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DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

WORKS OF

MILTON S. TERRY, D.D., LL.D. V
BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS. A Treatise on the *
Interpretation of the Old and New Testaments. 8vo. $3 00
BIBLICAL APOCALYPTICS. A Study of the Most
Notable Revelations of God and of Christ in the
Canonical Scriptures. 8vo  3 00
BIBLICAL DOGMATICS. An Exposition of the Prin
cipal Doctrines of the Holy Scriptures. 8vo. Net. 3 50
PRIMER OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. In the Form
of Questions and Answers. 12mo. Net  30
THE NEW APOLOGETIC. Five Lectures on True and
False Methods of Meeting Modern Philosophical and
Critical Attacks upon the Christian Religion. 12mo. 85
MOSES AND THE PROPHETS. An Essay Toward a
Fair and Useful Statement of Some of the Positions
of Modern Biblical Criticism. 12mo  1 00
THE NEW AND LIVING WAY. An Orderly Arrange
ment and Exposition of the Doctrines of Christian
Experience, according to the Scriptures. 12mo. Net. 50
THE MEDIATION OF JESUS CHRIST. A Contribu
tion to the Study of Biblical Dogmatics. 12mo. Net. 75
THE PROPHECIES OF DANIEL EXPOUNDED.
12mo. Net  75
THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES. Translated from the
Greek into English Blank Verse, with Notes. New
edition, revised according to the Text of Rzach.
12mo  2 00
COMMENTARY ON GENESIS AND EXODUS.
(Whedon Series on the Old Testament, Vol. 1.)
12mo  2 00
COMMENTARY ON JUDGES, RUTH, FIRST AND
SECOND SAMUEL. (Whedon Series, Vol. III.) . 2 00
COMMENTARY ON KINGS, CHRONICLES, EZRA,
NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. (Whedon Series,
Vol. IV.)  2 00

BIBLICAL DOGMATICS

AN EXPOSITION

PRINCIPAL DOCTRINES

HOLY SCRIPTURES

BY
MILTON S. TERRY, D.D.
Professor of Christian Doctrine in Garrett Biblical Institute

NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS
CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & GRAHAM

Copyright, 1907, by
EATON & MAINS.

TO MY STUDENTS
WHO ARE PREACHING THE GOSPEL OE CHRIST
IN MANY LANDS

PREFACE

So long as men continue to think there will be no end of books
on a subject so important as the doctrines of the Christian faith.
The living truths of God can never be fully expounded. The
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a source of religious
teaching so inexhaustible that each new generation of biblical
scholars discovers therein treasures of knowledge unnoticed by
previous research. Other departments of study are also continu
ally furnishing new contributions to the sum of human knowledge
and throwing their suggestive side-lights on many portions of the
Bible, so that we are not infrequently called upon to revise some
of our former opinions and adjust them to the newly discovered
facts. No old and permanent truth can ever suffer loss by the
incoming of new light, but the weakness and unprofitableness of
aged errors become thereby apparent. If the Bible is permit
ted to speak for itself, and its divers portions are studied in their
proper historical connections and in the light of the contemporane
ous religious literature of ancient peoples, it will be found to be
a remarkably self -interpreting book, and to disclose a real progress
in the knowledge of God among the Hebrew prophets and teach
ers. It is with no assumption of having discovered any remarkably
new truths that we put forth this volume, but rather with a
conviction that, amid the fresh and increasing light coming from
many sources, the old abiding truths may be set forth in a some
what new and more helpful manner. We are persuaded that the
best method of expounding the great truths of the Christian reli
gion is that which most accurately reproduces the teachings of
the biblical writers and formulates them in the fullest light of
the gospel of Jesus. This volume is such an attempt at a new
expression of the things which are most commonly believed among
us. No new or strange doctrines are here exploited; no old and
well-attested truth is set aside; but certain doctrines of the Chris
tian faith are here presented in a manner somewhat different
from that which has long been prevalent. In no such case, how
ever, has any fundamental truth been questioned; the only issue
is one of interpretation, and on most questions of interpretation
there is room for differences of opinion.

vi PREFACE
The days of theological controversy are happily well nigh past.
There is manifest a growing disposition to subject all questions
of doubtful disputation to rational criticism. It is generally con
ceded that many subjects, which involve biblical exegesis and doc
trine, call for revision and restatement. In a volume of this scope
and size one cannot reasonably expect all his readers to agree with
him throughout. The author indulges no presumption of clearing
up the "things hard to be understood" in Paul's epistles, of which
the writer of 2 Pet. iii, 16, speaks; much less can he hope to
explain all the mysteries of the other apostles, and the evangelists
and the prophets. In offering the result of his own study of
questions long under investigation and dispute in the Church, he
takes pains to tell his readers in advance that some of the exposi
tions of doctrine given in this book are submitted tentatively and
with no little hesitation. On sundry questions of eschatology who
can at the most do more than "see in a mirror, darkly"? There
is a widespread feeling that the real teaching of our Lord and his
apostles does not sustain many current popular notions of "times
and seasons which the Father has set within his own authority."
There are abroad in the world many strange and crass conceptions
of the coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the
eternal judgment. On such topics as these which transcend the
actual experiences of mankind and pertain to the invisible things
of God, one should speak with modesty and reserve. Among the
mysteries over which great and good men have differed in opinion
through many generations there may generally be found a sub
stance of truth of permanent value. It is coming to be recognized
that even the biblical writers themselves differ in types of doctrine
and in cast of thought, and it is very possible for interpreters of
the apostles and prophets to misapprehend the exact import of
their various figures of speech. It is possible for the most discreet
students of Holy Writ sometimes to teach for revelations of God
what are only the mistaken notions of men. There are probably
but few men who have not inherited from the past a larger amount
of human tradition and dogma than they are aware of.
We have long hesitated over employing the title of Dogmatics
for a treatise which aims to avoid the dogmatic spirit and style
so deservedly unpopular and offensive in the Christian world. It
is proper, therefore, to observe that this word has no full or fair
equivalent in the English language. In the literature of Christian
theology it has long served as the definite scientific term for a
systematic exposition of religious truth. Its conformity, more
over, to the scientific titles of the two companion volumes of
this series is a special justification of our use of it. Our

PREFACE vii
method is inductive and expository. Our habit is to abstain
from a priori assumptions and to avoid unprofitable speculation,
but always to study to ascertain the demonstrable truth of the
biblical teaching. We keep in mind the fact of a progress in
divine revelation, and therefore do not forget that the spirit and
the ideas of the Old Testament have been largely superseded by
the more perfect illumination of the teaching of Christ, who
has fulfilled the law and the prophets. It will be seen that the
method of this treatise is first to study the nature of man, his
sinfulness and the possibilities of his future, as matters of observa
tion and of biblical testimony. We next pass to the great central
fact of the religious history of the world, the manifestation of
Jesus Christ. This subject, by reason of its vital relation to all
Christian thought, naturally occupies the central and largest place
in our volume. The doctrine of the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ follows as the Holy of holies among religious
mysteries. Our method of treating this deepest problem of reli
gion is historical rather than polemical, and aims to show how
the everlasting Father has gradually revealed himself in many
ways unto all men, but most remarkably through the fathers and
prophets of Israel, and finally through his Son Jesus Christ.
This method of procedure is quite the opposite of what is com
monly followed in systems of theology. It studies visible man
first and the invisible God last. It gives no space, except in
occasional footnotes, to the old-time polemics. It ignores "plans"
and "schemes" and "theories" of atonement. Even the doctrine
of the Trinity finds but little more attention in this volume than
it finds in the Scriptures. Our method provides no separate sec
tion for "eschatology," but simply connects the problems of the
future with those facts of the present time to which they are
logically and vitally related. This method, of course, will not
please the confessional theologian; it may even much offend him.
But we believe the great majority of unbiased readers will find
it a more simple and excellent way. If it be not the best possible
method, it may at least be worth one trial. If any one prefer,
he can read our third part first, and our first part last. We
assume from the start that our readers are intelligent Christian
believers, and can study man's nature and destiny without having
first to be informed of the facts of Christ and the existence of
God. We advise our readers to make much use of the carefully
prepared indexes at the close of this volume, for different phases
of the same subject are often treated in different connections, and
numerous biblical texts contain doctrines related to several differ
ent topics.

viii PREFACE
In the main text of this volume we have rarely made a citation
from any other source than the Scriptures. In occasional foot
notes may be found some quotations and references adapted to
confirm our views, or to direct the reader to a further study of
the same topic. Hundreds of such references, however, at first
designed for insertion in footnotes, have been omitted entirely,
in order to keep the volume within a moderate size. A select
bibliography is given as an appendix, sufficient to direct the special
student in his further research. Without the help of the many
contributions of the past, the present treatise could not have been
written. The author also owes it to his esteemed colleagues, Pro
fessor C. M. Stuart, Professor D. A. Hayes, and Professor F. C.
Eiselen, to make this public acknowledgment of their invaluable
services by way of many helpful suggestions and in the reading
of the proofs.
With this publication we complete the trilogy of our contribu
tions to the study of biblical interpretation and doctrine which
we began with the issue of Biblical Hermeneutics in 1883. The
Biblical Apocalyptics followed in 1898. The numerous gratify
ing testimonials of welcome which the preceding volumes have
received are deeply appreciated, and the hope is indulged that this
concluding volume may be found as acceptable as its predecessors.
Evanston, February 22, 1907.

CONTENTS

GENERAL OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION
1. Idea and Scope of Biblical Dog
matics.
2. Sources of Biblical Dogmatics.
3. Method of Biblical Dogmatics.

PART FIRST
THE CONSTITUTION AND POS
SIBILITIES OE MAN
1. THE NATURE OF MAN.
2. THE SINFULNESS OF MAN.
3. THE REGENERATION AND ETER
NAL LIFE OF MAN.

PART SECOND
THE MANIFESTATION OF OHEIST
1. THE PERSON OF CHRIST.
2. THE MEDIATION OF JESUS CHRIST.
3. THE KINGDOM AND COMING OF
CHRIST. PART THIRD
OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN
1. THE UNIVERSAL REVELATION.
2. THE HEBREW REVELATION.
3. THE REVELATION IN JESUS
CHRIST.

ANALYTICAL OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I.
Idea and Scope of Biblical Dogmatics.
1. Theology and Religion, 1.
2. Universality of Religion and Revela
tion, 1.
3. Philosophy of Religion, 2.
4. The Christian Religion, 3.
5. Biblical Theology, 3.
6. Systematic Theology, 4.
7. Limits and Aim of Biblical Dogmatics, 4.
8. Theology Old and New, 5.
CHAPTER II.
Sources of Biblical Dogmatics.
1. The Bible a Priceless Treasury, 7.
2. Trammels of Old Tradition, 7.
3. Reaction and Changes of View, S.
4. Other Sacred Bibles, 9.
5. Limits of the Biblical Canon, 9.
6. Other Traditions Questioned, 11.
7. Variety of Compositions, 12.
8. Three Divisions of the Hebrew Canon,
13.
9. The New Testament Canon, 14.
10. Superiority of the New Testament, 15.
(1) Shown by Statements of Jesus.
(2) Shown by other New Testament Teach
ing.
(3) Shown by Obvious Facts of the Records.
(4) The Transition Gradual.
11. The Question of Inspiration, 18.
(1) Highest Old Testament Claims.
(2) Witness of the New Testament.

(3) Such Claims not Applicable to All the
Books.
(4) Our Doctrine should Accord with exist
ing Facts.
(5) Inerrancy a Dogma of Necessitarian
Philosophy.
12. The Dogma of Infallibility, 24.
(1) Involves a Distorted Notion of the
Bible.
(2) Discredited by Discrepancies and Per
sistent Controversy.
(3) The Word Itself Irrelevant.
(4) Sufficiency Rather than Infallibility.
13. Authority as Sources of Doctrine, 28.
(1) Superiority In Variety of Contents.
(2) Superiority ot Historic Outline and
Background.
(3) Superiority of the Revelation of Christ.
14. The Bible and the Word of God, 32.
15. Necessity of Sound Interpretation, 34.
16. Sufficiency as Sources of Doctrine, 35.
CHAPTER III.
Method of Biblical Dogmatics.
1. Importance of Method, 37.
2. Lack of System in Ancient Writers, 37.
3. Federal and Trinitarian Methods, 38.
4. Methods of some German Writers, 38.
5. Methods of Five American Divines, 39.
6. Outlines of Other Writers, 41.
7. Questions of Scope and Terminology,
42.
S. A Priori and a Posteriori Methods, 43.
9. The Method of this Work, 44.

CONTENTS

PART FIRST

THE CONSTITUTION AND POSSIBILITIES OF MAN

SECTION FIRST
THE NATURE OF MAN.
CHAPTER I.
The Natural Constitution of Man.
1. Primary Realities, 45.
2. The Bodily Form, 46.
3. Life, Soul and Blood, 46.
4. The Heart, 47.
5. Reins, Intestines, Breath, 48.
6. The Head, 48.
7. The Mind, 49.
8. The Spirit, 50.
9. The Doctrine of Trichotomy, 51.
fl) Has no Support In Sound Interpreta
tion.
(2) The Words Used Indiscriminately.
(3) Yet with Distinctive Connotation.
10. General Result, 53.
CHAPTER II.
The Moral Element in Man.
1. The Fact of Moral Sense, 55.
2. Conscience, 55.
(1) Old Testament Illustration.
(2) New Testament use of awiiirjdic.
(3) Essential Moral Sense.
3. Personality and Freedom of Will, 56.
4. The Moral Element of Social Rela
tions, 58. CHAPTER III.
The Religious Element in Man.
1. Essential in Normal Human Nature, 60.
2. Biblical Words Expressive of Religious
Feeling and Action, 60.
3. Earliest Manifestations of the Religious
Sense, 61.
4. Has due Recognition in Scripture, 61.
5. Was Gradually Developed, 62.
6. Universal in Mankind, 63.
CHAPTER IV
Propagation and Dispersion of Man
kind.
1. Unity of the Human Race, 64.
2. Propagation of Species, 64.
3. Creationism and its Proof-texts, 65.
4. Dispersion of Races and Tribes, 67.
CHAPTER V.
The Origin of Man.
1. The Definite Modern Question, 69.
2. Two Ways of Answering the Question,
69.
3. Poetical Concepts of Creation, 70.
4. No Definite Answer in Scripture, 71.
5. But Man is the Crowning Work of God,
72.

CHAPTER VI.
Man's Place in the World.
1. Man as the Chief Creation of God, 73.
2. Ancient Concepts of "the Heavens and
the Earth," 74.
3. Not Physical Bulk but Rational Nature
Man's crowning Excellence, 74.
CHAPTER VII.
Primitive State of Man.
1. Completeness of Natural Constitution.
76.
2. Undeveloped in Knowledge and Civili
zation, 77.
3. Original Goodness, 77.
4. Made in the Image of God, 78.
(1) No Explanation In Scripture.
(2) New Testament Texts in Epheslans lv.
24; Col. 111. 9, 10.
(3) Interpretation of Wisdom li, 23.
(4) Spiritual Personahty.
SECTION SECOND
THE SINFULNESS OF MAN.
CHAPTER I.
The Fact and the Nature of Human
Sinfulness.
1. The Awful Fact of Sin, 83.
2. Depravity of the Race, 84.
(1) Depicted In Genesis.
(2) Paul's dark Picture In Romans 1, 18-32.
(3) Great Antithesis In Romans v, 12-19.
3. Hebrew and Greek Words Indicating
Nature of Sin, 86.
4. Sin Conceived as Transgression and
Lawlessness, 87.
5. Sin Conceived as Selfishness, 88.
6. Concept of Spiritual Blindness, 88.
7. Concept of Guilt, 89.
(1) The Fact Explained.
(2) Significance of atria.
(3) Significance of ivoxof.
(4) Guilt even in Errors ot Ignorance.
8. Degrees of Guilt and Sin, 90.
(1) Hardening the Heart.
(2) Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
(3) Doctrine ot Hebrews vl, 4-8. and x, 26V
27.
(4) Other Biblical Testimony.
CHAPTER II.
The Origin and the Persistent Cause of
Sin.
1. Adequate Cause Must be Sought, 95.
2. Inadequate Theories, 95.
3. Adequate and Actual Cause in Man's
Personality, 97.

CONTENTS

4. Illustrated in Genesis iii, 98.
5. Same Efficient Cause Apparent in all
Sinning, 99.
6. Nature of Volitional Freedom, 99.
7. Other Resultant Facts of Sin, 100.
8. Biblical Records of Apostasy, 101.
(1) Israel's ApoBtasy in the Desert.
(2) Examples of Saul, David, Solomon.
<3) New Testament Admonition and Warn-
CHAPTER III.
Divers Aspects of Sin in the Various
Biblical Writers.
1. Defective Moral Standards of Old Tes
tament Times, 104.
2. Imprecatory Psalms, 104.
3. Public and National Sins Overshadow
the Individual, 105.
4. Divorcing Morality and Public Service,
106.
5. Collective Idea of Sin and Penalty, 107.
6. Deeper Concepts of Psalms and Proph
ets, 107.
7. Individual Responsibility in Ezekiel and
Jeremiah, 109.
8. Sin as Represented in the Wisdom
Books, 109.
(1) In Proverbs.
(2) In the Book of Job.
(3) In the Song of Songs.
(4) In Ecclesiastes.
(5) In the Later Jewish Literature.
9. Paul's Doctrine of Sin in the Flesh, 114.
10. Pauline Rabbinism, 116.
CHAPTER IV.
The Penal Consequences of Sin.
1. Physical Death as Penalty, 118.
2. Physical Death as Universal Law, 118.
3. Physical Evils not a Penalty for Sin,
119.
4. New Testament Doctrine of Death, 120.
5. Pauline Conception of Sin and Death,
121.
6. Penal Consequences beyond this Life,
122.
7. Biblical Doctrine of Retribution, 122.
(1) Old Testament Teaching Vague.
(2) Isaiah lxvi, 24.
(3) Daniel xii, 2.
(4) Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha.
(5) The New Testament Teaching.
8. Inferences Touching the Nature of Fu
ture Punishment, 128.
9. Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, 129.
10. Degrees of Penalty, 130.
11. Duration of Penalty Everlasting, 131.
(1) Absence of Hope or Promise.
(2) Question of Matthew xii, 32.
(3) Question of 1 Peter HI. 18-20.
12. Doctrine of Annihilation of the Wicked,
133.
13. The Question of Theodicy, 134.

SECTION THIRD
THE REGENERATION AND ETERNAL
LIFE OF MAN.
CHAPTER I.
Conviction. Repentance, and Conver
sion.
1. Salvation a Faot of Experience, 136.
2. Blameless Childhood and Youth, 137.
3. Conviction of Sin, 137.
(1) Expressed In the Penitential Psalms.
(2) Described In Romans vll.
(3) Experienced by Millions.
4. Repentance, 140.
5. Conversion, 140.
6. Requires Cooperation of God and Man,
141. CHAPTER II.
The Doctrine of Faith.
1. Faith Defined, 142.
2. Doctrine of Paul, 142.
3. Theme of the Epistle to the Romans,
143.
4. Example of Abraham in Romans iv,
143.
5. Doctrine of James, 144.
6. Doctrine of the Epistle to the Hebrews,
145.
7. Doctrine of Faith in the Gospels, 145.
8. Personal Confession, 146.
CHAPTER III.
Forgiveness of Sins and Reconciliation.
1. Greek Words for Remission, 147.
2. Peculiarity of Paul's Doctrine of Justi
fication, 148.
3. Reconciliation, 148.
CHAPTER IV.
New Birth and New Life.
1. Comprehensive of the Other Experien
ces, 150.
2. Idea of a New Heart in the Old Testa
ment, 150.
3. Teaohing of Jesus in John iii, 3-8, 151.
4. Significance of Titus iii, 5, and Ephe-
sians v, 26, 152.
5. The New Birth a New Creation, 153.
6. Mystery of Spiritual Life, 155.
7. A Passing out of Death into Life, 156.
CHAPTER V.
Adoption, Sonship, Assurance, and Spir
itual Freedom.
1. New Relationship of Adoption, 158.
2. Sons of God, 159.
3. Witness of the Spirit, 160.
4. Boldness, Confidence, and Full Assur
ance, 161.
5. Christian Freedom, 162.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER VI.
Progress in Spiritual Life.
1. New Life Involves Growth, 164.
2. Elements of Spiritual Growth, 165.
3. Argument of Romans vi, 166.
4. Doctrine of 1 John iii, 9, 10, 166.
5. Sanctification and Holiness, 167.
6. Practical Righteousness, 169.
7. Doctrine of Christian Perfection, 171.
8. Specific Christian Virtues, 173.
9. Love the Greatest of All, 174.
10. Continual Cultivation and Growth, 175.
11. The Discipline of Trial, 176.
12. Growth and Discipline a Manifold Ex
perience, 177.
13. The Beautiful in Religion, 177.
CHAPTER VII.
Means of Promoting Spiritual Life.
1. The Fellowship and Ministries of the
Church, 179.
2. The Sacraments, 181.
(1) Christian Baptism.
(2) The Lord's Supper.
3. The Ministry of the Word. 185.
4. Exercises of Practical Godliness, 187.
5. Prayer, 188.
6. Sevenfold Exhortation of Hebrews x,
19-25, 190.
CHAPTER VIII.
Eternal Life.
1. Meaning of the Phrase, 191.
2. Paul's View of Life, Light, and Liberty,
192.
3. Eternal Life a Present Possession, 193.
4. Endless Permanence in Life, 193.
5. Eternal Life in the Synoptic Gospels,
194.
6. Eternal Life in the Epistles, 194.
7. A Glorious Inheritance, Now and For
ever, 195. CHAPTER IX.
The Doctrine of Immortality.
1. The Fact and the Doctrine, 197.
2. Human Limitation and Doubt, 198.
3. Doctrine of the Old Testament, 198.
(1) Sundry Intimations.
(2) Expressed In Many Psalms.
(3) Job xix. 25-27.
(4) The Realm of Sheol.
(5) The Greek Word Hades.
4. Doctrine of the New Testament, 204.
(1) In the Apocalypse of John.
(2) In the Epistle to the Hebrews.
(3) In the Epistles of Paul.
(4) Teaching of Jesus In the Synoptics
(5) Teaching of Jesus In John's Gospel.

CHAPTER X.
The Doctrine of the Resurrection.
1. A;Doctrine Variously Apprehended, 212.
2. Vaguely Expressed in Old .Testament,
212.
(1) Psalm xvil, 15.
(2) Language of Other Poets and Prophets.
(3) Hosea vi, 1-3.
(4) Isaiah xxvi, 19.
(5) Ezekiel xxxvii, 1-14.
(6) Daniel xii, 2, 3.
(7) Variety of Later Jewish Opinions.
3. The Fuller Teaching in the New Testa
ment, 219.
4. No Help from Etymology of Greek
Words, 220.
5. The Teaching of Jesus Christ, 221.
(1) Significance of Christ's own Resurrec
tion.
(2) Significance of the Ascension.
(3) Rationale of the Forty Days.
(4) Forty Days In the Flesh.
(5) Not Glorified During the Forty Days.
(6) Glorified at the Ascension.
(7) Jesus's Raising Others from the Dead.
(8) Jesus's Teaching in the Synoptic Gos-
pels.
(9) Jesus's Teaching In John's Gospel.
(10) Jesus Absolutely Assures Immortality,
but Offers no Theories.
6. Doctrine of the Apocalypse of John, 230.
7. Paul's Doctrine of the Resurrection,
(1) Acts xxiv, 15.
(2) 1 Thessalonians iv, 13-18.
(3) 1 Corinthians xv. (The Six Para
graphs.)
(4) 2 Corinthians iv, 16 — v, 10.
(5) In Romans and Phlllppians.
(6) In Colosslans, Epheslans, and 2 Tim
othy.
8. Various Types of Biblical Doctrine, 246.
9. No Basis for Many Prevalent Theories,
246.
10. The Main Idea is a New Organism, 247.
1 1 . All the Dead not Raised Simultaneously,
248,
12. The Subject Belongs to the Unseen, 249.
13. Summary of the Biblical Teaching, 250.
CHAPTER XI.
Various Aspects of the Heavenly Glory.
1. The General Conception, 252.
2. Heavenly Recognition, 252.
(1) Doctrines of Absorption and of Trans
migration.
(2) The Biblical Suggestions.
3. Absence of all Evil, 255.
4. A Sabbath-Rest, 255.
5. Advance in Knowledge and in Heavenly
Vision, 256.
6. Increase of Capacity, 257.
7. Reigning with Christ, 257.
8. Glory Through Ages of Ages, 258.

CONTENTS

PART SECOND

THE MANIFESTATION OF THE OHEIST

SECTION FIRST
THE PERSON OF CHRIST.
CHAPTER I.
Facts of His Earthly Life.
1. Born of the House of David, 259.
2. Record of the Virgin Birth, 260.
3. Childhood and Growth, 261.
4. His Baptism and Temptation, 261.
5. His Public Ministry and Death, 262.
6. A Man Among Men, 262.
7. A Man of Transcendent Greatness, 263.
8. Manner and Matter of His Teaching,
264.
9. His Marvelous Self-Expression, 264.
10. His Sinlessness, 265.
CHAPTER II.
The Titles Son of God and Son of Man.
1. The Title Son of God, 266.
(1) Old Testament Origin and Messianic
Significance.
(2) His Knowledge of the Father.
(3) The Only Begotten Son.
2. The Title Son of Man, 268.
(1) Its Usage In the Old Testament.
(2) "Son of Man" In the Book of Enoch.
(3) The Lord's own Favorite Title.
(4) A Person Sublimely Unique.
CHAPTER III.
The Supernatural In the Person of
Christ.
1 The Supernatural Birth, 273.
2. The Baptism, Temptation, and Tri
umph, 274.
3. The Miracles of his Ministry, 275.
4. Miracles Natural with Christ, 276.
5. No Ostentatious Display of Miracles,
• 277.
6. Miracles Proofs of Divine Wisdom and
Power, but not of Omnipotence, 277.
7. The Resurrection and Ascension, 278.
CHAPTER IV.
The Self-Consciousness of Jesus Christ.
1. The Mighty Works and Mighty Words
of Jesus Inseparable, 280.
2. His Consciousness of God, 280.
3. His Sense of Subordination, 281.
4. Consciousness of Commitment to a Pur
pose of the Ages, 282.
5. Consciousness of Pre-existence, 282.

6. Consoious Freedom from Sin, 283.
7. Consciousness of Being Saviour of Men,
284.
8. Consciousness of his Messiahship, 285.
(1) Assumed In his Fulfilling Law and
Prophets.
(2) Directly Acknowledged.
(3) Indicated In his Doctrine of the King
dom.
9. Significance of this Consciousness, 288.
CHAPTER V.
Christology of the First Apostles and of
the General Epistles.
1. Sources of Information, 289.
2. The Preaching of Peter, 289.
3. The First Epistle of Peter, 291.
4. Second Peter and Jude, 291.
5. The Epistle of James, 292.
CHAPTER VI.
The Christ of John's Apocalypse.
1. Date and Composition of the Book, 294.
2. The Christophany of i, 12-16, 295.
3. The Lamb in the Midst of the Throne,
295.
4. His Titles, Glory, Triumphs, and Wor
ship, 296.
5. The Grand Total Impression of the
Revelation, 296.
CHAPTER VII.
The Pauline Christology.
1. Significance of Paul's Conversion, 297.
2. The Thessalonian Epistles, 297.
3. The Corinthian Epistles, 298.
4. The Epistle to the Galatians, 299.
5. The Epistle to the Romans, 300.
6. The Epistle to Philemon, 300.
7. The Pastoral Epistles, 301.
8. The Ephesian Epistle, 302.
9. The Epistle to the Philippians, 306.
10. The Epistle to the Colossians, 311.
(1) Fullness of the Deity.
(2) Significance of 1, 13-18.
(3) Firstborn of all Creation.
(4) His Pre-eminence.
11. The Pauline Doctrine of Pre-existence,
314.
(1) The Phrase "sent forth from God."
(2) Christ the Spiritual Rock.
(3) 1 Corinthians xv, 45-49.
(4) 2 Corinthians vlli, 9.

XIV

CONTENTS

12. Pauline Texts which call Christ God,
317.
(1) 1 Timothy ill, 16.
(2) Titus li. 13.
(3) Romans lx, 5.
(4) Ephesians v, 5.
(5) Acts xx. 28.
CHAPTER VIII.
Christology of the Epistle to the
Hebrews.
1. Character and Scope of the Epistle, 321.
2. The Facts of the Incarnation, 321.
3. Various Designations of Christ, 321.
4. Doctrine of Pre-existence, 322.
5. Effulgence of Glory and Image of Sub
stance, 323.
6. Question of Divine Titles Applied, 324.
CHAPTER IX.
The Johannine Christology.
1. The Johannine Peculiarities, 326.
2. The Word, or Logos, 326.
3. The Logos in Greek Philosophy and in
Philo, 327.
4. Personification of Wisdom in Jewish
Writings, 328.
5. Creation by the Word of God, 329.
6. Theophanies and Angelophanies, 329.
7. John's Gospel Gave the Logos New and
Deeper Significance, 330.
8. Necessity of Incarnation, 331.
9. Suggestive Words and Phrases, 332.
10. The Word of Life, 332.
11. The Word of Light, 333.
12. Doctrine of Pre-existence, 334.
13. The Idealistic Explanation, 334.
(1) Does Not Accord with John's Explicit
Language.
(2) Logos Not Synonymous with Abstract
Terms.
(3) More than Memra, Sheklna or Angel.
14. John's Doctrine Far above the Current
Theosophy, 336.
15. Erroneous Metaphysical Distinctions,
337.
16. Jesus Christ in the Flesh, 337.
CHAPTER X.
Summary of the New Testament Doc
trine of the Person of Jesus Christ.
1. The Divers Dogmas of Historical The
ology, 339.
2. Divers Types of the Biblical Doctrine,
339.
3. Onesidedness of Polemics, 340.
4. The Simplest Facts of His Life, 341.
5. His Subordinate Relation to God, 341.
6. His Consciousness of Unique Relation
ship to God, 342.
7. His Heavenly Pre-existence, 342.

8. Self-Coherence of the Supernatural in
Christ, 343.
9. A Likeness of Method in Paul and John,
343.
10. The Godhead of Christ Jesus, 344.
11. The Mystery of God, 344.
SECTION SECOND
THE MEDIATION OF JESUS CHRIST.
CHAPTER I.
The Mystery of Mediation and of
Incarnation.
1. Nature of Mediation, 346.
2. Doctrine and Ideals of Incarnation, 346.
3. Mystery and Purpose of the Ages, 348.
CHAPTER II.
Old Testament Ideas of Mediation.
1. Value of Old Testament Ideas, 350.
2. Primitive Priesthood and Mediation,
350.
3. Moses and Samuel as Mediators, 351.
4. The Levitical Priesthood, 351.
5. The Sacrificial Offerings, 353.
(1) Cereal Offerings.
(2) Blood Offerings.
(3) The Sin Offering.
6. The Goat for Azazel, 355.
7. Symbolical Significance of Blood, 355.
8. The Consuming of the Flesh, 356.
9. Significance of *|E3 and its Deriva
tives, 356.
10. Frequent Biblical Allusion to Sacri
fices, 357.
11. Human Sacrifices, 357.
12. Priesthood and Sacrifice Express Deep
Religious Convictions, 358.
13. Insufficiency of Animal Sacrifices, 359.
14. Ideas of Mediation in the Prophets, 359.
15. The Suffering Servant of Jehovah in
Isa. liii, 361.
(1) The Preceding Context.
(2) The Contrasts.
(3) Mediatorial Soul-Passion.
(4) Triumph and Exaltation.
(5) The Christian Interpretation.
16. Idea given in Daniel ix, 24, 362.
17. Doctrine of the Penitential Psalms, 363.
18. Connection with Israel's Messianic
Hope, 365.
CHAPTER III.
Sayings of Jesus relative to Redemp
tion.
1. Comparatively Little on this Subject in
the Gospels, 366.
2. His Entire Life a. Ransom for Many,
366.
3. Words of Jesus at the Last Supper, 369.
4. God's Great Love for the World, 371.

CONTENTS

xv

5. Giving his Flesh and Blood for the
World, 372.
6. Dying for Others, 373.
7. Intercessory Prayer in Chapter xvii,
373.
8. Words of Jesus on the Cross, 374.
CHAPTER IV.
Doctrine of John and of Peter.
1. Doctrine of the First Epistle of John,
376.
2. Old Testament Imagery of Blood Offer
ings, 377.
3. The Living Paraclete, 378.
4. The Coming through Water and Blood,
378.
5. Testimony of the Spirit, 379.
6. Doctrine of John's Apocalypse, 380.
7. The Teaching of Peter, 381.
8. Sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus, 381.
9. Bearing our Sins in his Body, 382.
10. Partaking in Christ's Sufferings, 383.
CHAPTER V.
Doctrine of the Pauline Epistles.
1. Christ's Mediation the Substance of
Paul's Gospel, 384.
2. The Corinthian Epistles, 384.
3. God in Christ Reconciling the World,
385.
4. Epistle to the Galatians, 388.
5. Becoming a Curse for Us, 389.
6. Epistle to the Romans, 390.
7. Discussion of Romans iii, 21-26, 391.
(1) Not a New Teaching.
(2) Originates with God.
(3) Passing over Former Sins.
(4) Two Greek Words.
(5) Realized through Faith.
(6) Magnifies the Law.
(7) Mysterious Necessities of the Moral
World.
8, Continuous Reconciliation, Romans iv,
25, 400.
9. The Great Antithesis of Romans v,
12-21,401.
10. The Doctrine in Ephesians and Colos-
sians, 401.
11. In the Pastoral Epistles, 402.
CHAPTER VI.
Doctrine of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
1. Outline of the Epistle, 404.
2. Superior Priesthood of Jesus, 405.
3. Symbolism of the Tabernacle, 406.
4. Mediator of the New Covenant, He
brews ix, 15-18, 407.
(1) Reasons for "Testament" in Hebrews
ix, 16, 17.
(2) Reasons for " Covenant."
5. This Not a Covenant between Equals,
411.

