Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 416

;

392

§ 72.

UNIVERSALITY OF THIS PRINCIPIUM

[Div. Ill

between the Church as a visible body and at the same time invisible, the more careful distinction between the visible Church as composed of believers (ecclesia visibilis in fidelibus) and the visible church as an instito their distinction

tution (ecclesia visibilis in instituto). in their ecclesiastical law of Christ

believers is

;

may be visible in a who live there, even

established

by these

They did

this,

indeed,

observing thereby that the Church city or village, because of the

while no Church organization

believers,

and that the

ecclesia instituta

only originates by this organization. But in their dogmatics they referred almost exclusively to the general antithesis

between visible and invisible, and thereby could not fail to convey the impression, that by visible Church they merely understood the Church as an institution. Since Rome outdid this, and wholly identified the visible Church with the Church as an institution, the problem could not be solved since the Church as an institution was certainly subjected to the rule of the Word of God and therefore our Reformers observed correctly, that the institute must borrow its guarantee from the Scripture, and not the Scripture its proof from the institute. Transfer this difference to the life of the world, and it will at once be understood. In society at large the natural prijicipium is in force and the institute is the government, which, to be sure, is in the community, but Can the assertion now is ever sharply distinguished from it. ;

be made that the truth of this natural principium is to be determined by the State ? Of course not simply because ;

is an outcome therefore, this Undoubtedly, of the natural principium. upon natural principium can sui3port the State, but not lean

the State, so far as

the State.

On

constituted by man,

it is

the other hand, by general conceptions, and

public opinion derived from these, this natural principium finds its point of support in

case here.

State tute,

is

The Church

is

human

to the natural principium.

founded by man,

is

society.

And

this is the

to the special principium

The Church

as

what the an

insti-

built after the rule of the special

principium, as this speaks to us from the Holy Scripture. Hence the churchly institute can borrow support from the

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