Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 410

386

IS

§ 71.

The same

is

THE NATUBAL PRINCIPIUM ABLE

[Div. Ill

true in part of the apologetic attempt to re-

fute objections raised against the content of our Christian confession, and more particularly against the Holy Scripture as

the principium of theology.

Polemics will never be able to

attain satisfactory results with reference to these points, simply because the spheres of conceptions and convictions, '

from which the argument proceeds on the two sides, are too the result of which is that scarcely a single widely apart concrete point can be broached, which does not involve the whole subject of anthropology and the entire " ErkenntnissIn order, therefore, to make any gain, the general theorie." themselves with such a concrete point should present that data one by one, before the real point in question settled, first be This makes every debate of that sort can be handled. Scarcely has a single step been ventured in constrained. the way of such a controversy before it is felt on both sides that the acknowledgment of a different opinion on this one point would unsettle one's entire life- and world:

If the naturalist grants the break of the chain of natural causes in one point, by acknowledging that a psychic

view. -

^r

or physical miracle has taken place, his entire system is overand, in like manner, if the Christian theologian

(

thrown -

'

1

^' H ''

"

;

acknowledges in one cardinal point the assertions of historical criticism with reference to the Holy Scripture, he thereby loses his grasp upon the whole principium by which By this we do not assert that, with his theology lives. reference to the

Holy

Scripture, there are

not

many

re-

marks that have been made in the economy of the Scripture itself, or between it and cosmic and historic reality outside of it, which, unless our confession is to lose its reasonable character, claim an answer from our side but though these remarks might compel us on logical incongruities, either

;

confession in our turn of a partial agnosticism, or to subject the dogma of inspiration to revision, to us the

to

make

special principium will never lose thereby its characteristic

supremacy

;

just as on the other

hand the most triumphant

solution of the objections raised against it never could, and never can move him, who does not confess this principium, to

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen