Encyclopedia of sacred theology - pagina 694

670

THE APPARENT DEFEAT

§ 105.

lacked the holy

and energy

fire

with righteous indignation this

heroism to withstand of duhiess and su-

of

spirit

But the churches and

perficiality.

[Div. Ill

the universities them-

selves were caught in the meshes of this unholy spirit,

men soon saw theologj'-

and what Christian turn was attacked by

in Rationalism the caricature of

ought

And

to be.

this in

Supernaturalism in such a way as to make the entire defeat of Christendom still more humiliating. Pietistic circles, to be sure,

were maintained

in

Lutheran lands, and mystical and

methodistical circles in Reformed lands, which hid the salt of it should lose its savor, but these spiritually attuned circles failed of exerting any saving influence upon official churches and official theology. The ground on

the Gospel, lest

which this Deism and this Aufklarung offered battle was no ground on which the Christian Church or Christian theology

The

could join battle. sufficiently

deep

to

thrusts given did not carry the sting

reach

the

deepest life-consciousness.

Thus it remained a mere skirmishing, a constant skirmishing on the outer lines, and no one seemed to realize into how shameful a corner they were being pushed. It was no longer the Church against the world, nor theology against the wisdom of Paganism but it was the world in the Church, and it was theology irrecognizably metamorphosed under rationalistic and naturalistic influences into a caricature of itself. But, however feebly, the antithesis continued to be felt. Rationalism over against Supernaturalism certainly implied that the scientific consciousness of unregenerate humanity refused to undergo the influence of Revelation, and therefore ;

demanded

that the treasure of

examined

at

the

frontier

Revelation should

by reason.

first

be

And, on the other

hand, the very appearance of Supernaturalism as such implied an effort to make certain demands for the scientific consciousness of regenerate humanity, by which Revelation might

from testing by the reason. The deepest antithebetween theology and the wisdom of the woi-ld was cer-

escape sis

tainly present in this almost fatal conflict

only it received such from either side. Rationalism did not appear against the Church, but in the Church, and

no special emphasis

as

;

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