6. Alexandrian Cast of the Epistle, 411.
7. Substantial Agreement of All the New
Testament Writers, 412.
CHAPTER VII.
Summary of the Biblical Doctrine.
1. A Continuous Process, not a Finished
Work, 413.
2. Largely Set Forth by Symbols and
Metaphors, 414.
3. Use of Current Forms of Speech, 415.
4. Necessity of Christ's Mediation, 415.
(1) Necessity In Man.
(2) Necessity In Nature of God.
5. Such Suffering not Penal, 417.
6. Does Not Remove All Consequences of
Sin, 417.
7. Not an Objective Process or Ground of
God's Activity, 418.
8. Essentially Spiritual in its Operation,
418.
9. Effectual Through a Living Faith, 418.
10. No Theory of Atonement in the Scrip
tures, 419.
11. Mystical Body of Christ, 420.
12. The Communion of Saints, 421.
SECTION THIRD
THE KINGDOM AND COMING OF
CHRIST.
CHAPTER I.
The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ.
1. Heavenly Enthronement of Jesus
Christ, 423.
2. Old Testament Doctrine of the King
dom of God, 423.
(1) God Rules in Many and Divers Forma.
(2) God as the Supreme Judge.
(3) Apocalyptic Day of Jehovah.
(4) Messianic Prophecies of the Kingdom.
(5) The Messiah an Associate with the
Most High.
3. Views of the Kingdom Current among
the Jews, 429.
4. The Doctrine of Jesus, 430.
(1) A Kingdom of Heaven.
(2) Lessons of the Parables.
(3)* A Spiritual Kingdom.
(4) The Greatest In the Kingdom.
(5) The Fundamental Law of Love.
(6) Jesus's Teaching Different from John's
Ideal.
(7) Jesus's Teaching In John's Gospel.
5. Doctrine of Pauline Epistles, 438.
6. Other New Testament Teaching, 439.
7. Contemplates Present and Future
Blessedness, 440.
8. Concluding Summary, 440.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER II.
The Coming of the Kingdom of Christ.
1. Variety of Biblical Statements, Words
and Phrases, 442.
2. Coming in the Near Future, 442.
3. Jesus's Eschatological Discourse, 444.
4. The End of the Age, 444.
5. Supposed Inconsistencies, 446.
(1) Matthew xxiv, 14.
(2) The Day and Hour Unknown.
(3) Apocalyptic Language.
6. The Words trapovaia, and Ipxo/tai, 448.
7. Admonition of Luke xvii. 20-37, 449.
8. Synoptic Testimony Quite Decisive, 449.
9. Excludes Literalism, 450.
10. Doctrine of John's Gospel, 451.
(1) John 111, 3-7; 31-36.
(2) John xiv, 3.
(3) John xxi. 22. 23.
11. General Apostolic Allusions, 453.
12. Import of the word imtyaveta, 454.
13. Import of atrotcaXinjiif;, and tpavepoott;,
455.
14. The Statement in Acts i, 11, 456.
15. Doctrine of John's Apocalypse, 457.
(1) The First Part. I-XI.
(2) The Second Part, XII-XXII.
(3) New Jerusalem a Symbol of the King
dom of Heaven.
16. Biblical Doctrine of Antichrist, 460.
(1) Old Testament Concepts.
(2) Antichrist In John's Apocalypse.
17. The Pauline Doctrine of Antichrist.
(1) Relation of Second Thessalonians 11,
1-12, to First Thessalonians lv, 13-18.
(2) Meaning of Second Thessalonians U, 2.
(3) Imagery of Paul's Picture of Anti
christ.
(4) Other Peculiar Words and Phrases.
(5) Essential Content and Import of the
Pauline Doctrine.
18. The Antichrist of the Johannine Epis
tles.
19. General Conclusion.
CHAPTER III.
Continuous Development of the King
dom of Christ.
1. Christ to Overcome the World, 473.
2. Old Testament Messianic Ideals, 473.
(1) Ancient Promises
(2) Psalms ex and lxxii.
(3) Isaiah II, 2-4.
(4) Isaiah lx, 1-7, and xi, 1-10.
(5) Daniel 11, 44. and vii, 13.
3. Christ as Ruler and Judge, 477.
4. Days of Judgment, 478.
5. The Judgment in Matthew xxv, 31-46.
478.

6. Times and Modes of Judgment Not
Specifically Revealed, 478.
7. Eternal Issues of the Judgment, 479.
8. Judgment of God and of Christ One,
480.
9. A New Power in the World, 480.
10. Its Period One of Untold Ages and
Generations, 481.
11. Regeneration and Restitution of All
Things, 482.
12. Paul's Statement in First Corinthians
xv, 24-28, 483.
CHAPTER IV.
The Mission and Ministry ot the Spirit
of Christ.
1. Vital Relation of the Kingdom of
Christ and the Ministry of His Spirit,
484.
2. The Spirit Operative Before End of
Age, 484.
3. Meaning of the Word Spirit, 485.
4. Threefold Elements of Personality, 485.
5. Epithets applied to the Spirit of God,
487.
6. The Spirit Capable of Grief, 487.
7. Advance in the New Testament Doc
trine, 488.
8. Christ and the Holy Spirit, 488.
9. The Johannine Teaching, 489.
10. Procession and Personality, 480.
11. The Power of the Spirit After the Glori
fication of Jesus, 491.
12. The Pentecostal Gifts of Power, 492.
(1) Foretold by Jesus.
(2) Expected and Prayed for.
(3) The Promise Fulfilled.
(4) Peter's Interpretation.
(5) Immediate Results.
(6) Typical Significance.
(7) Three Fundamental Truths.
13. Ministrations of the Spirit, 495.
(1) Conviction of Sin, Righteousness, and
Judgment.
(2) Regeneration.
(3) Sanctification.
(4) Witness and Communion.
(5) Revealing the Truth.
(6) Imparting Gifts of Power.
(7) The Comforter.
14. The Greater Works of the Spirit, 504.
(1) Greater than Physical Signs and Won
ders.
(2) Jesus's Estimate of Miracles.
(3) Lesson from Elijah.
(4) Paul's Estimate of External Wonders.
15. Shows the Real Nature of the Kingdom
of God, 508.
16. Personal Presence of the Living God,
508.

CONTENTS

xvii

PART THIRD

OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN

SECTION FIRST
THE UNIVERSAL REVELATION.
CHAPTER I.
The Mystery of tho Invisible.
1. Witnessed Among All Nations, 509.
2. The Divers Interpretations, 510.
3. Philosophical Theories, 511.
4. Current Theistic Arguments, 512.
5. Words of Zophar and Elihu, 513.
CHAPTER II.
Biblical Recognition of the Gods and
Cults of the Nations.
1. Gods of the Nations, 514.
2. Traces of Heathen Myths, 514.
3. Names of the Gods, 515.
CHAPTER III.
Origin of the Concept of God.
1. Involved in the Origin of Religion, 518.
2. Inadequate Theories, 518.
3. A Question of Psychology Rather than
of History, 519.
4. The Concept a Revelation, 519.
5. Revelation Gradual and in Parts, 520.
6. Childhood of the World, 521.
SECTION SECOND
THE HEBREW REVELATION.
CHAPTER I.
The Call and Covenant of Abraham.
1. The Migration and the Promise, 523.
2. Meeting with Melchizedek, 523.
3. Defective Ethical Standards, 524.
4. Nomadic Life Favorable to Religious
Thought, 524.
5. The Covenant of Promise, 524.
6. Anthropomorphic Conceptions, 525.
7. Other Patriarchal Revelations, 527.
8. The Biblical Narratives Give Truthful
Pictures, 527.
CHAPTER II.
The Divine Legation of Moses.
1. The Hebrew Exodus, 529.
2. The New Name Jehovah, 529.
3. The Sinaitic Legislation, 531.
4. Comparative Legislation of the Na
tions, 532. CHAPTER III.
Canaanitish Conflicts and Messages of
the Prophets.
1. Israel's Apostasy from Jehovah, 534.
2. The Concept of Monolatry, 535.

3. Jehovah a Terrible God, 536.
4. Jehovah of Hosts, 537.
5. Human Sacrifices, 537. »
6. Ideas of God Enlarged with National
Growth, 537.
7. Significance of the Temple, 538.
8. Concept of a Theocratic Kingdom, 539.
9. Apocalyptic Visions of Jehovah, 540.
10. The Biblical Angelology, 541.
11. The Prophetic Monotheism, 543.
12. Theology of the Psalter, 545.
13. Hebrew Ideal of Creation, 546.
14. The Messianic Hope of Israel, 547.
15. A Purposed Goal in Human History,
548.
16. Concept of God as Father, 549.
17. Summary of Old Testament Doctrine,
550.
(1) Essential Qualities of Nature.
(2) Personality ot God.
(3) Divine Attributes In Personality.
Omnipotence.
Omniscience.Omnlsentlence. SECTION THIRD
THE REVELATION IN JESUS CHRIST.
CHAPTER I.
The Threefold Manifestation.
1. Love, Wisdom, and Power in the Per
son, Mediation, and Kingdom of
Christ, 555.
2. Complemental to Old Testament Rev
elation, 555.
3. Christ the Power of God, 556.
4. Christ the Wisdom of God, 557.
5. Christ the Love of God, 558.
CHAPTER II.
Christ's own Testimony and Teaching.
1. Jesus's Testimony in Matthew xi, 25-27,
560.
(1) Fuller Revelation of the Father.
(2) Simplicity of Christ's Gospel of the
Father.
(3) The Father's Delight In His Children.
2. Great Advance on the Old Testament
View, 564.
3. The Only One Good, 564.
4. Doctrine of Jesus in the Fourth Gos
pel, 565.
(1) God Is Spirit.
(2) God Is the Life and the Light.
(3) God is Love.
(4) Johannine Concept of the Fatherhood.

xvm

CONTENTS

CHAPTER III.
Apostolic Concepts of the Father.
1. In the Epistle of John, 569.
2. In the Other Catholic Epistles, 569.
3. In the Pauline Epistles, 570.
(1) Various Striking Phrases.
(2) Monotheistic Attributes.
(3) Sympathy with the Groaning Creation.
CHAPTER IV.
The Everlasting Fatherhood.
1. Monistic, Immanent, Transcendent,
572.

2. God Conceived as Generator and Gen
eratrix, 572.
3. Providential Oversight and Rule, 573.
4. Suffers with the Groaning Creation, 574.
5. The Cry — How Long, O Lord, 575.
6. No Waste of Material or Energy, 576.
7. Defective Concept of Monarchy and
Absolutism, 578.
8. The Idea of Divine Maternity, 579.
9. The Everlasting Trinity of Wisdom,
Power, and Love, 580.
10. The Everlasting Goal, 581.
Select Bibliography, 583.
Index of Scripture Texts, 595.
General Index. 605.

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTEE I
IDEA AND SCOPE OP BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
1. Theology and Religion. Theology is the science of religion,
and a scientific treatment of the Christian faith must be a rational
conception and statement of its fundamental truths. Keligion
is found to be an essential element in the spiritual nature of man.
There is a necessary relation between man and God, and the con
sciousness of this fact accounts for the universal prevalence of
religion among the various peoples. Eeligion appears under many
different forms, and it has been in all ages an important factor in
the progress of civilization. It cannot be accounted for as a
product of human reason, or as an invention of priestcraft, or as
an effect of ghostly and superstitious fears. Eeligion, like the
moral sense, is a matter of personal consciousness and universal
experience, and it compels some form of recognition among all
men. The simplest explanation of these facts appears in the
biblical teaching that God, the invisible and eternal Spirit, has
in various ways revealed himself to all the peoples of the earth.
That which may be known of God in his works of creation and in
his opposition to all unrighteousness of men is said by Paul to
have been revealed from heaven to the conscience and perception
of the human soul, and such revelation has been in progress from
the beginning until now. Accordingly, men of all nations show
the work of a divine law written in their hearts, and their eon-
science and reason continually bear witness to these unmistakable
facts. 2. Universality of Religion and Revelation. That God, the
eternal Spirit, has at different times and in many ways revealed
himself to mankind is attested by the universality of the religious
feeling. If there be any human heart destitute of religious con
sciousness, it must be either undeveloped or abnormal. Hence we
conceive that all true elements of religion are matters of divine
revelation. But not all these elements of religion have ever been
given at any one time or place as a perfected whole. They have
1

2 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
been made known to men in various degrees of clearness, here in
part and there in part. According to John i, 9, the all-pervasive,
true, eternal Light illumines every man coming into the world.
That which has commonly been called "natural religion" proves
in its final analysis to be a matter of revelation, for the invisible
attributes and powers of the Creator are made manifest through
the visible forms of the things which have been made. But this
fact that all religion, like the concept of God, is a matter of revela
tion does not exclude the further fact that various special and
remarkable revelations have at different times been made to men.
There have been distinctive epochs of religious activity, and
there have appeared not a few transcendent teachers of religion,
gifted above their fellow men in the knowledge of divine mysteries;
and all these are entitled to our most serious and careful considera
tion.1 At the same time we should observe that a deep religious
feeling may exist without a definite system of religious thought.
Eeligious emotion may also very powerfully impress and actuate
one's life, while at the same time his concept of God and the world
may be darkened by sundry low and delusive superstitions. One
may seriously embrace a falsehood for the truth and propagate it
with great zeal. His error may contain elements of truth, and so
be the more enthralling. One may also perversely change the truth
of God into a lie, or exchange it for a lie, and worship and serve
the creature rather than the Creator (comp. Eom. i, 25). The facts
of religious aberration, bigotry, and bitterness constitute a mourn
ful exhibit of human frailty. But on the other hand, a study
of the efforts of the great and good to formulate their conceptions
of God and of the relations between God and man is one of the
most interesting and profitable occupations of the seeker after
truth. 3. Philosophy of Religion. There are many different forms of
religion in the world, and there have been many which, like the
peoples who observed them, long ago ceased to exist. The fact
that we can speak of "dead religions" and "living religions" is
itself an indication that religion is an inseparable factor in the
life and growth of nations. Aside from the lower phases of reli
gion which appear among barbarous tribes, there are such con
spicuous systems as Buddhism and Mohammedanism which are
embraced by millions of enthusiastic devotees. Each of these
1 This fact has been admirably expressed by Professor R. H. Charles: "All true
growth in religion, whether in the past or the present, springs from the communion
of man with the immediate living God, wherein man learns the will of God, and
becomes thereby an organ of God, a personalized conscience, a revealer of divine
truth for meti less inspired than himself. The truth thus revealed through a man
possesses a divine authority for men." — Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future
Life, p. 3. London, 1899.

INTRODUCTION 3
great systems of faith has its own peculiar history and teachings,
and they all demand the attention of the thorough student of
theology. The "philosophy of religion," so called, has in recent
years become a distinct department of study, and is based upon
a comparative examination of all the religious cults known among
the nations. It studies to reduce the facts of religion to certain
fundamental principles, and to explain their origin, their nature,
and their relations. Such comparative study is not fairly or profit
ably pursued without the aid of history, psychology, philosophy,
and theology.
4. The Christian Religion. We maintain that the Christian
religion is by far the highest and purest among all the great
religions now existing. It acknowledges its direct historical con
nection with the religion of the Jewish people, and makes an
important use of their ancient scriptures; but it assumes to
supplement and supersede the older Hebrew system. The religious
teachings of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms of Israel stand
aloft and unique; they are without parallel among all the sacred
writings that originated in their time ; but the teachings of Jesus
Christ and his apostles surpass them all in their self-evidencing
authority and adaptation to meet the spiritual wants of man.
The doctrines of this superior religion are to be learned from
the writings of the New Testament. In these simple but remarka
ble records the precious truths of the older scriptures, even to
the jot and tittle, are seen in their higher pleroma (comp. Matt, v,
17). The Christian revelation fulfills and consummates the entire
Hebrew cult. It is the purpose of Biblical Dogmatics to gather
up and set forth in orderly arrangement the essential doctrines
of this superior revelation as they may be clearly proven out of
all these sacred writings.
5. Biblical Theology. Biblical Dogmatics, accordingly, differs
in its scope from what is known as biblical theology. The latter
aims to trace the genesis and growth of religious ideas, and to
set forth the various types of doctrine apparent in the different
biblical writers. It is, accordingly, a kind of historical discipline,
while at the same time it belongs essentially to the department
of exegetical theology, for its main task is to furnish a correct
grammatico-historical explanation of the teaching of each biblical
writer, and also to show as far as possible the origin and develop
ment of each distinct religious concept. Biblical Dogmatics, on
the other hand, goes beyond the limits of this exegetical and
historical discipline, and seeks a logical arrangement of the biblical
doctrines into a systematic body of revealed truth. It appropriates
the results of exegetical study as presented in biblical theology,

4 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and combines them in their inner living connection and their
higher unity.1
6. Systematic Theology. Systematic Theology claims a still
broader field than that of Biblical Dogmatics and of Biblical
Theology. It goes beyond the limits of the biblical revelation,
although acknowledging the Scriptures as the chief source of reli
gious dogma. It recognizes the creeds and controversies of Chris
tendom, and employs, as occasion offers, both the methods and
the facts of science, of philosophy, and of all human research. It
deals with doctrines of the Christian faith, sets forth the processes
by which the several dogmas have been constructed into scientific
statement and confessional formulas, and arranges the whole body
of doctrines thus constructed into one complete, logical, self-con
sistent system. Systematic Theology, or Christian Dogmatics in
the broad sense, may well claim the great creeds of Christendom
as a magnificent inheritance. Certain specific formulas of doc
trine may be discarded; many peculiar opinions of great fathers
and teachers of the church may be seen to be no longer tenable;
but the ecumenical creeds, the historic confessions, and such names
as Athanasius, and Augustine, and Jerome, and Bernard, and
Anselm, Luther and Melanehthon, Zwingli and Calvin, Arminius,
Bunyan, Edwards, and Wesley are fairly canonized in the thought
of the Christian world. We may freely test their statements by
all the appliances of later research and we may find not a little
in them to be set aside; but we should also appreciate and admire
the inestimable substance of truth which they have transmitted
to us in their luminous expositions of Christian doctrine.
7. Limits and Aim of Biblical Dogmatics. Biblical Dogmatics
may adopt the method of Systematic Theology in the construction
of distinctive doctrines of the Scriptures and in arranging them
into an orderly and logical system, but it may not go beyond the
proper exegesis of the Bible in its construction of doctrine, nor
is it to deal with the creeds of the Church and the polemics of
theologians. It may, so far as serves its purpose, proceed in the
steps of biblical theology, point out the genesis and development
of particular doctrines, and give due attention to the distinctive
types of doctrine which appear in different biblical writers. So
far as the books of the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms of
1 We cannot well overestimate the value of biblical theology to modern Christian
thought. It is almost the extreme opposite of the older confessional dogmatics,
for its trend has been virtually a revolt from the dialectic and speculative methods
of a former time. It seems almost an ironical element, working unconsciously in
theologians, when they insist in strong terms that the Scriptures are the "sole
and infallible rule of faith," and yet make it their strenuous task to twist luminous
statements of the biblical writers from their obvious meaning into a supposable
harmony with preconceived extra-biblical schemes of doctrine.

INTRODUCTION 5
the Old Testament show divergences of thought, or so far as the
different books of the New Testament indicate any diversity of
doctrinal expression, Biblical Dogmatics is bound to pay careful
attention to all the facts. If there be found any contradiction
of teaching in the various authors, or if early and imperfect
religious ideas are corrected, supplemented or superseded in later
times, Biblical Dogmatics should take due account of all such
progress and changes of doctrine. At the same time it is the task
of Biblical Dogmatics so to combine the truths of Scripture as
to exhibit the higher and broader unity under which the varying
individual concepts of different writers may be seen to be so many
manifestations of the same Spirit.
8. Theology Old and New. The result of a faithful construc
tion of Biblical Dogmatics should be an old and new theology.
Not an old theology and a new one, as if they were twain and
contradictory, but a theology which is at once both old and new.
It is a theology which faithfully maintains and conserves the great
religious teachings of the Scriptures, but which may be set forth
in new forms of statement and with new life and beauty by the
living Spirit of Christ which ever abides and cooperates with the
enlargement of human knowledge. "Therefore every scribe who
hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto
a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure
things new and old" (Matt, xiii, 52). A notable part of the
ministry of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father sends as an abiding
Comforter, is to teach us and to guide us into all the truth (John
xiv, 26; xvi, 13; 1 John ii, 27). By the guidance of this abiding
Spirit the disciple of the kingdom of heaven may continually find
new confirmations and enlarged conceptions of the truths of Holy
Writ. He enjoys numerous advantages over the ancient fathers.
There is today a more searching criticism of the biblical records
than at any previous period; there prevails a sounder and better
exegesis of those records; the comparative study of the great
religions of the world and their sacred books has accomplished
much for a broader view of the relations between God and man;
scientific exploration and commercial and international intercourse
have enlarged the knowledge and sympathy of men ; the remarka
ble sociological movements throughout the civilized world and
the profound study of the philosophy of human history have lifted
whole classes to a higher plane of thought ; discoveries in natural
science and the inductive methods of investigation so prominent
in modern research, the uplifting influence of great reforms and
the marvelous achievements of modern Christian missions among
the peoples of other faiths, the refining influence of enlarged

6 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
literary culture and the power of the secular and religious press —
these and other like elements of advantage over the former times
are of incalculable value for the full equipment of the biblical.
theologian. The illuminating Spirit of God may be expected to
work with increased efficiency by means of the superior knowledge
and culture now possible to man. And so the student in any
department of theological research ought to profit by the various
appliances of learning and science, confident that the Spirit of
truth is ever operating through such aids to the discovery of new
beauty and treasure in the ancient revelations. Our heavenly
Father worketh hitherto, and how shall we be partakers of his
Spirit if we neglect any light arising through the advance of
human research? Our aim shall be to "combine spiritual things
with spiritual words" (1 Cor. ii, 13), and thus conserve and
enhance the old eternal truths by a manner of statement somewhat
new, but, it is hoped, clearly self-consistent and intelligible.

CHAPTEE II
SOURCES OP BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
1. The Bible a Priceless Treasury. The main sources of biblical
doctrine are the canonical scriptures of the Old and New Testa
ments. The writers of these remarkable books were all of them
offspring of Abraham, who was of old time called out from his
far Eastern country and kindred to become a great nation and
a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen. xii, 1-3). These
people and their sacred writings hold a unique place in the history
of mankind. In the more ancient times the sons of Abraham
were called Hebrews; later they were also called Israelites; and
after their restoration from Babylonian captivity they were more
commonly called Jews, because most of the survivors of that exile
were of the tribe and kingdom of Judah. There came unto them
time and again the assurance that they were to be a peculiar
possession of God above all other peoples of the earth, "a kingdom
of priests, and a holy nation," destined to be a light among the
nations to make known the salvation of God to the ends of the
earth (Exod. xix, 6; Deut. vii, 6; Isa. xlix, 6). According to
Jesus, in John iv, 22, "the salvation is from the Jews," and Paul's
conception of the chief advantage of the Jews was in the fact that
"they were intrusted with the oracles of God" (Eom. iii. 2). If
there be any truth in the common saying that the Eomans have
been preeminent in teaching the world its highest ideals of gov
ernment and law, and that the Greeks have excelled in art and
philosophy, it may as surely be maintained that the Hebrew nation
has been the recipient and custodian of the purest religion and
the most profitable scriptures known among men. We accord
ingly accept the canonical books of the two Testaments as a
priceless deposit of religious truth, exceedingly profitable and
altogether sufficient for doctrine and for instruction in the revela
tions of God.
2. Trammels of Old Tradition. But the precious truths of these
scriptures have been largely obscured and deprived of their real
force and authority by the traditions of men. The early Christian
Church inherited from the Jewish synagogue a vast accumulation
of conjectures touching the origin of the sacred books, and the
nature of their inspiration; and this harmful leaven of erroneous

8 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and misleading conceptions has been working through all the
Christian centuries. The rabbinical exegesis ran into a cabalistic
juggling with the text of Scripture, and was speedily followed
by the almost equally fantastic allegorical methods of the Alexan
drian school of biblical interpreters, from Philo the Jew to Origen
the learned Christian father. In spite of the wholesome reaction
of the school of Antioch the mischievous assumptions and the
mystic methods of the allegorical treatment of Scripture have
persisted until quite modern times, and may be found in some
places even to this day. Along with the old rabbinic and alle
gorical exegesis there was also begotten a theory of biblical inspira
tion, which in course of time has taken to itself such qualifying
terms as verbal, inerrant, and infallible. It has affirmed that the
sacred writers were impassive instruments in the hands of God,
and that every word and letter of the Bible were supernaturally
dictated by the omniscient Spirit.1 This strange fiction of mis
taken reverence for the letter of Scripture has tended to a materi
alistic and sentimental bibliolatry, and has fostered the most
absurd mental aberrations. The extravagant claims of the old
Jewish rabbis, and the mystic vagaries of mediaeval cabalists, were
paralleled by the declaration of the Helvetic creed of 1675 that
"the Hebrew original of the Old Testament is inspired of God
not only in its consonants, but in its vowels and the vowel points."
The allegorical interpretation itself was in part an effort to get
rid of the obvious difficulties of inerrant verbal inspiration, and
also to account for the recorded immoralities of the patriarchs
which such a strained view of Scripture seemed to sanction.
3. Reaction and Changes of View. The common sense and
intelligence of men have for long time been revolting from this
distorted handling of the Scriptures. The author of 2 Peter (iii,
16) speaks of Paul's epistles, and also the other scriptures, as
having been stretched on the rack and twisted over a windlass
(oToefiXovoiv) by the ignorant errorists of his time. Such a
torturing of a multifarious body of religious literature is sure,
sooner or later, to provoke reaction, and such intellectual reactions
have too generally been led by men of a rationalistic and iconoclas
tic spirit. We naturally feel that this ought not so to be; and
yet history has often shown that iconoclasts may indirectly serve
1 Thus Quenstedt, in 1685, declared that "all things which were to be written
were suggested by the Holy Spirit to the sacred writers in the very act of writing,
and were dictated to their intellect as if unto a pen (quasi in caiamum), so that
they could be written in no other circumstances, in this and no other mode or
order" (Theologia Didact., iv, 2). Carpzov, in 1728, declared that the divine
Power "impelled the will" of the biblical writers, and "directed their hand that
they might write infallibly" (Critica Sacra Vet. Test., p. 43). Similar statements
might be cited by the hundred from writers both earlier and later than these.

INTRODUCTION 9
the cause of truth. If they but stimulate men to a remonstrance
against aged abuses, to an exposure of unsound and misleading
methods, and to the adoption of more tenable beliefs, their very
extravagances may help the infirmities of less bold reformers.
But changes of opinion on a wide scale and modification of old
beliefs are not made suddenly. They usually require several gen
erations to make the necessary discoveries and adjust the results
of faithful investigation.
4. Other Sacred Bibles. One of the most important discoveries
of the last century is the number of other collections of literature
held sacred by the adherents of divers ethnic religions of the
world. The Chinese classics, as revised and enlarged by the wis
dom of Confucius, have an authority in the civilization and wor
ship of the millions of Eastern Asia that is notably comparable
with that of the Hebrew scriptures among the Jewish people.
The Kojiki of the old Shinto cult in Japan presents another
example that is worthy of comparison. The ancient Vedas of
India command a reverence among millions of the Hindus as
great as any Jew or Christian ever evinced for the Bible of his
faith. The Tripitaka of the Buddhists, the Avesta of the ancient
Mazdeans and the modern Parsees, the Koran of the Moham
medans, and sundry other collections of sacred literature hold
a similar high place in the estimation of other religionists. For
in several of these ethnic books claims of miraculous inspiration are
made even more extravagant than those of verbal dictation and
literal inerrancy. Among some of the Mohammedans it is held
that the Koran is not a human production, but existed from
eternity in the essence of God; and some Brahmans put forth
similar declarations respecting their ancient Vedas. Acquaint
ance with these other bibles of the world, and with the remarkable
claims put forth in their honor, have admonished us to be more
cautious in making assertions about our Holy Bible which are
not clearly demonstrable.
5. Limits of the Biblical Canon. Another fact which scientific
research has compelled us to acknowledge is the uncertainty of the
limits of our canonical scriptures. Faithful historical inquiry
nowhere finds that God himself, or Jesus Christ, or any duly
accredited person or company of men, has ever settled once for
all the exact extent of either the Old Testament or the New.
Some of the New Testament writers quote from apocryphal writ
ings with as much respect as they do from Moses and the prophets,
and many of the early Christian fathers not only do the same
thing but they also call those apocryphal books "holy Scripture."
The Greek and Eoman Catholic Churches accept the Old Testa-

10 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ment Apocrypha as an integral part of the inspired canon. The
lists of canonical books found in the writings of Melito, Origen,
and other early Christian writers, and those indorsed by the
Councils of Laodicea and Hippo, vary in details, and they represent
at most only the opinions of men of fallible judgment, no more
competent to determine such a question than the painstaking
historical students of our day. There is little room to doubt, how
ever, that the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, as they
are now everywhere acknowledged, were accepted as Holy Scrip
tures by the Jews at the beginning of the Christian era. Josephus
specifies them as five books of Moses, thirteen books of the
Prophets, and four others containing hymns to God and prescribed
rules of life for men.1 These make in all twenty-two books,
according to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet; but
Josephus nowhere names all the books, or gives us to understand
how he condensed our present thirty-nine into twenty-two. It
is also a fact not to be overlooked that in the first century of our
era the Jewish rabbis were yet discussing the canonicity of Ecclesi
astes, Esther, and the Song of Songs.* So little weight had these
Talmudic discussions of the rabbinic schools of Palestine with
the Alexandrian Jews that they freely admitted into their collec
tion of scriptures the books which we now call Apocrypha. The
early Christian fathers appear to have accepted the Alexandrian
rather than the Palestinian canon, and, as we have said, the
Greek and Roman Churches have followed their example in spite
of the lists of more limited collections approved by various Church
councils. But even could it be shown that the limits of the Old
Testament were fixed by Ezra or by Christ and his apostles, where
shall we find equal authority for the several books of the New
Testament? It is matter of ancient record that the epistles of
James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, the Apocalypse of John, and
the epistle to the Hebrews were in the early times regarded by
some as spurious, and were long disputed." But while these facts
disclose the uncertainty of the limits of the canon, as fixed by any
unquestionable authority, it must also be ©bserved that over the

> Contra Apion, book i, 8.
8 It is remarkable how a vague tradition, destitute of any trustworthy authority,
and notably inconsistent with certain demonstrable facts, may be taken up by a
bold writer and affirmed as the end of all controversy on a most important question.
Thus J. H. Hottinger, about the middle of the seventeenth century, declared:
"Hitherto it has been an unquestioned axiom both among Jews and Christians
(who have not a fungus for brains) that the canon of the Old Testament was
fixed once for all, with divine authority, by Ezra and the men of the Great Syna
gogue" (Thesaurus Philologicus, i, 2). _ This statement is without any proof, but
has been repeated by scores of theologians, who seem never to have clearly com
prehended the difference between demonstrable facts and bold assertions.
'Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book iii, chap, xxv; book ii, chap, xxiii.

INTRODUCTION 11
acceptance of the great majority of the books no serious question
has ever arisen; and while some of the apocryphal books are of
obviously inferior value, it may be said of all of them, canonical,
apocryphal, and pseudepigraphical, that they contain much that
is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for
instruction in righteousness"; and it would make no serious dif
ference in results if we should include them all in our sources of
biblical dogmatics. In fact, on doctrines not a few we find it
necessary to consult these apocryphal sources for information
touching the religious opinions of the Jews current at the time
these books were written. The book of Tobit, as well as the book
of Esther, furnishes us with a noteworthy side-light upon the Jew
ish life and thought of its time, and the historian of Judaism might
well deplore its loss. On the other hand, no important truth
of our Christian religion would be invalidated or imperiled if we
should omit from our sources of doctrine not only all the apocry
phal writings, but also the books of Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song
of Songs, Chronicles, James, Hebrews, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John,
Jude, and the Apocalypse, for the canonicity of most of these, as
we have observed, was much questioned in the ancient times.
There is, moreover, a convenience in the use of the more limited
canon, and it seems preferable to confine our sources of doctrine
to the scriptures of the Old Testament which are accepted alike
by Jews, Greek and Eoman Catholics and Protestants, and to the
New Testament as commonly received by the Greek, Eoman, and
Protestant Churches.
6. Other Traditions Questioned. Other traditions of the Jewish
synagogue touching the authorship of certain books have also been
challenged by modern criticism. A well-known passage in the
Talmud assumes to answer the question, "Who wrote the Old
Testament books ?" That answer, given in the footnote,1 is a fair
specimen of oracular dogma prevalent in the old rabbinic schools.
Its value is to be estimated by comparison with scores of similar
deliverances found among the teachings of the Gemara. The
entire statement is obviously a set of rabbinical conjectures, made
at a time when the origin and history of the books named were
as uncertain to these Jews as they are to us. The strange idea

1 Moses wrote his own book, and the section about Balaam and Job. Joshua
wrote his own book and eight verses of the Law. Samuel wrote his own book
and also Judges and Ruth. David wrote the book of Psalms at the direction
of (or in behalf of) the ten ancients : Adam the first, Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses,
Heman, Jeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korah. Jeremiah wrote his own
book and the book of Kings and Lamentations. Hezekiah and his company wrote
Isaiah, Proverbs, Song, and Ecclesiastes. The men of the Great Synagogue wrote
Ezekiel and the Twelve, Daniel, and the roll of Esther. Ezra wrote his own book,
and the genealogies of Chronicles down to his own time. — Baba Bathra, 14, b.

