13. Third Part.
THIRD PART.
CHAPTER VI. On the World in its Fallen State.
§ 35. Providence pp. 1-34. The work of creation passes over into the work of providence, which is clearly taught in Holy Scripture but is also in part known from nature 1. Yet the Christian doctrine of providence is different from that of philosophy, even if it also borrowed from it the name not customary in Holy Scripture. For providence, as executio ordinis to be well distinguished from the ratio ordinis belonging to the counsel of God, is no nuda praescientia but an almighty and omnipresent act of God 2, which avoids both fate and chance, pantheism and deism 3, as preservation maintains both the connection with and the distinction from creation 4, as concurrence guarantees the proper nature of the creatures with their causae secundae precisely through their absolute dependence on God 5, and as government leads the whole creation, also through the fall into sin, onward to the end determined by God 6.
§ 36. The origin of sin pp. 34-72, according to Holy Scripture, does not lie in God, even though He also created the possibility of sin, but in voluntary transgression of God's commandment, to which the human being in turn was seduced by the fallen angel 1. Although such a fall is not entirely unknown outside the special revelation, one has nevertheless usually tried to explain sin differently, whether deistically from the will that always remains free and innocent, as Pelagius also did 2, 3, or pantheistically from the nature of things, namely from the sensuousness of the human being, or from the cosmos, or from God 4. All these explanations, however, are unsatisfactory, both those from the will always free and from sensuousness
5, and those from the world and from God 6. To be sure, God's providence also extends over sin, and not with a nuda but with an efficax permissio.
But sin, in which the materia and the forma are indeed to be distinguished, nevertheless does not have in God its causa efficiens 7. He willed that it would be, but He did not will it as sin and not in the same way as He wills the good and as human beings will it 8. The origin of sin lies in the will of the creature, which was created mutable [543] good and with the possibility to sin, and which in an incomprehensible way caused that possibility to pass over into actuality 9. This fall was not eternal and also did not take place in the moment of creation but, whether a longer or shorter time after creation, first occurred with the angels and thereafter with human beings 10.
§ 37. The essence of sin pp. 72-104. The first sin already enclosed all others within itself and made its true nature manifest 1, which, according to the names and the description of sin in Holy Scripture, consists in ἀνομια and thus has its standard in God's law 2. Correspondingly the Christian church, against all tendencies which saw in it a substance or a necessary, transitory moment of development, conceived sin as a privatio 3, which therefore can exist only in relation to the good, is to be regarded as a deformitas, and has the will as its proper subject 4. Although one in essence, sins are nevertheless distinguished in degree. There are devilish and human sins 5, and the latter again differ, according as they have been committed with more or less knowledge and intent, against God or man, in aggravating or mitigating circumstances. Therefore they are also to be classified differently, but the Roman distinction into peccata mortalia and venialia is to be rejected 6, and the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit bears a special character 7.
§ 38. The spread of sin pp. 104-154. Scripture and experience both teach that sin is quite universal, and thus extends over all human beings and in the individual human being over his whole being, and that by virtue of their descent from the first human being 1. The Christian church built upon that the doctrine of original sin, which was indeed denied by Pelagianism 2, and weakened by Semipelagianism 3, but was especially developed and defended by Augustine, and, after being unrecognized by Rome 4, was taken up again by the Reformation 5. For correct understanding, original sin is to be distinguished into peccatum originans and peccatum originatum; the first is the imputation of Adam's sin to all his descendants on the ground not only of their physical but also of their federal unity 6. The second is a consequence and in a certain sense a punishment of the first, consisting in total moral corruption 7, which not by imitation but by generation, as also the more recent doctrine of heredity to a certain extent acknowledges, becomes the portion of all human beings 8, also of Mary but not of Christ 9, and in the individual human being has affected soul and spirit and body and all faculties and powers and makes him incapable of all spiritual good 10.
