Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 75

Chap. IV]

VIEW-POINT HERE TAKEN

§ 31.

51

upon the respect which the writer of this Encyclopedia is also compelled to pay to the gigantic labors of Lutheran, Romish> and other theologians. His declaration but intends to make it clearly known, that he himself cannot stand indifferently to his personal faith, and to his consequent confession concerning the object of Theology^ and therefore does not hesitate to state it as his conviction that the Reformed Theology with respect to this has grasped the truth most firmly. Does this put a confessional stamp upon this Encyclopedia ? By no means; since " confessional " and " scientific" are heterogeneous conceptions.

" Confessional "

is

the

name

that belongs to the several streams in the historical life of the Church, and is no distinguishing mark for your manner scientific

of

treatment of the theological material.

The

difference lies elsewhere. of the last century

The

middle impulse from the

fact is that until the

Theology received

its

Church, in consequence of which Theology divided itself into groups which maintained their relation to the groupings of Since that churches according to their confessions. time, however. Theology has not allowed itself to be governed by the life of the Church, but by the mighty developthe

of philosophy, and consequently we scarcely speak in our days of a Lutheran, Romish, or Reformed Theology, but of a rationalistic, a mediating, and an orthodox Theology. With this custom this Encyclopedia does not sympathize, but takes

ment

it

as a

and bound

matter of course that even as the medical, juridical,

philological

sciences,

the

theological

science

also

is

shows itself in its own circle to its object such Every other grouping of in life; i.e. in casu the Church. theological schools rests upon a philosophical abstraction which really ranks Theology under philosophy or under history and ethnology, and in that way destroys it as an independent science. Hence our aim is to seek the object to examine no piece of Theology again in its native soil of polished cedar in the wall, but the tree itself on Lebanon and in this way also to study the object of Theology in the history of the Church. But even thus the choice of the Reformed stamp is not as this

;

;

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