12 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
that David wrote the Psalms by the aid of Adam, Melchizedek
and Abraham, and that the men of the Great Synagogue wrote
Ezekiel, is sufficient to disparage the entire tradition and to divest
it of all historical value. And yet this old and worthless statement
of conjectures, repeated in substance by generations of biblical com
mentators, has been allowed to go unchallenged so long, that when
we now call attention to its obscurity and want of corroborating
evidence some people show alarm, and imagine that we are "attack
ing" the Scriptures themselves. A careful study of the Bible
evinces the fact that many of the Old Testament books are anony
mous, while the traditional authorship of others is heavily dis
counted, if not disproved, by the internal witness of the books
themselves. The Psalms are not all ascribed to David, and the
book of Proverbs contains at least seven different collections, some
of them made long after the time of Solomon. Moreover, the titles
of many psalms and the superscriptions and subscriptions of
some books and portions of books appear to have no more value
than the chapter-headings inserted in the "authorized" English
version of 1611. Some books long supposed to have come from
one writer are found on closer examination to be composite, and
this noteworthy feature of books both canonical and apocryphal
appears also in most of the religious books of other nations. It
ought, therefore, to be no disturbing element in our search for
the truth embodied in these ancient books to be apprized of all
the facts and features of their origin, so far as such facts can
now be ascertained. The books themselves remain precisely what
they always have been since they were canonized for religious
uses, and the results of continuous searching criticism only serve
to present them to us in a clearer light.
7. Variety of Compositions. Another fact brought into promi
nence by modern research is the remarkable variety of compositions
embodied in the scriptures of the two Testaments. There are
fragments of very ancient Hebrew song imbedded sometimes in
the midst of historic annals ; there are sundry collections of odes
and proverbs, dramas wrought out in artificial form, alphabetical
poems, orations of fervid eloquence, biography of romantic interest,
genealogies of tedious length, theocratic history and narratives of
many persons and of events of which we possess no other record ;
there are the oracles of prophecy and the gospel memoirs, unlike
any other literature known; the New Testament epistles are
unique, and the gospel of John is a monument of Christian
thought which persistently confounds the hostile criticism of the
centuries. All these writings taken together exhibit also a wealth
and variety of rhetorical qualities unsurpassed in other comparable

INTRODUCTION 13
collections of religious literature. There are enigmatical sayings,
riddles, fables, parables, allegories, types, symbols, and apocalyptic
pictures set in exquisite idealistic form, and often adorned with
the most beautiful and forceful figures of speech. It is easily seen
now that all portions of this extensive and various body of scrip
ture are not of equal value. Compositions of such great diversity
of character and scope, many of them separated from each other
by centuries, could not and should not be expected to escape the
most searching criticism. The original texts are in many cases
corrupt, so that we are at a loss to know precisely what the ancient
writer said. Had the biblical writings, like certain well-known
inscriptions, been originally graven in the enduring rock with a
stylus of iron (comp. Job xix, 24), there might have been less
ground for dubious questioning; but they were at first inscribed in
perishable manuscripts, and they have been copied by many dif
ferent hands through successive generations, and a comparison of
the various copies and of the several versions shows that they have
suffered by way of numerous omissions, interpolations, and verbal
changes. 8. Three Divisions of the Hebrew Canon. The three well-known
divisions of the Hebrew canon — the Law, the Prophets, and the
Writings — appear to have been made some time before the begin
ning of our era. They are mentioned in Luke xxiv, 44, as "the
law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms," and in the pro
logue of Ecclesiasticus as "the law, and the prophets, and the other
books of our fathers." All printed copies of the Hebrew Bible
show this arrangement of the Palestinian canon. The first five
books are called the Law of Moses ; the books of the Prophets are
separated into two classes, the earlier and the later, the first class
embracing Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, the second the
more oracular books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve
Minor Prophets. All the other books of the Old Testament belong
to the third division called Kethubim, i. e., Writings. By some
of the Greek and Latin fathers and by many later writers this
third section was called the Hagiographa, i. e., Holy Writings.
The book of Psalms is divided into a pentateuch, each section
ending with a doxology; and the Jews have a saying that Moses
gave five books of law, and David gave five books of psalms ; the
law is the word of Jehovah to his people, and the psalms are the
responsive word of his people to Jehovah. But the critical study
of both these pentateuchs has resulted in a prevalent belief that
Moses was no more the author of the one than was David of the
other. On this question of criticism, however, the last word has
not yet been said, and is not likely to be for years to come.

14 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
9. The New Testament Canon. The books of the New Testa
ment canon are fewer in number than those of the Old, and would
fill less than one third the number of pages, but as sources of
Christian doctrine they are very far in advance of the Hebrew
scriptures, for they embody the teachings of the Lord Jesus who
has fulfilled the law and the prophets, and is the Mediator of a
new and better covenant. The three synoptic gospels occupy the
first and highest position in this canon, for they contain a remarka
bly simple and uniform account of the best established traditions
of what Jesus said and did, as they were first reported by those
"who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the
word" (Luke i, 2). This oral testimony, which doubtless entered
largely into the first preaching of the gospel by the apostles, found
its way at an early date into numerous written narratives out of
which our first three gospels appear to have been compiled. It is
now commonly believed that Mark's gospel is the oldest of the
three, and, according to Papias (about A. D. 130), it is in sub
stance what Mark remembered of the things said or done by Christ
as they were personally communicated to him by Peter. Papias
also says that Matthew wrote out a collection of the sayings of
Jesus in the Hebrew language, which others translated and inter
preted as they were able.1 That Hebrew (or Aramaic) original is
lost, and we do not know just how much of it has been preserved in
translation in our present Greek gospel according to Matthew.
The date of Matthew and also that of Luke are quite uncertain,
and each of these gospels has recorded words and works of our
Lord which are not reported elsewhere. The gospel according to
John is so different in its style from the Synoptics that its date
and authorship form one of the most persistently disputed
problems of New Testament criticism. Those who maintain its
genuineness concede that the style and contents are probably due
to the mystic temperament of the writer and the advanced age at
which he wrote. Long residence in a center of Greek literary
activity, and half a century of thinking and speaking repeatedly
of personal memories of his beloved Lord, would very naturally
color a mystic apostle's manner of reporting his testimony "that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (John xx, 31).
The Acts of the apostles is from the author of the third gospel,
and furnishes a most important history of the beginnings of the
Christian community, and of the preaching and ministry of the
1 See Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book iii, chap, xxxix. Our Greek gospel
of Matthew appears to be based upon the Hebrew original referred to by Papias,
and to include also a considerable amount of matter derived from other sources.
It is also not improbable that our Greek gospel of Mark is a similar enlargement
of the original memoranda of Peter's recollections.

INTRODUCTION 15
first apostles, especially of Peter and Paul. The epistles of Paul
to the Eomans, Corinthians, and Galatians bear the most indis
putable marks of genuineness and are among the earliest writings
of the New Testament. The other Pauline epistles have been
repeatedly questioned, especially the so-called Pastoral epistles;
but they are all so clearly products of earliest Christian teaching,
and have so much to commend them as substantially the works of
Paul, that we can safely accept them as trustworthy sources of
apostolic doctrine. The same, in substance, may be said of the
Catholic epistles and the Apocalypse, although Jude and 2 Peter
have least value among all the New Testament writings, and
the majority of modern critics assign their composition to the
first half of the second century.
10. Superiority of the New Testament. When, now, we examine
the contents and scope of all these canonical books, and observe
that Jesus and his disciples emphasize the transcendent superiority
of the new covenant, mediated and ministered by the Christ, the
Son of God, we must note that the New Testament revelation
consummates and supersedes that of the law and the prophets of
the former times. How or why should this be otherwise after "the
appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel"?
There has been such a widespread habit of placing the Old Testa
ment on a full equality with the New, and a consequent failure to
observe how Jesus and his apostles inculcate a different doctrine,
that we must here call attention to the following facts:
(1) Shown by Statements of Jesus. One of the most emphatic
statements of Jesus is that he came to fulfill, not to destroy, the
law and the prophets ( Matt, v, 17 ) . His own most positive teaching
in the immediate context and elsewhere, goes to show a complete
displacement of the statutes of the old covenant as a norm of
ethics and of religious life, and a taking up of all their essential
and permanent elements into a new setting in the gospel of the
kingdom of heaven. Even the decalogue, the richest kernel of the
whole law, becomes, in the teaching of Christ, exalted into a divine
fullness and significance unknown to the Jewish fathers. The
word, "Thou shalt not kill" is violated by "every one who is angry
with his brother." The sin of adultery is committed when one
"looketh on a woman to lust after her." The statutes against
swearing falsely are all superseded by the new commandment,
"Swear not at all." The sabbath law is so enlarged as to become
a principle of universal obligation to do good : to be, like the Son
of man, not a slave but "lord of the sabbath," and to know that
the heavenly Father "worketh even until now." Jesus set aside

16 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
the old Mosaic regulations for divorce, and rebuked the disciples
who would, like Elijah, have called down fire from heaven upon
a Samaritan village that refused to receive him. And if these
weightier matters of the law were thus declared defective, how
much more the minor regulations about meats, and drinks, and
rituals of divine service? We learn from all this that the new
covenant of the gospel brings with it new spirit and new life. It
does not stop at partial reforms and modifications of old customs,
but requires a deep, radical, permanent uplift from the bondage of
the letter of laws and prophecy into a Christly freedom of the
spirit. All this and more may be shown further by our Lord's own
illustration of the impropriety of putting a piece of new, undressed
cloth upon an old garment, or of putting new wine into old wine
skins, or of an invited guest fasting at the time of the wedding
feast, when the bridegroom and his companions are expected to
rejoice together (Matt, ix, 14-17). The old and new cannot thus
be pieced together, for the Lord Christ came to "make all things
new." Essential elements of the old truth must needs abide ; they
cannot be destroyed ; but they are taken up out of their old limita
tions and wrought over into a thoroughly new structure. Every
jot and tittle of the former revelation, whether it be found in the
Law, the Prophets, or the Psalms, must be fulfilled, and pass, as
by a process of growth, into a new organism. Thus it was that
the law and the prophets reached their finale with the ministry
of John, whom Jesus pronounced greater than any one who had
up to his time arisen, but, he added significantly, "he that is but
little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matt, xi, 11;
comp. Luke xvi, 16).
(2) Shown by other New Testament Teaching. This teaching
of Jesus is also affirmed in the New Testament epistles. According
to Paul the letter of the old covenant, written in tables of stone,
although it came with glory, was relatively a ministration of death
and of condemnation, and has been eclipsed by the surpassing
glory of the manifestation of the Christ (2 Cor. iii, 6-11). Hence
the man who has found life in Christ is "a new creation: the old
things are passed away; behold, they are become new" (2 Cor. v,
17; comp. Eev. xxi, 5). Like a woman, who in the event of her
husband's death is discharged from the law of subjection to the
husband, so "we have been discharged from the law, having died
to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the
spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (Eom. vii, 6). In
like manner the epistle to the Hebrews teaches that by the mani
festation and exaltation of Christ there comes "a setting aside
(ddeTTjoie-) of a foregoing commandment because of its weakness

INTRODUCTION 17
and unprofitableness, and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope,
through which we draw nigh unto God" (vii, 18, 19). For the
law made nothing perfect; the first covenant was not faultless,
and was at that time becoming old and nigh unto vanishing away
(viii, 7, 8, 13) . The law and its ceremonial were a shadow of good
things to come, and must be taken away in order that the Christ
may reveal himself as the Mediator of a better covenant, enacted
upon better promises (x, 1 ; viii, 6) . So the old covenant has given
place to the new, and we are no longer under the law, but under
grace. The old is not destroyed; it remains as a precious and
wonderful object lesson to show us how God spoke of old in dif
ferent ways and portions; but that which in its nature was pre
paratory must needs be relatively defective and weak and
unprofitable as a law for the Christian life. Every jot and tittle,
however, that has value for religious discipline is fulfilled in the
higher revelation of Christ.
(3) Shown by Obvious Facts of ihe Records. A study of the
main contents of the Old Testament will serve, furthermore, to
show how defective the law and the prophets of the ancient time
are for purposes of direct instruction now. The holy men of old
live, act, and speak within the limitations of their time, and we
should no more look for perfection in the ethics, or in the definite
religious concepts of their writings, than we look for ripe fruit in
the young shoot or in the green ear. There is no evidence in their
books that those men of God, who wrote the Law and the Prophets
and the Psalms, were so overruled by the Spirit as to be inde
pendent of their historical environment. The book of Genesis is
of the nature of a grand national epic, and, like the poems of
Homer and Firdausi, is a composite of the songs and traditions
which had been transmitted from parents to children through
many generations. The rest of the Pentateuch is mainly given
to the record of laws and regulations for the ritual of a Levitical
service which long since became old and vanished away. The
laws touching slavery, retaliation, cities of refuge, easy-going
divorce, matters of inheritance, witchcraft, meats, drinks, ablu
tions, and such like, are no more binding on the Christian con
science than similar laws of Hammurabi, Lycurgus, or Numa. "For
Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that
believeth" (Eom. x, 4). Much the same is the character of the
Prophets and the Psalms, so far as their contents may be supposed
to supply us with authoritative precepts for Christian faith and
practice, for they belong to the pre-Christian ages, and, though
abounding in pious sentiment, magnificent oracles, and hymns of
divine worship, every jot and tittle of them have found their

18 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
consummation in the superior revelation of Jesus Christ. As the
Decalogue received at his hand a deeper and fuller setting than it
had before, so, too, the prophets and the psalms of Israel have
been fulfilled and superseded by "the Apostle and High Priest of
our confession," who is the life and the light of the world.
(4) The Transition Gradual. But the fulfilling of the old and
the establishing of the new were not the accomplishment of a few
days. Jewish customs and ritualistic vows and offerings and
forms of divine service prevailed for a long time among the Jewish
Christians. Jesus himself avoided an open and sudden breach by
subjecting himself to the law and the ancient customs. He sub
mitted to baptism by John as a becoming fulfillment of righteous
ness (Matt, iii, 15). He directed the man whom he healed of his
leprosy to go to the priest and offer for his cleansing the things
commanded in the law (Mark i, 44). The apostles of the Church
in Jerusalem observed with conscientious care the practices of cir
cumcision, fasting, vows, and questions of meats, and drinks, and
fast days, and new moons, and sabbath days. Even Paul, after
having broken with Jewish rudiments, consented, for the sake of
peace, to observe the obligations of a Jewish vow and shave his
head (Acts xxi, 24). But these things were only the temporary
accommodations to the relaxing bonds of an old system that was
then "nigh unto vanishing away."
11. The Question of Inspiration. The divine inspiration of the
Scriptures is a fact acknowledged by all who accept them as a
treasury of religious truth, but the exact nature and extent of that
inspiration have been subjects of persistent controversy. We have
no theory of inspiration to propound, but confidently accept the
canonical scriptures as containing the highest revelations of divine
truth ever imparted to mankind. We are bound, however, to
oppose and drive away, so far as we are able, the dogma of the
verbal inerrancy of the records, a dogma which we believe to
be without any valid support in the Scriptures. The strange
notion of a mechanical control of the biblical writers by the power
of God's Spirit may be traced back to the ancient Jewish synagogue
and the Alexandrian theosophy. Some of the early Christian
fathers seem to have imbibed this conception from the assumptions
of the allegorical exegesis which was prevalent in those days.
Justin Martyr speaks of "the energy of the divine Spirit acting
like a plectrum, descending from heaven and using righteous men
as an instrument, like a harp or lyre."1 Such a statement might
have had force with the Greeks of Justin's time, who were familiar

1 Address to the Greeks, chap. viii.

INTRODUCTION 19
with the mantic frenzy of sibyls and soothsayers, but should have
no weight with any who soberly inquire after the actual facts. It
is, however, conceivable, and it has sometimes occurred, that
devout men, under an extraordinary spell of inspiration, have
spoken more wisely than they knew. No theist should question
the power of the Holy Spirit of God to move the human soul with
a supernatural inspiration, or with a heavenly vision. But we
find that such extraordinary revelations are the experience of a
moment, and, in case the person so inspired essays afterward to
write down what he saw, we are not at liberty to affirm, without
some specific evidence, that his normal powers were suspended or
neutralized in the process of his writing. In such a case what he
wrote would not be his own composition, but the supernaturally
secured product of another mind. A dogma which involves such
a concept of any writings cannot be accepted without the most
positive evidence. We must appeal to demonstrable facts, observe
what the various scriptures claim for themselves, allow no unwar
ranted inferences from exceptional statements of prophets or apos
tles, but seek a sound and trustworthy interpretation of what is
written relative to the question before us.
(1) Highest Old Testament Claims. If we turn to the scrip
tures themselves and study the highest claims which any of the
sacred writers make for what they have put on record, we find
nothing in the Old Testament more impressive than Isaiah's
account of his own divine commission (in Isa. vi). However we
interpret the vision of Jehovah's throne, and the seraphim, and
the live coal that touched the prophet's lips, it is evident that to
the seer himself the revelation was profoundly real; and he went
forth with that vision of the Holy One in his soul and proclaimed
his powerful messages to the people. But there is not a line of
evidence that what was afterward written out as Isaiah's oracles
was anything other than the prophet's own composition, prepared
in the full exercise of all his personal faculties, and within the
limitations of his own human thought. Jeremiah tells us that
Jehovah destined him before his birth to be a prophet unto the
nations, and also that he put forth his hand and touched his
mouth, and said unto him, "Behold, I have put my words in thy
mouth" (Jer. i, 9). He also commanded him to "write all the
words that I have spoken unto thee in a book" (xxx, 2; comp.
xxxvi, 4, 32). But in his case, as in that of Isaiah, we have no
warrant for supposing that when Jeremiah addressed the people
of his time, or sent the messages of Jehovah to the king, or dic
tated the words which Baruch wrote upon the book-roll, his normal
intellectual activity was temporarily arrested or neutralized by

20 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
divine power. So, too, when the sweet psalmist of Israel says
(as in 2 Sam. xxiii, 2),
The Spirit of Jehovah spoke in me,
And his word was upon my tongue,
he simply utters the impassioned language of sacred poetry, which
always breathes human emotion, and shows rhetorical culture, but
furnishes no proof that the writer was an impassive machine,
controlled by another Person, and miraculously secured against
the utterance of any and every kind of error or mistake.
(2) Witness of the New Testament. When we turn to the New
Testament for its highest claims of inspiration we observe the
same lack of any evidence of infallible dictation. Some have
appealed to the assurance given the disciples that they should be
divinely assisted by the Holy Spirit when arrested and brought
before governors and councils (Mark xiii, 11), but that is a
promise which Christians of all times may appropriate when beset
with like persecution. It was as truly verified by Martin Luther
at the Diet of Worms as by Peter before the council at Jerusalem.
The assurance of such divine assistance before councils makes no
reference whatever to the writing of scriptures. So, too, the
promise of the Comforter (in John xiv, 26), who "shall teach you
all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto
you," contains no word touching a future record of the sayings of
Christ, but is applicable to all who believe in Jesus and receive the
Holy Spirit. For this "promise of the Father" is no other than
the "anointing from the Holy One," of which we read in 1 John
ii, 20-27, namely, "the anointing which ye received from him,"
and which "teacheth you concerning all things." So far as the
disciples' recollection of the words of Jesus has furnished any
portion of our gospels, we doubtless possess most precious results
of that promised help of the Spirit. But no student of the varia
tions and intricacies of the synoptic Gospels should fail to see that
the facts which meet him at every step are utterly incompatible
with the claim of verbal inerrancy for these divergent records.
So far as they report the sayings of Jesus, they are all of them,
at the most, Greek translations of what he uttered in another
language. The preface of Luke's gospel is especially noteworthy
for the statement of the author that he had "traced all things
accurately from the first," and had taken pains to secure trust
worthy information from those "who were from the beginning
eyewitnesses and ministers of the word." He does not give the
slightest hint that he received any exceptional assistance of the
Holy Spirit. Paul puts forth as lofty claims to special revelation

INTRODUCTION 21
as any writer of the New Testament. He declares that he received
his gospel "not from man, but through revelation of Jesus Christ"
(Gal. i, 12). But he obviously refers to the substance of his
preaching, and his language cannot be legitimately construed into
a claim of inerrancy for his epistles.1 For his epistles bear some
marks of his human infirmity. He confesses his inability to
remember whether he baptized any other than Crispus, and Gaius,
and the household of Stephanas at Corinth (1 Cor. i, 14, 16). He
gave the Corinthians his judgment on a certain question, "as one
that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be trustworthy," and in
the expression of such an opinion he said that he "thought that
he had the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. vii, 25, 40) ; but he nowhere
puts forth the claim of inerrant inspiration. He shows his high
estimate of the Old Testament when he says : "Whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through
patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have
hope" (Eom. xv, 4). We read also in 2 Tim. iii, 16, the classic
text on inspiration: "Every scripture inspired of God is also
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
which is in righteousness"; but here is not a word that can
establish the dogma of verbal inerrancy.
(3) Such Claims not Applicable to All the Boohs. We should
further point out the fallacy of applying any high claims made
for themselves by certain prophets and apostles to other writers who
make no such claim. We may well believe that Isaiah, and Jere
miah, and Paul, and some others, were gifted above all other men
by way of an exceptional inspiration for some particular work,
but it does not therefore follow that all others, whose writings
have been taken up into our canon, were inspired in the same
manner and in the same degree. As simple matter of fact, all
the books of the Bible are not of equal value, and some portions of
a single book are not as valuable as some other portions of the
same book. Can any man of sober thought maintain that the
laws touching clean and unclean animals in Lev. xi, or the
vindictive Psa. cix, or Isaiah's oracle against Moab, are worthy
to be placed on an equality with the Sermon on the Mount, or
even with the epistle to Philemon? What shall we think of the
1 The fact that such a text as 1 Cor. ii, 13, has been often cited to prove Paul's
claim to verbal inspiration shows how unjustifiably men construe irrelevant state
ments to the support of foregone conclusions. The passage refers, as the whole
context shows, to the apostolic preaching of the gospel, not to any records or
epistles as such. The apostle's language is also applicable to every minister of
the gospel message, and to every child of God who possesses the spiritual mind,
"combines spiritual things with spiritual words," or "interprets spiritual things
to spiritual men." This endowment was no exclusive prerogative of inspired
writers of the first century, but is the blessed gift of all who enjoy the illumination
of the Holy Spirit.

22 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
statement that the generations of Esau in Gen. xxxvi, the names
of the mighty men of David in 2 Samuel, and the genealogies of
1 Chron. i-ix, "are the very word of God"? If we maintain
that the entire canonical Scripture is the product of a supernatural
dictation of verbal statements, we must in all logical consistency
apply our theory to the long lists of cities and tribal boundaries in
the book of Joshua, the exploits of Ehud, and Jephthah, and
Samson in the book of Judges, and the references to apocryphal
literature in the epistles of Jude and 2 Peter.1 Such a theory
ought to show some perceptible evidence that the books of Nehe
miah and Esther and Ecclesiastes and the Canticles bear marks
of divine inspiration not to be found in the Wisdom of Solomon,
Ecclesiasticus, and 1 Maccabees. What remarkable advantage by
way of demonstrable inspiration has the epistle of Jude over the
book of Enoch, who is quoted therein as "the seventh from Adam" ?
(4) Our Doctrine should Accord with existing Facts. From
these various considerations it seems inevitable to conclude that
our doctrine of biblical inspiration should accord with all the
existing facts of the writings themselves. Sound sense and scien
tific criticism can accept nothing less. All the biblical writers
were men of like passions as we are, and not one of them has
put forth the claim, or warranted the inference, that their book-
rolls are inerrant and infallible in all which they record. Their
manifold peculiarities of thought and style evince the human
freedom with which they wrote, and any attempt or presumption
at the present time to define the exact nature and extent of each
man's inspiration would be an exhibition of human folly. There
exists no specific definition of the word inspiration as applied to
the Scriptures, and there is no statement or theory of the same
to be found in any creed, confession, or ecclesiastical formulary
of faith, that would be accepted in all Christendom today as having
authority for the Christian conscience. How absurd, then, to
affirm that any particular theory of inspiration is binding, or has
always been the doctrine of the Church! As well might one

1 In his note on Matt, i, 1, John Wesley expresses the opinion that if the biblical
genealogies contained some mistakes, it was not the office of inspiration to correct
them. If this opinion holds, it must in self-consistency apply alike to all the
genealogies, and the chronicles of the kings of Judah and Israel, and the songs and
fragments cited from "the book of Jashar," and "the book of the Wars of Jeho
vah," and from all the other sources of similar kind mentioned in the Old Testa
ment. Seventeen such different sources are acknowledged in the books of Chron
icles alone. Critical study is continually discovering evidences of compilation in
most of the narratives of the Bible ; and if the inspired compilers of these records
were not permitted to correct any mistakes found in the documents they employed,
what becomes of the inerrant inspiration of so large a portion of the Scriptures?
On this principle more than half the narratives recorded in the Old Testament
may be shown to be copied from older public records and so to exclude the office
of inspiration to correct any errors which they may contain !

INTRODUCTION 23
claim the consensus of Christendom for the allegorical interpreta
tion of the Scriptures. The one truth conceded by all who revere
these sacred writings is that the Holy Spirit of God cooperated
with their authors, and the result is a volume immeasurably more
profitable, as a whole, for instruction in spiritual things than all
the other religious writings of the world. With or without the
so-called Apocrypha, these scriptures of the Old and the New
Testament are the self-evidencing records of a progressive divine
revelation of God in the world of human history. They embody
and inculcate all the great religious truths which are anywhere
known among men. They vary in the relative value of their dif
ferent portions, but, when fairly interpreted, they reveal an adora
ble purpose of God to draw all men unto himself, and they
accordingly contain, as in a shrine, all those hallowed and helpful
doctrines, reproofs, counsels, consolations, and heavenly promises
which answer to the deepest yearnings of the heart of man.
(5) Inerrancy a Dogma of Necessitarian Philosophy. — The
dogma of verbal inerrancy is inconsistent with existing facts,
extravagant in its assumptions, and mischievous in its tendency to
provoke continual controversy in the Church. It has so extensively
infected popular thought as to become a positive hindrance to
the rational study of the Bible. Its habitual bent is either to
conceal or to pervert the undeniable human element conspicuous
in the sacred writings. It has obvious logical relationship to the
necessitarian philosophy of human action, and was, accordingly,
adopted by the leading Churches of the Eeformation which
accepted the Calvinistic creed. These Churches maintained the
dogma of divinely secured human volition, and a mechanical theory
of biblical inspiration was the natural result. This theory found
its logical expression in the Helvetic creed which declared that
"the Hebrew original of the Old Testament is inspired of God
not only in its consonants, but in its vowels — either the vowel
•points themselves, or at least the power of the points — not only
in its matter but in its words; thus forming together with the
original of the New Testament, the sole and complete rule of our
faith and life ; and to its standard, as to a Lydian stone, all extant
versions, Oriental and Occidental, ought to be applied, and when
ever they differ, be conformed." With all its extravagance this
confession is only a logical conclusion from the postulates of the
monergistic theology and the necessitarian philosophy. Once
accept the theory of super naturally secured human volitions, and
our thoughts, words, and deeds become as mechanical and neces
sary as the movements of the planets and the tides. We reject
this hypothesis and regard its conclusions as a mischievous leaven

24 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
in the realm of Christian thought. The synergistic theology is
the opposite of this, and the only tenable alternative. But many
who reject the necessitarian theology are so accustomed to the
use of words and phrases which had their origin in notions of
positively secured human actions that they have unwittingly
imbibed the theory of the verbal inerrancy of the entire volume of
Holy Scriptures.
12. The Dogma of Infallibility. The necessitarian dogma of
inspired verbal inerrancy is usually connected with that of the
"infallibility of the Bible." It seems difficult for some to think
of a book of divine revelation without associating with it the
idea of all the perfections of God, and they allow a priori assump
tions to divert attention from some of the most simple facts. It
is claimed and was formally declared by the Vatican Council of
1870, that the Pope of Eome, whenever he speaks officially on a
question of doctrine or of morals, is possessed of inerrant and
infallible judgment for determining the very truth of God. But
all Protestant Christendom rejects this claim as ludicrously futile,
and even the Greek Church resents it as blasphemous. Over
against the authority of popes and councils the Protestant reform
ers placed the clear teaching of the Scriptures as interpreted by
valid and convincing reasoning. To these latter Luther made his
appeal when called upon to revoke his opinions before the Diet
of Worms. These Scriptures contain the treasured revelations of
ages and generations of lawgivers, prophets, and apostles, and also
the records of the words of Christ himself. That they are and
were intended to be, by the help of the Holy Spirit, the surest
guide to the knowledge of the eternal truths of God, and the
"sufficient rule of faith and practice" became the formal principle
of the Protestant Eeformation, and this is firmly held today among
all the reformed Churches of the Christian world. We maintain
the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures as a guide in the way of
salvation through Christ; but the dogma of "infallibility" is no
essential part of the true Protestant principle, but only a cause
of confusion and error.
(1) Involves a Distorted Notion of ihe Bible. For this dogma
of an "infallible book" involves a distorted and misleading concep
tion of the Bible itself. It is apt to convey to the popular mind
the notion of an inerrant, infallible Monarch, uttering nothing
but categorical propositions of what is right and what is wrong.
It ignores the fact that the Scriptures are a body of various kinds
of literature, made up of composite narratives, songs, fables, rid
dles, parables, allegories, visions, and dreams. In the interpreta
tion of all of these there has never been uniformity of opinion,

INTRODUCTION 25
nor is there likely to be for ages to come. Strong, sweeping abstract
assertions of the equal authority of all portions of this multiform
volume go for nothing in the face of opposing facts which appear
in the various books, and the contents of many of these books are
the farthest possible from the nature of a set of authoritative
utterances on matters of doctrine or on questions of conscience.
It requires only the slightest attention to the facts to see that the
entire Scriptures cannot be accepted in all their parts as so many
final and infallible decisions of doctrine, valid alike for all times
and for all men. The greater part of the Mosaic legislation, that
veritable Holy of holies in Jewish estimation, is obsolete today
for the faith and practice of the Christian world.
(2) Discredited by Discrepancies and Persistent Controversy.
This dogma, moreover, like its twin companion of "verbal iner
rancy," is incompatible with the numerous discrepancies of the
Scriptures. We have a goodly number of volumes written to har
monize these discrepancies, but their very existence is a fatal
witness against the unanimity of the biblical writers. If papal
infallibility is effectually discredited by the fact that different
popes and councils have widely disagreed on questions of faith and
practice, biblical infallibility must for the same reason fall under
the same condemnation. For not only have the most eminent
Protestant theologians, but famous synods also, and great religious
bodies like the Lutherans, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, and
the Unitarians have persistently disagreed on matters of doctrine
which they all believed to be taught in the Bible. On some doc
trines deemed fundamental their divergent interpretations have
been the most remarkable. In the face of such age-long contro
versy over its teaching, wherein consists the infallibility of the
book? Obviously there is no such infallibility among men or
books. According to 2 Pet. iii, 16, Paul wrote "in all his epistles
some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and the
unsteadfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their
own destruction." Wherein, then, is Paul's infallibility to be seen,
and wherefore should we commit ourselves to the needless task
¦of maintaining the infallibility of any such writings ? Their ever
lasting value for instruction in righteousness and in doctrine may
be devoutly acknowledged without acceptance of the dogma of
fheir "infallibility."
(3) The Word itself Irrelevant. The simple fact, which all
who seek the truth should recognize, is that the word infallibility
has no proper relevancy to a subject in which human judgments
and volitions are so largely involved as in this question. All
writings known to men are subject to human interpretation. It

