Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 305

CuAr.

THE FRUIT OF REVELATION

I]

281

turned away from God in cnncrrla, and attaches itself to something creaturely, in which it seeks support against God. If, now, this turning of faith into its opposite stood as a

phenomenon by itself, this faith could onl}- again But such is not the case. That faith turned

psychical

be

made

right.

into its opposite took place in connection with the entire change occasioned in the psychical existence of man, and extended not only to the outward act but even to the root. Recovery of the original working of faith is, therefore, only possible by palingenesis, i.e. by bending right again, from the root up, the direction of his psychical in order from the potential to

become

Potentially,

life.

In the second place this faith, which was originally directed onl}' to the

God

actual.

was now to be directed and thus become faith in Christ. And in the third place this faith, which originally could turn to unfaith, was now to obtain such a manifestation of

in the soul,

God

to the manifestation of

character, that, once grasping

in the flesh,

God

in Christ,

it

should hold

and so far as its fundamental tendency is concerned, would not again turn back. It is not so easy to lay hand on the change, necessitated by sin in the entire scheme of revelation, with reference to the third factor: the logical action. Here, confusion has sprung from the almost exclusively soteriological interpretation of the knowledge of God. It was thought that Revelation was exclusively

fast forever^

intended to save the elect; consequently Revelation could not be understood except as directed to the individual person;

and

view

of special Revela-

way one becomes

at once involved

this has prevented every collective

tion as a whole.

In this

in the insoluble antinomy, that in order to be saved the first fallen

man

in paradise

must already have had

this Revela-

and that therefore came afterward was really superfluous, since that which was sufficient to save Adam ought also to suffice for Isaiah, Augustine and Luther. From this point of view an historical, progressive and an ever increasingly rich revelation is inconceivable. Already in its first form it must be complete and what is added at a later date is superflumis tion in a state of sufficient completeness,

all that

;

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