Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 572

548

§ 85.

GRAPHICAL INSPIRATIOX

[Div. Ill

between the things of which he had entire and

partial cer-

tainty, (3) that he has carefully investigated once

more

all

things from the beginning, (4) that he is particularly guided b}" the tradition of ear- and eye-witnesses, and (5) that then

only he deemed himself competent to write a narrative of these things in good order (/ca^e|^9).

This excludes every ideaf

of a mechanical instillation of the contents of his gospel, andl

may

be accepted as the rule followed by each of the histori-^

Of course

ographers.

tive of the creation

the question of the origin of the narra-

cannot be included or classed under this

No man was present at God Himself, who has been

rule.

but

the creation.

Hence no one

He brought can be the author of what Ave know concerning it. this is taken entirely apart from the closer distinction, present ever since

it to pass,

And

whether the

first

man had received moon and

of the paradise, of sun,

that insight into the origin stars, or

whether

this

was

granted to the Church at a later period, after the separation from the Heathen. For all those things, on the other hand,

which happened

to or

by man, which were matters of human

experience, seen and heard, transmitted by oral tradition, and

committed

to writing in

whatever way, the sacred historiog-

rapher followed the ordinary method, and discovered at ever}^ turn the

phy

still

imperfect standpoint at which the historiogra-

of the times stood.

In their writings

it is

seen that they

consulted tradition, inserted sections from existing works,

examined genealogies and other documents, and collected their material in this entirely natural way. This was the first task of their mind. Then came the second task, of making choice between different traditions and diverging documents. In the third place was added the more important task of understanding the invisible motive of this history,

and

of observing in

it

the doings of God.

And

finally

committing to writing the representation of the past which in this way had formed their

latest

task consisted

minds. by graphic inspiration.

itself in their

And

in

this brings to light

what we mean

where providentially good

tra-f Even and trustworthy documents were within reach, theirl attention had to be directed to them. They needed guidance\

dition

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