26 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
is no disparagement of the Scriptures, nor of the power of God,
to say that, in all matters which contemplate the exercise of man's
intelligence and freedom of will, any assumption of coercion is
inept and futile. We may illustrate this by comparison with
our concept of the infallibility of God, and the irrelevancy and
fallacy of confusing this concept with matters which belong to
the province of human responsibility. No man in his right mind
will admit that the omniscient Euler of the world is capable
of falling into error. He is absolutely infallible in his judgments
and his ways are in large measure past our finding out. But this
belief does not rest for its support on any dictum of pope, or Bible,
or theologian, although they may all affirm it. We accept it,
not because it has been formally declared by a prophet, or apostle,
or pope, or council, but rather because of its stronghold in the
intuitions of the human soul, in the convictions of the heart, in
the necessities of rational thought, and in a consequent impossi
bility of supposing the contrary. This cannot be said of any
man or of any book in the world. And yet, along with this
acknowledged infallibility of God, we have the fact that God
himself has brought fallible men into his world, and endowed
them with powers of free and responsible personality. By reason
of being what he is man has through all generations misconceived
his Creator and disobeyed his laws. The fallibility and the actual
failures are no fault of God, but are charged to the ignorance and
perversity of man. When, however, one claims infallibility for a
man or for a book we demur, and have the right to demand some
incontrovertible proof. It is irrelevant, in answer to such a
demand, to be told that God is infallible. The Bible is not God.
He is invisible and far beyond us ; but the Scriptures are open to
our personal inspection and were written by men of various times
and of various degrees of culture and knowledge. The real ques
tion here is not about God's personal perfections, but whether he
has actually given us a book which determines inerrantly and
infallibly for mankind all matters of doctrine and morals. We
maintain that such infallibility is not found in man or in books.
The invisible God is by the necessities of our concept of him
infinite in wisdom and knowledge, but we decline to accept, with
out convincing evidence, the dogma that he has imparted such
qualities to any volume written by men. And this position is
perfectly compatible with the belief that the Bible, when inter
preted in the light of the completed revelation of Jesus Christ, is
a unique record of the noblest religious truths and the most per
fect standard of morals ever given among men. But being a
manifold record of a progressive divine revelation it contains

INTRODUCTION 27
divers portions which represent imperfect standards, as Jesus him
self showed, and we refuse to perpetuate the fallacy of affirming
of this entire volume of Scriptures what is true of only a part
of it. We insist on bringing every doctrine and every question of
morals to the final test of the explicit revelation of Jesus Christ.
According to his teaching the two commandments of love, as
enunciated in Matt, xxii, 37-40, involve the purest concept of
religion and the most perfect standard of ethics in the world, and
they comprehend the substance of "the whole law and the pro
phets." But even these most fundamental truths fail to impress
some men, and we have too often and too long found men dis
posed to argue and insist that the morals of the book of Esther
are in full harmony with these two commandments !
(4) Sufficiency Rather than Infallibility. Over against the
dogma of infallibility we maintain the sufficiency of the Holy
Scriptures as a guide to the knowledge of God and the way of
salvation through Jesus Christ. We hold with the apostle to the
Gentiles that those who are intrusted with these Scriptures have
"much advantage and profit every way" over those who have not
been thus favored. But according to Paul God has revealed him
self through the visible creation, without the Bible, to the whole
Gentile world (Eom. i, 18-20; ii, 14, 15), so that every man is
left without excuse for his personal unrighteousness. In the Deistic
controversies it was claimed by some that "the light of nature"
was of itself quite sufficient for man's moral guidance and for a
knowledge of the supreme Euler. But it was replied that this
light of nature is very fallible, and often misleading, and there
fore we need the superior light of a written revelation. We admit
this plea as valid for the scriptural revelation, but at the same
time reject the unwarranted inference that the superior biblical
revelation must needs be inerrant or infallible. Paul himself,
after affirming the clear revelation of the light of nature to the
Gentiles, goes right on in the epistle to the Eomans to show that
the Jew also, with all his superior advantage of "the oracles of
God, and the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the
giving of the law, and the promises," failed and fell not only
through unbelief but also through misunderstanding of his higher
revelation. Thus, according to Paul, the written revelation given
in the Old Testament^ as well as the light of nature, had conspicu
ously failed to evince any quality that entitles it to the claim of
infallibility. The actual failure of the Scriptures to convince and
convert thousands of men who read them is a conspicuous fact, but
the claim of their infallibility is at best a questionable dogma.
To aver that the fallibility is with the reader, not with the book,

28 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
does not prove the book infallible. God has never given man a
revelation, written or unwritten, that is infallible in securing
unity of belief, or uniformity of religious practice. On the con
trary, the sufficiency of the biblical revelation as a source of instruc
tion in the knowledge of God and of Christ and the way of salva
tion is a most wholesome truth, and is verified by the experience
of innumerable thousands. Why then hold a dogma which, if not
utterly futile, is utterly incapable of proof, and is provocative of
constant disputation ?
13. Authority as Sources of Doctrine. The authority of the
Scriptures as sources of doctrine does not rest upon the basis of a
mechanical inerrancy or of a supposed infallibility. Authority in
religion is not a matter of ancient sacred records, but of irresistible
spiritual convictions. It is analogous to authority in mathemat
ics, in geology, in astronomy, in medicine, and in international
law. Whatever has real authority over the judgment and the
consciences of men is clearly seen to rest upon indisputable facts.
The undisputed and commanding facts in any science are what
they are, not because they are written in text-books everywhere
accepted as good authority; but the text-book has value and
authority according to its acknowledged rank as a full and suf
ficient guide to the knowledge of the science which it treats. So
may we say of the great truths of the Bible that they are what they
are, not because they are found in the Bible, but because they
are self-evidencing as unquestionable truths of God. For God
has revealed some things so clearly to the heart of man that there
is no room for real differences of opinion. The chief teachings
of Jesus Christ evinced an intrinsic authority that left no place
for doubtful disputation. An authoritative revelation must com
mand the honest assent of the reason and the conscience in order
to be convincing in its truthfulness. Our claim for the Holy
Scriptures is that the Old and New Testaments embody a religious
literature of inestimable worth. The various writings are not
of equal value in all their parts, but, taken as a whole, they con
stitute a remarkably self-interpreting book. The well-trained
inquirer after heavenly truths finds therein many things both new
and old. He perceives how "God spoke in old time by divers por
tions and in divers manners," and in the later times spoke through
Jesus Christ in a manner and fullness that surpassed all other
revelations given among men. We make, accordingly, the same
relative claim for the Bible that we make for the Christian reli
gion. It consummates and supersedes all other cults ever in force
among the various peoples. Such a volume needs no high-flown
eulogies, no dogma of inerrancy and infallibility; but having

INTRODUCTION 29
great variety of contents, and written at different times and by
many different authors, it has the right to be interpreted rationally
and self-consistently. The real value and authority of such a
volume are best seen in demonstrable facts which show that this
Bible is immeasurably superior to all other religious writings of
mankind. The sacred, books of other religions have their value;
but the scriptures of the Old and New Covenants are preeminently
The Holy Bible, profitable above all other books for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for discipline in righteousness.
(1) Superiority in Variety of Contents. This Holy Bible is
superior to all the other bibles of the world in the remarkable
variety of its literature. The Eig Veda is a collection of more
than a thousand ancient Aryan hymns addressed to many nature-
gods; but these hymns are limited in their range of thought, and
quite monotonous. The other Vedas are little more than liturgi
cal arrangements of the same hymns, and add nothing of real value
to them. So, too, the contents of the voluminous Tripitaka are
tedious and tasteless repetitions of Buddhist stories, and minute
regulations for the conduct of mendicants. Their doctrines,
though relatively few and simple, involve the denial of human
personality and the ultimate cessation of our self-conscious being.
The Kojiki of the old Shinto cult is a crude mixture of Japanese
mythology and traditions, and it possesses no value for religious
instruction. The sacred books of China are confessedly non-
religious. The Shu King is a collection of historical narratives,
the Shih King is a book of poetry, and the other books treat of
governmental rites, and ceremonies, and rules of etiquette. None
of them claim to be inspired of God, or to embody revelations of
heaven. The Avesta is at best the scattered fragments of a war
like cult, which long ago took up the sword for holy wars, and
perished by the sword. The prayers, the hymns, the liturgical
fragments, and the code of laws are all of one general cast, and
the entire collection is more of a prayer book, or a ritual, than a
bible. The Koran is a peculiar medley of commandments, admoni
tions, and narratives dictated by Mohammed, which exhibit numer
ous blunders in history and chronology, and show in many ways
the narrow limits of its author's knowledge of Judaism and Chris
tianity. It is a most wearisome book to read, and seems to be
incapable of happy translation into another language. And so
we may say, in substance, of all the other religious books which
have any corresponding claim to be the bibles of distinct systems
of religion. Not one of them is really worthy to be compared
with our Holy Scriptures for richness and variety of contents.
The annals, proverbs, apocalypses, prophecies, psalms, dramatic

30 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
poems, gospel narratives, and epistles which make up the Old
and New Testaments speak for themselves in the unmistakable
religious character and aim of what they have to tell us. And
these divers elements are so interwoven as to command the lively
attention and the absorbing interest of the reader. The loftiest
concepts of God, the incalculable value of the human soul, the
beauty of holiness, and the imperishable permanence of love are
truths presented for our instruction in righteousness, and they, are
made so plain and simple that a little child may understand them.
(2) Superiority of Historic Outline and Background. Another
aspect of superiority is seen in the strong and clear historic outline
in which the progressive character of the biblical revelations is
set forth. The oldest Abrahamic traditions contain the germs
of the Messianic hope. The divine legation of Moses was nar
rowed because of the hardness of the people's hearts, and he spoke
of a Prophet of God to come after him, like unto him, but greater
in the commandments which he should utter in Jehovah's name.
David received yet fuller revelations of the advent of his messianic
Son, and of the establishment of his throne for ages to come.
The prophets and the psalmists after him repeated and enhanced
both the ancient promise and the future blessed hope; and when
Jerusalem and the throne of David were overthrown by the armies
of the king of Babylon, and the princes and the people were car
ried away into exile, Jeremiah's oracle proclaimed loudly above
all the din and ruin and gloom of that sad day the word of
Jehovah : "Behold, the days come that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel." All these successive periods in the
progress of Israelite history are so interlinked with the historic
records of other peoples that we find them confirmed by several
ancient witnesses. Amraphel, incidentally mentioned in Gen.
xiv, 1, was a contemporary of Abraham some 2,250 years before
Christ. The recovery of a remarkable code of laws enacted by
this ancient "King of Shinar" puts the great ancestor of the
Hebrew nation in realistic touch with the Babylonia of that date
as truly as the mention of Nebuchadnezzar, in the prophecies of
Jeremiah, shows a later stage in the history of the seed of Abra
ham, and confirms the story of their Babylonian exile. The
monuments of Egypt and the stones of Palestine give their testi
mony also to the unmistakable outline of the history of Israel
which is clearly traceable in the Hebrew scriptures. No such
marks of actual historic intercourse with contemporary nations of
world importance are found in the other sacred books that some
times rank as bibles. These facts remove our biblical narratives
from the literature of myth and fable. They show a real historic

INTRODUCTION 31
background in the gradual development of the religion of Israel,
and also a divinely ordered preparation for the coming of the
Christ.1 (3) Superiority of the Revelation of Christ. The crowning
glory of the Holy Scriptures appears in the New Testament revela
tion of Jesus Christ. He is the supreme Prophet and Apostle of
our confession, for whose coming all the foregoing revelations
given through holy men had prepared the way. He is the Light
of the world. The gospels, the epistles, and other New Testa
ment books supply us with the substance of his teaching in a
manner too self-evidencing to be misunderstood. When we duly
observe that all preceding legislation and prophecy found their
fulfillment in him, we shall not be perplexed by the obvious imper
fections of Israel's old-time cult. The codes of Moses and of
Hammurabi contain evidences of adaptations to the hardness of
the hearts of the peoples of those ancient times. Any rational
conception of a progress in divine revelation must admit the short
comings of the former ages. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were gifted
above the teachers of an earlier period to declare that the old
proverb of setting the children's teeth on edge because their fathers
ate sour grapes should be no longer used in Israel (Jer. xxxi, 29 ;
Ezek. xviii, 2). But Jesus Christ fulfilled every jot and tittle
of the law and the prophets, so that the entire Old Testament must
now be studied and tested by the light of the gospel of Jesus.
Had this important truth received due attention, we might have
been spared the lamentable spectacle of men strenuously maintain
ing, on biblical grounds, the righteousness of polygamy, and human
slavery, and^ easy-going divorce, and capital punishment for witch
craft, and the vindictive cursing of enemies. Jesus introduced
new thought, new life, and new inspiration. He now "sitteth on
the throne, declaring, Behold, I make all things new." If we
were not possessed of the profound conviction that the Bible is
the divinely treasured literature of a progressive revelation of
God in Christ, and that the completed witness and teaching of
the New Testament supplies the most authoritative source and

1 We should, in the interests of sound apologetics, abstain from the illogical use
sometimes made of these incidental connections of biblical narrative with persons
and events of ancient history. The mention of Amraphel, Pharaoh, or any other
king is in itself no proof of the historicity of the book of Genesis, or of any other
book in which such names may occur. That question must be determined in
other ways. A poem, a novel, a parable, or an allegory may make various uses
of historical names and facts. No sensible person would argue that the Last
Days of Pompeii and Quo Vadis are books of veritable history because they have
much to say about famous historical persons and events. And yet it may be
added that probably no strictly historical work, compiled from the most trust
worthy sources, would supply the common reader with a more truthful picture
of Roman Ufe in those days than the celebrated novels named.

32 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
means oi religious truth within the reach of man, we could never
presume to write a Biblical Dogmatics.
14. The Bible and the Word of God. These Holy Scriptures,
completed and crowned by the revelation of Jesus Christ, are the
treasured result of religious truths spoken in various measures
through many generations. Thus they also become for us a most
profitable means of discipline in the truth and in all righteousness.
By the help of the Spirit, who is given to guide us into all the
truth (John xvi, 13), the Bible is a mighty instrument for appre
hending and imparting the revelations of God. The real source
of all truth and of all revelation in the truth is God himself, and
ia our search for a knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of
God we should not confound God and the Bible, as the manner
of some is. The heavenly treasure deposited in the biblical records
is not identical with the book itself. Like the treasure hidden
in the field, and the pearl of great price, the living truth of God
has its places of hiding and is not found without search and
sacrifice. But when found and made one's own, the heavenly
jewel becomes a source of light and comfort and a means of grace
and truth. But how are we to distinguish the precious treasure
from the field in which it is hidden ? Field and treasure both are
ours, but some men seem to insist on our saying, The field is the
treasure; "the Bible is the Word of God." This shibboleth, we
believe, has been a source of no little confusion and error. It is
only in a loose and inaccurate way of speaking that the letter of
the Scriptures may be called God's Word, and, when thus desig
nated, it should be seen at once that we are employing a synec
doche, a rhetorical figure of putting the whole for a part. It is
like naming the vessel when we mean only the treasure in the
vessel. A close examination of all the scriptural texts in which
the phrase "word of God," or its equivalent, occurs, will show
that there is no warrant in the Bible for the dogmatic shibboleth
cited above. It is very easy for a superficial reader of such psalms
as Psa. xix, 7-11, and Psa. cxix to imagine that the words law,
testimony, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, thy
tvord, mean the entire scriptures of both Testaments, whereas the
real reference of the psalmist is to the Decalogue, and, in his
widest thought, to the laws of the Pentateuch. There is no allu
sion to the Prophets and the Psalms, which as yet formed no por
tion of the Jewish canon of Scripture. The delusive anachronism
of applying the words of such a psalm to the entire Bible ministers
not to intelligent study of the Scriptures, but only to ignorance
and error. We should observe, further, that the messages of the
prophets were usually a word of Jehovah for some person, people,

INTRODUCTION 33
or definite occasion. Not a few of those messages, like that of
Isaiah to Ahaz (vii, 3-9), have no natural reference to any other
person or time. Others embody helpful promises, or solemn warn
ings and reproofs, which are profitable for all time, but that which
is of permanent value in them is the substantial content of the
message, not a written document as such. The word of Jehovah
through Isaiah is also called "the vision of Isaiah," and the
"burden," or oracle, "which Isaiah saw." But the book of Isaiah
contains four chapters (xxxvi-xxxix) out of the book of Kings,
and also a "writing of Hezekiah" (xxxviii, 9), which are nowhere
called the word of the Lord. But even if the entire bopk of Isaiah
were made up of specific oracles of Jehovah, it would not authorize
us to call the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Esther "the
Word of Jehovah." The phrase "oracles of God" in Eom. iii, 2
is no proper designation of the Old Testament as a whole, but,
like the "living oracles" in Stephen's speech (Acts vii, 38), refers
more particularly to the Sinaitic decalogue. In 1 Pet. iv, 11, the
phrase denotes any utterances of apostle or preacher who declares
the living truths of God. In Heb. v, 12, "the oracles of God"
are no special portion of the Bible, nor the Bible itself, but the
word of the gospel of Christ as preached to them that heard him.
In fact, there is no passage of Scripture in which the expression
"the word of God" means the biblical writings as a whole. In the
New Testament the phrase is often used to designate the content of
the gospel message. In Jesus's prayer we have the statement "thy
word is truth" (John xvii, 17), but there is no reference here to
the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, but to the word of the
gospel mentioned in verses 14 and 20. Filled with the Spirit of
Christ the apostles "spoke the word of God with all boldness"
(Acts iv, 31). When persecution scattered them abroad "they
went about preaching the word" (Acts viii, 4), that is, the message
of salvation through Jesus Christ. "The word" is employed in
this sense more than thirty times in the Acts of the Apostles.
Paul calls it "the word of faith, which we preach" (Eom. x, 8),
"the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation" (Eph. i, 13),
"the word of the message of God, not the word of men, but, as
it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that
believe" (1 Thess. ii, 13). In the fullest and deepest sense the
Word of God is Christ himself, and it is only as the Holy Spirit
of truth takes of the things of Christ and makes them known to
us (comp. John xvi, 14), that we can apprehend and appreciate
the significance of such a text as Heb. iv, 12: "The word of
God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints

34 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the
heart." No writings as such answer to this definition of "the
word of God," or satisfy the import of Jesus' saying, "The words
that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life" (John vi, 63).
According to 2 Cor. iii, 15-18, Moses and Isaiah and Paul may be
read with such a veil over the heart that the reader himself fails
to see that "the Lord is the Spirit." For it is only as we discern
the grace and glory of the Lord himself that we can distinguish
the hidden treasure from the field, and the pearl of great price
from the mother-shell in which it found its setting. The results
thus acquired will be no questionable dogma, empty of spiritual
content, but intelligible facts of the greatest value for instruction
in righteousness.
15. Necessity of Sound Interpretation. Accepting the Bible as
the broad field in which lie hidden innumerable treasures of reli
gious wisdom and knowledge, we must at the same time observe
that the precious truths are not to be brought forth and employed
for teaching and discipline in righteousness except in accordance
with sound principles of interpretation. We now reject the
former method of catechisms and of other compends of Christian
doctrine which was given to citing proof-texts at will from any
part of the Bible, without regard to their scope and context. It
was assumed, in accord with a current theory of inspiration, that
every word of Scripture, whether uttered by poet, chronicler, patri
arch, or apostle, was alike the word of God. A saying of Jeph
thah, a request of Esther, a decree of Cyrus, an oracle of Zechariah,
or a parable of Jesus, must needs be equally inspired and useful
for doctrine. Such an irrational use of the Scriptures, we may
hope, is wellnigh obsolete, but, unfortunately, in some places
the evil leaven of it is yet somewhat perceptible. While we accept
the entire biblical canon as our great source and means of doctrine,
we must study to interpret every relevant text in the light of its
context, its authorship, its occasion and its legitimate applica
tions. The facts of a multiform literature in the Bible are never
to be lost from sight. We should keep in mind at every step of
our procedure that these various scriptures originated at many
different times and in different ways. We must study to know
whether the words we cite in proof of doctrine are a statement of
historic fact, or a fragment of song, or part of an apocalypse, or
a proverb or a parable. The words of Jesus are the Holy of holies
in the Scriptures, and when we clearly apprehend his teaching
on a matter of doctrine we recognize it as the highest authority.
But according to Matt, xiii, 10-16, Jesus spoke in parables that
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven might not be too easily

INTRODUCTION 35
grasped. The parables need interpretation, and must be explained
on sound and self-consistent principles. The old covenant is ful
filled in the new, and therefore not a jot or a tittle of the Old
Testament is to be reckoned as final for instruction in righteous
ness until tested and confirmed by the gospel of Jesus. Even in
the New Testament records we observe some practices of the early
Jewish Church which are not intended for the Gentiles or for
general acceptance. The apostles had their limitations, and could
know and prophesy only in part. It is noteworthy that out of the
four "necessary things," which the great Council of Jerusalem
required for the peace and unity of the early Church (Acts xv,
28, 29), three have long since ceased to be observed in Christen
dom. It is only by patient research, by careful discrimination of
things that differ, and by the approved methods of critical and
historic exposition, that we shall reach results that are trustworthy.
We compare scripture with scripture, and honestly endeavor to
prove all things and hold fast only that which is good. Every true
Protestant and every Church that is true to the principle and spirit
of Protestantism must be open and hospitable toward all consci
entious research and to whatever new light such research throws
upon the Bible and its interpretation.1
16. Sufficiency as Sources of Doctrine. Prolonged comparison
and study of these Holy Scriptures confirm us in the belief of their
superiority and sufficiency as sources of religious instruction.
They are conspicuously superior in contents and in style to all the
sacred books of other religions, and they contain a sufficiency of
doctrine, of helpful precepts, of means for refuting error and for
guiding men into the truth and training them in the knowledge
and love of God. When the one serious effort is to ascertain the
essential religious content of the biblical revelation and its highest
expression in Jesus Christ there is found such a solid basis of
unquestionable facts and such an organic consensus of belief
through the Christian centuries that there appears no place for
reasonable doubt. Disputations arise from efforts to exalt mat
ters of secondary and inferior import into the rank of fundamental
truths, and questions of this kind will probably never cease to
arise while men continue to think and reason. Minds differently

JThus Professor J. E. McFadyen writes: "A church which is not willing to
welcome new facts, if they be facts j a church which is not willing to respond to
new truth, from whatever quarter it comes; a church which binds old forms of
truth upon the consciences of men, or refuses to accommodate the truth which
they embodied to contemporary modes of thought: such a church, though she
will hardly allure within her walls profound and reverent thinkers who stand
outside her, may yet be able to do something for others, and especially the more
emotional sort of men. But she cannot call herself a Protestant Church." — Old
Testament Criticism and the Christian Church, p. 187. New York, 1903.

36 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
trained and adjusted to different methods of thinking will always
be found to differ in sundry opinions. There are many interesting
questions about persons and events mentioned in the Bible and
in other books on which we shall never obtain a satisfactory answer.
Even on such fundamental doctrines as the nature of God, and
of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the conditions and
modes of future existence, we cannot now learn from the Bible
all we would like to know. In the discussion of such themes
there has ever been among some theologians a disposition to be wise
above what is written in the Scriptures. But aside from such
questions, on which there is ample room for many differences of
opinion, there is in the Scriptures such a full and unmistakable
content of living, convincing, practical religious certainties, that
no person of ordinary intelligence need fail to find "the way, the
truth, and the life." Into the knowledge of these essentials the
Holy Spirit is our assuring Guide. In living fellowship with this
abiding Comforter, we need not that any one teach us, for his
anointing teacheth us concerning all things, and is true, and is
no lie (1 John ii, 27).

CHAPTEE III
METHOD OE BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
1. Importance of Method. The fundamental truths of the
Christian religion may be studied in almost any relation to each
other, but the arrangement of topics in a well-defined logical order
is a matter of very great importance. Attention to method and
naturalness of procedure in presenting facts or principles is a
conspicuous feature of modern scientific discipline, and there is
perhaps no department of study that requires the clarifying help
of simple and comprehensive method more than that of religious
dogma. Eeal progress and improvement in the treatment of bibli
cal doctrines must not be expected in the discovery of new materi
als, but rather in the better presentation of the great truths which
have been well known for ages. Indeed, no individual, no council,
no era of research, may presume to set a final limit to improve
ment in the formulation and restatement of doctrines which the
Church has possessed from the beginning.
2. Lack of System in Ancient Writers. We may accordingly
expect modern writers on Christian doctrine to surpass the ancients
in scientific method. In the course of the centuries many dis
tinguished theologians have set forth various expositions of funda
mental truth, and spirited controversies have at times tended to
exalt certain doctrines into undue prominence. Origen's treatise
entitled De Principiis is the nearest approach to a comprehensive
system "of Christian belief to be found among the early fathers;
but its four books are without any well-defined order of thought.
Gregory of Nyssa's Great Catechism is of much less extent, and is
more of an apology for the doctrines treated than an attempt to
enunciate a system. The Accurate Exposition of the Orthodox
Faith, in four books and one hundred chapters, by John of Damas
cus, is disproportionate in the treatment of important topics, and
gives prominence to some opinions of no value. Augustine's vari
ous treatises on Christian doctrine are monumental, but they fur
nish no good model of scientific method. The celebrated Loci
Communes of Melanchthon, published in 1521, and Calvin's Insti
tutes of the Christian Eeligion, which appeared fifteen years later,
attempt no analytic or synthetic arrangement of subject-matter.
The Theological Institutes of Francis Turretin, first published in
37

38 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
1679-1685, surpass Calvin's work in logical arrangement; but they
follow the catechetical method of question and answer, and dis
cuss the several doctrines in the order commonly found in the
confessions of that time. George Calixtus, in his Epitome of
Theology, published in 1619, arranged the essential doctrines under
three inquiries. He first asks after the object of theological sci
ence, and he finds his answer in all those topics which relate to
the salvation and ultimate glory of man. Secondly, he finds the
subject and the necessity of his doctrines in the facts of creation
and human sinfulness. His third inquiry is into the means of
securing the salvation of man, under which head he presents the
mediation of Christ and the means of grace. This furnishes an
analytic method of procedure, and has some attractive features.
It moves partly in the line of that dogmatic method which first
propounds the great subject of salvation, and then inquires after
the causes of the same in the order of (1) the efficient, (2) the
meritorious, (3) the instrumental, and (4) the final cause. Much
of its substance may be traced back to Peter Lombard's Four
Books of Sentences.
3. Federal and Trinitarian Methods. The Federal Theology, so
called, produced a method of arranging all the doctrines of Chris
tianity under the two Covenants of Nature and of Grace. But
the system compelled its advocates to follow a historical rather
than a logical order, and involved no little confusion of thought.
Leydecker (in 1682) cast the federal theology in a Trinitarian
form by grouping all Christian doctrine under the three headings
of Father, Son, and Spirit. He has been followed in recent times
by Marheineke and Martensen. The method is attractive for its
simplicity, but is incompatible with a proper use of defining terms,
and leaves too much room for arbitrary fancies. Martensen, for
example, treats the fall of man, human depravity, and guilt under
the head of "The Doctrine of the Father"; and Marheineke dis
cusses these same topics under the main caption of "God the Son."
Such looseness of construction in methodology is open to obvious
objection. 4. Methods of some German Writers. In a study of the meth
ods of treating Christian dogmatics we may profitably observe the
courses pursued by some of the most distinguished writers on sys
tematic theology in modern times. The German theologians
evince a remarkable genius for analysis and synthesis as well as for
breadth of learning and originality of thought. Schleiermacher,
in his work on The Christian Faith,1 treats all evangelical doctrines
1 Der christliche Glaube nach den Grundsatzen der evangelischen Kirche im
Zusam m enhange dargestellt. 2 vols. 1828.

INTRODUCTION 39
as so many truths developed out of the feeling of absolute depend
ence upon God. This feeling is an indwelling element in the
nature of man, and the creeds and confessions of Christendom
are so many outward expressions of the Christian consciousness.
After an introduction of one hundred and fifty pages he divides
his work into two parts, the first of which is devoted to the
"development of the religious feeling of dependence," and the
second to the "development of the indwelling consciousness of
God." He treats the doctrine of the Trinity in an appendix.
Lange's comprehensive work on Christian Dogmatics1 is divided
into what its author calls "an organic trilogy" of philosophical,
positive, and applied dogmatics. He brings all the topics of
positive dogmatics under the three heads of Theology, Soteriology,
and Pneumatology. August Hahn's Compendium of the Chris
tian Faith2 is divided into four main parts as follows : 1. Doctrine
of God; 2. Doctrine of Man; 3. Christology; 4. Of the Church.
Under the last head he treats the several topics of eschatology.
Hase's treatise on Evangelical Protestant Dogmatics8 presents a
condensed and somewhat novel scheme. After a short introduc
tion on the theory and the history of dogmatics, he arranges his
material under the two heads of Ontology and Christology. Under
the first of these he treats (1) Anthropology and (2) Theology;
under the second, (1) Christ in History, (2) Christ in the inner
Life, (3) Christ in the Church. Two appendixes were added by
the author in which he discusses Eschatology and the Trinity. A
still more striking outline of the evangelical faith is given in
Karl Immanuel Nitzsch's System of Christian Doctrine,* in which
we have the three divisions of Agathology, Ponerology, and Soteri
ology. Under the first, the doctrine of The Good, he treats of
God and the creature; under the doctrine of The Bad he treats
of sin and death; and under Soteriology there are four sub
divisions: (1) Salvation established in the person of the
Eedeemer, (2) The appropriation of salvation, (3) The fellow
ship of salvation, (4) The completion of salvation. A more recent
contribution to dogmatics is the able and comprehensive treatise
of Friedrich A. B. Nitzsch,5 whose main divisions of the part
entitled "Special Dogmatics" are Anthropology, Theology, and
^Christology. 5. Methods of Five American Divines. Five comprehensive
works on Systematic Theology, issued during the last thirty years
1 Christliche Dogmatik. 3 vols. Heidelberg, 1849-1852.
2 Lehrbuch des christlichen Glaubens. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1857, 1858.
s Evangelische-protestantische Dogmatik. 6th ed. Leipzig, 1870.
1 System der christlichen Lehre. 6th ed. Bonn, 1851.
5 Lehrbuch der evangelischen Dogmatik. Freiburg, 1892.

40 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of the nineteenth century, deserve a passing notice on account of
their methods of systematization.1 They are all from the hands
of American divines, they are all cast in a remarkably similar
mold, and the arrangement of material in each is shown in the
following outline :
Hodge: 1. Introduction. 2. Theology Proper. 3. Anthropol
ogy. 4. Soteriology. 5. Eschatology.
Raymond: 1. Apologetics. 2. Theology Proper. 3. Anthro
pology. 4. Soteriology. 5. Eschatology. 6. Ethics. 7. Ecclesi-
ology. Strong: 1. Prolegomena. 2. Existence of God. 3. The Scrip
tures a Eevelation from God. 4. The Nature, Decrees, and Works
of God. 5. Anthropology. 6. Soteriology. 7. Ecclesiology. 8.
Eschatology. Shedd: 1. Theological Introduction. 2. Bibliology. 3. The
ology. 4. Anthropology. 5. Christology. 6. Soteriology. 7.
Eschatology. Miley: 1. Theism. 2. Theology. 3. Anthropology. 4. Chris
tology. 5. Soteriology. 6. Eschatology.
In these several outlines we observe that Hodge reduces his
material to the fewest divisions, but the phrase "Theology Proper,"
which Eaymond also adopts, does not commend itself as a head
ing. Baymond's plan includes the subjects of Apologetics and
Ethics which do not strictly belong to a treatise on doctrine.
Strong's outline is open to criticism for introducing the section
on the Scriptures as a main division, and placing it after his dis
cussion of the existence of God. All that was important for him
to say about the Scriptures might have been incorporated in his
Prolegomena. His second and fourth divisions might also have
been condensed into one section and put under one title. Shedd
introduces the word Bibliology, under which he discusses the
inspiration, authenticity, credibility, and canonicity of the Old
and New Testaments. But an extensive treatment of these topics
is no proper part of a system of doctrine. The division entitled
"Ecclesiology," by Eaymond and Strong, includes subjects that do
not strictly belong to systematic theology, and the word itself is
objectionable because of its very common usage in designating the
science of church architecture and decoration. In Miley's outline
one may reasonably question the necessity and the propriety of
treating Theism and Theology under Separate and coordinate
divisions.

> By Charles Hodge (3 vols. 1871-1873) ; Miner Raymond (3 vols. 1877-1879) ;
Augustus H. Strong (1886); William G. T. Shedd (2 vols. 1888, and a supplemen
tary volume in 1894); John Miley (2 vols. 1892-1894).

INTRODUCTION 41
6. Outlines of Other Writers. There are many other modern
works on Christian doctrine that deserve notice for originality of
method or for intrinsic value as contributions to theology. Henry
B. Smith labored to construct a system of theology that would
be formally Christocentric, and he arranged his entire subject-
matter about the person and work of the Eedeemer under the main
divisions of (1) Antecedents of Eedemption, (2) Eedemption
Itself, and (3) Kingdom of Eedemption.1 Whatever originality
of method here appears, it is open to remark that the terminology
does not commend itself as either clear or discriminating; the
doctrines of God, cosmology, and anthropology are infelicitously
styled "antecedents of redemption"; predestination, election, and
justification are set forth as operations of grace under the third
caption, apart from "the redemption itself," and apart from the
"work of the Mediator," which topics fall to the second division
of the volume. W. L. Alexander's System of Biblical Theology"
adopts a fourfold division of parts: 1. Theology; 2. Anthropol
ogy; 3. Christology; 4. Soteriology. The less extensive work of
John Macpherson3 has six divisions: 1. Doctrine of God and
the World. 2. Doctrine of Man and Sin. 3. Doctrine of Eedemp
tion. 4. Application of Eedemption. 5. The Means of Grace.
6. The Last Things. The three divisions last named traverse what
might have been incorporated with the third, and the brief dis
cussion of the "Last Things" is quite disproportionate in com
parison with the other sections of the book. In 1900 Nathaniel
Burwash published his Manual of Christian Theology on the
Inductive Method.1 His method of three parts is as follows: 1.
The Investigation of True Eeligion in Historic Form. 2. The
Nature and Process of Eevelation and the Formation of the Word
of God. 3. The Doctrinal Contents of the Word. This third
part comprises the larger part of the work and has eight divisions :
(1) Of God, (2) The World as Eelated to God, (3) Man as
Naturally Eelated to God, (4) Human Eesponsibility and Sin, (5)
Eedemption, (6) Personal Salvation, (7) The Offices and Agencies
of the Christian Church, (8) The Consummation of Christ's
Kingdom and the Last Things. William N. Clarke's Outline of
Christian Theology" is arranged in six parts: 1. God. 2. Man.
3. Sin. 4. Christ. 5. The Holy Spirit and the Divine Life in
Man. 6. Things to Come. Henry C. Sheldon's System of Chris-

1 System of Christian Theology. New York, 1884. The volume was compiled
by W. S. Karr from the author's unpublished lectures and sermons.
2 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1888;
3 Christian Dogmatics, Edinburgh, 1898.
* 2 vols. London.
s Cambridge, 1894.

