Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 296

272

§ 60.

ECTYPAL THEOLOGY

[Div. Ill

clearly seen " since the creation of the world, being perceived

through the things that are made." And as to the acquired theology which comes to the individual soul from its relation to the organic unity of humanity, it is evident at once that the Divine is too potent and overwhelming to reveal itself Only in the combination of the whole in one human soul. race of man does this revelation reach its creaturely comWhich could not be so if one man were merely a pleteness. repetition of another, but which leads to that completeness since every individual is a specific variation. Herein also lies tlie ground for the social character of all religion. The knowledge of God is a common possession, all the riches of which can only be enjoyed in the communion of our race. Not, indeed, as if even outside of religion man is a social being, so that of necessity his religion also

is

of a social char-

would reverse the case but because humanit}^ is adapted to reveal God, and from that revelation to attain unto His knowledge, does one complement another, and only by the organic unity, and by the individual in communion with that unity, can the knowledge of God be obtained in a completer and clearer sense. For this reason reference was made not merely to our nature, and to the relation we sustain to one another, but acter, for this

;

run of necessity by human development. Without sin Adam would not have remained what he was, but he and his race would have developed themselves into a higher condition. The process as known in reality may be dominated by sin, but even with a sinless existence there would have been a process of development; and this element must be reckoned with in theologia acquisita. Of course we cannot enter into the particulars of a supposed possibility cut off by sin. This were to lose also to the process or course

ourselves in fiction.

But

(1) that even without sin

in general

human

it

may

be affirmed,

existence would have been

a successive existence in time, and consequently an exist-

ence in the form of a process; (2) that the entire human race was not in existence at once, but could only come successively to life; and (3), as

is

seen from the paradise narra-

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