1873.] OUTLINES OF DR. J. A. DORNER'S SYSTEM, ETC. 261 ART. IV.—OUTLINES OF DR. J. A. DORNER'S SYSTEM OF THEOLOGY. Translated from the German, by Prof. G. S. HALL, Antioch College, Ohio.* SPECIAL DOGMATICS.-CONTINUED. III. CHRIST'S EXALTATION. Descent to Hades; Resurrection, Ascension to Heaven; Sitting at God's Right Hand. § 54. The descent to Hades belongs neither to Christ's humiliation, nor can it have been for mere display, but it designates a higher stage of life than the earthly, already pneumatic (spiritual), and free from space and time. Cf. König, Ackermann, Güder, 1853. 1 Peter iii. 18; Acts ii. 24-27, and perhaps Eph. iv. 9-10. Christ visited Hades neither as a place of torment nor of purification, but in order to fully experience the separation of soul and body, and to triumph over death. (Form. Conc. 613.) Christ's universality is also thus established. § 55. The Resurrection. The inner spiritual perfection which he had attained, especially by his sufferings, shielded him fully from the power of death. The resurrection of the body could not, therefore, subject him to death the second time, but secured his immortality. Christ's resurrection is important as a confirmation of the atonement which he wrought, as the corner-stone of the Church, as giving validity to our hopes; in a word, it is the key by which we may unlock the secret of our being. $56. Ascension; Sitting at the right hand of God. Completion of his Kingdom. I. The Ascension is the consummation of the resurrection. It presents the transfiguration of the earthly personality into the heavenly as perfected. The exalted God-man is raised beyond the boundaries of space and time. The man Jesus becomes the adequate organ of the Logos. II. Sitting at the Right Hand of God denotes the divine tranquillity and blessedness of Christ's assured majesty—as Lord of Glory and King of Kings. * Continued from page 93. III. Christ's personal perfection is involved in the execution of his three offices. His rest is active, like God's rest. His second coming is ever being accomplished, though invisibly, in the historical process which will be consummated at the judgment by the perfection of his kingdom. § 57. Christ's Heavenly Office. The end of Christ's life, more than his own perfection in itself, is the revelation of his office. The spirit of the second birth did not exist before. The power of his resurrection is the absolute potency of his office. 1 Cor. xv. 22-28. Regnum potentiæ, gratiæ, gloriæ. Matt. xxviii. 29; Eph. i. 21; iv. 10. Augsb. Conf. 17. § 58. Relation of the Activity of the Holy Spirit to that of Man. See Jul. Müller, Lebre von der Sünde. Lauderer, in Jahrbücher für deutsche Theol., 1857. Luthardt, Lehre vom freien Willen, 1862. Jul. Müller, das göttl. Recht der Union. Flotho, De Synergismo. Marheineke, Ottomar, "Sartorious," Von der heiligen Liebe, and Soli Deo Gloria. Thomasius, Lehre der Luth. Kirche u. der Consequenz ihres Princips. The work of grace embraces theanthropic activity, and may proceed either from the divine or human side, as preparation or as appropriation. The theanthropic activity embraces the entire work of salvation, each factor working in its own peculiar function. The relation of nature and grace is neither that of identity, nor of false antitheses (Pelagianism and Manicheeism). The inner compatibility of each with the other and with freedom must be clearly shown. Justification is wrought by no human process, although humanity is susceptible of, and receptive to, its influences. § 59. Biblical Doctrine. Eph. ii. 5; Phil. ii 13; Jer. xxiv. 7, 31; Ez. xi. 19; xxxvi. 26; Ps. li. 12. God creates the process, Acts v. 31; xi. 18; he produces even penitence, 2 Tim. ii. 25; Eph. i. 19; ii. 10; 1 Cor. iii. 6, 12; 2 Cor. iii. 5; Jas. i. 18. Yet both penitence and faith are required of men as moral acts: μɛravoĒITE Jer. xxxi. 18; Phil. ii. 12. I. Repentance (die Busse) includes sorrow for sin and a change of heart. The Christian process of salvation begins with a preparatory stage (vocatio interna et externa), which includes both forgiveness of sin and justification. On the part of man are to be distinguished: 1. Enlightenment respecting the law, and the nature of sin. 2. A feeling of guilt, and a sense of the desert of punishment. 3. The awakening of the will to reform. These three human susceptibilities correspond to Christ's three-fold offices, and to our three-fold evils, viz., error, guilt and sin. § 60. II. The New Birth into Faith. Where there is trusting reliance upon Christ (or faith), directed and prompted as it always is by the Mediator's love, a new two-fold relation arises, aside from the placation of God the Father. Christ so really imparts himself to man, that a real union of the divine and human life takes place; while man so commits himself to Christ and to his righteousness, that his sins are forgiven, and Christ's righteousness is accredited to him. The result is a new personality, a new likeness to God, while upon the abiding ground of justification, sanctification is developed through the communion of the Holy Spirit. Eph. ii. 10; Col. i. 23. § 61. III. Sanctification. The new man is created to a life which in blessedness, wisdom and sanctification, may be the image of that of Christ. He is therefore a living member of his body, the church. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. I. Dogmatic and Ethical Characteristics of the Church. § 62. Prospectus. The Church, composed of individuals, owes its permanence to its ever active power of self-reproduction. Its continuity is due to the unity of its basis, viz., Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who takes of the things of Christ. All depends upon making Christ ever present, so that there may be a historical continuity of his activity in the Church; not as if Christ resigned his activity to the Church, but he adopts the Church, as the organ and vehicle of his own will, to the service to which each individual member is called. This conception of the Church. originated with Christ himself. It was founded that it might endure. The activity of the Church must accordingly be threefold (expressed in three doctrines): 1. The doctrine of the Word of God, or the continuance of Christ's prophetic office. 2. The doctrine of Baptism, or the continuance of Christ's high priestly office. water which would be absolutely imperceptible in such a case as the one under consideration; and never more than a few drachms. We have thus examined all the theories advocated as to the Immediate Cause of the Death of Christ as carefully and as fairly as we are able. If an explanation is to be sought at all, in order to be satisfactory, it must consider all the facts accessible. With much that is prolix, much that is irrelevant and inconclusive in his book, we think that Stroud does this. His theory seems to us to account for all the facts recorded; while it is contradicted by none of them. And this is more than we can say of any of the others. A certain class of writers, however, discard all explanations, on the ground that all the facts accessible are insufficient to. establish any of the theories. Of course this is a matter of opinion; and those who, having examined all the data, have come to that conclusion, have a right to hold it; knowing whereof they affirm. But there is another numerous class who hold a similar opinion on this and all other questions which require patient investigation, simply because too indolent to search after the truth. And these two classes are widely different characters. That order of mind which refuses to accept an explanation as final, when the facts accessible are not enough to prove it; which will not confound the possible with the probable, or the probable with the demonstrable; belongs to one category; and we admire it. That other order of mind, which refuses to accept a fair conclusion, because too indolent to ponder the true force of facts, falls under a different category, and awakens a different feeling. One exhibits a disposition not to be "Wise beyond what is written;" the other manifests an indisposition to read and to weigh what has been written. It is one thing, standing in the presence of mystery, to veil the face in imitation of angelic humility; it is a very different thing to strengthen Indolence struggling against Conscience, by whispering in her ear, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." 1873.] OUTLINES OF DR. J. A. DORNER'S SYSTEM, ETC. 261 ART. IV.-OUTLINES OF DR. J. A. DORNER'S SYSTEM OF THEOLOGY. Translated from the German, by Prof. G. S. HALL, Antioch College, Ohio.* SPECIAL DOGMATICS.-CONTINUED. III. CHRIST'S EXALTATION. Descent to Hades: Resurrection, Ascension to Heaven; Sitting at God's Right Hand. § 54. The descent to Hades belongs neither to Christ's humiliation, nor can it have been for mere display, but it designates a higher stage of life than the earthly, already pneumatic (spiritual), and free from space and time. Cf. König, Ackermann, Güder, 1853. 1 Peter iii. 18; Acts ii. 24–27, and perhaps Eph. iv. 9-10. Christ visited Hades neither as a place of torment nor of purification, but in order to fully experience the separation of soul and body, and to triumph over death. (Form. Conc. 613.) Christ's universality is also thus established. $55. The Resurrection. The inner spiritual perfection which he had attained, especially by his sufferings, shielded him fully from the power of death. The resurrection of the body could not, therefore, subject him to death the second time, but secured his immortality. Christ's resurrection is important as a confirmation of the atonement which he wrought, as the corner-stone of the Church, as giving validity to our hopes; in a word, it is the key by which we may unlock the secret of our being. § 56. Ascension; Sitting at the right hand of God. Completion of his Kingdom. I. The Ascension is the consummation of the resurrection. It presents the transfiguration of the earthly personality into the heavenly as perfected. The exalted God-man is raised beyond the boundaries of space and time. The man Jesus becomes the adequate organ of the Logos. II. Sitting at the Right Hand of God denotes the divine tranquillity and blessedness of Christ's assured majesty—as Lord of Glory and King of Kings. *Continued from page 93. |