bent on promoting true piety of life. On the whole, they represented a
J. A. Turretin opposed the arbitrary procedure of Coccejus and his followers. Averse to the imaginary senses discovered by this school, he insisted on it that the Bible should be interpreted without any dogmatic prepossessions, and with the aid of logic and analysis. He exercised a profound and beneficial influence.
3. THE PIETISTS. Weary of the strife among Protestants, they were bent on promoting true piety of life. On the whole, they represented a healthy reaction against the dogmatic interpretations of their day. They insisted on studying the Bible in the original languages, and under the enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit. But the fact that, in their exposition, they aimed primarily at edification, gradually led to a contempt of science. In their estimation, the grammatical, historical, and analytical study of the Word of God merely fostered knowledge of the external husk of the divine thoughts, while the porismatic (drawing inferences for reproof, etc.) and practical (praying and sighing) study penetrated to the kernel of the truth. Rambach and Francke were two of the most eminent representatives of this school. They were the first to urge the necessity of psychological interpretation, in the sense that the interpreter's feelings should be in harmony with those of the writer whom he wished to understand. The mystical tendencies of these interpreters led them to find special emphases where none existed. Bengel was the best interpreter which this school produced.
QUESTIONS: What important Confessions originated in this period? What vital objection is there to the domination of any Confession in the field of exegesis? What is the proper attitude of an interpreter to the Confession of his Church? How is exegesis related to dogmatics? In what respects was Coccejus mistaken, and why? What is meant by psychological interpretation? Is piety necessary in an interpreter of the Bible?
LITERATURE: Diestel, Geschichte, pp. 317–554; Farrar, History, pp. 357–394; Gilbert, Interpretation, pp. 224–248; Reuss, History of the
New Testament, pp. 572–586; Immer, Hermeneutics, pp. 42–54; Elliott, Hermeneutics, pp. 18–24.
E. The Historico-Critical Period
If the preceding period already witnessed some opposition to the dogmatical interpretation of the Bible, in the period now under consideration the spirit of reaction gained the controlling voice in the field of Hermeneutics and Exegesis. It often found expression in very extreme positions, and then met with determined resistance. This period, too, was characterized by action and reaction. Widely divergent views were expressed respecting the inspiration of the Bible, but they were all at one in the denial of verbal inspiration and of the infallibility of Scripture. The human element in the Bible was stressed far more than ever before, and found general recognition; and they who also believed in the divine factor, reflected on the mutual relation of the human and the divine.
Attempts were now made to systematize the doctrine of inspiration. Some followed Le Clerk in adhering to the theory of an inspiration varying in degrees in different parts of the Bible, and in its lowest degrees admitting of errors and imperfections. Others accepted the theory of a partial inspiration, limiting it to those portions that pertain to faith and morals, and thus allowing for errors in historical and geographical matters. Schleiermacher and his followers denied the supernatural character of inspiration, and identified it with the spiritual illumination of Christians; while Wegscheider and Parker reduced it to the power which all men possess simply in virtue of the light of nature. In the present day, it is quite customary to speak of inspiration as dynamic, and to refer it to the authors rather than to their writings. According to Ladd, "it is to be conceived of as an incoming of supernatural and spiritual energy, which manifests itself in a heightened degree and new ordering of man's spiritual energy" (The Doctrine of Sacred Scripture, II, p. 471). The product of this is called "revelation."