thus clothing him with all perfections which the human +mind can conceive, and these in illimitable fullness, we have one whom we +may justly call God. + + + McCosh, Div. Govt., 12, note--"It is at this place, if we do not + mistake, that the idea of the Infinite comes in. The capacity of + the human mind to form such an idea, or rather its intuitive + belief in an Infinite of which it feels that it cannot form an + adequate conception, may be no proof (as Kant maintains) of the + existence of an infinite Being; but it is, we are convinced, the + means by which the mind is enabled to invest the Deity, shown on + other grounds to exist, with the attributes of infinity, _i. e._, + to look on his being, power, goodness, and all his perfections, as + infinite." Even Flint, Theism, 68, who holds that we reach the + existence of God by inference, speaks of "necessary conditions of + thought and feeling, and ineradicable aspirations, which force on + us ideas of absolute existence, infinity, and perfection, and will + neither permit us to deny these perfections to God, nor to ascribe + them to any other being." Belief in God is not the conclusion of a + demonstration, but the solution of a problem. Calderwood, Moral + Philosophy, 226--"Either the whole question is assumed in starting, + or the Infinite is not reached in concluding." + + Clarke, Christian Theology, 97-114, divides his proof into two + parts: I. Evidence of the existence of God from the intellectual + starting-point: The discovery of _Mind_ in the universe is made, + 1. through the intelligibleness of the universe to us; 2. through + the idea of cause; 3. through the presence of ends in the + universe. II. Evidence of the existence of God from the religious + starting-point: The discovery of the _good God_ is made, 1. + through the religious nature of man; 2. through the great + dilemma--God the best, or the worst; 3. through the spiritual + experience of men, especially in Christianity. So far as Dr. + Clarke's proof is intended to be a statement, not of a primitive + belief, but of a logical process, we must hold it to be equally + defective with the three forms of proof which we have seen to + furnish some corroborative evidence of God's existence. Dr. Clarke + therefore does well to add: "Religion was not produced by proof of + God's existence, and will not be destroyed by its insufficiency to + some minds. Religion existed before argument; in fact, it is the + preciousness of religion that leads to the seeking for all + possible confirmations of the reality of God." + + The three forms of proof already mentioned--the Cosmological, the + Teleological, and the Anthropological Arguments--may be likened to + the three arches of a bridge over a wide and rushing river. The + bridge has only two defects, but these defects are very serious. + The first is that one cannot get on to the bridge; the end toward + the hither bank is wholly lacking; the bridge of logical argument + cannot be entered upon except by assuming the validity of logical + processes; this assumption takes for granted at the outset the + existence of a God who has made our faculties to act correctly; we + get on to the bridge, not by logical process, but only by a leap + of intuition, and by assuming at the beginning the very thing + which we set out to prove. The second defect of the so-called + bridge of argument is that when one has once gotten on, he can + never get off. The connection with the further bank is also + lacking. All the premises from which we argue being finite, we are + warranted in drawing only a finite conclusion. Argument cannot + reach the Infinite, and only an infinite Being is worthy to be + called God. We can get off from our logical bridge, not by logical + process, but only by another and final leap of intuition, and by + once more assuming the existence of the infinite Being whom we had + so vainly sought to reach by mere argument. The process seems to + be referred to in _Job 11:7--_"Canst thou by searching find out + God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" + + +As a logical process this is indeed defective, since all logic as well as +all observation depends for its validity upon the presupposed existence of +God, and since this particular process, even granting the validity of +logic in general, does not warrant the conclusion that God exists, except +upon a second assumption that our abstract ideas of infinity and +perfection are to be applied to the Being to whom argument has actually +conducted us. + +But although both ends of the logical bridge are confessedly wanting, the +process may serve and does serve a more useful purpose than that of mere +demonstration, namely, that of awakening, explicating, and confirming a +conviction which, though the most fundamental of all, may yet have been +partially slumbering for lack of thought. + + + Morell, Philos. Fragments, 177, 179--"We can, in fact, no more + prove the existence of a God by a logical argument, than we can + prove the existence of an external world; but none the less may we + obtain as strong a _practical_ conviction of the one, as the + other." "We arrive at a scientific belief in the existence of God + just as we do at any other possible human truth. We _assume_ it, + as a hypothesis absolutely necessary to account for the phenomena + of the universe; and then evidences from every quarter begin to + converge upon it, until, in process of time, the common sense of + mankind, cultivated and enlightened by ever accumulating + knowledge, pronounces upon the validity of the hypothesis with a + voice scarcely less decided and universal than it does in the case + of our highest scientific convictions." + + Fisher, Supernat. Origin of Christianity, 572--"What then is the + purport and force of the several arguments for the existence of + God? We reply that these proofs are the different modes in which + faith expresses itself and seeks confirmation. In them faith, or + the object of faith, is more exactly conceived and defined, and in + them is found a corroboration, not arbitrary but substantial and + valuable, of that faith which springs from the soul itself. Such + proofs, therefore, are neither on the one hand sufficient to + create and sustain faith, nor are they on the other hand to be set + aside as of no value." A. J. Barrett: "The arguments are not so + much a bridge in themselves, as they are guys, to hold firm the + great suspension-bridge of intuition, by which we pass the gulf + from man to God. Or, while they are not a ladder by which we may + reach heaven, they are the Ossa on Pelion, from whose combined + height we may descry heaven." + + Anselm: "Negligentia mihi videtur, si postquam confirmati sumus in + fide non studemus quod credimus intelligere." Bradley, Appearance + and Reality: "Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what + we believe upon instinct; but to find these reasons is no less an + instinct." Illingworth, Div. and Hum. Personality, lect. + III--"Belief in a personal God is an instinctive judgment, + progressively justified by reason." Knight, Essays in Philosophy, + 241--The arguments are "historical memorials of the efforts of the + human race to vindicate to itself the existence of a reality of + which it is conscious, but which it cannot perfectly define." H. + Fielding, The Hearts of Men, 313--"Creeds are the grammar of + religion. They are to religion what grammar is to speech. Words + are the expression of our wants; grammar is the theory formed + afterwards. Speech never proceeded from grammar, but the reverse. + As speech progresses and changes from unknown causes, grammar must + follow." Pascal: "The heart has reasons of its own which the + reason does not know." Frances Power Cobbe: "Intuitions are God's + tuitions." On the whole subject, see Cudworth, Intel. System, + 3:42; Calderwood, Philos. of Infinite, 150 _sq._; Curtis, Human + Element in Inspiration, 242; Peabody, in Andover Rev., July, 1884; + Hahn, History of Arguments for Existence of God; Lotze, Philos. of + Religion, 8-34; Am. Jour. Theol., Jan. 1906:53-71. + + Hegel, in his Logic, page 3, speaking of the disposition to regard + the proofs of God's existence as the only means of producing faith + in God, says: "Such a doctrine would find its parallel, if we said + that eating was impossible before we had acquired a knowledge of + the chemical, botanical and zooelogical qualities of our food; and + that we must delay digestion till we had finished the study of + anatomy and physiology." It is a mistake to suppose that there can + be no religious _life_ without a correct _theory_ of life. Must I + refuse to drink water or to breathe air, until I can manufacture + both for myself? Some things are given to us. Among these things + are "grace and truth"_ (John 1:17; __cf.__ 9)_. But there are ever + those who are willing to take nothing as a free gift, and who + insist on working out all knowledge, as well as all salvation, by + processes of their own. Pelagianism, with its denial of the + doctrines of grace, is but the further development of a + rationalism which refuses to accept primitive truths unless these + can be logically demonstrated. Since the existence of the soul, of + the world, and of God cannot be proved in this way, rationalism is + led to curtail, or to misinterpret, the deliverances of + consciousness, and hence result certain systems now to be + mentioned. + + + + +Chapter III. Erroneous Explanations, And Conclusion. + + +Any correct explanation of the universe must postulate an intuitive +knowledge of the existence of the external world, of self, and of God. The +desire for scientific unity, however, has occasioned attempts to reduce +these three factors to one, and according as one or another of the three +has been regarded as the all-inclusive principle, the result has been +Materialism, Materialistic Idealism, or Idealistic Pantheism. This +scientific impulse is better satisfied by a system which we may designate +as Ethical Monism. + + + We may summarize the present chapter as follows: 1. _Materialism_: + Universe = Atoms. Reply: Atoms can do nothing without force, and + can be nothing (intelligible) without ideas. 2. _Materialistic + Idealism_: Universe = Force + Ideas. Reply: Ideas belong to Mind, + and Force can be exerted only by Will. 3. _Idealistic Pantheism_: + Universe = Immanent and Impersonal Mind and Will. Reply: Spirit in + man shows that the Infinite Spirit must be Transcendent and + Personal Mind and Will. We are led from these three forms of error + to a conclusion which we may denominate 4. _Ethical Monism_: + Universe = Finite, partial, graded manifestation of the divine + Life; Matter being God's self-limitation under the law of + necessity, Humanity being God's self-limitation under the law of + freedom, Incarnation and Atonement being God's self-limitations + under the law of grace. Metaphysical Monism, or the doctrine of + one Substance, Principle, or Ground of Being, is consistent with + Psychological Dualism, or the doctrine that the soul is personally + distinct from matter on the one hand and from God on the other. + + + +I. Materialism. + + +Materialism is that method of thought which gives priority to matter, +rather than to mind, in its explanations of the universe. Upon this view, +material atoms constitute the ultimate and fundamental reality of which +all things, rational and irrational, are but combinations and phenomena. +Force is regarded as a universal and inseparable property of matter. + +The element of truth in materialism is the reality of the external world. +Its error is in regarding the external world as having original and +independent existence, and in regarding mind as its product. + + + Materialism regards atoms as the bricks of which the material + universe, the house we inhabit, is built. Sir William Thomson + (Lord Kelvin) estimates that, if a drop of water were magnified to + the size of our earth, the atoms of which it consists would + certainly appear larger than boy's marbles, and yet would be + smaller than billiard balls. Of these atoms, all things, visible + and invisible, are made. Mind, with all its activities, is a + combination or phenomenon of atoms. "Man ist was er iszt: ohne + Phosphor kein Gedanke"--"One _is_ what he _eats_: without + phosphorus, no thought." Ethics is a bill of fare; and worship, + like heat, is a mode of motion. Agassiz, however, wittily asked: + "Are fishermen, then, more intelligent than farmers, because they + eat so much fish, and therefore take in more phosphorus?" + + It is evident that much is here attributed to atoms which really + belongs to force. Deprive atoms of force, and all that remains is + extension, which = space = zero. Moreover, "if atoms _are_ + extended, they cannot be ultimate, for extension implies + divisibility, and that which is conceivably divisible cannot be a + philosophical ultimate. But, if atoms _are not_ extended, then + even an infinite multiplication and combination of them could not + produce an extended substance. Furthermore, an atom that is + neither extended substance nor thinking substance is + inconceivable. The real ultimate is force, and this force cannot + be exerted by nothing, but, as we shall hereafter see, can be + exerted only by a personal Spirit, for this alone possesses the + characteristics of reality, namely, definiteness, unity, and + activity." + + Not only force but also intelligence must be attributed to atoms, + before they can explain any operation of nature. Herschel says not + only that "the force of gravitation seems like that of a universal + will," but that the atoms themselves, in recognizing each other in + order to combine, show a great deal of "presence of mind." Ladd, + Introd. to Philosophy, 269--"A distinguished astronomer has said + that every body in the solar system is behaving as if it knew + precisely how it ought to behave in consistency with its own + nature, and with the behavior of every other body in the same + system.... Each atom has danced countless millions of miles, with + countless millions of different partners, many of which required + an important modification of its mode of motion, without ever + departing from the correct step or the right time." J. P. Cooke, + Credentials of Science, 104, 177, suggests that something more + than atoms is needed to explain the universe. A correlating + Intelligence and Will must be assumed. Atoms by themselves would + be like a heap of loose nails which need to be magnetized if they + are to hold together. All structures would be resolved, and all + forms of matter would disappear, if the Presence which sustains + them were withdrawn. The atom, like the monad of Leibnitz, is + "parvus in suo genere deus"--"a little god in its nature"--only + because it is the expression of the mind and will of an immanent + God. + + Plato speaks of men who are "dazzled by too near a look at + material things." They do not perceive that these very material + things, since they can be interpreted only in terms of spirit, + must themselves be essentially spiritual. Materialism is the + explanation of a world of which we know something--the world of + mind--by a world of which we know next to nothing--the world of + matter. Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 297, 298--"How about your material + atoms and brain-molecules? They have no real existence save as + objects of thought, and therefore the very thought, which you say + your atoms produce, turns out to be the essential precondition of + their own existence." With this agree the words of Dr. Ladd: + "Knowledge of matter involves repeated activities of sensation and + reflection, of inductive and deductive inference, of intuitional + belief in substance. These are all activities of mind. Only as the + mind has a self-conscious life, is any knowledge of what matter + is, or can do, to be gained.... Everything is real which is the + permanent subject of changing states. That which touches, feels, + sees, is more real than that which is touched, felt, seen." + + H. N. Gardner, Presb. Rev., 1885:301, 665, 666--"Mind gives to + matter its chief meaning,--hence matter alone can never explain the + universe." Gore, Incarnation, 31--"Mind is not the _product_ of + nature, but the necessary _constituent_ of nature, considered as + an ordered knowable system." Fraser, Philos. of Theism: "An + immoral act must originate in the immoral agent; a physical effect + is not _known_ to originate in its physical cause." Matter, + inorganic and organic, presupposes mind; but it is not true that + mind presupposes matter. LeConte: "If I could remove your brain + cap, what would I see? Only physical changes. But you--what do you + perceive? Consciousness, thought, emotion, will. Now take external + nature, the Cosmos. The observer from the outside sees only + physical phenomena. But must there not be in this case also--on the + other side--psychical phenomena, a Self, a Person, a Will?" + + The impossibility of finding in matter, regarded as mere atoms, + any of the attributes of a cause, has led to a general abandonment + of this old Materialism of Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius, + Condillac, Holbach, Feuerbach, Buechner; and Materialistic Idealism + has taken its place, which instead of regarding force as a + property of matter, regards matter as a manifestation of force. + From this section we therefore pass to Materialistic Idealism, and + inquire whether the universe can be interpreted simply as a system + of force and of ideas. A quarter of a century ago, John Tyndall, + in his opening address as President of the British Association at + Belfast, declared that in matter was to be found the promise and + potency of every form of life. But in 1898, Sir William Crookes, + in his address as President of that same British Association, + reversed the apothegm, and declared that in life he saw the + promise and potency of every form of matter. See Lange, History of + Materialism; Janet, Materialism; Fabri, Materialismus; Herzog, + Encyclopaedie, art.: Materialismus; but esp., Stallo, Modern + Physics, 148-170. + + +In addition to the general error indicated above, we object to this system +as follows: + +1. In knowing matter, the mind necessarily judges itself to be different +in kind, and higher in rank, than the matter which it knows. + + + We here state simply an intuitive conviction. The mind, in using + its physical organism and through it bringing external nature into + its service, recognizes itself as different from and superior to + matter. See Martineau, quoted in Brit. Quar., April, 1882:173, and + the article of President Thomas Hill in the Bibliotheca Sacra, + April, 1852:353--"All that is really given by the act of + sense-perception is the existence of the conscious self, floating + in boundless space and boundless time, surrounded and sustained by + boundless power. The material moved, which we at first think the + great reality, is only the shadow of a real being, which is + immaterial." Harris, Philos. Basis of Theism, 317--"Imagine an + infinitesimal being in the brain, watching the action of the + molecules, but missing the thought. So science observes the + universe, but misses God." Hebberd, in Journ. Spec. Philos., + April, 1886:135. + + Robert Browning, "the subtlest assertor of the soul in song," + makes the Pope, in The Ring and the Book, say: "Mind is not + matter, nor from matter, but above." So President Francis Wayland: + "What is mind?" "No matter." "What is matter?" "Never mind." + Sully, The Human Mind, 2:369--"Consciousness is a reality wholly + disparate from material processes, and cannot therefore be + resolved into these. Materialism makes that which is immediately + known (our mental states) subordinate to that which is only + indirectly or inferentially known (external things). Moreover, a + material entity existing _per se_ out of relation to a cogitant + mind is an absurdity." As materialists work out their theory, + their so-called matter grows more and more ethereal, until at last + a stage is reached when it cannot be distinguished from what + others call spirit. Martineau: "The matter they describe is so + exceedingly clever that it is up to anything, even to writing + Hamlet and discovering its own evolution. In short, but for the + spelling of its name, it does not seem to differ appreciably from + our old friends, Mind and God." A. W. Momerie, in Christianity and + Evolution, 54--"A being conscious of his unity cannot possibly be + formed out of a number of atoms unconscious of their diversity. + Any one who thinks this possible is capable of asserting that half + a dozen fools might be compounded into a single wise man." + + +2. Since the mind's attributes of (_a_) continuous identity, (_b_) +self-activity, (_c_) unrelatedness to space, are different in kind and +higher in rank than the attributes of matter, it is rational to conclude +that mind is itself different in kind from matter and higher in rank than +matter. + + + This is an argument from specific qualities to that which + underlies and explains the qualities. (_a_) Memory proves personal + identity. This is not an identity of material atoms, for atoms + change. The molecules that come cannot remember those that depart. + Some immutable part in the brain? organized or unorganized? + Organized decays; unorganized = soul. (_b_) Inertia shows that + matter is not self-moving. It acts only as it is acted upon. A + single atom would never move. Two portions are necessary, and + these, in order to useful action, require adjustment by a power + which does not belong to matter. Evolution of the universe + inexplicable, unless matter were first moved by some power outside + itself. See Duke of Argyll, Reign of Law, 92. (_c_) The highest + activities of mind are independent of known physical conditions. + Mind controls and subdues the body. It does not cease to grow when + the growth of the body ceases. When the body nears dissolution, + the mind often asserts itself most strikingly. + + Kant: "Unity of apprehension is possible on account of the + transcendental unity of self-consciousness." I get my idea of + unity from the indivisible self. Stout, Manual of Psychology, + 53--"So far as matter exists independently of its presentation to a + cognitive subject, it cannot have material properties, such as + extension, hardness, color, weight, etc.... The world of material + phenomena presupposes a system of immaterial agency. In this + immaterial system the individual consciousness originates. This + agency, some say, is _thought_, others _will_." A. J. Dubois, in + Century Magazine, Dec. 1894:228--Since each thought involves a + molecular movement in the brain, and this moves the whole + universe, mind is the secret of the universe, and we should + interpret nature as the expression of underlying purpose. Science + is mind following the traces of mind. There can be no mind without + antecedent mind. That all human beings have the same mental modes + shows that these modes are not due simply to environment. Bowne: + "Things act upon the mind and the mind reacts with knowledge. + Knowing is not a passive receiving, but an active construing." + Wundt: "We are compelled to admit that the physical development is + not the cause, but much more the effect, of psychical + development." + + Paul Carus, Soul of Man, 52-64, defines soul as "the form of an + organism," and memory as "the psychical aspect of the preservation + of form in living substance." This seems to give priority to the + organism rather than to the soul, regardless of the fact that + without soul no organism is conceivable. Clay cannot be the + ancestor of the potter, nor stone the ancestor of the mason, nor + wood the ancestor of the carpenter. W. N. Clarke, Christian + Theology, 99--"The intelligibleness of the universe to us is strong + and ever present evidence that there is an all-pervading rational + Mind, from which the universe received its character." We must add + to the maxim, "Cogito, ergo sum," the other maxim, "Intelligo, + ergo Deus est." Pfleiderer, Philos. Relig., 1:273--"The whole + idealistic philosophy of modern times is in fact only the carrying + out and grounding of the conviction that Nature is ordered by + Spirit and for Spirit, as a subservient means for its eternal + ends; that it is therefore not, as the heathen naturalism thought, + the one and all, the last and highest of things, but has the + Spirit, and the moral Ends over it, as its Lord and Master." The + consciousness by which things are known precedes the things + themselves, in the order of logic, and therefore cannot be + explained by them or derived from them. See Porter, Human + Intellect, 22, 131, 132. McCosh, Christianity and Positivism, + chap. on Materialism; Divine Government, 71-94; Intuitions, + 140-145. Hopkins, Study of Man, 53-56; Morell, Hist. of + Philosophy, 318-334; Hickok, Rational Cosmology, 403; Theol. + Eclectic, 6:555; Appleton, Works, 1:151-154; Calderwood, Moral + Philos., 235; Ulrici, Leib und Seele, 688-725, and synopsis, in + Bap. Quar., July, 1873:380. + + +3. Mind rather than matter must therefore be regarded as the original and +independent entity, unless it can be scientifically demonstrated that mind +is material in its origin and nature. But all attempts to explain the +psychical from the physical, or the organic from the inorganic, are +acknowledged failures. The most that can be claimed is, that psychical are +always accompanied by physical changes, and that the inorganic is the +basis and support of the organic. Although the precise connection between +the mind and the body is unknown, the fact that the continuity of physical +changes is unbroken in times of psychical activity renders it certain that +mind is not transformed physical force. If the facts of sensation indicate +the dependence of mind upon body, the facts of volition equally indicate +the dependence of body upon mind. + + + The chemist can produce _organic_, but not _organized_, + substances. The _life_ cannot be produced from matter. Even in + living things progress is secured only by plan. Multiplication of + desired advantage, in the Darwinian scheme, requires a selecting + thought; in other words the natural selection is artificial + selection after all. John Fiske, Destiny of the Creature, + 109--"Cerebral physiology tells us that, during the present life, + although thought and feeling are always manifested in connection + with a peculiar form of matter, yet by no possibility can thought + and feeling be in any sense the product of matter. Nothing could + be more grossly unscientific than the famous remark of Cabanis, + that the brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile. It is + not even correct to say that thought goes on in the brain. What + goes on in the brain is an amazingly complex series of molecular + movements, with which thought and feeling are in some unknown way + correlated, not as effects or as causes, but as concomitants." + + Leibnitz's "preestablished harmony" indicates the difficulty of + defining the relation between mind and matter. They are like two + entirely disconnected clocks, the one of which has a dial and + indicates the hour by its hands, while the other without a dial + simultaneously indicates the same hour by its striking apparatus. + To Leibnitz the world is an aggregate of atomic souls leading + absolutely separate lives. There is no real action of one upon + another. Everything in the monad is the development of its + individual unstimulated activity. Yet there is a preestablished + harmony of them all, arranged from the beginning by the Creator. + The internal development of each monad is so adjusted to that of + all the other monads, as to produce the false impression that they + are mutually influenced by each other (see Johnson, in Andover + Rev., Apl. 1890:407, 408). Leibnitz's theory involves the complete + rejection of the freedom of the human will in the libertarian + sense. To escape from this arbitrary connection of mind and matter + in Leibnitz's preestablished harmony, Spinoza rejected the + Cartesian doctrine of two God-created substances, and maintained + that there is but one fundamental substance, namely, God himself + (see Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 172). + + There is an increased flow of blood to the head in times of mental + activity. Sometimes, in intense heat of literary composition, the + blood fairly surges through the brain. No diminution, but further + increase, of physical activity accompanies the greatest efforts of + mind. Lay a man upon a balance; fire a pistol shot or inject + suddenly a great thought into his mind; at once he will tip the + balance, and tumble upon his head. Romanes, Mind and Motion, + 21--"Consciousness causes physical changes, but not _vice versa_. + To say that mind is a function of motion is to say that mind is a + function of itself, since motion exists only for mind. Better + suppose the physical and the psychical to be only one, as in the + violin sound and vibration are one. Volition is a cause in nature + because it has cerebration for its obverse and inseparable side. + But if there is no motion without mind, then there can be no + universe without God."... 34--"Because within the limits of human + experience mind is only known as associated with brain, it does + not follow that mind cannot exist without brain. Helmholtz's + explanation of the effect of one of Beethoven's sonatas on the + brain may be perfectly correct, but the explanation of the effect + given by a musician may be equally correct within its category." + + Herbert Spencer, Principles of Psychology, 1:§ 56--"Two things, + mind and nervous action, exist together, but we cannot imagine how + they are related" (see review of Spencer's Psychology, in N. + Englander, July, 1873). Tyndall, Fragments of Science, 120--"The + passage from the physics of the brain to the facts of + consciousness is unthinkable." Schurman, Agnosticism and Religion, + 95--"The metamorphosis of vibrations into conscious ideas is a + miracle, in comparison with which the floating of iron or the + turning of water into wine is easily credible." Bain, Mind and + Body, 131--There is no break in the physical continuity. See Brit. + Quar., Jan. 1874; art. by Herbert, on Mind and the Science of + Energy; McCosh, Intuitions, 145; Talbot, in Bap. Quar., Jan. 1871. + On Geulincx's "occasional causes" and Descartes's dualism, see + Martineau, Types, 144, 145, 156-158, and Study, 2:77. + + +4. The materialistic theory, denying as it does the priority of spirit, +can furnish no sufficient cause for the highest features of the existing +universe, namely, its personal intelligences, its intuitive ideas, its +free-will, its moral progress, its beliefs in God and immortality. + + + Herbert, Modern Realism Examined: "Materialism has no physical + evidence of the existence of consciousness in others. As it + declares our fellow men to be destitute of free volition, so it + should declare them destitute of consciousness; should call them, + as well as brutes, pure automata. If physics are all, there is no + God, but there is also no man, existing." Some of the early + followers of Descartes used to kick and beat their dogs, laughing + meanwhile at their cries and calling them the "creaking of the + machine." Huxley, who calls the brutes "conscious automata," + believes in the gradual banishment, from all regions of human + thought, of what we call spirit and spontaneity: "A spontaneous + act is an absurdity; it is simply an effect that is uncaused." + + James, Psychology, 1:149--"The girl in Midshipman Easy could not + excuse the illegitimacy of her child by saying that 'it was a very + small one.' And consciousness, however small, is an illegitimate + birth in any philosophy that starts without it, and yet professes + to explain all facts by continued evolution.... Materialism denies + reality to almost all the impulses which we most cherish. Hence it + will fail of universal adoption." Clerk Maxwell, Life, 391--"The + atoms are a very tough lot, and can stand a great deal of knocking + about, and it is strange to find a number of them combining to + form a man of feeling.... 426--I have looked into most + philosophical systems, and I have seen none that will work without + a God." President E. B. Andrews: "Mind is the only substantive + thing in this universe, and all else is adjective. Matter is not + primordial, but is a function of spirit." Theodore Parker: "Man is + the highest product of his own history. The discoverer finds + nothing so tall or grand as himself, nothing so valuable to him. + The greatest star is at the small end of the telescope--the star + that is looking, not looked after, nor looked at." + + Materialism makes men to be "a serio-comic procession of wax + figures or of cunning casts in clay" (Bowne). Man is "the + cunningest of clocks." But if there were nothing but matter, there + could be no materialism, for a system of thought, like + materialism, implies consciousness. Martineau, Types, preface, + xii, xiii--"It was the irresistible pleading of the moral + consciousness which first drove me to rebel against the limits of + the merely scientific conception. It became incredible to me that + nothing was possible except the actual.... Is there then no _ought + to be_, other than _what is_?" Dewey, Psychology, 84--"A world + without ideal elements would be one in which the home would be + four walls and a roof to keep out cold and wet; the table a mess + for animals; and the grave a hole in the ground." Omar Khayyam, + Rubaiyat, stanza 72--"And that inverted bowl they call the Sky, + Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die, Lift not your hands to + It for help--for it As impotently moves as you or I." Victor Hugo: + "You say the soul is nothing but the resultant of bodily powers? + Why then is my soul more luminous when my bodily powers begin to + fail? Winter is on my head, and eternal spring is in my heart.... + The nearer I approach the end, the plainer I hear the immortal + symphonies of the worlds which invite me." + + Diman, Theistic Argument, 348--"Materialism can never explain the + fact that matter is always combined with force. Cooerdinate + principles? then dualism, instead of monism. Force cause of + matter? then we preserve unity, but destroy materialism; for we + trace matter to an immaterial source. Behind multiplicity of + natural forces we must postulate some single power--which can be + nothing but cooerdinating mind." Mark Hopkins sums up Materialism + in Princeton Rev., Nov. 1879:490--"1. Man, who is a person, is made + by a thing, _i. e._, matter. 2. Matter is to be worshiped as man's + maker, if anything is to be (_Rom. 1:25_). 3. Man is to worship + himself--his God is his belly." See also Martineau, Religion and + Materialism, 25-31, Types, 1: preface, xii, xiii, and Study, + 1:248, 250, 345; Christlieb, Modern Doubt and Christian Belief, + 145-161; Buchanan, Modern Atheism, 247, 248; McCosh, in + International Rev., Jan. 1895; Contemp. Rev., Jan. 1875, art.: Man + Transcorporeal; Calderwood, Relations of Mind and Brain; Laycock, + Mind and Brain; Diman, Theistic Argument, 358; Wilkinson, in + Present Day Tracts, 3:no. 17; Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:487-499; A. + H. Strong, Philos. and Relig., 31-38. + + + +II. Materialistic Idealism. + + +Idealism proper is that method of thought which regards all knowledge as +conversant only with affections of the percipient mind. + +Its element of truth is the fact that these affections of the percipient +mind are the conditions of our knowledge. Its error is in denying that +through these and in these we know that which exists independently of our +consciousness. + +The idealism of the present day is mainly a materialistic idealism. It +defines matter and mind alike in terms of sensation, and regards both as +opposite sides or successive manifestations of one underlying and +unknowable force. + + + Modern subjective idealism is the development of a principle found + as far back as Locke. Locke derived all our knowledge from + sensation; the mind only combines ideas which sensation furnishes, + but gives no material of its own. Berkeley held that externally we + can be sure only of sensations,--cannot be sure that any external + world exists apart from mind. Berkeley's idealism, however, was + objective; for he maintained that while things do not exist + independently of consciousness, they do exist independently of + _our_ consciousness, namely, in the mind of God, who in a correct + philosophy takes the place of a mindless external world as the + cause of our ideas. Kant, in like manner, held to existences + outside of our own minds, although he regarded these existences as + unknown and unknowable. Over against these forms of objective + idealism we must put the subjective idealism of Hume, who held + that internally also we cannot be sure of anything but mental + phenomena; we know thoughts, feelings and volitions, but we do not + know mental substance within, any more than we know material + substance without; our ideas are a string of beads, without any + string; we need no cause for these ideas, in an external world, a + soul, or God. Mill, Spencer, Bain and Tyndall are Humists, and it + is their subjective idealism which we oppose. + + All these regard the material atom as a mere centre of force, or a + hypothetical cause of sensations. Matter is therefore a + manifestation of force, as to the old materialism force was a + property of matter. But if matter, mind and God are nothing but + sensations, then the body itself is nothing but sensations. There + is no _body_ to have the sensations, and no _spirit_, either human + or divine, to produce them. John Stuart Mill, in his Examination + of Sir William Hamilton, 1:234-253, makes sensations the only + original sources of knowledge. He defines matter as "a permanent + possibility of sensation," and mind as "a series of feelings aware + of itself." So Huxley calls matter "only a name for the unknown + cause of the states of consciousness"; although he also declares: + "If I am compelled to choose between the materialism of a man like + Buechner and the idealism of Berkeley, I would have to agree with + Berkeley." He would hold to the priority of matter, and yet regard + matter as wholly ideal. Since John Stuart Mill, of all the + materialistic idealists, gives the most precise definitions of + matter and of mind, we attempt to show the inadequacy of his + treatment. + + The most complete refutation of subjective idealism is that of Sir + William Hamilton, in his Metaphysics, 348-372, and Theories of + Sense-perception--the reply to Brown. See condensed statement of + Hamilton's view, with estimate and criticism, in Porter, Human + Intellect, 236-240, and on Idealism, 129, 132. Porter holds that + original perception gives us simply affections of our own + sensorium; as cause of these, we gain knowledge of extended + externality. So Sir William Hamilton: "Sensation proper has no + object but a subject-object." But both Porter and Hamilton hold + that through these sensations we know that which exists + independently of our sensations. Hamilton's natural realism, + however, was an exaggeration of the truth. Bowne, Introd. to + Psych. Theory, 257, 258--"In Sir William Hamilton's desire to have + no go-betweens in perception, he was forced to maintain that every + sensation is felt where it seems to be, and hence that the mind + fills out the entire body. Likewise he had to affirm that the + object in vision is not the thing, but the rays of light, and even + the object itself had, at last, to be brought into consciousness. + Thus he reached the absurdity that the true object in perception + is something of which we are totally unconscious." Surely we + cannot be immediately conscious of what is outside of + consciousness. James, Psychology, 1:11--"The terminal organs are + telephones, and brain-cells are the receivers at which the mind + listens." Berkeley's view is to be found in his Principles of + Human Knowledge, § 18 _sq._ See also Presb. Rev., Apl. + 1885:301-315; Journ. Spec. Philos., 1884:246-260, 383-399; + Tulloch, Mod. Theories, 360, 361; Encyc. Britannica, art.: + Berkeley. + + There is, however, an idealism which is not open to Hamilton's + objections, and to which most recent philosophers give their + adhesion. It is the objective idealism of Lotze. It argues that we + know nothing of the extended world except through the forces which + impress our nervous organism. These forces take the form of + vibrations of air or ether, and we interpret them as sound, light, + or motion, according as they affect our nerves of hearing, sight, + or touch. But the only force which we immediately know is that of + our own wills, and we can either not understand matter at all or + we must understand it as the product of a will comparable to our + own. Things are simply "concreted laws of action," or divine ideas + to which permanent reality has been given by divine will. What we + perceive in the normal exercise of our faculties has existence not + only for us but for all intelligent beings and for God himself: in + other words, our idealism is not subjective, but objective. We + have seen in the previous section that atoms cannot explain the + universe,--they presuppose both ideas and force. We now see that + this force presupposes will, and these ideas presuppose mind. But, + as it still may be claimed that this mind is not self-conscious + mind and that this will is not personal will, we pass in the next + section to consider Idealistic Pantheism, of which these claims + are characteristic. Materialistic Idealism, in truth, is but a + half-way house between Materialism and Pantheism, in which no + permanent lodging is to be found by the logical intelligence. + + Lotze, Outlines of Metaphysics, 152--"The objectivity of our + cognition consists therefore in this, that it is not a meaningless + play of mere seeming; but it brings before us a world whose + coherency is ordered in pursuance of the injunction of the sole + Reality in the world, to wit, the Good. Our cognition thus + possesses more of truth than if it copied exactly a world that has + no value in itself. Although it does not comprehend in what manner + all that is phenomenon is presented to the view, still it + understands what is the meaning of it all; and is like to a + spectator who comprehends the aesthetic significance of that which + takes place on the stage of a theatre, and would gain nothing + essential if he were to see besides the machinery by means of + which the changes are effected on the stage." Professor C. A. + Strong: "Perception is a shadow thrown upon the mind by a + thing-in-itself. The shadow is the symbol of the thing; and, as + shadows are soulless and dead, physical objects may seem soulless + and dead, while the reality symbolized is never so soulful and + alive. Consciousness is reality. The only existence of which we + can conceive is mental in its nature. All existence _for_ + consciousness is existence _of_ consciousness. The horse's shadow + accompanies him, but it does not help him to draw the cart. The + brain-event is simply the mental state itself regarded from the + point of view of the perception." + + Aristotle: "Substance is in its nature prior to relation" = there + can be no relation without things to be related. Fichte: + "Knowledge, just because it is knowledge, is not reality,--it comes + not first, but second." Veitch, Knowing and Being, 216, 217, 292, + 293--"Thought can do nothing, except as it is a synonym for + Thinker.... Neither the finite nor the infinite consciousness, + alone or together, can constitute an object external, or explain + its existence. The existence of a thing logically precedes the + perception of it. Perception is not creation. It is not the + thinking that makes the ego, but the ego that makes the thinking." + Seth, Hegelianism and Personality: "Divine thoughts presuppose a + divine Being. God's thoughts do not constitute the real world. The + real force does not lie in them,--it lies in the divine Being, as + living, active Will." Here was the fundamental error of Hegel, + that he regarded the Universe as mere Idea, and gave little + thought to the Love and the Will that constitute it. See John + Fiske, Cosmic Philosophy, 1:75; 2:80; Contemp. Rev., Oct. 1872: + art. on Huxley; Lowndes, Philos. Primary Beliefs, 115-143; Atwater + (on Ferrier), in Princeton Rev., 1857:258, 280; Cousin, Hist. + Philosophy, 2:239-343; Veitch's Hamilton, (Blackwood's Philos. + Classics,) 176, 191; A. H. Strong, Philosophy and Religion, 58-74. + + +To this view we make the following objections: + +1. Its definition of matter as a "permanent possibility of sensation" +contradicts our intuitive judgment that, in knowing the phenomena of +matter, we have direct knowledge of substance as underlying phenomena, as +distinct from our sensations, and as external to the mind which +experiences these sensations. + + + Bowne, Metaphysics, 432--"How the possibility of an odor and a + flavor can be the cause of the yellow color of an orange is + probably unknowable, except to a mind that can see that two and + two may make five." See Iverach's Philosophy of Spencer Examined, + in Present Day Tracts, 5: no. 29. Martineau, Study, 1:102-112--"If + external impressions are telegraphed to the brain, intelligence + must receive the message at the beginning as well as deliver it at + the end.... It is the external object which gives the possibility, + not the possibility which gives the external object. The mind + cannot make both its _cognita_ and its _cognitio_. It cannot + dispense with standing-ground for its own feet, or with atmosphere + for its own wings." Professor Charles A. Strong: "Kant held to + things-in-themselves back of physical phenomena, as well as to + things-in-themselves back of mental phenomena; he thought + things-in-themselves back of physical might be identical with + things-in-themselves back of mental phenomena. And since mental + phenomena, on this theory, are not specimens of reality, and + reality manifests itself indifferently through them and through + physical phenomena, he naturally concluded that we have no ground + for supposing reality to be like either--that we must conceive of + it as 'weder Materie noch ein denkend Wesen'--'neither matter nor a + thinking being'--a theory of the Unknowable. Would that it had been + also the Unthinkable and the Unmentionable!" Ralph Waldo Emerson + was a subjective idealist; but, when called to inspect a farmer's + load of wood, he said to his company: "Excuse me a moment, my + friends; we have to attend to these matters, just as if they were + real." See Mivart, On Truth, 71-141. + + +2. Its definition of mind as a "series of feelings aware of itself" +contradicts our intuitive judgment that, in knowing the phenomena of mind, +we have direct knowledge of a spiritual substance of which these phenomena +are manifestations, which retains its identity independently of our +consciousness, and which, in its knowing, instead of being the passive +recipient of impressions from without, always acts from within by a power +of its own. + + + James, Psychology, 1:226--"It seems as if the elementary psychic + fact were not _thought_, or _this thought_, or _that thought_, but + _my thought_, every thought being owned. The universal conscious + fact is not 'feelings and thoughts exist,' but 'I think,' and 'I + feel.' " Professor James is compelled to say this, even though he + begins his Psychology without insisting upon the existence of a + soul. Hamilton's Reid, 443--"Shall I think that thought can stand + by itself? or that ideas can feel pleasure or pain?" R. T. Smith, + Man's Knowledge, 44--"We say 'my notions and my passions,' and when + we use these phrases we imply that our central self is felt to be + something different from the notions or passions which belong to + it or characterize it for a time." Lichtenberg: "We should say, + 'It thinks;' just as we say, 'It lightens,' or 'It rains.' In + saying 'Cogito,' the philosopher goes too far if he translates it, + 'I think.' " Are the faculties, then, an army without a general, + or an engine without a driver? In that case we should not _have_ + sensations,--we should only _be_ sensations. + + Professor C. A. Strong: "I have knowledge of _other minds_. This + non-empirical knowledge--transcendent knowledge of + things-in-themselves, derived neither from experience nor + reasoning, and assuming that like consequents (intelligent + movements) must have like antecedents (thoughts and feelings), and + also assuming instinctively that something exists outside of my + own mind--this refutes the post-Kantian phenomenalism. _Perception_ + and _memory_ also involve transcendence. In both I transcend the + bounds of experience, as truly as in my knowledge of other minds. + In memory I recognize a _past_, as distinguished from the present. + In perception I cognize a possibility of _other_ experiences like + the present, and this alone gives the sense of permanence and + reality. Perception and memory refute phenomenalism. + Things-in-themselves must be assumed in order to fill the gaps + between individual minds, and to give coherence and + intelligibility to the universe, and so to avoid pluralism. If + matter can influence and even extinguish our minds, it must have + some force of its own, some existence in itself. If consciousness + is an evolutionary product, it must have arisen from simpler + mental facts. But these simpler mental facts are only another name + for things-in-themselves. A deep prerational instinct compels us + to recognize them, for they cannot be logically demonstrated. We + must assume them in order to give continuity and intelligibility + to our conceptions of the universe." See, on Bain's Cerebral + Psychology, Martineau's Essays, 1:265. On the physiological method + of mental philosophy, see Talbot, in Bap. Quar., 1871:1; Bowen, in + Princeton Rev., March, 1878:423-450; Murray, Psychology, 279-287. + + +3. In so far as this theory regards mind as the obverse side of matter, or +as a later and higher development from matter, the mere reference of both +mind and matter to an underlying force does not save the theory from any +of the difficulties of pure materialism already mentioned; since in this +case, equally with that, force is regarded as purely physical, and the +priority of spirit is denied. + + + Herbert Spencer, Psychology, quoted by Fiske, Cosmic Philosophy, + 2:80--"Mind and nervous action are the subjective and objective + faces of the same thing. Yet we remain utterly incapable of + seeing, or even of imagining, how the two are related. Mind still + continues to us a something without kinship to other things." + Owen, Anatomy of Vertebrates, quoted by Talbot, Bap. Quar., Jan. + 1871:5--"All that I know of matter and mind in themselves is that + the former is an external centre of force, and the latter an + internal centre of force." New Englander, Sept. 1883:636--"If the + atom be a mere centre of force and not a real thing in itself, + then the atom is a supersensual essence, an immaterial being. To + make immaterial matter the source of conscious mind is to make + matter as wonderful as an immortal soul or a personal Creator." + See New Englander, July, 1875:532-535; Martineau, Study, 102-130, + and Relig. and Mod. Materialism, 25--"If it takes mind to construe + the universe, how can the negation of mind constitute it?" + + David J. Hill, in his Genetic Philosophy, 200, 201, seems to deny + that thought precedes force, or that force precedes thought: + "Objects, or things in the external world, may be elements of a + thought-process in a cosmic subject, without themselves being + conscious.... A true analysis and a rational genesis require the + equal recognition of both the objective and the subjective + elements of experience, without priority in time, separation in + space or disruption of being. So far as our minds can penetrate + reality, as disclosed in the activities of thought, we are + everywhere confronted with a Dynamic Reason." In Dr. Hill's + account of the genesis of the universe, however, the unconscious + comes first, and from it the conscious seems to be derived. + Consciousness of the object is only the obverse side of the object + of consciousness. This is, as Martineau, Study, 1:341, remarks, + "to take the sea on board the boat." We greatly prefer the view of + Lotze, 2:641--"Things are acts of the Infinite wrought within minds + alone, or states which the Infinite experiences nowhere but in + minds.... Things and events are the sum of those actions which the + highest Principle performs in all spirits so uniformly and + coherently, that to these spirits there must seem to be a world of + substantial and efficient things existing in space outside + themselves." The data from which we draw our inferences as to the + nature of the external world being mental and spiritual, it is + more rational to attribute to that world a spiritual reality than + a kind of reality of which our experience knows nothing. See also + Schurman, Belief in God, 208, 225. + + +4. In so far as this theory holds the underlying force of which matter and +mind are manifestations to be in any sense intelligent or voluntary, it +renders necessary the assumption that there is an intelligent and +voluntary Being who exerts this force. Sensations and ideas, moreover, are +explicable only as manifestations of Mind. + + + Many recent Christian thinkers, as Murphy, Scientific Bases of + Faith, 13-15, 29-36, 42-52, would define mind as a function of + matter, matter as a function of force, force as a function of + will, and therefore as the power of an omnipresent and personal + God. All force, except that of man's free will, is the will of + God. So Herschel, Lectures, 460; Argyll, Reign of Law, 121-127; + Wallace on Nat. Selection, 363-371; Martineau, Essays, 1:63, 121, + 145, 265; Bowen, Metaph. and Ethics, 146-162. These writers are + led to their conclusion in large part by the considerations that + nothing dead can be a proper cause; that will is the only cause of + which we have immediate knowledge; that the forces of nature are + intelligible only when they are regarded as exertions of will. + Matter, therefore, is simply centres of force--the regular and, as + it were, automatic expression of God's mind and will. Second + causes in nature are only secondary activities of the great First + Cause. + + This view is held also by Bowne, in his Metaphysics. He regards + only personality as real. Matter is phenomenal, although it is an + activity of the divine will outside of us. Bowne's phenomenalism + is therefore an objective idealism, greatly preferable to that of + Berkeley who held to God's energizing indeed, but only within the + soul. This idealism of Bowne is not pantheism, for it holds that, + while there are no second causes in nature, man is a second cause, + with a personality distinct from that of God, and lifted above + nature by his powers of free will. Royce, however, in his + Religious Aspect of Philosophy, and in his The World and the + Individual, makes man's consciousness a part or aspect of a + universal consciousness, and so, instead of making God come to + consciousness in man, makes man come to consciousness in God. + While this scheme seems, in one view, to save God's personality, + it may be doubted whether it equally guarantees man's personality + or leaves room for man's freedom, responsibility, sin and guilt. + Bowne, Philos. Theism, 175--" 'Universal reason' is a class-term + which denotes no possible existence, and which has reality only in + the specific existences from which it is abstracted." Bowne claims + that the impersonal finite has only such otherness as a thought or + act has to its subject. There is no substantial existence except + in persons. Seth, Hegelianism and Personality: "Neo-Kantianism + erects into a God the mere form of self-consciousness in general, + that is, confounds consciousness _ueberhaupt_ with a _universal_ + consciousness." + + Bowne, Theory of Thought and Knowledge, 318-343, esp. 328--"Is + there anything in existence but myself? Yes. To escape solipsism I + must admit at least other persons. Does the world of apparent + objects exist for me only? No; it exists for others also, so that + we live in a common world. Does this common world consist in + anything more than a similarity of impressions in finite minds, so + that the world apart from these is nothing? This view cannot be + disproved, but it accords so ill with the impression of our total + experience that it is practically impossible. Is then the world of + things a continuous existence of some kind independent of finite + thought and consciousness? This claim cannot be demonstrated, but + it is the only view that does not involve insuperable + difficulties. What is the nature and where is the place of this + cosmic existence? That is the question between Realism and + Idealism. Realism views things as existing in a real space, and as + true ontological realities. Idealism views both them and the space + in which they are supposed to be existing as existing only in and + for a cosmic Intelligence, and apart from which they are absurd + and contradictory. Things are independent of _our_ thought, but + not independent of _all_ thought, in a lumpish materiality which + is the antithesis and negation of consciousness." See also + Martineau, Study, 1:214-230, 341. For advocacy of the substantive + existence of second causes, see Porter, Hum. Intellect, 582-588; + Hodge, Syst. Theol., 1:596; Alden, Philosophy, 48-80; Hodgson, + Time and Space, 149-218; A. J. Balfour, in Mind, Oct. 1893: 430. + + + +III. Idealistic Pantheism. + + +Pantheism is that method of thought which conceives of the universe as the +development of one intelligent and voluntary, yet impersonal, substance, +which reaches consciousness only in man. It therefore identifies God, not +with each individual object in the universe, but with the totality of +things. The current Pantheism of our day is idealistic. + +The elements of truth in Pantheism are the intelligence and voluntariness +of God, and his immanence in the universe; its error lies in denying God's +personality and transcendence. + + + Pantheism denies the real existence of the finite, at the same + time that it deprives the Infinite of self-consciousness and + freedom. See Hunt, History of Pantheism; Manning, Half-truths and + the Truth; Bayne, Christian Life, Social and Individual, 21-53; + Hutton, on Popular Pantheism, in Essays, 1:55-76--"The pantheist's + 'I believe in God', is a contradiction. He says: 'I perceive the + external as different from myself; but on further reflection, I + perceive that this external was itself the percipient agency.' So + the worshiped is really the worshiper after all." Harris, + Philosophical Basis of Theism, 173--"Man is a bottle of the ocean's + water, in the ocean, temporarily distinguishable by its limitation + within the bottle, but lost again in the ocean, so soon as these + fragile limits are broken." Martineau, Types, 1:23--Mere immanency + excludes Theism; transcendency leaves it still possible; + 211-225--Pantheism declares that "there is nothing but God; he is + not only sole cause but entire effect; he is all in all." Spinoza + has been falsely called "the God-intoxicated man." "Spinoza, on + the contrary, translated God into the universe; it was Malebranche + who transfigured the universe into God." + + The later Brahmanism is pantheistic. Rowland Williams, + Christianity and Hinduism, quoted in Mozley on Miracles, 284--"In + the final state personality vanishes. You will not, says the + Brahman, accept the term 'void' as an adequate description of the + mysterious nature of the soul, but you will clearly apprehend + soul, in the final state, to be unseen and ungrasped being, + thought, knowledge, joy--no other than very God." Flint, Theism, + 69--"Where the will is without energy, and rest is longed for as + the end of existence, as among the Hindus, there is marked + inability to think of God as cause or will, and constant + inveterate tendency to pantheism." + + Hegel denies God's transcendence: "God is not a spirit beyond the + stars; he is spirit in all spirit"; which means that God, the + impersonal and unconscious Absolute, comes to consciousness only + in man. If the eternal system of abstract thoughts were itself + conscious, finite consciousness would disappear; hence the + alternative is either _no God_, or _no man_. Stirling: "The Idea, + so conceived, is a blind, dumb, invisible idol, and the theory is + the most hopeless theory that has ever been presented to + humanity." It is practical autolatry, or self-deification. The + world is reduced to a mere process of logic; thought thinks; there + is thought without a thinker. To this doctrine of Hegel we may + well oppose the remarks of Lotze: "We cannot make mind the + equivalent of the infinitive _to think_,--we feel that it must be + that which thinks; the essence of things cannot be either + existence or activity,--it must be that which exists and that which + acts. Thinking means nothing, if it is not the thinking of a + thinker; acting and working mean nothing, if we leave out the + conception of a subject distinguishable from them and from which + they proceed." To Hegel, Being _is_ Thought; to Spinoza, Being + _has_ Thought + Extension; the truth seems to be that Being _has_ + Thought + Will, and _may_ reveal itself in Extension and Evolution + (Creation). + + By other philosophers, however, Hegel is otherwise interpreted. + Prof. H. Jones, in Mind, July, 1893: 289-306, claims that Hegel's + fundamental Idea is not Thought, but Thinking: "The universe to + him was not a system of thoughts, but a thinking reality, + manifested most fully in man.... The fundamental reality is the + universal intelligence whose operation we should seek to detect in + all things. All reality is ultimately explicable as Spirit, or + Intelligence,--hence our ontology must be a Logic, and the laws of + things must be laws of thinking." Sterrett, in like manner, in his + Studies in Hegel's Philosophy of Religion, 17, quotes Hegel's + Logic, Wallace's translation, 89, 91, 236: "Spinoza's _Substance_ + is, as it were, a dark, shapeless abyss, which devours all + definite content as utterly null, and produces from itself nothing + that has positive subsistence in itself.... God is Substance,--he + is, however, no less the Absolute Person." This is essential to + religion, but this, says Hegel, Spinoza never perceived: + "Everything depends upon the Absolute Truth being perceived, not + merely as Substance, but as Subject." God is self-conscious and + self-determining Spirit. Necessity is excluded. Man is free and + immortal. Men are not mechanical parts of God, nor do they lose + their identity, although they _find themselves_ truly only in him. + With this estimate of Hegel's system, Caird, Erdmann and Mulford + substantially agree. This is Tennyson's "Higher Pantheism." + + Seth, Ethical Principles, 440--"Hegel conceived the superiority of + his system to Spinozism to lie in the substitution of Subject for + Substance. The true Absolute must contain, instead of abolishing, + relations; the true Monism must include, instead of excluding, + Pluralism. A One which, like Spinoza's Substance, or the Hegelian + Absolute, does not enable us to think the Many, cannot be the true + One--the unity of the Manifold.... Since evil exists, Schopenhauer + substituted for Hegel's Panlogism, which asserted the identity of + the rational and the real, a blind impulse of life,--for absolute + Reason he substituted a reasonless Will"--a system of practical + pessimism. Alexander, Theories of Will, 5--"Spinoza recognized no + distinction between will and intellectual affirmation or denial." + John Caird, Fund. Ideas of Christianity, 1:107--"As there is no + reason in the conception of pure space why any figures or forms, + lines, surfaces, solids, should arise in it, so there is no reason + in the pure colorless abstraction of Infinite Substance why any + world of finite things and beings should ever come into existence. + It is the grave of all things, the productive source of nothing." + Hegel called Schelling's Identity or Absolute "the infinite night + in which all cows are black"--an allusion to Goethe's Faust, part + 2, act 1, where the words are added: "and cats are gray." Although + Hegel's preference of the term Subject, instead of the term + Substance, has led many to maintain that he believed in a + personality of God distinct from that of man, his over-emphasis of + the Idea, and his comparative ignoring of the elements of Love and + Will, leave it still doubtful whether his Idea was anything more + than unconscious and impersonal intelligence--less materialistic + than that of Spinoza indeed, yet open to many of the same + objections. + + +We object to this system as follows: + +1. Its idea of God is self-contradictory, since it makes him infinite, yet +consisting only of the finite; absolute, yet existing in necessary +relation to the universe; supreme, yet shut up to a process of +self-evolution and dependent for self-consciousness on man; without +self-determination, yet the cause of all that is. + + + Saisset, Pantheism, 148--"An imperfect God, yet perfection arising + from imperfection." Shedd, Hist. Doctrine, 1:13--"Pantheism applies + to God a principle of growth and imperfection, which belongs only + to the finite." Calderwood, Moral Philos., 245--"Its first + requisite is moment, or movement, which it assumes, but does not + account for." Caro's sarcasm applies here: "Your God is not yet + made--he is in process of manufacture." See H. B. Smith, Faith and + Philosophy, 25. Pantheism is practical atheism, for impersonal + spirit is only blind and necessary force. Angelus Silesius: "Wir + beten 'Es gescheh, mein Herr und Gott, dein Wille'; Und sieh', Er + hat nicht Will',--Er ist ein ew'ge Stille"--which Max Mueller + translates as follows: "We pray, 'O Lord our God, Do thou thy holy + Will'; and see! God has no will; He is at peace and still." + Angelus Silesius consistently makes God dependent for + self-consciousness on man: "I know that God cannot live An instant + without me; He must give up the ghost, If I should cease to be." + Seth, Hegelianism and Personality: "Hegelianism destroys both God + and man. It reduces man to an object of the universal Thinker, and + leaves this universal Thinker without any true personality." + Pantheism is a game of solitaire, in which God plays both sides. + + +2. Its assumed unity of substance is not only without proof, but it +directly contradicts our intuitive judgments. These testify that we are +not parts and particles of God, but distinct personal subsistences. + + + Martineau, Essays, 1:158--"Even for immanency, there must be + something wherein to dwell, and for life, something whereon to + act." Many systems of monism contradict consciousness; they + confound harmony between two with absorption in one. "In Scripture + we never find the universe called {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, for this suggests the + idea of a self-contained unity: we have everywhere {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} + instead." The Bible recognizes the element of truth in + pantheism--God is "_through all_"; also the element of truth in + mysticism--God is "_in you all_"; but it adds the element of + transcendence which both these fail to recognize--God is "above + all"_ (Eph. 4:6)_. See Fisher, Essays on Supernat. Orig. of + Christianity, 539. G. D. B. Pepper: "He who is over all and in all + is yet distinct from all. If one is over a thing, he is not that + very thing which he is over. If one is in something, he must be + distinct from that something. And so the universe, over which and + in which God is, must be thought of as something distinct from + God. The creation cannot be identical with God, or a mere form of + God." We add, however, that it may be a manifestation of God and + dependent upon God, as our thoughts and acts are manifestations of + our mind and will and dependent upon our mind and will, yet are + not themselves our mind and will. + + Pope wrote: "All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body + nature is and God the soul." But Case, Physical Realism, 193, + replies: "Not so. Nature is to God as works are to a man; and as + man's works are not his body, so neither is nature the body of + God." Matthew Arnold, On Heine's Grave: "What are we all but a + mood, A single mood of the life Of the Being in whom we exist, Who + alone is all things in one?" Hovey, Studies, 51--"Scripture + recognizes the element of truth in pantheism, but it also teaches + the existence of a world of things, animate and inanimate, in + distinction from God. It represents men as prone to worship the + creature more than the Creator. It describes them as sinners + worthy of death ... moral agents.... It no more thinks of men as + being literally parts of God, than it thinks of children as being + parts of their parents, or subjects as being parts of their king." + A. J. F. Behrends: "The true doctrine lies between the two + extremes of a crass dualism which makes God and the world two + self-contained entities, and a substantial monism in which the + universe has only a phenomenal existence. There is no identity of + substance nor division of the divine substance. The universe is + eternally dependent, the product of the divine _Word_, not simply + _manufactured_. Creation is primarily a spiritual act." Prof. + George M. Forbes: "Matter exists in subordinate dependence upon + God; spirit in cooerdinate dependence upon God. The body of Christ + was Christ externalized, made manifest to sense-perception. In + apprehending matter, I am apprehending the mind and will of God. + This is the highest sort of reality. Neither matter nor finite + spirits, then, are mere phenomena." + + +3. It assigns no sufficient cause for that fact of the universe which is +highest in rank, and therefore most needs explanation, namely, the +existence of personal intelligences. A substance which is itself +unconscious, and under the law of necessity, cannot produce beings who are +self-conscious and free. + + + Gess, Foundations of our Faith, 36--"Animal instinct, and the + spirit of a nation working out its language, might furnish + analogies, if they produced personalities as their result, but not + otherwise. Nor were these tendencies self-originated, but received + from an external source." McCosh, Intuitions, 215, 393, and + Christianity and Positivism, 180. Seth, Freedom as an Ethical + Postulate, 47--"If man is an 'imperium in imperio,' not a person, + but only an aspect or expression of the universe or God, then he + cannot be free. Man may be depersonalized either into nature or + into God. Through the conception of our own personality we reach + that of God. To resolve our personality into that of God would be + to negate the divine greatness itself by invalidating the + conception through which it was reached." Bradley, Appearance and + Reality, 551, is more ambiguous: "The positive relation of every + appearance as an adjective to Reality; and the presence of Reality + among its appearances in different degrees and with diverse + values; this double truth we have found to be the centre of + philosophy." He protests against both "an empty transcendence" and + "a shallow pantheism." Hegelian immanence and knowledge, he + asserts, identified God and man. But God is more than man or man's + thought. He is spirit and life--best understood from the human + _self_, with its thoughts, feelings, volitions. Immanence needs to + be qualified by transcendence. "God is not God till he has become + all-in-all, and a God which is all-in-all is not the God of + religion. God is an aspect, and that must mean but an appearance + of the Absolute." Bradley's Absolute, therefore, is not so much + personal as super-personal; to which we reply with Jackson, James + Martineau, 416--"Higher than personality is lower; beyond it is + regression from its height. From the equator we may travel + northward, gaining ever higher and higher latitudes; but, if ever + the pole is reached, pressing on from thence will be descending + into lower latitudes, not gaining higher.... Do I say, I am a + pantheist? Then, _ipso facto_, I deny pantheism; for, in the very + assertion of the Ego, I imply all else as objective to me." + + +4. It therefore contradicts the affirmations of our moral and religious +natures by denying man's freedom and responsibility; by making God to +include in himself all evil as well as all good; and by precluding all +prayer, worship, and hope of immortality. + + + Conscience is the eternal witness against pantheism. Conscience + witnesses to our freedom and responsibility, and declares that + moral distinctions are not illusory. Renouf, Hibbert Lect., + 234--"It is only out of condescension to popular language that + pantheistic systems can recognize the notions of right and wrong, + of iniquity and sin. If everything really emanates from God, there + can be no such thing as sin. And the ablest philosophers who have + been led to pantheistic views have vainly endeavored to harmonize + these views with what we understand by the notion of sin or moral + evil. The great systematic work of Spinoza is entitled 'Ethica'; + but for real ethics we might as profitably consult the Elements of + Euclid." Hodge, System. Theology, 1:299-330--"Pantheism is + fatalistic. On this theory, duty = pleasure; right = might; sin = + good in the making. Satan, as well as Gabriel, is a + self-development of God. The practical effects of pantheism upon + popular morals and life, wherever it has prevailed, as in Buddhist + India and China, demonstrate its falsehood." See also Dove, Logic + of the Christian Faith, 118; Murphy, Scientific Bases of Faith, + 202; Bib. Sac., Oct. 1867:603-615; Dix, Pantheism, Introd., 12. On + the fact of sin as refuting the pantheistic theory, see Bushnell, + Nature and the Supernat., 140-164. + + Wordsworth: "Look up to heaven! the industrious sun Already half + his course hath run; He cannot halt or go astray; But our immortal + spirits may." President John H. Harris; "You never ask a cyclone's + opinion of the ten commandments." Bowne, Philos. of Theism, + 245--"Pantheism makes man an automaton. But how can an automaton + have duties?" Principles of Ethics, 18--"Ethics is defined as the + science of conduct, and the conventions of language are relied + upon to cover up the fact that there is no 'conduct' in the case. + If man be a proper automaton, we might as well speak of the + conduct of the winds as of human conduct; and a treatise on + planetary motions is as truly the ethics of the solar system as a + treatise on human movements is the ethics of man." For lack of a + clear recognition of personality, either human or divine, Hegel's + Ethics is devoid of all spiritual nourishment,--his + "Rechtsphilosophie" has been called "a repast of bran." Yet + Professor Jones, in Mind, July, 1893:304, tells us that Hegel's + task was "to discover what conception of the single principle or + fundamental unity which alone _is_, is adequate to the differences + which it carries within it. '_Being_,' he found, leaves no room + for differences,--it is overpowered by them.... He found that the + Reality can exist only as absolute Self-consciousness, as a + Spirit, who is universal, and who knows himself in all things. In + all this he is dealing, not simply with thoughts, but with + Reality." Prof. Jones's vindication of Hegel, however, still + leaves it undecided whether that philosopher regarded the divine + self-consciousness as distinct from that of finite beings, or as + simply inclusive of theirs. See John Caird, Fund. Ideas of + Christianity, 1:109. + + +5. Our intuitive conviction of the existence of a God of absolute +perfection compels us to conceive of God as possessed of every highest +quality and attribute of men, and therefore, especially, of that which +constitutes the chief dignity of the human spirit, its personality. + + + Diman, Theistic Argument, 328--"We have no right to represent the + supreme Cause as inferior to ourselves, yet we do this when we + describe it under phrases derived from physical causation." + Mivart, Lessons from Nature, 351--"We cannot conceive of anything + as impersonal, yet of higher nature than our own,--any being that + has not knowledge and will must be indefinitely inferior to one + who has them." Lotze holds truly, not that God is + _supra_-personal, but that man is _infra_-personal, seeing that in + the infinite Being alone is self-subsistence, and therefore + perfect personality. Knight, Essays in Philosophy, 224--"The + radical feature of personality is the survival of a permanent + self, under all the fleeting or deciduous phases of experience; in + other words, the personal identity that is involved in the + assertion 'I am.'... Is limitation a necessary adjunct of that + notion?" Seth, Hegelianism: "As in us there is more _for + ourselves_ than _for others_, so in God there is more of thought + _for himself_ than he manifests _to us_. Hegel's doctrine is that + of immanence without transcendence." Heinrich Heine was a pupil + and intimate friend of Hegel. He says: "I was young and proud, and + it pleased my vain-glory when I learned from Hegel that the true + God was not, as my grandmother believed, the God who lived in + heaven, but was rather _myself upon the earth_." John Fiske, Idea + of God, xvi--"Since our notion of force is purely a generalization + from our subjective sensations of overcoming resistance, there is + scarcely less anthropomorphism in the phrase 'Infinite Power' than + in the phrase 'Infinite Person.' We must symbolize Deity in some + form that has meaning to us; we cannot symbolize it as physical; + we are bound to symbolize it as psychical. Hence we may say, God + is Spirit. This implies God's personality." + + +6. Its objection to the divine personality, that over against the Infinite +there can be in eternity past no non-ego to call forth self-consciousness, +is refuted by considering that even man's cognition of the non-ego +logically presupposes knowledge of the ego, from which the non-ego is +distinguished; that, in an absolute mind, self-consciousness cannot be +conditioned, as in the case of finite mind, upon contact with a not-self; +and that, if the distinguishing of self from a not-self were an essential +condition of divine self-consciousness, the eternal personal distinctions +in the divine nature or the eternal states of the divine mind might +furnish such a condition. + + + Pfleiderer, Die Religion, 1:163, 190 _sq._--"Personal + self-consciousness is not primarily a distinguishing of the ego + from the non-ego, but rather a distinguishing of itself from + itself, _i. e._, of the unity of the self from the plurality of + its contents.... Before the soul distinguishes self from the + not-self, it must know self--else it could not see the distinction. + Its development is connected with the knowledge of the non-ego, + but this is due, not to the fact of _personality_, but to the fact + of _finite_ personality. The mature man can live for a long time + upon his own resources. God needs no other, to stir him up to + mental activity. Finiteness is a hindrance to the development of + our personality. Infiniteness is necessary to the highest + personality." Lotze, Microcosmos, vol. 3, chapter 4; transl. in N. + Eng., March, 1881:191-200--"Finite spirit, not having conditions of + existence in itself, can know the ego only upon occasion of + knowing the non-ego. The Infinite is not so limited. He alone has + an independent existence, neither introduced nor developed through + anything not himself, but, in an inward activity without beginning + or end, maintains himself in himself." See also Lotze, Philos. of + Religion, 55-69; H. N. Gardiner on Lotze, in Presb. Rev., + 1885:669-673; Webb, in Jour. Theol. Studies, 2:49-61. + + Dorner, Glaubenslehre: "Absolute Personality = perfect + consciousness of self, and perfect power over self. We need + something external to waken our consciousness--yet + self-consciousness comes [logically] before consciousness of the + world. It is the soul's act. Only after it has distinguished self + from self, can it consciously distinguish self from another." + British Quarterly, Jan. 1874:32, note; July, 1884:108--"The ego is + _thinkable_ only in relation to the non-ego; but the ego is + _liveable_ long before any such relation." Shedd, Dogm. Theol., + 1:185, 186--In the pantheistic scheme, "God distinguishes himself + from the _world_, and thereby finds the object required by the + subject; ... in the Christian scheme, God distinguishes himself + from _himself_, not from something that is not himself." See + Julius Mueller, Doctrine of Sin, 2:122-126; Christlieb, Mod. Doubt + and Christ. Belief, 161-190; Hanne, Idee der absoluten + Persoenlichkeit; Eichhorn, Die Persoenlichkeit Gottes; Seth, + Hegelianism and Personality; Knight, on Personality and the + Infinite, in Studies in Philos. and Lit., 70-118. + + On the whole subject of Pantheism, see Martineau, Study of + Religion, 2:141-194, esp. 192--"The _personality_ of God consists + in his voluntary agency as free cause in an unpledged sphere, that + is, a sphere transcending that of immanent law. But precisely this + also it is that constitutes his _infinity_, extending his sway, + after it has filled the actual, over all the possible, and giving + command over indefinite alternatives. Though you might deny his + infinity without prejudice to his personality, you cannot deny his + personality without sacrificing his infinitude: for there is a + mode of action--the _preferential_, the very mode which + distinguishes rational beings--from which you exclude him"; + 341--"The metaphysicians who, in their impatience of distinction, + insist on taking the sea on board the boat, swamp not only it but + the thought it holds, and leave an infinitude which, as it can + look into no eye and whisper into no ear, they contradict in the + very act of affirming." Jean Paul Richter's "Dream": "I wandered + to the farthest verge of Creation, and there I saw a _Socket_, + where an _Eye_ should have been, and I heard the shriek of a + Fatherless World" (quoted in David Brown's Memoir of John Duncan, + 49-70). Shelley, Beatrice Cenci: "Sweet Heaven, forgive weak + thoughts! If there should be No God, no Heaven, no Earth, in the + void world--The wide, grey, lampless, deep, unpeopled world!" + + For the opposite view, see Biedermann, Dogmatik, 638-647--"Only + man, as finite spirit, is personal; God, as absolute spirit, is + not personal. Yet in religion the mutual relations of intercourse + and communion are always personal.... Personality is the only + adequate term by which we can represent the theistic conception of + God." Bruce, Providential Order, 76--"Schopenhauer does not level + up cosmic force to the human, but levels down human will-force to + the cosmic. Spinoza held intellect in God to be no more like man's + than the dog-star is like a dog. Hartmann added intellect to + Schopenhauer's will, but the intellect is unconscious and knows no + moral distinctions." See also Bruce, Apologetics, 71-90; Bowne, + Philos. of Theism, 128-134, 171-186; J. M. Whiton, Am. Jour. + Theol., Apl. 1901:306--Pantheism = God consists in all things; + Theism = All things consist in God, their ground, not their sum. + Spirit in man shows that the infinite Spirit must be personal and + transcendent Mind and Will. + + + +IV. Ethical Monism. + + +Ethical Monism is that method of thought which holds to a single +substance, ground, or principle of being, namely, God, but which also +holds to the ethical facts of God's transcendence as well as his +immanence, and of God's personality as distinct from, and as guaranteeing, +the personality of man. + + + Although we do not here assume the authority of the Bible, + reserving our proof of this to the next following division on The + Scriptures a Revelation from God, we may yet cite passages which + show that our doctrine is not inconsistent with the teachings of + holy Writ. The immanence of God is implied in all statements of + his omnipresence, as for example: _Ps. 139:7 sq.--_"Whither shall I + go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" + _Jer. 23:23, 24--_"Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God + afar off?... Do not I fill heaven and earth?" _Acts 17:27, 28--_"he + is not far from each one of us: for in him we live, and move, and + have our being." The transcendence of God is implied in such + passages as: _1 Kings 8:27--_"the heaven and the heaven of heavens + cannot contain thee"; _Ps. 113:5--_"that hath his seat on high"; + _Is. 57:15--_"the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity." + + This is the faith of Augustine: "O God, thou hast made us for + thyself, and our heart is restless till it find rest in thee.... I + could not be, O my God, could not be at all, wert thou not in me; + rather, were not I in thee, of whom are all things, by whom are + all things, in whom are all things." And Anselm, in his + Proslogion, says of the divine nature: "It is the essence of the + being, the principle of the existence, of all things.... Without + parts, without differences, without accidents, without changes, it + might be said in a certain sense alone to exist, for in respect to + it the other things which appear to be have no existence. The + unchangeable Spirit is all that is, and it is this without limit, + simply, interminably. It is the perfect and absolute Existence. + The rest has come from non-entity, and thither returns if not + supported by God. It does not exist by itself. In this sense the + Creator alone exists; created things do not." + + +1. While Ethical Monism embraces the one element of truth contained in +Pantheism--the truth that God is in all things and that all things are in +God--it regards this scientific unity as entirely consistent with the facts +of ethics--man's freedom, responsibility, sin, and guilt; in other words, +Metaphysical Monism, or the doctrine of one substance, ground, or +principle of being, is qualified by Psychological Dualism, or the doctrine +that the soul is personally distinct from matter on the one hand, and from +God on the other. + + + Ethical Monism is a monism which holds to the ethical facts of the + freedom of man and the transcendence and personality of God; it is + the monism of free-will, in which personality, both human and + divine, sin and righteousness, God and the world, remain--two in + one, and one in two--in their moral antithesis as well as their + natural unity. Ladd, Introd. to Philosophy: "Dualism is yielding, + in history and in the judgment-halls of reason, to a monistic + philosophy.... Some form of philosophical monism is indicated by + the researches of psycho-physics, and by that philosophy of mind + which builds upon the principles ascertained by these researches. + Realities correlated as are the body and the mind must have, as it + were, a common ground.... They have their reality in the ultimate + one Reality; they have their interrelated lives as expressions of + the one Life which is immanent in the two.... Only some form of + monism that shall satisfy the facts and truths to which both + realism and idealism appeal can occupy the place of the true and + final philosophy.... Monism must so construct its tenets as to + preserve, or at least as not to contradict and destroy, the truths + implicated in the distinction between the _me_ and the _not-me_, + ... between the morally good and the morally evil. No form of + monism can persistently maintain itself which erects its system + upon the ruins of fundamentally ethical principles and ideals."... + Philosophy of Mind, 411--"Dualism must be dissolved in some + ultimate monistic solution. The Being of the world, of which all + particular beings are but parts, must be so conceived of as that + in it can be found the one ground of all interrelated existences + and activities.... This one Principle is an Other and an Absolute + Mind." + + Dorner, Hist. Doct. Person of Christ, II, 3:101, 231--"The unity of + essence in God and man is the great discovery of the present + age.... The characteristic feature of all recent Christologies is + the endeavor to point out the essential unity of the divine and + human. To the theology of the present day, the divine and human + are not mutually exclusive, but are connected magnitudes.... Yet + faith postulates a difference between the world and God, between + whom religion seeks an union. Faith does not wish to be a relation + merely to itself, or to its own representations and thoughts; that + would be a monologue,--faith desires a dialogue. Therefore it does + not consort with a monism which recognizes only God, or only the + world; it opposes such a monism as this. Duality is, in fact, a + condition of true and vital unity. But duality is not dualism. It + has no desire to oppose the rational demand for unity." Professor + Small of Chicago: "With rare exceptions on each side, all + philosophy to-day is monistic in its ontological presumptions; it + is dualistic in its methodological procedures." A. H. Bradford, + Age of Faith, 71--"Men and God are the same in substance, though + not identical as individuals." The theology of fifty years ago was + merely individualistic, and ignored the complementary truth of + solidarity. Similarly we think of the continents and islands of + our globe as disjoined from one another. The dissociable sea is + regarded as an absolute barrier between them. But if the ocean + could be dried, we should see that all the while there had been + submarine connections, and the hidden unity of all lands would + appear. So the individuality of human beings, real as it is, is + not the only reality. There is the profounder fact of a common + life. Even the great mountain-peaks of personality are superficial + distinctions, compared with the organic oneness in which they are + rooted, into which they all dip down, and from which they all, + like volcanoes, receive at times quick and overflowing impulses of + insight, emotion and energy; see A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation + and Ethical Monism, 189, 190. + + +2. In contrast then with the two errors of Pantheism--the denial of God's +transcendence and the denial of God's personality--Ethical Monism holds +that the universe, instead of being one with God and conterminous with +God, is but a finite, partial and progressive manifestation of the divine +Life: Matter being God's self-limitation under the law of Necessity; +Humanity being God's self-limitation under the law of Freedom; Incarnation +and Atonement being God's self-limitations under the law of Grace. + + + The universe is related to God as my thoughts are related to me, + the thinker. I am greater than my thoughts, and my thoughts vary + in moral value. Ethical Monism traces the universe back to a + beginning, while Pantheism regards the universe as coeternal with + God. Ethical Monism asserts God's transcendence, while Pantheism + regards God as imprisoned in the universe. Ethical Monism asserts + that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, but that + contrariwise the whole universe taken together, with its elements + and forces, its suns and systems, is but a light breath from his + mouth, or a drop of dew upon the fringe of his garment. Upton, + Hibbert Lectures: "The Eternal is present in every finite thing, + and is felt and known to be present in every rational soul; but + still is not broken up into individualities, but ever remains one + and the same eternal substance, one and the same unifying + principle, immanently and indivisibly present in every one of that + countless plurality of finite individuals into which man's + analyzing understanding dissects the Cosmos." James Martineau, in + 19th Century, Apl. 1895:559--"What is Nature but the province of + God's pledged and habitual causality? And what is Spirit, but the + province of his free causality, responding to the needs and + affections of his children?... God is not a retired architect, who + may now and then be called in for repairs. Nature is not + self-active, and God's agency is not intrusive." Calvin: Pie hoc + potest dici, Deum esse Naturam. + + With this doctrine many poets show their sympathy. "Every fresh + and new creation, A divine improvisation, From the heart of God + proceeds." Robert Browning asserts God's immanence; + Hohenstiel-Schwangau: "This is the glory that, in all conceived Or + felt, or known, I recognize a Mind--Not mine, but like mine--for the + double joy, Making all things for me, and me for him"; Ring and + Book, Pope: "O thou, as represented to me here In such conception + as my soul allows--Under thy measureless, my atom-width! Man's + mind, what is it but a convex glass, Wherein are gathered all the + scattered points Picked out of the immensity of sky, To reunite + there, be our heaven for earth, Our Known Unknown, our God + revealed to man?" But Browning also asserts God's transcendence: + in Death in the Desert, we read: "Man is not God, but hath God's + end to serve, A Master to obey, a Cause to take, Somewhat to cast + off, somewhat to become"; in Christmas Eve, the poet derides "The + important stumble Of adding, he, the sage and humble, Was also one + with the Creator"; he tells us that it was God's plan to make man + in his image: "To create man, and then leave him Able, his own + word saith, to grieve him; But able to glorify him too, As a mere + machine could never do That prayed or praised, all unaware Of its + fitness for aught but praise or prayer, Made perfect as a thing of + course.... God, whose pleasure brought Man into being, stands + away, As it were, a hand-breadth off, to give Room for the newly + made to live And look at him from a place apart And use his gifts + of brain and heart"; "Life's business being just the terrible + choice." + + So Tennyson's Higher Pantheism: "The sun, the moon, the stars, the + seas, the hills, and the plains, Are not these, O soul, the vision + of Him who reigns? Dark is the world to thee; thou thyself art the + reason why; For is not He all but thou, that hast power to feel 'I + am I'? Speak to him, thou, for he hears, and spirit with spirit + can meet; Closer is he than breathing, and nearer than hands and + feet. And the ear of man cannot hear, and the eye of man cannot + see; But if we could see and hear, this vision--were it not He?" + Also Tennyson's Ancient Sage: "But that one ripple on the + boundless deep Feels that the deep is boundless, and itself + Forever changing form, but evermore One with the boundless motion + of the deep"; and In Memoriam: "One God, one law, one element, And + one far-off divine event, Toward which the whole creation moves." + Emerson: "The day of days, the greatest day in the feast of life, + is that in which the inward eye opens to the unity of things"; "In + the mud and scum of things Something always, always sings." Mrs. + Browning: "Earth is crammed with heaven, And every common bush + afire with God; But only he who sees takes off his shoes." So + manhood is itself potentially a divine thing. All life, in all its + vast variety, can have but one Source. It is either one God, above + all, through all, and in all, or it is no God at all. E. M. + Poteat, On Chesapeake Bay: "Night's radiant glory overhead, A + softer glory there below, Deep answered unto deep, and said: A + kindred fire in us doth glow. For life is one--of sea and stars, Of + God and man, of earth and heaven--And by no theologic bars Shall my + scant life from God's be riven." See Professor Henry Jones, Robert + Browning. + + +3. The immanence of God, as the one substance, ground and principle of +being, does not destroy, but rather guarantees, the individuality and +rights of each portion of the universe, so that there is variety of rank +and endowment. In the case of moral beings, worth is determined by the +degree of their voluntary recognition and appropriation of the divine. +While God is all, he is also in all; so making the universe a graded and +progressive manifestation of himself, both in his love for righteousness +and his opposition to moral evil. + + + It has been charged that the doctrine of monism necessarily + involves moral indifference; that the divine presence in all + things breaks down all distinctions of rank and makes each thing + equal to every other; that the evil as well as the good is + legitimated and consecrated. Of pantheistic monism all this is + true,--it is not true of ethical monism; for ethical monism is the + monism that recognizes the ethical fact of personal intelligence + and will in both God and man, and with these God's purpose in + making the universe a varied manifestation of himself. The worship + of cats and bulls and crocodiles in ancient Egypt, and the + deification of lust in the Brahmanic temples of India, were + expressions of a non-ethical monism, which saw in God no moral + attributes, and which identified God with his manifestations. As + an illustration of the mistakes into which the critics of monism + may fall for lack of discrimination between monism that is + pantheistic and monism that is ethical, we quote from Emma Marie + Caillard: "Integral parts of God are, on monistic premises, liars, + sensualists, murderers, evil livers and evil thinkers of every + description. Their crimes and their passions enter intrinsically + into the divine experience. The infinite Individual in his + wholeness may reject them indeed, but none the less are these evil + finite individuals constituent parts of him, even as the twigs of + a tree, though they are not the tree, and though the tree + transcends any or all of them, are yet constituent parts of it. + Can he whose universal consciousness includes and defines all + finite consciousnesses be other than responsible for all finite + actions and motives?" + + To this indictment we may reply in the words of Bowne, The Divine + Immanence, 130-133--"Some weak heads have been so heated by the new + wine of immanence as to put all things on the same level, and make + men and mice of equal value. But there is nothing in the + dependence of all things on God to remove their distinctions of + value. One confused talker of this type was led to say that he had + no trouble with the notion of a divine man, as he believed in a + divine oyster. Others have used the doctrine to cancel moral + differences; for if God be in all things, and if all things + represent his will, then whatever is is right. But this too is + hasty. Of course even the evil will is not independent of God, but + lives and moves and has its being in and through the divine. But + through its mysterious power of selfhood and self-determination + the evil will is able to assume an attitude of hostility to the + divine law, which forthwith vindicates itself by appropriate + reactions. + + "These reactions are not divine in the highest or ideal sense. + They represent nothing which God desires or in which he delights; + but they are divine in the sense that they are things to be done + under the circumstances. The divine reaction in the case of the + good is distinct from the divine reaction against evil. Both are + divine as representing God's action, but only the former is divine + in the sense of representing God's approval and sympathy. All + things serve, said Spinoza. The good serve, and are furthered by + their service. The bad also serve and are used up in the serving. + According to Jonathan Edwards, the wicked are useful 'in being + acted upon and disposed of.' As 'vessels of dishonor' they may + reveal the majesty of God. There is nothing therefore in the + divine immanence, in its only tenable form, to cancel moral + distinctions or to minify retribution. The divine reaction against + iniquity is even more solemn in this doctrine. The besetting God + is the eternal and unescapable environment; and only as we are in + harmony with him can there be any peace.... What God thinks of + sin, and what his will is concerning it can be plainly seen in the + natural consequences which attend it.... In law itself we are face + to face with God; and natural consequences have a supernatural + meaning." + + +4. Since Christ is the Logos of God, the immanent God, God revealed in +Nature, in Humanity, in Redemption, Ethical Monism recognizes the universe +as created, upheld, and governed by the same Being who in the course of +history was manifest in human form and who made atonement for human sin by +his death on Calvary. The secret of the universe and the key to its +mysteries are to be found in the Cross. + + + _John 1:1-4 (marg.), 14, 18--_"In the beginning was the Word, and + the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the + beginning with God. All things were made through him; and without + him was not any thing made. That which hath been made was life in + him; and the life was the light of men.... And the Word became + flesh, and dwelt among us.... No man hath seen God at any time; + the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath + declared him." _Col. 1:16, 17--_"for in him were all things + created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and + things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities + or powers; all things have been created through him and unto him; + and he is before all things, and in him all things consist." _Heb. + 1:2, 3--_"his Son ... through whom also he made the worlds ... + upholding all things by the word of his power"; _Eph. 1:22, + 23--_"the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that + filleth all in all" = fills all things with all that they contain + of truth, beauty, and goodness; _Col. 2:2, 3, 9--_"the mystery of + God, even Christ, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and + knowledge hidden ... for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the + Godhead bodily." + + This view of the relation of the universe to God lays the + foundation for a Christian application of recent philosophical + doctrine. Matter is no longer blind and dead, but is spiritual in + its nature, not in the sense that it _is_ spirit, but in the sense + that it is the continual _manifestation_ of spirit, just as my + thoughts are a living and continual manifestation of myself. Yet + matter does not consist simply in _ideas_, for ideas, deprived of + an external object and of an internal subject, are left suspended + in the air. Ideas are the product of Mind. But matter is known + only as the operation of force, and force is the product of Will. + Since this force works in rational ways, it can be the product + only of Spirit. The system of forces which we call the universe is + the immediate product of the mind and will of God; and, since + Christ is the mind and will of God in exercise, Christ is the + Creator and Upholder of the universe. Nature is the omnipresent + Christ, manifesting God to creatures. + + Christ is the principle of cohesion, attraction, interaction, not + only in the physical universe, but in the intellectual and moral + universe as well. In all our knowing, the knower and known are + "connected by some Being who is their reality," and this being is + Christ, "the Light which lighteth every man"_ (John 1:9)_. We + _know_ in Christ, just as "in him we live, and move, and have our + being"_ (Acts 17:28)_. As the attraction of gravitation and the + principle of evolution are only other names for Christ, so he is + the basis of inductive reasoning and the ground of moral unity in + the creation. I am bound to love my neighbor as myself because he + has in him the same life that is in me, the life of God in Christ. + The Christ in whom all humanity is created, and in whom all + humanity consists, holds together the moral universe, drawing all + men to himself and so drawing them to God. Through him God + "reconciles all things unto himself ... whether things upon the + earth, or things in the heavens"_ (Col. 1:20)_. + + As Pantheism = exclusive immanence = God imprisoned, so Deism = + exclusive transcendence = God banished. Ethical Monism holds to + the truth contained in each of these systems, while avoiding their + respective errors. It furnishes the basis for a new interpretation + of many theological as well as of many philosophical doctrines. It + helps our understanding of the Trinity. If within the bounds of + God's being there can exist multitudinous finite personalities, it + becomes easier to comprehend how within those same bounds there + can be three eternal and infinite personalities,--indeed, the + integration of plural consciousnesses in an all-embracing divine + consciousness may find a valid analogy in the integration of + subordinate consciousnesses in the unit-personality of man; see + Baldwin, Handbook of Psychology, Feeling and Will, 53, 54. + + Ethical Monism, since it is ethical, leaves room for human wills + and for their freedom. While man could never break the natural + bond which united him to God, he could break the spiritual bond + and introduce into creation a principle of discord and evil. Tie a + cord tightly about your finger; you partially isolate the finger, + diminish its nutrition, bring about atrophy and disease. So there + has been given to each intelligent and moral agent the power, + spiritually to isolate himself from God while yet he is naturally + joined to God. As humanity is created in Christ and lives only in + Christ, man's self-isolation is his moral separation from Christ. + Simon, Redemption of Man, 339--"Rejecting Christ is not so much + refusal to _become_ one with Christ as it is refusal to _remain_ + one with him, refusal to let him be our life." All men are + naturally one with Christ by physical birth, before they become + morally one with him by spiritual birth. They may set themselves + against him and may oppose him forever. This our Lord intimates, + when he tells us that there are natural branches of Christ, which + do not "abide in the vine" or "bear fruit," and so are "cast + forth," "withered," and "burned"_ (John 15:4-6)_. + + Ethical Monism, however, since it is Monism, enables us to + understand the principle of the Atonement. Though God's holiness + binds him to punish sin, the Christ who has joined himself to the + sinner must share the sinner's punishment. He who is the life of + humanity must take upon his own heart the burden of shame and + penalty that belongs to his members. Tie the cord about your + finger; not only the finger suffers pain, but also the heart; the + life of the whole system rouses itself to put away the evil, to + untie the cord, to free the diseased and suffering member. + Humanity is bound to Christ, as the finger to the body. Since + human nature is one of the "all things" that "consist" or hold + together in Christ (_Col 1:17_), and man's sin is a + self-perversion of a part of Christ's own body, the whole must be + injured by the self-inflicted injury of the part, and "it must + needs be that Christ should suffer"_ (Acts 17:3)_. Simon, + Redemption of Man, 321--"If the Logos is the Mediator of the divine + immanence in creation, especially in man; if men are + differentiations of the effluent divine energy; and if the Logos + is the immanent controlling principle of all differentiation--_i. + e._, the principle of all _form_--must not the self-perversion of + these human differentiations react on him who is their + constitutive principle?" A more full explanation of the relations + of Ethical Monism to other doctrines must be reserved to our + separate treatment of the Trinity, Creation, Sin, Atonement, + Regeneration. Portions of the subject are treated by Upton, + Hibbert Lectures; Le Conte, in Royce's Conception of God, 43-50; + Bowne, Theory of Thought and Knowledge, 297-301, 311-317, and + Immanence of God, 5-32, 116-153; Ladd, Philos. of Knowledge, + 574-590, and Theory of Reality, 525-529; Edward Caird, Evolution + of Religion, 2:48; Ward, Naturalism and Agnosticism, 2:258-283; + Goeschel, quoted in Dorner, Hist. Doct. Person of Christ, 5:170. An + attempt has been made to treat the whole subject by A. H. Strong, + Christ in Creation and Ethical Monism, 1-86, 141-162, 166-180, + 186-208. + + + + + +PART III. THE SCRIPTURES A REVELATION FROM GOD. + + + + +Chapter I. Preliminary Considerations. + + + +I. Reasons _a priori_ for expecting a Revelation from God. + + +1. _Needs of man's nature._ Man's intellectual and moral nature requires, +in order to preserve it from constant deterioration, and to ensure its +moral growth and progress, an authoritative and helpful revelation of +religious truth, of a higher and completer sort than any to which, in its +present state of sin, it can attain by the use of its unaided powers. The +proof of this proposition is partly psychological, and partly historical. + +A. Psychological proof.--(_a_) Neither reason nor intuition throws light +upon certain questions whose solution is of the utmost importance to us; +for example, Trinity, atonement, pardon, method of worship, personal +existence after death. (_b_) Even the truth to which we arrive by our +natural powers needs divine confirmation and authority when it addresses +minds and wills perverted by sin. (_c_) To break this power of sin, and to +furnish encouragement to moral effort, we need a special revelation of the +merciful and helpful aspect of the divine nature. + + + (_a_) Bremen Lectures, 72, 73; Plato, Second Alcibiades, 22, 23; + Phaedo, 85--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. Iamblicus, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}, + chap. 28. AEschylus, in his Agamemnon, shows how completely reason + and intuition failed to supply the knowledge of God which man + needs: "Renown is loud," he says, "and not to lose one's senses is + God's greatest gift.... The being praised outrageously Is grave; + for at the eyes of such a one Is launched, from Zeus, the + thunder-stone. Therefore do I decide For so much and no more + prosperity Than of his envy passes unespied." Though the gods + might have favorites, they did not love men as men, but rather, + envied and hated them. William James, Is Life Worth Living? in + Internat. Jour. Ethics, Oct. 1895:10--"All we know of good and + beauty proceeds from nature, but none the less all we know of + evil.... To such a harlot we owe no moral allegiance.... If there + be a divine Spirit of the universe, nature, such as we know her, + cannot possibly be its ultimate word to man. Either there is no + Spirit revealed in nature, or else it is inadequately revealed + there; and, as all the higher religions have assumed, what we call + visible nature, or _this_ world, must be but a veil and + surface-show whose full meaning resides in a supplementary unseen + or _other_ world." + + (_b_) _Versus_ Socrates: Men will do right, if they only know the + right. Pfleiderer, Philos. Relig., 1:219--"In opposition to the + opinion of Socrates that badness rests upon ignorance, Aristotle + already called the fact to mind that the doing of the good is not + always combined with the knowing of it, seeing that it depends + also on the passions. If badness consisted only in the want of + knowledge, then those who are theoretically most cultivated must + also be morally the best, which no one will venture to assert." W. + S. Lilly, On Shibboleths: "Ignorance is often held to be the root + of all evil. But mere knowledge cannot transform character. It + cannot minister to a mind diseased. It cannot convert the will + from bad to good. It may turn crime into different channels, and + render it less easy to detect. It does not change man's natural + propensities or his disposition to gratify them at the expense of + others. Knowledge makes the good man more powerful for good, the + bad man more powerful for evil. And that is all it can do." Gore, + Incarnation, 174--"We must not depreciate the method of argument, + for Jesus and Paul occasionally used it in a Socratic fashion, but + we must recognize that it is not the basis of the Christian system + nor the primary method of Christianity." Martineau, in Nineteenth + Century, 1:331, 531, and Types, 1:112--"Plato dissolved the idea of + the right into that of the good, and this again was + indistinguishably mingled with that of the true and the + beautiful." See also Flint, Theism, 305. + + (_c_) _Versus_ Thomas Paine: "Natural religion teaches us, without + the possibility of being mistaken, all that is necessary or proper + to be known." Plato, Laws, 9:854, _c_, for substance: "Be good; + but, if you cannot, then kill yourself." Farrar, Darkness and + Dawn, 75--"Plato says that man will never know God until God has + revealed himself in the guise of suffering man, and that, when all + is on the verge of destruction, God sees the distress of the + universe, and, placing himself at the rudder, restores it to + order." Prometheus, the type of humanity, can never be delivered + "until some god descends for him into the black depths of + Tartarus." Seneca in like manner teaches that man cannot save + himself. He says: "Do you wonder that men go to the gods? God + comes _to_ men, yes, _into_ men." We are sinful, and God's + thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor his ways as our ways. + Therefore he must make known his thoughts to us, teach us what we + are, what true love is, and what will please him. Shaler, + Interpretation of Nature, 227--"The inculcation of moral truths can + be successfully effected only in the personal way; ... it demands + the influence of personality; ... the weight of the impression + depends upon the voice and the eye of a teacher." In other words, + we need not only the exercise of authority, but also the + manifestation of love. + + +B. Historical proof.--(_a_) The knowledge of moral and religious truth +possessed by nations and ages in which special revelation is unknown is +grossly and increasingly imperfect. (_b_) Man's actual condition in +ante-Christian times, and in modern heathen lands, is that of extreme +moral depravity. (_c_) With this depravity is found a general conviction +of helplessness, and on the part of some nobler natures, a longing after, +and hope of, aid from above. + + + Pythagoras: "It is not easy to know [duties], except men were + taught them by God himself, or by some person who had received + them from God, or obtained the knowledge of them through some + divine means." Socrates: "Wait with patience, till we know with + certainty how we ought to behave ourselves toward God and man." + Plato: "We will wait for one, be he a God or an inspired man, to + instruct us in our duties and to take away the darkness from our + eyes." Disciple of Plato: "Make probability our raft, while we + sail through life, unless we could have a more sure and safe + conveyance, such as some divine communication would be." Plato + thanked God for three things: first, that he was born a rational + soul; secondly, that he was born a Greek; and, thirdly, that he + lived in the days of Socrates. Yet, with all these advantages, he + had only probability for a raft, on which to navigate strange seas + of thought far beyond his depth, and he longed for "a more sure + word of prophecy"_ (2 Pet. 1:19)_. See references and quotations + in Peabody, Christianity the Religion of Nature, 35, and in + Luthardt, Fundamental Truths, 156-172, 335-338; Farrar, Seekers + after God; Garbett, Dogmatic Faith, 187. + + +2. _Presumption of supply._ What we know of God, by nature, affords ground +for hope that these wants of our intellectual and moral being will be met +by a corresponding supply, in the shape of a special divine revelation. We +argue this: + +(_a_) From our necessary conviction of God's wisdom. Having made man a +spiritual being, for spiritual ends, it may be hoped that he will furnish +the means needed to secure these ends. (_b_) From the actual, though +incomplete, revelation already given in nature. Since God has actually +undertaken to make himself known to men, we may hope that he will finish +the work he has begun. (_c_) From the general connection of want and +supply. The higher our needs, the more intricate and ingenious are, in +general, the contrivances for meeting them. We may therefore hope that the +highest want will be all the more surely met. (_d_) From analogies of +nature and history. Signs of reparative goodness in nature and of +forbearance in providential dealings lead us to hope that, while justice +is executed, God may still make known some way of restoration for sinners. + + + (_a_) There were two stages in Dr. John Duncan's escape from + pantheism: 1. when he came first to believe in the existence of + God, and "danced for joy upon the brig o' Dee"; and 2. when, under + Malan's influence, he came also to believe that "God meant that we + should know him." In the story in the old Village Reader, the + mother broke completely down when she found that her son was + likely to grow up stupid, but her tears conquered him and made him + intelligent. Laura Bridgman was blind, deaf and dumb, and had but + small sense of taste or smell. When her mother, after long + separation, went to her in Boston, the mother's heart was in + distress lest the daughter should not recognize her. When at last, + by some peculiar mother's sign, she pierced the veil of + insensibility, it was a glad time for both. So God, our Father, + tries to reveal himself to our blind, deaf and dumb souls. The + agony of the Cross is the sign of God's distress over the + insensibility of humanity which sin has caused. If he is the Maker + of man's being, he will surely seek to fit it for that communion + with himself for which it was designed. + + (_b_) Gore, Incarnation, 52, 53--"Nature is a first volume, in + itself incomplete, and demanding a second volume, which is + Christ." (_c_) R. T. Smith, Man's Knowledge of Man and of God, + 228--"Mendicants do not ply their calling for years in a desert + where there are no givers. Enough of supply has been received to + keep the sense of want alive." (_d_) In the natural arrangements + for the healing of bruises in plants and for the mending of broken + bones in the animal creation, in the provision of remedial agents + for the cure of human diseases, and especially in the delay to + inflict punishment upon the transgressor and the space given him + for repentance, we have some indications, which, if uncontradicted + by other evidence, might lead us to regard the God of nature as a + God of forbearance and mercy. Plutarch's treatise "De Sera Numinis + Vindicta" is proof that this thought had occurred to the heathen. + It may be doubted, indeed, whether a heathen religion could even + continue to exist, without embracing in it some element of hope. + Yet this very delay in the execution of the divine judgments gave + its own occasion for doubting the existence of a God who was both + good and just. "Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on + the throne," is a scandal to the divine government which only the + sacrifice of Christ can fully remove. + + The problem presents itself also in the Old Testament. In Job 21, + and in Psalms, 17, 37, 49, 73, there are partial answers; see _Job + 21:7--_"Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, wax mighty + in power?" _24:1--_"Why are not judgment times determined by the + Almighty? And they that know him, why see they not his days?" The + New Testament intimates the existence of a witness to God's + goodness among the heathen, while at the same time it declares + that the full knowledge of forgiveness and salvation is brought + only by Christ. Compare _Acts 14:17--_"And yet he left not himself + without witness, in that he did good, and gave you from heaven + rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and + gladness"; _17:25-27--_"he himself giveth to all life, and breath, + and all things; and he made of one every nation of men ... that + they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find + him"; _Rom. 2:4--_"the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance"; + _3:25--_"the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the + forbearance of God"; _Eph. 3:9--_"to make all men see what is the + dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God"; + _2 Tim. 1:10--_"our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and + brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel." See + Hackett's edition of the treatise of Plutarch, as also Bowen, + Metaph. and Ethics, 462-487; Diman, Theistic Argument, 371. + + +We conclude this section upon the reasons _a priori_ for expecting a +revelation from God with the acknowledgment that the facts warrant that +degree of expectation which we call hope, rather than that larger degree +of expectation which we call assurance; and this, for the reason that, +while conscience gives proof that God is a God of holiness, we have not, +from the light of nature, equal evidence that God is a God of love. Reason +teaches man that, as a sinner, he merits condemnation; but he cannot, from +reason alone, know that God will have mercy upon him and provide +salvation. His doubts can be removed only by God's own voice, assuring him +of "redemption ... the forgiveness of ... trespasses" (Eph. 1:7) and +revealing to him the way in which that forgiveness has been rendered +possible. + + + Conscience knows no pardon, and no Savior. Hovey, Manual of + Christian Theology, 9, seems to us to go too far when he says: + "Even natural affection and conscience afford some clue to the + goodness and holiness of God, though much more is needed by one + who undertakes the study of Christian theology." We grant that + natural affection gives some clue to God's goodness, but we regard + conscience as reflecting only God's holiness and his hatred of + sin. We agree with Alexander McLaren: "Does God's love need to be + proved? Yes, as all paganism shows. Gods vicious, gods careless, + gods cruel, gods beautiful, there are in abundance; but where is + there a god who loves?" + + + +II. Marks of the Revelation man may expect. + + +1. _As to its substance._ We may expect this later revelation not to +contradict, but to confirm and enlarge, the knowledge of God which we +derive from nature, while it remedies the defects of natural religion and +throws light upon its problems. + + + Isaiah's appeal is to God's previous communications of truth: _Is. + 8:20--_"To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not + according to this word, surely there is no morning for them." And + Malachi follows the example of Isaiah; _Mal. 4:4--_"Remember ye the + law of Moses my servant." Our Lord himself based his claims upon + the former utterances of God: _Luke 24:27--_"beginning from Moses + and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the + scriptures the things concerning himself." + + +2. _As to its method._ We may expect it to follow God's methods of +procedure in other communications of truth. + + + Bishop Butler (Analogy, part ii, chap. iii) has denied that there + is any possibility of judging _a priori_ how a divine revelation + will be given. "We are in no sort judges beforehand," he says, "by + what methods, or in what proportion, it were to be expected that + this supernatural light and instruction would be afforded us." But + Bishop Butler somewhat later in his great work (part ii, chap. iv) + shows that God's progressive plan in revelation has its analogy in + the slow, successive steps by which God accomplishes his ends in + nature. We maintain that the revelation in nature affords certain + presumptions with regard to the revelation of grace, such for + example as those mentioned below. + + Leslie Stephen, in Nineteenth Century, Feb. 1891:180--"Butler + answered the argument of the deists, that the God of Christianity + was unjust, by arguing that the God of nature was equally unjust. + James Mill, admitting the analogy, refused to believe in either + God. Dr. Martineau has said, for similar reasons, that Butler + 'wrote one of the most terrible persuasives to atheism ever + produced.' So J. H. Newman's 'kill or cure' argument is + essentially that God has either revealed nothing, or has made + revelations in some other places than in the Bible. His argument, + like Butler's, may be as good a persuasive to scepticism as to + belief." To this indictment by Leslie Stephen we reply that it has + cogency only so long as we ignore the fact of human sin. Granting + this fact, our world becomes a world of discipline, probation and + redemption, and both the God of nature and the God of Christianity + are cleared from all suspicion of injustice. The analogy between + God's methods in the Christian system and his methods in nature + becomes an argument in favor of the former. + + +(_a_) That of continuous historical development,--that it will be given in +germ to early ages, and will be more fully unfolded as the race is +prepared to receive it. + + + Instances of continuous development in God's impartations are + found in geological history; in the growth of the sciences; in the + progressive education of the individual and of the race. No other + religion but Christianity shows "a steady historical progress of + the vision of one infinite Character unfolding itself to man + through a period of many centuries." See sermon by Dr. Temple, on + the Education of the World, in Essays and Reviews; Rogers, + Superhuman Origin of the Bible, 374-384; Walker, Philosophy of the + Plan of Salvation. On the gradualness of revelation, see Fisher, + Nature and Method of Revelation, 46-86; Arthur H. Hallam, in John + Brown's Rab and his Friends, 282--"Revelation is a gradual + approximation of the infinite Being to the ways and thoughts of + finite humanity." A little fire can kindle a city or a world; but + ten times the heat of that little fire, if widely diffused, would + not kindle anything. + + +(_b_) That of original delivery to a single nation, and to single persons +in that nation, that it may through them be communicated to mankind. + + + Each nation represents an idea. As the Greek had a genius for + liberty and beauty, and the Roman a genius for organization and + law, so the Hebrew nation had a "genius for religion" (Renan); + this last, however, would have been useless without special divine + aid and superintendence, as witness other productions of this same + Semitic race, such as Bel and the Dragon, in the Old Testament + Apocrypha; the gospels of the Apocryphal New Testament; and later + still, the Talmud and the Koran. + + The O. T. Apocrypha relates that, when Daniel was thrown a second + time into the lions' den, an angel seized Habakkuk in Judea by the + hair of his head and carried him with a bowl of pottage to give to + Daniel for his dinner. There were seven lions, and Daniel was + among them seven days and nights. Tobias starts from his father's + house to secure his inheritance, and his little dog goes with him. + On the banks of the great river a great fish threatens to devour + him, but he captures and despoils the fish. He finally returns + successful to his father's house, and his little dog goes in with + him. In the Apocryphal Gospels, Jesus carries water in his mantle + when his pitcher is broken; makes clay birds on the Sabbath, and, + when rebuked, causes them to fly; strikes a youthful companion + with death, and then curses his accusers with blindness; mocks his + teachers, and resents control. Later Moslem legends declare that + Mohammed caused darkness at noon; whereupon the moon flew to him, + went seven times around the Kaaba, bowed, entered his right + sleeve, split into two halves after slipping out at the left, and + the two halves, after retiring to the extreme east and west, were + reunited. These products of the Semitic race show that neither the + influence of environment nor a native genius for religion + furnishes an adequate explanation of our Scriptures. As the flame + on Elijah's altar was caused, not by the dead sticks, but by the + fire from heaven, so only the inspiration of the Almighty can + explain the unique revelation of the Old and New Testaments. + + The Hebrews saw God in conscience. For the most genuine expression + of their life we "must look beneath the surface, in the soul, + where worship and aspiration and prophetic faith come face to face + with God" (Genung, Epic of the Inner Life, 28). But the Hebrew + religion needed to be supplemented by the sight of God in reason, + and in the beauty of the world. The Greeks had the love of + knowledge, and the aesthetic sense. Butcher, Aspects of the Greek + Genius, 34--"The Phoenicians taught the Greeks how to write, but it + was the Greeks who wrote." Aristotle was the beginner of science, + and outside the Aryan race none but the Saracens ever felt the + scientific impulse. But the Greek made his problem clear by + striking all the unknown quantities out of it. Greek thought would + never have gained universal currency and permanence if it had not + been for Roman jurisprudence and imperialism. England has + contributed her constitutional government, and America her manhood + suffrage and her religious freedom. So a definite thought of God + is incorporated in each nation, and each nation has a message to + every other. _Acts 17:26_--God "made of one every nation of men to + dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their + appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation"; _Rom. + 3:12--_"What advantage then hath the Jew?... first of all, that + they were entrusted with the oracles of God." God's choice of the + Hebrew nation, as the repository and communicator of religious + truth, is analogous to his choice of other nations, as the + repositories and communicators of aesthetic, scientific, + governmental truth. + + Hegel: "No nation that has played a weighty and active part in the + world's history has ever issued from the simple development of a + single race along the unmodified lines of blood-relationship. + There must be differences, conflicts, a composition of opposed + forces." The conscience of the Hebrew, the thought of the Greek, + the organization of the Latin, the personal loyalty of the Teuton, + must all be united to form a perfect whole. "While the Greek + church was orthodox, the Latin church was Catholic; while the + Greek treated of the two wills in Christ, the Latin treated of the + harmony of our wills with God; while the Latin saved through a + corporation, the Teuton saved through personal faith." Brereton, + in Educational Review, Nov. 1901:339--"The problem of France is + that of the religious orders; that of Germany, the construction of + society; that of America, capital and labor." Pfleiderer, Philos. + Religion, 1:183, 184--"Great ideas never come from the masses, but + from marked individuals. These ideas, when propounded, however, + awaken an echo in the masses, which shows that the ideas had been + slumbering unconsciously in the souls of others." The hour + strikes, and a Newton appears, who interprets God's will in + nature. So the hour strikes, and a Moses or a Paul appears, who + interprets God's will in morals and religion. The few grains of + wheat found in the clasped hand of the Egyptian mummy would have + been utterly lost if one grain had been sown in Europe, a second + in Asia, a third in Africa, and a fourth in America; all being + planted together in a flower-pot, and their product in a + garden-bed, and the still later fruit in a farmer's field, there + came at last to be a sufficient crop of new Mediterranean wheat to + distribute to all the world. So God followed his ordinary method + in giving religious truth first to a single nation and to chosen + individuals in that nation, that through them it might be given to + all mankind. See British Quarterly, Jan. 1874: art.: Inductive + Theology. + + +(_c_) That of preservation in written and accessible documents, handed +down from those to whom the revelation is first communicated. + + + Alphabets, writing, books, are our chief dependence for the + history of the past; all the great religions of the world are + book-religions; the Karens expected their teachers in the new + religion to bring to them a book. But notice that false religions + have scriptures, but not Scripture; their sacred books lack the + principle of unity which is furnished by divine inspiration. H. P. + Smith, Biblical Scholarship and Inspiration, 68--"Mohammed + discovered that the Scriptures of the Jews were the source of + their religion. He called them a 'book-people,' and endeavored to + construct a similar code for his disciples. In it God is the only + speaker; all its contents are made known to the prophet by direct + revelation; its Arabic style is perfect; its text is + incorruptible; it is absolute authority in law, science and + history." The Koran is a grotesque human parody of the Bible; its + exaggerated pretensions of divinity, indeed, are the best proof + that it is of purely human origin. Scripture, on the other hand, + makes no such claims for itself, but points to Christ as the sole + and final authority. In this sense we may say with Clarke, + Christian Theology, 20--"Christianity is not a book-religion, but a + life-religion. The Bible does not give us Christ, but Christ gives + us the Bible." Still it is true that for our knowledge of Christ + we are almost wholly dependent upon Scripture. In giving his + revelation to the world, God has followed his ordinary method of + communicating and preserving truth by means of written documents. + Recent investigations, however, now render it probable that the + Karen expectation of a book was the survival of the teaching of + the Nestorian missionaries, who as early as the eighth century + penetrated the remotest parts of Asia, and left in the wall of the + city of Singwadu in Northwestern China a tablet as a monument of + their labors. On book-revelation, see Rogers, Eclipse of Faith, + 73-96, 281-304. + + +3. _As to its attestation._ We may expect that this revelation will be +accompanied by evidence that its author is the same being whom we have +previously recognized as God of nature. This evidence must constitute +(_a_) a manifestation of God himself; (_b_) in the outward as well as the +inward world; (_c_) such as only God's power or knowledge can make; and +(_d_) such as cannot be counterfeited by the evil, or mistaken by the +candid, soul. In short, we may expect God to attest by miracles and by +prophecy, the divine mission and authority of those to whom he +communicates a revelation. Some such outward sign would seem to be +necessary, not only to assure the original recipient that the supposed +revelation is not a vagary of his own imagination, but also to render the +revelation received by a single individual authoritative to all (compare +Judges 6:17, 36-40--Gideon asks a sign, for himself; 1 K. 18:36-38--Elijah +asks a sign, for others). But in order that our positive proof of a divine +revelation may not be embarrassed by the suspicion that the miraculous and +prophetic elements in the Scripture history create a presumption against +its credibility, it will be desirable to take up at this point the general +subject of miracles and prophecy. + + + +III. Miracles, as attesting a Divine Revelation. + + +1. Definition of Miracle. + + +A. Preliminary Definition.--A miracle is an event palpable to the senses, +produced for a religious purpose by the immediate agency of God; an event +therefore which, though not contravening any law of nature, the laws of +nature, if fully known, would not without this agency of God be competent +to explain. + +This definition corrects several erroneous conceptions of the +miracle:--(_a_) A miracle is not a suspension or violation of natural law; +since natural law is in operation at the time of the miracle just as much +as before. (_b_) A miracle is not a sudden product of natural agencies--a +product merely foreseen, by him who appears to work it; it is the effect +of a will outside of nature. (_c_) A miracle is not an event without a +cause; since it has for its cause a direct volition of God. (_d_) A +miracle is not an irrational or capricious act of God; but an act of +wisdom, performed in accordance with the immutable laws of his being, so +that in the same circumstances the same course would be again pursued. +(_e_) A miracle is not contrary to experience; since it is not contrary to +experience for a new cause to be followed by a new effect. (_f_) A miracle +is not a matter of internal experience, like regeneration or illumination; +but is an event palpable to the senses, which may serve as an objective +proof to all that the worker of it is divinely commissioned as a religious +teacher. + + + For various definitions of miracles, see Alexander, Christ and + Christianity, 302. On the whole subject, see Mozley, Miracles; + Christlieb, Mod. Doubt and Christ. Belief, 285-339; Fisher, in + Princeton Rev., Nov. 1880, and Jan. 1881; A. H. Strong, Philosophy + and Religion, 129-147, and in Baptist Review, April, 1879. The + definition given above is intended simply as a definition of the + miracles of the Bible, or, in other words, of the events which + profess to attest a divine revelation in the Scriptures. The New + Testament designates these events in a two-fold way, viewing them + either subjectively, as producing effects upon men, or + objectively, as revealing the power and wisdom of God. In the + former aspect they are called {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, "wonders," and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, + "signs,"_ (John 4:48; Acts 2:22)_. In the latter aspect they are + called {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, "powers," and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, "works,"_ (Mat 7:22; John + 14:11)_. See H. B. Smith, Lect. on Apologetics, 90-116, esp. + 94--"{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, sign, marking the purpose or object, the moral end, + placing the event in connection with revelation." The Bible Union + Version uniformly and properly renders {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} by "wonder," {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + by "miracle," {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} by "work," and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} by "sign." Goethe, + Faust: "Alles Vergaengliche ist nur ein Gleichniss: Das + Unzulaengliche wird hier Ereigniss"--"Everything transitory is but a + parable; The unattainable appears as solid fact." So the miracles + of the New Testament are acted parables,--Christ opens the eyes of + the blind to show that he is the Light of the world, multiplies + the loaves to show that he is the Bread of Life, and raises the + dead to show that he lifts men up from the death of trespasses and + sins. See Broadus on Matthew, 175. + + A modification of this definition of the miracle, however, is + demanded by a large class of Christian physicists, in the supposed + interest of natural law. Such a modification is proposed by + Babbage, in the Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, chap. viii. Babbage + illustrates the miracle by the action of his calculating machine, + which would present to the observer in regular succession the + series of units from one to ten million, but which would then make + a leap and show, not ten million and one, but a hundred million; + Ephraim Peabody illustrates the miracle from the cathedral clock + which strikes only once in a hundred years; yet both these results + are due simply to the original construction of the respective + machines. Bonnet held this view; see Dorner, Glaubenslehre, 1:591, + 592; Eng. translation, 2:155, 156; so Matthew Arnold, quoted in + Bruce, Miraculous Element in Gospels, 52; see also A. H. Strong, + Philosophy and Religion, 129-147. Babbage and Peabody would deny + that the miracle is due to the direct and immediate agency of God, + and would regard it as belonging to a higher order of nature. God + is the author of the miracle only in the sense that he instituted + the laws of nature at the beginning and provided that at the + appropriate time miracle should be their outcome. In favor of this + view it has been claimed that it does not dispense with the divine + working, but only puts it further back at the origination of the + system, while it still holds God's work to be essential, not only + to the upholding of the system, but also to the inspiring of the + religious teacher or leader with the knowledge needed to predict + the unusual working of the system. The wonder is confined to the + prophecy, which may equally attest a divine revelation. See + Matheson, in Christianity and Evolution, 1-26. + + But it is plain that a miracle of this sort lacks to a large + degree the element of "signality" which is needed, if it is to + accomplish its purpose. It surrenders the great advantage which + miracle, as first defined, possessed over special providence, as + an attestation of revelation--the advantage, namely, that while + special providence affords _some_ warrant that this revelation + comes from God, miracle gives _full_ warrant that it comes from + God. Since man may by natural means possess himself of the + knowledge of physical laws, the true miracle which God works, and + the pretended miracle which only man works, are upon this theory + far less easy to distinguish from each other: Cortez, for example, + could deceive Montezuma by predicting an eclipse of the sun. + Certain typical miracles, like the resurrection of Lazarus, refuse + to be classed as events within the realm of nature, in the sense + in which the term nature is ordinarily used. Our Lord, moreover, + seems clearly to exclude such a theory as this, when he says: "If + I by the finger of God cast out demons"_ (Luke 11:20)_; _Mark + 1:41--_"I will; be thou made clean." The view of Babbage is + inadequate, not only because it fails to recognize any immediate + exercise of _will_ in the miracle, but because it regards nature + as a mere _machine_ which can operate apart from God--a purely + deistic method of conception. On this view, many of the products + of mere natural law might be called miracles. The miracle would be + only the occasional manifestation of a higher order of nature, + like the comet occasionally invading the solar system. William + Elder, Ideas from Nature: "The century-plant which we have seen + growing from our childhood may not unfold its blossoms until our + old age comes upon us, but the sudden wonder is natural + notwithstanding." If, however, we interpret nature dynamically, + rather than mechanically, and regard it as the regular working of + the divine will instead of the automatic operation of a machine, + there is much in this view which we may adopt. Miracle may be both + natural and supernatural. We may hold, with Babbage, that it has + natural antecedents, while at the same time we hold that it is + produced by the immediate agency of God. We proceed therefore to + an alternative and preferable definition, which in our judgment + combines the merits of both that have been mentioned. On miracles + as already defined, see Mozley, Miracles, preface, ix-xxvi, 7, + 143-166; Bushnell, Nature and Supernatural, 333-336; Smith's and + Hastings' Dict. of Bible, art.: Miracles; Abp. Temple, Bampton + Lectures for 1884:193-221; Shedd, Dogm. Theology, 1:541, 542. + + +B. Alternative and Preferable Definition.--A miracle is an event in nature, +so extraordinary in itself and so coinciding with the prophecy or command +of a religious teacher or leader, as fully to warrant the conviction, on +the part of those who witness it, that God has wrought it with the design +of certifying that this teacher or leader has been commissioned by him. + +This definition has certain marked advantages as compared with the +preliminary definition given above:--(_a_) It recognizes the immanence of +God and his immediate agency in nature, instead of assuming an antithesis +between the laws of nature and the will of God. (_b_) It regards the +miracle as simply an extraordinary act of that same God who is already +present in all natural operations and who in them is revealing his general +plan. (_c_) It holds that natural law, as the method of God's regular +activity, in no way precludes unique exertions of his power when these +will best secure his purpose in creation. (_d_) It leaves it possible that +all miracles may have their natural explanations and may hereafter be +traced to natural causes, while both miracles and their natural causes may +be only names for the one and self-same will of God. (_e_) It reconciles +the claims of both science and religion: of science, by permitting any +possible or probable physical antecedents of the miracle; of religion, by +maintaining that these very antecedents together with the miracle itself +are to be interpreted as signs of God's special commission to him under +whose teaching or leadership the miracle is wrought. + + + Augustine, who declares that "Dei voluntas rerum natura est," + defines the miracle in De Civitate Dei, 21:8--"Portentum ergo fit + non contra naturam, sed contra quam est nota natura." He says also + that a birth is more miraculous than a resurrection, because it is + more wonderful that something that never was should begin to be, + than that something that was and ceased to be should begin again. + E. G. Robinson, Christ. Theology, 104--"The natural is God's work. + He originated it. There is no separation between the natural and + the supernatural. The natural is supernatural. God works in + everything. Every end, even though attained by mechanical means, + is God's end as truly as if he wrought by miracle." Shaler, + Interpretation of Nature, 141, regards miracle as something + exceptional, yet under the control of natural law; the latent in + nature suddenly manifesting itself; the revolution resulting from + the slow accumulation of natural forces. In the Windsor Hotel + fire, the heated and charred woodwork suddenly burst into flame. + Flame is very different from mere heat, but it may be the result + of a regularly rising temperature. Nature may be God's regular + action, miracle its unique result. God's regular action may be + entirely free, and yet its extraordinary result may be entirely + natural. With these qualifications and explanations, we may adopt + the statement of Biedermann, Dogmatik, 581-591--"Everything is + miracle,--therefore faith sees God everywhere; Nothing is + miracle,--therefore science sees God nowhere." + + Miracles are never considered by the Scripture writers as + infractions of law. Bp. Southampton, Place of Miracles, 18--"The + Hebrew historian or prophet regarded miracles as only the + emergence into sensible experience of that divine force which was + all along, though invisibly, controlling the course of nature." + Hastings, Bible Dictionary, 4:117--"The force of a miracle to us, + arising from our notion of law, would not be felt by a Hebrew, + because he had no notion of natural law." _Ps. 77:19, 20--_"Thy way + was in the sea, And thy paths in the great waters, And thy + footsteps were not known"--They knew not, and we know not, by what + precise means the deliverance was wrought, or by what precise + track the passage through the Red Sea was effected; all we know is + that "Thou leddest thy people like a flock, By the hand of Moses + and Aaron." J. M. Whiton, Miracles and Supernatural Religion: "The + supernatural is in nature itself, at its very heart, at its very + life; ... not an outside power interfering with the course of + nature, but an inside power vitalizing nature and operating + through it." Griffith-Jones, Ascent through Christ, 35--"Miracle, + instead of spelling 'monster', as Emerson said, simply bears + witness to some otherwise unknown or unrecognized aspect of the + divine character." Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:533--"To cause the sun to + rise and to cause Lazarus to rise, both demand omnipotence; but + the manner in which omnipotence works in one instance is unlike + the manner in the other." + + Miracle is an immediate operation of God; but, since all natural + processes are also immediate operations of God, we do not need to + deny the use of these natural processes, so far as they will go, + in miracle. Such wonders of the Old Testament as the overthrow of + Sodom and Gomorrah, the partings of the Red Sea and of the Jordan, + the calling down of fire from heaven by Elijah and the destruction + of the army of Sennacherib, are none the less works of God when + regarded as wrought by the use of natural means. In the New + Testament Christ took water to make wine, and took the five loaves + to make bread, just as in ten thousand vineyards to-day he is + turning the moisture of the earth into the juice of the grape, and + in ten thousand fields is turning carbon into corn. The + virgin-birth of Christ may be an extreme instance of + parthenogenesis, which Professor Loeb of Chicago has just + demonstrated to take place in other than the lowest forms of life + and which he believes to be possible in all. Christ's resurrection + may be an illustration of the power of the normal and perfect + human spirit to take to itself a proper body, and so may be the + type and prophecy of that great change when we too shall lay down + our life and take it again. The scientist may yet find that his + disbelief is not only disbelief in Christ, but also disbelief in + science. All miracle may have its natural side, though we now are + not able to discern it; and, if this were true, the Christian + argument would not one whit be weakened, for still miracle would + evidence the extraordinary working of the immanent God, and the + impartation of his knowledge to the prophet or apostle who was his + instrument. + + This view of the miracle renders entirely unnecessary and + irrational the treatment accorded to the Scripture narratives by + some modern theologians. There is a credulity of scepticism, which + minimizes the miraculous element in the Bible and treats it as + mythical or legendary, in spite of clear evidence that it belongs + to the realm of actual history. Pfleiderer, Philos. Relig., + 1:295--"Miraculous legends arise in two ways, partly out of the + idealizing of the real, and partly out of the realizing of the + ideal.... Every occurrence may obtain for the religious judgment + the significance of a sign or proof of the world-governing power, + wisdom, justice or goodness of God.... Miraculous histories are a + poetic realizing of religious ideas." Pfleiderer quotes Goethe's + apothegm: "Miracle is faith's dearest child." Foster, Finality of + the Christian Religion, 128-138--"We most honor biblical miraculous + narratives when we seek to understand them as poesies." Ritschl + defines miracles as "those striking _natural_ occurrences with + which the experience of God's special help is connected." He + leaves doubtful the bodily resurrection of Christ, and many of his + school deny it; see Mead, Ritschl's Place in the History of + Doctrine, 11. We do not need to interpret Christ's resurrection as + a mere appearance of his spirit to the disciples. Gladden, Seven + Puzzling Books, 202--"In the hands of perfect and spiritual man, + the forces of nature are pliant and tractable as they are not in + ours. The resurrection of Christ is only a sign of the superiority + of the life of the perfect spirit over external conditions. It may + be perfectly in accordance with nature." Myers, Human Personality, + 2:288--"I predict that, in consequence of the new evidence, all + reasonable men, a century hence, will believe the resurrection of + Christ." We may add that Jesus himself intimates that the working + of miracles is hereafter to be a common and natural manifestation + of the new life which he imparts: _John 14:12--_"He that believeth + on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works + than these shall he do, because I go unto the Father." + + We append a number of opinions, ancient and modern, with regard to + miracles, all tending to show the need of so defining them as not + to conflict with the just claims of science. Aristotle: "Nature is + not full of episodes, like a bad tragedy." Shakespeare, All's Well + that Ends Well, 2:3:1--"They say miracles are past; and we have our + philosophical persons to make modern and familiar things + supernatural and causeless. Hence it is that we make trifles of + terrors, ensconsing ourselves into seeming knowledge, when we + should submit ourselves to an unknown fear." Keats, Lamia: "There + was an awful rainbow once in heaven; We know her woof, her + texture: she is given In the dull catalogue of common things." + Hill, Genetic Philosophy, 334--"Biological and psychological + science unite in affirming that every event, organic or psychic, + is to be explained in the terms of its immediate antecedents, and + that it can be so explained. There is therefore no necessity, + there is even no room, for interference. If the existence of a + Deity depends upon the evidence of intervention and supernatural + agency, faith in the divine seems to be destroyed in the + scientific mind." Theodore Parker: "No whim in God,--therefore no + miracle in nature." Armour, Atonement and Law, 15-33--"The miracle + of redemption, like all miracles, is by intervention of adequate + power, not by suspension of law. Redemption is not 'the great + exception.' It is the fullest revelation and vindication of law." + Gore, in Lux Mundi, 320--"Redemption is not natural but + supernatural--supernatural, that is, in view of the false nature + which man made for himself by excluding God. Otherwise, the work + of redemption is only the reconstitution of the nature which God + had designed." Abp. Trench: "The world of nature is throughout a + witness for the world of spirit, proceeding from the same hand, + growing out of the same root, and being constituted for this very + end. The characters of nature which everywhere meet the eye are + not a common but a sacred writing,--they are the hieroglyphics of + God." Pascal: "Nature is the image of grace." President Mark + Hopkins: "Christianity and perfect Reason are identical." See + Mead, Supernatural Revelation, 97-123; art.: Miracle, by Bernard, + in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. The modern and improved view + of the miracle is perhaps best presented by T. H. Wright, The + Finger of God; and by W. N. Rice, Christian Faith in an Age of + Science, 336. + + +2. Possibility of Miracle. + + +An event in nature may be caused by an agent in nature yet above nature. +This is evident from the following considerations: + +(_a_) Lower forces and laws in nature are frequently counteracted and +transcended by the higher (as mechanical forces and laws by chemical, and +chemical by vital), while yet the lower forces and laws are not suspended +or annihilated, but are merged in the higher, and made to assist in +accomplishing purposes to which they are altogether unequal when left to +themselves. + + + By nature we mean nature in the proper sense--not "everything that + is not God," but "everything that is not God or made in the image + of God"; see Hopkins, Outline Study of Man, 258, 259. Man's will + does not belong to nature, but is above nature. On the + transcending of lower forces by higher, see Murphy, Habit and + Intelligence, 1:88. James Robertson, Early Religion of Israel, + 23--"Is it impossible that there should be unique things in the + world? Is it scientific to assert that there are not?" Ladd, + Philosophy of Knowledge, 406--"Why does not the projecting part of + the coping-stone fall, in obedience to the law of gravitation, + from the top of yonder building? Because, as physics declares, the + forces of cohesion, acting under quite different laws, thwart and + oppose for the time being the law of gravitation.... But now, + after a frosty night, the coping-stone actually breaks off and + tumbles to the ground; for that unique law which makes water + forcibly expand at 32 deg. Fahrenheit has contradicted the laws of + cohesion and has restored to the law of gravitation its + temporarily suspended rights over this mass of matter." Gore, + Incarnation, 48--"Evolution views nature as a progressive order in + which there are new departures, fresh levels won, phenomena + unknown before. When organic life appeared, the future did not + resemble the past. So when man came. Christ is a new nature--the + creative Word made flesh. It is to be expected that, as new + nature, he will exhibit new phenomena. New vital energy will + radiate from him, controlling the material forces. Miracles are + the proper accompaniments of his person." We may add that, as + Christ is the immanent God, he is present in nature while at the + same time he is above nature, and he whose steady will is the + essence of all natural law can transcend all past exertions of + that will. The infinite One is not a being of endless monotony. + William Elder, Ideas from Nature, 156--"God is not bound hopelessly + to his process, like Ixion to his wheel." + + +(_b_) The human will acts upon its physical organism, and so upon nature, +and produces results which nature left to herself never could accomplish, +while yet no law of nature is suspended or violated. Gravitation still +operates upon the axe, even while man holds it at the surface of the +water--for the axe still has weight (_cf._ 2 K. 6:5-7). + + + _Versus_ Hume, Philos. Works, 4:130--"A miracle is a violation of + the laws of nature." Christian apologists have too often + needlessly embarrassed their argument by accepting Hume's + definition. The stigma is entirely undeserved. If man can support + the axe at the surface of the water while gravitation still acts + upon it, God can certainly, at the prophet's word, make the iron + to swim, while gravitation still acts upon it. But this last is + miracle. See Mansel, Essay on Miracles, in Aids to Faith, 26, 27: + After the greatest wave of the season has landed its pebble high + up on the beach, I can move the pebble a foot further without + altering the force of wind or wave or climate in a distant + continent. Fisher, Supernat. Origin of Christianity, 471; + Hamilton, Autology, 685-690; Bowen, Metaph. and Ethics, 445; Row, + Bampton Lectures on Christian Evidences, 54-74; A. A. Hodge: + Pulling out a new stop of the organ does not suspend the working + or destroy the harmony of the other stops. The pump does not + suspend the law of gravitation, nor does our throwing a ball into + the air. If gravitation did not act, the upward velocity of the + ball would not diminish and the ball would never return. + "Gravitation draws iron down. But the magnet overcomes that + attraction and draws the iron up. Yet here is no suspension or + violation of law, but rather a harmonious working of two laws, + each in its sphere. Death and not life is the order of nature. But + men live notwithstanding. Life is supernatural. Only as a force + additional to mere nature works against nature does life exist. So + spiritual life uses and transcends the laws of nature" (Sunday + School Times). Gladden, What Is Left? 60--"Wherever you find + thought, choice, love, you find something that is not under the + dominion of fixed law. These are the attributes of a free + personality." William James: "We need to substitute the _personal_ + view of life for the _impersonal_ and _mechanical_ view. + Mechanical rationalism is narrowness and partial induction of + facts,--it is not _science_." + + +(_c_) In all free causation, there is an acting without means. Man acts +upon external nature through his physical organism, but, in moving his +physical organism, he acts directly upon matter. In other words, the human +will can _use_ means, only because it has the power of acting initially +_without_ means. + + + See Hopkins, on Prayer-gauge, 10, and in Princeton Review, Sept. + 1882:188. A. J. Balfour, Foundations of Belief, 311--"Not Divinity + alone intervenes in the world of things. Each living soul, in its + measure and degree, does the same." Each soul that acts in any way + on its surroundings does so on the principle of the miracle. + Phillips Brooks, Life, 2:350--"The making of all events miraculous + is no more an abolition of miracle than the flooding of the world + with sunshine is an extinction of the sun." George Adam Smith, on + _Is. 33:14--_"devouring fire ... everlasting burnings": "If we look + at a conflagration through smoked glass, we see buildings + collapsing, but we see no fire. So science sees results, but not + the power which produces them; sees cause and effect, but does not + see God." P. S. Henson: "The current in an electric wire is + invisible so long as it circulates uniformly. But cut the wire and + insert a piece of carbon between the two broken ends, and at once + you have an arc-light that drives away the darkness. So miracle is + only the momentary interruption in the operation of uniform laws, + which thus gives light to the ages,"--or, let us say rather, the + momentary change in the method of their operation whereby the will + of God takes a new form of manifestation. Pfleiderer, Grundriss, + 100--"Spinoza leugnete ihre metaphysische Moeglichkeit, Hume ihre + geschichtliche Erkennbarkeit, Kant ihre practische Brauchbarkeit, + Schleiermacher ihre religioese Bedeutsamkeit, Hegel ihre geistige + Beweiskraft, Fichte ihre wahre Christlichkeit, und die kritische + Theologie ihre wahre Geschichtlichkeit." + + +(_d_) What the human will, considered as a supernatural force, and what +the chemical and vital forces of nature itself, are demonstrably able to +accomplish, cannot be regarded as beyond the power of God, so long as God +dwells in and controls the universe. If man's will can act directly upon +matter in his own physical organism, God's will can work immediately upon +the system which he has created and which he sustains. In other words, if +there be a God, and if he be a personal being, miracles are possible. The +impossibility of miracles can be maintained only upon principles of +atheism or pantheism. + + + See Westcott, Gospel of the Resurrection, 19; Cox, Miracles, an + Argument and a Challenge: "Anthropomorphism is preferable to + hylomorphism." Newman Smyth, Old Faiths in a New Light, ch. 1--"A + miracle is not a sudden blow struck in the face of nature, but a + use of nature, according to its inherent capacities, by higher + powers." See also Gloatz, Wunder und Naturgesetz, in Studien und + Kritiken, 1886:403-546; Gunsaulus, Transfiguration of Christ, 18, + 19, 26; Andover Review, on "Robert Elsmere," 1888:303; W. E. + Gladstone, in Nineteenth Century, 1888:766-788; Dubois, on Science + and Miracle, in New Englander, July, 1889:1-32--Three postulates: + (1) Every particle attracts every other in the universe; (2) Man's + will is free; (3) Every volition is accompanied by corresponding + brain-action. Hence every volition of ours causes changes + throughout the whole universe; also, in Century Magazine, Dec. + 1894:229--Conditions are never twice the same in nature; all things + are the results of will, since we know that the least thought of + ours shakes the universe; miracle is simply the action of will in + unique conditions; the beginning of life, the origin of + consciousness, these are miracles, yet they are strictly natural; + prayer and the mind that frames it are conditions which _the Mind_ + in nature cannot ignore. _Cf.