Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 284

260

ECTYPAL THEOLOGY

§ 00.

[Div. Ill

God cannot be glorified by anything that comes from without. By His own perfections alone can He be glorified. Hence creation itself is primarily nothing else than a revelation of the power of God; of the God Alinightt/, who as such is the Creator of heaven and earth. If this is true of creation, and of the self-revelation of God which was effected in the creation, this must be true of all revelation, simply because the cosmos, and every creature in the cosmos, and all that is creaturely, are given If you deny this, you make an essential in the creation. distinction between all further revelation and the revelation in creation you place it as a second revelation mechanically alongside of the first; and lapse again into the irreligious, If, on the intellectualistic interpretation of revelation. other hand, further revelation is not taken except in organic relation to the revelation given in creation, and thus is postulated by it, the motive of creation becomes of itself the motive of its manifestation; and all later revelation must likewise be granted to have been given us, not for our sake, but in the last instance for God's own sake. For though it

ficution.

to

Him

;

is

self-evident that the

manner

of operation of this revela-

tion in every concrete case adapts itself to the disposition of

the creature, and in this creature reaches

yet in the last instance in this operation fies its

upon

the creaturely

knowledge

knowledge

God

of

God

is

its

only completes

temporal end,

its

when

course

or enriching of this creature

When

Creator.

it

it

glori-

this revelation, therefore, leads to

of God, i.e. ectypal Theology, this not given primarily for our benefit, but

His sovereignty takes pleasure in being known of His creature ; which truth is thus formulated in Holy Scripture, that God doeth all things /or His Name's sake ; sometimes with the additional words: not for your saJces, because

in

—

Israel.

From

this the

second projiosition follows of

itself,

that

Divine Revelation assumes a creature capable of transposing this Revelation into subjective hwivledge of God. Revelation by itself would not be able to realize its aim.

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