Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 586

562

TESTIMONIUM SPIRITUS SANCTI, OR

§ 86.

with the faithful of the Okl Covenant.

[Div. Ill

In the life-conscious-

ness of that sacred circle the positive conviction prevails, that

we have

a graphically inspired Scripture, on

lean and by which

we

live

;

nor accidental, but necessary.

found

as

and that

which we

this is not contingent,

This faith in the Scripture

is

an indispensable and an entirely natural component

part in the life-consciousness of this circle.

And when

in

experience the riches of the Scripture contents become ever

more precious to the heart, resistance is no longer possible. The power of assimilation is too strong, the general unsanctified human consciousness loses all its power, and at length the believer must accept the equally general, but now sayictified, human consciousness, including this component part of its

content.

first

If then, finally, the believer goes

stage in his Christian

back to the

to his personal faith in his

life, i.e.

Saviour, and realizes that Christ himself has presented the

—

Holy Scripture which the common opinion in the communion of saints has adopted in its world of thought as theopneustic, and of the Divine truth of which, thanks to the " Witness of the Holy Spirit," he is himself firmly con-

vinced

—

Holy Spirit, the assurance immovably established, an^ to,

as the product of the

of his faith

on

this point

is

him the Scripture itself is the principium, i.e., the startingpoint, from which proceeds all knowledge of God, i.e. all theology.

In this sense the Holy Scripture was the principium of

Theology to our fathers, and us. Hence this principium, from other premises, but is all

in the

same sense

as such, itself the

this does not

dismiss the fact, that objections, derived from the

norma

this to

premise, from which

Of course

other conclusions are drawn.

it is

can be no conclusion

common

of our thought, can still be entered against the

Scripture and

its

alleged character

;

Holy

in this, indeed, every one

should be left free, and these objections it is the task of Theology squarely to face. This, however, can be considered only in the science of the

canon (disciplina canonicae) and the We merely observe that critical task should not be impeded in

science of the text (ars textualis).

on the one hand

this

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