in the will; it becomes, indeed, a man's own possession, not intellectually, but in a moral way, by the self-surrender of the heart and will, It can therefore once more reconcile knowledge and action by a restoration of the moral faculty and reinvigoration of the power for good. Hence it accomplishes both ends, shows the way of reconciliation, and imparts strength for future righteousness. And this is confirmed by the daily experience of all true-hearted Christians. Ask of them whether, in the salvation revealed, they do not find life and full satisfaction for their religious need?

After all this, we can understand the statement of Scripture, that there can be no true insight in divine things without regeneration, without a new, higher life being implanted in us from above. Not until we are reconciled to Him can we again truly love the Divine Being, from whom we have been separated by sin, and be so intimately united with Him in love, that His glory shall be ever increasingly revealed to us. And we shall also be compelled to acknowledge the truth of that prophecy which represents all Gentile nations as shrouded in ignorance and error, till the true divine and saving knowledge manifests itself in the new covenant of the latter day: "The Lord of Hosts will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations" (Isa. xxv. 7).

This will appear still more clear to us, if we give a closer consideration to

II.-SUPERNATURAL THEOLOGY, OR THIE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD DERIVED FROM REVELATION.

In its more

We take this last word in its narrower sense. comprehensive sense, it signifies in general the whole divine energy of self-communication in creation, in the conscience, and in providence. In this revelation, as we have seen, even the heathen have a share. In the narrower sense, revelation denotes a supernatural manifestation of divine grace influencing human knowledge for man's eternal good; an unveiling of mysteries which lie beyond the province of reason, and may therefore stand in a certain contrast to it. When, for

instance, Christ says to Peter, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven;" or when St. Paul testifies that he had not received his gospel from any man, but "through the revelation of Jesus Christ," -these are revelations in this special sense. To the same category belongs all that Scripture tells us of God's selfcommunications, under both the old and the new covenant, whether made by immediate theophanies or through angelic and human instrumentality, through outward miracles or through inward spiritual manifestation, vision, and inspiration.

In respect to revelation, a distinction must be drawn between the divine action in itself and its influence on man, that is, between the outward objective self-manifestation of God, and the inward subjective illumination of the human intellect. Whatever manifestation of Himself God vouchsafes, He seeks at the same time to interpret to man by the Spirit, even as the manifestation of the divine glory in the universe is supplemented by the voice of the Divine Spirit in the conscience. Both together constitute revelation, properly so called. The crown and ultimate goal of all divine revelation is He in whom alone, according to the Scriptures, the perfection of divine knowledge dwelt, who alone on earth declared perfectly the divine will the only-begotten Son, who could truly say of Himself: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John i. 18, vi. 46, xiv. 6-9). In Christ, therefore, both factors of revelation meet: He is at once the perfect manifestation of God, and the perfectly enlightened or inspired Man.

The object of divine revelation is God Himself, historically manifesting Himself in the character of Saviour; and Man needs no other object of revelation. God's self-revelation, therefore, is at the same time a special form of His work of redemption, and has human salvation for its end. The great miracle of revelation is historically developed in a threefold form: sometimes God appears, sometimes He speaks, sometimes He works miracles. These forms are closely allied, and therefore, in the historical developments of revelation, often

1 Cf. also in H. von der Goltz, Gottes Offenbarung durch heilige Geschichte, Basle 1868, the excellent section as to "the mode and form of divine revela. tion," pp. 84-107.

found together; the revelations being made either externally through the senses, as in angelic appearances, or internally through the workings of the human spirit, as in prophetic dreams or visions.

The announcement of this revelation, which, up to the "time of fulfilment," was confined to a particular branch of the human race, and, after Christ, became a common property of mankind, is contained in Scripture; and that which was previously communicated to special persons, in an extraordinary way, now comes to us all in an ordinary way, by the written or spoken word of human agents, along with the inward operation of the Holy Spirit; but even thus it presents itself to us as supernatural and divine truth. This, in all brevity, is the scriptural and Christian idea of revelation. Incomprehensible as it may at first appear, we must not overlook that revelation, despite its essentially supernatural character, has, and must have, a natural side also. all divine manifestations, created existences are the media through which the presence and glory of God are revealed to men (Isa. vi.; Ezek. i., xi.; Rev. iv.). In all divine utterances, God condescends to the limits of human understanding, and adapts His revelation to the mental condition of its recipients; giving first milk, then strong meat (John xvi. 12; 1 Cor. iii. 1,2; Heb. v. 12-14). And even divine miracles, as we shall see further on, have not unfrequently a natural basis. Revelation is never given without some previous preparation, in the historical developments of human thought and human needs.