§ 39. The punishment of sin pp. 155-186. The punishment, which was threatened by God upon the first sin, has been postponed and modified by intervening grace. But nevertheless it is, even already on earth, in part carried out, for the restoration and maintenance of the right of God 1, and [544] always consists in a certain suffering, which is added to the transgressor and makes him bow under the right 2. It comprises guilt, i.e. obligation to punishment 3, stain, i.e. moral corruption 4, suffering according to body and soul 5, death, i.e. separation of soul and body 6, and dominion of Satan 7.
CHAPTER VII. On Christ.
§ 40. The covenant of grace pp. 187-228. Grace begins immediately after the fall, even mingles in the punishment for sin, and at once acquires the character of a covenant 1, which is then later established more formally with Noah, Abraham, and Israel at Sinai and gradually comes to light ever more clearly as a divine ordinance, as a διαθηκη, 2. This covenant-idea passed from Scripture into theology and was there, for the maintenance of the unity and the distinction between Old and New Testament, first defended against Gnosticism and Judaism 3, and later, especially by the Reformed, against Anabaptism, and brought to richer development 4. For church and theology this doctrine of the covenant of grace therefore has the greatest significance. It rests on the pactum salutis 5, it stands in connection with the foedus gratiae in a broader sense, which has been established with the whole fallen world 6, it maintains the unity and the distinction in the dispensation of grace under Old and New Test. 7, it is pure grace and is fixed in God alone, so that it, although taking the broken covenant of works into itself, is nevertheless distinguished from it and is also not identical with the pactum salutis 8, it maintains God's sovereignty in the work of redemption and at the same time, although knowing no demands in the proper sense, causes the rational and moral nature of man to come into its right; and finally lets election realize itself through the generations, through the organism of humanity 9.
§ 41. The person of the Mediator pp. 228-302. The covenant of grace has in Christ a mediator of reconciliation, who himself by his Spirit in Israel,
with his institutions and offices, caused testimony to be borne beforehand of his own person and work 1, and then in the fullness of time appeared on earth, founded the kingdom of heaven and, as Son of God and Son of man, both in an altogether unique sense, revealed himself 2. Gathering the data of Scripture and avoiding Ebionitism and Gnosticism at the same time, the christ. church soon came to the confession of the personal unity of the two natures in Christ 3, which, however, was again understood differently in the Greek and Roman, in the Lutheran and Reformed 4, and was contested by all manner of movements on the right and left, especially also in the more recent theology (Kant, Schleiermacher, Ritschl c. s.) 5. [545] This is not surprising, because the person of Christ, though not the point of departure, is nevertheless the center of Scripture, religion and dogmatics. The incarnation, which a priori is unacceptable from a pantheistic and deistic standpoint, presupposes the Trinity and specifically therein the eternal generation, for the person of the Son has become man 6. It further presupposes creation, even though it is not immediately given with this and even though the doctrine of the incarnation apart from sin is objectionable
7. It finally presupposes the revelation among Israel with the election and preparation of Mary as mother of Jesus, even though her immaculate conception is not taught in Scripture 8. Yet, although Christ in his incarnation connects with the preceding revelation, he is no product of the past, but existed personally from eternity and was and remained true God 9, who assumed the human nature through conception by the H. Spirit and through birth from Mary 10, 11, and who therefore, in contrast with Docetism, was true, and, in contrast with Apollinaris, perfect man 12, so that God and man, two distinct natures, undivided and unseparated (against Nestorius), unchanged and unmingled (against Entyches) are united in him
13. This union is therefore not to be conceived otherwise than as a personal one, as union of the person of the Son with an impersonal human nature 14, and necessarily entails the communicatio idiomatum, the communicatio apotelesmatum and the communicatio charismatum, which especially in Reformed theology, for the maintenance of the true human nature of Christ, was developed 15, and finally also the honor adorationis 16.