42 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
tian Doctrine1 has the following five parts : 1. Leading Presuppo
sitions of the Christian System. 2. The Doctrine of God and
his Eelation to the World at large. 3. The Subjects of God's
Moral Government. 4. The Person and Work of the Eedeemer.
5. The Kingdom of Eedemption, or the Practical Eealization of
the Eedemptive Purpose. One of the latest works of this kind
to appear is by Olin A. Curtis, whose racy and readable volume*
is cast in two principal sections of an Introduction to the System
of Doctrine and The System of Doctrine. The Introduction has
two parts: (1) Man, (2) The Christian Eeligion. The System
shows six doctrinal divisions: (1) Man's Need of Eedemption,
(2) Jesus Christ, our Lord and Eedeemer, (3) Our Lord's
Eedemptive Work, (4) Eedemption Eealized in the New Man,
(5) Eedemption Eealized in the New Eace, (6) The Triune God
Bevealed in Eedemption. The method of this treatise is notably
unique, but the Introduction takes more than a third of the vol
ume, and contains nothing that might not have been presented
under the several doctrinal divisions.
7. Questions of Scope and Terminology. A study of these dif
ferent outlines shows the importance of method in arranging a
system of doctrine. It is equally important that we omit from
our topics of inquiry those subjects which stand apart from the
scope of dogmatics. The doctrines of the Christian faith are
easily distinguishable from that which belongs to apologetics, and
to questions of Church government and political economy. It is
desirable to employ a clear and simple terminology in the outline
of distinctive subjects of discussion, but it would seem as if some
writers were too much influenced by a passion for the technical
nomenclature exhibited in the sonorous words bibliology, theology,
cosmology, angelology, anthropology, hamartialogy, Christology,
soteriology, pneumatology, ecclesiology, eschatology. A well
chosen, definite terminology, such as these words of Greek origin
furnish, has an unquestionable value, and a methodology which
essayed to treat all Christian doctrine under the eleven heads and
in the order of the technical terms just given, might have much
said in its favor. On the other hand, it may be affirmed that the
persistent use of these terms tends to load the study of simple
biblical truths with stereotyped formulas which have become
obnoxious to many intelligent readers. It may also be argued that
the eleven topics indicated are not coordinate, and some of them
are not fairly entitled to a place in a system of dogmatics. Bibli
ology and ecclesiology should hold at most only a subordinate
'Cincinnati, 1903.
2 The Christian Faith, personally given in a System of Doctrine. New York, 1905.

INTRODUCTION 43
place in a treatise on doctrines. Hamartialogy can be logically
treated under the head of anthropology, and soteriology and Chris
tology are so closely allied that they may be brought under one
caption, as is done in several of the outlines given above. Cos
mology, angelology, and eschatology may also be assigned a subor
dinate position, so that the eleven topics designated by the high-
sounding Greek terms named above might all be treated under
three or at most four main divisions.
8. A Priori and A Posteriori Methods. The prevailing method
in dogmatics, as seen in most of the outlines given above, is to
begin with the doctrine of God and conclude with the various
questions of eschatology. There is an obvious logical propriety in
this order of procedure. Theology in the broad sense is supposed
to treat of God, of man, and of the relations between God and man.
With this aim and order in view it seems quite possible to bring
a comprehensive treatment of the whole under the three divisions
of Theology, Anthropology, Soteriology. It is also desirable to
bring an entire treatise under as few heads as possible. But if
these three divisions were arranged in the order of Anthropology,
Soteriology, and Theology, the same field of study would come
under view, and every topic would find its appropriate treatment
in its own order.
Whether it be better to begin a study of biblical doctrines with
the nature of man or with the nature of God is an open question.
Not a little may be said in favor of either method, and in adopt
ing one in preference to the other we do not thereby condemn the
other. It accords more with a priori habits of thought to begin
with the nature and attributes of God, and thence proceed with
a study of creation and man and redemption and questions of
the future as consequences of the divine activity. A monergistic
conception of the universe arises quite naturally from this method
of procedure, and, so far as one keeps within the limits of demon
strable truth, the method has its unquestionable advantages. The
disadvantages are seen in the fact that one pursuing this method is
plunged first of all into the most mysterious subject of human
thought, the existence and attributes of the Infinite Being. The
doctrine of the Trinity, with its incomprehensible metaphysics, is
thus soon thrust upon us, and is of a nature to prejudice many
students against "systematic theology." It is, perhaps, possible to
escape some measure of such theological odium by adopting the
a posteriori method of beginning with the simplest facts of our
personal consciousness, and thence proceeding to the more difficult
subjects of human possibilities, and the mystery of Christ and of
God. This method accords with that of scientific research in the

44 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
realm of nature, and has its obvious advantages. It argues from
the known to the unknown. As man was made and exists in the
image of God, it is altogether probable that a careful study of
human nature and its possibilities will go far to prepare the way
for the most satisfactory study of the great mystery of God.
9. The Method of This Work. The method of the present
treatise begins with the doctrine of man and concludes with the
doctrine of our heavenly Father. The fundamental truths of the
Christian religion are so vitally related to each other that it is
quite impossible to discuss any one of them fully without the
frequent assumption of a general acquaintance with other related
doctrines. It is not supposed that any student of theology comes
to the reading of a book like this without some knowledge of the
subjects to be discussed, nor is it supposable that any theologian
begins a formal inquiry into the nature of man without some
knowledge of the doctrine of God. Several of the most noteworthy
books mentioned above, as, for example, those of Hase, Friedrich
Nitzsch, and Curtis, present the doctrines of anthropology at the
beginning. Such a beginning easily and naturally avoids the
prejudicial habit of a priori speculation, and deals at first and as
far as possible with demonstrable facts. Our own chosen outline,
as is readily seen, brings the whole material of biblical doctrine
under the three words, Man, Christ, and the Father. Man's natu
ral constitution, his sinfulness, and the facts of his regeneration
are matters of personal knowledge, and may well be treated as
such, and also with the infinite possibilities of such a nature,
before we take up the study of the person and work of Christ.
And as "no one knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to
whomsoever the Son reveals him," it seems altogether proper to
approach the study of our Father in heaven through the person,
the mediation, and the abiding spiritual ministry of his only
begotten Son. The greatest religious truths may be thus set forth,
not as so many verbal formulas of an outwardly authoritative
credenda, but as living inspirations to a holy life. Most of these
are thus seen to connect with real experiences of the Christian
life and of its blessed and eternal hopes. It may also prove a
helpful discipline in theological studies to formulate the facts of
personal experience as a preparation for inquiring into the deeper
mysteries of Christ and of God.

PAET FIRST
THE CONSTITUTION AND
POSSIBILITIES OF MAN

SECTION FIRST
THE NATUEE OF MAN
CHAPTEE I
THE NATURAL CONSTITUTION OF MAN
1. Primary Realities. We begin our study of the doctrines of
the Bible with the question, What is man? for there can be
nothing more real to a thinking being than his own existence.
Along with this unquestionable assurance of one's own personality
there comes gradually the unmistakable perception of a world
about him which is not himself. He soon discovers that he is
one of an innumerable company of beings that exist in conditions
and with experiences like his own. He finds also that he can
in many ways affect or influence his fellow beings and other things
in the world about him, and that they also can in like manner
affect him. And thus there comes along with the growing knowl
edge of his own person and powers a clear sense of his dependence
.and his limitations. These various feelings, perceptions, and
activities are matters of personal consciousness, and they are to
every man the most real things in the world. There are also cer
tain convictions, ideas, and truths which find expression every
where and always as the unanimous verdict of mankind. They
command recognition in all our continued processes of thought.
They are of the nature of unquestionable facts, and are accepted
as having inherent authority over the collective conscience and
judgment of all civilized peoples. Whatever contradicts such
45

46 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
truths and convictions can have no permanent authority over the
human soul. With due recognition of these primary realities we
turn to the Holy Scriptures to learn what they have to tell us
about the nature and origin of man.
2. The Bodily Form. One of the most obvious facts in the con
stitution of man is his possession of a bodily form. It is remarka
ble with what minuteness the biblical writers incidentally mention
the various parts of the human body : bones, sinews, marrow, flesh,
blood, fat, skin, hair; the head, the neck, the shoulders, the arms,
hands, fingers, and nails; the eye, the ear, the nose, the mouth,
the tongue; — all these and numerous other parts are familiarly
referred to in a manner that would be naturally expected in a
literature so extensive and various as that of the canonical books.
The psalmist was filled with awe at the thought of his being
"fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psa. cxxxix, 14). But none
of the sacred writers attempt what we would call a scientific
analysis and description of the human constitution. The account
of man's creation, in Gen. ii, 7, portrays the formation of the
body as preparatory to the impartation of the breath of life. The
writer of Eccl. xi, 5, does not presume to know "how the
bones grow in the womb of her that is with child," nor the "way
of the Spirit," nor "the work of God who doeth all." Ezekiel's
vision of the resurrection of the house of Israel from their graves
of exile exhibits bones, sinews, flesh, and skin appearing before
the breath of life came into them (Ezek. xxxvii, 7-10). In Job
iv, 19, Eliphaz speaks of men as dwelling in houses of clay, and
having their foundation in the dust. In Dan. vii, 15, the
Aramaic word for a sheath (nm) is employed metaphorically to
denote the body as the material cover of the emotional spirit. In
2 Cor. v, 1, the body is called "the earthly house," a tent that
is to be dissolved ; and in verses 3 and 4 of the same chapter the
figure is changed to suggest the thought of the covering of an
outside garment. And so in various ways the human body is
conceived as a house or cover of the living soul, the external
visible organ of the self-conscious personality that thinks and
feels. 3. life, Soul, and Blood. Within this bodily frame, in some
invisible organism of its own, exists the living human soul. Man
and beast alike possess this element or principle of animal life,
which certain scriptures speak of as present and moving in the
blood. But how this subtile, invisible essence is distributed
through the delicate organs of the body, and what manner of
organic connection it holds with them, man has not yet been able
to discover. By means of the processes of breathing and through

CONSTITUTION OF MAN 47
the circulation of the blood the animal soul seems to be present
and more or less sensitive in every fiber, nerve, and organ of the
body. The language of Gen. ix, 4, is noteworthy : "Flesh with the
life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." Here
the word blood is grammatically in apposition with life, or soul,
implying that the writer closely identified the two.1 The context
shows that this prohibition of eating blood is based upon the
conception that it is the visible bodily element in which the living
soul moves and has its being. It thus represents the God-given
life, sacred alike in man and beast, but especially in man who
was made "in the image of God." In Deut. xii, 23, the prohibi
tion is equally explicit: "The blood is the life (or soul), and
thou shalt not eat the life with the flesh." The same thought
is even more emphatically expressed in Lev. xvii, 11, 14: "The
life (or soul) of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to
you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls. . . . For
as to the life of all flesh, its blood is in (one with) its life. . . .
For the life of all flesh is its blood." This mysterious union of
life, soul, and blood is also implied in "pouring out one's soul unto
death" (Isa. liii, 12; Lam. ii, 12); "smiting the soul of the
blood of an innocent one" (Deut. xxvii, 25; comp. Jer. ii, 34).
Hence, too, the significance of the blood of Abel crying from the
ground on which it had been poured out (Gen. iv, 10), and John's
vision of the souls under the altar crying for the avenging of
their blood (Eev. vi, 9, 10). So all the biblical writers appear
to regard the life, the soul, and the blood as most intimately
connected in the natural constitution of man.'
4. The Heart. The heart (sj, napdia) of man is spoken of in
the Scriptures as the vital center of each individual life. As the
life (or soul) of the flesh is in the blood, and at death issues
from the body like the pouring out of water from a vessel, so it
has, like the blood, its source or fountain in the heart. As the
heart in the body is the fountain of the natural life, the same
word is appropriately used to designate the center and source of
all the higher conscious activities of the soul. Thoughts, imagina
tions, purposes, memory, reflection, judgment, belief, and unbelief,

'Literally the passage reads:. "Flesh in its soul, its blood, ye shall not eat."
In the Hebrew the one word ffifiS is employed to denote either life or soul.
2 The process of breathing and nourishment is, by the circulation of the blood,
spread over the whole body as one single process, bringing to every organ renewed
powers of life and growth. In blood, therefore, the invisible breath of the soul is
wedded to the most delicate corporeal matter, and what is invisible passes into
visible material Ufe. Soul, since it at once gives life to the body, exists in blood
aB fleshly soul. Blood in its animated state forms the life of every fleshly soul:
in other words, it forms animal life, for blood and breath, wanting in plants, are
first met with in animals. — Beck, Outlines of Biblical Psychology, pp. 3, 4.
Edinburgh, 1877.

45 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and all emotions of love and hatred, of joy and grief, are predicated
of the heart. In this higher sense the word is not employed in
speaking of the brute creation. It is common to mention heart
and soul together (Deut. xxx, 2, 6, 10; Josh, xxii, 5; 1 Sam. ii,
35; Isa. xxvi, 8, 9; Mic. vii, 1). Man is to love God with all
the heart and soul (Deut. vi, 4; Matt, xxii, 37). WeTead of a
wise and understanding heart (Exod. xxxv, 25, 35 ; 1 Kings iii, 9,
12), a willing heart, a tender heart, a hardened heart, a perverse
heart, and great projects and resolutions of heart. The heart is
capable of joy and sorrow, of vexation, and pride, and anxiety, and
madness and despair. The peace of God may dwell in the heart,
as well as holy zeal and boldness. The heart of the innocent may
be beguiled (Eom. xvi, 18), and become the seat of many fleshly
lusts. A man determines in his own heart the free action of the
power of his own will (1 Cor. vii, 37). From all which it is clear
that the biblical writers employ the word heart to denote the seat
and the faculties of feeling, thought, and action.1
5. Reins, Intestines, Breath. Other interior organs of the
human body are named by the biblical writers as if, like the heart,
they were the seat and center of our emotions and our thoughts.
The reins (or kidneys), the intestines, and even the liver (Lam.
ii, 11) are thus employed to denote the conditions and activities
of the living soul. In Prov. xx, 27, the breath is spoken of as
if it were one with the intellect that is capable of perception and
of searching: A lamp of Jehovah is the breath of man
Searching all the chambers of the body.
In 1 Cor. xiv, 20, "Be not children but men of full age in your
powers of understanding," the word (ppeveg- (the midriff, or dia
phragm) is used as in Homer for all the mental powers. And thus
by a natural way of thinking of the invisible soul as within, the
internal parts of the body are named in all languages, by figure
of speech, to denote the various emotions, desires, and operations
of the mind.
6. The Head. It is somewhat remarkable that the only biblical
reference to the head as the seat of human thought is found in the
Aramaic portion of the book of Daniel (ii, 28; iv, 5, 10, 13;
vii, 1, 15). The phrase employed in these texts is "visions of the
'The heart is the laboratory and place of issue of all that is good and evil
in thoughts, words and deeds; the rendezvous of evil lusts and passions; a good
or an evil treasure. It is the place where God's natural law is written in us, and
effectually proves itself, as also the place of the positive law put within by grace.
It is the seat of conscience, and all the testimonies of conscience are ascribed to
it. — Delitzsch, System of Biblical Psychology, p. 295. Comp. also Weiss, Bibli
cal Theology of the New Testament, vol. i, p. 349.

CONSTITUTION OF MAN 49
head," and it accords with the habits of prophetic thought and
speech for a seer to "lift up his eyes, and look, and behold" (comp.
Zech. i, 18; ii, 1; v, 1). So as "the wise man's eyes are in his
head" (Eccl. ii, 14), the head itself might very naturally have
been mentioned as the seat of vision. We should also compare the
saying, "The lamp of the body is the eye" (Matt, vi, 22), and
note how "the eyes of the heart" are mentioned in Eph. i, 18. A
comparison of Dan. ii, 28 and 30, shows, furthermore, that the
Aramaic writer identified visions of the head with thoughts of
the heart. The biblical writers seem to have had no knowledge
of the modern view of the brain as the chief organ of the mind.
It has been thought, however, that the words for marrow, in Job
xxi, 24, and in Heb. iv, 12, may denote the spinal marrow, and,
by association, the entire nervous system, including the brain
and the spinal cord. But these allusions are too incidental, and
the inferences from a single word so incidentally used are too far
fetched to be trustworthy.1
7. The Mind. Man's intellectual faculty of perceiving, think
ing, reasoning, and judging is designated in the New Testament
by the words vovg- and didvoia. The risen Christ "opened their
mind, that they might understand the scriptures" (Luke xxiv, 45).
Lydia's heart was similarly opened to receive the teaching of
Paul (Acts, xvi, 14) ; so that mind and heart are used in this
sense interchangeably. The mind is described in the Pauline
epistles variously,as reprobate (Eom. i, 28) ; fleshly {vovg-rr\g- aapnog;
Col. ii, 18) ; unfruitful (1 Cor. xiv, 14) ; vain and corrupt (Eph.
iv, 17; 1 Tim. vi, 5). In Eom. vii, 23, 25, the word appears to
mean the seat and organ of intelligence and of sober moral
judgment. In 1 Cor. xiv, 15, 19, it means intelligent discrimina
tion as against a mere emotional rapture in worship. In Phil.
iv, 7, the peace of God which is to guard hearts and thoughts is
said to transcend all mind (navra vovv) , that is, it surpasses every
power of reason and understanding. In Eev. xiii, 18, and xvii, 9,
the man that has mind, and the mind that has wisdom, are called
upon to solve the mysteries of prophecy. The word didvoia
appears to be used in the New Testament in substantially the
same sense as vovg: It is the term employed in the great com
mandment as found in the three synoptic gospels: "Thou shalt
love God with all thy heart . . . soul . . . mind." Compare also
1 John v, 20 ; 1 Pet. i, 13 ; 2 Pet. iii, 1 ; Eph. iv, 18 ; Col. i, 21 ;
and the association of heart and mind in Heb. viii, 10, and x, 16.
In Mark xii, 33, the word ovveoig- is used as a synonym of didvoia
1 One may read what is to be said for this notion in Delitzsch, System of Biblical
Psychology, p. 275. Edinburgh, 1869.

50 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
(comp. ver. 30), but in other passages (Luke ii, 47; 1 Cor. i, 19;
Eph. iii, 4; Col. i, 9; ii, 2; 2 Tim. ii, 7) it denotes rather the
products or the acquirements of the mind. Such a naming of
the faculty of thought for thought itself is a common usage in
all cultivated languages. The word vbr\\ia (in 2 Cor. iii, 14; iv, 4;
xi, 3; Phil, iv, 7) denotes the mind itself; in 2 Cor. ii, 11; x, 5,
however, it has the meaning of thoughts or devices of the mind.
But the verb voeu always designates the conscious activities or
states of the understanding. In Luke i, 51, we meet the phrase
"imagination (didvoia) of the heart," where it is seen that the
heart is conceived as the source of the thoughts of man. In
Luke xxiv, 45, we are told that Jesus opened the mind (yovv)
of his disciples to understand (ovvievai) the scriptures. One is
to be fully assured in his own mind (Eom. xiv, 5), and brethren
are exhorted to be perfectly united "in the same mind and in the
same judgment (yv&un) 3' (1 Cor. i, 10). All these scriptures
assume a faculty of thought in man as a natural element of the
human constitution, but it does not appear that any special study
of the words for mind, heart, soul, and spirit, as employed by the
biblical writers, is likely to throw important light upon the con
stituent parts of man's nature, or lead to a scientific and trust
worthy analysis of them.
8. The Spirit. The spirit of man is a term often employed to
denote that which is noblest and most godlike in the human
constitution. It is the vital principle by which all other elements
of our being are animated. It is the seat of our self-conscious
personality, the subject which exercises the power of reasoning,
reflecting, judging, determining action, and putting, forth free
volitions. But the word is very often used in other significations.
Both the Hebrew nn and the Greek mievpa denote the wind, the
vital breath, the quality, disposition, or temper of one's mind.
Angels and demons are usually called spirits, mainly because their
essential nature is supposed to be without any of the characteristic
properties of matter. In the highest sense "God is a Spirit"
(John iv, 24), and in the New Testament the word appears in
naming or referring to "the Holy Spirit" more frequently than
in any other connection. More exceptional, both in the Old
Testament and in the New, are those passages in which the refer
ence is evidently to that personal spirit in man which is directly
conscious of reason, feeling, and volition. Thus Zechariah
(xii, 1) speaks of Jehovah "forming the spirit of man within
him." The psalmists speak of the spirit "making diligent search"
(lxxvii, 6), and being overwhelmed within them (cxiii, 3). In
Eccl. xii, 7, the spirit of man is said to "return unto God who

CONSTITUTION OF MAN 51
gave it." In the New Testament such return of the spirit to God
is assumed in Luke, xxiii, 46, John xix, 30, Acts vii, 59 ; and in
1 Cor. ii, 11, we read : "Who among men knoweth the things of
a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the
things of God none knoweth save the Spirit of God." This
assumption of likeness between the spirit of God and that of man
is noteworthy, and gives importance to the biblical teaching that
man was originally made in the image of God (Gen. i, 27), and
still exists in that same image and glory (1 Cor. xi, 7). The
statement of Eom. viii, 16, that "the Spirit himself bears witness
with our spirit, that we are children of God," also enhances this
divine relationship of God and man.
9. The "Doctrine of Trichotomy. The words spirit and soul are
often employed interchangeably, as in Hebrew parallelism, and
the same experiences are often predicated alike of each. But there
are texts in which soul and spirit are distinguished, notably in
Heb. iv, 12 ("the dividing of soul and spirit"), and in 1 Thess.
v, 23 : "May your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire."
In this last cited text, especially, some writers find the doctrine of
trichotomy, or the threefold nature of man. It is maintained that
the soul is the connecting link between the spiritual and the
corporeal natures, and has no distinctive personality of its own.1
It is also supposed to be a sort of house of the spirit, as the body
is the house of the soul, and so serves as the subtile medium by
which reciprocal action is sustained between spirit and matter.*
Soul and spirit, having once become united in self-conscious per
sonality, are thereafter forever inseparable, but man's superior
nature is to be seen especially in the personality of his spirit. So
far, therefore, as the Scriptures speak of the soul as a personal
entity, we are to understand, according to the trichotomic theorists,
that it derives its personality from the spirit. Others, however,
hold that the spirit is rather a constituent element of the soul,
and that individuality and personality lie really in the latter.
For the soul originated in a union of spirit with matter, so

JSo Delitzsch: "The Soul, made personal indeed by the spirit, is yet in and
for itself impersonal. ... In Gen. ii, 7, we see that man is not already en
dowed with soul before the spirit is breathecl into him, but that it is even by that
inspiration that he is endowed with soul." — System of Biblical.Psychology, p. 232.
Comp. also pp. 263, 264.
1 In the soul of man the animal and the spiritual meet and combine in a union
so intimate that, after their union, their separate existence may be said to be
destroyed. Just as oxygen and hydrogen gas, when uniting in certain fixed
proportions, lose all the properties of gas and become water, a substance which
seems to have little or nothing in common with its two constituent elements, so
the animal and the spirit, combined in certain proportions as definite as those
of oxygen and hydrogen, though not as easily described by numerical ratios, pro
duce a third and apparently distinct nature, which we call the soul. — J. B. Heard,
The Tripartite Nature of Man, p. 49. Edinburgh, 1868.

52 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
that spirit forms in part the substance of the soul and individual
izes it.1
(1) Has no Support in Sound Interpretation. But none of
these theories of the invisible relations of soul and spirit find
support in a sound interpretation of the Scriptures. Their specu
lative character is not in accord with the thought or the popular
language of the biblical writers, who show no uniformity in the
use of these various words. The mention of spirit, and soul, and
body, in 1 Thess. v, 23, has no real parallel in any other scripture.
The same apostle, in 1 Cor. vii, 34, speaks of "the body and the
spirit" in a manner that implies dichotomy as clearly as the other
text implies trichotomy, and the language of Matt, x, 28, may be
used with equal propriety to prove the dichotomy of soul and
body. On such principles of exegesis we may find, in Matt, xxii,
37, a trichotomy of heart, soul, and mind, without at all including
the body. The parallel passage in Luke x, 27, has four terms,
heart, soul, might, and mind, and the text in Deut. vi, 5, whence
the citation comes, reads heart, soul, and might. The same three
words appear in 2 Kings xxiii, 25. In Heb. iv, 12, God's piercing
word is said to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and to
be expert in judging the thoughts and intents of the heart. It
is obvious that the use of these various terms is largely rhetorical,
and is so conspicuously diverse as to nullify their value as proof-
texts of trichotomy. The sacred writers display no such proclivity
to subtile theories of ontology, and the words whole (bXorekeig-)
and entire (bXoKXngov in 1 Thess. v, 23) cannot be pressed in the
interests of a dogma so as to override all other texts and make
that one solitary passage an authoritative dictum on biblical
trichotomy. The word dfieunrug; without blame, might demand
equal attention, and a comparison of James i, 4, should not be
overlooked in such a contention. The contrast between the natural
or soulish man and him that is spiritual, in 1 Cor. ii, 14, 15, has
reference to moral and religious qualities, not to elements of the
natural constitution.
(2) The Words Used Indiscriminately. It appears, further
more, that the words for soul and spirit are employed too indis
criminately in other connections to accord with a consistent doc
trine of trichotomy. In many passages the word soul is used to

'So G. F. Oehler: "In the soul, which sprang from the spirit and exists con
tinually through it, lies the individuality — in the case of man his personality,
his self, his Ego; because man is not spirit, but has it; he is soul." — Theology of
the Old Testament, p. 150. New York, 1883t Thus, according to Oehler, tri
chotomy is not taught or warranted by the Old Testament. "Rather the whole
man is included in the flesh and soul, which spring from the union of the spirit
with matter." But even this seems like an over-refinement, such as never entered
the thoughts of the biblical writers.

CONSTITUTION OF MAN 53
denote the entire person (Gen. xlvi, 27; Josh, x, 28; Jer. xliii, 6;
Ezek. xviii, 20). Flesh, or "all flesh," is often employed in the
same sense (Gen. vi, 12; Psa. Ixv, 3; Isa. xl, 5, 6). In other
passages the same experiences are predicated alike of soul and
spirit. Thus trouble, grief, fainting and reviving, longing, search
ing, thinking, perception, excitement, and purpose are attributed
both to the spirit and the soul, and both alike are conceived as
departing from the body at death, or are commended to God in
the death struggle.
(3) Yet with Distinctive Connotation. Such facts sufficiently
disprove the idea that the Scriptures teach the doctrine of tri
chotomy. But the words flesh, body, soul, spirit, mind, heart, rea
son, have their distinctive meanings. Soul and spirit are not
strictly synonymous. Spirit has the higher connotation, for the
word is commonly employed to designate the nature of angels and
of God. And while it may be shown, as above, that there is no
clear doctrine of a threefold nature in man to be found in the
Scriptures, it does not follow that he is therefore not possessed
of such a nature. How the living spirit, existing in God's image
and likeness, is united with an organism of flesh and bones and
blood, is a mystery which the Bible does not unfold. That there
is a spiritual body, a real invisible organism within the fleshly
body, seems to be the conception of Paul in 1 Cor. xv, 44, and
2 Cor. iv, 16; and it may well be that, as an intermediate con
nective between the body and the spirit, there is a psychical
organism, a body or house of the spirit, which God gives it to
serve the purposes of its being. But these invisible elements of
man's spiritual nature are not made manifest to us, and it behooves
the theologian and the biblical exegete to refrain from construct
ing theories of the human constitution out of the incidental and
rhetorical language of biblical writers who follow no uniform
usage of the same words.
10. General Result. As a general result of this brief study of
the natural constitution of man, as outlined in the Scriptures and
defined by particular terms, we may affirm with no little confidence
that the nature of man is a composite of visible and invisible
elements of a most wonderful character. The body, soul, spirit,
heart, mind, reason, conscience, and will-power of man present
a being which the psalmist appropriately speaks of as "fearfully
and wonderfully made." This "offspring of God" is preeminently
distinguished above all other living things that move and act upon
the earth. We may by careful study and analysis classify the
various states and operations of the human soul, and, however we
conceive the essence and qualities of man's superior spiritual

54 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
nature, we find in the Scriptures numerous illustrative examples
of its manifold activities. The human body is a marvelous organ
ism and is conceived as a temple and covering of the invisible
spirit. This inner spiritual nature is either designated or implied
in the common use of the words soul, mind, and heart, and what
ever elements or capacities these several terms may in different
connections represent, the personal faculties implied so subsist and
work together in the living agent that, in all other literature as
well as in the biblical writings, we find these various terms used
interchangeably. We are not to look, therefore, in the Scriptures
for a scientific analysis and classification of the faculties of the
human soul. The biblical writers appropriate the common lan
guage of their time, and employ such words as spirit, soul, mind,
heart, affections, and thoughts in a popular way, as they were
generally understood. It is a delusion to search the Scriptures
with the presumption of finding therein anticipations of modern
scientific discoveries. The facts or states of human consciousness,
which it is the province of the science of psychology to investigate,
naturally find more or less mention in the Bible; for all the
noticeable facts of one's self-consciousness, such as those of sensa
tion, attention, feeling, sentiment, memory, imagination, reflection,
thought, reasoning, deliberation, and volition, must needs have
some sort of popular recognition in a literature so extensive and
varied as the canonical Scriptures. But this is something very
different from the presumption that we may of right search these
Scriptures with the expectation of finding therein ancient revela
tions and anticipations of the results of modern scientific study.
We find nothing in these sacred writings which, rationally inter
preted, conflicts with any clear disclosures of scientific research.
The most lively oracles of the holy men of old, who spoke as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit, are cast in popular and poetic
forms, and furnish no certain or authoritative guidance into the
facts of physiology and psychology. Continuous investigation of
these facts by way of observation, experiment, and all possible
appliances of scientific research may yet bring to light many mys
teries of the natural constitution of man which were unknown to
the biblical writers.

CHAPTEE II
THE MORAL ELEMENT IN MAN
1. The Fact of Moral Sense. A faithful study of the constituent
elements of man's nature requires that we observe them in their
higher activities and moral aspects. This being of flesh and blood
and bones, of soul and spirit, of heart, and mind, and might,
exhibits in his various relations the elements of a moral nature.
He formulates his thoughts in language and communicates them
to his fellow men. By means of his organs of sense he has
conscious contact with the world about him, and comes to know
that he is part of it and holds responsible relations to it. He
sees, hears, smells, tastes, touches; he also thinks, reasons, forms
judgments, and expresses his feelings and opinions. He chooses
or refuses objects which come within his reach, and so he finds
himself gifted with power to determine his own course of action.
In these various ways he comes at an early period of life to
exercise the functions of a moral sense and to distinguish between
right and wrong. The existence of such a moral element in
man is a fact as universal as our knowledge of the human race.
2. Conscience. This feeling, power, or capacity of moral obliga
tion in man, by which he distinguishes between right and wrong,
is called conscience. It shows itself along with the first opera
tions of intelligence as an intuitive perception, imperatively con
trolling the judgment in deciding what ought or ought not to be
done. A sense of guilt and shame comes to the soul whenever
the dictates of this moral judgment are violated. No facts of
the intellectual and emotional nature of man are more incontro
vertible than these mandatory dictations of conscience, and of this
we find abundant witness in the Scriptures.
(1) Old Testament Illustration. — We have a graphic picture
of conscience sounding its admonition to the soul in 1 Sam. xxiv, 5,
where it is said "that David's heart smote him" because of a
disrespectful act toward the king. The same expression appears
in 2 Sam. xxiv, 10, in describing David's sense of guilt in his
willful sin of numbering the people. In Job xxvii, 6, the word
tpn denotes the reproach of heart which one feels as the sure
consequence of failure to observe righteousness, and in Dan.
ix, 7, 8, we find the strong expression, "confusion of face," as a
55

56 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
result of sinning against God. The description of the original
sin with its consequences of guilt, shame, confusion of face, and
penal judgment, as given in Gen. iii, is a most vivid and instructive.
illustration of the nature of conscience and its working in every
act of human sinfulness.
(2) New Testament use of avveidnaig: The Greek word em
ployed in the New Testament to denote this moral intuition is
ovveidnoig-. In Eom. ii, 15, we read that the Gentiles "are a
law unto themselves, in that they show the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness there
with, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excus
ing them." Paul appealed to the testimony of his own conscience
(Eom. ix, 1; Acts xxiii, 1; xxiv, 16). In the last named passage
he tells Felix of his constant endeavor "to have a conscience void
of offence toward God and man." He also speaks of a good
conscience (1 Tim. i, 5, 19), a pure conscience (1 Tim. iii, 9;
2 Tim. i, 3), a weak, defiled, and seared conscience (1 Cor. viii, 7,
12; Titus i, 15; 1 Tim. iv, 2). Mention also is made of a
good conscience in 1 Pet. iii, 16, 21; and in Heb. xiii, 18, we
meet the suggestive expression "a beautiful («oAiy) conscience,"
which accompanies the habitual desire and purpose in all things
to behave one's self in an honorable and praiseworthy manner of
life. In this same epistle we also find the phrase "conscience
of sins" (x, 2), and the idea of being "sprinkled from an evil
conscience" (x, 22) and of "purging the conscience from dead
works" (ix, 14). In 1 Pet. ii, 19, occurs the phrase "conscience
of God," that is, a conscience alive and tender in its sense of God
and moral obligation.1
(3) Essential Moral Sense. According to these scriptures con
science is an essential element in the moral constitution of man.
It witnesses an intuition of moral obligation and asserts itself in
judgments of guilt or of innocence. Its existence is assumed in
the original commandment of Gen. ii, 16, 17, and implied in
the picture of original innocence in Gen. ii, 25. And so in every
record of transgression and punishment, in every commandment
of God, as well as in all manner of rebuke, blame, admonition,
exhortation, and appeal to the moral sense, we recognize the fact
and imperative sway of the faculty of conscience.
3. Personality and Freedom of Will. A closer study of this
subject leads to an analysis of the moral faculties of man and
the question of the freedom of the will. The action of conscience
and the sense of moral responsibility imply the fact of freedom.
•So Huther: "A genitive of the object, the duty-compelling consciousness of
God." — Meyer's Commentary in loco.

