The Biblical criticism of the present day - pagina 53

Biblical Criticism of the Present Day.

1904.]

683

unceasing activity of the Holy Spirit with the Word, they have never attributed any higher value to the fides

humana than

of

being a preparative and directing work, and their real power

and actual strength has never sprung from any other source than

tin-

immediate Witness of the Holy

This Witness

Spirit.

of the Holy Spirit was not taken in the Lutheran sense, as of a " Spiriiits Sanctas

and much

i>i

ipsa Scriptnra loquens et tcstificans,"

heavy sense of our present-day theo-

less still in the

logians, as a

harmony

of the reflex of the Spirit in us with the

reflex of the Spirit in the Scripture

which

Spirit

Holy

the

;

but a witness of the Holy

born, as Calvin puts

is

Spirit

who

when

it,

spoke centuries ago through the mouth

my

of the apostles and prophets enters into

supranatural witness imparts to

ance: vine

I,

same God

that

me

and by a

heart,

the indisputable

God-myself, have inspired

this

assur-

Scripture, this di-

Word.

This touches the heart of the question.

He who has He who

ceived that witness stands immovable as a wall.

not received effort of

own

it,

man

And

undulates as a wave of the sea.

to replace this witness of the Spirit

demonstration,

is

every

by one's

sinful, falls short of the glory of

and never accomplishes

its

purpose.

All children of

re-

has

God,

God

re-

ceive this witness at his appointed time, so surely, that even

the ethical theologians

who came

to

life,

after they

had played

through their entire repertoire of negations, had to come back to the church

of our Spirit

ism

;

God

" !

and confess

And

therefore,

it

is

this

" this

is

the

Word

witness of the Holy

which breaks the teeth out of the mouth of

all clerical-

which, after the removal of every middle-link, binds the

soul immediately to

with

that, after all,

that

invaluable

God

;

right

and thereby enriches each layman of

spiritual

liberty,

from which

heroic courage, firmness of character, and real love of freedom

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