__ Ps. 115:3--_"our God is in the + heavens: He hath done whatsoever he pleased" = his almighty power + and freedom do away with all _a priori_ objections to miracles. If + God is not a mere _force_, but a _person_, then miracles are + possible. + + +(_e_) This possibility of miracles becomes doubly sure to those who see in +Christ none other than the immanent God manifested to creatures. The Logos +or divine Reason who is the principle of all growth and evolution can make +God known only by means of successive new impartations of his energy. +Since all progress implies increment, and Christ is the only source of +life, the whole history of creation is a witness to the possibility of +miracle. + + + See A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 163-166--"This conception of + evolution is that of Lotze. That great philosopher, whose + influence is more potent than any other in present thought, does + not regard the universe as a _plenum_ to which nothing can be + added in the way of force. He looks upon the universe rather as a + plastic organism to which new impulses can be imparted from him of + whose thought and will it is an expression. These impulses, once + imparted, abide in the organism and are thereafter subject to its + law. Though these impulses come from within, they come not from + the finite mechanism but from the immanent God. Robert Browning's + phrase, 'All's love, but all's law,' must be interpreted as + meaning that the very movements of the planets and all the + operations of nature are revelations of a personal and present + God, but it must not be interpreted as meaning that God runs in a + rut, that he is confined to mechanism, that he is incapable of + unique and startling manifestations of power. + + "The idea that gives to evolution its hold upon thinking minds is + the idea of continuity. But absolute continuity is inconsistent + with progress. If the future is not simply a reproduction of the + past, there must be some new cause of change. In order to progress + there must be either a new force, or a new combination of forces, + and the new combination of forces can be explained only by some + new force that causes the combination. This new force, moreover, + must be intelligent force, if the evolution is to be toward the + better instead of toward the worse. The continuity must be + continuity not of forces but of plan. The forces may increase, + nay, they must increase, unless the new is to be a mere repetition + of the old. There must be additional energy imparted, the new + combination brought about, and all this implies purpose and will. + But through all there runs one continuous plan, and upon this plan + the rationality of evolution depends. + + "A man builds a house. In laying the foundation he uses stone and + mortar, but he makes the walls of wood and the roof of tin. In the + superstructure he brings into play different laws from those which + apply to the foundation. There is continuity, not of material, but + of plan. Progress from cellar to garret requires breaks here and + there, and the bringing in of new forces; in fact, without the + bringing in of these new forces the evolution of the house would + be impossible. Now substitute for the foundation and + superstructure living things like the chrysalis and the butterfly; + imagine the power to work from within and not from without; and + you see that true continuity does not exclude but involves new + beginnings. + + "Evolution, then, depends on increments of force _plus_ continuity + of plan. New creations are possible because the immanent God has + not exhausted himself. Miracle is possible because God is not far + away, but is at hand to do whatever the needs of his moral + universe may require. Regeneration and answers to prayer are + possible for the very reason that these are the objects for which + the universe was built. If we were deists, believing in a distant + God and a mechanical universe, evolution and Christianity would be + irreconcilable. But since we believe in a dynamical universe, of + which the personal and living God is the inner source of energy, + evolution is but the basis, foundation and background of + Christianity, the silent and regular working of him who, in the + fulness of time, utters his voice in Christ and the Cross." + + Lotze's own statement of his position may be found in his + Microcosmos, 2:479 _sq._ Professor James Ten Broeke has + interpreted him as follows: "He makes the possibility of the + miracle depend upon the close and intimate action and reaction + between the world and the personal Absolute, in consequence of + which the movements of the natural world are carried on only + _through_ the Absolute, with the possibility of a variation in the + general course of things, according to existing facts and the + purpose of the divine Governor." + + +3. Probability of Miracles. + + +A. We acknowledge that, so long as we confine our attention to nature, +there is a presumption against miracles. Experience testifies to the +uniformity of natural law. A general uniformity is needful, in order to +make possible a rational calculation of the future, and a proper ordering +of life. + + + See Butler, Analogy, part ii, chap. ii; F. W. Farrar, Witness of + History to Christ, 3-45; Modern Scepticism, 1:179-227; Chalmers, + Christian Revelation, 1:47. G. D. B. Pepper: "Where there is no + law, no settled order, there can be no miracle. The miracle + presupposes the law, and the importance assigned to miracles is + the recognition of the reign of law. But the making and launching + of a ship may be governed by law, no less than the sailing of the + ship after it is launched. So the introduction of a higher + spiritual order into a merely natural order constitutes a new and + unique event." Some Christian apologists have erred in affirming + that the miracle was antecedently as probable as any other event, + whereas only its antecedent improbability gives it value as a + proof of revelation. Horace: "Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus + vindice nodus Inciderit." + + +B. But we deny that this uniformity of nature is absolute and universal. +(_a_) It is not a truth of reason that can have no exceptions, like the +axiom that a whole is greater than its parts. (_b_) Experience could not +warrant a belief in absolute and universal uniformity, unless experience +were identical with absolute and universal knowledge. (_c_) We know, on +the contrary, from geology, that there have been breaks in this +uniformity, such as the introduction of vegetable, animal and human life, +which cannot be accounted for, except by the manifestation in nature of a +supernatural power. + + + (_a_) Compare the probability that the sun will rise to-morrow + morning with the certainty that two and two make four. Huxley, Lay + Sermons, 158, indignantly denies that there is any "must" about + the uniformity of nature: "No one is entitled to say _a priori_ + that any given so-called miraculous event is impossible." Ward, + Naturalism and Agnosticism, 1:84--"There is no evidence for the + statement that the mass of the universe is a definite and + unchangeable quantity"; 108, 109--"Why so confidently assume that a + rigid and monotonous uniformity is the only, or the highest, + indication of order, the order of an ever living Spirit, above + all? How is it that we depreciate machine-made articles, and + prefer those in which the artistic impulse, or the fitness of the + individual case, is free to shape and to make what is literally + manufactured, hand-made?... Dangerous as teleological arguments in + general may be, we may at least safely say the world was not + designed to make science easy.... To call the verses of a poet, + the politics of a statesman, or the award of a judge mechanical, + implies, as Lotze has pointed out, marked disparagement, although + it implies, too, precisely those characteristics--exactness and + invariability--in which Maxwell would have us see a token of the + divine." Surely then we must not insist that divine wisdom must + always run in a rut, must ever repeat itself, must never exhibit + itself in unique acts like incarnation and resurrection. See + Edward Hitchcock, in Bib. Sac., 20:489-561, on "The Law of + Nature's Constancy Subordinate to the Higher Law of Change"; + Jevons, Principles of Science, 2:430-438; Mozley, Miracles, 26. + + (_b_) S. T. Coleridge, Table Talk, 18 December, 1831--"The light + which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern of the ship, + which shines only on the waves behind us." Hobbes: "Experience + concludeth nothing universally." Brooks, Foundations of Zooelogy, + 131--"Evidence can tell us only what has happened, and it can never + assure us that the future _must_ be like the past; 132--Proof that + all nature is mechanical would not be inconsistent with the belief + that everything in nature is immediately sustained by Providence, + and that my volition counts for something in determining the + course of events." Royce, World and Individual, 2:204--"Uniformity + is not absolute. Nature is a vaster realm of life and meaning, of + which we men form a part, and of which the final unity is in God's + life. The rhythm of the heart-beat has its normal regularity, yet + its limited persistence. Nature may be merely the _habits of free + will_. Every region of this universally conscious world may be a + centre whence issues new conscious life for communication to all + the worlds." Principal Fairbairn: "Nature is Spirit." We prefer to + say: "Nature is the manifestation of spirit, the regularities of + freedom." + + (_c_) Other breaks in the uniformity of nature are the coming of + Christ and the regeneration of a human soul. Harnack, What is + Christianity, 18, holds that though there are no interruptions to + the working of natural law, natural law is not yet fully known. + While there are no miracles, there is plenty of the miraculous. + The power of mind over matter is beyond our present conceptions. + Bowne, Philosophy of Theism, 210--The effects are no more + consequences of the laws than the laws are consequences of the + effects = both laws and effects are exercises of divine will. + King, Reconstruction in Theology, 56--We must hold, not to the + _uniformity_ of law, but to the _universality_ of law; for + evolution has successive stages with new laws coming in and + becoming dominant that had not before appeared. The new and higher + stage is practically a miracle from the point of view of the + lower. See British Quarterly Review, Oct. 1881:154; Martineau, + Study, 2:200, 203, 209. + + +C. Since the inworking of the moral law into the constitution and course +of nature shows that nature exists, not for itself, but for the +contemplation and use of moral beings, it is probable that the God of +nature will produce effects aside from those of natural law, whenever +there are sufficiently important moral ends to be served thereby. + + + Beneath the expectation of uniformity is the intuition of final + cause; the former may therefore give way to the latter. See + Porter, Human Intellect, 592-615--Efficient causes and final causes + may conflict, and then the efficient give place to the final. This + is miracle. See Hutton, in Nineteenth Century, Aug. 1885, and + Channing, Evidences of Revealed Religion, quoted in Shedd, Dogm. + Theol., 1:534, 535--"The order of the universe is a means, not an + end, and like all other means must give way when the end can be + best promoted without it. It is the mark of a weak mind to make an + idol of order and method; to cling to established forms of + business when they clog instead of advancing it." Balfour, + Foundations of Belief, 357--"The stability of the heavens is in the + sight of God of less importance than the moral growth of the human + spirit." This is proved by the Incarnation. The Christian sees in + this little earth the scene of God's greatest revelation. The + superiority of the spiritual to the physical helps us to see our + true dignity in the creation, to rule our bodies, to overcome our + sins. Christ's suffering shows us that God is no indifferent + spectator of human pain. He subjects himself to our conditions, or + rather in this subjection reveals to us God's own eternal + suffering for sin. The atonement enables us to solve the problem + of sin. + + +D. The existence of moral disorder consequent upon the free acts of man's +will, therefore, changes the presumption against miracles into a +presumption in their favor. The non-appearance of miracles, in this case, +would be the greatest of wonders. + + + Stearns, Evidence of Christian Experience, 331-335--So a man's + personal consciousness of sin, and above all his personal + experience of regenerating grace, will constitute the best + preparation for the study of miracles. "Christianity cannot be + proved except to a bad conscience." The dying Vinet said well: + "The greatest miracle that I know of is that of my conversion. I + was dead, and I live; I was blind, and I see; I was a slave, and I + am free; I was an enemy of God, and I love him; prayer, the Bible, + the society of Christians, these were to me a source of profound + _ennui_; whilst now it is the pleasures of the world that are + wearisome to me, and piety is the source of all my joy. Behold the + miracle! And if God has been able to work that one, there are none + of which he is not capable." + + Yet the physical and the moral are not "sundered as with an axe." + Nature is but the lower stage or imperfect form of the revelation + of God's truth and holiness and love. It prepares the way for the + miracle by suggesting, though more dimly, the same essential + characteristics of the divine nature. Ignorance and sin + necessitate a larger disclosure. G. S. Lee, The Shadow Christ, + 84--"The pillar of cloud was the dim night-lamp that Jehovah kept + burning over his infant children, to show them that he was there. + They did not know that the night itself was God." Why do we have + Christmas presents in Christian homes? Because the parents do not + love their children at other times? No; but because the mind + becomes sluggish in the presence of merely regular kindness, and + special gifts are needed to wake it to gratitude. So our sluggish + and unloving minds need special testimonies of the divine mercy. + Shall God alone be shut up to dull uniformities of action? Shall + the heavenly Father alone be unable to make special communications + of love? Why then are not miracles and revivals of religion + constant and uniform? Because uniform blessings would be regarded + simply as workings of a machine. See Mozley, Miracles, preface, + xxiv; Turner, Wish and Will, 291-315; N. W. Taylor, Moral + Government, 2:388-423. + + +E. As belief in the possibility of miracles rests upon our belief in the +existence of a personal God, so belief in the probability of miracles +rests upon our belief that God is a moral and benevolent being. He who has +no God but a God of physical order will regard miracles as an impertinent +intrusion upon that order. But he who yields to the testimony of +conscience and regards God as a God of holiness, will see that man's +unholiness renders God's miraculous interposition most necessary to man +and most becoming to God. Our view of miracles will therefore be +determined by our belief in a moral, or in a non-moral, God. + + + Philo, in his Life of Moses, 1:88, speaking of the miracles of the + quails and of the water from the rock, says that "all these + unexpected and extraordinary things are amusements or playthings + of God." He believes that there is room for arbitrariness in the + divine procedure. Scripture however represents miracle as an + extraordinary, rather than as an arbitrary, act. It is "his work, + his strange work ... his act, his strange act"_ (Is. 28:21)_. + God's ordinary method is that of regular growth and development. + Chadwick, Unitarianism, 72--"Nature is economical. If she wants an + apple, she develops a leaf; if she wants a brain, she develops a + vertebra. We always thought well of backbone; and, if Goethe's was + a sound suggestion, we think better of it now." + + It is commonly, but very erroneously, taken for granted that + miracle requires a greater exercise of power than does God's + upholding of the ordinary processes of nature. But to an + omnipotent Being our measures of power have no application. The + question is not a question of power, but of rationality and love. + Miracle implies self-restraint, as well as self-unfolding, on the + part of him who works it. It is therefore not God's common method + of action; it is adopted only when regular methods will not + suffice; it often seems accompanied by a sacrifice of feeling on + the part of Christ _Mat. 17:17--_"O faithless and perverse + generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear + with you? bring him hither to me"; _Mark 7:34--_"looking up to + heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be + opened"; _cf.__ Mat. 12:39--_"An evil and adulterous generation + seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but + the sign of Jonah the prophet." + + +F. From the point of view of ethical monism the probability of miracle +becomes even greater. Since God is not merely the intellectual but the +moral Reason of the world, the disturbances of the world-order which are +due to sin are the matters which most deeply affect him. Christ, the life +of the whole system and of humanity as well, must suffer; and, since we +have evidence that he is merciful as well as just, it is probable that he +will rectify the evil by extraordinary means, when merely ordinary means +do not avail. + + + Like creation and providence, like inspiration and regeneration, + miracle is a work in which God limits himself, by a new and + peculiar exercise of his power,--limits himself as part of a + process of condescending love and as a means of teaching + sense-environed and sin-burdened humanity what it would not learn + in any other way. Self-limitation, however, is the very perfection + and glory of God, for without it no self-sacrificing love would be + possible (see page 9, F.). The probability of miracles is + therefore argued not only from God's holiness but also from his + love. His desire to save men from their sins must be as infinite + as his nature. The incarnation, the atonement, the resurrection, + when once made known to us, commend themselves, not only as + satisfying our human needs, but as worthy of a God of moral + perfection. + + An argument for the probability of the miracle might be drawn from + the concessions of one of its chief modern opponents, Thomas H. + Huxley. He tells us in different places that the object of science + is "the discovery of the rational order that pervades the + universe," which in spite of his professed agnosticism is an + unconscious testimony to Reason and Will at the basis of all + things. He tells us again that there is no necessity in the + uniformities of nature: "When we change 'will' into 'must,' we + introduce an idea of necessity which has no warrant in the + observed facts, and has no warranty that I can discover + elsewhere." He speaks of "the infinite wickedness that has + attended the course of human history." Yet he has no hope in man's + power to save himself: "I would as soon adore a wilderness of + apes," as the Pantheist's rationalized conception of humanity. He + grants that Jesus Christ is "the noblest ideal of humanity which + mankind has yet worshiped." Why should he not go further and + concede that Jesus Christ most truly represents the infinite + Reason at the heart of things, and that his purity and love, + demonstrated by suffering and death, make it probable that God + will use extraordinary means for man's deliverance? It is doubtful + whether Huxley recognized his own personal sinfulness as fully as + he recognized the sinfulness of humanity in general. If he had + done so, he would have been willing to accept miracle upon even a + slight preponderance of historical proof. As a matter of fact, he + rejected miracle upon the grounds assigned by Hume, which we now + proceed to mention. + + +4. Amount of Testimony necessary to prove a Miracle. + + +_The amount of testimony necessary to prove a miracle_ is no greater than +that which is requisite to prove the occurrence of any other unusual but +confessedly possible event. + +Hume, indeed, argued that a miracle is so contradictory of all human +experience that it is more reasonable to believe any amount of testimony +false than to believe a miracle to be true. + + + The original form of the argument can be found in Hume's + Philosophical Works, 4:124-150. See also Bib. Sac., Oct. 1867:615. + For the most recent and plausible statement of it, see + Supernatural Religion, 1:55-94. The argument maintains for + substance that things are impossible because improbable. It + ridicules the credulity of those who "thrust their fists against + the posts, And still insist they see the ghosts," and holds with + the German philosopher who declared that he would not believe in a + miracle, even if he saw one with his own eyes. Christianity is so + miraculous that it takes a miracle to make one believe it. + + +The argument is fallacious, because + +(_a_) It is chargeable with a _petitio principii_, in making our own +personal experience the measure of all human experience. The same +principle would make the proof of any absolutely new fact impossible. Even +though God should work a miracle, he could never prove it. + +(_b_) It involves a self-contradiction, since it seeks to overthrow our +faith in human testimony by adducing to the contrary the general +experience of men, of which we know only from testimony. This general +experience, moreover, is merely negative, and cannot neutralize that which +is positive, except upon principles which would invalidate all testimony +whatever. + +(_c_) It requires belief in a greater wonder than those which it would +escape. That multitudes of intelligent and honest men should against all +their interests unite in deliberate and persistent falsehood, under the +circumstances narrated in the New Testament record, involves a change in +the sequences of nature far more incredible than the miracles of Christ +and his apostles. + + + (_a_) John Stuart Mill, Essays on Theism, 216-241, grants that, + even if a miracle were wrought, it would be impossible to prove + it. In this he only echoes Hume, Miracles, 112--"The ultimate + standard by which we determine all disputes that may arise is + always derived from experience and observation." But here our own + personal experience is made the standard by which to judge all + human experience. Whately, Historic Doubts relative to Napoleon + Buonaparte, shows that the same rule would require us to deny the + existence of the great Frenchman, since Napoleon's conquests were + contrary to all experience, and civilized nations had never before + been so subdued. The London Times for June 18, 1888, for the first + time in at least a hundred years or in 31,200 issues, was + misdated, and certain pages read June 17, although June 17 was + Sunday. Yet the paper would have been admitted in a court of + justice as evidence of a marriage. The real wonder is, not the + break in experience, but the continuity without the break. + + (_b_) Lyman Abbott: "If the Old Testament told the story of a + naval engagement between the Jewish people and a pagan people, in + which all the ships of the pagan people were absolutely destroyed + and not a single man was killed among the Jews, all the sceptics + would have scorned the narrative. Every one now believes it, + except those who live in Spain." There are people who in a similar + way refuse to investigate the phenomena of hypnotism, second + sight, clairvoyance, and telepathy, declaring _a priori_ that all + these things are impossible. Prophecy, in the sense of prediction, + is discredited. Upon the same principle wireless telegraphy might + be denounced as an imposture. The son of Erin charged with murder + defended himself by saying: "Your honor, I can bring fifty people + who did not see me do it." Our faith in testimony cannot be due to + experience. + + (_c_) On this point, see Chalmers, Christian Revelation, 3:70; + Starkie on Evidence, 739; De Quincey, Theological Essays, + 1:162-188; Thornton, Old-fashioned Ethics, 143-153; Campbell on + Miracles. South's sermon on The Certainty of our Savior's + Resurrection had stated and answered this objection long before + Hume propounded it. + + +5. Evidential force of Miracles. + + +(_a_) Miracles are the natural accompaniments and attestations of new +communications from God. The great epochs of miracles--represented by +Moses, the prophets, the first and second comings of Christ--are coincident +with the great epochs of revelation. Miracles serve to draw attention to +new truth, and cease when this truth has gained currency and foothold. + + + Miracles are not scattered evenly over the whole course of + history. Few miracles are recorded during the 2500 years from Adam + to Moses. When the N. T. Canon is completed and the internal + evidence of Scripture has attained its greatest strength, the + external attestations by miracle are either wholly withdrawn or + begin to disappear. The spiritual wonders of regeneration remain, + and for these the way has been prepared by the long progress from + the miracles of power wrought by Moses to the miracles of grace + wrought by Christ. Miracles disappeared because newer and higher + proofs rendered them unnecessary. Better things than these are now + in evidence. Thomas Fuller: "Miracles are the swaddling-clothes of + the infant church." John Foster: "Miracles are the great bell of + the universe, which draws men to God's sermon." Henry Ward + Beecher: "Miracles are the midwives of great moral truths; candles + lit before the dawn but put out after the sun has risen." + Illingworth, in Lux Mundi, 210--"When we are told that miracles + contradict experience, we point to the daily occurrence of the + spiritual miracle of regeneration and ask: 'Which is easier to + say, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise and walk?'_ (Mat. + 9:5)_." + + Miracles and inspiration go together; if the former remain in the + church, the latter should remain also; see Marsh, in Bap. Quar. + Rev., 1887:225-242. On the cessation of miracles in the early + church, see Henderson, Inspiration, 443-490; Bueckmann, in Zeitsch. + f. luth. Theol. u. Kirche, 1878:216. On miracles in the second + century, see Barnard, Literature of the Second Century, 139-180. + A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 167--"The apostles were + commissioned to speak for Christ till the N. T. Scriptures, his + authoritative voice, were completed. In the apostolate we have a + provisional inspiration; in the N. T. a stereotyped inspiration; + the first being endowed with authority _ad interim_ to forgive + sins, and the second having this authority _in perpetuo_." Dr. + Gordon draws an analogy between coal, which is fossil sunlight, + and the New Testament, which is fossil inspiration. Sabatier, + Philos. Religion, 74--"The Bible is very free from the senseless + prodigies of oriental mythology. The great prophets, Isaiah, Amos, + Micah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, work no miracles. Jesus' + temptation in the wilderness is a victory of the moral + consciousness over the religion of mere physical prodigy." Trench + says that miracles cluster about the _foundation_ of the + theocratic kingdom under Moses and Joshua, and about the + _restoration_ of that kingdom under Elijah and Elisha. In the O. + T., miracles confute the gods of Egypt under Moses, the Phoenician + Baal under Elijah and Elisha, and the gods of Babylon under + Daniel. See Diman, Theistic Argument, 376, and art.: Miracle, by + Bernard, in Hastings' Bible Dictionary. + + +(_b_) Miracles generally certify to the truth of doctrine, not directly, +but indirectly; otherwise a new miracle must needs accompany each new +doctrine taught. Miracles primarily and directly certify to the divine +commission and authority of a religious teacher, and therefore warrant +acceptance of his doctrines and obedience to his commands as the doctrines +and commands of God, whether these be communicated at intervals or all +together, orally or in written documents. + + + The exceptions to the above statement are very few, and are found + only in cases where the whole commission and authority of Christ, + and not some fragmentary doctrine, are involved. Jesus appeals to + his miracles as proof of the truth of his teaching in _Mat. 9:5, + 6--_"Which is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, + Arise and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath + authority on earth to forgive sins (then saith he to the sick of + the palsy), Arise, and take up thy bed, and go unto thy house"; + _12:28--_"if I by the spirit of God cast out demons, then is the + kingdom of God come upon you." So Paul in _Rom. 1:4_, says that + Jesus "was declared to be the Son of God with power, ... by the + resurrection from the dead." Mair, Christian Evidences, 223, + quotes from Natural Religion, 181--"It is said that the + theo-philanthropist Larevelliere-Lepeaux once confided to + Talleyrand his disappointment at the ill success of his attempt to + bring into vogue a sort of improved Christianity, a sort of + benevolent rationalism which he had invented to meet the wants of + a benevolent age. 'His propaganda made no way,' he said. 'What was + he to do?' he asked. The ex-bishop Talleyrand politely condoled + with him, feared it was a difficult task to found a new religion, + more difficult than he had imagined, so difficult that he hardly + knew what to advise. 'Still,'--so he went on after a moment's + reflection,--'there is one plan which you might at least try: I + should recommend you to be crucified, and to rise again the third + day.' " See also Murphy, Scientific Bases of Faith, 147-167; + Farrar, Life of Christ, 1:168-172. + + +(_c_) Miracles, therefore, do not stand alone as evidences. Power alone +cannot prove a divine commission. Purity of life and doctrine must go with +the miracles to assure us that a religious teacher has come from God. The +miracles and the doctrine in this manner mutually support each other, and +form parts of one whole. The internal evidence for the Christian system +may have greater power over certain minds and over certain ages than the +external evidence. + + + Pascal's aphorism that "doctrines must be judged by miracles, + miracles by doctrine," needs to be supplemented by Mozley's + statement that "a supernatural fact is the proper proof of a + supernatural doctrine, while a supernatural doctrine is not the + proper proof of a supernatural fact." E. G. Robinson, Christian + Theology, 107, would "defend miracles, but would not buttress up + Christianity by them.... No amount of miracles could convince a + good man of the divine commission of a known bad man; nor, on the + other hand, could any degree of miraculous power suffice to + silence the doubts of an evil-minded man.... The miracle is a + certification only to him who can perceive its significance.... + The Christian church has the resurrection written all over it. Its + very existence is proof of the resurrection. Twelve men could + never have founded the church, if Christ had remained in the tomb. + The living church is the burning bush that is not consumed." Gore, + Incarnation, 57--"Jesus did not appear after his resurrection to + unbelievers, but to believers only,--which means that this crowning + miracle was meant to confirm an existing faith, not to create one + where it did not exist." + + Christian Union, July 11, 1891--"If the anticipated resurrection of + Joseph Smith were to take place, it would add nothing whatever to + the authority of the Mormon religion." Schurman, Agnosticism and + Religion, 57--"Miracles are merely the bells to call primitive + peoples to church. Sweet as the music they once made, modern ears + find them jangling and out of tune, and their dissonant notes + scare away pious souls who would fain enter the temple of + worship." A new definition of miracle which recognizes their + possible classification as extraordinary occurrences in nature, + yet sees in all nature the working of the living God, may do much + to remove this prejudice. Bishop of Southampton, Place of Miracle, + 53--"Miracles alone could not produce conviction. The Pharisees + ascribed them to Beelzebub. Though Jesus had done so many signs, + yet they believed not.... Though miracles were frequently wrought, + they were rarely appealed to as evidence of the truth of the + gospel. They are simply signs of God's presence in his world. By + itself a miracle had no evidential force. The only test for + distinguishing divine from Satanic miracles is that of the moral + character and purpose of the worker; and therefore miracles depend + for all their force upon a previous appreciation of the character + and personality of Christ (79). The earliest apologists make no + use of miracles. They are of no value except in connection with + prophecy. Miracles _are_ the revelation of God, not the _proof_ of + revelation." _Versus_ Supernatural Religion, 1:23, and Stearns, in + New Englander, Jan. 1882:80. See Mozley, Miracles, 15; Nicoll, + Life of Jesus Christ, 133; Mill, Logic, 374-382; H. B. Smith, Int. + to Christ. Theology, 167-169; Fisher, in Journ. Christ. Philos., + April, 1883:270-283. + + +(_d_) Yet the Christian miracles do not lose their value as evidence in +the process of ages. The loftier the structure of Christian life and +doctrine the greater need that its foundation be secure. The authority of +Christ as a teacher of supernatural truth rests upon his miracles, and +especially upon the miracle of his resurrection. That one miracle to which +the church looks back as the source of her life carries with it +irresistibly all the other miracles of the Scripture record; upon it alone +we may safely rest the proof that the Scriptures are an authoritative +revelation from God. + + + The miracles of Christ are simple correlates of the + Incarnation--proper insignia of his royalty and divinity. By mere + external evidence however we can more easily prove the + resurrection than the incarnation. In our arguments with sceptics, + we should not begin with the ass that spoke to Balaam, or the fish + that swallowed Jonah, but with the resurrection of Christ; that + conceded, all other Biblical miracles will seem only natural + preparations, accompaniments, or consequences. G. F. Wright, in + Bib. Sac., 1889:707--"The difficulties created by the miraculous + character of Christianity may be compared to those assumed by a + builder when great permanence is desired in the structure erected. + It is easier to lay the foundation of a temporary structure than + of one which is to endure for the ages." Pressense: "The empty + tomb of Christ has been the cradle of the church, and if in this + foundation of her faith the church has been mistaken, she must + needs lay herself down by the side of the mortal remains, I say, + not of a man, but of a religion." + + President Schurman believes the resurrection of Christ to be "an + obsolete picture of an eternal truth--the fact of a continued life + with God." Harnack, Wesen des Christenthums, 102, thinks no + consistent union of the gospel accounts of Christ's resurrection + can be attained; apparently doubts a literal and bodily rising; + yet traces Christianity back to an invincible faith in Christ's + conquering of death and his continued life. But why believe the + gospels when they speak of the sympathy of Christ, yet disbelieve + them when they speak of his miraculous power? We have no right to + trust the narrative when it gives us Christ's words "Weep not" to + the widow of Nain, (_Luke 7:13_), and then to distrust it when it + tells us of his raising the widow's son. The words "Jesus wept" + belong inseparably to a story of which "Lazarus, come forth!" + forms a part (_John 11:35, 43_). It is improbable that the + disciples should have believed so stupendous a miracle as Christ's + resurrection, if they had not previously seen other manifestations + of miraculous power on the part of Christ. Christ himself is the + great miracle. The conception of him as the risen and glorified + Savior can be explained only by the fact that he did so rise. E. + G. Robinson, Christ. Theology, 109--"The Church attests the fact of + the resurrection quite as much as the resurrection attests the + divine origin of the church. Resurrection, as an evidence, depends + on the existence of the church which proclaims it." + + +(_e_) The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ--by which we mean his +coming forth from the sepulchre in body as well as in spirit--is +demonstrated by evidence as varied and as conclusive as that which proves +to us any single fact of ancient history. Without it Christianity itself +is inexplicable, as is shown by the failure of all modern rationalistic +theories to account for its rise and progress. + + + In discussing the evidence of Jesus' resurrection, we are + confronted with three main rationalistic theories: + + I. The _Swoon-theory_ of Strauss. This holds that Jesus did not + really die. The cold and the spices of the sepulchre revived him. + We reply that the blood and water, and the testimony of the + centurion (_Mark 15:45_), proved actual death (see Bib. Sac., + April, 1889:228; Forrest, Christ of History and Experience, + 137-170). The rolling away of the stone, and Jesus' power + immediately after, are inconsistent with immediately preceding + swoon and suspended animation. How was his life preserved? where + did he go? when did he die? His not dying implies deceit on his + own part or on that of his disciples. + + II. The _Spirit-theory_ of Keim. Jesus really died, but only his + spirit appeared. The spirit of Jesus gave the disciples a sign of + his continued life, a telegram from heaven. But we reply that the + telegram was untrue, for it asserted that his body had risen from + the tomb. The tomb was empty and the linen cloths showed an + orderly departure. Jesus himself denied that he was a bodiless + spirit: "a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me having"_ + (Luke 24:39)_. Did "his flesh see corruption"_ (Acts 2:31)_? Was + the penitent thief raised from the dead as much as he? Godet, + Lectures in Defence of the Christian Faith, lect. i: A dilemma for + those who deny the fact of Christ's resurrection: Either his body + remained in the hands of his disciples, or it was given up to the + Jews. If the disciples retained it, they were impostors: but this + is not maintained by modern rationalists. If the Jews retained it, + why did they not produce it as conclusive evidence against the + disciples? + + III. The _Vision-theory_ of Renan. Jesus died, and there was no + objective appearance even of his spirit. Mary Magdalene was the + victim of subjective hallucination, and her hallucination became + contagious. This was natural because the Jews expected that the + Messiah would work miracles and would rise from the dead. We reply + that the disciples did not expect Jesus' resurrection. The women + went to the sepulchre, not to see a risen Redeemer, but to embalm + a dead body. Thomas and those at Emmaus had given up all hope. + Four hundred years had passed since the days of miracles; John the + Baptist "did no miracle"_ (John 10:41)_; the Sadducees said "there + is no resurrection"_ (Mat. 22:23)_. There were thirteen different + appearances, to: 1. the Magdalen; 2. other women; 3. Peter; 4. + Emmaus; 5. the Twelve; 6. the Twelve after eight days; 7. Galilee + seashore; 8. Galilee mountain; 9. Galilee five hundred; 10. James; + 11. ascension at Bethany; 12. Stephen; 13. Paul on way to + Damascus. Paul describes Christ's appearance to him as something + objective, and he implies that Christ's previous appearances to + others were objective also: "last of all [these bodily + appearances], ... he appeared to me also"_ (1 Cor. 15:8)_. Bruce, + Apologetics, 396--"Paul's interest and intention in classing the + two together was to level his own vision [of Christ] up to the + objectivity of the early Christophanies. He believed that the + eleven, that Peter in particular, had seen the risen Christ with + the eye of the body, and he meant to claim for himself a vision of + the same kind." Paul's was a sane, strong nature. Subjective + visions do not transform human lives; the resurrection moulded the + apostles; they did not create the resurrection (see Gore, + Incarnation, 76). These appearances soon ceased, unlike the law of + hallucinations, which increase in frequency and intensity. It is + impossible to explain the ordinances, the Lord's day, or + Christianity itself, if Jesus did not rise from the dead. + + The resurrection of our Lord teaches three important lessons: (1) + It showed that his work of atonement was completed and was stamped + with the divine approval; (2) It showed him to be Lord of all and + gave the one sufficient external proof of Christianity; (3) It + furnished the ground and pledge of our own resurrection, and thus + "brought life and immortality to light"_ (2 Tim. 1:10)_. It must + be remembered that the resurrection was the one sign upon which + Jesus himself staked his claims--"the sign of Jonah"_ (Luke + 11:29)_; and that the resurrection is proof, not simply of God's + power, but of Christ's own power: _John 10:18--_"I have power to + lay it down, and I have power to take it again"; _2:19--_"Destroy + this temple, and in three days I will raise it up".... _21--_"he + spake of the temple of his body." See Alexander, Christ and + Christianity, 9, 158-224, 302; Mill, Theism, 216; Auberlen, Div. + Revelation, 56; Boston Lectures, 203-239; Christlieb, Modern Doubt + and Christian Belief, 448-503; Row, Bampton Lectures, + 1887:358-423; Hutton, Essays, 1:119; Schaff, in Princeton Rev., + May, 1880; 411-419; Fisher, Christian Evidences, 41-46, 82-85; + West, in Defence and Conf. of Faith, 80-129; also special works on + the Resurrection of our Lord, by Milligan, Morrison, Kennedy, J. + Baldwin Brown. + + +6. Counterfeit Miracles. + + +Since only an act directly wrought by God can properly be called a +miracle, it follows that surprising events brought about by evil spirits +or by men, through the use of natural agencies beyond our knowledge, are +not entitled to this appellation. The Scriptures recognize the existence +of such, but denominate them "lying wonders" (2 Thess. 2:9). + +These counterfeit miracles in various ages argue that the belief in +miracles is natural to the race, and that somewhere there must exist the +true. They serve to show that not all supernatural occurrences are divine, +and to impress upon us the necessity of careful examination before we +accept them as divine. + +False miracles may commonly be distinguished from the true by (_a_) their +accompaniments of immoral conduct or of doctrine contradictory to truth +already revealed--as in modern spiritualism; (_b_) their internal +characteristics of inanity and extravagance--as in the liquefaction of the +blood of St. Januarius, or the miracles of the Apocryphal New Testament; +(_c_) the insufficiency of the object which they are designed to +further--as in the case of Apollonius of Tyana, or of the miracles said to +accompany the publication of the doctrines of the immaculate conception +and of the papal infallibility; (_d_) their lack of substantiating +evidence--as in mediaeval miracles, so seldom attested by contemporary and +disinterested witnesses; (_e_) their denial or undervaluing of God's +previous revelation of himself in nature--as shown by the neglect of +ordinary means, in the cases of Faith-cure and of so-called Christian +Science. + + + Only what is valuable is counterfeited. False miracles presuppose + the true. Fisher, Nature and Method of Revelation, 283--"The + miracles of Jesus originated faith in him, while mediaeval miracles + follow established faith. The testimony of the apostles was given + in the face of incredulous Sadducees. They were ridiculed and + maltreated on account of it. It was no time for devout dreams and + the invention of romances." The blood of St. Januarius at Naples + is said to be contained in a vial, one side of which is of thick + glass, while the other side is of thin. A similar miracle was + wrought at Hales in Gloucestershire. St. Alban, the first martyr + of Britain, after his head is cut off, carries it about in his + hand. In Ireland the place is shown where St. Patrick in the fifth + century drove all the toads and snakes over a precipice into the + nether regions. The legend however did not become current until + some hundreds of years after the saint's bones had crumbled to + dust at Saul, near Downpatrick (see Hemphill, Literature of the + Second Century, 180-182). Compare the story of the book of Tobit + (6-8), which relates the expulsion of a demon by smoke from the + burning heart and liver of a fish caught in the Tigris, and the + story of the Apocryphal New Testament (I, Infancy), which tells of + the expulsion of Satan in the form of a mad dog from Judas by the + child Jesus. On counterfeit miracles in general, see Mozley, + Miracles, 15, 161; F. W. Farrar, Witness of History to Christ, 72; + A. S. Farrar, Science and Theology, 208; Tholuck, Vermischte + Schriften, 1:27; Hodge, Syst. Theol., 1:630; Presb. Rev., + 1881:687-719. + + Some modern writers have maintained that the gift of miracles + still remains in the church. Bengel: "The reason why _many_ + miracles are not now wrought is not so much because _faith_ is + established, as because _unbelief_ reigns." Christlieb: "It is the + want of faith in our age which is the greatest hindrance to the + stronger and more marked appearance of that miraculous power which + is working here and there in quiet concealment. Unbelief is the + final and most important reason for the retrogression of + miracles." Edward Irving, Works, 5:464--"Sickness is sin apparent + in the body, the presentiment of death, the forerunner of + corruption. Now, as Christ came to destroy death, and will yet + redeem the body from the bondage of corruption, if the church is + to have a first fruits or earnest of this power, it must be by + receiving power over diseases that are the first fruits and + earnest of death." Dr. A. J. Gordon, in his Ministry of Healing, + held to this view. See also Boys, Proofs of the Miraculous in the + Experience of the Church; Bushnell, Nature and the Supernatural, + 446-492; Review of Gordon, by Vincent, in Presb. Rev., + 1883:473-502; Review of Vincent, in Presb. Rev., 1884:49-79. + + In reply to the advocates of faith-cure in general, we would grant + that nature is plastic in God's hand; that he can work miracle + when and where it pleases him; and that he has given promises + which, with certain Scriptural and rational limitations, encourage + believing prayer for healing in cases of sickness. But we incline + to the belief that in these later ages God answers such prayer, + not by miracle, but by special providence, and by gifts of + courage, faith and will, thus acting by his Spirit directly upon + the soul and only indirectly upon the body. The laws of nature are + generic volitions of God, and to ignore them and disuse means is + presumption and disrespect to God himself. The Scripture promise + to faith is always expressly or impliedly conditioned upon our use + of means: we are to work out our own salvation, for the very + reason that it is God who works in us; it is vain for the drowning + man to pray, so long as he refuses to lay hold of the rope that is + thrown to him. Medicines and physicians are the rope thrown to us + by God; we cannot expect miraculous help, while we neglect the + help God has already given us; to refuse this help is practically + to deny Christ's revelation in nature. Why not live without + eating, as well as recover from sickness without medicine? + Faith-feeding is quite as rational as faith-healing. To except + cases of disease from this general rule as to the use of means has + no warrant either in reason or in Scripture. The atonement has + purchased complete salvation, and some day salvation shall be + ours. But death and depravity still remain, not as penalty, but as + chastisement. So disease remains also. Hospitals for Incurables, + and the deaths even of advocates of faith-cure, show that they too + are compelled to recognize some limit to the application of the + New Testament promise. + + In view of the preceding discussion we must regard the so-called + Christian Science as neither Christian nor scientific. Mrs. Mary + Baker G. Eddy denies the authority of all that part of revelation + which God has made to man in nature, and holds that the laws of + nature may be disregarded with impunity by those who have proper + faith; see G. F. Wright, in Bib. Sac., April, 1899:375. Bishop + Lawrence of Massachusetts: "One of the errors of Christian Science + is its neglect of accumulated knowledge, of the fund of + information stored up for these Christian centuries. That + knowledge is just as much God's gift as is the knowledge obtained + from direct revelation. In rejecting accumulated knowledge and + professional skill, Christian Science rejects the gift of God." + Most of the professed cures of Christian Science are explicable by + the influence of the mind upon the body, through hypnosis or + suggestion; (see A. A. Bennett, in Watchman, Feb. 13, 1903). + Mental disturbance may make the mother's milk a poison to the + child; mental excitement is a common cause of indigestion; mental + depression induces bowel disorders; depressed mental and moral + conditions render a person more susceptible to grippe, pneumonia, + typhoid fever. Reading the account of an accident in which the + body is torn or maimed, we ourselves feel pain in the same spot; + when the child's hand is crushed, the mother's hand, though at a + distance, becomes swollen; the mediaeval _stigmata_ probably + resulted from continuous brooding upon the sufferings of Christ + (see Carpenter, Mental Physiology, 676-690). + + But mental states may help as well as harm the body. Mental + expectancy facilitates cure in cases of sickness. The physician + helps the patient by inspiring hope and courage. Imagination works + wonders, especially in the case of nervous disorders. The diseases + said to be cured by Christian Science are commonly of this sort. + In every age fakirs, mesmerists, and quacks have availed + themselves of these underlying mental forces. By inducing + expectancy, imparting courage, rousing the paralyzed will, they + have indirectly caused bodily changes which have been mistaken for + miracle. Tacitus tells us of the healing of a blind man by the + Emperor Vespasian. Undoubted cures have been wrought by the royal + touch in England. Since such wonders have been performed by Indian + medicine-men, we cannot regard them as having any specific + Christian character, and when, as in the present case, we find + them used to aid in the spread of false doctrine with regard to + sin, Christ, atonement, and the church, we must class them with + the "lying wonders" of which we are warned in _2 Thess. 2:9_. See + Harris, Philosophical Basis of Theism, 381-386; Buckley, + Faith-Healing, and in Century Magazine, June, 1886:221-236; Bruce, + Miraculous Element in Gospels, lecture 8; Andover Review, + 1887:249-264. + + + +IV. Prophecy as Attesting a Divine Revelation. + + +We here consider prophecy in its narrow sense of mere prediction, +reserving to a subsequent chapter the consideration of prophecy as +interpretation of the divine will in general. + +1. _Definition._ Prophecy is the foretelling of future events by virtue of +direct communication from God--a foretelling, therefore, which, though not +contravening any laws of the human mind, those laws, if fully known, would +not, without this agency of God, be sufficient to explain. + + + In discussing the subject of prophecy, we are met at the outset by + the contention that there is not, and never has been, any real + foretelling of future events beyond that which is possible to + natural prescience. This is the view of Kuenen, Prophets and + Prophecy in Israel. Pfleiderer, Philos. Relig., 2:42, denies any + direct prediction. Prophecy in Israel, he intimates, was simply + the consciousness of God's righteousness, proclaiming its ideals + of the future, and declaring that the will of God is the moral + ideal of the good and the law of the world's history, so that the + fates of nations are conditioned by their bearing toward this + moral purpose of God: "The fundamental error of the vulgar + apologetics is that it confounds prophecy with heathen + soothsaying--national salvation without character." W. Robertson + Smith, in Encyc. Britannica, 19:821, tells us that "detailed + prediction occupies a very secondary place in the writings of the + prophets; or rather indeed what seem to be predictions in detail + are usually only free poetical illustrations of historical + principles, which neither received nor demanded exact fulfilment." + + As in the case of miracles, our faith in an immanent God, who is + none other than the Logos or larger Christ, gives us a point of + view from which we may reconcile the contentions of the + naturalists and supernaturalists. Prophecy is an immediate act of + God; but, since all natural genius is also due to God's + energizing, we do not need to deny the employment of man's natural + gifts in prophecy. The instances of telepathy, presentiment, and + second sight which the Society for Psychical Research has + demonstrated to be facts show that prediction, in the history of + divine revelation, may be only an intensification, under the + extraordinary impulse of the divine Spirit, of a power that is in + some degree latent in all men. The author of every great work of + creative imagination knows that a higher power than his own has + possessed him. In all human reason there is a natural activity of + the divine Reason or Logos, and he is "the light which lighteth + every man"_ (John 1:9)_. So there is a natural activity of the + Holy Spirit, and he who completes the circle of the divine + consciousness completes also the circle of human consciousness, + gives self-hood to every soul, makes available to man the natural + as well as the spiritual gifts of Christ; _cf.__ John 16:14--_"he + shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you." The same + Spirit who in the beginning "brooded over the face of the waters"_ + (Gen. 1:2)_ also broods over humanity, and it is he who, according + to Christ's promise, was to "declare unto you the things that are + to come"_ (John 16:13)_. The gift of prophecy may have its natural + side, like the gift of miracles, yet may be finally explicable + only as the result of an extraordinary working of that Spirit of + Christ who to some degree manifests himself in the reason and + conscience of every man; _cf.__ 1 Pet 1:11--_"searching what time + or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did + point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, + and the glories that should follow them." See Myers, Human + Personality, 2:262-292. + + A. B. Davidson, in his article on Prophecy and Prophets, in + Hastings' Bible Dictionary, 4:120, 121, gives little weight to + this view that prophecy is based on a natural power of the human + mind: "The arguments by which Giesebrecht, Berufsgabung, 13 ff., + supports the theory of a 'faculty of presentiment' have little + cogency. This faculty is supposed to reveal itself particularly on + the approach of death (_Gen. 28_ and _49_). The contemporaries of + most great religious personages have attributed to them a + prophetic gift. The answer of John Knox to those who credited him + with such a gift is worth reading: 'My assurances are not marvels + of Merlin, nor yet the dark sentences of profane prophecy. But + _first_, the plain truth of God's word; _second_, the invincible + justice of the everlasting God; and _third_, the ordinary course + of his punishments and plagues from the beginning, are my + assurances and grounds.' " While Davidson grants the fulfilment of + certain specific predictions of Scripture, to be hereafter + mentioned, he holds that "such presentiments as we can observe to + be authentic are chiefly products of the conscience or moral + reason. True prophecy is based on moral grounds. Everywhere the + menacing future is connected with the evil past by 'therefore'_ + (Micah 3:12; Is. 5:13; Amos 1:2)_." We hold with Davidson to the + moral element in prophecy, but we also recognize a power in normal + humanity which he would minimize or deny. We claim that the human + mind even in its ordinary and secular working gives occasional + signs of transcending the limitations of the present. Believing in + the continual activity of the divine Reason in the reason of man, + we have no need to doubt the possibility of an extraordinary + insight into the future, and such insight is needed at the great + epochs of religious history. Expositor's Gk. Test., + 2:34--"Savonarola foretold as early as 1496 the capture of Rome, + which happened in 1527, and he did this not only in general terms + but in detail; his words were realized to the letter when the + sacred churches of St. Peter and St. Paul became, as the prophet + foretold, stables for the conquerors' horses." On the general + subject, see Payne-Smith, Prophecy a Preparation for Christ; + Alexander, Christ and Christianity; Farrar, Science and Theology, + 106; Newton on Prophecy; Fairbairn on Prophecy. + + +2. _Relation of Prophecy to Miracles._ Miracles are attestations of +revelation proceeding from divine power; prophecy is an attestation of +revelation proceeding from divine knowledge. Only God can know the +contingencies of the future. The possibility and probability of prophecy +may be argued upon the same grounds upon which we argue the possibility +and probability of miracles. As an evidence of divine revelation, however, +prophecy possesses two advantages over miracles, namely: (_a_) The proof, +in the case of prophecy, is not derived from ancient testimony, but is +under our eyes. (_b_) The evidence of miracles cannot become stronger, +whereas every new fulfilment adds to the argument from prophecy. + +3. _Requirements in Prophecy, considered as an Evidence of Revelation._ +(_a_) The utterance must be distant from the event. (_b_) Nothing must +exist to suggest the event to merely natural prescience. (_c_) The +utterance must be free from ambiguity. (_d_) Yet it must not be so precise +as to secure its own fulfilment. (_e_) It must be followed in due time by +the event predicted. + + + Hume: "All prophecies are real miracles, and only as such can be + admitted as proof of any revelation." See Wardlaw, Syst. Theol., + 1:347. (_a_) Hundreds of years intervened between certain of the + O. T. predictions and their fulfilment. (_b_) Stanley instances + the natural sagacity of Burke, which enabled him to predict the + French Revolution. But Burke also predicted in 1793 that France + would be partitioned like Poland among a confederacy of hostile + powers. Canning predicted that South American colonies would grow + up as the United States had grown. D'Israeli predicted that our + Southern Confederacy would become an independent nation. Ingersoll + predicted that within ten years there would be two theatres for + one church. (_c_) Illustrate ambiguous prophecies by the Delphic + oracle to Croesus: "Crossing the river, thou destroyest a great + nation"--whether his own or his enemy's the oracle left + undetermined. "Ibis et redibis nunquam peribis in bello." (_d_) + Strauss held that O. T. prophecy itself determined either the + events or the narratives of the gospels. See Greg, Creed of + Christendom, chap. 4. (_e_) Cardan, the Italian mathematician, + predicted the day and hour of his own death, and committed suicide + at the proper time to prove the prediction true. Jehovah makes the + fulfilment of his predictions the proof of his deity in the + controversy with false gods: _Is. 41:23--_"Declare the things that + are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods"; + _42:9--_"Behold, the former things are come to pass and new things + do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them." + + +4. _General Features of Prophecy in the Scriptures._ (_a_) Its large +amount--occupying a great portion of the Bible, and extending over many +hundred years. (_b_) Its ethical and religious nature--the events of the +future being regarded as outgrowths and results of men's present attitude +toward God. (_c_) Its unity in diversity--finding its central point in +Christ the true servant of God and deliverer of his people. (_d_) Its +actual fulfilment as regards many of its predictions--while seeming +non-fulfilments are explicable from its figurative and conditional nature. + + + A. B. Davidson, in Hastings' Bible Dictionary, 4:125, has + suggested reasons for the apparent non-fulfilment of certain + predictions. Prophecy is poetical and figurative; its details are + not to be pressed; they are only drapery, needed for the + expression of the idea. In _Isa. 13:16--_"Their infants shall be + dashed in pieces ... and their wives ravished"--the prophet gives + an ideal picture of the sack of a city; these things did not + actually happen, but Cyrus entered Babylon "in peace." Yet the + essential truth remained that the city fell into the enemy's + hands. The prediction of Ezekiel with regard to Tyre, _Ez. + 26:7-14_, is recognized in _Ez. 29:17-20_ as having been fulfilled + not in its details but in its essence--the actual event having been + the breaking of the power of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. _Is. + 17:1--_"Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it + shall be a ruinous heap"--must be interpreted as predicting the + blotting out of its dominion, since Damascus has probably never + ceased to be a city. The conditional nature of prophecy explains + other seeming non-fulfilments. Predictions were often threats, + which might be revoked upon repentance. _Jer. 26:13--_"amend your + ways ... and the Lord will repent him of the evil which he hath + pronounced against you." _Jonah 3:4--_"Yet forty days, and Nineveh + shall be overthrown ..." _10--God saw their works, that they turned + from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, which he said + he would do unto them; and he did it not_; _cf.__ Jer. 18:8_; + _26:19_. + + Instances of actual fulfilment of prophecy are found, according to + Davidson, in Samuel's prediction of some things that would happen + to Saul, which the history declares did happen (_1 Sam. 1_ and + _10_). Jeremiah predicted the death of Hananiah within the year, + which took place (_Jer. 28_). Micaiah predicted the defeat and + death of Ahab at Ramoth-Gilead (_1 Kings 22_). Isaiah predicted + the failure of the northern coalition to subdue Jerusalem (_Is. + 7_); the overthrow in two or three years of Damascus and Northern + Israel before the Assyrians (_Is. 8 and 17_); the failure of + Sennacherib to capture Jerusalem, and the melting away of his army + (_Is. 37:34-37_). "And in general, apart from details, the main + predictions of the prophets regarding Israel and the nations were + verified in history, for example, _Amos 1_ and _2_. The chief + predictions of the prophets relate to the imminent downfall of the + kingdoms of Israel and Judah; to what lies beyond this, namely, + the restoration of the kingdom of God; and to the state of the + people in their condition of final felicity." For predictions of + the exile and the return of Israel, see especially _Amos + 9:9--_"For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel + among all the nations, like as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet + shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth.... _14--_And I will + bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall + build the waste cities and inhabit them." Even if we accept the + theory of composite authorship of the book of Isaiah, we still + have a foretelling of the sending back of the Jews from Babylon, + and a designation of Cyrus as God's agent, in _Is. 44:28--_"that + saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my + pleasure: even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the + temple, Thy foundation shall be laid"; see George Adam Smith, in + Hastings' Bible Dictionary, 2:493. Frederick the Great said to his + chaplain: "Give me in one word a proof of the divine origin of the + Bible"; and the chaplain well replied: "The Jews, your Majesty." + In the case of the Jews we have even now the unique phenomena of a + people without a land, and a land without a people,--yet both these + were predicted centuries before the event. + + +5. _Messianic Prophecy in general._ (_a_) Direct predictions of events--as +in Old Testament prophecies of Christ's birth, suffering and subsequent +glory. (_b_) General prophecy of the Kingdom in the Old Testament, and of +its gradual triumph. (_c_) Historical types in a nation and in +individuals--as Jonah and David. (_d_) Prefigurations of the future in +rites and ordinances--as in sacrifice, circumcision, and the passover. + +6. _Special Prophecies uttered by Christ._ (_a_) As to his own death and +resurrection. (_b_) As to events occurring between his death and the +destruction of Jerusalem (multitudes of impostors; wars and rumors of +wars; famine and pestilence). (_c_) As to the destruction of Jerusalem and +the Jewish polity (Jerusalem compassed with armies; abomination of +desolation in the holy place; flight of Christians; misery; massacre; +dispersion). (_d_) As to the world-wide diffusion of his gospel (the Bible +already the most widely circulated book in the world). + + + The most important feature in prophecy is its Messianic element; + see _Luke 24:27--_"beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, + he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning + himself"; _Acts 10:43--_"to him bear all the prophets witness"; + _Rev. 19:10--_"the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." + Types are intended resemblances, designed prefigurations; for + example, Israel is a type of the Christian church; outside nations + are types of the hostile world; Jonah and David are types of + Christ. The typical nature of Israel rests upon the deeper fact of + the community of life. As the life of God the Logos lies at the + basis of universal humanity and interpenetrates it in every part, + so out of this universal humanity grows Israel in general; out of + Israel as a nation springs the spiritual Israel, and out of + spiritual Israel Christ according to the flesh,--the upward rising + pyramid finds its apex and culmination in him. Hence the + predictions with regard to "the servant of Jehovah"_ (Is. + 42:1-7)_, and "the Messiah"_ (Is. 61:1; John 1:41)_, have partial + fulfilment in Israel, but perfect fulfilment only in Christ; so + Delitzsch, Oehler, and Cheyne on Isaiah, 2:253. Sabatier, Philos. + Religion, 59--"If humanity were not potentially and in some degree + Immanuel, God with us, there would never have issued from its + bosom he who bore and revealed this blessed name." Gardiner, O. T. + and N. T. in their Mutual Relations, 170-194. + + In the O. T., Jehovah is the Redeemer of his people. He works + through judges, prophets, kings, but he himself remains the + Savior; "it is only the Divine in them that saves"; "Salvation is + of Jehovah"_ (Jonah 2:9)_. Jehovah is manifested in the Davidic + King under the monarchy; in Israel, the Servant of the Lord, + during the exile; and in the Messiah, or Anointed One, in the + post-exilian period. Because of its conscious identification with + Jehovah, Israel is always a forward-looking people. Each new + judge, king, prophet is regarded as heralding the coming reign of + righteousness and peace. These earthly deliverers are saluted with + rapturous expectation; the prophets express this expectation in + terms that transcend the possibilities of the present; and, when + this expectation fails to be fully realized, the Messianic hope is + simply transferred to a larger future. Each separate prophecy has + its drapery furnished by the prophet's immediate surroundings, and + finds its occasion in some event of contemporaneous history. But + by degrees it becomes evident that only an ideal and perfect King + and Savior can fill out the requirements of prophecy. Only when + Christ appears, does the real meaning of the various Old Testament + predictions become manifest. Only then are men able to combine the + seemingly inconsistent prophecies of a priest who is also a king + (_Psalm 110_), and of a royal but at the same time a suffering + Messiah (_Isaiah 53_). It is not enough for us to ask what the + prophet himself meant, or what his earliest hearers understood, by + his prophecy. This is to regard prophecy as having only a single, + and that a human, author. With the spirit of man cooeperated the + Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit (_1 Pet. 1:11--_"the Spirit of + Christ which was in them"; _2 Pet. 1:21--_"no prophecy ever came by + the will of man; but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy + Spirit"). All prophecy has a twofold authorship, human and divine; + the same Christ who spoke through the prophets brought about the + fulfilment of their words. + + It is no wonder that he who through the prophets uttered + predictions with regard to himself should, when he became + incarnate, be the prophet _par excellence_ (_Deut. 18:15_; _Acts + 3:22--_"Moses indeed said, A prophet shall the Lord God raise up + from among your brethren, like unto me; to him shall ye hearken"). + In the predictions of Jesus we find the proper key to the + interpretation of prophecy in general, and the evidence that while + no one of the three theories--the preterist, the continuist, the + futurist--furnishes an exhaustive explanation, each one of these + has its element of truth. Our Lord made the fulfilment of the + prediction of his own resurrection a test of his divine + commission: it was "the sign of Jonah the prophet"_ (Mat. 12:39)_. + He promised that his disciples should have prophetic gifts: _John + 15:15--_"No longer do I call you servants; for the servant knoweth + not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all + things that I heard from my Father I have made known unto you"; + _16:13--_"the Spirit of truth ... he shall declare unto you the + things that are to come." Agabus predicted the famine and Paul's + imprisonment (_Acts 11:28_; _21:10_); Paul predicted heresies + (_Acts 20:29, 30_), shipwreck (_Acts 27:10, 21-26_), "the man of + sin"_ (2 Thess. 2:3)_, Christ's second coming, and the + resurrection of the saints (_1 Thess. 4:15-17_). + + +7. On the double sense of Prophecy. + +(_a_) Certain prophecies apparently contain a fulness of meaning which is +not exhausted by the event to which they most obviously and literally +refer. A prophecy which had a partial fulfilment at a time not remote from +its utterance, may find its chief fulfilment in an event far distant. +Since the principles of God's administration find ever recurring and ever +enlarging illustration in history, prophecies which have already had a +partial fulfilment may have whole cycles of fulfilment yet before them. + + + In prophecy there is an absence of perspective; as in Japanese + pictures the near and the far appear equally distant; as in + dissolving views, the immediate future melts into a future + immeasurably far away. The candle that shines through a narrow + aperture sends out its light through an ever-increasing area; + sections of the triangle correspond to each other, but the more + distant are far greater than the near. The chalet on the + mountain-side may turn out to be only a black cat on the woodpile, + or a speck upon the window pane. "A hill which appears to rise + close behind another is found on nearer approach to have receded a + great way from it." The painter, by foreshortening, brings + together things or parts that are relatively distant from each + other. The prophet is a painter whose foreshortenings are + supernatural; he seems freed from the law of space and time, and, + rapt into the timelessness of God, he views the events of history + "sub specie eternitatis." Prophecy was the sketching of an + outline-map. Even the prophet could not fill up the outline. The + absence of perspective in prophecy may account for Paul's being + misunderstood by the Thessalonians, and for the necessity of his + explanations in _2 Thess. 2:1, 2_. In _Isaiah 10_ and _11_, the + fall of Lebanon (the Assyrian) is immediately connected with the + rise of the Branch (Christ); in _Jeremiah 51:41_, the first + capture and the complete destruction of Babylon are connected with + each other, without notice of the interval of a thousand years + between them. + + Instances of the double sense of prophecy may be found in _Is. + 7:14-16_; _9:6, 7--_"a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, ... + unto us a son is given"--compared with _Mat. 1:22, 23_, where the + prophecy is applied to Christ (see Meyer, _in loco_); _Hos. + 11:1--_"I ... called my son out of Egypt"--referring originally to + the calling of the nation out of Egypt--is in _Mat. 2:15_ referred + to Christ, who embodied and consummated the mission of Israel; + _Psalm 118:22, 23--_"The stone which the builders rejected is + become the head of the corner"--which primarily referred to the + Jewish nation, conquered, carried away, and flung aside as of no + use, but divinely destined to a future of importance and grandeur, + is in _Mat. 21:42_ referred by Jesus to himself, as the true + embodiment of Israel. William Arnold Stevens, on The Man of Sin, + in Bap. Quar. Rev., July, 1889:328-360--As in _Daniel 11:36_, the + great enemy of the faith, who "shall exalt himself, and magnify + himself above every god," is the Syrian King, Antiochus Epiphanes, + so "the man of lawlessness" described by Paul in _2 Thess. 2:3_ is + the corrupt and impious Judaism of the apostolic age. This had its + seat in the temple of God, but was doomed to destruction when the + Lord should come at the fall of Jerusalem. But even this second + fulfilment of the prophecy does not preclude a future and final + fulfilment. Broadus on Mat., page 480--In _Isaiah 41:8_ to _chapter + 53_, the predictions with regard to "the servant of Jehovah" make + a gradual transition from Israel to the Messiah, the former alone + being seen in _41:8_, the Messiah also appearing in _42:1 __sq._, + and Israel quite sinking out of sight in _chapter 53_. + + The most marked illustration of the double sense of prophecy + however is to be found in _Matthew 24_ and _25_, especially + _24:34_ and _25:31_, where Christ's prophecy of the destruction of + Jerusalem passes into a prophecy of the end of the world. Adamson, + The Mind in Christ, 183--"To him history was the robe of God, and + therefore a constant repetition of positions really similar, + kaleidoscopic combining of a few truths, as the facts varied in + which they were to be embodied." A. J. Gordon: "Prophecy has no + sooner become history, than history in turn becomes prophecy." + Lord Bacon: "Divine prophecies have springing and germinant + accomplishment through many ages, though the height or fulness of + them may refer to some one age." In a similar manner there is a + manifoldness of meaning in Dante's Divine Comedy. C. E. Norton, + Inferno, xvi--"The narrative of the poet's spiritual journey is so + vivid and consistent that it has all the reality of an account of + an actual experience; but within and beneath runs a stream of + allegory not less consistent and hardly less continuous than the + narrative itself." A. H. Strong, The Great Poets and their + Theology, 116--"Dante himself has told us that there are four + separate senses which he intends his story to convey. There are + the literal, the allegorical, the moral, and the analogical. In + _Psalm 114:1_ we have the words, 'When Israel went forth out of + Egypt.' This, says the poet, may be taken literally, of the actual + deliverance of God's ancient people; or allegorically, of the + redemption of the world through Christ; or morally, of the rescue + of the sinner from the bondage of his sin; or anagogically, of the + passage of both soul and body from the lower life of earth to the + higher life of heaven. So from Scripture Dante illustrates the + method of his poem." See further, our treatment of Eschatology. + See also Dr. Arnold of Rugby, Sermons on the Interpretation of + Scripture, Appendix A, pages 441-454; Aids to Faith, 449-462; + Smith's Bible Dict., 4:2727. _Per contra_, see Elliott, Horae + Apocalypticae, 4:662. Gardiner, O. T. and N. T., 262-274, denies + double sense, but affirms manifold applications of a single sense. + Broadus, on _Mat. 24:1_, denies double sense, but affirms the use + of types. + + +(_b_) The prophet was not always aware of the meaning of his own +prophecies (1 Pet. 1:11). It is enough to constitute his prophecies a +proof of divine revelation, if it can be shown that the correspondences +between them and the actual events are such as to indicate divine wisdom +and purpose in the giving of them--in other words, it is enough if the +inspiring Spirit knew their meaning, even though the inspired prophet did +not. + + + It is not inconsistent with this view, but rather confirms it, + that the near event, and not the distant fulfilment, was often + chiefly, if not exclusively, in the mind of the prophet when he + wrote. Scripture declares that the prophets did not always + understand their own predictions: _1 Pet. 1:11--_"searching what + time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them + did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of + Christ, and the glories that should follow them." Emerson: + "Himself from God he could not free; He builded better than he + knew." Keble: "As little children lisp and tell of heaven, So + thoughts beyond their thoughts to those high bards were given." + Westcott: Preface to Com. on Hebrews, vi--"No one would limit the + teaching of a poet's words to that which was definitely present to + his mind. Still less can we suppose that he who is inspired to + give a message of God to all ages sees himself the completeness of + the truth which all life serves to illuminate." Alexander McLaren: + "Peter teaches that Jewish prophets foretold the events of + Christ's life and especially his sufferings; that they did so as + organs of God's Spirit; that they were so completely organs of a + higher voice that they did not understand the significance of + their own words, but were wiser than they knew and had to search + what were the date and the characteristics of the strange things + which they foretold; and that by further revelation they learned + that 'the vision is yet for many days'_ (Is. 24:22; Dan. 10:14)_. + If Peter was right in his conception of the nature of Messianic + prophecy, a good many learned men of to-day are wrong." Matthew + Arnold, Literature and Dogma: "Might not the prophetic ideals be + poetic dreams, and the correspondence between them and the life of + Jesus, so far as real, only a curious historical phenomenon?" + Bruce, Apologetics, 359, replies: "Such scepticism is possible + only to those who have no faith in a living God who works out + purposes in history." It is comparable only to the unbelief of the + materialist who regards the physical constitution of the universe + as explicable by the fortuitous concourse of atoms. + + +8. _Purpose of Prophecy--so far as it is yet unfulfilled._ (_a_) Not to +enable us to map out the details of the future; but rather (_b_) To give +general assurance of God's power and foreseeing wisdom, and of the +certainty of his triumph; and (_c_) To furnish, after fulfilment, the +proof that God saw the end from the beginning. + + + _Dan. 12:8, 9--_"And I heard, but I understood not; then said I, O + my Lord, what shall be the issue of these things? And he said, Go + thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the + time of the end"; _2 Pet. 1:19_--prophecy is "a lamp shining in a + dark place, until the day dawn"--not until day dawns can distant + objects be seen; _20--_"no prophecy of scripture is of private + interpretation"--only God, by the event, can interpret it. Sir + Isaac Newton: "God gave the prophecies, not to gratify men's + curiosity by enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they + were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event, and his own + providence, not the interpreter's, be thereby manifested to the + world." Alexander McLaren: "Great tracts of Scripture are dark to + us till life explains them, and then they come on us with the + force of a new revelation, like the messages which of old were + sent by a strip of parchment coiled upon a baton and then written + upon, and which were unintelligible unless the receiver had a + corresponding baton to wrap them round." A. H. Strong, The Great + Poets and their Theology, 23--"Archilochus, a poet of about 700 B. + C., speaks of 'a grievous _scytale_'--the _scytale_ being the staff + on which a strip of leather for writing purposes was rolled + slantwise, so that the message inscribed upon the strip could not + be read until the leather was rolled again upon another staff of + the same size; since only the writer and the receiver possessed + staves of the proper size, the _scytale_ answered all the ends of + a message in cypher." + + Prophecy is like the German sentence,--it can be understood only + when we have read its last word. A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the + Spirit, 48--"God's providence is like the Hebrew Bible; we must + begin at the end and read backward, in order to understand it." + Yet Dr. Gordon seems to assert that such understanding is possible + even before fulfilment: "Christ did not know the day of the end + when here in his state of humiliation; but he does know now. He + has shown his knowledge in the Apocalypse, and we have received + 'The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto + his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass'_ + (Rev. 1:1)_." A study however of the multitudinous and conflicting + views of the so-called interpreters of prophecy leads us to prefer + to Dr. Gordon's view that of Briggs, Messianic Prophecies, 49--"The + first advent is the resolver of all Old Testament prophecy; ... + the second advent will give the key to New Testament prophecy. It + is 'the Lamb that hath been slain'_ (Rev. 5:12)_ ... who alone + opens the sealed book, solves the riddles of time, and resolves + the symbols of prophecy." + + Nitzsch: "It is the essential condition of prophecy that it should + not disturb man's relation to history." In so far as this is + forgotten, and it is falsely assumed that the purpose of prophecy + is to enable us to map out the precise events of the future before + they occur, the study of prophecy ministers to a diseased + imagination and diverts attention from practical Christian duty. + Calvin: "Aut insanum inveniet aut faciet"; or, as Lord Brougham + translated it: "The study of prophecy either finds a man crazy, or + it leaves him so." Second Adventists do not often seek + conversions. Dr. Cumming warned the women of his flock that they + must not study prophecy so much as to neglect their household + duties. Paul has such in mind in _2 Thess. 2:1, 2--_"touching the + coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ... that ye be not quickly shaken + from your mind ... as that the day of the Lord is just at hand"; + _3:11--_"For we hear of some that walk among you disorderly." + + +9. _Evidential force of Prophecy--so far as it is fulfilled._ Prophecy, +like miracles, does not stand alone as evidence of the divine commission +of the Scripture writers and teachers. It is simply a corroborative +attestation, which unites with miracles to prove that a religious teacher +has come from God and speaks with divine authority. We cannot, however, +dispense with this portion of the evidences,--for unless the death and +resurrection of Christ are events foreknown and foretold by himself, as +well as by the ancient prophets, we lose one main proof of his authority +as a teacher sent from God. + + + Stearns, Evidence of Christian Experience, 338--"The Christian's + own life is the progressive fulfilment of the prophecy that + whoever accepts Christ's grace shall be born again, sanctified, + and saved. Hence the Christian can believe in God's power to + predict, and in God's actual predictions." See Stanley Leathes, O. + T. Prophecy, xvii--"Unless we have access to the supernatural, we + have no access to God." In our discussions of prophecy, we are to + remember that before making the truth of Christianity stand or + fall with any particular passage that has been regarded as + prediction, we must be certain that the passage is meant as + prediction, and not as merely figurative description. Gladden, + Seven Puzzling Bible Books, 195--"The book of Daniel is not a + prophecy,--it is an apocalypse.... The author [of such books] puts + his words into the mouth of some historical or traditional writer + of eminence. Such are the Book of Enoch, the Assumption of Moses, + Baruch, 1 and 2 Esdras, and the Sibylline Oracles. Enigmatic form + indicates persons without naming them, and historic events as + animal forms or as operations of nature.... The book of Daniel is + not intended to teach us history. It does not look forward from + the sixth century before Christ, but backward from the second + century before Christ. It is a kind of story which the Jews called + Haggada. It is aimed at Antiochus Epiphanes, who, from his + occasional fits of melancholy, was called Epimanes, or Antiochus + the Mad." + + Whatever may be our conclusion as to the authorship of the book of + Daniel, we must recognize in it an element of prediction which has + been actually fulfilled. The most radical interpreters do not + place its date later than 163 B. C. Our Lord sees in the book + clear reference to himself (_Mat. 26:64--_"the Son of man, sitting + at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven"; + _cf._ _Dan. 7:13_); and he repeats with emphasis certain + predictions of the prophet which were yet unfulfilled (_Mat. + 24:15--_"When ye see the abomination of desolation, which was + spoken of through Daniel the prophet"; _cf._ _Dan. 9:27_; _11:31_; + _12:11_). The book of Daniel must therefore be counted profitable + not only for its moral and spiritual lessons, but also for its + actual predictions of Christ and of the universal triumph of his + kingdom (_Dan. 2:45--_"a stone cut out of the mountain without + hands"). See on Daniel, Hastings' Bible Dictionary; Farrar, in + Expositor's Bible. On the general subject see Annotated Paragraph + Bible, Introd. to Prophetical Books; Cairns, on Present State of + Christian Argument from Prophecy, in Present Day Tracts, 5: no. + 27; Edersheim, Prophecy and History; Briggs, Messianic Prophecy; + Redford, Prophecy, its Nature and Evidence; Willis J. Beecher, the + Prophet and the Promise; Orr, Problem of the O. T., 455-465. + + +Having thus removed the presumption originally existing against miracles +and prophecy, we may now consider the ordinary laws of evidence and +determine the rules to be followed in estimating the weight of the +Scripture testimony. + + + +V. Principles of Historical Evidence applicable to the Proof of a Divine +Revelation. + + +PRINCIPLES OF HISTORICAL EVIDENCE APPLICABLE TO THE PROOF OF A DIVINE +REVELATION (mainly derived from Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists, +and from Starkie on Evidence). + + +1. As to documentary evidence. + + +(_a_) Documents apparently ancient, not bearing upon their face the marks +of forgery, and found in proper custody, are presumed to be genuine until +sufficient evidence is brought to the contrary. The New Testament +documents, since they are found in the custody of the church, their +natural and legitimate depository, must by this rule be presumed to be +genuine. + + + The Christian documents were not found, like the Book of Mormon, + in a cave, or in the custody of angels. Martineau, Seat of + Authority, 322--"The Mormon prophet, who cannot tell God from devil + close at hand, is well up with the history of both worlds, and + commissioned to get ready the second promised land." Washington + Gladden, Who wrote the Bible?--"An angel appeared to Smith and told + him where he would find this book; he went to the spot designated + and found in a stone box a volume six inches thick, composed of + thin gold plates, eight inches by seven, held together by three + gold rings; these plates were covered with writing, in the + 'Reformed Egyptian tongue'; with this book were the 'Urim and + Thummim', a pair of supernatural spectacles, by means of which he + was able to read and translate this 'Reformed Egyptian' language." + Sagebeer, The Bible in Court, 113--"If the ledger of a business + firm has always been received and regarded as a ledger, its value + is not at all impeached if it is impossible to tell which + particular clerk kept this ledger.... The epistle to the Hebrews + would be no less valuable as evidence, if shown not to have been + written by Paul." See Starkie on Evidence, 480 _sq._; Chalmers, + Christian Revelation, in Works, 3:147-171. + + +(_b_) Copies of ancient documents, made by those most interested in their +faithfulness, are presumed to correspond with the originals, even although +those originals no longer exist. Since it was the church's interest to +have faithful copies, the burden of proof rests upon the objector to the +Christian documents. + + + Upon the evidence of a copy of its own records, the originals + having been lost, the House of Lords decided a claim to the + peerage; see Starkie on Evidence, 51. There is no manuscript of + Sophocles earlier than the tenth century, while at least two + manuscripts of the N. T. go back to the fourth century. Frederick + George Kenyon, Handbook to Textual Criticism of N. T.: "We owe our + knowledge of most of the great works of Greek and Latin + literature--AEschylus, Sophocles, Thucydides, Horace, Lucretius, + Tacitus, and many more--to manuscripts written from 900 to 1500 + years after their authors' deaths; while of the N. T. we have two + excellent and approximately complete copies at an interval of only + 250 years. Again, of the classical writers we have as a rule only + a few score of copies (often less), of which one or two stand out + as decisively superior to all the rest; but of the N. T. we have + more than 3000 copies (besides a very large number of versions), + and many of these have distinct and independent value." The mother + of Tischendorf named him Lobgott, because her fear that her babe + would be born blind had not come true. No man ever had keener + sight than he. He spent his life in deciphering old manuscripts + which other eyes could not read. The Sinaitic manuscript which he + discovered takes us back within three centuries of the time of the + apostles. + + +(_c_) In determining matters of fact, after the lapse of considerable +time, documentary evidence is to be allowed greater weight than oral +testimony. Neither memory nor tradition can long be trusted to give +absolutely correct accounts of particular facts. The New Testament +documents, therefore, are of greater weight in evidence than tradition +would be, even if only thirty years had elapsed since the death of the +actors in the scenes they relate. + + + See Starkie on Evidence, 51, 730. The Roman Catholic Church, in + its legends of the saints, shows how quickly mere tradition can + become corrupt. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, yet + sermons preached to-day on the anniversary of his birth make him + out to be Unitarian, Universalist, or Orthodox, according as the + preacher himself believes. + + +2. As to testimony in general. + + +(_a_) In questions as to matters of fact, the proper inquiry is not +whether it is possible that the testimony may be false, but whether there +is sufficient probability that it is true. It is unfair, therefore, to +allow our examination of the Scripture witnesses to be prejudiced by +suspicion, merely because their story is a sacred one. + + + There must be no prejudice against, there must be open-mindedness + to, truth; there must be a normal aspiration after the signs of + communication from God. Telepathy, forty days fasting, + parthenogenesis, all these might once have seemed antecedently + incredible. Now we see that it would have been more rational to + admit their existence on presentation of appropriate evidence. + + +(_b_) A proposition of fact is proved when its truth is established by +competent and satisfactory evidence. By competent evidence is meant such +evidence as the nature of the thing to be proved admits. By satisfactory +evidence is meant that amount of proof which ordinarily satisfies an +unprejudiced mind beyond a reasonable doubt. Scripture facts are therefore +proved when they are established by that kind and degree of evidence which +would in the affairs of ordinary life satisfy the mind and conscience of a +common man. When we have this kind and degree of evidence it is +unreasonable to require more. + + + In matters of morals and religion competent evidence need not be + mathematical or even logical. The majority of cases in criminal + courts are decided upon evidence that is circumstantial. We do not + determine our choice of friends or of partners in life by strict + processes of reasoning. The heart as well as the head must be + permitted a voice, and competent evidence includes considerations + arising from the moral needs of the soul. The evidence, moreover, + does not require to be demonstrative. Even a slight balance of + probability, when nothing more certain is attainable, may suffice + to constitute rational proof and to bind our moral action. + + +(_c_) In the absence of circumstances which generate suspicion, every +witness is to be presumed credible, until the contrary is shown; the +burden of impeaching his testimony lying upon the objector. The principle +which leads men to give true witness to facts is stronger than that which +leads them to give false witness. It is therefore unjust to compel the +Christian to establish the credibility of his witnesses before proceeding +to adduce their testimony, and it is equally unjust to allow the +uncorroborated testimony of a profane writer to outweigh that of a +Christian writer. Christian witnesses should not be considered interested, +and therefore untrustworthy; for they became Christians against their +worldly interests, and because they could not resist the force of +testimony. Varying accounts among them should be estimated as we estimate +the varying accounts of profane writers. + + + John's account of Jesus differs from that of the synoptic gospels; + but in a very similar manner, and probably for a very similar + reason, Plato's account of Socrates differs from that of Xenophon. + Each saw and described that side of his subject which he was by + nature best fitted to comprehend,--compare the Venice of Canaletto + with the Venice of Turner, the former the picture of an expert + draughtsman, the latter the vision of a poet who sees the palaces + of the Doges glorified by air and mist and distance. In Christ + there was a "hiding of his power"_ (Hab. 3:4)_; "how small a + whisper do we hear of him!"_ (Job 26:14)_; he, rather than + Shakespeare, is "the myriad-minded"; no one evangelist can be + expected to know or describe him except "in part"_ (1 Cor. + 13:12)_. Frances Power Cobbe, Life, 2:402--"All of us human beings + resemble diamonds, in having several distinct facets to our + characters; and, as we always turn one of these to one person and + another to another, there is generally some fresh side to be seen + in a particularly brilliant gem." E. P. Tenney, Coronation, + 45--"The secret and powerful life he [the hero of the story] was + leading was like certain solitary streams, deep, wide, and swift, + which run unseen through vast and unfrequented forests. So wide + and varied was this man's nature, that whole courses of life might + thrive in its secret places,--and his neighbors might touch him and + know him only on that side on which he was like them." + + +(_d_) A slight amount of positive testimony, so long as it is +uncontradicted, outweighs a very great amount of testimony that is merely +negative. The silence of a second witness, or his testimony that he did +not see a certain alleged occurrence, cannot counterbalance the positive +testimony of a first witness that he did see it. We should therefore +estimate the silence of profane writers with regard to facts narrated in +Scripture precisely as we should estimate it if the facts about which they +are silent were narrated by other profane writers, instead of being +narrated by the writers of Scripture. + + + Egyptian monuments make no mention of the destruction of Pharaoh + and his army; but then, Napoleon's dispatches also make no mention + of his defeat at Trafalgar. At the tomb of Napoleon in the + Invalides of Paris, the walls are inscribed with names of a + multitude of places where his battles were fought, but Waterloo, + the scene of his great defeat, is not recorded there. So + Sennacherib, in all his monuments, does not refer to the + destruction of his army in the time of Hezekiah. Napoleon gathered + 450,000 men at Dresden to invade Russia. At Moscow the + soft-falling snow conquered him. In one night 20,000 horses + perished with cold. Not without reason at Moscow, on the + anniversary of the retreat of the French, the exultation of the + prophet over the fall of Sennacherib is read in the churches. + James Robertson, Early History of Israel, 395, note--"Whately, in + his Historic Doubts, draws attention to the fact that the + principal Parisian journal in 1814, on the very day on which the + allied armies entered Paris as conquerors, makes no mention of any + such event. The battle of Poictiers in 732, which effectually + checked the spread of Mohammedanism across Europe, is not once + referred to in the monastic annals of the period. Sir Thomas + Browne lived through the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth, yet + there is no syllable in his writings with regard to them. Sale + says that circumcision is regarded by Mohammedans as an ancient + divine institution, the rite having been in use many years before + Mohammed, yet it is not so much as once mentioned in the Koran." + + Even though we should grant that Josephus does not mention Jesus, + we should have a parallel in Thucydides, who never once mentions + Socrates, the most important character of the twenty years + embraced in his history. Wieseler, however, in Jahrbuch f. d. + Theologie, 23:98, maintains the essential genuineness of the + commonly rejected passage with regard to Jesus in Josephus, + Antiq., 18:3:3, omitting, however, as interpolations, the phrases: + "if it be right to call him man"; "this was the Christ"; "he + appeared alive the third day according to prophecy"; for these, if + genuine, would prove Josephus a Christian, which he, by all + ancient accounts, was not. Josephus lived from A. D. 34 to + possibly 114. He does elsewhere speak of Christ; for he records + (20:9:1) that Albinus "assembled the Sanhedrim of judges, and + brought before them the brother of Jesus who was called Christ, + whose name was James, and some others ... and delivered them to be + stoned." See Niese's new edition of Josephus; also a monograph on + the subject by Gustav Adolph Mueller, published at Innsbruck, 1890. + Rush Rhees, Life of Jesus of Nazareth, 22--"To mention Jesus more + fully would have required some approval of his life and teaching. + This would have been a condemnation of his own people whom he + desired to commend to Gentile regard, and he seems to have taken + the cowardly course of silence concerning a matter more + noteworthy, for that generation, than much else of which he writes + very fully." + + +(_e_) "The credit due to the testimony of witnesses depends upon: first, +their ability; secondly, their honesty; thirdly, their number and the +consistency of their testimony; fourthly, the conformity of their +testimony with experience; and fifthly, the coincidence of their testimony +with collateral circumstances." We confidently submit the New Testament +witnesses to each and all of these tests. + + + See Starkie on Evidence, 726. + + + + +Chapter II. Positive Proofs That The Scriptures Are A Divine Revelation. + + + +I. Genuineness of the Christian Documents. + + +THE GENUINENESS OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCUMENTS, or proof that the books of the +Old and New Testaments were written at the age to which they are assigned +and by the men or class of men to whom they are ascribed. + + + Our present discussion comprises the first part, and only the + first part, of the doctrine of the Canon ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, a measuring-reed; + hence, a rule, a standard). It is important to observe that the + determination of the Canon, or list of the books of sacred + Scripture, is not the work of the church as an organized body. We + do not receive these books upon the authority of Fathers or + Councils. We receive them, only as the Fathers and Councils + received them, because we have evidence that they are the writings + of the men, or class of men, whose names they bear, and that they + are also credible and inspired. If the previous epistle alluded to + in _1 Cor. 5:9_ should be discovered and be universally judged + authentic, it could be placed with Paul's other letters and could + form part of the Canon, even though it has been lost for 1800 + years. Bruce, Apologetics, 321--"Abstractly the Canon is an open + question. It can never be anything else on the principles of + Protestantism which forbid us to accept the decisions of church + councils, whether ancient or modern, as final. But practically the + question of the Canon is closed." The Westminster Confession says + that the authority of the word of God "does not rest upon historic + evidence; it does not rest upon the authority of Councils; it does + not rest upon the consent of the past or the excellence of the + matter; but it rests upon the Spirit of God bearing witness to our + hearts concerning its divine authority." Clarke, Christian + Theology, 24--"The value of the Scriptures to us does not depend + upon our knowing who wrote them. In the O. T. half its pages are + of uncertain authorship. New dates mean new authorship. Criticism + is a duty, for dates of authorship give means of interpretation. + The Scriptures have power because God is in them, and because they + describe the entrance of God into the life of man." + + Saintine, Picciola, 782--"Has not a feeble reed provided man with + his first arrow, his first pen, his first instrument of music?" + Hugh Macmillan: "The idea of stringed instruments was first + derived from the twang of the well strung bow, as the archer shot + his arrows; the lyre and the harp which discourse the sweetest + music of peace were invented by those who first heard this + inspiring sound in the excitement of battle. And so there is no + music so delightful amid the jarring discord of the world, turning + everything to music and harmonizing earth and heaven, as when the + heart rises out of the gloom of anger and revenge, and converts + its bow into a harp, and sings to it the Lord's song of infinite + forgiveness." George Adam Smith, Mod. Criticism and Preaching of + O. T., 5--"The church has never renounced her liberty to revise the + Canon. The liberty at the beginning cannot be more than the + liberty thereafter. The Holy Spirit has not forsaken the leaders + of the church. Apostolic writers nowhere define the limits of the + Canon, any more than Jesus did. Indeed, they employed + extra-canonical writings. Christ and the apostles nowhere bound + the church to believe all the teachings of the O. T. Christ + discriminates, and forbids the literal interpretation of its + contents. Many of the apostolic interpretations challenge our + sense of truth. Much of their exegesis was temporary and false. + Their judgment was that much in the O. T. was rudimentary. This + opens the question of development in revelation, and justifies the + attempt to fix the historic order. The N. T. criticism of the O. + T. gives the liberty of criticism, and the need, and the + obligation of it. O. T. criticism is not, like Baur's of the N. + T., the result of _a priori_ Hegelian reasoning. From the time of + Samuel we have real history. The prophets do not appeal to + miracles. There is more gospel in the book of Jonah, when it is + treated as a parable. The O. T. is a gradual ethical revelation of + God. Few realize that the church of Christ has a higher warrant + for her Canon of the O. T. than she has for her Canon of the N. T. + The O. T. was the result of criticism in the widest sense of that + word. But what the church thus once achieved, the church may at + any time revise." + + We reserve to a point somewhat later the proof of the credibility + and the inspiration of the Scriptures. We now show their + genuineness, as we would show the genuineness of other religious + books, like the Koran, or of secular documents, like Cicero's + Orations against Catiline. Genuineness, in the sense in which we + use the term, does not necessarily imply authenticity (_i. e._, + truthfulness and authority); see Blunt, Dict. Doct. and Hist. + Theol., art.: Authenticity. Documents may be genuine which are + written in whole or in part by persons other than they whose names + they bear, provided these persons belong to the same class. The + Epistle to the Hebrews, though not written by Paul, is genuine, + because it proceeds from one of the apostolic class. The addition + of Deut. 34, after Moses' death, does not invalidate the + genuineness of the Pentateuch; nor would the theory of a later + Isaiah, even if it were established, disprove the genuineness of + that prophecy; provided, in both cases, that the additions were + made by men of the prophetic class. On the general subject of the + genuineness of the Scripture documents, see Alexander, McIlvaine, + Chalmers, Dodge, and Peabody, on the Evidences of Christianity; + also Archibald, The Bible Verified. + + +1. Genuineness of the Books of the New Testament. + + +We do not need to adduce proof of the existence of the books of the New +Testament as far back as the third century, for we possess manuscripts of +them which are at least fourteen hundred years old, and, since the third +century, references to them have been inwoven into all history and +literature. We begin our proof, therefore, by showing that these documents +not only existed, but were generally accepted as genuine, before the close +of the second century. + + + Origen was born as early as 186 A. D.; yet Tregelles tells us that + Origen's works contain citations embracing two-thirds of the New + Testament. Hatch, Hibbert Lectures, 12--"The early years of + Christianity were in some respects like the early years of our + lives.... Those early years are the most important in our + education. We learn then, we hardly know how, through effort and + struggle and innocent mistakes, to use our eyes and ears, to + measure distance and direction, by a process which ascends by + unconscious steps to the certainty which we feel in our + maturity.... It was in some such unconscious way that the + Christian thought of the early centuries gradually acquired the + form which we find when it emerges as it were into the developed + manhood of the fourth century." + + +A. All the books of the New Testament, with the single exception of 2 +Peter, were not only received as genuine, but were used in more or less +collected form, in the latter half of the second century. These +collections of writings, so slowly transcribed and distributed, imply the +long continued previous existence of the separate books, and forbid us to +fix their origin later than the first half of the second century. + +(_a_) Tertullian (160-230) appeals to the "New Testament" as made up of +the "Gospels" and "Apostles." He vouches for the genuineness of the four +gospels, the Acts, 1 Peter, 1 John, thirteen epistles of Paul, and the +Apocalypse; in short, to twenty-one of the twenty-seven books of our +Canon. + + + Sanday, Bampton Lectures for 1893, is confident that the first + three gospels took their present shape before the destruction of + Jerusalem. Yet he thinks the first and third gospels of composite + origin, and probably the second. Not later than 125 A. D. the four + gospels of our Canon had gained a recognized and exceptional + authority. Andover Professors, Divinity of Jesus Christ, 40--"The + oldest of our gospels was written about the year 70. The earlier + one, now lost, a great part of which is preserved in Luke and + Matthew, was probably written a few years earlier." + + +(_b_) The Muratorian Canon in the West and the Peshito Version in the East +(having a common date of about 160) in their catalogues of the New +Testament writings mutually complement each other's slight deficiencies, +and together witness to the fact that at that time every book of our +present New Testament, with the exception of 2 Peter, was received as +genuine. + + + Hovey, Manual of Christian Theology, 50--"The fragment on the + Canon, discovered by Muratori in 1738, was probably written about + 170 A. D., in Greek. It begins with the last words of a sentence + which must have referred to the Gospel of Mark, and proceeds to + speak of the Third Gospel as written by Luke the physician, who + did not see the Lord, and then of the Fourth Gospel as written by + John, a disciple of the Lord, at the request of his fellow + disciples and his elders." Bacon, N. T. Introduction, 50, gives + the Muratorian Canon in full; 30--"Theophilus of Antioch (181-190) + is the first to cite a gospel by name, quoting _John 1:1_ as from + 'John, one of those who were vessels of the Spirit.' " On the + Muratorian Canon, see Tregelles, Muratorian Canon. On the Peshito + Version, see Schaff, Introd. to Rev. Gk.-Eng. N. T., xxxvii; + Smith's Bible Dict., pp. 3388, 3389. + + +(_c_) The Canon of Marcion (140), though rejecting all the gospels but +that of Luke, and all the epistles but ten of Paul's, shows, nevertheless, +that at that early day "apostolic writings were regarded as a complete +original rule of doctrine." Even Marcion, moreover, does not deny the +genuineness of those writings which for doctrinal reasons he rejects. + + + Marcion, the Gnostic, was the enemy of all Judaism, and regarded + the God of the O. T. as a restricted divinity, entirely different + from the God of the N. T. Marcion was "ipso Paulo paulinior"--"plus + loyal que le roi." He held that Christianity was something + entirely new, and that it stood in opposition to all that went + before it. His Canon consisted of two parts: the "Gospel" (Luke, + with its text curtailed by omission of the Hebraistic elements) + and the Apostolicon (the epistles of Paul). The epistle to + Diognetus by an unknown author, and the epistle of Barnabas, + shared the view of Marcion. The name of the Deity was changed from + Jehovah to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. If Marcion's view had + prevailed, the Old Testament would have been lost to the Christian + Church. God's revelation would have been deprived of its proof + from prophecy. Development from the past, and divine conduct of + Jewish history, would have been denied. But without the Old + Testament, as H. W. Beecher maintained, the New Testament would + lack background; our chief source of knowledge with regard to + God's natural attributes of power, wisdom, and truth would be + removed: the love and mercy revealed in the New Testament would + seem characteristics of a weak being, who could not enforce law or + inspire respect. A tree has as much breadth below ground as there + is above; so the O. T. roots of God's revelation are as extensive + and necessary as are its N. T. trunk and branches and leaves. See + Allen, Religious Progress, 81; Westcott, Hist. N. T. Canon, and + art.: Canon, in Smith's Bible Dictionary. Also Reuss, History of + Canon; Mitchell, Critical Handbook, part I. + + +B. The Christian and Apostolic Fathers who lived in the first half of the +second century not only quote from these books and allude to them, but +testify that they were written by the apostles themselves. We are +therefore compelled to refer their origin still further back, namely, to +the first century, when the apostles lived. + +(_a_) Irenaeus (120-200) mentions and quotes the four gospels by name, and +among them the gospel according to John: "Afterwards John, the disciple of +the Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, he likewise published a gospel, +while he dwelt in Ephesus in Asia." And Irenaeus was the disciple and +friend of Polycarp (80-166), who was himself a personal acquaintance of +the Apostle John. The testimony of Irenaeus is virtually the evidence of +Polycarp, the contemporary and friend of the Apostle, that each of the +gospels was written by the person whose name it bears. + + + To this testimony it is objected that Irenaeus says there are four + gospels because there are four quarters of the world and four + living creatures in the cherubim. But we reply that Irenaeus is + here stating, not his own reason for accepting four and only four + gospels, but what he conceives to be God's reason for ordaining + that there should be four. We are not warranted in supposing that + he accepted the four gospels on any other ground than that of + testimony that they were the productions of apostolic men. + + Chrysostom, in a similar manner, compares the four gospels to a + chariot and four: When the King of Glory rides forth in it, he + shall receive the triumphal acclamations of all peoples. So + Jerome: God rides upon the cherubim, and since there are four + cherubim, there must be four gospels. All this however is an early + attempt at the philosophy of religion, and not an attempt to + demonstrate historical fact. L. L. Paine, Evolution of + Trinitarianism, 319-367, presents the radical view of the + authorship of the fourth gospel. He holds that John the apostle + died A. D. 70, or soon after, and that Irenaeus confounded the two + Johns whom Papias so clearly distinguished--John the Apostle and + John the Elder. With Harnack, Paine supposes the gospel to have + been written by John the Elder, a contemporary of Papias. But we + reply that the testimony of Irenaeus implies a long continued + previous tradition. R. W. Dale, Living Christ and Four Gospels, + 145--"Religious veneration such as that with which Irenaeus regarded + these books is of slow growth. They must have held a great place + in the Church as far back as the memory of living men extended." + See Hastings' Bible Dictionary, 2:695. + + +(_b_) Justin Martyr (died 148) speaks of "memoirs ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) of +Jesus Christ," and his quotations, though sometimes made from memory, are +evidently cited from our gospels. + + + To this testimony it is objected: (1) That Justin Martyr uses the + term "memoirs" instead of "gospels." We reply that he elsewhere + uses the term "gospels" and identifies the "memoirs" with them: + Apol., 1:66--"The apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which + are called gospels," _i. e._, not memoirs, but gospels, was the + proper title of his written records. In writing his Apology to the + heathen Emperors, Marcus Aurelius and Marcus Antoninus, he chooses + the term "memoirs", or "memorabilia", which Xenophon had used as + the title of his account of Socrates, simply in order that he may + avoid ecclesiastical expressions unfamiliar to his readers and may + commend his writing to lovers of classical literature. Notice that + Matthew must be added to John, to justify Justin's repeated + statement that there were "memoirs" of our Lord "written by + apostles," and that Mark and Luke must be added to justify his + further statement that these memoirs were compiled by "his + apostles and those who followed them." Analogous to Justin's use + of the word "memoirs" is his use of the term "Sunday", instead of + Sabbath: Apol. 1:67--"On the day called Sunday, all who live in + cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the + memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read." + Here is the use of our gospels in public worship, as of equal + authority with the O. T. Scriptures; in fact, Justin constantly + quotes the words and acts of Jesus' life from a written source, + using the word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}. See Morison, Com. on Mat., ix; Hemphill, + Literature of Second Century, 234. + + To Justin's testimony it is objected: (2) That in quoting the + words spoken from heaven at the Savior's baptism, he makes them to + be: "My son, this day have I begotten thee," so quoting _Psalm + 2:7_, and showing that he was ignorant of our present gospel, + _Mat. 3:17_. We reply that this was probably a slip of the memory, + quite natural in a day when the gospels existed only in the + cumbrous form of manuscript rolls. Justin also refers to the + Pentateuch for two facts which it does not contain; but we should + not argue from this that he did not possess our present + Pentateuch. The plays of Terence are quoted by Cicero and Horace, + and we require neither more nor earlier witnesses to their + genuineness,--yet Cicero and Horace wrote a hundred years after + Terence. It is unfair to refuse similar evidence to the gospels. + Justin had a way of combining into one the sayings of the + different evangelists--a hint which Tatian, his pupil, probably + followed out in composing his Diatessaron. On Justin Martyr's + testimony, see Ezra Abbot, Genuineness of the Fourth Gospel, 49, + note. B. W. Bacon, Introd. to N. T., speaks of Justin as "writing + _circa_ 155 A. D." + + +(_c_) Papias (80-164), whom Irenaeus calls a "hearer of John," testifies +that Matthew "wrote in the Hebrew dialect the sacred oracles ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~})," +and that "Mark, the interpreter of Peter, wrote after Peter, ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH YPOGEGRAMMENI~}) [or under Peter's direction], an unsystematic account ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~})" +of the same events and discourses. + + + To this testimony it is objected: (1) That Papias could not have + had our gospel of Matthew, for the reason that this is Greek. We + reply, either with Bleek, that Papias erroneously supposed a + Hebrew translation of Matthew, which he possessed, to be the + original; or with Weiss, that the original Matthew was in Hebrew, + while our present Matthew is an enlarged version of the same. + Palestine, like modern Wales, was bilingual; Matthew, like James, + might write both Hebrew and Greek. While B. W. Bacon gives to the + writing of Papias a date so late as 145-160 A. D., Lightfoot gives + that of 130 A. D. At this latter date Papias could easily remember + stories told him so far back as 80 A. D., by men who were youths + at the time when our Lord lived, died, rose and ascended. The work + of Papias had for its title {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}--"Exposition + of Oracles relating to the Lord" = Commentaries on the Gospels. + Two of these gospels were Matthew and Mark. The view of Weiss + mentioned above has been criticized upon the ground that the + quotations from the O. T. in Jesus' discourses in Matthew are all + taken from the Septuagint and not from the Hebrew. Westcott + answers this criticism by suggesting that, in translating his + Hebrew gospel into Greek, Matthew substituted for his own oral + version of Christ's discourses the version of these already + existing in the oral common gospel. There was a common oral basis + of true teaching, the "deposit"--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}--committed to Timothy + (_1 Tim. 6:20_; _2 Tim. 1:12, 14_), the same story told many times + and getting to be told in the same way. The narratives of Matthew, + Mark and Luke are independent versions of this apostolic + testimony. First came belief; secondly, oral teaching; thirdly, + written gospels. That the original gospel was in Aramaic seems + probable from the fact that the Oriental name for "tares," + _zawan_, (_Mat. 13:25_) has been transliterated into Greek, + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}. Morison, Com. on Mat., thinks that Matthew originally + wrote in Hebrew a collection of Sayings of Jesus Christ, which the + Nazarenes and Ebionites added to, partly from tradition, and + partly from translating his full gospel, till the result was the + so-called Gospel of the Hebrews; but that Matthew wrote his own + gospel in Greek after he had written the Sayings in Hebrew. + Professor W. A. Stevens thinks that Papias probably alluded to the + original autograph which Matthew wrote in Aramaic, but which he + afterwards enlarged and translated into Greek. See Hemphill, + Literature of the Second Century, 267. + + To the testimony of Papias it is also objected: (2) That Mark is + the most systematic of all evangelists, presenting events as a + true annalist, in chronological order. We reply that while, so far + as chronological order is concerned, Mark is systematic, so far as + logical order is concerned he is the most unsystematic of the + evangelists, showing little of the power of historical grouping + which is so discernible in Matthew. Matthew aimed to portray a + life, rather than to record a chronology. He groups Jesus' + teachings in chapters 5, 6, and 7; his miracles in chapters 8 and + 9; his directions to the apostles in chapter 10; chapters 11 and + 12 describe the growing opposition; chapter 13 meets this + opposition with his parables; the remainder of the gospel + describes our Lord's preparation for his death, his progress to + Jerusalem, the consummation of his work in the Cross and in the + resurrection. Here is true system, a philosophical arrangement of + material, compared with which the method of Mark is eminently + unsystematic. Mark is a Froissart, while Matthew has the spirit of + J. R. Green. See Bleek, Introd. to N. T., 1:108, 126; Weiss, Life + of Jesus, 1:27-39. + + +(_d_) The Apostolic Fathers,--Clement of Rome (died 101), Ignatius of +Antioch (martyred 115), and Polycarp (80-166),--companions and friends of +the apostles, have left us in their writings over one hundred quotations +from or allusions to the New Testament writings, and among these every +book, except four minor epistles (2 Peter, Jude, 2 and 3 John) is +represented. + + + Although these are single testimonies, we must remember that they + are the testimonies of the chief men of the churches of their day, + and that they express the opinion of the churches themselves. + "Like banners of a hidden army, or peaks of a distant mountain + range, they represent and are sustained by compact, continuous + bodies below." In an article by P. W. Calkins, McClintock and + Strong's Encyclopaedia, 1:315-317, quotations from the Apostolic + Fathers in great numbers are put side by side with the New + Testament passages from which they quote or to which they allude. + An examination of these quotations and allusions convinces us that + these Fathers were in possession of all the principal books of our + New Testament. See Ante-Nicene Library of T. and T. Clark; Thayer, + in Boston Lectures for 1871:324; Nash, Ethics and Revelation, + 11--"Ignatius says to Polycarp: 'The times call for thee, as the + winds call for the pilot.' So do the times call for reverent, + fearless scholarship in the church." Such scholarship, we are + persuaded, has already demonstrated the genuineness of the N. T. + documents. + + +(_e_) In the synoptic gospels, the omission of all mention of the +fulfilment of Christ's prophecies with regard to the destruction of +Jerusalem is evidence that these gospels were written before the +occurrence of that event. In the Acts of the Apostles, universally +attributed to Luke, we have an allusion to "the former treatise", or the +gospel by the same author, which must, therefore, have been written before +the end of Paul's first imprisonment at Rome, and probably with the help +and sanction of that apostle. + + + _Acts 1:1--_"The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning + all that Jesus began both to do and to teach." If the Acts was + written A. D. 63, two years after Paul's arrival at Rome, then + "the former treatise," the gospel according to Luke, can hardly be + dated later than 60; and since the destruction of Jerusalem took + place in 70, Matthew and Mark must have published their gospels at + least as early as the year 68, when multitudes of men were still + living who had been eye-witnesses of the events of Jesus' life. + Fisher, Nature and Method of Revelation, 180--"At any considerably + later date [than the capture of Jerusalem] the apparent + conjunction of the fall of the city and the temple with the + Parousia would have been avoided or explained.... Matthew, in its + present form, appeared after the beginning of the mortal struggle + of the Romans with the Jews, or between 65 and 70. Mark's gospel + was still earlier. The language of the passages relative to the + Parousia, in Luke, is consistent with the supposition that he + wrote after the fall of Jerusalem, but not with the supposition + that it was long after." See Norton, Genuineness of the Gospels; + Alford, Greek Testament, Prolegomena, 30, 31, 36, 45-47. + + +C. It is to be presumed that this acceptance of the New Testament +documents as genuine, on the part of the Fathers of the churches, was for +good and sufficient reasons, both internal and external, and this +presumption is corroborated by the following considerations: + +(_a_) There is evidence that the early churches took every care to assure +themselves of the genuineness of these writings before they accepted them. + + + Evidences of care are the following:--Paul, in _2 Thess. 2:2_, + urged the churches to use care, "to the end that ye be not quickly + shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or + by word, or by epistle as from us"; _1 Cor. 5:9--_"I wrote unto you + in my epistle to have no company with fornicators"; _Col. + 4:16--_"when this epistle hath been read among you, cause that it + be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye also + read the epistle from Laodicea." Melito (169), Bishop of Sardis, + who wrote a treatise on the Revelation of John, went as far as + Palestine to ascertain on the spot the facts relating to the Canon + of the O. T., and as a result of his investigations excluded the + Apocrypha. Ryle, Canon of O. T., 203--"Melito, the Bishop of + Sardis, sent to a friend a list of the O. T. Scriptures which he + professed to have obtained from accurate inquiry, while traveling + in the East, in Syria. Its contents agree with those of the Hebrew + Canon, save in the omission of Esther." Serapion, Bishop of + Antioch (191-213, Abbot), says: "We receive Peter and other + apostles as Christ, but as skilful men we reject those writings + which are falsely ascribed to them." Geo. H. Ferris, Baptist + Congress, 1899:94--"Serapion, after permitting the reading of the + Gospel of Peter in public services, finally decided against it, + not because he thought there could be no fifth gospel, but because + he thought it was not written by Peter." Tertullian (160-230) + gives an example of the deposition of a presbyter in Asia Minor + for publishing a pretended work of Paul; see Tertullian, De + Baptismo, referred to by Godet on John, Introduction; Lardner, + Works, 2:304, 305; McIlvaine, Evidences, 92. + + +(_b_) The style of the New Testament writings, and their complete +correspondence with all we know of the lands and times in which they +profess to have been written, affords convincing proof that they belong to +the apostolic age. + + + Notice the mingling of Latin and Greek, as in {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} (_Mark + 6:27_) and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} (_Mark 15:39_); of Greek and Aramaean, as in + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~} (_Mark 6:40_) and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} (_Mat. + 24:15_); this could hardly have occurred after the first century. + Compare the anachronisms of style and description in Thackeray's + "Henry Esmond," which, in spite of the author's special studies + and his determination to exclude all words and phrases that had + originated in his own century, was marred by historical errors + that Macaulay in his most remiss moments would hardly have made. + James Russell Lowell told Thackeray that "different to" was not a + century old. "Hang it, no!" replied Thackeray. In view of this + failure, on the part of an author of great literary skill, to + construct a story purporting to be written a century before his + time and that could stand the test of historical criticism, we may + well regard the success of our gospels in standing such tests as a + practical demonstration that they were written in, and not after, + the apostolic age. See Alexander, Christ and Christianity, 27-37; + Blunt, Scriptural Coincidences, 244-354. + + +(_c_) The genuineness of the fourth gospel is confirmed by the fact that +Tatian (155-170), the Assyrian, a disciple of Justin, repeatedly quoted it +without naming the author, and composed a Harmony of our four gospels +which he named the Diatessaron; while Basilides (130) and Valentinus +(150), the Gnostics, both quote from it. + + + The sceptical work entitled "Supernatural Religion" said in 1874; + "No one seems to have seen Tatian's Harmony, probably for the very + simple reason that there was no such work"; and "There is no + evidence whatever connecting Tatian's Gospel with those of our + Canon." In 1876, however, there was published in a Latin form in + Venice the Commentary of Ephraem Syrus on Tatian, and the + commencement of it was: "In the beginning was the Word"_ (John + 1:1)_. In 1888, the Diatessaron itself was published in Rome in + the form of an Arabic translation made in the eleventh century + from the Syriac. J. Rendel Harris, in Contemp. Rev., 1893:800 + _sq._, says that the recovery of Tatian's Diatessaron has + indefinitely postponed the literary funeral of St. John. Advanced + critics, he intimates, are so called, because they run ahead of + the facts they discuss. The gospels must have been well + established in the Christian church when Tatian undertook to + combine them. Mrs. A. S. Lewis, in S. S. Times, Jan. 23, 1904--"The + gospels were translated into Syriac before A. D. 160. It follows + that the Greek document from which they were translated was older + still, and since the one includes the gospel of St. John, so did + the other." Hemphill, Literature of the Second Century, 183-231, + gives the birth of Tatian about 120, and the date of his + Diatessaron as 172 A. D. + + The difference in style between the Revelation and the gospel of + John is due to the fact that the Revelation was written during + John's exile in Patmos, under Nero, in 67 or 68, soon after John + had left Palestine and had taken up his residence at Ephesus. He + had hitherto spoken Aramaean, and Greek was comparatively + unfamiliar to him. The gospel was written thirty years after, + probably about 97, when Greek had become to him like a mother + tongue. See Lightfoot on Galatians, 343, 347; _per contra_, see + Milligan, Revelation of St. John. Phrases and ideas which indicate + a common authorship of the Revelation and the gospel are the + following: "the Lamb of God," "the Word of God," "the True" as an + epithet applied to Christ, "the Jews" as enemies of God, "manna," + "him whom they pierced"; see Elliott, Horae Apocalypticae, 1:4, 5. + In the fourth gospel we have {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, in Apoc. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, perhaps + better to distinguish "the Lamb" from the diminutive {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, + "the beast." Common to both Gospel and Rev. are {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, "to do" + [the truth]; {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, of moral conduct; {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, "genuine"; + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, of the higher wants of the soul; {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}; also "overcome," "testimony," "Bridegroom," + "Shepherd," "Water of life." In the Revelation there are + grammatical solecisms: nominative for genitive, 1:4--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}; + nominative for accusative, 7:9--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} ... {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}; accusative + for nominative, 20:2--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. Similarly we have in + _Rom. 12:5_--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} instead of {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, where {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} + has lost its regimen--a frequent solecism in later Greek writers; + see Godet on John, 1:269, 270. Emerson reminded Jones Very that + the Holy Ghost surely writes good grammar. The Apocalypse seems to + show that Emerson was wrong. + + The author of the fourth gospel speaks of John in the third + person, "and scorned to blot it with a name." But so does Caesar + speak of himself in his Commentaries. Harnack regards both the + fourth gospel and the Revelation as the work of John the Presbyter + or Elder, the former written not later than about 110 A. D.; the + latter from 93 to 96, but being a revision of one or more + underlying Jewish apocalypses. Vischer has expounded this view of + the Revelation; and Porter holds substantially the same, in his + article on the Book of Revelation in Hastings' Bible Dictionary, + 4:239-266. "It is the obvious advantage of the Vischer-Harnack + hypothesis that it places the original work under Nero and its + revised and Christianized edition under Domitian." (Sanday, + Inspiration, 371, 372, nevertheless dismisses this hypothesis as + raising worse difficulties than it removes. He dates the + Apocalypse between the death of Nero and the destruction of + Jerusalem by Titus.) Martineau, Seat of Authority, 227, presents + the moral objections to the apostolic authorship, and regards the + Revelation, from chapter 4:1 to 22:5, as a purely Jewish document + of the date 66-70, supplemented and revised by a Christian, and + issued not earlier than 136: "How strange that we should ever have + thought it possible for a personal attendant upon the ministry of + Jesus to write or edit a book mixing up fierce Messianic + conflicts, in which, with the sword, the gory garment, the + blasting flame, the rod of iron, as his emblems, he leads the + war-march, and treads the winepress of the wrath of God until the + deluge of blood rises to the horses' bits, with the speculative + Christology of the second century, without a memory of his life, a + feature of his look, a word from his voice, or a glance back at + the hillsides of Galilee, the courts of Jerusalem, the road to + Bethany, on which his image must be forever seen!" + + The force of this statement, however, is greatly broken if we + consider that the apostle John, in his earlier days, was one of + the "Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder"_ (Mark 3:17)_, but + became in his later years the apostle of love: _1 John + 4:7--_"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God." The + likeness of the fourth gospel to the epistle, which latter was + undoubtedly the work of John the apostle, indicates the same + authorship for the gospel. Thayer remarks that "the discovery of + the gospel according to Peter sweeps away half a century of + discussion. Brief as is the recovered fragment, it attests + indubitably all four of our canonical books." Riddle, in Popular + Com., 1:25--"If a forger wrote the fourth gospel, then Beelzebub + has been casting out devils for these eighteen hundred years." On + the genuineness of the fourth gospel, see Bleek, Introd. to N. T., + 1:250; Fisher, Essays on Supernat. Origin of Christianity, 33, + also Beginnings of Christianity, 320-362, and Grounds of Theistic + and Christian Belief, 245-309; Sanday, Authorship of the Fourth + Gospel, Gospels in the Second Century, and Criticism of the Fourth + Gospel; Ezra Abbott, Genuineness of the Fourth Gospel, 52, 80-87; + Row, Bampton Lectures on Christian Evidences, 249-287; British + Quarterly, Oct. 1872:216; Godet, in Present Day Tracts, 5: no. 25; + Westcott, in Bib. Com. on John's Gospel, Introd., xxviii-xxxii; + Watkins, Bampton Lectures for 1890; W. L. Ferguson, in Bib. Sac., + 1896:1-27. + + +(_d_) The epistle to the Hebrews appears to have been accepted during the +first century after it was written (so Clement of Borne, Justin Martyr, +and the Peshito Version witness). Then for two centuries, especially in +the Roman and North African churches, and probably because its internal +characteristics were inconsistent with the tradition of a Pauline +authorship, its genuineness was doubted (so Tertullian, Cyprian, Irenaeus, +Muratorian Canon). At the end of the fourth century, Jerome examined the +evidence and decided in its favor; Augustine did the same; the third +Council of Carthage formally recognized it (397); from that time the Latin +churches united with the East in receiving it, and thus the doubt was +finally and forever removed. + + + The Epistle to the Hebrews, the style of which is so unlike that + of the Apostle Paul, was possibly written by Apollos, who was an + Alexandrian Jew, "a learned man" and "mighty in the Scriptures"_ + (Acts 18:24)_; but it may notwithstanding have been written at the + suggestion and under the direction of Paul, and so be essentially + Pauline. A. C. Kendrick, in American Commentary on Hebrews, points + out that while the style of Paul is prevailingly dialectic, and + only in rapt moments becomes rhetorical or poetic, the style of + the Epistle to the Hebrews is prevailingly rhetorical, is free + from anacolutha, and is always dominated by emotion. He holds that + these characteristics point to Apollos as its author. Contrast + also Paul's method of quoting the O. T.: "it is written"_ (Rom. + 11:8; 1 Cor. 1:31; Gal. 3:10)_ with that of the Hebrews: "he + saith"_ (8:5, 13)_, "he hath said"_ (4:4)_. Paul quotes the O. T. + fifty or sixty times, but never in this latter way. _Heb. + 2:3--_"which having at the first been spoken by the Lord, was + confirmed unto us by them that heard"--shows that the writer did + not receive the gospel at first hand. Luther and Calvin rightly + saw in this a decisive proof that Paul was not the author, for he + always insisted on the primary and independent character of his + gospel. Harnack formerly thought the epistle written by Barnabas + to Christians at Rome, A. D. 81-96. More recently however he + attributes it to Priscilla, the wife of Aquila, or to their joint + authorship. The majesty of its diction, however, seems unfavorable + to this view. William T. C. Hanna: "The words of the author ... + are marshalled grandly, and move with the tread of an army, or + with the swell of a tidal wave"; see Franklin Johnson, Quotations + in N. T. from O. T., xii. Plumptre, Introd. to N. T., 37, and in + Expositor, Vol. I, regards the author of this epistle as the same + with that of the Apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon, the latter being + composed before, the former after, the writer's conversion to + Christianity. Perhaps our safest conclusion is that of Origen: + "God only knows who wrote it." Harnack however remarks: "The time + in which our ancient Christian literature, the N. T. included, was + considered as a web of delusions and falsifications, is past. The + oldest literature of the church is, in its main points, and in + most of its details, true and trustworthy." See articles on + Hebrews, in Smith's and in Hastings' Bible Dictionaries. + + +(_e_) As to 2 Peter, Jude, and 2 and 3 John, the epistles most frequently +held to be spurious, we may say that, although we have no conclusive +external evidence earlier than A. D. 160, and in the case of 2 Peter none +earlier than A. D. 230-250, we may fairly urge in favor of their +genuineness not only their internal characteristics of literary style and +moral value, but also the general acceptance of them all since the third +century as the actual productions of the men or class of men whose names +they bear. + + + Firmilianus (250), Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, is the first + clear witness to 2 Peter. Origen (230) names it, but, in naming + it, admits that its genuineness is questioned. The Council of + Laodicea (372) first received it into the Canon. With this very + gradual recognition and acceptance of 2 Peter, compare the loss of + the later works of Aristotle for a hundred and fifty years after + his death, and their recognition as genuine so soon as they were + recovered from the cellar of the family of Neleus in Asia; De + Wette's first publication of certain letters of Luther after the + lapse of three hundred years, yet without occasioning doubt as to + their genuineness; or the concealment of Milton's Treatise on + Christian Doctrine, among the lumber of the State Paper Office in + London, from 1677 to 1823; see Mair, Christian Evidences, 95. Sir + William Hamilton complained that there were treatises of Cudworth, + Berkeley and Collier, still lying unpublished and even unknown to + their editors, biographers and fellow metaphysicians, but yet of + the highest interest and importance; see Mansel, Letters, Lectures + and Reviews, 381; Archibald, The Bible Verified, 27. 2 Peter was + probably sent from the East shortly before Peter's martyrdom; + distance and persecution may have prevented its rapid circulation + in other countries. Sagebeer, The Bible in Court, 114--"A ledger + may have been lost, or its authenticity for a long time doubted, + but when once it is discovered and proved, it is as trustworthy as + any other part of the _res gestae_." See Plumptre, Epistles of + Peter, Introd., 73-81; Alford on 2 Peter, 4: Prolegomena, 157; + Westcott, on Canon, in Smith's Bib. Dict., 1:370, 373; Blunt, + Dict. Doct. and Hist. Theol., art.: Canon. + + It is urged by those who doubt the genuineness of 2 Peter that the + epistle speaks of "your apostles"_ (3:2)_, just as _Jude 17_ + speaks of "the apostles," as if the writer did not number himself + among them. But 2 Peter begins with "Simon Peter, a servant and + apostle of Jesus Christ," and Jude, "brother of James"_ (verse 1)_ + was a brother of our Lord, but not an apostle. Hovey, Introd. to + N. T., xxxi--"The earliest passage manifestly based upon 2 Peter + appears to be in the so-called Second Epistle of the Roman + Clement, 16:3, which however is now understood to be a Christian + homily from the middle of the second century." Origen (born 186) + testifies that Peter left one epistle, "and perhaps a second, for + that is disputed." He also says: "John wrote the Apocalypse, and + an epistle of very few lines; and, it may be, a second and a + third; since all do not admit them to be genuine." He quotes also + from James and from Jude, adding that their canonicity was + doubted. + + Harnack regards 1 Peter, 2 Peter, James, and Jude, as written + respectively about 160, 170, 130, and 130, but not by the men to + whom they are ascribed--the ascriptions to these authors being + later additions. Hort remarks: "If I were asked, I should say that + the balance of the argument was against 2 Peter, but the moment I + had done so I should begin to think I might be in the wrong." + Sanday, Oracles of God, 73 note, considers the arguments in favor + of 2 Peter unconvincing, but also the arguments against. He cannot + get beyond a _non liquet_. He refers to Salmon, Introd. to N. T., + 529-559, ed. 4, as expressing his own view. But the later + conclusions of Sanday are more radical. In his Bampton Lectures on + Inspiration, 348, 399, he says: 2 Peter "is probably at least to + this extent a counterfeit, that it appears under a name which is + not that of its true author." + + Chase, in Hastings' Bib. Dict., 3:806-817, says that "the first + piece of _certain_ evidence as to 2 Peter is the passage from + Origen quoted by Eusebius, though it hardly admits of doubt that + the Epistle was known to Clement of Alexandria.... We find no + trace of the epistle in the period when the tradition of apostolic + days was still living.... It was not the work of the apostle but + of the second century ... put forward without any sinister motive + ... the personation of the apostle an obvious literary device + rather than a religious or controversial fraud. The adoption of + such a verdict can cause perplexity only when the Lord's promise + of guidance to his Church is regarded as a charter of + infallibility." Against this verdict we would urge the dignity and + spiritual value of 2 Peter--internal evidence which in our judgment + causes the balance to incline in favor of its apostolic + authorship. + + +(_f_) Upon no other hypothesis than that of their genuineness can the +general acceptance of these four minor epistles since the third century, +and of all the other books of the New Testament since the middle of the +second century, be satisfactorily accounted for. If they had been mere +collections of floating legends, they could not have secured wide +circulation as sacred books for which Christians must answer with their +blood. If they had been forgeries, the churches at large could neither +have been deceived as to their previous non-existence, nor have been +induced unanimously to pretend that they were ancient and genuine. +Inasmuch, however, as other accounts of their origin, inconsistent with +their genuineness, are now current, we proceed to examine more at length +the most important of these opposing views. + + + The genuineness of the New Testament as a whole would still be + demonstrable, even if doubt should still attach to one or two of + its books. It does not matter that 2nd Alcibiades was not written + by Plato, or Pericles by Shakespeare. The Council of Carthage in + 397 gave a place in the Canon to the O. T. Apocrypha, but the + Reformers tore it out. Zwingli said of the Revelation: "It is not + a Biblical book," and Luther spoke slightingly of the Epistle of + James. The judgment of Christendom at large is more trustworthy + than the private impressions of any single Christian scholar. To + hold the books of the N. T. to be written in the second century by + other than those whose names they bear is to hold, not simply to + forgery, but to a conspiracy of forgery. There must have been + several forgers at work, and, since their writings wonderfully + agree, there must have been collusion among them. Yet these able + men have been forgotten, while the names of far feebler writers of + the second century have been preserved. + + G. F. Wright, Scientific Aspects of Christian Evidences, 343--"In + civil law there are 'statutes of limitations' which provide that + the general acknowledgment of a purported fact for a certain + period shall be considered as conclusive evidence of it. If, for + example, a man has remained in undisturbed possession of land for + a certain number of years, it is presumed that he has a valid + claim to it, and no one is allowed to dispute his claim." Mair, + Evidences, 99--"We probably have not a tenth part of the evidence + upon which the early churches accepted the N. T. books as the + genuine productions of their authors. We have only their verdict." + Wynne, in Literature of the Second Century, 58--"Those who gave up + the Scriptures were looked on by their fellow Christians as + 'traditores,' traitors, who had basely yielded up what they ought + to have treasured as dearer than life. But all their books were + not equally sacred. Some were essential, and some were + non-essential to the faith. Hence arose the distinction between + _canonical_ and _non-canonical_. The general consciousness of + Christians grew into a distinct registration." Such registration + is entitled to the highest respect, and lays the burden of proof + upon the objector. See Alexander, Christ and Christianity, + Introduction; Hovey, General Introduction to American Commentary + on N. T. + + +D. Rationalistic Theories as to the origin of the gospels. These are +attempts to eliminate the miraculous element from the New Testament +records, and to reconstruct the sacred history upon principles of +naturalism. + +Against them we urge the general objection that they are unscientific in +their principle and method. To set out in an examination of the New +Testament documents with the assumption that all history is a mere natural +development, and that miracles are therefore impossible, is to make +history a matter, not of testimony, but of _a priori_ speculation. It +indeed renders any history of Christ and his apostles impossible, since +the witnesses whose testimony with regard to miracles is discredited can +no longer be considered worthy of credence in their account of Christ's +life or doctrine. + + + In Germany, half a century ago, "a man was famous according as he + had lifted up axes upon the thick trees"_ (Ps. 74:5, A. V.)_, just + as among the American Indians he was not counted a man who could + not show his scalps. The critics fortunately scalped each other; + see Tyler, Theology of Greek Poets, 79--on Homer. Nicoll, The + Church's One Foundation, 15--"Like the mummers of old, sceptical + critics send one before them with a broom to sweep the stage clear + of everything for their drama. If we assume at the threshold of + the gospel study that everything of the nature of miracle is + impossible, then the specific questions are decided before the + criticism begins to operate in earnest." Matthew Arnold: "Our + popular religion at present conceives the birth, ministry and + death of Christ as altogether steeped in prodigy, brimful of + miracle,--and _miracles do not happen_." This presupposition + influences the investigations of Kuenen, and of A. E. Abbott, in + his article on the Gospels in the Encyc. Britannica. We give + special attention to four of the theories based upon this + assumption. + + +1st. The Myth-theory of Strauss (1808-1874). + + +According to this view, the gospels are crystallizations into story of +Messianic ideas which had for several generations filled the minds of +imaginative men in Palestine. The myth is a narrative in which such ideas +are unconsciously clothed, and from which the element of intentional and +deliberate deception is absent. + + + This early view of Strauss, which has become identified with his + name, was exchanged in late years for a more advanced view which + extended the meaning of the word "myths" so as to include all + narratives that spring out of a theological idea, and it admitted + the existence of "pious frauds" in the gospels. Baur, he says, + first convinced him that the author of the fourth gospel had "not + unfrequently composed mere fables, knowing them to be mere + fictions." The animating spirit of both the old view and the new + is the same. Strauss says: "We know with certainty what Jesus was + _not_, and what he has _not_ done, namely, nothing superhuman and + supernatural." "No gospel can claim that degree of historic + credibility that would be required in order to make us debase our + reason to the point of believing miracles." He calls the + resurrection of Christ "ein weltgeschichtlicher Humbug." "If the + gospels are really historical documents, we cannot exclude miracle + from the life-story of Jesus;" see Strauss, Life of Jesus, 17; New + Life of Jesus, 1: preface, xii. Vatke, Einleitung in A. T., 210, + 211, distinguishes the myth from the _saga_ or legend: The + criterion of the pure myth is that the experience is impossible, + while the _saga_ is a tradition of remote antiquity; the myth has + in it the element only of belief, the _saga_ has in it an element + of history. Sabatier, Philos. Religion, 37--"A myth is false in + appearance only. The divine Spirit can avail himself of the + fictions of poetry as well as of logical reasonings. When the + heart was pure, the veils of fable always allowed the face of + truth to shine through. And does not childhood run on into + maturity and old age?" + + It is very certain that childlike love of truth was not the + animating spirit of Strauss. On the contrary, his spirit was that + of remorseless criticism and of uncompromising hostility to the + supernatural. It has been well said that he gathered up all the + previous objections of sceptics to the gospel narrative and hurled + them in one mass, just as if some Sadducee at the time of Jesus' + trial had put all the taunts and gibes, all the buffetings and + insults, all the shame and spitting, into one blow delivered + straight into the face of the Redeemer. An octogenarian and + saintly German lady said unsuspectingly that "somehow she never + could get interested" in Strauss's Leben Jesu, which her sceptical + son had given her for religious reading. The work was almost + altogether destructive, only the last chapter suggesting Strauss's + own view of what Jesus was. + + If Luther's dictum is true that "the heart is the best + theologian," Strauss must be regarded as destitute of the main + qualification for his task. Encyc. Britannica, 22:592--"Strauss's + mind was almost exclusively analytical and critical, without depth + of religious feeling, or philosophical penetration, or historical + sympathy. His work was rarely constructive, and, save when he was + dealing with a kindred spirit, he failed as a historian, + biographer, and critic, strikingly illustrating Goethe's + profoundly true principle that loving sympathy is essential for + productive criticism." Pfleiderer, Strauss's Life of Jesus, + xix--"Strauss showed that the church formed the mythical traditions + about Jesus out of its faith in him as the Messiah; but he did not + show how the church came by the faith that Jesus of Nazareth was + the Messiah." See Carpenter, Mental Physiology, 362; Grote, Plato, + 1:249. + + +We object to the Myth-theory of Strauss, that + +(_a_) The time between the death of Christ and the publication of the +gospels was far too short for the growth and consolidation of such +mythical histories. Myths, on the contrary, as the Indian, Greek, Roman +and Scandinavian instances bear witness, are the slow growth of centuries. + +(_b_) The first century was not a century when such formation of myths was +possible. Instead of being a credulous and imaginative age, it was an age +of historical inquiry and of Sadduceeism in matters of religion. + + + Horace, in Odes 1:34 and 3:6, denounces the neglect and squalor of + the heathen temples, and Juvenal, Satire 2:150, says that "Esse + aliquid manes et subterranea regna Nec pueri credunt." Arnold of + Rugby: "The idea of men writing mythic histories between the times + of Livy and of Tacitus, and of St. Paul mistaking them for + realities!" Pilate's sceptical inquiry, "What is truth?"_ (John + 18:38)_, better represented the age. "The mythical age is past + when an idea is presented abstractly--apart from narrative." The + Jewish sect of the Sadducees shows that the rationalistic spirit + was not confined to Greeks or Romans. The question of John the + Baptist, _Mat. 11:3--_"Art thou he that cometh, or look we for + another?" and our Lord's answer, _Mat. 11:4, 5--_"Go and tell John + the thing which ye hear and see: the blind receive their sight ... + the dead are raised up," show that the Jews expected miracles to + be wrought by the Messiah; yet _John 10:41--_"John indeed did no + sign" shows also no irresistible inclination to invest popular + teachers with miraculous powers; see E. G. Robinson, Christian + Evidences, 22; Westcott, Com. on John 10:41; Rogers, Superhuman + Origin of the Bible, 61; Cox, Miracles, 50. + + +(_c_) The gospels cannot be a mythical outgrowth of Jewish ideas and +expectations, because, in their main features, they run directly counter +to these ideas and expectations. The sullen and exclusive nationalism of +the Jews could not have given rise to a gospel for all nations, nor could +their expectations of a temporal monarch have led to the story of a +suffering Messiah. + + + The O. T. Apocrypha shows how narrow was the outlook of the Jews. + 2 Esdras 6:55, 56 says the Almighty has made the world "for _our_ + sakes"; other peoples, though they "also come from Adam," to the + Eternal "are nothing, but be like unto spittle." The whole + multitude of them are only, before him, "like a single foul drop + that oozes out of a cask" (C. Geikie, in S. S. Times). Christ's + kingdom differed from that which the Jews expected, both in its + _spirituality_ and its _universality_ (Bruce, Apologetics, 3). + There was no missionary impulse in the heathen world; on the other + hand, it was blasphemy for an ancient tribesman to make known his + god to an outsider (Nash, Ethics and Revelation, 106). The + Apocryphal gospels show what sort of myths the N. T. age would + have elaborated: Out of a demoniac young woman Satan is said to + depart in the form of a young man (Bernard, in Literature of the + Second Century, 99-136). + + +(_d_) The belief and propagation of such myths are inconsistent with what +we know of the sober characters and self-sacrificing lives of the +apostles. + +(_e_) The mythical theory cannot account for the acceptance of the gospels +among the Gentiles, who had none of the Jewish ideas and expectations. + +(_f_) It cannot explain Christianity itself, with its belief in Christ's +crucifixion and resurrection, and the ordinances which commemorate these +facts. + + + (_d_) Witness Thomas's doubting, and Paul's shipwrecks and + scourgings. _Cf._ _2 Pet. 1:16_--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} = "we have not been on the false track of myths + artificially elaborated." See F. W. Farrar, Witness of History to + Christ, 49-88. (_e_) See the two books entitled: If the Gospel + Narratives are Mythical,--What Then? and, But How,--if the Gospels + are Historic? (_f_) As the existence of the American Republic is + proof that there was once a Revolutionary War, so the existence of + Christianity is proof of the death of Christ. The change from the + seventh day to the first, in Sabbath observance, could never have + come about in a nation so Sabbatarian, had not the first day been + the celebration of an actual resurrection. Like the Jewish + Passover and our own Independence Day, Baptism and the Lord's + Supper cannot be accounted for, except as monuments and + remembrances of historical facts at the beginning of the Christian + church. See Muir, on the Lord's Supper an abiding Witness to the + Death of Christ, In Present Day Tracts, 6: no. 36. On Strauss and + his theory, see Hackett, in Christian Rev., 48; Weiss, Life of + Jesus, 155-163; Christlieb, Mod. Doubt and Christ. Belief, + 379-425; Maclear, in Strivings for the Faith, 1-136; H. B. Smith, + in Faith and Philosophy, 442-468; Bayne, Review of Strauss's New + Life, in Theol. Eclectic, 4:74; Row, in Lectures on Modern + Scepticism, 305-360; Bibliotheca Sacra, Oct. 1871: art. by Prof. + W. A. Stevens; Burgess, Antiquity and Unity of Man, 263, 264; + Curtis on Inspiration, 62-67; Alexander, Christ and Christianity, + 92-126; A. P. Peabody, in Smith's Bible Dict., 2:954-958. + + +2nd. The Tendency-theory of Baur (1792-1860). + + +This maintains that the gospels originated in the middle of the second +century, and were written under assumed names as a means of reconciling +opposing Jewish and Gentile tendencies in the church. "These great +national tendencies find their satisfaction, not in events corresponding +to them, but in the elaboration of conscious fictions." + + + Baur dates the fourth gospel at 160-170 A. D.; Matthew at 130; + Luke at 150; Mark at 150-160. Baur never inquires who Christ was. + He turns his attention from the facts to the documents. If the + documents be proved unhistorical, there is no need of examining + the facts, for there are no facts to examine. He indicates the + presupposition of his investigations, when he says: "The principal + argument for the later origin of the gospels must forever remain + this, that separately, and still more when taken together, they + give an account of the life of Jesus which involves + impossibilities"--_i. e._, miracles. He would therefore remove + their authorship far enough from Jesus' time to permit regarding + the miracles as inventions. Baur holds that in Christ were united + the universalistic spirit of the new religion, _and_ the + particularistic form of the Jewish Messianic idea; some of his + disciples laid emphasis on the one, some on the other; hence first + conflict, but finally reconciliation; see statement of the + Tuebingen theory and of the way in which Baur was led to it, in + Bruce, Apologetics, 360. E. G. Robinson interprets Baur as + follows: "Paul = Protestant; Peter = sacramentarian; James = + ethical; Paul + Peter + James = Christianity. Protestant preaching + should dwell more on the ethical--cases of conscience--and less on + mere doctrine, such as regeneration and justification." + + Baur was a stranger to the needs of his own soul, and so to the + real character of the gospel. One of his friends and advisers + wrote, after his death, in terms that were meant to be laudatory: + "His was a completely objective nature. No trace of personal needs + or struggles is discernible in connection with his investigations + of Christianity." The estimate of posterity is probably expressed + in the judgment with regard to the Tuebingen school by Harnack: + "The _possible_ picture it sketched was not the _real_, and the + key with which it attempted to solve all problems did not suffice + for the most simple.... The Tuebingen views have indeed been + compelled to undergo very large modifications. As regards the + development of the church in the second century, it may safely be + said that the hypotheses of the Tuebingen school have proved + themselves everywhere inadequate, very erroneous, and are to-day + held by only a very few scholars." See Baur, Die kanonischen + Evangelien; Canonical Gospels (Eng. transl.), 530; Supernatural + Religion, 1:212-444 and vol. 2: Pfleiderer, Hibbert Lectures for + 1885. For accounts of Baur's position, see Herzog, Encyclopaedie, + art.: Baur; Clarke's transl. of Hase's Life of Jesus, 34-36; + Farrar, Critical History of Free Thought, 227, 228. + + +We object to the Tendency-theory of Baur, that + +(_a_) The destructive criticism to which it subjects the gospels, if +applied to secular documents, would deprive us of any certain knowledge of +the past, and render all history impossible. + + + The assumption of artifice is itself unfavorable to a candid + examination of the documents. A perverse acuteness can descry + evidences of a hidden _animus_ in the most simple and ingenuous + literary productions. Instance the philosophical interpretation of + "Jack and Jill." + + +(_b_) The antagonistic doctrinal tendencies which it professes to find in +the several gospels are more satisfactorily explained as varied but +consistent aspects of the one system of truth held by all the apostles. + + + Baur exaggerates the doctrinal and official differences between + the leading apostles. Peter was not simply a Judaizing Christian, + but was the first preacher to the Gentiles, and his doctrine + appears to have been subsequently influenced to a considerable + extent by Paul's (see Plumptre on 1 Pet., 68-69). Paul was not an + exclusively Hellenizing Christian, but invariably addressed the + gospel to the Jews before he turned to the Gentiles. The + evangelists give pictures of Jesus from different points of view. + As the Parisian sculptor constructs his bust with the aid of a + dozen photographs of his subject, all taken from different points + of view, so from the four portraits furnished us by Matthew, Mark, + Luke and John we are to construct the solid and symmetrical life + of Christ. The deeper reality which makes reconciliation of the + different views possible is the actual historical Christ. Marcus + Dods, Expositor's Greek Testament, 1:675--"They are not two + Christs, but one, which the four Gospels depict: diverse as the + profile and front face, but one another's complement rather than + contradiction." + + Godet, Introd. to Gospel Collection, 272--Matthew shows the + greatness of Jesus--his full-length portrait; Mark his + indefatigable activity; Luke his beneficent compassion; John his + essential divinity. Matthew first wrote Aramaean Logia. This was + translated into Greek and completed by a narrative of the ministry + of Jesus for the Greek churches founded by Paul. This translation + was not made by Matthew and did not make use of Mark (217-224). E. + D. Burton: Matthew = fulfilment of past prophecy; Mark = + manifestation of present power. Matthew is argument from prophecy; + Mark is argument from miracle. Matthew, as prophecy, made most + impression on Jewish readers; Mark, as power, was best adapted to + Gentiles. Prof. Burton holds Mark to be based upon oral tradition + alone; Matthew upon his Logia (his real earlier Gospel) and other + fragmentary notes; while Luke has a fuller origin in manuscripts + and in Mark. See Aids to the Study of German Theology, 148-155; F. + W. Farrar, Witness of History to Christ, 61. + + +(_c_) It is incredible that productions of such literary power and lofty +religious teaching as the gospels should have sprung up in the middle of +the second century, or that, so springing up, they should have been +published under assumed names and for covert ends. + + + The general character of the literature of the second century is + illustrated by Ignatius's fanatical desire for martyrdom, the + value ascribed by Hermas to ascetic rigor, the insipid allegories + of Barnabas, Clement of Rome's belief in the phoenix, and the + absurdities of the Apocryphal Gospels. The author of the fourth + gospel among the writers of the second century would have been a + mountain among mole-hills. Wynne, Literature of the Second + Century, 60--"The apostolic and the sub-apostolic writers differ + from each other as a nugget of pure gold differs from a block of + quartz with veins of the precious metal gleaming through it." + Dorner, Hist. Doct. Person Christ, 1:1:92--"Instead of the writers + of the second century marking an advance on the apostolic age, or + developing the germ given them by the apostles, the second century + shows great retrogression,--its writers were not able to retain or + comprehend all that had been given them." Martineau, Seat of + Authority, 291--"Writers not only barbarous in speech and rude in + art, but too often puerile in conception, passionate in temper, + and credulous in belief. The legends of Papias, the visions of + Hermas, the imbecility of Irenaeus, the fury of Tertullian, the + rancor and indelicacy of Jerome, the stormy intolerance of + Augustine, cannot fail to startle and repel the student; and, if + he turns to the milder Hippolytus, he is introduced to a brood of + thirty heresies which sadly dissipate his dream of the unity of + the church." We can apply to the writers of the second century the + question of R. G. Ingersoll in the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy: + "Is it possible that Bacon left the best children of his brain on + Shakespeare's doorstep, and kept only the deformed ones at home?" + On the Apocryphal Gospels, see Cowper, in Strivings for the Faith, + 73-108. + + +(_d_) The theory requires us to believe in a moral anomaly, namely, that a +faithful disciple of Christ in the second century could be guilty of +fabricating a life of his master, and of claiming authority for it on the +ground that the author had been a companion of Christ or his apostles. + + + "A genial set of Jesuitical religionists"--with mind and heart + enough to write the gospel according to John, and who at the same + time have cold-blooded sagacity enough to keep out of their + writings every trace of the developments of church authority + belonging to the second century. The newly discovered "Teaching of + the Twelve Apostles," if dating from the early part of that + century, shows that such a combination is impossible. The critical + theories assume that one who knew Christ as a man could not + possibly also regard him as God. Lowrie, Doctrine of St. John, + 12--"If St. John wrote, it is not possible to say that the genius + of St. Paul foisted upon the church a conception which was strange + to the original apostles." Fairbairn has well shown that if + Christianity had been simply the ethical teaching of the human + Jesus, it would have vanished from the earth like the sects of the + Pharisees and of the Sadducees; if on the other hand it had been + simply the Logos-doctrine, the doctrine of a divine Christ, it + would have passed away like the speculations of Plato or + Aristotle; because Christianity unites the idea of the eternal Son + of God with that of the incarnate Son of man, it is fitted to be + and it has become an universal religion; see Fairbairn, Philosophy + of the Christian Religion, 4, 15--"Without the personal charm of + the historical Jesus, the oecumenical creeds would never have been + either formulated or tolerated, and without the metaphysical + conception of Christ the Christian religion would long ago have + ceased to live.... It is not Jesus of Nazareth who has so + powerfully entered into history: it is the deified Christ who has + been believed, loved and obeyed as the Savior of the world.... The + two parts of Christian doctrine are combined in the one name + 'Jesus Christ.' " + + +(_e_) This theory cannot account for the universal acceptance of the +gospels at the end of the second century, among widely separated +communities where reverence for writings of the apostles was a mark of +orthodoxy, and where the Gnostic heresies would have made new documents +instantly liable to suspicion and searching examination. + + + Abbot, Genuineness of the Fourth Gospel, 52, 80, 88, 89. The + Johannine doctrine of the Logos, if first propounded in the middle + of the second century, would have ensured the instant rejection of + that gospel by the Gnostics, who ascribed creation, not to the + Logos, but to successive "AEons." How did the Gnostics, without + "peep or mutter," come to accept as genuine what had only in their + own time been first sprung upon the churches? While Basilides + (130) and Valentinus (150), the Gnostics, both quote from the + fourth gospel, they do not dispute its genuineness or suggest that + it was of recent origin. Bruce, in his Apologetics, says of Baur + "He believed in the all-sufficiency of the Hegelian theory of + development through antagonism. He saw tendency everywhere. + Anything additional, putting more contents into the person and + teaching of Jesus than suits the initial stage of development, + must be reckoned spurious. If we find Jesus in any of the gospels + claiming to be a supernatural being, such texts can with the + utmost confidence be set aside as spurious, for such a thought + could not belong to the initial stage of Christianity." But such a + conception certainly existed in the second century, and it + directly antagonized the speculations of the Gnostics. F. W. + Farrar, on _Hebrews 1:2_--"The word _aeon_ was used by the later + Gnostics to describe the various emanations by which they tried at + once to widen and to bridge over the gulf between the human and + the divine. Over that imaginary chasm John threw the arch of the + Incarnation, when he wrote: 'The Word became flesh'_ (John + 1:14)_." A document which so contradicted the Gnostic teachings + could not in the second century have been quoted by the Gnostics + themselves without dispute as to its genuineness, if it had not + been long recognized in the churches as a work of the apostle + John. + + +(_f_) The acknowledgment by Baur that the epistles to the Romans, +Galatians and Corinthians were written by Paul in the first century is +fatal to his theory, since these epistles testify not only to miracles at +the period at which they were written, but to the main events of Jesus' +life and to the miracle of his resurrection, as facts already long +acknowledged in the Christian church. + + + Baur, Paulus der Apostel, 276--"There never has been the slightest + suspicion of unauthenticity cast on these epistles (Gal., 1 and 2 + Cor., Rom.), and they bear so incontestably the character of + Pauline originality, that there is no conceivable ground for the + assertion of critical doubts in their case." Baur, in discussing + the appearance of Christ to Paul on the way to Damascus, explains + the outward from the inward: Paul translated intense and sudden + conviction of the truth of the Christian religion into an outward + scene. But this cannot explain the hearing of the outward sound by + Paul's companions. On the evidential value of the epistles here + mentioned, see Lorimer, in Strivings for the Faith, 109-144; + Howson, in Present Day Tracts, 4: no. 24; Row, Bampton Lectures + for 1877:289-356. On Baur and his theory in general, see Weiss, + Life of Jesus, 1:157 _sq._; Christlieb, Mod. Doubt and Christ. + Belief, 504-549; Hutton, Essays, 1:176-215; Theol. Eclectic, + 5:1-42; Auberlen, Div. Revelation; Bib. Sac., 19:75; Answers to + Supernatural Religion, in Westcott, Hist. N. T. Canon, 4th ed., + Introd.; Lightfoot, in Contemporary Rev., Dec. 1874, and Jan. + 1875; Salmon, Introd. to N. T., 6-31; A. B. Bruce, in Present Day + Tracts, 7: no. 38. + + +3d. The Romance-theory of Renan (1823-1892). + + +This theory admits a basis of truth in the gospels and holds that they all +belong to the century following Jesus' death. "According to" Matthew, +Mark, etc., however, means only that Matthew, Mark, etc., wrote these +gospels in substance. Renan claims that the facts of Jesus' life were so +sublimated by enthusiasm, and so overlaid with pious fraud, that the +gospels in their present form cannot be accepted as genuine,--in short, the +gospels are to be regarded as historical romances which have only a +foundation in fact. + + + The _animus_ of this theory is plainly shown in Renan's Life of + Jesus, preface to 13th ed.