§ 42. The work of the Mediator pp. 302-424. Among all peoples there occur holy persons, prophets, kings and especially priests, who by sacrifices effect and maintain communion with God 1. Also in Israel a priestly order was chosen and sacrifices were prescribed by God, which clearly had a typical significance and pointed to the true sacrifice of the servant of the Lord, who would be the true priest and at the same time the true prophet and king 2. According to the N. T. Jesus, the son of Mary, is this servant of the Lord, who in his threefold office accomplishes the great work of God, as prophet proclaims the law and the gospel, as priest by his self-surrender, which fulfils all the sacrifices of the O. T., acquires for his own the whole salvation, and as king applies this to them 3. This work of Christ was described in Christian theology in different ways, now once more as illumination or as communication of new life, then again as ransom from the power of Satan or as satisfaction to God's justice. The latter representation gained currency especially through Anselm and, although importantly modified, passed over into Protestant theology 4. But it was opposed not only by all kinds of mystical, but also by many rationalistic
[546] directions, and especially by the Socinians, who adduced everything that could be said against the doctrine of satisfaction 5. In the more recent philosophy and theology it was therefore wholly rejected or reconstructed in a mystical or ethical sense 6. But already by his names Jesus is
designated as the mediator of God and of men, who was this according to his two natures, who from eternity had already been anointed by the Father as prophet, priest and king and had already exercised these offices in the days of the O. T. 7, so that the doctrine of the munus triplex is wrongly opposed by Ritschl et al. 8. As such Christ is a revelation of God's love but at the same time of his righteousness, which does not conflict with love 9, and in connection with God's holy nature, with the dreadfulness of sin, with the unbreakable character of the moral law makes satisfaction necessary 10.
The Socinians c. s. have indeed contested this necessity, but thereby made a false antithesis between justice and grace 11. The sacrifice of satisfaction, which Christ brought, consisted in his perfect obedience, which is not exclusively, as formerly often, e.g. with Piscator, to be conceived as passive but also includes the active 12, and also not exclusively, as mostly in the more recent theology, may be conceived as active but also contains the passive 13. This whole obedience bears the character of a satisfactio and indeed of a satisfactio vicaria 14, which against all kinds of objections requires further explanation and defence 15, and whose possibility is opened by the way of the covenant 16. Christ accomplished this work in the state of humiliation, from his conception up to the descent into hell 17, thereby acquired the whole salvation with all the benefits included under it of reconciliation (ἱλασμος and καταλλαγη), justification, sanctification, glorification, which therefore cannot be limited to one single concept of satisfactio, meritum, Erlösung or Versöhnung 18, and he acquired these, not for all creatures or men, as the universalists asserted and the Reformed in general opposed 19, but for his church, as Scripture clearly teaches 20, even though it is also the case that the work of Christ has significance for the whole creation 21. This work, accomplished in the state of humiliation,
Christ carries out and applies in the state of exaltation with its various stages, which in the first place for Christ himself was the reward for his labour 22, but further comes to the benefit of his church, for also in heaven he remains her prophet, priest and king, until he has brought the whole recreation to completion 23. [547]
CHAPTER VIII. On the Benefits of the Covenant.
§ 43. The order of salvation pp. 425-485. While in the heathen religions man must work out his own salvation, in Holy Scripture it is God himself who seeks out man, communicates to him in the way of the covenant out of grace his benefits, and then on that ground obliges him to a new obedience
1. When Jesus appears with the gospel of the kingdom, He sets no other demand than that of faith and repentance, which themselves in turn are gifts of grace from God. For He is himself the one who by his death acquired all the goods of the kingdom for his own, and now communicates them to them from heaven through the Holy Spirit as the master-builder of faith and of a new life 2. This doctrine of grace was in Christian theology already soon, especially by Pelagius, weakened for the benefit of freedom of the will 3, and, notwithstanding the powerful defence of Augustine and in spite of the maintenance of the gratia praeveniens 4, also in Roman theology, because of the semi-Pelagian direction which it more and more took, did not come into its own 5. The Lutheran Reformation rose up in opposition to that, but nevertheless soon again fell back into synergism 6. Much better the doctrine of grace, also in the application of salvation, was maintained by the Reformed 7, but alongside them there nevertheless arose the directions of mysticism and rationalism, of antinomianism and neonomianism, which identified the application of salvation with the acquisition or detached it wholly from it 8, 9, and also in the new philosophy and theology still have effects 10. The order of salvation, however, which points out the way along which the sinner comes into the possession of Christ and his benefits, then
runs purely only when it avoids the two dangerous cliffs of nomism and antinomism 11, and on the foundation of the trinitarian confession in the application of salvation sees a work of the Holy Spirit, which is indeed distinguished from the acquisition by Christ but not separated, since the Holy Spirit takes everything out of Christ 12. The benefits which Christ acquired and applies through the Holy Spirit can all be summed up under the name of grace, but this is conceived by the Reformation wholly differently than by Rome 13, and contains many particular benefits, which gradually were worked out more broadly in dogmatics but are reducible to three groups 14.
§ 44. Calling and regeneration pp. 485-511 form the first group. Just as God brings creation into being through Word and Spirit, so also re-creation.
In a certain sense He already calls through nature (vocatio realis), but yet especially through his word (vocatis verbalis) 1, which calling is general, serious, and of great value 2. But the vocatio verbalis as such is not sufficient and must therefore on the basis [548] of Holy Scripture be distinguished into an externa and interna 3, and in the latter sense comes to stand in the closest connection with regeneration, which in a narrower sense is the infusion of the principle of the new life 4, and, without doing the human being any injustice, cuts off Pelagianism at the root and, also in the application of salvation, maintains grace undiminished 5.
§ 45. Faith and justification pp. 511-552. The spiritual man, who is implanted in regeneration, in due time comes through the illumination of the H. Spirit to faith, which, although a gift of God, is no substance foreign to man nor a supernatural addition, but, in accordance with the new life, binds him to the word of Christ 1. For in Scripture it bears a twofold character: it is an accepting as truth of the apostolic testimony concerning
Christ, and it is a personal trust in Christ as mighty to forgive sins and to bestow all benefits of grace; and these two stand with one another in indissoluble connection 2. Although in doctrine and practice they are often separated from one another, they ought always to go together, since on the one hand there is no communion in Christ's benefits except after and through communion in his person, and on the other hand this communion comes about in no other way than by means of the apostolic testimony 3. Of that faith one of the most glorious fruits is justification, which according to Scripture is not an ethical but a juridical act 4, has its ground, not in man's, in an ἰδια δικαιοσυνη, but in a δικαιοσυνη θεου, which has been revealed in Christ and lies ready, is imputed to man by God out of grace and on his part is accepted by faith 5. Indeed this doctrine of the justitia imputata is strongly contested, but this contestation proceeds for the most part from an entirely erroneous conception of the imputation of Christ's righteousness 6.
This justification takes place in a certain sense in the decree, in the resurrection of Christ, in the vocatio interna, but nevertheless according to the prevailing representation of the H. S. takes place especially out of and through faith and precisely as such stands over against that out of works 7.
It comprises not only the complete forgiveness of all sins, of both guilt and punishment, which, however, does not nullify the daily confession of guilt and prayer for forgiveness, but furthermore the adoption as children and the granting of the right to eternal life 8.
§ 46. Sanctification and perseverance pp. 553-572. Upon justification follows sanctification, which is essentially distinct from it, but may not be separated from it for a single moment, for Christ bestows himself upon his own not only objectively but also subjectively (unio mystica) 1. This sanctification is in the first place a work of God, consisting not only in
outward separation from the world [549] but also in inward renewal by the H. Spirit, without this therefore already reaching its completion in this life either at once or gradually; but further it is also a work of the believers, insofar as these, on the ground of the benefits received, are called to sanctify themselves and to bring forth good works as fruits of their faith 2.
Likewise the perseverance of the saints is an act and a gift of God, but one which, through the believers themselves, in the way of the means, realizes itself, and therefore does not exclude their self-activity but does offer them rich comfort and certainty 3.