Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 350

326

we

DEFORMATIONS OF THEOLOGY

§ 64.

lack,

and

narrow-mindedness alone will

^elf-sufficient

refuse sucli benefit.

With

[Div. Ill

us irenics go ever hand in hand

Firmly and unshakably we stand in our confession, that the track along Avliich we move is the most accurate known to us, and in virtue of this conviction we

with polemics.

do not hesitate a moment to mark the divergence of the Against all such deformity tracks of others as deformation.

we

direct our polemics.

the fact that

^ve

alone

Christ in the earth;

which operates

But we

are equally conscious of

do not constitute the Church of

that there

is

a conviction of truth

also outside of our circle;

and that

in de-

such deformation divine gifts continue to foster worthy of the name. Hence our irenics. life a theologic To us, therefore, there is no theology as snch, which, exalting itself above all special theologies, is the theology Such a theology would effect at once in the absolute sense. a new confession and call into life a new church organization; simply because one can hold no different conviction

spite of all

as

But this would The Church does not spring

theologian than as church member.

reverse the order of things.

from theology, but theology has its rise in the life of the Church. And if the objection is raised, that in this way theology is robbed of its character of universal validity and thus becomes unscientific, we answer: (1) that for universal validity the acceptance of all individuals is not demanded, but only of those who are receptive to the truth of a matter and are well informed of it (2) that every convinced theologian in the presence of his opponent also appeals from the mind that has been ill-informed (male informatum) to the mind that is to be better informed (melius informandum). The fact that unity of conviction, which is fairly common with the material sciences and rare with the spiritual sciences, is altogether wanting with the highest, viz. theology, is no plea against theology, since it merely shows that, as it touches that which is most tender, it of necessity stands highest, and consequently has most to endure from the ;

ruin worked by sin in our spiritual life. On this ground we maintain the confessional character of

i

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