--"If miracles and the inspiration of + certain books are realities, my method is detestable. If miracles + and the inspiration of books are beliefs without reality, my + method is a good one. But the question of the supernatural is + decided for us with perfect certainty by the single consideration + that there is no room for believing in a thing of which the world + offers no experimental trace." "On the whole," says Renan, "I + admit as authentic the four canonical gospels. All, in my opinion, + date from the first century, and the authors are, generally + speaking, those to whom they are attributed." He regards Gal., 1 + and 2 Cor., and Rom., as "indisputable and undisputed." He speaks + of them as "being texts of an absolute authenticity, of complete + sincerity, and without legends" (Les Apotres, xxix; Les Evangiles, + xi). Yet he denies to Jesus "sincerity with himself"; attributes + to him "innocent artifice" and the toleration of pious fraud, as + for example in the case of the stories of Lazarus and of his own + resurrection. "To conceive the good is not sufficient: it must be + made to succeed; to accomplish this, less pure paths must be + followed.... Not by any fault of his own, his conscience lost + somewhat of its original purity,--his mission overwhelmed him.... + Did he regret his too lofty nature, and, victim of his own + greatness, mourn that he had not remained a simple artizan?" So + Renan "pictures Christ's later life as a misery and a lie, yet he + requests us to bow before this sinner and before his superior, + Sakya-Mouni, as demigods" (see Nicoll, The Church's One + Foundation, 62, 63). Of the highly wrought imagination of Mary + Magdalene, he says: "O divine power of love! sacred moments, in + which the passion of one whose senses were deceived gives us a + resuscitated God!" See Renan, Life of Jesus, 21. + + +To this Romance-theory of Renan, we object that + +(_a_) It involves an arbitrary and partial treatment of the Christian +documents. The claim that one writer not only borrowed from others, but +interpolated _ad libitum_, is contradicted by the essential agreement of +the manuscripts as quoted by the Fathers, and as now extant. + + + Renan, according to Mair, Christian Evidences, 153, dates Matthew + at 84 A. D.; Mark at 76; Luke at 94; John at 125. These dates mark + a considerable retreat from the advanced positions taken by Baur. + Mair, in his chapter on Recent Reverses in Negative Criticism, + attributes this result to the late discoveries with regard to the + Epistle of Barnabas, Hippolytus's Refutation of all Heresies, the + Clementine Homilies, and Tatian's Diatessaron: "According to Baur + and his immediate followers, we have less than one quarter of the + N. T. belonging to the first century. According to Hilgenfeld, the + present head of the Baur school, we have somewhat less than three + quarters belonging to the first century, while substantially the + same thing may be said with regard to Holzmann. According to + Renan, we have distinctly more than three quarters of the N. T. + falling within the first century, and therefore within the + apostolic age. This surely indicates a very decided and + extraordinary retreat since the time of Baur's grand assault, that + is, within the last fifty years." We may add that the concession + of authorship within the apostolic age renders nugatory Renan's + hypothesis that the N. T. documents have been so enlarged by pious + fraud that they cannot be accepted as trustworthy accounts of such + events as miracles. The oral tradition itself had attained so + fixed a form that the many manuscripts used by the Fathers were in + substantial agreement in respect to these very events, and oral + tradition in the East hands down without serious alteration much + longer narratives than those of our gospels. The Pundita Ramabai + can repeat after the lapse of twenty years portions of the Hindu + sacred books exceeding in amount the whole contents of our Old + Testament. Many cultivated men in Athens knew by heart all the + Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer. Memory and reverence alike kept + the gospel narratives free from the corruption which Renan + supposes. + + +(_b_) It attributes to Christ and to the apostles an alternate fervor of +romantic enthusiasm and a false pretense of miraculous power which are +utterly irreconcilable with the manifest sobriety and holiness of their +lives and teachings. If Jesus did not work miracles, he was an impostor. + + + On Ernest Renan, His Life and the Life of Jesus, see A. H. Strong, + Christ in Creation, 332-363, especially 356--"Renan attributes the + origin of Christianity to the predominance in Palestine of a + constitutional susceptibility to mystic excitements. Christ is to + him the incarnation of sympathy and tears, a being of tender + impulses and passionate ardors, whose native genius it was to play + upon the hearts of men. Truth or falsehood made little difference + to him; anything that would comfort the poor, or touch the finer + feelings of humanity, he availed himself of; ecstasies, visions, + melting moods, these were the secrets of his power. Religion was a + beneficent superstition, a sweet delusion--excellent as a balm and + solace for the ignorant crowd, who never could be philosophers if + they tried. And so the gospel river, as one has said, is traced + back to a fountain of weeping men and women whose brains had oozed + out at their eyes, and the perfection of spirituality is made to + be a sort of maudlin monasticism.... How different from the strong + and holy love of Christ, which would save men only by bringing + them to the truth, and which claims men's imitation only because, + without love for God and for the soul, a man is without truth. How + inexplicable from this view the fact that a pure Christianity has + everywhere quickened the intellect of the nations, and that every + revival of it, as at the Reformation, has been followed by mighty + forward leaps of civilization. Was Paul a man carried away by + mystic dreams and irrational enthusiasms? Let the keen dialectic + skill of his epistles and his profound grasp of the great matters + of revelation answer. Has the Christian church been a company of + puling sentimentalists? Let the heroic deaths for the truth + suffered by the martyrs witness. Nay, he must have a low idea of + his kind, and a yet lower idea of the God who made them, who can + believe that the noblest spirits of the race have risen to + greatness by abnegating will and reason, and have gained influence + over all ages by resigning themselves to semi-idiocy." + + +(_c_) It fails to account for the power and progress of the gospel, as a +system directly opposed to men's natural tastes and prepossessions--a +system which substitutes truth for romance and law for impulse. + + + A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 358--"And if the later triumphs + of Christianity are inexplicable upon the theory of Renan, how can + we explain its founding? The sweet swain of Galilee, beloved by + women for his beauty, fascinating the unlettered crowd by his + gentle speech and his poetic ideals, giving comfort to the + sorrowing and hope to the poor, credited with supernatural power + which at first he thinks it not worth while to deny and finally + gratifies the multitude by pretending to exercise, roused by + opposition to polemics and invective until the delightful young + rabbi becomes a gloomy giant, an intractable fanatic, a fierce + revolutionist, whose denunciation of the powers that be brings him + to the Cross,--what is there in _him_ to account for the moral + wonder which we call Christianity and the beginnings of its empire + in the world? Neither delicious pastorals like those of Jesus' + first period, nor apocalyptic fevers like those of his second + period, according to Renan's gospel, furnish any rational + explanation of that mighty movement which has swept through the + earth and has revolutionized the faith of mankind." + + Berdoe, Browning, 47--"If Christ were not God, his life at that + stage of the world's history could by no possibility have had the + vitalizing force and love-compelling power that Renan's pages + everywhere disclose. Renan has strengthened faith in Christ's + deity while laboring to destroy it." + + Renan, in discussing Christ's appearance to Paul on the way to + Damascus, explains the inward from the outward, thus precisely + reversing the conclusion of Baur. A sudden storm, a flash of + lightning, a sudden attack of ophthalmic fever, Paul took as an + appearance from heaven. But we reply that so keen an observer and + reasoner could not have been thus deceived. Nothing could have + made him the apostle to the Gentiles but a sight of the glorified + Christ and the accompanying revelation of the holiness of God, his + own sin, the sacrifice of the Son of God, its universal efficacy, + the obligation laid upon him to proclaim it to the ends of the + earth. For reviews of Renan, see Hutton, Essays, 261-281, and + Contemp. Thought and Thinkers, 1:227-234; H. B. Smith, Faith and + Philosophy, 401-441; Christlieb, Mod. Doubt, 425-447; Pressense, + in Theol. Eclectic, 1:199; Uhlhorn, Mod. Representations of Life + of Jesus, 1-33; Bib. Sac, 22:207; 23:353, 529; Present Day Tracts, + 3: no. 16, and 4: no. 21; E. G. Robinson, Christian Evidences, + 43-48; A. H. Strong, Sermon before Baptist World Congress, 1905. + + +4th. The Development-theory of Harnack (born 1851). + + +This holds Christianity to be a historical development from germs which +were devoid of both dogma and miracle. Jesus was a teacher of ethics, and +the original gospel is most clearly represented by the Sermon on the +Mount. Greek influence, and especially that of the Alexandrian philosophy, +added to this gospel a theological and supernatural element, and so +changed Christianity from a life into a doctrine. + + + Harnack dates Matthew at 70-75; Mark at 65-70; Luke at 78-93; the + fourth gospel at 80-110. He regards both the fourth gospel and the + book of Revelation as the works, not of John the Apostle, but of + John the Presbyter. He separates the prologue of the fourth gospel + from the gospel itself, and considers the prologue as a preface + added after its original composition in order to enable the + Hellenistic reader to understand it. "The gospel itself," says + Harnack, "contains no Logos-idea; it did not develop out of a + Logos-idea, such as flourished at Alexandria; it only connects + itself with such an idea. The gospel itself is based upon the + historic Christ; he is the subject of all its statements. This + historical trait can in no way be dissolved by any kind of + speculation. The memory of what was actually historical was still + too powerful to admit at this point any Gnostic influences. The + Logos-idea of the prologue is the Logos of Alexandrine Judaism, + the Logos of Philo, and it is derived ultimately from the 'Son of + man' in the book of Daniel.... The fourth gospel, which does not + proceed from the Apostle John and does not so claim, cannot be + used as a historical source in the ordinary sense of that word.... + The author has managed with sovereign freedom; has transposed + occurrences and has put them in a light that is foreign to them; + has of his own accord composed the discourses, and has illustrated + lofty thoughts by inventing situations for them. Difficult as it + is to recognize, an actual tradition in his work is not wholly + lacking. For the history of Jesus, however, it can hardly anywhere + be taken into account; only little can be taken from it, and that + with caution.... On the other hand it is a source of the first + rank for the answer of the question what living views of the + person of Jesus, what light and what warmth, the gospel has + brought into being." See Harnack's article in Zeitschrift fuer + Theol. u. Kirche, 2:189-231, and his Wesen des Christenthums, 13. + Kaftan also, who belongs to the same Ritschlian school with + Harnack, tells us in his Truth of the Christian Religion, 1:97, + that as the result of the Logos-speculation, "the centre of + gravity, instead of being placed in the historical Christ who + founded the kingdom of God, is placed in the Christ who as eternal + Logos of God was the mediator in the creation of the world." This + view is elaborated by Hatch in his Hibbert Lectures for 1888, on + the Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church. + + +We object to the Development-theory of Harnack, that + +(_a_) The Sermon on the Mount is not the sum of the gospel, nor its +original form. Mark is the most original of the gospels, yet Mark omits +the Sermon on the Mount, and Mark is preeminently the gospel of the +miracle-worker. + +(_b_) All four gospels lay the emphasis, not on Jesus' life and ethical +teaching, but on his death and resurrection. Matthew implies Christ's +deity when it asserts his absolute knowledge of the Father (11:27), his +universal judgeship (25:32), his supreme authority (28:18), and his +omnipresence (28:20), while the phrase "Son of man" implies that he is +also "Son of God." + + + _Mat. 11:27--_"All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: + and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know + the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to + reveal him"; _25:32--_"and before him shall be gathered all the + nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the + shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats"; _28:18--_"All + authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth"; + _28:20--_"lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the + world." These sayings of Jesus in Matthew's gospel show that the + conception of Christ's greatness was not peculiar to John: "I am" + transcends time; "with you" transcends space. Jesus speaks "sub + specie eternitatis"; his utterance is equivalent to that of _John + 8:58--_"Before Abraham was born, I am," and to that of _Hebrews + 13:8--_"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and for + ever." He is, as Paul declares in _Eph. 1:23_, one "that filleth + all in all," that is, who is omnipresent. + + A. H. Strong, Philos. and Religion, 206--The phrase "Son of man" + intimates that Christ was more than man: "Suppose I were to go + about proclaiming myself 'Son of man.' Who does not see that it + would be mere impertinence, unless I claimed to be something more. + 'Son of Man? But what of that? Cannot every human being call + himself the same?' When one takes the title 'Son of man' for his + characteristic designation, as Jesus did, he implies that there is + something strange in his being Son of man; that this is not his + original condition and dignity; that it is condescension on his + part to be Son of man. In short, when Christ calls himself Son of + man, it implies that he has come from a higher level of being to + inhabit this low earth of ours. And so, when we are asked 'What + think ye of the Christ? whose son is he?' we must answer, not + simply, He is Son of man, but also, He is Son of God." On Son of + man, see Driver; on Son of God, see Sanday; both in Hastings' + Dictionary of the Bible. Sanday: "The Son is so called primarily + as incarnate. But that which is the essence of the Incarnation + must needs be also larger than the Incarnation. It must needs have + its roots in the eternity of Godhead." Gore, Incarnation, 65, + 73--"Christ, the final Judge, of the synoptics, is not dissociable + from the divine, eternal Being, of the fourth gospel." + + +(_c_) The preexistence and atonement of Christ cannot be regarded as +accretions upon the original gospel, since these find expression in Paul +who wrote before any of our evangelists, and in his epistles anticipated +the Logos-doctrine of John. + +(_d_) We may grant that Greek influence, through the Alexandrian +philosophy, helped the New Testament writers to discern what was already +present in the life and work and teaching of Jesus; but, like the +microscope which discovers but does not create, it added nothing to the +substance of the faith. + + + Gore, Incarnation, 62--"The divinity, incarnation, resurrection of + Christ were not an accretion upon the original belief of the + apostles and their first disciples, for these are all recognized + as uncontroverted matters of faith in the four great epistles of + Paul, written at a date when the greater part of those who had + seen the risen Christ were still alive." The Alexandrian + philosophy was not the source of apostolic doctrine, but only the + form in which that doctrine was cast, the light thrown upon it + which brought out its meaning. A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, + 146--"When we come to John's gospel, therefore, we find in it the + mere unfolding of truth that for substance had been in the world + for at least sixty years.... If the Platonizing philosophy of + Alexandria assisted in this genuine development of Christian + doctrine, then the Alexandrian philosophy was a providential help + to inspiration. The microscope does not invent; it only discovers. + Paul and John did not add to the truth of Christ; their + philosophical equipment was only a microscope which brought into + clear view the truth that was there already." + + Pfleiderer, Philos. Religion, 1:126--"The metaphysical conception + of the Logos, as immanent in the world and ordering it according + to law, was filled with religious and moral contents. In Jesus the + cosmical principle of nature became a religious principle of + salvation." See Kilpatrick's article on Philosophy, in Hastings' + Bible Dictionary. Kilpatrick holds that Harnack ignores the + self-consciousness of Jesus; does not fairly interpret the Acts in + its mention of the early worship of Jesus by the church before + Greek philosophy had influenced it; refers to the intellectual + peculiarities of the N. T. writers conceptions which Paul insists + are simply the faith of all Christian people as such; forgets that + the Christian idea of union with God secured through the atoning + and reconciling work of a personal Redeemer utterly transcended + Greek thought, and furnished the solution of the problem after + which Greek philosophy was vainly groping. + + +(_e_) Though Mark says nothing of the virgin-birth because his story is +limited to what the apostles had witnessed of Jesus' deeds, Matthew +apparently gives us Joseph's story and Luke gives Mary's story--both +stories naturally published only after Jesus' resurrection. + +(_f_) The larger understanding of doctrine after Jesus' death was itself +predicted by our Lord (John 16:12). The Holy Spirit was to bring his +teachings to remembrance, and to guide into all the truth (16:13), and the +apostles were to continue the work of teaching which he had begun (Acts +1:1). + + + _John 16:12, 13--_"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye + cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is + come, he shall guide you into all the truth"; _Acts 1:1--_"The + former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus + began to do and to teach." A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, + 146--"That the beloved disciple, after a half century of meditation + upon what he had seen and heard of God manifest in the flesh, + should have penetrated more deeply into the meaning of that + wonderful revelation is not only not surprising,--it is precisely + what Jesus himself foretold. Our Lord had many things to say to + his disciples, but then they could not bear them. He promised that + the Holy Spirit should bring to their remembrance both himself and + his words, and should lead them into all the truth. And this is + the whole secret of what are called accretions to original + Christianity. So far as they are contained in Scripture, they are + inspired discoveries and unfoldings, not mere speculations and + inventions. They are not additions, but elucidations, not vain + imaginings, but correct interpretations.... When the later + theology, then, throws out the supernatural and dogmatic, as + coming not from Jesus but from Paul's epistles and from the fourth + gospel, our claim is that Paul and John are only inspired and + authoritative interpreters of Jesus, seeing themselves and making + us see the fulness of the Godhead that dwelt in him." + + While Harnack, in our judgment, errs in his view that Paul + contributed to the gospel elements which it did not originally + possess, he shows us very clearly many of the elements in that + gospel which he was the first to recognize. In his Wesen des + Christenthums, 111, he tells us that a few years ago a celebrated + Protestant theologian declared that Paul, with his Rabbinical + theology, was the destroyer of the Christian religion. Others have + regarded him as the founder of that religion. But the majority + have seen in him the apostle who best understood his Lord and did + most to continue his work. Paul, as Harnack maintains, first + comprehended the gospel definitely: (1) as an accomplished + redemption and a present salvation--the crucified and risen Christ + as giving access to God and righteousness and peace therewith; (2) + as something new, which does away with the religion of the law; + (3) as meant for all, and therefore for Gentiles also, indeed, as + superseding Judaism; (4) as expressed in terms which are not + simply Greek but also human,--Paul made the gospel comprehensible + to the world. Islam, rising in Arabia, is an Arabian religion + still. Buddhism remains an Indian religion. Christianity is at + home in all lands. Paul put new life into the Roman empire, and + inaugurated the Christian culture of the West. He turned a local + into a universal religion. His influence however, according to + Harnack, tended to the undue exaltation of organization and dogma + and O. T. inspiration--points in which, in our judgment, Paul took + sober middle ground and saved Christian truth for the world. + + +2. Genuineness of the Books of the Old Testament. + + +Since nearly one half of the Old Testament is of anonymous authorship and +certain of its books may be attributed to definite historic characters +only by way of convenient classification or of literary personification, +we here mean by genuineness honesty of purpose and freedom from anything +counterfeit or intentionally deceptive so far as respects the age or the +authorship of the documents. + +We show the genuineness of the Old Testament books: + +(_a_) From the witness of the New Testament, in which all but six books of +the Old Testament are either quoted or alluded to as genuine. + + + The N. T. shows coincidences of language with the O. T. Apocryphal + books, but it contains only one direct quotation from them; while, + with the exception of Judges, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Esther, + Ezra, and Nehemiah, every book in the Hebrew canon is used either + for illustration or proof. The single Apocryphal quotation is + found in _Jude 14_ and is in all probability taken from the book + of Enoch. Although Volkmar puts the date of this book at 132 A. + D., and although some critics hold that Jude quoted only the same + primitive tradition of which the author of the book of Enoch + afterwards made use, the weight of modern scholarship inclines to + the opinion that the book itself was written as early as 170-70 B. + C., and that Jude quoted from it; see Hastings' Bible Dictionary: + Book of Enoch; Sanday, Bampton Lect. on Inspiration, 95. "If Paul + could quote from Gentile poets (_Acts 17:28_; _Titus 1:12_), it is + hard to understand why Jude could not cite a work which was + certainly in high standing among the faithful"; see Schodde, Book + of Enoch, 41, with the Introd. by Ezra Abbot. While _Jude 14_ + gives us the only direct and express quotation from an Apocryphal + book, _Jude 6_ and _9_ contain allusions to the Book of Enoch and + to the Assumption of Moses; see Charles, Assumption of Moses, 62. + In _Hebrews 1:3_, we have words taken from Wisdom 7:26; and + _Hebrews 11:34-38_ is a reminiscence of 1 Maccabees. + + +(_b_) From the testimony of Jewish authorities, ancient and modern, who +declare the same books to be sacred, and only the same books, that are now +comprised in our Old Testament Scriptures. + + + Josephus enumerates twenty-two of these books "which are justly + accredited" (omit {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}--Niese, and Hastings' Dict., 3:607). Our + present Hebrew Bible makes twenty-four, by separating Ruth from + Judges, and Lamentations from Jeremiah. See Josephus, Against + Apion, 1:8; Smith's Bible Dictionary, article on the Canon, 1:359, + 360. Philo (born 20 B. C.) never quotes an Apocryphal book, + although he does quote from nearly all the books of the O. T.; see + Ryle, Philo and Holy Scripture. George Adam Smith, Modern + Criticism and Preaching, 7--"The theory which ascribed the Canon of + the O. T. to a single decision of the Jewish church in the days of + its inspiration is not a theory supported by facts. The growth of + the O. T. Canon was very gradual. Virtually it began in 621 B. C., + with the acceptance by all Judah of Deuteronomy, and the adoption + of the whole Law, or first five books of the O. T., under Nehemiah + in 445 B. C. Then came the prophets before 200 B. C., and the + Hagiographa from a century to two centuries later. The strict + definition of the last division was not complete by the time of + Christ. Christ seems to testify to the Law, the Prophets, and the + Psalms; yet neither Christ nor his apostles make any quotation + from Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Canticles, or Ecclesiastes, the last + of which books were not yet recognized by all the Jewish schools. + But while Christ is the chief authority for the O. T., he was also + its first critic. He rejected some parts of the Law and was + indifferent to many others. He enlarged the sixth and seventh + commandments, and reversed the eye for an eye, and the permission + of divorce; touched the leper, and reckoned all foods lawful; + broke away from literal observance of the Sabbath-day; left no + commands about sacrifice, temple-worship, circumcision, but, by + institution of the New Covenant, abrogated these sacraments of the + Old. The apostles appealed to extra-canonical writings." Gladden, + Seven Puzzling Bible Books, 68-96--"Doubts were entertained in our + Lord's day as to the canonicity of several parts of the O. T., + especially Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Esther." + + +(_c_) From the testimony of the Septuagint translation, dating from the +first half of the third century, or from 280 to 180 B. C. + + + MSS. of the Septuagint contain, indeed, the O. T. Apocrypha, but + the writers of the latter do not recognize their own work as on a + level with the canonical Scriptures, which they regard as distinct + from all other books (Ecclesiasticus, prologue, and 48:24; also + 24:23-27; 1 Mac. 12:9; 2 Mac. 6:23; 1 Esd. 1:28; 6:1; Baruch + 2:21). So both ancient and modern Jews. See Bissell, in Lange's + Commentary on the Apocrypha, Introduction, 44. In the prologue to + the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, we read of "the Law and the + Prophets and the rest of the books," which shows that as early as + 130 B. C., the probable date of Ecclesiasticus, a threefold + division of the Jewish sacred books was recognized. That the + author, however, did not conceive of these books as constituting a + completed canon seems evident from his assertion in this + connection that his grandfather Jesus also wrote. 1 Mac. 12:9 + (80-90 B. C.) speaks of "the sacred books which are now in our + hands." Hastings, Bible Dictionary, 3:611--"The O. T. was the + result of a gradual process which began with the sanction of the + Hexateuch by Ezra and Nehemiah, and practically closed with the + decisions of the Council of Jamnia"--Jamnia is the ancient Jabneh, + 7 miles south by west of Tiberias, where met a council of rabbins + at some time between 90 to 118 A. D. This Council decided in favor + of Canticles and Ecclesiastes, and closed the O. T. Canon. + + The Greek version of the Pentateuch which forms a part of the + Septuagint is said by Josephus to have been made in the reign and + by the order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of Egypt, about 270 or + 280 B. C. "The legend is that it was made by seventy-two persons + in seventy-two days. It is supposed, however, by modern critics + that this version of the several books is the work not only of + different hands but of separate times. It is probable that at + first only the Pentateuch was translated, and the remaining books + gradually; but the translation is believed to have been completed + by the second century B. C." (Century Dictionary, _in voce_). It + therefore furnishes an important witness to the genuineness of our + O. T. documents. Driver, Introd. to O. T. Lit., xxxi--"For the + opinion, often met with in modern books, that the Canon of the O. + T. was closed by Ezra, or in Ezra's time, there is no foundation + in antiquity whatever.... All that can reasonably be treated as + historical in the accounts of Ezra's literary labors is limited to + the Law." + + +(_d_) From indications that soon after the exile, and so early as the +times of Ezra and Nehemiah (500-450 B. C.), the Pentateuch together with +the book of Joshua was not only in existence but was regarded as +authoritative. + + + 2 Mac, 2:13-15 intimates that Nehemiah founded a library, and + there is a tradition that a "Great Synagogue" was gathered in his + time to determine the Canon. But Hastings' Dictionary, 4:644, + asserts that "the Great Synagogue was originally a meeting, and + not an institution. It met once for all, and all that is told + about it, except what we read in Nehemiah, is pure fable of the + later Jews." In like manner no dependence is to be placed upon the + tradition that Ezra miraculously restored the ancient Scriptures + that had been lost during the exile. Clement of Alexandria says: + "Since the Scriptures perished in the Captivity of Nebuchadnezzar, + Esdras (the Greek form of Ezra) the Levite, the priest, in the + time of Artaxerxes, King of the Persians, having become inspired + in the exercise of prophecy, restored again the whole of the + ancient Scriptures." But the work now divided into 1 and 2 + Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, mentions Darius Codomannus (_Neh. + 12:22_), whose date is 336 B. C. The utmost the tradition proves + is that about 300 B. C. the Pentateuch was in some sense + attributed to Moses; see Bacon, Genesis of Genesis, 35; Bib. Sac., + 1863:381, 660, 799; Smith, Bible Dict., art.: Pentateuch; + Theological Eclectic, 6:215; Bissell, Hist. Origin of the Bible, + 398-403. On the Men of the Great Synagogue, see Wright, + Ecclesiastes, 5-12, 475-477. + + +(_e_) From the testimony of the Samaritan Pentateuch, dating from the time +of Ezra and Nehemiah (500-450 B. C.). + + + The Samaritans had been brought by the king of Assyria from + "Babylon, and from Cuthah and from Avva, and from Hamath and + Sepharvaim"_ (2 K. 17:6, 24, 26)_, to take the place of the people + of Israel whom the king had carried away captive to his own land. + The colonists had brought their heathen gods with them, and the + incursions of wild beasts which the intermission of tillage + occasioned gave rise to the belief that the God of Israel was + against them. One of the captive Jewish priests was therefore sent + to teach them "the law of the god of the land" and he "taught them + how they should fear Jehovah"_ (2 K. 17:27, 28)_. The result was + that they adopted the Jewish ritual, but combined the worship of + Jehovah with that of their graven images (_verse 33_). When the + Jews returned from Babylon and began to rebuild the walls of + Jerusalem, the Samaritans offered their aid, but this aid was + indignantly refused (_Ezra 4_ and _Nehemiah 4_). Hostility arose + between Jews and Samaritans--a hostility which continued not only + to the time of Christ (_John 4:9_), but even to the present day. + Since the Samaritan Pentateuch substantially coincides with the + Hebrew Pentateuch, it furnishes us with a definite past date at + which it certainly existed in nearly its present form. It + witnesses to the existence of our Pentateuch in essentially its + present form as far back as the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. + + Green, Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch, 44, 45--"After being + repulsed by the Jews, the Samaritans, to substantiate their claim + of being sprung from ancient Israel, eagerly accepted the + Pentateuch which was brought them by a renegade priest." W. + Robertson Smith, in Encyc. Brit., 21:244--"The priestly law, which + is throughout based on the practice of the priests of Jerusalem + before the captivity, was reduced to form after the exile, and was + first published by Ezra as the law of the rebuilt temple of Zion. + The Samaritans must therefore have derived their Pentateuch from + the Jews after Ezra's reforms, _i. e._, after 444 B. C. Before + that time Samaritanism cannot have existed in a form at all + similar to that which we know; but there must have been a + community ready to accept the Pentateuch." See Smith's Bible + Dictionary, art.: Samaritan Pentateuch; Hastings, Bible + Dictionary, art.: Samaria; Stanley Leathes, Structure of the O. + T., 1-41. + + +(_f_) From the finding of "the book of the law" in the temple, in the +eighteenth year of King Josiah, or in 621 B. C. + + + _2 K. 22:8--_"And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the + scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah." + _23:2--_"The book of the covenant" was read before the people by + the king and proclaimed to be the law of the land. Curtis, in + Hastings' Bible Dict., 3:596--"The earliest written law or book of + divine instruction of whose introduction or enactment an authentic + account is given, was Deuteronomy or its main portion, represented + as found in the temple in the 18th year of king Josiah (B. C. 621) + and proclaimed by the king as the law of the land. From that time + forward Israel had a written law which the pious believer was + commanded to ponder day and night (_Joshua 1:8_; _Ps. 1:2_); and + thus the Torah, as sacred literature, formally commenced in + Israel. This law aimed at a right application of Mosaic + principles." Ryle, in Hastings' Bible Dict., 1:602--"The law of + Deuteronomy represents an expansion and development of the ancient + code contained in _Exodus 20-23_, and precedes the final + formulation of the priestly ritual, which only received its + ultimate form in the last period of revising the structure of the + Pentateuch." + + Andrew Harper, on Deuteronomy, in Expositor's Bible: "Deuteronomy + does not claim to have been written by Moses. He is spoken of in + the third person in the introduction and historical framework, + while the speeches of Moses are in the first person. In portions + where the author speaks for himself, the phrase 'beyond Jordan' + means east of Jordan; in the speeches of Moses the phrase 'beyond + Jordan' means west of Jordan; and the only exception is _Deut. + 3:8_, which cannot originally have been part of the speech of + Moses. But the style of both parts is the same, and if the 3rd + person parts are by a later author, the 1st person parts are by a + later author also. Both differ from other speeches of Moses in the + Pentateuch. Can the author be a contemporary writer who gives + Moses' words, as John gave the words of Jesus? No, for Deuteronomy + covers only the book of the Covenant, Exodus 20-23. It uses JE but + not P, with which JE is interwoven. But JE appears in Joshua and + contributes to it an account of Joshua's death. JE speaks of kings + in Israel (_Gen. 36:31-39_). Deuteronomy plainly belongs to the + early centuries of the Kingdom, or to the middle of it." + + Bacon, Genesis of Genesis, 43-49--"The Deuteronomic law was so + short that Shaphan could read it aloud before the king (_2 K. + 22:10_) and the king could read 'the whole of it' before the + people (_23:2_); compare the reading of the Pentateuch for a whole + week (_Neh. 8:2-18_). It was in the form of a covenant; it was + distinguished by curses; it was an expansion and modification, + fully within the legitimate province of the prophet, of a Torah of + Moses codified from the traditional form of at least a century + before. Such a Torah existed, was attributed to Moses, and is now + incorporated as 'the book of the covenant' in _Exodus 20_ to _24_. + The year 620 is therefore the _terminus a quo_ of Deuteronomy. The + date of the priestly code is 444 B. C." Sanday, Bampton Lectures + for 1893, grants "(1) the presence in the Pentateuch of a + considerable element which in its present shape is held by many to + be not earlier than the captivity; (2) the composition of the book + of Deuteronomy, not long, or at least not very long, before its + promulgation by king Josiah in the year 621, which thus becomes a + pivot-date in the history of Hebrew literature." + + +(_g_) From references in the prophets Hosea (B. C. 743-737) and Amos +(759-745) to a course of divine teaching and revelation extending far back +of their day. + + + _Hosea 8:12--_"I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law"; + here is asserted the existence prior to the time of the prophet, + not only of a law, but of a written law. All critics admit the + book of Hosea to be a genuine production of the prophet, dating + from the eighth century B. C.; see Green, in Presb. Rev., + 1886:585-608. _Amos 2:4--_"they have rejected the law of Jehovah, + and have not kept his statutes"; here is proof that, more than a + century before the finding of Deuteronomy in the temple, Israel + was acquainted with God's law. Fisher, Nature and Method of + Revelation, 26, 27--"The lofty plane reached by the prophets was + not reached at a single bound.... There must have been a tap-root + extending far down into the earth." Kurtz remarks that "the later + books of the O. T. would be a tree without roots, if the + composition of the Pentateuch were transferred to a later period + of Hebrew history." If we substitute for the word "Pentateuch" the + words "Book of the covenant," we may assent to this dictum of + Kurtz. There is sufficient evidence that, before the times of + Hosea and Amos, Israel possessed a written law--the law embraced in + _Exodus 20-24_--but the Pentateuch as we now have it, including + Leviticus, seems to date no further back than the time of + Jeremiah, 445 B. C. The Levitical law however was only the + codification of statutes and customs whose origin lay far back in + the past and which were believed to be only the natural expansion + of the principles of Mosaic legislation. + + Leathes, Structure of O. T., 54--"Zeal for the restoration of the + temple after the exile implied that it had long before been the + centre of the national polity, that there had been a ritual and a + law before the exile." Present Day Tracts, 3:52--Levitical + institutions could not have been first established by David. It is + inconceivable that he "could have taken a whole tribe, and no + trace remain of so revolutionary a measure as the dispossessing + them of their property to make them ministers of religion." James + Robertson, Early History of Israel: "The varied literature of + 850-750 B. C. implies the existence of reading and writing for + some time before. Amos and Hosea hold, for the period succeeding + Moses, the same scheme of history which modern critics pronounce + late and unhistorical. The eighth century B. C. was a time of + broad historic day, when Israel had a definite account to give of + itself and of its history. The critics appeal to the prophets, but + they reject the prophets when these tell us that other teachers + taught the same truth before them, and when they declare that + their nation had been taught a better religion and had declined + from it, in other words, that there had been law long before their + day. The kings did not _give law_. The priests _presupposed_ it. + There must have been a formal system of law much earlier than the + critics admit, and also an earlier reference in their worship to + the great events which made them a separate people." And Dillman + goes yet further back and declares that the entire work of Moses + presupposes "a preparatory stage of higher religion in Abraham." + + +(_h_) From the repeated assertions of Scripture that Moses himself wrote a +law for his people, confirmed as these are by evidence of literary and +legislative activity in other nations far antedating his time. + + + _Ex. 24:4--_"And Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah"; + _34:27--_"And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for + after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee + and with Israel"; _Num. 33:2--_"And Moses wrote their goings out + according to their journeys by the commandment of Jehovah"; _Deut. + 31:9--_"And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests + the sons of Levi, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, + and unto all the elders of Israel"; _22--_"So Moses wrote this song + the same day, and taught it the children of Israel"; _24-26--_"And + it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words + of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses + commanded the Levites, that bare the ark of the covenant of + Jehovah, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it by the side + of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, that it may be + there for a witness against thee." The law here mentioned may + possibly be only "the book of the covenant"_ (Ex. 20-24)_, and the + speeches of Moses in Deuteronomy may have been orally handed down. + But the fact that Moses was "instructed in all the wisdom of the + Egyptians"_ (Acts 7:22)_, together with the fact that the art of + writing was known in Egypt for many hundred years before his time, + make it more probable that a larger portion of the Pentateuch was + of his own composition. + + Kenyon, in Hastings' Dict., art.: Writing, dates the Proverbs of + Ptah-hotep, the first recorded literary composition in Egypt, at + 3580-3536 B. C., and asserts the free use of writing among the + Sumerian inhabitants of Babylonia as early as 4000 B. C. The + statutes of Hammurabi king of Babylon compare for extent with + those of Leviticus, yet they date back to the time of Abraham, + 2200 B. C.,--indeed Hammurabi is now regarded by many as the + Amraphel of _Gen. 14:1_. Yet these statutes antedate Moses by 700 + years. It is interesting to observe that Hammurabi professes to + have received his statutes directly from the Sun-god of Sippar, + his capital city. See translation by Winckler, in Der alte Orient, + 97; Johns, The Oldest Code of Laws; Kelso, in Princeton Theol. + Rev., July, 1905:399-412--Facts "authenticate the traditional date + of the Book of the Covenant, overthrow the formula Prophets and + Law, restore the old order Law and Prophets, and put into + historical perspective the tradition that Moses was the author of + the Sinaitic legislation." + + +As the controversy with regard to the genuineness of the Old Testament +books has turned of late upon the claims of the Higher Criticism in +general, and upon the claims of the Pentateuch in particular, we subjoin +separate notes upon these subjects. + + + _The Higher Criticism in general._ Higher Criticism does not mean + criticism in any invidious sense, any more than Kant's Critique of + Pure Reason was an unfavorable or destructive examination. It is + merely a dispassionate investigation of the authorship, date and + purpose of Scripture books, in the light of their composition, + style and internal characteristics. As the Lower Criticism is a + text-critique, the Higher Criticism is a structure-critique. A + bright Frenchman described a literary critic as one who rips open + the doll to get at the sawdust there is in it. This can be done + with a sceptical and hostile spirit, and there can be little doubt + that some of the higher critics of the Old Testament have begun + their studies with prepossessions against the supernatural, which + have vitiated all their conclusions. These presuppositions are + often unconscious, but none the less influential. When Bishop + Colenso examined the Pentateuch and Joshua, he disclaimed any + intention of assailing the miraculous narratives as such; as if he + had said: "My dear little fish, you need not fear me; I do not + wish to catch you; I only intend to drain the pond in which you + live." To many scholars the waters at present seem very low in the + Hexateuch and indeed throughout the whole Old Testament. + + Shakespeare made over and incorporated many old Chronicles of + Plutarch and Holinshed, and many Italian tales and early tragedies + of other writers; but Pericles and Titus Andronicus still pass + current under the name of Shakespeare. We speak even now of + "Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar," although of its twenty-seven editions + the last fourteen have been published since his death, and more of + it has been written by other editors than Gesenius ever wrote + himself. We speak of "Webster's Dictionary," though there are in + the "Unabridged" thousands of words and definitions that Webster + never saw. Francis Brown: "A modern writer masters older records + and writes a wholly new book. Not so with eastern historians. The + latest comer, as Renan says, 'absorbs his predecessors without + assimilating them, so that the most recent has in its belly the + fragments of the previous works in a raw state.' The Diatessaron + of Tatian is a parallel to the composite structure of the O. T. + books. One passage yields the following: _Mat. 21:12a_; _John + 2:14a_; _Mat. 21:12b_; _John 2:14b, 15_; _Mat. 21:12c, 13_; _John + 2:16_; _Mark 11:16_; _John 2:17-22_; all succeeding each other + without a break." Gore, Lux Mundi, 353--"There is nothing + materially untruthful, though there is something uncritical, in + attributing the whole legislation to Moses acting under the divine + command. It would be only of a piece with the attribution of the + collection of Psalms to David, and of Proverbs to Solomon." + + The opponents of the Higher Criticism have much to say in reply. + Sayce, Early History of the Hebrews, holds that the early chapters + of Genesis were copied from Babylonian sources, but he insists + upon a Mosaic or pre-Mosaic date for the copying. Hilprecht + however declares that the monotheistic faith of Israel could never + have proceeded "from the Babylonian mountain of gods--that + charnel-house full of corruption and dead men's bones." Bissell, + Genesis Printed in Colors, Introd., iv--"It is improbable that so + many documentary histories existed so early, or if existing that + the compiler should have attempted to combine them. Strange that + the earlier should be J and should use the word 'Jehovah,' while + the later P should use the word 'Elohim,' when 'Jehovah' would + have far better suited the Priests' Code.... xiii--The Babylonian + tablets contain in a continuous narrative the more prominent facts + of both the alleged Elohistic and Jehovistic sections of Genesis, + and present them mainly in the Biblical order. Several hundred + years before Moses what the critics call _two_ were already _one_. + It is absurd to say that the unity was due to a redactor at the + period of the exile, 444 B. C. He who believes that God revealed + himself to primitive man as one God, will see in the Akkadian + story a polytheistic corruption of the original monotheistic + account." We must not estimate the antiquity of a pair of boots by + the last patch which the cobbler has added; nor must we estimate + the antiquity of a Scripture book by the glosses and explanations + added by later editors. As the London Spectator remarks on the + Homeric problem: "It is as impossible that a first-rate poem or + work of art should be produced without a great master-mind which + first conceives the whole, as that a fine living bull should be + developed out of beef-sausages." As we shall proceed to show, + however, these utterances overestimate the unity of the Pentateuch + and ignore some striking evidences of its gradual growth and + composite structure. + + _The Authorship of the Pentateuch in particular._ Recent critics, + especially Kuenen and Robertson Smith, have maintained that the + Pentateuch is Mosaic only in the sense of being a gradually + growing body of traditional law, which was codified as late as the + time of Ezekiel, and, as the development of the spirit and + teachings of the great law-giver, was called by a legal fiction + after the name of Moses and was attributed to him. The actual + order of composition is therefore: (1) Book of the Covenant + (_Exodus 20-23_); (2) Deuteronomy; (3) Leviticus. Among the + reasons assigned for this view are the facts (_a_) that + Deuteronomy ends with an account of Moses' death, and therefore + could not have been written by Moses; (_b_) that in Leviticus + Levites are mere servants to the priests, while in Deuteronomy the + priests are officiating Levites, or, in other words, all the + Levites are priests; (_c_) that the books of Judges and of 1 + Samuel, with their record of sacrifices offered in many places, + give no evidence that either Samuel or the nation of Israel had + any knowledge of a law confining worship to a local sanctuary. See + Kuenen, Prophets and Prophecy in Israel; Wellhausen, Geschichte + Israels, Band 1; and art.: Israel, in Encyc. Brit., 13:398, 399, + 415; W. Robertson Smith, O. T. in Jewish Church, 306, 386, and + Prophets of Israel; Hastings, Bible Dict., arts.: Deuteronomy, + Hexateuch, and Canon of the O. T. + + It has been urged in reply, (1) that Moses may have written, not + autographically, but through a scribe (perhaps Joshua), and that + this scribe may have completed the history in Deuteronomy with the + account of Moses' death; (2) that Ezra or subsequent prophets may + have subjected the whole Pentateuch to recension, and may have + added explanatory notes; (3) that documents of previous ages may + have been incorporated, in course of its composition by Moses, or + subsequently by his successors; (4) that the apparent lack of + distinction between the different classes of Levites in + Deuteronomy may be explained by the fact that, while Leviticus was + written with exact detail for the priests, Deuteronomy is the + record of a brief general and oral summary of the law, addressed + to the people at large and therefore naturally mentioning the + clergy as a whole; (5) that the silence of the book of Judges as + to the Mosaic ritual may be explained by the design of the book to + describe only general history, and by the probability that at the + tabernacle a ritual was observed of which the people in general + were ignorant. Sacrifices in other places only accompanied special + divine manifestations which made the recipient temporarily a + priest. Even if it were proved that the law with regard to a + central sanctuary was not observed, it would not show that the law + did not exist, any more than violation of the second commandment + by Solomon proves his ignorance of the decalogue, or the mediaeval + neglect of the N. T. by the Roman church proves that the N. T. did + not then exist. We cannot argue that "where there was + transgression, there was no law" (Watts, New Apologetic, 83, and + The Newer Criticism). + + In the light of recent research, however, we cannot regard these + replies as satisfactory. Woods, in his article on the Hexateuch, + Hastings' Dictionary, 2:365, presents a moderate statement of the + results of the higher criticism which commends itself to us as + more trustworthy. He calls it a theory of stratification, and + holds that "certain more or less independent documents, dealing + largely with the same series of events, were composed at different + periods, or, at any rate, under different auspices, and were + afterwards combined, so that our present Hexateuch, which means + our Pentateuch with the addition of Joshua, contains these several + different literary strata.... The main grounds for accepting this + hypothesis of stratification are (1) that the various literary + pieces, with very few exceptions, will be found on examination to + arrange themselves by common characteristics into comparatively + few groups; (2) that an original consecution of narrative may be + frequently traced between what in their present form are isolated + fragments. + + "This will be better understood by the following illustration. Let + us suppose a problem of this kind: Given a patchwork quilt, + explain the character of the original pieces out of which the bits + of stuff composing the quilt were cut. First, we notice that, + however well the colors may blend, however nice and complete the + whole may look, many of the adjoining pieces do not agree in + material, texture, pattern, color, or the like. Ergo, they have + been made up out of very different pieces of stuff.... But suppose + we further discover that many of the bits, though now separated, + are like one another in material, texture, etc., we may conjecture + that these have been cut out of one piece. But we shall prove this + beyond reasonable doubt if we find that several bits when unpicked + fit together, so that the pattern of one is continued in the + other; and, moreover, that if all of like character are sorted + out, they form, say, four groups, each of which was evidently once + a single piece of stuff, though parts of each are found missing, + because, no doubt, they have not been required to make the whole. + But we make the analogy of the Hexateuch even closer, if we + further suppose that in certain parts of the quilt the bits + belonging to, say, two of these groups are so combined as to form + a subsidiary pattern within the larger pattern of the whole quilt, + and had evidently been sewed together before being connected with + other parts of the quilt; and we may make it even closer still, if + we suppose that, besides the more important bits of stuff, smaller + embellishments, borderings, and the like, had been added so as to + improve the general effect of the whole." + + The author of this article goes on to point out three main + portions of the Hexateuch which essentially differ from each + other. There are three distinct codes: the Covenant code (C--_Ex. + 20:22_ to _23:33_, and _24:3-8_), the Deuteronomic code (D), and + the Priestly code (P). These codes have peculiar relations to the + narrative portions of the Hexateuch. In Genesis, for example, "the + greater part of the book is divided into groups of longer or + shorter pieces, generally paragraphs or chapters, distinguished + respectively by the almost exclusive use of Elohim or Jehovah as + the name of God." Let us call these portions J and E. But we find + such close affinities between C and JE, that we may regard them as + substantially one. "We shall find that the larger part of the + narratives, as distinct from the laws, of Exodus and Numbers + belong to JE; whereas, with special exceptions, the legal portions + belong to P. In the last chapters of Deuteronomy and in the whole + of Joshua we find elements of JE. In the latter book we also find + elements which connect it with D. + + "It should be observed that not only do we find here and there + _separate pieces_ in the Hexateuch, shown by their characters to + belong to these three sources, JE, D, and P, but the pieces will + often be found connected together by an obvious continuity of + subject when pieced together, like the bits of patchwork in the + illustration with which we started. For example, if we read + continuously _Gen. 11:27-33_; _12:4b, 5_; _13:6a, 11b, 12a_; + _16:1a, 3, 15, 16_; _17_; _19:29_; _21:1a, 2b-5_; _23_; + _25:7-11a_--passages mainly, on other grounds, attributed to P, we + get an almost continuous and complete, though very concise, + account of Abraham's life." We may concede the substantial + correctness of the view thus propounded. It simply shows God's + actual method in making up the record of his revelation. We may + add that any scholar who grants that Moses did not himself write + the account of his own death and burial in the last chapter of + Deuteronomy, or who recognizes two differing accounts of creation + in _Genesis 1_ and _2_, has already begun an analysis of the + Pentateuch and has accepted the essential principles of the higher + criticism. + + In addition to the literature already referred to mention may also + be made of Driver's Introd. to O. T., 118-150, and Deuteronomy, + Introd.; W. R. Harper, in Hebraica, Oct.-Dec. 1888, and W. H. + Green's reply in Hebraica. Jan.-Apr. 1889; also Green, The Unity + of the Book of Genesis, Moses and the Prophets, Hebrew Feasts, and + Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch; with articles by Green in + Presb. Rev., Jan. 1882 and Oct. 1886; Howard Osgood, in Essays on + Pentateuchal Criticism, and in Bib. Sac., Oct. 1888, and July, + 1893; Watts, The Newer Criticism, and New Apologetic, 83; Presb. + Rev., arts. by H. P. Smith, April, 1882, and by F. L. Patton, + 1883:341-410; Bib. Sac., April, 1882:291-344, and by G. F. Wright, + July, 1898:515-525; Brit. Quar., July, 1881:123; Jan. + 1884:138-143; Mead, Supernatural Revelation, 373-385; Stebbins, A + Study in the Pentateuch; Bissell, Historic Origin of the Bible, + 277-342, and The Pentateuch, its Authorship and Structure; + Bartlett, Sources of History in the Pentateuch, 180-216, and The + Veracity of the Hexateuch; Murray, Origin and Growth of the + Psalms, 58; Payne-Smith, in Present Day Tracts, 3: no. 15; + Edersheim, Prophecy and History; Kurtz, Hist. Old Covenant, 1:46; + Perowne, in Contemp. Rev., Jan. and Feb. 1888; Chambers, Moses and + his Recent Critics; Terry, Moses and the Prophets; Davis, + Dictionary of the Bible, art.: Pentateuch; Willis J. Beecher, The + Prophets and the Promise; Orr, Problem of the O. T., 326-329. + + + +II. Credibility of the Writers of the Scriptures. + + +We shall attempt to prove this only of the writers of the gospels; for if +they are credible witnesses, the credibility of the Old Testament, to +which they bore testimony, follows as a matter of course. + +1. _They are capable or competent witnesses_,--that is, they possessed +actual knowledge with regard to the facts they professed to relate. (_a_) +They had opportunities of observation and inquiry. (_b_) They were men of +sobriety and discernment, and could not have been themselves deceived. +(_c_) Their circumstances were such as to impress deeply upon their minds +the events of which they were witnesses. + +2. _They are honest witnesses._ This is evident when we consider that: +(_a_) Their testimony imperiled all their worldly interests. (_b_) The +moral elevation of their writings, and their manifest reverence for truth +and constant inculcation of it, show that they were not wilful deceivers, +but good men. (_c_) There are minor indications of the honesty of these +writers in the circumstantiality of their story, in the absence of any +expectation that their narratives would be questioned, in their freedom +from all disposition to screen themselves or the apostles from censure. + + + Lessing says that Homer never calls Helen beautiful, but he gives + the reader an impression of her surpassing loveliness by + portraying the effect produced by her presence. So the evangelists + do not describe Jesus' appearance or character, but lead us to + conceive the cause that could produce such effects. Gore, + Incarnation, 77--"Pilate, Caiaphas, Herod, Judas, are not + abused,--they are photographed. The sin of a Judas and a Peter is + told with equal simplicity. Such fairness, wherever you find it, + belongs to a trustworthy witness." + + +3. _The writings of the evangelists mutually support each other._ We argue +their credibility upon the ground of their number and of the consistency +of their testimony. While there is enough of discrepancy to show that +there has been no collusion between them, there is concurrence enough to +make the falsehood of them all infinitely improbable. Four points under +this head deserve mention: (_a_) The evangelists are independent +witnesses. This is sufficiently shown by the futility of the attempts to +prove that any one of them has abridged or transcribed another. (_b_) The +discrepancies between them are none of them irreconcilable with the truth +of the recorded facts, but only present those facts in new lights or with +additional detail. (_c_) That these witnesses were friends of Christ does +not lessen the value of their united testimony, since they followed Christ +only because they were convinced that these facts were true. (_d_) While +one witness to the facts of Christianity might establish its truth, the +combined evidence of four witnesses gives us a warrant for faith in the +facts of the gospel such as we possess for no other facts in ancient +history whatsoever. The same rule which would refuse belief in the events +recorded in the gospels "would throw doubt on any event in history." + + + No man does or can write his own signature twice precisely alike. + When two signatures, therefore, purporting to be written by the + same person, are precisely alike, it is safe to conclude that one + of them is a forgery. Compare the combined testimony of the + evangelists with the combined testimony of our five senses. "Let + us assume," says Dr. C. E. Rider, "that the chances of deception + are as one to ten when we use our eyes alone, one to twenty when + we use our ears alone, and one to forty when we use our sense of + touch alone; what are the chances of mistake when we use all these + senses simultaneously? The true result is obtained by multiplying + these proportions together. This gives one to eight thousand." + + +4. _The conformity of the gospel testimony with experience._ We have +already shown that, granting the fact of sin and the need of an attested +revelation from God, miracles can furnish no presumption against the +testimony of those who record such a revelation, but, as essentially +belonging to such a revelation, miracles may be proved by the same kind +and degree of evidence as is required in proof of any other extraordinary +facts. We may assert, then, that in the New Testament histories there is +no record of facts contrary to experience, but only a record of facts not +witnessed in ordinary experience--of facts, therefore, in which we may +believe, if the evidence in other respects is sufficient. + +5. _Coincidence of this testimony with collateral facts and +circumstances._ Under this head we may refer to (_a_) the numberless +correspondences between the narratives of the evangelists and contemporary +history; (_b_) the failure of every attempt thus far to show that the +sacred history is contradicted by any single fact derived from other +trustworthy sources; (_c_) the infinite improbability that this minute and +complete harmony should ever have been secured in fictitious narratives. + +6. _Conclusion from the argument for the credibility of the writers of the +gospels._ These writers having been proved to be credible witnesses, their +narratives, including the accounts of the miracles and prophecies of +Christ and his apostles, must be accepted as true. But God would not work +miracles or reveal the future to attest the claims of false teachers. +Christ and his apostles must, therefore, have been what they claimed to +be, teachers sent from God, and their doctrine must be what they claimed +it to be, a revelation from God to men. + + + On the whole subject, see Ebrard, Wissensch. Kritik der evang. + Geschichte; Greenleaf, Testimony of the Evangelists, 30, 31; + Starkie on Evidence, 734; Whately, Historic Doubts as to Napoleon + Buonaparte; Haley, Examination of Alleged Discrepancies; Smith's + Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul; Paley, Horse Paulinae; Birks, in + Strivings for the Faith, 37-72--"Discrepancies are like the slight + diversities of the different pictures of the stereoscope." Renan + calls the land of Palestine a fifth gospel. Weiss contrasts the + Apocryphal Gospels, where there is no historical setting and all + is in the air, with the evangelists, where time and place are + always stated. + + No modern apologist has stated the argument for the credibility of + the New Testament with greater clearness and force than + Paley,--Evidences, chapters 8 and 10--"No historical fact is more + certain than that the original propagators of the gospel + voluntarily subjected themselves to lives of fatigue, danger, and + suffering, in the prosecution of their undertaking. The nature of + the undertaking, the character of the persons employed in it, the + opposition of their tenets to the fixed expectations of the + country in which they at first advanced them, their undissembled + condemnation of the religion of all other countries, their total + want of power, authority, or force, render it in the highest + degree _probable_ that this must have been the case. + + "The probability is increased by what we know of the fate of the + Founder of the institution, who was put to death for his attempt, + and by what we also know of the cruel treatment of the converts to + the institution within thirty years after its commencement--both + which points are attested by heathen writers, and, being once + admitted, leave it very incredible that the primitive emissaries + of the religion who exercised their ministry first amongst the + people who had destroyed their Master, and afterwards amongst + those who persecuted their converts, should themselves escape with + impunity or pursue their purpose in ease and safety. + + "This probability, thus sustained by foreign testimony, is + advanced, I think, to historical certainty by the evidence of our + own books, by the accounts of a writer who was the companion of + the persons whose sufferings he relates, by the letters of the + persons themselves, by predictions of persecutions, ascribed to + the Founder of the religion, which predictions would not have been + inserted in this history, much less, studiously dwelt upon, if + they had not accorded with the event, and which, even if falsely + ascribed to him, could only have been so ascribed because the + event suggested them; lastly, by incessant exhortations to + fortitude and patience, and by an earnestness, repetition and + urgency upon the subject which were unlikely to have appeared, if + there had not been, at the time, some extraordinary call for the + exercise of such virtues. It is also made out, I think, with + sufficient evidence, that both the teachers and converts of the + religion, in consequence of their new profession, took up a new + course of life and conduct. + + "The next great question is, what they did this _for_. It was for + a miraculous story of some kind, since for the proof that Jesus of + Nazareth ought to be received as the Messiah, or as a messenger + for God, they neither had nor could have anything but miracles to + stand upon.... If this be so, the religion must be true. These men + could not be deceivers. By only not bearing testimony, they might + have avoided all these sufferings and lived quietly. Would men in + such circumstances pretend to have seen what they never saw, + assert facts which they had no knowledge of, go about lying to + teach virtue, and though not only convinced of Christ's being an + impostor, but having seen the success of his imposture in his + crucifixion, yet persist in carrying it on, and so persist as to + bring upon themselves, for nothing, and with a full knowledge of + the consequences, enmity and hatred, danger and death?" + + Those who maintain this, moreover, require us to believe that the + Scripture writers were "villains for no end but to teach honesty, + and martyrs without the least prospect of honor or advantage." + Imposture must have a motive. The self-devotion of the apostles is + the strongest evidence of their truth, for even Hume declares that + "we cannot make use of a more convincing argument in proof of + honesty than to prove that the actions ascribed to any persons are + contrary to the course of nature, and that no human motives, in + such circumstances, could ever induce them to such conduct." + + + +III. The Supernatural Character of the Scripture Teaching. + + +1. Scripture teaching in general. + + +A. The Bible is the work of one mind. + +(_a_) In spite of its variety of authorship and the vast separation of its +writers from one another in point of time, there is a unity of subject, +spirit, and aim throughout the whole. + + + We here begin a new department of Christian evidences. We have + thus far only adduced external evidence. We now turn our attention + to internal evidence. The relation of external to internal + evidence seems to be suggested in Christ's two questions in _Mark + 8:27, 29--_"Who do _men_ say that I am?... who say _ye_ that I am?" + The unity in variety displayed in Scripture is one of the chief + internal evidences. This unity is indicated in our word "Bible," + in the singular number. Yet the original word was "Biblia," a + plural number. The world has come to see a unity in what were once + scattered fragments: the many "Biblia" have become one "Bible." In + one sense R. W. Emerson's contention is true: "The Bible is not a + book,--it is a literature." But we may also say, and with equal + truth: "The Bible is not simply a collection of books,--it is a + book." The Bible is made up of sixty-six books, by forty writers, + of all ranks,--shepherds, fishermen, priests, warriors, statesmen, + kings,--composing their works at intervals through a period of + seventeen centuries. Evidently no collusion between them is + possible. Scepticism tends ever to ascribe to the Scriptures + greater variety of authorship and date, but all this only + increases the wonder of the Bible's unity. If unity in a half + dozen writers is remarkable, in forty it is astounding. "The many + diverse instruments of this orchestra play one perfect tune: hence + we feel that they are led by one master and composer." Yet it + takes the same Spirit who inspired the Bible to teach its unity. + The union is not an external or superficial one, but one that is + internal and spiritual. + + +(_b_) Not one moral or religious utterance of all these writers has been +contradicted or superseded by the utterances of those who have come later, +but all together constitute a consistent system. + + + Here we must distinguish between the external form and the moral + and religious substance. Jesus declares in _Mat. 5:21, 22, 27, 28, + 33, 34, 38, 39, 43, 44, _"Ye have heard that it was said to them + of old time ... but I say unto you," and then he seems at first + sight to abrogate certain original commands. But he also declares + in this connection, _Mat. 5:17, 18--_"Think not I am come to + destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy but to + fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass + away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the + law, till all things be accomplished." Christ's new commandments + only bring out the inner meaning of the old. He fulfils them not + in their literal form but in their essential spirit. So the New + Testament completes the revelation of the Old Testament and makes + the Bible a perfect unity. In this unity the Bible stands alone. + Hindu, Persian, and Chinese religious books contain no consistent + system of faith. There is progress in revelation from the earlier + to the later books of the Bible, but this is not progress through + successive steps of falsehood; it is rather progress from a less + to a more clear and full unfolding of the truth. The whole truth + lay germinally in the _protevangelium_ uttered to our first + parents (_Gen. 3:15_--the seed of the woman should bruise the + serpent's head). + + +(_c_) Each of these writings, whether early or late, has represented moral +and religious ideas greatly in advance of the age in which it has +appeared, and these ideas still lead the world. + + + All our ideas of progress, with all the forward-looking spirit of + modern Christendom, are due to Scripture. The classic nations had + no such ideas and no such spirit, except as they caught them from + the Hebrews. Virgil's prophecy, in his fourth Eclogue, of a coming + virgin and of the reign of Saturn and of the return of the golden + age, was only the echo of the Sibylline books and of the hope of a + Redeemer with which the Jews had leavened the whole Roman world; + see A. H. Strong, The Great Poets and their Theology, 94-96. + + +(_d_) It is impossible to account for this unity without supposing such a +supernatural suggestion and control that the Bible, while in its various +parts written by human agents, is yet equally the work of a superhuman +intelligence. + + + We may contrast with the harmony between the different Scripture + writers the contradictions and refutations which follow merely + human philosophies--_e. g._, the Hegelian idealism and the + Spencerian materialism. Hegel is "a name to swear at, as well as + to swear by." Dr. Stirling, in his Secret of Hegel, "kept all the + secret to himself, if he ever knew it." A certain Frenchman once + asked Hegel if he could not gather up and express his philosophy + in one sentence for him. "No," Hegel replied, "at least not in + French." If Talleyrand's maxim be true that whatever is not + intelligible is not French, Hegel's answer was a correct one. + Hegel said of his disciples: "There is only one man living who + understands me, and he does not." + + Goeschel, Gabler, Daub, Marheinecke, Erdmann, are Hegel's right + wing, or orthodox representatives and followers in theology; see + Sterrett, Hegel's Philosophy of Religion. Hegel is followed by + Alexander and Bradley in England, but is opposed by Seth and + Schiller. Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 279-300, gives a valuable + estimate of his position and influence: Hegel is all thought and + no will. Prayer has no effect on God,--it is a purely psychological + phenomenon. There is no free-will, and man's sin as much as man's + holiness is a manifestation of the Eternal. Evolution is a fact, + but it is only fatalistic evolution. Hegel notwithstanding did + great service by substituting knowledge of reality for the + oppressive Kantian relativity, and by banishing the old notion of + matter as a mysterious substance wholly unlike and incompatible + with the properties of mind. He did great service also by showing + that the interactions of matter and mind are explicable only by + the presence of the Absolute Whole in every part, though he erred + greatly by carrying that idea of the unity of God and man beyond + its proper limits, and by denying that God has given to the will + of man any power to put itself into antagonism to His Will. Hegel + did great service by showing that we cannot know even the part + without knowing the whole, but he erred in teaching, as T. H. + Green did, that the _relations_ constitute the _reality_ of the + thing. He deprives both physical and psychical existences of that + degree of selfhood or independent reality which is essential to + both science and religion. We want real force, and not the mere + idea of force; real will, and not mere thought. + + +B. This one mind that made the Bible is the same mind that made the soul, +for the Bible is divinely adapted to the soul, + +(_a_) It shows complete acquaintance with the soul. + + + The Bible addresses all parts of man's nature. There are Law and + Epistles for man's reason; Psalms and Gospels for his affections; + Prophets and Revelations for his imagination. Hence the popularity + of the Scriptures. Their variety holds men. The Bible has become + interwoven into modern life. Law, literature, art, all show its + moulding influence. + + +(_b_) It judges the soul--contradicting its passions, revealing its guilt, +and humbling its pride. + + + No product of mere human nature could thus look down upon human + nature and condemn it. The Bible speaks to us from a higher level. + The Samaritan woman's words apply to the whole compass of divine + revelation; it tells us all things that ever we did (_John 4:29_). + The Brahmin declared that _Romans 1_, with its description of + heathen vices, must have been forged after the missionaries came + to India. + + +(_c_) It meets the deepest needs of the soul--by solutions of its problems, +disclosures of God's character, presentations of the way of pardon, +consolations and promises for life and death. + + + Neither Socrates nor Seneca sets forth the nature, origin and + consequences of sin as committed against the holiness of God, nor + do they point out the way of pardon and renewal. The Bible teaches + us what nature cannot, viz.: God's creatorship, the origin of + evil, the method of restoration, the certainty of a future state, + and the principle of rewards and punishments there. + + +(_d_) Yet it is silent upon many questions for which writings of merely +human origin seek first to provide solutions. + + + Compare the account of Christ's infancy in the gospels with the + fables of the Apocryphal New Testament; compare the scant + utterances of Scripture with regard to the future state with + Mohammed's and Swedenborg's revelations of Paradise. See Alexander + McLaren's sermon on The Silence of Scripture, in his book + entitled: Christ in the Heart, 131-141. + + +(_e_) There are infinite depths and inexhaustible reaches of meaning in +Scripture, which difference it from all other books, and which compel us +to believe that its author must be divine. + + + Sir Walter Scott, on his death bed: "Bring me the Book!" "What + book?" said Lockhart, his son-in-law. "There is but one book!" + said the dying man. Reville concludes an Essay in the Revue des + deux Mondes (1864): "One day the question was started, in an + assembly, what book a man condemned to lifelong imprisonment, and + to whom but one book would be permitted, had better take into his + cell with him. The company consisted of Catholics, Protestants, + philosophers and even materialists, but all agreed that their + choice would fall only on the Bible." + + On the whole subject, see Garbett, God's Word Written, 3-56; + Luthardt, Saving Truths, 210; Rogers, Superhuman Origin of Bible, + 155-181; W. L. Alexander, Connection and Harmony of O. T. and N. + T.; Stanley Leathes, Structure of the O. T.; Bernard, Progress of + Doctrine in the N. T.; Rainy, Delivery and Development of + Doctrine; Titcomb, in Strivings for the Faith; Immer, + Hermeneutics, 91; Present Day Tracts, 4: no. 23; 5: no. 28; 6: no. + 31; Lee on Inspiration, 26-32. + + +2. Moral System of the New Testament. + + +The perfection of this system is generally conceded. All will admit that +it greatly surpasses any other system known among men. Among its +distinguishing characteristics may be mentioned: + +(_a_) Its comprehensiveness,--including all human duties in its code, even +the most generally misunderstood and neglected, while it permits no vice +whatsoever. + + + Buddhism regards family life as sinful. Suicide was commended by + many ancient philosophers. Among the Spartans to steal was + praiseworthy,--only to be caught stealing was criminal. Classic + times despised humility. Thomas Paine said that Christianity + cultivated "the spirit of a spaniel," and John Stuart Mill + asserted that Christ ignored duty to the state. Yet Peter urges + Christians to add to their faith manliness, courage, heroism (_2 + Pet. 1:5--_"in your faith supply virtue"), and Paul declares the + state to be God's ordinance (_Rom. 13:1--_"Let every soul be in + subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; + and the powers that be are ordained of God"). Patriotic defence of + a nation's unity and freedom has always found its chief incitement + and ground in these injunctions of Scripture. E. G. Robinson: + "Christian ethics do not contain a particle of chaff,--all is pure + wheat." + + +(_b_) Its spirituality,--accepting no merely external conformity to right +precepts, but judging all action by the thoughts and motives from which it +springs. + + + The superficiality of heathen morals is well illustrated by the + treatment of the corpse of a priest in Siam: the body is covered + with gold leaf, and then is left to rot and shine. Heathenism + divorces religion from ethics. External and ceremonial observances + take the place of purity of heart. The Sermon on the Mount on the + other hand pronounces blessing only upon inward states of the + soul. _Ps. 51:6--_"Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, + and in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom"; _Micah + 6:8--_"what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to + love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?" + + +(_c_) Its simplicity,--inculcating principles rather than imposing rules; +reducing these principles to an organic system; and connecting this system +with religion by summing up all human duty in the one command of love to +God and man. + + + Christianity presents no extensive code of rules, like that of the + Pharisees or of the Jesuits. Such codes break down of their own + weight. The laws of the State of New York alone constitute a + library of themselves, which only the trained lawyer can master. + It is said that Mohammedanism has recorded sixty-five thousand + special instances in which the reader is directed to do right. It + is the merit of Jesus' system that all its requisitions are + reduced to unity. _Mark 12:29-31--_"Hear, O Israel; The Lord our + God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with + all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and + with all thy strength. The second is this: Thou shalt love thy + neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than + these." Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, 2:384-814, calls attention to + the inner unity of Jesus' teaching. The doctrine that God is a + loving Father is applied with unswerving consistency. Jesus + confirmed whatever was true in the O. T., and he set aside the + unworthy. He taught not so much about God, as about the kingdom of + God, and about the ideal fellowship between God and men. Morality + was the necessary and natural expression of religion. In Christ + teaching and life were perfectly blended. He was the + representative of the religion which he taught. + + +(_d_) Its practicality,--exemplifying its precepts in the life of Jesus +Christ; and, while it declares man's depravity and inability in his own +strength to keep the law, furnishing motives to obedience, and the divine +aid of the Holy Spirit to make this obedience possible. + + + Revelation has two sides: Moral law, and provision for fulfilling + the moral law that has been broken. Heathen systems can incite to + temporary reformations, and they can terrify with fears of + retribution. But only God's regenerating grace can make the tree + good, in such a way that its fruit will be good also (_Mat. + 12:33_). There is a difference between touching the pendulum of + the clock and winding it up,--the former may set it temporarily + swinging, but only the latter secures its regular and permanent + motion. The moral system of the N. T. is not simply law,--it is + also grace: _John 1:17--_"the law was given through Moses; grace + and truth came through Jesus Christ." Dr. William Ashmore's tract + represents a Chinaman in a pit. Confucius looks into the pit and + says: "If you had done as I told you, you would never have gotten + in." Buddha looks into the pit and says: "If you were up here I + would show you what to do." So both Confucius and Buddha pass on. + But Jesus leaps down into the pit and helps the poor Chinaman out. + + At the Parliament of Religions in Chicago there were many ideals + of life propounded, but no religion except Christianity attempted + to show that there was any power given to realize these ideals. + When Joseph Cook challenged the priests of the ancient religions + to answer Lady Macbeth's question: "How cleanse this red right + hand?" the priests were dumb. But Christianity declares that "the + blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin"_ (1 John 1:7)_. + E. G. Robinson: Christianity differs from all other religions in + being (1) a historical religion; (2) in turning abstract law into + a person to be loved; (3) in furnishing a demonstration of God's + love in Christ; (4) in providing atonement for sin and forgiveness + for the sinner; (5) in giving a power to fulfil the law and + sanctify the life. Bowne, Philos. of Theism, 249--"Christianity, by + making the moral law the expression of a holy Will, brought that + law out of its impersonal abstraction, and assured its ultimate + triumph. Moral principles may be what they were before, but moral + practice is forever different. Even the earth itself has another + look, now that it has heaven above it." Frances Power Cobbe, Life, + 92--"The achievement of Christianity was not the inculcation of a + _new_, still less of a _systematic_, morality; but the + introduction of a new _spirit_ into morality; as Christ himself + said, a leaven into the lump." + + +We may justly argue that a moral system so pure and perfect, since it +surpasses all human powers of invention and runs counter to men's natural +tastes and passions, must have had a supernatural, and if a supernatural, +then a divine, origin. + + + Heathen systems of morality are in general defective, in that they + furnish for man's moral action no sufficient example, rule, + motive, or end. They cannot do this, for the reason that they + practically identify God with nature, and know of no clear + revelation of his holy will. Man is left to the law of his own + being, and since he is not conceived of as wholly responsible and + free, the lower impulses are allowed sway as well as the higher, + and selfishness is not regarded as sin. As heathendom does not + recognize man's depravity, so it does not recognize his dependence + upon divine grace, and its virtue is self-righteousness. + Heathenism is man's vain effort to lift himself to God; + Christianity is God's coming down to man to save him; see + Gunsaulus, Transfig. of Christ, 11, 12. Martineau, 1:15, 16, calls + attention to the difference between the physiological ethics of + heathendom and the psychological ethics of Christianity. + Physiological ethics begins with nature; and, finding in nature + the uniform rule of necessity and the operation of cause and + effect, it comes at last to man and applies the same rule to him, + thus extinguishing all faith in personality, freedom, + responsibility, sin and guilt. Psychological ethics, on the + contrary, wisely begins with what we know best, with man; and + finding in him free-will and a moral purpose, it proceeds outward + to nature and interprets nature as the manifestation of the mind + and will of God. + + "Psychological ethics are altogether peculiar to Christendom.... + Other systems begin outside and regard the soul as a homogeneous + part of the _universe_, applying to the soul the principle of + necessity that prevails outside of it.... In the Christian + religion, on the other hand, the interest, the mystery of the + world are concentrated in _human nature_.... The sense of sin--a + sentiment that left no trace in Athens--involves a consciousness of + personal alienation from the Supreme Goodness; the aspiration + after holiness directs itself to a union of affection and will + with the source of all Perfection; the agency for transforming men + from their old estrangement to new reconciliation is a Person, in + whom the divine and human historically blend; and the sanctifying + Spirit by which they are sustained at the height of their purer + life is a living link of communion between their minds and the + Soul of souls.... So Nature, to the Christian consciousness, sank + into the accidental and the neutral." Measuring ourselves by human + standards, we nourish pride; measuring ourselves by divine + standards, we nourish humility. Heathen nations, identifying God + with nature or with man, are unprogressive. The flat architecture + of the Parthenon, with its lines parallel to the earth, is the + type of heathen religion; the aspiring arches of the Gothic + cathedral symbolize Christianity. + + Sterrett, Studies in Hegel, 33, says that Hegel characterized the + Chinese religion as that of Measure, or temperate conduct; + Brahmanism as that of Phantasy, or inebriate dream-life; Buddhism + as that of Self-involvement; that of Egypt as the imbruted + religion of Enigma, symbolized by the Sphynx; that of Greece, as + the religion of Beauty; the Jewish as that of Sublimity; and + Christianity as the Absolute religion, the fully revealed religion + of truth and freedom. In all this Hegel entirely fails to grasp + the elements of Will, Holiness, Love, Life, which characterize + Judaism and Christianity, and distinguish them from all other + religions. R. H. Hutton: "Judaism taught us that Nature must be + interpreted by our knowledge of God, not God by our knowledge of + Nature." Lyman Abbott: "Christianity is not a new _life_, but a + new _power_; not a _summons_ to a new life, but an _offer_ of new + life; not a reenactment of the old law, but a power of God unto + salvation; not love to God and man, but Christ's message that God + loves us, and will help us to the life of love." + + Beyschlag, N. T. Theology, 5, 6--"Christianity postulates an + opening of the heart of the eternal God to the heart of man coming + to meet him. Heathendom shows us the heart of man blunderingly + grasping the hem of God's garment, and mistaking Nature, his + majestic raiment, for himself. Only in the Bible does man press + beyond God's external manifestations to God himself." See Wuttke, + Christian Ethics, 1:37-173; Porter, in Present Day Tracts, 4: no. + 19, pp. 33-64: Blackie, Four Phases of Morals; Faiths of the World + (St. Giles Lectures, second series); J. F. Clarke, Ten Great + Religions, 2:280-317; Garbett, Dogmatic Faith; Farrar, Witness of + History to Christ, 134, and Seekers after God, 181, 182, 320; + Curtis on Inspiration, 288. For denial of the all-comprehensive + character of Christian Morality, see John Stuart Mill, on Liberty; + _per contra_, see Review of Mill, in Theol. Eclectic, 6:508-512; + Row, in Strivings for the Faith, pub. by Christian Evidence + Society, 181-220; also, Bampton Lectures, 1877:130-176; Fisher, + Beginnings of Christianity, 28-38, 174. + + +In contrast with the Christian system of morality the defects of heathen +systems are so marked and fundamental, that they constitute a strong +corroborative evidence of the divine origin of the Scripture revelation. +We therefore append certain facts and references with regard to particular +heathen systems. + + + 1. _Confucianism._ Confucius (_Kung-fu-tse_), B. C. 551-478, + contemporary with Pythagoras and Buddha. Socrates was born ten + years after Confucius died. Mencius (371-278) was a disciple of + Confucius. Matheson, in Faiths of the World (St. Giles Lectures), + 73-108, claims that Confucianism was "an attempt to substitute a + morality for theology." Legge, however, in Present Day Tracts, 3: + no. 18, shows that this is a mistake. Confucius simply left + religion where he found it. God, or Heaven, is worshiped in China, + but only by the Emperor. Chinese religion is apparently a survival + of the worship of the patriarchal family. The father of the family + was its only head and priest. In China, though the family widened + into the tribe, and the tribe into the nation, the father still + retained his sole authority, and, as the father of his people, the + Emperor alone officially offered sacrifice to God. Between God and + the people the gulf has so widened that the people may be said to + have no practical knowledge of God or communication with him. Dr. + W. A. P. Martin: "Confucianism has degenerated into a pantheistic + medley, and renders worship to an impersonal 'anima mundi,' under + the leading forms of visible nature." + + Dr. William Ashmore, private letter: "The common people of China + have: (1) Ancestor-worship, and the worship of deified heroes: (2) + Geomancy, or belief in the controlling power of the elements of + nature; but back of these, and antedating them, is (3) the worship + of Heaven and Earth, or Father and Mother, a very ancient dualism; + this belongs to the common people also, though once a year the + Emperor, as a sort of high-priest of his people, offers sacrifice + on the altar of Heaven; in this he acts alone. 'Joss' is not a + Chinese word at all. It is the corrupted form of the Portuguese + word 'Deos.' The word 'pidgin' is similarly an attempt to say + 'business' (big-i-ness or bidgin). 'Joss-pidgin' therefore means + simply 'divine service,' or service offered to Heaven and Earth, + or to spirits of any kind, good or bad. There are many gods, a + Queen of Heaven, King of Hades, God of War, god of literature, + gods of the hills, valleys, streams, a goddess of small-pox, of + child-bearing, and all the various trades have their gods. The + most lofty expression the Chinese have is 'Heaven,' or 'Supreme + Heaven,' or 'Azure Heaven.' This is the surviving indication that + in the most remote times they had knowledge of one supreme, + intelligent and personal Power who ruled over all." Mr. Yugoro + Chiba has shown that the Chinese classics permit sacrifice by all + the people. But it still remains true that sacrifice to "Supreme + Heaven" is practically confined to the Emperor, who like the + Jewish high-priest offers for his people once a year. + + Confucius did nothing to put morality upon a religious basis. In + practice, the relations between man and man are the only relations + considered. Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, + sincerity, are enjoined, but not a word is said with regard to + man's relations to God. Love to God is not only not commanded--it + is not thought of as possible. Though man's being is theoretically + an ordinance of God, man is practically a law to himself. The + first commandment of Confucius is that of filial piety. But this + includes worship of dead ancestors, and is so exaggerated as to + bury from sight the related duties of husband to wife and of + parent to child. Confucius made it the duty of a son to slay his + father's murderer, just as Moses insisted on a strictly + retaliatory penalty for bloodshed; see J. A. Farrer, Primitive + Manners and Customs, 80. He treated invisible and superior beings + with respect, but held them at a distance. He recognized the + "Heaven" of tradition; but, instead of adding to our knowledge of + it, he stifled inquiry. Dr. Legge: "I have been reading Chinese + books for more than forty years, and any general requirement to + love God, or the mention of any one as actually loving him, has + yet to come for the first time under my eye." + + Ezra Abbot asserts that Confucius gave the golden rule in positive + as well as negative form; see Harris, Philos. Basis of Theism, + 222. This however seems to be denied by Dr. Legge, Religions of + China, 1-58. Wu Ting Fang, former Chinese minister to Washington, + assents to the statement that Confucius gave the golden rule only + in its negative form, and he says this difference is the + difference between a passive and an aggressive civilization, which + last is therefore dominant. The golden rule, as Confucius gives + it, is: "Do not unto others that which you would not they should + do unto you." Compare with this, Isocrates: "Be to your parents + what you would have your children be to you.... Do not to others + the things which make you angry when others do them to you"; + Herodotus: "What I punish in another man, I will myself, as far as + I can, refrain from"; Aristotle: "We should behave toward our + friends as we should wish them to behave toward us"; Tobit, + 4:15--"What thou hatest, do to no one"; Philo: "What one hates to + endure, let him not do"; Seneca bids us "give as we wish to + receive"; Rabbi Hillel: "Whatsoever is hateful to you, do not to + another; this is the whole law, and all the rest is explanation." + + Broadus, in Am. Com. on Matthew, 161--"The sayings of Confucius, + Isocrates, and the three Jewish teachers, are merely negative; + that of Seneca is confined to giving, and that of Aristotle to the + treatment of friends. Christ lays down a rule for positive action, + and that toward all men." He teaches that I am bound to do to + others all that they could rightly desire me to do to them. The + golden rule therefore requires a supplement, to show what others + can rightly desire, namely, God's glory first, and their good as + second and incidental thereto. Christianity furnishes this divine + and perfect standard; Confucianism is defective in that it has no + standard higher than human convention. While Confucianism excludes + polytheism, idolatry, and deification of vice, it is a shallow and + tantalizing system, because it does not recognize the hereditary + corruption of human nature, or furnish any remedy for moral evil + except the "doctrines of the sages." "The heart of man," it says, + "is naturally perfectly upright and correct." Sin is simply "a + disease, to be cured by self-discipline; a debt, to be canceled by + meritorious acts; an ignorance, to be removed by study and + contemplation." See Bib. Sac., 1883:292, 293; N. Englander, + 1883:565; Marcus Dods, in Erasmus and other Essays, 239. + + 2. THE INDIAN SYSTEMS. _Brahmanism_, as expressed in the Vedas, + dates back to 1000-1500 B. C. As Caird (in Faiths of the World, + St. Giles Lectures, lecture 1) has shown, it originated in the + contemplation of the power in nature apart from the moral + Personality that works in and through nature. Indeed we may say + that all heathenism is man's choice of a non-moral in place of a + moral God. Brahmanism is a system of pantheism, "a false or + illegitimate consecration of the finite." All things are a + manifestation of Brahma. Hence evil is deified as well as good. + And many thousand gods are worshiped as partial representations of + the living principle which moves through all. "How many gods have + the Hindus?" asked Dr. Duff of his class. Henry Drummond thought + there were about twenty-five. "Twenty-five?" responded the + indignant professor; "twenty-five millions of millions!" While the + early Vedas present a comparatively pure nature-worship, later + Brahmanism becomes a worship of the vicious and the vile, of the + unnatural and the cruel. Juggernaut and the suttee did not belong + to original Hindu religion. + + Bruce, Apologetics, 15--"Pantheism in theory always means + polytheism in practice." The early Vedas are hopeful in spirit; + later Brahmanism is a religion of disappointment. Caste is fixed + and consecrated as a manifestation of God. Originally intended to + express, in its four divisions of priest, soldier, agriculturist, + slave, the different degrees of unworldliness and divine + indwelling, it becomes an iron fetter to prevent all aspiration + and progress. Indian religion sought to exalt receptivity, the + unity of existence, and rest from self-determination and its + struggles. Hence it ascribed to its gods the same character as + nature-forces. God was the common source of good and of evil. Its + ethics is an ethics of moral indifference. Its charity is a + charity for sin, and the temperance it desires is a temperance + that will let the intemperate alone. Mozoomdar, for example, is + ready to welcome everything in Christianity but its reproof of sin + and its demand for righteousness. Brahmanism degrades woman, but + it deifies the cow. + + _Buddhism_, beginning with Buddha, 600 B. C., "recalls the mind to + its elevation above the finite," from which Brahmanism had fallen + away. Buddha was in certain respects a reformer. He protested + against caste, and proclaimed that truth and morality are for all. + Hence Buddhism, through its possession of this one grain of truth, + appealed to the human heart, and became, next to Christianity, the + greatest missionary religion. Notice then, first, its + _universalism_. But notice also that this is a false universalism, + for it ignores individualism and leads to universal stagnation and + slavery. While Christianity is a religion of history, of will, of + optimism, Buddhism is a religion of illusion, of quietism, of + pessimism; see Nash, Ethics and Revelation, 107-109. In + characterizing Buddhism as a missionary religion, we must notice, + secondly, its element of _altruism_. But this altruism is one + which destroys the self, instead of preserving it. The future + Buddha, out of compassion for a famished tiger, permits the tiger + to devour him. "Incarnated as a hare, he jumps into the fire to + cook himself for a meal for a beggar,--having previously shaken + himself three times, so that none of the insects in his fur should + perish with him"; see William James, Varieties of Religious + Experience, 283. Buddha would deliver man, not by philosophy, nor + by asceticism, but by self-renunciation. All isolation and + personality are sin, the guilt of which rests, however, not on + man, but on existence in general. + + While Brahmanism is pantheistic, Buddhism is atheistic in its + spirit. Pfleiderer, Philos. Religion, 1:285--"The Brahmanic + Akosmism, that had explained the world as mere seeming, led to the + Buddhistic Atheism." Finiteness and separateness are evil, and the + only way to purity and rest is by ceasing to exist. This is + essential pessimism. The highest morality is to endure that which + must be, and to escape from reality and from personal existence as + soon as possible. Hence the doctrine of _Nirvana_. Rhys Davids, in + his Hibbert Lectures, claims that early Buddhism meant by + _Nirvana_, not annihilation, but the extinction of the self-life, + and that this was attainable during man's present mortal + existence. But the term _Nirvana_ now means, to the great mass of + those who use it, the loss of all personality and consciousness, + and absorption into the general life of the universe. Originally + the term denoted only freedom from individual desire, and those + who had entered into _Nirvana_ might again come out of it; see + Ireland, Blot on the Brain, 238. But even in its original form, + _Nirvana_ was sought only from a selfish motive. Self-renunciation + and absorption in the whole was not the enthusiasm of + benevolence,--it was the refuge of despair. It is a religion + without god or sacrifice. Instead of communion with a personal + God, Buddhism has in prospect only an extinction of personality, + as reward for untold ages of lonely self-conquest, extending + through many transmigrations. Of Buddha it has been truly said + "That all the all he had for needy man Was nothing, and his best + of being was But not to be." Wilkinson, Epic of Paul, 296--"He by + his own act dying all the time, In ceaseless effort utterly to + cease, Will willing not to will, desire desiring To be desire no + more, until at last The fugitive go free, emancipate But by + becoming naught." Of Christ Bruce well says: "What a contrast this + Healer of disease and Preacher of pardon to the worst, to Buddha, + with his religion of despair!" + + Buddhism is also fatalistic. It inculcates submission and + compassion--merely negative virtues. But it knows nothing of manly + freedom, or of active love--the positive virtues of Christianity. + It leads men to spare others, but not to help them. Its morality + revolves around self, not around God. It has in it no organizing + principle, for it recognizes no God, no inspiration, no soul, no + salvation, no personal immortality. Buddhism would save men only + by inducing them to flee from existence. To the Hindu, family life + involves sin. The perfect man must forsake wife and children. All + gratification of natural appetites and passions is evil. Salvation + is not from sin, but from desire, and from this men can be saved + only by escaping from life itself. Christianity buries sin, but + saves the man; Buddha would save the man by killing him. + Christianity symbolizes the convert's entrance upon a new life by + raising him from the baptismal waters; the baptism of Buddhism + should be immersion without emersion. The fundamental idea of + Brahmanism, extinction of personality, remains the same in + Buddhism; the only difference being that the result is secured by + active atonement in the former, by passive contemplation in the + latter. Virtue, and the knowledge that everything earthly is a + vanishing spark of the original light, delivers man from existence + and from misery. + + Prof. G. H. Palmer, of Harvard, in The Outlook, June 19, + 1897--"Buddhism is unlike Christianity in that it abolishes misery + by abolishing desire; denies personality instead of asserting it; + has many gods, but no one God who is living and conscious; makes a + shortening of existence rather than a lengthening of it to be the + reward of righteousness. Buddhism makes no provision for family, + church, state, science, or art. It gives us a religion that is + little, when we want one that is large." Dr. E. Benjamin Andrews: + "Schopenhauer and Spencer are merely teachers of Buddhism. They + regard the central source of all as unknowable force, instead of + regarding it as a Spirit, living and holy. This takes away all + impulse to scientific investigation. We need to start from a + Person, and not from a thing." + + For comparison of the sage of India, Sakya Muni, more commonly + called Buddha (properly "the Buddha" = the enlightened; but who, + in spite of Edwin Arnold's "Light of Asia," is represented as not + pure from carnal pleasures before he began his work), with Jesus + Christ, see Bib. Sac., July, 1882:458-498; W. C. Wilkinson, Edwin + Arnold, Poetizer and Paganizer; Kellogg, The Light of Asia and the + Light of the World. Buddhism and Christianity are compared in + Presb. Rev., July, 1883:505-548; Wuttke, Christian Ethics, + 1:47-54; Mitchell, in Present Day Tracts, 6: no. 33. See also + Oldenberg, Buddha; Lillie, Popular Life of Buddha; Beal, Catena of + Buddhist Scriptures, 153--"Buddhism declares itself ignorant of any + mode of personal existence compatible with the idea of spiritual + perfection, and so far it is ignorant of God"; 157--"The earliest + idea of _Nirvana_ seems to have included in it no more than the + enjoyment of a state of rest consequent on the extinction of all + causes of sorrow." The impossibility of satisfying the human heart + with a system of atheism is shown by the fact that the Buddha + himself has been apotheosized to furnish an object of worship. + Thus Buddhism has reverted to Brahmanism. + + Monier Williams: "Mohammed has as much claim to be 'the Light of + Asia' as Buddha has. What light from Buddha? Not about the heart's + depravity, or the origin of sin, or the goodness, justice, + holiness, fatherhood of God, or the remedy for sin, but only the + ridding self from suffering by ridding self from life--a doctrine + of merit, of self-trust, of pessimism, and annihilation of + personality." Christ, himself personal, loving and holy, shows + that God is a person of holiness and love. Robert Browning: "He + that created love, shall not he love?" Only because Jesus is God, + have we a gospel for the world. The claim that Buddha is "the + Light of Asia" reminds one of the man who declared the moon to be + of greater value than the sun, because it gives light in the + darkness when it is needed, while the sun gives light in the + daytime when it is not needed. + + 3. THE GREEK SYSTEMS. _Pythagoras_ (584-504) based morality upon + the principle of numbers. "Moral good was identified with unity; + evil with multiplicity; virtue was harmony of the soul and its + likeness to God. The aim of life was to make it represent the + beautiful order of the Universe. The whole practical tendency of + Pythagoreanism was ascetic, and included a strict self-control and + an earnest culture." Here already we seem to see the defect of + Greek morality in confounding the good with the beautiful, and in + making morality a mere self-development. Matheson, Messages of the + Old Religions: Greece reveals the intensity of the hour, the value + of the present life, the beauty of the world that now is. Its + religion is the religion of beautiful humanity. It anticipates the + new heaven and the new earth. Rome on the other hand stood for + union, incorporation, a universal kingdom. But its religion + deified only the Emperor, not all humanity. It was the religion, + not of love, but of power, and it identified the church with the + state. + + _Socrates_ (469-400) made knowledge to be virtue. Morality + consisted in subordinating irrational desires to rational + knowledge. Although here we rise above a subjectively determined + good as the goal of moral effort, we have no proper sense of sin. + Knowledge, and not love, is the motive. If men know the right, + they will do the right. This is a great overvaluing of knowledge. + With Socrates, teaching is a sort of midwifery--not depositing + information in the mind, but drawing out the contents of our own + inner consciousness. Lewis Morris describes it as the life-work of + Socrates to "doubt our doubts away." Socrates holds it right to + injure one's enemies. He shows proud self-praise in his dying + address. He warns against pederasty, yet compromises with it. He + does not insist upon the same purity of family life which Homer + describes in Ulysses and Penelope. Charles Kingsley, in Alton + Locke, remarks that the spirit of the Greek tragedy was 'man + mastered by circumstance'; that of modern tragedy is "man + mastering circumstance." But the Greek tragedians, while showing + man thus mastered, do still represent him as inwardly free, as in + the case of Prometheus, and this sense of human freedom and + responsibility appears to some extent in Socrates. + + _Plato_ (430-348) held that morality is pleasure in the good, as + the truly beautiful, and that knowledge produces virtue. The good + is likeness to God,--here we have glimpses of an extra-human goal + and model. The body, like all matter, being inherently evil, is a + hindrance to the soul,--here we have a glimpse of hereditary + depravity. But Plato "reduced moral evil to the category of + natural evil." He failed to recognize God as creator and master of + matter; failed to recognize man's depravity as due to his own + apostasy from God; failed to found morality on the divine will + rather than on man's own consciousness. He knew nothing of a + common humanity, and regarded virtue as only for the few. As there + was no common sin, so there was no common redemption. Plato + thought to reach God by intellect alone, when only conscience and + heart could lead to him. He believed in a freedom of the soul in a + preexistent state where a choice was made between good and evil, + but he believed that, after that antemundane decision had been + made, the fates determined men's acts and lives irreversibly. + Reason drives two horses, appetite and emotion, but their course + has been predetermined. + + Man acts as reason prompts. All sin is ignorance. There is nothing + in this life but determinism. Martineau, Types, 13, 48, 49, 78, + 88--Plato in general has no proper notion of responsibility; he + reduces moral evil to the category of natural evil. His Ideas with + one exception are not causes. Cause is mind, and mind is the Good. + The Good is the apex and crown of Ideas. The Good is the highest + Idea, and this highest Idea is a Cause. Plato has a feeble + conception of personality, whether in God or in man. Yet God is a + person in whatever sense man is a person, and man's personality is + reflective self-consciousness. Will in God or man is not so clear. + The Right is dissolved into the Good. Plato advocated infanticide + and the killing off of the old and the helpless. + + _Aristotle_ (384-322) leaves out of view even the element of + God-likeness and antemundane evil which Plato so dimly recognized, + and makes morality the fruit of mere rational self-consciousness. + He grants evil proclivities, but he refuses to call them immoral. + He advocates a certain freedom of will, and he recognizes inborn + tendencies which war against this freedom, but how these + tendencies originated he cannot say, nor how men may be delivered + from them. Not all can be moral; the majority must be restrained + by fear. He finds in God no motive, and love to God is not so much + as mentioned as the source of moral action. A proud, composed, + self-centered, and self-contained man is his ideal character. See + Nicomachean Ethics, 7:6, and 10:10; Wuttke, Christian Ethics, + 1:92-126. Alexander, Theories of Will, 39-54--Aristotle held that + desire and reason are the springs of action. Yet he did not hold + that knowledge of itself would make men virtuous. He was a + determinist. Actions are free only in the sense of being devoid of + external compulsion. He viewed slavery as both rational and right. + Butcher, Aspects of Greek Genius, 76--"While Aristotle attributed + to the State a more complete personality than it really possessed, + he did not grasp the depth and meaning of the personality of the + individual." A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 289--Aristotle had + no conception of the unity of humanity. His doctrine of unity did + not extend beyond the State. "He said that 'the whole is before + the parts,' but he meant by 'the whole' only the pan-Hellenic + world, the commonwealth of Greeks; he never thought of humanity, + and the word 'mankind' never fell from his lips. He could not + understand the unity of humanity, because he knew nothing of + Christ, its organizing principle." On Aristotle's conception of + God, see James Ten Broeke, in Bap. Quar. Rev., Jan. 1892--God is + recognized as personal, yet he is only the Greek Reason, and not + the living, loving, providential Father of the Hebrew revelation. + Aristotle substitutes the logical for the dynamical in his dealing + with the divine causality. God is thought, not power. + + _Epicurus_ (342-270) regarded happiness, the subjective feeling of + pleasure, as the highest criterion of truth and good. A prudent + calculating for prolonged pleasure is the highest wisdom. He + regards only this life. Concern for retribution and for a future + existence is folly. If there are gods, they have no concern for + men. "Epicurus, on pretense of consulting for their ease, + complimented the gods, and bowed them out of existence." Death is + the falling apart of material atoms and the eternal cessation of + consciousness. The miseries of this life are due to imperfection + in the fortuitously constructed universe. The more numerous these + undeserved miseries, the greater our right to seek pleasure. + Alexander, Theories of the Will, 55-75--The Epicureans held that + the soul is composed of atoms, yet that the will is free. The + atoms of the soul are excepted from the law of cause and effect. + An atom may decline or deviate in the universal descent, and this + is the Epicurean idea of freedom. This indeterminism was held by + all the Greek sceptics, materialists though they were. + + _Zeno_, the founder of the Stoic philosophy (340-264), regarded + virtue as the only good. Thought is to subdue nature. The free + spirit is self-legislating, self-dependent, self-sufficient. + Thinking, not feeling, is the criterion of the true and the good. + Pleasure is the consequence, not the end of moral action. There is + an irreconcilable antagonism of existence. Man cannot reform the + world, but he can make himself perfect. Hence an unbounded pride + in virtue. The sage never repents. There is not the least + recognition of the moral corruption of mankind. There is no + objective divine ideal, or revealed divine will. The Stoic + discovers moral law only within, and never suspects his own moral + perversion. Hence he shows self-control and justice, but never + humility or love. He needs no compassion or forgiveness, and he + grants none to others. Virtue is not an actively outworking + character, but a passive resistance to irrational reality. Man may + retreat into himself. The Stoic is indifferent to pleasure and + pain, not because he believes in a divine government, or in a + divine love for mankind, but as a proud defiance of the irrational + world. He has no need of God or of redemption. As the Epicurean + gives himself to enjoyment of the world, the Stoic gives himself + to contempt of the world. In all afflictions, each can say, "The + door is open." To the Epicurean, the refuge is intoxication; to + the Stoic, the refuge is suicide: "If the house smokes, quit it." + Wuttke, Christian Ethics, 1:62-161, from whom much of this account + of the Greeks systems is condensed, describes Epicureanism and + Stoicism as alike making morality subjective, although + Epicureanism regarded spirit as determined by nature, while + Stoicism regarded nature as determined by spirit. + + The Stoics were materialists and pantheists. Though they speak of + a personal God, this is a figure of speech. False opinion is at + the root of all vice. Chrysippus denied what we now call the + liberty of indifference, saying that there could not be an effect + without a cause. Man is enslaved to passion. The Stoics could not + explain how a vicious man could become virtuous. The result is + apathy. Men act only according to character, and this a doctrine + of fate. The Stoic indifference or apathy in misfortune is not a + bearing of it at all, but rather a cowardly retreat from it. It is + in the actual suffering of evil that Christianity finds "the soul + of good." The office of misfortune is disciplinary and purifying; + see Seth, Ethical Principles, 417. "The shadow of the sage's self, + projected on vacancy, was called God, and, as the sage had long + since abandoned interest in practical life, he expected his + Divinity to do the same." + + The Stoic reverenced God just because of his unapproachable + majesty. Christianity sees in God a Father, a Redeemer, a carer + for our minute wants, a deliverer from our sin. It teaches us to + see in Christ the humanity of the divine, affinity with God, God's + supreme interest in his handiwork. For the least of his creatures + Christ died. Kinship with God gives dignity to man. The + individuality that Stoicism lost in the whole, Christianity makes + the end of the creation. The State exists to develop and promote + it. Paul took up and infused new meaning into certain phrases of + the Stoic philosophy about the freedom and royalty of the wise + man, just as John adopted and glorified certain phrases of + Alexandrian philosophy about the Word. Stoicism was lonely and + pessimistic. The Stoics said that the best thing was not to be + born; the next best thing was to die. Because Stoicism had no God + of helpfulness and sympathy, its virtue was mere conformity to + nature, majestic egoism and self-complacency. In the Roman + _Epictetus_ (89), _Seneca_ (65), and _Marcus Aurelius_ (121-180), + the religious element comes more into the foreground, and virtue + appears once more as God-likeness; but it is possible that this + later Stoicism was influenced by Christianity. On Marcus Aurelius, + see New Englander, July, 1881:415-431; Capes, Stoicism. + + 4. SYSTEMS OF WESTERN ASIA. _Zoroaster_ (1000 B. C. ?), the + founder of the Parsees, was a dualist, at least so far as to + explain the existence of evil and of good by the original presence + in the author of all things of two opposing principles. Here is + evidently a limit put upon the sovereignty and holiness of God. + Man is not perfectly dependent upon him, nor is God's will an + unconditional law for his creatures. As opposed to the Indian + systems, Zoroaster's insistence upon the divine personality + furnished a far better basis for a vigorous and manly morality. + Virtue was to be won by hard struggle of free beings against evil. + But then, on the other hand, this evil was conceived as originally + due, not to finite beings themselves, but either to an evil deity + who warred against the good, or to an evil principle in the one + deity himself. The burden of guilt is therefore shifted from man + to his maker. Morality becomes subjective and unsettled. Not love + to God or imitation of God, but rather self-love and + self-development, furnish the motive and aim of morality. No + fatherhood or love is recognized in the deity, and other things + besides God (_e. g._, fire) are worshiped. There can be no depth + to the consciousness of sin, and no hope of divine deliverance. + + It is the one merit of Parseeism that it recognizes the moral + conflict of the world; its error is that it carries this moral + conflict into the very nature of God. We can apply to Parseeism + the words of the Conference of Foreign Mission Boards to the + Buddhists of Japan: "All religions are expressions of man's sense + of dependence, but only one provides fellowship with God. All + religions speak of a higher truth, but only one speaks of that + truth as found in a loving personal God, our Father. All religions + show man's helplessness, but only one tells of a divine Savior, + who offers to man forgiveness of sin, and salvation through his + death, and who is now a living person, working in and with all who + believe in him, to make them holy and righteous and pure." + Matheson, Messages of Old Religions, says that Parseeism + recognizes an obstructive element in the nature of God himself. + Moral evil is reality; but there is no reconciliation, nor is it + shown that all things work together for good. See Wuttke, + Christian Ethics, 1:47-54; Faiths of the World (St. Giles + Lectures), 109-144; Mitchell, in Present Day Tracts, 3: no. 25; + Whitney on the Avesta, in Oriental and Linguistic Studies. + + _Mohammed_ (570-632 A. D.), the founder of Islam, gives us in the + Koran a system containing four dogmas of fundamental immorality, + namely, polygamy, slavery, persecution, and suppression of private + judgement. Mohammedanism is heathenism in monotheistic form. Its + good points are its conscientiousness and its relation to God. It + has prospered because it has preached the unity of God, and + because it is a book-religion. But both these it got from Judaism + and Christianity. It has appropriated the Old Testament saints and + even Jesus. But it denies the death of Christ and sees no need of + atonement. The power of sin is not recognized. The idea of sin, in + Moslems, is emptied of all positive content. Sin is simply a + falling short, accounted for by the weakness and shortsightedness + of man, inevitable in the fatalistic universe, or not remembered + in wrath by the indulgent and merciful Father. Forgiveness is + indulgence, and the conception of God is emptied of the quality of + justice. Evil belongs only to the individual, not to the race. Man + attains the favor of God by good works, based on prophetic + teaching. Morality is not a fruit of salvation, but a means. There + is no penitence or humility, but only self-righteousness; and this + self-righteousness is consistent with great sensuality, unlimited + divorce, and with absolute despotism in family, civil and + religious affairs. There is no knowledge of the fatherhood of God + or of the brotherhood of man. In all the Koran, there is no such + declaration as that "God so loved the world"_ (John 3:16)_. + + The submission of Islam is submission to an arbitrary will, not to + a God of love. There is no basing of morality in love. The highest + good is the sensuous happiness of the individual. God and man are + external to one another. Mohammed is a teacher but not a priest. + Mozley, Miracles, 140, 141--"Mohammed had no faith in human nature. + There were two things which he thought men could do, and would do, + for the glory of God--transact religious _forms_, and _fight_, and + upon these two points he was severe; but within the sphere of + common practical life, where man's great trial lies, his code + exhibits the disdainful laxity of a legislator who accomodates his + rule to the recipient, and shows his estimate of the recipient by + the accommodation which he adopts.... 'Human nature is weak,' said + he." Lord Houghton: The Koran is all wisdom, all law, all + religion, for all time. Dead men bow before a dead God. "Though + the world rolls on from change to change, And realms of thought + expand, The letter stands without expanse or range, Stiff as a + dead man's hand." Wherever Mohammedanism has gone, it has either + found a desert or made one. Fairbairn, in Contemp. Rev., Dec. + 1882:866--"The Koran has frozen Mohammedan thought; to obey is to + abandon progress." Muir, in Present Day Tracts, 3: no. + 14--"Mohammedanism reduces men to a dead level of social + depression, despotism, and semi-barbarism. Islam is the work of + man; Christianity of God." See also Faiths of the World (St. Giles + Lectures, Second Series), 361-396; J. F. Clarke, Ten Great + Religions, 1:448-488; 280-317; Great Religions of the World, + published by the Harpers; Zwemer, Moslem Doctrine of God. + + +3. The person and character of Christ. + + +A. The conception of Christ's person as presenting deity and humanity +indissolubly united, and the conception of Christ's character, with its +faultless and all-comprehending excellence, cannot be accounted for upon +any other hypothesis than that they were historical realities. + + + The stylobate of the Parthenon at Athens rises about three inches + in the middle of the 101 feet of the front, and four inches in the + middle of the 228 feet of the flanks. A nearly parallel line is + found in the entablature. The axes of the columns lean inward + nearly three inches in their height of 34 feet, thus giving a sort + of pyramidal character to the structure. Thus the architect + overcame the apparent sagging of horizontal lines, and at the same + time increased the apparent height of the edifice; see Murray, + Handbook of Greece, 5th ed., 1884, 1:308, 309; Ferguson, Handbook + of Architecture, 268-270. The neglect to counteract this optical + illusion has rendered the Madeleine in Paris a stiff and + ineffective copy of the Parthenon. The Galilean peasant who should + minutely describe these peculiarities of the Parthenon would + prove, not only that the edifice was a historical reality, but + that he had actually seen it. Bruce, Apologetics, 343--"In reading + the memoirs of the evangelists, you feel as one sometimes feels in + a picture-gallery. Your eye alights on the portrait of a person + whom you do not know. You look at it intently for a few moments + and then remark to a companion: 'That must be like the + original,--it is so life-like.' " Theodore Parker: "It would take a + Jesus to forge a Jesus." See Row, Bampton Lectures, 1877:178-219, + and in Present Day Tracts, 4: no. 22; F. W. Farrar, Witness of + History to Christ; Barry, Boyle Lecture on Manifold Witness for + Christ. + + +(_a_) No source can be assigned from which the evangelists could have +derived such a conception. The Hindu avatars were only temporary unions of +deity with humanity. The Greeks had men half-deified, but no unions of God +and man. The monotheism of the Jews found the person of Christ a perpetual +stumbling-block. The Essenes were in principle more opposed to +Christianity than the Rabbinists. + + + Herbert Spencer, Data of Ethics, 279--"The coexistence of a perfect + man and an imperfect society is impossible; and could the two + coexist, the resulting conduct would not furnish the ethical + standard sought." We must conclude that the perfect manhood of + Christ is a miracle, and the greatest of miracles. Bruce, + Apologetics, 346, 351--"When Jesus asks: 'Why callest thou me + good?' he means: 'Learn first what goodness is, and call no man + good till you are sure that he deserves it.' Jesus' goodness was + entirely free from religious scrupulosity; it was distinguished by + humanity; it was full of modesty and lowliness.... Buddhism has + flourished 2000 years, though little is known of its founder. + Christianity might have been so perpetuated, but it is not so. I + want to be sure that the ideal has been embodied in an actual + life. Otherwise it is only poetry, and the obligation to conform + to it ceases." For comparison of Christ's incarnation with Hindu, + Greek, Jewish, and Essene ideas, see Dorner, Hist. Doct. Person of + Christ, Introduction. On the Essenes, see Herzog, Encyclop., art,: + Essener; Pressense, Jesus Christ, Life, Times and Work, 84-87; + Lightfoot on Colossians, 349-419; Godet, Lectures in Defence of + the Christian Faith. + + +(_b_) No mere human genius, and much less the genius of Jewish fishermen, +could have originated this conception. Bad men invent only such characters +as they sympathize with. But Christ's character condemns badness. Such a +portrait could not have been drawn without supernatural aid. But such aid +would not have been given to fabrication. The conception can be explained +only by granting that Christ's person and character were historical +realities. + + + Between Pilate and Titus 30,000 Jews are said to have been + crucified around the walls of Jerusalem. Many of these were young + men. What makes one of them stand out on the pages of history? + There are two answers: The character of Jesus was a perfect + character, and, He was God as well as man. Gore, Incarnation, + 63--"The Christ of the gospels, if he be not true to history, + represents a combined effort of the creative imagination without + parallel in literature. But the literary characteristics of + Palestine in the first century make the hypothesis of such an + effort morally impossible." The Apocryphal gospels show us what + mere imagination was capable of producing. That the portrait of + Christ is not puerile, inane, hysterical, selfishly assertive, and + self-contradictory, can be due only to the fact that it is the + photograph from real life. + + For a remarkable exhibition of the argument from the character of + Jesus, see Bushnell, Nature and the Supernatural, 276-332. + Bushnell mentions the originality and vastness of Christ's plan, + yet its simplicity and practical adaptation; his moral traits of + independence, compassion, meekness, wisdom, zeal, humility, + patience; the combination in him of seemingly opposite qualities. + With all his greatness, he was condescending and simple; he was + unworldly, yet not austere; he had strong feelings, yet was + self-possessed; he had indignation toward sin, yet compassion + toward the sinner; he showed devotion to his work, yet calmness + under opposition; universal philanthropy, yet susceptibility to + private attachments; the authority of a Savior and Judge, yet the + gratitude and the tenderness of a son; the most elevated devotion, + yet a life of activity and exertion. See chapter on The Moral + Miracle, in Bruce, Miraculous Element of the Gospels, 43-78. + + +B. The acceptance and belief in the New Testament descriptions of Jesus +Christ cannot be accounted for except upon the ground that the person and +character described had an actual existence. + +(_a_) If these descriptions were false, there were witnesses still living +who had known Christ and who would have contradicted them. (_b_) There was +no motive to induce acceptance of such false accounts, but every motive to +the contrary. (_c_) The success of such falsehoods could be explained only +by supernatural aid, but God would never have thus aided falsehood. This +person and character, therefore, must have been not fictitious but real; +and if real, then Christ's words are true, and the system of which his +person and character are a part is a revelation from God. + + + "The counterfeit may for a season Deceive the wide earth; But the + lie waxing great comes to labor, And truth has its birth." Matthew + Arnold, The Better Part: "Was Christ a man like us? Ah, let us + see, If we then too can be Such men as he!" When the blatant + sceptic declared: "I do not believe that such a man as Jesus + Christ ever lived," George Warren merely replied: "I wish I were + like him!" Dwight L. Moody was called a hypocrite, but the + stalwart evangelist answered: "Well, suppose I am. How does that + make your case any better? I know some pretty mean things about + myself; but you cannot say anything against my Master." Goethe: + "Let the culture of the spirit advance forever; let the human + spirit broaden itself as it will; yet it will never go beyond the + height and moral culture of Christianity, as it glitters and + shines in the gospels." + + Renan, Life of Jesus: "Jesus founded the absolute religion, + excluding nothing, determining nothing, save its essence.... The + foundation of the true religion is indeed his work. After him, + there is nothing left but to develop and fructify." And a + Christian scholar has remarked: "It is an astonishing proof of the + divine guidance vouchsafed to the evangelists that no man, of + their time or since, has been able to touch the picture of Christ + without debasing it." We may find an illustration of this in the + words of Chadwick, Old and New Unitarianism, 207--"Jesus' doctrine + of marriage was ascetic, his doctrine of property was communistic, + his doctrine of charity was sentimental, his doctrine of + non-resistance was such as commends itself to Tolstoi, but not to + many others of our time. With the example of Jesus, it is the same + as with his teachings. Followed unreservedly, would it not justify + those who say: 'The hope of the race is in its extinction'; and + bring all our joys and sorrows to a sudden end?" To this we may + answer in the words of Huxley, who declares that Jesus Christ is + "the noblest ideal of humanity which mankind has yet worshiped." + Gordon, Christ of To-Day, 179--"The question is not whether Christ + is good enough to represent the Supreme Being, but whether the + Supreme Being is good enough to have Christ for his + representative. John Stuart Mill looks upon the Christian religion + as the worship of Christ, rather than the worship of God, and in + this way he explains the beneficence of its influence." + + John Stuart Mill, Essays on Religion, 254--"The most valuable part + of the effect on the character which Christianity has produced, by + holding up in a divine person a standard of excellence and a model + for imitation, is available even to the absolute unbeliever, and + can never more be lost to humanity. For it is Christ rather than + God whom Christianity has held up to believers as the pattern of + perfection for humanity. It is the God incarnate, more than the + God of the Jews or of nature, who, being idealized, has taken so + great and salutary hold on the modern mind. And whatever else may + be taken away from us by rational criticism, Christ is still left: + a unique figure, not more unlike all his precursors than all his + followers, even those who had the direct benefit of his personal + preaching.... Who among his disciples, or among their proselytes, + was capable of inventing the sayings ascribed to Jesus, or of + imagining the life and character revealed in the Gospels?... About + the life and sayings of Jesus there is a stamp of personal + originality combined with profundity of insight which, if we + abandon the idle expectation of finding scientific precision where + something very different was aimed at, must place the Prophet of + Nazareth, even in the estimation of those who have no belief in + his inspiration, in the very first rank of the men of sublime + genius of whom our species can boast. When this preeminent genius + is combined with the qualities of probably the greatest moral + reformer and martyr to that mission who ever existed upon earth, + religion cannot be said to have made a bad choice in pitching on + this man as the ideal representative and guide of humanity; nor + even now would it be easy, even for an unbeliever, to find a + better translation of the rule of virtue from the abstract into + the concrete than the endeavor so to live that Christ would + approve our life. When to this we add that, to the conception of + the rational sceptic, it remains a possibility that Christ + actually was ... a man charged with a special, express and unique + commission from God to lead mankind to truth and virtue, we may + well conclude that the influences of religion on the character, + which will remain after rational criticism has done its utmost + against the evidences of religion, are well worth preserving, and + that what they lack in direct strength as compared with those of a + firmer belief is more than compensated by the greater truth and + rectitude of the morality they sanction." See also Ullmann, + Sinlessness of Jesus; Alexander, Christ and Christianity, 129-157; + Schaff, Person of Christ; Young, The Christ in History; George + Dana Boardman, The Problem of Jesus. + + +4. The testimony of Christ to himself--as being a messenger from God and as +being one with God. + + +Only one personage in history has claimed to teach absolute truth, to be +one with God, and to attest his divine mission by works such as only God +could perform. + +A. This testimony cannot be accounted for upon the hypothesis that Jesus +was an intentional deceiver: for (_a_) the perfectly consistent holiness +of his life; (_b_) the unwavering confidence with which he challenged +investigation of his claims and staked all upon the result; (_c_) the vast +improbability of a lifelong lie in the avowed interests of truth; and +(_d_) the impossibility that deception should have wrought such blessing +to the world,--all show that Jesus was no conscious impostor. + + + Fisher, Essays on the Supernat. Origin of Christianity, + 515-538--Christ knew how vast his claims were, yet he staked all + upon them. Though others doubted, he never doubted himself. Though + persecuted unto death, he never ceased his consistent testimony. + Yet he lays claim to humility: _Mat. 11:29--_"I am meek and lowly + in heart." How can we reconcile with humility his constant + self-assertion? We answer that Jesus' self-assertion was + absolutely essential to his mission, for he and the truth were + one: he could not assert the truth without asserting himself, and + he could not assert himself without asserting the truth. Since he + was the truth, he needed to say so, for men's sake and for the + truth's sake, and he could be meek and lowly in heart in saying + so. Humility is not self-depreciation, but only the judging of + ourselves according to God's perfect standard. "Humility" is + derived from "_humus_". It is the coming down from airy and vain + self-exploitation to the solid ground, the hard-pan, of actual + fact. + + God requires of us only so much humility as is consistent with + truth. The self-glorification of the egotist is nauseating, + because it indicates gross ignorance or misrepresentation of self. + But it is a duty to be self-asserting, just so far as we represent + the truth and righteousness of God. There is a noble + self-assertion which is perfectly consistent with humility. Job + must stand for his integrity. Paul's humility was not of the Uriah + Heep variety. When occasion required, he could assert his manhood + and his rights, as at Philippi and at the Castle of Antonia. So + the Christian should frankly say out the truth that is in him. + Each Christian has an experience of his own, and should tell it to + others. In testifying to the truth he is only following the + example of "Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the + good confession"_ (1 Tim. 6:13)_. + + +B. Nor can Jesus' testimony to himself be explained upon the hypothesis +that he was self-deceived: for this would argue (_a_) a weakness and folly +amounting to positive insanity. But his whole character and life exhibit a +calmness, dignity, equipoise, insight, self-mastery, utterly inconsistent +with such a theory. Or it would argue (_b_) a self-ignorance and +self-exaggeration which could spring only from the deepest moral +perversion. But the absolute purity of his conscience, the humility of his +spirit, the self-denying beneficence of his life, show this hypothesis to +be incredible. + + + Rogers, Superhuman Origin of the Bible, 39--If he were man, then to + demand that all the world should bow down to him would be worthy + of scorn like that which we feel for some straw-crowned monarch of + Bedlam. Forrest, The Christ of History and of Experience, 22, + 76--Christ never united with his disciples in prayer. He went up + into the mountain to pray, but not to pray _with them_: _Luke + 9:18--_"as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him." The + consciousness of preexistence is the indispensable precondition of + the total demand which he makes in the Synoptics. Adamson, The + Mind in Christ, 81, 82--We value the testimony of Christians to + their communion with God. Much more should we value the testimony + of Christ. Only one who, first being divine, also knew that he was + divine, could reveal heavenly things with the clearness and + certainty that belong to the utterances of Jesus. In him we have + something very different from the momentary flashes of insight + which leave us in all the greater darkness. + + Nash, Ethics and Revelation, 5--"Self-respect is bottomed upon the + ability to become what one desires to be; and, if the ability + steadily falls short of the task, the springs of self-respect dry + up; the motives of happy and heroic action wither. Science, art, + generous civic life, and especially religion, come to man's + rescue,"--showing him his true greatness and breadth of being in + God. The State is the individual's larger self. Humanity, and even + the universe, are parts of him. It is the duty of man to enable + all men to be men. It is possible for men not only truthfully but + also rationally to assert themselves, even in earthly affairs. + Chatham to the Duke of Devonshire: "My Lord, I believe I can save + this country, and that no one else can." Leonardo da Vinci, in his + thirtieth year, to the Duke of Milan: "I can carry through every + kind of work in sculpture, in clay, marble, and bronze; also in + painting I can execute everything that can be demanded, as well as + any one whosoever." + + Horace: "Exegi monumentum aere perennius." Savage, Life beyond + Death, 209--A famous old minister said once, when a young and + zealous enthusiast tried to get him to talk, and failing, burst + out with, "Have you no religion at all?" "None _to speak of_," was + the reply. When Jesus perceived a tendency in his disciples to + self-glorification, he urged silence; but when he saw the tendency + to introspection and inertness, he bade them proclaim what he had + done for them (_Mat. 8:4_; _Mark 5:19_). It is never right for the + Christian to proclaim himself; but, if Christ had not proclaimed + himself, the world could never have been saved. Rush Rhees. Life + of Jesus of Nazareth, 235-237--"In the teaching of Jesus, two + topics have the leading place--the Kingdom of God, and himself. He + sought to be Lord, rather than Teacher only. Yet the Kingdom is + not one of power, national and external, but one of fatherly love + and of mutual brotherhood." + + Did Jesus do anything for effect, or as a mere example? Not so. + His baptism had meaning for him as a consecration of himself to + death for the sins of the world, and his washing of the disciples' + feet was the fit beginning of the paschal supper and the symbol of + his laying aside his heavenly glory to purify us for the marriage + supper of the Lamb. Thomas a Kempis: "Thou art none the holier + because thou art praised, and none the worse because thou art + censured. What thou art, that thou art, and it avails thee naught + to be called any better than thou art in the sight of God." Jesus' + consciousness of his absolute sinlessness and of his perfect + communion with God is the strongest of testimonies to his divine + nature and mission. See Theological Eclectic, 4:137; Liddon, Our + Lord's Divinity, 153; J. S. Mill, Essays on Religion, 253; Young, + Christ of History; Divinity of Jesus Christ, by Andover + Professors, 37-62. + + +If Jesus, then, cannot be charged with either mental or moral unsoundness, +his testimony must be true, and he himself must be one with God and the +revealer of God to men. + + + Neither Confucius nor Buddha claimed to be divine, or the organs + of divine revelation, though both were moral teachers and + reformers. Zoroaster and Pythagoras apparently believed themselves + charged with a divine mission, though their earliest biographers + wrote centuries after their death. Socrates claimed nothing for + himself which was beyond the power of others. Mohammed believed + his extraordinary states of body and soul to be due to the action + of celestial beings; he gave forth the Koran as "a warning to all + creatures," and sent a summons to the King of Persia and the + Emperor of Constantinople, as well as to other potentates, to + accept the religion of Islam; yet he mourned when he died that he + could not have opportunity to correct the mistakes of the Koran + and of his own life. For Confucius or Buddha, Zoroaster or + Pythagoras, Socrates or Mohammed to claim all power in heaven and + earth, would show insanity or moral perversion. But this is + precisely what Jesus claimed. He was either mentally or morally + unsound, or his testimony is true. See Baldensperger, + Selbstbewusstsein Jesu; E. Ballentine, Christ his own Witness. + + + +IV. The Historical Results of the Propagation of Scripture Doctrine. + + +1. _The rapid progress of the gospel in the first centuries of our era +shows its divine origin._ + +A. That Paganism should have been in three centuries supplanted by +Christianity, is an acknowledged wonder of history. + + + The conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity was the most + astonishing revolution of faith and worship ever known. Fifty + years after the death of Christ, there were churches in all the + principal cities of the Roman Empire. Nero (37-68) found (as + Tacitus declares) an "ingens multitudo" of Christians to + persecute. Pliny writes to Trajan (52-117) that they "pervaded not + merely the cities but the villages and country places, so that the + temples were nearly deserted." Tertullian (160-230) writes: "We + are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled all your places, your + cities, your islands, your castles, your towns, your + council-houses, even your camps, your tribes, your senate, your + forum. We have left you nothing but your temples." In the time of + the emperor Valerian (253-268), the Christians constituted half + the population of Rome. The conversion of the emperor Constantine + (272-337) brought the whole empire, only 300 years after Jesus' + death, under the acknowledged sway of the gospel. See McIlvaine + and Alexander, Evidences of Christianity. + + +B. The wonder is the greater when we consider the obstacles to the +progress of Christianity: + +(_a_) The scepticism of the cultivated classes; (_b_) the prejudice and +hatred of the common people; and (_c_) the persecutions set on foot by +government. + + + (_a_) Missionaries even now find it difficult to get a hearing + among the cultivated classes of the heathen. But the gospel + appeared in the most enlightened age of antiquity--the Augustan age + of literature and historical inquiry. Tacitus called the religion + of Christ "exitiabilis superstitio"--"quos per flagitia invisos + vulgus Christianos appellabat." Pliny: "Nihil aliud inveni quam + superstitionem pravam et immodicam." If the gospel had been false, + its preachers would not have ventured into the centres of + civilization and refinement; or if they had, they would have been + detected. (_b)_ Consider the interweaving of heathen religions + with all the relations of life. Christians often had to meet the + furious zeal and blind rage of the mob,--as at Lystra and Ephesus. + (_c_) Rawlinson, in his Historical Evidences, claims that the + Catacombs of Rome comprised nine hundred miles of streets and + seven millions of graves within a period of four hundred years--a + far greater number than could have died a natural death--and that + vast multitudes of these must have been massacred for their faith. + The Encyclopaedia Britannica, however, calls the estimate of De + Marchi, which Rawlinson appears to have taken as authority, a + great exaggeration. Instead of nine hundred miles of streets, + Northcote has three hundred fifty. The number of interments to + correspond would be less than three millions. The Catacombs began + to be deserted by the time of Jerome. The times when they were + universally used by Christians could have been hardly more than + two hundred years. They did not begin in sand-pits. There were + three sorts of tufa: (1) rocky, used for quarrying and too hard + for Christian purposes; (2) sandy, used for sand-pits, too soft to + permit construction of galleries and tombs; (3) granular, that + used by Christians. The existence of the Catacombs must have been + well known to the heathen. After Pope Damasus the exaggerated + reverence for them began. They were decorated and improved. Hence + many paintings are of later date than 400, and testify to papal + polity, not to that of early Christianity. The bottles contain, + not blood, but wine of the eucharist celebrated at the funeral. + + Fisher, Nature and Method of Revelation, 256-258, calls attention + to Matthew Arnold's description of the needs of the heathen world, + yet his blindness to the true remedy: "On that hard pagan world + disgust And secret loathing fell; Deep weariness and sated lust + Made human life a hell. In his cool hall, with haggard eyes, The + Roman noble lay; He drove abroad, in furious guise, Along the + Appian Way; He made a feast, drank fierce and fast, And crowned + his hair with flowers,--No easier nor no quicker passed The + impracticable hours." Yet with mingled pride and sadness, Mr. + Arnold fastidiously rejects more heavenly nutriment. Of Christ he + says: "Now he is dead! Far hence he lies, In the lorn Syrian town, + And on his grave, with shining eyes, The Syrian stars look down." + He sees that the millions "Have such need of joy, And joy whose + grounds are true, And joy that should all hearts employ As when + the past was new!" The want of the world is: "One mighty wave of + thought and joy, Lifting mankind amain." But the poet sees no + ground of hope: "Fools! that so often here, Happiness mocked our + prayer, I think might make us fear A like event elsewhere,--Make us + not fly to dreams, But moderate desire." He sings of the time when + Christianity was young: "Oh, had I lived in that great day, How + had its glory new Filled earth and heaven, and caught away My + ravished spirit too!" But desolation of spirit does not bring with + it any lowering of self-esteem, much less the humility which + deplores the presence and power of evil in the soul, and sighs for + deliverance. "They that are whole have no need of a physician, but + they that are sick"_ (Mat. 9:12)_. Rejecting Christ, Matthew + Arnold embodies in his verse "the sweetness, the gravity, the + strength, the beauty, and the languor of death" (Hutton, Essays, + 302). + + +C. The wonder becomes yet greater when we consider the natural +insufficiency of the means used to secure this progress. + +(_a_) The proclaimers of the gospel were in general unlearned men, +belonging to a despised nation. (_b_) The gospel which they proclaimed was +a gospel of salvation through faith in a Jew who had been put to an +ignominious death. (_c_) This gospel was one which excited natural +repugnance, by humbling men's pride, striking at the root of their sins, +and demanding a life of labor and self-sacrifice. (_d_) The gospel, +moreover, was an exclusive one, suffering no rival and declaring itself to +be the universal and only religion. + + + (_a_) The early Christians were more unlikely to make converts + than modern Jews are to make proselytes, in vast numbers, in the + principal cities of Europe and America. Celsus called Christianity + "a religion of the rabble." (_b_) The cross was the Roman + gallows--the punishment of slaves. Cicero calls it "servitutis + extremum summumque supplicium." (_c_) There were many bad + religions: why should the mild Roman Empire have persecuted the + only good one? The answer is in part: Persecution did not + originate with the official classes; it proceeded really from the + people at large. Tacitus called Christians "haters of the human + race." Men recognized in Christianity a foe to all their previous + motives, ideals, and aims. Altruism would break up the old + society, for every effort that centered in self or in the present + life was stigmatized by the gospel as unworthy. (_d_) Heathenism, + being without creed or principle, did not care to propagate + itself. "A man must be very weak," said Celsus, "to imagine that + Greeks and barbarians, in Asia, Europe, and Libya, can ever unite + under the same system of religion." So the Roman government would + allow no religion which did not participate in the worship of the + State. "Keep yourselves from idols," "We worship no other God," + was the Christian's answer. Gibbon, Hist. Decline and Fall, 1: + chap. 15, mentions as secondary causes: (1) the zeal of the Jews; + (2) the doctrine of immortality; (3) miraculous powers; (4) + virtues of early Christians; (5) privilege of participation in + church government. But these causes were only secondary, and all + would have been insufficient without an invincible persuasion of + the truth of Christianity. For answer to Gibbon, see Perrone, + Prelectiones Theologicae, 1:133. + + Persecution destroys falsehood by leading its advocates to + investigate the grounds of their belief; but it strengthens and + multiplies truth by leading its advocates to see more clearly the + foundations of their faith. There have been many conscientious + persecutors: _John 16:2--_"They shall put you out of the + synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you shall + think that he offereth service unto God." The Decretal of Pope + Urban II reads: "For we do not count them to be homicides, to whom + it may have happened, through their burning zeal against the + excommunicated, to put any of them to death." St. Louis, King of + France, urged his officers "not to argue with the infidel, but to + subdue unbelievers by thrusting the sword into them as far as it + will go." Of the use of the rack in England on a certain occasion, + it was said that it was used with all the tenderness which the + nature of the instrument would allow. This reminds us of Isaak + Walton's instruction as to the use of the frog: "Put the hook + through his mouth and out at his gills; and, in so doing, use him + as though you loved him." + + Robert Browning, in his Easter Day, 275-288, gives us what + purports to be A Martyr's Epitaph, inscribed upon a wall of the + Catacombs, which furnishes a valuable contrast to the sceptical + and pessimistic strain of Matthew Arnold: "I was born sickly, poor + and mean, A slave: no misery could screen The holders of the pearl + of price from Caesar's envy: therefore twice I fought with beasts, + and three times saw My children suffer by his law; At length my + own release was earned: I was some time in being burned, But at + the close a Hand came through The fire above my head, and drew My + soul to Christ, whom now I see. Sergius, a brother, writes for me + This testimony on the wall--For me, I have forgot it all." + + +The progress of a religion so unprepossessing and uncompromising to +outward acceptance and dominion, within the space of three hundred years, +cannot be explained without supposing that divine power attended its +promulgation, and therefore that the gospel is a revelation from God. + + + Stanley, Life and Letters, 1:527--"In the Kremlin Cathedral, + whenever the Metropolitan advanced from the altar to give his + blessing, there was always thrown under his feet a carpet + embroidered with the eagle of old Pagan Rome, to indicate that the + Christian Church and Empire of Constantinople had succeeded and + triumphed over it." On this whole section, see F. W. Farrar, + Witness of History to Christ, 91; McIlvaine, Wisdom of Holy + Scripture, 139. + + +2. _The beneficent influence of the Scripture doctrines and precepts, +wherever they have had sway, shows their divine origin._ Notice: + +A. Their influence on civilization in general, securing a recognition of +principles which heathenism ignored, such as Garbett mentions: (_a_) the +importance of the individual; (_b_) the law of mutual love; (_c_) the +sacredness of human life; (_d_) the doctrine of internal holiness; (_e_) +the sanctity of home; (_f_) monogamy, and the religious equality of the +sexes; (_g_) identification of belief and practice. + +The continued corruption of heathen lands shows that this change is not +due to any laws of merely natural progress. The confessions of ancient +writers show that it is not due to philosophy. Its only explanation is +that the gospel is the power of God. + + + Garbett, Dogmatic Faith, 177-186; F. W. Farrar, Witness of History + to Christ, chap. on Christianity and the Individual; Brace, Gesta + Christi, preface, vi--"Practices and principles implanted, + stimulated or supported by Christianity, such as regard for the + personality of the weakest and poorest; respect for woman; duty of + each member of the fortunate classes to raise up the unfortunate; + humanity to the child, the prisoner, the stranger, the needy, and + even to the brute; unceasing opposition to all forms of cruelty, + oppression and slavery; the duty of personal purity, and the + sacredness of marriage; the necessity of temperance; obligation of + a more equitable division of the profits of labor, and of greater + cooeperation between employers and employed; the right of every + human being to have the utmost opportunity of developing his + faculties, and of all persons to enjoy equal political and social + privileges; the principle that the injury of one nation is the + injury of all, and the expediency and duty of unrestricted trade + and intercourse between all countries; and finally, a profound + opposition to war, a determination to limit its evils when + existing, and to prevent its arising by means of international + arbitration." + + Max Mueller: "The concept of humanity is the gift of Christ." + Guizot, History of Civilization, 1: Introd., tells us that in + ancient times the individual existed for the sake of the State; in + modern times the State exists for the sake of the individual. "The + individual is a discovery of Christ." On the relations between + Christianity and Political Economy, see A. H. Strong, Philosophy + and Religion, pages 443-460; on the cause of the changed view with + regard to the relation of the individual to the State, see page + 207--"What has wrought the change? Nothing but the death of the Son + of God. When it was seen that the smallest child and the lowest + slave had a soul of such worth that Christ left his throne and + gave up his life to save it, the world's estimate of values + changed, and modern history began." Lucian, the Greek satirist and + humorist, 160 A. D., said of the Christians: "Their first + legislator [Jesus] has put it into their heads that they are all + brothers." + + It is this spirit of common brotherhood which has led in most + countries to the abolition of cannibalism, infanticide, + widow-burning, and slavery. Prince Bismarck: "For social + well-being I ask nothing more than Christianity without + phrases"--which means the religion of the deed rather than of the + creed. Yet it is only faith in the historic revelation of God in + Christ which has made Christian deeds possible. Shaler, + Interpretation of Nature, 232-278--Aristotle, if he could look over + society to-day, would think modern man a new species, in his going + out in sympathy to distant peoples. This cannot be the result of + natural selection, for self-sacrifice is not profitable to the + individual. Altruistic emotions owe their existence to God. + Worship of God has flowed back upon man's emotions and has made + them more sympathetic. Self-consciousness and sympathy, coming + into conflict with brute emotions, originate the sense of sin. + Then begins the war of the natural and the spiritual. Love of + nature and absorption in others is the true _Nirvana_. Not + physical science, but the humanities, are most needed in + education. + + H. E. Hersey, Introd. to Browning's Christmas Eve, 19-- "Sidney + Lanier tells us that the last twenty centuries have spent their + best power upon the development of personality. Literature, + education, government, and religion, have learned to recognize the + individual as the unit of force. Browning goes a step further. He + declares that so powerful is a complete personality that its very + touch gives life and courage and potency. He turns to history for + the inspiration of enduring virtue and the stimulus for sustained + effort, and he finds both in Jesus Christ." J. P. Cooke, + Credentials of Science, 43--The change from the ancient philosopher + to the modern investigator is the change from self-assertion to + self-devotion, and the great revolution can be traced to the + influence of Christianity and to the spirit of humility exhibited + and inculcated by Christ. Lewes, Hist. Philos., 1:408--Greek + morality never embraced any conception of humanity; no Greek ever + attained to the sublimity of such a point of view. + + Kidd, Social Evolution, 165, 287--It is not intellect that has + pushed forward the world of modern times: it is the altruistic + feeling that originated in the cross and sacrifice of Christ. The + French Revolution was made possible by the fact that humanitarian + ideas had undermined the upper classes themselves, and effective + resistance was impossible. Socialism would abolish the struggle + for existence on the part of individuals. What security would be + left for social progress? Removing all restrictions upon + population ensures progressive deterioration. A non-socialist + community would outstrip a socialist community where all the main + wants of life were secure. The real tendency of society is to + bring all the people into _rivalry_, not only on a footing of + political equality, but on conditions of equal social + opportunities. The State in future will interfere and control, in + order to preserve or secure free competition, rather than to + suspend it. The goal is not socialism or State management, but + competition in which all shall have equal advantages. The + evolution of human society is not primarily intellectual but + religious. The winning races are the religious races. The Greeks + had more intellect, but we have more civilization and progress. + The Athenians were as far above us as we are above the negro race. + Gladstone said that we are intellectually weaker than the men of + the middle ages. When the intellectual development of any section + of the race has for the time being outrun its ethical development, + natural selection has apparently weeded it out, like any other + unsuitable product. Evolution is developing _reverence_, with its + allied qualities, mental energy, resolution, enterprise, prolonged + and concentrated application, simple minded and single minded + devotion to duty. Only religion can overpower selfishness and + individualism and ensure social progress. + + +B. Their influence upon individual character and happiness, wherever they +have been tested in practice. This influence is seen (_a_) in the moral +transformations they have wrought--as in the case of Paul the apostle, and +of persons in every Christian community; (_b_) in the self-denying labors +for human welfare to which they have led--as in the case of Wilberforce and +Judson; (_c_) in the hopes they have inspired in times of sorrow and +death. + +These beneficent fruits cannot have their source in merely natural causes, +apart from the truth and divinity of the Scriptures; for in that case the +contrary beliefs would be accompanied by the same blessings. But since we +find these blessings only in connection with Christian teaching, we may +justly consider this as their cause. This teaching, then, must be true, +and the Scriptures must be a divine revelation. Else God has made a lie to +be the greatest blessing to the race. + + + The first Moravian missionaries to the West Indies walked six + hundred miles to take ship, worked their passage, and then sold + themselves as slaves, in order to get the privilege of preaching + to the negroes.... The father of John G. Paton was a + stocking-weaver. The whole family, with the exception of the very + small children, worked from 6 a. m. to 10 p. m., with one hour for + dinner at noon and a half hour each for breakfast and supper. Yet + family prayer was regularly held twice a day. In these + breathing-spells for daily meals John G. Paton took part of his + time to study the Latin Grammar, that he might prepare himself for + missionary work. When told by an uncle that, if he went to the New + Hebrides, the cannibals would eat him, he replied: "You yourself + will soon be dead and buried, and I had as lief be eaten by + cannibals as by worms." The Aneityumese raised arrow-root for + fifteen years and sold it to pay the L1200 required for printing + the Bible in their own language. Universal church-attendance and + Bible-study make those South Sea Islands the most heavenly place + on earth on the Sabbath-day. + + In 1839, twenty thousand negroes in Jamaica gathered to begin a + life of freedom. Into a coffin were put the handcuffs and shackles + of slavery, relics of the whipping-post and the scourge. As the + clock struck twelve at night, a preacher cried with the first + stroke: "The monster is dying!" and so with every stroke until the + last, when he cried: "The monster is dead!" Then all rose from + their knees and sang: "Praise God from whom all blessings + flow!"