Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 276

252

§ 59.

THE DEPENDENT CHARACTER

[Div. Ill

but essential to Theology. As soon as this is no more Theology, even though an investigation of an entirely different kind still adorns itself In his entire Theology the with the theological name. Theologian must stand in the presence of God as his God, and as soon as for a single instant he looks away from the living God, in order to engage himself with an idea about God over which he will sit as judge, he is lost in phrasetiling accidental,

character

is lost,

there

ology, because the object of his

knowledge has already van-

As you cannot

ished from his view.

kneel in prayer before

any other way except as dependent upon Him, so also as Theologian you can receive no knowledge of God when you refuse to receive your knowledge of Him in absolute dependence upon Him. This deep sense of dependence has ever induced our real your

God

as worshipper, in

days of their power, to

theologians, in the

j)lace

all

our

knowledge of God as ectypal Theology, in absolute dependence upon the self-knoivledge of God, which they called archetypal Theology.

As

the ectype

is

absolutely depend-

archetype, is governed and formed by it, would say, all our knowledge of God is absolutely governed by the knowledge which God has of HimThus they taught that we of ourselves can never enter self. into the holy place of the Lord, to examine it and gather knowledge concerning it, but that it behooves us to take our stand on this side of the veil, and to wait for what God Himself will communicate to us from this holy place and from behind this veil. This revelation or communica-

ent upon the thus, they

tion,

which

analyze,

is

imparted to our knowledge,

systematize and

sciousness

;

but in

all

cast

into

we may

consider,

the form of our con-

these operations

all

active investiga-

tion after what is God's remains excluded, all knowledge remains received knowledge, and it is not God Himself, but the knoivledge He has revealed to us concerning Himself

which constitutes the material Hence ectypal Theology.

The cannot

for theological investigation.

objection raised against this division and appellation stand.

It

has

been

said,

that

in

this

way we

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