Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 327

Chap.

THEOLOGY AS "KNOWLEDGE OF GOD"

I]

theology, it

God at

last has

three times in

Rom.

"given him over," i.

God

has

let

as

303

Paul reiterates

go His hold upon

and in consequence of this desertion of God the curse and of brutishness has come upon paganand now constitutes its real mark. ism, Hence two mistakes have here been made, and two errors Our older theologians have too are to be guarded against. greatly ignored paganism, and have explained it too exclusively from a demoniacal motive, and thereby have not

him

;

of self-degradation

allowed the organic relation to show itself sufficientl}", which unmistakably exists between true and false theology, as the normal and abnormal working" of one and the same impelling principle

while, on the other hand, it is the abandon the antithesis of true and false, to identify the two, and to prefer the form of the process of development to this organic relation. If formerly they failed per defectum, we noAv fail per excessum. And true insight into the organic relation between true Theology and ;

error of our times to

Paganism is only obtained when the antithesis is fully recognized between the positive and negative development of

common

grace. There is here also an antithesis between and degenerate development, which the more they progress, the farther they separate from each other, an antithesis wdiich is in no single particular a lesser one than that between good and evil, as both expressions of the one ethical principle implanted in us all. We do not deny that a process has taken place; only this process is twofold. As at the fork in the road where good and evil separate a twofold process begins, of which one leads to an ever richer revelation of that which is hol}^ and the other to an ever sadder exhibition of that which is demoniacal in true

—

sin,

such also

the

lines

though

of

is

here the case.

true

and

false

From

the times of

theology separate.

this antithesis did not exist before

;

Abraham Not

as

but because at

two manifestations assume each an historic form of its own. And from this point we have on the one hand a development of true theolog}-, which reaches potentially its acme in Christ, and on the other hand also a this point the

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