Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 621

Chap.

Ill]

LIBERTY OF SCIENTLbTC THEOLOGY

§ 92.

597

confession, unless the conviction takes hold of her that

some

part of her confession cannot stand before the bar of the

Word

of

must be

But on the other hand,

God. alive

in its truth

;

the Church's consciousness of firmly rooted, that

gold will court

and and

criticise, if

trial

she

life itself,

her confession

must rest upon and thereby be so it

cannot stand in fear of criticism.

it

The

radically.

also,

and clearness

;

is

and theology

is

Real

not able to try, test

withheld the right to do this freely

history of Scholasticism shows, that

the expression of free thought

is

confession becomes a question of

many

when

choked, and criticism of the life

and death, theology

And on

the other hand, from this nothing fear liberty to of studies, the Church has provided she but do her duty within her own pale. Of course, fails of

her task in

respects.

she must not permit her confession to be attacked or ignored

The Church undertakes the propaganda of and consciousness, and he who does not share her life, or does not think from her world of thought, cannot be her organ. She must also apply Christian discipline, in order to keep the purity of confession intact among her members.

in her pulpits.

her

life

But provided she

is

not behind in

this,

the criticism of theo-

logical science can bring her blessings only.

For

this pro-

vides the constant stimulus to turn back from the confession

Word of God, and so prevents the Church from living on the water in the pitcher, and allowing itself to be cut off from the Fountain whence that water was drawn. A sharp, critical development of theology will ever entail a keener wakefulness of historical-positive theology, to make the Church understand anew the treasure she holds in her creed. In this way also the confessional development of the Church And will not be at a standstill, but be ever making advance. to the

if

for a while negative criticism carries the greatest w^eight,

it

will not last long, since the theologians

the

life of

the

Church

are

bound

who stand

outside

to lose, sooner or later, their

interest in theological studies. If revelation

that

it

were given in a dialectically prepared form, so

consisted of a confession given by

God

Himself, of a

catechism and of a law w^orked out in detailed particulars

;

if

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