Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 578

554

TESTIMONIUM SPIRITUS SANCTI, OR

§ 86.

An

neglected.

[Div. Ill

unpardonable mistake, however, was com-

mitted, from the ethical side, starting-point (So? jioC irov

when

o-tco),

this

was indicated

and, worse

still,

left to this so-called " faith of the believers " to

as the

when

it

was

decide what

should be accepted from the Scripture, and what was to be rejected from its content. To be able to furnish such a testi-

mony, the believers must have an authoritative organ, i.e. it must appear as an instituted body. Thus we Avould have come back to Rome's shibboleth, " the Church teaches," Ecdesia docet. Since, on the other hand, " the faith of the believers " was taken, as it voices itself without this organ, all certainty, of course, was wanting, and in the stead of " the

now appeared

faith of the believers," there

of " the faith of the believers," as given by

the interpretation

A

or B.

resulted in the free use of this pleasing title for

all

And

that was

held true by individual ministers and their private

What

thus presented

above

the

this

circles.

an objective, solid basis, ajDpears to have been nothing but a subjective soil of sand. Moreover, in this wise " the believers " as such were exalted Christ.

itself as

For where Christ had

strictest sense to a graphic inspiration of the

" the believers " contradicted

testified

in

the

Old Testament,

Him, declared that

this interpre-

was erroneous, and consequently faith was to be pinned to what was claimed by "the believing circle," and not to what was confessed by Him. The element of truth in this representation is, that the Church forms a link in a twofold way between faith in the inspiration of the Scripture upon the authority of Christ, and faith in this inspiration on the ground of the testimony of the tation

Holy Spirit. In the Church is one of the

first place, it

factors

cannot be denied that the

by which he who formerl}^ stood

brought to Christ. " How shall they believe they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Rom. x. 14). However much regeneration may be an act of God in the heart of the sinner, immediately effected, independently of all instrumental help, no conscious faith on Christ can develop itself from this out of Christ in

him

of

is

whom

"seed of God "

(airepixa Oeov) without preaching,

which

intro-

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