In

Nor is this done in any irregular or arbitrary way: the developments of revelation follow fixed internal laws and a certain order, and are confined within definite limits; both Old and New Testament making manifest the divine purpose in the fourfold development of electing, calling, blessing, and taking into covenant. Even the superficial observer cannot fail to note the progressive developments of divine communications with man from the simple intercourse of a primeval time to the world - covenant made with Noah, and from thence onward to the covenant of promise established with Abraham, the covenant of the law made with Israel, and finally the covenant of grace in Christ with the whole world.

There is therefore a continuous progress-an ever clearer manifestation of the Divine Nature, and of its purposes of love for man, concluding with the mission of Christ and the Comforter (Heb. i. 1, 2).

There is also a certain progress in the form of revelation. At first, God revealed Himself in sensible manifestations, which were an inevitable accommodation to the needs of humanity while still in pupilage, just as every tutor has now to condescend to the capacity of the child. With Moses He spake "face to face, as a man talketh with his friend" (Ex. xxxiii. 11; Num. xii. 8). Then came miracles wrought by divine power, through human instrumentality; and in these we may note a certain internal educational progress from the material to the spiritual; the miracles of inspiration becoming gradually the more prevailing forms of divine manifestation, until, in the miracle of miracles, the person of Christ, the deepest spiritual mysteries of redemption were unfolded, and finally, through the outpouring of the Spirit and the inspired gospel records, revelation became abidingly an inward thing conveyed to us by the Word and Spirit.

Further, Scripture miracles are sparingly distributed, and after an ordered plan among various periods, and in very different measures, according to their differences of character. The most significant make their appearance at decisive turning-points in sacred history, e.g. the election of fresh agents of revelation, and the constitution of new forms of covenant. It was thus in the patriarchal age, and in those of Moses, of David, and of Christ and the Apostolic Church. In the periods between these epochs, miracles are not so frequent. When the point in question was more to maintain that which existed than to found something new, the Word, the most inward mode of revelation, remains the only form of it. We everywhere see a progressive preparation for the complete revelation of God in Christ; we see the sequel constantly linked on to that which precedes, and further developing it; we see also in Christ Himself a wise tutorial progress in making known the secret things of God down to the last and most profound, the doctrine of the Trinity, which not until He had His departure in view did He fully make

known (Matt. xxviii. 19). Further, the lower forms of revelation, in which the chief point is some manifestation of Deity, always prepare the way for the more perfect forms of inward inspiration; and these, again, point onward further still to a final, all-completing manifestation in the second advent of Christ. Finally, we see the Divine Revealer keeping always one and the same end in view-man's eternal good, and thereby always adapting His revelations to the particular needs and capacity of their recipients.

But, more especially, divine revelation is something quite different in its mode of operation from what is called magic, and addresses itself to man in his ethical capacity; the moral condition of the recipient determines in the main its measure and its limitations. Although under special circumstances God may allow some sordid person like Balaam to be the medium of revelation, the rule nevertheless holds good, that God adopts as His instruments those who, through their moral and religious character, were peculiarly capable of appreciating divine things, such as Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, the apostles, and, above all, Christ (Matt. xi. 25; Acts vii. 22, x. 35; Jas. iv. 8; Jer. xxix. 13). Everywhere we find that revelation is met on the part of man by a heart-seeking after God, after truth, and after sanctification. "If ye seek me with your whole heart, ye shall surely find me." This practical piety was, from Abraham to Christ, the constant medium of existing and progressive revelation, which varied in the clearness of its manifestations with the varying religious character of its exponents.

By

And so still the divine revelation contained in Scripture communicates itself as a full personal possession only to that heart which meets it with an honest seeking after truth. indifference, or opposition to truth, the susceptibility for divine things is lost, and thus also the possibility of receiving any further revelations. In Nazareth, Christ "doeth not many miracles, on account of their unbelief." In revelation, as in other things, God deals with us as free, responsible creatures. His supernatural revelation is no more irregular and arbitrary than that through nature. On the contrary, everywhere we see measure, order, well-planned gradation, organic connection,