... "What do you do that for?" said the sick Chinaman whom + the medical missionary was tucking up in bed with a care which the + patient had never received since he was a baby. The missionary + took the opportunity to tell him of the love of Christ.... The + aged Australian mother, when told that her two daughters, + missionaries in China, had both of them been murdered by a heathen + mob, only replied: "This decides me; I will go to China now + myself, and try to teach those poor creatures what the love of + Jesus means."... Dr. William Ashmore: "Let one missionary die, and + ten come to his funeral." A shoemaker, teaching neglected boys and + girls while he worked at his cobbler's bench, gave the impulse to + Thomas Guthrie's life of faith. + + We must judge religions not by their ideals, but by their + performances. Omar Khayyam and Mozoomdar give us beautiful + thoughts, but the former is not Persia, nor is the latter India. + "When the microscopic search of scepticism, which has hunted the + heavens and sounded the seas to disprove the existence of a + Creator, has turned its attention to human society and has found + on this planet a place ten miles square where a decent man can + live in decency, comfort, and security, supporting and educating + his children, unspoiled and unpolluted; a place where age is + reverenced, infancy protected, manhood respected, womanhood + honored, and human life held in due regard--when sceptics can find + such a place ten miles square on this globe, where the gospel of + Christ has not gone and cleared the way and laid the foundations + and made decency and security possible, it will then be in order + for the sceptical literati to move thither and to ventilate their + views. But so long as these very men are dependent upon the very + religion they discard for every privilege they enjoy, they may + well hesitate before they rob the Christian of his hope and + humanity of its faith in that Savior who alone has given that hope + of eternal life which makes life tolerable and society possible, + and robs death of its terrors and the grave of its gloom." On the + beneficent influence of the gospel, see Schmidt, Social Results of + Early Christianity; D. J. Hill, The Social Influence of + Christianity. + + + + +Chapter III. Inspiration Of The Scriptures. + + + +I. Definition of Inspiration. + + +Inspiration is that influence of the Spirit of God upon the minds of the +Scripture writers which made their writings the record of a progressive +divine revelation, sufficient, when taken together and interpreted by the +same Spirit who inspired them, to lead every honest inquirer to Christ and +to salvation. + + + Notice the significance of each part of this definition: 1. + Inspiration is an influence of the Spirit of God. It is not a + merely naturalistic phenomenon or psychological vagary, but is + rather the effect of the inworking of the personal divine Spirit. + 2. Yet inspiration is an influence upon the mind, and not upon the + body. God secures his end by awakening man's rational powers, and + not by an external or mechanical communication. 3. The writings of + inspired men are the record of a revelation. They are not + themselves the revelation. 4. The revelation and the record are + both progressive. Neither one is complete at the beginning. 5. The + Scripture writings must be taken together. Each part must be + viewed in connection with what precedes and with what follows. 6. + The same Holy Spirit who made the original revelations must + interpret to us the record of them, if we are to come to the + knowledge of the truth. 7. So used and so interpreted, these + writings are sufficient, both in quantity and in quality, for + their religious purpose. 8. That purpose is, not to furnish us + with a model history or with the facts of science, but to lead us + to Christ and to salvation. + + +(_a_) Inspiration is therefore to be defined, not by its method, but by +its result. It is a general term including all those kinds and degrees of +the Holy Spirit's influence which were brought to bear upon the minds of +the Scripture writers, in order to secure the putting into permanent and +written form of the truth best adapted to man's moral and religious needs. + +(_b_) Inspiration may often include revelation, or the direct +communication from God of truth to which man could not attain by his +unaided powers. It may include illumination, or the quickening of man's +cognitive powers to understand truth already revealed. Inspiration, +however, does not necessarily and always include either revelation or +illumination. It is simply the divine influence which secures a +transmission of needed truth to the future, and, according to the nature +of the truth to be transmitted, it may be only an inspiration of +superintendence, or it may be also and at the same time an inspiration of +illumination or revelation. + +(_c_) It is not denied, but affirmed, that inspiration may qualify for +oral utterance of truth, or for wise leadership and daring deeds. Men may +be inspired to render external service to God's kingdom, as in the cases +of Bezalel and Samson; even though this service is rendered unwillingly or +unconsciously, as in the cases of Balaam and Cyrus. All human +intelligence, indeed, is due to the inbreathing of that same Spirit who +created man at the beginning. We are now concerned with inspiration, +however, only as it pertains to the authorship of Scripture. + + + _Gen. 2:7--_"And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, + and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became + a living soul"; _Ex. 31:2, 3--_"I have called by name Bezalel ... + and I have filled him with the Spirit of God ... in all manner of + workmanship"; _Judges 13:24, 25--_"called his name Samson: and the + child grew, and Jehovah blessed him. And the Spirit of Jehovah + began to move him"; _Num. 23:5--_"And Jehovah put a word in + Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou + speak"; _2 Chron. 36:22--_"Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus"; + _Is. 44:28--_"that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd"; _45:5--_"I + will gird thee, though thou hast not known me"; _Job 32:8--_"there + is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty giveth them + understanding." These passages show the true meaning of 2 Tim. + 3:16--"Every scripture inspired of God." The word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} is to + be understood as alluding, not to the flute-player's breathing + into his instrument, but to God's original inbreathing of life. + The flute is passive, but man's soul is active. The flute gives + out only what it receives, but the inspired man under the divine + influence is a conscious and free originator of thought and + expression. Although the inspiration of which we are to treat is + simply the inspiration of the Scripture writings, we can best + understand this narrower use of the term by remembering that all + real knowledge has in it a divine element, and that we are + possessed of complete consciousness only as we live, move, and + have our being in God. Since Christ, the divine Logos or Reason, + is "the light which lighteth every man"_ (John 1:9)_, a special + influence of "the spirit of Christ which was in them"_ (1 Pet. + 1:11)_ rationally accounts for the fact that "men spake from God, + being moved by the Holy Spirit"_ (2 Pet. 1:21)_. + + It may help our understanding of terms above employed if we adduce + instances of + + (1) Inspiration without revelation, as in Luke or Acts, _Luke + 1:1-3_; + (2) Inspiration including revelation, as in the Apocalypse, _Rev. + 1:1, 11_; + (3) Inspiration without illumination, as in the prophets, _1 Pet. + 1:11_; + (4) Inspiration including illumination, as in the case of Paul, _1 + Cor. 2:12_; + (5) Revelation without inspiration, as in God's words from Sinai, + _Ex. 20:1, 22_; + (6) Illumination without inspiration, as in modern preachers, + _Eph. 2:20_. + + Other definitions are those of Park: "Inspiration is such an + influence over the writers of the Bible that all their teachings + which have a religious character are trustworthy"; of Wilkinson: + "Inspiration is help from God to keep the report of divine + revelation free from error. Help to whom? No matter to whom, so + the result is secured. The final result, viz.: the record or + report of revelation, this must be free from error. Inspiration + may affect one or all of the agents employed"; of Hovey: + "Inspiration was an influence of the Spirit of God on those powers + of men which are concerned in the reception, retention and + expression of religious truth--an influence so pervading and + powerful that the teaching of inspired men was according to the + mind of God. Their teaching did not in any instance embrace all + truth in respect to God, or man, or the way of life; but it + comprised just so much of the truth on any particular subject as + could be received in faith by the inspired teacher and made useful + to those whom he addressed. In this sense the teaching of the + original documents composing our Bible may be pronounced free from + error"; of G. B. Foster: "Revelation is the action of God in the + soul of his child, resulting in divine self-expression there: + Inspiration is the action of God in the soul of his child, + resulting in apprehension and appropriation of the divine + expression. Revelation has logical but not chronological + priority"; of Horton, Inspiration and the Bible, 10-13--"We mean by + Inspiration exactly those qualities or characteristics which are + the marks or notes of the Bible.... We call our Bible inspired; by + which we mean that by reading and studying it we find our way to + God, we find his will for us, and we find how we can conform + ourselves to his will." + + Fairbairn, Christ in Modern Theology, 496, while nobly setting + forth the naturalness of revelation, has misconceived the relation + of inspiration to revelation by giving priority to the former: + "The idea of a written revelation may be said to be logically + involved in the notion of a living God. Speech is natural to + spirit; and if God is by nature spirit, it will be to him a matter + of nature to reveal himself. But if he speaks to man, it will be + through men; and those who hear best will be most possessed of + God. This possession is termed 'inspiration.' God inspires, man + reveals: revelation is the mode or form--word, character, or + institution--in which man embodies what he has received. The terms, + though not equivalent, are co-extensive, the one denoting the + process on its inner side, the other on its outer." This + statement, although approved by Sanday, Inspiration, 124, 125, + seems to us almost precisely to reverse the right meaning of the + words. We prefer the view of Evans, Bib. Scholarship and + Inspiration, 54--"God has first revealed himself, and then has + inspired men to interpret, record and apply this revelation. In + redemption, inspiration is the formal factor, as revelation is the + material factor. The men are inspired, as Prof. Stowe said. The + thoughts are inspired, as Prof. Briggs said. The words are + inspired, as Prof. Hodge said. The warp and woof of the Bible is + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}: 'the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit'_ (John + 6:63)_. Its fringes run off, as was inevitable, into the secular, + the material, the psychic." Phillips Brooks, Life, 2:351--"If the + true revelation of God is in Christ, the Bible is not properly a + revelation, but the history of a revelation. This is not only a + fact but a necessity, for a person cannot be revealed in a book, + but must find revelation, if at all, in a person. The centre and + core of the Bible must therefore be the gospels, as the story of + Jesus." + + Some, like Priestley, have held that the gospels are authentic but + not inspired. We therefore add to the proof of the genuineness and + credibility of Scripture, the proof of its inspiration. Chadwick, + Old and New Unitarianism, 11--"Priestley's belief in supernatural + revelation was intense. He had an absolute distrust of reason as + qualified to furnish an adequate knowledge of religious things, + and at the same time a perfect confidence in reason as qualified + to prove that negative and to determine the contents of the + revelation." We might claim the historical truth of the gospels, + even if we did not call them inspired. Gore, in Lux Mundi, + 341--"Christianity brings with it a doctrine of the inspiration of + the Holy Scriptures, but is not based upon it." Warfield and + Hodge, Inspiration, 8--"While the inspiration of the Scriptures is + true, and being true is fundamental to the adequate interpretation + of Scripture, it nevertheless is not, in the first instance, a + principle fundamental to the truth of the Christian religion." + + On the idea of Revelation, see Ladd, in Journ. Christ. Philos., + Jan. 1883:156-178; on Inspiration, _ibid._, Apr. 1883:225-248. See + Henderson on Inspiration (2nd ed.), 58, 205, 249, 303, 310. For + other works on the general subject of Inspiration, see Lee, + Bannerman, Jamieson, Macnaught; Garbett, God's Word Written; Aids + to Faith, essay on Inspiration. Also, Philippi, Glaubenslehre, + 1:205; Westcott, Introd. to Study of the Gospels, 27-65; Bib. + Sac., 1:97; 4:154; 12:217; 15:29, 314; 25:192-198; Dr. Barrows, in + Bib. Sac., 1867:593; 1872:428; Farrar, Science in Theology, 208; + Hodge and Warfield, in Presb. Rev., Apr. 1881:225-261; Manly, The + Bible Doctrine of Inspiration; Watts, Inspiration; Mead, + Supernatural Revelation, 350; Whiton, Gloria Patri, 136; Hastings, + Bible Dict., 1:296-299; Sanday, Bampton Lectures on Inspiration. + + + +II. Proof of Inspiration. + + +1. Since we have shown that God has made a revelation of himself to man, +we may reasonably presume that he will not trust this revelation wholly to +human tradition and misrepresentation, but will also provide a record of +it essentially trustworthy and sufficient; in other words, that the same +Spirit who originally communicated the truth will preside over its +publication, so far as is needed to accomplish its religious purpose. + + + Since all natural intelligence, as we have seen, presupposes God's + indwelling, and since in Scripture the all-prevailing atmosphere, + with its constant pressure and effort to enter every cranny and + corner of the world, is used as an illustration of the impulse of + God's omnipotent Spirit to vivify and energize every human soul + (_Gen. 2:7_; _Job 32:8_), we may infer that, but for sin, all men + would be morally and spiritually inspired (_Num. 11:29--_"Would + that all Jehovah's people were prophets, that Jehovah would put + his Spirit upon them!" _Is. 59:2--_"your iniquities have separated + between you and your God"). We have also seen that God's method of + communicating his truth in matters of religion is presumably + analogous to his method of communicating secular truth, such as + that of astronomy or history. There is an original delivery to a + single nation, and to single persons in that nation, that it may + through them be given to mankind. Sanday, Inspiration, 140--"There + is a 'purpose of God according to selection'_ (Rom. 9:11)_; there + is an 'election' or 'selection of grace'; and the object of that + selection was Israel and those who take their name from Israel's + Messiah. If a tower is built in ascending tiers, those who stand + upon the lower tiers are yet raised above the ground, and some may + be raised higher than others, but the full and unimpeded view is + reserved for those who mount upward to the top. And that is the + place destined for us if we will take it." + + If we follow the analogy of God's working in other communications + of knowledge, we shall reasonably presume that he will preserve + the record of his revelations in written and accessible documents, + handed down from those to whom these revelations were first + communicated, and we may expect that these documents will be kept + sufficiently correct and trustworthy to accomplish their religious + purpose, namely, that of furnishing to the honest inquirer a guide + to Christ and to salvation. The physician commits his + prescriptions to writing; the Clerk of Congress records its + proceedings; the State Department of our government instructs our + foreign ambassadors, not orally, but by dispatches. There is yet + greater need that revelation should be recorded, since it is to be + transmitted to distant ages; it contains long discourses; it + embraces mysterious doctrines. Jesus did not write himself; for he + was the subject, not the mere channel, of revelation. His + unconcern about the apostles' immediately committing to writing + what they saw and heard is inexplicable, if he did not expect that + inspiration would assist them. + + We come to the discussion of Inspiration with a presumption quite + unlike that of Kuenen and Wellhausen, who write in the interest of + almost avowed naturalism. Kuenen, in the opening sentences of his + Religion of Israel, does indeed assert the rule of God in the + world. But Sanday, Inspiration, 117, says well that "Kuenen keeps + this idea very much in the background. He expended a whole volume + of 593 large octavo pages (Prophets and Prophecy in Israel, + London, 1877) in proving that the prophets were _not_ moved to + speak by God, but that their utterances were all their own." The + following extract, says Sanday, indicates the position which Dr. + Kuenen really held: "We do not allow ourselves to be deprived of + God's presence in history. In the fortunes and development of + nations, and not least clearly in those of Israel, we see Him, the + holy and all-wise Instructor of his human children. But the old + _contrasts_ must be altogether set aside. So long as we derive a + separate part of Israel's religious life directly from God, and + allow the supernatural or immediate revelation to intervene in + even one single point, so long also our view of the whole + continues to be incorrect, and we see ourselves here and there + necessitated to do violence to the well-authenticated contents of + the historical documents. It is the supposition of a natural + development alone which accounts for all the phenomena" (Kuenen, + Prophets and Prophecy in Israel, 585). + + +2. Jesus, who has been proved to be not only a credible witness, but a +messenger from God, vouches for the inspiration of the Old Testament, by +quoting it with the formula: "It is written"; by declaring that "one jot +or one tittle" of it "shall in no wise pass away," and that "the Scripture +cannot be broken." + + + Jesus quotes from four out of the five books of Moses, and from + the Psalms, Isaiah, Malachi, and Zechariah, with the formula, "it + is written"; see _Mat. 4:4, 6, 7_; _11:10_; _Mark 14:27_; _Luke + 4:4-12_. This formula among the Jews indicated that the quotation + was from a sacred book and was divinely inspired. Jesus certainly + regarded the Old Testament with as much reverence as the Jews of + his day. He declared that "one jot or one tittle shall in no wise + pass away from the law"_ (Mat. 5:18)_. He said that "the scripture + cannot be broken"_ (John 10:35)_ = "the normative and judicial + authority of the Scripture cannot be set aside; notice here [in + the singular, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}] the idea of the unity of Scripture" + (Meyer). And yet our Lord's use of O. T. Scripture was wholly free + from the superstitious literalism which prevailed among the Jews + of his day. The phrases "word of God"_ (John 10:35; Mark 7:13)_, + "wisdom of God"_ (Luke 11:49)_ and "oracles of God"_ (Rom. 3:2)_ + probably designate the original revelations of God and not the + record of these in Scripture; _cf._ _1 Sam. 9:27_; _1 Chron. + 17:3_; _Is. 40:8_; _Mat. 13:19_; _Luke 3:2_; _Acts 8:25_. Jesus + refuses assent to the O. T. law respecting the Sabbath (_Mark + 2:27_ _sq._), external defilements (_Mark 7:15_), divorce (_Mark + 10:2_ _sq._). He "came not to destroy but to fulfil"_ (Mat. + 5:17)_; yet he fulfilled the law by bringing out its inner spirit + in his perfect life, rather than by formal and minute obedience to + its precepts; see Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, 2:5-35. + + The apostles quote the O. T. as the utterance of God (_Eph. + 4:8_--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}, _sc._ {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}). Paul's insistence upon the form of + even a single word, as in _Gal. 3:16_, and his use of the O. T. + for purposes of allegory, as in _Gal 4:21-31_, show that in his + view the O. T. text was sacred. Philo, Josephus and the Talmud, in + their interpretations of the O. T., fall continually into a + "narrow and unhappy literalism." "The N. T. does not indeed escape + Rabbinical methods, but even where these are most prominent they + seem to affect the form far more than the substance. And through + the temporary and local form the writer constantly penetrates to + the very heart of the O. T. teaching;" see Sanday, Bampton + Lectures on Inspiration, 87; Henderson, Inspiration, 254. + + +3. Jesus commissioned his apostles as teachers and gave them promises of a +supernatural aid of the Holy Spirit in their teaching, like the promises +made to the Old Testament prophets. + + + _Mat. 28:19, 20--_"Go ye ... teaching ... and lo, I am with you." + Compare promises to Moses (_Ex. 3:12_), Jeremiah (_Jer. 1:5-8_), + Ezekiel (_Ezek. 2_ and _3_). See also _Is. 44:3_ and _Joel + 2:28--_"I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed"; _Mat. 10:7--_"as ye + go, preach"; _19--_"be not anxious how or what ye shall speak"; + _John 14:26--_"the Holy Spirit ... shall teach you all things"; + _15:26, 27--_"the Spirit of truth ... shall bear witness of me: and + ye also bear witness" = the Spirit shall witness in and through + you; _16:13--_"he shall guide you into all the truth" = (1) + limitation--all _the_ truth of Christ, _i. e._, not of philosophy + or science, but of religion; (2) comprehension--_all_ the truth + within this limited range, _i. e._, sufficiency of Scripture as + rule of faith and practice (Hovey); _17:8--_"the words which thou + gavest me I have given unto them"; _Acts 1:4--_"he charged them ... + to wait for the promise of the Father"; _John 20:22--_"he breathed + on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit." Here + was both promise and communication of the personal Holy Spirit. + Compare _Mat. 10:19, 20--_"it shall be given you in that hour what + ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of + your Father that speaketh in you." See Henderson, Inspiration, + 247, 248. + + Jesus' testimony here is the testimony of God. In _Deut. 18:18_, + it is said that God will put his words into the mouth of the great + Prophet. In _John 12:49, 50_, Jesus says: "I spake not from + myself, but the Father that sent me, he hath given me a + commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I + know that his commandment is life eternal; the things therefore + which I speak, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak." + _John 17:7, 8--_"all things whatsoever thou hast given me are from + thee: for the words which thou gavest me I have given unto them." + _John 8:40--_"a man that hath told you the truth, which I heard + from God." + + +4. The apostles claim to have received this promised Spirit, and under his +influence to speak with divine authority, putting their writings upon a +level with the Old Testament Scriptures. We have not only direct +statements that both the matter and the form of their teaching were +supervised by the Holy Spirit, but we have indirect evidence that this was +the case in the tone of authority which pervades their addresses and +epistles. + + + _Statements_:--_1 Cor. 2:10, 13--_"unto us God revealed them through + the Spirit.... Which things also we speak, not in words which + man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth"; _11:23--_"I + received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you"; _12:8, + 28_--_the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} was apparently a gift peculiar to the + apostles_; _14:37, 38--_"the things which I write unto you ... they + are the commandment of the Lord"; _Gal. 1:12--_"neither did I + receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me + through revelation of Jesus Christ"; _1 Thess. 4:2, 8--_"ye know + what charge we gave you through the Lord Jesus.... Therefore he + that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God, who giveth his Holy + Spirit unto you." The following passages put the teaching of the + apostles on the same level with O. T. Scripture: _1 Pet. 1:11, + 12--_"Spirit of Christ which was in them" [O. T. prophets];--[N. T. + preachers] "preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit"; _2 + Pet. 1:21_--O. T. prophets "spake from God, being moved by the Holy + Spirit"; _3:2--_"remember the words which were spoken before by the + holy prophets" [O. T.], "and the commandment of the Lord and + Savior through your apostles" [N. T.]; 16--"wrest [Paul's + Epistles], _as they do also the_ _other scriptures_, unto their + own destruction." _Cf._ _Ex. 4:14-16_; _7:1_. + + _Implications_:--_2 Tim. 3:16--_"Every scripture inspired of God is + also profitable"--a clear implication of inspiration, though not a + direct statement of it = _there is a divinely inspired Scripture_. + In _1 Cor. 5:3-5_, Paul, commanding the Corinthian church with + regard to the incestuous person, was arrogant if not inspired. + There are more imperatives in the Epistles than in any other + writings of the same extent. Notice the continual asseveration of + authority, as in _Gal. 1:1, 2_, and the declaration that disbelief + of the record is sin, as in _1 John 5:10, 11_. _Jude 3--_"the faith + which was once for all ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}) delivered unto the saints." See + Kahnis, Dogmatik, 3:122; Henderson, Inspiration (2nd ed.), 34, + 234; Conant, Genesis, Introd., xiii, note; Charteris, New + Testament Scriptures: They claim truth, unity, authority. + + The passages quoted above show that inspired men distinguished + inspiration from their own unaided thinking. These inspired men + claim that their inspiration is the same with that of the + prophets. _Rev. 22:6--_"the Lord, the God of the spirits of the + prophets, sent his angel to show unto his servants the things + which must shortly come to pass" = inspiration gave them + supernatural knowledge of the future. As inspiration in the O. T. + was the work of the pre-incarnate Christ, so inspiration in the N. + T. is the work of the ascended and glorified Christ by his Holy + Spirit. On the Relative Authority of the Gospels, see Gerhardt, in + Am. Journ. Theol., Apl. 1899:275-294, who shows that not the words + of Jesus in the gospels are the final revelation, but rather the + teaching of the risen and glorified Christ in the Acts and the + Epistles. The Epistles are the posthumous works of Christ. + Pattison, Making of the Sermon, 23--"The apostles, believing + themselves to be inspired teachers, often preached without texts; + and the fact that their successors did not follow their example + shows that for themselves they made no such claim. Inspiration + ceased, and henceforth authority was found in the use of the words + of the now complete Scriptures." + + +5. The apostolic writers of the New Testament, unlike professedly inspired +heathen sages and poets, gave attestation by miracles or prophecy that +they were inspired by God, and there is reason to believe that the +productions of those who were not apostles, such as Mark, Luke, Hebrews, +James, and Jude, were recommended to the churches as inspired, by +apostolic sanction and authority. + + + The twelve wrought miracles (_Mat. 10:1_). Paul's "signs of an + apostle"_ (2 Cor. 13:12)_ = miracles. Internal evidence confirms + the tradition that Mark was the "interpreter of Peter," and that + Luke's gospel and the Acts had the sanction of Paul. Since the + purpose of the Spirit's bestowment was to qualify those who were + to be the teachers and founders of the new religion, it is only + fair to assume that Christ's promise of the Spirit was valid not + simply to the twelve but to all who stood in their places, and to + these not simply as speakers, but, since in this respect they had + a still greater need of divine guidance, to them as writers also. + + The epistle to the Hebrews, with the letters of James and Jude, + appeared in the lifetime of some of the twelve, and passed + unchallenged; and the fact that they all, with the possible + exception of 2 Peter, were very early accepted by the churches + founded and watched over by the apostles, is sufficient evidence + that the apostles regarded them as inspired productions. As + evidences that the writers regarded their writings as of universal + authority, see _1 Cor. 1:2--_"unto the church of God which is at + Corinth ... with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus + Christ in every place," etc.; _7:17--_"so ordain I in all the + churches"; _Col. 4:16--_"And when this epistle hath been read among + you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans"; + _2 Pet. 3:15, 16--_"our beloved brother Paul also, according to the + wisdom given to him, wrote unto you." See Bartlett, in Princeton + Rev., Jan. 1880:23-57; Bib. Sac., Jan. 1884:204, 205. + + Johnson, Systematic Theology, 40--"Miraculous gifts were bestowed + at Pentecost on many besides apostles. Prophecy was not an + uncommon gift during the apostolic period." There is no antecedent + improbability that inspiration should extend to others than to the + principal leaders of the church, and since we have express + instances of such inspiration in oral utterances (_Acts 11:28_; + _21:9, 10_) it seems natural that there should have been instances + of inspiration in written utterances also. In some cases this + appears to have been only an inspiration of superintendence. + Clement of Alexandria says only that Peter neither forbade nor + encouraged Mark in his plan of writing the gospel. Irenaeus tells + us that Mark's gospel was written after the death of Peter. Papias + says that Mark wrote down what he remembered to have heard from + Peter. Luke does not seem to have been aware of any miraculous aid + in his writing, and his methods appear to have been those of the + ordinary historian. + + +6. The chief proof of inspiration, however, must always be found in the +internal characteristics of the Scriptures themselves, as these are +disclosed to the sincere inquirer by the Holy Spirit. The testimony of the +Holy Spirit combines with the teaching of the Bible to convince the +earnest reader that this teaching is as a whole and in all essentials +beyond the power of man to communicate, and that it must therefore have +been put into permanent and written form by special inspiration of God. + + + Foster, Christian Life and Theology, 105--"The testimony of the + Spirit is an argument from identity of effects--the doctrines of + experience and the doctrines of the Bible--to identity of cause.... + God-wrought experience proves a God-wrought Bible.... This covers + the Bible as a whole, if not the whole of the Bible. It is true so + far as I can test it. It is to be believed still further if there + is no other evidence." Lyman Abbott, in his Theology of an + Evolutionist, 105, calls the Bible "a record of man's laboratory + work in the spiritual realm, a history of the dawning of the + consciousness of God and of the divine life in the soul of man." + This seems to us unduly subjective. We prefer to say that the + Bible is also God's witness to us of his presence and working in + human hearts and in human history--a witness which proves its + divine origin by awakening in us experiences similar to those + which it describes, and which are beyond the power of man to + originate. + + G. P. Fisher, in Mag. of Christ. Lit., Dec. 1892:239--"Is the Bible + infallible? Not in the sense that all its statements extending + even to minutiae in matters of history and science are strictly + accurate. Not in the sense that every doctrinal and ethical + statement in all these books is incapable of amendment. The whole + must sit in judgment on the parts. Revelation is progressive. + There is a human factor as well as a divine. The treasure is in + earthen vessels. But the Bible is infallible in the sense that + whoever surrenders himself in a docile spirit to its teaching will + fall into no hurtful error in matters of faith and charity. Best + of all, he will find in it the secret of a new, holy and blessed + life, 'hidden with Christ in God'_ (Col. 3:3)_. The Scriptures are + the witness to Christ.... Through the Scriptures he is truly and + adequately made known to us." Denney, Death of Christ, 314--"The + unity of the Bible and its inspiration are correlative terms. If + we can discern a real unity in it--and I believe we can when we see + that it converges upon and culminates in a divine love bearing the + sin of the world--then that unity and its inspiration are one and + the same thing. And it is not only inspired as a whole, it is the + only book that is inspired. It is the only book in the world to + which God sets his seal in our hearts when we read in search of an + answer to the question, How shall a sinful man be righteous with + God?... The conclusion of our study of Inspiration should be the + conviction that the Bible gives us a body of doctrine--a 'faith + which was once for all delivered unto the saints'_ (Jude 3)_." + + + +III. Theories of Inspiration. + + +1. The Intuition-theory. + + +This holds that inspiration is but a higher development of that natural +insight into truth which all men possess to some degree; a mode of +intelligence in matters of morals and religion which gives rise to sacred +books, as a corresponding mode of intelligence in matters of secular truth +gives rise to great works of philosophy or art. This mode of intelligence +is regarded as the product of man's own powers, either without special +divine influence or with only the inworking of an impersonal God. + + + This theory naturally connects itself with Pelagian and + rationalistic views of man's independence of God, or with + pantheistic conceptions of man as being himself the highest + manifestation of an all-pervading but unconscious intelligence. + Morell and F. W. Newman in England, and Theodore Parker in + America, are representatives of this theory. See Morell, Philos. + of Religion, 127-179--"Inspiration is only a higher potency of what + every man possesses in some degree." See also Francis W. Newman + (brother of John Henry Newman), Phases of Faith (= phases of + unbelief); Theodore Parker, Discourses of Religion, and + Experiences as a Minister: "God is infinite; therefore he is + immanent in nature, yet transcending it; immanent in spirit, yet + transcending that. He must fill each point of spirit, as of space; + matter must unconsciously obey; man, conscious and free, has power + to a certain extent to disobey, but obeying, the immanent God acts + in man as much as in nature"--quoted in Chadwick, Theodore Parker, + 271. Hence Parker's view of Inspiration: If the conditions are + fulfilled, inspiration comes in proportion to man's gifts and to + his use of those gifts. Chadwick himself, in his Old and New + Unitarianism, 68, says that "the Scriptures are inspired just so + far as they are inspiring, and no more." + + W. C. Gannett, Life of Ezra Stiles Gannett, 196--"Parker's + spiritualism affirmed, as the grand truth of religion, the + immanence of an infinitely perfect God in matter and mind, and his + activity in both spheres." Martineau, Study of Religion, + 2:178-180--"Theodore Parker treats the regular results of the human + faculties as an immediate working of God, and regards the + Principia of Newton as inspired.... What then becomes of the human + personality? He calls God not only omnipresent, but omniactive. Is + then Shakespeare only by courtesy author of Macbeth?... If this + were more than rhetorical, it would be unconditional pantheism." + Both nature and man are other names for God. Martineau is willing + to grant that our intuitions and ideals are expressions of the + Deity in us, but our personal reasoning and striving, he thinks, + cannot be attributed to God. The word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} has no plural: + intellect, in whatever subject manifested, being all one, just as + a truth is one and the same, in however many persons' + consciousness it may present itself; see Martineau, Seat of + Authority, 403. Palmer, Studies in Theological Definition, 27--"We + can draw no sharp distinction between the human mind discovering + truth, and the divine mind imparting revelation." Kuenen belongs + to this school. + + +With regard to this theory we remark: + +(_a_) Man has, indeed, a certain natural insight into truth, and we grant +that inspiration uses this, so far as it will go, and makes it an +instrument in discovering and recording facts of nature or history. + + + In the investigation, for example, of purely historical matters, + such as Luke records, merely natural insight may at times have + been sufficient. When this was the case, Luke may have been left + to the exercise of his own faculties, inspiration only inciting + and supervising the work. George Harris, Moral Evolution, 413--"God + could not reveal himself _to_ man, unless he first revealed + himself _in_ man. If it should be written in letters on the sky: + 'God is good,'--the words would have no meaning, unless goodness + had been made known already in human volitions. Revelation is not + by an occasional stroke, but by a continuous process. It is not + superimposed, but inherent.... Genius is inspired; for the mind + which perceives truth must be responsive to the Mind that made + things the vehicles of thought." Sanday, Bampton Lectures on + Inspiration: "In claiming for the Bible inspiration, we do not + exclude the possibility of other lower or more partial degrees of + inspiration in other literatures. The Spirit of God has doubtless + touched other hearts and other minds ... in such a way as to give + insight into truth, besides those which could claim descent from + Abraham." Philo thought the LXX translators, the Greek + philosophers, and at times even himself, to be inspired. Plato he + regards as "most sacred" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}), but all good men are in + various degrees inspired. Yet Philo never quotes as authoritative + any but the Canonical Books. He attributes to them an authority + unique in its kind. + + +(_b_) In all matters of morals and religion, however, man's insight into +truth is vitiated by wrong affections, and, unless a supernatural wisdom +can guide him, he is certain to err himself, and to lead others into +error. + + + _1 Cor. 2:14--_"Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the + Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot + know them, because they are spiritually judged"; _10--_"But unto us + God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all + things, yea, the deep things of God." See quotation from + Coleridge, in Shairp, Culture and Religion, 114--"Water cannot rise + higher than its source; neither can human reasoning"; Emerson, + Prose Works, 1:474; 2:468--"'Tis curious we only believe as deep as + we live"; Ullmann, Sinlessness of Jesus, 183, 184. For this reason + we hold to a communication of religious truth, at least at times, + more direct and objective than is granted by George Adam Smith, + Com. on Isaiah, 1:372--"To Isaiah inspiration was nothing more nor + less than the possession of certain strong moral and religious + convictions, which he felt he owed to the communication of the + Spirit of God, and according to which he interpreted, and even + dared to foretell, the history of his people and of the world. Our + study completely dispels, on the evidence of the Bible itself, + that view of inspiration and prediction so long held in the + church." If this is meant as a denial of any communication of + truth other than the internal and subjective, we set over against + it. _Num. 12:6-8--_"if there be a prophet among you, I the Lord + will make myself known unto him in a vision, I will speak with him + in a dream. My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my + house: with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and + not in dark speeches; and the form of Jehovah shall he behold." + + +(_c_) The theory in question, holding as it does that natural insight is +the only source of religious truth, involves a self-contradiction;--if the +theory be true, then one man is inspired to utter what a second is +inspired to pronounce false. The Vedas, the Koran and the Bible cannot be +inspired to contradict each other. + + + The Vedas permit thieving, and the Koran teaches salvation by + works; these cannot be inspired and the Bible also. Paul cannot be + inspired to write his epistles, and Swedenborg also inspired to + reject them. The Bible does not admit that pagan teachings have + the same divine endorsement with its own. Among the Spartans to + steal was praiseworthy; only to be caught stealing was criminal. + On the religious consciousness with regard to the personality of + God, the divine goodness, the future life, the utility of prayer, + in all of which Miss Cobbe, Mr. Greg and Mr. Parker disagree with + each other, see Bruce, Apologetics, 143, 144. With Matheson we may + grant that the leading idea of inspiration is "the growth of the + divine through the capacities of the human," while yet we deny + that inspiration confines itself to this subjective enlightenment + of the human faculties, and also we exclude from the divine + working all those perverse and erroneous utterances which are the + results of human sin. + + +(_d_) It makes moral and religious truth to be a purely subjective thing--a +matter of private opinion--having no objective reality independently of +men's opinions regarding it. + + + On this system truth is what men "trow"; things are what men + "think"--words representing only the subjective. "Better the Greek + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} = 'the unconcealed' (objective truth)"--Harris, Philos. + Basis of Theism, 182. If there be no absolute truth, Lessing's + "search for truth" is the only thing left to us. But who will + search, if there is no truth to be found? Even a wise cat will not + eternally chase its own tail. The exercise within certain limits + is doubtless useful, but the cat gives it up so soon as it becomes + convinced that the tail cannot be caught. Sir Richard Burton + became a Roman Catholic, a Brahmin, and a Mohammedan, + successively, apparently holding with Hamlet that "there is + nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." This same + scepticism as to the existence of objective truth appears in the + sayings: "Your religion is good for you, and mine for me"; "One + man is born an Augustinian, and another a Pelagian." See Dix, + Pantheism, Introd., 12. Richter: "It is not the goal, but the + course, that makes us happy." + + +(_e_) It logically involves the denial of a personal God who is truth and +reveals truth, and so makes man to be the highest intelligence in the +universe. This is to explain inspiration by denying its existence; since, +if there be no personal God, inspiration is but a figure of speech for a +purely natural fact. + + + The _animus_ of this theory is denial of the supernatural. Like + the denial of miracles, it can be maintained only upon grounds of + atheism or pantheism. The view in question, as Hutton in his + Essays remarks, would permit us to say that the word of the Lord + came to Gibbon, amid the ruins of the Coliseum, saying: "Go, write + the history of the Decline and Fall!" But, replies Hutton: Such a + view is pantheistic. Inspiration is the voice of a living friend, + in distinction from the voice of a dead friend, _i. e._, the + influence of his memory. The inward impulse of genius, + Shakespeare's for example, is not properly denominated + inspiration. See Row, Bampton Lectures for 1877:428-474; Rogers, + Eclipse of Faith, 73 _sq._ and 283 _sq._; Henderson, Inspiration + (2nd ed.), 443-469, 481-490. The view of Martineau, Seat of + Authority, 302, is substantially this. See criticism of Martineau, + by Rainy, in Critical Rev., 1:5-20. + + +2. The Illumination Theory. + + +This regards inspiration as merely an intensifying and elevating of the +religious perceptions of the Christian, the same in kind, though greater +in degree, with the illumination of every believer by the Holy Spirit. It +holds, not that the Bible is, but that it contains, the word of God, and +that not the writings, but only the writers, were inspired. The +illumination given by the Holy Spirit, however, puts the inspired writer +only in full possession of his normal powers, but does not communicate +objective truth beyond his ability to discover or understand. + + + This theory naturally connects itself with Arminian views of mere + cooeperation with God. It differs from the Intuition-theory by + containing several distinctively Christian elements: (1) the + influence of a personal God; (2) an extraordinary work of the Holy + Spirit; (3) the Christological character of the Scriptures, + putting into form a revelation of which Christ is the centre + (_Rev. 19:10_). But while it grants that the Scripture writers + were "moved by the Holy Spirit" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}--_2 Pet. 1:21_), it + ignores the complementary fact that the Scripture itself is + "inspired of God" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}--_2 Tim. 3:16_). Luther's view + resembles this; see Dorner, Gesch. prot. Theol., 236, 237. + Schleiermacher, with the more orthodox Neander, Tholuck and + Cremer, holds it; see Essays by Tholuck, in Herzog, Encyclopaedie, + and in Noyes, Theological Essays; Cremer, Lexicon N.T., + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, and in Herzog and Hauck, Realencyc., 9:183-203. In + France, Sabatier, Philos. Religion, 90, remarks: "Prophetic + inspiration is piety raised to the second power"--it differs from + the piety of common men only in intensity and energy. See also + Godet, in Revue Chretienne, Jan. 1878. + + In England Coleridge propounded this view in his Confessions of an + Inquiring Spirit (Works, 5:669)--"Whatever _finds me_ bears witness + that it has proceeded from a Holy Spirit; in the Bible there is + more that _finds me_ than I have experienced in all other books + put together." [Shall we then call Baxter's "Saints' Rest" + inspired, while the Books of Chronicles are not?] See also F. W. + Robertson, Sermon I; Life and Letters, letter 53, vol. 1:270; + 2:143-150--"The _other_ way, some twenty or thirty men in the + world's history have had special communication, miraculous and + from God; in _this_ way, all may have it, and by devout and + earnest cultivation of the mind and heart may have it illimitably + increased." Frederick W. H. Myers, Catholic Thoughts on the Bible + and Theology, 10-20, emphasizes the idea that the Scriptures are, + in their earlier parts, not merely inadequate, but partially + untrue, and subsequently superseded by fuller revelations. The + leading thought is that of _accommodation_; the record of + revelation is not necessarily infallible. Allen, Religious + Progress, 44, quotes Bishop Thirlwall: "If that Spirit by which + every man spoke of old is a living and present Spirit, its later + lessons may well transcend its earlier";--Pascal's "colossal man" + is the race; the first men represented only infancy; _we_ are "the + ancients", and we are wiser than our fathers. See also Farrar, + Critical History of Free Thought, 473, note 50; Martineau, Studies + in Christianity: "One Gospel in Many Dialects." + + Of American writers who favor this view, see J. F. Clarke, + Orthodoxy, its Truths and Errors, 74; Curtis, Human Element in + Inspiration; Whiton, in N. Eng., Jan. 1882:63-72; Ladd, in Andover + Review, July, 1885, in What is the Bible? and in Doctrine of + Sacred Scripture, 1:759--"a large proportion of its writings + inspired"; 2:178, 275, 497--"that fundamental misconception which + identifies the Bible and the word of God"; 2:488--"Inspiration, as + the subjective condition of Biblical revelation and the predicate + of the word of God, is _specifically_ the same illumining, + quickening, elevating and purifying work of the Holy Spirit as + that which goes on in the persons of the entire believing + community." Professor Ladd therefore pares down all predictive + prophecy, and regards _Isaiah 53_, not as directly and solely, but + only as typically, Messianic. Clarke, Christian Theology, + 35-44--"Inspiration is exaltation, quickening of ability, + stimulation of spiritual power; it is uplifting and enlargement of + capacity for perception, comprehension and utterance; and all + under the influence of a thought, a truth, or an ideal that has + taken possession of the soul.... Inspiration to write was not + different in kind from the common influence of God upon his + people.... Inequality in the Scriptures is plain.... Even if we + were convinced that some book would better have been omitted from + the Canon, our confidence in the Scriptures would not thereby be + shaken. The Canon did not make Scripture, but Scripture made the + Canon. The inspiration of the Bible does not prove its excellence, + but its excellence proves its inspiration. The Spirit brought the + Scriptures to help Christ's work, but not to take his place. + Scripture says with Paul: 'Not that we have lordship over your + faith, but are helpers of your joy: for in faith ye stand fast'_ + (2 Cor. 1:24)_." + + E. G. Robinson: "The office of the Spirit in inspiration is not + different from that which he performed for Christians at the time + the gospels were written.... When the prophets say: 'Thus saith + the Lord,' they mean simply that they have divine authority for + what they utter." Calvin E. Stowe, History of Books of Bible, + 19--"It is not the words of the Bible that were inspired. It is not + the thoughts of the Bible that were inspired. It was the men who + wrote the Bible who were inspired." Thayer, Changed Attitude + toward the Bible, 63--"It was not before the polemic spirit became + rife in the controversies which followed the Reformation that the + fundamental distinction between the word of God and the record of + that word became obliterated, and the pestilent tenet gained + currency that the Bible is absolutely free from every error of + every sort." Principal Cave, in Homiletical Review, Feb. 1892, + admitting errors but none serious in the Bible, proposes a + mediating statement for the present controversy, namely, that + Revelation implies inerrancy, but that Inspiration does not. + Whatever God reveals must be true, but many have become inspired + without being rendered infallible. See also Mead, Supernatural + Revelation, 291 _sq._ + + +With regard to this theory we remark: + +(_a_) There is unquestionably an illumination of the mind of every +believer by the Holy Spirit, and we grant that there may have been +instances in which the influence of the Spirit, in inspiration, amounted +only to illumination. + + + Certain applications and interpretations of Old Testament + Scripture, as for example, John the Baptist's application to Jesus + of Isaiah's prophecy (_John 1:29--_"Behold, the Lamb of God, that + taketh away [marg. "beareth"] the sin of the world"), and Peter's + interpretation of David's words (_Acts 2:27--_"thou wilt not leave + my soul unto Hades, Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see + corruption"), may have required only the illuminating influence of + the Holy Spirit. There is a sense in which we may say that the + Scriptures are inspired only to those who are themselves inspired. + The Holy Spirit must show us Christ before we recognize the work + of the Spirit in Scripture. The doctrines of atonement and of + justification perhaps did not need to be newly revealed to the N. + T. writers; illumination as to earlier revelations may have + sufficed. But that Christ existed before his incarnation, and that + there are personal distinctions in the Godhead, probably required + revelation. Edison says that "inspiration is simply perspiration." + Genius has been defined as "unlimited power to take pains." But it + is more--the power to do spontaneously and without effort what the + ordinary man does by the hardest. Every great genius recognizes + that this power is due to the inflowing into him of a Spirit + greater than his own--the Spirit of divine wisdom and energy. The + Scripture writers attribute their understanding of divine things + to the Holy Spirit; see next paragraph. On genius, as due to + "subliminal uprush," see F. W. H. Myers, Human Personality, + 1:70-120. + + +(_b_) But we deny that this was the constant method of inspiration, or +that such an influence can account for the revelation of new truth to the +prophets and apostles. The illumination of the Holy Spirit gives no new +truth, but only a vivid apprehension of the truth already revealed. Any +original communication of truth must have required a work of the Spirit +different, not in degree, but in kind. + + + The Scriptures clearly distinguish between revelation, or the + communication of new truth, and illumination, or the quickening of + man's cognitive powers to perceive truth already revealed. No + increase in the power of the eye or the telescope will do more + than to bring into clear view what is already within its range. + Illumination will not lift the veil that hides what is beyond. + Revelation, on the other hand, is an "unveiling"--the raising of a + curtain, or the bringing within our range of what was hidden + before. Such a special operation of God is described in _2 Sam. + 23:2, 3--_"The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, And his word was upon + my tongue. The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to + me"; _Mat. 10:20--_"For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of + your Father that speaketh in you"; _1 Cor. 2:9-13--_"Things which + eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the + heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love + him. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the + Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For who + among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, + which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the + Spirit of God. But we received, not the spirit of the world, but + the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that + were freely given to us of God." + + Clairvoyance and second sight, of which along with many cases of + imposition and exaggeration there seems to be a small residuum of + proved fact, show that there may be extraordinary operations of + our natural powers. But, as in the case of miracle, the + inspiration of Scripture necessitated an exaltation of these + natural powers such as only the special influence of the Holy + Spirit can explain. That the product is inexplicable as due to + mere illumination seems plain when we remember that revelation + sometimes _excluded_ illumination as to the meaning of that which + was communicated, for the prophets are represented in _1 Pet. + 1:11_ as "searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of + Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified + beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should + follow them." Since no degree of illumination can account for the + prediction of "things that are to come" (_John 16:13_), this + theory tends to the denial of any immediate revelation in prophecy + so-called, and the denial easily extends to any immediate + revelation of doctrine. + + +(_c_) Mere illumination could not secure the Scripture writers from +frequent and grievous error. The spiritual perception of the Christian is +always rendered to some extent imperfect and deceptive by remaining +depravity. The subjective element so predominates in this theory, that no +certainty remains even with regard to the trustworthiness of the +Scriptures as a whole. + + + While we admit imperfections of detail in matters not essential to + the moral and religious teaching of Scripture, we claim that the + Bible furnishes a sufficient guide to Christ and to salvation. The + theory we are considering, however, by making the measure of + holiness to be the measure of inspiration, renders even the + collective testimony of the Scripture writers an uncertain guide + to truth. We point out therefore that inspiration is not + absolutely limited by the moral condition of those who are + inspired. Knowledge, in the Christian, may go beyond conduct. + Balaam and Caiaphas were not holy men, yet they were inspired + (_Num. 23:5; John 11:49-52_). The promise of Christ assured at + least the essential trustworthiness of his witnesses (_Mat. 10:7, + 19, 20; John 14:26; 15:26, 27; 16:13; 17:8_). This theory that + inspiration is a wholly subjective communication of truth leads to + the practical rejection of important parts of Scripture, in fact + to the rejection of all Scripture that professes to convey truth + beyond the power of man to discover or to understand. Notice the + progress from Thomas Arnold (Sermons, 2:185) to Matthew Arnold + (Literature and Dogma, 134, 137). Notice also Swedenborg's + rejection of nearly one half the Bible (Ruth, Chronicles, Ezra, + Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, + and the whole of the N. T. except the Gospels and the Apocalypse), + connected with the claim of divine authority for his new + revelation. "His interlocutors all Swedenborgize" (R. W. Emerson). + On Swedenborg, see Hours with the Mystics, 2:230; Moehler, + Symbolism, 436-466; New Englander, Jan. 1874:195; Baptist Review, + 1883:143-157; Pond, Swedenborgianism; Ireland, The Blot on the + Brain, 1-129. + + +(_d_) The theory is logically indefensible, as intimating that +illumination with regard to truth can be imparted without imparting truth +itself, whereas God must first furnish objective truth to be perceived +before he can illuminate the mind to perceive the meaning of that truth. + + + The theory is analogous to the views that preservation is a + continued creation; knowledge is recognition; regeneration is + increase of light. In order to preservation, something must first + be created which can be preserved; in order to recognition, + something must be known which can be recognized or known again; in + order to make increase of light of any use, there must first be + the power to see. In like manner, inspiration cannot be mere + illumination, because the external necessarily precedes the + internal, the objective precedes the subjective, the truth + revealed precedes the apprehension of that truth. In the case of + all truth that surpasses the normal powers of man to perceive or + evolve, there must be special communication from God; revelation + must go before inspiration; inspiration alone is not revelation. + It matters not whether this communication of truth be from without + or from within. As in creation, God can work from within, yet the + new result is not explicable as mere reproduction of the past. The + eye can see only as it receives and uses the external light + furnished by the sun, even though it be equally true that without + the eye the light of the sun would be nothing worth. + + Pfleiderer, Grundriss, 17-19, says that to Schleiermacher + revelation is the original appearance of a proper religious life, + which life is derived neither from external communication nor from + invention and reflection, but from a divine impartation, which + impartation can be regarded, not merely as an instructive + influence upon man as an intellectual being, but as an endowment + determining his whole personal existence--an endowment analogous to + the higher conditions of poetic and heroic exaltation. Pfleiderer + himself would give the name "revelation" to "every original + experience in which man becomes aware of, and is seized by, + supersensible truth, truth which does not come from external + impartation nor from purposed reflection, but from the unconscious + and undivided transcendental ground of the soul, and so is + received as an impartation from God through the medium of the + soul's human activity." Kaftan, Dogmatik, 51 _sq._--"We must put + the conception of revelation in place of inspiration. Scripture is + the record of divine revelation. We do not propose a new doctrine + or inspiration, in place of the old. We need only revelation, and, + here and there, providence. The testimony of the Holy Spirit is + given, not to inspiration, but to revelation--the truths that touch + the human spirit and have been historically revealed." + + Allen, Jonathan Edwards, 182--Edwards held that spiritual life in + the soul is given by God only to his favorites and dear children, + while inspiration may be thrown out, as it were, to dogs and + swine--a Balaam, Saul, and Judas. The greatest privilege of + apostles and prophets was, not their inspiration, but their + holiness. Better to have grace in the heart, than to be the mother + of Christ (_Luke 11:27, 28_). Maltbie D. Babcock, in S. S. Times, + 1901:590--"The man who mourns because infallibility cannot be had + in a church, or a guide, or a set of standards, does not know when + he is well off. How could God develop our minds, our power of + moral judgment, if there were no 'spirit to be tried' (_1 John + 4:1_), no necessity for discrimination, no discipline of search + and challenge and choice? To give the right answer to a problem is + to put him on the side of infallibility so far as that answer is + concerned, but it is to do him an ineffable wrong touching his + real education. The blessing of life's schooling is not in knowing + the right answer in advance, but in developing power through + struggle." + + Why did John Henry Newman surrender to the Church of Rome? Because + he assumed that an external authority is absolutely essential to + religion, and, when such an assumption is followed, Rome is the + only logical terminus. "Dogma was," he says, "the fundamental + principle of my religion." Modern ritualism is a return to this + mediaeval notion. "Dogmatic Christianity," says Harnack, "is + Catholic. It needs an inerrant Bible, and an infallible church to + interpret that Bible. The dogmatic Protestant is of the same camp + with the sacramental and infallible Catholic." Lyman Abbott: "The + new Reformation denies the infallibility of the Bible, as the + Protestant Reformation denied the infallibility of the Church. + There is no infallible authority. Infallible authority is + undesirable.... God has given us something far better,--life.... + The Bible is the record of the gradual manifestation of God to man + in human experience, in moral laws and their applications, and in + the life of Him who was God manifest in the flesh." + + Leighton Williams: "There is no inspiration apart from experience. + Baptists are not sacramental, nor creedal, but experimental + Christians"--not Romanists, nor Protestants, but believers in an + inner light. "Life, as it develops, awakens into + self-consciousness. That self-consciousness becomes the most + reliable witness as to the nature of the life of which it is the + development. Within the limits of its own sphere, its authority is + supreme. Prophecy is the utterance of the soul in moments of deep + religious experience. The inspiration of Scripture writers is not + a peculiar thing,--it was given that the same inspiration might be + perfected in those who read their writings." Christ is the only + ultimate authority, and he reveals himself in three ways, through + Scripture, the Reason, and the Church. Only Life saves, and the + Way leads through the Truth to the Life. Baptists stand nearer to + the Episcopal system of life than to the Presbyterian system of + creed. Whiton, Gloria Patri, 136--"The mistake is in looking to the + Father above the world, rather than to the Son and the Spirit + within the world, as the immediate source of revelation.... + Revelation is the unfolding of the life and thought of God within + the world. One should not be troubled by finding errors in the + Scriptures, any more than by finding imperfections in any physical + work of God, as in the human eye." + + +3. The Dictation-theory. + + +This theory holds that inspiration consisted in such a possession of the +minds and bodies of the Scripture writers by the Holy Spirit, that they +became passive instruments or amanuenses--pens, not penmen, of God. + + + This theory naturally connects itself with that view of miracles + which regards them as suspensions or violations of natural law. + Dorner, Glaubenslehre, 1:624 (transl. 2:186-189), calls it a + "docetic view of inspiration. It holds to the abolition of second + causes, and to the perfect passivity of the human instrument; + denies any inspiration of persons, and maintains inspiration of + writings only. This exaggeration of the divine element led to the + hypothesis of a multiform divine sense in Scripture, and, in + assigning the spiritual meaning, a rationalizing spirit led the + way." Representatives of this view are Quenstedt, Theol. Didact., + 1:76--"The Holy Ghost inspired his amanuenses with those + expressions which they would have employed, had they been left to + themselves"; Hooker, Works, 2:383--"They neither spake nor wrote + any word of their own, but uttered syllable by syllable as the + Spirit put it into their mouths"; Gaussen, Theopneusty, 61--"The + Bible is not a book which God charged men already enlightened to + make under his protection; it is a book which God dictated to + them"; Cunningham, Theol. Lectures, 349--"The verbal inspiration of + the Scriptures [which he advocates] implies in general that the + words of Scripture were suggested or dictated by the Holy Spirit, + as well as the substance of the matter, and this, not only in some + portion of the Scriptures, but through the whole." This reminds us + of the old theory that God created fossils in the rocks, as they + would be had ancient seas existed. + + Sanday, Bamp. Lect. on Inspiration, 74, quotes Philo as saying: "A + prophet gives forth nothing at all of his own, but acts as + interpreter at the prompting of another in all his utterances, and + as long as he is under inspiration he is in ignorance, his reason + departing from its place and yielding up the citadel of the soul, + when the divine Spirit enters into it and dwells in it and strikes + at the mechanism of the voice, sounding through it to the clear + declaration of that which he prophesieth"; in _Gen. 15:12--_"About + the setting of the sun a trance came upon Abram"--the sun is the + light of human reason which sets and gives place to the Spirit of + God. Sanday, 78, says also: "Josephus holds that even historical + narratives, such as those at the beginning of the Pentateuch which + were not written down by contemporary prophets, were obtained by + direct inspiration from God. The Jews from their birth regard + their Scripture as 'the decrees of God,' which they strictly + observe, and for which if need be they are ready to die." The + Rabbis said that "Moses did not write one word out of his own + knowledge." + + The Reformers held to a much freer view than this. Luther said: + "What does not carry Christ with it, is not apostolic, even though + St. Peter or St. Paul taught it. If our adversaries fall back on + the Scripture against Christ, we fall back on Christ against the + Scripture." Luther refused canonical authority to books not + actually written by apostles or composed, like Mark and Luke, + under their direction. So he rejected from the rank of canonical + authority Hebrews, James, Jude, 2 Peter and Revelation. Even + Calvin doubted the Petrine authorship of 2 Peter, excluded the + book of Revelation from the Scripture on which he wrote + Commentaries, and also thus ignored the second and third epistles + of John; see Prof. R. E. Thompson, in S. S. Times, Dec. 3, + 1898:803, 804. The dictation-theory is post-Reformation. H. P. + Smith, Bib. Scholarship and Inspiration, 85--"After the Council of + Trent, the Roman Catholic polemic became sharper. It became the + endeavor of that party to show the necessity of tradition and the + untrustworthiness of Scripture alone. This led the Protestants to + defend the Bible more tenaciously than before." The Swiss Formula + of Consensus in 1675 not only called the Scriptures "the very word + of God," but declared the Hebrew vowel-points to be inspired, and + some theologians traced them back to Adam. John Owen held to the + inspiration of the vowel-points; see Horton, Inspiration and + Bible, 8. Of the age which produced the Protestant dogmatic + theology, Charles Beard, in the Hibbert Lectures for 1883, says: + "I know no epoch of Christianity to which I could more confidently + point in illustration of the fact that where there is most + theology, there is often least religion." + + +Of this view we may remark: + +(_a_) We grant that there are instances when God's communications were +uttered in an audible voice and took a definite form of words, and that +this was sometimes accompanied with the command to commit the words to +writing. + + + For examples, see _Ex. 3:4--_"God called unto him out of the midst + of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses"; _20:22--_"Ye yourselves have + seen that I have talked with you from heaven"; _cf._ _Heb. + 12:19--_"the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated + that no word more should be spoken unto them"; _Numbers 7:89--_"And + when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with him, then + he heard the Voice speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat + that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two + cherubim: and he spake unto him"; _8:1--_"And Jehovah spake unto + Moses, saying," etc.; _Dan. 4:31--_"While the word was in the + king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king + Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from + thee"; _Acts 9:5--_"And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I + am Jesus whom thou persecutest"; _Rev. 19:9--_"And he saith unto + me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper + of the Lamb"; _21:5--_"And he that sitteth on the throne said, + Behold, I make all things new"; _cf._ _1:10, 11--_"and I heard + behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet saying, What thou seest, + write in a book and send it to the seven churches." So the voice + from heaven at the baptism, and at the transfiguration, of Jesus + (_Mat. 3:17_, and _17:5_; see Broadus, Amer. Com., on these + passages). + + +(_b_) The theory in question, however, rests upon a partial induction of +Scripture facts,--unwarrantably assuming that such occasional instances of +direct dictation reveal the invariable method of God's communications of +truth to the writers of the Bible. + + + Scripture nowhere declares that this immediate communication of + the words was universal. On _1 Cor. 2:13--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}i{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}_, the text + usually cited as proof of invariable dictation--Meyer says: "There + is no dictation here; {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}i{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} excludes everything mechanical." + Henderson, Inspiration (2nd ed.), 333, 349--"As human wisdom did + not dictate word for word, so the Spirit did not." Paul claims for + Scripture simply a general style of plainness which is due to the + influence of the Spirit. Manly: "Dictation to an amanuensis is not + _teaching_." Our Revised Version properly translates the remainder + of the verse, _1 Cor. 2:13--_"combining spiritual things with + spiritual words." + + +(_c_) It cannot account for the manifestly human element in the +Scriptures. There are peculiarities of style which distinguish the +productions of each writer from those of every other, and there are +variations in accounts of the same transaction which are inconsistent with +the theory of a solely divine authorship. + + + Notice Paul's anacoloutha and his bursts of grief and indignation + (_Rom. 5:12 __sq._, _2 Cor. 11:1_ _sq._), and his ignorance of the + precise number whom he had baptized (_1 Cor. 1:16_). One beggar or + two (_Mat. 20:30_; _cf._ _Luke 18:35_); "about five and twenty or + thirty furlongs"_ (John 6:19)_; "shed for many" (_Mat. 26:28_ has + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}, _Mark 14:24_ and _Luke 22:20_ have {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}). Dictation of words + which were immediately to be lost by imperfect transcription? + Clarke, Christian Theology, 33-37--"We are under no obligation to + maintain the complete inerrancy of the Scriptures. In them we have + the freedom of life, rather than extraordinary precision of + statement or accuracy of detail. We have become Christians in + spite of differences between the evangelists. The Scriptures are + various, progressive, free. There is no authority in Scripture for + applying the word 'inspired' to our present Bible as a whole, and + theology is not bound to employ this word in defining the + Scriptures. Christianity is founded in history, and will stand + whether the Scriptures are inspired or not. If special inspiration + were wholly disproved, Christ would still be the Savior of the + world. But the divine element in the Scriptures will never be + disproved." + + +(_d_) It is inconsistent with a wise economy of means, to suppose that the +Scripture writers should have had dictated to them what they knew already, +or what they could inform themselves of by the use of their natural +powers. + + + Why employ eye-witnesses at all? Why not dictate the gospels to + Gentiles living a thousand years before? God respects the + instruments he has called into being, and he uses them according + to their constitutional gifts. George Eliot represents + Stradivarius as saying:--"If my hand slacked, I should rob + God--since he is fullest good--Leaving a blank instead of violins. + God cannot make Antonio Stradivari's violins, Without Antonio." + _Mark 11:3--_"The Lord hath need of him," may apply to man as well + as beast. + + +(_e_) It contradicts what we know of the law of God's working in the soul. +The higher and nobler God's communications, the more fully is man in +possession and use of his own faculties. We cannot suppose that this +highest work of man under the influence of the Spirit was purely +mechanical. + + + Joseph receives communication by vision (_Mat. 1:20_); Mary, by + words of an angel spoken in her waking moments (_Luke 1:28_). The + more advanced the recipient, the more conscious the communication. + These four theories might almost be called the Pelagian, the + Arminian, the Docetic, and the Dynamical. Sabatier, Philos. + Religion, 41, 42, 87--"In the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Father + says at the baptism to Jesus: 'My Son, in all the prophets I was + waiting for thee, that thou mightest come, and that I might rest + in thee. For thou art my Rest.' Inspiration becomes more and more + internal, until in Christ it is continuous and complete. Upon the + opposite Docetic view, the most perfect inspiration should have + been that of Balaam's ass." Semler represents the Pelagian or + Ebionitic view, as Quenstedt represents this Docetic view. Semler + localizes and temporalizes the contents of Scripture. Yet, though + he carried this to the extreme of excluding any divine authorship, + he did good service in leading the way to the historical study of + the Bible. + + +4. The Dynamical Theory. + + +The true view holds, in opposition to the first of these theories, that +inspiration is not simply a natural but also a supernatural fact, and that +it is the immediate work of a personal God in the soul of man. + +It holds, in opposition to the second, that inspiration belongs, not only +to the men who wrote the Scriptures, but to the Scriptures which they +wrote, so that these Scriptures, when taken together, constitute a +trustworthy and sufficient record of divine revelation. + +It holds, in opposition to the third theory, that the Scriptures contain a +human as well as a divine element, so that while they present a body of +divinely revealed truth, this truth is shaped in human moulds and adapted +to ordinary human intelligence. + +In short, inspiration is characteristically neither natural, partial, nor +mechanical, but supernatural, plenary, and dynamical. Further explanations +will be grouped under the head of The Union of the Divine and Human +Elements in Inspiration, in the section which immediately follows. + + + If the small circle be taken as symbol of the human element in + inspiration, and the large circle as symbol of the divine, then + the Intuition-theory would be represented by the small circle + alone; the Dictation-theory by the large circle alone; the + Illumination-theory by the small circle external to the large, and + touching it at only a single point; the Dynamical-theory by two + concentric circles, the small included in the large. Even when + inspiration is but the exaltation and intensification of man's + natural powers, it must be considered the work of God as well as + of man. God can work from within as well as from without. As + creation and regeneration are works of the immanent rather than of + the transcendent God, so inspiration is in general a work within + man's soul, rather than a communication to him from without. + Prophecy may be natural to perfect humanity. Revelation is an + unveiling, and the Roentgen rays enable us to see through a veil. + But the insight of the Scripture writers into truth so far beyond + their mental and moral powers is inexplicable except by a + supernatural influence upon their minds; in other words, except as + they were lifted up into the divine Reason and endowed with the + wisdom of God. + + Although we propose this Dynamical-theory as one which best + explains the Scripture facts, we do not regard this or any other + theory as of essential importance. No theory of inspiration is + necessary to Christian faith. Revelation precedes inspiration. + There was religion before the Old Testament, and an oral gospel + before the New Testament. God might reveal without recording; + might permit record without inspiration; might inspire without + vouching for anything more than religious teaching and for the + history, only so far as was necessary to that religious teaching. + Whatever theory of inspiration we frame, should be the result of a + strict induction of the Scripture facts, and not an a priori + scheme to which Scripture must be conformed. The fault of many + past discussions of the subject is the assumption that God must + adopt some particular method of inspiration, or secure an absolute + perfection of detail in matters not essential to the religious + teaching of Scripture. Perhaps the best theory of inspiration is + to have no theory. + + Warfield and Hodge, Inspiration, 8--"Very many religious and + historical truths must be established before we come to the + question of inspiration, as for instance the being and moral + government of God, the fallen condition of man, the fact of a + redemptive scheme, the general historical truth of the Scriptures, + and the validity and authority of the revelation of God's will + which they contain, i. e., the general truth of Christianity and + of its doctrines. Hence it follows that while the inspiration of + the Scriptures is true, and being true is a principle fundamental + to the adequate interpretation of Scripture, it nevertheless is + not, in the first instance, a principle fundamental to the truth + of the Christian religion." Warfield, in Presb. and Ref. Rev., + April, 1893:208--"We do not found the whole Christian system on the + doctrine of inspiration.... Were there no such thing as + inspiration, Christianity would be true, and all its essential + doctrines would be credibly witnessed to us"--in the gospels and in + the living church. F. L. Patton, Inspiration, 22--"I must take + exception to the disposition of some to stake the fortunes of + Christianity on the doctrine of inspiration. Not that I yield to + any one in profound conviction of the truth and importance of the + doctrine. But it is proper for us to bear in mind the immense + argumentative advantage which Christianity has, aside altogether + from the inspiration of the documents on which it rests." So argue + also Sanday, Oracles of God, and Dale, The Living Christ. + + + +IV. The Union of the Divine and Human Elements in Inspiration. + + +1. The Scriptures are the production equally of God and of man, and are +therefore never to be regarded as merely human or merely divine. + +The mystery of inspiration consists in neither of these terms separately, +but in the union of the two. Of this, however, there are analogies in the +interpenetration of human powers by the divine efficiency in regeneration +and sanctification, and in the union of the divine and human natures in +the person of Jesus Christ. + + + According to "Dalton's law," each gas is as a vacuum to every + other: "Gases are mutually passive, and pass into each other as + into vacua." Each interpenetrates the other. But this does not + furnish a perfect illustration of our subject. The atom of oxygen + and the atom of nitrogen, in common air, remain side by side but + they do not unite. In inspiration the human and the divine + elements do unite. The Lutheran maxim, "Mens humana capax divinae," + is one of the most important principles of a true theology. "The + Lutherans think of humanity as a thing made by God for himself and + to receive himself. The Reformed think of the Deity as ever + preserving himself from any confusion with the creature. They fear + pantheism and idolatry" (Bp. of Salisbury, quoted in Swayne, Our + Lord's Knowledge, xx). + + Sabatier, Philos. Religion, 66--"That initial mystery, the relation + in our consciousness between the individual and the universal + element, between the finite and the infinite, between God and + man,--how can we comprehend their coexistence and their union, and + yet how can we doubt it? Where is the thoughtful man to-day who + has not broken the thin crust of his daily life, and caught a + glimpse of those profound and obscure waters on which floats our + consciousness? Who has not felt within himself a veiled presence, + and a force much greater than his own? What worker in a lofty + cause has not perceived within his own personal activity, and + saluted with a feeling of veneration, the mysterious activity of a + universal and eternal Power? 'In Deo vivimus, movemur, et + sumus.'... This mystery cannot be dissipated, for without it + religion itself would no longer exist." Quackenbos, in Harper's + Magazine, July, 1900:264, says that "hypnotic suggestion is but + inspiration." The analogy of human influence thus communicated may + at least help us to some understanding of the divine. + + +2. This union of the divine and human agencies in inspiration is not to be +conceived of as one of external impartation and reception. + +On the other hand, those whom God raised up and providentially qualified +to do this work, spoke and wrote the words of God, when inspired, not as +from without, but as from within, and that not passively, but in the most +conscious possession and the most exalted exercise of their own powers of +intellect, emotion, and will. + + + The Holy Spirit does not dwell in man as water in a vessel. We may + rather illustrate the experience of the Scripture writers by the + experience of the preacher who under the influence of God's Spirit + is carried beyond himself, and is conscious of a clearer + apprehension of truth and of a greater ability to utter it than + belong to his unaided nature, yet knows himself to be no passive + vehicle of a divine communication, but to be as never before in + possession and exercise of his own powers. The inspiration of the + Scripture writers, however, goes far beyond the illumination + granted to the preacher, in that it qualifies them to put the + truth, without error, into permanent and written form. This + inspiration, moreover, is more than providential preparation. Like + miracles, inspiration may use man's natural powers, but man's + natural powers do not explain it. Moses, David, Paul, and John + were providentially endowed and educated for their work of writing + Scripture, but this endowment and education were not inspiration + itself, but only the preparation for it. + + Beyschlag: "With John, remembrance and exposition had become + inseparable." E. G. Robinson; "Novelists do not _create_ + characters,--they reproduce with modifications material presented + to their memories. So the apostles reproduced their impressions of + Christ." Hutton, Essays, 2:231--"The Psalmists vacillate between + the first person and the third, when they deliver the purposes of + God. As they warm with their spiritual inspiration, they lose + themselves in the person of Him who inspires them, and then they + are again recalled to themselves." Stanley, Life and Letters, + 1:380--"Revelation is not resolved into a mere human process + because we are able to distinguish the natural agencies through + which it was communicated"; 2:102--"You seem to me to transfer too + much to these ancient prophets and writers and chiefs our modern + notions of _divine origin_.... Our notion, or rather, the modern + Puritanical notion of divine origin, is of a preternatural force + or voice, putting aside secondary agencies, and separated from + those agencies by an impassable gulf. The ancient, Oriental, + Biblical notion was of a supreme Will acting through those + agencies, or rather, being inseparable from them. _Our_ notions of + inspiration and divine communications insist on absolute + perfection of fact, morals, doctrine. The Biblical notion was that + inspiration was compatible with weakness, infirmity, + contradiction." Ladd, Philosophy of Mind, 182--"In inspiration the + thoughts, feelings, purposes are organized into another One than + the self in which they were themselves born. That other One is _in + themselves_. They enter into communication with Him. Yet this may + be supernatural, even though natural psychological means are used. + Inspiration which is external is not inspiration at all." This + last sentence, however, seems to us a needless exaggeration of the + true principle. Though God originally inspires from within, he may + also communicate truth from without. + + +3. Inspiration, therefore, did not remove, but rather pressed into its own +service, all the personal peculiarities of the writers, together with +their defects of culture and literary style. + +Every imperfection not inconsistent with truth in a human composition may +exist in inspired Scripture. The Bible is God's word, in the sense that it +presents to us divine truth in human forms, and is a revelation not for a +select class but for the common mind. Rightly understood, this very +humanity of the Bible is a proof of its divinity. + + + Locke: "When God made the prophet, he did not unmake the man." + Prof. Day: "The bush in which God appeared to Moses remained a + bush, while yet burning with the brightness of God and uttering + forth the majesty of the mind of God." The paragraphs of the Koran + are called _ayat_, or "sign," from their supposed supernatural + elegance. But elegant literary productions do not touch the heart. + The Bible is not merely the word of God; it is also the word made + flesh. The Holy Spirit hides himself, that he may show forth + Christ (_John 3:8_); he is known only by his effects--a pattern for + preachers, who are ministers of the Spirit (_2 Cor. 3:6_). See + Conant on Genesis, 65. + + The Moslem declares that every word of the Koran came by the + agency of Gabriel from the seventh heaven, and that its very + pronunciation is inspired. Better the doctrine of Martineau, Seat + of Authority, 289--"Though the pattern be divine, the web that + bears it must still be human." Jackson, James Martineau, + 255--"Paul's metaphor of the 'treasure in earthen vessels'_ (2 Cor. + 4:7)_ you cannot allow to give you guidance; you want, not the + treasure only, but the casket too, to come from above, and be of + the crystal of the sky. You want the record to be divine, not only + in its spirit, but also in its letter." Charles Hodge, Syst. + Theol., 1:157--"When God ordains praise out of the mouths of babes, + they must speak as babes, or the whole power and beauty of the + tribute will be lost." + + Evans, Bib. Scholarship and Inspiration, 16, 25--"The {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} of a + dead wind is never changed, as the Rabbis of old thought, into the + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} of a living spirit. The raven that fed Elijah was nothing + more than a bird. Nor does man, when supernaturally influenced, + cease to be a man. An inspired man is not God, nor a divinely + manipulated automaton"; "In Scripture there may be as much + imperfection as, in the parts of any organism, would be consistent + with the perfect adaptation of that organism to its destined end. + Scripture then, taken together, is a statement of moral and + religious truth sufficient for men's salvation, or an infallible + and sufficient rule of _faith and practice_." J. S. Wrightnour: + "Inspire means to breathe in, as a flute-player breathes into his + instrument. As different flutes may have their own shapes, + peculiarities, and what might seem like defects, so here; yet all + are breathed into by one Spirit. The same Spirit who inspired them + selected those instruments which were best for his purpose, as the + Savior selected his apostles. In these writings therefore is given + us, in the precise way that is best for us, the spiritual + instruction and food that we need. Food for the body is not always + given in the most concentrated form, but in the form that is best + adapted for digestion. So God gives gold, not in coin ready + stamped, but in the quartz of the mine whence it has to be dug and + smelted." Remains of Arthur H. Hallam, in John Brown's Rab and his + Friends, 274--"I see that the Bible fits in to every fold of the + human heart. I am a man, and I believe it is God's book, because + it is man's book." + + +4. In inspiration God may use all right and normal methods of literary +composition. + +As we recognize in literature the proper function of history, poetry, and +fiction; of prophecy, parable, and drama; of personification and proverb; +of allegory and dogmatic instruction; and even of myth and legend; we +cannot deny the possibility that God may use any one of these methods of +communicating truth, leaving it to us to determine in any single case +which of these methods he has adopted. + + + In inspiration, as in regeneration and sanctification, God works + "in divers manners"_ (Heb. 1:1)_. The Scriptures, like the books + of secular literature, must be interpreted in the light of their + purpose. Poetry must not be treated as prose, and parable must not + be made to "go on all fours," when it was meant to walk erect and + to tell one simple story. Drama is not history, nor is + personification to be regarded as biography. There is a rhetorical + overstatement which is intended only as a vivid emphasizing of + important truth. Allegory is a popular mode of illustration. Even + myth and legend may convey great lessons not otherwise + apprehensible to infantile or untrained minds. A literary sense is + needed in our judgments of Scripture, and much hostile criticism + is lacking in this literary sense. + + Denney, Studies in Theology, 218--"There is a stage in which the + whole contents of the mind, as yet incapable of science or + history, may be called mythological. And what criticism shows us, + in its treatment of the early chapters of Genesis, is that God + does not disdain to speak to the mind, nor through it, even when + it is at this lowly stage. Even the myth, in which the beginnings + of human life, lying beyond human research, are represented to + itself by the child-mind of the race, may be made the medium of + revelation.... But that does not make the first chapter of Genesis + science, nor the third chapter history. And what is of authority + in these chapters is not the quasi-scientific or quasi-historical + form, but the message, which through them comes to the heart, of + God's creative wisdom and power." Gore, in Lux Mundi, 356--"The + various sorts of mental or literary activity develop in their + different lines out of an earlier condition in which they lie + fused and undifferentiated. This we can vaguely call the mythical + stage of mental evolution. A myth is not a falsehood; it is a + product of mental activity, as instructive and rich as any later + product, but its characteristic is that it is not yet + distinguished into history and poetry and philosophy." So Grote + calls the Greek myths the whole intellectual stock of the age to + which they belonged--the common root of all the history, poetry, + philosophy, theology, which afterwards diverged and proceeded from + it. So the early part of Genesis may be of the nature of myth in + which we cannot distinguish the historical germ, though we do not + deny that it exists. Robert Browning's Clive and Andrea del Sarto + are essentially correct representations of historical characters, + though the details in each poem are imaginary. + + +5. The inspiring Spirit has given the Scriptures to the world by a process +of gradual evolution. + +As in communicating the truths of natural science, God has communicated +the truths of religion by successive steps, germinally at first, more +fully as men have been able to comprehend them. The education of the race +is analogous to the education of the child. First came pictures, +object-lessons, external rites, predictions; then the key to these in +Christ, and then didactic exposition in the Epistles. + + + There have been "divers portions," as well as "divers manners"_ + (Heb. 1:1)_. The early prophecies like that of _Gen. 3:15_--the + seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head--were but faint + glimmerings of the dawn. Men had to be raised up who were capable + of receiving and transmitting the divine communications. Moses, + David, Isaiah mark successive advances in recipiency and + transparency to the heavenly light. Inspiration has employed men + of various degrees of ability, culture and religious insight. As + all the truths of the calculus lie germinally in the simplest + mathematical axiom, so all the truths of salvation may be wrapped + up in the statement that God is holiness and love. But not every + scholar can evolve the calculus from the axiom. The teacher may + dictate propositions which the pupil does not understand: he may + demonstrate in such a way that the pupil participates in the + process; or, best of all, he may incite the pupil to work out the + demonstration for himself. God seems to have used all these + methods. But while there are instances of dictation and + illumination, and inspiration sometimes includes these, the + general method seems to have been such a divine quickening of + man's powers that he discovers and expresses the truth for + himself. + + A. J. Balfour, Foundations of Belief, 339--"Inspiration is that, + seen from its divine side, which we call discovery when seen from + the human side.... Every addition to knowledge, whether in the + individual or the community, whether scientific, ethical or + theological, is due to a cooeperation between the human soul which + assimilates and the divine power which inspires. Neither acts, or + could act, in independent isolation. For 'unassisted reason' is a + fiction, and pure receptivity it is impossible to conceive. Even + the emptiest vessel must limit the quantity and determine the + configuration of any liquid with which it may be filled.... + Inspiration is limited to no age, to no country, to no people." + The early Semites had it, and the great Oriental reformers. There + can be no gathering of grapes from thorns, or of figs from + thistles. Whatever of true or of good is found in human history + has come from God. On the Progressiveness of Revelation, see Orr, + Problem of the O. T., 431-478. + + +6. Inspiration did not guarantee inerrancy in things not essential to the +main purpose of Scripture. + +Inspiration went no further than to secure a trustworthy transmission by +the sacred writers of the truth they were commissioned to deliver. It was +not omniscience. It was a bestowal of various kinds and degrees of +knowledge and aid, according to need; sometimes suggesting new truth, +sometimes presiding over the collection of preexisting material and +guarding from essential error in the final elaboration. As inspiration was +not omniscience, so it was not complete sanctification. It involved +neither personal infallibility, nor entire freedom from sin. + + + God can use imperfect means. As the imperfection of the eye does + not disprove its divine authorship, and as God reveals himself in + nature and history in spite of their shortcomings, so inspiration + can accomplish its purpose through both writers and writings in + some respects imperfect. God is, in the Bible as he was in Hebrew + history, leading his people onward to Christ, but only by a + progressive unfolding of the truth. The Scripture writers were not + perfect men. Paul at Antioch resisted Peter, "because he stood + condemned"_ (Gal 2:11)_. But Peter differed from Paul, not in + public utterances, nor in written words, but in following his own + teachings (_cf._ _Acts 15:6-11_); _versus_ Norman Fox, in Bap. + Rev., 1885:469-482. Personal defects do not invalidate an + ambassador, though they may hinder the reception of his message. + So with the apostles' ignorance of the time of Christ's second + coming. It was only gradually that they came to understand + Christian doctrines; they did not teach the truth all at once; + their final utterances supplemented and completed the earlier; and + all together furnished only that measure of knowledge which God + saw needful for the moral and religious teaching of mankind. Many + things are yet unrevealed, and many things which inspired men + uttered, they did not, when they uttered them, fully understand. + + Pfleiderer, Grundriss, 53, 54--"The word is divine-human in the + sense that it has for its contents divine truth in human, + historical, and individually conditioned form. The Holy Scripture + contains the word of God in a way plain, and entirely sufficient + to beget saving faith." Frances Power Cobbe, Life, 87--"Inspiration + is not a miraculous and therefore incredible thing, but normal and + in accordance with the natural relations of the infinite and + finite spirit, a divine inflowing of _mental_ light precisely + analogous to that _moral_ influence which divines call grace. As + every devout and obedient soul may expect to share in divine + grace, so the devout and obedient souls of all the ages have + shared, as Parker taught, in divine inspiration. And, as the + reception of grace even in large measure does not render us + _impeccable_, so neither does the reception of inspiration render + us _infallible_." We may concede to Miss Cobbe that inspiration + consists with imperfection, while yet we grant to the Scripture + writers an authority higher than our own. + + +7. Inspiration did not always, or even generally, involve a direct +communication to the Scripture writers of the words they wrote. + +Thought is possible without words, and in the order of nature precedes +words. The Scripture writers appear to have been so influenced by the Holy +Spirit that they perceived and felt even the new truths they were to +publish, as discoveries of their own minds, and were left to the action of +their own minds in the expression of these truths, with the single +exception that they were supernaturally held back from the selection of +wrong words, and when needful were provided with right ones. Inspiration +is therefore not verbal, while yet we claim that no form of words which +taken in its connections would teach essential error has been admitted +into Scripture. + + + Before expression there must be something to be expressed. Thought + is possible without language. The concept may exist without words. + See experiences of deaf-mutes, in Princeton Rev., Jan. + 1881:104-128. The prompter interrupts only when the speaker's + memory fails. The writing-master guides the pupil's hand only when + it would otherwise go wrong. The father suffers the child to walk + alone, except when it is in danger of stumbling. If knowledge be + rendered certain, it is as good as direct revelation. But whenever + the mere communication of ideas or the direction to proper + material would not suffice to secure a correct utterance, the + sacred writers were guided in the very selection of their words. + Minute criticism proves more and more conclusively the + suitableness of the verbal dress to the thoughts expressed; all + Biblical exegesis is based, indeed, upon the assumption that + divine wisdom has made the outward form a trustworthy vehicle of + the inward substance of revelation. See Henderson, Inspiration + (2nd ed.), 102, 114; Bib. Sac, 1872:428, 640; William James, + Psychology, 1:266 _sq._ + + Watts, New Apologetic, 40, 111, holds to a verbal inspiration: + "The bottles are not the wine, but if the bottles perish the wine + is sure to be spilled"; the inspiring Spirit certainly gave + language to Peter and others at Pentecost, for the apostles spoke + with other tongues; holy men of old not only thought, but "spake + from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit"_ (2 Pet. 1:21)_. So + Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 171--"Why the minute study of the + _words_ of Scripture, carried on by all expositors, their search + after the precise shade of verbal significance, their attention to + the minutest details of language, and to all the delicate coloring + of mood and tense and accent?" Liberal scholars, Dr. Gordon + thinks, thus affirm the very doctrine which they deny. Rothe, + Dogmatics, 238, speaks of "a language of the Holy Ghost." + Oetinger: "It is the style of the heavenly court." But Broadus, an + almost equally conservative scholar, in his Com. on _Mat. 3:17_, + says that the difference between "This is my beloved Son," and + _Luke 3:22--_"Thou art my beloved Son," should make us cautious in + theorizing about verbal inspiration, and he intimates that in some + cases that hypothesis is unwarranted. The theory of verbal + inspiration is refuted by the two facts: 1. that the N. T. + quotations from the O. T., in 99 cases, differ both from the + Hebrew and from the LXX; 2. that Jesus' own words are reported + with variations by the different evangelists; see Marcus Dods, The + Bible, its Origin and Nature, chapter on Inspiration. + + Helen Keller told Phillips Brooks that she had always known that + there was a God, but she had not known his name. Dr. Z. F. + Westervelt, of the Deaf Mute Institute, had under his charge four + children of different mothers. All of these children were dumb, + though there was no defect of hearing and the organs of speech + were perfect. But their mothers had never loved them and had never + talked to them in the loving way that provoked imitation. The + children heard scolding and harshness, but this did not attract. + So the older members of the church in private and in the meetings + for prayer should teach the younger to talk. But harsh and + contentious talk will not accomplish the result,--it must be the + talk of Christian love. William D. Whitney, in his review of Max + Mueller's Science of Language, 26-31, combats the view of Mueller + that thought and language are identical. Major Bliss Taylor's + reply to Santa Anna: "General Taylor never surrenders!" was a + substantially correct, though a diplomatic and euphemistic, + version of the General's actual profane words. Each Scripture + writer uttered old truth in the new forms with which his own + experience had clothed it. David reached his greatness by leaving + off the mere repetition of Moses, and by speaking out of his own + heart. Paul reached his greatness by giving up the mere teaching + of what he had been taught, and by telling what God's plan of + mercy was to all. Augustine: "Scriptura est sensus + Scripturae"--"Scripture _is_ what Scripture _means_." Among the + theological writers who admit the errancy of Scripture writers as + to some matters unessential to their moral and spiritual teaching, + are Luther, Calvin, Cocceius, Tholuck, Neander, Lange, Stier, Van + Oosterzee, John Howe, Richard Baxter, Conybeare, Alford, Mead. + + +8. Yet, notwithstanding the ever-present human element, the all-pervading +inspiration of the Scriptures constitutes these various writings an +organic whole. + +Since the Bible is in all its parts the work of God, each part is to be +judged, not by itself alone, but in its connection with every other part. +The Scriptures are not to be interpreted as so many merely human +productions by different authors, but as also the work of one divine mind. +Seemingly trivial things are to be explained from their connection with +the whole. One history is to be built up from the several accounts of the +life of Christ. One doctrine must supplement another. The Old Testament is +part of a progressive system, whose culmination and key are to be found in +the New. The central subject and thought which binds all parts of the +Bible together, and in the light of which they are to be interpreted, is +the person and work of Jesus Christ. + + + The Bible says: "There is no God"_ (Ps. 14:1)_; but then, this is + to be taken with the context: "The fool hath said in his heart." + Satan's "it is written,"_ (Mat. 4:6)_ is supplemented by Christ's + "It is written again"_ (Mat. 4:7)_. Trivialities are like the hair + and nails of the body--they have their place as parts of a complete + and organic whole; see Ebrard, Dogmatik, 1:40. The verse which + mentions Paul's cloak at Troas (2 Tim. 4:13) is (1) a sign of + genuineness--a forger would not invent it; (2) an evidence of + temporal need endured for the gospel; (3) an indication of the + limits of inspiration,--even Paul must have books and parchments. + _Col. 2:21--_"Handle not, nor taste, nor touch"--is to be + interpreted by the context in _verse 20--_"why ... do ye subject + yourselves to ordinances?" and by _verse 22--_"after the precepts + and doctrines of men." Hodge, Syst. Theol., 1:164--"The difference + between John's gospel and the book of Chronicles is like that + between man's brain and the hair of his head; nevertheless the + life of the body is as truly in the hair as in the brain." Like + railway coupons, Scripture texts are "Not good if detached." + + Crooker, The New Bible and its New Uses, 137-144, utterly denies + the unity of the Bible. Prof. A. B. Davidson of Edinburgh says + that "A theology of the O. T. is really an impossibility, because + the O. T. is not a homogeneous whole." These denials proceed from + an insufficient recognition of the principle of evolution in O. T. + history and doctrine. Doctrines in early Scripture are like rivers + at their source; they are not yet fully expanded; many affluents + are yet to come. See Bp. Bull's Sermon, in Works, xv:183; and + Bruce, Apologetics, 323--"The literature of the early stages of + revelation must share the defects of the revelation which it + records and interprets.... The final revelation enables us to see + the defects of the earlier.... We should find Christ in the O. T. + as we find the butterfly in the caterpillar, and man the crown of + the universe in the fiery cloud." Crane, Religion of To-morrow, + 224--Every part is to be modified by every other part. No verse is + true _out of_ the Book, but the whole Book taken together is true. + Gore, in Lux Mundi, 350--"To recognize the inspiration of the + Scriptures is to put ourselves to school in every part of them." + Robert Browning, Ring and Book, 175 (Pope, 228)--"Truth nowhere + lies, yet everywhere, in these; Not absolutely in a portion, yet + Evolvable from the whole; evolved at last Painfully, held + tenaciously by me." On the Organic Unity of the O. T., see Orr, + Problem of the O. T., 27-51. + + +9. When the unity of the Scripture is fully recognized, the Bible, in +spite of imperfections in matters non-essential to its religious purpose, +furnishes a safe and sufficient guide to truth and to salvation. + +The recognition of the Holy Spirit's agency makes it rational and natural +to believe in the organic unity of Scripture. When the earlier parts are +taken in connection with the later, and when each part is interpreted by +the whole, most of the difficulties connected with inspiration disappear. +Taken together, with Christ as its culmination and explanation, the Bible +furnishes the Christian rule of faith and practice. + + + The Bible answers two questions: What has God done to save me? and + What must I do to be saved? The propositions of Euclid are not + invalidated by the fact that he believed the earth to be flat. The + ethics of Plato would not be disproved by his mistakes with regard + to the solar system. So religious authority is independent of + merely secular knowledge.--Sir Joshua Reynolds was a great painter, + and a great teacher of his art. His lectures on painting laid down + principles which have been accepted as authority for generations. + But Joshua Reynolds illustrates his subject from history and + science. It was a day when both history and science were young. In + some unimportant matters of this sort, which do not in the least + affect his conclusions, Sir Joshua Reynolds makes an occasional + slip; his statements are inaccurate. Does he, therefore, cease to + be an authority in matters of his art?--The Duke of Wellington said + once that no human being knew at what time of day the battle of + Waterloo began. One historian gets his story from one combatant, + and he puts the hour at eleven in the morning. Another historian + gets his information from another combatant, and he puts it at + noon. Shall we say that this discrepancy argues error in the whole + account, and that we have no longer any certainty that the battle + of Waterloo was ever fought at all? + + Such slight imperfections are to be freely admitted, while at the + same time we insist that the Bible, taken as a whole, is + incomparably superior to all other books, and is "able to make + thee wise unto salvation"_ (2 Tim. 3:15)_. Hooker, Eccl. Polity: + "Whatsoever is spoken of God or things pertaining to God otherwise + than truth is, though it seem an honor, it is an injury. And as + incredible praises given unto men do often abate and impair the + credit of their deserved commendation, so we must likewise take + great heed lest, in attributing to Scripture more than it can + have, the incredibility of that do cause even those things which + it hath more abundantly to be less reverently esteemed." Baxter, + Works, 21:349--"Those men who think that these human imperfections + of the writers do extend further, and may appear in some passages + of chronologies or history which are no part of the rule of faith + and life, do not hereby destroy the Christian cause. For God might + enable his apostles to an infallible recording and preaching of + the gospel, even all things necessary to salvation, though he had + not made them infallible in every by-passage and circumstance, any + more than they were indefectible in life." + + The Bible, says Beet, "contains possible errors in small details + or allusions, but it gives us with absolute certainty the great + facts of Christianity, and upon these great facts, and upon these + only, our faith is based." Evans, Bib. Scholarship and + Inspiration, 15, 18, 65--"Teach that the shell is part of the + kernel and men who find that they cannot keep the shell will throw + away shell and kernel together.... This overstatement of + inspiration made Renan, Bradlaugh and Ingersoll sceptics.... If in + creation God can work out a perfect result through imperfection + why cannot he do the like in inspiration? If in Christ God can + appear in human weakness and ignorance, why not in the _written_ + word?" + + We therefore take exception to the view of Watts, New Apologetic, + 71--"Let the theory of historical errors and scientific errors be + adopted, and Christianity must share the fate of Hinduism. If its + inspired writers err when they tell us of earthly things, none + will believe when they tell of heavenly things." Watts adduces + instances of Spinoza's giving up the form while claiming to hold + the substance, and in this way reducing revelation to a phenomenon + of naturalistic pantheism. We reply that no _a priori_ theory of + perfection in divine inspiration must blind us to the evidence of + actual imperfection in Scripture. As in creation and in Christ, so + in Scripture, God humbles himself to adopt human and imperfect + methods of self-revelation. See Jonathan Edwards, Diary: "I + observe that old men seldom have any advantage of new discoveries, + because they are beside the way to which they have been so long + used. _Resolved_, if ever I live to years, that I will be + impartial to hear the reasons of all pretended discoveries, and + receive them if rational, however long soever I have been used to + another way of thinking." + + Bowne, The Immanence of God, 109, 110--"Those who would find the + source of certainty and the seat of authority in the Scriptures + alone, or in the church alone, or reason and conscience alone, + rather than in the complex and indivisible coworking of all these + factors, should be reminded of the history of religious thought. + The stiffest doctrine of Scripture inerrancy has not prevented + warring interpretations; and those who would place the seat of + authority in reason and conscience are forced to admit that + outside illumination may do much for both. In some sense the + religion of the spirit is a very important fact, but when it sets + up in opposition to the religion of a book, the light that is in + it is apt to turn to darkness." + + +10. While inspiration constitutes Scripture an authority more trustworthy +than are individual reason or the creeds of the church, the only ultimate +authority is Christ himself. + +Christ has not so constructed Scripture as to dispense with his personal +presence and teaching by his Spirit. The Scripture is the imperfect mirror +of Christ. It is defective, yet it reflects him and leads to him. +Authority resides not in it, but in him, and his Spirit enables the +individual Christian and the collective church progressively to +distinguish the essential from the non-essential, and so to perceive the +truth as it is in Jesus. In thus judging Scripture and interpreting +Scripture, we are not rationalists, but are rather believers in him who +promised to be with us alway even unto the end of the world and to lead us +by his Spirit into all the truth. + + + James speaks of the law as a mirror (_James 1:23-25--_"like unto a + man beholding his natural face in a mirror ... looketh into the + perfect law"); the law convicts of sin because it reflects Christ. + Paul speaks of the gospel as a mirror (_2 Cor. 3:18--_"we all, + beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord"); the gospel + transforms us because it reflects Christ. Yet both law and gospel + are imperfect; they are like mirrors of polished metal, whose + surface is often dim, and whose images are obscure; (_1 Cor. + 13:12--_"For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to + face"); even inspired men know only in part, and prophesy only in + part. Scripture itself is the conception and utterance of a child, + to be done away when that which is perfect is come, and we see + Christ as he is. + + Authority is the right to impose beliefs or to command obedience. + The only ultimate authority is God, for he is truth, justice and + love. But he can impose beliefs and command obedience only as he + is known. Authority belongs therefore only to God revealed, and + because Christ is God revealed he can say: "All authority hath + been given unto me in heaven and on earth"_ (Mat. 28:18)_. The + final authority in religion is Jesus Christ. Every one of his + revelations of God is authoritative. Both nature and human nature + are such revelations. He exercises his authority through delegated + and subordinate authorities, such as parents and civil government. + These rightfully claim obedience so long as they hold to their own + respective spheres and recognize their relation of dependence upon + him. "The powers that be are ordained of God"_ (Rom. 13:1)_, even + though they are imperfect manifestations of his wisdom and + righteousness. The decisions of the Supreme Court are + authoritative even though the judges are fallible and come short + of establishing absolute justice. Authority is not infallibility, + in the government either of the family or of the state. + + The church of the middle ages was regarded as possessed of + absolute authority. But the Protestant Reformation showed how vain + were these pretensions. The church is an authority only as it + recognizes and expresses the supreme authority of Christ. The + Reformers felt the need of some external authority in place of the + church. They substituted the Scripture. The phrase "the word of + God," which designates the truth orally uttered or affecting the + minds of men, came to signify only a book. Supreme authority was + ascribed to it. It often usurped the place of Christ. While we + vindicate the proper authority of Scripture, we would show that + its authority is not immediate and absolute, but mediate and + relative, through human and imperfect records, and needing a + supplementary and divine teaching to interpret them. The authority + of Scripture is not apart from Christ or above Christ, but only in + subordination to him and to his Spirit. He who inspired Scripture + must enable us to interpret Scripture. This is not a doctrine of + rationalism, for it holds to man's absolute dependence upon the + enlightening Spirit of Christ. It is not a doctrine of mysticism, + for it holds that Christ teaches us only by opening to us the + meaning of his past revelations. We do not expect any new worlds + in our astronomy, nor do we expect any new Scriptures in our + theology. But we do expect that the same Christ who gave the + Scriptures will give us new insight into their meaning and will + enable us to make new applications of their teachings. + + The right and duty of private judgment with regard to Scripture + belong to no ecclesiastical caste, but are inalienable liberties + of the whole church of Christ and of each individual member of + that church. And yet this judgment is, from another point of view, + no private judgment. It is not the judgment of arbitrariness or + caprice. It does not make the Christian consciousness supreme, if + we mean by this term the consciousness of Christians apart from + the indwelling Christ. When once we come to Christ, he joins us to + himself, he seats us with him upon his throne, he imparts to us + his Spirit, he bids us use our reason in his service. In judging + Scripture, we make not ourselves but Christ supreme, and recognize + him as the only ultimate and infallible authority in matters of + religion. We can believe that the total revelation of Christ in + Scripture is an authority superior to individual reason or to any + single affirmation of the church, while yet we believe that this + very authority of Scripture has its limitation, and that Christ + himself must teach us what this total revelation is. So the + judgment which Scripture encourages us to pass upon its own + limitations only induces a final and more implicit reliance upon + the living and personal Son of God. He has never intended that + Scripture should be a substitute for his own presence, and it is + only his Spirit that is promised to lead us into all the truth. + + On the authority of Scripture, see A. H. Strong, Christ in + Creation, 113-136--"The source of all authority is not Scripture, + but Christ.... Nowhere are we told that the Scripture of itself is + able to convince the sinner or to bring him to God. It is a + glittering sword, but it is 'the sword of the Spirit'_ (Eph. + 6:17)_; and unless the Spirit use it, it will never pierce the + heart. It is a heavy hammer, but only the Spirit can wield it so + that it breaks in pieces the flinty rock. It is the type locked in + the form, but the paper will never receive an impression until the + Spirit shall apply the power. No mere instrument shall have the + glory that belongs to God. Every soul shall feel its entire + dependence upon him. Only the Holy Spirit can turn the outer word + into an inner word. And the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. + Christ comes into direct contact with the soul. He himself gives + his witness to the truth. He bears testimony to Scripture, even + more than Scripture bears testimony to him." + + +11. The preceding discussion enables us at least to lay down three +cardinal principles and to answer three common questions with regard to +inspiration. + +Principles: (_a_) The human mind can be inhabited and energized by God +while yet attaining and retaining its own highest intelligence and +freedom. (_b_) The Scriptures being the work of the one God, as well as of +the men in whom God moved and dwelt, constitute an articulated and organic +unity. (_c_) The unity and authority of Scripture as a whole are entirely +consistent with its gradual evolution and with great imperfection in its +non-essential parts. + +Questions: (_a_) Is any part of Scripture uninspired? Answer: Every part +of Scripture is inspired in its connection and relation with every other +part. (_b_) Are there degrees of inspiration? Answer: There are degrees of +value, but not of inspiration. Each part in its connection with the rest +is made completely true, and completeness has no degrees. (_c_) How may we +know what parts are of most value and what is the teaching of the whole? +Answer: The same Spirit of Christ who inspired the Bible is promised to +take of the things of Christ, and, by showing them to us, to lead us +progressively into all the truth. + + + Notice the value of the Old Testament, revealing as it does the + natural attributes of God, as a basis and background for the + revelation of mercy in the New Testament. Revelation was in many + parts _({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}--Heb. 1:1)_ as well as in many ways. "Each + individual oracle, taken by itself, was partial and incomplete" + (Robertson Smith, O. T. in Jewish Ch., 21). But the person and the + words of Christ sum up and complete the revelation, so that, taken + together and in their connection with him, the various parts of + Scripture constitute an infallible and sufficient rule of faith + and practice. See Browne, Inspiration of the N. T.; Bernard, + Progress of Doctrine in the N. T.; Stanley Leathes, Structure of + the O. T.; Rainy, Delivery and Development of Doctrine. See A. H. + Strong, on Method of Inspiration, in Philosophy and Religion, + 148-155. + + The divine influence upon the minds of post-biblical writers, + leading to the composition of such allegories as Pilgrim's + Progress, and such dramas as Macbeth, is to be denominated + illumination rather than inspiration, for the reasons that these + writings contain error as well as truth in matters of religion and + morals; that they add nothing essential to what the Scriptures + give us; and that, even in their expression of truth previously + made known, they are not worthy of a place in the sacred canon. W. + H. P. Faunce: "How far is Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress true to + present Christian experience? It is untrue: 1. In its despair of + this world. The Pilgrim has to leave this world in order to be + saved. Modern experience longs to do God's will _here_, and to + save others instead of forsaking them. 2. In its agony over sin + and frightful conflict. Bunyan illustrates modern experience + better by Christiana and her children who go through the Valley + and the Shadow of Death in the daytime, and without conflict with + Apollyon. 3. In the constant uncertainty of the issue of the + Pilgrim's fight. Christian enters Doubting Castle and meets Giant + Despair, even after he has won most of his victories. In modern + experience, 'at evening time there shall be light'_--(Zech. 14:7)_. + 4. In the constant conviction of an absent Christ. Bunyan's Christ + is never met this side of the Celestial City. The Cross at which + the burden dropped is the symbol of a sacrificial act, but it is + not the Savior himself. Modern experience has Christ living in us + and with us alway, and not simply a Christ whom we hope to see at + the end of the journey." + + Beyschlag, N. T. Theol., 2:18--"Paul declares his own prophecy and + inspiration to be essentially imperfect (_1 Cor. 13:9, 10, 12; cf. + 1 Cor. 12:10; 1 Thess. 5:19-21_). This admission justifies a + Christian criticism even of his views. He can pronounce an + anathema on those who preach 'a different gospel'_ (Gal. 1:8, 9)_, + for what belongs to simple faith, the facts of salvation, are + absolutely certain. But where prophetic thought and speech go + beyond these facts of salvation, wood and straw may be mingled + with the gold, silver and precious stones built upon the one + foundation. So he distinguishes his own modest {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} from the + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} (1 Cor. 7:25, 40)." Clarke, Christian Theology, + 44--"The authority of Scripture is not one that binds, but one that + sets free. Paul is writing of Scripture when he says: 'Not that we + have lordship over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for in + faith ye stand fast'_ (2 Cor. 1:24)_." + + Cremer, in Herzog, Realencyc., 183-203--"The church doctrine is + _that_ the Scriptures are inspired, but it has never been + determined by the church _how_ they are inspired." Butler, + Analogy, part II, chap. III--"The only question concerning the + truth of Christianity is, whether it be a real revelation, not + whether it be attended with every circumstance which we should + have looked for; and concerning the authority of Scripture, + whether it be what it claims to be, not whether it be a book of + such sort, and so promulgated, as weak men are apt to fancy a book + containing a divine revelation should. And therefore, neither + obscurity, nor seeming inaccuracy of style, nor various readings, + nor early disputes about the authors of particular parts, nor any + other things of the like kind, though they had been much more + considerable than they are, could overthrow the authority of the + Scripture; unless the prophets, apostles, or our Lord had promised + that the book containing the divine revelation should be secure + from these things." W. Robertson Smith: "If am asked why I receive + the Scriptures as the word of God and as the only perfect rule of + faith and life, I answer with all the Fathers of the Protestant + church: 'Because the Bible is the only record of the redeeming + love of God; because in the Bible alone I find God drawing nigh to + men in Jesus Christ, and declaring his will for our salvation. And + the record I know to be true by the witness of his Spirit in my + heart, whereby I am assured that none other than God himself is + able to speak such words to my soul.' " The gospel of Jesus Christ + is the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} of the Almighty. See Marcus Dods, The Bible, + its Origin and Nature; Bowne, The Immanence of God, 66-115. + + + +V. Objections to the Doctrine of Inspiration. + + +In connection with a divine-human work like the Bible, insoluble +difficulties may be expected to present themselves. So long, however, as +its inspiration is sustained by competent and sufficient evidence, these +difficulties cannot justly prevent our full acceptance of the doctrine, +any more than disorder and mystery in nature warrant us in setting aside +the proofs of its divine authorship. These difficulties are lessened with +time; some have already disappeared; many may be due to ignorance, and may +be removed hereafter; those which are permanent may be intended to +stimulate inquiry and to discipline faith. + +It is noticeable that the common objections to inspiration are urged, not +so much against the religious teaching of the Scriptures, as against +certain errors in secular matters which are supposed to be interwoven with +it. But if these are proved to be errors indeed, it will not necessarily +overthrow the doctrine of inspiration; it will only compel us to give a +larger place to the human element in the composition of the Scriptures, +and to regard them more exclusively as a text-book of religion. As a rule +of religious faith and practice, they will still be the infallible word of +God. The Bible is to be judged as a book whose one aim is man's rescue +from sin and reconciliation to God, and in these respects it will still be +found a record of substantial truth. This will appear more fully as we +examine the objections one by one. + + + "The Scriptures are given to teach us, not how the heavens go, but + how to go to heaven." Their aim is certainly not to teach science + or history, except so far as science or history is essential to + their moral and religious purpose. Certain of their doctrines, + like the virgin-birth of Christ and his bodily resurrection, are + historical facts, and certain facts, like that of creation, are + also doctrines. With regard to these great facts, we claim that + inspiration has given us accounts that are essentially + trustworthy, whatever may be their imperfections in detail. To + undermine the scientific trustworthiness of the Indian Vedas is to + undermine the religion which they teach. But this only because + their scientific doctrine is an essential part of their religious + teaching. In the Bible, religion is not dependent upon physical + science. The Scriptures aim only to declare the creatorship and + lordship of the personal God. The method of his working may be + described pictorially without affecting this substantial truth. + The Indian cosmogonies, on the other hand, polytheistic or + pantheistic as they are, teach essential untruth, by describing + the origin of things as due to a series of senseless + transformations without basis of will or wisdom. + + So long as the difficulties of Scripture are difficulties of form + rather than substance, of its incidental features rather than its + main doctrine, we may say of its obscurities as Isocrates said of + the work of Heraclitus: "What I understand of it is so excellent + that I can draw conclusions from it concerning what I do not + understand." "If Bengel finds things in the Bible too hard for his + critical faculty, he finds nothing too hard for his believing + faculty." With John Smyth, who died at Amsterdam in 1612, we may + say: "I profess I have changed, and shall be ready still to + change, for the better"; and with John Robinson, in his farewell + address to the Pilgrim Fathers: "I am verily persuaded that the + Lord hath more truth yet to break forth from his holy word." See + Luthardt, Saving Truths, 205; Philippi, Glaubenslehre, 205 _sq._; + Bap. Rev., April, 1881: art. by O. P. Eaches; Cardinal Newman, in + 19th Century, Feb. 1884. + + +1. Errors in matters of Science. + + +Upon this objection we remark: + +(_a_) We do not admit the existence of scientific error in the Scripture. +What is charged as such is simply truth presented in popular and +impressive forms. + +The common mind receives a more correct idea of unfamiliar facts when +these are narrated in phenomenal language and in summary form than when +they are described in the abstract terms and in the exact detail of +science. + + + The Scripture writers unconsciously observe Herbert Spencer's + principle of style: Economy of the reader's or hearer's + attention,--the more energy is expended upon the form the less + there remains to grapple with the substance (Essays, 1-47). Wendt, + Teaching of Jesus, 1:130, brings out the principle of Jesus' + style: "The greatest clearness in the smallest compass." Hence + Scripture uses the phrases of common life rather than scientific + terminology. Thus the language of appearance is probably used in + _Gen. 7:19--_"all the high mountains that were under the whole + heaven were covered"--such would be the appearance, even if the + deluge were local instead of universal; in _Josh. 10:12, 13--_"and + the sun stood still"--such would be the appearance, even if the + sun's rays were merely refracted so as preternaturally to lengthen + the day; in _Ps. 93:1--_"The world also is established, that it + cannot be moved"--such is the appearance, even though the earth + turns on its axis and moves round the sun. In narrative, to + substitute for "sunset" some scientific description would divert + attention from the main subject. Would it be preferable, in the O. + T., if we should read: "When the revolution of the earth upon its + axis caused the rays of the solar luminary to impinge horizontally + upon the retina, _Isaac went out to meditate_" (_Gen. 24:63_)? "Le + secret d'ennuyer est de tout dire." Charles Dickens, in his + American Notes, 72, describes a prairie sunset: "The decline of + day here was very gorgeous, tinging the firmament deeply with red + and gold, up to the very keystone of the arch above us" (quoted by + Hovey, Manual of Christian Theology, 97). Did Dickens therefore + believe the firmament to be a piece of solid masonry? + + Canon Driver rejects the Bible story of creation because the + distinctions made by modern science cannot be found in the + primitive Hebrew. He thinks the fluid state of the earth's + substance should have been called "surging chaos," instead of + "waters"_ (Gen. 1:2)_. "An admirable phrase for modern and + cultivated minds," replies Mr. Gladstone, "but a phrase that would + have left the pupils of the Mosaic writer in exactly the condition + out of which it was his purpose to bring them, namely, a state of + utter ignorance and darkness, with possibly a little ripple of + bewilderment to boot"; see Sunday School Times, April 26, 1890. + The fallacy of holding that Scripture gives in detail all the + facts connected with a historical narrative has led to many + curious arguments. The Gregorian Calendar which makes the year + begin in January was opposed by representing that Eve was tempted + at the outset by an apple, which was possible only in case the + year began in September; see Thayer, Change of Attitude towards + the Bible, 46. + + +(_b_) It is not necessary to a proper view of inspiration to suppose that +the human authors of Scripture had in mind the proper scientific +interpretation of the natural events they recorded. + +It is enough that this was in the mind of the inspiring Spirit. Through +the comparatively narrow conceptions and inadequate language of the +Scripture writers, the Spirit of inspiration may have secured the +expression of the truth in such germinal form as to be intelligible to the +times in which it was first published, and yet capable of indefinite +expansion as science should advance. In the miniature picture of creation +in the first chapter of Genesis, and in its power of adjusting itself to +every advance of scientific investigation, we have a strong proof of +inspiration. + + + The word "day" in _Genesis 1_ is an instance of this general mode + of expression. It would be absurd to teach early races, that deal + only in small numbers, about the myriads of years of creation. The + child's object-lesson, with its graphic summary, conveys to his + mind more of truth than elaborate and exact statement would + convey. Conant (_Genesis 2:10_) says of the description of Eden + and its rivers: "Of course the author's object is not a minute + topographical description, but a general and impressive conception + as a whole." Yet the progress of science only shows that these + accounts are not less but more true than was supposed by those who + first received them. Neither the Hindu Shasters nor any heathen + cosmogony can bear such comparison with the results of science. + Why change our interpretations of Scripture so often? Answer: We + do not assume to be original teachers of science, but only to + interpret Scripture with the new lights we have. See Dana, Manual + of Geology, 741-746; Guyot, in Bib. Sac., 1855:324; Dawson, Story + of Earth and Man, 32. + + This conception of early Scripture teaching as elementary and + suited to the childhood of the race would make it possible, if the + facts so required, to interpret the early chapters of Genesis as + mythical or legendary. God might condescend to "Kindergarten + formulas." Goethe said that "We should deal with children as God + deals with us: we are happiest under the influence of innocent + delusions." Longfellow: "How beautiful is youth! how bright it + gleams, With its illusions, aspirations, dreams! Book of + beginnings, story without end, Each maid a heroine, and each man a + friend!" We might hold with Goethe and with Longfellow, if we only + excluded from God's teaching all essential error. The narratives + of Scripture might be addressed to the imagination, and so might + take mythical or legendary form, while yet they conveyed + substantial truth that could in no other way be so well + apprehended by early man; see Robert Browning's poem, + "Development," in Asolando. The Koran, on the other hand, leaves + no room for imagination, but fixes the number of the stars and + declares the firmament to be solid. Henry Drummond: "Evolution has + given us a new Bible.... The Bible is not a book which has been + made,--it has grown." + + Bagehot tells us that "One of the most remarkable of Father + Newman's Oxford sermons explains how science teaches that the + earth goes round the sun, and how Scripture teaches that the sun + goes round the earth; and it ends by advising the discreet + believer to accept both." This is mental bookkeeping by double + entry; see Mackintosh, in Am. Jour. Theology, Jan. 1899:41. + Lenormant, in Contemp. Rev., Nov. 1879--"While the tradition of the + deluge holds so considerable a place in the legendary memories of + all branches of the Aryan race, the monuments and original texts + of Egypt, with their many cosmogonic speculations, have not + afforded any, even distant, allusion to this cataclysm." Lenormant + here wrongly assumed that the language of Scripture is scientific + language. If it is the language of appearance, then the deluge may + be a local and not a universal catastrophe. G. F. Wright, Ice Age + in North America, suggests that the numerous traditions of the + deluge may have had their origin in the enormous floods of the + receding glacier. In South-western Queensland, the standard gauge + at the Meteorological Office registered 10-3/4, 20, 35-3/4, 10-3/4 + inches of rainfall, in all 77-1/4 inches, in four successive days. + + +(_c_) It may be safely said that science has not yet shown any fairly +interpreted passage of Scripture to be untrue. + +With regard to the antiquity of the race, we may say that owing to the +differences of reading between the Septuagint and the Hebrew there is room +for doubt whether either of the received chronologies has the sanction of +inspiration. Although science has made probable the existence of man upon +the earth at a period preceding the dates assigned in these chronologies, +no statement of inspired Scripture is thereby proved false. + + + Usher's scheme of chronology, on the basis of the Hebrew, puts the + creation 4004 years before Christ. Hales's, on the basis of the + Septuagint, puts it 5411 B. C. The Fathers followed the LXX. But + the genealogies before and after the flood may present us only + with the names of "leading and representative men." Some of these + names seem to stand, not for individuals, but for tribes, _e. g._: + _Gen. 10:16_--where Canaan is said to have begotten the Jebusite + and the Amorite; 29--Joktan begot Ophir and Havilah. In _Gen. + 10:6_, we read that Mizraim belonged to the sons of Ham. But + Mizraim is a dual, coined to designate the two parts, Upper and + Lower Egypt. Hence a son of Ham could not bear the name of + Mizraim. _Gen. 10:13_ reads: "And Mizraim begat Ludim." But Ludim + is a plural form. The word signifies a whole nation, and "begat" + is not employed in a literal sense. So in _verses 15, 16: _"Canaan + begat ... the Jebusite," a tribe; the ancestors of which would + have been called Jebus. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, however, are + names, not of tribes or nations, but of individuals; see Prof. + Edward Koenig, of Bonn, in S. S. Times, Dec. 14, 1901. E. G. + Robinson: "We may pretty safely go back to the time of Abraham, + but no further." Bib. Sac., 1899:403--"The lists in Genesis may + relate to families and not to individuals." + + G. F. Wright, Ant. and Origin of Human Race, lect. II--"When in + David's time it is said that 'Shebuel, the son of Gershom, the son + of Moses, was ruler over the treasures'_ (1 Chron. 23:16; 26:24)_, + Gershom was the immediate son of Moses, but Shebuel was separated + by many generations from Gershom. So when Seth is said to have + begotten Enosh when he was 105 years old (_Gen. 5:6_), it is, + according to Hebrew usage, capable of meaning that Enosh was + descended from the branch of Seth's line which set off at the + 105th year, with any number of intermediate links omitted." The + appearance of completeness in the text may be due to alteration of + the text in the course of centuries; see Bib. Com., 1:30. In the + phrase "Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham"_ (Mat. + 1:1)_ thirty-eight to forty generations are omitted. It may be so + in some of the Old Testament genealogies. There is room for a + hundred thousand years, if necessary (Conant). W. H. Green, in + Bib. Sac., April, 1890:303, and in Independent, June 18, 1891--"The + Scriptures furnish us with no data for a chronological computation + prior to the life of Abraham. The Mosaic records do not fix, and + were not intended to fix, the precise date of the Flood or of the + Creation.... They give a series of specimen lives, with + appropriate numbers attached, to show by selected examples what + was the original term of human life. To make them a complete and + continuous record, and to deduce from them the antiquity of the + race, is to put them to a use they were never intended to serve." + + Comparison with secular history also shows that no such length of + time as 100,000 years for man's existence upon earth seems + necessary. Rawlinson, in Jour. Christ. Philosophy, 1883:339-364, + dates the beginning of the Chaldean monarchy at 2400 B. C. + Lenormant puts the entrance of the Sanskritic Indians into + Hindustan at 2500 B. C. The earliest Vedas are between 1200 and + 1000 B. C. (Max Mueller). Call of Abraham, probably 1945 B. C. + Chinese history possibly began as early as 2356 B. C. (Legge). The + old Empire in Egypt possibly began as early as 2650 B. C. + Rawlinson puts the flood at 3600 B. C., and adds 2000 years + between the deluge and the creation, making the age of the world + 1886 + 3600 + 2000 = 7486. S. R. Pattison, in Present Day Tracts, + 3: no. 13, concludes that "a term of about 8000 years is warranted + by deductions from history, geology, and Scripture." See also Duke + of Argyll, Primeval Man, 76-128; Cowles on Genesis, 49-80; Dawson, + Fossil Men, 246; Hicks, in Bap. Rev., July, 1884 (15000 years); + Zoeckler, Urgeschichte der Erde und des Menschen, 137-163. On the + critical side, see Crooker, The New Bible and its Uses, 80-102. + + Evidence of a geological nature seems to be accumulating, which + tends to prove man's advent upon earth at least ten thousand years + ago. An arrowhead of tempered copper and a number of human bones + were found in the Rocky Point mines, near Gilman, Colorado, 460 + feet beneath the surface of the earth, embedded in a vein of + silver-bearing ore. More than a hundred dollars worth of ore clung + to the bones when they were removed from the mine. On the age of + the earth and the antiquity of man, see G. F. Wright, Man and the + Glacial Epoch, lectures IV and X, and in McClure's Magazine, June, + 1901, and Bib. Sac., 1903:31--"Charles Darwin first talked about + 300 million years as a mere trifle of geologic time. His son + George limits it to 50 or 100 million; Croll and Young to 60 or 70 + million; Wallace to 28 million; Lord Kelvin to 24 million; + Thompson and Newcomb to only 10 million." Sir Archibald Geikie, at + the British Association at Dover in 1899, said that 100 million + years sufficed for that small portion of the earth's history which + is registered in the stratified rocks of the crust. + + Shaler, Interpretation of Nature, 122, considers vegetable life to + have existed on the planet for at least 100 million years. Warren + Upham, in Pop. Science Monthly, Dec. 1893:153--"How old is the + earth? 100 million years." D. G. Brinton, in Forum, Dec. 1893:454, + puts the minimum limit of man's existence on earth at 50,000 + years. G. F. Wright does not doubt that man's presence on this + continent was preglacial, say eleven or twelve thousand years ago. + He asserts that there has been a subsidence of Central Asia and + Southern Russia since man's advent, and that Arctic seals are + still found in Lake Baikal in Siberia. While he grants that + Egyptian civilization may go back to 5000 B. C., he holds that no + more than 6000 or 7000 years before this are needed as preparation + for history. Le Conte, Elements of Geology, 613--"Men saw the great + glaciers of the second glacial epoch, but there is no reliable + evidence of their existence before the first glacial epoch. + Deltas, implements, lake shores, waterfalls, indicate only 7000 to + 10,000 years." Recent calculations of Prof. Prestwich, the most + eminent living geologist of Great Britain, tend to bring the close + of the glacial epoch down to within 10,000 or 15,000 years. + + +(_d_) Even if error in matters of science were found in Scripture, it +would not disprove inspiration, since inspiration concerns itself with +science only so far as correct scientific views are necessary to morals +and religion. + + + Great harm results from identifying Christian doctrine with + specific theories of the universe. The Roman church held that the + revolution of the sun around the earth was taught in Scripture, + and that Christian faith required the condemnation of Galileo; + John Wesley thought Christianity to be inseparable from a belief + in witchcraft; opposers of the higher criticism regard the Mosaic + authorship of the Pentateuch as "articulus stantis vel cadentis + ecclesiae." We mistake greatly when we link inspiration with + scientific doctrine. The purpose of Scripture is not to teach + science, but to teach religion, and, with the exception of God's + creatorship and preserving agency in the universe, no scientific + truth is essential to the system of Christian doctrine. + Inspiration might leave the Scripture writers in possession of the + scientific ideas of their time, while yet they were empowered + correctly to declare both ethical and religious truth. A right + spirit indeed gains some insight into the meaning of nature, and + so the Scripture writers seem to be preserved from incorporating + into their productions much of the scientific error of their day. + But entire freedom from such error must not be regarded as a + necessary accompaniment of inspiration. + + +2. Errors in matters of History. + + +To this objection we reply: + +(_a_) What are charged as such are often mere mistakes in transcription, +and have no force as arguments against inspiration, unless it can first be +shown that inspired documents are by the very fact of their inspiration +exempt from the operation of those laws which affect the transmission of +other ancient documents. + + + We have no right to expect that the inspiration of the original + writer will be followed by a miracle in the case of every copyist. + Why believe in infallible copyists, more than in infallible + printers? God educates us to care for his word, and for its + correct transmission. Reverence has kept the Scriptures more free + from various readings than are other ancient manuscripts. None of + the existing variations endanger any important article of faith. + Yet some mistakes in transcription there probably are. In _1 + Chron. 22:14_, instead of 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 + talents of silver (= $3,750,000,000), Josephus divides the sum by + ten. Dr. Howard Osgood: "A French writer, Revillout, has accounted + for the differing numbers in Kings and Chronicles, just as he + accounts for the same differences in Egyptian and Assyrian later + accounts, by the change in the value of money and debasement of + issues. He shows the change all over Western Asia." _Per contra_, + see Bacon, Genesis of Genesis, 45. + + In _2 Chron. 13:3, 17_, where the numbers of men in the armies of + little Palestine are stated as 400,000 and 800,000, and 500,000 + are said to have been slain in a single battle, "some ancient + copies of the Vulgate and Latin translations of Josephus have + 40,000, 80,000, and 50,000"; see Annotated Paragraph Bible, _in + loco_. In _2 Chron. 17:14-19_, Jehoshaphat's army aggregates + 1,160,000, besides the garrisons of his fortresses. It is possible + that by errors in transcription these numbers have been multiplied + by ten. Another explanation however, and perhaps a more probable + one, is given under (_d_) below. Similarly, compare _1 Sam. 6:19_, + where 50,070 are slain, with the 70 of Josephus; _2 Sam. + 8:4--_"1,700 horsemen," with _1 Chron. 18:4--_"7,000 horsemen"; + _Esther 9:16_--75,000 slain by the Jews, with LXX--15,000. In _Mat. + 27:9_, we have "Jeremiah" for "Zechariah"--this Calvin allows to be + a mistake; and, if a mistake, then one made by the first copyist, + for it appears in all the uncials, all the manuscripts and all the + versions except the Syriac Peshito where it is omitted, evidently + on the authority of the individual transcriber and translator. In + _Acts 7:16--_"the tomb that Abraham bought"--Hackett regards + "Abraham" as a clerical error for "Jacob" (compare _Gen. 33:18, + 19_). See Bible Com., 3:165, 249, 251, 317. + + +(_b_) Other so-called errors are to be explained as a permissible use of +round numbers, which cannot be denied to the sacred writers except upon +the principle that mathematical accuracy was more important than the +general impression to be secured by the narrative. + + + In _Numbers 25:9_, we read that there fell in the plague 24,000; + _1 Cor. 10:8_ says 23,000. The actual number was possibly + somewhere between the two. Upon a similar principle, we do not + scruple to celebrate the Landing of the Pilgrims on December 22nd + and the birth of Christ on December 25th. We speak of the battle + of Bunker Hill, although at Bunker Hill no battle was really + fought. In _Ex. 12:40, 41_, the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt + is declared to be 430 years. Yet Paul, in _Gal. 3:17_, says that + the giving of the law through Moses was 430 years after the call + of Abraham, whereas the call of Abraham took place 215 years + before Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt, and Paul should + have said 645 years instead of 430. Franz Delitzsch: "The Hebrew + Bible counts four centuries of Egyptian sojourn (_Gen. 15:13-16_), + more accurately, 430 years (_Ex. 12:40_); but according to the LXX + (_Ex. 12:40_) this number comprehends the sojourn in Canaan and + Egypt, so that 215 years come to the pilgrimage in Canaan, and 215 + to the servitude in Egypt. This kind of calculation is not + exclusively Hellenistic; it is also found in the oldest + Palestinian Midrash. Paul stands on this side in _Gal. 3:17_, + making, not the immigration into Egypt, but the covenant with + Abraham the _terminus a quo_ of the 430 years which end in the + Exodus from Egypt and in the legislation"; see also Hovey, Com. on + _Gal. 3:17_. It was not Paul's purpose to write chronology,--so he + may follow the LXX, and call the time between the promise to + Abraham and the giving of the law to Moses 430 years, rather than + the actual 600. If he had given the larger number, it might have + led to perplexity and discussion about a matter which had nothing + to do with the vital question in hand. Inspiration may have + employed current though inaccurate statements as to matters of + history, because they were the best available means of impressing + upon men's minds truth of a more important sort. In _Gen. 15:13_ + the 430 years is called in round numbers 400 years, and so in + _Acts 7:6_. + + +(_c_) Diversities of statement in accounts of the same event, so long as +they touch no substantial truth, may be due to the meagreness of the +narrative, and might be fully explained if some single fact, now +unrecorded, were only known. To explain these apparent discrepancies would +not only be beside the purpose of the record, but would destroy one +valuable evidence of the independence of the several writers or witnesses. + + + On the Stokes trial, the judge spoke of two apparently conflicting + testimonies as neither of them necessarily false. On the + difference between Matthew and Luke as to the scene of the Sermon + on the Mount (_Mat. 5:1_; _cf._ _Luke 6:17_) see Stanley, Sinai + and Palestine, 360. As to one blind man or two (_Mat. 20:30_; + _cf._ _Luke 18:35_) see Bliss, Com. on Luke, 275, and Gardiner, in + Bib. Sac., July, 1879:513, 514; Jesus may have healed the blind + men during a day's excursion from Jericho, and it might be + described as "when they went out," or "as they drew nigh to + Jericho." Prof. M. B. Riddle: "_Luke 18:35_ describes the general + movement towards Jerusalem and not the precise detail preceding + the miracle; _Mat. 20:30_ intimates that the miracle occurred + during an excursion from the city,--Luke afterwards telling of the + final departure"; Calvin holds to two meetings; Godet to two + cities; if Jesus healed two blind men, he certainly healed one, + and Luke did not need to mention more than one, even if he knew of + both; see Broadus on _Mat. 20:30_. In _Mat. 8:28_, where Matthew + has two demoniacs at Gadara and Luke has only one at Gerasa, + Broadus supposes that the village of Gerasa belonged to the + territory of the city of Gadara, a few miles to the Southeast of + the lake, and he quotes the case of Lafayette: "In the year 1824 + Lafayette visited the United States and was welcomed with honors + and pageants. Some historians will mention only Lafayette, but + others will relate the same visit as made and the same honors as + enjoyed by two persons, namely, Lafayette and his son. Will not + both be right?" On Christ's last Passover, see Robinson, Harmony, + 212; E. H. Sears, Fourth Gospel, Appendix A; Edersheim, Life and + Times of the Messiah, 2:507. Augustine: "Locutiones variae, sed non + contrariae: dlversae, sed non adversae." + + Bartlett, in Princeton Rev., Jan. 1880:46, 47, gives the following + modern illustrations: Winslow's Journal (of Plymouth Plantation) + speaks of a ship sent out "by Master Thomas Weston." But Bradford + in his far briefer narrative of the matter, mentions it as sent + "by Mr. Weston and another." John Adams, in his letters, tells the + story of the daughter of Otis about her father's destruction of + his own manuscripts. At one time he makes her say: "In one of his + unhappy moments he committed them all to the flames"; yet, in the + second letter, she is made to say that "he was several days in + doing it." One newspaper says: President Hayes attended the + Bennington centennial; another newspaper says: the President and + Mrs. Hayes; a third: the President and his Cabinet; a fourth: the + President, Mrs. Hayes and a majority of his Cabinet. Archibald + Forbes, in his account of Napoleon III at Sedan, points out an + agreement of narratives as to the salient points, combined with + "the hopeless and bewildering discrepancies as to details," even + as these are reported by eye-witnesses, including himself, + Bismarck, and General Sheridan who was on the ground, as well as + others. + + Thayer, Change of Attitude, 52, speaks of Luke's "plump + anachronism in the matter of Theudas"--_Acts 5:36--_"For before + those days rose up Theudas." Josephus, Antiquities, 20:5:1, + mentions an insurrectionary Theudas, but the date and other + incidents do not agree with those of Luke. Josephus however may + have mistaken the date as easily as Luke, or he may refer to + another man of the same name. The inscription on the Cross is + given in _Mark 15:26_, as "The King of the Jews"; in _Luke 23:38_, + as "This is the King of the Jews"; in _Mat. 27:37_, as "This is + Jesus the King of the Jews"; and in _John 19:19_, as "Jesus of + Nazareth the King of the Jews." The entire superscription, in + Hebrew, Greek and Latin, may have contained every word given by + the several evangelists combined, and may have read "This is Jesus + of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," and each separate report may + be entirely correct so far as it goes. See, on the general + subject, Haley, Alleged Discrepancies; Fisher, Beginnings of + Christianity, 406-412. + + +(_d_) While historical and archaeological discovery in many important +particulars goes to sustain the general correctness of the Scripture +narratives, and no statement essential to the moral and religious teaching +of Scripture has been invalidated, inspiration is still consistent with +much imperfection in historical detail and its narratives "do not seem to +be exempted from possibilities of error." + + + The words last quoted are those of Sanday. In his Bampton Lectures + on Inspiration, 400, he remarks that "Inspiration belongs to the + historical books rather as conveying a religious lesson, than as + histories; rather as interpreting, than as narrating plain matter + of fact. The crucial issue is that in these last respects they do + not seem to be exempted from possibilities of error." R. V. + Foster, Systematic Theology, (Cumberland Presbyterian): The + Scripture writers "were not inspired to do otherwise than to take + these statements as they found them." Inerrancy is not freedom + from misstatements, but from error defined as "that which misleads + in any serious or important sense." When we compare the accounts + of _1_ and _2 Chronicles_ with those of _1_ and _2 Kings_ we find + in the former an exaggeration of numbers, a suppression of + material unfavorable to the writer's purpose, and an emphasis upon + that which is favorable, that contrasts strongly with the method + of the latter. These characteristics are so continuous that the + theory of mistakes in transcription does not seem sufficient to + account for the facts. The author's aim was to draw out the + religious lessons of the story, and historical details are to him + of comparative unimportance. + + H. P. Smith, Bib. Scholarship and Inspiration, 108--"Inspiration + did not correct the Chronicler's historical point of view, more + than it corrected his scientific point of view, which no doubt + made the earth the centre of the solar system. It therefore left + him open to receive documents, and to use them, which idealized + the history of the past, and described David and Solomon according + to the ideas of later times and the priestly class. David's sins + are omitted, and numbers are multiplied, to give greater dignity + to the earlier kingdom." As Tennyson's Idylls of the King give a + nobler picture of King Arthur, and a more definite aspect to his + history, than actual records justify, yet the picture teaches + great moral and religious lessons, so the Chronicler seems to have + manipulated his material in the interest of religion. Matters of + arithmetic were minor matters. "Majoribus intentus est." + + E. G. Robinson: "The numbers of the Bible are characteristic of a + semi-barbarous age. The writers took care to guess enough. The + tendency of such an age is always to exaggerate." Two Formosan + savages divide five pieces between them by taking two apiece and + throwing one away. The lowest tribes can count only with the + fingers of their hands; when they use their toes as well, it marks + an advance in civilization. To the modern child a hundred is just + as great a number as a million. So the early Scriptures seem to + use numbers with a childlike ignorance as to their meaning. + Hundreds of thousands can be substituted for tens of thousands, + and the substitution seems only a proper tribute to the dignity of + the subject. Gore, in Lux Mundi, 353--"This was not conscious + perversion, but unconscious idealizing of history, the reading + back into past records of a ritual development which was really + later. Inspiration excludes conscious deception, but it appears to + be quite consistent with this sort of idealizing; always supposing + that the result read back into the earlier history does represent + the real purpose of God and only anticipates the realization." + + There are some who contend that these historical imperfections are + due to transcription and that they did not belong to the original + documents. Watts, New Apologetic, 71, 111, when asked what is + gained by contending for infallible original autographs if they + have been since corrupted, replies: "Just what we gain by + contending for the original perfection of human nature, though man + has since corrupted it. We must believe God's own testimony about + his own work. God may permit others to do what, as a holy + righteous God, he cannot do himself." When the objector declares + it a matter of little consequence whether a pair of trousers were + or were not originally perfect, so long as they are badly rent + just now, Watts replies: "The tailor who made them would probably + prefer to have it understood that the trousers did not leave his + shop in their present forlorn condition. God drops no stitches and + sends out no imperfect work." Watts however seems dominated by an + _a priori_ theory of inspiration, which blinds him to the actual + facts of the Bible. + + Evans, Bib. Scholarship and Inspiration, 40--"Does the _present_ + error destroy the inspiration of the Bible as we have it? No. Then + why should the _original_ error destroy the inspiration of the + Bible, as it was first given? There are spots on yonder sun; do + they stop its being the sun? Why, the sun is all the more a sun + for the spots. So the Bible." Inspiration seems to have permitted + the gathering of such material as was at hand, very much as a + modern editor might construct his account of an army movement from + the reports of a number of observers; or as a modern historian + might combine the records of a past age with all their + imperfections of detail. In the case of the Scripture writers, + however, we maintain that inspiration has permitted no sacrifice + of moral and religious truth in the completed Scripture, but has + woven its historical material together into an organic whole which + teaches all the facts essential to the knowledge of Christ and of + salvation. + + When we come to examine in detail what purport to be historical + narratives, we must be neither credulous nor sceptical, but simply + candid and open-minded. With regard for example to the great age + of the Old Testament patriarchs, we are no more warranted in + rejecting the Scripture accounts upon the ground that life in + later times is so much shorter, than we are to reject the + testimony of botanists as to trees of the Sequoia family between + four and five hundred feet high, or the testimony of geologists as + to Saurians a hundred feet long, upon the ground that the trees + and reptiles with which we are acquainted are so much smaller. + Every species at its introduction seems to exhibit the maximum of + size and vitality. Weismann, Heredity, 6, 30--"Whales live some + hundreds of years; elephants two hundred--their gestation taking + two years. Giants prove that the plan upon which man is + constructed can also be carried out on a scale far larger than the + normal one." E. Ray Lankester, Adv. of Science, 205-237, + 286--agrees with Weismann in his general theory. Sir George + Cornewall Lewis long denied centenarism, but at last had to admit + it. + + Charles Dudley Warner, in Harper's Magazine, Jan. 1895, gives + instances of men 137, 140, and 192 years old. The German Haller + asserts that "the ultimate limit of human life does not exceed two + centuries: to fix the exact number of years is exceedingly + difficult." J. Norman Lockyer, in Nature, regards the years of the + patriarchs as lunar years. In Egypt, the sun being used, the unit + of time was a year; but in Chaldea, the unit of time was a month, + for the reason that the standard of time was the moon. Divide the + numbers by twelve, and the lives of the patriarchs come out very + much the same length with lives at the present day. We may ask, + however, how this theory would work in shortening the lives + between Noah and Moses. On the genealogies in Matthew and Luke, + see Lord Harvey, Genealogies of our Lord, and his art, in Smith's + Bible Dictionary; _per contra_, see Andrews, Life of Christ, 55 + _sq._ On Quirinius and the enrollment for taxation (_Luke 2:2_), + see Pres. Woolsey, in New Englander, 1869. On the general subject, + see Rawlinson, Historical Evidences, and essay in Modern + Scepticism, published by Christian Evidence Society, 1:265; + Crooker, New Bible and New Uses, 102-126. + + +3. Errors in Morality. + + +(_a_) What are charged as such are sometimes evil acts and words of good +men--words and acts not sanctioned by God. These are narrated by the +inspired writers as simple matter of history, and subsequent results, or +the story itself, is left to point the moral of the tale. + + + Instances of this sort are Noah's drunkenness (_Gen. 9:20-27_); + Lot's incest (_Gen. 19:30-38_); Jacob's falsehood (_Gen. + 27:19-24_); David's adultery (_2 Sam. 11:1-4_); Peter's denial + (_Mat. 26:69-75_). See Lee, Inspiration, 265, note. Esther's + vindictiveness is not commended, nor are the characters of the + Book of Esther said to have acted in obedience to a divine + command. Crane, Religion of To-morrow, 241--"In law and psalm and + prophecy we behold the influence of Jehovah working as leaven + among a primitive and barbarous people. Contemplating the Old + Scriptures in this light, they become luminous with divinity, and + we are furnished with the principle by which to discriminate + between the divine and the human in the book. Particularly in + David do we see a rugged, half-civilized, kingly man, full of + gross errors, fleshly and impetuous, yet permeated with a divine + Spirit that lifts him, struggling, weeping, and warring, up to + some of the loftiest conceptions of Deity which the mind of man + has conceived. As an angelic being, David is a caricature; as a + man of God, as an example of God moving upon and raising up a most + human man, he is a splendid example. The proof that the church is + of God, is not its impeccability, but its progress." + + +(_b_) Where evil acts appear at first sight to be sanctioned, it is +frequently some right intent or accompanying virtue, rather than the act +itself, upon which commendation is bestowed. + + + As Rehab's faith, not her duplicity (_Josh. 2:1-24_; _cf._ _Heb. + 11:31_ and _James 2:25_); Jael's patriotism, not her treachery + (_Judges 4:17-22_; _cf._ _5:24_). Or did they cast in their lot + with Israel and use the common stratagems of war (see next + paragraph)? Herder: "The limitations of the pupil are also + limitations of the teacher." While Dean Stanley praises Solomon + for tolerating idolatry, James Martineau, Study, 2:137, remarks: + "It would be a ridiculous pedantry to apply the Protestant pleas + of private judgment to such communities as ancient Egypt and + Assyria.... It is the survival of coercion, after conscience has + been born to supersede it, that shocks and revolts us in + persecution." + + +(_c_) Certain commands and deeds are sanctioned as relatively +just--expressions of justice such as the age could comprehend, and are to +be judged as parts of a progressively unfolding system of morality whose +key and culmination we have in Jesus Christ. + + + _Ex. 20:25--_"I gave them statutes that were not good"--as Moses' + permission of divorce and retaliation (_Deut. 24:1_; _cf._ _Mat. + 5:31, 32; 19:7-9_; _Ex. 21:24_; _cf._ _Mat. 5:38, 39_). Compare + Elijah's calling down fire from heaven (_2 K. 1:10-12_) with + Jesus' refusal to do the same, and his intimation that the spirit + of Elijah was not the spirit of Christ (_Luke 9:52-56_); _cf._ + Mattheson, Moments on the Mount, 253-255, on _Mat. 17:8--_"Jesus + only": "The strength of Elias paled before him. To shed the blood + of enemies requires less strength than to shed one's own blood, + and to conquer by fire is easier than to conquer by love." Hovey: + "In divine revelation, it is first starlight, then dawn, finally + day." George Washington once gave directions for the + transportation to the West Indies and the sale there of a + refractory negro who had given him trouble. This was not at + variance with the best morality of his time, but it would not suit + the improved ethical standards of today. The use of force rather + than moral suasion is sometimes needed by children and by + barbarians. We may illustrate by the Sunday School scholar's + unruliness which was cured by his classmates during the week. + "What did you say to him?" asked the teacher. "We didn't say + nothing; we just punched his head for him." This was Old Testament + righteousness. The appeal in the O. T. to the hope of earthly + rewards was suitable to a stage of development not yet instructed + as to heaven and hell by the coming and work of Christ; compare + _Ex. 20:12_ with _Mat. 5:10; 25:46_. The Old Testament aimed to + fix in the mind of a selected people the idea of the unity and + holiness of God; in order to exterminate idolatry, much other + teaching was postponed. See Peabody, Religion of Nature, 45; + Mozley, Ruling Ideas of Early Ages; Green, in Presb. Quar., April, + 1877:221-252; McIlvaine, Wisdom of Holy Scripture, 328-368; Brit. + and For. Evang. Rev., Jan. 1878:1-32; Martineau, Study, 2:137. + + When therefore we find in the inspired song of Deborah, the + prophetess (_Judges 5:30_), an allusion to the common spoils of + war--"a damsel, two damsels to every man" or in _Prov. 31:6, + 7--_"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine + unto the bitter in soul. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, + and remember his misery no more"--we do not need to maintain that + these passages furnish standards for our modern conduct. Dr. + Fisher calls the latter "the worst advice to a person in + affliction, or dispirited by the loss of property." They mark past + stages in God's providential leading of mankind. A higher stage + indeed is already intimated in _Prov. 31:4--_"it is not for kings + to drink wine, Nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink?" We + see that God could use very imperfect instruments and could + inspire very imperfect men. Many things were permitted for men's + "hardness of heart"_ (Mat. 19:8)_. The Sermon on the Mount is a + great advance on the law of Moses (_Mat. 5:21--_"Ye have heard that + it was said to them of old time"; _cf._ 22--"But I say unto you"). + + Robert G. Ingersoll would have lost his stock in trade if + Christians had generally recognized that revelation is gradual, + and is completed only in Christ. This gradualness of revelation is + conceded in the common phrase: "the new dispensation." Abraham + Lincoln showed his wisdom by never going far ahead of the common + sense of the people. God similarly adapted his legislation to the + capacities of each successive age. The command to Abraham to + sacrifice his son (_Gen. 22:1-19_) was a proper test of Abraham's + faith in a day when human sacrifice violated no common ethical + standard because the Hebrew, like the Roman, "patria potestas" did + not regard the child as having a separate individuality, but + included the child in the parent and made the child equally + responsible for the parent's sin. But that very command was given + _only_ as a test of faith, and with the intent to make the + intended obedience the occasion of revealing God's provision of a + substitute and so of doing away with human sacrifice for all + future time. We may well imitate the gradualness of divine + revelation in our treatment of dancing and of the liquor traffic. + + +(_d_) God's righteous sovereignty affords the key to other events. He has +the right to do what he will with his own, and to punish the transgressor +when and where he will; and he may justly make men the foretellers or +executors of his purposes. + + + Foretellers, as in the imprecatory Psalms (_137:9_; _cf._ _Is. + 13:16-18_ and _Jer. 50:16, 29_); executors, as in the destruction + of the Canaanites (_Deut. 7:2, 16_). In the former case the Psalm + was not the ebullition of personal anger, but the expression of + judicial indignation against the enemies of God. We must + distinguish the substance from the form. The substance was the + denunciation of God's righteous judgments; the form was taken from + the ordinary customs of war in the Psalmist's time. See Park, in + Bib. Sac., 1862:165; Cowles, Com. on Ps. 137; Perowne on Psalms, + Introd., 61; Presb. and Ref. Rev., 1897:490-505; _cf._ _2 Tim. + 4:14--_"the Lord will render to him according to his works"--a + prophecy, not a curse, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}, not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, as in A. V. In the + latter case, an exterminating war was only the benevolent surgery + that amputated the putrid limb, and so saved the religious life of + the Hebrew nation and of the after-world. See Dr. Thomas Arnold, + Essay on the Right Interpretation of Scripture; Fisher, Beginnings + of Christianity, 11-24. + + Another interpretation of these events has been proposed, which + would make them illustrations of the principle indicated in (_c_) + above: E. G. Robinson, Christian Theology, 45--"It was not the + imprecations of the Psalm that were inspired of God, but his + purposes and ideas of which these were by the times the necessary + vehicle; just as the adultery of David was not by divine command, + though through it the purpose of God as to Christ's descent was + accomplished." John Watson (Ian Maclaren), Cure of Souls, + 143--"When the massacre of the Canaanites and certain proceedings + of David are flung in the face of Christians, it is no longer + necessary to fall back on evasions or special pleading. It can now + be frankly admitted that, from our standpoint in this year of + grace, such deeds were atrocious, and that they never could have + been according to the mind of God, but that they must be judged by + their date, and considered the defects of elementary moral + processes. The Bible is vindicated, because it is, on the whole, a + steady ascent, and because it culminates in Christ." + + Lyman Abbott, Theology of an Evolutionist, 56--"Abraham mistook the + voice of conscience, calling on him to consecrate his only son to + God, and interpreted it as a command to slay his son as a burnt + offering. Israel misinterpreted his righteous indignation at the + cruel and lustful rites of the Canaanitish religion as a divine + summons to destroy the worship by putting the worshipers to death; + a people undeveloped in moral judgment could not distinguish + between formal regulations respecting camp-life and eternal + principles of righteousness, such as, Thou shalt love thy neighbor + as thyself, but embodied them in the same code, and seemed to + regard them as of equal authority." Wilkinson, Epic of Paul, + 281--"If so be such man, so placed ... did in some part That + utterance make his own, profaning it, To be his vehicle for sense + not meant By the august supreme inspiring Will"--_i. e._, putting + some of his own sinful anger into God's calm predictions of + judgment. Compare the stern last words of "Zechariah, the son of + Jehoiada, the priest" when stoned to death in the temple court: + "Jehovah look upon it and require it"_ (2 Chron. 24:20-22)_, with + the last words of Jesus: "Father, forgive them, for they know not + what they do"_ (Luke 23:34)_ and of Stephen: "Lord, lay not this + sin to their charge"_ (Acts 7:60)_. + + +(_e_) Other apparent immoralities are due to unwarranted interpretations. +Symbol is sometimes taken for literal fact; the language of irony is +understood as sober affirmation; the glow and freedom of Oriental +description are judged by the unimpassioned style of Western literature; +appeal to lower motives is taken to exclude, instead of preparing for, the +higher. + + + In _Hosea 1:2, 3_, the command to the prophet to marry a harlot + was probably received and executed in vision, and was intended + only as symbolic: compare _Jer. 25:15-18--_"Take this cup ... and + cause all the nations ... to drink." Literal obedience would have + made the prophet contemptible to those whom he would instruct, and + would require so long a time as to weaken, if not destroy, the + designed effect; see Ann. Par. Bible, _in loco_. In _2 K. 6:19_, + Elisha's deception, so called, was probably only ironical and + benevolent; the enemy dared not resist, because they were + completely in his power. In the _Song of Solomon_, we have, as + Jewish writers have always held, a highly-wrought dramatic + description of the union between Jehovah and his people, which we + must judge by Eastern and not by Western literary standards. + + Francis W. Newman, in his Phases of Faith, accused even the New + Testament of presenting low motives for human obedience. It is + true that all right motives are appealed to, and some of these + motives are of a higher sort than are others. Hope of heaven and + fear of hell are not the highest motives, but they may be employed + as preliminary incitements to action, even though only love for + God and for holiness will ensure salvation. Such motives are urged + both by Christ and by his apostles: _Mat. 6:20--_"lay up for + yourselves treasures in heaven"; _10:28--_"fear him who is able to + destroy both soul and body in hell"; _Jude 23--_"some save with + fear, snatching them out of the fire." In this respect the N. T. + does not differ from the O. T. George Adam Smith has pointed out + that the royalists got their texts, "the powers that be"_ (Rom. + 13:1)_ and "the king as supreme"_ (1 Pet. 2:13)_, from the N. T., + while the O. T. furnished texts for the defenders of liberty. + While the O. T. deals with _national_ life, and the discharge of + social and political functions, the N. T. deals in the main with + _individuals_ and with their relations to God. On the whole + subject, see Hessey, Moral Difficulties of the Bible; Jellett, + Moral Difficulties of the O. T.; Faith and Free Thought (Lect. by + Christ. Ev. Soc.), 2:173; Rogers, Eclipse of Faith; Butler, + Analogy, part ii, chap. iii; Orr, Problem of the O. T., 465-483. + + +4. Errors of Reasoning. + + +(_a_) What are charged as such are generally to be explained as valid +argument expressed in highly condensed form. The appearance of error may +be due to the suppression of one or more links in the reasoning. + + + In _Mat. 22:32_, Christ's argument for the resurrection, drawn + from the fact that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is + perfectly and obviously valid, the moment we put in the suppressed + premise that the living relation to God which is here implied + cannot properly be conceived as something merely spiritual, but + necessarily requires a new and restored life of the body. If God + is the God of the living, then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob shall + rise from the dead. See more full exposition, under Eschatology. + Some of the Scripture arguments are enthymemes, and an enthymeme, + according to Arbuthnot and Pope, is "a syllogism in which the + major is married to the minnor, and the marriage is kept secret." + + +(_b_) Where we cannot see the propriety of the conclusions drawn from +given premises, there is greater reason to attribute our failure to +ignorance of divine logic on our part, than to accommodation or _ad +hominem_ arguments on the part of the Scripture writers. + + + By divine logic we mean simply a logic whose elements and + processes are correct, though not understood by us. In _Heb. 7:9, + 10_ (Levi's paying tithes in Abraham), there is probably a + recognition of the organic unity of the family, which in miniature + illustrates the organic unity of the race. In _Gal. 3:20--_"a + mediator is not a mediator of one; but God is one"--the law, with + its two contracting parties, is contrasted with the promise, which + proceeds from the sole fiat of God and is therefore unchangeable. + Paul's argument here rests on Christ's divinity as its + foundation--otherwise Christ would have been a mediator in the same + sense in which Moses was a mediator (see Lightfoot, _in loco_). In + _Gal. 4:21-31_, Hagar and Ishmael on the one hand, and Sarah and + Isaac on the other, illustrate the exclusion of the bondmen of the + law from the privileges of the spiritual seed of Abraham. + Abraham's two wives, and the two classes of people in the two + sons, represent the two covenants (so Calvin). In _John 10:34--_"I + said, Ye are gods," the implication is that Judaism was not a + system of mere monotheism, but of theism tending to theanthropism, + a real union of God and man (Westcott, Bib. Com., _in loco_). + Godet well remarks that he who doubts Paul's logic will do well + first to suspect his own. + + +(_c_) The adoption of Jewish methods of reasoning, where it could be +proved, would not indicate error on the part of the Scripture writers, but +rather an inspired sanction of the method as applied to that particular +case. + + + In _Gal. 3:16--_"He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of + one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Here it is intimated that + the very form of the expression in _Gen. 22:18_, which denotes + unity, was selected by the Holy Spirit as significant of that one + person, Christ, who was the true seed of Abraham and in whom all + nations were to be blessed. Argument from the form of a single + word is in this case correct, although the Rabbins often made more + of single words than the Holy Spirit ever intended. Watts, New + Apologetic, 69--"F. W. Farrar asserts that the plural of the Hebrew + or Greek terms for 'seed' is never used by Hebrew or Greek writers + as a designation of human offspring. But see Sophocles, OEdipus at + Colonus, 599, 600--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}--'I + was driven away from my own country by my own offspring.' " In _1 + Cor. 10:1-6--_"and the rock was Christ"--the Rabbinic tradition that + the smitten rock followed the Israelites in their wanderings is + declared to be only the absurd literalizing of a spiritual + fact--the continual presence of Christ, as preexistent Logos, with + his ancient people. _Per contra_, see Row, Rev. and Mod. Theories, + 98-128. + + +(_d_) If it should appear however upon further investigation that +Rabbinical methods have been wrongly employed by the apostles in their +argumentation, we might still distinguish between the truth they are +seeking to convey and the arguments by which they support it. Inspiration +may conceivably make known the truth, yet leave the expression of the +truth to human dialectic as well as to human rhetoric. + + + Johnson, Quotations of the N. T. from the O. T., 137, 138--"In the + utter absence of all evidence to the contrary, we ought to suppose + that the allegories of the N. T. are like the allegories of + literature in general, merely luminous embodiments of the + truth.... If these allegories are not presented by their writers + as evidences, they are none the less precious, since they + illuminate the truth otherwise evinced, and thus render it at once + clear to the apprehension and attractive to the taste." If however + the purpose of the writers was to use these allegories for proof, + we may still see shining through the rifts of their traditional + logic the truth which they were striving to set forth. Inspiration + may have put them in possession of this truth without altering + their ordinary scholastic methods of demonstration and expression. + Horton, Inspiration, 108--"Discrepancies and illogical reasonings + were but inequalities or cracks in the mirrors, which did not + materially distort or hide the Person" whose glory they sought to + reflect. Luther went even further than this when he said that a + certain argument in the epistle was "good enough for the + Galatians." + + +5. Errors in quoting or interpreting the Old Testament. + + +(_a_) What are charged as such are commonly interpretations of the meaning +of the original Scripture by the same Spirit who first inspired it. + + + In _Eph. 5:14, _"arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon + thee" is an inspired interpretation of _Is. 60:1--_"Arise, shine; + for thy light is come." _Ps. 68:18--_"Thou hast received gifts + among men"--is quoted in _Eph. 4:8_ as "gave gifts to men." The + words in Hebrew are probably a concise expression for "thou hast + taken spoil which thou mayest distribute as gifts to men." _Eph. + 4:8_ agrees exactly with the sense, though not with the words, of + the Psalm. In _Heb. 11:21, _"Jacob ... worshiped, leaning upon the + top of his staff" (LXX); _Gen. 47:31_ has "bowed himself upon the + bed's head." The meaning is the same, for the staff of the chief + and the spear of the warrior were set at the bed's head. Jacob, + too feeble to rise, prayed in his bed. Here Calvin says that "the + apostle does not hesitate to accommodate to his own purpose what + was commonly received,--they were not so scrupulous" as to details. + Even Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 177, speaks of "a reshaping + of his own words by the Author of them." We prefer, with Calvin, + to see in these quotations evidence that the sacred writers were + insistent upon the substance of the truth rather than upon the + form, the spirit rather than the letter. + + +(_b_) Where an apparently false translation is quoted from the Septuagint, +the sanction of inspiration is given to it, as expressing a part at least +of the fulness of meaning contained in the divine original--a fulness of +meaning which two varying translations do not in some cases exhaust. + + + _Ps. 4:4_--Heb.: "Tremble, and sin not" (= no longer); LXX: "Be ye + angry, and sin not."_ Eph. 4:26_ quotes the LXX. The words may + originally have been addressed to David's comrades, exhorting them + to keep their anger within bounds. Both translations together are + needed to bring out the meaning of the original. _Ps. + 40:6-8--_"Mine ears hast thou opened" is translated in _Heb. + 10:5-7--_"a body didst thou prepare for me." Here the Epistle + quotes from the LXX. But the Hebrew means literally: "Mine ears + hast thou bored"--an allusion to the custom of pinning a slave to + the doorpost of his master by an awl driven through his ear, in + token of his complete subjection. The sense of the verse is + therefore given in the Epistle: "Thou hast made me thine in body + and soul--lo, I come to do thy will." A. C. Kendrick: "David, just + entering upon his kingdom after persecution, is a type of Christ + entering on his earthly mission. Hence David's words are put into + the mouth of Christ. For 'ears,' the organs with which we hear and + obey and which David conceived to be hollowed out for him by God, + the author of the Hebrews substitutes the word 'body,' as the + _general_ instrument of doing God's will" (Com. on _Heb. 10:5-7_). + + +(_c_) The freedom of these inspired interpretations, however, does not +warrant us in like freedom of interpretation in the case of other passages +whose meaning has not been authoritatively made known. + + + We have no reason to believe that the scarlet thread of Rahab + (_Josh. 2:18_) was a designed prefiguration of the blood of + Christ, nor that the three measures of meal in which the woman hid + her leaven (_Mat. 13:33_) symbolized Shem, Ham and Japheth, the + three divisions of the human race. C. H. M., in his notes on the + tabernacle in Exodus, tells us that "the loops of blue = heavenly + grace; the taches of gold = the divine energy of Christ; the rams' + skins dyed red = Christ's consecration and devotedness; the + badgers' skins = his holy vigilance against temptation"! The + tabernacle was indeed a type of Christ (_John 1:14_--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + _2:19, 21--_"in three days I will raise it up ... but he spake of + the temple of his body"); yet it does not follow that every detail + of the structure was significant. So each parable teaches some one + main lesson,--the particulars may be mere drapery; and while we may + use the parables for illustration, we should never ascribe divine + authority to our private impressions of their meaning. + + _Mat. 25:1-13_--the parable of the five wise and the five foolish + virgins--has been made to teach that the number of the saved + precisely equals the number of the lost. Augustine defended + persecution from the words in _Luke 14:23--_"constrain them to come + in." The Inquisition was justified by _Mat. 13:30--_"bind them in + bundles to burn them." Innocent III denied the Scriptures to the + laity, quoting _Heb. 12:20--_"If even a beast touch the mountain, + it shall be stoned." A Plymouth Brother held that he would be safe + on an evangelizing journey because he read in _John 19:36--_"A bone + of him shall not be broken." _Mat. 17:8--_"they saw no one, save + Jesus only"--has been held to mean that we should trust only Jesus. + The Epistle of Barnabas discovered in Abraham's 318 servants a + prediction of the crucified Jesus, and others have seen in + Abraham's three days' journey to Mount Moriah the three stages in + the development of the soul. Clement of Alexandria finds the four + natural elements in the four colors of the Jewish Tabernacle. All + this is to make a parable "run on all fours." While we call a hero + a lion, we do not need to find in the man something to correspond + to the lion's mane and claws. See Toy, Quotations in the N. T.; + Franklin Johnson, Quotations of the N. T. from the O. T.; Crooker, + The New Bible and its New Uses, 126-136. + + +(_d_) While we do not grant that the New Testament writers in any proper +sense misquoted or misinterpreted the Old Testament, we do not regard +absolute correctness in these respects as essential to their inspiration. +The inspiring Spirit may have communicated truth, and may have secured in +the Scriptures as a whole a record of that truth sufficient for men's +moral and religious needs, without imparting perfect gifts of scholarship +or exegesis. + + + In answer to Toy, Quotations in the N. T., who takes a generally + unfavorable view of the correctness of the N. T. writers, Johnson, + Quotations of the N. T. from the O. T., maintains their + correctness. On pages x, xi, of his Introduction, Johnson remarks: + "I think it just to regard the writers of the Bible as the + creators of a great literature, and to judge and interpret them by + the laws of literature. They have produced all the chief forms of + literature, as history, biography, anecdote, proverb, oratory, + allegory, poetry, fiction. They have needed therefore all the + resources of human speech, its sobriety and scientific precision + on one page, its rainbow hues of fancy and imagination on another, + its fires of passion on yet another. They could not have moved and + guided men in the best manner had they denied themselves the + utmost force and freedom of language; had they refused to employ + its wide range of expressions, whether exact or poetic; had they + not borrowed without stint its many forms of reason, of terror, of + rapture, of hope, of joy, of peace. So also, they have needed the + usual freedom of literary allusion and citation, in order to + commend the gospel to the judgment, the tastes, and the feelings + of their readers." + + +6. Errors in Prophecy. + + +(_a_) What are charged as such may frequently be explained by remembering +that much of prophecy is yet unfulfilled. + + + It is sometimes taken for granted that the book of Revelation, for + example, refers entirely to events already past. Moses Stuart, in + his Commentary, and Warren's Parousia, represent this preterist + interpretation. Thus judged, however, many of the predictions of + the book might seem to have failed. + + +(_b_) The personal surmises of the prophets as to the meaning of the +prophecies they recorded may have been incorrect, while yet the prophecies +themselves are inspired. + + + In _1 Pet. 1:10, 11_, the apostle declares that the prophets + searched "what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ + which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the + sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow them." So + Paul, although he does not announce it as certain, seems to have + had some hope that he might live to witness Christ's second + coming. See _2 Cor. 5:4--_"not for that we would be unclothed, but + that we would be clothed upon" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}--put on the spiritual + body, as over the present one, without the intervention of death); + _1 Thess. 4:15, 17--_"we that are alive, that are left unto the + coming of the Lord." So _Mat. 2:15_ quotes from _Hosea 11:1--_"Out + of Egypt did I call my son," and applies the prophecy to Christ, + although Hosea was doubtless thinking only of the exodus of the + people of Israel. + + +(_c_) The prophet's earlier utterances are not to be severed from the +later utterances which elucidate them, nor from the whole revelation of +which they form a part. It is unjust to forbid the prophet to explain his +own meaning. + + + _2 Thessalonians_ was written expressly to correct wrong + inferences as to the apostle's teaching drawn from his peculiar + mode of speaking in the first epistle. In _2 Thess. 2:2-5_ he + removes the impression "that the day of the Lord is now present" + or "just at hand"; declares that "it will not be, except the + falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed"; reminds + the Thessalonians: "when I was yet with you, I told you these + things." Yet still, in _verse 1_, he speaks of "the coming of our + Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him." + + These passages, taken together, show: (1) that the two epistles + are one in their teaching; (2) that in neither epistle is there + any prediction of the immediate coming of the Lord; (3) that in + the second epistle great events are foretold as intervening before + that coming; (4) that while Paul never taught that Christ would + come during his own lifetime, he hoped at least during the earlier + part of his life that it might be so--a hope that seems to have + been dissipated in his later years. (See _2 Tim. 4:6--_"I am + already being offered, and the time of my departure is come.") We + must remember, however, that there was a "coming of the Lord" in + the destruction of Jerusalem within three or four years of Paul's + death. Henry Van Dyke: "The point of Paul's teaching in _1_ and _2 + Thess._ is not that Christ is coming to-morrow, but that he is + surely coming." The absence of perspective in prophecy may explain + Paul's not at first defining the precise time of the end, and so + leaving it to be misunderstood. + + The second Epistle to the Thessalonians, therefore, only makes + more plain the meaning of the first, and adds new items of + prediction. It is important to recognize in Paul's epistles a + progress in prophecy, in doctrine, in church polity. The full + statement of the truth was gradually drawn out, under the + influence of the Spirit, upon occasion of successive outward + demands and inward experiences. Much is to be learned by studying + the chronological order of Paul's epistles, as well as of the + other N. T. books. For evidence of similar progress in the + epistles of Peter, compare _1 Pet. 4:7_ with _2 Pet. 3:4_ _sq._ + + +(_d_) The character of prophecy as a rough general sketch of the future, +in highly figurative language, and without historical perspective, renders +it peculiarly probable that what at first sight seem to be errors are due +to a misinterpretation on our part, which confounds the drapery with the +substance, or applies its language to events to which it had no reference. + + + _James 5:9_ and _Phil. 4:5_ are instances of that large prophetic + speech which regards the distant future as near at hand, because + so certain to the faith and hope of the church. Sanday, + Inspiration, 376-378--"No doubt the Christians of the Apostolic age + did live in immediate expectation of the Second Coming, and that + expectation culminated at the crisis in which the Apocalypse was + written. In the Apocalypse, as in every predictive prophecy, there + is a double element, one part derived from the circumstances of + the present and another pointing forwards to the future.... All + these things, in an exact and literal sense have fallen through + with the postponement of that great event in which they centre. + From the first they were but meant as the imaginative pictorial + and symbolical clothing of that event. What measure of real + fulfilment the Apocalypse may yet be destined to receive we cannot + tell. But in predictive prophecy, even when most closely verified, + the essence lies less in the prediction than in the eternal laws + of moral and religious truth which the fact predicted reveals or + exemplifies." Thus we recognize both the divinity and the freedom + of prophecy, and reject the rationalistic theory which would + relate the fall of the Beaconsfield government in Matthew's way: + "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Cromwell, saying: + 'Get you gone, and make room for honest men!' " See the more full + statement of the nature of prophecy, on pages 132-141. Also + Bernard, Progress of Doctrine in the N. T. + + +7. Certain books unworthy of a place in inspired Scripture. + + +(_a_) This charge may be shown, in each single case, to rest upon a +misapprehension of the aim and method of the book, and its connection with +the remainder of the Bible, together with a narrowness of nature or of +doctrinal view, which prevents the critic from appreciating the wants of +the peculiar class of men to which the book is especially serviceable. + + + Luther called _James_ "a right strawy epistle." His constant + pondering of the doctrine of justification by faith alone made it + difficult for him to grasp the complementary truth that we are + justified only by such faith as brings forth good works, or to + perceive the essential agreement of James and Paul. Prof. R. E. + Thompson, in S. S. Times, Dec. 3,1898:803, 804--"Luther refused + canonical authority to books not actually written by apostles or + composed (as Mark and Luke) under their direction. So he rejected + from the rank of canonical authority Hebrews, James, Jude, 2 + Peter, Revelation. Even Calvin doubted the Petrine authorship of 2 + Peter, excluded the book of Revelation from the Scripture on which + he wrote Commentaries, and also thus ignored 2 and 3 John." G. P. + Fisher in S. S. Times, Aug. 29, 1891--"Luther, in his preface to + the N. T. (Edition of 1522), gives a list of what he considers as + the principal books of the N. T. These are John's Gospel and First + Epistle, Paul's Epistles, especially Romans and Galatians, and + Peter's First Epistle. Then he adds that 'St. James' Epistle is a + right strawy Epistle _compared with them_'--'_ein recht strohern + Epistel gegen sie,_' thus characterizing it not absolutely but + only relatively." Zwingle even said of the Apocalypse: "It is not + a Biblical book." So Thomas Arnold, with his exaggerated love for + historical accuracy and definite outline, found the Oriental + imagery and sweeping visions of the book of Revelation so bizarre + and distasteful that he doubted their divine authority. + + +(_b_) The testimony of church history and general Christian experience to +the profitableness and divinity of the disputed books is of greater weight +than the personal impressions of the few who criticize them. + + + Instance the testimonies of the ages of persecution to the worth + of the prophecies, which assure God's people that his cause shall + surely triumph. Denney, Studies in Theology, 226--"It is at least + as likely that the individual should be insensible to the divine + message in a book, as that the church should have judged it to + contain such a message if it did not do so." Milton, Areopagitica: + "The Bible brings in holiest men passionately murmuring against + Providence through all the arguments of Epicurus." Bruce, + Apologetics, 329--"O. T. religion was querulous, vindictive, + philolevitical, hostile toward foreigners, morbidly + self-conscious, and tending to self-righteousness. Ecclesiastes + shows us how we ought _not_ to feel. To go about crying _Vanitas!_ + is to miss the lesson it was meant to teach, namely, that the Old + Covenant was vanity--proved to be vanity by allowing a son of the + Covenant to get into so despairing a mood." Chadwick says that + Ecclesiastes got into the Canon only after it had received an + orthodox postscript. + + Pfleiderer, Philos. Religion, 1:193--"Slavish fear and + self-righteous reckoning with God are the unlovely features of + this Jewish religion of law to which the ethical idealism of the + prophets had degenerated, and these traits strike us most visibly + in Pharsiaism.... It was this side of the O. T. religion to which + Christianity took a critical and destroying attitude, while it + revealed a new and higher knowledge of God. For, says Paul, 'ye + received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye + received the spirit of adoption'_ (Rom. 8:15)_. In unity with God + man does not lose his soul but preserves it. God not only commands + but gives." Ian Maclaren (John Watson), Cure of Souls, 144--"When + the book of Ecclesiastes is referred to the days of the third + century B. C., then its note is caught, and any man who has been + wronged and embittered by political tyranny and social corruption + has his bitter cry included in the book of God." + + +(_c_) Such testimony can be adduced in favor of the value of each one of +the books to which exception is taken, such as Esther, Job, Song of +Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Jonah, James, Revelation. + + + Esther is the book, next to the Pentateuch, held in highest + reverence by the Jews. "Job was the discoverer of infinity, and + the first to see the bearing of infinity on righteousness. It was + the return of religion to nature. Job heard the voice beyond the + Sinai-voice" (Shadow-Cross, 89). Inge, Christian Mysticism, 43--"As + to the Song of Solomon, its influence upon Christian Mysticism has + been simply deplorable. A graceful romance in honor of true love + has been distorted into a precedent and sanction for giving way to + hysterical emotions in which sexual imagery has been freely used + to symbolize the relation between the soul and its Lord." Chadwick + says that the Song of Solomon got into the Canon only after it had + received an allegorical interpretation. Gladden, Seven Puzzling + Bible Books, 165, thinks it impossible that "the addition of one + more inmate to the harem of that royal rake, King Solomon, should + have been made the type of the spiritual affection between Christ + and his church. Instead of this, the book is a glorification of + pure love. The Shulamite, transported to the court of Solomon, + remains faithful to her shepherd lover, and is restored to him." + + Bruce, Apologetics, 321--"The Song of Solomon, literally + interpreted as a story of true love, proof against the + blandishments of the royal harem, is rightfully in the Canon as a + buttress to the true religion; for whatever made for purity in the + relations of the sexes made for the worship of Jehovah--Baal + worship and impurity being closely associated." Rutherford, + McCheyne, and Spurgeon have taken more texts from the Song of + Solomon than from any other portion of Scripture of like extent. + Charles G. Finney, Autobiography, 378--"At this time it seemed as + if my soul was wedded to Christ in a sense which I never had any + thought or conception of before. The language of the Song of + Solomon was as natural to me as my breath. I thought I could + understand well the state he was in when he wrote that Song, and + concluded then, as I have ever thought since, that that Song was + written by him after he had been reclaimed from his great + backsliding. I not only had all the fulness of my first love, but + a vast accession to it. Indeed, the Lord lifted me up so much + above anything that I had experienced before, and taught me so + much of the meaning of the Bible, of Christ's relations and power + and willingness, that I found myself saying to him: I had not + known or conceived that any such thing was true." On Jonah, see R. + W. Dale, in Expositor, July, 1892, advocating the non-historical + and allegorical character of the book. Bib. Sac., + 10:737-764--"Jonah represents the nation of Israel as emerging + through a miracle from the exile, in order to carry out its + mission to the world at large. It teaches that God is the God of + the whole earth; that the Ninevites as well as the Israelites are + dear to him; that his threatenings of penalty are conditional." + + +8. Portions of the Scripture books written by others than the persons to +whom they are ascribed. + + +The objection rests upon a misunderstanding of the nature and object of +inspiration. It may be removed by considering that + +(_a_) In the case of books made up from preexisting documents, inspiration +simply preserved the compilers of them from selecting inadequate or +improper material. The fact of such compilation does not impugn their +value as records of a divine revelation, since these books supplement each +other's deficiencies and together are sufficient for man's religious +needs. + + + Luke distinctly informs us that he secured the materials for his + gospel from the reports of others who were eye-witnesses of the + events he recorded (_Luke 1:1-4_). The book of Genesis bears marks + of having incorporated documents of earlier times. The account of + creation which begins with _Gen. 2:4_ is evidently written by a + different hand from that which penned _1:1-31_ and _2:1-3_. + Instances of the same sort may be found in the books of + Chronicles. In like manner, Marshall's Life of Washington + incorporates documents by other writers. By thus incorporating + them, Marshall vouches for their truth. See Bible Com., 1:2, 22. + + Dorner, Hist. Prot. Theology, 1:243--"Luther ascribes to faith + critical authority with reference to the Canon. He denies the + canonicity of James, without regarding it as spurious. So of + Hebrews and Revelation, though later, in 1545, he passed a more + favorable judgment upon the latter. He even says of a proof + adduced by Paul in Galatians that it is too weak to hold. He + allows that in external matters not only Stephen but even the + sacred authors contain inaccuracies. The authority of the O. T. + does not seem to him invalidated by the admission that several of + its writings have passed through revising hands. What would it + matter, he asks, if Moses did not write the Pentateuch? The + prophets studied Moses and one another. If they built in much + wood, hay and stubble along with the rest, still the foundation + abides; the fire of the great day shall consume the former; for in + this manner do we treat the writings of Augustine and others. + Kings is far more to be believed than Chronicles. Ecclesiastes is + forged and cannot come from Solomon. Esther is not canonical. The + church may have erred in adopting a book into the Canon. Faith + first requires proof. Hence he ejects the Apocryphal books of the + O. T. from the Canon. So some parts of the N. T. receive only a + secondary, deuterocanonical position. There is a difference + between the word of God and the holy Scriptures, not merely in + reference to the form, but also in reference to the subject + matter." + + H. P. Smith, Bib. Scholarship and Inspiration, 94--"The Editor of + the Minor Prophets united in one roll the prophetic fragments + which were in circulation in his time. Finding a fragment without + an author's name he inserted it in the series. It would not have + been distinguished from the work of the author immediately + preceding. So _Zech. 9:1-4_ came to go under the name of + Zechariah, and _Is. 40-66_ under the name of Isaiah. Reuss called + these 'anatomical studies.' " On the authorship of the book of + Daniel, see W. C. Wilkinson, in Homiletical Review, March, + 1902:208, and Oct. 1902:305; on Paul, see Hom. Rev., June, + 1902:501; on 110th Psalm, Hom. Rev., April, 1902:309. + + +(_b_) In the case of additions to Scripture books by later writers, it is +reasonable to suppose that the additions, as well as the originals, were +made by inspiration, and no essential truth is sacrificed by allowing the +whole to go under the name of the chief author. + + + _Mark 16:9-20_ appears to have been added by a later hand (see + English Revised Version). The Eng. Rev. Vers. also brackets or + segregates a part of _verse 3_ and the whole of _verse 4_ in _John + 5_ (the moving of the water by the angel), and the whole passage + _John 7:53-8:11_ (the woman taken in adultery). Westcott and Hort + regard the latter passage as an interpolation, probably "Western" + in its origin (so also _Mark 16:9-20_). Others regard it as + authentic, though not written by John. The closing chapter of + Deuteronomy was apparently added after Moses' death--perhaps by + Joshua. If criticism should prove other portions of the Pentateuch + to have been composed after Moses' time, the inspiration of the + Pentateuch would not be invalidated, so long as Moses was its + chief author or even the original source and founder of its + legislation (_John 5:46--_"he wrote of me"). Gore, in Lux Mundi, + 355--"Deuteronomy may be a republication of the law, in the spirit + and power of Moses, and put dramatically into his mouth." + + At a spot near the Pool of Siloam, Manasseh is said to have + ordered that Isaiah should be sawn asunder with a wooden saw. The + prophet is again sawn asunder by the recent criticism. But his + prophecy opens (_Is. 1:1_) with the statement that it was composed + during a period which covered the reigns of four kings--Uzziah, + Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah--nearly forty years. In so long a time + the style of a writer greatly changes. _Chapters 40-66_ may have + been written in Isaiah's later age, after he had retired from + public life. Compare the change in the style of Zechariah, John + and Paul, with that in Thomas Carlyle and George William Curtis. + On Isaiah, see Smyth, Prophecy a Preparation for Christ; Bib. + Sac., Apr. 1881:230-253; also July, 1881; Stanley, Jewish Ch., + 2:646, 647; Naegelsbach, Int. to Lange's Isaiah. + + For the view that there were two Isaiahs, see George Adam Smith, + Com. on Isaiah, 2:1-25: Isaiah flourished B. C. 740-700. The last + 27 chapters deal with the captivity (598-538) and with Cyrus + (550), whom they name. The book is not one continuous prophecy, + but a number of separate orations. Some of these claim to be + Isaiah's own, and have titles, such as "The vision of Isaiah the + son of Amos"_ (1:1)_; "The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw"_ + (2:1)_. But such titles describe only the individual prophecies + they head. Other portions of the book, on other subjects and in + different styles, have no titles at all. Chapters _40-66_ do not + claim to be his. There are nine citations in the N. T. from the + disputed chapters, but none by our Lord. None of these citations + were given in answer to the question: Did Isaiah write chapters + _44-66_? Isaiah's name is mentioned only for the sake of + reference. Chapters _44-66_ set forth the exile and captivity as + already having taken place. Israel is addressed as ready for + deliverance. Cyrus is named as deliverer. There is no grammar of + the future like Jeremiah's. Cyrus is pointed out as proof that + _former_ prophecies of deliverance are at last coming to pass. He + is not presented as a prediction, but as a proof that prediction + is being fulfilled. The prophet could not have referred the + heathen to Cyrus as proof that prophecy had been fulfilled, had he + not been visible to them in all his weight of war. Babylon has + still to fall before the exiles can go free. But chapters _40-66_ + speak of the coming of Cyrus as past, and of the fall of Babylon + as yet to come. Why not use the prophetic perfect of both, if both + were yet future? Local color, language and thought are all + consistent with exilic authorship. All suits the exile, but all is + foreign to the subjects and methods of Isaiah, for example, the + use of the terms _righteous_ and _righteousness_. Calvin admits + exilic authorship (on _Is. 55:3_). The passage _56:9-57_, however, + is an exception and is preexilic. _40-48_ are certainly by one + hand, and may be dated 555-538. 2nd Isaiah is not a unity, but + consists of a number of pieces written before, during, and after + the exile, to comfort the people of God. + + +(_c_) It is unjust to deny to inspired Scripture the right exercised by +all historians of introducing certain documents and sayings as simply +historical, while their complete truthfulness is neither vouched for nor +denied. + + + An instance in point is the letter of Claudius Lysias in _Acts + 23:26-30_--a letter which represents his conduct in a more + favorable light than the facts would justify--for he had not + learned that Paul was a Roman when he rescued him in the temple + (_Acts 21:31-33; 22:26-29_). An incorrect statement may be + correctly reported. A set of pamphlets printed in the time of the + French Revolution might be made an appendix to some history of + France without implying that the historian vouched for their + truth. The sacred historians may similarly have been inspired to + use only the material within their reach, leaving their readers by + comparison with other Scriptures to judge of its truthfulness and + value. This seems to have been the method adopted by the compiler + of _1_ and _2 Chronicles_. The moral and religious lessons of the + history are patent, even though there is inaccuracy in reporting + some of the facts. So the assertions of the authors of the Psalms + cannot be taken for absolute truth. The authors were not sinless + models for the Christian,--only Christ is that. But the Psalms + present us with a record of the actual experience of believers in + the past. It has its human weakness, but we can profit by it, even + though it expresses itself at times in imprecations. _Jeremiah + 20:7--_"O lord, thou hast deceived me"--may possibly be thus + explained. + + +9. Sceptical or fictitious Narratives. + + +(_a_) Descriptions of human experience may be embraced in Scripture, not +as models for imitation, but as illustrations of the doubts, struggles, +and needs of the soul. In these cases inspiration may vouch, not for the +correctness of the views expressed by those who thus describe their mental +history, but only for the correspondence of the description with actual +fact, and for its usefulness as indirectly teaching important moral +lessons. + + + The book of Ecclesiastes, for example, is the record of the mental + struggles of a soul seeking satisfaction without God. If written + by Solomon during the time of his religious declension, or near + the close of it, it would constitute a most valuable commentary + upon the inspired history. Yet it might be equally valuable, + though composed by some later writer under divine direction and + inspiration. H. P. Smith, Bib. Scholarship and Inspiration, 97--"To + suppose Solomon the author of Ecclesiastes is like supposing + Spenser to have written In Memoriam." Luther, Keil, Delitzsch, + Ginsburg, Hengstenberg all declare it to be a production of later + times (330 B. C.). The book shows experience of misgovernment. An + earlier writer cannot write in the style of a later one, though + the later can imitate the earlier. The early Latin and Greek + Fathers quoted the Apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon as by Solomon; see + Plumptre, Introd. to Ecclesiastes, in Cambridge Bible. Gore, in + Lux Mundi, 355--"Ecclesiastes, though like the book of Wisdom + purporting to be by Solomon, may be by another author.... 'A pious + fraud' cannot be inspired; an idealizing personification, as a + normal type of literature, can be inspired." Yet Bernhard Schaefer, + Das Buch Koheleth, ably maintains the Solomonic authorship. + + +(_b_) Moral truth may be put by Scripture writers into parabolic or +dramatic form, and the sayings of Satan and of perverse men may form parts +of such a production. In such cases, inspiration may vouch, not for the +historical truth, much less for the moral truth of each separate +statement, but only for the correspondence of the whole with ideal fact; +in other words, inspiration may guarantee that the story is true to +nature, and is valuable as conveying divine instruction. + + + It is not necessary to suppose that the poetical speeches of Job's + friends were actually delivered in the words that have come down + to us. Though Job never had had a historical existence, the book + would still be of the utmost value, and would convey to us a vast + amount of true teaching with regard to the dealings of God and the + problem of evil. Fact is local; truth is universal. Some novels + contain more truth than can be found in some histories. Other + books of Scripture, however, assure us that Job was an actual + historical character (_Ez. 14:14_; _James 5:11_). Nor is it + necessary to suppose that our Lord, in telling the parable of the + Prodigal Son (_Luke 15:11-32_) or that of the Unjust Steward + (_16:1-8_), had in mind actual persons of whom each parable was an + exact description. + + Fiction is not an unworthy vehicle of spiritual truth. Parable, + and even fable, may convey valuable lessons. In _Judges 9:14, 15_, + the trees, the vine, the bramble, all talk. If truth can be + transmitted in myth and legend, surely God may make use of these + methods of communicating it, and even though _Gen. 1-3_ were + mythical it might still be inspired. Aristotle said that poetry is + truer than history. The latter only tells us that certain things + happened. Poetry presents to us the permanent passions, + aspirations and deeds of men which are behind all history and + which make it what it is; see Dewey, Psychology, 197. Though Job + were a drama and Jonah an apologue, both might be inspired. David + Copperfield, the Apology of Socrates, Fra Lippo Lippi, were not + the authors of the productions which bear their names, but + Dickens, Plato and Browning, rather. Impersonation is a proper + method in literature. The speeches of Herodotus and Thucydides + might be analogues to those in Deuteronomy and in the Acts, and + yet these last might be inspired. + + The book of Job could not have been written in patriarchal times. + Walled cities, kings, courts, lawsuits, prisons, stocks, mining + enterprises, are found in it. Judges are bribed by the rich to + decide against the poor. All this belongs to the latter years of + the Jewish Kingdom. Is then the book of Job all a lie? No more + than Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and the parable of the Good + Samaritan are all a lie. The book of Job is a dramatic poem. Like + Macbeth or the Ring and the Book, it is founded in fact. H. P. + Smith, Biblical Scholarship and Inspiration, 101--"The value of the + book of Job lies in the spectacle of a human soul in its direst + affliction working through its doubts, and at last humbly + confessing its weakness and sinfulness in the presence of its + Maker. The inerrancy is not in Job's words or in those of his + friends, but in the truth of the picture presented. If Jehovah's + words at the end of the book are true, then the first thirty-five + chapters are not infallible teaching." + + Gore, in Lux Mundi, 355, suggests in a similar manner that the + books of Jonah and of Daniel may be dramatic compositions worked + up upon a basis of history. George Adam Smith, in the Expositors' + Bible, tells us that Jonah flourished 780 B. C., in the reign of + Jeroboam II. Nineveh fell in 606. The book implies that it was + written after this (_3:3_--"Nineveh _was_ an exceeding great + city"). The book does not claim to be written by Jonah, by an + eye-witness, or by a contemporary. The language has Aramaic forms. + The date is probably 300 B. C. There is an absence of precise + data, such as the sin of Nineveh, the journey of the prophet + thither, the place where he was cast out on land, the name of the + Assyrian king. The book illustrates God's mission of prophecy to + the Gentiles, his care for them, their susceptibility to his word. + Israel flies from duty, but is delivered to carry salvation to the + heathen. Jeremiah had represented Israel as swallowed up and cast + out (_Jer. 51:34, 44 __sq.__--_"Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon + hath devoured me ... he hath, like a monster, swallowed me up, he + hath filled his maw with my delicacies; he hath cast me out.... I + will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed + up.") Some tradition of Jonah's proclaiming doom to Nineveh may + have furnished the basis of the apologue. Our Lord uses the story + as a mere illustration, like the homiletic use of Shakespeare's + dramas. "As Macbeth did," "As Hamlet said," do not commit us to + the historical reality of Macbeth or of Hamlet. Jesus may say as + to questions of criticism: "Man, who made me a judge or a divider + over you?"_ _"I came not to judge the world, but to save the + world"_ (Luke 12:14; John 12:47)_. He had no thought of + confirming, or of not confirming, the historic character of the + story. It is hard to conceive the compilation of a psalm by a man + in Jonah's position. It is not the prayer of one inside the fish, + but of one already saved. More than forty years ago President + Woolsey of Yale conceded that the book of Jonah was probably an + apologue. + + +(_c_) In none of these cases ought the difficulty of distinguishing man's +words from God's words, or ideal truth from actual truth, to prevent our +acceptance of the fact of inspiration; for in this very variety of the +Bible, combined with the stimulus it gives to inquiry and the general +plainness of its lessons, we have the very characteristics we should +expect in a book whose authorship was divine. + + + The Scripture is a stream in which "the lamb may wade and the + elephant may swim." There is need both of literary sense and of + spiritual insight to interpret it. This sense and this insight can + be given only by the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, who + inspired the various writings to witness of him in various ways, + and who is present in the world to take of the things of Christ + and show them to us (_Mat. 28:20_; _John 16:13, 14_). In a + subordinate sense the Holy Spirit inspires us to recognize + inspiration in the Bible. In the sense here suggested we may + assent to the words of Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst at the + inauguration of William Adams Brown as Professor of Systematic + Theology in the Union Theological Seminary, November 1, + 1898--"Unfortunately we have condemned the word 'inspiration' to a + particular and isolated field of divine operation, and it is a + trespass upon current usage to employ it in the full urgency of + its Scriptural intent in connection with work like your own or + mine. But the word voices a reality that lies so close to the + heart of the entire Christian matter that we can ill afford to + relegate it to any single or technical function. Just as much + to-day as back at the first beginnings of Christianity, those who + would _declare_ the truths of God must be inspired to _behold_ the + truths of God.... The only irresistible persuasiveness is that + which is born of vision, and it is _not_ vision to be able merely + to describe what some seer has seen, though it were Moses or Paul + that was the seer." + + +10. Acknowledgment of the non-inspiration of Scripture teachers and their +writings. + + +This charge rests mainly upon the misinterpretation of two particular +passages: + +(_a_) Acts 23:5 ("I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest") may +be explained either as the language of indignant irony: "I would not +recognize such a man as high priest"; or, more naturally, an actual +confession of personal ignorance and fallibility, which does not affect +the inspiration of any of Paul's final teachings or writings. + + + Of a more reprehensible sort was Peter's dissimulation at Antioch, + or practical disavowal of his convictions by separating or + withdrawing himself from the Gentile Christians (_Gal. 2:11-13_). + Here was no public teaching, but the influence of private example. + But neither in this case, nor in that mentioned above, did God + suffer the error to be a final one. Through the agency of Paul, + the Holy Spirit set the matter right. + + +(_b_) 1 Cor. 7:12, 10 ("I, not the Lord"; "not I, but the Lord"). Here the +contrast is not between the apostle inspired and the apostle uninspired, +but between the apostle's words and an actual saying of our Lord, as in +Mat. 5:32; 19:3-10; Mark 10:11; Luke 16:18 (Stanley on Corinthians). The +expressions may be paraphrased:--"With regard to this matter no express +command was given by Christ before his ascension. As one inspired by +Christ, however, I give you my command." + + + Meyer on _1 Cor. 7:10_--"Paul distinguishes, therefore, here and in + verses 12, 25, not between _his own_ and _inspired_ commands, but + between those which proceeded from his own (God-inspired) + subjectivity and those which Christ himself supplied by his + objective word." "Paul knew from the living voice of tradition + what commands Christ had given concerning divorce." Or if it + should be maintained that Paul here disclaims inspiration,--a + supposition contradicted by the following {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}--"I think that I + also have the Spirit of God"_ (verse 40)_,--it only proves a single + exception to his inspiration, and since it is expressly mentioned, + and mentioned only once, it implies the inspiration of all the + rest of his writings. We might illustrate Paul's method, if this + were the case, by the course of the New York Herald when it was + first published. Other journals had stood by their own mistakes + and had never been willing to acknowledge error. The Herald gained + the confidence of the public by correcting every mistake of its + reporters. The result was that, when there was no confession of + error, the paper was regarded as absolutely trustworthy. So Paul's + one acknowledgment of non-inspiration might imply that in all + other cases his words had divine authority. On Authority in + Religion, see Wilfred Ward, in Hibbert Journal, July, + 1903:677-692. + + + + + +PART IV. THE NATURE, DECREES, AND WORKS OF GOD. + + + + +Chapter I. The Attributes Of God. + + +In contemplating the words and acts of God, as in contemplating the words +and acts of individual men, we are compelled to assign uniform and +permanent effects to uniform and permanent causes. Holy acts and words, we +argue, must have their source in a principle of holiness; truthful acts +and words, in a settled proclivity to truth; benevolent acts and words, in +a benevolent disposition. + +Moreover, these permanent and uniform sources of expression and action to +which we have applied the terms principle, proclivity, disposition, since +they exist harmoniously in the same person, must themselves inhere, and +find their unity, in an underlying spiritual substance or reality of which +they are the inseparable characteristics and partial manifestations. + +Thus we are led naturally from the works to the attributes, and from the +attributes to the essence, of God. + + + For all practical purposes we may use the words essence, + substance, being, nature, as synonymous with each other. So, too, + we may speak of attribute, quality, characteristic, principle, + proclivity, disposition, as practically one. As, in cognizing + matter, we pass from its effects in sensation to the qualities + which produce the sensations, and then to the material substance + to which the qualities belong; and as, in cognizing mind, we pass + from its phenomena in thought and action to the faculties and + dispositions which give rise to these phenomena, and then to the + mental substance to which these faculties and dispositions belong; + so, in cognizing God, we pass from his words and acts to his + qualities or attributes, and then to the substance or essence to + which these qualities or attributes belong. + + The teacher in a Young Ladies' Seminary described substance as a + cushion, into which the attributes as pins are stuck. But pins and + cushion alike are substance,--neither one is quality. The opposite + error is illustrated from the experience of Abraham Lincoln on the + Ohio River. "What is this transcendentalism that we hear so much + about?" asked Mr. Lincoln. The answer came: "You see those + swallows digging holes in yonder bank? Well, take away the bank + from around those holes, and what is left is transcendentalism." + Substance is often represented as being thus transcendental. If + such representations were correct, metaphysics would indeed be + "that, of which those who listen understand nothing, and which he + who speaks does not himself understand," and the metaphysician + would be the fox who ran into the hole and then pulled in the hole + after him. Substance and attributes are correlates,--neither one is + possible without the other. There is no quality that does not + qualify something; and there is no thing, either material or + spiritual, that can be known or can exist without qualities to + differentiate it from other things. In applying the categories of + substance and attribute to God, we indulge in no merely curious + speculation, but rather yield to the necessities of rational + thought and show how we must think of God if we think at all. See + Shedd, History of Doctrine, 1:240; Kahnis, Dogmatik, 3:172-188. + + + +I. Definition of the term Attributes. + + +The attributes of God are those distinguishing characteristics of the +divine nature which are inseparable from the idea of God and which +constitute the basis and ground for his various manifestations to his +creatures. + +We call them attributes, because we are compelled to attribute them to God +as fundamental qualities or powers of his being, in order to give rational +account of certain constant facts in God's self-revelations. + + + +II. Relation of the divine Attributes to the divine Essence. + + +1. _The attributes have an objective existence._ They are not mere names +for human conceptions of God--conceptions which have their only ground in +the imperfection of the finite mind. They are qualities objectively +distinguishable from the divine essence and from each other. + +The nominalistic notion that God is a being of absolute simplicity, and +that in his nature there is no internal distinction of qualities or +powers, tends directly to pantheism; denies all reality of the divine +perfections; or, if these in any sense still exist, precludes all +knowledge of them on the part of finite beings. To say that knowledge and +power, eternity and holiness, are identical with the essence of God and +with each other, is to deny that we know God at all. + +The Scripture declarations of the possibility of knowing God, together +with the manifestation of the distinct attributes of his nature, are +conclusive against this false notion of the divine simplicity. + + + Aristotle says well that there is no such thing as a science of + the unique, of that which has no analogies or relations. Knowing + is distinguishing; what we cannot distinguish from other things we + cannot know. Yet a false tendency to regard God as a being of + absolute simplicity has come down from mediaeval scholasticism, has + infected much of the post-reformation theology, and is found even + so recently as in Schleiermacher, Rothe, Olshausen, and Ritschl. + E. G. Robinson defines the attributes as "our methods of + conceiving of God." But this definition is influenced by the + Kantian doctrine of relativity and implies that we cannot know + God's essence, that is, the thing-in-itself, God's real being. + Bowne, Philosophy of Theism, 141--"This notion of the divine + simplicity reduces God to a rigid and lifeless stare.... The One + is manifold without being many." + + The divine simplicity is the starting-point of Philo: God is a + being absolutely bare of quality. All quality in finite beings has + limitation, and no limitation can be predicated of God who is + eternal, unchangeable, simple substance, free, self-sufficient, + better than the good and the beautiful. To predicate any quality + of God would reduce him to the sphere of finite existence. Of him + we can only say _that_ he is, not _what_ he is; see art. by + Schuerer, in Encyc. Brit., 18:761. + + Illustrations of this tendency are found in Scotus Erigena: "Deus + nescit se quid est, quia non est quid"; and in Occam: The divine + attributes are distinguished neither substantially nor logically + from each other or from the divine essence; the only distinction + is that of names; so Gerhard and Quenstedt. Charnock, the Puritan + writer, identifies both knowledge and will with the simple essence + of God. Schleiermacher makes all the attributes to be + modifications of power or causality; in his system God and world = + the "natura naturans" and "natura naturata" of Spinoza. There is + no distinction of attributes and no succession of acts in God, and + therefore no real personality or even spiritual being; see + Pfleiderer, Prot. Theol. seit Kant, 110. Schleiermacher said: "My + God is the Universe." God is causative force. Eternity, + omniscience and holiness are simply aspects of causality. Rothe, + on the other hand, makes omniscience to be the all-comprehending + principle of the divine nature; and Olshausen, on _John 1:1_, in a + similar manner attempts to prove that the Word of God must have + objective and substantial being, by assuming that knowing = + willing; whence it would seem to follow that, since God wills all + that he knows, he must will moral evil. Bushnell and others + identify righteousness in God with benevolence, and therefore + cannot see that any atonement needs to be made to God. Ritschl + also holds that love is the fundamental divine attribute, and that + omnipotence and even personality are simply modifications of love; + see Mead, Ritschl's Place in the History of Doctrine, 8. Herbert + Spencer only carries the principle further when he concludes God + to be simple unknowable force. + + But to call God everything is the same as to call him nothing. + With Dorner, we say that "definition is no limitation." As we rise + in the scale of creation from the mere jelly-sac to man, the + homogeneous becomes the heterogeneous, there is differentiation of + functions, complexity increases. We infer that God, the highest of + all, instead of being simple force, is infinitely complex, that he + has an infinite variety of attributes and powers. Tennyson, Palace + of Art (lines omitted in the later editions): "All nature widens + upward: evermore The simpler essence lower lies: More complex is + more perfect, owning more Discourse, more widely wise." + + _Jer. 10:10_--God is "the living God"; _John 5:26_--he "hath life in + himself"--unsearchable riches of positive attributes; _John + 17:23--_"thou lovedst me"--manifoldness in unity. This complexity in + God is the ground of blessedness for him and of progress for us: + _1 Tim. 1:11--_"the blessed God"; _Jer. 9:23, 24--_"let him glory in + this, that he knoweth me." The complex nature of God permits anger + at the sinner and compassion for him at the same moment: _Ps. + 7:11--_"a God that hath indignation every day"; _John 3:16--_"God so + loved the world"; _Ps. 85:10, 11--_"mercy and truth are met + together." See Julius Mueller, Doct. Sin, 2:116 _sq._; Schweizer, + Glaubenslehre, 1:229-235; Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, + 1:43, 50; Martensen, Dogmatics, 91--"If God were the simple One, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, the mystic abyss in which every form of determination + were extinguished, there would be nothing in the Unity to be + known." Hence "nominalism is incompatible with the idea of + revelation. We teach, with realism, that the attributes of God are + objective determinations in his revelation and as such are rooted + in his inmost essence." + + +2. _The attributes inhere in the divine essence._ They are not separate +existences. They are attributes of God. + +While we oppose the nominalistic view which holds them to be mere names +with which, by the necessity of our thinking, we clothe the one simple +divine essence, we need equally to avoid the opposite realistic extreme of +making them separate parts of a composite God. + +We cannot conceive of attributes except as belonging to an underlying +essence which furnishes their ground of unity. In representing God as a +compound of attributes, realism endangers the living unity of the Godhead. + +Notice the analogous necessity of attributing the properties of matter to +an underlying substance, and the phenomena of thought to an underlying +spiritual essence; else matter is reduced to mere force, and mind, to mere +sensation,--in short, all things are swallowed up in a vast idealism. The +purely realistic explanation of the attributes tends to low and +polytheistic conceptions of God. The mythology of Greece was the result of +personifying the divine attributes. The _nomina_ were turned into +_numina_, as Max Mueller says; see Taylor, Nature on the Basis of Realism, +293. Instance also Christmas Evans's sermon describing a Council in the +Godhead, in which the attributes of Justice, Mercy, Wisdom, and Power +argue with one another. Robert Hall called Christmas Evans "the one-eyed +orator of Anglesey," but added that his one eye could "light an army +through a wilderness"; see Joseph Cross, Life and Sermons of Christmas +Evans, 112-116; David Rhys Stephen, Memoirs of Christmas Evans, 168-176. +We must remember that "Realism may so exalt the attributes that no +personal subject is left to constitute the ground of unity. Looking upon +Personality as anthropomorphism, it falls into a worse personification, +that of omnipotence, holiness, benevolence, which are mere blind thoughts, +unless there is one who is the Omnipotent, the Holy, the Good." See +Luthardt, Compendium der Dogmatik, 70. + +3. _The attributes belong to the divine essence as such._ They are to be +distinguished from those other powers or relations which do not appertain +to the divine essence universally. + +The personal distinctions (_proprietates_) in the nature of the one God +are not to be denominated attributes; for each of these personal +distinctions belongs not to the divine essence as such and universally, +but only to the particular person of the Trinity who bears its name, while +on the contrary all of the attributes belong to each of the persons. + +The relations which God sustains to the world (_predicata_), moreover, +such as creation, preservation, government, are not to be denominated +attributes; for these are accidental, not necessary or inseparable from +the idea of God. God would be God, if he had never created. + + + To make creation eternal and necessary is to dethrone God and to + enthrone a fatalistic development. It follows that the nature of + the attributes is to be illustrated, not alone or chiefly from + wisdom and holiness in man, which are not inseparable from man's + nature, but rather from intellect and will in man, without which + he would cease to be man altogether. Only that is an attribute, of + which it can be safely said that he who possesses it would, if + deprived of it, cease to be God. Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:335--"The + attribute is the whole essence acting in a certain way. The centre + of unity is not in any one attribute, but in the essence.... The + difference between the divine attribute and the divine person is, + that the person is a mode of the _existence_ of the essence, while + the attribute is a mode either of the _relation_, or of the + _operation_, of the essence." + + +4. _The attributes manifest the divine essence._ The essence is revealed +only through the attributes. Apart from its attributes it is unknown and +unknowable. + +But though we can know God only as he reveals to us his attributes, we do, +notwithstanding, in knowing these attributes, know the being to whom these +attributes belong. That this knowledge is partial does not prevent its +corresponding, so far as it goes, to objective reality in the nature of +God. + +All God's revelations are, therefore, revelations of himself in and +through his attributes. Our aim must be to determine from God's works and +words what qualities, dispositions, determinations, powers of his +otherwise unseen and unsearchable essence he has actually made known to +us; or in other words, what are the revealed attributes of God. + + + _John 1:18--_"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten + Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him"; _1 + Tim. 6:16--_"whom no man hath seen, nor can see"; _Mat. + 5:8--_"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God"; + _11:27--_"neither doth any man know the Father, save the Son, and + he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him." C. A. Strong: + "Kant, not content with knowing the reality _in_ the phenomena, + was trying to know the reality _apart from_ the phenomena; he was + seeking to know, without fulfilling the conditions of knowledge; + in short, he wished to know without knowing." So Agnosticism + perversely regards God as concealed by his own manifestation. On + the contrary, in knowing the phenomena we know the object itself. + J. C. C. Clarke, Self and the Father, 6--"In language, as in + nature, there are no verbs without subjects, but we are always + hunting for the noun that has no adjective, and the verb that has + no subject, and the subject that has no verb. Consciousness is + necessarily a consciousness of self. Idealism and monism would + like to see all verbs solid with their subjects, and to write 'I + do' or 'I feel' in the mazes of a monogram, but consciousness + refuses, and before it says 'Do' or 'Feel' it finishes saying + 'I.' " J. G. Holland's Katrina, to her lover: "God is not + worshiped in his attributes. I do not love your attributes, but + you. Your attributes all meet me otherwhere, Blended in other + personalities, Nor do I love nor do I worship them, Nor those who + bear them. E'en the spotted pard Will dare a danger which will + make you pale; But shall his courage steal my heart from you? You + cheat your conscience, for you know That I may like your + attributes. Yet love not you." + + + +III. Methods of determining the divine Attributes. + + +We have seen that the existence of God is a first truth. It is presupposed +in all human thinking, and is more or less consciously recognized by all +men. This intuitive knowledge of God we have seen to be corroborated and +explicated by arguments drawn from nature and from mind. Reason leads us +to a causative and personal Intelligence upon whom we depend. This Being +of indefinite greatness we clothe, by a necessity of our thinking, with +all the attributes of perfection. The two great methods of determining +what these attributes are, are the Rational and the Biblical. + +1. _The Rational method._ This is threefold:--(_a_) the _via negationis_, +or the way of negation, which consists in denying to God all imperfections +observed in created beings; (_b_) the _via eminentiae_, or the way of +climax, which consists in attributing to God in infinite degree all the +perfections found in creatures; and (_c_) the _via causalitatis_, or the +way of causality, which consists in predicating of God those attributes +which are required in him to explain the world of nature and of mind. + +This rational method explains God's nature from that of his creation, +whereas the creation itself can be fully explained only from the nature of +God. Though the method is valuable, it has insuperable limitations, and +its place is a subordinate one. While we use it continually to confirm and +supplement results otherwise obtained, our chief means of determining the +divine attributes must be + +2. _The Biblical method._ This is simply the inductive method, applied to +the facts with regard to God revealed in the Scriptures. Now that we have +proved the Scriptures to be a revelation from God, inspired in every part, +we may properly look to them as decisive authority with regard to God's +attributes. + + + The rational method of determining the attributes of God is + sometimes said to have been originated by Dionysius the + Areopagite, reputed to have been a judge at Athens at the time of + Paul and to have died A. D. 95. It is more probably eclectic, + combining the results attained by many theologians, and applying + the intuitions of perfection and causality which lie at the basis + of all religious thinking. It is evident from our previous study + of the arguments for God's existence, that from nature we cannot + learn either the Trinity or the mercy of God, and that these + deficiencies in our rational conclusions with respect to God must + be supplied, if at all, by revelation. Spurgeon, Autobiography, + 166--"The old saying is 'Go from Nature up to Nature's God.' But it + is hard work going up hill. The best thing is to go from Nature's + God down to Nature; and, if you once get to Nature's God and + believe him and love him, it is surprising how easy it is to hear + music in the waves, and songs in the wild whisperings of the + winds, and to see God everywhere." See also Kahnis, Dogmatik, + 3:181. + + + +IV. Classification of the Attributes. + + +The attributes may be divided into two great classes: Absolute or +Immanent, and Relative or Transitive. + +By Absolute or Immanent Attributes, we mean attributes which respect the +inner being of God, which are involved in God's relations to himself, and +which belong to his nature independently of his connection with the +universe. + +By Relative or Transitive Attributes, we mean attributes which respect the +outward revelation of God's being, which are involved in God's relations +to the creation, and which are exercised in consequence of the existence +of the universe and its dependence upon him. + +Under the head of Absolute or Immanent Attributes, we make a three-fold +division into Spirituality, with the attributes therein involved, namely, +Life and Personality; Infinity, with the attributes therein involved, +namely, Self-existence, Immutability, and Unity; and Perfection, with the +attributes therein involved, namely, Truth, Love, and Holiness. + +Under the head of Relative or Transitive Attributes, we make a three-fold +division, according to the order of their revelation, into Attributes +having relation to Time and Space, as Eternity and Immensity; Attributes +having relation to Creation, as Omnipresence, Omniscience, and +Omnipotence; and Attributes having relation to Moral Beings, as Veracity +and Faithfulness, or Transitive Truth; Mercy and Goodness, or Transitive +Love; and Justice and Righteousness, or Transitive Holiness. + +This classification may be better understood from the following schedule: + + + 1. Absolute or Immanent Attributes: + A. Spirituality, involving (a) Life, (b) Personality. + B. Infinity, involving (a) Self-existence, (b) Immutability, (c) + Unity. + C. Perfection, involving (a) Truth, (b) Love, (c) Holiness. + + 2. Relative or Transitive Attributes: + A. Related to Time and Space--(a) Eternity, (b) Immensity. + B. Related to Creation--(a) Omnipresence, (b) Omniscience, (c) + Omnipotence. + C. Related to Moral Beings--(a) Veracity, (b) Mercy, (c) Justice. + + + It will be observed, upon examination of the preceding schedule, + that our classification presents God first as Spirit, then as the + infinite Spirit, and finally as the perfect Spirit. This accords + with our definition of the term God (see page 52). It also + corresponds with the order in which the attributes commonly + present themselves to the human mind. Our first thought of God is + that of mere Spirit, mysterious and undefined, over against our + own spirits. Our next thought is that of God's greatness; the + quantitative element suggests itself; his natural attributes rise + before us; we recognize him as the infinite One. Finally comes the + qualitative element; our moral natures recognize a moral God; over + against our error, selfishness and impurity, we perceive his + absolute perfection. + + It should also be observed that this moral perfection, as it is an + immanent attribute, involves relation of God to himself. Truth, + love and holiness, as they respectively imply an exercise in God + of intellect, affection and will, may be conceived of as God's + self-knowing, God's self-loving, and God's self-willing. The + significance of this will appear more fully in the discussion of + the separate attributes. + + Notice the distinction between absolute and relative, between + immanent and transitive, attributes. Absolute = existing in no + necessary relation to things outside of God. Relative = existing + in such relation. Immanent = "remaining within, limited to, God's + own nature in their activity and effect, inherent and indwelling, + internal and subjective--opposed to emanent or transitive." + Transitive = having an object outside of God himself. We speak of + transitive verbs, and we mean verbs that are followed by an + object. God's transitive attributes are so called, because they + respect and affect things and beings outside of God. + + The aim of this classification into Absolute and Relative + Attributes is to make plain the divine self-sufficiency. Creation + is not a necessity, for there is a {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} in God (_Col. 1:19_), + even before he makes the world or becomes incarnate. And {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} + is not "the filling material," nor "the vessel filled," but "that + which is complete in itself," or, in other words, "plenitude," + "fulness," "totality," "abundance." The whole universe is but a + drop of dew upon the fringe of God's garment, or a breath exhaled + from his mouth. He could create a universe a hundred times as + great. Nature is but the symbol of God. The tides of life that ebb + and flow on the far shores of the universe are only faint + expressions of his life. The Immanent Attributes show us how + completely matters of grace are Creation and Redemption, and how + unspeakable is the condescension of him who took our humanity and + humbled himself to the death of the Cross. _Ps. 8:3, 4--_"When I + consider thy heavens ... what is man that thou art mindful of + him?" _113:5, 6--_"Who is like unto Jehovah our God, that hath his + seat on high, that humbleth himself?" _Phil. 2:6, 7--_"Who, + existing in the form of God, ... emptied himself, taking the form + of a servant." + + Ladd, Theory of Reality, 69--"I know _that_ I am, because, as the + basis of all discriminations as to _what_ I am, and as the core of + all such self-knowledge, I immediately know myself as _will_" So + as to the non-ego, "that things actually are is a factor in my + knowledge of them which springs from the root of an experience + with myself as a _will_, at once active and inhibited, as an agent + and yet opposed by another." The ego and the non-ego as well are + fundamentally and essentially _will_. "Matter must be, _per se_, + Force. But this is ... to be a Will" (439). We know nothing of the + atom apart from its force (442). Ladd quotes from G. E. Bailey: + "The life-principle, varying only in degree, is omnipresent. There + is but one indivisible and absolute Omniscience and Intelligence, + and this thrills through every atom of the whole Cosmos" (446). + "Science has only made the Substrate of material things more and + more completely self-like" (449). Spirit is the true and essential + Being of what is called Nature (472). "The ultimate Being of the + world is a self-conscious Mind and Will, which is the Ground of + all objects made known in human experience" (550). + + On classification of attributes, see Luthardt, Compendium, 71; + Rothe, Dogmatik, 71; Kahnis, Dogmatik, 3:162; Thomasius, Christi + Person und Werk, 1:47, 52, 136. On the general subject, see + Charnock, Attributes; Bruce, Eigenschaftslehre. + + + +V. Absolute or Immanent Attributes. + + +First division.--Spirituality, and attributes therein involved. + + +In calling spirituality an attribute of God, we mean, not that we are +justified in applying to the divine nature the adjective "spiritual," but +that the substantive "Spirit" describes that nature (John 4:24, marg.--"God +is spirit"; Rom. 1:20--"the invisible things of him"; 1 Tim. +1:17--"incorruptible, invisible"; Col. 1:15--"the invisible God"). This +implies, negatively, that (_a_) God is not matter. Spirit is not a refined +form of matter but an immaterial substance, invisible, uncompounded, +indestructible. (_b_) God is not dependent upon matter. It cannot be shown +that the human mind, in any other state than the present, is dependent for +consciousness upon its connection with a physical organism. Much less is +it true that God is dependent upon the material universe as his sensorium. +God is not only spirit, but he is pure spirit. He is not only not matter, +but he has no necessary connection with matter (Luke 24:39--"A spirit hath +not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having"). + + + John gives us the three characteristic attributes of God when he + says that God is "spirit,"_ _"light,"_ _"love"_ (John 4:24; 1 John + 1:5; 4:8)_,--not _a_ spirit, _a_ light, _a_ love. Le Conte, in + Royce's Conception of God, 45--"God is spirit, for spirit is + essential Life and essential Energy, and essential Love, and + essential Thought; in a word, essential Person." Biedermann, + Dogmatik, 631--"Das Wesen des Geistes als des reinen Gegensatzes + zur Materie, ist das _reine Sein_, das _in sich ist_, aber _nicht + da ist_." Martineau, Study, 2:366--"The subjective Ego is always + _here_, as opposed to all else, which is variously _there_.... + Without local relations, therefore, the soul is inaccessible." + But, Martineau continues, "if matter be but centres of force, all + the soul needs may be centres from which to act." Romanes, Mind + and Motion, 34--"Because within the limits of human experience mind + is only known as associated with brain, it does not follow that + mind cannot exist in any other mode." La Place swept the heavens + with his telescope, but could not find anywhere a God. "He might + just as well," says President Sawyer, "have swept his kitchen with + a broom." Since God is not a material being, he cannot be + apprehended by any physical means. + + +Those passages of Scripture which seem to ascribe to God the possession of +bodily parts and organs, as eyes and hands, are to be regarded as +anthropomorphic and symbolic. "When God is spoken of as appearing to the +patriarchs and walking with them, the passages are to be explained as +referring to God's temporary manifestations of himself in human +form--manifestations which prefigured the final tabernacling of the Son of +God in human flesh. Side by side with these anthropomorphic expressions +and manifestations, moreover, are specific declarations which repress any +materializing conceptions of God; as, for example, that heaven is his +throne and the earth his footstool (Is. 66:1), and that the heaven of +heavens cannot contain him (1 K. 8:27)." + + + _Ex. 33:18-20_ declares that man cannot see God and live; _1 Cor. + 2:7-16_ intimates that without the teaching of God's Spirit we + cannot know God; all this teaches that God is above sensuous + perception, in other words, that he is not a material being. The + second command of the decalogue does not condemn sculpture and + painting, but only the making of images of _God_. It forbids our + conceiving God after the likeness of a _thing_, but it does not + forbid our conceiving God after the likeness of our inward _self_, + _i. e._, as _personal_. This again shows that God is a spiritual + being. Imagination can be used in religion, and great help can be + derived from it. Yet we do not know God by + imagination,--imagination only helps us vividly to realize the + presence of the God whom we already know. We may almost say that + some men have not imagination enough to be religious. But + imagination must not lose its wings. In its representations of + God, it must not be confined to a picture, or a form, or a place. + Humanity tends too much to rest in the material and the sensuous, + and we must avoid all representations of God which would identify + the Being who is worshiped with the helps used in order to realize + his presence; _John 4:24--_"they that worship him must worship in + spirit and truth." + + An Egyptian Hymn to the Nile, dating from the 19th dynasty (14th + century B. C.), contains these words: "His abode is not known; no + shrine is found with painted figures; there is no building that + can contain him" (Cheyne, Isaiah, 2:120). The repudiation of + images among the ancient Persians (Herod. 1:131), as among the + Japanese Shintos, indicates the remains of a primitive spiritual + religion. The representation of Jehovah with body or form degrades + him to the level of heathen gods. Pictures of the Almighty over + the chancels of Romanist cathedrals confine the mind and degrade + the conception of the worshiper. We may use imagination in prayer, + picturing God as a benignant form holding out arms of mercy, but + we should regard such pictures only as scaffolding for the + building of our edifice of worship, while we recognize, with the + Scripture, that the reality worshiped is immaterial and spiritual. + Otherwise our idea of God is brought down to the low level of + man's material being. Even man's spiritual nature may be + misrepresented by physical images, as when mediaeval artists + pictured death, by painting a doll-like figure leaving the body at + the mouth of the person dying. + + The longing for a tangible, incarnate God meets its satisfaction + in Jesus Christ. Yet even pictures of Christ soon lose their + power. Luther said: "If I have a picture of Christ in my heart, + why not one upon canvas?" We answer: Because the picture in the + heart is capable of change and improvement, as we ourselves change + and improve; the picture upon canvas is fixed, and holds to old + conceptions which we should outgrow. Thomas Carlyle: "Men never + think of painting the face of Christ, till they lose the + impression of him upon their hearts." Swedenborg, in modern times, + represents the view that God exists in the shape of a man--an + anthropomorphism of which the making of idols is only a grosser + and more barbarous form; see H. B. Smith, System of Theology, 9, + 10. This is also the doctrine of Mormonism; see Spencer, Catechism + of Latter Day Saints. The Mormons teach that God is a man; that he + has numerous wives by whom he peoples space with an infinite + number of spirits. Christ was a favorite son by a favorite wife, + but birth as man was the only way he could come into the enjoyment + of real life. These spirits are all the sons of God, but they can + realize and enjoy their sonship only through birth. They are about + every one of us pleading to be born. Hence, polygamy. + + +We come now to consider the positive import of the term Spirit. The +spirituality of God involves the two attributes of Life and Personality. + + +1. Life. + + +The Scriptures represent God as the living God. + +_Jer. 10:10--_"He is the living God"; _1 Thess. 1:9--_"turned unto God from +idols, to serve a living and true God"; _John 5:26-_"hath life in +himself"; _cf._ _14:6--_"I am ... the life," and _Heb. 7:16--_"the power of +an endless life"; _Rev. 11:11--_"the Spirit of life." + +Life is a simple idea, and is incapable of real definition. We know it, +however, in ourselves, and we can perceive the insufficiency or +inconsistency of certain current definitions of it. We cannot regard life +in God as + +(_a_) Mere _process_, without a subject; for we cannot conceive of a +divine life without a God to live it. + + + _Versus_ Lewes, Problems of Life and Mind, 1:10--"Life and mind are + processes; neither is a substance; neither is a force; ... the + name given to the whole group of phenomena becomes the + personification of the phenomena, and the product is supposed to + have been the producer." Here we have a product without any + producer--a series of phenomena without any substance of which they + are manifestations. In a similar manner we read in Dewey, + Psychology, 247--"Self is an _activity_. It is not something which + acts; it is activity.... It is constituted by activities.... + Through its activity the soul is." Here it does not appear how + there can be activity, without any subject or being that is + active. The inconsistency of this view is manifest when Dewey goes + on to say: "The activity may further or develop the self," and + when he speaks of "the organic activity of the self." So Dr. + Burdon Sanderson: "Life is a state of ceaseless change,--a state of + change with permanence; living matter ever changes while it is + ever the same." "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose." But + this permanent thing in the midst of change is the subject, the + self, the being, that _has_ life. + + +Nor can we regard life as + +(_b_) Mere _correspondence_ with outward condition and environment; for +this would render impossible a life of God before the existence of the +universe. + + + _Versus_ Herbert Spencer, Biology, 1:59-71--"Life is the definite + combination of heterogeneous changes, both simultaneous and + successive, in correspondence with external coexistences and + sequences." Here we have, at best, a definition of physical and + finite life; and even this is insufficient, because the definition + recognizes no original source of activity within, but only a power + of reaction in response to stimulus from without. We might as well + say that the boiling tea-kettle is alive (Mark Hopkins). We find + this defect also in Robert Browning's lines in The Ring and the + Book (The Pope, 1307): "O Thou--as represented here to me In such + conception as my soul allows--Under thy measureless, my + atom-width!--Man's mind, what is it but a convex glass Wherein are + gathered all the scattered points Picked out of the immensity of + sky, To reunite there, be our heaven for earth, Our known Unknown, + our God revealed to man?" Life is something more than a passive + receptivity. + + +(_c_) Life is rather _mental energy_, or energy of intellect, affection, +and will. God is the living God, as having in his own being a source of +being and activity, both for himself and others. + + + Life means energy, activity, movement. Aristotle: "Life is energy + of mind." Wordsworth, Excursion, book 5:602--"Life is love and + immortality, The Being one, and one the element.... Life, I + repeat, is energy of love Divine or human." Prof. C. L. Herrick, + on Critics of Ethical Monism, in Denison Quarterly, Dec. + 1896:248--"Force is energy under resistance, or self-limited + energy, for all parts of the universe are derived from the energy. + Energy manifesting itself under self-conditioning or differential + forms is force. The change of pure energy into force is creation." + Prof. Herrick quotes from S. T. Coleridge, Anima Poetae: "Space is + the name for God; it is the most perfect image of soul--pure soul + being to us nothing but unresisted action. Whenever action is + resisted, limitation begins--and limitation is the first + constituent of body; the more omnipresent it is in a given space, + the more that space is body or matter; and thus all body + presupposes soul, inasmuch as all resistance presupposes action." + Schelling: "Life is the tendency to individualism." + + If spirit in man implies life, spirit in God implies endless and + inexhaustible life. The total life of the universe is only a faint + image of that moving energy which we call the life of God. Dewey, + Psychology, 253--"The sense of being alive is much more vivid in + childhood than afterwards. Leigh Hunt says that, when he was a + child, the sight of certain palings painted red gave him keener + pleasure than any experience of manhood." Matthew Arnold: "Bliss + was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven." + The child's delight in country scenes, and our intensified + perceptions in brain fever, show us by contrast how shallow and + turbid is the stream of our ordinary life. Tennyson, Two Voices: + "'Tis life, whereof our nerves are scant, Oh life, not death, for + which we pant; More life, and fuller, that we want." That life the + needy human spirit finds only in the infinite God. Instead of + Tyndall's: "Matter has in it the promise and potency of every form + of life," we accept Sir William Crookes's dictum: "Life has in it + the promise and potency of every form of matter." See A. H. + Strong, on The Living God, in Philos. and Religion, 180-187. + + +2. Personality. + + +The Scriptures represent God as a personal being. By personality we mean +the power of self-consciousness and of self-determination. By way of +further explanation we remark: + +(_a_) Self-consciousness is more than consciousness. This last the brute +may be supposed to possess, since the brute is not an automaton. Man is +distinguished from the brute by his power to objectify self. Man is not +only conscious of his own acts and states, but by abstraction and +reflection he recognizes the self which is the subject of these acts and +states. (_b_) Self-determination is more than determination. The brute +shows determination, but his determination is the result of influences +from without; there is no inner spontaneity. Man, by virtue of his +free-will, determines his action from within. He determines self in view +of motives, but his determination is not caused by motives; he himself is +the cause. + +God, as personal, is in the highest degree self-conscious and +self-determining. The rise in our own minds of the idea of God, as +personal, depends largely upon our recognition of personality in +ourselves. Those who deny spirit in man place a bar in the way of the +recognition of this attribute of God. + + + _Ex. 3:14--_"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, + Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me + unto you." God is not the everlasting "IT IS," or "I WAS," but the + everlasting "I AM" (Morris, Philosophy and Christianity, 128); "I + AM" implies both personality and presence. _1 Cor. 2:11--_"the + things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God"; _Eph. + 1:9--_"good pleasure which he purposed"; _11--_"the counsel of his + will." Definitions of personality are the following: + Boethius--"Persona est animae rationalis individua substantia" + (quoted in Dorner, Glaubenslehre, 2:415). F. W. Robertson, Genesis + 3--"Personality = self-consciousness, will, character." Porter, + Human Intellect, 626--"Distinct subsistence, either actually or + latently self-conscious and self-determining." Harris, Philos. + Basis of Theism: Person = "being, conscious of self, subsisting in + individuality and identity, and endowed with intuitive reason, + rational sensibility, and free-will." See Harris, 98, 99, + quotation from Mansel--"The freedom of the will is so far from + being, as it is generally considered, a controvertible question in + philosophy, that it is the fundamental postulate without which all + action and all speculation, philosophy in all its branches and + human consciousness itself, would be impossible." + + One of the most astounding announcements in all literature is that + of Matthew Arnold, in his "Literature and Dogma," that the Hebrew + Scriptures recognize in God only "the power, not ourselves, that + makes for righteousness" = the God of pantheism. The "I AM" of + _Ex. 3:14_ could hardly have been so misunderstood, if Matthew + Arnold had not lost the sense of his own personality and + responsibility. From free-will in man we rise to freedom in + God--"That living Will that shall endure, When all that seems shall + suffer shock." Observe that personality needs to be accompanied by + life--the power of self-consciousness and self-determination needs + to be accompanied by activity--in order to make up our total idea + of God as Spirit. Only this personality of God gives proper + meaning to his punishments or to his forgiveness. See Bib. Sac., + April, 1884:217-233; Eichhorn, die Persoenlichkeit Gottes. + + Illingworth, Divine and Human Personality, 1:25, shows that the + sense of personality has had a gradual growth; that its + pre-Christian recognition was imperfect; that its final definition + has been due to Christianity. In 29-53, he notes the + characteristics of personality as reason, love, will. The brute + _perceives_; only the man _apperceives_, _i. e._, recognizes his + perception as belonging to himself. In the German story, + Dreiaeuglein, the three-eyed child, had besides her natural pair of + eyes one other to see what the pair did, and besides her natural + will had an additional will to set the first to going right. On + consciousness and self-consciousness, see Shedd, Dogm. Theol., + 1:179-189--"In consciousness the object is another substance than + the subject; but in self-consciousness the object is the same + substance as the subject." Tennyson, in his Palace of Art, speaks + of "the abysmal depths of personality." We do not fully know + ourselves, nor yet our relation to God. But the divine + consciousness embraces the whole divine content of being: "the + Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God"_ (1 Cor. + 2:10)_. + + We are not fully masters of ourselves. Our self-determination is + as limited as is our self-consciousness. But the divine will is + absolutely without hindrance; God's activity is constant, intense, + infinite; _Job 23:13--_"What his soul desireth, even that he + doeth"; _John 5:17--_"My Father worketh even until now, and I + work." Self-knowledge and self-mastery are the dignity of man; + they are also the dignity of God; Tennyson: "Self-reverence, + self-knowledge, self-control, These three lead life to sovereign + power." Robert Browning, The Last Ride Together: "What act proved + all its thought had been? What will but felt the fleshly screen?" + Moberly, Atonement and Personality, 6, 161, 216-255--"Perhaps the + root of personality is capacity for affection."... Our personality + is incomplete; we reason truly only with God helping; our love in + higher Love endures; we will rightly, only as God works in us to + will and to do; to make us truly ourselves we need an infinite + Personality to supplement and energize our own; we are complete + only in Christ (_Col. 2:9, 10--_"In him dwelleth all the fulness of + the Godhead bodily, and in him ye are made full.") + + Webb, on the Idea of Personality as applied to God, in Jour. + Theol. Studies, 2:50--"Self knows itself and what is not itself as + two, just because both alike are embraced within the unity of its + experience, stand out against this background, the apprehension of + which is the very essence of that rationality or personality which + distinguishes us from the lower animals. We find that background, + God, present in us, or rather, we find ourselves present in it. + But if I find myself present in it, then it, as more complete, is + simply more personal than I. Our not-self is outside of us, so + that we are finite and lonely, but God's not-self is within him, + so that there is a mutual inwardness of love and insight of which + the most perfect communion among men is only a faint symbol. We + are 'hermit-spirits,' as Keble says, and we come to union with + others only by realizing our union with God. Personality is not + impenetrable in man, for 'in him we live, and move, and have our + being'_ (Acts 17:28)_, and 'that which hath been made is life in + him'_ (John 1:3, 4)_." Palmer, Theologic Definition, 39--"That + which has its cause without itself is a thing, while that which + has its cause within itself is a person." + + +Second Division.--Infinity, and attributes therein involved. + + +By infinity we mean, not that the divine nature has no known limits or +bounds, but that it has no limits or bounds. That which has simply no +known limits is the indefinite. The infinity of God implies that he is in +no way limited by the universe or confined to the universe; he is +transcendent as well as immanent. Transcendence, however, must not be +conceived as freedom from merely spatial restrictions, but rather as +unlimited resource, of which God's glory is the expression. + + + _Ps. 145:3--_"his greatness is unsearchable"; _Job 11:7-9--_"high as + heaven ... deeper than Sheol"; _Is. 66:1--_"Heaven is my throne, + and the earth is my footstool"; _1 K. 8:27--_"Heaven and the heaven + of heavens cannot contain thee"; _Rom. 11:33--_"how unsearchable + are his judgments, and his ways past finding out." There can be no + infinite number, since to any assignable number a unit can be + added, which shows that this number was not infinite before. There + can be no infinite universe, because an infinite universe is + conceivable only as an infinite number of worlds or of minds. God + himself is the only real Infinite, and the universe is but the + finite expression or symbol of his greatness. + + We therefore object to the statement of Lotze, Microcosm, + 1:446--"The complete system, grasped in its totality, offers an + expression of the whole nature of the One.... The Cause makes + actual existence its complete manifestation." In a similar way + Schurman, Belief in God, 26, 173-178, grants infinity, but denies + transcendence: "The infinite Spirit may include the finite, as the + idea of a single organism embraces within a single life a + plurality of members and functions.... The world is the expression + of an ever active and inexhaustible will. That the external + manifestation is as boundless as the life it expresses, science + makes exceedingly probable. In any event, we have not the + slightest reason to contrast the finitude of the world with the + infinity of God.... If the natural order is eternal and infinite, + as there seems no reason to doubt, it will be difficult to find a + meaning for 'beyond' or 'before.' Of this illimitable, + ever-existing universe, God is the Inner ground or substance. + There is no evidence, neither does any religious need require us + to believe, that the divine Being manifest in the universe has any + actual or possible existence elsewhere, in some transcendent + sphere.... The divine will can express itself only as it does, + because no other expression would reveal what it is. Of such a + will, the universe is the eternal expression." + + +In explanation of the term infinity, we may notice: + +(_a_) That infinity can belong to but one Being, and therefore cannot be +shared with the universe. Infinity is not a negative but a positive idea. +It does not take its rise from an impotence of thought, but is an +intuitive conviction which constitutes the basis of all other knowledge. + + + See Porter, Human Intellect, 651, 652, and this Compendium, pages + 59-62. _Versus_ Mansel, Proleg. Logica, chap. 1--"Such negative + notions ... imply at once an attempt to think, and a failure in + that attempt." On the contrary, the conception of the Infinite is + perfectly distinguishable from that of the finite, and is both + necessary and logically prior to that of the finite. This is not + true of our idea of the universe, of which all we know is finite + and dependent. We therefore regard such utterances as those of + Lotze and Schurman above, and those of Chamberlin and Caird below, + as pantheistic in tendency, although the belief of these writers + in divine and human personality saves them from falling into other + errors of pantheism. + + Prof. T. C. Chamberlin, of the University of Chicago: "It is not + sufficient to the modern scientific thought to think of a Ruler + outside of the universe, nor of a universe with the Ruler outside. + A supreme Being who does not embrace all the activities and + possibilities and potencies of the universe seems something less + than the supremest Being, and a universe with a Ruler outside + seems something less than a universe. And therefore the thought is + growing on the minds of scientific thinkers that the supreme Being + is the universal Being, embracing and comprehending all things." + Caird, Evolution of Religion, 2:62--"Religion, if it would continue + to exist, must combine the monotheistic idea with that which it + has often regarded as its greatest enemy, the spirit of + pantheism." We grant in reply that religion must appropriate the + element of truth in pantheism, namely, that God is the only + substance, ground and principle of being, but we regard it as + fatal to religion to side with pantheism in its denials of God's + transcendence and of God's personality. + + +(_b_) That the infinity of God does not involve his identity with "the +all," or the sum of existence, nor prevent the coexistence of derived and +finite beings to which he bears relation. Infinity implies simply that God +exists in no necessary relation to finite things or beings, and that +whatever limitation of the divine nature results from their existence is, +on the part of God, a self-limitation. + + + _Ps. 113:5, 6--_"that humbleth himself to behold the things that + are in heaven and in the earth." It is involved in God's infinity + that there should be no barriers to his self-limitation in + creation and redemption (see page 9, F.). Jacob Boehme said: "God + is infinite, for God is all." But this is to make God all + imperfection, as well as all perfection. Harris, Philos. Basis + Theism: "The relation of the absolute to the finite is not the + mathematical relation of a total to its parts, but it is a + dynamical and rational relation." Shedd, Dogm. Theol., + 1:189-191--"The infinite is not the total; 'the all' is a + pseudo-infinite, and to assert that it is greater than the simple + infinite is the same error that is committed in mathematics when + it is asserted that an infinite number plus a vast finite number + is greater than the simple infinite." Fullerton, Conception of the + Infinite, 90--"The Infinite, though it involves unlimited + possibility of quantity, is not itself a quantitative but rather a + qualitative conception." Hovey, Studies of Ethics and Religion, + 39-47--"Any number of finite beings, minds, loves, wills, cannot + reveal fully an infinite Being, Mind, Love, Will. God must be + transcendent as well as immanent in the universe, or he is neither + infinite nor an object of supreme worship." + + Clarke, Christian Theology, 117--"Great as the universe is, God is + not limited to it, wholly absorbed by what he is doing in it, and + capable of doing nothing more. God in the universe is not like the + life of the tree in the tree, which does all that it is capable of + in making the tree what it is. God in the universe is rather like + the spirit of a man in his body, which is greater than his body, + able to direct his body, and capable of activities in which his + body has no share. God is a free spirit, personal, self-directing, + unexhausted by his present activities." The Persian poet said + truly: "The world is a bud from his bower of beauty; the sun is a + spark from the light of his wisdom; the sky is a bubble on the sea + of his power." Faber: "For greatness which is infinite makes room + For all things in its lap to lie. We should be crushed by a + magnificence Short of infinity. We share in what is infinite; 'tis + ours, For we and it alike are Thine. What I enjoy, great God, by + right of Thee, Is more than doubly mine." + + +(_c_) That the infinity of God is to be conceived of as intensive, rather +than as extensive. We do not attribute to God infinite extension, but +rather infinite energy of spiritual life. That which acts up to the +measure of its power is simply natural and physical force. Man rises above +nature by virtue of his reserves of power. But in God the reserve is +infinite. There is a transcendent element in him, which no self-revelation +exhausts, whether creation or redemption, whether law or promise. + + + Transcendence is not mere outsideness,--it is rather boundless + supply within. God is not infinite by virtue of existing "extra + flammantia moenia mundi" (Lucretius) or of filling a space outside + of space,--he is rather infinite by being the pure and perfect Mind + that passes beyond all phenomena and constitutes the ground of + them. The former conception of infinity is simply supra-cosmic, + the latter alone is properly transcendent; see Hatch, Hibbert + Lectures, 244. "God is the living God, and has not yet spoken his + last word on any subject" (G. W. Northrup). God's life "operates + unspent." There is "ever more to follow." The legend stamped with + the Pillars of Hercules upon the old coins of Spain was _Ne plus + ultra_--"Nothing beyond," but when Columbus discovered America the + legend was fitly changed to _Plus ultra_--"More beyond." So the + motto of the University of Rochester is _Meliora_--"Better things." + + Since God's infinite resources are pledged to aid us, we may, as + Emerson bids us, "hitch our wagon to a star," and believe in + progress. Tennyson, Locksley Hall: "Men, my brothers, men the + workers, ever reaping something new. That which they have done but + earnest of the things that they shall do." Millet's L'Angelus is a + witness to man's need of God's transcendence. Millet's aim was to + paint, not _air_ but _prayer_. We need a God who is not confined + to nature. As Moses at the beginning of his ministry cried, "Show + me, I pray thee, thy glory"_ (Ex. 33:18)_, so we need marked + experiences at the beginning of the Christian life, in order that + we may be living witnesses to the supernatural. And our Lord + promises such manifestations of himself: _John 14:21--_"I will love + him, and will manifest myself unto him." + + _Ps. 71:15--_"My mouth shall tell of thy righteousness, And of thy + salvation all the day; For I know not the numbers thereof" = it is + infinite. _Ps. 89:2--_"Mercy shall be built up forever" = ever + growing manifestations and cycles of fulfilment--first literal, + then spiritual. _Ps. 113:4-6--_"Jehovah is high above all nations, + And his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto Jehovah our God, + That hath his seat on high, That humbleth himself [stoopeth down] + to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth?" _Mal. + 2:15--_"did he not make one, although he had the residue of the + Spirit?" = he might have created many wives for Adam, though he + did actually create but one. In this "residue of the Spirit," says + Caldwell, Cities of our Faith, 370, "there yet lies latent--as + winds lie calm in the air of a summer noon, as heat immense lies + cold and hidden in the mountains of coal--the blessing and the life + of nations, the infinite enlargement of Zion." + + _Is. 52:10--_"Jehovah hath made bare his holy arm" = nature does + not exhaust or entomb God; nature is the mantle in which he + commonly reveals himself; but he is not fettered by the robe he + wears--he can thrust it aside, and make bare his arm in + providential interpositions for earthly deliverance, and in mighty + movements of history for the salvation of the sinner and for the + setting up of his own kingdom. See also _John 1:16--_"of his + fulness we all received, and grace for grace" = "Each blessing + appropriated became the foundation of a greater blessing. To have + realized and used one measure of grace was to have gained a larger + measure in exchange for it {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}"; so Westcott, in + Bib. Com., _in loco_. Christ can ever say to the believer, as he + said to Nathanael _(John 1:50): _"thou shalt see greater things + than these." + + Because God is infinite, he can love each believer as much as if + that single soul were the only one for whom he had to care. Both + in providence and in redemption the whole heart of God is busy + with plans for the interest and happiness of the single Christian. + Threatenings do not half reveal God, nor his promises half express + the "eternal weight of glory"_ (2 Cor. 4:17)_. Dante, Paradiso, + 19:40-63--God "Could not upon the universe so write The impress of + his power, but that his word Must still be left in distance + infinite." To "limit the Holy One of Israel"_ (Ps. 78:41_--marg.) + is falsehood as well as sin. + + This attribute of infinity, or of transcendence, qualifies all the + other attributes, and so is the foundation for the representations + of majesty and glory as belonging to God (see _Ex. 33:18_; _Ps. + 19:1_; _Is. 6:3_; _Mat. 6:13_; _Acts 7:2_; _Rom. 1:23_; _9:23_; + _Heb. 1:3_; _1 Pet. 4:14_; _Rev. 21:23_). Glory is not itself a + divine attribute; it is rather a result--an objective result--of the + exercise of the divine attributes. This glory exists irrespective + of the revelation and recognition of it in the creation (_John + 17:5_). Only God can worthily perceive and reverence his own + glory. He does all for his own glory. All religion is founded on + the glory of God. All worship is the result of this immanent + quality of the divine nature. Kedney, Christian Doctrine, + 1:360-373, 2:354, apparently conceives of the divine glory as an + eternal material environment of God, from which the universe is + fashioned. This seems to contradict both the spirituality and the + infinity of God. God's infinity implies absolute completeness + apart from anything external to himself. We proceed therefore to + consider the attributes involved in infinity. + + +Of the attributes involved in Infinity, we mention: + + +1. Self-existence. + + +By self-existence we mean + +(_a_) That God is "_causa sui_," having the ground of his existence in +himself. Every being must have the ground of its existence either in or +out of itself. We have the ground of our existence outside of us. God is +not thus dependent. He is _a se_; hence we speak of the aseity of God. + + + God's self-existence is implied in the name "Jehovah"_ (Ex. 6:3)_ + and in the declaration "I AM THAT I AM" (_Ex. 3:14_), both of + which signify that it is God's nature to be. Self-existence is + certainly incomprehensible to us, yet a self-existent person is no + greater mystery than a self-existent thing, such as Herbert + Spencer supposes the universe to be; indeed it is not so great a + mystery, for it is easier to derive matter from mind than to + derive mind from matter. See Porter, Human Intellect, 661. Joh. + Angelus Silesius: "Gott ist das was Er ist; Ich was Ich durch Ihn + bin; Doch kennst du Einen wohl, So kennst du mich und Ihn." + Martineau, Types, 1:302--"A _cause_ may be eternal, but nothing + that is _caused_ can be so." He protests against the phrase + "_causa sui_." So Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:338, objects to the + phrase "God is his own cause," because God is the uncaused Being. + But when we speak of God as "_causa sui_," we do not attribute to + him beginning of existence. The phrase means rather that the + ground of his existence is not outside of himself, but that he + himself is the living spring of all energy and of all being. + + +But lest this should be misconstrued, we add + +(_b_) That God exists by the necessity of his own being. It is his nature +to be. Hence the existence of God is not a contingent but a necessary +existence. It is grounded, not in his volitions, but in his nature. + + + Julius Mueller, Doctrine of Sin, 2:126, 130, 170, seems to hold + that God is primarily will, so that the essence of God is his act: + "God's essence does not precede his freedom"; "if the essence of + God were for him something given, something already present, the + question 'from whence it was given?' could not be evaded; God's + essence must in this case have its origin in something apart from + him, and thus the true conception of God would be entirely swept + away." But this implies that truth, reason, love, holiness, + equally with God's essence, are all products of will. If God's + essence, moreover, were his act, it would be in the power of God + to annihilate himself. Act presupposes essence; else there is no + God to act. The will by which God exists, and in virtue of which + he is _causa sui_, is therefore not will in the sense of volition, + but will in the sense of the whole movement of his active being. + With Mueller's view Thomasius and Delitzsch are agreed. For + refutation of it, see Philippi, Glaubenslehre, 2:63. + + God's essence is not his act, not only because this would imply + that he could destroy himself, but also because before willing + there must be being. Those who hold God's essence to be simple + activity are impelled to this view by the fear of postulating some + dead thing in God which precedes all exercise of faculty. So + Miller, Evolution of Love, 43--"Perfect action, conscious and + volitional, is the highest generalization, the ultimate unit, the + unconditioned nature, of infinite Being"; _i. e._, God's nature is + subjective action, while external nature is his objective action. + A better statement, however, is that of Bowne, Philos. of Theism, + 170--"While there is a necessity in the soul, it becomes + controlling only through freedom; and we may say that everyone + must constitute himself a rational soul.... This is absolutely + true of God." + + +2. Immutability. + + +By this we mean that the nature, attributes, and will of God are exempt +from all change. Reason teaches us that no change is possible in God, +whether of increase or decrease, progress or deterioration, contraction or +development. All change must be to better or to worse. But God is absolute +perfection, and no change to better is possible. Change to worse would be +equally inconsistent with perfection. No cause for such change exists, +either outside of God or in God himself. + + + _Psalm 102:27--_"thou art the same"; _Mal. 3:6--_"I, Jehovah, change + not"; _James 1:17--_"with whom can be no variation, neither shadow + that is cast by turning." Spenser, Faerie Queen, Cantos of + Mutability, 8:2--"Then 'gin I think on that which nature sayde, Of + that same time when no more change shall be, But steadfast rest of + all things, firmly stayed Upon the pillours of eternity; For all + that moveth doth in change delight, But henceforth all shall rest + eternally With him that is the God of Sabaoth hight; Oh thou great + Sabaoth God, grant me that Sabbath's sight!" Bowne, Philos. of + Theism, 146, defines immutability as "the constancy and continuity + of the divine nature which exists through all the divine acts as + their law and source." + + +The passages of Scripture which seem at first sight to ascribe change to +God are to be explained in one of three ways: + +(_a_) As illustrations of the varied methods in which God manifests his +immutable truth and wisdom in creation. + + + Mathematical principles receive new application with each + successive stage of creation. The law of cohesion gives place to + chemical law, and chemistry yields to vital forces, but through + all these changes there is a divine truth and wisdom which is + unchanging, and which reduces all to rational order. John Caird, + Fund. Ideas of Christianity, 2:140--"Immutability is not + stereotyped sameness, but impossibility of deviation by one hair's + breadth from the course which is best. A man of great force of + character is continually finding new occasions for the + manifestation and application of moral principle. In God infinite + consistency is united with infinite flexibility. There is no + iron-bound impassibility, but rather an infinite originality in + him." + + +(_b_) As anthropomorphic representations of the revelation of God's +unchanging attributes in the changing circumstances and varying moral +conditions of creatures. + + + _Gen. 6:6--_"it repented Jehovah that he had made man"--is to be + interpreted in the light of _Num. 23:19--_"God is not a man, that + he should lie: neither the son of man, that he should repent." So + _cf._ _1 Sam. 15:11_ with _15:29_. God's unchanging holiness + requires him to treat the wicked differently from the righteous. + When the righteous become wicked, his treatment of them must + change. The sun is not fickle or partial because it melts the wax + but hardens the clay,--the change is not in the sun but in the + objects it shines upon. The change in God's treatment of men is + described anthropomorphically, as if it were a change in God + himself,--other passages in close conjunction with the first being + given to correct any possible misapprehension. Threats not + fulfilled, as in _Jonah 3:4, 10_, are to be explained by their + conditional nature. Hence God's immutability itself renders it + certain that his love will adapt itself to every varying mood and + condition of his children, so as to guide their steps, sympathize + with their sorrows, answer their prayers. God responds to us more + quickly than the mother's face to the changing moods of her babe. + Godet, in The Atonement, 338--"God is of all beings the most + delicately and infinitely sensitive." + + God's immutability is not that of the stone, that has no internal + experience, but rather that of the column of mercury, that rises + and falls with every change in the temperature of the surrounding + atmosphere. When a man bicycling against the wind turns about and + goes with the wind instead of going against it, the wind seems to + change, though it is blowing just as it was before. The sinner + struggles against the wind of prevenient grace until he seems to + strike against a stone wall. Regeneration is God's conquest of our + wills by his power, and conversion is our beginning to turn round + and to work with God rather than against God. Now we move without + effort, because we have God at our back; _Phil. 2:12, 13--_"work + out your own salvation ... for it is God who worketh in you." God + has not changed, but we have changed; _John 3:8--_"The wind bloweth + where it will ... so is every one that is born of the Spirit." + Jacob's first wrestling with the Angel was the picture of his + lifelong self-will, opposing God; his subsequent wrestling in + prayer was the picture of a consecrated will, working with God + (_Gen. 32:24-28_). We seem to conquer God, but he really conquers + us. He seems to change, but it is we who change after all. + + +(_c_) As describing executions, in time, of purposes eternally existing in +the mind of God. Immutability must not be confounded with immobility. This +would deny all those imperative volitions of God by which he enters into +history. The Scriptures assure us that creation, miracles, incarnation, +regeneration, are immediate acts of God. Immutability is consistent with +constant activity and perfect freedom. + + + The abolition of the Mosaic dispensation indicates no change in + God's plan; it is rather the execution of his plan. Christ's + coming and work were no sudden makeshift, to remedy unforeseen + defects in the Old Testament scheme: Christ came rather in "the + fulness of the time"_ (Gal. 4:4)_, to fulfill the "counsel" of God + (_Acts 2:23_). _Gen. 8:1--_"God remembered Noah" = interposed by + special act for Noah's deliverance, showed that he remembered + Noah. While we change, God does not. There is no fickleness or + inconstancy in him. Where we once found him, there we may find him + still, as Jacob did at Bethel (_Gen. 35:1, 6, 9_). Immutability is + a consolation to the faithful, but a terror to God's enemies + (_Mal. 3:6--_"I, Jehovah, change not; therefore ye, O sons of + Jacob, are not consumed"; _Ps. 7:11--_"a God that hath indignation + every day"). It is consistent with constant activity in nature and + in grace (_John 5:17--_"My Father worketh even until now, and I + work"; _Job 23:13, 14--_"he is in one mind, and who can turn + him?... For he performeth that which is appointed for me: and many + such things are with him"). If God's immutability were immobility, + we could not worship him, any more than the ancient Greeks were + able to worship Fate. Arthur Hugh Clough: "It fortifies my soul to + know, That, though I perish, Truth is so: That, howsoe'er I stray + and range, Whate'er I do, Thou dost not change. I steadier step + when I recall That, if I slip, Thou dost not fall." On this + attribute see Charnock, Attributes, 1:310-362; Dorner, Gesammelte + Schriften, 188-377; translated in Bib. Sac., 1879:28-59, 209-223. + + +3. Unity. + + +By this we mean (_a_) that the divine nature is undivided and indivisible +(_unus_); and (_b_) that there is but one infinite and perfect Spirit +(_unicus_). + + + _Deut. 6:4--_"Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah"; _Is. + 44:6--_"besides me there is no God"; _John 5:44--_"the only God"; + _17:3--_"the only true God"; _1 Cor. 8:4--_"no God but one"; _1 Tim. + 1:17--_"the only God"; _6:15--_"the blessed and only Potentate"; + _Eph. 4:5, 6--_"one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and + Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all." When + we read in Mason, Faith of the Gospel, 25--"The unity of God is not + numerical, denying the existence of a second; it is integral, + denying the possibility of division," we reply that the unity of + God is both,--it includes both the numerical and the integral + elements. + + Humboldt, in his Cosmos, has pointed out that the unity and + creative agency of the heavenly Father have given unity to the + order of nature, and so have furnished the impulse to modern + physical science. Our faith in a "universe" rests historically + upon the demonstration of God's unity which has been given by the + incarnation and death of Christ. Tennyson, In Memoriam: "That God + who ever lives and loves, One God, one law, one element, And one + far off divine event To which the whole creation moves." See A. H. + Strong, Christ in Creation, 184-187. Alexander McLaren: "The + heathen have many gods because they have no one that satisfies + hungry hearts or corresponds to their unconscious ideals. + Completeness is not reached by piecing together many fragments. + The wise merchantman will gladly barter a sack full of 'goodly + pearls' for the one of great price. Happy they who turn away from + the many to embrace the One!" + + +Against polytheism, tritheism, or dualism, we may urge that the notion of +two or more Gods is self-contradictory; since each limits the other and +destroys his godhood. In the nature of things, infinity and absolute +perfection are possible only to one. It is unphilosophical, moreover, to +assume the existence of two or more Gods, when one will explain all the +facts. The unity of God is, however, in no way inconsistent with the +doctrine of the Trinity; for, while this doctrine holds to the existence +of hypostatical, or personal, distinctions in the divine nature, it also +holds that this divine nature is numerically and eternally one. + + + Polytheism is man's attempt to rid himself of the notion of + responsibility to one moral Lawgiver and Judge by dividing up his + manifestations, and attributing them to separate wills. So Force, + in the terminology of some modern theorizers, is only God with his + moral attributes left out. "Henotheism" (says Max Mueller, Origin + and Growth of Religion, 285) "conceives of each individual god as + unlimited by the power of other gods. Each is felt, at the time, + as supreme and absolute, notwithstanding the limitations which to + our minds must arise from his power being conditioned by the power + of all the gods." + + Even polytheism cannot rest in the doctrine of many gods, as an + exclusive and all-comprehending explanation of the universe. The + Greeks believed in one supreme Fate that ruled both gods and men. + Aristotle: "God, though he is one, has many names, because he is + called according to states into which he is ever entering anew." + The doctrine of God's unity should teach men to give up hope of + any other God, to reveal himself to them or to save them. They are + in the hands of the one and only God, and therefore there is but + one law, one gospel, one salvation; one doctrine, one duty, one + destiny. We cannot rid ourselves of responsibility by calling + ourselves mere congeries of impressions or mere victims of + circumstance. As God is one, so the soul made in God's image is + one also. On the origin of polytheism, see articles by Tholuck, in + Bib. Repos., 2:84, 246, 441, and Max Mueller, Science of Religion, + 124. + + Moberly, Atonement and Personality, 83--"The Alpha and Omega, the + beginning and end and sum and meaning of Being, is but One. We who + believe in a personal God do not believe in a limited God. We do + not mean one more, a bigger specimen of existences, amongst + existences. Rather, we mean that the reality of existence itself + is personal: that Power, that Law, that Life, that Thought, that + Love, are ultimately, in their very reality, identified in one + supreme, and that necessarily a personal Existence. Now such + supreme Being cannot be multiplied: it is incapable of a plural: + it cannot be a generic term. There cannot be more than one + all-inclusive, more than one ultimate, more than one God. Nor has + Christian thought, at any point, for any moment, dared or endured + the least approach to such a thought or phrase as 'two Gods.' If + the Father is God, and the Son God, they are both the same God + wholly, unreservedly. God is a particular, an unique, not a + general, term. Each is not only God, but is the very same + 'singularis unicus et totus Deus.' They are not both _generically_ + God, as though 'God' could be an attribute or predicate; but both + _identically_ God, the God, the one all-inclusive, indivisible, + God.... If the thought that wishes to be orthodox had less + tendency to become tritheistic, the thought that claims to be free + would be less Unitarian." + + +Third Division.--Perfection, and attributes therein involved. + + +By perfection we mean, not mere quantitative completeness, but qualitative +excellence. The attributes involved in perfection are moral attributes. +Right action among men presupposes a perfect moral organization, a normal +state of intellect, affection and will. So God's activity presupposes a +principle of intelligence, of affection, of volition, in his inmost being, +and the existence of a worthy object for each of these powers of his +nature. But in eternity past there is nothing existing outside or apart +from God. He must find, and he does find, the sufficient object of +intellect, affection, and will, in himself. There is a self-knowing, a +self-loving, a self-willing, which constitute his absolute perfection. The +consideration of the immanent attributes is, therefore, properly concluded +with an account of that truth, love, and holiness, which render God +entirely sufficient to himself. + + + _Mat. 5:48--_"Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly + Father is perfect"; _Rom. 12:2--_"perfect will of God"; _Col. + 1:28--_"perfect in Christ"; _cf._ _Deut. 32:4--_"The Rock, his work + is perfect"; _Ps. 18:30--_"As for God, his way is perfect." + + +1. Truth. + + +By truth we mean that attribute of the divine nature in virtue of which +God's being and God's knowledge eternally conform to each other. + +In further explanation we remark: + +A. Negatively: + +(_a_) The immanent truth of God is not to be confounded with that veracity +and faithfulness which partially manifest it to creatures. These are +transitive truth, and they presuppose the absolute and immanent attribute. + + + _Deut 32:4--_"A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and + right is he"; _John 17:3--_"the only true God" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}); _1 John + 5:20--_"we know him that is true" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}). In both these + passages {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} describes God as the genuine, the real, as + distinguished from {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, the veracious (compare _John 6:32--_"the + true bread"; _Heb. 8:2--_"the true tabernacle"). _John 14:6--_"I am + ... the truth." As "I am ... the life" signifies, not "I am the + living one," but rather "I am he who is life and the source of + life," so "_I am ... the truth_" signifies, not "I am the truthful + one," but "I am he who is truth and the source of truth"--in other + words, truth of being, not merely truth of expression. So _1 John + 5:7--_"the Spirit is the truth." _Cf._ 1 Esdras 1:38--"The truth + abideth and is forever strong, and it liveth and ruleth forever" = + personal truth? See Godet on _John 1:18_; Shedd, Dogm. Theol., + 1:181. + + Truth is God perfectly revealed and known. It may be likened to + the electric current which manifests and measures the power of the + dynamo. There is no realm of truth apart from the world-ground, + just as there is no law of nature that is independent of the + Author of nature. While we know ourselves only partially, God + knows himself fully. John Caird, Fund. Ideas of Christianity, + 1:192--"In the life of God there are no unrealized possibilities. + The presupposition of all our knowledge and activity is that + absolute and eternal unity of knowing and being which is only + another expression for the nature of God. In one sense, he is all + reality, and the only reality, whilst all finite existence is but + a _becoming_, which never _is_." Lowrie, Doctrine of St. John, + 57-63--"Truth is reality revealed. Jesus is the Truth, because in + him the sum of the qualities hidden in God is presented and + revealed to the world, God's nature in terms of an active force + and in relation to his rational creation." This definition however + ignores the fact that God is truth, apart from and before all + creation. As an immanent attribute, truth implies a conformity of + God's knowledge to God's being, which antedates the universe; see + B. (_b_) below. + + +(_b_) Truth in God is not a merely active attribute of the divine nature. +God is truth, not only in the sense that he is the being who truly knows, +but also in the sense that he is the truth that is known. The passive +precedes the active; truth of being precedes truth of knowing. + + + Plato: "Truth is his (God's) body, and light his shadow." Hollaz + (quoted in Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, 1:137) says that + "truth is the conformity of the divine essence with the divine + intellect." See Gerhard, loc. ii:152; Kahnis, Dogmatik, 2:272, + 279; 3:193--"Distinguish in God the personal self-consciousness + [spirituality, personality--see pages 252, 253] from the unfolding + of this in the divine knowledge, which can have no other object + but God himself. So far, now, as self-knowing in God is absolutely + identical with his being is he the absolutely true. For truth is + the knowledge which answers to the being, and the being which + answers to the knowledge." + + Royce, World and Individual, 1:270--"Truth either may mean that + about which we judge, _or_ it may mean the correspondence between + our ideas and their objects." God's truth is both object of his + knowledge and knowledge of his object. Miss Clara French, The + Dramatic Action and Motive of King John: "You spell Truth with a + capital, and make it an independent existence to be sought for and + absorbed; but, unless truth is God, what can it do for man? It is + only a personality that can touch a personality." So we assent to + the poet's declaration that "Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise + again," only because Truth is personal. Christ, the Revealer of + God, is the Truth. He is not simply the medium but also the object + of all knowledge; _Eph. 4:20--_"ye did not so learn Christ" = ye + knew more than the doctrine about Christ,--ye knew Christ himself; + _John 17:3--_"this is life eternal that they should know thee the + only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ." + + +B. Positively: + +(_a_) All truth among men, whether mathematical, logical, moral, or +religious, is to be regarded as having its foundation in this immanent +truth of the divine nature and as disclosing facts in the being of God. + + + There is a higher Mind than our mind. No apostle can say "I am the + truth," though each of them can say "I speak the truth." Truth is + not a scientific or moral, but a substantial, thing--"nicht + Schulsache, sondern Lebenssache." Here is the dignity of + education, that knowledge of truth is knowledge of God. The laws + of mathematics are disclosures to us, not of the divine reason + merely, for this would imply truth outside of and before God, but + of the divine nature. J. W. A. Stewart: "Science is possible + because God is scientific." Plato: "God geometrizes." Bowne: "The + heavens are crystalized mathematics." The statement that two and + two make four, or that virtue is commendable and vice condemnable, + expresses an everlasting principle in the being of God. Separate + statements of truth are inexplicable apart from the total + revelation of truth, and this total revelation is inexplicable + apart from One who is truth and who is thus revealed. The separate + electric lights in our streets are inexplicable apart from the + electric current which throbs through the wires, and this electric + current is itself inexplicable apart from the hidden dynamo whose + power it exactly expresses and measures. The separate lights of + truth are due to the realizing agency of the Holy Spirit; the one + unifying current which they partially reveal is the outgoing work + of Christ, the divine Logos; Christ is the one and only Revealer + of him who dwells "in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen, + nor can see"_ (1 Tim. 6:16)_. + + Prof. H. E. Webster began his lectures "by assuming the Lord Jesus + Christ _and_ the multiplication-table." But this was tautology, + because the Lord Jesus Christ, the Truth, the only revealer of + God, includes the multiplication-table. So Wendt, Teaching of + Jesus, 1:257; 2:202, unduly narrows the scope of Christ's + revelation when he maintains that with Jesus truth is not the + truth which corresponds to reality but rather the right conduct + which corresponds to the duty prescribed by God. "Grace and + truth"_ (John 1:17)_ then means the favor of God and the + righteousness which God approves. To understand Jesus is + impossible without being ethically like him. He is king of truth, + in that he reveals this righteousness, and finds obedience for it + among men. This ethical aspect of the truth, we would reply, + important as it is, does not exclude but rather requires for its + complement and presupposition that other aspect of the truth as + the reality to which all being must conform and the conformity of + all being to that reality. Since Christ is the truth of God, we + are successful in our search for truth only as we recognize him. + Whether all roads lead to Rome depends upon which way your face is + turned. Follow a point of land out into the sea, and you find only + ocean. With the back turned upon Jesus Christ all following after + truth leads only into mist and darkness. Aristotle's ideal man was + "a hunter after truth." But truth can never be found disjoined + from love, nor can the loveless seeker discern it. "For the loving + worm within its clod Were diviner than a loveless God" (Robert + Browning). Hence Christ can say: _John 18:37--_"Every one that is + of the truth heareth my voice." + + +(_b_) This attribute therefore constitutes the principle and guarantee of +all revelation, while it shows the possibility of an eternal divine +self-contemplation apart from and before all creation. It is to be +understood only in the light of the doctrine of the Trinity. + + + To all this doctrine, however, a great school of philosophers have + opposed themselves. Duns Scotus held that God's will made truth as + well as right. Descartes said that God could have made it untrue + that the radii of a circle are all equal. Lord Bacon said that + Adam's sin consisted in seeking a good in itself, instead of being + content with the merely empirical good. Whedon, On the Will, + 316--"Infinite wisdom and infinite holiness consist in, and result + from, God's volitions eternally." We reply that, to make truth and + good matters of mere will, instead of regarding them as + characteristics of God's being, is to deny that anything is true + or good in itself. If God can make truth to be falsehood, and + injustice to be justice, then God is indifferent to truth or + falsehood, to good or evil, and he ceases thereby to be God. Truth + is not arbitrary,--it is matter of being--the being of God. There + are no regulative principles of knowledge which are not + transcendental also. God knows and wills truth, because he is + truth. Robert Browning, A Soul's Tragedy, 214--"Were't not for God, + I mean, what hope of truth--Speaking truth, hearing truth--would + stay with Man?" God's will does not make truth, but truth rather + makes God's will. God's perfect knowledge in eternity past has an + object. That object must be himself. He is the truth Known, as + well as the truthful Knower. But a perfect objective must be + personal. The doctrine of the Trinity is the necessary complement + to the doctrine of the Attributes. Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:183--"The + pillar of cloud becomes a pillar of fire." See A. H. Strong, + Christ in Creation, 102-112. + + On the question whether it is ever right to deceive, see Paine, + Ethnic Trinities, 300-339. Plato said that the use of such + medicines should be restricted to physicians. The rulers of the + state may lie for the public good, but private people not: + "officiosum mendacium." It is better to say that deception is + justifiable only where the person deceived has, like a wild beast + or a criminal or an enemy in war, put himself out of human society + and deprived himself of the right to truth. Even then deception is + a sad necessity which witnesses to an abnormal condition of human + affairs. With James Martineau, when asked what answer he would + give to an intending murderer when truth would mean death, we may + say: "I suppose I should tell an untruth, and then should be sorry + for it forever after." On truth as an attribute of God, see Bib. + Sac., Oct. 1877:735; Finney, Syst. Theol., 661; Janet, Final + Causes, 416. + + +2. Love. + + +By love we mean that attribute of the divine nature in virtue of which God +is eternally moved to self-communication. + +_1 John 4:8--_"God is love"; _3:16--_"hereby know we love, because he laid +down his life for us"; _John 17:24--_"thou lovedst me before the foundation +of the world"; _Rom. 15:30--_"the love of the Spirit." + +In further explanation we remark: + +A. Negatively: + +(_a_) The immanent love of God is not to be confounded with mercy and +goodness toward creatures. These are its manifestations, and are to be +denominated transitive love. + + + Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, 1:138, 139--"God's regard for + the happiness of his creatures flows from this self-communicating + attribute of his nature. Love, in the true sense of the word, is + living good-will, with impulses to impartation and union; + self-communication (bonum communicativum sui); devotion, merging + of the _ego_ in another, in order to penetrate, fill, bless this + other with itself, and in this other, as in another self, to + possess itself, without giving up itself or losing itself. Love is + therefore possible only between persons, and always presupposes + personality. Only as Trinity has God love, absolute love; because + as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost he stands in perfect + self-impartation, self-devotion, and communion with himself." + Julius Mueller, Doct. Sin, 2:136--"God has in himself the eternal + and wholly adequate object of his love, independently of his + relation to the world." + + In the Greek mythology, Eros was one of the oldest and yet one of + the youngest of the gods. So Dante makes the oldest angel to be + the youngest, because nearest to God the fountain of life. In _1 + John 2:7, 8, _"the old commandment" of love is evermore "_a new + commandment_," because it reflects this eternal attribute of God. + "There is a love unstained by selfishness, Th' outpouring tide of + self-abandonment, That loves to love, and deems its preciousness + Repaid in loving, though no sentiment Of love returned reward its + sacrament; Nor stays to question what the loved one will, But + hymns its overture with blessings immanent; Rapt and sublimed by + love's exalting thrill, Loves on, through frown or smile, divine, + immortal still." Clara Elizabeth Ward: "If I could gather every + look of love, That ever any human creature wore, And all the looks + that joy is mother of, All looks of grief that mortals ever bore, + And mingle all with God-begotten grace, Methinks that I should see + the Savior's face." + + +(_b_) Love is not the all-inclusive ethical attribute of God. It does not +include truth, nor does it include holiness. + + + Ladd, Philosophy of Conduct, 352, very properly denies that + benevolence is the all-inclusive virtue. Justness and Truth, he + remarks, are not reducible to benevolence. In a review of Ladd's + work in Bib. Sac., Jan. 1903:185, C. M. Mead adds: "He comes to + the conclusion that it is impossible to resolve all the virtues + into the generic one of love or benevolence without either giving + a definition of benevolence which is unwarranted and virtually + nullifies the end aimed at, or failing to recognize certain + virtues which are as genuinely virtues as benevolence itself. + Particularly is it argued that the virtues of the will (courage, + constancy, temperance), and the virtues of judgment (wisdom, + justness, trueness), get no recognition in this attempt to subsume + all virtues under the one virtue of love. 'The unity of the + virtues is due to the unity of a personality, in active and varied + relations with other persons' (361). If benevolence means wishing + _happiness_ to all men, then happiness is made the ultimate good, + and eudaemonism is accepted as the true ethical philosophy. But if, + on the other hand, in order to avoid this conclusion, benevolence + is made to mean wishing the highest _welfare_ to all men, and the + highest welfare is conceived as a life of virtue, then we come to + the rather inane conclusion that the essence of virtue is to wish + that men may be virtuous." See also art. by Vos, in Presb. and + Ref. Rev., Jan. 1892:1-37. + + +(_c_) Nor is God's love a mere regard for being in general, irrespective +of its moral quality. + + + Jonathan Edwards, in his treatise On the Nature of Virtue, defines + virtue as regard for being in general. He considers that God's + love is first of all directed toward himself as having the + greatest quantity of being, and only secondarily directed toward + his creatures whose quantity of being is infinitesimal as compared + with his. But we reply that being in general is far too abstract a + thing to elicit or justify love. Charles Hodge said truly that, if + obligation is primarily due to being in general, then there is no + more virtue in loving God than there is in loving Satan. Virtue, + we hold, must consist, not in love for being in general, but in + love for good being, that is, in love for God as holy. Love has no + moral value except as it is placed upon a right object and is + proportioned to the worth of that object. "Love of being in + general" makes virtue an irrational thing, because it has no + standard of conduct. Virtue is rather the love of God as right and + as the source of right. + + G. S. Lee, The Shadow-cross, 38--"God is love, and law is the way + he loves us. But it is also true that God is law, and love is the + way he rules us." Clarke, Christian Theology, 88--"Love is God's + desire to impart himself, and so all good, to other persons, and + to possess them for his own spiritual fellowship." The intent to + communicate himself is the intent to communicate holiness, and + this is the "terminus ad quem" of God's administration. Drummond, + in his Ascent of Man, shows that Love began with the first cell of + life. Evolution is not a tale of battle, but a love-story. We + gradually pass from selfism to otherism. Evolution is the object + of nature, and altruism is the object of evolution. Man = + nutrition, looking to his own things; Woman = reproduction, + looking to the things of others. But the greatest of these is + love. The mammalia = the mothers, last and highest, care for + others. As the mother gives love, so the father gives + righteousness. Law, once a latent thing, now becomes active. The + father makes a sort of conscience for those beneath him. Nature, + like Raphael, is producing a Holy Family. + + Jacob Boehme: "Throw open and throw out thy heart. For unless thou + dost exercise thy heart, and the love of thy heart, upon every man + in the world, thy self-love, thy pride, thy envy, thy distaste, + thy dislike, will still have dominion over thee.... In the name + and in the strength of God, love all men. Love thy neighbor as + thyself, and do to thy neighbor as thou doest to thyself. And do + it now. For now is the accepted time, and now is the day of + salvation." These expressions are scriptural and valuable, if they + are interpreted ethically, and are understood to inculcate the + supreme duty of loving the Holy One, of being holy as he is holy, + and of seeking to bring all intelligent beings into conformity + with his holiness. + + +(_d_) God's love is not a merely emotional affection, proceeding from +sense or impulse, nor is it prompted by utilitarian considerations. + + + Of the two words for love in the N. T., {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~} designates an + emotional affection, which is not and cannot be commanded (_John + 11:36--_"Behold how he loved him!"), while {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~} expresses a + rational and benevolent affection which springs from deliberate + choice (_John 3:16--_"God so loved the world"; _Mat. 19:19--_"Thou + shall love thy neighbor as thyself"; _5:44--_"Love your enemies"). + Thayer, N. T. Lex., 653--{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} "properly denotes a love founded in + admiration, veneration, esteem, like the Lat. _diligere_, to be + kindly disposed to one, to wish one well; but {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}i{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} denotes an + inclination prompted by sense and emotion, Lat. _amare_.... Hence + men are said {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} God, not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}i{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}." In this word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, when + used of God, it is already implied that God loves, not for what he + can get, but for what he can give. The rationality of his love + involves moreover a subordination of the emotional element to a + higher law than itself, namely, that of holiness. Even God's + self-love must have a reason and norm in the perfections of his + own being. + + +B. Positively: + +(_a_) The immanent love of God is a rational and voluntary affection, +grounded in perfect reason and deliberate choice. + + + Ritschl, Justification and Reconciliation, 3:277--"Love is will, + aiming either at the appropriation of an object, or at the + enrichment of its existence, because moved by a feeling of its + worth.... Love is to persons; it is a constant will; it aims at + the promotion of the other's personal end, whether known or + conjectured; it takes up the other's personal end and makes it + part of his own. Will, as love, does not give itself up for the + other's sake; it aims at closest fellowship with the other for a + common end." A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 388-405--"Love is + not rightfully independent of the other faculties, but is subject + to regulation and control.... We sometimes say that religion + consists in love.... It would be more strictly true to say that + religion consists in a new direction of our love, a turning of the + current toward God which once flowed toward self.... Christianity + rectifies the affections, before excessive, impulsive, + lawless,--gives them worthy and immortal objects, regulates their + intensity in some due proportion to the value of the things they + rest upon, and teaches the true methods of their manifestation. In + true religion love forms a copartnership with reason.... God's + love is no arbitrary, wild, passionate torrent of emotion ... and + we become like God by bringing our emotions, sympathies, + affections, under the dominion of reason and conscience." + + +(_b_) Since God's love is rational, it involves a subordination of the +_emotional_ element to a higher law than itself, namely, that of truth and +holiness. + +_Phil. 1:9--_"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more +in knowledge and all discernment." True love among men illustrates God's +love. It merges self in another instead of making that other an appendage +to self. It seeks the other's true good, not merely his present enjoyment +or advantage. Its aim is to realize the divine idea in that other, and +therefore it is exercised for God's sake and in the strength which God +supplies. Hence it is a love for holiness, and is under law to holiness. +So God's love takes into account the highest interests, and makes infinite +sacrifice to secure them. For the sake of saving a world of sinners, God +"spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all"_ (Rom. 8:32)_, +and "Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all"_ (Is. 53:6)_. Love +requires a rule or standard for its regulation. This rule or standard is +the holiness of God. So once more we see that love cannot include +holiness, because it is subject to the law of holiness. Love desires only +the best for its object, and the best is _God_. The golden rule does not +bid us give what others desire, but what they need: _Rom. 15:2--_"Let each +one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, unto edifying." + +(_c_) The immanent love of God therefore requires and finds a perfect +standard in his own holiness, and a personal object in the image of his +own infinite perfections. It is to be understood only in the light of the +doctrine of the Trinity. + + + As there is a higher Mind than our mind, so there is a greater + Heart than our heart. God is not simply the loving One--he is also + the Love that is loved. There is an infinite life of sensibility + and affection in God. God has feeling, and in an infinite degree. + But feeling alone is not love. Love implies not merely receiving + but giving, not merely emotion but impartation. So the love of God + is shown in his eternal giving. _James 1:5--_"God, who giveth," or + "the giving God" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}) = giving is not an episode in + his being--it is his nature to give. And not only to _give_, but to + give _himself_. This he does eternally in the self-communications + of the Trinity; this he does transitively and temporally in his + giving of himself for us in Christ, and to us in the Holy Spirit. + + Jonathan Edwards, Essay on Trinity (ed. G. P. Fisher), 79--"That in + John God is love shows that there are more persons than one in the + Deity, for it shows love to be essential and necessary to the + Deity, so that his nature consists in it, and this supposes that + there is an eternal and necessary object, because all love + respects another that is the beloved. By love here the apostle + certainly means something beside that which is commonly called + self-love: that is very improperly called love, and is a thing of + an exceeding diverse nature from the affection or virtue of love + the apostle is speaking of." When Newman Smyth, Christian Ethics, + 226-239, makes the first characteristic of love to be + self-affirmation, and when Dorner, Christian Ethics, 73, makes + self-assertion an essential part of love, they violate linguistic + usage by including under love what properly belongs to holiness. + + +(_d_) The immanent love of God constitutes a ground of the divine +blessedness. Since there is an infinite and perfect object of love, as +well as of knowledge and will, in God's own nature, the existence of the +universe is not necessary to his serenity and joy. + + + Blessedness is not itself a divine attribute; it is rather a + result of the exercise of the divine attributes. It is a + subjective result of this exercise, as glory is an objective + result. Perfect faculties, with perfect objects for their + exercise, ensure God's blessedness. But love is especially its + source. _Acts 20:35--_"It is more blessed to give than to receive." + Happiness (hap, happen) is grounded in circumstances; blessedness, + in character. Love precedes creation and is the ground of + creation. Its object therefore cannot be the universe, for that + does not exist, and, if it did exist, could not be a proper object + of love for the infinite God. The only sufficient object of his + love is the image of his own perfections, for that alone is equal + to himself. Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 264--"Man most truly realizes + his own nature, when he is ruled by rational, self-forgetful love. + He cannot help inferring that the highest thing in the individual + consciousness is the dominant thing in the universe at large." + Here we may assent, if we remember that not the love itself but + that which is loved must be the dominant thing, and we shall see + that to be not love but holiness. + + Jones, Robert Browning, 219--"Love is for Browning the highest, + richest conception man can form. It is our idea of that which is + perfect; we cannot even imagine anything better. And the idea of + evolution necessarily explains the world as the return of the + highest to itself. The universe is homeward bound.... All things + are potentially spirit, and all the phenomena of the world are + manifestations of love.... Man's reason is not, but man's love is, + a direct emanation from the inmost being of God" (345). Browning + should have applied to truth and holiness the same principle which + he recognized with regard to love. But we gratefully accept his + dicta: "He that created love, shall not he love?... God! thou art + Love! I build my faith on that." + + +(_e_) The love of God involves also the possibility of divine suffering, +and the suffering on account of sin which holiness necessitates on the +part of God is itself the atonement. + + + Christ is "the Lamb that hath been slain from the foundation of + the world"_ (Rev. 13:8);_ _1 Pet. 1:19, 20--_"precious blood, as of + a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ: + who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world." + While holiness requires atonement, love provides it. The + blessedness of God is consistent with sorrow for human misery and + sin. God is passible, or capable of suffering. The permission of + moral evil in the decree of creation was at cost to God. Scripture + attributes to him emotions of grief and anger at human sin (_Gen. + 6:6--_"it grieved him at his heart"; _Rom. 1:18--_"wrath of God"; + _Eph. 4:30--_"grieve not the Holy Spirit of God"); painful + sacrifice in the gift of Christ (_Rom. 8:32--_"spared not his own + son"; _cf._ _Gen. 22:16--_"hast not withheld thy son") and + participation in the suffering of his people (_Is. 63:9--_"in all + their affliction he was afflicted"); Jesus Christ in his sorrow + and sympathy, his tears and agony, is the revealer of God's + feelings toward the race, and we are urged to follow in his steps, + that we may be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. We + cannot, indeed, conceive of love without self-sacrifice, nor of + self-sacrifice without suffering. It would seem, then, that as + immutability is consistent with imperative volitions in human + history, so the blessedness of God may be consistent with emotions + of sorrow. + + But does God feel in proportion to his greatness, as the mother + suffers more than the sick child whom she tends? Does God suffer + infinitely in every suffering of his creatures? We must remember + that God is infinitely greater than his creation, and that he sees + all human sin and woe as part of his great plan. We are entitled + to attribute to him only such passibleness as is consistent with + infinite perfection. In combining passibleness with blessedness, + then, we must allow blessedness to be the controlling element, for + our fundamental idea of God is that of absolute perfection. + Martensen, Dogmatics, 101--"This limitation is swallowed up in the + inner life of perfection which God lives, in total independence of + his creation, and in triumphant prospect of the fulfilment of his + great designs. We may therefore say with the old theosophic + writers: 'In the outer chambers is sadness, but in the inner ones + is unmixed joy.' " Christ was "_anointed ... with the oil of + gladness above his fellows,_" and "for the joy that was set before + him endured the cross"_ (Heb. 1:9; 12:2)_. Love rejoices even in + pain, when this brings good to those beloved. "Though round its + base the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on + its head." + + In George Adam Smith's Life of Henry Drummond, 11, Drummond cries + out after hearing the confessions of men who came to him: "I am + sick of the sins of these men! How can God bear it?" Simon, + Reconciliation, 338-343, shows that before the incarnation, the + Logos was a sufferer from the sins of men. This suffering however + was kept in check and counterbalanced by his consciousness as a + factor in the Godhead, and by the clear knowledge that men were + themselves the causes of this suffering. After he became incarnate + he suffered without knowing whence all the suffering came. He had + a subconscious life into which were interwoven elements due to the + sinful conduct of the race whose energy was drawn from himself and + with which in addition he had organically united himself. If this + is limitation, it is also self-limitation which Christ could have + avoided by not creating, preserving, and redeeming mankind. We + rejoice in giving away a daughter in marriage, even though it + costs pain. The highest blessedness in the Christian is coincident + with agony for the souls of others. We partake of Christ's joy + only when we know the fellowship of his sufferings. Joy and sorrow + can coexist, like Greek fire, that burns under water. + + Abbe Gratry, La Morale et la Loi de l'Histoire, 165, 166--"What! Do + you really suppose that the personal God, free and intelligent, + loving and good, who knows every detail of human torture, and + hears every sigh--this God who sees, who loves as we do, and more + than we do--do you believe that he is present and looks pitilessly + on what breaks your heart, and what to him must be the spectacle + of Satan reveling in the blood of humanity? History teaches us + that men so feel for sufferers that they have been drawn to die + with them, so that their own executioners have become the next + martyrs. And yet you represent God, the absolute goodness, as + alone impassible? It is here that our evangelical faith comes in. + Our God was made man to suffer and to die! Yes, here is the true + God. He has suffered from the beginning in all who have suffered. + He has been hungry in all who have hungered. He has been immolated + in all and with all who have offered up their lives. He is the + Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Similarly Alexander + Vinet, Vital Christianity, 240, remarks that "The suffering God is + not simply the teaching of modern divines. It is a New Testament + thought, and it is one that answers all the doubts that arise at + the sight of human suffering. To know that God is suffering with + it makes that suffering more awful, but it gives strength and life + and hope, for we know that, if God is in it, suffering is the road + to victory. If he shares our suffering we shall share his crown," + and we can say with the _Psalmist, 68:19--_"Blessed be God, who + daily beareth our burden, even the God who is our salvation," and + with _Isaiah 63:9--_"In all their affliction he was afflicted, and + the angel of his presence saved them." + + Borden P. Bowne, Atonement: "Something like this work of grace was + a moral necessity with God. It was an awful responsibility that + was taken when our human race was launched with its fearful + possibilities of good and evil. God thereby put himself under + infinite obligation to care for his human family; and reflections + on his position as Creator and Ruler, instead of removing, only + make more manifest this obligation. So long as we conceive God as + sitting apart in supreme ease and self-satisfaction, he is not + _love_ at all, but only a reflection of our selfishness and + vulgarity. So long as we conceive him as bestowing blessing upon + us out of his infinite fulness, but at no real cost to himself, he + sinks below the moral heroes of our race. There is ever a higher + thought possible, until we see God taking the world upon his + heart, entering into the fellowship of our sorrow, and becoming + the supreme burden bearer and leader in self-sacrifice. Then only + are the possibilities of grace and condescension and love and + moral heroism filled up, so that nothing higher remains. And the + work of Christ, so far as it was a historical event, must be + viewed not merely as a piece of history, but also as a + manifestation of that cross which was hidden in the divine love + from the foundation of the world, and which is involved in the + existence of the human world at all." + + Royce, Spirit of Modern Philosophy, 264--"The eternal resolution + that, if the world _will_ be tragic, it _shall_ still, in Satan's + despite, be spiritual, is the very essence of the eternal joy of + that World-Spirit of whose wisdom ours is but a fragmentary + reflection.... When you suffer, your sufferings are God's + sufferings,--not his external work nor his external penalty, nor + the fruit of his neglect, but identically his own personal woe. In + you God himself suffers, precisely as you do, and has all your + reason for overcoming this grief." Henry N. Dodge, Christus + Victor: "O Thou, that from eternity Upon thy wounded heart hast + borne Each pang and cry of misery Wherewith our human hearts are + torn, Thy love upon the grievous cross Doth glow, the beacon-light + of time, Forever sharing pain and loss With every man in every + clime. How vast, how vast Thy sacrifice, As ages come and ages go, + Still waiting till it shall suffice To draw the last cold heart + and slow!" + + On the question, Is God passible? see Bennett Tyler, Sufferings of + Christ; A Layman, Sufferings of Christ; Woods, Works, 1:299-317; + Bib. Sac., 11:744; 17:422-424; Emmons, Works, 4:201-208; + Fairbairn, Place of Christ, 483-487; Bushnell, Vic. Sacrifice, + 59-93; Kedney, Christ. Doctrine Harmonized, 1:185-245; Edward + Beecher, Concord of Ages, 81-204; Young, Life and Light of Men, + 20-43, 147-150; Schaff, Hist. Christ. Church, 2:191; Crawford, + Fatherhood of God, 43, 44; Anselm, Proslogion, cap. 8; Upton, + Hibbert Lectures, 268; John Caird, Fund. Ideas of Christianity, + 2:117, 118, 137-142. _Per __ contra_, see Shedd, Essays and + Addresses, 277, 279 note; Woods, in Lit. and Theol. Rev., + 1834:43-61; Harris, God the Creator and Lord of All, 1:201. On the + Biblical conception of Love in general, see article by James Orr, + in Hastings' Bible Dictionary. + + +3. Holiness. + + +Holiness is self-affirming purity. In virtue of this attribute of his +nature, God eternally wills and maintains his own moral excellence. In +this definition are contained three elements: first, purity; secondly, +purity willing; thirdly, purity willing itself. + + + _Ex. 15:11--_"glorious in holiness"; _19:10-16_--the people of + Israel must purify themselves before they come into the presence + of God; _Is. 6:3--_"Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts"--notice + the contrast with the unclean lips, that must be purged with a + coal from the altar (_verses 5-7_); _2 Cor, 7:1--_"cleanse + ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting + holiness in the fear of God"; _1 Thess. 3:13--_"unblamable in + holiness"; _4:7--_"God called us not for uncleanness, but in + sanctification"; _Heb. 12:29--_"our God is a consuming fire"--to all + iniquity. These passages show that holiness is the opposite to + impurity, that it is itself purity. The development of the + conception of holiness in Hebrew history was doubtless a gradual + one. At first it may have included little more than the idea of + separation from all that is common, small and mean. Physical + cleanliness and hatred of moral evil were additional elements + which in time became dominant. We must remember however that the + proper meaning of a term is to be determined not by the earliest + but by the latest usage. Human nature is ethical from the start, + and seeks to express the thought of a rule or standard of + obligation, and of a righteous Being who imposes that rule or + standard. With the very first conceptions of majesty and + separation which attach to the apprehension of divinity in the + childhood of the race there mingles at least some sense of the + contrast between God's purity and human sin. The least developed + man has a conscience which condemns some forms of wrong doing, and + causes a feeling of separation from the power or powers above. + Physical defilement becomes the natural symbol of moral evil. + Places and vessels and rites are invested with dignity as + associated with or consecrated to the Deity. + + That the conception of holiness clears itself of extraneous and + unessential elements only gradually, and receives its full + expression only in the New Testament revelation and especially in + the life and work of Christ, should not blind us to the fact that + the germs of the idea lie far back in the very beginnings of man's + existence upon earth. Even then the sense of wrong within had for + its correlate a dimly recognized righteousness without. So soon as + man knows himself as a sinner he knows something of the holiness + of that God whom he has offended. We must take exception therefore + to the remark of Schurman, Belief in God, 231--"The first gods were + probably non-moral beings," for Schurman himself had just said: "A + God without moral character is no God at all." Dillmann, in his O. + T. Theology, very properly makes the fundamental thought of O. T. + religion, not the unity or the majesty of God, but his holiness. + This alone forms the ethical basis for freedom and law. E. G. + Robinson, Christian Theology--"The one aim of Christianity is + personal holiness. But personal holiness will be the one absorbing + and attainable aim of man, only as he recognizes it to be the one + preeminent attribute of God. Hence everything divine is holy--the + temple, the Scriptures, the Spirit." See articles on Holiness in + O. T., by J. Skinner, and on Holiness in N. T., by G. B. Stevens, + in Hastings' Bible Dictionary. + + The development of the idea of holiness as well as the idea of + love was prepared for before the advent of man. A. H. Strong, + Education and Optimism: "There was a time when the past history of + life upon the planet seemed one of heartless and cruel slaughter. + The survival of the fittest had for its obverse side the + destruction of myriads. Nature was 'red in tooth and claw with + ravine.' But further thought has shown that this gloomy view + results from a partial induction of facts. Paleontological life + was marked not only by a struggle for life, but by a struggle for + the life of others. The beginnings of altruism are to be seen in + the instinct of reproduction, and in the care of offspring. In + every lion's den and tiger's lair, in every mother eagle's feeding + of her young, there is a self-sacrifice which faintly shadows + forth man's subordination of personal interests to the interests + of others. But in the ages before man can be found incipient + justice as well as incipient love. The struggle for one's own life + has its moral side as well as the struggle for the life of others. + The instinct of self-preservation is the beginning of right, + righteousness, justice, and law, on earth. Every creature owes it + to God to preserve its own being. So we can find an adumbration of + morality even in the predatory and internecine warfare of the + geologic ages. The immanent God was even then preparing the way + for the rights, the dignity, the freedom of humanity." And, we may + add, was preparing the way for the understanding by men of his own + fundamental attribute of holiness. See Henry Drummond, Ascent of + Man; Griffith-Jones, Ascent through Christ. + + +In further explanation we remark: + +A. Negatively, that holiness is not + +(_a_) Justice, or purity demanding purity from creatures. Justice, the +relative or transitive attribute, is indeed the manifestation and +expression of the immanent attribute of holiness, but it is not to be +confounded with it. + + + Quenstedt, Theol., 8:1:34, defines holiness as "summa omnisque + labis expers to Deo puritas, puritatem debitam exigens a + creaturis"--a definition of transitive holiness, or justice, rather + than of the immanent attribute. _Is. 5:16--_"Jehovah of hosts is + exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in + righteousness"--Justice is simply God's holiness in its judicial + activity. Though holiness is commonly a term of separation and + expresses the inherent opposition of God to all that is sinful, it + is also used as a term of union, as in _Lev. 11:44--_"be ye holy; + for I am holy." When Jesus turned from the young ruler (_Mark + 10:23_) he illustrated the first; _John 8:29_ illustrates the + second: "he that sent me is with me." Lowrie, Doctrine of St. + John, 51-57--"'God is light'_ (1 John 1:5)_ indicates the character + of God, moral purity as revealed, as producing joy and life, as + contrasted with doing ill, walking in darkness, being in a state + of perdition." + + Universal human conscience is itself a revelation of the holiness + of God, and the joining everywhere of suffering with sin is the + revelation of God's justice. The wrath, anger, jealousy of God + show that this reaction of God's nature is necessary. God's nature + is itself holy, just, and good. Holiness is not replaced by love, + as Ritschl holds, since there is no self-impartation without + self-affirmation. Holiness not simply _demands_ in law, but + _imparts_ in the Holy Spirit; see Pfleiderer, Grundriss, + 79--_versus_ Ritschl's doctrine that holiness is God's exaltation, + and that it includes love; see also Pfleiderer, Die Ritschlische + Theologie, 53-63. Santayana, Sense of Beauty, 69--"If perfection is + the ultimate justification of being, we may understand the ground + of the moral dignity of beauty. Beauty is a pledge of the possible + conformity between the soul and nature, and consequently a ground + of faith in the supremacy of the good." We would regard nature + however as merely the symbol and expression of God, and so would + regard beauty as a ground of faith in his supremacy. What + Santayana says of beauty is even more true of holiness. Wherever + we see it, we recognize in it a pledge of the possible conformity + between the soul and God, and consequently a ground of faith in + the supremacy of God. + + +(_b_) Holiness is not a complex term designating the aggregate of the +divine perfections. On the other hand, the notion of holiness is, both in +Scripture and in Christian experience, perfectly simple, and perfectly +distinct from that of other attributes. + + + Dick, Theol., 1:275--Holiness = venerableness, _i. e._, "no + particular attribute, but the general character of God as + resulting from his moral attributes." Wardlaw calls holiness the + union of all the attributes, as pure white light is the union of + all the colored rays of the spectrum (Theology, 1:618-634). So + Nitzsch, System of Christ. Doct., 166; H. W. Beecher: "Holiness = + wholeness." Approaching this conception is the definition of W. N. + Clarke, Christian Theology, 83--"Holiness is the glorious fulness + of the goodness of God, consistently held as the principle of his + own action, and the standard for his creatures." This implies, + according to Dr. Clarke, 1. An inward character of perfect + goodness; 2. That character as the consistent principle of his own + action; 3. The goodness which is the principle of his own action + is also the standard for theirs. In other words, holiness is 1. + character; 2. self-consistency; 3. requirement. We object to this + definition that it fails to define. We are not told what is + essential to this character; the definition includes in holiness + that which properly belongs to love; it omits all mention of the + most important elements in holiness, namely purity and right. + + A similar lack of clear definition appears in the statement of + Mark Hopkins, Law of Love, 105--"It is this double aspect of love, + revealing the whole moral nature, and turning every way like the + flaming sword that kept the way of the tree of life, that is + termed holiness." As has been shown above, holiness is contrasted + in Scripture, not with mere finiteness or littleness or misfortune + or poverty or even unreality, but only with uncleanness and + sinfulness. E. G. Robinson, Christ. Theology, 80--"Holiness in man + is the image of God's. But it is clear that holiness in man is not + in proportion to the other perfections of his being--to his power, + his knowledge, his wisdom, though it is in proportion to his + rectitude of will--and therefore cannot be the sum of all + perfections.... To identify holiness with the sum of all + perfections is to make it mean mere completeness of character." + + +(_c_) Holiness is not God's self-love, in the sense of supreme regard for +his own interest and happiness. There is no utilitarian element in +holiness. + + + Buddeus, Theol. Dogmat., 2:1:36, defines holiness as God's + self-love. But God loves and affirms self, not as self, but as the + holiest. There is no self-seeking in God. Not the seeking of God's + interests, but love for God as holy, is the principle and source + of holiness in man. To call holiness God's self-love is to say + that God is holy because of what he can make by it, _i. e._, to + deny that holiness has any independent existence. See Thomasius, + Christi Person und Werk, 1:155. + + We would not deny, but would rather maintain, that there is a + proper self-love which is not selfishness. This proper self-love, + however, is not love at all. It is rather self-respect, + self-preservation, self-vindication, and it constitutes an + important characteristic of holiness. But to define holiness as + merely God's love for himself, is to leave out of the definition + the reason for this love in the purity and righteousness of the + divine nature. God's self-respect implies that God respects + himself for something in his own being. What is that something? Is + holiness God's "moral excellence" (Hopkins), or God's "perfect + goodness" (Clarke)? But what is this moral excellence or perfect + goodness? We have here the method and the end described, but not + the motive and ground. God does not love himself for his love, but + he loves himself for his holiness. Those who maintain that love is + self-affirming as well as self-communicating, and therefore that + holiness is God's love for himself, must still admit that this + self-affirming love which is holiness conditions and furnishes the + standard for the self-communicating love which is benevolence. + + G. B. Stevens, Johannine Theology, 364, tells us that "God's + righteousness is the self-respect of perfect love." Miller, + Evolution of Love, 53--"Self-love is that kind of action which in a + perfect being actualizes, in a finite being seeks to actualize, a + perfect or ideal self." In other words, love is self-affirmation. + But we object that self-love is not _love_ at all, because there + is in it no self-communicating. If holiness is in any sense a form + or manifestation of love--a question which we have yet to + consider--it is certainly not a unitarian and utilitarian + self-love, which would be identical with selfishness, but rather + an affection which implies trinitarian otherness and the + maintenance of self as an ideal object. This appears to be the + meaning of Jonathan Edwards, in his Essay on the Trinity (ed. + Fisher), 79--"All love respects another that is the beloved. By + love the apostle certainly means something beside that which is + commonly called self-love: that is very improperly called love, + and is a thing of an exceeding diverse nature from the affection + or virtue of love the apostle is speaking of." Yet we shall see + that while Jonathan Edwards denies holiness to be a unitarian and + utilitarian self-love, he regards its very essence to be God's + trinitarian love for himself as a being of perfect moral + excellence. + + Ritschl's lack of trinitarian conviction makes it impossible for + him to furnish any proper ground for either love or holiness in + the nature of God. Ritschl holds that Christ as a person is an end + in himself; he realized his own ideal; he developed his own + personality; he reached his own perfection in his work for man; he + is not merely a means toward the end of man's salvation. But when + Ritschl comes to his doctrine of God, he is strangely inconsistent + with all this, for he fails to represent God as having any end in + himself, and deals with him simply as a means toward the kingdom + of God as an end. Garvie, Ritschlian Theology, 256, 278, 279, well + points out that personality means self-possession as well as + self-communication, distinction from others as well as union with + others. Ritschl does not see that God's love is primarily directed + towards his Son, and only secondarily directed toward the + Christian community. So he ignores the immanent Trinity. Before + self-communication there must be self-maintenance. Otherwise God + gives up his independence and makes created existence necessary. + + +(_d_) Holiness is not identical with, or a manifestation of, love. Since +self-maintenance must precede self-impartation, and since benevolence has +its object, motive, standard and limit in righteousness, holiness the +self-affirming attribute can in no way be resolved into love the +self-communicating. + + + That holiness is a form of love is the doctrine of Jonathan + Edwards, Essay on the Trinity (ed. Fisher), 97--"'Tis in God's + infinite love to himself that his holiness consists. As all + creature holiness is to be resolved into love, as the Scripture + teaches us, so doth the holiness of God himself consist in + infinite love to himself. God's holiness is the infinite beauty + and excellence of his nature, and God's excellency consists in his + love to himself." In his treatise on The Nature of Virtue, + Jonathan Edwards defines virtue as regard for being in general. He + considers that God's love is first of all directed toward himself + as having the greatest quantity of being, and only secondarily + directed towards his creatures whose quantity of being is + infinitesimal as compared with his. God therefore finds his chief + end in himself, and God's self-love is his holiness. This + principle has permeated and dominated subsequent New England + theology, from Samuel Hopkins, Works, 2:9-66, who maintains that + holiness = love of being in general, to Horace Bushnell, Vicarious + Sacrifice, who declares: "Righteousness, transferred into a word + of the affections, is love; and love, translated back into a word + of the conscience, is righteousness; the eternal law of right is + only another conception of the law of love; the two principles, + right and love, appear exactly to measure each other." So Park, + Discourses, 155-180. + + Similar doctrine is taught by Dorner, Christian Ethics, 73, 93, + 184--"Love unites existence for self with existence for others, + self-assertion and self-impartation.... Self-love in God is not + selfishness, because he is the original and necessary seat of good + in general, universal good. God guards his honor even in giving + himself to others.... Love is the power and desire to be one's + self while in another, and while one's self to be in another who + is taken into the heart as an end.... I am to love my neighbor + only as myself.... Virtue however requires not only good will, but + the willing of the right thing." So Newman Smyth, Christian + Ethics, 226-239, holds that 1. Love is self-affirmation. Hence he + maintains that holiness or self-respect is involved in love. + Righteousness is not an independent excellence to be contrasted + with or put in opposition to benevolence; it is an essential part + of love. 2. Love is self-impartation. The only limit is ethical. + Here is an ever deepening immanence, yet always some transcendence + of God, for God cannot deny himself. 3. Love is self-finding in + another. Vicariousness belongs to love. We reply to both Dorner + and Smyth that their acknowledgment that love has its condition, + limit, motive, object and standard, shows that there is a + principle higher than love, and which regulates love. This + principle is recognized as ethical. It is identical with the + right. God cannot deny himself because he is fundamentally the + right. This self-affirmation is holiness, and holiness cannot be a + part of love, or a form of love, because it conditions and + dominates love. To call it benevolence is to ignore its majestic + distinctness and to imperil its legitimate supremacy. + + God must first maintain his own being before he can give to + another, and this self-maintenance must have its reason and motive + in the worth of that which is maintained. Holiness cannot be love, + because love is irrational and capricious except as it has a + standard by which it is regulated, and this standard cannot be + itself love, but must be holiness. We agree with Clarke, Christian + Theology, 92, that "love is the desire to impart holiness." Love + is a means to holiness, and holiness is therefore the supreme good + and something higher than mere love. It is not true, _vice versa_, + that holiness is the desire to impart love, or that holiness is a + means to love. Instead then of saying, with Clarke, that "holiness + is central in God, but love is central in holiness," we should + prefer to say: "Love is central in God, but holiness is central in + love," though in this case we should use the term love as + including self-love. It is still better not to use the word love + at all as referring to God's regard for himself. In ordinary + usage, love means only regard for another and self-communication + to that other. To embrace in it God's self-affirmation is to + misinterpret holiness and to regard it as a means to an end, + instead of making it what it really is, the superior object, and + the regulative principle, of love. + + That which lays down the norm or standard for love must be the + superior of love. When we forget that "Righteousness and justice + are the foundation of his throne"_ (Ps. 97:2)_, we lose one of the + chief landmarks of Christian doctrine and involve ourselves in a + mist of error. _Rev. 4:3--_"there was a rainbow round about the + throne" = in the midst of the rainbow of pardon and peace there is + a throne of holiness and judgment. In _Mat. 6:9, 10, _"Thy kingdom + come" is not the first petition, but rather, "Hallowed be thy + name." It is a false idea of the divine simplicity which would + reduce the attributes to one. Self-assertion is not a form of + self-impartation. Not sentiency, a state of the sensibility, even + though it be the purest benevolence, is the fundamental thing, but + rather activity of will and a right direction of that will. Hodge, + Essays, 133-136, 262-273, shows well that holy love is a love + controlled by holiness. Holiness is not a mere means to happiness. + To be happy is not the ultimate reason for being holy. Right and + wrong are not matters of profit and loss. To be told that God is + only benevolence, and that he punishes only when the happiness of + the universe requires it, destroys our whole allegiance to God and + does violence to the constitution of our nature. + + That God is only love has been called "the doctrine of the + papahood of God." God is "a summer ocean of kindliness, never + agitated by storms" (Dale, Ephesians, 59). But Jesus gives us the + best idea of God, and in him we find, not only pity, but at times + moral indignation. _John 17:11--_"Holy Father" = more than love. + Love can be exercised by God only when it is right love. Holiness + is the track on which the engine of love must run. The track + cannot be the engine. If either includes the other, then it is + holiness that includes love, since holiness is the maintenance of + God's perfection, and perfection involves love. He that is holy + affirms himself also as the perfect love. If love were + fundamental, there would be nothing to give, and so love would be + vain and worthless. There can be no giving of self, without a + previous self-affirming. God is not holy because he loves, but he + loves because he is holy. Love cannot direct itself; it is under + bonds to holiness. Justice is not dependent on love for its right + to be. Stephen G. Barnes: "Mere good will is not the sole content + of the law; it is insufficient in times of fiery trial; it is + inadequate as a basis for retribution. Love needs justice, and + justice needs love; both are commanded in God's law and are + perfectly revealed in God's character." + + There may be a friction between a man's two hands, and there may + be a conflict between a man's conscience and his will, between his + intellect and his affection. Force is God's energy under + resistance, the resistance as well as the energy being his. So, + upon occasion of man's sin, holiness and love in God become + opposite poles or forces. The first and most serious effect of sin + is not its effect upon man, but its effect upon God. Holiness + necessarily requires suffering, and love endures it. This eternal + suffering of God on account of sin is the atonement, and the + incarnate Christ only shows what has been in the heart of God from + the beginning. To make holiness a form of love is really to deny + its existence, and with this to deny that any atonement is + necessary for man's salvation. If holiness is the same as love, + how is it that the classic world, that knew of God's holiness, did + not also know of his love? The ethics here reminds one of Abraham + Lincoln's meat broth that was made of the shadow of a pigeon that + died of starvation. Holiness that is only good will is not + holiness at all, for it lacks the essential elements of purity and + righteousness. + + At the railway switching grounds east of Rochester, there is a man + whose duty it is to move a bar of iron two or three inches to the + left or to the right. So he determines whether a train shall go + toward New York or toward Washington, toward New Orleans or San + Francisco. Our conclusion at this point in our theology will + similarly determine what our future system will be. The principle + that holiness is a manifestation of love, or a form of + benevolence, leads to the conclusions that happiness is the only + good, and the only end; that law is a mere expedient for the + securing of happiness; that penalty is simply deterrent or + reformatory in its aim; that no atonement needs to be offered to + God for human sin; that eternal retribution cannot be vindicated, + since there is no hope of reform. This view ignores the testimony + of conscience and of Scripture that sin is intrinsically + ill-deserving, and must be punished on that account, not because + punishment will work good to the universe,--indeed, it could not + work good to the universe, unless it were just and right in + itself. It ignores the fact that mercy is optional with God, while + holiness is invariable; that punishment is many times traced to + God's holiness, but never to God's love; that God is not simply + love but light--moral light--and therefore is "a consuming fire"_ + (Heb. 12:29)_ to all iniquity. Love chastens (_Heb. 12:6_), but + only holiness punishes (_Jer. 10:24--_"correct me, but in measure; + not in thine anger"; _Ez. 28:22--_"I shall have executed judgments + in her, and shall be sanctified in her"; _36:21, 22_--in judgment + "I do not this for your sake, but for my holy name"; _1 John + 1:5--_"God is light, and in him is no darkness"--moral darkness; + _Rev. 15:1, 4--_"the wrath of God ... thou only art holy ... thy + righteous acts have been made manifest"; _16:5--_"righteous art + thou ... because thou didst thus judge"; _19:2--_"true and + righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great + harlot"_)._ See Hovey, God with Us, 187-221; Philippi, + Glaubenslehre, 2:80-82; Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, 154, + 155, 346-353; Lange, Pos. Dogmatik, 203. + + +B. Positively, that holiness is + +(_a_) Purity of substance.--In God's moral nature, as necessarily acting, +there are indeed the two elements of willing and being. But the passive +logically precedes the active; being comes before willing; God _is_ pure +before he _wills_ purity. Since purity, however, in ordinary usage is a +negative term and means only freedom from stain or wrong, we must include +in it also the positive idea of moral rightness. God is holy in that he is +the source and standard of the right. + + + E. G. Robinson, Christian Theology, 80--"Holiness is moral purity, + not only in the sense of absence of all moral stain, but of + complacency in all moral good." Shedd, Dogm. Theology, + 1:362--"Holiness in God is conformity to his own perfect nature. + The only rule for the divine will is the divine reason; and the + divine reason prescribes everything that is befitting an infinite + Being to do. God is not under law, nor above law. He _is_ law. He + is righteous by nature and necessity.... God is the source and + author of law for all moral beings." We may better Shedd's + definition by saying that holiness is that attribute in virtue of + which God's being and God's will eternally conform to each other. + In thus maintaining that holy being logically precedes holy + willing, we differ from the view of Lotze, Philos. of Religion, + 139--"Such will of God no more follows from his nature as secondary + to it, or precedes it as primary to it than, in motion, direction + can be antecedent or subsequent to velocity." Bowne, Philos. of + Theism, 16--"God's nature = a fixed law of activity or mode of + manifestation.... But laws of thought are no limitation, because + they are simply modes of thought-activity. They do not _rule_ + intellect, but only express what intellect _is_." + + In spite of these utterances of Lotze and of Bowne, we must + maintain that, as truth of being logically precedes truth of + knowing, and as a loving nature precedes loving emotions, so + purity of substance precedes purity of will. The opposite doctrine + leads to such utterances as that of Whedon (On the Will, 316): + "God is holy, in that he freely chooses to make his own happiness + in eternal right. Whether he could not make himself equally happy + in wrong is more than we can say.... Infinite wisdom and infinite + holiness consist in, and result from, God's volitions eternally." + Whedon therefore believes, not in God's _unchangeableness_, but in + God's _unchangingness_. He cannot say whether motives may not at + some time prove strongest for divine apostasy to evil. The + essential holiness of God affords no basis for certainty. Here we + have to rely on our faith, more than on the object of faith; see + H. B. Smith, Review of Whedon, in Faith and Philosophy, 355-399. + As we said with regard to truth, so here we say with regard to + holiness, that to make holiness a matter of mere will, instead of + regarding it as a characteristic of God's being, is to deny that + anything is holy in itself. If God can make impurity to be purity, + then God in himself is indifferent to purity or impurity, and he + ceases therefore to be God. Robert Browning, A Soul's Tragedy, + 223--"I trust in God--the Right shall be the Right And other than + the Wrong, while He endures." P. S. Moxom: "Revelation is a + disclosure of the divine righteousness. We do not add to the + thought when we say that it is also a disclosure of the divine + love, for love is a manifestation or realization of that rightness + of relations which righteousness is." H. B. Smith, System, + 223-231--"Virtue = love for both happiness and holiness, yet + holiness as ultimate,--love to the highest Person and to his ends + and objects." + + +(_b_) Energy of will.--This purity is not simply a passive and dead +quality; it is the attribute of a personal being; it is penetrated and +pervaded by will. Holiness is the free moral movement of the Godhead. + + + As there is a higher Mind than our mind, and a greater Heart than + our heart, so there is a grander Will than our will. Holiness + contains this element of will, although it is a will which + expresses nature, instead of causing nature. It is not a still and + moveless purity, like the whiteness of the new-fallen snow, or the + stainless blue of the summer sky. It is the most tremendous of + energies, in unsleeping movement. It is "a glassy sea"_ (Rev. + 15:2)_, but "a glassy sea mingled with fire." A. J. Gordon: + "Holiness is not a dead-white purity, the perfection of the + faultless marble statue. Life, as well as purity, enters into the + idea of holiness. They who are 'without fault before the throne' + are they who 'follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth'--holy + activity attending and expressing their holy state." Martensen, + Christian Ethics, 62, 63--"God is the perfect unity of the + ethically necessary and the ethically free"; "God cannot do + otherwise than will his own essential nature." See Thomasius, + Christi Person und Werk, 141; and on the Holiness of Christ, see + Godet, Defence of the Christian Faith, 203-241. + + The centre of personality is will. Knowing has its end in feeling, + and feeling has its end in willing. Hence I must make feeling + subordinate to willing, and happiness to righteousness. I must + will with God and for God, and must use all my influence over + others to make them like God in holiness. William James, Will to + Believe, 123--"Mind must first get its impression from the object; + then define what that object is and what active measures its + presence demands; and finally react.... All faiths and + philosophies, moods and systems, subserve and pass into a third + stage, the stage of action." What is true of man is even more true + of God. All the wills of men combined, aye, even the whole moving + energy of humanity in all climes and ages, is as nothing compared + with the extent and intensity of God's willing. The whole momentum + of God's being is behind moral law. That law is his + self-expression. His beneficent yet also his terrible arm is ever + defending and enforcing it. God must maintain his holiness, for + this is his very Godhead. If he did not maintain it, love would + have nothing to give away, or to make others partakers of. + + Does God will the good because it is the good, or is the good good + because God wills it? In the former case, there would seem to be a + good above God; in the latter case, good is something arbitrary + and changeable. Kaftan, Dogmatik, 186, 187, says that neither of + these is true; he holds that there is no _a priori_ good before + the willing of it, and he also holds that will without direction + is not will; the good is good for God, not _before_, but _in_, his + self-determination. Dorner, System Doctrine, 1:432, holds on the + contrary that both these are true, because God has no mere simple + form of being, whether necessary or free, but rather a manifoldly + diverse being, absolutely correlated however, and reciprocally + conditioning itself,--that is, a trinitarian being, both necessary + and free. We side with Dorner here, and claim that the belief that + God's will is the executive of God's being is necessary to a + correct ethics and to a correct theology. Celsus justified + polytheism by holding that whatever is a part of God reveals God, + serves God, and therefore may rationally be worshiped. + Christianity he excepted from this wide toleration, because it + worshiped a jealous God who was not content to be one of many. But + this jealousy really signifies that God is a Being to whom moral + distinctions are real. The God of Celsus, the God of pantheism, is + not jealous, because he is not the Holy One, but simply the + Absolute. The category of the ethical is merged in the category of + being; see Bruce, Apologetics, 16. The great lack of modern + theology is precisely this ethical lack; holiness is merged in + benevolence; there is no proper recognition of God's + righteousness. _John 17:25--_"O righteous Father, the world knew + thee not"--is a text as true to-day as in Jesus' time. See Issel, + Begriff der Heiligkeit in N. T., 41, 84, who defines holiness in + God as "the ethical perfection of God in its exaltation above all + that is sinful," and holiness in men as "the condition + corresponding to that of God, in which man keeps himself pure from + sin." + + +(_c_) Self-affirmation.--Holiness is God's self-willing. His own purity is +the supreme object of his regard and maintenance. God is holy, in that his +infinite moral excellence affirms and asserts itself as the highest +possible motive and end. Like truth and love, this attribute can be +understood only in the light of the doctrine of the Trinity. + + + Holiness is purity willing itself. We have an analogy in man's + duty of self-preservation, self-respect, self-assertion. Virtue is + bound to maintain and defend itself, as in the case of Job. In his + best moments, the Christian feels that purity is not simply the + negation of sin, but the affirmation of an inward and divine + principle of righteousness. Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, + 1:137--"Holiness is the perfect agreement of the divine willing + with the divine being; for as the personal creature is holy when + it wills and determines itself as God wills, so is God the holy + one because he wills himself as what he is (or, to be what he is). + In virtue of this attribute, God excludes from himself everything + that contradicts his nature, and affirms himself in his absolutely + good being--his being like himself." Tholuck on Romans, 5th ed., + 151--"The term holiness should be used to indicate a relation of + God to himself. That is holy which, undisturbed from without, is + wholly like itself." Dorner, System of Doctrine, 1:456--"It is the + part of goodness to protect goodness." We shall see, when we + consider the doctrine of the Trinity, that that doctrine has close + relations to the doctrine of the immanent attributes. It is in the + Son that God has a perfect object of will, as well as of knowledge + and love. + + The object of God's willing in eternity past can be nothing + outside of himself. It must be the highest of all things. We see + what it must be, only when we remember that the right is the + unconditional imperative of our moral nature. Since we are made in + his image we must conclude that God eternally wills righteousness. + Not all God's acts are acts of love, but all are acts of holiness. + The self-respect, self-preservation, self-affirmation, + self-assertion, self-vindication, which we call God's holiness, is + only faintly reflected in such utterances as _Job 27:5, 6--_"Till I + die I will not put away mine integrity from me. My righteousness I + hold fast, and will not let it go"; _31:37--_"I would declare unto + him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him." + The fact that the Spirit of God is denominated the Holy Spirit + should teach us what is God's essential nature, and the + requisition that we should be holy as he is holy should teach us + what is the true standard of human duty and object of human + ambition. God's holiness moreover, since it is self-affirmation, + furnishes the guarantee that God's love will not fail to secure + its end, and that all things will serve his purpose. _Rom. + 11:36--_"For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. + To him be the glory for ever. Amen." On the whole subject of + Holiness, as an attribute of God, see A. H. Strong, Philosophy and + Religion, 188-200, and Christ in Creation, 388-405; Delitzsch, + art. Heiligkeit, in Herzog, Realencyclop.; Baudissin, Begriff der + Heiligkeit im A. T.,--synopsis in Studien und Kritiken, 1880:169; + Robertson Smith, Prophets of Israel, 224-234; E. B. Coe, in Presb. + and Ref. Rev., Jan. 1890:42-47; and articles on Holiness in O. T., + and Holiness in N. T., in Hastings' Bible Dictionary. + + + +VI. Relative or Transitive Attributes. + + +First Division.--Attributes having relation to Time and Space. + + +1. Eternity. + + +By this we mean that God's nature (_a_) is without beginning or end; (_b_) +is free from all succession of time; and (_c_) contains in itself the +cause of time. + + + _Deut. 32:40--_"For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live + forever...."; _Ps. 90:2--_"Before the mountains ... from + everlasting ... thou art God"; _102:27--_"thy years shall have no + end"; _Is. 41:4--_"I Jehovah, the first, and with the last"; _1 + Cor. 2:7_--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}--"before the worlds" or "ages" = {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}--"before the foundation of the world"_ (Eph. + 1:4)_. _1 Tim. 1:17_--{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}--"King of the ages" (so + also _Rev. 15:8_). _1 Tim. 6:16--_"who only hath immortality." + _Rev. 1:8--_"the Alpha and the Omega." Dorner: "We must not make + Kronos (time) and Uranos (space) earlier divinities before God." + They are among the "all things" that were "made by him "_ (John + 1:3)_. Yet time and space are not _substances_; neither are they + _attributes_ (qualities of substance); they are rather _relations_ + of finite existence. (Porter, Human Intellect, 568, prefers to + call time and space "_correlates_ to beings and events.") With + finite existence they come into being; they are not mere + regulative conceptions of our minds; they exist objectively, + whether we perceive them or not. Ladd: "Time is the mental + presupposition of the duration of events and of objects. Time is + not an entity, or it would be necessary to suppose some other time + in which it endures. We think of space and time as unconditional, + because they furnish the conditions of our knowledge. The age of a + son is conditioned on the age of his father. The conditions + themselves cannot be conditioned. Space and time are mental forms, + but not only that. There is an extra-mental something in the case + of space and time, as in the case of sound." + + _Ex. 3:14--_"I am"--involves eternity. _Ps. 102:12-14--_"But thou, O + Jehovah, wilt abide forever.... Thou wilt arise, and have mercy + upon Zion; for it is time to have pity upon her.... For thy + servants ... have pity upon her dust" = because God is eternal, he + will have compassion upon Zion: he will do this, for even we, her + children, love her very dust. _Jude 25--_"glory, majesty, dominion + and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore." + Pfleiderer, Philos. Religion, 1:165--"God is 'King of the aeons'_ (1 + Tim. 1:17)_, because he distinguishes, in his thinking, his + eternal inner essence from his changeable working in the world. He + is not merged in the process." Edwards the younger describes + timelessness as "the immediate and invariable possession of the + whole unlimited life together and at once." Tyler, Greek Poets, + 148--"The heathen gods had only existence without end. The Greeks + seem never to have conceived of existence without beginning." On + precognition as connected with the so-called future already + existing, and on apparent time progression as a subjective human + sensation and not inherent in the universe as it exists in an + infinite Mind, see Myers, Human Personality, 2:262 _sq._ Tennyson, + Life, 1:322--"For was and is and will be are but is: And all + creation is one act at once, The birth of light; but we that are + not all, As parts, can see but parts, now this, now that, And live + perforce from thought to thought, and make The act a phantom of + succession: there Our weakness somehow shapes the shadow, Time." + + Augustine: "Mundus non in tempore, sed cum tempore, factus est." + There is no meaning to the question: Why did creation take place + when it did rather than earlier? or the question: What was God + doing before creation? These questions presuppose an independent + time in which God created--a time before time. On the other hand, + creation did not take place at any time, but God gave both the + world and time their existence. Royce, World and Individual, + 2:111-115--"Time is the form of the will, as space is the form of + the intellect (_cf._ 124, 133). Time runs only in one direction + (unlike space), toward fulfilment of striving or expectation. In + pursuing its goals, the self lives in time. Every _now_ is also a + succession, as is illustrated in any melody. To God the universe + is 'totum simul', as to us any succession is one whole. 233--Death + is a change in the time-span--the minimum of time in which a + succession can appear as a completed whole. To God 'a thousand + years' are 'as one day'_ (2 Pet. 3:8)_. 419--God, In his totality + as the Absolute Being, is conscious not, _in_ time, but _of_ time, + and of all that infinite time contains. In time there follow, in + their sequence, the chords of his endless symphony. For him is + this whole symphony of life at once.... You unite present, past + and future in a single consciousness whenever you hear any three + successive words, for one is past, another is present, at the same + time that a third is future. So God unites in timeless perception + the whole succession of finite events.... The single notes are not + lost in the melody. You are in God, but you are not lost in God." + Mozart, quoted in Wm. James, Principles of Psychology, 1:255--"All + the inventing and making goes on in me as in a beautiful strong + dream. But the best of all is _the hearing of it all at once_." + + +Eternity is infinity in its relation to time. It implies that God's nature +is not subject to the law of time. God is not in time. It is more correct +to say that time is in God. Although there is logical succession in God's +thoughts, there is no chronological succession. + + + Time is duration measured by successions. Duration without + succession would still be duration, though it would be + immeasurable. Reid, Intellectual Powers, essay 3, chap. 5--"We may + measure duration by the succession of thoughts in the mind, as we + measure length by inches or feet, but the notion or idea of + duration must be antecedent to the mensuration of it, as the + notion of length is antecedent to its being measured." God is not + under the law of time. Solly, The Will, 254--"God looks through + time as we look through space." Murphy, Scientific Bases, + 90--"Eternity is not, as men believe, Before and after us, an + endless line. No, 'tis a circle. Infinitely great--All the + circumference with creations thronged: God at the centre dwells, + beholding all. And as we move in this eternal round, The finite + portion which alone we see Behind us, is the past; what lies + before We call the future. But to him who dwells Far at the + centre, equally remote From every point of the circumference, Both + are alike, the future and the past." Vaughan (1655): "I saw + Eternity the other night. Like a great ring of pure and endless + light. And calm as it was bright; and round beneath it Time in + hours, days, years, Driven by the spheres, Like a vast shadow + moved, in which the world And all her train were hurled." + + We cannot have derived from experience our idea of eternal + duration in the past, for experience gives us only duration that + has had beginning. The idea of duration as without beginning must + therefore be given us by intuition. Case, Physical Realism, 379, + 380--"Time is the continuance, or continual duration, of the + universe." Bradley, Appearance and Reality, 39--Consider time as a + stream--under a spatial form: "If you take time as a relation + between units without duration, then the whole time has no + duration, and is not time at all. But if you give duration to the + whole time, then at once the units themselves are found to possess + it, and they cease to be units." The _now_ is not time, unless it + turns past into future, and this is a process. The now then + consists of nows, and these nows are undiscoverable. The unit is + nothing but its own relation to something beyond, something not + discoverable. Time therefore is not real, but is appearance. + + John Caird, Fund. Ideas, 1:185--"That which grasps and correlates + objects in space cannot itself be one of the things of space; that + which apprehends and connects events as succeeding each other in + time must itself stand above the succession or stream of events. + In being able to measure them, it cannot be flowing with them. + There could not be for self-consciousness any such thing as time, + if it were not, in one aspect of it, above time, if it did not + belong to an order which is or has in it an element which is + eternal.... As taken up into thought, succession is not + successive." A. H. Strong, Historical Discourse, May 9, 1900--"God + is above space and time, and we are in God. We mark the passage of + time, and we write our histories. But we can do this, only because + in our highest being we do not belong to space and time, but have + in us a bit of eternity. John Caird tells us that we could not + perceive the flowing of the stream if we were ourselves a part of + the current; only as we have our feet planted on solid rock, can + we observe that the water rushes by. We belong to God; we are akin + to God; and while the world passes away and the lust thereof, he + that doeth the will of God abideth forever." J. Estlin Carpenter + and P. H. Wicksteed, Studies in Theology, 10--"Dante speaks of God + as him in whom 'every _where_ and every _when_ are focused in a + point', that is, to whom every season is _now_ and every place is + _here_." + + Amiel's Journal: "Time is the supreme illusion. It is the inner + prism by which we decompose being and life, the mode by which we + perceive successively what is simultaneous in idea.... Time is the + successive dispersion of being, just as speech is the successive + analysis of an intuition, or of an act of the will. In itself it + is relative and negative, and it disappears within the absolute + Being.... Time and space are fragments of the Infinite for the use + of finite creatures. God permits them that he may not be alone. + They are the mode under which creatures are possible and + conceivable.... If the universe subsists, it is because the + eternal Mind loves to perceive its own content, in all its wealth + and expression, especially in its stages of preparation.... The + radiations of our mind are imperfect reflections from the great + show of fireworks set in motion by Brahma, and great art is great + only because of its conformities with the divine order--with that + which is." + + +Yet we are far from saying that time, now that it exists, has no objective +reality to God. To him, past, present, and future are "one eternal now," +not in the sense that there is no distinction between them, but only in +the sense that he sees past and future as vividly as he sees the present. +With creation time began, and since the successions of history are +veritable successions, he who sees according to truth must recognize them. + + + Thomas Carlyle calls God "the Eternal Now." Mason, Faith of the + Gospel, 30--"God is not contemptuous of time.... One day is with + the Lord as a thousand years. He values the infinitesimal in time, + even as he does in space. Hence the patience, the long-suffering, + the expectation, of God." We are reminded of the inscription on + the sun-dial, in which it is said of the hours: "Pereunt et + imputantur"--"They pass by, and they are charged to our account." A + certain preacher remarked on the wisdom of God which has so + arranged that the moments of time come successively and not + simultaneously, and thus prevent infinite confusion! Shedd, Dogm. + Theol., 1:344, illustrates God's eternity by the two ways in which + a person may see a procession: first from a doorway in the street + through which the procession is passing; and secondly, from the + top of a steeple which commands a view of the whole procession at + the same instant. + + S. E. Meze, quoted in Royce, Conception of God, 40--"As if all of + us were cylinders, with their ends removed, moving through the + waters of some placid lake. To the cylinders the waters seem to + move. What has passed is a memory, what is to come is doubtful. + But the lake knows that all the water is equally real, and that it + is quiet, immovable, unruffled. Speaking technically, time is no + reality. Things _seem_ past and future, and, in a sense, + non-existent to us, but, in fact, they are just as genuinely real + as the present is." Yet even here there is an order. You cannot + play a symphony backward and have music. This qualification at + least must be put upon the words of Berkeley; "A succession of + ideas I take to _constitute_ time, and not to be only the sensible + measure thereof, as Mr. Locke and others think." + + Finney, quoted in Bib. Sac., Oct. 1877:722--"Eternity to us means + all past, present and future duration. But to God it means only + now. Duration and space, as they respect his existence, mean + infinitely different things from what they do when they respect + our existence. God's existence and his acts, as they respect + finite existence, have relation to time and space. But as they + respect his own existence, everything is _here_ and _now_. With + respect to all finite existences, God can say: I was, I am, I + shall be, I will do; but with respect to his own existence, all + that he can say is: I am, I do." + + Edwards the younger, Works, 1:386, 387--"There is no succession in + the divine mind; therefore no new operations take place. All the + divine acts are from eternity, nor is there any time with God. The + _effects_ of these divine acts do indeed all take place in time + and in a succession. If it should be said that on this supposition + the effects take place not till long after the acts by which they + are produced, I answer that they do so in our view, but not in the + view of God. With him there is no time; no before or after with + respect to time: nor has time any existence in the divine mind, or + in the nature of things independently of the minds and perceptions + of creatures; but it depends on the succession of those + perceptions." We must qualify this statement of the younger + Edwards by the following from Julius Mueller: "If God's working can + have no relation to time, then all bonds of union between God and + the world are snapped asunder." + + It is an interesting question whether the human spirit is capable + of timeless existence, and whether the conception of time is + purely physical. In dreams we seem to lose sight of succession; in + extreme pain an age is compressed into a minute. Does this throw + light upon the nature of prophecy? Is the soul of the prophet rapt + into God's timeless existence and vision? It is doubtful whether + _Rev. 10:6--_"there shall be time no longer" can be relied upon to + prove the affirmative; for the Rev. Vers. marg. and the American + Revisers translate "there shall be delay no longer." Julius + Mueller, Doct. Sin, 2:147--"All self-consciousness is a victory over + time." So with memory; see Dorner, Glaubenslehre, 1:471. On "the + death-vision of one's whole existence," see Frances Kemble + Butler's experience in Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:351--"Here there is + succession and series, only so exceedingly rapid as to seem + simultaneous." This rapidity however is so great as to show that + each man can at the last be judged in an instant. On space and + time as unlimited, see Porter, Hum. Intellect, 564-566. On the + conception of eternity, see Mansel, Lectures, Essays and Reviews, + 111-126, and Modern Spiritualism, 255-292; New Englander, April, + 1875: art. on the Metaphysical Idea of Eternity. For practical + lessons from the Eternity of God, see Park, Discourses, 137-154; + Westcott, Some Lessons of the Rev. Vers., (Pott, N. Y., 1897), + 187--with comments on {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} in _Eph. 3:21_, _Heb. 11:3_, _Rev. 4_; + _10, 11_--"the universe under the aspect of time." + + +2. Immensity. + + +By this we mean that God's nature (_a_) is without extension; (_b_) is +subject to no limitations of space; and (_c_) contains in itself the cause +of space. + + + _1 Kings 8:27--_"behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot + contain thee." Space is a creation of God; _Rom. 8:39--_"nor height + nor depth, nor any other creature." Zahn, Bib. Dogmatik, + 149--"Scripture does not teach the immanence of God in the world, + but the immanence of the world in God." Dante does not put God, + but Satan at the centre; and Satan, being at the centre, is + crushed with the whole weight of the universe. God is the Being + who encompasses all. All things exist in him. E. G. Robinson: + "Space is a relation; God is the author of relations and of our + modes of thought; therefore God is the author of space. Space + conditions our thought, but it does not condition God's thought." + + Jonathan Edwards: "Place itself is mental, and within and without + are mental conceptions.... When I say the material universe exists + only in the mind, I mean that it is absolutely dependent on the + conception of the mind for its existence, and does not exist as + spirits do, whose existence does not consist in, nor in dependence + on, the conception of other minds." H. M. Stanley, on Space and + Science, in Philosophical Rev., Nov. 1898:615--"Space is not full + of things, but things are spaceful.... Space is a form of dynamic + appearance." Bradley carries the ideality of space to an extreme, + when, in his Appearance and Reality, 35-38, he tells us: Space is + not a mere relation, for it has parts, and what can be the parts + of a relation? But space is nothing but a relation, for it is + lengths of lengths of--nothing that we can find. We can find no + terms either inside or outside. Space, to be space, must have + space outside itself. Bradley therefore concludes that space is + not reality but only appearance. + + +Immensity is infinity in its relation to space. God's nature is not +subject to the law of space. God is not in space. It is more correct to +say that space is in God. Yet space has an objective reality to God. With +creation space began to be, and since God sees according to truth, he +recognizes relations of space in his creation. + + + Many of the remarks made in explanation of time apply equally to + space. Space is not a substance nor an attribute, but a relation. + It exists so soon as extended matter exists, and exists as its + necessary condition, whether our minds perceive it or not. Reid, + Intellectual Powers, essay 2, chap. 9--"Space is not so properly an + object of sense, as a necessary concomitant of the objects of + sight and touch." When we see or touch body, we get the idea of + space in which the body exists, but the idea of space is not + furnished by the sense; it is an _a priori_ cognition of the + reason. Experience furnishes the occasion of its evolution, but + the mind evolves the conception by its own native energy. + + Anselm, Proslogion, 19--"Nothing contains thee, but thou containest + all things." Yet it is not precisely accurate to say that space is + in God, for this expression seems to intimate that God is a + greater space which somehow includes the less. God is rather + unspatial and is the Lord of space. The notion that space and the + divine immensity are identical leads to a materialistic conception + of God. Space is not an attribute of God, as Clarke maintained, + and no argument for the divine existence can be constructed from + this premise (see pages 85, 86). Martineau, Types, 1:138, 139, + 170--"Malebranche said that God is the place of all spirits, as + space is the place of all bodies.... Descartes held that there is + no such thing as empty space. _Nothing_ cannot possibly have + extension. Wherever extension is, there must be _something_ + extended. Hence the doctrine of a _plenum_, A _vacuum_ is + inconceivable." Lotze, Outlines of Metaphysics, 87--"According to + the ordinary view ... space _exists_, and things exist _in it_; + according to our view, only things exist, and _between them_ + nothing exists, but space exists _in them_." + + Case, Physical Realism, 379, 380--"Space is the continuity, or + continuous extension, of the universe as one substance." Ladd: "Is + space extended? Then it must be extended in some other space. That + other space is the space we are talking about. Space then is not + an entity, but a mental presupposition of the existence of + extended substance. Space and time are neither finite nor + infinite. Space has neither circumference nor centre,--its centre + would be everywhere. We cannot _imagine_ space at all. It is + simply a precondition of mind enabling us to perceive things." In + Bib. Sac., 1890:415-444, art.: Is Space a Reality? Prof. Mead + opposes the doctrine that space is purely subjective, as taught by + Bowne; also the doctrine that space is a certain order of + relations among realities; that space is nothing apart from + things; but that things, when they exist, exist in certain + relations, and that the sum, or system, of these relations + constitutes space. + + We prefer the view of Bowne, Metaphysics, 127, 137, 143, that + "Space is the form of objective experience, and is nothing in + abstraction from that experience.... It is a form of intuition, + and not a mode of existence. According to this view, things are + not in space and space-relations, but appear to be. In themselves + they are essentially non-spatial; but by their interactions with + one another, and with the mind, they give rise to the appearance + of a world of extended things in a common space. Space-predicates, + then, belong to phenomena only, and not to + things-in-themselves.... Apparent reality exists spatially; but + proper ontological reality exists spacelessly and without spatial + predicates." For the view that space is relative, see also Cocker, + Theistic Conception of the World, 66-96; Calderwood, Philos. of + the Infinite, 331-335. _Per contra_, see Porter, Human Intellect, + 662; Hazard, Letters on Causation in Willing, appendix; Bib. Sac., + Oct. 1877:723; Gear, in Bap. Rev., July, 1880:434; Lowndes, + Philos. of Primary Beliefs, 144-161. + + +Second Division.--Attributes having relation to Creation. + + +1. Omnipresence. + + +By this we mean that God, in the totality of his essence, without +diffusion or expansion, multiplication or division, penetrates and fills +the universe in all its parts. + + + _Ps. 139:7 __sq.__--_"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or + whither shall I flee from thy presence?" _Jer. 23:23, 24--_"Am I a + God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God afar off?... Do not I + fill heaven and earth?" _Acts 17:27, 28--_"he is not far from each + one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being." + Faber: "For God is never so far off As even to be near. He is + within. Our spirit is The home he holds most dear. To think of him + as by our side Is almost as untrue As to remove his shrine beyond + Those skies of starry blue. So all the while I thought myself + Homeless, forlorn and weary, Missing my joy, I walked the earth + Myself God's sanctuary." Henri Amiel: "From every point on earth + we are equally near to heaven and the infinite." Tennyson, The + Higher Pantheism: "Speak to him then, for he hears, and spirit + with spirit can meet; Closer is he than breathing, and nearer than + hands and feet." "As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart." + + The atheist wrote: "God is nowhere," but his little daughter read + it: "God is now here," and it converted him. The child however + sometimes asks: "If God is everywhere, how is there any room for + us?" and the only answer is that God is not a material but a + spiritual being, whose presence does not exclude finite existence + but rather makes such existence possible. This universal presence + of God had to be learned gradually. It required great faith in + Abraham to go out from Ur of the Chaldees, and yet to hold that + God would be with him in a distant land (_Heb. 11:8_). Jacob + learned that the heavenly ladder followed him wherever he went + (_Gen. 28:15_). Jesus taught that "neither in this mountain, nor + in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father"_ (John 4:21)_. Our + Lord's mysterious comings and goings after his resurrection were + intended to teach his disciples that he was with them "always, + even unto the end of the world"_ (Mat. 28:20)_. The omnipresence + of Jesus demonstrates, _a fortiori_, the omnipresence of God. + + +In explanation of this attribute we may say: + +(_a_) God's omnipresence is not potential but essential.--We reject the +Socinian representation that God's essence is in heaven, only his power on +earth. When God is said to "dwell in the heavens," we are to understand +the language either as a symbolic expression of exaltation above earthly +things, or as a declaration that his most special and glorious +self-manifestations are to the spirits of heaven. + + + _Ps. 123:1--_"O thou that sittest in the heavens"; _113:5--_"That + hath his seat on high"; _Is. 57:15--_"the high and lofty One that + inhabiteth eternity." Mere potential omnipresence is Deistic as + well as Socinian. Like birds in the air or fish in the sea, "at + home, abroad, We are surrounded still with God." We do not need to + go up to heaven to call him down, or into the abyss to call him up + (_Rom. 10:6, 7_). The best illustration is found in the presence + of the soul in every part of the body. Mind seems not confined to + the brain. Natural realism in philosophy, as distinguished from + idealism, requires that the mind should be at the point of contact + with the outer world, instead of having reports and ideas brought + to it in the brain; see Porter, Human Intellect, 149. All + believers in a soul regard the soul as at least present in all + parts of the brain, and this is a relative omnipresence no less + difficult in principle than its presence in all parts of the body. + An animal's brain may be frozen into a piece solid as ice, yet, + after thawing, it will act as before: although freezing of the + whole body will cause death. If the immaterial principle were + confined to the brain we should expect freezing of the brain to + cause death. But if the soul may be omnipresent in the body or + even in the brain, the divine Spirit may be omnipresent in the + universe. Bowne, Metaphysics, 136--"If finite things are modes of + the infinite, each thing must be a mode of the entire infinite; + and the infinite must be present in its unity and completeness in + every finite thing, just as the entire soul is present in all its + acts." This idealistic conception of the entire mind as present in + all its thoughts must be regarded as the best analogue to God's + omnipresence in the universe. We object to the view that this + omnipresence is merely potential, as we find it in Clarke, + Christian Theology, 74--"We know, and only know, that God is able + to put forth all his power of action, without regard to place.... + Omnipresence is an element in the immanence of God.... A local God + would be no real God. If he is not everywhere, he is not true God + anywhere. Omnipresence is implied in all providence, in all + prayer, in all communion with God and reliance on God." + + So long as it is conceded that consciousness is not confined to a + single point in the brain, the question whether other portions of + the brain or of the body are also the seat of consciousness may be + regarded as a purely academic one, and the answer need not affect + our present argument. The principle of omnipresence is granted + when once we hold that the soul is conscious at more than one + point of the physical organism. Yet the question suggested above + is an interesting one and with regard to it psychologists are + divided. Paulsen, Einleitung in die Philosophie (1892), 138-159, + holds that consciousness is correlated with the sum-total of + bodily processes, and with him agree Fechner and Wundt. "Pflueger + and Lewes say that as the hemispheres of the brain owe their + intelligence to the consciousness which we know to be there, so + the intelligence of the spinal cord's acts must really be due to + the invisible presence of a consciousness lower in degree." + Professor Brewer's rattlesnake, after several hours of + decapitation, still struck at him with its bloody neck, when he + attempted to seize it by the tail. From the reaction of the frog's + leg after decapitation may we not infer a certain consciousness? + "Robin, on tickling the breast of a criminal an hour after + decapitation, saw the arm and hand move toward the spot." Hudson, + Demonstration of a Future Life, 239-249, quotes from Hammond, + Treatise on Insanity, chapter 2, to prove that the brain is not + the sole organ of the mind. Instinct does not reside exclusively + in the brain; it is seated in the _medulla oblongata_, or in the + spinal cord, or in both these organs. Objective mind, as Hudson + thinks, is the function of the physical brain, and it ceases when + the brain loses its vitality. Instinctive acts are performed by + animals after excision of the brain, and by human beings born + without brain. Johnson, in Andover Rev., April, 1890:421--"The + brain is not the only seat of consciousness. The same evidence + that points to the brain as the _principal_ seat of consciousness + points to the nerve-centres situated in the spinal cord or + elsewhere as the seat of a more or less _subordinate_ + consciousness or intelligence." Ireland, Blot on the Brain, 26--"I + do not take it for proved that consciousness is entirely confined + to the brain." + + In spite of these opinions, however, we must grant that the + general consensus among psychologists is upon the other side. + Dewey, Psychology, 349--"The sensory and motor nerves have points + of meeting in the spinal cord. When a stimulus is transferred from + a sensory nerve to a motor without the conscious intervention of + the mind, we have reflex action.... If something approaches the + eye, the stimulus is transferred to the spinal cord, and instead + of being continued to the brain and giving rise to a sensation, it + is discharged into a motor nerve and the eye is immediately + closed.... The reflex action in itself involves no consciousness." + William James, Psychology, 1:16, 66, 134, 214--"The cortex of the + brain is the sole organ of consciousness in man.... If there be + any consciousness pertaining to the lower centres, it is a + consciousness of which the self knows nothing.... In lower animals + this may not be so much the case.... The seat of the mind, so far + as its dynamical relations are concerned, is somewhere in the + cortex of the brain." See also C. A. Strong, Why the Mind has a + Body, 40-50. + + +(_b_) God's omnipresence is not the presence of a part but of the whole of +God in every place.--This follows from the conception of God as incorporeal +We reject the materialistic representation that God is composed of +material elements which can be divided or sundered. There is no +multiplication or diffusion of his substance to correspond with the parts +of his dominions. The one essence of God is present at the same moment in +all. + + + _1 Kings 8:27--_"the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot + contain (circumscribe) thee." God must be present in all his + essence and all his attributes in every place. He is "totus in + omni parte." Alger, Poetry of the Orient: "Though God extends + beyond Creation's rim, Each smallest atom holds the whole of him." + From this it follows that the whole Logos can be united to and be + present in the man Christ Jesus, while at the same time he fills + and governs the whole universe; and so the whole Christ can be + united to, and can be present in, the single believer, as fully as + if that believer were the only one to receive of his fulness. + + A. J. Gordon: "In mathematics the whole is equal to the sum of its + parts. But we know of the Spirit that every part is equal to the + whole. Every church, every true body of Jesus Christ, has just as + much of Christ as every other, and each has the whole Christ." + _Mat. 13:20--_"where two or three are gathered together in my name, + there am I in the midst of them." "The parish priest of austerity + Climbed up in a high church steeple, To be nearer God so that he + might Hand his word down to the people. And in sermon script he + daily wrote What he thought was sent from heaven, And he dropt it + down on the people's heads Two times one day in seven. In his age + God said, 'Come down and die,' And he cried out from the steeple, + 'Where art thou, Lord?' And the Lord replied, 'Down here among my + people.' " + + +(_c_) God's omnipresence is not necessary but free.--We reject the +pantheistic notion that God is bound to the universe as the universe is +bound to God. God is immanent in the universe, not by compulsion, but by +the free act of his own will, and this immanence is qualified by his +transcendence. + + + God might at will cease to be omnipresent, for he could destroy + the universe; but while the universe exists, he is and must be in + all its parts. God is the life and law of the universe,--this is + the truth in pantheism. But he is also personal and free,--this + pantheism denies. Christianity holds to a free, as well as to an + essential, omnipresence--qualified and supplemented, however, by + God's transcendence. The boasted truth in pantheism is an + elementary principle of Christianity, and is only the + stepping-stone to a nobler truth--God's personal presence with his + church. The Talmud contrasts the worship of an idol and the + worship of Jehovah: "The idol seems so near, but is so far, + Jehovah seems so far, but is so near!" God's omnipresence assures + us that he is present with us to hear, and present in every heart + and in the ends of the earth to answer, prayer. See Rogers, + Superhuman Origin of the Bible, 10; Bowne, Metaphysics, 136; + Charnock, Attributes, 1:363-405. + + The Puritan turned from the moss-rose bud, saying: "I have learned + to call nothing on earth lovely." But this is to despise not only + the workmanship but the presence of the Almighty. The least thing + in nature is worthy of study because it is the revelation of a + present God. The uniformity of nature and the reign of law are + nothing but the steady will of the omnipresent God. Gravitation is + God's omnipresence in space, as evolution is God's omnipresence in + time. Dorner, System of Doctrine, 1:73-"God being omnipresent, + contact with him may be sought at any moment in prayer and + contemplation; indeed, it will always be true that we live and + move and have our being in him, as the perennial and omnipresent + source of our existence." _Rom. 10:6-8--_"Say not in thy heart, Who + shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:) or, Who + shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from + the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, + and in thy heart." Lotze, Metaphysics, § 256, quoted in + Illingworth, Divine Immanence, 135, 136. Sunday-school scholar: + "Is God in my pocket?" "Certainly." "No, he isn't, for I haven't + any pocket." God is omnipresent so long as there is a universe, + but he ceases to be omnipresent when the universe ceases to be. + + +2. Omniscience. + + +By this we mean God's perfect and eternal knowledge of all things which +are objects of knowledge, whether they be actual or possible, past, +present, or future. + + + God knows his inanimate creation: _Ps. 147:4--_"counteth the number + of the stars; He calleth them all by their names." He has + knowledge of brute creatures: _Mat. 10:29_--sparrows--"not one of + them shall fall on the ground without your Father." Of men and + their works: _Ps. 33:13-15--_"beholdeth all the sons of men ... + considereth all their works." Of hearts of men and their thoughts: + _Acts 15:8--_"God, who knoweth the heart"; _Ps. + 139:2--_"understandest my thought afar off." Of our wants: _Mat. + 6:8--_"knoweth what things ye have need of." Of the least things: + _Mat. 10:30--_"the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Of + the past: _Mal. 3:16--_"book of remembrance." Of the future: _Is. + 46:9, 10--_"declaring the end from the beginning." Of men's future + free acts: _Is. 44:28--_"that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd and + shall perform all my pleasure." Of men's future evil acts: _Acts + 2:23--_"him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and + foreknowledge of God." Of the ideally possible: _1 Sam. + 23:12--_"Will the men of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the + hands of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver thee up" (_sc._ + if thou remainest); _Mat. 11:23--_"if the mighty works had been + done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained." + From eternity: _Acts 15:18--_"the Lord, who maketh these things + known from of old." Incomprehensible: _Ps. 139:6--_"Such knowledge + is too wonderful for me"; _Rom. 11:33--_"O the depth of the riches + both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God." Related to wisdom: + _Ps. 104:24--_"In wisdom hast thou made them all"; _Eph. + 3:10--_"manifold wisdom of God." + + _Job 7:20--_"O thou watcher of men"; _Ps. 56:8--_"Thou numberest my + wanderings" = my whole life has been one continuous exile; "Put + thou my tears into thy bottle" = the skin bottle of the + east,--there are tears enough to fill one; "Are they not in thy + book?" = no tear has fallen to the ground unnoted,--God has + gathered them all. Paul Gerhardt: "Du zaehlst wie oft ein Christe + wein', Und was sein Kummer sei; Kein stilles Thraenlein ist so + klein, Du hebst und legst es bei." _Heb. 4:13--_"there is no + creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are + naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to + do"--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}--with head bent back and neck laid bare, as + animals slaughtered in sacrifice, _or_ seized by the throat and + thrown on the back, so that the priest might discover whether + there was any blemish. Japanese proverb: "God has forgotten to + forget." + + +(_a_) The omniscience of God may be argued from his omnipresence, as well +as from his truth or self-knowledge, in which the plan of creation has its +eternal ground, and from prophecy, which expresses God's omniscience. + + + It is to be remembered that omniscience, as the designation of a + relative and transitive attribute, does not include God's + self-knowledge. The term is used in the technical sense of God's + knowledge of all things that pertain to the universe of his + creation. H. A. Gordon: "Light travels faster than sound. You can + see the flash of fire from the cannon's mouth, a mile away, + considerably before the noise of the discharge reaches the ear. + God flashed the light of prediction upon the pages of his word, + and we see it. Wait a little and we see the event itself." + + Royce, The Conception of God, 9--"An omniscient being would be one + who simply found presented to him, not by virtue of fragmentary + and gradually completed processes of inquiry, but by virtue of an + all-embracing, direct and transparent insight into his own + truth--who found thus presented to him, I say, the complete, the + fulfilled answer to every genuinely rational question." + + Browning, Ferishtah's Fancies, Plot-culture: "How will it fare + shouldst thou impress on me That certainly an Eye is over all And + each, to make the minute's deed, word, thought As worthy of reward + and punishment? Shall I permit my sense an Eye-viewed shame, Broad + daylight perpetration,--so to speak,--I had not dared to breathe + within the Ear, With black night's help around me?" + + +(_b_) Since it is free from all imperfection, God's knowledge is +immediate, as distinguished from the knowledge that comes through sense or +imagination; simultaneous, as not acquired by successive observations, or +built up by processes of reasoning; distinct, as free from all vagueness +or confusion; true, as perfectly corresponding to the reality of things; +eternal, as comprehended in one timeless act of the divine mind. + + + An infinite mind must always act, and must always act in an + absolutely perfect manner. There is in God no sense, symbol, + memory, abstraction, growth, reflection, reasoning,--his knowledge + is all direct and without intermediaries. God was properly + represented by the ancient Egyptians, not as having eye, but as + being eye. His thoughts toward us are "more than can be numbered"_ + (Ps. 40:5)_, not because there is succession in them, now a + remembering and now a forgetting, but because there is never a + moment of our existence in which we are out of his mind; he is + always thinking of us. See Charnock, Attributes, 1:406-497. _Gen. + 16:13--_"Thou art a God that seeth." Mivart, Lessons from Nature, + 374--"Every creature of every order of existence, while its + existence is sustained, is so complacently contemplated by God, + that the intense and concentrated attention of all men of science + together upon it could but form an utterly inadequate symbol of + such divine contemplation." So God's scrutiny of every deed of + darkness is more searching than the gaze of a whole Coliseum of + spectators, and his eye is more watchful over the good than would + be the united care of all his hosts in heaven and earth. + + Armstrong, God and the Soul: "God's energy is concentrated + attention, attention concentrated everywhere. We can attend to two + or three things at once; the pianist plays and talks at the same + time; the magician does one thing while he seems to do another. + God attends to all things, does all things, at once." Marie + Corelli, Master Christian, 104--"The biograph is a hint that every + scene of human life is reflected in a ceaseless moving panorama + _some where_, for the beholding of _some one_." Wireless + telegraphy is a stupendous warning that from God no secrets are + hid, that "there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; + and hid, that shall not be known"_ (Mat. 10:26)_. The Roentgen + rays, which take photographs of our insides, right through our + clothes, and even in the darkness of midnight, show that to God + "the night shineth as the day"_ (Ps. 139:12)_. + + Professor Mitchel's equatorial telescope, slowly moving by + clockwork, toward sunset, suddenly touched the horizon and + disclosed a boy in a tree stealing apples, but the boy was all + unconscious that he was under the gaze of the astronomer. Nothing + was so fearful to the prisoner in the French _cachot_ as the eye + of the guard that never ceased to watch him in perfect silence + through the loophole in the door. As in the Roman empire the whole + world was to a malefactor one great prison, and in his flight to + the most distant lands the emperor could track him, so under the + government of God no sinner can escape the eye of his Judge. But + omnipresence is protective as well as detective. The text _Gen. + 16:13--_"Thou, God, seest me"--has been used as a restraint from + evil more than as a stimulus to good. To the child of the devil it + should certainly be the former. But to the child of God it should + as certainly be the latter. God should not be regarded as an + exacting overseer or a standing threat, but rather as one who + understands us, loves us, and helps us. _Ps. 139:17, 18--_"How + precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the + sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than + the sand: When I awake, I am still with thee." + + +(_c_) Since God knows things as they are, he knows the necessary sequences +of his creation as necessary, the free acts of his creatures as free, the +ideally possible as ideally possible. + + + God knows what would have taken place under circumstances not now + present; knows what the universe would have been, had he chosen a + different plan of creation; knows what our lives would have been, + had we made different decisions in the past (_Is. 48:18--_"Oh that + thou hadst hearkened ... then had thy peace been as a river"). + Clarke, Christian Theology, 77--"God has a double knowledge of his + universe. He knows it as it exists eternally in his mind, as his + own idea; and he knows it as actually existing in time and space, + a moving, changing, growing universe, with perpetual process of + succession. In his own idea, he knows it all at once; but he is + also aware of its perpetual becoming, and with reference to events + as they occur he has foreknowledge, present knowledge, and + knowledge afterwards.... He conceives of all things + simultaneously, but observes all things in their succession." + + Royce, World and Individual, 2:374--holds that God does not + temporally foreknow anything except as he is expressed in finite + beings, but yet that the Absolute possesses a perfect knowledge at + one glance of the whole of the temporal order, present, past and + future. This, he says, is not foreknowledge, but eternal + knowledge. Priestley denied that any contingent event could be an + object of knowledge. But Reid says the denial that any free action + can be foreseen involves the denial of God's own free agency, + since God's future actions can be foreseen by men; also that while + God foresees his own free actions, this does not determine those + actions necessarily. Tennyson, In Memoriam, 26--"And if that eye + which watches guilt And goodness, and hath power to see Within the + green the mouldered tree, And towers fallen as soon as built--Oh, + if indeed that eye foresee Or see (in Him is no before) In more of + life true life no more And Love the indifference to be, Then might + I find, ere yet the morn Breaks hither over Indian seas, That + Shadow waiting with the keys, To shroud me from my proper scorn." + + +(_d_) The fact that there is nothing in the present condition of things +from which the future actions of free creatures necessarily follow by +natural law does not prevent God from foreseeing such actions, since his +knowledge is not mediate, but immediate. He not only foreknows the motives +which will occasion men's acts, but he directly foreknows the acts +themselves. The possibility of such direct knowledge without assignable +grounds of knowledge is apparent if we admit that time is a form of finite +thought to which the divine mind is not subject. + + + Aristotle maintained that there is no certain knowledge of + contingent future events. Socinus, in like manner, while he + admitted that God knows all things that are knowable, abridged the + objects of the divine knowledge by withdrawing from the number + those objects whose future existence he considered as uncertain, + such as the determinations of free agents. These, he held, cannot + be certainly foreknown, because there is nothing in the present + condition of things from which they will necessarily follow by + natural law. The man who makes a clock can tell when it will + strike. But free-will, not being subject to mechanical laws, + cannot have its acts predicted or foreknown. God knows things only + in their causes--future events only in their antecedents. John + Milton seems also to deny God's foreknowledge of free acts: "So, + without least impulse or shadow of fate, Or aught by me immutably + foreseen, They trespass." + + With this Socinian doctrine some Arminians agree, as McCabe, in + his Foreknowledge of God, and in his Divine Nescience of Future + Contingencies a Necessity. McCabe, however, sacrifices the + principle of free will, in defence of which he makes this + surrender of God's foreknowledge, by saying that in cases of + fulfilled prophecy, like Peter's denial and Judas's betrayal, God + brought special influences to bear to secure the result,--so that + Peter's and Judas's wills acted irresponsibly under the law of + cause and effect. He quotes Dr. Daniel Curry as declaring that + "the denial of absolute divine foreknowledge is the essential + complement of the Methodist theology, without which its + philosophical incompleteness is defenceless against the logical + consistency of Calvinism." See also article by McCabe in Methodist + Review, Sept. 1892:760-773. Also Simon, Reconciliation, 287--"God + has constituted a creature, the actions of which he can only know + as such when they are performed. In presence of man, to a certain + extent, even the great God condescends to wait; nay more, has + himself so ordained things that he must wait, inquiring, 'What + will he do?' " + + So Dugald Stewart: "Shall we venture to affirm that it exceeds the + power of God to permit such a train of contingent events to take + place as his own foreknowledge shall not extend to?" Martensen + holds this view, and Rothe, Theologische Ethik, 1:212-234, who + declares that the free choices of men are continually increasing + the knowledge of God. So also Martineau, Study of Religion, + 2:279--"The belief in the divine foreknowledge of our future has no + basis in philosophy. We no longer deem it true that even God knows + the moment of my moral life that is coming next. Even he does not + know whether I shall yield to the secret temptation at midday. To + him life is a drama of which he knows not the conclusion." Then, + says Dr. A. J. Gordon, there is nothing so dreary and dreadful as + to be living under the direction of such a God. The universe is + rushing on like an express-train in the darkness without headlight + or engineer; at any moment we may be plunged into the abyss. Lotze + does not deny God's foreknowledge of free human actions, but he + regards as insoluble by the intellect the problem of the relation + of time to God, and such foreknowledge as "one of those postulates + as to which we know not how they can be fulfilled." Bowne, + Philosophy of Theism, 159--"Foreknowledge of a free act is a + knowledge without assignable grounds of knowing. On the assumption + of a real time, it is hard to find a way out of this + difficulty.... The doctrine of the ideality of time helps us by + suggesting the possibility of an all-embracing present, or an + eternal now, for God. In that case the problem vanishes with time, + its condition." + + Against the doctrine of the divine nescience we urge not only our + fundamental conviction of God's perfection, but the constant + testimony of Scripture. In _Is. 41:21, 22_, God makes his + foreknowledge the test of his Godhead in the controversy with + idols. If God cannot foreknow free human acts, then "the Lamb that + hath been slain from the foundation of the world"_ (Rev. 13:8)_ + was only a sacrifice to be offered _in case_ Adam should fall, God + not knowing whether he would or not, and _in case_ Judas should + betray Christ, God not knowing whether he would or not. Indeed, + since the course of nature is changed by man's will when he burns + towns and fells forests, God cannot on this theory predict even + the course of nature. All prophecy is therefore a protest against + this view. + + How God foreknows free human decisions we may not be able to say, + but then the method of God's knowledge in many other respects is + unknown to us. The following explanations have been proposed. God + may foreknow free acts:-- + + 1. _Mediately_, by foreknowing the motives of these acts, and this + either because these motives induce the acts, (1) necessarily, or + (2) certainly. This last "certainly" is to be accepted, if either; + since motives are never _causes_, but are only _occasions_, of + action. The cause is the will, or the man himself. But it may be + said that foreknowing acts through their motives is not + foreknowing at all, but is reasoning or inference rather. + Moreover, although intelligent beings commonly act according to + motives previously dominant, they also at critical epochs, as at + the fall of Satan and of Adam, choose between motives, and in such + cases knowledge of the motives which have hitherto actuated them + gives no clue to their next decisions. Another statement is + therefore proposed to meet these difficulties, namely, that God + may foreknow free acts:-- + + 2. _Immediately_, by pure intuition, inexplicable to us. Julius + Mueller, Doctrine of Sin, 2:203, 225--"If God can know a future + event as certain only by a calculation of causes, it must be + allowed that he cannot with certainty foreknow any free act of + man; for his foreknowledge would then be proof that the act in + question was the necessary consequence of certain causes, and was + not in itself free. If, on the contrary, the divine knowledge be + regarded as _intuitive_, we see that it stands in the same + immediate relation to the act itself as to its antecedents, and + thus the difficulty is removed." Even upon this view there still + remains the difficulty of perceiving how there can be in God's + mind a subjective certitude with regard to acts in respect to + which there is no assignable objective ground of certainty. Yet, + in spite of this difficulty, we feel bound both by Scripture and + by our fundamental idea of God's perfection to maintain God's + perfect knowledge of the future free acts of his creatures. With + President Pepper we say: "Knowledge of contingency is not + necessarily contingent knowledge." With Whedon: "It is not + calculation, but pure knowledge." See Dorner, System of Doct., + 1:332-337; 2:58-62; Jahrbuch fuer deutsche Theologie, 1858:601-605; + Charnock, Attributes, 1:429-446; Solly, The Will, 240-254. For a + valuable article on the whole subject, though advocating the view + that God foreknows acts by foreknowing motives, see Bib. Sac., + Oct. 1883:655-694. See also Hill, Divinity, 517. + + +(_e_) Prescience is not itself causative. It is not to be confounded with +the predetermining will of God. Free actions do not take place because +they are foreseen, but they are foreseen because they are to take place. + + + Seeing a thing in the future does not cause it to be, more than + seeing a thing in the past causes it to be. As to future events, + we may say with Whedon: "Knowledge _takes_ them, not _makes_ + them." Foreknowledge may, and does, presuppose predetermination, + but it is not itself predetermination. Thomas Aquinas, in his + Summa, 1:38:1:1, says that "the knowledge of God is the cause of + things"; but he is obliged to add: "God is not the cause of all + things that are known by God, since evil things that are known by + God are not from him." John Milton, Paradise Lost, book + 3--"Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault, Which had no + less proved certain unforeknown." + + +(_f_) Omniscience embraces the actual and the possible, but it does not +embrace the self-contradictory and the impossible, because these are not +objects of knowledge. + + + God does not know what the result would be if two and two made + five, nor does he know "whether a chimaera ruminating in a vacuum + devoureth second intentions"; and that, simply for the reason that + he cannot know self-contradiction and nonsense. These things are + not objects of knowledge. Clarke, Christian Theology, 80--"Can God + make an old man in a minute? Could he make it well with the wicked + while they remained wicked? Could he create a world in which 2 + 2 + = 5?" Royce, Spirit of Modern Philosophy, 366--"Does God know the + whole number that is the square root of 65? or what adjacent hills + there are that have no valleys between them? Does God know round + squares, and sugar salt-lumps, and Snarks and Boojums and + Abracadabras?" + + +(_g_) Omniscience, as qualified by holy will, is in Scripture denominated +"wisdom." In virtue of his wisdom God chooses the highest ends and uses +the fittest means to accomplish them. + + + Wisdom is not simply "estimating all things at their proper value" + (Olmstead); it has in it also the element of counsel and purpose. + It has been defined as "the talent of using one's talents." It + implies two things: first, choice of the highest end; secondly, + choice of the best means to secure this end. J. C. C. Clarke, Self + and the Father, 39--"Wisdom is not invented conceptions, or harmony + of theories with theories; but is humble obedience of mind to the + reception of facts that are found in things." Thus man's wisdom, + obedience, faith, are all names for different aspects of the same + thing. And wisdom in God is the moral choice which makes truth and + holiness supreme. Bowne, Principles of Ethics, 261--"Socialism + pursues a laudable end by unwise or destructive means. It is not + enough to mean well. Our methods must take some account of the + nature of things, if they are to succeed. We cannot produce + well-being by law. No legislation can remove inequalities of + nature and constitution. Society cannot produce equality, any more + than it can enable a rhinoceros to sing, or legislate a cat into a + lion." + + +3. Omnipotence. + + +By this we mean the power of God to do all things which are objects of +power, whether with or without the use of means. + + + _Gen. 17:1--_"I am God Almighty." He performs natural wonders: + _Gen. 1:1-3--_"Let there be Light"; _Is. 44:24--_"stretcheth forth + the heavens alone"; _Heb. 1:3--_"upholding all things by the word + of his power." Spiritual wonders: _2 Cor. 4:6--_"God, that said, + Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts"; + _Eph. 1:19--_"exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who + believe"; _Eph. 3:20--_"able to do exceeding abundantly." Power to + create new things: _Mat. 3:9--_"able of these stones to raise up + children unto Abraham". _Rom. 4:17--_"giveth life to the dead, and + calleth the things that are not, as though they were." After his + own pleasure: _Ps. 115:3--_"He hath done whatsoever he hath + pleased"; _Eph. 1:11--_"worketh all things after the counsel of his + will." Nothing impossible: _Gen 18:14--_"Is anything too hard for + Jehovah?" _Mat. 19:26--_"with God all things are possible." E. G. + Robinson, Christian Theology, 73--"If all power in the universe is + dependent on his creative will for its existence, it is impossible + to conceive any limit to his power except that laid on it by his + own will. But this is only negative proof; absolute omnipotence is + not logically demonstrable, though readily enough recognized as a + just conception of the infinite God, when propounded on the + authority of a positive revelation." + + The omnipotence of God is illustrated by the work of the Holy + Spirit, which in Scripture is compared to wind, water and fire. + The ordinary manifestations of these elements afford no criterion + of the effects they are able to produce. The rushing mighty wind + at Pentecost was the analogue of the wind-Spirit who bore + everything before him on the first day of creation (_Gen. 1:2_; + _John 3:8_; _Acts 2:2_). The pouring out of the Spirit is likened + to the flood of Noah when the windows of heaven were opened and + there was not room enough to receive that which fell (_Mal. + 3:10_). And the baptism of the Holy Spirit is like the fire that + shall destroy all impurity at the end of the world (_Mat. 3:11_; + _2 Pet. 3:7-13_). See A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 307-310. + + +(_a_) Omnipotence does not imply power to do that which is not an object +of power; as, for example, that which is self-contradictory or +contradictory to the nature of God. + + + Self-contradictory things: "facere factum infectum"--the making of + a past event to have not occurred (hence the uselessness of + praying: "May it be that much good was done"); drawing a shorter + than a straight line between two given points; putting two + separate mountains together without a valley between them. Things + contradictory to the nature of God: for God to lie, to sin, to + die. To do such things would not imply power, but impotence. God + has all the power that is consistent with infinite perfection--all + power to do what is worthy of himself. So no greater thing can be + said by man than this: "I dare do all that may become a man; Who + dares do more is none." Even God cannot make wrong to be right, + nor hatred of himself to be blessed. Some have held that the + prevention of sin in a moral system is not an object of power, and + therefore that God cannot prevent sin in a moral system. We hold + the contrary; see this Compendium: Objections to the Doctrine of + Decrees. + + Dryden, Imitation of Horace, 3:29:71--"Over the past not heaven + itself has power; What has been has, and I have had my hour"--words + applied by Lord John Russell to his own career. Emerson, The Past: + "All is now secure and fast, Not the gods can shake the Past." + Sunday-school scholar: "Say, teacher, can God make a rock so big + that he can't lift it?" Seminary Professor: "Can God tell a lie?" + Seminary student: "With God all things are possible." + + +(_b_) Omnipotence does not imply the exercise of all his power on the part +of God. He has power over his power; in other words, his power is under +the control of wise and holy will. God can do all he will, but he will not +do all he can. Else his power is mere force acting necessarily, and God is +the slave of his own omnipotence. + + + Schleiermacher held that nature not only is grounded in the divine + causality, but fully expresses that causality; there is no + causative power in God for anything that is not real and actual. + This doctrine does not essentially differ from Spinoza's _natura + naturans_ and _natura naturata_. See Philippi, Glaubenslehre, + 2:62-66. But omnipotence is not instinctive; it is a power used + according to God's pleasure. God is by no means encompassed by the + laws of nature, or shut up to a necessary evolution of his own + being, as pantheism supposes. As Rothe has shown, God has a + will-power over his nature-power, and is not compelled to do all + that he can do. He is able from the stones of the street to "raise + up children unto Abraham," but he has not done it. In God are + unopened treasures, an inexhaustible fountain of new beginnings, + new creations, new revelations. To suppose that in creation he has + expended all the inner possibilities of his being is to deny his + omnipotence. So _Job 26:14--_"Lo, these are but the outskirts of + his ways: And how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the + thunder of his power who can understand?" See Rogers, Superhuman + Origin of the Bible, 10; Hodgson, Time and Space, 579, 580. + + _1 Pet. 5:6--_"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of + God"--his mighty hand of providence, salvation, blessing--"that he + may exalt you in due time; casting all your anxiety upon him, + because he careth for you." "The mighty powers held under mighty + control"--this is the greatest exhibition of power. Unrestraint is + not the highest freedom. Young men must learn that self-restraint + is the true power. _Prov. 16:32--_"He that is slow to anger is + better than the mighty; And he that ruleth his spirit, than he + that taketh a city." Shakespeare, Coriolanus, 2:3--"We have power + in ourselves to do it, but it is a power that we have no power to + do." When dynamite goes off, it all goes off: there is no reserve. + God uses as much of his power as he pleases: the remainder of + wrath in himself, as well as in others, he restrains. + + +(_c_) Omnipotence in God does not exclude, but implies, the power of +self-limitation. Since all such self-limitation is free, proceeding from +neither external nor internal compulsion, it is the act and manifestation +of God's power. Human freedom is not rendered impossible by the divine +omnipotence, but exists by virtue of it. It is an act of omnipotence when +God humbles himself to the taking of human flesh in the person of Jesus +Christ. + + + Thomasius: "If God is to be over all and in all, he cannot himself + be all." _Ps. 113: 5, 6--_"Who is like unto Jehovah our God.... + That humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and + in the earth?" _Phil. 2:7, 8--_"emptied himself ... humbled + himself." See Charnock, Attributes, 2:5-107. President Woolsey + showed true power when he controlled his indignation and let an + offending student go free. Of Christ on the cross, says Moberly, + Atonement and Personality, 116--"It was the power [to retain his + life, to escape suffering], with the will to hold it unused, which + proved him to be what he was, the obedient and perfect man." We + are likest the omnipotent One when we limit ourselves for love's + sake. The attribute of omnipotence is the ground of trust, as well + as of fear, on the part of God's creatures. Isaac Watts: "His + every word of grace is strong As that which built the skies; The + voice that rolls the stars along Speaks all the promises." + + +Third Division.--Attributes having relation to Moral Beings. + + +1. Veracity and Faithfulness, or Transitive Truth. + + +By veracity and faithfulness we mean the transitive truth of God, in its +twofold relation to his creatures in general and to his redeemed people in +particular. + + + _Ps. 138:2--_"I will ... give thanks unto thy name for thy + lovingkindness and for thy truth: For thou hast magnified thy word + above all thy name"; _John 3:33--_"hath set his seal to this, that + God is true"; _Rom. 3:4--_"let God be found true, but every man a + liar"; _Rom. 1:25--_"the truth of God"; _John 14:17--_"the Spirit of + truth"; _1 John 5:7--_"the Spirit is the truth"; _1 Cor. 1:9--_"God + is faithful"; _1 Thess. 5:24--_"faithful is he that calleth you"; + _1 Pet. 4:19--_"a faithful Creator"; _2 Cor. 1:20--_"how many soever + be the promises of God, in him is the yea"; _Num. 23:19--_"God is + not a man that he should lie"; _Tit. 1:2--_"God, who cannot lie, + promised"; _Heb. 6:18--_"in which it is impossible for God to lie." + + +(_a_) In virtue of his veracity, all his revelations to creatures consist +with his essential being and with each other. + + + In God's veracity we have the guarantee that our faculties in + their normal exercise do not deceive us; that the laws of thought + are also laws of things; that the external world, and second + causes in it, have objective existence; that the same causes will + always produce the same effects; that the threats of the moral + nature will be executed upon the unrepentant transgressor; that + man's moral nature is made in the image of God's; and that we may + draw just conclusions from what conscience is in us to what + holiness is in him. We may therefore expect that all past + revelations, whether in nature or in his word, will not only not + be contradicted by our future knowledge, but will rather prove to + have in them more of truth than we ever dreamed. Man's word may + pass away, but God's word abides forever (_Mat. 5:18--_"one jot or + one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law"; _Is. + 40:8--_"the word of God shall stand forever"). + + _Mat. 6:16--_"be not as the hypocrites." In God the outer + expression and the inward reality always correspond. Assyrian + wills were written on a small tablet encased in another upon which + the same thing was written over again. Breakage, or falsification, + of the outer envelope could be corrected by reference to the + inner. So our outer life should conform to the heart within, and + the heart within to the outer life. On the duty of speaking the + truth, and the limitations of the duty, see Newman Smyth, + Christian Ethics, 386-403--"Give the truth always to those who in + the bonds of humanity have a right to the truth; conceal it, or + falsify it, only when the human right to the truth has been + forfeited, or is held in abeyance, by sickness, weakness, or some + criminal intent." + + +(_b_) In virtue of his faithfulness, he fulfills all his promises to his +people, whether expressed in words or implied in the constitution he has +given them. + + + In God's faithfulness we have the sure ground of confidence that + he will perform what his love has led him to promise to those who + obey the gospel. Since his promises are based, not upon what we + are or have done, but upon what Christ is and has done, our + defects and errors do not invalidate them, so long as we are truly + penitent and believing: _1 John 1:9--_"faithful and righteous to + forgive us our sins" = faithful to his promise, and righteous to + Christ. God's faithfulness also ensures a supply for all the real + wants of our being, both here and hereafter, since these wants are + implicit promises of him who made us: _Ps. 84:11--_"No good thing + will he withhold from them that walk uprightly"; _91:4--_"His truth + is a shield and a buckler"; _Mat. 6:33--_"all these things shall be + added unto you"; _1 Cor. 2:9--_"Things which eye saw not, and ear + heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever + things God prepared for them that love him." + + Regulus goes back to Carthage to die rather than break his promise + to his enemies. George William Curtis economizes for years, and + gives up all hope of being himself a rich man, in order that he + may pay the debts of his deceased father. When General Grant sold + all the presents made to him by the crowned heads of Europe, and + paid the obligations in which his insolvent son had involved him, + he said: "Better poverty and honor, than wealth and disgrace." + Many a business man would rather die than fail to fulfil his + promise and let his note go to protest. "Maxwelton braes are + bonnie, Where early falls the dew, And 'twas there that Annie + Laurie Gave me her promise true; Which ne'er forget will I; And + for bonnie Annie Laurie I'd lay me down and dee." Betray the man + she loves? Not "Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks + melt wi'the sun." God's truth will not be less than that of mortal + man. God's veracity is the natural correlate to our faith. + + +2. Mercy and Goodness, or Transitive Love. + + +By mercy and goodness we mean the transitive love of God in its two-fold +relation to the disobedient and to the obedient portions of his creatures. + + + _Titus 3:4--_"his love toward man"; _Rom. 2:4--_"goodness of God"; + _Mat. 5:44, 45--_"love your enemies ... that ye may be sons of your + Father"; _John 3:16--_"God so loved the world"; _2 Pet. + 1:3--_"granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and + godliness"; _Rom. 8:32--_"freely give us all things"; _John + 4:10--_"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved + us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." + + +(_a_) Mercy is that eternal principle of God's nature which leads him to +seek the temporal good and eternal salvation of those who have opposed +themselves to his will, even at the cost of infinite self-sacrifice. + + + Martensen: "Viewed in relation to sin, eternal love is + compassionate grace." God's continued importation of natural life + is a foreshadowing, in a lower sphere, of what he desires to do + for his creatures in the higher sphere--the communication of + spiritual and eternal life through Jesus Christ. When he bids us + love our enemies, he only bids us follow his own example. + Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, 2:2--"Wilt thou draw near the nature + of the gods? Draw near them, then, in being merciful." Twelfth + Night, 3:4--"In nature there's no blemish but the mind; None can be + called deformed but the unkind. Virtue is beauty." + + +(_b_) Goodness is the eternal principle of God's nature which leads him to +communicate of his own life and blessedness to those who are like him in +moral character. Goodness, therefore, is nearly identical with the love of +complacency; mercy, with the love of benevolence. + + + Notice, however, that transitive love is but an outward + manifestation of immanent love. The eternal and perfect object of + God's love is in his own nature. Men become subordinate objects of + that love only as they become connected and identified with its + principal object, the image of God's perfections in Christ. Only + in the Son do men become sons of God. To this is requisite an + acceptance of Christ on the part of man. Thus it can be said that + God imparts himself to men just so far as men are willing to + receive him. And as God gives himself to men, in all his moral + attributes, to answer for them and to renew them in character, + there is truth in the statement of Nordell (Examiner, Jan. 17, + 1884) that "the maintenance of holiness is the function of divine + justice; the diffusion of holiness is the function of divine + love." We may grant this as substantially true, while yet we deny + that love is a mere form or manifestation of holiness. + Self-impartation is different from self-affirmation. The attribute + which moves God to pour out is not identical with the attribute + which moves him to maintain. The two ideas of holiness and of love + are as distinct as the idea of integrity on the one hand and of + generosity on the other. Park: "God loves Satan, in a certain + sense, and we ought to." Shedd: "This same love of compassion God + feels toward the non-elect; but the expression of that compassion + is forbidden for reasons which are sufficient for God, but are + entirely unknown to the creature." The goodness of God is the + basis of _reward_, under God's government. Faithfulness leads God + to keep his promises; goodness leads him to make them. + + Edwards, Nature of Virtue, in Works, 2:263--Love of benevolence + does not presuppose beauty in its object. Love of complacence does + presuppose beauty. Virtue is not love to an object for its beauty. + The beauty of intelligent beings does not consist in love for + beauty, or virtue in love for virtue. Virtue is love for being in + general, exercised in a general good will. This is the doctrine of + Edwards. We prefer to say that virtue is love, not for being in + general, but for good being, and so for God, the holy One. The + love of compassion is perfectly compatible with hatred of evil and + with indignation against one who commits it. Love does not + necessarily imply approval, but it does imply desire that all + creatures should fulfil the purpose of their existence by being + morally conformed to the holy One; see Godet, in The Atonement, + 339. + + _Rom. 5:8--_"God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while + we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." We ought to love our + enemies, and Satan is our worst enemy. We ought to will the good + of Satan, or cherish toward him the love of benevolence, though + not the love of complacence. This does not involve a condoning of + his sin, or an ignoring of his moral depravity, as seems implied + in the verses of Wm. C. Gannett: "The poem hangs on the berry-bush + When comes the poet's eye; The street begins to masquerade When + Shakespeare passes by. The Christ sees white in Judas' heart And + loves his traitor well; The God, to angel his new heaven, Explores + his deepest hell." + + +3. Justice and Righteousness, or Transitive Holiness. + + +By justice and righteousness we mean the transitive holiness of God, in +virtue of which his treatment of his creatures conforms to the purity of +his nature,--righteousness demanding from all moral beings conformity to +the moral perfection of God, and justice visiting non-conformity to that +perfection with penal loss or suffering. + + + _Gen. 18:25--_"shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" + _Deut. 32:4--_"All his ways are justice; A God of faithfulness and + without iniquity, Just and right is he"; _Ps. 5:5--_"Thou hatest + all workers of iniquity"; _7:9-12--_"the righteous God trieth the + hearts ... saveth the upright ... is a righteous judge, Yea, a God + that hath indignation every day"; _18:24-26--_"Jehovah recompensed + me according to my righteousness.... With the merciful, thou wilt + show thyself merciful ... with the perverse thou wilt show thyself + froward"; _Mat. 5:48--_"Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your + heavenly Father is perfect"; _Rom. 2:6--_"will render to every man + according to his works"; _1 Pet. 1:16--_"Ye shall be holy; for I am + holy." These passages show that God loves the same persons whom he + hates. It is not true that he hates the sin, but loves the sinner; + he both hates and loves the sinner himself, hates him as he is a + living and wilful antagonist of truth and holiness, loves him as + he is a creature capable of good and ruined by his transgression. + + There is no abstract sin that can be hated apart from the persons + in whom that sin is represented and embodied. Thomas Fuller found + it difficult to starve the profaneness but to feed the person of + the impudent beggar who applied to him for food. Mr. Finney + declared that he would kill the slave-catcher, but would love him + with all his heart. In our civil war Dr. Kirk said: "God knows + that we love the rebels, but God also knows that we will kill them + if they do not lay down their arms." The complex nature of God not + only permits but necessitates this same double treatment of the + sinner, and the earthly father experiences the same conflict of + emotions when his heart yearns over the corrupt son whom he is + compelled to banish from the household. Moberly, Atonement and + Personality, 7--"It is the sinner who is punished, not the sin." + + +(_a_) Since justice and righteousness are simply transitive +holiness--righteousness designating this holiness chiefly in its mandatory, +justice chiefly in its punitive, aspect,--they are not mere manifestations +of benevolence, or of God's disposition to secure the highest happiness of +his creatures, nor are they grounded in the nature of things as something +apart from or above God. + + + Cremer, N. T. Lexicon: {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} = "the perfect coincidence existing + between God's nature, which is the standard for all, and his + acts." Justice and righteousness are simply holiness exercised + toward creatures. The same holiness which exists in God in + eternity past manifests itself as justice and righteousness, so + soon as intelligent creatures come into being. Much that was said + under Holiness as an immanent attribute of God is equally + applicable here. The modern tendency to confound holiness with + love shows itself in the merging of justice and righteousness in + mere benevolence. Instances of this tendency are the following: + Ritschl, Unterricht, § 16--"The righteousness of God denotes the + manner in which God carries out his loving will in the redemption + alike of humanity as a whole and of individual men; hence his + righteousness is indistinguishable from his grace"; see also + Ritschl, Rechtf. und Versoehnung, 2:113; 3:296. Prof. George M. + Forbes: "Only right makes love moral; only love makes right + moral." Jones, Robert Browning, 70--"Is it not beneficence that + places death at the heart of sin? Carlyle forgot this. God is not + simply a great taskmaster. The power that imposes law is not an + alien power." D'Arcy, Idealism and Theology, 237-240--"How can + self-realization be the realization of others? Why must the true + good be always the common good? Why is the end of each the end of + all?... We need a concrete universal which will unify all + persons." + + So also, Harris, Kingdom of Christ on Earth, 39-42; God the + Creator, 287, 290, 302--"Love, as required and regulated by reason, + may be called righteousness. Love is universal good will or + benevolence, regulated in its exercise by righteousness. Love is + the choice of God and man as the objects of trust and service. + This choice involves the determination of the will to seek + universal well-being, and in this aspect it is benevolence. It + also involves the consent of the will to the reason, and the + determination to regulate all action in seeking well-being by its + truths, laws, and ideals; and in this aspect it is + righteousness.... Justice is the consent of the will to the law of + love, in its authority, its requirements, and its sanctions. God's + wrath is the necessary reaction of this law of love in the + constitution and order of the universe against the wilful violator + of it, and Christ's sufferings atone for sin by asserting and + maintaining the authority, universality, and inviolability of + God's law of love in his redemption of men and his forgiveness of + their sins.... Righteousness cannot be the whole of love, for this + would shut us up to the merely formal principle of the law without + telling us what the law requires. Benevolence cannot be the whole + of love, for this would shut us up to hedonism, in the form of + utilitarianism, excluding righteousness from the character of God + and man." + + Newman Smyth also, in his Christian Ethics, 227-231, tells us that + "love, as self-affirming, is righteousness; as self-imparting, is + benevolence; as self-finding in others, is sympathy. + Righteousness, as subjective regard for our own moral being, is + holiness; as objective regard for the persons of others, is + justice. Holiness is involved in love as its essential respect to + itself; the heavenly Father is the holy Father (_John 17:11_). + Love contains in its unity a trinity of virtue. Love affirms its + own worthiness, imparts to others its good, and finds its life + again in the well-being of others. The ethical limit of + self-impartation is found in self-affirmation. Love in + self-bestowal cannot become suicidal. The benevolence of love has + its moral bounds in the holiness of love. True love in God + maintains its transcendence, and excludes pantheism." + + The above doctrine, quoted for substance from Newman Smyth, seems + to us unwarrantably to include in love what properly belongs to + holiness. It virtually denies that holiness has any independent + existence as an attribute of God. To make holiness a manifestation + of love seems to us as irrational as to say that self-affirmation + is a form of self-impartation. The concession that holiness + regulates and limits love shows that holiness cannot itself be + love, but must be an independent and superior attribute. Right + furnishes the rule and law for love, but it is not true that love + furnishes the rule and law for right. There is no such double + sovereignty as this theory would imply. The one attribute that is + independent and supreme is holiness, and love is simply the + impulse to communicate this holiness. + + William Ashmore: "Dr. Clarke lays great emphasis on the character + of 'a good God.'... But he is more than a merely _good_ God; he is + a just God, and a righteous God, and a holy God--a God who is + 'angry with the wicked,' even while ready to forgive them, if they + are willing to repent in his way, and not in their own. He is the + God who brought in a flood upon the world of the ungodly; who + rained down fire and brimstone from heaven; and who is to come in + 'flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God' and + obey not the gospel of his son.... Paul reasoned about both the + 'goodness' and the 'severity' of God." + + +(_b_) Transitive holiness, as righteousness, imposes law in conscience and +Scripture, and may be called legislative holiness. As justice, it executes +the penalties of law, and may be called distributive or judicial holiness. +In righteousness God reveals chiefly his love of holiness; in justice, +chiefly his hatred of sin. + + + The self-affirming purity of God demands a like purity in those + who have been made in his image. As God wills and maintains his + own moral excellence, so all creatures must will and maintain the + moral excellence of God. There can be only one centre in the solar + system,--the sun is its own centre and the centre for all the + planets also. So God's purity is the object of his own will,--it + must be the object of all the wills of all his creatures also. + Bixby, Crisis in Morals, 282--"It is not rational or safe for the + hand to separate itself from the heart. This is a _universe_, and + God is the heart of the great system. Altruism is not the result + of society, but society is the result of altruism. It begins in + creatures far below man. The animals which know how to combine + have the greatest chance of survival. The unsociable animal dies + out. The most perfect organism is the most sociable. Right is the + debt which the part owes to the whole." This seems to us but a + partial expression of the truth. Right is more than a debt to + others,--it is a debt to one's self, and the self-affirming, + self-preserving, self-respecting element constitutes the limit and + standard of all outgoing activity. The sentiment of loyalty is + largely a reverence for this principle of order and stability in + government. _Ps. 145:5--_"Of the glorious majesty of thine honor, + And of thy wondrous works, will I meditate"; _97:2--_"Clouds and + darkness are round about him: Righteousness and justice are the + foundation of his throne." + + John Milton, Eikonoklastes: "Truth and justice are all one; for + truth is but justice in our knowledge, and justice is but truth in + our practice.... For truth is properly no more than contemplation, + and her utmost efficiency is but teaching; but justice in her very + essence is all strength and activity, and hath a sword put into + her hand to use against all violence and oppression on the earth. + She it is who accepts no person, and exempts none from the + severity of her stroke." A. J. Balfour, Foundations of Belief, + 326--"Even the poet has not dared to represent Jupiter torturing + Prometheus without the dim figure of Avenging Fate waiting + silently in the background.... Evolution working out a nobler and + nobler justice is proof that God is just. Here is 'preferential + action'." S. S. Times, June 9, 1900--"The natural man is born with + a wrong personal astronomy. Man should give up the conceit of + being the centre of all things. He should accept the Copernican + theory, and content himself with a place on the edge of things--the + place he has always really had. We all laugh at John Jasper and + his thesis that 'the sun do move.' The Copernican theory is + leaking down into human relations, as appears from the current + phrase: 'There are others'." + + +(_c_) Neither justice nor righteousness, therefore, is a matter of +arbitrary will. They are revelations of the inmost nature of God, the one +in the form of moral requirement, the other in the form of judicial +sanction. As God cannot but demand of his creatures that they be like him +in moral character, so he cannot but enforce the law which he imposes upon +them. Justice just as much binds God to punish as it binds the sinner to +be punished. + + + All arbitrariness is excluded here. God is what he is--infinite + purity. He cannot change. If creatures are to attain the end of + their being, they must be like God in moral purity. Justice is + nothing but the recognition and enforcement of this natural + necessity. Law is only the transcript of God's nature. Justice + does not make law,--it only reveals law. Penalty is only the + reaction of God's holiness against that which is its opposite. + Since righteousness and justice are only legislative and + retributive holiness, God can cease to demand purity and to punish + sin only when he ceases to be holy, that is, only when he ceases + to be God. "Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur." + + Simon, Reconciliation, 141--"To claim the performance of duty is as + truly obligatory as it is obligatory to perform the duty which is + prescribed." E. H. Johnson, Systematic Theology, 84--"Benevolence + intends what is well for the creature; justice insists on what is + fit. But the well-for-us and the fit-for-us precisely coincide. + The only thing that is well for us is our normal employment and + development; but to provide for this is precisely what is fitting + and therefore due to us. In the divine nature the distinction + between justice and benevolence is one of form." We criticize this + utterance as not sufficiently taking into account the nature of + the right. The right is not merely the fit. Fitness is only + general adaptation which may have in it no ethical element, + whereas right is solely and exclusively ethical. The right + therefore regulates the fit and constitutes its standard. The + well-for-us is to be determined by the right-for-us, but not _vice + versa_. George W. Northrup: "God is not bound to bestow the same + endowments upon creatures, nor to keep all in a state of holiness + forever, nor to redeem the fallen, nor to secure the greatest + happiness of the universe. But he is bound to purpose and to do + what his absolute holiness requires. He has no attribute, no will, + no sovereignty, above this law of his being. He cannot lie, he + cannot deny himself, he cannot look upon sin with complacency, he + cannot acquit the guilty without an atonement." + + +(_d_) Neither justice nor righteousness bestows rewards. This follows from +the fact that obedience is due to God, instead of being optional or a +gratuity. No creature can claim anything for his obedience. If God +rewards, he rewards in virtue of his goodness and faithfulness, not in +virtue of his justice or his righteousness. What the creature cannot +claim, however, Christ _can_ claim, and the rewards which are goodness to +the creature are righteousness to Christ. God rewards Christ's work _for_ +us and _in_ us. + + + Bruch, Eigenschaftslehre, 280-282, and John Austin, Province of + Jurisprudence, 1:88-93, 220-223, both deny, and rightly deny, that + justice bestows rewards. Justice simply punishes infractions of + law. In _Mat. 25:34--_"inherit the kingdom"--inheritance implies no + merit; _46_--the wicked are adjudged to eternal punishment; the + righteous, not to eternal reward, but to eternal life. _Luke + 17:7-10--_"when ye shall have done all the things that are + commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done + that which it was our duty to do." _Rom. 6:23_--punishment is the + "_wages of sin_": but salvation is "_the gift of God_"; _2:6_--God + rewards, not _on account of_ man's work but "_according to his + works_." Reward is thus seen to be in Scripture a matter of grace + to the creature; only to the Christ who works for us in atonement, + and in us in regeneration and sanctification, is reward a matter + of debt (see also _John 6:27_ and _2 John 8_). Martineau, Types, + 2:86, 244, 249--"Merit is toward man; virtue toward God." + + All mere service is unprofitable, because it furnishes only an + equivalent to duty, and there is no margin. Works of + supererogation are impossible, because our all is due to God. He + would have us rise into the region of friendship, realize that he + has been treating us not as Master but as Father, enter into a + relation of uncalculating love. With this proviso that rewards are + matters of grace, not of debt, we may assent to the maxim of + Solon: "A republic walks upon two feet--just punishment for the + unworthy and due reward for the worthy." George Harris, Moral + Evolution, 139--"Love seeks righteousness, and is satisfied with + nothing other than that." But when Harris adopts the words of the + poet: "The very wrath from pity grew, From love of men the hate of + wrong," he seems to us virtually to deny that God hates evil for + any other reason than because of its utilitarian disadvantages, + and to imply that good has no independent existence in his nature. + Bowne, Ethics, 171--"Merit is desert of reward, or better, desert + of moral approval." Tennyson: "For merit lives from man to man, + And not from man, O Lord, to thee." Baxter: "_Desert_ is written + over the gate of hell; but over the gate of heaven only, _The Gift + of God_." + + +(_e_) Justice in God, as the revelation of his holiness, is devoid of all +passion or caprice. There is in God no selfish anger. The penalties he +inflicts upon transgression are not vindictive but vindicative. They +express the revulsion of God's nature from moral evil, the judicial +indignation of purity against impurity, the self-assertion of infinite +holiness against its antagonist and would-be destroyer. But because its +decisions are calm, they are irreversible. + + + Anger, within certain limits, is a duty of man. _Ps. 97:10--_"ye + that love Jehovah, hate evil"; _Eph. 4:28--_"Be ye angry, and sin + not." The calm indignation of the judge, who pronounces sentence + with tears, is the true image of the holy anger of God against + sin. Weber, Zorn Gottes, 28, makes wrath only the jealousy of + love. It is more truly the jealousy of holiness. Prof. W. A. + Stevens, Com. on _1 Thess. 2:10_--"_Holily_ and _righteously_ are + terms that describe the same conduct in two aspects; the former, + as conformed to God's character in itself; the latter, as + conformed to his law; both are positive." Lillie, on _2 Thess. + 1:6_--"Judgment is '_a righteous thing with God_.' Divine justice + requires it for its own satisfaction." See Shedd, Dogm. Theol., + 1:175-178, 365-385; Trench, Syn. N. T., 1:180, 181. + + Of Gaston de Foix, the old chronicler admirably wrote: "He loved + what ought to be loved, and hated what ought to be hated, and + never had miscreant with him." Compare _Ps. 101:5, 6--_"Him that + hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer. Mine eyes + shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with + me." Even Horace Bushnell spoke of the "wrath-principle" in God. + _1 K. 11:9--_"And Jehovah was angry with Solomon" because of his + polygamy. Jesus' anger was no less noble than his love. The love + of the right involved hatred of the wrong. Those may hate who hate + evil for its hatefulness and for the sake of God. Hate sin in + yourself first, and then you may hate it in itself and in the + world. Be angry only in Christ and with the wrath of God. W. C. + Wilkinson, Epic of Paul, 264--"But we must purge ourselves of + self-regard, Or we are sinful in abhorring sin." Instance Judge + Harris's pity, as he sentenced the murderer; see A. H. Strong, + Philosophy and Religion, 192, 193. + + Horace's "Ira furor brevis est"--"Anger is a temporary madness"--is + true only of selfish and sinful anger. Hence the man who is angry + is popularly called "mad." But anger, though apt to become sinful, + is not necessarily so. Just anger is neither madness, nor is it + brief. Instance the judicial anger of the church of Corinth in + inflicting excommunication: _2 Cor. 7:11--_"what indignation, yea + what fear, yea what longing, yea what zeal, yea what avenging!" + The only revenge permissible to the Christian church is that in + which it pursues and exterminates sin. To be incapable of moral + indignation against wrong is to lack real love for the right. Dr. + Arnold of Rugby was never sure of a boy who only loved good; till + the boy also began to hate evil, Dr. Arnold did not feel that he + was safe. Herbert Spencer said that good nature with Americans + became a crime. Lecky, Democracy and Liberty: "There is one thing + worse than corruption, and that is acquiescence in corruption." + + Colestock, Changing Viewpoint, 139--"Xenophon intends to say a very + commendable thing of Cyrus the Younger, when he writes of him that + no one had done more good to his friends or more harm to his + enemies." Luther said to a monkish antagonist: "I will break in + pieces your heart of brass and pulverize your iron brains." Shedd, + Dogmatic Theology, 1:175-178--"Human character is worthless in + proportion as abhorrence of sin is lacking in it. It is related of + Charles II that 'he felt no gratitude for benefits, and no + resentment for wrongs; he did not love anyone, and he did not hate + anyone.' He was indifferent toward right and wrong, and the only + feeling he had was contempt." But see the death-bed scene of the + "merry monarch," as portrayed in Bp. Burnet, Evelyn's Memoirs, or + the Life of Bp. Ken. Truly "The end of mirth is heaviness"_ (Prov. + 14:13)_. + + Stout, Manual of Psychology, 22--"Charles Lamb tells us that his + friend George Dyer could never be brought to say anything in + condemnation of the most atrocious crimes, except that the + criminal must have been very eccentric." Professor Seeley: "No + heart is pure that is not passionate." D. W. Simon, Redemption of + Man, 249, 250, says that God's resentment "is a resentment of an + essentially altruistic character." If this means that it is + perfectly consistent with love for the sinner, we can accept the + statement; if it means that love is the only source of the + resentment, we regard the statement as a misinterpretation of + God's justice, which is but the manifestation of his holiness and + is not a mere expression of his love. See a similar statement of + Lidgett, Spiritual Principle of the Atonement, 251--"Because God is + love, his love coexists with his wrath against sinners, is the + very life of that wrath, and is so persistent that it uses wrath + as its instrument, while at the same time it seeks and supplies a + propitiation." This statement ignores the fact that punishment is + never in Scripture regarded as an expression of God's love, but + always of God's holiness. When we say that we love God, let us + make sure that it is the true God, the God of holiness, that we + love, for only this love will make us like him. + + The moral indignation of a whole universe of holy beings against + moral evil, added to the agonizing self-condemnations of awakened + conscience in all the unholy, is only a faint and small reflection + of the awful revulsion of God's infinite justice from the impurity + and selfishness of his creatures, and of the intense, organic, + necessary, and eternal reaction of his moral being in + self-vindication and the punishment of sin; see _Jer. 44:4--_"Oh, + do not this abominable thing that I hate!" _Num. 32:23--_"be sure + your sin will find you out"; _Heb. 10:30, 31--_"For we know him + that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense. And + again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to + fall into the hands of the living God." On justice as an attribute + of a moral governor, see N. W. Taylor, Moral Government, + 2:253-293; Owen, Dissertation on Divine Justice, in Works, + 10:483-624. + + + +VII. Rank and Relations of the several Attributes. + + +The attributes have relations to each other. Like intellect, affection and +will in man, no one of them is to be conceived of as exercised separately +from the rest. Each of the attributes is qualified by all the others. +God's love is immutable, wise, holy. Infinity belongs to God's knowledge, +power, justice. Yet this is not to say that one attribute is of as high +rank as another. The moral attributes of truth, love, holiness, are worthy +of higher reverence from men, and they are more jealously guarded by God, +than the natural attributes of omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. +And yet even among the moral attributes one stands as supreme. Of this and +of its supremacy we now proceed to speak. + + + Water is not water unless composed of oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen + cannot be resolved into hydrogen, nor hydrogen into oxygen. Oxygen + has its own character, though only in combination with hydrogen + does it appear in water. Will in man never acts without intellect + and sensibility, yet will, more than intellect or sensibility, is + the manifestation of the man. So when God acts, he manifests not + one attribute alone, but his total moral excellence. Yet holiness, + as an attribute of God, has rights peculiar to itself; it + determines the attitude of the affections; it more than any other + faculty constitutes God's moral being. + + Clarke, Christian Theology, 83,92--"God would not be holy if he + were not love, and could not be love if he were not holy. Love is + an element in holiness. If this were lacking, there would be no + perfect character as principle of his own action or as standard + for us. On the other hand only the perfect being can be love. God + must be free from all taint of selfishness in order to be love. + Holiness requires God to act as love, for holiness is God's + self-consistency. Love is the desire to impart holiness. Holiness + makes God's character the standard for his creatures; but love, + desiring to impart the best good, does the same. All work of love + is work of holiness, and all work of holiness is work of love. + Conflict of attributes is impossible, because holiness always + includes love, and love always expresses holiness. They never need + reconciliation with each other." + + The general correctness of the foregoing statement is impaired by + the vagueness of its conception of holiness. The Scriptures do not + regard holiness as including love, or make all the acts of + holiness to be acts of love. Self-affirmation does not include + self-impartation, and sin necessitates an exercise of holiness + which is not also an exercise of love. But for the Cross, and + God's suffering for sin of which the Cross is the expression, + there would be conflict between holiness and love. The wisdom of + God is most shown, not in reconciling man and God, but in + reconciling the holy God with the loving God. + + +1. Holiness the fundamental attribute in God. + + +That holiness is the fundamental attribute in God, is evident: + +(_a_) From Scripture,--in which God's holiness is not only most constantly +and powerfully impressed upon the attention of man, but is declared to be +the chief subject of rejoicing and adoration in heaven. + + + It is God's attribute of holiness that first and most prominently + presents itself to the mind of the sinner, and conscience only + follows the method of Scripture: _1 Pet. 1:16--_"Ye shall be holy; + for I am holy"; _Heb. 12:14--_"the sanctification without which no + man shall see the lord"_;_ _cf._ _Luke 5:8--_"Depart from me; for I + am a sinful man, O Lord." Yet this constant insistence upon + holiness cannot be due simply to man's present state of sin, for + in heaven, where there is no sin, there is the same reiteration: + _Is. 6:3--_"Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts"; _Rev. + 4:8--_"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty." Of no other + attribute is it said that God's throne rests upon it: _Ps. + 97:2--_"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his + throne"; _99:4, 5, 9--_"The king's strength also loveth justice.... + Exalt ye Jehovah our God.... holy is he." We would substitute the + word holiness for the word love in the statement of Newman Smyth, + Christian Ethics, 45--"We assume that love is lord in the divine + will, not that the will of God is sovereign over his love. God's + omnipotence, as Dorner would say, exists for his love." + + +(_b_) From our own moral constitution,--in which conscience asserts its +supremacy over every other impulse and affection of our nature. As we may +be kind, but must be righteous, so God, in whose image we are made, may be +merciful, but must be holy. + + + See Bishop Butler's Sermons upon Human Nature, Bohn's ed., + 385-414, showing "the supremacy of conscience in the moral + constitution of man." We must be just, before we are generous. So + with God, justice must be done always; mercy is optional with him. + He was not under obligation to provide a redemption for sinners: + _2 Pet. 2:4--_"God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast + them down to hell." Salvation is a matter of grace, not of debt. + Shedd, Discourses and Essays, 277-298--"The quality of justice is + necessary exaction; but 'the quality of mercy is not + (con)strained' " [_cf._ Denham: "His mirth is forced and + strained"]. God can apply the salvation, after he has wrought it + out, to whomsoever he will: _Rom. 9:18--_"he hath mercy on whom he + will." Young, Night-Thoughts, 4:233--"A God all mercy is a God + unjust." Emerson: "Your goodness must have some edge to it; else + it is none." Martineau, Study, 2:100--"No one can be just without + subordinating Pity to the sense of Right." + + We may learn of God's holiness _a priori_. Even the heathen could + say "Fiat justitia, ruat coelum," or "pereat mundus." But, for our + knowledge of God's mercy, we are dependent upon special + revelation. Mercy, like omnipotence, may exist in God without + being exercised. Mercy is not grace but debt, if God owes the + exercise of it either to the sinner or to himself; _versus_ G. B. + Stevens, in New Eng., 1888:421-443. "But justice is an attribute + which not only _exists_ of necessity, but must be _exercised_ of + necessity; because not to exercise it would be injustice"; see + Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:218, 219, 389, 390; 2:402, and Sermons to + Nat. Man, 366. If it be said that, by parity of reasoning, for God + not to exercise mercy is to show himself unmerciful,--we reply that + this is not true so long as higher interests require that exercise + to be withheld. I am not unmerciful when I refuse to give the poor + the money needed to pay an honest debt; nor is the Governor + unmerciful when he refuses to pardon the condemned and unrepentant + criminal. Mercy has its conditions, as we proceed to show, and it + does not cease to _be_ when these conditions do not permit it to + _be exercised_. Not so with justice: justice must always be + exercised; when it ceases to _be exercised_, it also ceases to + _be_. + + The story of the prodigal shows a love that ever reaches out after + the son in the far country, but which is ever conditioned by the + father's holiness and restrained from acting until the son has + voluntarily forsaken his riotous living. A just father may banish + a corrupt son from the household, yet may love him so tenderly + that his banishment causes exquisite pain. E. G. Robinson: "God, + Christ and the Holy Spirit have a conscience, that is, they + distinguish between right and wrong." E. H. Johnson, Syst. + Theology, 85, 86--"Holiness is primary as respects benevolence; for + (_a_) Holiness is itself moral excellence, while the moral + excellence of benevolence can be explained. (_b_) Holiness is an + attribute of being, while benevolence is an attribute of action; + but action presupposes and is controlled by being. (_c_) + Benevolence must take counsel of holiness, since for a being to + desire aught contrary to holiness would be to wish him harm, while + that which holiness leads God to seek, benevolence finds best for + the creature. (_d_) The Mosaic dispensation elaborately + symbolized, and the Christian dispensation makes provision to + meet, the requirements of holiness as supreme; _James + 3:17_--'_First pure, then_ [by consequence] _peaceable_.' " + + We are "_to do justly_," as well as "to love kindness, and to walk + humbly with" our God (_Micah 6:8_). Dr. Samuel Johnson: "It is + surprising to find how much more kindness than justice society + contains." There is a sinful mercy. A School Commissioner finds it + terrible work to listen to the pleas of incompetent teachers + begging that they may not be dismissed, and he can nerve himself + for it only by remembering the children whose education may be + affected by his refusal to do justice. Love and pity are not the + whole of Christian duty, nor are they the ruling attributes of + God. + + +(_c_) From the actual dealings of God,--in which holiness conditions and +limits the exercise of other attributes. Thus, for example, in Christ's +redeeming work, though love makes the atonement, it is violated holiness +that requires it; and in the eternal punishment of the wicked, the demand +of holiness for self-vindication overbears the pleading of love for the +sufferers. + + + Love cannot be the fundamental attribute of God, because love + always requires a norm or standard, and this norm or standard is + found only in holiness; _Phil. 1:9--_"And this I pray, that your + love may abound yet more in knowledge and all discernment"; see A. + H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 388-405. That which conditions all + is highest of all. Holiness shows itself higher than love, in that + it conditions love. Hence God's mercy does not consist in + outraging his own law of holiness, but in enduring the penal + affliction by which that law of holiness is satisfied. Conscience + in man is but the reflex of holiness in God. Conscience demands + either retribution or atonement. This demand Christ meets by his + substituted suffering. His sacrifice assuages the thirst of + conscience in man, as well as the demand of holiness in God: _John + 6:55--_"For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." + See Shedd, Discourses and Essays, 280, 291, 292; Dogmatic + Theology, 1:377, 378--"The sovereignty and freedom of God in + respect to justice relates not to the _abolition_, nor to the + _relaxation_, but to the _substitution_, of punishment. It does + not consist in any power to violate or waive legal claims. The + exercise of the other attributes of God is regulated and + conditioned by that of justice.... Where then is the mercy of God, + in case justice is strictly satisfied by a vicarious person? There + is mercy in _permitting_ another person to do for the sinner what + the sinner is bound to do for himself; and greater mercy in + _providing_ that person; and still greater mercy in _becoming_ + that person." + + Enthusiasm, like fire, must not only burn, but must be controlled. + Man invented chimneys to keep in the heat but to let out the + smoke. We need the walls of discretion and self-control to guide + the flaming of our love. The holiness of God is the regulating + principle of his nature. The ocean of his mercy is bounded by the + shores of his justice. Even if holiness be God's self-love, in the + sense of God's self-respect or self-preservation, still this + self-love must condition love to creatures. Only as God maintains + himself in his holiness, can he have anything of worth to give; + love indeed is nothing but the self-communication of holiness. And + if we say, with J. M. Whiton, that self-affirmation in a universe + in which God is immanent is itself a form of self-impartation, + still this form of self-impartation must condition and limit that + other form of self-impartation which we call love to creatures. + See Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, 1:137-155, 346-353; + Patton, art. on Retribution and the Divine Goodness, in Princeton + Rev., Jan. 1878:8-16; Owen, Dissertation on the Divine Justice, in + Works, 10: 483-624. + + +(_d_) From God's eternal purpose of salvation,--in which justice and mercy +are reconciled only through the foreseen and predetermined sacrifice of +Christ. The declaration that Christ is "the Lamb ... slain from the +foundation of the world" implies the existence of a principle in the +divine nature which requires satisfaction, before God can enter upon the +work of redemption. That principle can be none other than holiness. + + + Since both mercy and justice are exercised toward sinners of the + human race, the otherwise inevitable antagonism between them is + removed only by the atoning death of the God-man. Their opposing + claims do not impair the divine blessedness, because the + reconciliation exists in the eternal counsels of God. This is + intimated in _Rev. 13:8--_"the Lamb that hath been slain from the + foundation of the world." This same reconciliation is alluded to + in _Ps. 85:10--_"Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness + and peace have kissed each other"; and in _Rom. 3:26--_"that he + might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in + Jesus." The atonement, then, if man was to be saved, was + necessary, not primarily on man's account, but on God's account. + Shedd, Discourses and Essays, 279--The sacrifice of Christ was an + "atonement _ab intra_, a self-oblation on the part of Deity + himself, by which to satisfy those immanent and eternal + imperatives of the divine nature which without it must find their + satisfaction in the punishment of the transgressor, or else be + outraged." Thus God's word of redemption, as well as his word of + creation, is forever "settled in heaven"_ (Ps. 119:89)_. Its + execution on the cross was "according to the pattern" on high. The + Mosaic sacrifice prefigured the sacrifice of Christ; but the + sacrifice of Christ was but the temporal disclosure of an eternal + fact in the nature of God. See Kreibig, Versoehnung, 155, 156. + + God requires satisfaction because he is holiness, but he makes + satisfaction because he is love. The Judge himself, with all his + hatred of transgression, still loves the transgressor, and comes + down from the bench to take the criminal's place and bear his + penalty. But this is an eternal provision and an eternal + sacrifice. _Heb. 9:14--_"the blood of Christ, who through the + eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God." + Matheson, Voices of the Spirit, 215, 216--"Christ's sacrifice was + offered through the Spirit. It was not wrung from a reluctant soul + through obedience to outward law; it came from the inner heart, + from the impulse of undying love. It was a completed offering + before Calvary began; it was seen by the Father before it was seen + by the world. It was finished in the Spirit, ere it began in the + flesh, finished in the hour when Christ exclaimed: 'not as I will, + but as thou wilt'_ (Mat. 26:39)._" + + Lang, Homer, 506--"Apollo is the bringer of pestilence and the + averter of pestilence, in accordance with the well-known rule that + the two opposite attributes should be combined in the same deity." + Lord Bacon, Confession of Faith: "Neither angel, man nor world, + could stand or can stand one moment in God's sight without + beholding the same in the face of a Mediator; and therefore before + him, with whom all things are present, the Lamb of God was slain + before all worlds; without which eternal counsel of his, it was + impossible for him to have descended to any work of creation." + Orr, Christian View of God and the World, 819--"Creation is built + on redemption lines"--which is to say that incarnation and + atonement were included in God's original design of the world. + + +2. The holiness of God the ground of moral obligation. + + +A. Erroneous Views. The ground of moral obligation is not + +(_a_) In power,--whether of civil law (Hobbes, Gassendi), or of divine will +(Occam, Descartes). We are not bound to obey either of these, except upon +the ground that they are right. This theory assumes that nothing is good +or right in itself, and that morality is mere prudence. + + + _Civil law_: See Hobbes, Leviathan, part i, chap. 6 and 13; part + ii, chap. 30; Gassendi, Opera, 6:120. Upon this view, might makes + right; the laws of Nero are always binding; a man may break his + promise when civil law permits; there is no obligation to obey a + father, a civil governor, or God himself, when once it is certain + that the disobedience will be hidden, or when the offender is + willing to incur the punishment. Martineau, Seat of Authority, + 67--"Mere magnitude of scale carries no moral quality; nor could a + whole population of devils by unanimous ballot confer + righteousness upon their will, or make it binding upon a single + Abdiel." Robert Browning, Christmas Eve, xvii--"Justice, good, and + truth were still Divine if, by some demon's will, Hatred and wrong + had been proclaimed Law through the world, and right misnamed." + + _Divine will_: See Occam, lib. 2, quaes. 