MORAL ELEMENT IN MAN 57
The commandments and exhortations of Scripture together with
words of warning and assurances of certain penal judgment in
case of disobedience are without moral significance if man is not
free to act. The final appeal for the truth of this statement must
be taken to one's own personal consciousness. All the constituent
elements and activities of man's nature which we have passed in
review center in the personality of each individual. Human per
sonality consists in the complex self-conscious unity of intelli
gence, sensibility, and the power of volition, so that these three,
thinking, feeling, and choosing, distinguish man as the highest
order of being on earth, "crowned with glory and honor," and
bearing the image of God. We shall find in the Scriptures, as
well as in the study of our own conscious moral action, that
rational intelligence in the perception of right and wrong, and
the conditions of human sensibility are often necessarily what
they are. That is, they are often controlled by causes exterior
to themselves, so that what is thought and what is felt can be
no other than that which is realized in consciousness. Matters of
fact and truth may be so clearly presented to the human under
standing that the man cannot fail to know them; and emotions,
desires, inclinations, and passions may also be so stirred by forces
from without the soul that one cannot possibly ignore the sensa
tion. But this is not true of volition. Under the ordinary con
ditions of human life the will is free and competent for self-
determination. The individual, whose rational judgment is fully
settled as to what is right, and whose deepest feelings are moved
in the same way possesses the power of volition by which he may
deliberately reject what is right and choose what is wrong. The
appeal of Moses in Deut. xxx, 19, assumes this freedom of will
in the persons addressed: "I call heaven and earth to witness
against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death,
the blessing and the curse ; therefore choose life, that thou mayest
live, thou and thy seed." The personal individuality of this appeal
is noticeable in the use of the personal pronoun in the singular.
The like assumption of responsible moral agency appears in the
appeal of the prophet Isaiah (i, 19, 20) : "If ye be willing and
obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and
rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword." The wail of Jesus
over Jerusalem (Matt, xxiii, 37) involves the doctrine of the power
of the human will to resist and reject the highest motives and the
most affectionate calls: "How often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under
her wings, and ye would not !" We note also how Jesus is repre
sented, in John iii, 20, 21, as saying: "Every one that doeth evil

58 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works
should be reproved. But he that doeth the truth cometh to the
light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been
wrought in God." The persecution and martyrdom of Stephen
were perpetrated in malicious resistance of the Holy Spirit (Acts
vii, 51). Paul's doctrine of rewards and punishments — eternal
life for those who do well, and "tribulation and anguish, upon
every soul of man that worketh evil" (Eom. ii, 9) — is obviously
based upon the assumption of a free and responsible moral nature.
Scores of similar appeals, exhortations, warnings, and facts of
personal consciousness recorded in the Scriptures assume that,
while the intellect and the sensibility may be necessitated to states
of perception and of feeling, the power of free and responsible
volition is fully recognized in man. Man, the personal agent,
determines among conflicting reasons and various motives that
one course of action which he himself will follow. And this is
what is meant by freedom of the will, which may be treated both
as a fact and a doctrine, and is essential to the explanation of
the nature of man as a moral being.1
4. The Moral Element of Social Relations. The recognition of
the ethical nature of man is essential to an understanding of his
social relations. The lower animals mate together and beget
offspring according to their kind, and many kinds become gre
garious ; but man alone is capable of organizing and perpetuating
social institutions.2 The Scriptures furnish us in sketches of
patriarchal life a faithful picture of the family in its earlier
forms and also of the development and growth of families into
tribes. Later on we see how the tribes become organized into a
powerful nation, and adopt various forms of law and government.
The records of earliest family life afford evidence of sundry
imperfections. While monogamy is the original and fundamental
law, the patriarchs were notably implicated in bigamy and
polygamy. The Mosaic legislation on divorce is witness to a
prevalent defective moral sense. The profound teaching of Jesus
respecting the prohibition of adultery (Matt, v, 28) and the bill

1 Hence Dorner, in defining the relation between dogmatics and ethics, very
appropriately says that ethics "has for its subject that world of human morality
which is brought about by the acts of human self-determination." System of
Christian Doctrine, vol. i, p. 28. Edinburgh, 1888. For a most thorough and
exhaustive discussion of the freedom, as against all necessitarian theories of
human action, see D. D. Whedon's classic treatise, The Freedom of the Will.
New York, 1864. Note especially the definitions and arguments of chapters i,
ii, iv and vi of Part First.
' Human nature has its existence in an ethical sphere and for moral ends of
being. We assume that there is a natural capacity or basis for ethical being and
life which in the ascent of nature has been reached at length and is occupied by
the human race. — Newman Smyth, Christian Ethics, p. 27. New York, 1892.

MORAL ELEMENT IN MAN 59
of divorce (Mark x, 2-12) presents the purest and noblest ideal.
The family institution is thus made to appear the most funda
mental and sacred of all human relations. Based upon the primal
natural constitution of male and female (Gen. i, 27) the man
and wife are united for lifelong companionship, and for the
propagation of their kind (Gen. ii, 18, 24). In the growth of
families and the formation of clans jealousy, bitter feuds, grievous
wrongs, and fearful cruelties appear, as in the history of the
tribes of Jacob. In the organization of rival states and nations
these wrongs take on displays of wrath and vengeance still more
terrible, and the history of most of the great nations is one long
series of wars and oppressions. Yet slowly and surely through all
the ages of strife the moral sense of man has recognized the fact
and the excellency of inalienable human rights, and the necessity
of guarding them against violence and oppression. Hence the
enactment of various forms of law for the family, the tribe or
clan, the larger community, the state, and the nation. The high
est moral law enunciated in the Old Testament, which has a
necessary bearing on all social relations, is written in Lev. xix,
17, 18 : "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart. . . . Thou
shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children
of thy people ; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This
principle strikes at the root of every human wrong, but the Jew
did not comprehend the full truth and application of this noble
law. To him no foreigner could be neighbor, but only one of his
own tribe or people. It has required ages of discipline to show
mankind that they are all brethren, the offspring of one God, and
the lesson is yet far from being fully understood. But here,
imbedded in the midst of old Levitical precepts, is the highest
law of human brotherhood and rights. Jesus himself recognized
it (Matt, xxii, 39), and set it in golden form in the command
ment: "All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should
do unto you, even so do ye also unto them" (Matt, vii, 12; Luke
vi, 31). Thus we perceive that the moral sense is a constituent
element in the nature of man, and manifests itself in the
individual, in the family, and in all the organized forms of society.
As races and states become more civilized the ethical standards
of all human relationship become more exalted and controlling.
Men are, accordingly, coming to recognize more and more the
universal bonds of brotherhood.

CHAPTEE III
THE RELIGIOUS ELEMENT IN MAN
1. Essential in Normal Human Nature. The moral element of
man's nature is related most vitally and fundamentally to a
religious element, in which, in fact, it roots itself and finds its
most thorough explanation. Morality is essentially a part of the
social aspect of religion. As the capacity to receive and com
municate ideas is unmistakable evidence of man's intellectual
nature ; as all the varied emotions of love, fear, and sensitiveness
to objects of beauty and of ugliness are a certain witness of the
existence of a living soul, conscious of itself and of its conditions,
so there is in the depths of human consciousness an intuition of
God. There are facts in the operations of the spiritual nature
of man which find adequate explanation only in the doctrine of
a necessary relation between the self-conscious personality of the
human spirit and the infinite and eternal Spirit who is the
upholder of all things visible and invisible. A profound sense
•of dependence upon some higher Power, and some kind of formal
reverence for that Power, have been manifest among all men.
The exceptions, if there be any, are so limited and uncertain in
character as rather to enhance the farreaching significance of the
general fact. Man is as truly a religious as he is a spiritual being.
The consciousness that he is somehow related to an infinite Being
above him or beyond him, and at the same time within him, is so
firmly seated and persistent in the whole race that it demands
recognition in any fair outline of the nature of man.1
2. Biblical Words Expressive of Religious Feeling and Action.
This religious feeling is represented in the New Testament by
the words evoe(3sia, piety, or godliness, and &pnoiceiat reverential
worship, or religious service. Both words involve the idea of a
sacred personal relationship between man and God. The idea
is seen in the Old Testament in the frequent use of the adjective
-porti one who is pious or godly, and in the reflexive form of the
'In the very notion of a spiritual, self-conscious being there is already in
volved what may be called a virtual or potential infinitude. The first breath of
spiritual life is indeed, in one sense, the realization of this capacity, but in another
sense, it is only the beginning of a realization which is itself incapable of limitation.
We are rational and spiritual beings only in virtue of the fact that we have in us
the power to transcend the bounds of our narrow individuality, and to find our
selves in that which seems to lie beyond us. — John Caird, An Introduction to the
Philosophy of Religion, p. 112. New York, 1894.
60

RELIGIOUS ELEMENT IN MAN 61
verb nne> to bow oneself in acts of worship. The worship of
idols is indicated by the hiphil form of the word 32S (Jer. xliv,
19), and the Aramaic nao. But aside from any special use or
implication of definite words, the scriptures of the Old and
the New Testaments abound in teaching and illustrations of the
religious nature of man. This element shows itself in every race
and nation, and is inseparable from the affectional and rational
nature. It has been one of the vital factors in the progress of
civilization. There can be no correct knowledge of man and no
thorough philosophy of human history without a fair reckoning
with the facts of man's religious nature.
3. Earliest Manifestations of the Religious Sense. How reli
gion first manifested itself in human life and thought must needs
be a matter of conjecture. That the religious feeling originated
in an overwhelming sense of superior power, and a consequent
fear arising from the consciousness of human limitations, has
been the belief of many. But this hypothesis in its logical analy
sis virtually concedes that the essential content of religion is a
revelation of God himself to the religious sensibility inherent in
the nature of man. Though the notion of God thus received be
vague and imperfect, it contains in every instance the fundamental
concept of man's dependence on a higher Power by reason of
some necessary constitutional relationship.1 All prayers and all
forms of worship give expression to this fact.
4. Has due Recognition in Scripture. The religious element in
man naturally receives due attention in the Scriptures. The pic
tures of earliest patriarchal times recorded in the book of Genesis,
and those also of later times, recognize the worship of God among
all the peoples. Melchizedek appears as a famous priest of
El-Elyon (Gen. xiv, 18), and Jethro as a priest in Midian (Exod.
iii, 1). God speaks in dreams to Abimelech the king of Gerar
(Gen. xx, 3). The Hittites call Abraham "a prince of God"
among them (Gen. xxiii, 6). Laban the Syrian worshiped tera
phim as his gods (Gen. xxxi, 19, 30), and according to Josh.
xxiv, 2, the ancestors of Abraham "served other gods" before his
migration from beyond the river Euphrates. We read of the

1 Edward Caird, in his Gifford Lectures, discussing the earliest form of religion>
observes that "religion is essentially a consciousness of the infinite presupposed
in all the divisions of the finite, a consciousness which, however little it be under
stood by him whom it inspires, however coarse and imperfect the form in which
it presents itself, is yet an integral element of man's mind, of which he can _ no
more rid himself that he can get rid of the consciousness of the object or of him
self. And the true nature of this idea, as it is implied in the very constitution
of our intelligence, continually reacts against the imperfect form in which it
is presented. In this way it is not unnatural that even at the lowest stage of
his life man should be visited with occasional glimpses of the highest he can ever
attain."— The Evolution of Refigion, p. 201. New York, 1894.

62 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
sacred scribes and priests of Egypt (Gen. xii, 8, 49; xlvii, 22),
and how the God of Israel "executed judgment against all the
gods of Egypt" (Exod. xii, 12). The various nations of the land
of Canaan had their numerous gods and forms of idolatrous wor
ship. There were gods of the Amorites, the Philistines, the
Ammonites, the Moabites, the Syrians, and the Zidonians. The
Israelites in Canaan after the conquest chose new gods (Judg.
v, 8), and, according to Num. xxv, 2, they ran after the gods
of Moab while Moses was yet among them. Solomon's heart was
drawn after the strange gods of his numerous wives (1 Kings xi,
2), and later kings of Israel gave themselves to various kinds
of idolatrous worship. The frequent mention of the names of
foreign deities also witnesses to the religious faith and practices
of the ancient nations. There were Baal, Ashtoreth, Eimmon,
Molech, Chemosh, Dagon, Nergal, Anammeleeh, Adrammelech,
Bel, Nebo, and Nisroeh. Some of these represented very degrad
ing forms of idolatry, and were denounced by the Hebrew prophets
as so many abominations. But the lowest as well as the highest
cults evinced the common religious nature of the worshipers.
When Paul addressed the men of Athens on the Areopagus he
observed that they were conspicuously devoted to the worship of
higher powers (Kara navra deioidaifioveoTepovg-), and his language
suggests that their devotions contained some elements of supersti
tion (Acts xvii, 16, 22-25).
5. Was Gradually Developed. An outline of the early mani
festations of the religious element in man is given in the book
of Genesis, and the subsequent books of Scripture show how the
highest and purest form of religion was gradually developed. The
first man and his wife are represented as living together in the
most simple innocence, as children under the law of obedience
(Gen. ii). The violation of that law was followed by penal judg
ment and removal from the previous Edenic life (Gen. iii). The
firstborn sons evince their religious nature by their offerings to
God (Gen. iv, 1-5), and after Abel's death and the birth of Seth,
"men began to call upon the name of Jehovah" (iv, 26). Enoch
and Noah "walked with God" (v, 21; vi, 9), and after men had
multiplied on earth and been scattered far and wide Abram was
called out of his kindred and country and chosen to be the great
father of a people whose special mission was to receive the highest
revelations of God, and by treasuring and transmitting them to
become a blessing to all the families of the earth.1 And accord-

1 The following from William N. Clarke is worthy of frequent meditation:
" From of old, even in prehistoric days, when men were groping after God, God
was already reaching forth to men. As they gained their bodily and mental

RELIGIOUS ELEMENT IN MAN 63
ingly, as we read in Heb. i, 1, God spoke unto the fathers through
great prophets and teachers and at last by the manifestation of
his Son, "who is the effulgence of his glory, and the very image
of his substance."
6. Universal in Mankind. It would transcend the scope of
biblical dogmatics to go beyond these general statements and enter
into the disputed questions of the earliest forms of religion.
The facts now fairly stated put it beyond all question that man
is essentially a religious being. The great religious systems of
Brahmanism, Buddhism, Islam, and others of similar command
ing history now wide-spread in the world, as well as the defunct
religions of ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, Assyria, Babylon, Persia,
Greece, and Eome, might be brought forward for additional tes
timony to the universal religious element in man.1 But further
specific evidence seems quite unnecessary. The lowest forms of
fetishism, the ideas and customs of totemism, and the purest wor
ship of Christianity, all alike bear witness to a relationship between
the human soul and God of which men everywhere are conscious,
and from which they cannot effectually cut themselves away. And
so the essential facts of the spiritual nature of man evince the
universal truth that we are offspring of God.
powers through the response of life to its environment, so they gained the use of
their spiritual and religious powers through response to an environment that was
wholly invisible, but not less real on that account— an environment of their Fa
ther's forthreaching love and care. All down through the ages of religion, there
has been something that bore the nature of revelation, an intentional imparting
of outward knowledge or else of inward fight, proceeding from God himself, who
willed that it should come to pass. This impartation from God, the invisible
environment, became more definite and helpful as the possibility on man's side
increased. The crown and fullness of the revelation came in the appearance among
men of Jesus Christ, through whom the Father of men made his clearest self-
expression." — Can I believe in God the Father? p. 155. New York, 1899.
1 No reader of the Vedas, the Avesta, the Accadian psalms or the Egyptian
ritual of the dead can fail to recognize in them the true ring of real religion. And
the old form of apology, therefore, which endeavored to establish the truth of
Christianity by contrasting it with the falsehood of all previous creeds, has for us
become a thing of the past. It lingers, indeed, still in certain quarters, but is
no longer really tenable; as being not only contradicted by the obvious facts of
history, but also in its very nature suicidal, since it seeks to enhance the importance
of a special revelation by discrediting the natural religion, to which such a reve
lation must appeal ; to elevate the supernatural by destroying its foundation.
— Dlingworth, Personality, Human and Divine, p. 161. London, 1894.

CHAPTER IV
PROPAGATION AND DISPERSION OF MANKIND
1. Unity of the Human Race. The unity of the human race,
as having sprung by generation from one original source, is appar
ently assumed throughout the Scriptures. According to Gen. i,
27, 28, the first man and woman were constituted to "be fruitful,
and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it." The fifth chap
ter of Genesis is remarkable as a "book of the generations of
Adam," who "begat in his own likeness, after his own image"
(ver. 3). This ancient genealogy connects Adam with Noah
through a period of nearly two thousand years, and from the
three sons of Noah, according to Gen. ix, 19; x, 32, "the whole
earth was overspread." Paul declared before the Athenians that
God "made from one1 every nation of men to dwell on all the
face of the earth" (Acts xvii, 26), and his great antithesis, repre
sented in Rom. v, 12-19, between Adam and Christ, assumes the
propagation of all men from one primeval ancestor. The unity
of the race appears to be well attested also by the facts of com
parative ethnology, physiology, psychology, philology, and history.
But into the detailed arguments, based upon alleged facts, the
scope of this treatise does not permit us to enter. It may be
observed, however, that, should the polygenous origin of different
races of men become a demonstrated conclusion of ethnological
science, the interpretation of the Scriptures bearing on the subject
would accordingly have to take cognizance of the facts."
2. Propagation of Species. We understand, according to the
Scriptures and the best attested conclusions of biology, that the
human race, as well as all other orders of organic life, is so con
stituted as to propagate itself in the earth. To herb, tree, fish,
fowl, cattle, beast, and every creeping thing that moves on the
earth is the commandment given to be fruitful and multiply
each according to its own kind (Gen. i, 11, 12, 21, 24, 25, 28).
There is no intimation that man is to be an exception to this
1The most important three MSS. (K, B, A.) omit the word alfiaroT, blood from
this text.
* The doctrine of Pre- Adamites, as maintained by Peyrerius, McCausland and
Winchell, is for many reasons inconclusive and unsatisfactory. For the Adam
DINil of Genesis is much more naturally understood and explained as referring
to the primordial race or races, or even as a generic name for original humanity,
than as designating a later development, as, for example, the Caucasian race.
64

PROPAGATION OF MANKIND 65
universal law. When it is said that Adam begat a child in his
own likeness (Gen. v, 3) it is most naturally understood that
his offspring was as completely after his kind as is the offspring
of any other order of living creature after its kind. Whatever,
therefore, goes to constitute the real nature and properties of the
human species, as represented in the primeval man — as body, soul,
spirit, heart, mind — all are capable of self-propagation. The
procreation of man, in the entirety of his nature, may be as con
fidently affirmed as we affirm the procreation of every other class
of living things upon the earth. The transmission not only of
striking physical features but also of notable qualities of mind
and spirit from parent to child confirms this doctrine of pro
creation. 3. Creationism and its Proof-texts. Nevertheless, it has been
alleged and widely maintained that the human soul is not propa
gated from parent to offspring, but is created by an immediate
act of God upon the event of each human birth. Human parents
thus beget the bodies of their offspring, but God in some mysteri
ous way supplies ab extra the living soul, or spirit. It would
seem, however, that nothing but the most positive and conclusive
evidence, or the most explicit revelation could suffice to show man
to be such a remarkable exception to the law which governs the
propagation of all other living creatures on the earth. The theory
cannot find the slightest support in any facts available in scientific
and psychological research. It seems to have had its origin in
certain dogmatical assumptions touching "the numerical substance
of all mankind" in Adam and the possibility of the division and
separation of soul-substance in the propagation of a corrupt human
nature — questions which may be said to be obsolete for any serious
attention in modern theological study. Some of the principal
texts of Scripture in which it seeks support should, perhaps, be
briefly considered.
It has been argued that the dual nature of man, as described
in Gen. ii. 7, distinguishes clearly between body and soul, and
shows the one to be of the dust of the earth while the other is from
God. But that passage affirms God to be as truly the Creator
of man's body from the dust as he was the author of his soul,
and it has nothing whatever to tell us about procreation or genera
tion either of soul or body, but is concerned solely with the original
creation of man as man. The incidental statement in Eccl. xii, 7,
that at the death of a man "the dust returns to the earth as it
was, and the spirit unto the God who gave it," has been cited to
show that the spirit is from God in some sense that the body is
not. But suppose that be conceded, how does it in the least prove

66 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
that God creates a spirit independently of the laws of propagation
at the event of every human birth ? The obvious reference of the
text is to the record of man's original creation in Genesis, and
like it has nothing to say about the time and manner of the
production of each human spirit. The same may be said of Zech.
xii, 1, often adduced to support creationism : "Jehovah stretcheth
out the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and
formeth the spirit of man within him." This glowing language
simply refers to the great truth that God is the creator of heaven
and earth and man, but it furnishes no specific information of
the time and manner of the formation of each. So again in Isa.
xiii, 5, Jehovah is described as
He that created the heavens and stretched them out;
He that spread forth the earth, and the things which go out of it;
He that giveth breath unto the people upon it,
And spirit to them that walk therein.
So far from proving that each human soul is at birth an immediate
creation of God, these poetic parallelisms show rather that the
creation of the heavens and the earth and all things in them is
in like manner a direct and continuous production of Jehovah.
The giving of breath to the people is not essentially different from
giving spirit to them that walk in the earth. God is the author
and continual support of all the growths of nature as truly as
he is the giver and upholder of all the souls of men. He is "the
God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. xvi, 22) because he is creator
of mankind. He is represented in Ezekiel (xviii, 4) as saying,
"Behold, all souls are mine : as the soul of the father, so also the
soul of the son is mine." According to Paul the body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit which is in man (1 Cor. vi, 19). God
is the creator and former of the entire man, body and soul with
all their organs and faculties, and when a biblical writer mentions
one part of the human constitution as the offspring or the work
manship of God we are not to conclude that therefore he is not as
truly the author of the whole. A general statement that God is
the father of the spirits of men cannot therefore decide the ques
tion of man's propagating his own species. "Thy hands have made
me and fashioned me," says the psalmist (cxix, 73), but his state
ment is as true of the body as of the soul. The classic text, sup
posed to be quite decisive on the subject, is Heb. xii, 9: "We
had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them rever
ence : shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of
spirits, and live?" Here it is argued that we have a striking
antithesis between the fathers of our bodies and the Father of our

DISPERSION OF MANKIND 67
souls; as if God were not as truly the author of the one as of
the other. The statement of the New Testament writer is not
equivalent to the dogma that God creates ab extra a spirit for every
human body produced under the law of generation. He simply
contrasts the fatherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God. He
does not even say, "Father of our spirits," but "Father of the
spirits," which includes such spirits as are mentioned in chap, i, 14.
It is nothing to his purpose to deliver an opinion about the origin
of the human soul as incapable of transmission in the ordinary
process of generation, but to enhance the thought of the Father
hood of God over all spirits. The antithesis is between human
fathers and the heavenly Father. That the author of this epistle
believed in the. procreation of human souls is apparent from chap.
vii, 10, where he represents Levi as in the loins of his father
Abraham at the time when Melchizedek met him. In none of
these texts, therefore, do we find any sufficient warrant for the
idea that man differs from all other living creatures on earth in
the propagation of his kind. But the Scriptures do make it
emphatic that his entire being, — body, life, soul, spirit, mind, —
springs from the Fountain of all created life, the living and eternal
God. By the same upholding Power all things continue in being.
No child is born into this world, no fish, no fowl, no insect, comes
into existence but the living God is present and efficient at its
coming, and also at its going forth again. Not a sparrow lives
or dies without our Father (Matt, x, 29). "He is before all
things, and by him all things hold together" (1 Col. i, 17).
4. Dispersion of Races and Tribes. The dispersion of all the
nations of mankind from one original family is the teaching of
Gen. x, 1 — xi, 9. The table of nations there given accords with the
well-known facts of the outgrowth of families and tribes, and of
their multiplication in the earth. The races of mankind are
classified under three great divisions, Japhetic, Hamitic, and
Semitic. But the families, tongues, lands, and nations mentioned
in this ancient scripture are not sufficiently comprehensive in detail
to represent the modern races and distribution of mankind. Great
peoples and nations have arisen since the book of Genesis was
written, and over continents and islands unknown to the biblical
writers there exist today families, tongues, and nations with a
civilization immeasurably in advance of any of the ancients.
Many peoples and races seem also to have deteriorated and become
changed in color, stature, and capability. We look almost in
amazement on the various types of mankind as modern research
has presented them before us, and we wonder how they all could
have sprung from one ancestor. The scientific anthropologist

68 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
examines the remarkable differences in the size of bodily structure,
in the configuration of the skull, in the color of the skin, in the
peculiarities of the hair, and in mental traits. He studies to
classify the different races according to certain notable characteris
tics which seem to differentiate them. There are the Caucasian,
the Semitic, the Mongolian, the Malay, the Australian, the Negro,
and the American Indian races, and if these seven be traced out
into their various subordinate families, we must make note of
Aryans, Ethiopians, Kaffirs, Zulus, Patagonians, Aztecs, Eskimos,
and scores of similar divisions which correspond, in their relation
to the leading types, to such biblical names as Canaanites, Hit-
tites, Amorites, and Sepharvites. The task of classifying, all these
scattered tribes of men into the fewest principal types belongs to
the specialist in ethnography.1 How all these races became dis
persed abroad from one original center of population ; how changes
of climate, varieties of food, and habits of life may have brought
about, in the long course of ages, the striking varieties of color
and of physiognomy which we now find; how languages were
formed, modified, and changed in structure and usage in the
lapse of time — these are all questions of permanent interest to
man, but demand only a passing recognition in a treatise on bibli
cal doctrine. Whatever future research may determine as to the
polygenous origin of different races, there is at present no sufficient
evidence in hand to warrant belief in that hypothesis. The bibli
cal teaching and the trend of scientific studies in ethnology show
rather that all races of men sprung from one original human pair,
and were dispersed abroad over the face of the earth and among
the islands of the great sea from one geographical center.
1 Huxley's classification of the principal types into the Mongoloid, the Negroid,
the Australoid, and the Xanthochroic has met with much favor. See Journal of
the Ethnological Society, vol. ii, p. 404. 1870.

CHAPTER V
THE ORIGIN OF MAN
1. The Definite Modern Question. It remains to inquire into
the origin of the human race. Whence came the first man? To
answer in the bare language of Genesis that "God created man
in his own image; male and female created he them," is not
sufficient for the modern inquirer. The more formal statement
of Gen. ii, 7, that "Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man
became a living soul," fails also to answer the more specific
questions which are now put forward. For we are now definitely
asked whether this process of creation were the act of a moment,
an hour, a day, or a thousand years. Was it an immediate and
instantaneous creation, or a long process of evolution?
2. Two Ways of Answering the Question. There are two sup-
posable ways in which this question may be answered. One is by
receiving direct information from a supernatural and unques
tionable source ; the other is by means of such methods of research
as man employs in ascertaining facts in any other question of
archaeology. It has long been supposed, on the one hand, that
the first chapters of the book of Genesis are a literal and authori
tative historical account of the origin of the world and of man.
But critical and rational investigation has largely discounted this
traditional view of the biblical narrative. The old idea that the
world was "made out of nothing," and that all it contains was
brought into existence in one week of ordinary days and nights,
has been effectually exploded. No modern apologist of reputation
argues for a literal interpretation of the six days of creation;
but attempts without number have been made to read into the
biblical narrative the findings of scientific research and the sug
gestions of the nebular hypothesis of the universe. These
attempts, however, carried on now for more than a hundred years,
are in themselves a striking witness of the failure of the narrative
itself to convince intelligent readers that it is a literal historical
account of the facts of creation. A supernatural revelation of
specific facts which thus fails to commend itself to the judgment
and conscience of diligent seekers after the truth would seem
to be in itself a manifest absurdity. What possible authority
69

70 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
can such a variously interpreted record be for determining the
specific questions of modern astronomy, geology, and biology?
For reasons elsewhere given1 we are compelled to regard the open
ing chapters of Genesis as a series of symbolical or idealistic pic
tures rather than as records of science and of history. Whatever
their origin and composite character, set as they now are at the
beginning of the biblical canon, they embody sublime ideas of
God and the world which the most simple and unlearned readers
have always been able to discern. They are profitable for showing
that God is the beginning and end of all things. He bringeth
light out of the darkness, and order out of confusion. He is the
infinite personal Intelligence back of all phenomena. He governs
the heavens and the earth according to well established laws, and
determines the times and seasons with unerring wisdom. He is
the ultimate source of all life', and the all-pervading Force by
which through illimitable eons the animal creation culminated
in man with his godlike capacity for wisdom, love, and power.
We accordingly find nothing in the biblical narrative to forbid
the hypothesis of evolution in accounting for the origin of man.
3. Poetical Concepts of Creation. So far as the opening chap
ters of Genesis convey an ideal of the origin of man on earth,
they indicate that he is a product of the earth and of the heavens
through the creative energy of God. The revelations given are
embodied in poetic pictures rather than in prosaic and realistic
details of fact. How long and through what details of method
the process of man's creation was brought about are no more
clearly revealed than are the processes of development by which
the heavens and the earth reached their present conditions. It
was a beautiful conception of the sacred writer to portray the
entire process under the figure of six days of labor followed by a
sabbath rest. The whole picture is in substance but an apocalyptic
elaboration of what a psalmist (Psa. xxxiii, 6-9) says in a few
lines of Hebrew parallelism:
By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made,
And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He layeth up the deeps in storehouses. . . .
For he said, and it came to pass;
He commanded, and it stood firm.

J See my Biblical Apocalyptics, chapter iii. New York, 1898.
It is quite possible that if life began in this world by a miraculous act, the
creative power may have operated so gently that an investigating committee of
angels would have failed to determine whether it may not have been a case of
spontaneous generation. — Macloskie, in the Presbyterian and Reformed Review,
1898, p. 16

ORIGIN OF MAN 71
Moreover, the statement of Gen. ii, 7, makes no note of time. It
simply says, Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground,
And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
And man became a living soul.
This language is as compatible with a long period of evolution
as with the concept of an immediate creation. Man's lower
nature, which is from the earth and earthy, might have been in
process of formation (1^), slowly evolving from lower to higher
forms of life and structure, long ages before the breath of God
exalted him into the living human soul. The order of nature
and of revelation is "first the natural, then the spiritual." Man
has his origin from the dust of the earth and from the breath of
God. But how long the natural creature with his human form
and animal life continued as such before the moral and religious
elements were developed into rational self-consciousness, and under
what particular customs and activities he first came gradually to
realize his moral capabilities, we have no specific revelation, and
of course no man can tell. On the hypothesis of evolution he was
a natural being a long time before he became a moral being. For
morals like manners are not the creation of a moment, or a day.
The word ethics, as its Greek derivation shows (»J#or), implies
custom, usage, rules, and habits of conduct far above the range
of animal life, and these require time for growth. The develop
ment of the human mind and of the moral sense through infancy
and childhood into the maturity of a disciplined manhood may be
taken as a suggestive outline of the gradual advance of the entire
human species from the natural to the spiritual.1
4. No Definite Answer in Scripture. The Scriptures, then, do
not inform us of the time and manner of man's first appearance
on the earth. The way is open, accordingly, for the acceptance
of any light upon this subject which archaeological and scientific
research is able to furnish. The prevailing view of specialists
1 We should guard against the assumption that creation must needs be a work
of magical instantaneousness, inconsistent with normal processes of becoming.
"It is curious," says Le Conte, "to observe how, when the question is concerning
a work of nature, we no sooner find out how a thing is made than we immediately
exclaim: 'It is not made at all, it becomes so of itself.' So long as we knew not
how worlds were made, we of course concluded they must have been created, but
so soon as science showed how it was probably done, immediately we say we were
mistaken — they were not made at all. . . . Does it not seem that to most
people God is a mere wonder-worker, a chief magician? The mission of science
is to show us how things are done. Is it any wonder, then, that to such persons
science is constantly destroying their superstitious illusions? But if God is an
honest worker, ought not science rather to change gaping wonder into intelligent
delight — superstition into rational worship?" — Evolution and its Relation to
Religious Thought, p. 287. New York, 1895.

72 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
in this department of study is that all forms of creature life upon
the earth have been produced by a gradual development of higher
out of lower types, and that man is no exception to this plan and
order of creation. Into the detailed evidences of this hypothesis
it is not the province of biblical theology to enter. We do not
assume or argue that the evolution of man from lower forms of
animal life has been proven. The most that can be said for this
hypothesis is that it has for two generations been gaining favor,
and a majority of investigators apparently best qualified to judge
of the facts and arguments involved in the discussion accept it as
probably true. The thoughtful expositor of divine truths, who
has becoming respect for the prevailing opinion of specialists in
science, will be slow to assume an attitude of hostility thereto.
But on the other hand he should not hasten to adopt an unproven
hypothesis and work it into his system of doctrine.
5. Man is the Crowning Work of God. We should be content
for the present to leave the question of man's origin where Scrip
ture leaves it, that is, indefinite as to its time and method, but
with the positive and definite assertion that his creation is a
work begun, continued, and completed by the intelligent agency
of God. Back of all forms of matter and of life we posit the
creative energy of the all-wise and ever-living Personality whom
man's religious consciousness adores as God over all. He has
brought man into being and has assigned him his high position
as master of all the living things that dwell in the earth. Hence
the words of the devout psalmist:
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,
The moon and the stars, which thou hast set in their place,
What is a mortal, that thou hearest him in mind,
Or a Bon of Adam that for him thou shouldest care?
Thou madest him but a little lower than God,
And with glory and honor hast crowned him!
Thou gavest him rule over the works of thy hands ;
Thou hast placed them all under his feet:
Sheep and oxen, under him are they all;
And alike the beasts of the fields,
The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea —
Even that which frequenteth the paths of the seas!
O Jehovah, our Lord,
How exalted is thy name in all the earth!1

1 Psalm viii. De Witt's translation. From his Praise Songs of Israel. New
York, 1886.

CHAPTEK VI
MAN'S PLACE IN THE WORLD
1. Man as the Chief Creation of God. The sentiments of the
eighth psalm express the biblical conception of man's relation
to the world. He stands at the head of God's creations, "a little
lower than God," crowned with the honor of "dominion over the
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth" (Gen. i, 28). No matter what
the method of his creation, nor how long ago nor how recently in
the millenniums of the earth's existence he made his first appear
ance as man, he now occupies the highest place among all creatures
in this world.1 But the discoveries made by means of the telescope
and the microscope have marvelously enlarged man's knowledge of
the universe. When he now considers the heavens and the immense
spaces of the stars, and learns that a ray of light, speeding at the
rate of 186,000 miles a second, would require many years to reach
us from the nearest star beyond our solar system ; and when in the
light of such information he tries to reckon the magnitude of
some of those distant heavenly bodies, his mind is bewildered, and
with a deeper appreciation he now repeats the psalmist's exclama
tion, What is mortal man that the Creator of all the heavens should
show him special care! When, however, he turns his optic glass
the other way, and becomes aware of the universe of infinitesimal
forms of life below him; when he learns that a million living
things, unseen by the naked eye, are moving about within the space
of one tiny vessel of water, he comes to recognize himself as
somehow between the marvelous extremes, and gifted with faculties
to make all heights and depths subserve his own existence. He
finds himself at the head of the whole realm of living things;
and if it be true that he has reached this wondrous goal through
aeonic processes of evolution, guided in all his transformations
from lower to higher by the wisdom of the omnipresent and
omniscient Spirit of the universe, why should he question the
method of such a creation and deem it less miraculous than if
it had been wrought in a moment of time T
1 "On the earth," writes John Fiske, " there will never be a higher creature
than man. " — Destiny of Man Viewed in the Light of his Origin, p. 26.
2 Science is charged with numbering man among the beasts, and leveling his
body with the dust. But he who reads for himself the history of creation a3 it
73

74 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
2. Ancient Concepts of "the Heavens and the Earth." What
ever his origin and the undetermined history of his development
through unknown ages in the past, man has now reached a
summit on which he sees himself holding no secondary rank to
any other being in the visible world. "The heavens and the earth"
mean very much more to the modern observer than they could
possibly have meant to the ancient Hebrew. To him the D'DSP
were the visible sky, and the pK was the outspread fields of land
(nmn). Even the entire habitable world 6ari), as compared with
our present knowledge of it, was but a limited domain. And the-
corresponding Greek words in the New Testament carried for its.
first readers no such extensive significance as they have in the scien
tific language of the present time. Luke speaks of an enrollment of
all the world (oIkovuevv) by a decree of Caesar (ii, 1), and also
of "a great famine over all the world" (Acts xi, 28). Paul speaks
of the gospel as bearing fruit and increasing in all the world
Iv -navrl tg> Koffjuw, Col. i, 6), and "in all creation which is under
the heaven" (i, 23). But so far as any of these terms imply the
universe of earth and heavens, they may be, and they often are,
employed in the popular speech of the present time just as they
were by the ancients. Their special significance in any one passage
must be determined by the context.
3. Not Physical Bulk but Rational Nature Man's Crowning
Excellence. The glory and honor with which man is crowned
cannot be estimated by standards of physical bulk or strength.
One human soul is reckoned of more value than a thousand ele
phants. A million cubic feet of solid or of gaseous matter is as
meaningless in itself as a tiny pebble. It has no glory like that
of self-conscious spiritual intuition, or a sublime farreaching
thought, or a deliberate act of volition which may change the
destiny of a human soul. No discoveries in modern science con
flict with the biblical teaching concerning man's high place in
nature. It is conceded by all that man occupies the foremost
position in the visible creation of God. Among the lower orders
of animals we find some that exhibit intellect and affection, and
is written by the hand of Evolution will be overwhelmed by the glory and honor
heaped upon this creature. To be a man, and to have no conceivable successor j
to be the fruit and crown of the long past eternity, and the highest possible fruit
and crown; to be the last victor among the decimated phalanxes of earlier exist»
ences, and to be nevermore defeated; to be the best that nature in her strength
and opulence can produce ; to be the first of that new order of beings who by their
dominion over the lower world and their equipment for a higher, reveal that
they are made in the image of God — to be this is to be elevated to a rank in nature
more exalted than any philosophy or any poetry or any theology have ever given
to man. — Henry Drummond, The Ascent of Man, pp 115, 116.1 New York,
1895. And yet some men will argue that man is not and cannot be in any true
sense the offspring of God except by regeneration. How can such offspring of
God be other than sons and daughters? Such creation is begetting.

MAN'S PLACE IN THE WORLD 75
are capable of a remarkable degree of education and of domestica
tion. Some animals and insects live in tribes, and seem to have
their peculiar forms of social organization. It may be that among
the more highly developed animals essential features of sensibility,
intellect, and will are perceptible; but the gulf which separates
the lowest type of man from the highest species of beast or cattle
is incalculable, and, so far, there has not been found a real or
natural connecting link between them. The rational and spiritual
nature of man has, from the beginning of his creation, placed
him far above every other living thing upon the earth.

CHAPTER VII
PRIMITIVE STATE OF MAN
1. Completeness of Natural Constitution. If the summit of
creature life on earth was attained by the formation of man, we
conceive that the first specimen of his kind was complete in all
that constitutes the essentials of a human personality. If this
estate of manhood were reached through millenniums of evolu
tion, it does not follow that the first man was a savage, or that
the first communities must have been beastly and ferocious. Many
a modern savage, so called, uncorrupted with the sins and vices
which prevail under high forms of "civilization," and living in
the simplicity of nature, has been found to be a noble, lordly
being. According to the Scripture everything which God made
was seen at the beginning to be very good (Gen. i, 31). The
statement refers to grass, and tree, and bird, and beast, and
cattle as well as to man. But the creation of man in the image
and after the likeness of God (Gen. i, 26-28) gave him a rank
above all other creations. He alone of all the creatures named
possesses personality. He was not a normal man until conscious
of his spiritual nature with its capacity for mental, moral, and
religious activity. We can conceive the first human being as
having a complete, sound, healthy body, and along with it all the
natural faculties of sensibility, intellect, and will which we now
find in the constitution of every normal human being. We are
hardly justified in assuming the wild man of the forests and the
most abject of savage tribes now living to be specimens of primi
tive man. Many of these appear to be the degenerate descendants
of ancient vagrants from society. They seem to have wandered
to the remotest corners of the earth from more civilized centers,
and to have become the savages they are by reason of ages of
separation from their better kin. So far from being fair types
of original normal humanity, they are rather degenerate offshoots.
We may think of the first human pair as loving each other with
a pure affection and living together in delightful innocency. The
picture of "the garden of Eden," in Gen, ii, is a happy presenta
tion of the conditions of earliest human innocence and love.
The statement of Gen. ii, 25, that the man and his wife were
both naked and yet not ashamed, indicates a complete innocence
76

PRIMITIVE STATE OF MAN 77
and simplicity like that of childhood, and the absence of evil
thoughts and desires.
2. Undeveloped in Knowledge and Civilization. Beyond this
general conception of the natural simplicity and uprightness of
an uncorrupted original constitution we have no knowledge of
the primitive state of man. We have elsewhere1 given reason for
believing that the portraiture of man's original estate in Genesis
is not a historical record, but an ideal conception much after the
nature of allegory. There is no sufficient warrant in Scripture
or in reason for the notion, propounded by former theologians,
that the first human beings were gifted with knowledge, or with
capacities superior to those of later generations." On the contrary,
knowledge is in its very nature an acquisition, and requires time
and study for its attainment. So, too, there is manifest incon
gruity in speaking of the first condition of man as one of "civiliza
tion," for civilization implies commerce, inventions, social and
political organization, and progress in arts, knowledge, and refine
ments. The fourth chapter of Genesis furnishes us with an ideal
of the earliest developments of human society in prehistoric times.
The offerings of Cain and Abel show how the religious nature first
asserted itself. The keeping of sheep, the tilling of the ground,
the invention of musical instruments, and the forging of brass and
iron indicate the beginnings and development of civilization among
the primitive peoples.
3. Original Goodness. In an inquiry after the religious con
sciousness of primitive man, and after the positive moral excel
lencies of his character, it is easy to run into worthless specula
tion and presumption. The original rectitude of human nature
is indicated as being "very good." We find in the narratives of
creation and of man's Edenic life no more specific revelation touch
ing the nature and degree of his righteousness and holiness than
we find touching the specific manner of his original formation.
The goodness of his nature, so far as it can be conceived as con-
created along with the essential elements of his constitution,

1 See Biblical Apocalyptics, chap. v.
2 In one of his sermons the eloquent Robert South declares that "an Aristotle
was but the rubbish of an Adam." Bishop Bull maintained that Adam's naming
of the animals of Eden evinced a wisdom superior to that of all the philosophers
of ancient and modern times, and went far beyond what the "Royal Society durst
have undertaken." But old Jewish literature exceeds even this extravagance,
and conceives a splendor of God resting upon Adam in such excess of brightness
that even his heels darkened the sun, and his image beamed from one end of the
earth to the other (Weber, Jiidische Theologie, p. 215). Some of these Jewish
writers say that the Edenic state lasted only five hours; others say one day,
others several days, and the book of Jubilees says seven years. But from Genesis
it seems quite clear that Adam and Eve had at first no clothes, no houses, no
knives or forks, no tin or glass ware, and no works of art ! Theirs was surely a
primitive state.

78 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
differed from that of the grass and the cattle in the same way
that his superior nature differed from theirs. He was brought
to the perfection of manhood as a rational, moral, and religious
being. The constitutional capacities and appetencies of his nature
were normal and intact. So long as he continued to think, feel,
and act in harmony with the self-conscious approval of his moral
sense he must have remained blameless and pure. Beyond such
a general conception and statement it seems utterly useless to
inquire.1 We are in possession of no positive knowledge of the
first human being and his earliest associates, and all we can safely
say about the primitive moral condition of man is that which is
written about every living thing which God made on the earth:
"Behold, it was very good."
4. Made in the Image of God. It remains to speak here of that
highest distinction of man, according to the Scriptures; that
glory and honor which are designated by the oft-repeated statement
that he was made in the image of God. In what elements or
qualities of man's nature are we to see this likeness of the Crea
tor? Little help to understand this term can come from a study
of the two words D?¥> image, and 01. likeness, as found in Gen.
i, 26. The first conveys a somewhat concrete, the second a more
abstract conception; but when the two expressions are connected
they serve to give emphasis to the idea of similarity. They express
the thought of some noteworthy resemblance of God, which dis
tinguished man above all other creatures. Among the ancient
Christian fathers we observe differences of opinion on this sub
ject. Theodoret informs us that Audius, a native of Syria, found
the image of God in man's body and taught that God himself had
a human form and a body consisting of parts. Irenasus main
tained that it requires body, soul, and spirit to constitute the full
image of God in man, the body being essentially the temple of
God and of the Holy Spirit. Others distinguished between the
image and the likeness of God, holding that the former consists
in the original constitution and faculties of the soul, while the
latter is seen rather in the actual exercises of these powers in har
mony with the will of God. Philo located the image of God in
the rational soul and connected it with his Platonic notions of
archetypal ideas in the divine mind, of which man himself is only
a copy. Modern theologians have also differed widely on this
1 " It is unfortunate, '' says Denney, "that the questions as to man's nature have
been usually discussed in theology in connection with what is called his original
state. The question, What is man? has been treated as if it were convertible
with the question, What was Adam? But it is plain that we do not stand in the
same relation to these two questions. Man is before us, or rather in us ; we have
the amplest opportunity for investigating his nature and constitution, and we
have the whole range of Scripture to guide and correct our interpretation of these

IMAGE OF GOD IN MAN 79
question, some placing the image in man's dominion over all other
creatures, others in his superior intellectual powers, and others in
original moral perfections which were lost by sin,
(1) No Explanation in Scripture. It is first of all to be
observed that in the five places where the phrase occurs (Gen. i,
26, 27; v, 1-3; ix, 6; 1 Cor. xi, 7; James iii, 9) there appears no
explanation of its meaning. It is obvious from all these texts
that the image and likeness of God exalt man to a dignity of
exceptional character. The words of Gen. i, 26, moreover, assign
him "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the
heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth," and the eighth
psalm adds somewhat to this statement in its poetic paraphrase :
Thou hast made him but little lower than God,
And crownest him with glory and honor.
Thou makest him to have dominion over the works
of thy hands;
Thou hast put all thing's under his feet.
But in none of these texts have we anything which is of the
nature of a definition of the image of God. One of the texts
above referred to, Gen. v, 3, has been strangely perverted in the
interests of dogma. It has been maintained that "his own like
ness, after his image," in which Adam begat Seth, was not the
same image in which Adam was at first created (comp. Gen. i,
26, 27). But nothing in the context supplies the slightest intima
tion of any other image or likeness than that in which Adam was
made. In the first verse of this chapter it is expressly said that
Adam was made "in the likeness of God," and the next sentence
affirms that he begat Seth in his own likeness. What other like
ness or image has been so much as suggested in the connection?
To introduce a new and radically different idea by means of the
identical words employed in the previous sentence, and without
any qualifying statement, is arbitrary and unjustifiable in the
extreme. There is not here even a hint that Adam had lost the
image of God and had acquired another image of his own.1 The
notion that the image in which man was created could not be
transmitted by human generation is a dogma of creationism, which
we have already seen to be without support in the Scriptures.
accessible facts. But Adam is not within our reach at all ; and it is simply expos
ing ourselves, without any necessity whatever, to refutation by the progress of
physical or archaeological science, when we advance statements about the primi
tive condition of man which have not only a religious, but a historical content.''
Studies in Theology, p. 78. New York, 1895.
1 It should be observed that, in the critical analysis of Genesis, chap, v belongs
to the Priestly narrative (P), and connects with ii, 3. The intervening section,
ii, 4 — iv, 26, is from a different writer (J). So the reference to the image of God
in v, 1-3, followed originally soon after the statement of i, 27, and connected with
the creation-narrative of chap. i.

80 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
(2) New Testament Texts in Ephesians iv, 2b-,andColossians iii,
9, 10. There are two passages in the New Testament which have
also been often cited as proof that man has lost the original image
of God in which he was created. The two texts are Eph. iv, 24,
and Col. iii, 9, 10. They present a contrast between a "former
manner of life," called "the old man," and a "renewal in the
spirit of the mind," which is called "the new man." This new
man is said to have been "after God created in righteousness and
holiness of truth." The parallel passage in Colossians expresses
the same thought in substantially the same terms, but it says
that "the new man is renewed unto knowledge after the image of
him who created him." In both these texts there is an allusion
to the image of God in which man was created, but there is no
definition of that image, nor is there any evidence that the writer
regarded the image itself as lost. Bather is he speaking of a
great change in the "manner of life" (avaorpofiij) apparent in men
who had put away anger, malice, and all such qualities and deeds
of "the old man," and had become "renewed in the spirit of their
mind," that is, the spiritual nature which is characterized by the
possession of the intellectual faculty. The form of expression in
Col. iii, 10, is, "renewed unto (or into, elg-) knowledge after the
image of him who created him"; that is, a knowledge which
accords with the image of God. The putting off the old and
putting on the new man involves no creation of new elements
in the constitution of any individual man, who, according to
Paul (1 Cor. xi, 7), "exists in the image and glory of God." The
change is not in the image of God which is essential to his nature
as man and as an offspring of God, but in the manner of his life.
It consists in the putting off of old habits, and a putting on as
new clothing (kvdvoao&ai) the righteousness which alone becomes
the image of God in which man was made. The renewal into
knowledge contemplates the acquisition of a superior knowledge
(kmyvuaig-) which alone accords with, or is in keeping with, the
image of God in man. So it is not the original image of God,
lost by sin and recovered by grace, that is contemplated in these
texts. It is an old habit of sin, which may become in us a kind
of second nature beclouding and defiling the image of the Creator,
that is to be put away ; and it is a new life and habit of righteous
ness that is to be put on as the only becoming clothing of one
who bears God's image in the constitution of his spiritual nature.
So far as this interpretation of the image of God may be sup
posed to affect other doctrines it should be observed further that
one may stoutly affirm "the corruption of the nature of every man,
that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby

IMAGE OF GOD IN MAN 81
man is very far gone from original righteousness," and at the
same time as stoutly maintain that he still bears in the constituent
elements of his spiritual nature and personality the image of God
in which he was created, and by which he is distinguished above all
other creatures upon the earth. There is not a word in the texts
of Ephesians and Colossians, here under discussion, that can be
fairly made to teach that man has lost God's image through Adam's
transgression. In the Ephesian text there is no mention of the
"image," and in Colossians it is a "renewal unto knowledge" that
is chiefly emphasized. The great change involved in this renewal
is of the nature of a new creation rather than the restoration of
something that had been lost. In commenting on Col. iii, 9, 10,
J. A. Beet observes that the change from the old into the new
man is "so complete that the man himself as he formerly was
is spoken of as an old garment laid aside, as though personality
itself were changed. . . . The new life is represented as one defi
nite assumption of a character which henceforth is gradually pro
gressing. The word renewed does not necessarily mean restora
tion to a former state. The aim of the renewal is to bring us into
full knowledge. The image of him that created him is an outward
manifestation of the inward reality of God. It is the nature of
God as set before the eyes of men. The story of creation teaches
that the Creator is himself the archetype of his intelligent crea
tures. He knows perfectly what he has made, and Paul says that
this divine knowledge is a pattern of the knowledge which this
renewal aims to impart to men. Knowledge is the aim of the
renewal, and the Creator is its pattern; therefore the knowledge
aimed at must be a human counterpart of the Creator's infinite
knowledge. As the renewal makes progress, we shall in greater
measure share God's knowledge of all that he has made and done."
(3) Interpretation of Wisdom ii, 23. The author of the
apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon (ii, 23) expresses what may be
regarded as his interpretation of Gen. i, 26, 27:
God created man for incorruption,
And made him an image of his own proper nature.
Instead of the text here followed some manuscripts read aidiorng;
eternity, instead of Idiorng; peculiar and proper nature, and some
Jewish writers held that the image of God in man consists in his
incorruptible and immortal nature. But Idiorng appears to be
the better reading, and points to the incorruptible spiritual nature
which is conceived as alike in God and man. Other manuscripts
read "image of his own likeness" (bfioiuoig-; Vulg. similitudo).
But none of these readings give us a very clear or satisfactory

82 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
idea of what the writer understood by the proper nature or the
likeness of God. The interpretation is as indefinite as the biblical
texts themselves in which the phrase, "image of God," is found.
(4) Spiritual Personality. In the light of the statement of
John iv, 24, that "God is Spirit," we dismiss at once the thought
of finding the real image of God in any bodily form. Such an
idea, according to Paul in Acts xvii, 24-29, naturally leads to
the idolatry of images "graven by art and device of man." His
higher concept of God is that of a personal intelligence, invisible,
incorruptible, immortal, "dwelling in light unapproachable, whom
no man hath seen, nor can see" (1 Tim. i, 17; vi, 16). We
accordingly should look for the image of God in those essential
elements of spiritual life which are perceptible in the personality
of the spirit of man. As the Spirit of God searches and knows
all things, so in its own limited range, the spirit of man may
know many deep things of God, and "things of the Spirit of God"
that have been freely given us of God (1 Cor. ii, 10-14). The
study of our inner spiritual life acquaints us with the unmistaka
ble facts of intelligent personal agency. The operations of the
human soul in self-conscious intellection, sensibility, and will,
exhibit man in his most godlike possibilities, and herein we recog
nize the essential elements of the image of God in him. These
constitute him a being capable of fellowship with God, and account
for his rational, moral, and religious nature. Lower orders of
being show some form and measure of faith, hope, and love ; but
in mankind only do we perceive these powers of the spirit exalted
into rational permanence and glory. In these heavenly powers
and possibilities we behold man made a little lower than God,
and crowned with a glory and honor far above all other works of
the Creator. This lofty conception of the image of God in man
shows why it is that he "has dominion over every living thing
that moves upon the earth." The "dominion" is not the image,
but it is a reflection and a result of the godlike in man which
qualifies him for his headship of the creation.

SECTION SECOND
THE SINFULNESS OF MAN

CHAPTER I
THE FACT AND THE NATURE OF HUMAN SINFULNESS
1. The Awful Fact of Sin. The godlike qualities of spirituality,
in which we recognize the image and likeness of the Creator in
man, must receive due attention and emphasis in order to under
stand the biblical doctrine of sin. For sin appears to be no neces
sary part or quality of the nature of man. We find it to be
rather a defilement of the image of God in man. And in pro
portion as we hold a high concept of man made and existing in
the image of God, so are we likely to hold a profound conviction
of the awful culpability of marring the heavenly likeness by will
ful transgression. It is a matter of fact that sin has entered into
the world, and is as widespread as is the human race itself. It
is a persistent evil too deeply rooted and too terrible to be ignored.
The Scriptures represent it as a curse and an unspeakable calamity.
The psalmists of Israel describe it as a universal bane.
Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there were any acting wisely,
Seeking after God;
They all have turned aside;
They have together become filthy;
No one is doing good, not even one. Psa. xiv, 2, 3.
If thou, O Jah, shouldst mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand? Psa. cxxx, 3.
Enter not into judgment with thy servant;
For in thy sight no man living is righteous. Psa. cxliii, 2.
The prophets are equally pronounced, and they set forth the
sins of men in darkest colors. "Ah, sinful nation," says Isaiah
(i, 4), "a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children
that deal corruptly! they have forsaken Jehovah, they have
despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged backward."
83

84 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
"Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,"
cries Hosea (iv, 1), "because there is no truth, nor kindness, nor
knowledge of God in the land. There is nought but swearing and
breaking faith, and killing, and stealing, and committing adul
tery." "All Israel have transgressed thy law," says Daniel (ix,
11), "even turning aside, that they should not obey thy voice."
Such questions as that of Prov. xx, 9, presuppose the answer
of a universal negative: "Who can say, I have made my heart
clean, I am pure from my sin?" The teachings of Jesus pre
suppose the universality of human sinfulness, and affirm its source
in the heart (comp. Matt, iv, 18, 19; xii, 34-35). Paul's doctrine
is that all mankind are under the power of sin (Rom. iii, 9, 23 ;
v, 12), and in Gal. iii, 22, he makes use of the bold statement that
"the scripture hath shut up all things under sin." According to
1 John i, 8 and 10, any one who declares "that we have no sin," or
"that we have not sinned," deceives himself, utters falsehood, and
makes Jesus Christ a liar.
2. Depravity of the Race. Furthermore, according to the
Scriptures, a sort of taint and corruption of the moral nature
originated with the first human pair, and has been universally
propagated in the world. We are accustomed to call this general
tendency to sin a common inheritance of depravity, and many con
sider this depravity congenital with every one that is born of flesh
and blood. But no special dogmatic significance should be
attached to those poetical statements of psalmists and prophets
which portray the wicked as "going astray as soon as they are born,
speaking lies" (Psa. Iviii, 3). Nevertheless, these hyperboles
evince a current popular recognition of congenital depravity (comp.
Psa. li, 5), and the words of Jer. xvii, 9, although highly rhetori
cal, are evidently intended to express a general fact: "The heart
is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately diseased." The
prophet only affirms what all experience and observation confirm.
But none of the scriptures of this class teach that the universal
depravity is an inheritance transmitted from the first human
sinner ; much less that the guilt of Adam's transgression has been
imputed to his posterity so as to expose them to eternal punish
ment. This is a fiction of scholastic speculation.
(1) Depicted in Genesis. This depravity and general tendency
to transgression are depicted in bold outline in the book of Genesis.
Cain, the first born of Adam and Eve, is a murderer, and all his
descendants seemed to run into violence and crime. A more hope
ful new departure is indicated in the line of Seth, but they also
in time fell into similar ungodliness, "and Jehovah saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination

HUMAN SINFULNESS 85
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. vi, 5),
and he destroyed man from off the face of the earth by a flood of
waters. A new series of generations begins with the sons of Noah,
but they also ran into evil, and out of the increasing idolatry and
wickedness Abram was called to beget a righteous seed. But sub
sequent history shows how the descendants of Abraham perverted
their way, and were finally cast off as having failed to realize the
divine ideal of a holy nation and people.
(2) Paul's dark Picture in Romans i, 18-32. The same fact is
further shown in the dark picture which Paul gives in Rom. i,
18-32, of the apostasy and degeneracy of the human race. The
Jew being no exception to this general fact, he concludes that "all
are under sin" (iii, 9, 23), and cites various psalms and prophets
in proof of his statements (iii, 10-18). We should observe, how
ever, that the apostle here simply portrays the awful fact of the
"ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." He describes the
actual transgressions of those who had known God, but who,
because of personal disobedience and consequent blindness of heart,
had been given over by way of judgment to vile passions. But
such universal depravity becomes in its way a means and occasion
of perpetuating sin in the world. Man's sensuous nature in the
midst of such corrupt environment quite naturally brings forth
"a reprobate mind."
(3) Great Antithesis in Romans v, 12-19. The great antithesis
of representative acts of Adam and Christ, in Rom. v, 12-19, is
based upon the fundamental assertion that "through one man sin
entered into the world, and death through sin ; and so death passed
unto all men, for that all sinned." Further on Paul says (ver.
15) : "By the trespass of the one the many died," and in verse 19,
"Through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners."
The entire passage presents a profound conception, peculiar to
Paul, of humanity as sprung from one source and receiving thereby
a common judgment of condemnation.1 But the great antithesis
becomes misleading when interpreted in the way of historical or
of personal realism. It is only in a mystical sense, or as a hypo-
1 This famous passage has been pressed too far in the interests of polemical
dogma. The antithesis is designed to magnify the grace of God in Christ by
showing that the grace more than counterbalances the facts of sin and death as
they appear in the history of man. "Death passed unto all men, for that all
sinned. The first man was not the only sinner; nor can Adam be guilty of
the crimes of Cain, or of Jezebel, or of Judas Iscariot. Neither can any child of
Adam be held guilty of his sin, or responsible for his transgression. So far as
"through the disobedience of the one man the many were set down as sinners, so
also through the obedience of the one shall the many be set down as righteous"
(Rom. v, 19). Hence the entire race of man is under grace. No child of Adam
ever has lived or will live apart from this provision of grace. But this fact does
not remove the fact of the universal sinfulness of man. Comp. Ritschl, Recht-
fertigung und Versohnung, vol. iii, pp. 326-330.

86 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
thetical concept, that all men may be said to have been repre
sented in the first typical sinner. After the manner of Heb. vii,
10, one may conceive all mankind as seminally existing in the first
representative man, and it accords with Paul's rabbinic training
and mystic idealism that in his favorite contrast of the first and
the last Adam he should give a similar expression to his lofty and
f arreaching generalization. We find him employing the same sort
of mystical expression in Rom. vi, 4, 6 ; 2 Cor. v, 14 ; Gal. ii, 20 ;
Col. iii, 1-3, where he speaks of being crucified, dead, buried, and
risen with Christ. Such language and concepts are not to be
construed into literal dogmatic propositions.
3. Hebrew and Greek Words Indicating Nature of Sin. The
general fact of human sinfulness is too conspicuous to call for
elaborate statement or proof. But the real nature of sin requires
detailed analysis and exposition. An interesting light is thrown
upon the subject by a study of the various words employed in the
Scriptures to designate the manifold ways in which sinful actions
are conceived. One of the most common terms used in the Old
Testament to denote the act of sinning is sttrii which means pri
marily to miss the mark (see Judg. xx, 16). The Greek duaprdvo)
expresses the same thought, and the figure implied in these words
suggests a moral standard which one has failed to reach. The
sinner, accordingly, is one who has missed some divinely appointed
mark, and is therefore guilty of a reprehensible failure, an error,
the coming short of the divine ideal. Another word of similar
suggestiveness is "fly. which means to cross over, and, when
employed metaphorically, denotes the crossing of some line of
moral obligation, as the violation of a covenant, or the transgres
sion of a commandment. The same idea belongs to the Greek word
irapafiaiva, to pass over a defined limit and so commit a transgres
sion (irapdf5aoig-). Closely akin in signification is irapam-rrru, to fall
or turn aside from the right path, to err. There is also the word
napaKori, hearing amiss, followed generally by an unwillingness
to hear and consequent disobedience. The two related words yc?B
and yen present two aspects of mischief -making transgression, the
first denoting more particularly revolt, or rebellion, the latter
adding to this the idea of great disturbance, or agitation. This
latter appears in the striking statement of Isa. lvii, 20: "The
wicked (DWin, the restless disturbers, who have made themselves
abnormal) are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest, and its
waters cast up mud and mire." The word SH denotes evil of any
kind, and coming from a root which means to break suggests, when
applied to moral evil, the wreck and ruin of the moral nature.
The word JIN. commonly translated iniquity, often vanity, indicates

HUMAN SINFULNESS 87
the emptiness of all sinful pursuits, and the deceitful and dis
appointing character of an ungodly life. The two words |U> and
ifly supplement each other in designating the inward and outward
perversity of sinfulness. The moral distortion of a depraved soul
is denoted by both of these terms, but the one points rather to
what the sinner is in his heart and life, the other to what he does
in outward visible acts. The word dvouia means lawlessness, which
may be in the first place a direct violation of law, and then pass
into contempt of moral law, and also comprehend all diseonformity
to law. The two words naida and novnpia denote the inner and
outer aspects of wickedness when developed in an evil heart and
life so that the entire moral nature has become depraved and
debased. A still broader view of sin is furnished by a study
of the numerous crimes, vices, lusts, inordinate passions and follies
attributed to wicked men. It is sufficient for our purpose to
refer to the enumeration of the "works of the flesh" found in
Gal. v, 19, 20: "Fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wrath, factious divisions, dis
sensions of party strife, envying, drunkenness, revelings, and the
like of these." In Col. iii, 5, we find the mention of "passion, evil
desire, and covetousness which is idolatry." These things, it is
said, draw down on the guilty ones the penal wrath of God. In
verses 8 and 9 are added "anger, raging passion, malice, slanderous
railing, shameful speaking and falsehood against one another."
All these are in a general way comprehended under the prohibi
tions of the decalogue. Portraying as they do the various forms
in which sin shows itself in actual life, these words of the Hebrew
and Greek scriptures are helpful in describing the nature of sin,
and showing how it defiles the spiritual image of God in man.
4. Sin Conceived as Transgression and Lawlessness. If we
attempt a synthesis of the chief points in our study of the Hebrew
and Greek words for sin, we shall find that human sinfulness is
conceived as primarily the transgression of a good and holy law.
Transgression involves more than open, willful acts of wickedness.
According to 1 John iii, 4, "sin is lawlessness" (avofiia). This
anomia includes not only actual transgressions, but all contempt
of law and all diseonformity to law which involves any measure
of blame or any departure from the perfect standard of righteous
ness. And the "law," in the deepest and truest sense, takes
cognizance not only of outward acts, but also of the thoughts and
intents of the heart. It searches the emotions, the desires, and
all that enters into the moral life of man. Any imperfection
which involves opposition to the law, or is a result of sinful action,
must fall under the head of anomia, and be regarded as exposing

88 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
one to some measure of condemnation. "All unrighteousness
(ddatia) is sin" (1 John v, 17). And all such transgression and
diseonformity to the right must needs place the sinner in a state
of separation from God. For the law of God in its highest
meaning is but a revelation of the Holy One himself, and any
diseonformity thereto involves estrangement from God.
5. Sin Conceived as Selfishness. Sin is also to be considered as
being in its real essence and nature an impious form of selfish
ness. The persistent sinner puts himself in the place of his Crea
tor and so begets rebellion and disorder in the moral world. For
he "exchanges the truth of God for a lie, and worships and serves
the creature rather than the Creator" (Rom. i, 25). Thus he
becomes a man of lawlessness and ruptures the moral world. In
a very noteworthy way the willful, self-centered sinner makes
himself "a man of sin, a son of perdition," a personality who
"opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or
that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, set
ting himself forth as God" (2 Thess. ii, 3, 4). These words,
apart from any particular designation or description of a person
intended by the apostle in the passage cited, are peculiarly well
adapted to describe any intense sinner who makes himself an incar
nation of selfishness and self conceit. They portray the extremes
to which a human soul may go in daring forms of impiety, and
they show how one made in the image of God may presume to
usurp the throne and temple of the Most High. "The covetous
ness which is idolatry" (Col. iii, 5) has its sources of inspiration
and power in selfishness. One can therefore hardly controvert the
proposition of Hopkinsianism that the essence of all sin is selfish
ness.1 6. Concept of Spiritual Blindness. We obtain a further concept
of the nature of sin in those biblical texts which speak of it as a
blindness of the heart and of the mind. In 2 Cor. iv, 4, mention
is made of perishing and unbelieving persons whose minds the god
of this world had so blinded "that the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon
them." So they are conceived as groping under a heavy veil of
darkness. So also in 1 John ii, 11, it is written that "he that
hateth his brother is in the darkness, and walketh in the darkness,
and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath
1 Sin consists in self-love. . . . This is in its own nature opposite to all
virtuous, holy affection, to all truth and reason; and it is of a criminal nature,
in every degree of it, wherever it is found. . . . Self-love pays a supreme and
sole regard to an infinitely small and inconsiderable part of existence and the feeling
and language of all the exercises of it is, "I am, and there is none elsel" There is
no other being worthy of any regard, but myself. — Samuel Hopkins, System of
Doctrines contained in Divine Revelation, vol. i, p. 348. Boston, 1793.

