Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 380

;

356

§69.

between

T]IE KP:LATI0N

[Div. Ill

man^ and that, too., in a special manner. This, and nothing else, is the principium, from which knowledge of God comes to us sinners, and from which also theology That besides this as a science draws its vital power. inspiration there is also manifestation, and that both inspiration and manifestation are related to what, thanks to common grace, has remained in and about us of natural theology, is neither denied by this nor lost from sight, and will appear later on. To prevent misunderstanding, however, the principium must here be taken as simply as possible and then this principium lies in God, in so far as He from his Divine consciousness inspires something into the conImagine this act of God aw'ay; sciousness of the sinner. say that it does not exist; deny this agencj^ which goes out from God and no theology remains. All that remains is but you have no more poetry, conjecture, supposition sinful

;

;

It will

theology.

not do to say "est Deus in nobis, agi-

tante calescimus illo," for this in

your

inner

feelings, a vibration

life,

nothing but an emotion power in your

is

a Divine

of

a something that can very well take place, repeat

and continue, without effecting any knowledge of God in you. For this very reason this inspiration of Grod

itself

into the

human mind,

as often as

it

takes place,

is

sufficient

Who

on earth can know Avhat takes place between God and my heart, but myself; and how can I know that that which works in me goes out from God to unto

itself.

me, except

God Himself

tion concerning this?

gives

The

me

the certainty of convic-

sense of this stands entirely in

with every other primordial sense, such as with the sense of our ego, of our existence, of our life, of our calling, All that of our continuance, of our laws of thought, etc.

line

as a

me in the natural way, to constitute my sense human being, I not merely receive from Him, but by.

Him

alone

God

gives

is it

guaranteed to me.

When

this sense of cer-

my higher energy of life, and end in madness, and no human reasoning can restore to me the lost certainty of my human start-

tainty becomes weak, I

ing-point.

The only

become

sceptical, I lose

difference

here

is,

that the general

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