19 (quoted in Porter, + Moral Science, 125); Descartes (referred to in Hickok, Moral + Science, 27, 28); Martineau, Types, 148--"Descartes held that the + will of God is not the revealer but the inventor of moral + distinctions. God could have made Euclid a farrago of lies, and + Satan a model of moral perfection." Upon this view, right and + wrong are variable quantities. Duns Scotus held that God's will + makes not only truth but right. God can make lying to be virtuous + and purity to be wrong. If Satan were God, we should be bound to + obey him. God is essentially indifferent to right and wrong, good + and evil. We reply that behind the divine will is the divine + nature, and that in the moral perfection of that nature lies the + only ground of moral obligation. God pours forth his love and + exerts his power in accordance with some determining principle in + his own nature. That principle is not happiness. Finney, Syst. + Theology, 936, 937--"Could God's command make it obligatory upon us + to will evil to him? If not, then his will is not the ground of + moral obligation. The thing that is most valuable, namely, the + highest good of God and of the universe must be both the end and + the ground. It is the divine reason and not the divine will that + perceives and affirms the law of conduct. The divine will + publishes, but does not originate, the rule. God's will could not + make vice to be virtuous." + + As between power or utility on the one hand, and right on the + other hand, we must regard right as the more fundamental. We do + not, however, as will be seen further on, place the ground of + moral obligation even in right, considered as an abstract + principle; but place it rather in the moral excellence of him who + is the personal Right and therefore the source of right. Character + obliges, and the master often bows in his heart to the servant, + when this latter is the nobler man. + + +(_b_) Nor in utility,--whether our own happiness or advantage present or +eternal (Paley), for supreme regard for our own interest is not virtuous; +or the greatest happiness or advantage to being in general (Edwards), for +we judge conduct to be useful because it is right, not right because it is +useful. This theory would compel us to believe that in eternity past God +was holy only because of the good he got from it,--that is, there was no +such thing as holiness in itself, and no such thing as moral character in +God. + + + _Our own happiness_: Paley, Mor. and Pol. Philos., book i, chap. + vii--"Virtue is the doing good to mankind, in obedience to the will + of God, and for the sake of everlasting happiness." This unites + (_a_) and (_b_). John Stuart Mill and Dr. N. W. Taylor held that + our own happiness is the supreme end. These writers indeed regard + the highest happiness as attained only by living for others + (Mill's altruism), but they can assign no reason why one who knows + no other happiness than the pleasures of sense should not adopt + the maxim of Epicurus, who, according to Lucretius, taught that + "ducit quemque voluptas." This theory renders virtue impossible; + for a virtue which is mere regard to our own interest is not + virtue but prudence. "We have a sense of right and wrong + independently of all considerations of happiness or its loss." + James Mill held that the utility is not the criterion of the + morality but itself constitutes the morality. G. B. Foster well + replies that virtue is not mere egoistic sagacity, and the moral + act is not simply a clever business enterprise. All languages + distinguish between virtue and prudence. To say that the virtues + are great utilities is to confound the effect with the cause. + Carlyle says that a man can do without happiness. Browning, Red + Cotton Nightcap Country: "Thick heads ought to recognize The + devil, that old stager, at his trick Of general utility, who leads + Downward perhaps, but fiddles all the way." This is the morality + of Mother Goose: "He put in his thumb, And pulled out a plum, And + said, 'What a good boy am I!' " + + E. G. Robinson, Principles and Practice of Morality, 160--"Utility + has nothing ultimate in itself, and therefore can furnish no + ground of obligation. Utility is mere fitness of one thing to + minister to something else." To say that things are right because + they are useful, is like saying that things are beautiful because + they are pleasing. Martineau, Types of Ethical Theory, 2:170, 511, + 556--"The moment the appetites pass into the self-conscious state, + and become ends instead of impulses, they draw to themselves terms + of censure.... So intellectual conscientiousness, or strict + submission of the mind to evidence, has its inspiration in pure + love of truth, and would not survive an hour if entrusted to the + keeping either of providence or of social affection.... Instincts, + which provide for they know not what, are proof that _want_ is the + original impulse to action, instead of pleasure being the end." On + the happiness theory, appeals to self-interest on behalf of + religion ought to be effective,--as a matter of fact few are moved + by them. + + Dewey, Psychology, 300, 362--"Emotion turned inward eats up itself. + Live on feelings rather than on the things to which feelings + belong, and you defeat your own end, exhaust your power of + feeling, commit emotional suicide. Hence arise cynicism, the _nil + admirari_ spirit, restless searching for the latest sensation. The + only remedy is to get outside of self, to devote self to some + worthy object, not for feeling's sake but for the sake of the + object.... We do not desire an object because it gives us + pleasure, but it gives us pleasure because it satisfies the + impulse which, in connection with the idea of the object, + constitutes the desire.... Pleasure is the accompaniment of the + activity or development of the _self_." + + Salter, First Steps in Philosophy, 150--"It is right to aim at + happiness. Happiness is an end. Utilitarianism errs in making + happiness the only and the highest end. It exalts a state of + feeling into the supremely desirable thing. Intuitionalism gives + the same place to a state of will. The truth includes both. The + true end is the highest development of being, self and others, the + realization of the divine idea, God in man." Bowne, Principles of + Ethics, 96--"The standard of appeal is not the actual happiness of + the actual man but the normal happiness of the normal man.... + Happiness must have a law. But then also the law must lead to + happiness.... The true ethical aim is to realize the good. But + then the contents of this good have to be determined in accordance + with an inborn ideal of human worth and dignity.... Not all good, + but the true good, not the things which please, but the things + which should please, are to be the aim of action." + + Bixby, Crisis of Morals, 223--"The Utilitarian is really asking + about the wisest method of embodying the ideal. He belongs to that + second stage in which the moral artist considers through what + material and in what form and color he may best realize his + thought. What the ideal is, and why it is the highest, he does not + tell us. Morality begins, not in feeling, but in reason. And + reason is impersonal. It discerns the moral equality of + personalities." Genung, Epic of the Inner Life, 20--Job speaks out + his character like one of Robert Browning's heroes. He teaches + that "there is a service of God which is not work for reward: it + is a heart-loyalty, a hunger after God's presence, which survives + loss and chastisement; which in spite of contradictory seeming + cleaves to what is godlike as the needle seeks the pole; and which + reaches up out of the darkness and hardness of this life into the + light and love beyond." + + _Greatest good of being_: Not only Edwards, but Priestley, + Bentham, Dwight, Finney, Hopkins, Fairchild, hold this view. See + Edwards, Works, 2:261-304--"Virtue is benevolence toward being in + general"; Dwight, Theology, 3:150-162--"Utility the foundation of + Virtue"; Hopkins, Law of Love, 7-28; Fairchild, Moral Philosophy; + Finney, Syst. Theol., 42-135. This theory regards good as a mere + state of the sensibility, instead of consisting in purity of + being. It forgets that in eternity past "love for being in + general" = simply God's self-love, or God's regard for his own + happiness. This implies that God is holy only for a purpose; he is + bound to be unholy, if greater good would result; that is, + holiness has no independent existence in his nature. We grant that + a thing is often known to be right by the fact that it is useful; + but this is very different from saying that its usefulness makes + it right. "Utility is only the setting of the diamond, which + _marks_, but does not _make_, its value." "If utility be a + criterion of rectitude, it is only because it is a revelation of + the divine nature." See British Quarterly, July, 1877, on Matthew + Arnold and Bishop Butler. Bp. Butler, Nature of Virtue, in Works, + Bohn's ed., 334--"Benevolence is the true self-love." Love and + holiness are obligatory in themselves, and not because they + promote the general good. Cicero well said that they who + confounded the _honestum_ with the _utile_ deserved to be banished + from society. See criticism on Porter's Moral Science, in Lutheran + Quarterly, Apr. 1885:325-331; also F. L. Patton, on Metaphysics of + Oughtness, in Presb. Rev., 1886:127-150. + + Encyc. Britannica, 7:690, on Jonathan Edwards--"Being in general, + being without any qualities, is too abstract a thing to be the + primary cause of love. The feeling which Edwards refers to is not + love, but awe or reverence, and moreover necessarily a blind awe. + Properly stated therefore, true virtue, according to Edwards, + would consist in a blind awe of being in general,--only this would + be inconsistent with his definition of virtue as existing in God. + In reality, as he makes virtue merely the second object of love, + his theory becomes identical with that utilitarian theory with + which the names of Hume, Bentham and Mill are associated." Hodge, + Essays, 275--"If obligation is due primarily to being in general, + then there is no more virtue in loving God--willing his good--than + there is in loving Satan. But love to Christ differs in its nature + from benevolence toward the devil." Plainly virtue consists, not + in love for mere being, but in love for good being, or in other + words, in love for the holy God. Not the greatest good of being, + but the holiness of God, is the ground of moral obligation. + + Dr. E. A. Park interprets the Edwardian theory as holding that + virtue is love to all beings according to their value, love of the + greater therefore more than the less, "love to particular beings + in a proportion compounded of the degree of being and the degree + of virtue or benevolence to being which they have." Love is + choice. Happiness, says Park, is not the sole good, much less the + happiness of creatures. The _greatest_ good is holiness, though + the _last_ good aimed at is happiness. Holiness is disinterested + love--free choice of the general above the private good. But we + reply that this gives us no reason or standard for virtue. It does + not tell us what is good nor why we should choose it. Martineau, + Types, 2:70, 77, 471, 484--"Why should I promote the general + well-being? Why should I sacrifice myself for others? Only because + this is godlike. It Would never have been prudent to do right, had + it not been something infinitely more.... It is not fitness that + makes an act moral, but it is its morality that makes it fit." + + Herbert Spencer must be classed as a utilitarian. He says that + justice requires that "every man be free to do as he wills + provided he infringes not the equal freedom of every other man." + But, since this would permit injury to another by one willing to + submit to injury in return, Mr. Spencer limits the freedom to + "such actions as subserve life." This is practically equivalent to + saying that the greatest sum of happiness is the ultimate end. On + Jonathan Edwards, see Robert Hall, Works, 1:43 sq.; Alexander, + Moral Science, 194-198; Bib. Repertory (Princeton Review), 25:22; + Bib. Sacra, 9:176, 197; 10:403, 705. + + +(_c_) Nor in the nature of things (Price),--whether by this we mean their +fitness (Clarke), truth (Wollaston), order (Jouffroy), relations +(Wayland), worthiness (Hickok), sympathy (Adam Smith), or abstract right +(Haven and Alexander); for this nature of things is not ultimate, but has +its ground in the nature of God. We are bound to worship the highest; if +anything exists beyond and above God, we are bound to worship that,--that +indeed is God. + + + See Wayland, Moral Science, 33-48; Hickok, Moral Science, 27-34; + Haven, Moral Philosophy, 27-50; Alexander, Moral Science, 159-198. + In opposition to all the forms of this theory, we urge that + nothing exists independently of or above God. "If the ground of + morals exist independently of God, either it has ultimately no + authority, or it usurps the throne of the Almighty. Any rational + being who kept the law would be perfect without God, and the moral + centre of all intelligences would be outside of God" (Talbot). God + is not a Jupiter controlled by Fate. He is subject to no law but + the law of his own nature. _Noblesse oblige_,--character + rules,--purity is the highest. And therefore to holiness all + creatures, voluntarily or involuntarily, are constrained to bow. + Hopkins, Law of Love, 77--"Right and wrong have nothing to do with + things, but only with actions; nothing to do with any nature of + things existing necessarily, but only with the nature of persons." + Another has said: "The idea of right cannot be original, since + right means conformity to some standard or rule." This standard or + rule is not an abstraction, but an existing being--the infinitely + perfect God. + + Faber: "For right is right, since God is God; And right the day + must win; To doubt would be disloyalty, To falter would be sin." + Tennyson: "And because right is right, to follow right Were wisdom + in the scorn of consequence." Right is right, and I should will + the right, not because God _wills_ it, but because God _is_ it. E. + G. Robinson, Principles and Practice of Morality, 178-180--"Utility + and relations simply reveal the constitution of things and so + represent God. Moral law was not made for purposes of utility, nor + do relations constitute the reason for obligation. They only show + what the nature of God is who made the universe and revealed + himself in it. In his nature is found the _reason_ for morality." + S. S. Times, Oct. 17, 1891--"Only that is level which conforms to + the curvature of the earth's surface. A straight line tangent to + the earth's curve would at its ends be much further from the + earth's centre than at its middle. Now equity means levelness. The + standard of equity is not an impersonal thing, a 'nature of + things' outside of God. Equity or righteousness is no more to be + conceived independently of the divine centre of the moral world + than is levelness comprehensible apart from the earth's centre." + + Since God finds the rule and limitation of his action solely in + his own being, and his love is conditioned by his holiness, we + must differ from such views as that of Moxom: "Whether we define + God's nature as perfect holiness or perfect love is immaterial, + since his nature is manifested only through his action, that is, + through his relation to other beings. Most of our reasoning on the + divine standard of righteousness, or the ultimate ground of moral + obligation, is reasoning in a circle, since we must always go back + to God for the principle of his action; which principle we can + know only by means of his action. God, the perfectly righteous + Being, is the ideal standard of human righteousness. Righteousness + in man therefore is conformity to the nature of God. God, in + agreement with his perfect nature, always wills the perfectly good + toward man. His righteousness is an expression of his love; his + love is a manifestation of his righteousness." + + So Newman Smyth: "Righteousness is the eternal genuineness of the + divine love. It is not therefore an independent excellence, to be + contrasted with, or even put in opposition to, benevolence; it is + an essential part of love." In reply to which we urge as before + that that which is the object of love, that which limits and + conditions love, that which furnishes the norm and reason for + love, cannot itself be love, nor hold merely equal rank with love. + A double standard is as irrational in ethics as in commerce, and + it leads in ethics to the same debasement of the higher values, + and the same unsettling of relations, as has resulted in our + currency from the attempt to make silver regulate gold at the same + time that gold regulates silver. + + +B. The Scriptural View.--According to the Scriptures, the ground of moral +obligation is the holiness of God, or the moral perfection of the divine +nature, conformity to which is the law of our moral being (Robinson, +Chalmers, Calderwood, Gregory, Wuttke). We show this: + +(_a_) From the commands: "Ye shall be holy," where the ground of +obligation assigned is simply and only: "for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16); and +"Ye therefore shall be perfect," where the standard laid down is: "as your +heavenly Father is perfect" (Mat. 5:48). Here we have an ultimate reason +and ground for being and doing right, namely, that God is right, or, in +other words, that holiness is his nature. + +(_b_) From the nature of the love in which the whole law is summed up +(Mat. 22:37--"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God"; Rom. 13:10--"love therefore +is the fulfilment of the law"). This love is not regard for abstract right +or for the happiness of being, much less for one's own interest, but it is +regard for God as the fountain and standard of moral excellence, or in +other words, love for God as holy. Hence this love is the principle and +source of holiness in man. + +(_c_) From the example of Christ, whose life was essentially an exhibition +of supreme regard for God, and of supreme devotion to his holy will. As +Christ saw nothing good but what was in God (Mark 10:18--"none is good save +one, even God"), and did only what he saw the Father do (John 5:19; see +also 30--"I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me"), so +for us, to be like God is the sum of all duty, and God's infinite moral +excellence is the supreme reason why we should be like him. + + + For statements of the correct view of the ground of moral + obligation, see E. G. Robinson, Principles and Practice of + Morality, 138-180; Chalmers, Moral Philosophy, 412-420; + Calderwood, Moral Philosophy; Gregory, Christian Ethics, 112-122; + Wuttke, Christian Ethics, 2:80-107; Talbot, Ethical Prolegomena, + in Bap. Quar., July, 1877:257-274--"The ground of all moral law is + the nature of God, or the ethical nature of God in relation to the + like nature in man, or the imperativeness of the divine nature." + Plato: "The divine will is the fountain of all efficiency; the + divine reason is the fountain, of all law; the divine nature is + the fountain of all virtue." If it be said that God is love as + well as holiness, we ask: Love to what? And the only answer is: + Love to the right, or to holiness. To ask why right is a good, is + no more sensible than to ask why happiness is a good. There must + be something ultimate. Schiller said there are people who want to + know why ten is not twelve. We cannot study character apart from + conduct, nor conduct apart from character. But this does not + prevent us from recognizing that character is the fundamental + thing and that conduct is only the expression of it. + + The moral perfection of the divine nature includes truth and love, + but since it is holiness that conditions the exercise of every + other attribute, we must conclude that holiness is the ground of + moral obligation. Infinity also unites with holiness to make it + the perfect ground, but since the determining element is holiness, + we call this, and not infinity, the ground of obligation. J. H. + Harris, Baccalaureate Sermon, Bucknell University, 1890--"As + holiness is the fundamental attribute of God, so holiness is the + supreme good of man. Aristotle perceived this when he declared the + chief good of man to be energizing according to virtue. + Christianity supplies the Holy Spirit and makes this energizing + possible." Holiness is the goal of man's spiritual career; see _1 + Thess. 3:13--_"to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable + in holiness before our God and Father." + + Arthur H. Hallam, in John Brown's Rab and his Friends, + 272--"Holiness and happiness are two notions of one thing.... + Unless therefore the heart of a created being is at one with the + heart of God, it cannot but be miserable." It is more true to say + that holiness and happiness are, as cause and effect, inseparably + bound together. Martineau, Types, 1:xvi; 2:70-77--"Two classes of + facts it is indispensable for us to know: what are the springs of + voluntary conduct, and what are its effects"; Study, 1:26--"Ethics + must either perfect themselves in Religion, or disintegrate + themselves into Hedonism." William Law remarks: "Ethics are not + external but internal. The essence of a moral act does not lie in + its result, but in the motive from which it springs. And that + again is good or bad, according as it conforms to the character of + God." For further discussion of the subject see our chapter on The + Law of God. See also Thornwell, Theology, 1:363-373; Hinton, Art + of Thinking, 47-62; Goldwin Smith, in Contemporary Review, March, + 1882, and Jan. 1884; H. B. Smith, System of Theology, 195-231, + esp. 223. + + + + +Chapter II. Doctrine Of The Trinity. + + +In the nature of the one God there are three eternal distinctions which +are represented to us under the figure of persons, and these three are +equal. This tripersonality of the Godhead is exclusively a truth of +revelation. It is clearly, though not formally, made known in the New +Testament, and intimations of it may be found in the Old. + +The doctrine of the Trinity may be expressed in the six following +statements: 1. In Scripture there are three who are recognized as God. 2. +These three are so described in Scripture that we are compelled to +conceive of them as distinct persons. 3. This tripersonality of the divine +nature is not merely economic and temporal, but is immanent and eternal. +4. This tripersonality is not tritheism; for while there are three +persons, there is but one essence. 5. The three persons, Father, Son and +Holy Spirit, are equal. 6. Inscrutable yet not self-contradictory, this +doctrine furnishes the key to all other doctrines.--These statements we +proceed now to prove and to elucidate. + + + Reason shows us the Unity of God; only revelation shows us the + Trinity of God, thus filling out the indefinite outlines of this + Unity and vivifying it. The term "Trinity" is not found in + Scripture, although the conception it expresses is Scriptural. The + invention of the term is ascribed to Tertullian. The Montanists + first defined the personality of the Spirit, and first formulated + the doctrine of the Trinity. The term "Trinity" is not a + metaphysical one. It is only a designation of four facts: (1) the + Father is God; (2) the Son is God; (3) the Spirit is God; (4) + there is but one God. + + Park: "The doctrine of the Trinity does not on the one hand assert + that three persons are united in one person, or three beings in + one being, or three Gods in one God (tritheism); nor on the other + hand that God merely manifests himself in three different ways + (modal trinity, or trinity of manifestations); but rather that + there are three eternal distinctions in the substance of God." + Smyth, preface to Edwards, Observations on the Trinity: "The + church doctrine of the Trinity affirms that there are in the + Godhead three distinct hypostases or subsistences--the Father, the + Son and the Holy Spirit--each possessing one and the same divine + nature, though in a different manner. The essential points are (1) + the unity of essence; (2) the reality of immanent or ontological + distinctions." See Park on Edwards's View of the Trinity, in Bib. + Sac., April, 1881:333. Princeton Essays, 1:28--"There is one God; + Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are this one God; there is such a + distinction between Father, Son and Holy Spirit as to lay a + sufficient ground for the reciprocal use of the personal + pronouns." Joseph Cook: "(1) The Father, the Son, and the Holy + Ghost are one God; (2) each has a peculiarity incommunicable to + the others; (3) neither is God without the others; (4) each, with + the others, is God." + + We regard the doctrine of the Trinity as implicitly held by the + apostles and as involved in the New Testament declarations with + regard to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, while we concede that the + doctrine had not by the New Testament writers been formulated. + They held it, as it were in solution; only time, reflection, and + the shock of controversy and opposition, caused it to crystalize + into definite and dogmatic form. Chadwick, Old and New + Unitarianism, 59, 60, claims that the Jewish origin of + Christianity shows that the Jewish Messiah could not originally + have been conceived of as divine. If Jesus had claimed this, he + would not have been taken before Pilate,--the Jews would have + dispatched him. The doctrine of the Trinity, says Chadwick, was + not developed until the Council of Nice, 325. E. G. Robinson: + "There was no doctrine of the Trinity in the Patristic period, as + there was no doctrine of the Atonement before Anselm." The + Outlook, Notes and Queries, March 30, 1901--"The doctrine of the + Trinity cannot be said to have taken final shape before the + appearance of the so-called Athanasian Creed in the 8th or 9th + century. The Nicene Creed, formulated in the 4th century, is + termed by Dr. Schaff, from the orthodox point of view, + 'semi-trinitarian.' The earliest time known at which Jesus was + deified was, after the New Testament writers, in the letters of + Ignatius, at the beginning of the second century." + + Gore, Incarnation, 179--"The doctrine of the Trinity is not so much + heard, as overheard, in the statements of Scripture." George P. + Fisher quotes some able and pious friend of his as saying: "What + meets us in the New Testament is the _disjecta membra_ of the + Trinity." G. B. Foster: "The doctrine of the Trinity is the + Christian attempt to make intelligible the personality of God + without dependence upon the world." Charles Kingsley said that, + whether the doctrine of the Trinity is in the Bible or no, it + ought to be there, because our spiritual nature cries out for it. + Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, 1:250--"Though the doctrine of the + Trinity is not discoverable by human reason, it is susceptible of + a rational defense, when revealed." On New England Trinitarianism, + see New World, June, 1896:272-295--art. by Levi L. Paine. He says + that the last phase of it is represented by Phillips Brooks, James + M. Whiton and George A. Gordon. These hold to the essential + divineness of humanity and preeminently of Christ, the unique + representative of mankind, who was, in this sense, a true + incarnation of Deity. See also, L. L. Paine, Evolution of + Trinitarianism, 141, 287. + + Neander declared that the Trinity is not a fundamental doctrine of + Christianity. He was speaking however of the speculative, + metaphysical form which the doctrine has assumed in theology. But + he speaks very differently of the devotional and practical form in + which the Scriptures present it, as in the baptismal formula and + in the apostolic benediction. In regard to this he says: "We + recognize therein the essential contents of Christianity summed up + in brief." Whiton, Gloria Patri, 10, 11, 55, 91, 92--"God + transcendent, the Father, is revealed by God immanent, the Son. + This one nature belongs equally to God, to Christ, and to mankind, + and in this fact is grounded the immutableness of moral + distinctions and the possibility of moral progress.... The + immanent life of the universe is one with the transcendent Power; + the filial stream is one with its paternal Fount. To Christ + supremely belongs the name of Son, which includes all that life + that is begotten of God. In Christ the before unconscious Sonship + of the world awakes to consciousness of the Father. The Father is + the Life transcendent, above all; the Son is Life immanent, + through all; the Holy Spirit is the Life individualized, in all. + In Christ we have collectivism; in the Holy Spirit we have + individualism; as Bunsen says: 'The chief power in the world is + personality.' " + + For treatment of the whole doctrine, see Dorner, System of + Doctrine, 1:344-465; Twesten, Dogmatik, and translation in Bib. + Sac., 3:502; Ebrard, Dogmatik, 1:145-199; Thomasius, Christi + Person und Werk, 1:57-135; Kahnis, Dogmatik, 3:203-229; Shedd, + Dogm. Theol., 1:248-333, and History of Doctrine, 1:246-385; + Farrar, Science and Theology, 138; Schaff, Nicene Doctrine of the + Holy Trinity, in Theol. Eclectic, 4:209. For the Unitarian view, + see Norton, Statement of Reasons, and J. F. Clarke, Truths and + Errors of Orthodoxy. + + + +I. In Scriptures there are Three who are recognized as God. + + +1. Proofs from the New Testament. + + +A. The Father is recognized as God. + + +The Father is recognized as God,--and that in so great a number of passages +(such as John 6:27--"him the Father, even God, hath sealed," and 1 Pet. +1:2--"foreknowledge of God the Father") that we need not delay to adduce +extended proof. + + +B. Jesus Christ is recognized as God. + + +(_a_) He is expressly called God. + +In John 1:1--{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}--the absence of the article shows {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} to be +the predicate (_cf._ 4:24--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}). This predicate precedes the verb +by way of emphasis, to indicate progress in the thought = "the Logos was +not only with God, but was God" (see Meyer and Luthardt, Comm. _in loco_). +"Only {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} can be the subject, for in the whole Introduction the +question is, not who God is, but who the Logos is" (Godet). + + + Westcott in Bible Commentary, _in loco_--"The predicate stands + emphatically first. It is necessarily without the article, + inasmuch as it describes the nature of the Word and does not + identify his person. It would be pure Sabellianism to say: 'The + Word was {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}.' Thus in verse 1 we have set forth the Word in + his absolute eternal being, (_a_) his existence: beyond time; + (_b_) his personal existence: in active communion with God; (_c_) + his nature: God in essence." Marcus Dods, in Expositor's Greek + Testament, _in loco_: "The Word is distinguishable from God, yet + {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}--the word was God, of divine nature; not 'a God,' + which to a Jewish ear would have been abominable, nor yet + identical with all that can be called God, for then the article + would have been inserted (_cf._ 1 John 3:4)." + + +In John 1:18, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}--"the only begotten God"--must be regarded as +the correct reading, and as a plain ascription of absolute Deity to +Christ. He is not simply the only revealer of God, but he is himself God +revealed. + + + _John 1:18--_"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten + God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." In + this passage, although Tischendorf (8th ed.) has {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, + Westcott and Hort (with {~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}*BC*L Pesh. Syr.) read {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} and + the Rev. Vers. puts "_the only begotten God_" in the margin, + though it retains "_the only begotten Son_" in the text. Harnack + says the reading {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} is "established beyond + contradiction"; see Westcott, Bib. Com. on John, pages 32, 33. + Here then we have a new and unmistakable assertion of the deity of + Christ. Meyer says that the apostles actually call Christ God only + in _John 1:1_ and _20:28_, and that Paul never so recognizes him. + But Meyer is able to maintain his position only by calling the + doxologies to Christ, in _2 Tim. 4:18_, _Heb. 13:21_ and _2 Pet. + 3:18_, post-apostolic. See Thayer, N. T. Lexicon, on {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, and on + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + +In John 20:28, the address of Thomas {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}--"My Lord +and my God"--since it was unrebuked by Christ, is equivalent to an +assertion on his own part of his claim to Deity. + + + _John 20:28--_"Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my + God." This address cannot be interpreted as a sudden appeal to God + in surprise and admiration, without charging the apostle with + profanity. Nor can it be considered a mere exhibition of + overwrought enthusiasm, since it was accepted by Christ. Contrast + the conduct of Paul and Barnabas when the heathen at Lystra were + bringing sacrifice to them as Jupiter and Mercury (_Acts + 14:11-18_). The words of Thomas, as addressed directly to Christ + and as accepted by Christ, can be regarded only as a just + acknowledgment on the part of Thomas that Christ was his Lord and + his God. Alford, Commentary, _in loco_: "The Socinian view that + these words are merely an exclamation is refuted (1) by the fact + that no such exclamations were in use among the Jews; (2) by the + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}; (3) by the impossibility of referring the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} + to another than Jesus: see _verse 13_; (4) by the N. T. usage of + expressing the vocative by the nominative with an article; (5) by + the psychological absurdity of such a supposition: that one just + convinced of the presence of him whom he dearly loved should, + instead of addressing him, break out into an irrelevant cry; (6) + by the further absurdity of supposing that, if such were the case, + the Apostle John, who of all the sacred writers most constantly + keeps in mind the object for which he is writing, should have + recorded anything so beside that object; (7) by the intimate + conjunction of {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}." _Cf._ _Mat. 5:34--_"Swear not ... by + the heaven"--swearing by Jehovah is not mentioned, because no Jew + did so swear. This exclamation of Thomas, the greatest doubter + among the twelve, is the natural conclusion of John's gospel. The + thesis "the Word was God"_ (John 1:1)_ has now become part of the + life and consciousness of the apostles. _Chapter 21_ is only an + Epilogue, or Appendix, written later by John, to correct the error + that he was not to die; see Westcott, Bible Com., _in loco_. The + Deity of Christ is the subject of the apostle who best understood + his Master. Lyman Beecher: "Jesus Christ is the acting Deity of + the universe." + + +In Rom. 9:5, the clause {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} cannot be +translated "blessed be the God over all," for {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} is superfluous if the +clause is a doxology; "{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} precedes the name of God in a doxology, +but follows it, as here, in a description" (Hovey). The clause can +therefore justly be interpreted only as a description of the higher nature +of the Christ who had just been said, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, or according to his +lower nature, to have had his origin from Israel (see Tholuck, Com. _in +loco_). + + + Sanday, Com. on _Rom. 9:5_--"The words would naturally refer to + Christ, unless '_God_' is so definitely a proper name that it + would imply a contrast in itself. We have seen that this is not + so." Hence Sanday translates: "_of whom is the Christ as + concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever_". See + President T. Dwight, in Jour. Soc. Bib. Exegesis, 1881:22-55; _per + contra_, Ezra Abbot, in the same journal, 1881:1-19, and Denney, + in Expositor's Gk. Test., _in loco_. + + +In Titus 2:13, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} we regard (with Ellicott) as "a direct, definite, and even +studied declaration of Christ's divinity" = "the ... appearing of the +glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (so English Revised +Version). {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} is a term applied specially to the Son and never to +the Father, and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} is uncalled for if used of the Father, but +peculiarly appropriate if used of Christ. Upon the same principles we must +interpret the similar text 2 Pet. 1:1 (see Huther, in Meyer's Com.: "The +close juxtaposition indicates the author's certainty of the oneness of God +and Jesus Christ"). + + + _Titus 2:13--_"looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the + glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ"--so the English + Revised Version. The American Revisers however translate: "the + glory of the great God and Savior"; and Westcott and Hort bracket + the word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. These considerations somewhat lessen the cogency of + this passage as a proof-text, yet upon the whole the balance of + argument seems to us still to incline in favor of Ellicott's + interpretation as given above. + + +In Heb. 1:8, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}; {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} is +quoted as an address to Christ, and verse 10 which follows--"Thou, Lord, in +the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth"--by applying to Christ +an Old Testament ascription to Jehovah, shows that {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, in verse 8, is +used in the sense of absolute Godhead. + + + It is sometimes objected that the ascription of the name God to + Christ proves nothing as to his absolute deity, since angels and + even human judges are called gods, as representing God's authority + and executing his will. But we reply that, while it is true that + the name is sometimes so applied, it is always with adjuncts and + in connections which leave no doubt of its figurative and + secondary meaning. When, however, the name is applied to Christ, + it is, on the contrary, with adjuncts and in connections which + leave no doubt that it signifies absolute Godhead. See _Ex. + 4:16--_"thou shalt be to him as God"; _7:1--_"See, I have made thee + as God to Pharaoh"; _22:28--_"Thou shalt not revile God, [marg., + _the judges_], nor curse a ruler of thy people"; _Ps. 82:1--_"God + standeth in the congregation of God; he judgeth among the gods" + [among the mighty]; _6--_"I said, Ye are gods, And all of you sons + of the Most High"; _7--_"Nevertheless ye shall die like men, And + fall like one of the princes." _Cf._ _John 10:34-36--_"If he called + them gods, unto whom the word of God came" (who were God's + commissioned and appointed representatives), how much more proper + for him who is one with the Father to call himself God. + + As in _Ps. 82:7_ those who had been called gods are represented as + dying, so in _Ps. 97:7--_"Worship him, all ye gods"--they are bidden + to fall down before Jehovah. Ann. Par. Bible: "Although the + deities of the heathen have no positive existence, they are often + described in Scripture as if they had, and are represented as + bowing down before the majesty of Jehovah." This verse is quoted + in _Heb. 1:6--_"let all the angels of God worship him"--_i. e._, + Christ. Here Christ is identified with Jehovah. The quotation is + made from the Septuagint, which has "_angels_" for "_gods_." "Its + use here is in accordance with the spirit of the Hebrew word, + which includes all that human error might regard as objects of + worship." Those who are figuratively and rhetorically called + "_gods_" are bidden to fall down in worship before him who is the + true God, Jesus Christ. See Dick, Lectures on Theology, 1:314; + Liddon, Our Lord's Divinity, 10. + + +In 1 John 5:20--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}--"it would be a flat repetition, after the Father had +been twice called {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, to say now again: 'this is {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}.' +Our being in God has its basis in Christ his Son, and this also makes it +more natural that {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} should be referred to {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}. But ought not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} +{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} then to be without the article (as in John 1:1--{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~})? +No, for it is John's purpose in 1 John 5:20 to say, not _what_ Christ is, +but _who_ he is. In declaring _what_ one is, the predicate must have no +article; in declaring _who_ one is, the predicate must have the article. +St. John here says that this Son, on whom our being in the true God rests, +is this true God himself" (see Ebrard, Com. _in loco_). + + + Other passages might be here adduced, as _Col. 2:9--_"in him + dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily"; _Phil + 2:6--_"existing in the form of God"; but we prefer to consider + these under other heads as indirectly proving Christ's divinity. + Still other passages once relied upon as direct statements of the + doctrine must be given up for textual reasons. Such are _Acts + 20:28_, where the correct reading is in all probability not + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}, but {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} (so ACDE Tregelles + and Tischendorf; B and {~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}, however, have {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}. The Rev. Vers. + continues to read "_church of God_"; Amer. Revisers, however, read + "church of the Lord"--see Ezra Abbot's investigation in Bib. Sac., + 1876: 313-352); and _1 Tim. 3:16_, where {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} is unquestionably to + be substituted for {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, though even here {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} intimates + preexistence. + + Rev. George E. Ellis, D. D., before the Unitarian Club, Boston, + November, 1882--"Fifty years of study, thought and reading given + largely to the Bible and to the literature which peculiarly + relates to it, have brought me to this conclusion, that the + book--taken with the especial divine quality and character claimed + for it, and so extensively assigned to it, as inspired and + infallible as a whole, and in all its contents--is an Orthodox + book. It yields what is called the Orthodox creed. The vast + majority of its readers, following its letter, its obvious sense, + its natural meaning, and yielding to the impression which some of + its emphatic texts make upon them, find in it Orthodoxy. Only that + kind of ingenious, special, discriminative, and in candor I must + add, forced treatment, which it receives from us liberals can make + the book teach anything but Orthodoxy. The evangelical sects, so + called, are clearly right in maintaining that their view of + Scripture and of its doctrines draws a deep and wide division of + creed between them and ourselves. In that earnest controversy by + pamphlet warfare between Drs. Channing and Ware on the one side, + and Drs. Worcester and Woods and Professor Stuart on the other--a + controversy which wrought up the people of our community sixty + years ago more than did our recent political campaign--I am fully + convinced that the liberal contestants were worsted. Scripture + exegesis, logic and argument were clearly on the side of the + Orthodox contestants. And this was so, mainly because the liberal + party put themselves on the same plane with the Orthodox in their + way of regarding and dealing with Scripture texts in their bearing + upon the controversy. Liberalism cannot vanquish Orthodoxy, if it + yields to the latter in its own way of regarding and treating the + whole Bible. Martin Luther said that the Papists burned the Bible + because it was not on their side. Now I am not about to attack the + Bible because it is not on my side; but I am about to object as + emphatically as I can against a character and quality assigned to + the Bible, which it does not claim for itself, which cannot be + certified for it: and the origin and growth and intensity of the + fond and superstitious influences resulting in that view we can + trace distinctly to agencies accounting for, but not warranting, + the current belief. Orthodoxy cannot readjust its creeds till it + readjusts its estimate of the Scriptures. The only relief which + one who professes the Orthodox creed can find is either by forcing + his ingenuity into the proof-texts or indulging his liberty + outside of them." + + With this confession of a noted Unitarian it is interesting to + compare the opinion of the so-called Trinitarian, Dr. Lyman + Abbott, who says that the New Testament nowhere calls Christ God, + but everywhere calls him man, as in _1 Tim. 2:5--_"for there is one + God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ + Jesus." On this passage Prof. L. L. Paine remarks in the New + World, Dec. 1894--"That Paul ever confounded Christ with God + himself, or regarded him as in any way the Supreme Divinity, is a + position invalidated not only by direct statements, but also by + the whole drift of his epistles." + + +(_b_) Old Testament descriptions of God are applied to him. + +This application to Christ of titles and names exclusively appropriated to +God is inexplicable, if Christ was not regarded as being himself God. The +peculiar awe with which the term "Jehovah" was set apart by a nation of +strenuous monotheists as the sacred and incommunicable name of the one +self-existent and covenant-keeping God forbids the belief that the +Scripture writers could have used it as the designation of a subordinate +and created being. + + + _Mat. 3:3--_"Make ye ready the way of the Lord"--is a quotation from + _Is. 40:3--_"Prepare ye ... the way of Jehovah." _John + 12:41--_"These things said Isaiah, because he saw his glory; and he + spake of him" [_i. e._, Christ]--refers to _Is. 6:1--_"In the year + that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne." So in + _Eph. 4:7, 8--_"measure of the gift of Christ ... led captivity + captive"--is an application to Christ of what is said of Jehovah in + _Ps. 68:18_. In _1 Pet. 3:15_, moreover, we read, with all the + great uncials, several of the Fathers, and all the best versions: + "sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord"; here the apostle borrows + his language from _Is. 8:13_, where we read: "_Jehovah of hosts, + him shall ye sanctify_." When we remember that, with the Jews, + God's covenant-title was so sacred that for the Kethib (= + "written") _Jehovah_ there was always substituted the Keri (= + "read"--imperative) _Adonai_, in order to avoid pronunciation of + the great Name, it seems the more remarkable that the Greek + equivalent of "Jehovah" should have been so constantly used of + Christ. _Cf._ _Rom. 10:9--_"confess ... Jesus as Lord"; _1 Cor. + 12:3--_"no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit." We + must remember also the indignation of the Jews at Christ's + assertion of his equality and oneness with the Father. Compare + Goethe's, "Wer darf ihn nennen?" with Carlyle's, "the awful + Unnameable of this Universe." The Jews, it has been said, have + always vibrated between monotheism and moneytheism. Yet James, the + strongest of Hebrews, in his Epistle uses the word 'Lord' freely + and alternately of God the Father and of Christ the Son. This + would have been impossible if James had not believed in the + community of essence between the Son and the Father. + + It is interesting to note that 1 Maccabees does not once use the + word {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} or {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, or any other direct designation of God unless + it be {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} (_cf._ "swear ... by the heaven"_--Mat. 5:34_). So + the book of Esther contains no mention of the name of God, though + the apocryphal additions to Esther, which are found only in Greek, + contain the name of God in the first verse, and mention it in all + eight times. See Bissell, Apocrypha, in Lange's Commentary; + Liddon, Our Lord's Divinity, 93; Max Mueller on Semitic Monotheism, + in Chips from a German Workshop, 1:337. + + +(_c_) He possesses the attributes of God. + +Among these are life, self-existence, immutability, truth, love, holiness, +eternity, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence. All these attributes are +ascribed to Christ in connections which show that the terms are used in no +secondary sense, nor in any sense predicable of a creature. + + + _Life_: _John 1:4--_"In him was life"; _14:6--_"I am ... the life." + _Self-existence_: _John 5:26--_"have life in himself"; _Heb. + 7:16--_"power of an endless life." _Immutability_: _Heb. + 13:8--_"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and + forever." _Truth_: _John 14:6--_"I am ... the truth"; _Rev. + 3:7--_"he that is true." _Love_: _1 John 3:16--_"Hereby know we + love" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} = the personal Love, as the personal Truth) + "_because he laid down his life for us_." _Holiness_: _Luke + 1:35--_"that which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of + God"; _John 6:69--_"thou art the Holy One of God"; _Heb. + 7:26--_"holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners." + + _Eternity_: _John 1:1--_"In the beginning was the Word." Godet says + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} = not "in eternity," but "in the beginning of the + creation"; the eternity of the Word being an inference from the + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}--the Word _was_, when the world was _created_: _cf._ _Gen. + 1:1--_"In the beginning God created." But Meyer says, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} here + rises above the historical conception of "_in the beginning_" in + Genesis (which includes the beginning of time itself) to the + absolute conception of anteriority to time; the creation is + something subsequent. He finds a parallel in _Prov. 8:23--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}_. The interpretation "in the beginning of + the gospel" is entirely unexegetical; so Meyer. So _John + 17:5--_"glory which I had with thee before the world was"; _Eph. + 1:4--_"chose us in him before the foundation of the world." Dorner + also says that {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} in _John 1:1_ is not "the beginning of the + world," but designates the point back of which it is impossible to + go, _i. e._, eternity; the world is first spoken of in _verse 3. + John 8:58--_"Before Abraham was born, I am"; _cf._ _1:15_; _Col. + 1:17--_"he is before all things"; _Heb. 1:11_--the heavens "_shall + perish; but thou continuest_"; _Rev. 21:6--_"I am the Alpha and the + Omega, the beginning and the end." + + _Omnipresence_: _Mat. 28:20--_"I am with you always"; _Eph. + 1:23--_"the fulness of him that filleth all in all." _Omniscience_: + _Mat. 9:4--_"Jesus knowing their thoughts"; _John 2:24, 25--_"knew + all men ... knew what was in man"; _16:30--_"knowest all things"; + _Acts 1:24--_"Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men"--a + prayer offered before the day of Pentecost and showing the + attitude of the disciples toward their Master; _1 Cor. 4:5--_"until + the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of + darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts"; _Col. + 2:3--_"in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge + hidden." _Omnipotence_: _Mat. 27:18--_"All authority hath been + given unto me in heaven and on earth"; _Rev. 1:8--_"the Lord God, + which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty." + + Beyschlag, N. T. Theology, 1:249-260, holds that Jesus' + preexistence is simply the concrete form given to an ideal + conception. Jesus traces himself back, as everything else holy and + divine was traced back in the conceptions of his time, to a + heavenly original in which it preexisted before its earthly + appearance; _e. g._: the tabernacle, in _Heb. 8:5_; Jerusalem, in + _Gal. 4:25_ and _Rev. 21:10_; the kingdom of God in _Mat. 13:24_; + much more the Messiah, in _John 6:62--_"ascending where he was + before"; _8:58--_"Before Abraham was born, I am"; _17:4, 5--_"glory + which I had with thee before the world was" _17:24--_"thou lovedst + me before the foundation of the world." This view that Jesus + existed before creation only ideally in the divine mind, means + simply that God foreknew him and his coming. The view is refuted + by the multiplied intimations of a personal, in distinction from + an ideal, preexistence. + + Lowrie, Doctrine of St. John, 115--"The words 'In the beginning'_ + (John 1:1)_ suggest that the author is about to write a second + book of Genesis, an account of a new creation." As creation + presupposes a Creator, the preexistence of the personal Word is + assigned as the explanation of the being of the universe. The {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} + indicates absolute existence, which is a loftier idea than that of + mere preexistence, although it includes this. While John the + Baptist and Abraham are said to have arisen, appeared, come into + being, it is said that the Logos _was_, and that the Logos was + _God_. This implies coeternity with the Father. But, if the view + we are combating were correct, John the Baptist and Abraham + preexisted, equally with Christ. This is certainly not the meaning + of Jesus in _John 8:58--_"Before Abraham was born, I am"; _cf._ + _Col. 1:17--_"he is before all things"--"{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} emphasizes the + personality, while {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} declares that the preexistence is + absolute existence" (Lightfoot); _John 1:15--_"He that cometh after + me is become before me: for he was before me" = not that Jesus was + _born_ earlier than John the Baptist, for he was born six months + later, but that he _existed_ earlier. He stands before John in + rank, because he existed long before John in time; _6:62--_"the Son + of man ascending where he was before"; _16:28--_"I came out from + the Father, and am come into the world." So _Is. 9:6, 7_, calls + Christ "_Everlasting Father_" = eternity is an attribute of the + Messiah. T. W. Chambers, in Jour. Soc. Bib. Exegesis, + 1881:169-171--"Christ is the Everlasting One, 'whose goings forth + have been from of old, even from the days of eternity'_ (Micah + 5:2). _'Of the increase of his government ... there shall be no + end,' just because of his existence there has been no beginning." + + +(d) The works of God are ascribed to him. + +We do not here speak of miracles, which may be wrought by communicated +power, but of such works as the creation of the world, the upholding of +all things, the final raising of the dead, and the judging of all men. +Power to perform these works cannot be delegated, for they are +characteristic of omnipotence. + + + _Creation_: _John 1:3--_"All things were made through him"; _1 Cor. + 8:6--_"one lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things"; _Col. + 1:16--_"all things have been created through him, and unto him"; + _Heb, 1:10--_"Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation + of the earth, And the heavens are the works of thy hands"; _3:3, + 4--_"he that built all things is God" = Christ, the builder of the + house of Israel, is the God who made all things; _Rev. 3:14--_"the + beginning of the creation of God" (_cf._ Plato: "Mind is the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~} + of motion"). _Upholding_: _Col. 1:17--_"in him all things consist" + (marg. "_hold together_"); _Heb. 1:3--_"upholding all things by the + word of his power." _Raising the dead and judging the world_: + _John 5:27-29--_"authority to execute judgment ... all that are in + the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth"; _Mat. + 25:31, 32--_"sit on the throne of his glory; and before him shall + be gathered all the nations." If our argument were addressed + wholly to believers, we might also urge Christ's work in the world + as Revealer of God and Redeemer from sin, as a proof of his deity. + [On the works of Christ, see Liddon, Our Lord's Divinity, 153; + _per contra_, see Examination of Liddon's Bampton Lectures, 72.] + + Statements of Christ's creative and of his upholding activity are + combined in _John 1:3, 4--{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}--_"All things were made + through him; and without him was not anything made. That which + hath been made was life in him" (marg.). Westcott: "It would be + difficult to find a more complete consent of ancient authorities + in favor of any reading than that which supports this + punctuation." Westcott therefore adopts it. The passage shows that + the universe 1. exists within the bounds of Christ's being; 2. is + not dead, but living; 3. derives its life from him; see Inge, + Christian Mysticism, 46. Creation requires the divine presence, as + well as the divine agency. God creates through Christ. All things + were made, not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}--"by him," but {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}--"through him." + Christian believers "Behind creation's throbbing screen Catch + movements of the great Unseen." + + Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics, iv, lvi--"That which many a + philosopher dimly conjectured, namely, that God did not produce + the world in an absolute, immediate manner, but in some way or + other, mediately, here presents itself to us with the lustre of + revelation, and exalts so much the more the claim of the Son of + God to our deep and reverential homage." Would that such + scientific men as Tyndall and Huxley might see Christ in nature, + and, doing his will, might learn of the doctrine and be led to the + Father! The humblest Christian who sees Christ's hand in the + physical universe and in human history knows more of the secret of + the universe than all the mere scientists put together. + + _Col 1:17--_"In him all things consist," or "hold together," means + nothing less than that Christ is the principle of cohesion in the + universe, making it a cosmos instead of a chaos. Tyndall said that + the attraction of the sun upon the earth was as inconceivable as + if a horse should draw a cart without traces. Sir Isaac Newton: + "Gravitation must be caused by an agent acting constantly + according to certain laws." Lightfoot: "Gravitation is an + expression of the mind of Christ." Evolution also is a method of + his operation. The laws of nature are the habits of Christ, and + nature itself is but his steady and constant will. He binds + together man and nature in one organic whole, so that we can speak + of a "universe." Without him there would be no intellectual bond, + no uniformity of law, no unity of truth. He is the principle of + induction, that enables us to argue from one thing to another. The + medium of interaction between things is also the medium of + intercommunication between minds. It is fitting that he who draws + and holds together the physical and intellectual, should also draw + and hold together the moral universe, drawing all men to himself + (_John 12:32_) and so to God, and reconciling all things in heaven + and earth (_Col. 1:20_). In Christ "the law appears, Drawn out in + living characters," because he is the ground and source of all + law, both in nature and in humanity. See A. H. Strong, Christ in + Creation, 6-12. + + +(_e_) He receives honor and worship due only to God. + +In addition to the address of Thomas, in John 20:28, which we have already +cited among the proofs that Jesus is expressly called God, and in which +divine honor is paid to him, we may refer to the prayer and worship +offered by the apostolic and post-apostolic church. + + + _John 5:23--_"that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the + Father"; _14:14--_"If ye shall ask me [so {~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}B and Tisch. 8th ed.] + anything in my name, that will I do"; _Acts 7:59--_"Stephen, + calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" + (_cf._ _Luke 23:46_--Jesus' words: "Father, into thy hands I + commend my spirit"); _Rom. 10:9--_"confess with thy mouth Jesus as + Lord"; _13--_"whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall + be saved" (_cf._ _Gen. 4:26--_"Then began men to call upon the name + of Jehovah"); _1 Cor. 11:24, 25--_"this do in remembrance of me" = + worship of Christ; _Heb. 1:6--_"let all the angels of God worship + him"; _Phil. 2:10, 11--_"in the name of Jesus every knee should bow + ... every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord"; _Rev. + 5:12-14--_"Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the + power...."; _2 Pet. 3:18--_"Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be + the glory"; _2 Tim. 4:18 and Heb. 13:21--_"to whom be the glory for + ever and ever"--these ascriptions of eternal glory to Christ imply + his deity. See also _1 Pet. 3:15--_"Sanctify in your hearts Christ + as Lord," and _Eph. 5:21--_"subjecting yourselves one to another in + the fear of Christ." Here is enjoined an attitude of mind towards + Christ which would be idolatrous if Christ were not God. See + Liddon, Our Lord's Divinity, 266, 366. + + Foster, Christian Life and Theology, 154--"In the eucharistic + liturgy of the 'Teaching' we read: 'Hosanna to the God of David'; + Ignatius styles him repeatedly God 'begotten and unbegotten, come + in the flesh'; speaking once of 'the blood of God', in evident + allusion to _Acts 20:28_; the epistle to Diognetus takes up the + Pauline words and calls him the 'architect and world-builder by + whom [God] created the heavens', and names him God (chap. vii); + Hermas speaks of him as 'the holy preexistent Spirit, that created + every creature', which style of expression is followed by Justin, + who calls him God, as also all the later great writers. In the + second epistle of Clement (130-160, Harnack), we read: 'Brethren, + it is fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God--as + the Judge of the living and the dead.' And Ignatius describes him + as 'begotten and unbegotten, passible and impassible, ... who was + before the eternities with the Father.' " + + These testimonies only give evidence that the Church Fathers saw + in Scripture divine honor ascribed to Christ. They were but the + precursors of a host of later interpreters. In a lull of the awful + massacre of Armenian Christians at Sassouan, one of the Kurdish + savages was heard to ask: "Who was that 'Lord Jesus' that they + were calling to?" In their death agonies, the Christians, like + Stephen of old, called upon the name of the Lord. Robert Browning + quoted, in a letter to a lady in her last illness, the words of + Charles Lamb, when "in a gay fancy with some friends as to how he + and they would feel if the greatest of the dead were to appear + suddenly in flesh and blood once more--on the first suggestion, + 'And if Christ entered this room?' changed his tone at once and + stuttered out as his manner was when moved: 'You see--if Shakespere + entered, we should all rise; if He appeared, we must kneel.' " On + prayer to Jesus, see Liddon, Bampton Lectures, note F; Bernard, in + Hastings' Bib. Dict., 4:44; Zahn, Skizzen aus dem Leben der alten + Kirche, 9, 288. + + +(_f_) His name is associated with that of God upon a footing of equality. + +We do not here allude to 1 John 5:7 (the three heavenly witnesses), for +the latter part of this verse is unquestionably spurious; but to the +formula of baptism, to the apostolic benedictions, and to those passages +in which eternal life is said to be dependent equally upon Christ and upon +God, or in which spiritual gifts are attributed to Christ equally with the +Father. + + + _The formula of baptism_: _Mat. 28:19--_"baptising them into the + name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"; _cf._ + _Acts 2:38--_"be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus + Christ"; _Rom. 6:3--_"baptized into Christ Jesus." "In the common + baptismal formula the Son and the Spirit are cooerdinated with the + Father, and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} has religious significance." It would be + both absurd and profane to speak of baptizing into the name of the + Father and of Moses. + + _The apostolic benedictions_: _1 Cor. 1:3--_"Grace to you and peace + from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"; _2 Cor. + 13:14--_"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, + and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." "In the + benedictions grace is something divine, and Christ has power to + impart it. But why do we find 'God,' instead of simply 'the + Father,' as in the baptismal formula? Because it is only the + Father who does not become man or have a historical existence. + Elsewhere he is specially called '_God the Father_,' to + distinguish him from God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (_Gal. + 1:3_; _Eph. 3:14_; _6:23_)." + + _Other passages_: _John 5:23--_"that all may honor the Son, even as + they honor the Father"; _John 14:1--_"believe in God, believe also + in me"--double imperative (so Westcott, Bible Com., _in loco_); + _17:3--_"this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only + true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ"; _Mat. + 11:27--_"no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any + know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son + willeth to reveal him"; _1 Cor. 12:4-6--_"the same Spirit ... the + same Lord [Christ] ... the same God" [the Father] bestow spiritual + gifts, _e. g._, faith: _Rom. 10:17--_"belief cometh of hearing, and + hearing by the word of Christ"; peace: _Col. 3:15--_"let the peace + of Christ rule in your hearts." _2 Thess. 2:16, 17--_"now our lord + Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father ... comfort your + hearts"--two names with a verb in the singular intimate the oneness + of the Father and the Son (Lillie). _Eph. 5:5--_"kingdom of Christ + and God"; _Col. 3:1--_"Christ ... seated on the right hand of God" + = participation in the sovereignty of the universe,--the Eastern + divan held not only the monarch but his son; _Rev. 20:6--_"priests + of God and of Christ"; _22:3--_"the throne of God and of the Lamb"; + _16--_"the root and the offspring of David" = both the Lord of + David and his son. Hackett: "As the dying Savior said to the + Father, 'Into thy hands I commend my spirit'_ (Luke 23:46)_, so + the dying Stephen said to the Savior, 'receive my spirit'_ (Acts + 7:59)_." + + +(_g_) Equality with God is expressly claimed. + +Here we may refer to Jesus' testimony to himself, already treated of among +the proofs of the supernatural character of the Scripture teaching (see +pages 189, 190). Equality with God is not only claimed for himself by +Jesus, but it is claimed for him by his apostles. + + + _John 5:18--_"called God his own Father, making himself equal with + God"; _Phil. 2:6--_"who, existing in the form of God, counted not + the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped"--counted + not his equality with God a thing to be forcibly retained. Christ + made and left upon his contemporaries the impression that he + claimed to be God. The New Testament has left, upon the great mass + of those who have read it, the impression that Jesus Christ claims + to be God. If he is not God, he is a deceiver or is self-deceived, + and, in either case, _Christus, si non Deus, non bonus_. See + Nicoll, Life of Jesus Christ, 187. + + +(_h_) Further proof of Christ's deity may be found in the application to +him of the phrases: "Son of God," "Image of God"; in the declarations of +his oneness with God; in the attribution to him of the fulness of the +Godhead. + + + _Mat. 26:63, 64--_"I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell + us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto + him, Thou hast said"--it is for this testimony that Christ dies. + _Col. 1:15--_"the image of the invisible God"; _Heb. 1:3--_"the + effulgence of his [the Father's] glory, and the very image of his + substance"; _John 10:30--_"I and the Father are one"; _14:9--_"he + that hath seen me hath seen the Father"; _17:11, 22--_"that they + may be one, even as we are"--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}, not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}; _unum_, not _unus_; one + substance, not one person. "_Unum_ is antidote to the Arian, + _sumus_ to the Sabellian heresy." _Col. 2:9--_"in him dwelleth all + the fulness of the Godhead bodily"; _cf._ _1:19--_"for it was the + pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell;" + or (marg.) "_for the whole fulness of God was pleased to dwell in + him_." _John 16:15--_"all things whatsoever the Father hath are + mine"; _17:10--_"all things that are mine are thine, and thine are + mine." + + Meyer on _John 10:30--_"I and the Father are one"--"Here the Arian + understanding of a mere ethical harmony as taught in the words + '_are one_' is unsatisfactory, because irrelevant to the exercise + of power. Oneness of essence, though not contained in the words + themselves, is, by the necessities of the argument, presupposed in + them." Dalman, The Words of Jesus: "Nowhere do we find that Jesus + called himself the Son of God in such a sense as to suggest a + merely religious and ethical relation to God--a relation which + others also possessed and which they were capable of attaining or + were destined to acquire." We may add that while in the lower + sense there are many "_sons of God_," there is but one "_only + begotten Son_." + + +(_i_) These proofs of Christ's deity from the New Testament are +corroborated by Christian experience. + +Christian experience recognizes Christ as an absolutely perfect Savior, +perfectly revealing the Godhead and worthy of unlimited worship and +adoration; that is, it practically recognizes him as Deity. But Christian +experience also recognizes that through Christ it has introduction and +reconciliation to God as one distinct from Jesus Christ, as one who was +alienated from the soul by its sin, but who is now reconciled through +Jesus's death. In other words, while recognizing Jesus as God, we are also +compelled to recognize a distinction between the Father and the Son +through whom we come to the Father. + +Although this experience cannot be regarded as an independent witness to +Jesus' claims, since it only tests the truth already made known in the +Bible, still the irresistible impulse of every person whom Christ has +saved to lift his Redeemer to the highest place, and bow before him in the +lowliest worship, is strong evidence that only that interpretation of +Scripture can be true which recognizes Christ's absolute Godhead. It is +the church's consciousness of her Lord's divinity, indeed, and not mere +speculation upon the relations of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that has +compelled the formulation of the Scripture doctrine of the Trinity. + + + In the letter of Pliny to Trajan, it is said of the early + Christians "quod essent soliti carmen Christo quasi Deo dicere + invicem." The prayers and hymns of the church show what the church + has believed Scripture to teach. Dwight Moody is said to have + received his first conviction of the truth of the gospel from + hearing the concluding words of a prayer, "For Christ's sake, + Amen," when awakened from physical slumber in Dr. Kirk's church, + Boston. These words, wherever uttered, imply man's dependence and + Christ's deity. See New Englander, 1878:432. In _Eph. 4:32_, the + Revised Version substitutes "_in Christ_" for "for Christ's sake." + The exact phrase "for Christ's sake" is not found in the N. T. in + connection with prayer, although the O. T. phrase "for my name's + sake"_ (Ps. 25:11)_ passes into the N. T. phrase "in the name of + Jesus"_ (Phil. 2:10)_; _cf._ _Ps. 72:15--_"men shall pray for him + continually" = the words of the hymn: "For him shall endless + prayer be made, And endless blessings crown his head." All this is + proof that the idea of prayer for Christ's sake is in Scripture, + though the phrase is absent. + + A caricature scratched on the wall of the Palatine palace in Rome, + and dating back to the third century, represents a human figure + with an ass's head, hanging upon a cross, while a man stands + before it in the attitude of worship. Under the effigy is this + ill-spelled inscription: "Alexamenos adores his God." + + This appeal to the testimony of Christian consciousness was first + made by Schleiermacher. William E. Gladstone: "All I write, and + all I think, and all I hope, is based upon the divinity of our + Lord, the one central hope of our poor, wayward race." E. G. + Robinson: "When you preach salvation by faith in Christ, you + preach the Trinity." W. G. T. Shedd: "The construction of the + doctrine of the Trinity started, not from the consideration of the + three persons, but from belief in the deity of one of them." On + the worship of Christ in the authorized services of the Anglican + church, see Stanley, Church and State, 333-335; Liddon, Divinity + of our Lord, 514. + + +In contemplating passages apparently inconsistent with those now cited, in +that they impute to Christ weakness and ignorance, limitation and +subjection, we are to remember, first, that our Lord was truly man, as +well as truly God, and that this ignorance and weakness may be predicated +of him as the God-man in whom deity and humanity are united; secondly, +that the divine nature itself was in some way limited and humbled during +our Savior's earthly life, and that these passages may describe him as he +was in his estate of humiliation, rather than in his original and present +glory; and, thirdly, that there is an order of office and operation which +is consistent with essential oneness and equality, but which permits the +Father to be spoken of as first and the Son as second. These statements +will be further elucidated in the treatment of the present doctrine and in +subsequent examination of the doctrine of the Person of Christ. + + + There are certain things of which Christ was ignorant: _Mark + 13:32--_"of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the + angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." He was subject + to physical fatigue: _John 4:6--_"Jesus therefore, being wearied + with his journey, sat thus by the well." There was a limitation + connected with Christ's taking of human flesh: _Phil. + 2:7--_"emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in + the likeness of men"; _John 14:28--_"the Father is greater than I." + There is a subjection, as respects order of office and operation, + which is yet consistent with equality of essence and oneness with + God; _1 Cor. 15:28--_"then shall the Son also himself be subjected + to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all + in all." This must be interpreted consistently with _John + 17:5--_"glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I + had with thee before the world was," and with _Phil. 2:6_, where + this glory is described as being "_the form of God_" and + "_equality with God_." + + Even in his humiliation, Christ was the Essential Truth, and + ignorance in him never involved error or false teaching. Ignorance + on his part might make his teaching at times incomplete,--it never + in the smallest particular made his teaching false. Yet here we + must distinguish between what he _intended_ to teach and what was + merely _incidental_ to his teaching. When he said: Moses "wrote of + me"_ (John 5:46)_ and "David in the Spirit called him Lord"_ (Mat. + 22:43)_, if his purpose was to teach the authorship of the + Pentateuch and of the 110th Psalm, we should regard his words as + absolutely authoritative. But it is possible that he intended only + to _locate_ the passages referred to, and if so, his words cannot + be used to exclude critical conclusions as to their authorship. + Adamson, The Mind in Christ, 136--"If he spoke of Moses or David, + it was only to identify the passage. The authority of the earlier + dispensation did not rest upon its record being due to Moses, nor + did the appropriateness of the Psalm lie in its being uttered by + David. There is no evidence that the question of authorship ever + came before him." Adamson rather more precariously suggests that + "there may have been a lapse of memory in Jesus' mention of + 'Zachariah, son of Barachiah'_ (Mat. 23:35)_, since this was a + matter of no spiritual import." + + For assertions of Jesus' knowledge, see _John 2:24, 25--_"he knew + all men ... he needed not that any one should bear witness + concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man"; + _6:64--_"Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed + not, and who it was that should betray him"; _12:33--_"this he + said, signifying by what manner of death he should die"; + _21:19--_"Now this he spake, signifying by what manner of death he + [Peter] should glorify God"; _13:1--_"knowing that his hour was + come that he should depart"; _Mat. 25:31--_"when the Son of man + shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall + he sit on the throne of his glory" = he knew that he was to act as + final judge of the human race. Other instances are mentioned by + Adamson, The Mind in Christ, 24-49: 1. Jesus' knowledge of Peter + (_John 1:42_); 2. his finding Philip (_1:43_); 3. his recognition + of Nathanael (_1:47-50_); 4. of the woman of Samaria (_4:17-19, + 39_); 5. miraculous draughts of fishes (_Luke 5:6-9_; _John + 21:6_); 6. death of Lazarus (_John 11:14_); 7. the ass's colt + (_Mat. 21:2_); 8. of the upper room (_Mark 14:15_); 9. of Peter's + denial (_Mat. 26:34_); 10. of the manner of his own death (_John + 12:33_; _18:32_); 11. of the manner of Peter's death (_John + 21:19_); 12. of the fall of Jerusalem (_Mat. 24:2_). + + On the other hand there are assertions and implications of Jesus' + ignorance: he did not know the day of the end (_Mark 13:32_), + though even here he intimates his superiority to angels; + _5:30-34--_"Who touched my garments?" though even here power had + gone forth from him to heal; _John 11:34--_"Where have ye laid + him?" though here he is about to raise Lazarus from the dead; + _Mark 11:13--_"seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, + if haply he might find anything thereon" = he did not know that it + had no fruit, yet he had power to curse it. With these evidences + of the limitations of Jesus' knowledge, we must assent to the + judgment of Bacon, Genesis of Genesis, 33--"We must decline to + stake the authority of Jesus on a question of literary criticism"; + and of Gore, Incarnation, 195--"That the use by our Lord of such a + phrase as '_Moses wrote of me_' binds us to the Mosaic authorship + of the Pentateuch as a whole, I do not think we need to yield." + See our section on The Person of Christ; also Rush Rhees, Life of + Jesus, 243, 244. _Per contra_, see Swayne, Our Lord's Knowledge as + Man; and Crooker, The New Bible, who very unwisely claims that + belief in a Kenosis involves the surrender of Christ's authority + and atonement. + + It is inconceivable that any mere _creature_ should say, "God is + greater than I am," or should be spoken of as ultimately and in a + mysterious way becoming "subject to God." In his state of + humiliation Christ was subject to the Spirit (_Acts 1:2--_"after + that he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit"; + _10:38--_"God anointed him with the Holy Spirit ... for God was + with him"; _Heb.9:14--_"through the eternal Spirit offered himself + without blemish unto God"), but in his state of exaltation Christ + is Lord of the Spirit ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}--_2 Cor. 3:18_--Meyer), + giving the Spirit and working through the Spirit. _Heb. 2:7_, + marg.--"Thou madest him for a little while lower than the angels." + On the whole subject, see Shedd, Hist. Doctrine, 262, 351; + Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, 1:61-64; Liddon, Our Lord's + Divinity, 127, 207, 458; _per contra_, see Examination of Liddon, + 252, 294; Professors of Andover Seminary, Divinity of Christ. + + +C. The Holy Spirit is recognized as God. + + +(_a_) He is spoken of as God; (_b_) the attributes of God are ascribed to +him, such as life, truth, love, holiness, eternity, omnipresence, +omniscience, omnipotence; (_c_) he does the works of God, such as +creation, regeneration, resurrection; (_d_) he receives honor due only to +God; (_e_) he is associated with God on a footing of equality, both in the +formula of baptism and in the apostolic benedictions. + + + (_a_) _Spoken of as God._ _Acts 5:3, 4--_"lie to the Holy Spirit + ... not lied unto men, but unto God"; _1 Cor. 3:16--_"ye are a + temple of God ... the Spirit of God dwelleth in you"; _6:19--_"your + body is a temple of the Holy Spirit"; _12:4-6 _"same Spirit ... + same Lord ... same God, who worketh all things in all"--"The divine + Trinity is here indicated in an ascending climax, in such a way + that we pass from the Spirit who bestows the gifts to the Lord + [Christ] who is served by means of them, and finally to God, who + as the absolute first cause and possessor of all Christian powers + works the entire sum of all charismatic gifts in all who are + gifted" (Meyer in _loco_). + + (_b_) _Attributes of God._ Life: _Rom. 8:2--_"Spirit of life." + Truth: _John 16:13 _"Spirit of truth." Love: _Rom. 15:30--_"love of + the Spirit." Holiness: _Eph. 4:30--_"the Holy Spirit of God." + Eternity: _Heb. 9:14--_"the eternal Spirit." Omnipresence: _Ps. + 139:7--_"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" Omniscience: _1 Cor. + 12:11--_"all these [including gifts of healings and miracles] + worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one + severally even as he will." + + (_c_) _Works of God._ Creation: _Gen. 1:2_, marg.--"Spirit of God + was brooding upon the face of the waters." Casting out of demons: + _Mat. 12:28--_"But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons." + Conviction of sin: _John 16:8--_"convict the world in respect of + sin." Regeneration: _John 3:8--_"born of the Spirit"; _Tit. + 3:5--_"renewing of the Holy Spirit." Resurrection: _Rom. + 8:11--_"give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit"; + _1 Cor. 15:45--_"The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." + + (_d_) _Honor due to God._ _1 Cor. 3:16--_"ye are a temple of God + ... the Spirit of God dwelleth in you"--he who inhabits the temple + is the object of worship there. See also the next item. + + (_e_) _Associated with God._ Formula of baptism: _Mat. + 28:19--_"baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit." If the baptismal formula is worship, then + we have here worship paid to the Spirit. Apostolic benedictions: + _2 Cor. 13:14--_"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of + God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." If the + apostolic benedictions are prayers, then we have here a prayer to + the Spirit. _1 Pet. 1:2--_"foreknowledge of God the Father ... + sanctification of the Spirit ... sprinkling of the blood of Jesus + Christ." + + On _Heb. 9:14_, Kendrick, Com. _in loco_, interprets: "Offers + himself by virtue of an eternal spirit which dwells within him and + imparts to his sacrifice a spiritual and an eternal efficacy. The + 'spirit' here spoken of was not, then, the 'Holy Spirit'; it was + not his purely divine nature; it was that blending of his divine + nature with his human personality which forms the mystery of his + being, that 'spirit of holiness' by virtue of which he was + declared '_the Son of God with power_,' on account of his + resurrection from the dead." Hovey adds a note to Kendrick's + Commentary, _in loco_, as follows: "This adjective '_eternal_' + naturally suggests that the word '_Spirit_' refers to the higher + and divine nature of Christ. His truly human nature, on its + spiritual side, was indeed eternal as to the future, but so also + is the spirit of every man. The unique and superlative value of + Christ's self-sacrifice seems to have been due to the impulse of + the divine side of his nature." The phrase "eternal spirit" would + then mean his divinity. To both these interpretations we prefer + that which makes the passage refer to the Holy Spirit, and we cite + in support of this view _Acts 1:2--_"he had given commandment + through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles"; _10:38--_"God anointed + him with the Holy Spirit." On _1 Cor. 2:10_, Mason, Faith of the + Gospel, 63, remarks: "The Spirit of God finds nothing even in God + which baffles his scrutiny. His 'search' is not a seeking for + knowledge yet beyond him.... Nothing but God could search the + depths of God." + + +As spirit is nothing less than the inmost principle of life, and the +spirit of man is man himself, so the spirit of God must be God (see 1 Cor. +2:11--Meyer). Christian experience, moreover, expressed as it is in the +prayers and hymns of the church, furnishes an argument for the deity of +the Holy Spirit similar to that for the deity of Jesus Christ. When our +eyes are opened to see Christ as a Savior, we are compelled to recognize +the work in us of a divine Spirit who has taken of the things of Christ +and has shown them to us; and this divine Spirit we necessarily +distinguish both from the Father and from the Son. Christian experience, +however, is not an original and independent witness to the deity of the +Holy Spirit: it simply shows what the church has held to be the natural +and unforced interpretation of the Scriptures, and so confirms the +Scripture argument already adduced. + + + The Holy Spirit is God himself personally present in the believer. + E. G. Robinson: "If 'Spirit of God' no more implies deity than + does 'angel of God,' why is not the Holy Spirit called simply the + angel or messenger, of God?" Walker, The Spirit and the + Incarnation, 337--"The Holy Spirit is God in his innermost being or + essence, the principle of life of both the Father and the Son; + that in which God, both as Father and Son, does everything, and in + which he comes to us and is in us increasingly through his + manifestations. Through the working and indwelling of this Holy + Spirit, God in his person of Son was fully incarnate in Christ." + Gould, Am. Com. on _1 Cor. 2:11_--"For who among men knoweth the + things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even + so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God"--"The + analogy must not be pushed too far, as if the Spirit of God and + God were coextensive terms, as the corresponding terms are, + substantially, in man. The point of the analogy is evidently + _self-knowledge_, and in both cases the contrast is between the + spirit within and anything outside." Andrew Murray, Spirit of + Christ, 140--"We must not expect always to feel the power of the + Spirit when it works. Scripture links power and weakness in a + wonderful way, not as succeeding each other but as existing + together. 'I was with you in weakness ... my preaching was in + power'_ (1 Cor. 2:3)_; 'when I am weak then am I strong'_ (2 Cor. + 12:10)_. The power is the power of God given to faith, and faith + grows strong in the dark.... He who would command nature must + first and most absolutely obey her.... We want to get possession + of the Power, and use it. God wants the Power to get possession of + us, and use us." + + +This proof of the deity of the Holy Spirit is not invalidated by the +limitations of his work under the Old Testament dispensation. John +7:39--"for the Holy Spirit was not yet"--means simply that the Holy Spirit +could not fulfill his peculiar office as Revealer of Christ until the +atoning work of Christ should be accomplished. + + + _John 7:39_ is to be interpreted in the light of other Scriptures + which assert the agency of the Holy Spirit under the old + dispensation (_Ps. 51:11--_"take not thy holy Spirit from me") and + which describe his peculiar office under the new dispensation + (_John 16:14, 15--_"he shall take of mine, and shall declare it + unto you"). Limitation in the _manner_ of the Spirit's work in the + O. T. involved a limitation in the _extent_ and _power_ of it + also. Pentecost was the flowing forth of a tide of spiritual + influence which had hitherto been dammed up. Henceforth the Holy + Spirit was the Spirit of Jesus Christ, taking of the things of + Christ and showing them, applying his finished work to human + hearts, and rendering the hitherto localized Savior omnipresent + with his scattered followers to the end of time. + + Under the conditions of his humiliation, Christ was a servant. All + authority in heaven and earth was given him only after his + resurrection. Hence he could not send the Holy Spirit until he + ascended. The mother can show off her son only when he is fully + grown. The Holy Spirit could reveal Christ only when there was a + complete Christ to reveal. The Holy Spirit could fully sanctify, + only after the example and motive of holiness were furnished in + Christ's life and death. Archer Butler: "The divine Artist could + not fitly descend to make the copy, before the original had been + provided." + + And yet the Holy Spirit is "the eternal Spirit"_ (Heb. 9:14)_, and + he not only existed, but also wrought, in Old Testament times. _2 + Pet. 1:21--_"men spake from God, being moved by the Holy + Spirit"--seems to fix the meaning of the phrase "the Holy Spirit," + where it appears in the O. T. Before Christ "the Holy Spirit was + not yet"_ (John 7:39)_, just as before Edison electricity was not + yet. There was just as much electricity in the world before Edison + as there is now. Edison has only taught us its existence and how + to use it. Still we can say that, before Edison, electricity, as a + means of lighting, warming and transporting people, had no + existence. So until Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, as the revealer of + Christ, "_was not yet_." Augustine calls Pentecost the _dies + natalis_, or birthday, of the Holy Spirit; and for the same reason + that we call the day when Mary brought forth her firstborn son the + birthday of Jesus Christ, though before Abraham was born, Christ + was. The Holy Spirit had been engaged in the creation, and had + inspired the prophets, but _officially_, as Mediator between men + and Christ, "_the Holy Spirit was not yet_." He could not show the + things of Christ until the things of Christ were ready to be + shown. See Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 19-25; Prof. J. S. + Gubelmann, Person and Work of the Holy Spirit in O. T. Times. For + proofs of the deity of the Holy Spirit, see Walker, Doctrine of + the Holy Spirit; Hare, Mission of the Comforter; Parker, The + Paraclete; Cardinal Manning, Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost; + Dick, Lectures on Theology, 1:341-350. Further references will be + given in connection with the proof of the Holy Spirit's + personality. + + +2. Intimations of the Old Testament. + + +The passages which seem to show that even in the Old Testament there are +three who are implicitly recognized as God may be classed under four +heads: + + +A. Passages which seem to teach plurality of some sort in the Godhead. + + +(_a_) The plural noun {~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}{~HEBREW LETTER LAMED~}{~HEBREW LETTER HE~}{~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{~HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM~} is employed, and that with a plural verb--a use +remarkable, when we consider that the singular {~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}{~HEBREW LETTER LAMED~} was also in existence; +(_b_) God uses plural pronouns in speaking of himself; (_c_) Jehovah +distinguishes himself from Jehovah; (_d_) a Son is ascribed to Jehovah; +(_e_) the Spirit of God is distinguished from God; (_f_) there are a +threefold ascription and a threefold benediction. + + + (_a_) _Gen. 20:13--_"God caused [plural] me to wander from my + father's house"; _35:7--_"built there an altar, and called the + place El-Beth-el; _because there God was revealed_ [plural] unto + him." (_b_) _Gen. 1:26--_"Let us make man in our image, after our + likeness"; _3:22--_"Behold, the man is become as one of us"; + _11:7--_"Come, let us go down, and there confound their language"; + _Is. 6:8--_"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (_c_) _Gen. + 19:24--_"Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone + and fire from Jehovah out of heaven"; _Hos. 1:7--_"I will have + mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by Jehovah, + their God"; _cf._ _2 Tim. 1:18--_"The Lord grant unto him to find + mercy of the Lord in that day"--though Ellicott here decides + adversely to the Trinitarian reference. (_d_) _Ps. 2:7--_"Thou art + my son; this day have I begotten thee"; _Prov. 30:4--_"Who hath + established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what + is his son's name, if thou knowest?" (_e_) _Gen. 1:1 and 2, + marg.--_"God created ... the Spirit of God was brooding"; _Ps. + 33:6--_"By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, And all the + host of them by the breath [spirit] of his mouth"; _Is. + 48:16--_"the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit"; _63:7, + 10--_"loving kindnesses of Jehovah ... grieved his holy Spirit." + (_f_) _Is. 6:3_--the trisagion: "_Holy, holy, holy_"; _Num. + 6:24-26--_"Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee: Jehovah make his face + to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Jehovah lift up his + countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." + + It has been suggested that as Baal was worshiped in different + places and under different names, as Baal-Berith, Baal-hanan, + Baal-peor, Baal-zeebub, and his priests could call upon any one of + these as possessing certain personified attributes of Baal, while + yet the whole was called by the plural term "Baalim," and Elijah + could say: "Call ye upon your Gods," so "Elohim" may be the + collective designation of the God who was worshiped in different + localities; see Robertson Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish + Church, 229. But this ignores the fact that Baal is always + addressed in the singular, never in the plural, while the plural + "Elohim" is the term commonly used in addresses to God. This seems + to show that "Baalim" is a collective term, while "Elohim" is not. + So when Ewald, Lehre von Gott, 2:333, distinguishes five names of + God, corresponding to five great periods of the history of Israel, + _viz._, the "Almighty" of the Patriarchs, the "Jehovah" of the + Covenant, the "God of Hosts" of the Monarchy, the "Holy One" of + the Deuteronomist and the later prophetic age, and the "Our Lord" + of Judaism, he ignores the fact that these designations are none + of them confined to the times to which they are attributed, though + they may have been predominantly used in those times. + + +The fact that {~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}{~HEBREW LETTER LAMED~}{~HEBREW LETTER HE~}{~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{~HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM~} is sometimes used in a narrower sense, as applicable +to the Son (Ps. 45:6; _cf._ Heb. 1:8), need not prevent us from believing +that the term was originally chosen as containing an allusion to a certain +plurality in the divine nature. Nor is it sufficient to call this plural a +simple _pluralis majestaticus_; since it is easier to derive this common +figure from divine usage than to derive the divine usage from this common +figure--especially when we consider the constant tendency of Israel to +polytheism. + + + _Ps. 45:6_; _cf._ _Heb. 1:8--_"of the Son he saith, Thy throne, O + God, is for ever and ever." Here it is God who calls Christ + "_God_" or "_Elohim_." The term Elohim has here acquired the + significance of a singular. It was once thought that the royal + style of speech was a custom of a later date than the time of + Moses. Pharaoh does not use it. In _Gen. 41:41-44_, he says: "I + have set thee over all the land of Egypt ... I am Pharaoh." But + later investigations seem to prove that the plural for God was + used by the Canaanites before the Hebrew occupation. The one + Pharaoh is called "my gods" or "my god," indifferently. The word + "master" is usually found in the plural in the O. T. (_cf._ _Gen. + 24:9, 51_; _39:19_; _40:1_). The plural gives utterance to the + sense of awe. It signifies magnitude or completeness. (See The + Bible Student, Aug. 1900:67.) + + This ancient Hebrew application of the plural to God is often + explained as a mere plural of dignity, = one who combines in + himself many reasons for adoration ({~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}{~HEBREW LETTER LAMED~}{~HEBREW LETTER HE~}{~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{~HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM~} from {~HEBREW LETTER ALEF~}{~HEBREW LETTER LAMED~}{~HEBREW LETTER HE~} to fear, to + adore). Oehler, O. T. Theology, 1:128-130, calls it a + "quantitative plural," signifying unlimited greatness. The Hebrews + had many plural forms, where we should use the singular, as + "heavens" instead of "heaven," "waters" instead of "water." We too + speak of "news," "wages," and say "you" instead of "thou"; see F. + W. Robertson, on Genesis, 12. But the Church Fathers, such as + Barnabas, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Theophilus, Epiphanius, and + Theodoret, saw in this plural an allusion to the Trinity, and we + are inclined to follow them. When finite things were pluralized to + express man's reverence, it would be far more natural to pluralize + the name of God. And God's purpose in securing this pluralization + may have been more far-reaching and intelligent than man's. The + Holy Spirit who presided over the development of revelation may + well have directed the use of the plural in general, and even the + adoption of the plural name Elohim in particular, with a view to + the future unfolding of truth with regard to the Trinity. + + We therefore dissent from the view of Hill, Genetic Philosophy, + 323, 330--"The Hebrew religion, even much later than the time of + Moses, as it existed in the popular mind, was, according to the + prophetic writings, far removed from a real monotheism, and + consisted in the wavering acceptance of the preeminence of a + tribal God, with a strong inclination towards a general + polytheism. It is impossible therefore to suppose that anything + approaching the philosophical monotheism of modern theology could + have been elaborated or even entertained by primitive man.... + 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me'_ (Ex. 20:3)_, the first + precept of Hebrew monotheism, was not understood at first as a + denial of the hereditary polytheistic faith, but merely as an + exclusive claim to worship and obedience." E. G. Robinson says, in + a similar strain, that "we can explain the idolatrous tendencies + of the Jews only on the supposition that they had lurking notions + that their God was a merely national god. Moses seems to have + understood the doctrine of the divine unity, but the Jews did + not." + + To the views of both Hill and Robinson we reply that the primitive + intuition of God is not that of many, but that of One. Paul tells + us that polytheism is a later and retrogressive stage of + development, due to man's sin (_Rom. 1:19-25_). We prefer the + statement of McLaren: "The plural Elohim is not a survival from a + polytheistic stage, but expresses the divine nature in the + manifoldness of its fulnesses and perfections, rather than in the + abstract unity of its being"--and, we may add, expresses the divine + nature in its essential fulness, as a complex of personalities. + See Conant, Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, 108; Green, Hebrew Grammar, + 306; Girdlestone, O. T. Synonyms, 38, 53; Alexander on _Psalm + 11:7_; _29:1_; _58:11_. + + +B. Passages relating to the Angel of Jehovah. + + +(_a_) The angel of Jehovah identifies himself with Jehovah; (_b_) he is +identified with Jehovah by others; (_c_) he accepts worship due only to +God. Though the phrase "angel of Jehovah" is sometimes used in the later +Scriptures to denote a merely human messenger or created angel, it seems +in the Old Testament, with hardly more than a single exception, to +designate the pre-incarnate Logos, whose manifestations in angelic or +human form foreshadowed his final coming in the flesh. + + + (_a_) _Gen. 22:11, 16--_"the angel of Jehovah called unto him + [Abraham, when about to sacrifice Isaac] ... By myself have I + sworn, saith Jehovah"; _31:11, 13--_"the angel of God said unto me + [Jacob] ... I am the God of Beth-el." (_b_) _Gen. 16:9, 13--_"angel + of Jehovah said unto her ... and she called the name of Jehovah + that spake unto her, Thou art a God that seeth"; _48:15, 16--_"the + God who hath fed me ... the angel who hath redeemed me." (_c_) + _Ex. 3:2, 4, 5--_"the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him ... God + called unto him out of the midst of the bush ... put off thy shoes + from off thy feet"; _Judges 13:20-22--_"angel of Jehovah + ascended.... Manoah and his wife ... fell on their faces ... + Manoah said ... We shall surely die, because we have seen God." + + The "_angel of the Lord_" appears to be a human messenger in + _Haggai 1:13--_"Haggai, Jehovah's messenger"; a created angel in + _Mat. 1:20--_"an angel of the Lord [called Gabriel] appeared unto" + Joseph; in _Acts 3:26--_"an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip"; + and in _12:7--_"an angel of the Lord stood by him" (Peter). But + commonly, in the O.T., the "angel of Jehovah" is a theophany, a + self-manifestation of God. The only distinction is that between + Jehovah in himself and Jehovah in manifestation. The appearances + of "_the angel of Jehovah_" seem to be preliminary manifestations + of the divine Logos, as in _Gen. 18:2, 13--_"three men stood over + against him [Abraham] ... And Jehovah said unto Abraham"; _Dan. + 3:25, 28--_"the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.... + Blessed be the God ... who hath sent his angel." The N.T. "_angel + of the Lord_" does not permit, the O.T. "_angel of the Lord_" + requires, worship (_Rev. 22:8, 9--_"See thou do it not"; _cf._ _Ex. + 3:5--_"put off thy shoes"). As supporting this interpretation, see + Hengstenberg, Christology, 1:107-123; J. Pye Smith, Scripture + Testimony to the Messiah. As opposing it, see Hofmann, + Schriftbeweis, 1:329, 378; Kurtz, History of Old Covenant, 1:181. + On the whole subject, see Bib. Sac., 1879:593-615. + + +C. Descriptions of the divine Wisdom and Word. + + + (_a_) Wisdom is represented as distinct from God, and as eternally + existing with God; (_b_) the Word of God is distinguished from + God, as executor of his will from everlasting. + + (_a_) _Prov. 8:1--_"Doth not wisdom cry?" _Cf._ _Mat. + 11:19--_"wisdom is justified by her works"; _Luke 7:35--_"wisdom is + justified of all her children"; _11:49--_"Therefore also said the + wisdom of God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles"; + _Prov. 8:22, 30, 31--_"Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his + way, Before his works of old.... I was by him, as a master + workman: And I was daily his delight.... And my delight was with + the sons of men"; _cf._ _3:19--_"Jehovah by wisdom founded the + earth," and _Heb. 1:2--_"his Son ... through whom ... he made the + worlds." (_b_) _Ps. 107:20--_"He sendeth his word, and healeth + them"; _119:89--_"For ever, O Jehovah, Thy word is settled in + heaven"; _147:15-18--_"He sendeth out his commandment.... He + sendeth out his word." + + In the Apocryphal book entitled Wisdom, 7:26, 28, wisdom is + described as "the brightness of the eternal light," "the unspotted + mirror of God's majesty," and "the image of his + goodness"--reminding us of _Heb. 1:3--_"the effulgence of his glory, + and the very image of his substance." In Wisdom, 9:9, 10, wisdom + is represented as being present with God when he made the world, + and the author of the book prays that wisdom may be sent to him + out of God's holy heavens and from the throne of his glory. In 1 + Esdras 4:35-38, Truth in a similar way is spoken of as personal: + "Great is the Truth and stronger than all things. All the earth + calleth upon the Truth, and the heaven blesseth it; all works + shake and tremble at it, and with it is no unrighteous thing. As + for the Truth, it endureth and is always strong; it liveth and + conquereth forevermore." + + +It must be acknowledged that in none of these descriptions is the idea of +personality clearly developed. Still less is it true that John the apostle +derived his doctrine of the Logos from the interpretations of these +descriptions in Philo Judaeus. John's doctrine (John 1:1-18) is radically +different from the Alexandrian Logos-idea of Philo. This last is a +Platonizing speculation upon the mediating principle between God and the +world. Philo seems at times to verge towards a recognition of personality +in the Logos, though his monotheistic scruples lead him at other times to +take back what he has given, and to describe the Logos either as the +thought of God or as its expression in the world. But John is the first to +present to us a consistent view of this personality, to identify the Logos +with the Messiah, and to distinguish the Word from the Spirit of God. + + + Dorner, in his History of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ, + 1:13-45, and in his System of Doctrine, 1:348, 349, gives the best + account of Philo's doctrine of the Logos. He says that Philo calls + the Logos {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. Whether this is + anything more than personification is doubtful, for Philo also + calls the Logos the {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. Certainly, so far as he makes + the Logos a distinct personality, he makes him also a subordinate + being. It is charged that the doctrine of the Trinity owes its + origin to the Platonic philosophy in its Alexandrian union with + Jewish theology. But Platonism had no Trinity. The truth is that + by the doctrine of the Trinity Christianity secured itself against + false heathen ideas of God's multiplicity and immanence, as well + as against false Jewish ideas of God's unity and transcendence. It + owes nothing to foreign sources. + + We need not assign to John's gospel a later origin, in order to + account for its doctrine of the Logos, any more than we need to + assign a later origin to the Synoptics in order to account for + their doctrine of a suffering Messiah. Both doctrines were equally + unknown to Philo. Philo's Logos does not and cannot become man. So + says Dorner. Westcott, in Bible Commentary on John, Introd., + xv-xviii, and on John 1:1--"The theological use of the term [in + John's gospel] appears to be derived directly from the Palestinian + _Memra_, and not from the Alexandrian _Logos_." Instead of Philo's + doctrine being a stepping-stone from Judaism to Christianity, it + was a stumbling-stone. It had no doctrine of the Messiah or of the + atonement. Bennett and Adeny, Bib. Introd., 340--"The difference + between Philo and John may be stated thus: Philo's Logos is + Reason, while John's is Word; Philo's is impersonal, while John's + is personal; Philo's is not incarnate, while John's is incarnate; + Philo's is not the Messiah, while John's is the Messiah." + + Philo lived from B. C. 10 or 20 to certainly A. D. 40, when he + went at the head of a Jewish embassy to Rome, to persuade the + Emperor to abstain from claiming divine honor from the Jews. In + his De Opifice Mundi he says: "The Word is nothing else but the + intelligible world." He calls the Word the "chainband," "pilot," + "steersman," of all things. Gore, Incarnation, 69--"Logos in Philo + must be translated 'Reason.' But in the Targums, or early Jewish + paraphrases of the O. T., the 'Word' of Jehovah (_Memra_, _Devra_) + is constantly spoken of as the efficient instrument of the divine + action, in cases where the O. T. speaks of Jehovah himself, 'The + Word of God' had come to be used personally, as almost equivalent + to God manifesting himself, or God in action." George H. Gilbert, + in Biblical World, Jan. 1899:44--"John's use of the term Logos was + suggested by Greek philosophy, while at the same time the content + of the word is Jewish." + + Hatch, Hibbert Lectures, 174-208--"The Stoics invested the Logos + with personality. They were Monists and they made {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} + the active and the passive forms of the one principle. Some made + God a mode of matter--_natura naturata_; others made matter a mode + of God--_natura naturans_ = the world a self-evolution of God. The + Platonic forms, as manifold expressions of a single {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, were + expressed by a singular term, Logos, rather than the Logoi, of + God. From this Logos proceed all forms of mind or reason. So held + Philo: 'The mind is an offshoot from the divine and happy soul (of + God), an offshoot not separated from him, for nothing divine is + cut off and disjoined, but only extended.' Philo's Logos is not + only form but force--God's creative energy--the eldest-born of the + 'I am,' which robes itself with the world as with a vesture, the + high priest's robe, embroidered with all the forces of the seen + and unseen worlds." + + Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, 1:53--"Philo carries the transcendence of + God to its logical conclusions. The Jewish doctrine of angels is + expanded in his doctrine of the Logos. The Alexandrian + philosophers afterwards represented Christianity as a + spiritualized Judaism. But a philosophical system dominated by the + idea of the divine transcendence never could have furnished a + motive for missionary labors like those of Paul. Philo's belief in + transcendence abated his redemptive hopes. But, conversely, the + redemptive hopes of orthodox Judaism saved it from some of the + errors of exclusive transcendence." See a quotation from + Siegfried, in Schuerer's History of the Jewish People, article on + Philo: "Philo's doctrine grew out of God's distinction and + distance from the world. It was dualistic. Hence the need of + mediating principles, some being less than God and more than + creature. The cosmical significance of Christ bridged the gulf + between Christianity and contemporary Greek thought. Christianity + stands for a God who is revealed. But a Logos-doctrine like that + of Philo may reveal less than it conceals. Instead of God + incarnate for our salvation, we may have merely a mediating + principle between God and the world, as in Arianism." + + The preceding statement is furnished in substance by Prof. William + Adams Brown. With it we agree, adding only the remark that the + Alexandrian philosophy gave to Christianity, not the substance of + its doctrine, but only the terminology for its expression. The + truth which Philo groped after, the Apostle John seized and + published, as only he could, who had heard, seen, and handled "the + Word of life"_ (1 John 1:1)._ "The Christian doctrine of the Logos + was perhaps before anything else an effort to express how Jesus + Christ was God ({~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}), and yet in another sense was not God ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}); that is to say, was not the whole Godhead" (quoted in + Marcus Dods, Expositors' Bible, on _John 1:1_). See also Kendrick, + in Christian Review, 26:369-399; Gloag, in Presb. and Ref. Rev., + 1891:45-57; Reville, Doctrine of the Logos in John and Philo; + Godet on John, Germ. transl., 13, 135; Cudworth, Intellectual + System, 2:320-333; Pressense, Life of Jesus Christ, 83; Hagenbach, + Hist. Doct., 1:114-117; Liddon, Our Lord's Divinity, 59-71; Conant + on Proverbs, 53. + + +D. Descriptions of the Messiah. + + +(_a_) He is one with Jehovah; (_b_) yet he is in some sense distinct from +Jehovah. + + + (_a_) _Is. 9:6--_"unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given + ... and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, + Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace"; _Micah 5:2--_"thou Bethlehem + ... which art little ... out of thee shall one come forth unto me + that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, + from everlasting." (_b_) _Ps. 45:6, 7--_"Thy throne, O God, is for + ever and ever.... Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee"; + _Mal 3:1--_"I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way + before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his + temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire." + Henderson, in his Commentary on this passage, points out that the + Messiah is here called "_the Lord_" or "_the Sovereign_"--a title + nowhere given in this form (with the article) to any but Jehovah; + that he is predicted as coming to the temple as its proprietor; + and that he is identified with the angel of the covenant, + elsewhere shown to be one with Jehovah himself. + + +It is to be remembered, in considering this, as well as other classes of +passages previously cited, that no Jewish writer before Christ's coming +had succeeded in constructing from them a doctrine of the Trinity. Only to +those who bring to them the light of New Testament revelation do they show +their real meaning. + +Our general conclusion with regard to the Old Testament intimations must +therefore be that, while they do not by themselves furnish a sufficient +basis for the doctrine of the Trinity, they contain the germ of it, and +may be used in confirmation of it when its truth is substantially proved +from the New Testament. + + + That the doctrine of the Trinity is not plainly taught in the + Hebrew Scriptures is evident from the fact that Jews unite with + Mohammedans in accusing trinitarians of polytheism. It should not + surprise us that the Old Testament teaching on this subject is + undeveloped and obscure. The first necessity was that the Unity of + God should be insisted on. Until the danger of idolatry was past, + a clear revelation of the Trinity might have been a hindrance to + religious progress. The child now, like the race then, must learn + the unity of God before it can profitably be taught the + Trinity,--else it will fall into tritheism; see Gardiner, O. T. and + N. T., 49. We should not therefore begin our proof of the Trinity + with a reference to passages in the Old Testament. We should speak + of these passages, indeed, as furnishing intimations of the + doctrine rather than proof of it. Yet, after having found proof of + the doctrine in the New Testament, we may expect to find traces of + it in the Old which will corroborate our conclusions. As a matter + of fact, we shall see that traces of the idea of a Trinity are + found not only in the Hebrew Scriptures but in some of the heathen + religions as well. E. G. Robinson: "The doctrine of the Trinity + underlay the O. T., unperceived by its writers, was first + recognized in the economic revelation of Christianity, and was + first clearly enunciated in the necessary evolution of Christian + doctrine." + + + +II. These Three are so described in Scripture that we are compelled to +conceive of them as distinct Persons. + + +1. The Father and the Son are persons distinct from each other. + + +(_a_) Christ distinguishes the Father from himself as "another"; (_b_) the +Father and the Son are distinguished as the begetter and the begotten; +(_c_) the Father and the Son are distinguished as the sender and the sent. + + + (_a_) _John 5:32, 37--_"It is another that beareth witness of me + ... the Father that sent me, he hath borne witness of me." (_b_) + _Ps. 2:7--_"Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee"; _John + 1:14--_"the only begotten from the Father"; _18--_"the only begotten + Son"; _3:16--_"gave his only begotten Son." (_c_) _John 10:36--_"say + ye of him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, + Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?"; _Gal + 4:4--_"when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son." + In these passages the Father is represented as objective to the + Son, the Son to the Father, and both the Father and Son to the + Spirit. + + +2. The Father and the Son are persons distinct from the Spirit. + + +(_a_) Jesus distinguishes the Spirit from himself and from the Father; +(_b_) the Spirit proceeds from the Father; (_c_) the Spirit is sent by the +Father and by the Son. + + + (_a_) _John 14:16, 17--_"I will pray the Father, and he shall give + you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, even the + Spirit of truth"--or "_Spirit of the truth_," = he whose work it is + to reveal and apply the truth, and especially to make manifest him + who is the truth. Jesus had been their Comforter: he now promises + them another Comforter. If he himself was a person, then the + Spirit is a person. (_b_) _John 15:26--_"the Spirit of truth which + proceedeth from the Father." (_c_) _John 14:26--_"the Comforter, + even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name"; + _15:26--_"when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you + from the Father"; _Gal. 4:6--_"God sent forth the Spirit of his Son + into our hearts." The Greek church holds that the Spirit proceeds + from the Father only; the Latin church, that the Spirit proceeds + both from the Father and from the Son. The true formula is: The + Spirit proceeds from the Father _through_ or _by_ (not "and") the + Son. See Hagenbach, History of Doctrine, 1:262, 263. Moberly, + Atonement and Personality, 195--"The _Filioque_ is a valuable + defence of the truth that the Holy Spirit is not simply the + abstract second Person of the Trinity, but rather the Spirit of + the incarnate Christ, reproducing Christ in human hearts, and + revealing in them the meaning of true manhood." + + +3. The Holy Spirit is a person. + + +A. Designations proper to personality are given him. + +(_a_) The masculine pronoun {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, though {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} is neuter; (_b_) the +name {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, which cannot be translated by "comfort", or be taken as +the name of any abstract influence. The Comforter, Instructor, Patron, +Guide, Advocate, whom this term brings before us, must be a person. This +is evident from its application to Christ in 1 John 2:1--"we have an +Advocate--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}--with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." + + + (_a_) _John 16:14--_"He ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) shall glorify me"; in _Eph. 1:14_ + also, some of the best authorities, including Tischendorf (8th + ed.), read {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, the masculine pronoun: "_who is an earnest of our + inheritance_." But in _John 14:16-18_, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} is followed by + the neuters {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}, because {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} had intervened. Grammatical + and not theological considerations controlled the writer. See G. + B. Stevens, Johannine Theology, 189-217, especially on the + distinction between Christ and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is + another person than Christ, in spite of Christ's saying of the + coming of the Holy Spirit: "_I come unto you_." (_b_) _John + 16:7--_"if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you." + The word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, as appears from _1 John 2:1_, quoted above, + is a term of broader meaning than merely "Comforter." The Holy + Spirit is, indeed, as has been said, "the mother-principle in the + Godhead," and "_as one whom his mother comforteth_" so God by his + Spirit comforts his children (_Is. 66:13_). But the Holy Spirit is + also an Advocate of God's claims in the soul, and of the soul's + interests in prayer (_Rom. 8:26--_"maketh intercession for us"). He + comforts not only by being our advocate, but by being our + instructor, patron, and guide; and all these ideas are found + attaching to the word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} in good Greek usage. The word + indeed is a verbal adjective, signifying "called to one's aid," + hence a "helper"; the idea of encouragement is included in it, as + well as those of comfort and of advocacy. See Westcott, Bible + Com., on _John 14:16_; Cremer, Lexicon of N. T. Greek, _in voce_. + + T. Dwight, in S. S. Times, on _John 14:16_--"The fundamental + meaning of the word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, which is a verbal adjective, is + 'called to one's aid,' and thus, when used as a noun, it conveys + the idea of 'helper.' This more general sense probably attaches to + its use in John's Gospel, while in the Epistle (_1 John 2:1, 2_) + it conveys the idea of Jesus acting as advocate on our behalf + before God as a Judge." So the Latin _advocatus_ signifies one + "called to"--_i. e._, called in to aid, counsel, plead. In this + connection Jesus says: "I will not leave you orphans"_ (John + 14:18)_. Cumming, Through the Eternal Spirit, 228--"As the orphaned + family, in the day of the parent's death, need some friend who + shall lighten their sense of loss by his own presence with them, + so the Holy Spirit is 'called in' to supply the present love and + help which the Twelve are losing in the death of Jesus." A. A. + Hodge, Pop. Lectures, 237--"The Roman 'client,' the poor and + dependent man, called in his 'patron' to help him in all his + needs. The patron thought for, advised, directed, supported, + defended, supplied, restored, comforted his client in all his + complications. The client, though weak, with a powerful patron, + was socially and politically secure forever." + + +B. His name is mentioned in immediate connection with other persons, and +in such a way as to imply his own personality. + +(_a_) In connection with Christians; (_b_) in connection with Christ; +(_c_) in connection with the Father and the Son. If the Father and the Son +are persons, the Spirit must be a person also. + + + (_a_) _Acts 15:28--_"it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us." + (_b_) _John 16:14--_"He shall glorify me: for he shall take of + mine, and shall declare it unto you"; _cf._ _17:4--_"I glorified + thee on the earth." (_c_) _Mat. 28:29--_"baptizing them into the + name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"; _2 Cor. + 13:14--_"the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, + and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all"; _Jude + 21--_"praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of + God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ." _1 Pet. 1:1, + 2--_"elect ... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in + sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the + blood of Jesus Christ." Yet it is noticeable in all these passages + that there is no obtrusion of the Holy Spirit's personality, as if + he desired to draw attention to himself. The Holy Spirit shows, + not himself, but Christ. Like John the Baptist, he is a mere + voice, and so is an example to Christian preachers, who are + themselves "made ... sufficient as ministers ... of the Spirit"_ + (2 Cor. 3:6)_. His leading is therefore often unperceived; he so + joins himself to us that we infer his presence only from the new + and holy exercises of our own minds; he continues to work in us + even when his presence is ignored and his purity is outraged by + our sins. + + +C. He performs acts proper to personality. + +That which searches, knows, speaks, testifies, reveals, convinces, +commands, strives, moves, helps, guides, creates, recreates, sanctifies, +inspires, makes intercession, orders the affairs of the church, performs +miracles, raises the dead--cannot be a mere power, influence, efflux, or +attribute of God, but must be a person. + + + _Gen. 1:2_, marg.--"_the Spirit of God was brooding upon the face + of the waters_"; _6:3--_"My Spirit shalt not strive with man for + ever"; _Luke 12:12--_"the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very + hour what ye ought to say"; _John 3:8--_"born of the Spirit"--here + Bengel translates: "_the Spirit breathes where he wills, and thou + hearest his voice_"--see also Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 166; + _16:8--_"convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, + and of judgment"; _Acts 2:4--_"the Spirit gave them utterance"; + _8:29--_"the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near"; _10:19, 20--_"the + Spirit said unto him [Peter], Behold, three men seek thee.... go + with them ... for I have sent them"; _13:2--_"the Holy Spirit said, + Separate me Barnabas and Saul"; _16:6, 7--_"forbidden of the Holy + Spirit ... Spirit of Jesus suffered them not"; _Rom. 8:11--_"give + life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit"; _26--_"the + Spirit also helpeth our infirmity ... maketh intercession for us"; + _15:19--_"in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the + Holy Spirit"; _1 Cor. 2:10, 11--_"the Spirit searcheth all + things.... things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God"; + _12:8-11_--distributes spiritual gifts "to each one severally even + as he will"--here Meyer calls attention to the words "as he will," + as proving the personality of the Spirit; _2 Pet. 1:21--_"men spake + from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit"; _1 Pet. + 1:2--_"sanctification of the Spirit." How can a person be given in + various measures? We answer, by being permitted to work in our + behalf with various degrees of power. Dorner: "To be power does + not belong to the impersonal." + + +D. He is affected as a person by the acts of others. + +That which can be resisted, grieved, vexed, blasphemed, must be a person; +for only a person can perceive insult and be offended. The blasphemy +against the Holy Ghost cannot be merely blasphemy against a power or +attribute of God, since in that case blasphemy against God would be a less +crime than blasphemy against his power. That against which the +unpardonable sin can be committed must be a person. + + + _Is. 63:10--_"they rebelled and grieved his holy Spirit"; _Mat. + 12:31--_"Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but + the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven"; _Acts + 5:3, 4, 9--_"lie to the Holy Ghost ... thou hast not lied unto men + but unto God.... agreed together to try the Spirit of the Lord"; + _7:51--_"ye do always resist the Holy Spirit"; _Eph. 4:30--_"grieve + not the Holy Spirit of God." Satan cannot be "grieved." + Selfishness can be angered, but only love can be grieved. + Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is like blaspheming one's own mother. + The passages just quoted show the Spirit's possession of an + emotional nature. Hence we read of "the love of the Spirit"_ (Rom. + 15:30)_. The unutterable sighings of the Christian in intercessory + prayer (_Rom. 8:26, 27_) reveal the mind of the Spirit, and show + the infinite depths of feeling which are awakened in God's heart + by the sins and needs of men. These deep desires and emotions + which are only partially communicated to us, and which only God + can understand, are conclusive proof that the Holy Spirit is a + person. They are only the overflow into us of the infinite + fountain of divine love to which the Holy Spirit unites us. + + As Christ in the garden "began to be sorrowful and sore troubled"_ + (Mat. 26:37)_, so the Holy Spirit is sorrowful and sore troubled + at the ignoring, despising, resisting of his work, on the part of + those whom he is trying to rescue from sin and to lead out into + the freedom and joy of the Christian life. Luthardt, in S. S. + Times, May 26, 1888--"Every sin can be forgiven--even the sin + against the Son of man--except the sin against the Holy Spirit. The + sin against the Son of man can be forgiven because he can be + misconceived. For he did not appear as that which he really was. + Essence and appearance, truth and reality, contradicted each + other." Hence Jesus could pray: "Father, forgive them, for they + know not what they do"_ (Luke 23:34)_. The office of the Holy + Spirit, however, is to show to men the nature of their conduct, + and to sin against him is to sin against light and without excuse. + See A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 297-313. Salmond, in + Expositor's Greek Testament, on _Eph. 4:30_--"What love is in us + points truly, though tremulously, to what love is in God. But in + us love, in proportion as it is true and sovereign, has both its + _wrath-side_ and its _grief-side_; and so must it be with God, + however difficult for us to think it out." + + +E. He manifests himself in visible form as distinct from the Father and +the Son, yet in direct connection with personal acts performed by them. + + + _Mat. 3:16, 17--_"Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway + from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he + saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; + and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved + Son, in whom I am well pleased"; _Luke 3:21, 22--_"Jesus also + having been baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the + Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a + voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am + well pleased." Here are the prayer of Jesus, the approving voice + of the Father, and the Holy Spirit descending in visible form to + anoint the Son of God for his work. "I ad Jordanem, et videbis + Trinitatem." + + +F. This ascription to the Spirit of a personal subsistence distinct from +that of the Father and of the Son cannot be explained as personification; +for: + +(_a_) This would be to interpret sober prose by the canons of poetry. Such +sustained personification is contrary to the genius of even Hebrew poetry, +in which Wisdom itself is most naturally interpreted as designating a +personal existence. (_b_) Such an interpretation would render a multitude +of passages either tautological, meaningless, or absurd,--as can be easily +seen by substituting for the name Holy Spirit the terms which are wrongly +held to be its equivalents; such as the power, or influence, or efflux, or +attribute of God. (_c_) It is contradicted, moreover, by all those +passages in which the Holy Spirit is distinguished from his own gifts. + + + (_a_) The Bible is not primarily a book of poetry, although there + is poetry in it. It is more properly a book of history and law. + Even if the methods of allegory were used by the Psalmists and the + Prophets, we should not expect them largely to characterize the + Gospels and Epistles; _1 Cor. 13:4--_"Love suffereth long, and is + kind"--is a rare instance in which Paul's style takes on the form + of poetry. Yet it is the Gospels and Epistles which most + constantly represent the Holy Spirit as a person. (_b_) _Acts + 10:38--_"God anointed him [Jesus] with the Holy Spirit and with + power" = anointed him with power and with power? _Rom. + 15:13--_"abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit" = in the + power of the power of God? _19--_"in the power of signs and + wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit" = in the power of the + power of God? _1 Cor. 2:4--_"demonstration of the Spirit and of + power" = demonstration of power and of power? (_c_) _Luke + 1:35--_"the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the + Most High shall overshadow thee"; _4:14--_"Jesus returned in the + power of the Spirit into Galilee"; _1 Cor. 12:4, 8, 11_--after + mention of the gifts of the Spirit, such as wisdom, knowledge, + faith, healings, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, + tongues, interpretation of tongues, all these are traced to the + Spirit who bestows them: "_all these worketh the one and the same + Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will_." Here is + not only giving, but giving discreetly, in the exercise of an + independent will such as belongs only to a person. _Rom. + 8:26--_"the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us"--must be + interpreted, if the Holy Spirit is not a person distinct from the + Father, as meaning that the Holy Spirit intercedes with himself. + + "The personality of the Holy Spirit was virtually rejected by the + Arians, as it has since been by Schleiermacher, and it has been + positively denied by the Socinians" (E. G. Robinson). Gould, Bib. + Theol. N. T., 83, 96--"The Twelve represent the Spirit as sent by + the Son, who has been exalted that he may send this new power out + of the heavens. Paul represents the Spirit as bringing to us the + Christ. In the Spirit Christ dwells in us. The Spirit is the + historic Jesus translated into terms of universal Spirit. Through + the Spirit we are in Christ and Christ in us. The divine Indweller + is to Paul alternately Christ and the Spirit. The Spirit is the + divine principle incarnate in Jesus and explaining his + preexistence (_2 Cor. 3:17, 18_). Jesus was an incarnation of the + Spirit of God." + + This seeming identification of the Spirit with Christ is to be + explained upon the ground that the divine essence is common to + both and permits the Father to dwell in and to work through the + Son, and the Son to dwell in and to work through the Spirit. It + should not blind us to the equally patent Scriptural fact that + there are personal relations between Christ and the Holy Spirit, + and work done by the latter in which Christ is the object and not + the subject; _John 16:14--_"He shall glorify me: for he shall take + of mine, and shall declare it unto you." The Holy Spirit is not + some _thing_, but some _one_; not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}, but {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}; Christ's _alter + ego_, or other self. We should therefore make vivid our belief in + the personality of Christ and of the Holy Spirit by addressing + each of them frequently in the prayers we offer and in such hymns + as "Jesus, lover of my soul," and "Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly + Dove!" On the personality of the Holy Spirit, see John Owen, in + Works, 3:64-92; Dick, Lectures on Theology, 1:341-350. + + + +III. This Tripersonality of the Divine Nature is not merely economic and +temporal, but is immanent and eternal. + + +1. Scripture proof that these distinctions of personality are eternal. + + +We prove this (_a_) from those passages which speak of the existence of +the Word from eternity with the Father; (_b_) from passages asserting or +implying Christ's preexistence; (_c_) from passages implying intercourse +between the Father and the Son before the foundation of the world; (_d_) +from passages asserting the creation of the world by Christ; (_e_) from +passages asserting or implying the eternity of the Holy Spirit. + + + (_a_) _John 1:1, 2--_"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word + was with God, and the Word was God"; _cf._ _Gen. 1:1--_"In the + beginning God created the heavens and the earth"; _Phil. + 2:6--_"existing in the form of God ... on an equality with God." + (_b_) _John 8:58--_"before Abraham was born, I am"; _1:18--_"the + only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father" (R. V.); + _Col. 1:15-17--_"firstborn of all creation" or "before every + creature ... he is before all things." In these passages "_am_" + and "_is_" indicate an eternal fact; the present tense expresses + permanent being. _Rev. 22:13, 14--_"I am the Alpha and the Omega, + the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (_c_) _John + 17:5--_"Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory + which I had with thee before the world was"; _24--_"Thou lovedst me + before the foundation of the world." (_d_) _John 1:3--_"All things + were made through him"; _1 Cor. 8:6--_"one Lord, Jesus Christ, + through whom are all things"; _Col. 1:16--_"all things have been + created through him and unto him"; _Heb. 1:2--_"through whom also + he made the worlds"; _10--_"Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay + the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy + hands." (_e_) _Gen. 1:2--_"the Spirit of God was brooding"--existed + therefore before creation; _Ps. 33:6--_"by the word of Jehovah were + the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath [Spirit] + of his mouth"; _Heb. 9:14--_"through the eternal Spirit." + + With these passages before us, we must dissent from the statement + of Dr. E. G. Robinson: "About the ontologic Trinity we know + absolutely nothing. The Trinity we can contemplate is simply a + revealed one, one of economic manifestations. We may _suppose_ + that the ontologic underlies the economic." Scripture compels us, + in our judgment, to go further than this, and to maintain that + there are personal relations between the Father, the Son, and the + Holy Spirit independently of creation and of time; in other words + we maintain that Scripture reveals to us a social Trinity and an + intercourse of love apart from and before the existence of the + universe. Love before time implies distinctions of personality + before time. There are three eternal consciousnesses and three + eternal wills in the divine nature. We here state only the + fact,--the explanation of it, and its reconciliation with the + fundamental unity of God is treated in our next section. We now + proceed to show that the two varying systems which ignore this + tripersonality are unscriptural and at the same time exposed to + philosophical objection. + + +2. Errors refuted by the foregoing passages. + + +A. The Sabellian. + + +Sabellius (of Ptolemais in Pentapolis, 250) held that Father, Son, and +Holy Spirit are mere developments or revelations to creatures, in time, of +the otherwise concealed Godhead--developments which, since creatures will +always exist, are not transitory, but which at the same time are not +eternal _a parte ante_. God as united to the creation is Father; God as +united to Jesus Christ is Son; God as united to the church is Holy Spirit. +The Trinity of Sabellius is therefore an economic and not an immanent +Trinity--a Trinity of forms or manifestations, but not a necessary and +eternal Trinity in the divine nature. + +Some have interpreted Sabellius as denying that the Trinity is eternal _a +parte post_, as well as _a parte ante_, and as holding that, when the +purpose of these temporary manifestations is accomplished, the Triad is +resolved into the Monad. This view easily merges in another, which makes +the persons of the Trinity mere names for the ever shifting phases of the +divine activity. + + + The best statement of the Sabellian doctrine, according to the + interpretation first mentioned, is that of Schleiermacher, + translated with comments by Moses Stuart, in Biblical Repository, + 6:1-16. The one unchanging God is differently reflected from the + world on account of the world's different receptivities. Praxeas + of Rome (200) Noetus of Smyrna (230), and Beryl of Arabia (250) + advocated substantially the same views. They were called + Monarchians ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}), because they believed not in the Triad, + but only in the Monad. They were called Patripassians, because + they held that, as Christ is only God in human form, and this God + suffers, therefore the Father suffers. Knight, Colloquia + Peripatetica, xlii, suggests a connection between Sabellianism and + Emanationism. See this Compendium, on Theories which oppose + Creation. + + A view similar to that of Sabellius was held by Horace Bushnell, + in his God in Christ, 113-115, 130 sq., 172-175, and Christ in + Theology, 119, 120--"Father, Son and Holy Spirit, being incidental + to the revelation of God, may be and probably are from eternity to + eternity, inasmuch as God may have revealed himself from eternity, + and certainly will reveal himself so long as there are minds to + know him. It may be, in fact, the nature of God to reveal himself, + as truly as it is of the sun to shine or of living mind to think." + He does not deny the immanent Trinity, but simply says we know + nothing about it. Yet a Trinity of Persons in the divine essence + itself he called plain tritheism. He prefers "instrumental + Trinity" to "modal Trinity" as a designation of his doctrine. The + difference between Bushnell on the one hand, and Sabellius and + Schleiermacher on the other, seems then to be the following: + Sabellius and Schleiermacher hold that the One _becomes_ three in + the process of revelation, and the three are only _media_ or + _modes_ of revelation. Father, Son, and Spirit are mere names + applied to these modes of the divine action, there being no + internal distinctions in the divine nature. This is modalism, or a + modal Trinity. Bushnell stands by the Trinity of revelation alone, + and protests against any constructive reasonings with regard to + the immanent Trinity. Yet in his later writings he reverts to + Athanasius and speaks of God as eternally "threeing himself"; see + Fisher, Edwards on the Trinity, 73. + + Lyman Abbott, in The Outlook, proposes as illustration of the + Trinity, 1. the artist working on his pictures; 2. the same man + teaching pupils how to paint; 3. the same man entertaining his + friends at home. He has not taken on these types of conduct. They + are not masks (_personae_), nor offices, which he takes up and lays + down. There is a threefold _nature_ in him: he is artist, teacher, + friend. God is complex, and not simple. I do not know him, till I + know him in all these relations. Yet it is evident that Dr. + Abbott's view provides no basis for love or for society within the + divine nature. The three persons are but three successive aspects + or activities of the one God. General Grant, when in office, was + but one person, even though he was a father, a President, and a + commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States. + + +It is evident that this theory, in whatever form it may be held, is far +from satisfying the demands of Scripture. Scripture speaks of the second +person of the Trinity as existing and acting before the birth of Jesus +Christ, and of the Holy Spirit as existing and acting before the formation +of the church. Both have a personal existence, eternal in the past as well +as in the future--which this theory expressly denies. + + + A revelation that is not a self-revelation of God is not honest. + Stuart: Since God is revealed as three, he must be essentially or + immanently three, back of revelation; else the revelation would + not be true. Dorner: A Trinity of revelation is a + misrepresentation, if there is not behind it a Trinity of nature. + Twesten properly arrives at the threeness by considering, not so + much what is involved in the revelation of God to us, as what is + involved in the revelation of God to himself. The unscripturalness + of the Sabellian doctrine is plain, if we remember that upon this + view the Three cannot exist at once: when the Father says "Thou + art my beloved Son"_ (Luke 3:22)_, he is simply speaking to + himself; when Christ sends the Holy Spirit, he only sends himself. + _John 1:1--_"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with + God, and the Word was God"--"sets aside the false notion that the + Word become _personal_ first at the time of creation, or at the + incarnation" (Westcott, Bib. Com. _in loco_). + + Mason, Faith of the Gospel, 50, 51--"Sabellius claimed that the + Unity became a Trinity by expansion. Fatherhood began with the + world. God is not eternally Father, nor does he love eternally. We + have only an impersonal, unintelligible God, who has played upon + us and confused our understanding by showing himself to us under + three disguises. Before creation there is no Fatherhood, even in + germ." + + According to Pfleiderer, Philos. Religion, 2:269, Origen held that + the Godhead might be represented by three concentric circles; the + widest, embracing the whole being, is that of the Father; the + next, that of the Son, which extends to the rational creation; and + the narrowest is that of the Spirit, who rules in the holy men of + the church. King, Reconstruction of Theology, 192, 194--"To affirm + social relations in the Godhead is to assert absolute + Tritheism.... Unitarianism emphasizes the humanity of Christ, to + preserve the unity of God; the true view emphasizes the divinity + of Christ, to preserve the unity." + + L. L. Paine, Evolution of Trinitarianism, 141, 287, says that New + England Trinitarianism is characterized by three things: 1. + Sabellian Patripassianism; Christ is all the Father there is, and + the Holy Spirit is Christ's continued life; 2. Consubstantiality, + or community of essence, of God and man; unlike the essential + difference between the created and the uncreated which Platonic + dualism maintained, this theory turns _moral_ likeness into + _essential_ likeness; 3. Philosophical monism, matter itself being + but an evolution of Spirit.... In the next form of the scientific + doctrine of evolution, the divineness of man becomes a vital + truth, and out of it arises a Christology that removes Jesus of + Nazareth indeed out of the order of absolute Deity, but at the + same time exalts him to a place of moral eminence that is secure + and supreme. + + Against this danger of regarding Christ as a merely economic and + temporary manifestation of God we can guard only by maintaining + the Scriptural doctrine of an immanent Trinity. Moberly, Atonement + and Personality, 86, 165--"We cannot incur any Sabellian peril + while we maintain--what is fatal to Sabellianism--that that which is + revealed within the divine Unity is not only a distinction of + aspects or of names, but a real reciprocity of mutual relation. + One 'aspect' cannot contemplate, or be loved by, another.... + Sabellianism degrades the persons of Deity into aspects. But there + can be no mutual relation between aspects. The heat and the light + of flame cannot severally contemplate and be in love with one + another." See Bushnell's doctrine reviewed by Hodge, Essays and + Reviews, 433-473. On the whole subject, see Dorner, Hist. Doct. + Person of Christ, 2:152-169; Shedd, Hist. Doctrine, 1:259; Baur, + Lehre von der Dreieinigkeit, 1:256-305; Thomasius, Christi Person + und Werk 1:83. + + +B. The Arian. + + +Arius (of Alexandria; condemned by Council of Nice, 325) held that the +Father is the only divine being absolutely without beginning; the Son and +the Holy Spirit, through whom God creates and recreates, having been +themselves created out of nothing before the world was; and Christ being +called God, because he is next in rank to God, and is endowed by God with +divine power to create. + +The followers of Arius have differed as to the precise rank and claims of +Christ. While Socinus held with Arius that worship of Christ was +obligatory, the later Unitarians have perceived the impropriety of +worshiping even the highest of created beings, and have constantly tended +to a view of the Redeemer which regards him as a mere man, standing in a +peculiarly intimate relation to God. + + + For statement of the Arian doctrine, see J. Freeman Clarke, + Orthodoxy, Its Truths and Errors. _Per contra_, see Schaeffer, in + Bib. Sac., 21:1, article on Athanasius and the Arian controversy. + The so-called Athanasian Creed, which Athanasius never wrote, is + more properly designated as the _Symbolum Quicumque_. It has also + been called, though facetiously, "the Anathemasian Creed." Yet no + error in doctrine can be more perilous or worthy of condemnation + than the error of Arius (_1 Cor. 16:22--_"If any man loveth not the + Lord, let him be anathema"; _1 John 2:23--_"Whosoever denieth the + Son, the same hath not the Father"; _4:3--_"every spirit that + confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this is the spirit of the + antichrist"). It regards Christ as called God only by courtesy, + much as we give to a Lieutenant Governor the title of Governor. + Before the creation of the Son, the love of God, if there could be + love, was expended on himself. Gwatkin, Studies of Arianism: "The + Arian Christ is nothing but a heathen idol, invented to maintain a + heathenish Supreme in heathen isolation from the world. The nearer + the Son is pulled down towards man by the attenuation of his + Godhead, the more remote from man becomes the unshared Godhead of + the Father. You have an _Etre Supreme_ who is practically + unapproachable, a mere One-and-all, destitute of personality." + + Gore, Incarnation, 90, 91, 110, shows the immense importance of + the controversy with regard to {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. Carlyle + once sneered that "the Christian world was torn in pieces over a + diphthong." But Carlyle afterwards came to see that Christianity + itself was at stake, and that it would have dwindled away to a + legend, if the Arians had won. Arius appealed chiefly to logic, + not to Scripture. He claimed that a Son must be younger than his + Father. But he was asserting the principle of heathenism and + idolatry, in demanding worship for a creature. The Goths were + easily converted to Arianism. Christ was to them a hero-god, a + demigod, and the later Goths could worship Christ and heathen + idols impartially. + + +It is evident that the theory of Arius does not satisfy the demands of +Scripture. A created God, a God whose existence had a beginning and +therefore may come to an end, a God made of a substance which once was +not, and therefore a substance different from that of the Father, is not +God, but a finite creature. But the Scripture speaks of Christ as being in +the beginning God, with God, and equal with God. + + + Luther, alluding to _John 1:1_, says: "'The Word was God' is + against Arius; 'the Word was with God' is against Sabellius." The + Racovian Catechism, Quaes. 183, 184, 211, 236, 237, 245, 246, + teaches that Christ is to be truly worshiped, and they are denied + to be Christians who refuse to adore him. Davidis was persecuted + and died in prison for refusing to worship Christ; and Socinus was + charged, though probably unjustly, with having caused his + imprisonment. Bartholomew Legate, an Essexman and an Arian, was + burned to death at Smithfield, March 13, 1613. King James I asked + him whether he did not pray to Christ. Legate's answer was that + "indeed he had prayed to Christ in the days of his ignorance, but + not for these last seven years"; which so shocked James that "he + spurned at him with his foot." At the stake Legate still refused + to recant, and so was burned to ashes amid a vast conflux of + people. The very next month another Arian named Whiteman was + burned at Burton-on-Trent. + + It required courage, even a generation later, for John Milton, in + his Christian Doctrine, to declare himself a high Arian. In that + treatise he teaches that "the Son of God did not exist from all + eternity, is not coeval or coessential or coequal with the Father, + but came into existence by the will of God to be the next being to + himself, the first-born and best beloved, the Logos or Word + through whom all creation should take its beginnings." So Milton + regards the Holy Spirit as a created being, inferior to the Son + and possibly confined to our heavens and earth. Milton's Arianism, + however, is characteristic of his later, rather than his earlier, + writings; compare the Ode on Christ's Nativity with Paradise Lost, + 3:383-391; and see Masson's Life of Milton, 1:39; 6:823, 824; A. + H. Strong, Great Poets and their Theology, 260-262. + + Dr. Samuel Clarke, when asked whether the Father who had created + could not also destroy the Son, said that he had not considered + the question. Ralph Waldo Emerson broke with his church and left + the ministry because he could not celebrate the Lord's Supper,--it + implied a profounder reverence for Jesus than he could give him. + He wrote: "It seemed to me at church to-day, that the Communion + Service, as it is now and here celebrated, is a document of the + dullness of the race. How these, my good neighbors, the bending + deacons, with their cups and plates, would have straightened + themselves to sturdiness, if the proposition came before them to + honor thus a fellow-man"; see Cabot's Memoir, 314. Yet Dr. Leonard + Bacon said of the Unitarians that "it seemed as if their exclusive + contemplation of Jesus Christ in his human character as the + example for our imitation had wrought in them an exceptional + beauty and Christlikeness of living." + + Chadwick, Old and New Unitarian Belief, 20, speaks of Arianism as + exalting Christ to a degree of inappreciable difference from God, + while Socinus looked upon him only as a miraculously endowed man, + and believed in an infallible book. The term "Unitarians," he + claims, is derived from the "Uniti," a society in Transylvania, in + support of mutual toleration between Calvinists, Romanists, and + Socinians. The name stuck to the advocates of the divine Unity, + because they were its most active members. B. W. Lockhart: + "Trinity guarantees God's knowableness. Arius taught that Jesus + was neither human nor divine, but created in some grade of being + between the two, essentially unknown to man. An absentee God made + Jesus his messenger, God himself not touching the world directly + at any point, and unknown and unknowable to it. Athanasius on the + contrary asserted that God did not send a messenger in Christ, but + came himself, so that to know Christ is really to know God who is + essentially revealed in him. This gave the Church the doctrine of + God immanent, or Immanuel, God knowable and actually known by men, + because actually present." Chapman, Jesus Christ and the Present + Age, 14--"The world was never further from Unitarianism than it is + to-day; we may add that Unitarianism was never further from + itself." On the doctrines of the early Socinians, see Princeton + Essays, 1:195. On the whole subject, see Blunt, Dict. of Heretical + Sects, art.: Arius; Guericke, Hist. Doctrine, 1:313, 319. See also + a further account of Arianism in the chapter of this Compendium on + the Person of Christ. + + + +IV. This Tripersonality is not Tritheism; for, while there are three +Persons, there is but one Essence. + + +(_a_) The term "person" only approximately represents the truth. Although +this word, more nearly than any other single word, expresses the +conception which the Scriptures give us of the relation between the +Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it is not itself used in this +connection in Scripture, and we employ it in a qualified sense, not in the +ordinary sense in which we apply the word "person" to Peter, Paul, and +John. + + + The word "person" is only the imperfect and inadequate expression + of a fact that transcends our experience and comprehension. + Bunyan: "My dark and cloudy words, they do but hold The truth, as + cabinets encase the gold." Three Gods, limiting each other, would + deprive each other of Deity. While we show that the unity is + articulated by the persons, it is equally important to remember + that the persons are limited by the unity. With us personality + implies entire separation from all others--distinct individuality. + But in the one God there can be no such separation. The personal + distinctions in him must be such as are consistent with essential + unity. This is the merit of the statement in the _Symbolum + Quicumque_ (or Athanasian Creed, wrongly so called): "The Father + is God, the Son is God, the Holy Ghost is God; and yet there are + not three Gods but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the + Son is Lord, the Holy Ghost is Lord; yet there are not three Lords + but one Lord. For as we are compelled by Christian truth to + acknowledge each person by himself to be God and Lord, so we are + forbidden by the same truth to say that there are three Gods or + three Lords." See Hagenbach, History of Doctrine, 1:270. We add + that the personality of the Godhead as a whole is separate and + distinct from all others, and in this respect is more fully + analogous to man's personality than is the personality of the + Father or of the Son. + + The church of Alexandria in the second century chanted together: + "One only is holy, the Father; One only is holy, the Son; One only + is holy, the Spirit." Moberly, Atonement and Personality, 154, + 167, 168--"The three persons are neither three Gods, nor three + parts of God. Rather are they God threefoldly, tri-personally.... + The personal distinction in Godhead is a distinction within, and + of, Unity: not a distinction which qualifies Unity, or usurps the + place of it, or destroys it. It is not a relation of mutual + exclusiveness, but of mutual inclusiveness. No one person is or + can be without the others.... The personality of the supreme or + absolute Being cannot be without self-contained mutuality of + relations such as Will and Love. But the mutuality would not be + real, unless the subject which becomes object, and the object + which becomes subject, were on each side alike and equally + Personal.... The Unity of all-comprehending inclusiveness is a + higher mode of unity than the unity of singular + distinctiveness.... The disciples are not to have the presence of + the Spirit instead of the Son, but to have the Spirit is to have + the Son. We mean by the Personal God not a limited alternative to + unlimited abstracts, such as Law, Holiness, Love, but the + transcendent and inclusive completeness of them all. The terms + Father and Son are certainly terms which rise more immediately out + of the temporal facts of the incarnation than out of the eternal + relations of the divine Being. They are metaphors, however, which + mean far more in the spiritual than they do in the material + sphere. Spiritual hunger is more intense than physical hunger. So + sin, judgment, grace, are metaphors. But in _John 1:1-18_ 'Son' is + not used, but 'Word.' " + + +(_b_) The necessary qualification is that, while three persons among men +have only a _specific_ unity of nature or essence--that is, have the same +_species_ of nature or essence,--the persons of the Godhead have a +_numerical_ unity of nature or essence--that is, have the _same_ nature or +essence. The undivided essence of the Godhead belongs equally to each of +the persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each possesses all the +substance and all the attributes of Deity. The plurality of the Godhead is +therefore not a plurality of essence, but a plurality of hypostatical, or +personal, distinctions. God is not three and one, but three in one. The +one indivisible essence has three modes of subsistence. + + + The Trinity is not simply a partnership, in which each member can + sign the name of the firm; for this is unity of council and + operation only, not of essence. God's nature is not an abstract + but an organic unity. God, as living, cannot be a mere Monad. + Trinity is the organism of the Deity. The one divine Being exists + in three modes. The life of the vine makes itself known in the + life of the branches, and this union between vine and branches + Christ uses to illustrate the union between the Father and + himself. (See _John 15:10--_"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall + abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, + and abide in his love"; _cf._ _verse 5--_"I am the vine, ye are the + branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth + much fruit"; _17:22, 23--_"That they may be one, even as we are + one; I in them, and thou in me.") So, in the organism of the body, + the arm has its own life, a different life from that of the head + or the foot, yet has this only by partaking of the life of the + whole. See Dorner, System of Doctrine, 1:450-453--"The one divine + personality is so present in each of the distinctions, that these, + which singly and by themselves would not be personal, yet do + participate in the one divine personality, each in its own manner. + This one divine personality is the unity of the three modes of + subsistence which participate in itself. Neither is personal + without the others. In each, in its manner, is the whole Godhead." + + The human body is a complex rather than a simple organism, a unity + which embraces an indefinite number of subsidiary and dependent + organisms. The one life of the body manifests itself in the life + of the nervous system, the life of the circulatory system, and the + life of the digestive system. The complete destruction of either + one of these systems destroys the other two. Psychology as well as + physiology reveals to us the possibility of a three-fold life + within the bounds of a single being. In the individual man there + is sometimes a double and even a triple consciousness. Herbert + Spencer, Autobiography, 1:459; 2:204--"Most active minds have, I + presume, more or less frequent experiences of double + consciousness--one consciousness seeming to take note of what the + other is about, and to applaud or blame." He mentions an instance + in his own experience. "May there not be possible a bi-cerebral + thinking, as there is a binocular vision?... In these cases it + seems as though there were going on, quite apart from the + consciousness which seemed to constitute myself, some process of + elaborating coherent thoughts--as though one part of myself was an + independent originator over whose sayings and doings I had no + control, and which were nevertheless in great measure consistent; + while the other part of myself was a passive spectator or + listener, quite unprepared for many of the things that the first + part said, and which were nevertheless, though unexpected, not + illogical." This fact that there can be more than one + consciousness in the same personality among men should make us + slow to deny that there can be three consciousnesses in the one + God. + + Humanity at large is also an organism, and this fact lends new + confirmation to the Pauline statement of organic interdependence. + Modern sociology is the doctrine of one life constituted by the + union of many. "Unus homo, nullus homo" is a principle of ethics + as well as of sociology. No man can have a conscience to himself. + The moral life of one results from and is interpenetrated by the + moral life of all. All men moreover live, move and have their + being in God. Within the bounds of the one universal and divine + consciousness there are multitudinous _finite_ consciousnesses. + Why then should it be thought incredible that in the nature of + this one God there should be three _infinite_ consciousnesses? + Baldwin, Psychology, 53, 54--"The integration of finite + consciousnesses in an all-embracing divine consciousness may find + a valid analogy in the integration of subordinate consciousnesses + in the unit-personality of man. In the hypnotic state, multiple + consciousnesses may be induced in the same nervous organism. In + insanity there is a secondary consciousness at war with that which + normally dominates." Schurman, Belief in God, 26, 161--"The + infinite Spirit may include the finite, as the idea of a single + organism embraces within a single life a plurality of members and + functions.... All souls are parts or functions of the eternal life + of God, who is above all, and through all, and in all, and in whom + we live, and move, and have our being." We would draw the + conclusion that, as in the body and soul of man, both as an + individual and as a race, there is diversity in unity, so in the + God in whose image man is made, there is diversity in unity, and a + triple consciousness and will are consistent with, and even find + their perfection in, a single essence. + + By the personality of God we mean more than we mean when we speak + of the personality of the Son and the personality of the Spirit. + The personality of the Godhead is distinct and separate from all + others, and is, in this respect, like that of man. Hence Shedd, + Dogm. Theol., 1:194, says "it is preferable to speak of the + _personality_ of the essence rather than of the _person_ of the + essence; because the essence is not one person, but three + persons.... The divine essence cannot be at once three persons and + one person, if 'person' is employed in one signification; but it + can be at once three persons and one personal Being." While we + speak of the one God as having a personality in which there are + three persons, we would not call this personality a + superpersonality, if this latter term is intended to intimate that + God's personality is less than the personality of man. The + personality of the Godhead is inclusive rather than exclusive. + + With this qualification we may assent to the words of D'Arcy, + Idealism and Theology, 93, 94, 218, 230, 236, 254--"The innermost + truth of things, God, must be conceived as personal; but the + ultimate Unity, which is his, must be believed to be + superpersonal. It is a unity of persons, not a personal unity. For + us personality is the ultimate form of unity. It is not so in him. + For in him all persons live and move and have their being.... God + is personal and also superpersonal. In him there is a transcendent + unity that can embrace a personal multiplicity.... There is in God + an ultimate superpersonal unity in which all persons are one--[all + human persons and the three divine persons].... Substance is more + real than quality, and subject is more real than substance. The + most real of all is the concrete totality, the all-inclusive + Universal.... What human love strives to accomplish--the overcoming + of the opposition of person to person--is perfectly attained in the + divine Unity.... The presupposition on which philosophy is driven + back--[that persons have an underlying ground of unity] is + identical with that which underlies Christian theology." See + Pfleiderer and Lotze on personality, in this Compendium, p. 104. + + +(_c_) This oneness of essence explains the fact that, while Father, Son, +and Holy Spirit, as respects their personality, are distinct subsistences, +there is an intercommunion of persons and an immanence of one divine +person in another which permits the peculiar work of one to be ascribed, +with a single limitation, to either of the others, and the manifestation +of one to be recognized in the manifestation of another. The limitation is +simply this, that although the Son was sent by the Father, and the Spirit +by the Father and the Son, it cannot be said _vice versa_ that the Father +is sent either by the Son, or by the Spirit. The Scripture representations +of this intercommunion prevent us from conceiving of the distinctions +called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as involving separation between them. + + + Dorner adds that "in one is each of the others." This is true with + the limitation mentioned in the text above. Whatever Christ does, + God the Father can be said to do; for God acts only in and through + Christ the Revealer. Whatever the Holy Spirit does, Christ can be + said to do; for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. The + Spirit is the omnipresent Jesus, and Bengel's dictum is true: "Ubi + Spiritus, ibi Christus." Passages illustrating this intercommunion + are the following: _Gen. 1:1--_"God created"; _cf._ _Heb. + 1:2--_"through whom [the Son] also he made the worlds"; _John 5:17, + 19--_"My Father worketh even until now, and I work.... The Son can + do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing; for + what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like + manner"; _14:9--_"he that hath seen me hath seen the Father"; + _11--_"I am in the Father and the Father in me"; _18--_"I will not + leave you desolate: I come unto you" (by the Holy Spirit); + _15:26--_"when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you + from the Father, even the Spirit of truth"; _17:21--_"that they may + all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee"; _2 + Cor. 5:19--_"God was in Christ reconciling"; _Titus 2:10--_"God our + Savior"; _Heb. 12:23--_"God the Judge of all"; _cf._ _John + 5:22--_"neither doth the father judge any man, but he hath given + all judgment unto the Son"; _Acts 17:31--_"judge the world in + righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained." + + It is this intercommunion, together with the order of personality + and operation to be mentioned hereafter, which explains the + occasional use of the term "Father" for the whole Godhead; as in + _Eph. 4:6--_"one God and Father of all, who is over all through all + [in Christ], and in you all" [by the Spirit]. This intercommunion + also explains the designation of Christ as "_the Spirit_," and of + the Spirit as "_the Spirit of Christ_," as in _1 Cor. 15:45--_"the + last Adam became a life-giving Spirit"; _2 Cor. 3:17--_"Now the + Lord is the Spirit"; _Gal. 4:6--_"sent forth the Spirit of his + Son"; _Phil. 1:19--_"supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (see + Alford and Lange on _2 Cor. 3:17, 18_). So the Lamb, in _Rev. + 5:6_, has "_seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven + Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth_" = the Holy Spirit, + with his manifold powers, is the Spirit of the omnipotent, + omniscient, and omnipresent Christ. Theologians have designated + this intercommunion by the terms {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, _circumincessio_, + _intercommunicatio_, _circulatio_, _inexistentia_. The word {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} + was used to denote essence, substance, nature, being; and the + words {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} for person, distinction, mode of + subsistence. On the changing uses of the words {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} and + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} see Dorner, Glaubenslehre, 2:321, note 2. On the meaning + of the word 'person' in connection with the Trinity, see John + Howe, Calm Discourse of the Trinity; Jonathan Edwards, + Observations on the Trinity; Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:194, 267-275, + 299, 300. + + The Holy Spirit is Christ's _alter ego_, or other self. When Jesus + went away, it was an exchange of his presence for his + omnipresence; an exchange of limited for unlimited power; an + exchange of companionship for indwelling. Since Christ comes to + men in the Holy Spirit, he speaks through the apostles as + authoritatively as if his own lips uttered the words. Each + believer, in having the Holy Spirit, has the whole Christ for his + own; see A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit. Gore, Incarnation, + 218--"The persons of the Holy Trinity are not separable + individuals. Each involves the others; the coming of each is the + coming of the others. Thus the coming of the Spirit must have + involved the coming of the Son. But the specialty of the + Pentecostal gift appears to be the coming of the Holy Spirit out + of the uplifted and glorified _manhood_ of the incarnate Son. The + Spirit is the life-giver, but the life with which he works in the + church is the life of the _Incarnate_, the life of Jesus." + + Moberly, Atonement and Personality, 85--"For centuries upon + centuries, the essential unity of God had been burnt and branded + in upon the consciousness of Israel. It had to be completely + established first, as a basal element of thought, indispensable, + unalterable, before there could begin the disclosure to man of the + reality of the eternal relations within the one indivisible being + of God. And when the disclosure came, it came not as modifying, + but as further interpreting and illumining, that unity which it + absolutely presupposed." E. G. Robinson, Christian Theology, + 238--"There is extreme difficulty in giving any statement of a + triunity that shall not verge upon tritheism on the one hand, or + upon mere modalism on the other. It was very natural that Calvin + should be charged with Sabellianism, and John Howe with + tritheism." + + + +V. The Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are equal. + + +In explanation, notice that: + + +1. These titles belong to the Persons. + + +(_a_) The Father is not God as such; for God is not only Father, but also +Son and Holy Spirit. The term "Father" designates that hypostatical +distinction in the divine nature in virtue of which God is related to the +Son, and through the Son and the Spirit to the church and the world. As +author of the believer's spiritual as well as natural life, God is doubly +his Father; but this relation which God sustains to creatures is not the +ground of the title. God is Father primarily in virtue of the relation +which he sustains to the eternal Son; only as we are spiritually united to +Jesus Christ do we become children of God. + +(_b_) The Son is not God as such; for God is not only Son, but also Father +and Holy Spirit. "The Son" designates that distinction in virtue of which +God is related to the Father, is sent by the Father to redeem the world, +and with the Father sends the Holy Spirit. + +(_c_) The Holy Spirit is not God as such; for God is not only Holy Spirit, +but also Father and Son. "The Holy Spirit" designates that distinction in +virtue of which God is related to the Father and the Son, and is sent by +them to accomplish the work of renewing the ungodly and of sanctifying the +church. + + + Neither of these names designates the Monad as such. Each + designates rather that personal distinction which forms the + eternal basis and ground for a particular self-revelation. In the + sense of being the Author and Provider of men's natural life, God + is the Father of all. But even this natural sonship is mediated by + Jesus Christ; see _1 Cor. 8:6--_"one Lord, Jesus Christ through + whom are all things, and we through him." The phrase "_Our + Father_," however, can be used with the highest truth only by the + regenerate, who have been newly born of God by being united to + Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. See _Gal. 3:26--_"For + ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Jesus Christ"; + _4:4-6--_"God sent forth his Son ... that we might receive the + adoption of sons ... sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our + hearts, crying, Abba, Father"; _Eph. 1:5--_"foreordained as unto + adoption as sons through Jesus Christ." God's love for Christ is + the measure of his love for those who are one with Christ. Human + nature in Christ is lifted up into the life and communion of the + eternal Trinity. Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:306-310. + + Human fatherhood is a reflection of the divine, not, _vice versa_, + the divine a reflection of the human; _cf._ _Eph. 3:14, 15--_"the + Father, from whom every fatherhood {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~} in heaven and on earth + is named." Chadwick, Unitarianism, 77-83, makes the name "Father" + only a symbol for the great Cause of organic evolution, the Author + of all being. But we may reply with Stearns, Evidence of Christian + Experience, 177--"to know God outside of the sphere of redemption + is not to know him in the deeper meaning of the term 'Father'. It + is only through the Son that we know the Father: _Mat. + 11:27--_'Neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to + whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.'" + + Whiton, Gloria Patri, 38--"The Unseen can be known only by the seen + which comes forth from it. The all-generating or Paternal Life + which is hidden from us can be known only by the generated or + Filial Life in which it reveals itself. The goodness and + righteousness which inhabits eternity can be known only by the + goodness and righteousness which issues from it in the successive + births of time. God above the world is made known only by God in + the world. God transcendent, the Father, is revealed by God + immanent, the Son." Faber: "O marvellous, O worshipful! No song or + sound is heard, But everywhere and every hour, In love, in wisdom + and in power, the Father speaks his dear eternal Word." We may + interpret this as meaning that self-expression is a necessity of + nature to an infinite Mind. The Word is therefore eternal. Christ + is the mirror from which are flashed upon us the rays of the + hidden Luminary. So Principal Fairbairn says: "Theology must be on + its historical side Christocentric, but on its doctrinal side + Theocentric." + + Salmond, Expositor's Greek Testament, on _Eph. 1:5_--"By 'adoption' + Paul does not mean the bestowal of the full privileges of the + family on those who are sons by nature, but the acceptance into + the family of those who are not sons originally and by right in + the relation proper of those who are sons by birth. Hence {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} + is never affirmed of Christ, for he alone is Son of God by nature. + So Paul regards our sonship, not as lying in the natural relation + in which men stand to God as his children, but as implying a new + relation of grace, founded on a covenant relation of God and on + the work of Christ (_Gal. 4:5_ _sq._)." + + +2. Qualified sense of these titles. + + +Like the word "person", the names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not to +be confined within the precise limitations of meaning which would be +required if they were applied to men. + +(_a_) The Scriptures enlarge our conceptions of Christ's Sonship by giving +to him in his preexistent state the names of the Logos, the Image, and the +Effulgence of God.--The term "Logos" combines in itself the two ideas of +thought and word, of reason and expression. While the Logos as divine +thought or reason is one with God, the Logos as divine word or expression +is distinguishable from God. Words are the means by which personal beings +express or reveal themselves. Since Jesus Christ was "the Word" before +there were any creatures to whom revelations could be made, it would seem +to be only a necessary inference from this title that in Christ God must +be from eternity expressed or revealed to himself; in other words, that +the Logos is the principle of truth, or self-consciousness, in God.--The +term "Image" suggests the ideas of copy or counterpart. Man is the image +of God only relatively and derivatively. Christ is the Image of God +absolutely and archetypally. As the perfect representation of the Father's +perfections, the Son would seem to be the object and principle of love in +the Godhead.--The term "Effulgence," finally, is an allusion to the sun and +its radiance. As the effulgence of the sun manifests the sun's nature, +which otherwise would be unrevealed, yet is inseparable from the sun and +ever one with it, so Christ reveals God, but is eternally one with God. +Here is a principle of movement, of will, which seems to connect itself +with the holiness, or self-asserting purity, of the divine nature. + + + Smyth, Introd. to Edwards' Observations on the Trinity: "The + ontological relations of the persons of the Trinity are not a mere + blank to human thought." _John 1:1--_"In the beginning was the + Word"--means more than "in the beginning was the _x_, or the zero." + Godet indeed says that Logos = "reason" only in philosophical + writings, but never in the Scriptures. He calls this a Hegelian + notion. But both Plato and Philo had made this signification a + common one. On {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} as = reason + speech, see Lightfoot on + Colossians, 143, 144. Meyer interprets it as "personal + subsistence, the self-revelation of the divine essence, before all + time immanent in God." Neander, Planting and Training, 369--Logos = + "the eternal Revealer of the divine essence." Bushnell: "Mirror of + creative imagination"; "form of God." + + Word = 1. Expression; 2. Definite expression; 3. Ordered + expression; 4. Complete expression. We make thought definite by + putting it into language. So God's wealth of ideas is in the Word + formed into an ordered Kingdom, a true Cosmos; see Mason, Faith of + the Gospel, 76. Max Mueller: "A word is simply a spoken thought + made audible as sound. Take away from a word the sound, and what + is left is simply the thought of it." Whiton, Gloria Patri, 72, + 73--"The Greek saw in the word the abiding thought behind the + passing form. The Word was God and yet finite--finite only as to + form, infinite as to what the form suggests or expresses. By Word + some form must be meant, and any form is finite. The Word is the + form taken by the infinite Intelligence which transcends all + forms." We regard this identification of the Word with the finite + manifestation of the Word as contradicted by _John 1:1_, where the + Word is represented as being with God before creation, and by + _Phil. 2:6_, where the Word is represented as existing in the form + of God before his self-limitation in human nature. Scripture + requires us to believe in an objectification of God to himself in + the person of the Word prior to any finite manifestation of God to + men. Christ existed as the Word, and the Word was with God, before + the Word was made flesh and before the world came into being; in + other words, the Logos was the eternal principle of truth or + self-consciousness in the nature of God. + + Passages representing Christ as the Image of God are _Col. + 1:15--_"who is the image of the invisible God"; _2 Cor. + 4:4--_"Christ, who is the image of God" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}); _Heb. 1:3--_"the + very image of his substance" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}); here + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} means "impress," "counterpart." Christ is the perfect + image of God, as men are not. He therefore has consciousness and + will. He possesses all the attributes and powers of God. The word + "Image" suggests the perfect equality with God which the title + "Son" might at first seem to deny. The living Image of God which + is equal to himself and is the object of his infinite love can be + nothing less than personal. As the bachelor can never satisfy his + longing for companionship by lining his room with mirrors which + furnish only a lifeless reflection of himself, so God requires for + his love a personal as well as an infinite object. The Image is + not precisely the _repetition_ of the original. The stamp from the + seal is not precisely the _reproduction_ of the seal. The letters + on the seal run backwards and can be easily read only when the + impression is before us. So Christ is the only interpretation and + revelation of the hidden Godhead. As only in love do we come to + know the depths of our own being, so it is only in the Son that + "God is love"_ (1 John 4:8)_. + + Christ is spoken of as the Effulgence of God in _Heb. 1:3--_"who + being the effulgence of his glory" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}); _cf._ _2 + Cor. 4:6--_"shined in our hearts, to give the light of the + knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Notice + that the radiance of the sun is as old as the sun itself, and + without it the sun would not be sun. So Christ is coequal and + coeternal with the Father. _Ps. 84:11--_"Jehovah God is a sun." But + we cannot see the sun except by the sunlight. Christ is the + sunlight which streams forth from the Sun and which makes the Sun + visible. If there be an eternal Sun, there must be also an eternal + Sunlight, and Christ must be eternal. Westcott on _Hebrews + 1:3_--"The use of the absolute timeless term {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, '_being_', guards + against the thought that the Lord's sonship was by adoption, and + not by nature. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} does not express personality, and + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} does not express coessentiality. The two words are + related exactly as {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, and like those must be + combined to give the fulness of the truth. The truth expressed + thus antithetically holds good absolutely.... In Christ the + essence of God is made distinct; in Christ the revelation of God's + character is seen." On Edwards's view of the Trinity, together + with his quotations from Ramsey's Philosophical Principles, from + which he seems to have derived important suggestions, see Allen, + Jonathan Edwards, 338-376; G. P. Fisher, Edwards's Essay on the + Trinity, 110-116. + + +(_b_) The names thus given to the second person of the Trinity, if they +have _any_ significance, bring him before our minds in the general aspect +of Revealer, and suggest a relation of the doctrine of the Trinity to +God's immanent attributes of truth, love, and holiness. The prepositions +used to describe the internal relations of the second person to the first +are not prepositions of rest, but prepositions of direction and movement. +The Trinity, as the organism of Deity, secures a life-movement of the +Godhead, a process in which God evermore objectifies himself and in the +Son gives forth of his fulness. Christ represents the centrifugal action +of the deity. But there must be centripetal action also. In the Holy +Spirit the movement is completed, and the divine activity and thought +returns into itself. True religion, in reuniting us to God, reproduces in +us, in our limited measure, this eternal process of the divine mind. +Christian experience witnesses that God in himself is unknown; Christ is +the organ of external revelation; the Holy Spirit is the organ of internal +revelation--only he can give us an inward apprehension or realization of +the truth. It is "through the eternal Spirit" that Christ "offered himself +without blemish unto God," and it is only through the Holy Spirit that the +church has access to the Father, or fallen creatures can return to God. + + + Here we see that God is Life, self-sufficient Life, Infinite Life, + of which the life of the universe is but a faint reflection, a + rill from the fountain, a drop from the ocean. Since Christ is the + only Revealer, the only outgoing principle in the Godhead, it is + he in whom the whole creation comes to be and holds together. He + is the Life of nature: all natural beauty and grandeur, all forces + molecular and molar, all laws of gravitation and evolution, are + the work and manifestation of the omnipresent Christ. He is the + Life of humanity: the intellectual and moral impulses of man, so + far as they are normal and uplifting, are due to Christ; he is the + principle of progress and improvement in history. He is the Life + of the church: the one and only Redeemer and spiritual Head of the + race is also its Teacher and Lord. + + All objective revelation of God is the work of Christ. But all + subjective manifestation of God is the work of the Holy Spirit. As + Christ is the principle of outgoing, so the Holy Spirit is the + principle of return to God. God would take up finite creatures + into himself, would breath into them his breath, would teach them + to launch their little boats upon the infinite current of his + life. Our electric cars can go up hill at great speed so long as + they grip the cable. Faith is the grip which connects us with the + moving energy of God. "The universe is homeward bound," because + the Holy Spirit is ever turning objective revelation into + subjective revelation, and is leading men consciously or + unconsciously to appropriate the thought and love and purpose of + Him in whom all things find their object and end; "for of him and + through him, and unto him, are all things"_ (Rom. 11:36)_,--here + there is allusion to the Father as the source, the Son as the + medium, and the Spirit as the perfecting and completing agent, in + God's operations. But all these external processes are only signs + and finite reflections of a life-process internal to the nature of + God. + + Meyer on _John 1:1--_"the Word was with God": "{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} does + not = {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}, but expresses the existence of the Logos in God + in respect of intercourse. The moral essence of this essential + fellowship is love, which excludes any merely modalistic + conception." Marcus Dods, Expositor's Greek Testament, _in loco_: + "This preposition implies intercourse and therefore separate + personality." + + Mason, Faith of the Gospel, 62--"_And the Word was toward God_" = + his face is not outwards, as if he were merely revealing, or + waiting to reveal, God to the creation. His face is turned + inwards. His whole Person is directed toward God, motion + corresponding to motion, thought to thought.... In him God stands + revealed to himself. Contrast the attitude of fallen Adam, with + his face averted from God. Godet, on _John 1:1_--"{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} + intimates not only personality but movement.... The tendency of + the Logos _ad extra_ rests upon an anterior and essential relation + _ad intra_. To reveal God, one must know him; to project him + outwardly, one must have plunged into his bosom." Compare _John + 1:18--_"the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father" + (R. V.) where we find, not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}, but {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. As {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} means "went into the city and was there," so the use + of these prepositions indicates in the Godhead movement as well as + rest. Dorner, System of Doctrine, 3:193, translates {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} by + "_hingewandt zu_," or "turned toward." The preposition would then + imply that the Revealer, who existed in the beginning, was ever + over against God, in the life-process of the Trinity, as the + perfect objectification of himself. "Das Aussichselbstsein kraft + des Durchsichselbstsein mit dem Fuersichselbstsein + zusammenschliesst." Dorner speaks of "das + Aussensichoderineinemandernsein; Sichgeltendmachen des + Ausgeschlossenen; Sichnichtsogesetzthaben; Stehenbleibenwollen." + + There is in all human intelligence a threefoldness which points + toward a trinitarian life in God. We can distinguish a _Wissen_, a + _Bewusstsein_, a _Selbstbewusstein_. In complete + self-consciousness there are the three elements: 1. We are + ourselves; 2. We form a picture of ourselves; 3. We recognize this + picture as the picture of ourselves. The little child speaks of + himself in the third person: "Baby did it." The objective comes + before the subject; "me" comes first, and "I" is a later + development; "himself" still holds its place, rather than + "heself." But this duality belongs only to undeveloped + intelligence; it is characteristic of the animal creation; we + revert to it in our dreams; the insane are permanent victims of + it; and since sin is moral insanity, the sinner has no hope until, + like the prodigal, he "comes to himself"_ (Luke 15:17)_. The + insane person is _mente alienatus_, and we call physicians for the + insane by the name of _alienists_. Mere duality gives us only the + notion of separation. Perfect self-consciousness whether in man or + in God requires a third unifying element. And in God mediation + between the "I" and the "Thou" must be the work of a Person also, + and the Person who mediates between the two must be in all + respects the equal of either, or he could not adequately interpret + the one to the other; see Mason, Faith of the Gospel, 57-59. + + Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:179-189, 276-283--"It is one of the effects + of conviction by the Holy Spirit to convert consciousness into + self-consciousness.... Conviction of sin is the consciousness of + self as the guilty author of sin. Self-consciousness is trinal, + while mere consciousness is dual.... One and the same human spirit + subsists in two modes or distinctions--subject and object ... The + three hypostatical consciousnesses in their combination and unity + constitute the one consciousness of God ... as the three persons + make one essence." + + Dorner considers the internal relations of the Trinity (System, + 1:412 _sq._) in three aspects: 1. Physical. God is _causa sui_. + But effect that equals cause must itself be causative. Here would + be duality, were it not for a third principle of unity. Trinitas + dualitatem ad unitatem reducit. 2. Logical. Self-consciousness + sets self over against self. Yet the thinker must not regard self + as one of many, and call himself "he," as children do; for the + thinker would then be, not _self_-conscious, but _mente + alienatus_, "beside himself." He therefore "comes to himself" in a + third, as the brute cannot. 3. Ethical. God--self-willing right. + But right based on arbitrary will is not right. Right based on + passive nature is not right either. Right as _being_--Father. Right + as _willing_--Son. Without the latter principle of freedom, we have + a dead ethic, a dead God, an enthroned necessity. The unity of + necessity and freedom is found by God, as by the Christian, in the + Holy Spirit. The Father--I; the Son--Me; the Spirit the unity of the + two; see C. C. Everett, Essays, Theological and Literary, 32. + There must be not only Sun and Sunlight, but an Eye to behold the + Light. William James, in his Psychology, distinguishes the _Me_, + the self as known, from the _I_, the self as knower. + + But we need still further to distinguish a third principle, a + subject-object, from both subject and object. The subject cannot + recognize the object as one with itself except through a unifying + principle which can be distinguished from both. We may therefore + regard the Holy Spirit as the principle of self-consciousness in + man as well as in God. As there was a natural union of Christ with + humanity prior to his redeeming work, so there is a natural union + of the Holy Spirit with all men prior to his regenerating work: + _Job 32:18--_"there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the + Almighty giveth them understanding." Kuyper, Work of the Holy + Spirit, teaches that the Holy Spirit constitutes the principle of + life in all living things, and animates all rational beings, as + well as regenerates and sanctifies the elect of God. Matheson, + Voices of the Spirit, 75, remarks on _Job 34:14, 15--_"If he gather + unto himself his Spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish + together"--that the Spirit is not only necessary to man's + salvation, but also to keep up even man's natural life. + + Ebrard, Dogmatik, 1:172, speaks of the Son as the centrifugal, + while the Holy Spirit is the centripetal movement of the Godhead. + God apart from Christ is unrevealed (_John 1:18--_"No man hath seen + God at any time"); Christ is the organ of external revelation + (_18--_"the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, + he hath declared him"); the Holy Spirit is the organ of internal + revelation (_1 Cor. 2:10--_"unto us Christ revealed them through + the Spirit"). That the Holy Spirit is the principle of all + movement towards God appears from _Heb. 9:14_--Christ "_through the + eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God_"; _Eph. + 2:28--_"access in one Spirit unto the Father"; _Rom. 8:26--_"the + Spirit also helpeth our infirmity ... the Spirit himself maketh + intercession for us"; _John 4:24--_"God is a Spirit: and they that + worship him must worship in spirit"; _16:8-11--_"convict the world + in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." See + Twesten, Dogmatik, on the Trinity; also Thomasius, Christi Person + und Werk, 1:111. Mason, Faith of the Gospel, 68--"It is the joy of + the Son to receive, his gladness to welcome most those wishes of + the Father which will cost most to himself. The Spirit also has + his joy in making known,--in perfecting fellowship and keeping the + eternal love alive by that incessant sounding of the deeps which + makes the heart of the Father known to the Son, and the heart of + the Son known to the Father." We may add that the Holy Spirit is + the organ of internal revelation even to the Father and to the + Son. + + +(_c_) In the light of what has been said, we may understand somewhat more +fully the characteristic differences between the work of Christ and that +of the Holy Spirit. We may sum them up in the four statements that, first, +all outgoing seems to be the work of Christ, all return to God the work of +the Spirit; secondly, Christ is the organ of external revelation, the Holy +Spirit the organ of internal revelation; thirdly, Christ is our advocate +in heaven, the Holy Spirit is our advocate in the soul; fourthly, in the +work of Christ we are passive, in the work of the Spirit we are active. Of +the work of Christ we shall treat more fully hereafter, in speaking of his +Offices as Prophet, Priest, and King. The work of the Holy Spirit will be +treated when we come to speak of the Application of Redemption in +Regeneration and Sanctification. Here it is sufficient to say that the +Holy Spirit is represented in the Scriptures as the author of life--in +creation, in the conception of Christ, in regeneration, in resurrection; +and as the giver of light--in the inspiration of Scripture writers, in the +conviction of sinners, in the illumination and sanctification of +Christians. + + + _Gen. 1:2--_"The Spirit of God was brooding"; _Luke 1:35_--to Mary: + "_The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee_", _John 3:8--_"born of the + Spirit"; _Ps. 37:9, 14--_"Come from the four winds, O breath.... I + will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live"; _Rom. 8:11--_"give + life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit." _1 John + 2:1--_"an advocate ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}) with the Father, Jesus Christ the + righteous"; _John 14:16, 17--_"another Comforter ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), that + he may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth"; _Rom. + 8:26--_"the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us." _2 Pet. + 1:21--_"men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit"; _John + 16:8--_"convict the world in respect of sin"; _13--_"when he, the + Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth"; + _Rom. 8:14--_"as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are + sons of God." + + McCosh: The works of the Spirit are Conviction, Conversion, + Sanctification, Comfort. Donovan: The Spirit is the Spirit of + conviction, enlightenment, quickening, in the sinner; and of + revelation, remembrance, witness, sanctification, consolation, to + the saint. The Spirit enlightens the sinner, as the flash of + lightning lights the traveler stumbling on the edge of a precipice + at night; enlightens the Christian, as the rising sun reveals a + landscape which was all there before, but which was hidden from + sight until the great luminary made it visible. "The morning light + did not create The lovely prospect it revealed; It only showed the + real state Of what the darkness had concealed." Christ's advocacy + before the throne is like that of legal counsel pleading in our + stead; the Holy Spirit's advocacy in the heart is like the + mother's teaching her child to pray for himself. + + J. W. A. Stewart: "Without the work of the Holy Spirit redemption + would have been impossible, as impossible as that fuel should warm + without being lighted, or that bread should nourish without being + eaten. Christ is God entering into human history, but without the + Spirit Christianity would be only history. The Holy Spirit is God + entering into human hearts. The Holy Spirit turns creed into life. + Christ is the physician who leaves the remedy and then departs. + The Holy Spirit is the nurse who applies and administers the + remedy, and who remains with the patient until the cure is + completed." Matheson, Voices of the Spirit, 78--"It is in vain that + the mirror exists in the room, if it is lying on its face; the + sunbeams cannot reach it till its face is upturned to them. Heaven + lies about thee not only in thine infancy but at all times. But it + is not enough that a place is prepared for thee; thou must be + prepared for the place. It is not enough that thy light has come; + thou thyself must arise and shine. No outward shining can reveal, + unless thou art thyself a reflector of its glory. The Spirit must + set thee on thy feet, that thou mayest hear him that speaks to + thee (Ez. 2:2)." + + The Holy Spirit reveals not himself but Christ. _John 16:14--_"He + shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare it + unto you." So should the servants of the Spirit hide themselves + while they make known Christ. E. H. Johnson, The Holy Spirit, + 40--"Some years ago a large steam engine all of glass was exhibited + about the country. When it was at work one would see the piston + and the valves go; but no one could see what made them go. When + steam is hot enough to be a continuous elastic vapor, it is + invisible." So we perceive the presence of the Holy Spirit, not by + visions or voices, but by the effect he produces within us in the + shape of new knowledge, new love, and new energy of our own + powers. Denney, Studies in Theology, 161--"No man can bear witness + to Christ and to himself at the same time. _Esprit_ is fatal to + unction; no man can give the impression that he himself is clever + and also that Christ is mighty to save. The power of the Holy + Spirit is felt only when the witness is unconscious of self, and + when others remain unconscious of him." Moule, Veni Creator, + 8--"The Holy Spirit, as Tertullian says, is the vicar of Christ. + The night before the Cross, the Holy Spirit was present to the + mind of Christ as a person." + + Gore, in Lux Mundi, 318--"It was a point in the charge against + Origen that his language seemed to involve an exclusion of the + Holy Spirit from nature, and a limitation of his activity to the + church. The whole of life is certainly his. And yet, because his + special attribute is holiness, it is in rational natures, which + alone are capable of holiness, that he exerts his special + influence. A special inbreathing of the divine Spirit gave to man + his proper being." See _Gen. 2:7--_"Jehovah God ... breathed into + his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul"; + _John 3:8--_"The Spirit breatheth where it will ... so is every one + that is born of the Spirit." E. H. Johnson, on The Offices of the + Holy Spirit, in Bib. Sac., July, 1892:381-382--"Why is he specially + called the Holy, when Father and Son are also holy, unless because + he produces holiness, _i. e._, makes the holiness of God to be + ours individually? Christ is the principle of collectivism, the + Holy Spirit the principle of individualism. The Holy Spirit shows + man the Christ in him. God above all = Father; God through all = + Son; God in all = Holy Spirit (_Eph. 4:6_)." + + The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has never yet been scientifically + unfolded. No treatise on it has appeared comparable to Julius + Mueller's Doctrine of Sin, or to I. A. Dorner's History of the + Doctrine of the Person of Christ. The progress of doctrine in the + past has been marked by successive stages. Athanasius treated of + the Trinity; Augustine of sin; Anselm of the atonement; Luther of + justification; Wesley of regeneration; and each of these + unfoldings of doctrine has been accompanied by religious + awakening. We still wait for a complete discussion of the doctrine + of the Holy Spirit, and believe that widespread revivals will + follow the recognition of the omnipotent Agent in revivals. On the + relations of the Holy Spirit to Christ, see Owen, in Works, + 3:152-159; on the Holy Spirit's nature and work, see works by + Faber, Smeaton, Tophel, G. Campbell Morgan, J. D. Robertson, + Biederwolf; also C. E. Smith, The Baptism of Fire; J. D. Thompson, + The Holy Comforter; Bushnell, Forgiveness and Law, last chapter; + Bp. Andrews, Works, 3:107-400; James S. Candlish, Work of the Holy + Spirit; Redford, Vox Dei; Andrew Murray, The Spirit of Christ; A. + J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit; Kuyper, Work of the Holy + Spirit; J. E. Cumming, Through the Eternal Spirit; Lechler, Lehre + vom Heiligen Geiste; Arthur, Tongue of Fire; A. H. Strong, + Philosophy and Religion, 250-258, and Christ in Creation, 297-313. + + +3. Generation and procession consistent with equality. + + +That the Sonship of Christ is eternal, is intimated in Psalm 2:7. "This +day have I begotten thee" is most naturally interpreted as the declaration +of an eternal fact in the divine nature. Neither the incarnation, the +baptism, the transfiguration, nor the resurrection marks the beginning of +Christ's Sonship, or constitutes him Son of God. These are but +recognitions or manifestations of a preexisting Sonship, inseparable from +his Godhood. He is "born before every creature" (while yet no created +thing existed--see Meyer on Col. 1:15) and "by the resurrection of the +dead" is not _made_ to be, but only "_declared_ to be," "according to the +Spirit of holiness" (= according to his divine nature) "the Son of God +with power" (see Philippi and Alford on Rom. 1:3, 4). This Sonship is +unique--not predicable of, or shared with, any creature. The Scriptures +intimate, not only an eternal generation of the Son, but an eternal +procession of the Spirit. + + + _Psalm 2:7--_"I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, Thou + art my Son; This day I have begotten thee" see Alexander, Com. _in + loco_; also Com. on _Acts 13:33_--"'To-day' refers to the date of + the decree itself; but this, as a divine act, was eternal,--and so + must be the Sonship which it affirms." Philo says that "to-day" + with God means "forever." This begetting of which the Psalm speaks + is not the resurrection, for while Paul in _Acts 13:33_ refers to + this Psalm to establish the fact of Jesus' Sonship, he refers in + _Acts 13:34, 35_ to another Psalm, the _sixteenth_, to establish + the fact that this Son of God was to rise from the dead. Christ is + shown to be Son of God by his incarnation (_Heb. 1:5, 6--_"when he + again bringeth in the firstborn into the world he saith, And let + all the angels of God worship him"), his baptism (_Mat. + 3:17--_"This is my beloved Son"), his transfiguration (_Mat. + 17:5--_"This is my beloved Son"), his resurrection (_Acts 13:34, + 35--_"as concerning that he raised him up from the dead ... he + saith also in another psalm, Thou wilt not give thy Holy One to + see corruption"). _Col. 1:15--_"the firstborn of all + creation"--{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} = "begotten first before all + creation" (Julius Mueller, Proof-texts, 14); or "first-born before + every creature, _i. e._, begotten, and that antecedently to + everything that was created" (Ellicott, Com. _in loco_). "Herein" + (says Luthardt, Compend. Dogmatik, 81, on _Col. 1:15_) "is + indicated an antemundane origin from God--a relation internal to + the divine nature." Lightfoot, on _Col. 1:15_, says that in Rabbi + Bechai God is called the "_primogenitus mundi_." + + On _Rom. 1:4_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} = "manifested to be the mighty Son of + God") see Lange's Com., notes by Schaff on pages 56 and 61. Bruce, + Apologetics, 404--"The resurrection was the actual introduction of + Christ into the full possession of divine Sonship so far as + thereto belonged, not only the _inner_ of a holy spiritual + essence, but also the _outer_ of an existence in power and + heavenly glory." Allen, Jonathan Edwards, 353, 354--"Calvin waves + aside eternal generation as an 'absurd fiction.' But to maintain + the deity of Christ merely on the ground that it is essential to + his making an adequate atonement for sin, is to involve the + rejection of his deity if ever the doctrine of atonement becomes + obnoxious.... Such was the process by which, in the mind of the + last century, the doctrine of the Trinity was undermined. Not to + ground the distinctions of the divine essence by some immanent + eternal necessity was to make easy the denial of what has been + called the ontological Trinity, and then the rejection of the + economical Trinity was not difficult or far away." + + If Westcott and Hort's reading {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, "_the only + begotten God_," in _John 1:18_, is correct, we have a new proof of + Christ's eternal Sonship. Meyer explains {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} in _Rom. + 8:3--_"God, sending his own Son," as an allusion to the + metaphysical Sonship. That this Sonship is unique, is plain from + _John 1:14, 18--_"the only begotten from the Father ... the only + begotten Son who is in the bosom of the father"; _Rom. 8:32--_"his + own Son"; _Gal. 4:4--_"sent forth his Son"; _cf._ _Prov. + 8:22-31--_"When he marked out the foundations of the earth; Then I + was by him as a master workman"; _30:4--_"Who hath established all + the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's + name, if thou knowest?" The eternal procession of the Spirit seems + to be implied in _John 15:26--_"the Spirit of truth which + proceedeth from the Father"--see Westcott, Bib. Com., _in loco_; + _Heb. 9:14--_"the eternal Spirit." Westcott here says that {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~} + (not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}) shows that the reference is to the temporal mission of + the Holy Spirit, not to the eternal procession. At the same time + he maintains that the temporal corresponds to the eternal. + + +The Scripture terms "generation" and "procession," as applied to the Son +and to the Holy Spirit, are but approximate expressions of the truth, and +we are to correct by other declarations of Scripture any imperfect +impressions which we might derive solely from them. We use these terms in +a special sense, which we explicitly state and define as excluding all +notion of inequality between the persons of the Trinity. The eternal +generation of the Son to which we hold is + +(_a_) Not creation, but the Father's communication of himself to the Son. +Since the names, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not applicable to the +divine essence, but are only applicable to its hypostatical distinctions, +they imply no derivation of the essence of the Son from the essence of the +Father. + + + The error of the Nicene Fathers was that of explaining Sonship as + derivation of essence. The Father cannot impart his essence to the + Son and yet retain it. The Father is _fons trinitatis_, not _fons + deitatis_. See Shedd, Hist. Doct., 1:308-311, and Dogm. Theol., + 1:287-299; _per contra_, see Bib. Sac., 41:698-760. + + +(_b_) Not a commencement of existence, but an eternal relation to the +Father,--there never having been a time when the Son began to be, or when +the Son did not exist as God with the Father. + + + If there had been an eternal sun, it is evident that there must + have been an eternal sunlight also. Yet an eternal sunlight must + have evermore proceeded from the sun. When Cyril was asked whether + the Son existed before generation, he answered: "The generation of + the Son did not precede his existence, but he always existed, and + that by generation." + + +(_c_) Not an act of the Father's will, but an internal necessity of the +divine nature,--so that the Son is no more dependent upon the Father than +the Father is dependent upon the Son, and so that, if it be consistent +with deity to be Father, it is equally consistent with deity to be Son. + + + The sun is as dependent upon the sunlight as the sunlight is upon + the sun; for without sunlight the sun is no true sun. So God the + Father is as dependent upon God the Son, as God the Son is + dependent upon God the Father; for without Son the Father would be + no true Father. To say that aseity belongs only to the Father is + logically Arianism and Subordinationism proper, for it implies a + subordination of the essence of the Son to the Father. Essential + subordination would be inconsistent with equality. See Thomasius, + Christi Person und Werk, 1:115. Palmer, Theol. Definitions, 66, + 67, says that Father = independent life; Son begotten = + independent life voluntarily brought under limitations; Spirit = + necessary consequence of existence of the other two.... The words + and actions whereby we design to affect others are "begotten." The + atmosphere of unconscious influence is not "begotten," but + "proceeding." + + +(_d_) Not a relation in any way analogous to physical derivation, but a +life-movement of the divine nature, in virtue of which Father, Son, and +Holy Spirit, while equal in essence and dignity, stand to each other in an +order of personality, office, and operation, and in virtue of which the +Father works through the Son, and the Father and the Son through the +Spirit. + + + The subordination of the _person_ of the Son to the _person_ of + the Father, or in other words an order of personality, office, and + operation which permits the Father to be officially first, the Son + second, and the Spirit third, is perfectly consistent with + equality. Priority is not necessarily superiority. The possibility + of an order, which yet involves no inequality, may be illustrated + by the relation between man and woman. In office man is first and + woman second, but woman's soul is worth as much as man's; see _1 + Cor. 11:3--_"the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the + woman is the man: and the head of Christ is God." On _John + 14:28--_"the Father is greater than I"--see Westcott, Bib. Com., _in + loco_. + + Edwards, Observations on the Trinity (edited by Smyth), 22--"In the + Son the whole deity and glory of the Father is as it were repeated + or duplicated. Everything in the Father is repeated or expressed + again, and that fully, so that there is properly no inferiority." + Edwards, Essay on the Trinity (edited by Fisher), 110-116--"The + Father is the Deity subsisting in the prime, unoriginated, and + most absolute manner, or the Deity in its direct existence. The + Son is the Deity generated by God's understanding, or having an + Idea of himself and subsisting in that Idea. The Holy Ghost is the + Deity subsisting in act, or the divine essence flowing out and + breathed forth in God's infinite love to and delight in himself. + And I believe the whole divine essence does truly and distinctly + subsist both in the divine Idea and in the divine Love, and each + of them are properly distinct persons.... We find no other + attributes of which it is said in Scripture that they are God, or + that God is they, but {~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, the Reason and the Love of + God, Light not being different from Reason.... Understanding may + be predicated of this Love.... It is not a blind Love.... The + Father has Wisdom or Reason by the Son's being in him.... + Understanding is in the Holy Spirit, because the Son is in him." + Yet Dr. Edwards A. Park declared eternal generation to be "eternal + nonsense," and is thought to have hid Edwards's unpublished Essay + on the Trinity for many years because it taught this doctrine. + + The New Testament calls Christ {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, but not {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. We frankly + recognize an eternal subordination of Christ to the Father, but we + maintain at the same time that this subordination is a + subordination of order, office, and operation, not a subordination + of essence. "Non de essentia dicitur, sed de ministeriis." E. G. + Robinson: "An eternal generation is necessarily an eternal + subordination and dependence. This seems to be fully admitted even + by the most orthodox of the Anglican writers, such as Pearson and + Hooker. Christ's subordination to the Father is merely official, + not essential." Whiton, Gloria Patri, 42, 96--"The early + Trinitarians by eternal Sonship meant, first, that it is of the + very nature of Deity to issue forth into visible expression. Thus + next, that this outward expression of God is not something other + than God, but God himself, in a self-expression as divine as the + hidden Deity. Thus they answered Philip's cry, 'show us the + Father, and it sufficeth us'_ (John 14:8)_, and thus they affirmed + Jesus' declaration, they secured Paul's faith that God has never + left himself without witness. They meant, 'he that hath seen me + hath seen the Father'_ (John 14:9)_.... The Father is the Life + transcendent, the divine Source, '_above all_'; the Son is the + Life immanent, the divine Stream, '_through all_'; the Holy Spirit + is the Life individualized, 'in all'_ (Eph. 4:6)_. The Holy Spirit + has been called 'the executive of the Godhead.' " Whiton is here + speaking of the economic Trinity; but all this is even more true + of the immanent Trinity. On the Eternal Sonship, see Weiss, Bib. + Theol. N. T., 424, note; Treffrey, Eternal Sonship of our Lord; + Princeton Essays, 1:30-56; Watson, Institutes, 1:530-577; Bib. + Sac., 27:268. On the procession of the Spirit, see Shedd, Dogm. + Theol., 1:300-304, and History of Doctrine, 1:387; Dick, Lectures + on Theology, 1:347-350. + + +The same principles upon which we interpret the declaration of Christ's +eternal Sonship apply to the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father +through the Son, and show this to be not inconsistent with the Spirit's +equal dignity and glory. + +We therefore only formulate truth which is concretely expressed in +Scripture, and which is recognized by all ages of the church in hymns and +prayers addressed to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, when we assert that in +the nature of the one God there are three eternal distinctions, which are +best described as persons, and each of which is the proper and equal +object of Christian worship. + +We are also warranted in declaring that, in virtue of these personal +distinctions or modes of subsistence, God exists in the relations, +respectively, first, of Source, Origin, Authority, and in this relation is +the Father; secondly, of Expression, Medium, Revelation, and in this +relation is the Son; thirdly, of Apprehension, Accomplishment, +Realization, and in this relation is the Holy Spirit. + + + John Owen, Works, 3:64-92--"The office of the Holy Spirit is that + of concluding, completing, perfecting. To the Father we assign + _opera naturae_; to the Son, _opera gratiae procuratae_; to the + Spirit, _opera gratiae applicatae_." All God's revelations are + through the Son or the Spirit, and the latter includes the former. + Kuyper, Work of the Holy Spirit, designates the three offices + respectively as those of Causation, Construction, Consummation; + the Father brings forth, the Son arranges, the Spirit perfects. + Allen, Jonathan Edwards, 365-373--"God is Life, Light, Love. As the + Fathers regarded Reason both in God and man as the personal, + omnipresent second Person of the Trinity, so Jonathan Edwards + regarded Love both in God and in man as the personal, omnipresent + third Person of the Trinity. Hence the Father is never said to + love the Spirit as he is said to love the Son--for this love _is_ + the Spirit. The Father and the Son are said to love men, but the + Holy Spirit is never said to love them, for love _is_ the Holy + Spirit. But why could not Edwards also hold that the Logos or + divine Reason also dwelt in humanity, so that manhood was + constituted in Christ and shared with him in the consubstantial + image of the Father? Outward nature reflects God's light and has + Christ in it,--why not universal humanity?" + + Moberly, Atonement and Personality, 136, 202, speaks of "1. God, + the Eternal, the Infinite, in his infinity, as himself; 2. God, as + self-expressed within the nature and faculties of man--body, soul, + and spirit--the consummation and interpretation and revelation of + what true manhood means and is, in its very truth, in its relation + to God; 3. God, as Spirit of Beauty and Holiness, which are + himself present in things created, animate and inanimate, and + constituting in them their divine response to God; constituting + above all in created personalities the full reality of their + personal response. Or again: 1. What a man is invisibly in + himself; 2. his outward material projection or expression as body; + and 3. the response which that which he is through his bodily + utterance or operation makes to him, as the true echo or + expression of himself." Moberly seeks thus to find in man's nature + an analogy to the inner processes of the divine. + + + +VI. Inscrutable, yet not self-contradictory, this Doctrine furnishes the +Key to all other Doctrines. + + +1. The mode of this triune existence is inscrutable. + + +It is inscrutable because there are no analogies to it in our finite +experience. For this reason all attempts are vain adequately to represent +it; + +(_a_) From inanimate things--as the fountain, the stream, and the rivulet +trickling from it (Athanasius); the cloud, the rain, and the rising mist +(Boardman); color, shape, and size (F. W. Robertson); the actinic, +luminiferous, and calorific principles in the ray of light (Solar +Hieroglyphics, 34). + + + Luther: "When logic objects to this doctrine that it does not + square with her rules, we must say; 'Mulier taceat in ecclesia.' " + Luther called the Trinity a flower, in which might be + distinguished its form, its fragrance, and its medicinal efficacy; + see Dorner, Gesch. prot. Theol., 189. In Bap. Rev., July, + 1880:434, Geer finds an illustration of the Trinity in infinite + space with its three dimensions. For analogy of the cloud, rain, + mist, see W. E. Boardman, Higher Christian Life. Solar + Hieroglyphics, 34 (reviewed in New Englander, Oct. 1874:789)--"The + Godhead is a tripersonal unity, and the light is a trinity. Being + immaterial and homogeneous, and thus essentially one in its + nature, the light includes a plurality of constituents, or in + other words is essentially three in its constitution, its + constituent principles being the actinic, the luminiferous, and + the calorific; and in glorious manifestation the light is one, and + is the created, constituted, and ordained emblem of the + tripersonal God"--of whom it is said that "God is light, and in him + is no darkness at all"_ (1 John 1:5)_. The actinic rays are in + themselves invisible; only as the luminiferous manifest them, are + they seen; only as the calorific accompany them, are they felt. + + Joseph Cook: "Sunlight, rainbow, heat--one solar radiance; Father, + Son, Holy Spirit, one God. As the rainbow shows what light is when + unfolded, so Christ reveals the nature of God. As the rainbow is + unraveled light, so Christ is unraveled God, and the Holy Spirit, + figured by heat, is Christ's continued life." Ruder illustrations + are those of Oom Paul Krueger: the fat, the wick, the flame, in the + candle; and of Augustine: the root, trunk, branches, all of one + wood, in the tree. In Geer's illustration, mentioned above, from + the three dimensions of space, we cannot demonstrate that there is + not a fourth, but besides length, breadth, and thickness, we + cannot conceive of its existence. As these three exhaust, so far + as we know, all possible modes of material being, so we cannot + conceive of any fourth person in the Godhead. + + +(_b_) From the constitution or processes of our own minds--as the +psychological unity of intellect, affection, and will (substantially held +by Augustine); the logical unity of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis +(Hegel); the metaphysical unity of subject, object, and subject-object +(Melanchthon, Olshausen, Shedd). + + + Augustine: "Mens meminit sui, intelligit se, diligit se; si hoc + cernimus, Trinitatem cernimus."... I exist, I am conscious, I + will; I exist as conscious and willing, I am conscious of existing + and willing, I will to exist and be conscious; and these three + functions, though distinct, are inseparable and form one life, one + mind, one essence.... "Amor autem alicujus amantis est, et amore + aliquid amatur. Ecce tria sunt, amans, et quod amatur, et amor. + Quid est ergo amor, nisi quaedam vita duo aliqua copulans, vel + copulare appetans, amantem scilicet et quod amatur." Calvin speaks + of Augustine's view as "a speculation far from solid." But + Augustine himself had said: "If asked to define the Trinity, we + can only say that it is not this or that." John of Damascus: "All + we know of the divine nature is that it is not to be known." By + this, however, both Augustine and John of Damascus meant only that + the precise _mode_ of God's triune existence is unrevealed and + inscrutable. + + Hegel, Philos. Relig., transl., 3:99, 100--"God is, but is at the + same time the Other, the self-differentiating, the Other in the + sense that this Other is God himself and has potentially the + Divine nature in it, and that the abolishing of this difference, + of this otherness, this return, this love, is Spirit." Hegel calls + God "the absolute Idea, the unity of Life and Cognition, the + Universal that thinks itself and thinkingly recognizes itself in + an infinite Actuality, from which, as its Immediacy, it no less + distinguishes itself again"; see Schwegler, History of Philosophy, + 321, 331. Hegel's general doctrine is that the highest unity is to + be reached only through the fullest development and reconciliation + of the deepest and widest antagonism. Pure being is pure nothing; + we must die to live. Light is thesis, Darkness is antithesis, + Shadow is synthesis, or union of both. Faith is thesis, Unbelief + is antithesis, Doubt is synthesis, or union of both. _Zweifel_ + comes from _Zwei_, as doubt from {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}. Hegel called Napoleon "ein + Weltgeist zu Pferde"--"a world-spirit on horseback." Ladd, Introd. + to Philosophy, 202, speaks of "the monotonous tit-tat-too of the + Hegelian logic." Ruskin speaks of it as "pure, definite, and + highly finished nonsense." On the Hegelian principle good and evil + cannot be contradictory to each other; without evil there could be + no good. Stirling well entitled his exposition of the Hegelian + Philosophy "The Secret of Hegel," and his readers have often + remarked that, if Stirling discovered the secret, he never made it + known. + + Lord Coleridge told Robert Browning that he could not understand + all his poetry. "Ah, well," replied the poet, "if a reader of your + calibre understands ten per cent. of what I write, he ought to be + content." When Wordsworth was told that Mr. Browning had married + Miss Barrett, he said: "It is a good thing that these two + understand each other, for no one else understands them." A pupil + once brought to Hegel a passage in the latter's writings and asked + for an interpretation. The philosopher examined it and replied: + "When that passage was written, there were two who knew its + meaning--God and myself. Now, alas! there is but one, and that is + God." Heinrich Heine, speaking of the effect of Hegelianism upon + the religious life of Berlin, says: "I could accommodate myself to + the very enlightened Christianity, filtrated from all + superstition, which could then be had in the churches, and which + was free from the divinity of Christ, like turtle soup without + turtle." When German systems of philosophy die, their ghosts take + up their abode in Oxford. But if I see a ghost sitting in a chair + and then sit down boldly in the chair, the ghost will take offence + and go away. Hegel's doctrine of God as the only begotten Son is + translated in the Journ. Spec. Philos., 15:395-404. + + The most satisfactory exposition of the analogy of subject, + object, and subject-object is to be found in Shedd, History of + Doctrine, 1:365, note 2. See also Olshausen on John 1:1; H. N. + Day, Doctrine of Trinity in Light of Recent Psychology, in + Princeton Rev., Sept. 1882:156-179; Morris, Philosophy and + Christianity, 122-163. Moberly, Atonement and Personality, 174, + has a similar analogy: 1. A man's invisible self; 2. the visible + expression of himself in a picture or poem; 3. the response of + this picture or poem to himself. The analogy of the family is held + to be even better, because no man's personality is complete in + itself; husband, wife, and child are all needed to make perfect + unity. Allen, Jonathan Edwards, 372, says that in the early church + the Trinity was a doctrine of reason; in the Middle Ages it was a + mystery; in the 18th century it was a meaningless or irrational + dogma; again in the 19th century it becomes a doctrine of the + reason, a truth essential to the nature of God. To Allen's + characterization of the stages in the history of the doctrine we + would add that even in our day we cannot say that a complete + exposition of the Trinity is possible. Trinity is a unique fact, + different aspects of which may be illustrated, while, as a whole, + it has no analogies. The most we can say is that human nature, in + its processes and powers, points towards something higher than + itself, and that Trinity in God is needed in order to constitute + that perfection of being which man seeks as an object of love, + worship and service. + + +No one of these furnishes any proper analogue of the Trinity, since in no +one of them is there found the essential element of tripersonality. Such +illustrations may sometimes be used to disarm objection, but they furnish +no positive explanation of the mystery of the Trinity, and, unless +carefully guarded, may lead to grievous error. + + +2. The Doctrine of the Trinity is not self-contradictory. + + +This it would be, only if it declared God to be three in the same +numerical sense in which he is said to be one. This we do not assert. We +assert simply that the same God who is one with respect to his essence is +three with respect to the internal distinctions of that essence, or with +respect to the modes of his being. The possibility of this cannot be +denied, except by assuming that the human mind is in all respects the +measure of the divine. + +The fact that the ascending scale of life is marked by increasing +differentiation of faculty and function should rather lead us to expect in +the highest of all beings a nature more complex than our own. In man many +faculties are united in one intelligent being, and the more intelligent +man is, the more distinct from each other these faculties become; until +intellect and affection, conscience and will assume a relative +independence, and there arises even the possibility of conflict between +them. There is nothing irrational or self-contradictory in the doctrine +that in God the leading functions are yet more markedly differentiated, so +that they become personal, while at the same time these personalities are +united by the fact that they each and equally manifest the one indivisible +essence. + + + Unity is as essential to the Godhead as threeness. The same God + who in one respect is three, in another respect is one. We do not + say that one God is three Gods, nor that one person is three + persons, nor that three Gods are one God, but only that there is + one God with three distinctions in his being. We do not refer to + the faculties of man as furnishing any proper analogy to the + persons of the Godhead; we rather deny that man's nature furnishes + any such analogy. Intellect, affection, and will in man are not + distinct personalities. If they were personalized, they might + furnish such an analogy. F. W. Robertson, Sermons, 3:58, speaks of + the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as best conceived under the + figure of personalized intellect, affection and will. With this + agrees the saying of Socrates, who called thought the soul's + conversation with itself. See D. W. Simon, in Bib. Sac., Jan. + 1887. + + _Ps. 86:11--_"Unite my heart to fear thy name"--intimates a + complexity of powers in man, and a possible disorganization due to + sin. Only the fear and love of God can reduce our faculties to + order and give us peace, purity, and power. When William after a + long courtship at length proposed marriage, Mary said that she + "unanimously consented." "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with + all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, + and with all thy mind"_ (Luke 10:27)._ Man must not lead a dual + life, a double life, like that of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The + good life is the unified life. H. H. Bawden: "Theoretically, + symmetrical development is the complete criterion. This is the old + Greek conception of the perfect life. The term which we translate + 'temperance' or 'self-control' is better expressed by + 'whole-mindedness.' " + + Illingworth, Personality Divine and Human, 54-80--"Our sense of + divine personality culminates in the doctrine of the Trinity. + Man's personality is essentially triune, because it consists of a + subject, an object, and their relation. What is potential and + unrealized triunity in man is complete in God.... Our own + personality is triune, but it is a potential unrealized triunity, + which is incomplete in itself and must go beyond itself for + completion, as for example in the family.... But God's personality + has nothing potential or unrealized about it.... Trinity is the + most intelligible mode of conceiving of God as personal." + + John Caird, Fundamental Ideas of Christianity, 1:59, 80--"The parts + of a stone are all precisely alike; the parts of a skilful + mechanism are all different from one another. In which of the two + cases is the unity more real--in that in which there is an absence + of distinction, or in that in which there is essential difference + of form and function, each separate part having an individuality + and activity of its own? The highest unities are not simple but + complex." Gordon, Christ of To-day, 106--"All things and persons + are modes of one infinite consciousness. Then it is not incredible + that there should be three consciousnesses in God. Over against + the multitudinous finite personalities are three infinite + personalities. This socialism in Deity may be the ground of human + society." + + The phenomena of double and even of triple consciousness in one + and the same individual confirm this view. This fact of more than + one consciousness in a finite creature points towards the + possibility of a threefold consciousness in the nature of God. + Romanes, Mind and Motion, 102, intimates that the social organism, + if it attained the highest level of psychical perfection, might be + endowed with personality, and that it now has something resembling + it--phenomena of thought and conduct which compel us to conceive of + families and communities and nations as having a sort of moral + personality which implies responsibility and accountability. "The + _Zeitgeist_," he says, "is the product of a kind of collective + psychology, which is something other than the sum of all the + individual minds of a generation." We do not maintain that any one + of these fragmentary or collective consciousnesses attains + personality in man, at least in the present life. We only maintain + that they indicate that a larger and more complex life is possible + than that of which we have common experience, and that there is no + necessary contradiction in the doctrine that in the nature of the + one and perfect God there are three personal distinctions. R. H. + Hutton: "A voluntary self-revelation of the divine mind may be + expected to reveal even deeper complexities of spiritual relations + in his eternal nature and essence than are found to exist in our + humanity--the simplicity of a harmonized complexity, not the + simplicity of absolute unity." + + +3. The doctrine of the Trinity has important relations to other doctrines. + + +A. It is essential to any proper theism. + +Neither God's independence nor God's blessedness can be maintained upon +grounds of absolute unity. Anti-trinitarianism almost necessarily makes +creation indispensable to God's perfection, tends to a belief in the +eternity of matter, and ultimately leads, as in Mohammedanism, and in +modern Judaism and Unitarianism, to Pantheism. "Love is an impossible +exercise to a solitary being." Without Trinity we cannot hold to a living +Unity in the Godhead. + + + Brit. and For. Evang. Rev., Jan. 1882:35-63--"The problem is to + find a _perfect objective_, congruous and fitting, for a perfect + intelligence, and the answer is: '_a perfect intelligence_.' " The + author of this article quotes James Martineau, the Unitarian + philosopher, as follows: "There is only one resource left for + completing the needful Objectivity for God, _viz._, to admit in + some form the coeval existence of matter, as the condition or + medium of the divine agency or manifestation. Failing the proof + [of the absolute origination of matter] we are left with the + _divine cause_, and the _material condition_ of all nature, in + eternal co-presence and relation, as supreme object and + rudimentary object." See also Martineau, Study, 1:405--"In denying + that a plurality of self-existences is possible, I mean to speak + only of self-existent _causes_. A self-existence which is _not_ a + cause is by no means excluded, so far as I can see, by a + self-existence which _is_ a cause; nay, is even required for the + exercise of its causality." Here we see that Martineau's + Unitarianism logically drove him into Dualism. But God's + blessedness, upon this principle, requires not merely an eternal + universe but an infinite universe, for nothing less will afford + fit object for an infinite mind. Yet a God who is necessarily + bound to the universe, or by whose side a universe, which is not + himself, eternally exists, is not infinite, independent, or free. + The only exit from this difficulty is in denying God's + self-consciousness and self-determination, or in other words, + exchanging our theism for dualism, and our dualism for pantheism. + + E. H. Johnson, in Bib. Sac., July, 1892:379, quotes from Oxenham's + Catholic Doctrine of the Atonement, 108, 109--"Forty years ago + James Martineau wrote to George Macdonald: 'Neither my + intellectual preference nor my moral admiration goes heartily with + the Unitarian heroes, sects or productions, of any age. Ebionites, + Arians, Socinians, all seem to me to contrast unfavorably with + their opponents, and to exhibit a type of thought far less worthy, + on the whole, of the true genius of Christianity.' In his paper + entitled A Way out of the Unitarian Controversy, Martineau says + that the Unitarian worships the Father; the Trinitarian worships + the Son: 'But he who is the Son in one creed is the Father in the + other.... The two creeds are agreed in that which constitutes the + pith and kernel of both. The Father is God in his primeval + essence. But God, as manifested, is the Son.' " Dr. Johnson adds: + "So Martineau, after a lifelong service in a Unitarian pulpit and + professorship, at length publicly accepts for truth the substance + of that doctrine which, in common with the church, he has found so + profitable, and tells Unitarians that they and we alike worship + the Son, because all that we know of God was revealed by act of + the Son." After he had reached his eightieth year, Martineau + withdrew from the Unitarian body, though he never formally united + with any Trinitarian church. + + H. C. Minton, in Princeton Rev., 1903:655-659, has quoted some of + Martineau's most significant utterances, such as the following: + "The great strength of the orthodox doctrine lies, no doubt, in + the appeal it makes to the inward 'sense of sin,'--that sad weight + whose burden oppresses every serious soul. And the great weakness + of Unitarianism has been its insensibility to this abiding sorrow + of the human consciousness. But the orthodox remedy is surely the + most terrible of all mistakes, _viz._, _to get rid_ of the burden, + by throwing it on Christ or permitting him to take it.... For + myself I own that the literature to which I turn for the nurture + and inspiration of Faith, Hope and Love is almost exclusively the + product of orthodox versions of the Christian religion. The Hymns + of the Wesleys, the Prayers of the Friends, the Meditations of Law + and Tauler, have a quickening and elevating power which I rarely + feel in the books on our Unitarian shelves.... Yet I can less than + ever appropriate, or even intellectually excuse, any distinctive + article of the Trinitarian scheme of salvation." + + Whiton, Gloria Patri, 23-26, seeks to reconcile the two forms of + belief by asserting that "both Trinitarians and Unitarians are + coming to regard human nature as essentially one with the divine. + The Nicene Fathers builded better than they knew, when they + declared Christ _homoousios_ with the Father. We assert the same + of mankind." But here Whiton goes beyond the warrant of Scripture. + Of none but the only begotten Son can it be said that before + Abraham was born he was, and that in him dwelleth all the fulness + of the Godhead bodily (_John 8:57_; _Col. 2:9_). + + Unitarianism has repeatedly demonstrated its logical insufficiency + by this "facilis descensus Averno," this lapse from theism into + pantheism. In New England the high Arianism of Channing + degenerated into the half-fledged pantheism of Theodore Parker, + and the full-fledged pantheism of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Modern + Judaism is pantheistic in its philosophy, and such also was the + later Arabic philosophy of Mohammedanism. Single personality is + felt to be insufficient to the mind's conception of Absolute + Perfection. We shrink from the thought of an eternally lonely God. + "We take refuge in the term 'Godhead.' The literati find relief in + speaking of 'the gods.' " Twesten (translated in Bib. Sac., + 3:502)--"There may be in polytheism an element of truth, though + disfigured and misunderstood. John of Damascus boasted that the + Christian Trinity stood midway between the abstract monotheism of + the Jews and the idolatrous polytheism of the Greeks." Twesten, + quoted in Shedd, Dogm. Theology, 1:255--"There is a {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} in God. + Trinity does not contradict Unity, but only that solitariness + which is inconsistent with the living plenitude and blessedness + ascribed to God in Scripture, and which God possesses in himself + and independently of the finite." Shedd himself remarks: "The + attempt of the Deist and the Socinian to construct the doctrine of + divine _Unity_ is a failure, because it fails to construct the + doctrine of the divine _Personality_. It contends by implication + that God can be self-knowing as a single subject merely, without + an object; without the distinctions involved in the subject + contemplating, the object contemplated, and the perception of the + identity of both." + + Mason, Faith of the Gospel, 75--"God is no sterile and motionless + unit." Bp. Phillips Brooks: "Unitarianism has got the notion of + God as tight and individual as it is possible to make it, and is + dying of its meagre Deity." Unitarianism is not the doctrine of + one God--for the Trinitarian holds to this; it is rather the + unipersonality of this one God. The divine nature demands either + an eternal Christ or an eternal creation. Dr. Calthorp, the + Unitarian, of Syracuse, therefore consistently declares that + "Nature and God are the same." It is the old worship of Baal and + Ashtaroth--the deification of power and pleasure. For "Nature" + includes everything--all bad impulses as well as good. When a man + discovers gravity, he has not discovered God, but only one of the + manifestations of God. + + Gordon, Christ of To-day, 112--"The supreme divinity of Jesus + Christ is but the sovereign expression in human history of the + great law of difference in identity that runs through the entire + universe and that has its home in the heart of the Godhead." Even + James Freeman Clarke, in his Orthodoxy, its Truths and Errors, + 436, admits that "there is an essential truth hidden in the idea + of the Trinity. While the church doctrine, in every form which it + has taken, has failed to satisfy the human intellect, the human + heart has clung to the substance contained in them all." William + Adams Brown: "If God is by nature love, he must be by nature + social. Fatherhood and Sonship must be immanent in him. In him the + limitations of finite personality are removed." But Dr. Brown + wrongly adds: "Not the mysteries of God's being, as he is in + himself, but as he is revealed, are opened to us in this + doctrine." Similarly P. S. Moxom: "I do not know how it is + possible to predicate any moral quality of a person who is + absolutely out of relation to other persons. If God were conceived + of as solitary in the universe, he could not be characterized as + righteous." But Dr. Moxom erroneously thinks that these other + moral personalities must be outside of God. We maintain that + righteousness, like love, requires only plurality of persons + within the God-head. See Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, + 1:105, 156. For the pantheistic view, see Strauss, Glaubenslehre, + 1:462-524. + + W. L. Walker, Christian Theism, 317, quotes Dr. Paul Carus, Primer + of Philosophy, 101--"We cannot even conceive of God without + attributing trinity to him. An absolute unity would be + non-existence. God, if thought of as real and active, involves an + antithesis, which may be formulated as God and World, or _natura + naturans_ and _natura naturata_, or in some other way. This + antithesis implies already the trinity-conception. When we think + of God, not only as that which is eternal and immutable in + existence, but also as that which changes, grows, and evolves, we + cannot escape the result and we must progress to a triune + God-idea. The conception of a God-man, of a Savior, of God + revealed in evolution, brings out the antithesis of God Father and + God Son, and the very conception of this relation implies God the + Spirit that proceeds from both." This confession of an economic + Trinity is a rational one only as it implies a Trinity immanent + and eternal. + + +B. It is essential to any proper revelation. + +If there be no Trinity, Christ is not God, and cannot perfectly know or +reveal God. Christianity is no longer the one, all-inclusive, and final +revelation, but only one of many conflicting and competing systems, each +of which has its portion of truth, but also its portion of error. So too +with the Holy Spirit. "As God can be revealed only through God, so also +can he be appropriated only through God. If the Holy Spirit be not God, +then the love and self-communication of God to the human soul are not a +reality." In other words, without the doctrine of the Trinity we go back +to mere natural religion and the far-off God of deism,--and this is +ultimately exchanged for pantheism in the way already mentioned. + + + Martensen, Dogmatics, 104; Thomasius, Christi Person und Werk, + 156. If Christ be not God, he cannot perfectly know himself, and + his testimony to himself has no independent authority. In prayer + the Christian has practical evidence of the Trinity, and can see + the value of the doctrine; for he comes to God the Father, + pleading the name of Christ, and taught how to pray aright by the + Holy Spirit. It is impossible to identify the Father with either + the Son or the Spirit. See _Rom. 8:27--_"he that searcheth the + hearts [_i. e._, God] knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, + because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the + will of God." See also Godet on _John 1:18--_"No man hath seen God + at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the + Father, he hath declared him"; notice here the relation between {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}. Napoleon I: "Christianity says with simplicity, + 'No man hath seen God, except God.' " _John 16:15--_"All things + whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he + taketh of mine, and shall declare it unto you"; here Christ claims + for himself all that belongs to God, and then declares that the + Holy Spirit shall reveal him. Only a divine Spirit can do this, + even as only a divine Christ can put out an unpresumptuous hand to + take all that belongs to the Father. See also Westcott, on _John + 14:9--_"he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, + Show us the Father?" + + The agnostic is perfectly correct in his conclusions, if there be + no Christ, no medium of communication, no principle of revelation + in the Godhead. Only the Son has revealed the Father. Even Royce, + in his Spirit of Modern Philosophy, speaks of the existence of an + infinite Self, or Logos, or World-mind, of which all individual + minds are parts or bits, and of whose timeless choice we partake. + Some such principle in the divine nature must be assumed, if + Christianity is the complete and sufficient revelation of God's + will to men. The Unitarian view regards the religion of Christ as + only "one of the day's works of humanity"--an evanescent moment in + the ceaseless advance of the race. The Christian on the other hand + regards Christ as the only Revealer of God, the only God with whom + we have to do, the final authority in religion, the source of all + truth and the judge of all mankind. "Heaven and earth shall pass + away, but my words shall not pass away"_ (Mat. 24:35)._ The + resurrection of just and unjust shall be his work (_John 5:28_), + and future retribution shall be "the wrath of the Lamb"_ (Rev. + 6:16)_. Since God never thinks, says, or does any thing, except + through Christ, and since Christ does his work in human hearts + only through the Holy Spirit, we may conclude that the doctrine of + the Trinity is essential to any proper revelation. + + +C. It is essential to any proper redemption. + +If God be absolutely and simply one, there can be no mediation or +atonement, since between God and the most exalted creature the gulf is +infinite. Christ cannot bring us nearer to God than he is himself. Only +one who is God can reconcile us to God. So, too, only one who is God can +purify our souls. A God who is only unity, but in whom is no plurality, +may be our Judge, but, so far as we can see, cannot be our Savior or our +Sanctifier. + + + "God is the way to himself." "Nothing human holds good before God, + and nothing but God himself can satisfy God." The best method of + arguing with Unitarians, therefore, is to rouse the sense of sin; + for the soul that has any proper conviction of its sins feels that + only an infinite Redeemer can ever save it. On the other hand, a + slight estimate of sin is logically connected with a low view of + the dignity of Christ. Twesten, translated in Bib. Sac., 3:510--"It + would seem to be not a mere accident that Pelagianism, when + logically carried out, as for example among the Socinians, has + also always led to Unitarianism." In the reverse order, too, it is + manifest that rejection of the deity of Christ must tend to render + more superficial men's views of the sin and guilt and punishment + from which Christ came to save them, and with this to deaden + religious feeling and to cut the sinews of all evangelistic and + missionary effort (_John 12:44_; _Heb. 10:26_). See Arthur, on the + Divinity of our Lord in relation to his work of Atonement, in + Present Day Tracts, 6: no. 35; Ellis, quoted by Watson, Theol. + Inst., 23; Gunsaulus, Transfig. of Christ, 13--"We have tried to + see God in the light of nature, while he said: 'In thy light shall + we see light'_ (Ps. 36:9)_." We should see nature in the light of + Christ. Eternal life is attained only through the knowledge of God + in Christ (_John 16:9_). Hence to accept Christ is to accept God; + to reject Christ is to turn one's back on God: _John 12:44--_"He + that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent + me"; _Heb. 10:26, 29--_"there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sin + ... [for him] who hath trodden under foot the Son of God." + + In The Heart of Midlothian, Jeanie Deans goes to London to secure + pardon for her sister. She cannot in her peasant attire go direct + to the King, for he will not receive her. She goes to a Scotch + housekeeper in London; through him to the Duke of Argyle; through + him to the Queen; through the Queen she gets pardon from the King, + whom she never sees. This was mediaeval mediatorship. But now we + come directly to Christ, and this suffices us, because he is + himself God (The Outlook). A man once went into the cell of a + convicted murderer, at the request of the murderer's wife and + pleaded with him to confess his crime and accept Christ, but the + murderer refused. The seeming clergyman was the Governor, with a + pardon which he had designed to bestow in case he found the + murderer penitent. A. H. Strong, Christ in Creation, 86--"I have + heard that, during our Civil War, a swaggering, drunken, + blaspheming officer insulted and almost drove from the dock at + Alexandria, a plain unoffending man in citizen's dress; but I have + also heard that that same officer turned pale, fell on his knees, + and begged for mercy, when the plain man demanded his sword, put + him under arrest and made himself known as General Grant. So we + may abuse and reject the Lord Jesus Christ, and fancy that we can + ignore his claims and disobey his commands with impunity; but it + will seem a more serious thing when we find at the last that he + whom we have abused and rejected is none other than the living God + before whose judgment bar we are to stand." + + Henry B. Smith began life under Unitarian influences, and had + strong prejudices against evangelical doctrine, especially the + doctrines of human depravity and of the divinity of Christ. In his + Senior year in College he was converted. Cyrus Hamlin says: "I + regard Smith's conversion as the most remarkable event in College + in my day." Doubts of depravity vanished with one glimpse into his + own heart; and doubts about Christ's divinity could not hold their + own against the confession: "Of one thing I feel assured: I need + an infinite Savior." Here is the ultimate strength of Trinitarian + doctrine. When the Holy Spirit convinces a man of his sin, and + brings him face to face with the outraged holiness and love of + God, he is moved to cry from the depths of his soul: "None but an + infinite Savior can ever save me!" Only in a divine Christ--Christ + _for_ us upon the Cross, and Christ _in_ us by his Spirit--can the + convicted soul find peace and rest. And so every revival of true + religion gives a new impulse to the Trinitarian doctrine. Henry B. + Smith wrote in his later life: "When the doctrine of the Trinity + was abandoned, other articles of the faith, such as the atonement + and regeneration, have almost always followed, by logical + necessity, as, when one draws the wire from a necklace of gems, + the gems all fall asunder." + + +D. It is essential to any proper model for human life. + +If there be no Trinity immanent in the divine nature, then Fatherhood in +God has had a beginning and it may have an end; Sonship, moreover, is no +longer a perfection, but an imperfection, ordained for a temporary +purpose. But if fatherly giving and filial receiving are eternal in God, +then the law of love requires of us conformity to God in both these +respects as the highest dignity of our being. + + + See Hutton, Essays, 1:232--"The Trinity tells us something of God's + absolute and essential nature; not simply what he is _to us_, but + what he is _in himself_. If Christ is the eternal Son of the + Father, God is indeed and in essence a Father; the social nature, + the spring of love is of the very essence of the eternal Being; + the communication of life, the reciprocation of affection dates + from beyond time, belongs to the very being of God. The Unitarian + idea of a solitary God profoundly affects our conception of God, + reduces it to mere power, identifies God with abstract cause and + thought. Love is grounded in power, not power in love. The Father + is merged in the omniscient and omnipotent genius of the + universe." Hence _1 John 2:23--_"Whosoever denieth the Son, the + same hath not the Father." D'Arcy, Idealism and Theology, 204--"If + God be simply one great person, then we have to think of him as + waiting until the whole process of creation has been accomplished + before his love can find an object upon which to bestow itself. + His love belongs, in that case, not to his inmost essence, but to + his relation to some of his creatures. The words 'God is love'_ (1 + John 4:8)_ become a rhetorical exaggeration, rather than the + expression of a truth about the divine nature." + + Hutton, Essays, 1:239--"We need also the inspiration and help of a + perfect filial will. We cannot conceive of the Father as sharing + in that dependent attitude of spirit which is our chief spiritual + want. It is a Father's perfection to originate--a Son's to receive. + We need sympathy and aid in this _receptive_ life; hence, the help + of the true Son. Humility, self-sacrifice, submission, are + heavenly, eternal, divine. Christ's filial life to the root of all + filial life in us. See _Gal. 2:19, 20--_'it is no longer I that + live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in + the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, + who loved me, and gave himself up for me.'" Thomas Erskine of + Linlathen, The Spiritual Order, 233--"There is nothing degrading in + this dependence, for we share it with the eternal Son." Gore, + Incarnation, 162--"God can limit himself by the conditions of + manhood, because the Godhead contains in itself eternally the + prototype of human self-sacrifice and self-limitation, for God is + love." On the practical lessons and uses of the doctrine of the + Trinity, see Presb. and Ref. Rev., Oct 1902:524-550--art. by R. M. + Edgar; also sermon by Ganse, in South Church Lectures, 300-310. On + the doctrine in general, see Robie, in Bib. Sac., 27:262-289; + Pease, Philosophy of Trinitarian Doctrine; N. W. Taylor, Revealed + Theology, 1:133; Schultz, Lehre von der Gottheit Christi. + + On heathen trinities, see Bib. Repos., 6:116; Christlieb, Mod. + Doubt and Christian Belief, 266, 267--"Lao-tse says, 600 B. C., + 'Tao, the intelligent principle of all being, is by nature one; + the first begat the second; both together begat the third; these + three made all things.' " The Egyptian triad of Abydos was Osiris, + Isis his wife, and Horus their Son. But these were no true + persons; for not only did the Son proceed from the Father, but the + Father proceeded from the Son; the Egyptian trinity was + pantheistic in its meaning. See Renouf, Hibbert Lectures, 29; + Rawlinson, Religions of the Ancient World, 46, 47. The Trinity of + the Vedas was Dyaus, Indra, Agni. Derived from the three + dimensions of space? Or from the family--father, mother, son? Man + creates God in his own image, and sees family life in the Godhead? + + The Brahman Trimurti or Trinity, to the members of which are given + the names Brahma, Vishnu, Siva--source, supporter, end--is a + personification of the pantheistic All, which dwells equally in + good and evil, in god and man. The three are represented in the + three mystic letters of the syllable _Om_, or _Aum_, and by the + image at Elephanta of three heads and one body; see Hardwick, + Christ and Other Masters, 1:276. The places of the three are + interchangeable. Williams: "In the three persons the one God is + shown; Each first in place, each last, not one alone; Of Siva, + Vishnu, Brahma, each may be, First, second, third, among the + blessed three." There are ten incarnations of Vishnu for men's + salvation in various times of need; and the one Spirit which + temporarily invests itself with the qualities of matter is reduced + to its original essence at the end of the aeon (Kalpa). This is + only a grosser form of Sabellianism, or of a modal Trinity. + According to Renouf it is not older than A. D. 1400. Buddhism in + later times had its triad. Buddha, or Intelligence, the first + principle, associated with Dharma, or Law, the principle of + matter, through the combining influence of Sangha, or Order, the + mediating principle. See Kellogg, The Light of Asia and the Light + of the World, 184, 355. It is probably from a Christian source. + + The Greek trinity was composed of Zeus, Athena, and Apollo. Apollo + or Loxias ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) utters the decisions of Zeus. "These three + surpass all the other gods in moral character and in providential + care over the universe. They sustain such intimate and endearing + relations to each other, that they may be said to 'agree in + one' "; see Tyler, Theol. of Greek Poets, 170, 171; Gladstone, + Studies of Homer, vol. 2, sec. 2. Yet the Greek trinity, while it + gives us three persons, does not give us oneness of essence. It is + a system of tritheism. Plotinus, 300 A. D., gives us a + philosophical Trinity in his {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}. + + Watts, New Apologetic, 195--The heathen trinities are "residuary + fragments of the lost knowledge of God, not different stages in a + process of theological evolution, but evidence of a moral and + spiritual degradation." John Caird, Fund. Ideas of Christianity, + 92--"In the Vedas the various individual divinities are separated + by no hard and fast distinction from each other. They are only + names for one indivisible whole, of which the particular divinity + invoked at any one time is the type or representative. There is a + latent recognition of a unity beneath all the multiplicity of the + objects of adoration. The personal or anthropomorphic element is + never employed as it is in the Greek and Roman mythology. The + personality ascribed to Mitra or Varuna or Indra or Agni is + scarcely more real than our modern smiling heaven or whispering + breeze or sullen moaning restless sea. 'There is but one,' they + say, 'though the poets call him by different names.' The + all-embracing heaven, mighty nature, is the reality behind each of + these partial manifestations. The pantheistic element which was + implicit in the Vedic phase of Indian religion becomes explicit in + Brahmanism, and in particular in the so-called Indian systems of + philosophy and in the great Indian epic poems. They seek to find + in the flux and variety of things the permanent underlying + essence. That is Brahma. So Spinoza sought rest in the one eternal + substance, and he wished to look at all things 'under the form of + eternity.' All things and beings are forms of one whole, of the + infinite substance which we call God." See also L. L. Paine, + Ethnic Trinities. + + The gropings of the heathen religions after a trinity in God, + together with their inability to construct a consistent scheme of + it, are evidence of a rational want in human nature which only the + Christian doctrine is able to supply. This power to satisfy the + inmost needs of the believer is proof of its truth. We close our + treatment with the words of Jeremy Taylor: "He who goes about to + speak of the mystery of the Trinity, and does it by words and + names of man's invention, talking of essence and existences, + hypostases and personalities, priority in coequality, and unity in + pluralities, may amuse himself and build a tabernacle in his head, + and talk something--he knows not what; but the renewed man, that + feels the power of the Father, to whom the Son is become wisdom, + sanctification, and redemption, in whose heart the love of the + Spirit of God is shed abroad--this man, though he understand + nothing of what is unintelligible, yet he alone truly understands + the Christian doctrine of the Trinity." + + + + +Chapter III. The Decrees Of God. + + + +I. Definition of Decrees. + + +By the decrees of God we mean that eternal plan by which God has rendered +certain all the events of the universe, past, present, and future. Notice +in explanation that: + +(_a_) The decrees are many only to our finite comprehension; in their own +nature they are but one plan, which embraces not only effects but also +causes, not only the ends to be secured but also the means needful to +secure them. + + + In _Rom. 8:28--_"called according to his purpose"--the many decrees + for the salvation of many individuals are represented as forming + but one purpose of God. _Eph. 1:11--_"foreordained according to the + purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his + will"--notice again the word "_purpose_," in the singular. _Eph. + 3:11--_"according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in + Christ Jesus our Lord." This one purpose or plan of God includes + both means and ends, prayer and its answer, labor and its fruit. + Tyrolese proverb: "God has his plan for every man." Every man, as + well as Jean Paul, is "der Einzige"--the unique. There is a single + plan which embraces all things; "we use the word 'decree' when we + think of it partitively" (Pepper). See Hodge, Outlines of + Theology, 1st ed., 165; 2d ed., 200--"In fact, no event is + isolated--to determine one involves determination of the whole + concatenation of causes and effects which constitutes the + universe." The word "plan" is preferable to the word "decrees," + because "plan" excludes the ideas of (1) plurality, (2) + short-sightedness, (3) arbitrariness, (4) compulsion. + + +(_b_) The decrees, as the eternal act of an infinitely perfect will, +though they have logical relations to each other, have no chronological +relation. They are not therefore the result of deliberation, in any sense +that implies short-sightedness or hesitancy. + + + Logically, in God's decree the sun precedes the sunlight, and the + decree to bring into being a father precedes the decree that there + shall be a son. God decrees man before he decrees man's act; he + decrees the creation of man before he decrees man's existence. But + there is no chronological succession. "_Counsel_" in _Eph. + 1:11--_"the counsel of his will"--means, not deliberation, but + wisdom. + + +(_c_) Since the will in which the decrees have their origin is a free +will, the decrees are not a merely instinctive or necessary exercise of +the divine intelligence or volition, such as pantheism supposes. + + + It belongs to the perfection of God that he have a plan, and the + best possible plan. Here is no necessity, but only the certainty + that infinite wisdom will act wisely. God's decrees are not God; + they are not identical with his essence; they do not flow from his + being in the same necessary way in which the eternal Son proceeds + from the eternal Father. There is free will in God, which acts + with infinite certainty, yet without necessity. To call even the + decree of salvation necessary is to deny grace, and to make an + unfree God. See Dick, Lectures on Theology, 1:355; lect. 34. + + +(_d_) The decrees have reference to things outside of God. God does not +decree to be holy, nor to exist as three persons in one essence. + + + Decrees are the preparation for external events--the embracing of + certain things and acts in a plan. They do not include those + processes and operations within the Godhead which have no + reference to the universe. + + +(_e_) The decrees primarily respect the acts of God himself, in Creation, +Providence, and Grace; secondarily, the acts of free creatures, which he +foresees will result therefrom. + + + While we deny the assertion of Whedon, that "the divine plan + embraces _only_ divine actions," we grant that God's plan has + reference _primarily_ to his own actions, and that the sinful acts + of men, in particular, are the objects, not of a decree that God + will efficiently produce them, but of a decree that God will + permit men, in the exercise of their own free will, to produce + them. + + +(_f_) The decree to act is not the act. The decrees are an internal +exercise and manifestation of the divine attributes, and are not to be +confounded with Creation, Providence, and Redemption, which are the +execution of the decrees. + + + The decrees are the first operation of the attributes, and the + first manifestation of personality of which we have any knowledge + within the Godhead. They presuppose those essential acts or + movements within the divine nature which we call generation and + procession. They involve by way of consequence that execution of + the decrees which we call Creation, Providence, and Redemption, + but they are not to be confounded with either of these. + + +(_g_) The decrees are therefore not addressed to creatures; are not of the +nature of statute law; and lay neither compulsion nor obligation upon the +wills of men. + +So ordering the universe that men _will_ pursue a given course of action +is a very different thing from declaring, ordering, or commanding that +they _shall_. "Our acts are in accordance with the decrees, but not +_necessarily_ so--we _can_ do otherwise and often _should_" (Park). The +Frenchman who fell into the water and cried: "I will, drown,--no one shall +help me!" was very naturally permitted to drown; if he had said: "I shall +drown,--no one will help me!" he might perchance have called some friendly +person to his aid. + +(_h_) All human acts, whether evil or good, enter into the divine plan and +so are objects of God's decrees, although God's actual agency with regard +to the evil is only a permissive agency. + + + No decree of God reads: "You shall sin." For (1) no decree is + addressed to _you_; (2) no decree with respect to you says + _shall_; (3) God cannot cause _sin_, or decree to cause it. He + simply decrees to create, and himself to act, in such a way that + you will, of your own free choice, commit sin. God determines upon + his own acts, foreseeing what the results will be in the free acts + of his creatures, and so he determines those results. This + permissive decree is the only decree of God with respect to sin. + Man of himself is capable of producing sin. Of himself he is not + capable of producing holiness. In the production of holiness two + powers must concur, God's will and man's will, and God's will must + act first. The decree of good, therefore, is not simply a + permissive decree, as in the case of evil. God's decree, in the + former case, is a decree to bring to bear positive agencies for + its production, such as circumstances, motives, influences of his + Spirit. But, in the case of evil, God's decrees are simply his + arrangement that man may do as he pleases, God all the while + foreseeing the result. + + Permissive agency should not be confounded with conditional + agency, nor permissive decree with conditional decree. God + foreordained sin only indirectly. The machine is constructed not + for the sake of the friction, but in spite of it. In the parable + _Mat. 13:24-30_, the question "_Whence then hath it tares?_" is + answered, not by saying, "I decreed the tares." but by saying: + "_An enemy hath done this_." Yet we must take exception to + Principal Fairbairn, Place of Christ in Theology, 456, when he + says: "God did not _permit_ sin to be; it is, in its essence, the + transgression of his law, and so his only attitude toward it is + one of opposition. It _is_, because man has contradicted and + resisted his will." Here the truth of God's opposition to sin is + stated so sharply as almost to deny the decree of sin in any + sense. We maintain that God does decree sin in the sense of + embracing in his plan the foreseen transgressions of men, while at + the same time we maintain that these foreseen transgressions are + chargeable wholly to men and not at all to God. + + +(_i_) While God's total plan with regard to creatures is called +predestination, or foreordination, his purpose so to act that certain will +believe and be saved is called election, and his purpose so to act that +certain will refuse to believe and be lost is called reprobation. We +discuss election and reprobation, in a later chapter, as a part of the +Application of Redemption. + + + God's decrees may be divided into decrees with respect to nature, + and decrees with respect to moral beings. These last we call + foreordination, or predestination; and of these decrees with + respect to moral beings there are two kinds, the decree of + election, and the decree of reprobation; see our treatment of the + doctrine of Election. George Herbert: "We all acknowledge both thy + power and love To be exact, transcendent, and divine; Who dost so + strongly and so sweetly move. While all things have their will--yet + none but thine. For either thy _command_ or thy _permission_ Lays + hands on all; they are thy right and left. The first puts on with + speed and expedition; The other curbs sin's stealing pace and + theft. Nothing escapes them both; all must appear And be disposed + and dressed and tuned by thee Who sweetly temperest all. If we + could hear Thy skill and art, what music it would be!" On the + whole doctrine, see Shedd, Presb. and Ref. Rev., Jan. 1890:1-25. + + + +II. Proof of the Doctrine of Decrees. + + +1. From Scripture. + + +A. The Scriptures declare that all things are included in the divine +decrees. B. They declare that special things and events are decreed; as, +for example, (_a_) the stability of the physical universe; (_b_) the +outward circumstances of nations; (_c_) the length of human life; (_d_) +the mode of our death; (_e_) the free acts of men, both good acts and evil +acts. C. They declare that God has decreed (_a_) the salvation of +believers; (_b_) the establishment of Christ's kingdom; (_c_) the work of +Christ and of his people in establishing it. + + + A. _Is. 14:26, 27--_"This is the purpose that is purposed upon the + whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all + the nations; for Jehovah of hosts hath purposed ... and his hand + is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" _46:10, + 11--_"declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times + the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, + and I will do all my pleasure ... yea, I have spoken, I will also + bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it." _Dan. + 4:35--_"doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and + among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or + say unto him, What doest thou?" _Eph. 1:11--_"the purpose of him + who worketh all things after the counsel of his will." + + B. (_a_) _Ps. 119:89-91--_"For ever, O Jehovah, thy word is settled + in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast + established the earth and it abideth. They abide this day + according to thine ordinances; For all things are thy servants." + (_b_) _Acts 17:26--_"he made of one every nation of men to dwell on + all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed + seasons, and the bounds of their habitation"; _cf._ _Zach. + 5:1--_"came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the + mountains were mountains of brass"--the fixed decrees from which + proceed God's providential dealings? (_c_) _Job 14:5--_"Seeing his + days are determined, The number of his months is with thee, And + thou hast determined his bounds that he cannot pass." (_d_) _John + 21:19--_"this he spake, signifying by what manner of death he + should glorify God." (_e_) Good acts: _Is. 44:28--_"that saith of + Cyrus, He is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure, even + saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Thy + foundation shall be laid"; _Eph. 2:10--_"For we are his + workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God + afore prepared that we should walk in them." Evil acts: _Gen. + 50:20--_"as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for + good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people + alive"; _1 K. 12:15--_"So the king hearkened not unto the people, + for it was a thing brought about of Jehovah"; _24--_"for this thing + is of me"; _Luke 22:23--_"For the Son of man indeed goeth, as it + hath been determined: but woe unto that man through whom he is + betrayed"; _Acts 2:23--_"him, being delivered up by the determinate + counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men + did crucify and slay"; _4:27, 28--_"of a truth in this city against + thy holy Servant Jesus, who thou didst anoint, both Herod and + Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were + gathered together, to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel + foreordained to come to pass"; _Rom. 9:17--_"For the scripture + saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, + that I might show in thee my power"; _1 Pet 2:3--_"They stumble at + the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed"; + _Rev. 17:17--_"For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and + to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, + until the words of God should be accomplished." + + C. (_a_) _1 Cor. 2:7--_"the wisdom which hath been hidden, which + God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory"; _Eph 3:10, + 11--_"manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose + which he purposed in Christ Jesus our lord." _Ephesians 1_ is a + paean in praise of God's decrees. (_b_) The greatest decree of all + is the decree to give the world to Christ. _Ps. 2:7, 8--_"I will + tell of the decree:... I will give thee the nations for thine + inheritance"; _cf._ _verse 6--_"I have set my king Upon my holy + hill of Zion"; _1 Cor. 15:25--_"he must reign, till he hath put all + his enemies under his feet." (_c_) This decree we are to convert + into our decree; God's will is to be executed through our wills. + _Phil. 2:12, 13--_"work out your own salvation with fear and + trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to + work, for his good pleasure." _Rev. 5:1, 7--_"I saw in the right + hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on + the back, close sealed with seven seals.... And he [the Lamb] + came, and he taketh it out of the right hand of him that sat on + the throne"; _verse 9--_"Worthy art thou to take the book, and to + open the seals thereof"--Christ alone has the omniscience to know, + and the omnipotence to execute, the divine decrees. When John + weeps because there is none in heaven or earth to loose the seals + and to read the book of God's decrees, the Lion of the tribe of + Judah prevails to open it. Only Christ conducts the course of + history to its appointed end. See A. H. Strong, Christ in + Creation, 268-283, on The Decree of God as the Great Encouragement + to Missions. + + +2. From Reason. + + +A. From the Divine Foreknowledge. + + +Foreknowledge implies fixity, and fixity implies decree.--From eternity God +foresaw all the events of the universe as fixed and certain. This fixity +and certainty could not have had its ground either in blind fate or in the +variable wills of men, since neither of these had an existence. It could +have had its ground in nothing outside the divine mind, for in eternity +nothing existed besides the divine mind. But for this fixity there must +have been a cause; if anything in the future was fixed, something must +have fixed it. This fixity could have had its ground only in the plan and +purpose of God. In fine, if God foresaw the future as certain, it must +have been because there was something in himself which made it certain; +or, in other words, because he had decreed it. + + + We object therefore to the statement of E. G. Robinson, Christian + Theology, 74--"God's knowledge and God's purposes both being + eternal, one cannot be conceived as the ground of the other, nor + can either be predicated to the exclusion of the other as the + cause of things, but, correlative and eternal, they must be + coequal quantities in thought." We reply that while decree does + not chronologically precede, it does logically precede, + foreknowledge. Foreknowledge is not of possible events, but of + what is certain to be. The certainty of future events which God + foreknew could have had its ground only in his decree, since he + alone existed to be the ground and explanation of this certainty. + Events were fixed only because God had fixed them. Shedd, Dogm. + Theol., 1:397--"An event must be _made_ certain, before it can be + _known_ as a certain event." Turretin, Inst. Theol., loc. 3, + quaes. 12, 18--"Praecipuum fundamentum scientiae divinae circa futura + contingentia est deoretum solum." + + +Decreeing creation implies decreeing the foreseen results of creation.--To +meet the objection that God might have foreseen the events of the +universe, not because he had decreed each one, but only because he had +decreed to create the universe and institute its laws, we may put the +argument in another form. In eternity there could have been no cause of +the future existence of the universe, outside of God himself, since no +being existed but God himself. In eternity God foresaw that the creation +of the world and the institution of its laws would make certain its actual +history even to the most insignificant details. But God decreed to create +and to institute these laws. In so decreeing he necessarily decreed all +that was to come. In fine, God foresaw the future events of the universe +as certain, because he had decreed to create; but this determination to +create involved also a determination of all the actual results of that +creation; or, in other words, God decreed those results. + + + E. G. Robinson, Christian Theology, 84--"The existence of divine + decrees may be inferred from the existence of natural law." Law = + certainty = God's will. Positivists express great contempt for the + doctrine of the eternal purpose of God, yet they consign us to the + iron necessity of physical forces and natural laws. Dr. Robinson + also points out that decrees are "implied in the prophecies. We + cannot conceive that all events should have converged toward the + one great event--the death of Christ--without the intervention of an + eternal purpose." E. H. Johnson, Outline Syst. Theol., 2d ed., + 251, note--"Reason is confronted by the paradox that the divine + decrees are at once absolute and conditional; the resolution of + the paradox is that God absolutely decreed a conditional system--a + system, however, the workings of which he thoroughly foreknows." + The rough unhewn stone and the statue into which it will be + transformed are both and equally included in the plan of the + sculptor. + + +No undecreed event can be foreseen.--We grant that God decrees primarily +and directly his own acts of creation, providence, and grace; but we claim +that this involves also a secondary and indirect decreeing of the acts of +free creatures which he foresees will result therefrom. There is therefore +no such thing in God as _scientia media_, or knowledge of an event that is +to be, though it does not enter into the divine plan; for to say that God +foresees an undecreed event, is to say that he views as future an event +that is merely possible; or, in other words, that he views an event not as +it is. + + + We recognize only two kinds of knowledge: (1) Knowledge of + undecreed possibles, and (2) foreknowledge of decreed actuals. + _Scientia media_ is a supposed intermediate knowledge between + these two, namely (3) foreknowledge of undecreed actuals. See + further explanations below. We deny the existence of this third + sort of knowledge. We hold that sin is decreed in the sense of + being _rendered certain_ by God's determining upon a system in + which it was foreseen that sin would exist. The sin of man can be + foreknown, while yet God is not the immediate cause of it. God + knows possibilities, without having decreed them at all. But God + cannot foreknow actualities unless he has by his decree made them + to be certainties of the future. He cannot foreknow that which is + not there to be foreknown. Royce, World and Individual, 2:374, + maintains that God has, not _fore_knowledge, but only _eternal_ + knowledge, of temporal things. But we reply that to foreknow how a + moral being _will_ act is no more impossible than to know how a + moral being in given circumstances _would_ act. + + +Only knowledge of that which is decreed is foreknowledge.--Knowledge of a +plan as ideal or possible may precede decree; but knowledge of a plan as +actual or fixed must follow decree. Only the latter knowledge is properly +_fore_knowledge. God therefore foresees creation, causes, laws, events, +consequences, because he has decreed creation, causes, laws, events, +consequences; that is, because he has embraced all these in his plan. The +denial of decrees logically involves the denial of God's foreknowledge of +free human actions; and to this Socinians, and some Arminians, are +actually led. + + + An Arminian example of this denial is found in McCabe, + Foreknowledge of God, and Divine Nescience of Future Contingencies + a Necessity. _Per contra_, see notes on God's foreknowledge, in + this Compendium, pages 283-286. Pepper: "Divine volition stands + logically between two divisions and kinds of divine knowledge." + God knew free human actions as _possible_, _before_ he decreed + them; he knew them as _future_, _because_ he decreed them. + Logically, though not chronologically, decree comes before + foreknowledge. When I say, "I know what I will do," it is evident + that I have determined already, and that my knowledge does not + precede determination, but follows it and is based upon it. It is + therefore not correct to say that God foreknows his decrees. It is + more true to say that he decrees his foreknowledge. He foreknows + the future which he has decreed, and he foreknows it because he + has decreed it. His decrees are eternal, and nothing that is + eternal can be the object of foreknowledge. G. F. Wright, in Bib. + Sac., 1877:723--"The _knowledge_ of God comprehended the details + and incidents of every possible plan. The _choice_ of a plan made + his knowledge determinate as _fore_knowledge." + + There are therefore two kinds of divine knowledge: (1) knowledge + of what may be--of the possible (_scientia simplicis + intelligentiae_); and (2) knowledge of what is, and is to be, + because God has decreed it (_scientia visionis_). Between these + two Molina, the Spanish Jesuit, wrongly conceived that there was + (3) a middle knowledge of things which were to be, although God + had not decreed them (_scientia media_). This would of course be a + knowledge which God derived, not from himself, but from his + creatures! See Dick, Theology, 1:351. A. S. Carman: "It is + difficult to see how God's knowledge can be caused from eternity + by something that has no existence until a definite point of + time." If it be said that what is to be will be "in the nature of + things," we reply that there is no "nature of things" apart from + God, and that the ground of the objective certainty, as well as of + the subjective certitude corresponding to it, is to be found only + in God himself. + + But God's decreeing to create, when he foresees that certain free + acts of men will follow, is a decreeing of those free acts, in the + only sense in which we use the word decreeing, _viz._, a rendering + certain, or embracing in his plan. No Arminian who believes in + God's foreknowledge of free human acts has good reason for denying + God's decrees as thus explained. Surely God did not foreknow that + Adam would exist and sin, whether God determined to create him or + not. Omniscience, then, becomes _fore_knowledge only on condition + of God's decree. That God's foreknowledge of free acts is + intuitive does not affect this conclusion. We grant that, while + man can predict free action only so far as it is rational (_i. + e._, in the line of previously dominant motive), God can predict + free action whether it is rational or not. But even God cannot + predict what is not certain to be. God can have intuitive + foreknowledge of free human acts only upon condition of his own + decree to create; and this decree to create, in foresight of all + that will follow, is a decree of what follows. For the Arminian + view, see Watson, Institutes, 2:375-398, 422-448. _Per contra_, + see Hill, Divinity, 512-582; Fiske, in Bib. Sac., April, 1862; + Bennett Tyler, Memoir and Lectures, 214-254; Edwards the younger, + 1:398-420; A. H. Strong, Philosophy and Religion, 98-101. + + +B. From the Divine Wisdom. + + +It is the part of wisdom to proceed in every undertaking according to a +plan. The greater the undertaking, the more needful a plan. Wisdom, +moreover, shows itself in a careful provision for all possible +circumstances and emergencies that can arise in the execution of its plan. +That many such circumstances and emergencies are uncontemplated and +unprovided for in the plans of men, is due only to the limitations of +human wisdom. It belongs to infinite wisdom, therefore, not only to have a +plan, but to embrace all, even the minutest details, in the plan of the +universe. + + + No architect would attempt to build a Cologne cathedral without a + plan; he would rather, if possible, have a design for every stone. + The great painter does not study out his picture as he goes along; + the plan is in his mind from the start; preparations for the last + effects have to be made from the beginning. So in God's work every + detail is foreseen and provided for; sin and Christ entered into + the original plan of the universe. Raymond, Syst. Theol., 2:156, + says this implies that God cannot govern the world unless all + things be reduced to the condition of machinery; and that it + cannot be true, for the reason that God's government is a + government of persons and not of things. But we reply that the + wise statesman governs persons and not things, yet just in + proportion to his wisdom he conducts his administration according + to a preconceived plan. God's power might, but God's wisdom would + not, govern the universe without embracing all things, even the + least human action, in his plan. + + +C. From the Divine Immutability. + + +What God does, he always purposed to do. Since with him there is no +increase of knowledge or power, such as characterizes finite beings, it +follows that what under any given circumstances he permits or does, he +must have eternally decreed to permit or do. To suppose that God has a +multitude of plans, and that he changes his plan with the exigencies of +the situation, is to make him infinitely dependent upon the varying wills +of his creatures, and to deny to him one necessary element of perfection, +namely, immutability. + + + God has been very unworthily compared to a chess-player, who will + checkmate his opponent whatever moves he may make (George Harris). + So Napoleon is said to have had a number of plans before each + battle, and to have betaken himself from one to another as fortune + demanded. Not so with God. _Job 23:13--_"he is in one mind, and who + can turn him?" _James 1:17-_"the Father of lights, with whom can + be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning." Contrast + with this Scripture McCabe's statement in his Foreknowledge of + God, 62--"This new factor, the godlike liberty of the human will, + is capable of thwarting, and in uncounted instances does thwart, + the divine will, and compel the great I AM to modify his actions, + his purposes, and his plans, in the treatment of individuals and + of communities." + + +D. From the Divine Benevolence. + + +The events of the universe, if not determined by the divine decrees, must +be determined either by chance or by the wills of creatures. It is +contrary to any proper conception of the divine benevolence to suppose +that God permits the course of nature and of history, and the ends to +which both these are moving, to be determined for myriads of sentient +beings by any other force or will than his own. Both reason and +revelation, therefore, compel us to accept the doctrine of the Westminster +Confession, that "God did from all eternity, by the most just and holy +counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes +to pass." + + + It would not be benevolent for God to put out of his own power + that which was so essential to the happiness of the universe. + Tyler, Memoir and Lectures, 231-243--"The denial of decrees + involves denial of the essential attributes of God, such as + omnipotence, omniscience, benevolence; exhibits him as a + disappointed and unhappy being; implies denial of his universal + providence; leads to a denial of the greater part of our own duty + of submission; weakens the obligations of gratitude." We give + thanks to God for blessings which come to us through the free acts + of others; but unless God has purposed these blessings, we owe our + thanks to these others and not to God. Dr. A. J. Gordon said well + that a universe without decrees would be as irrational and + appalling as would be an express-train driving on in the darkness + without headlight or engineer, and with no certainty that the next + moment it might not plunge into the abyss. And even Martineau, + Study, 2:108, in spite of his denial of God's foreknowledge of + man's free acts, is compelled to say: "It cannot be left to mere + created natures to play unconditionally with the helm of even a + single world and steer it uncontrolled into the haven or on to the + reefs; and some security must be taken for keeping the deflections + within tolerable bounds." See also Emmons, Works, 4:273-401: and + Princeton Essays, 1:57-73. + + + +III. Objections to the Doctrine of Decrees. + + +1. That they are inconsistent with the free agency of man. + + +To this we reply that: + +A. The objection confounds the decrees with the execution of the decrees. +The decrees are, like foreknowledge, an act eternal to the divine nature, +and are no more inconsistent with free agency than foreknowledge is. Even +foreknowledge of events implies that those events are fixed. If this +absolute fixity and foreknowledge is not inconsistent with free agency, +much less can that which is more remote from man's action, namely, the +hidden cause of this fixity and foreknowledge--God's decrees--be +inconsistent with free agency. If anything be inconsistent with man's free +agency, it must be, not the decrees themselves, but the execution of the +decrees in creation and providence. + + + On this objection, see Tyler, Memoir and Lectures, 244-249; + Forbes, Predestination and Free Will, 3--"All things are + _predestinated_ by God, both good and evil, but not + _prenecessitated_, that is, causally preoerdained by him--unless we + would make God the author of sin. Predestination is thus an + indifferent word, in so far as the originating author of anything + is concerned; God being the originator of good, but the creature, + of evil. Predestination therefore means that God included in his + plan of the world every act of every creature, good or bad. Some + acts he predestined causally, others permissively. The certainty + of the fulfilment of all God's purposes ought to be distinguished + from their necessity." This means simply that God's decree is not + the _cause_ of any act or event. God's decrees may be executed by + the causal efficiency of his creatures, or they may be executed by + his own efficiency. In either case it is, if anything, the + execution, and not the decree, that is inconsistent with human + freedom. + + +B. The objection rests upon a false theory of free agency--namely, that +free agency implies indeterminateness or uncertainty; in other words, that +free agency cannot coexist with certainty as to the results of its +exercise. But it is necessity, not certainty, with which free agency is +inconsistent. Free agency is the power of self-determination in view of +motives, or man's power (_a_) to chose between motives, and (_b_) to +direct his subsequent activity according to the motive thus chosen. +Motives are never a cause, but only an occasion; they influence, but never +compel; the man is the cause, and herein is his freedom. But it is also +true that man is never in a state of indeterminateness; never acts without +motive, or contrary to all motives; there is always a reason why he acts, +and herein is his rationality. Now, so far as man acts according to +previously dominant motive--see (_b_) above--we may by knowing his motive +predict his action, and our certainty what that action will be in no way +affects his freedom. We may even bring motives to bear upon others, the +influence of which we foresee, yet those who act upon them may act in +perfect freedom. But if man, influenced by man, may still be free, then +man, influenced by divinely foreseen motives, may still be free, and the +divine decrees, which simply render certain man's actions, may also be +perfectly consistent with man's freedom. + + + We must not assume that decreed ends can be secured only by + compulsion. Eternal purposes do not necessitate efficient + causation on the part of the purposer. Freedom may be the very + means of fulfilling the purpose. E. G. Robinson, Christian + Theology, 74--"Absolute certainty of events, which is all that + omniscience determines respecting them, is not identical with + their necessitation." John Milton, Christian Doctrine: "Future + events which God has foreseen will happen certainly, but not of + necessity. They will happen certainly, because the divine + prescience will not be deceived; but they will not happen + necessarily, because prescience can have no influence on the + object foreknown, inasmuch as it is only an intransitive action." + + +There is, however, a smaller class of human actions by which character is +changed, rather than expressed, and in which the man acts according to a +motive different from that which has previously been dominant--see (_a_) +above. These actions also are foreknown by God, although they cannot be +predicted by man. Man's freedom in them would be inconsistent with God's +decrees, if the previous certainty of their occurrence were, not +certainty, but necessity; or, in other words, if God's decrees were in all +cases decrees efficiently to produce the acts of his creatures. But this +is not the case. God's decrees may be executed by man's free causation, as +easily as by God's; and God's decreeing this free causation, in decreeing +to create a universe of which he foresees that this causation will be a +part, in no way interferes with the freedom of such causation, but rather +secures and establishes it. Both consciousness and conscience witness that +God's decrees are not executed by laying compulsion upon the free wills of +men. + + + The farmer who, after hearing a sermon on God's decrees, took the + break-neck road instead of the safe one to his home and broke his + wagon in consequence, concluded before the end of his journey that + he at any rate had been predestinated to be a fool, and that he + had made his calling and election sure. Ladd, Philosophy of + Conduct, 146, 187, shows that the will is free, first, by man's + consciousness of ability, and, secondly, by man's consciousness of + imputability. By nature, he is _potentially_ self-determining; as + matter of fact, he often _becomes_ self-determining. + + Allen, Religious Progress, 110--"The coming church must embrace the + sovereignty of God and the freedom of the will; total depravity + and the divinity of human nature; the unity of God and the triune + distinctions in the Godhead; gnosticism and agnosticism; the + humanity of Christ and his incarnate deity; the freedom of the + Christian man and the authority of the church; individualism and + solidarity; reason and faith; science and theology; miracle and + uniformity of law; culture and piety; the authority of the Bible + as the word of God with absolute freedom of Biblical criticism; + the gift of administration as in the historic episcopate and the + gift of prophecy as the highest sanction of the ministerial + commission; the apostolic succession but also the direct and + immediate call which knows only the succession of the Holy Ghost." + Without assenting to these latter clauses we may commend the + comprehensive spirit of this utterance, especially with reference + to the vexed question of the relation of divine sovereignty to + human freedom. + + +It may aid us, in estimating the force of this objection, to note the four +senses in which the term "freedom" may be used. It may be used as +equivalent to (1) _physical_ freedom, or absence of outward constraint; +(2) _formal_ freedom, or a state of moral indeterminateness; (3) _moral_ +freedom, or self-determinateness in view of motives; (4) _real_ freedom, +or ability to conform to the divine standard. With the first of these we +are not now concerned, since all agree that the decrees lay no outward +constraint upon men. Freedom in the second sense has no existence, since +all men have character. Free agency, or freedom in the third sense, has +just been shown to be consistent with the decrees. Freedom in the fourth +sense, or real freedom, is the special gift of God, and is not to be +confounded with free agency. The objection mentioned above rests wholly +upon the second of these definitions of free agency. This we have shown to +be false, and with this the objection itself falls to the ground. + + + Ritschl, Justification and Reconciliation, 133-188, gives a good + definition of this fourth kind of freedom: "Freedom is + self-determination by universal ideals. Limiting our ends to those + of family or country is a refined or idealized selfishness. + Freedom is self-determination by universal love for man or by the + kingdom of God. But the free man must then be dependent on God in + everything, because the kingdom of God is a revelation of God." + John Caird, Fundamental Ideas of Christianity, 1:133--"In being + determined by God we are self-determined; _i. e._, determined by + nothing alien to us, but by our noblest, truest self. The + universal life lives in us. The eternal consciousness becomes our + own; for 'he that abideth in love abideth in God and God abideth + in him'_ (1 John 4:16)_." + + Moberly, Atonement and Personality, 226--"Free will is not the + independence of the creature, but is rather his self-realization + in perfect dependence. Freedom is self-identity with goodness. + Both goodness and freedom are, in their perfectness, in God. + Goodness in a creature is not distinction from, but correspondence + with, the goodness of God. Freedom in a creature is correspondence + with God's own self-identity with goodness. It is to realize and + to find _himself_, his _true_ self, in Christ, so that God's love + in us has become a divine response, adequate to, because truly + mirroring, God." G. S. Lee, The Shadow Christ, 32--."The ten + commandments could not be chanted. The Israelites sang about + Jehovah and what he had done, but they did not sing about what he + told them to do, and that is why they never did it. The conception + of duty that cannot sing must weep until it learns to sing. This + is Hebrew history." + + "There is a liberty, unsung By poets and by senators unpraised, + Which monarchs cannot grant nor all the powers Of earth and hell + confederate take away; A liberty which persecution, fraud, + Oppressions, prisons, have no power to bind; Which whoso tastes + can be enslaved no more. 'T is liberty of heart, derived from + heaven, Bought with his blood who gave it to mankind, And sealed + with the same token." Robert Herrick: "Stone walls do not a prison + make, Nor iron bars a cage; Minds innocent and quiet take That for + a hermitage. If I have freedom in my love, And in my soul am free, + Angels alone that soar above Enjoy such liberty." + + A more full discussion of the doctrine of the Will is given under + Anthropology, Vol. II. It is sufficient here to say that the + Arminian objections to the decrees arise almost wholly from + erroneously conceiving of freedom as the will's power to decide, + in any given case, against its own character and all the motives + brought to bear upon it. As we shall hereafter see, this is + practically to deny that man has character, or that the will by + its right or wrong moral action gives to itself, as well as to the + intellect and affections, a permanent bent or predisposition to + good or evil. It is to extend the power of contrary choice, a + power which belongs to the sphere of transient volition, over all + those permanent states of intellect, affection, and will which we + call the moral character, and to say that we can change directly + by a single volition that which, as a matter of fact, we can + change only indirectly through process and means. Yet even this + exaggerated view of freedom would seem not to exclude God's + decrees, or prevent a practical reconciliation of the Arminian and + Calvinistic views, so long as the Arminian grants God's + foreknowledge of free human acts, and the Calvinist grants that + God's decree of these acts is not necessarily a decree that God + will efficiently produce them. For a close approximation of the + two views, see articles by Raymond and by A. A. Hodge, + respectively, on the Arminian and the Calvinistic Doctrines of the + Will, in McClintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia, 10:989, 992. + + We therefore hold to the certainty of human action, and so part + company with the Arminian. We cannot with Whedon (On the Will), + and Hazard (Man a Creative First Cause), attribute to the will the + freedom of indifference, or the power to act without motive. We + hold with Calderwood, Moral Philosophy, 188, that action without + motive, or an act of pure will, is unknown in consciousness (see, + however, an inconsistent statement of Calderwood on page 188 of + the same work). Every future human act will not only be performed + with a motive, but will certainly be one thing rather than + another; and God knows what it will be. Whatever may be the method + of God's foreknowledge, and whether it be derived from motives or + be intuitive, that foreknowledge presupposes God's decree to + create, and so presupposes the making certain of the free acts + that follow creation. + + But this certainty is not necessity. In reconciling God's decrees + with human freedom, we must not go to the other extreme, and + reduce human freedom to mere determinism, or the power of the + agent to act out his character in the circumstances which environ + him. Human action is not simply the expression of previously + dominant affections; else Neither Satan nor Adam could have + fallen, nor could the Christian ever sin. We therefore part + company with Jonathan Edwards and his Treatise on the Freedom of + the Will, as well as with the younger Edwards (Works, 1:420), + Alexander (Moral Science, 107), and Charles Hodge (Syst. Theology, + 2:278), all of whom follow Jonathan Edwards in identifying + sensibility with the will, in regarding affections as the causes + of volitions, and in speaking of the connection between motive and + action as a necessary one. We hold, on the contrary, that + sensibility and will are two distinct powers, that affections are + occasions but never causes of volitions, and that, while motives + may infallibly persuade, they never compel the will. The power to + make the decision other than it is resides in the will, though it + may never be exercised. With Charnock, the Puritan (Attributes, + 1:448-450), we say that "man hath a power to do otherwise than + that which God foreknows he will do." Since, then, God's decrees + are not executed by laying compulsion upon human wills, they are + not inconsistent with man's freedom. See Martineau, Study, 2:237, + 249, 258, 261; also article by A. H. Strong, on Modified + Calvinism, or Remainders of Freedom in Man, in Baptist Review, + 1883:219-243; reprinted in the author's Philosophy and Religion, + 114-128. + + +2. That they take away all motive for human exertion. + + +To this we reply that: + +(_a_) They cannot thus influence men, since they are not addressed to men, +are not the rule of human action, and become known only after the event. +This objection is therefore the mere excuse of indolence and disobedience. + + + Men rarely make this excuse in any enterprise in which their hopes + and their interests are enlisted. It is mainly in matters of + religion that men use the divine decrees as an apology for their + sloth and inaction. The passengers on an ocean steamer do not deny + their ability to walk to starboard or to larboard, upon the plea + that they are being carried to their destination by forces beyond + their control. Such a plea would be still more irrational in a + case where the passengers' inaction, as in case of fire, might + result in destruction to the ship. + + +(_b_) The objection confounds the decrees of God with fate. But it is to +be observed that fate is unintelligent, while the decrees are framed by a +personal God in infinite wisdom; fate is indistinguishable from material +causation and leaves no room for human freedom, while the decrees exclude +all notion of physical necessity; fate embraces no moral ideas or ends, +while the decrees make these controlling in the universe. + + + North British Rev., April, 1870--"Determinism and predestination + spring from premises which lie in quite separate regions of + thought. The predestinarian is obliged by his theology to admit + the existence of a free will in God, and, as a matter of fact, he + does admit it in the devil. But the final consideration which puts + a great gulf between the determinist and the predestinarian is + this, that the latter asserts the reality of the vulgar notion of + moral desert. Even if he were not obliged by his interpretation of + Scripture to assert this, he would be obliged to assert it in + order to help out his doctrine of eternal reprobation." + + Hawthorne expressed his belief in human freedom when be said that + destiny itself had often been worsted in the attempt to get him + out to dinner. Benjamin Franklin, in his Autobiography, quotes the + Indian's excuse for getting drunk: "The Great Spirit made all + things for some use, and whatsoever use they were made for, to + that use they must be put. The Great Spirit made rum for Indians + to get drunk with, and so it must be." Martha, in Isabel Carnaby, + excuses her breaking of dishes by saying: "It seems as if it was + to be. It is the thin edge of the wedge that in time will turn + again and rend you." Seminary professor: "Did a man ever die + before his time?" Seminary student: "I never knew of such a case." + The decrees of God, considered as God's all-embracing plan, leave + room for human freedom. + + +(_c_) The objection ignores the logical relation between the decree of the +end and the decree of the means to secure it. The decrees of God not only +ensure the end to be obtained, but they ensure free human action as +logically prior thereto. All conflict between the decrees and human +exertion must therefore be apparent and not real. Since consciousness and +Scripture assure us that free agency exists, it must exist by divine +decree; and though we may be ignorant of the method in which the decrees +are executed, we have no right to doubt either the decrees or the freedom. +They must be held to be consistent, until one of them is proved to be a +delusion. + + + The man who carries a vase of gold-fish does not prevent the fish + from moving unrestrainedly within the vase. The double track of a + railway enables a formidable approaching train to slip by without + colliding with our own. Our globe takes us with it, as it rushes + around the sun, yet we do our ordinary work without interruption. + The two movements which at first sight seem inconsistent with each + other are really parts of one whole. God's plan and man's effort + are equally in harmony. Myers, Human Personality, 2:272, speaks of + "molecular motion amid molar calm." + + Dr. Duryea: "The way of life has two fences. There is an Arminian + fence to keep us out of Fatalism; and there is a Calvinistic fence + to keep us out of Pelagianism. Some good brethren like to walk on + the fences. But it is hard in that way to keep one's balance. And + it is needless, for there is plenty of room between the fences. + For my part I prefer to walk in the road." Archibald Alexander's + statement is yet better: "Calvinism is the broadest of systems. It + regards the divine sovereignty and the freedom of the human will + as the two sides of a roof which come together at a ridgepole + above the clouds. Calvinism accepts both truths. A system which + denies either one of the two has only half a roof over its head." + + Spurgeon, Autobiography, 1:176, and The Best Bread, 109--"The + system of truth revealed in the Scriptures is not simply one + straight line but two, and no man will ever get a right view of + the gospel until he knows how to look at the two lines at once.... + These two facts [of divine sovereignty and of human freedom] are + parallel lines; I cannot make them unite, but you cannot make them + cross each other." John A. Broadus: "You can see only two sides of + a building at once; if you go around it, you see two different + sides, but the first two are hidden. This is true if you are on + the ground. But if you get up upon the roof or in a balloon, you + can see that there are four sides, and you can see them all + together. So our finite minds can take in sovereignty and freedom + alternately, but not simultaneously. God from above can see them + both, and from heaven we too may be able to look down and see." + + +(_d_) Since the decrees connect means and ends together, and ends are +decreed only as the result of means, they encourage effort instead of +discouraging it. Belief in God's plan that success shall reward toil, +incites to courageous and persevering effort. Upon the very ground of +God's decree, the Scripture urges us to the diligent use of means. + + + God has decreed the harvest only as the result of man's labor in + sowing and reaping; God decrees wealth to the man who works and + saves; so answers are decreed to prayer, and salvation to faith. + Compare Paul's declaration of God's purpose (_Acts 27:22, + 24--_"there shall be no loss of life among you.... God hath granted + thee all them that sail with thee") with his warning to the + centurion and sailors to use the means of safety (_verse + 31--_"Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved"). See + also _Phil. 2:12, 13--_"work out your own salvation with fear and + trembling, for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to + work, for his good pleasure"; _Eph. 2:10--_"we are his workmanship, + created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared + that we should walk in them"; _Deut. 29:29--_"the secret things + belong unto Jehovah our God: but the things that are revealed + belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all + the words of this law." See Bennet Tyler, Memoir and Lectures, + 252-354. + + _Ps. 59:10 (A. V.)--_"The God of my mercy shall prevent me"--shall + anticipate, or go before, me; _Is. 65:24--_"before they call, I + will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear"; _Ps. + 23:2--_"He leadeth me"; _John 10:3--_"calleth his own sheep by name, + and leadeth them out." These texts describe prevenient grace in + prayer, in conversion, and in Christian work. Plato called reason + and sensibility a mismatched pair, one of which was always getting + ahead of the other. Decrees and freedom _seem_ to be mismatched, + but they are not so. Even Jonathan Edwards, with his deterministic + theory of the will, could, in his sermon on Pressing into the + Kingdom, insist on the use of means, and could appeal to men as if + they had the power to choose between the motives of self and of + God. God's sovereignty and human freedom are like the positive and + the negative poles of the magnet,--they are inseparable from one + another, and are both indispensable elements in the attraction of + the gospel. + + Peter Damiani, the great monk-cardinal, said that the sin he found + it hardest to uproot was his disposition to laughter. The homage + paid to asceticism is the homage paid to the conqueror. But not + all conquests are worthy of homage. Better the words of Luther: + "If our God may make excellent large pike and good Rhenish wine, I + may very well venture to eat and drink. Thou mayest enjoy every + pleasure in the world that is not sinful; thy God forbids thee + not, but rather wills it. And it is pleasing to the dear God + whenever thou rejoicest or laughest from the bottom of thy heart." + But our freedom has its limits. Martha Baker Dunn: "A man fishing + for pickerel baits his hook with a live minnow and throws him into + the water. The little minnow seems to be swimming gaily at his own + free will, but just the moment he attempts to move out of his + appointed course he begins to realize that there is a hook in his + back. That is what we find out when we try to swim against the + stream of God's decrees." + + +3. That they make God the author of sin. + + +To this we reply: + +(_a_) They make God, not the author of sin, but the author of free beings +who are themselves the authors of sin. God does not decree efficiently to +work evil desires or choices in men. He decrees sin only in the sense of +decreeing to create and preserve those who will sin; in other words, he +decrees to create and preserve human wills which, in their own self-chosen +courses, will be and do evil. In all this, man attributes sin to himself +and not to God, and God hates, denounces, and punishes sin. + + + Joseph's brethren were none the less wicked for the fact that God + meant their conduct to result in good (_Gen. 50:20_). Pope Leo X + and his indulgences brought on the Reformation, but he was none + the less guilty. Slaveholders would have been no more excusable, + even if they had been able to prove that the negro race was cursed + in the curse of Canaan (_Gen. 9:25--_"Cursed be Canaan; a servant + of servants shall he be unto his brethren"). Fitch, in Christian + Spectator, 3:601--"There can be and is a purpose of God which is + not an _efficient_ purpose. It embraces the voluntary acts of + moral beings, without creating those acts by divine efficiency." + See Martineau, Study, 2:107, 136. + + _Mat. 26:24--_"The Son of man goeth even as it is written of him: + but woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! + good were it for that man if he had not been born." It was + appointed that Christ should suffer, but that did not make men + less free agents, nor diminish the guilt of their treachery and + injustice. Robert G. Ingersoll asked: "Why did God create the + devil?" We reply that God did not create the devil,--it was the + devil who made the devil. God made a holy and free spirit who + abused his liberty, himself created sin, and so made himself a + devil. + + Pfleiderer, Philos. Religion, 1:299--"Evil has been referred to 1. + an extra-divine principle--to one or many evil spirits, or to fate, + or to matter--at all events to a principle limiting the divine + power; 2. a want or defect in the Deity himself, either his + imperfect wisdom or his imperfect goodness; 3. human culpability, + either a universal imperfection of human nature, or particular + transgressions of the first men." The third of these explanations + is the true one: the first is irrational; the second is + blasphemous. Yet this second is the explanation of Omar Khayyam, + Rubaiyat, stanzas 80, 81--"Oh Thou, who didst with pitfall and with + gin Beset the road I was to wander in, Thou wilt not with + predestined evil round Enmesh, and then impute my fall to sin. Oh + Thou, who man of baser earth didst make, And ev'n with Paradise + devise the snake: For all the sin wherewith the face of man Is + blackened--man's forgiveness give--and take!" And David Harum + similarly says: "If I've done anything to be sorry for, I'm + willing to be forgiven." + + +(_b_) The decree to permit sin is therefore not an efficient but a +permissive decree, or a decree to permit, in distinction from a decree to +produce by his own efficiency. No difficulty attaches to such a decree to +permit sin, which does not attach to the actual permission of it. But God +does actually permit sin, and it must be right for him to permit it. It +must therefore be right for him to decree to permit it. If God's holiness +and wisdom and power are not impugned by the actual existence of moral +evil, they are not impugned by the original decree that it should exist. + + + Jonathan Edwards, Works, 2:100--"The sun is not the _cause_ of the + darkness that follows its setting, but only the _occasion_"; + 254--"If by the author of sin be meant the sinner, the agent, or + the actor of sin, or the doer of a wicked thing--so it would be a + reproach and blasphemy to suppose God to be the author of sin.... + But if by author of sin is meant the permitter or non-hinderer of + sin, and at the same time a disposer of the state of events in + such a manner, for wise, holy, and most excellent ends and + purposes, _that sin_, if it be permitted and not hindered, _will + most certainly follow_, I do not deny that God is the author of + sin: it is no reproach to the Most High to be _thus_ the author of + sin." On the objection that the doctrine of decrees imputes to God + two wills, and that he has foreordained what he has forbidden, see + Bennet Tyler, Memoir and Lectures, 250-252--"A ruler may forbid + treason; but his command does not oblige him to do all in his + power to prevent disobedience to it. It may promote the good of + his kingdom to suffer the treason to be committed, and the traitor + to be punished according to law. That in view of this resulting + good he chooses not to prevent the treason, does not imply any + contradiction or opposition of will in the monarch." + + An ungodly editor excused his vicious journalism by saying that he + was not ashamed to describe anything which Providence had + permitted to happen. But "permitted" here had an implication of + causation. He laid the blame of the evil upon Providence. He was + ashamed to describe many things that were good and which God + actually caused, while he was not ashamed to describe the immoral + things which God did not cause, but only permitted men to cause. + In this sense we may assent to Jonathan Edwards's words: "The + divine Being is not the author of sin, but only disposes things in + such a manner that sin will certainly ensue." These words are + found in his treatise on Original Sin. In his Essay on Freedom of + the Will, he adds a doctrine of causation which we must repudiate: + "The essence of virtue and vice, as they exist in the disposition + of the heart, and are manifested in the acts of the will, lies not + in their _Cause_ but in their _Nature_." We reply that sin could + not be condemnable in its nature, if God and not man were its + cause. + + Robert Browning, Mihrab Shah: "Wherefore should any evil hap to + man--From ache of flesh to agony of soul--Since God's All-mercy + mates All-potency? Nay, why permits he evil to himself--man's sin, + accounted such? Suppose a world purged of all pain, with fit + inhabitant--Man pure of evil in thought, word and deed--were it not + well? Then, wherefore otherwise?" Fairbairn answers the question, + as follows, in his Christ in Modern Theology, 456--"Evil once + intended may be vanquished by being allowed; but were it hindered + by an act of annihilation, then the victory would rest with the + evil which had compelled the Creator to retrace his steps. And, to + carry the prevention backward another stage, if the possibility of + evil had hindered the creative action of God, then he would have + been, as it were, overcome by its very shadow. But why did he + create a being capable of sinning? Only so could he create a being + capable of obeying. The ability to do good implies the capability + of doing evil. The engine can neither obey nor disobey, and the + creature who was without this double ability might be a machine, + but could be no child. Moral perfection can be attained, but + cannot be created; God can make a being capable of moral action, + but not a being with all the fruits of moral action garnered + within him." + + +(_c_) The difficulty is therefore one which in substance clings to all +theistic systems alike--the question why moral evil is permitted under the +government of a God infinitely holy, wise, powerful, and good. This +problem is, to our finite powers, incapable of full solution, and must +remain to a great degree shrouded in mystery. With regard to it we can +only say: + +Negatively,--that God does not permit moral evil because he is not +unalterably opposed to sin; nor because moral evil was unforeseen and +independent of his will; nor because he could not have prevented it in a +moral system. Both observation and experience, which testify to multiplied +instances of deliverance from sin without violation of the laws of man's +being, forbid as to limit the power of God. + +Positively,--we seem constrained to say that God permits moral evil because +moral evil, though in itself abhorrent to his nature, is yet the incident +of a system adapted to his purpose of self-revelation; and further, +because it is his wise and sovereign will to institute and maintain this +system of which moral evil is an incident, rather than to withhold his +self-revelation or to reveal himself through another system in which moral +evil should be continually prevented by the exercise of divine power. + + + There are four questions which neither Scripture nor reason + enables us completely to solve and to which we may safely say that + only the higher knowledge of the future state will furnish the + answers. These questions are, first, how can a holy God permit + moral evil? secondly, how could a being created pure ever fall? + thirdly, how can we be responsible for inborn depravity? fourthly, + how could Christ justly suffer? The first of these questions now + confronts us. A complete theodicy ({~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, God, and {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}, justice) + would be a vindication of the justice of God in permitting the + natural and moral evil that exists under his government. While a + complete theodicy is beyond our powers, we throw some light upon + God's permission of moral evil by considering (1) that freedom of + will is necessary to virtue; (2) that God suffers from sin more + than does the sinner; (3) that, with the permission of sin, God + provided a redemption; and, (4) that God will eventually overrule + all evil for good. + + It is possible that the elect angels belong to a moral system in + which sin is prevented by constraining motives. We cannot deny + that God could prevent sin in a moral system. But it is very + doubtful whether God could prevent sin in the _best_ moral system. + The most perfect freedom is indispensable to the attainment of the + highest virtue. Spurgeon: "There could have been no moral + government without permission to sin. God could have created + blameless puppets, but they could have had no virtue." Behrends: + "If moral beings were incapable of perversion, man would have had + all the virtue of a planet,--that is, no virtue at all." Sin was + permitted, then, only because it could be overruled for the + greatest good. This greatest good, we may add, is not simply the + highest nobility and virtue of the creature, but also the + revelation of the Creator. But for sin, God's justice and God's + mercy alike would have been unintelligible to the universe. E. G. + Robinson: "God could not have revealed his character so well + without moral evil as with moral evil." + + Robert Browning, Christmas Eve, tells us that it was God's plan to + make man in his own image: "To create man, and then leave him + Able, his own word saith, to grieve him; But able to glorify him + too, As a mere machine could never do, That prayed or praised, all + unaware Of its fitness for aught but praise or prayer, Made + perfect as a thing of course." Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 268-270, + 324, holds that sin and wickedness is an absolute evil, but an + evil permitted to exist because the effacement of it would mean + the effacement at the same time both for God and man, of the + possibility of reaching the highest spiritual good. See also + Martineau, Study of Religion, 2:108; Momerie, Origin of Evil; St. + Clair, Evil Physical and Moral; Voysey, Mystery of Pain, Death and + Sin. + + C. G. Finney, Skeletons of a Course of Theological Studies, 26, + 27--"Infinite goodness, knowledge and power imply only that, if a + universe were made, it would be the best that was naturally + possible." To say that God could not be the author of a universe + in which there is so much of evil, he says, "assumes that a better + universe, upon the whole, was a natural possibility. It assumes + that a universe of moral beings could, under a moral government + administered in the wisest and best manner, be wholly restrained + from sin; but this needs proof, and never can be proved.... The + best possible universe may not be the best conceivable universe. + Apply the legal maxim, 'The defendant is to have the benefit of + the doubt, and that in proportion to the established character of + his reputation.' There is so much clearly indicating the + benevolence of God, that we may _believe_ in his benevolence, + where we cannot _see_ it." + + For advocacy of the view that God cannot prevent evil in a moral + system, see Birks, Difficulties of Belief, 17; Young, The Mystery, + or Evil not from God; Bledsoe, Theodicy; N. W. Taylor, Moral + Government, 1:288-349; 2:327-356. According to Dr. Taylor's view, + God has not a complete control over the moral universe; moral + agents can do wrong under every possible influence to prevent it; + God prefers, all things considered, that all his creatures should + be holy and happy, and does all in his power to make them so; the + existence of sin is not on the whole for the best; sin exists + because God cannot prevent it in a moral system; the blessedness + of God is actually impaired by the disobedience of his creatures. + For criticism of these views, see Tyler, Letters on the New Haven + Theology, 129, 219. Tyler argues that election and non-election + imply power in God to prevent sin; that _permitting_ is not mere + _submitting_ to something which he could not possibly prevent. We + would add that as a matter of fact God has preserved holy angels, + and that there are "just men" who have been "made perfect" (_Heb. + 12:23_) without violating the laws of moral agency. We infer that + God could have so preserved Adam. The history of the church leads + us to believe that there is no sinner so stubborn that God cannot + renew his heart,--even a Saul can be turned into a Paul. We + hesitate therefore to ascribe limits to God's power. While Dr. + Taylor held that God could not prevent sin in _a_ moral system, + that is, in _any_ moral system, Dr. Park is understood to hold the + greatly preferable view that God cannot prevent sin in the _best_ + moral system. Flint, Christ's Kingdom upon Earth, 59--"The + alternative is, not evil or no evil, but evil or the miraculous + prevention of evil." See Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:406-422. + + But even granting that the present is the best moral system, and + that in such a system evil cannot be prevented consistently with + God's wisdom and goodness, the question still remains how the + decree to initiate such a system can consist with God's + fundamental attribute of holiness. Of this insoluble mystery we + must say as Dr. John Brown, in Spare Hours, 273, says of Arthur H. + Hallam's Theodicaea Novissima: "As was to be expected, the + tremendous subject remains where he found it. His glowing love and + genius cast a gleam here and there across its gloom, but it is as + brief as the lightning in the collied night--the jaws of darkness + do devour it up--this secret belongs to God. Across its deep and + dazzling darkness, and from out its abyss of thick cloud, 'all + dark, dark, irrecoverably dark,' no steady ray has ever or will + ever come; over its face its own darkness must brood, till he to + whom alone the darkness and the light are both alike, to whom the + night shineth as the day, says 'Let there be light!' " + + We must remember, however, that the decree of redemption is as old + as the decree of the apostasy. The provision of salvation in + Christ shows at how great a cost to God was permitted the fall of + the race in Adam. He who ordained sin ordained also an atonement + for sin and a way of escape from it. Shedd, Dogm. Theol., + 1:388--"The permission of sin has cost God more than it has man. No + sacrifice and suffering on account of sin has been undergone by + any man, equal to that which has been endured by an incarnate God. + This shows that God is not acting selfishly in permitting it." On + the permission of moral evil, see Butler, Analogy, Bohn's ed., + 177, 232--"The Government of God, and Christianity, as Schemes + imperfectly Comprehended"; Hill, System of Divinity, 528-559; + Ulrici, art.: Theodicee, in Herzog's Encyclopaedie; Cunningham, + Historical Theology, 2:416-489; Patton, on Retribution and the + Divine Purpose, in Princeton Rev., 1878:16-23; Bib. Sac, + 20:471-488; Wood, The Witness of Sin. + + + +IV. Concluding Remarks. + + +1. Practical uses of the doctrine of decrees. + + +(_a_) It inspires humility by its representation of God's unsearchable +counsels and absolute sovereignty. (_b_) It teaches confidence in him who +has wisely ordered our birth, our death, and our surroundings, even to the +minutest particulars, and has made all things work together for the +triumph of his kingdom and the good of those who love him; (_c_) It shows +the enemies of God that, as their sins have been foreseen and provided for +in God's plan, so they can never, while remaining in their sins, hope to +escape their decreed and threatened penalty. (_d_) It urges the sinner to +avail himself of the appointed means of grace, if he would be counted +among the number of those for whom God has decreed salvation. + + + This doctrine is one of those advanced teachings of Scripture + which requires for its understanding a matured mind and a deep + experience. The beginner in the Christian life may not see its + value or even its truth, but with increasing years it will become + a staff to lean upon. In times of affliction, obloquy, and + persecution, the church has found in the decrees of God, and in + the prophecies in which these decrees are published, her strong + consolation. It is only upon the basis of the decrees that we can + believe that "all things work together for good"_ (Rom. 8:28)_ or + pray "Thy will be done"_ (Mat. 6:10)_. + + It is a striking evidence of the truth of the doctrine that even + Arminians pray and sing like Calvinists. Charles Wesley, the + Arminian, can write: "He wills that I should holy be--What can + withstand his will? The counsel of his grace in me He surely will + fulfill." On the Arminian theory, prayer that God will soften hard + hearts is out of place,--the prayer should be offered to the + sinner; for it is his will, not God's, that is in the way of his + salvation. And yet this doctrine of Decrees, which at first sight + might seem to discourage effort, is the greatest, in fact is the + only effectual, incentive to effort. For this reason Calvinists + have been the most strenuous advocates of civil liberty. Those who + submit themselves most unreservedly to the sovereignty of God are + most delivered from the fear of man. Whitefield the Calvinist, and + not Wesley the Arminian, originated the great religious movement + in which the Methodist church was born (see McFetridge, Calvinism + in History, 153), and Spurgeon's ministry has been as fruitful in + conversions as Finney's. See Froude, Essay on Calvinism; Andrew + Fuller, Calvinism and Socinianism compared in their Practical + Effects; Atwater, Calvinism in Doctrine and Life, in Princeton + Review, 1876:73; J. A. Smith, Historical Lectures. + + Calvinism logically requires the separation of Church and State: + though Calvin did not see this, the Calvinist Roger Williams did. + Calvinism logically requires a republican form of government: + Calvin introduced laymen into the government of the church, and + the same principle requires civil liberty as its correlate. + Calvinism holds to individualism and the direct responsibility of + the individual to God. In the Netherlands, in Scotland, in + England, in America, Calvinism has powerfully influenced the + development of civil liberty. Ranke: "John Calvin was virtually + the founder of America." Motley: "To the Calvinists more than to + any other class of men, the political liberties of Holland, + England and America are due." John Fiske, The Beginnings of New + England: "Perhaps not one of the mediaeval popes was more despotic + than Calvin; but it is not the less true that the promulgation of + his theology was one of the longest steps that mankind have taken + towards personal freedom.... It was a religion fit to inspire men + who were to be called to fight for freedom, whether in the marshes + of the Netherlands or on the moors of Scotland." + + AEsop, when asked what was the occupation of Zeus, replied: "To + humble the exalted and to exalt the humble." "I accept the + universe," said Margaret Fuller. Some one reported this remark to + Thomas Carlyle. "Gad! she'd better!" he replied. Dr. John Watson + (Ian McLaren): "The greatest reinforcement religion could have in + our time would be a return to the ancient belief in the + sovereignty of God." Whittier: "All is of God that is and is to + be, And God is good. Let this suffice us still Resting in + childlike trust upon his will Who moves to his great ends + unthwarted by the ill." Every true minister preaches Arminianism + and prays Calvinism. This means simply that there is more, in + God's love and in God's purposes, than man can state or + comprehend. Beecher called Spurgeon a camel with one + hump--Calvinism. Spurgeon called Beecher a camel without any hump: + "He does not know what he believes, and you never know where to + find him." + + Arminians sing: "Other refuge have I none; Hangs my helpless soul + on thee"; yet John Wesley wrote to the Calvinist Toplady, the + author of the hymn: "Your God is my devil." Calvinists replied + that it was better to have the throne of the universe vacant than + to have it filled by such a pitiful nonentity as the Arminians + worshiped. It was said of Lord Byron that all his life he believed + in Calvinism, and hated it. Oliver Wendell Holmes similarly, in + all his novels except Elsie Venner, makes the orthodox thinblooded + and weakkneed, while his heretics are all strong in body. Dale, + Ephesians, 52--"Of the two extremes, the suppression of man which + was the offense of Calvinism, and the suppression of God which was + the offense against which Calvinism so fiercely protested, the + fault and error of Calvinism was the nobler and grander.... The + most heroic forms of human courage, strength and righteousness + have been found in men who in their theology seemed to deny the + possibility of human virtue and made the will of God the only real + force in the universe." + + +2. True method of preaching the doctrine. + + +(_a_) We should most carefully avoid exaggeration or unnecessarily +obnoxious statement. (_b_) We should emphasize the fact that the decrees +are not grounded in arbitrary will, but in infinite wisdom. (_c_) We +should make it plain that whatever God does or will do, he must from +eternity have purposed to do. (_d_) We should illustrate the doctrine so +far as possible by instances of completeness and far-sightedness in human +plans of great enterprises. (_e_) We may then make extended application of +the truth to the encouragement of the Christian and the admonition of the +unbeliever. + + + For illustrations of foresight, instance Louis Napoleon's planning + the Suez Canal, and declaring his policy as Emperor, long before + he ascended the throne of France. For instances of practical + treatment of the theme in preaching, see Bushnell, Sermon on Every + Man's Life a Plan of God, in Sermons for the New Life; Nehemiah + Adams, Evenings with the Doctrines, 243; Spurgeon's Sermon on _Ps. + 44:3--_"Because thou hadst a favor unto them." Robert Browning, + Rabbi Ben Ezra: "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, + The last of life, for which the first was made: Our times are in + his hand Who saith 'A whole I planned, Youth shows but half; trust + God: See all nor be afraid!' " + + Shakespeare, King Lear, 1:2--"This is the excellent foppery of the + world that when we are sick in fortune (often the surfeit of our + own behavior) we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon + and the stars, as if we were villains by necessity, fools by + heavenly compulsion, and all that we are evil in by a divine + thrusting on; an admirable evasion of man to lay his disposition + to the charge of a star!" All's Well: "Our remedies oft in + ourselves do lie Which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky Gives + us free scope; only doth backward pull Our slow designs, when we + ourselves are dull." Julius Caesar, 1:2--"Men at some time are + masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our + stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings." + + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY (VOLUME 1 OF 3)*** + + + +CREDITS + + +October 25, 2013 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by Colin Bell, CCEL, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + + + +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 44035.txt or 44035.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/4/0/3/44035/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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