CONCEPT OF GUILT 89
blinded his eyes." Jesus made a forceful use of this figure in what
he said about the simple and the evil eye. "If thine eye be evil,
thy whole body shall be full of darkness" (Matt, vi, 23). The
evil eye is here to be understood as a diseased, distorted, injured
eye, the figure of a perverted mind which prefers darkness to light.
Such a damaging of the powers of reason is a sad blemish of the
image of God in man, for "God is light, and in him is no darkness
at all" (1 John i, 5). The word nupuatg; which conveys the idea
of dull perception and loss of spiritual discernment, suggests the
same idea of mental blindness. Jesus was grieved over the callous
state of the hearts of the Pharisees (Mark iii, 5), which was the
result of their spiritual blindness, and Paul admonished the Ephe
sians (iv, 18) against the vanity of the mind of the Gentiles who
are "darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the
life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, on account
of the callous blindness of their heart."
7. Concept of Guilt. In connection with the various forms in
which sin manifests itself among men there is also the sense or
concept of personal guilt. This comes to the consciousness of
every sinner charged with such acts of wickedness, because he
knows that the wrong act was the product of his own free will.
It is because the sin is in him and of him as the responsible author
of his own acts that his reason and conscience accuse him (comp.
Rom. ii, 15).
(1) The Fact Explained. The fact of guilt has its explanation
in man's moral freedom. The power of the will to accept or reject
an offered good, to keep or violate a given law, is a fundamental
fact of man's spiritual nature. It is implied in every command
ment, warning, admonition, Tebuke, and invitation to accept the
mercy of God.
(2) Significance of alria. The use of the New Testament word
alrta, cause, has a very significant relation to the concept of guilt.
The fault or crime of which a man is held guilty is thought of as
the cause or reason of penalty to be assigned. Observe this usage
of the word in John xviii, 38; xix, 4, 6; Acts xiii, 28; xxviii, 18.
There is thus indicated the relation of cause and effect between the
will, in whose free action the crime is supposed to originate, and
the crime itself, which the moral sense of mankind ascribes to
the convicted criminal as the responsible cause and author of his
own wicked deed. And so in all criminal jurisprudence, when
penalty is to be decreed, the author of the crime is sought out and
condemned as the guilty cause of the evil.
(3) Significance of lvo%og: We also find the concept of guilt in
ihe Greek word h>o%og; applied to one held in some bond of obli-

90 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
gation or desert. In Matt, xxvi, 66, and Mark xiv, 64, it denotes
one's liability to the death penalty. In 1 Cor. xi, 27, one who
comes to the Lord's table in an unworthy manner "is guilty of
the body and the blood of the Lord." In Mark iii, 29, the man
who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is said to be "held fast
bound in eternal sin." The same thought of personal responsi
bility is involved in the use of the word in Matt, v, 21, 22, where
the sinner is said to be justly liable to the judgment of the gehenna
of fire. Similar is the meaning of vnodtKog- in Rom. iii, 19. The
whole world is so brought under condemning judgment as to owe
satisfaction to God for its wrongdoing, and is accordingly liable to
punishment before him.
(4) Guilt even in Errors of Ignorance. Guilt is also the main
idea in the Hebrew word DK>N- In Lev. iv, 13, it is used in
connection with rut? which means to go astray: "If the whole
congregation err through ignorance, and the matter be hidden
from the eye of the assembly, and they have done with one of all
the commandments of Jehovah what should not have been done,
and have become guilty." So even if one go astray unawares, as
soon as he discovers his error he feels a consciousness of guilty
shortcoming. In the stern exactions of the righteousness of the
law ignorance does not excuse the transgressor, but when the sin
becomes known a sense of guilt and of personal accountability
arises and requires acknowledgment in the OK>K. guilt-offering.
But how much deeper must be the sense of guilt when flagrant
sins have been committed ? An example is to be seen in Ezekiel's
word against "the bloody city," full of abominations : "Thou art
become guilty in thy blood that thou hast shed, and art defiled in
thine idols which thou hast made" (xxii, 4).
8. Degrees of Guilt and Sin. Different degrees of sin and guilt
are recognized in the Scriptures and in the moral sense of man
kind. For sin becomes deepened and strengthened in the heart
by continuous disobedience and resistance of the calls of God.
Degrees of guilt are estimated according to the position, the
knowledge of what is right, the personal ability, and the relative
responsibility of individuals and of communities. In the teach
ing of Jesus it is declared as a truth beyond question that "the
servant who knew his lord's will, and made not ready nor did
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he
that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten
with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him
shall much be required : and to whom they commit much, of him
will they ask the more" (Luke xii, 47, 48). It is also affirmed,
in Matt, x, 15, that it will be more tolerable for sinners like those

DEGREES OF GUILT 91
of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for those
of the city which rejects the message of the gospel. Jesus also
spoke to Pilate of the "greater sin" of those who had delivered
him over into his hands (John xix, 11). Pilate's sin was great
because of the power and authority which were "given him from
above." Power to release or to crucify involved heavy responsi
bility, and to order the death of one in whom he declared he could
find no crime was itself a criminal misuse of official authority;
but greater still was the sin of those who had been given more
abundant evidences of the blamelessness of Jesus, and who never
theless clamored for his blood.
(1) Hardening the Heart. When a person made in the image
of God and gifted with normal powers of understanding, of feel
ing, and of volition deliberately rejects the truth and impiously
persists in disobedience, he inevitably begets within his own moral
nature a culpable obduracy. Such obduracy is obviously an
aggravated form of sinfulness, and deserves a correspondingly
severe condemnation. Hence the many warnings of the Scriptures
against hardening the heart. The most notable biblical example
of such obduracy is that of Pharaoh, as detailed in the ten chap
ters of Exodus extending from iv to xiv. Three different Hebrew
words are employed to describe the hardening, and there are,
altogether, twenty passages in which the hardening is mentioned.1
In ten of these the hardening is attributed to Jehovah; in six it
is merely stated that the heart of Pharaoh became hard or was
heavy, and in four places he is said to have hardened his own heart.
Nothing of importance attaches to the mere number of times
any one of these words occurs. The plain import of the whole
description is that, by a perverse resistance of Jehovah's demand
to let Israel go, the king's heart became stubborn, and his obstinacy
grew more and more culpable. In the vivid and graphic por
traitures of the Hebrew writers God is conceived as intensely
immanent in all human affairs, and events are often ascribed to
him without any attempt at a philosophical analysis of the par
ticular facts involved. But a collation and study of all the state
ments in the case of Pharaoh and of other relevant teachings of
the Scriptures warrant the following conclusions: (1) The har
dening of the heart of any sinner is the result of a procedure in
which both divine and human agency must be recognized. (2)
The process of hardening may be properly said to begin with
1 pin, to be strong, occurs in iv, 21; vii, 13, 22; viii, 19; ix, 12, 35; x, 20, 27;
xi, 10; xiv, 4, 8, 17. HB'p, to be hard, occurs in vii, 3; xiii, 15; 133, to be heavy in
vii, 14; viii, 15, 32; ix, 7, 34; x, 1. In xiv, 17 the expression is " the heart of
the Egyptians"; but as Pharaoh may be included, we include this text with the
others.

92 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
some word or manifestation of God to the sinner. For as with
out law there can be no transgression, so there can be no rejection
of light and no hardening of the heart without some foregoing
revelation of divine truth. (3) When the revelation and claims
of God are made known to a man and he deliberately rejects them,
hardness of heart necessarily follows as by a law of our moral
nature; and the hardening may therefore be attributed either to
God or to the man, according as our thought turns, on the one
side, to those divinely ordered conditions under which the indi
vidual must either obey or disobey, or, on the other side, to the
free and responsible act of the man himself.
(2) Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The most aggravated
manner and degree of sin mentioned in the Scriptures is a settled
and unchangeable obduracy of spirit which blasphemously rejects
the witness of superior light and truth. In 1 John v, 16, there
is mention of a "sin unto death," concerning which the writer does
not advise that one should make request. But the nature of the
sin referred to is not explained, and it is not said that the sin is
absolutely unpardonable. There seems to be an allusion to Num.
xv, 30, where the case of a soul that commits offense "with a high
hand," thereby "blaspheming Jehovah," despising his word and
breaking his commandments, is specified as guilty of capital crime.
Such a daring sinner was to be "utterly cut off from among his
people." But the "sin unto death" in John's epistle seems to
refer not to a public offense that demands the penalty of physical
death, but some deeper sin of the soul which involves its hopeless
perdition. The reference is probably to some form or kind of
sinning rather than to any one particular act of sin. Greater
definiteness and importance attach to those passages in the synop
tic gospels where Jesus speaks of the blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit which shall never be forgiven (Matt, xii, 31, 32 ; Mark iii,
28-30; Luke xii, 10). There is an explicit distinction made in
these texts between the unpardonable blasphemy and all other sins,
especially "speaking a word against the Son of man." The words
of Jesus were occasioned by the charge of the Pharisees and scribes
that he cast out demons by the help of Beelzebub, and hence
some have supposed that this particular act of blasphemy against
the Lord Jesus was itself the unpardonable sin. But if we main
tain the distinction made by Jesus himself, we shall most naturally
understand the daring blasphemy of the scribes to be what is meant
by "speaking against the Son of man." Jesus uttered his warning
"because they said, He hath an unclean spirit" (Mark iii, 30).
This absurd charge was not itself the unpardonable blasphemy, but
the occasion of Jesus's warning. Such bitter speaking against the

DEGREES OF GUILT 93
Son of man might be forgiven, but if repeated and persisted in
against all reason it would inevitably fasten upon the heart an
unchangeable hardness and blasphemous rejection of all possible
influences of the Holy Spirit. Hence we understand the unpar
donable blasphemy against the Holy Spirit to be the final cul
mination and fatal result of such defiant resistance to the truth
as the sin of the Pharisees on that occasion involved. And this
exposition finds additional confirmation in the true text of Mark
iii, 29 : "Whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath
never forgiveness, but is guilty of (evoxog; held fast in) an eter
nal sin." He thus consummates such obduracy and consequent
incapacity for obedience to the truth that no change is possible
in the nature of things. His blasphemy is unpardonable, not
because God is unwilling to save him, but because he has made
himself incapable of meeting the conditions of the salvation of
Christ. (3) Doctrine of Hebrews vi, £-8 and x, 26, 27. The same doc
trine of a fixed habit of willful rejection of God's truth, resulting
in the consummation of an unchangeably perverse character,
appears also in Heb. vi, 4-8, and x, 26, 27. The first of these
passages states that "as for those who were once enlightened and
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy
Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the
age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them
again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son
of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." We should note
that in the last clause the two verbs translated "crucify afresh"
and "put to open shame" are, in the Greek text, participles in the
present tense, and show the ground or reason of the impossibility
affirmed. It is impossible to renew them because they keep right
on continually crucifying the Son of God, and so holding him up
to infamy. The passage in x, 26, 27, says: "If we sin willfully
after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful
expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour
the adversaries." Here, too, the hopelessness of the willful sin
ner's condition is in the absence of any further provisions for his
salvation from the devouring penal fire. No more is there in his
case a sacrifice for sins remaining. The fearfulness of the sin
contemplated in these passages appears, therefore, to consist essen
tially in the three considerations, (1) that the sinner had been
favored with a high state of enlightenment and a full knowledge
of the truth; (2) that he willfully rejected the light and fell
away from the means and ministries of grace; and (3) that he

94 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
persistently closes the door of hope upon himself, keeps crucifying
Christ afresh, and daringly accepts the consequences and the
"fearful expectation of judgment." Such an aggravated extreme
of sinfulness presupposes a large amount of light and revelation
from God, so that its consummation passes beyond a grieving of
the Holy Spirit (Eph. iv, 30) and becomes an utter quenching of
the Spirit (1 Thess. v, 19).
(4) Other Biblical Testimony. Numerous other scriptures wit
ness to the degrees of sin and guilt, and the extremes to which
willful disobedience may be carried. In the highly wrought lan
guage of Prov. i, 24-31, divine Wisdom makes her appeal to those
who set at naught all her counsel, and warns them that their
continuous and contemptuous rejection of her words will inevitably
place the sinner beyond the reach of divine mercy. Jeremiah's
address to the people of Jerusalem (vii, 12-16) teaches the same
solemn lesson; and what is true of such a community as a whole
is true of every individual guilty of the same persistent wicked
ness. When the moral and spiritual nature of a man has become
corrupted by such persistent sinning, and his clearest convictions
of truth have become stifled by daring blasphemy, there is super
induced upon his soul a moral obliquity which is of the nature
of a judicial penal consequence of such flagrant sinning. The
language of Isa. vi, 10, implies an obduracy and blindness to
spiritual things resulting in an incapacity to perceive and under
stand the truth of God: "Make fat the heart of this people, and
their ears make heavy, and their eyes besmear, lest they see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and with their heart under
stand, and turn, and be healed." This penal blindness was the
result of persistent rebellion against the Holy One of Israel. And
so we find that in this life the willful sinner works out in part
his own penal judgment and is given over to believe a lie (2 Thess.
ii, 11, 12). And thus it appears that man, who was originally
created upright, and gifted with godlike faculties of reason, love,
and will, may abuse and ruin his personal freedom, sear his con
science, and obliterate his moral sense by blasphemous perversity
of heart.

CHAPTER II
THE ORIGIN AND THE PERSISTENT CAUSE OF SIN
1. Adequate Cause Must be Sought. Our study of the nature
of man and of the nature of sin has prepared the way for a more
detailed inquiry into the cause of human sinfulness. The awful
fact is distressfully present and open to inspection, but its primeval
origin and the conditions and cause of its first appearance in man
are matters not so easily determined. We desire to find, if possi
ble, an adequate cause for so great an evil. It would seem that
such a cause must have existed from the first moment of the pos
sibility of sin in the world. There is no other creature of whom
we have any personal knowledge that is capable of committing sin
but man. Hence the necessity of a broad and clearly defined view
of the nature of man and the nature of sin in order to an intelli
gent discussion of the particular subject now before us. No
partial or one-sided view of the facts to be accounted for can be
allowed, nor should any relevant facts be ignored or set aside. Sin
being a fact of our personal experience we should bring all theories
of its origin to the test of facts and judgments derived from such
experience. Theories or hypotheses which contravene the moral
sense and judgment of enlightened people cannot be accepted as
satisfactory or worthy of much attention.
2. Inadequate Theories. Accordingly, those theories which
attempt an explanation of the origin of sin and yet ignore the
sense of personal guilt and the self-condemnation of the sinner
can be neither adequate nor satisfactory to one who fairly reckons
with all the facts involved. Hence (1) all theories which rest
upon the materialistic philosophy must fail to account for the
consciousness of guilt just as they fail to account for the real
nature of human intelligence and the moral and religious sense.
If the soul of man be only an aggregation of attenuated particles
of matter, and if these be necessarily fortuitous and temporary in
their relations, there is left no ground for the existence of a
rational moral sense, and the notion of guilt is but a delusion.
Intelligence, sensation, and volition cannot be predicated of matter
without giving the lie to the primary facts of observation, experi
ence, and common sense; still less can we affirm of matter the
qualities which belong to the spirit and show themselves in ethics
95

96 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and religion. Likewise inadequate is (2) the theory of sensation,
which would find the source of sin altogether in the sensuous
nature of man. As the child grows out of infancy into self-
conscious life and activity, the sensational appetites make their
demands, and external stimuli compel action in certain ways
impossible to be long resisted. Hence all men have become more
or less slaves of sensuous instincts and desires. The large element
of fact and truth in these statements should be at once conceded.
Man has a strong and conspicuous sensuous element in his nature,
and that element is the occasion and stimulant of a large pro
portion of his misdeeds and immoralities. His contact and con
stant intercourse with the world are realized by means of the senses
of touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smelling. In fact, his entire
knowledge of the universe is mainly dependent upon the operation
of these powers and organs of sensation. But the facts of sensa
tion do not comprehend all the facts of moral action in man, for
many of the worst forms of human sinfulness are in no way con
nected with sensuousness. The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit,
which we found to be the most aggravated form of sin, is not a
matter of sensuality. All sins of pride and ambition, of hatred
and malice and envy, and, especially, deep malignant concentration
of bitterness and hostility and scorn toward all that is called God
or is an object of religious worship — all these are facts for which
the sensuous theory of the origin of sin fails to furnish any ade
quate explanation. (3) Another theory essays to find the origin
of sin in the essential limitations and imperfection of man. It
assumes and affirms that, as God is alone the supreme and abso
lutely good One in the universe, all that is less than he must needs
be negatively evil. It must follow that the only real freedom
from sin and evil is in a removal of all limitation. The one
sufficient reply to this theory is the fact that sin is not the limita
tion of any natural or normal being. There are, indeed, some '
sins and infirmities which are called sins of weakness. Limitation
and imperfection may involve conditions of sinful action, but sin
itself is a willful and needless doing what is wrong, and the self-
condemnation of our conscience is inexplicable if such crimes as
murder and theft and perjury are only necessary phases of finite
being. (4) The same reply fits also that other theory which holds
sin to be one of the essential phases of life which appear in the
process of human development. All growth and progress in the
world, we are told, require the continuous operation of the laws
of action and reaction. Life in all its variegated forms is
developed by contrasts, and so the spiritual life of man becomes
strong by means of struggle for its highest good. So the good

ORIGIN OF SIN 97
that is in us acquires its most admirable elements by contrast with
the evil with which it has had to contend for the mastery. But
the very statement of this theory ought to show its weakness and
insufficiency to account for the origin and persistent cause of sin.
The question is not whether struggle against sin develops strength
and virtues in the man who contends and triumphs over the evil.
That is a simple platitude of the moral life; but is participation
in sin an essential part of the struggle ? The righteous man, like
God himself, may make the wrath of the wicked eventuate in the
furtherance of some great good, but not by originating the wrath
and the wickedness. This theory tends to destroy all moral dis
tinctions: evil becomes a good thing, and the good cannot attain
its goodness without the help of the evil. Truth thus may be
primordially indebted to falsehood, and love to hatred and malice.
The theory also may be charged with offering a final rather than
the originating cause of human sinfulness. It is presumed that
its manifestation is to work some highest good of the world and of
man, and, so far as this thought is entertained, attention is
diverted from the real cause of its origin. Thus the real nature
of sin, as willful violation of the right, is ignored, and it is con
ceived as a mere contrast to what is good, not as bitter and malig
nant enmity toward truth and righteousness. (5) The hypothesis
of dualism affirms the existence of an eternal principle of evil, and
has passed through various historic phases. It calls for no further
notice here than the observation that it transcends the limits of
knowledge so far as to deny that evil ever had a beginning, and it
virtually resolves sin into a kind of physical evil inherent in the
nature of things. All these theories are invalidated and seen to
be inadequate by attention to the two fundamental fallacies com
mon to them all, namely, (a) that of confounding the cause of
sin with the finite conditions of human life which furnish the
possibility, occasions and motives for sinning, and (b) that of
ignoring the real nature of sin and guilt as witnessed by the
Scriptures and the universal moral sense of man.
3. Adequate and Actual Cause in Man's Personality. No ade
quate cause of the sinfulness of man can be shown without due
attention to the facts of his moral nature and his bearing the image
of God. Whatever is now found to be the cause of man's persistent
sinfulness, age after age, that same cause will probably best account
for the first sin that ever disturbed the moral world. The real
cause of the first sin as of every other subsequent act of sin, is to
be sought in the sinner himself. The free, self-conscious, intelli
gent, deliberate evil-doer is the author of his own wicked deed.
The personality of every normal human being consists in the self-

98 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
conscious unity of intelligence, sensibility, and the power of voli
tion. These are the qualities, as we have previously shown, which
exalt man above all other living creatures on the earth, and they
stamp him with the image and likeness of God. But he is a finite
being, subject to many well-known limitations and conditions.
He cannot avoid perceiving things that are presented to his intel
lectual vision, nor can his sensitive nature help feeling the actual
pressure of external stimuli. Perception and sensation furnish
numerous motives to action, but the deliberate willing of an evil
deed is not a matter of compulsion. It is in the power of every
intelligent and sensitive person, with temptations and motives for
a wrong course of action making powerful impression upon him,
to choose the good and refuse the evil. The first sin and all sins
that have followed it in human history are traceable to this free
and godlike personality in man. He possesses the volitional power
of originating moral evil.1 The universal conscience of mankind
affirms this all-important fact, and we must deal with it as one
of the necessary truths never to be lost sight of. Our study of the
nature of sin and guilt, as presented in the Scriptures, brought us
everywhere face to face with the facts of moral obligation and
personal responsibility. Not in metaphysical speculation, but in
the field of personal consciousness and actual experience, where
we can appeal to facts that are beyond controversy, do we find the
responsible authorship and origin of sin.
4. Illustrated in Genesis iii. This subject of the originating
cause of sin is set forth and illustrated with remarkable clearness
in the story of man's first disobedience as recorded in Genesis.
That which is written of the woman as being first beguiled and
falling into transgression is equally true of the man, and, in all
essential elements of temptation and sin, is a most vivid picture
of the operation of the emotions, the intellect, and the will. The
goodly sight of the forbidden fruit was a stimulus to fleshly appe
tite, but the external stimulus had no power to compel or deter
mine the action. Its power of stimulation, however, became more
intense as the woman saw that the tree was also "a delight to

1 The possibility of evil lies open in any moral beginning which we can conceive.
For a moral beginning is a transcendence of the necessity of natural order. Moral
freedom is within finite limits a delegation to created being of something of God's
power to have life in himself. A life wliich is thus divine in its essence, although
finite in its range, may be a gift of the Creator beyond recall. Moral creation is
in a sense a self-limitation of the Creator. Once having trusted nature with this
divine gift of self-conscious will, the faithful Creator will keep his trust. Moral
personality may fall from its idea, may alienate itself from its source, may possibly
sink even in self-degradation beneath the level of conscious intelligence, becoming
dead in sin ; but it is not a gift of Ufe to be annihilated by a fiat of omnipotence,
or to be put back at God's will into its unmoral preexistence. — Newman Smyth.
Christian Ethics, p. 148. New York, 1892.

ORIGIN OF SIN 99
the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise." Thus the pressure of
temptation deepened both upon the senses and upon the intellectual
powers, and supplied the motives and conditions of sinful action.
There was no sin in the perception that the fruit was good for
food and delightful to the eyes. But there was the commandment
of God, "Thou shalt not eat of it." Here was an opposite motive
and a warning, and there was no power in either class of motives
to determine the choice. Another faculty of the soul must decide
which motive shall prevail, and that faculty is the free self -deter
mining power of the will. The woman and the man chose the
way of transgression and so sinned against God, and the sense
¦of guilt and shame that ensued evinced the fact that they were
the responsible authors of their own fall. Whatever the relative
intensity of the motive influences brought to bear on each, they
both alike transgressed, fell under condemnation of sin, and suf
fered the penal consequences. In this graphic outline of tempta
tion and failure to resist we may perceive the possibility of sinning
in a being who is at the time without moral spot or blemish. The
cause, reasons, and conditions of such initial transgression can be
clearly apprehended only by the light of an accurate analysis of
the constituent elements of man's personality.
5. Same Efficient Cause Apparent in all Sinning. In the con
tinuous experiences of human life we observe innumerable illus
trations of man's free and responsible activity. Every separate
act of sin in human life and history is explicable after the manner
illustrated by the example of the first transgressor. It is note
worthy that in the temptation of Jesus, as recorded in Matt, iv,
1-11, and Luke iv, 1-13, the same threefold manner of motive
influences appears which we observe in the record of the woman's
temptation in Gen. iii, 6. There were the same appeals to "the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of
life" (1 John ii, 16). These forms of temptation may be so
¦defined as to be in a general way comprehensive of all the motives
to evil which appeal to man. No one commits a deliberate act
of sin without some motive, but the motive is not the efficient or
sufficient cause of the sinful act. It is rather the object, the rea
son, the occasion, or the condition which prepares the way for
volition; the efficient and sole determining cause is in every
instance the will of man. His power of volition is proven to be
that constituent faculty of his spiritual nature by which he can be
lord over all appeals of sensuous appetite or of mental stimulation.
6. Nature of Volitional Freedom. In the nature and activity
of the will we observe something notably different and easily
^distinguishable from desire, inclination, appetite, emotion, and

100 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
passion1; different also from mental perception, though c, reason;
judgment, and knowledge. In most cases of personal experience
we cannot help feeling and thinking as we do, for there is usually
something in the object presented to us that compels us to par
ticular emotion or thought. But such compulsion is not true of
the will. In the self-conscious act of volition we observe a power
to choose or to refuse, to obey or to disobey. We are conscious
of ability to will and to do in a different manner from that to
which even a mighty motive may incline us. The intellect and
the feelings are subordinate. Sight, hearing, any possible sensa
tion, may necessarily produce conditions of impulse and desire for
that which is not good; the moral sense discerns and approves
the good, and the intellect perceives, deliberates, estimates. Neither
the sensations nor the intelligent perceptions, so far as they supply
motives for a possible choice one way or another, are necessarily
evil in themselves. They furnish the requisite conditions for the
self-determining activity of the will. To refuse the evil and to
choose the good is the specific function of volition, and to this
self-conscious power of the human soul we trace the originating
and the persistent cause of sin. Any supposed compulsion from
without or within which destroys this freedom of will and deter
mines its action in one direction with no power to the contrary,
reduces moral conduct to a series of mechanical sequences and is
inconsistent and irreconcilable with the facts of personal obliga
tion. 7. Other Resultant Pacts of Sin. Having fairly traced the
origin and cause of sin to the godlike power of volition inherent
in man's personality, we should not fail to notice, further, how
evil character once formed, miserable conditions of social life,
and communal aggregations of vice and criminal depravity become
in turn a fearful source of evil. We can not presume to say pre
cisely when, where, and under what formal or actual conditions
sin first made its appearance in the world. Omniscience only
could make that known. But the facts of sin are very present
for our study and we find them to accord most closely with the
facts and teachings of the Scriptures on the subject. Probably the
origin of sin in the world was facilitated by reason of the com
parative imperfection and ignorance of the first generations of
men. The once prevalent notion that the first man was perfect in
wisdom and knowledge is now quite obsolete. It arose from the
assumption that every creation of God must needs have been every-
1 See Whedon's masterly statement of these distinctions, and his definition of
the will as against the fallacies of Edwards and others, in his work entitled, The
Freedom of the Will as a Basis of Human Responsibility and a Divine Govern
ment, pp. 16-20. New York, 1864. Reprint, 1892.

EXAMPLES OF APOSTASY 101
way perfect from the first, and that man himself was the work of
a moment of time. We know man only as a being of birth and
growth. We know that by laws of heredity parents transmit cer
tain qualities of good or of evil to their offspring. Some are born
with a diseased and abnormal constitution, and no wisdom or
power of man is capable of removing a prenatal malady. It is also
matter of fact that the natural imperfections of childhood furnish
occasions for many kinds of sin and folly, and such imperfections
are often put forward in extenuation of the offense although
admitted to be no real excuse for it. Certain habits of evil-doing
and character resulting therefrom become also a fruitful source of
sins, just as good habits and excellent character naturally beget
the fruits of righteousness. "Each tree is known by its own fruit.
For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather
they grapes. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart
bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the
evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil" (Luke vi, 44, 45).
But in the interpretation of these facts of life and growth we
must not forget that character and habits of life are the product
of many distinct and successive acts of the will.1 In the individual
life of man we do not find his first sin to be the greatest. It is
impossible to determine just when, where, and how the first con
scious act of transgression takes place in any one young life.
Habits of sinning come by almost imperceptible degrees; and
what is thus true in the individual was probably also true in the
earliest life of the race. On such a question we do well to refrain
from any dogmatic assumptions.
8. Biblical Records of Apostasy. The same cause which
accounts for original transgression and for all subsequent acts of
wickedness in the history of mankind is also adequate to account
for the numerous examples of apostasy which are mentioned in
the biblical records. We have seen that the most aggravated form
in which sin manifests itself is that settled obduracy which rejects
the clearest light of truth, resists all the counsels of love and
wisdom, and hardens the heart against all admonition and reproof.
It is notably the sin of those who have been enlightened and made
partakers of superior revelations of God.
(1) Israel's Apostasy in ihe Desert. The disobedience and
apostasy of the Israelites in the wilderness are typical examples.
Lawgivers, prophets, psalmists, and apostles hold them up for
1 So Julius Muller : " As the quality of the fruit depends upon the nature of
the tree, so the good and evil acts of man depend upon the good or evil state of
the heart ; but this very state is itself again dependent upon the primary decisions
of the will: Make ye [irot^aare] the tree good . . . corrupt" (Matt, xii, 33). —
The Christian Doctrine of Sin. Trans, by Urwick, vol. ii, p. 61. Edinburgh, 1868.

102 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
religious instruction and for warning. "Because all those men
that have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt
and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me now these ten times,
and have not hearkened to my voice ; surely they shall not see the
land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them
that despised me see it" (Num. xiv, 22, 23). These words and
other scriptures of similar purport inculcate at least four impor
tant doctrines so direct and positive as to be treated as so many
matters of fact: (1) The most impressive manifestations of God's
love and power do not compel the obedience of those who behold
them; (2) an evil heart of unbelief is capable of treating all
such displays of divine glory with disrespect and scorn; (3) men
who have long followed the leadings of God may at last turn and
rebel against him; (4) such rebellion is certain to bring con
demnation and ruin upon the guilty offenders.
(2) Examples of Saul, David, Solomon. Saul, the son of Kish,
is represented as a choice young man, and was anointed prince over
Israel. The Spirit of Jehovah came upon him and changed him
into another man (1 Sam. ix, 2; x, 1, 6). But after many favors
¦of God, and many lessons from the prophet Samuel, he turned
back from Jehovah and failed to keep his commandments (xv, 11).
David also was highly honored and called a man after God's own
heart; but in an hour of temptation he sinned most grievously
and even became guilty of the death of Uriah. His son Solomon
also began his reign with marked evidences of piety and wisdom;
but when he grew old "his wives turned away his heart after other
gods" (1 Kings xi, 4). Later examples of unbelief and apostasy
among, the kings and people of Israel, persisted in against the
urgent messages and warnings of the prophets, resulted in national
disaster and exile.
(3) New Testament Admonition and Warning. The New
Testament abounds in warnings and admonitions against apostasy
from the living God, and thus inculcates the freedom and respon
sibility of the individuals addressed. Paul expresses his astonish
ment that the Galatian converts should so quickly turn away from
the gospel of Christ and become bewitched and misled by men who
troubled the Church of God (Gal. i, 6, 7; iii, 1). The epistle to
the Hebrews is from first to last a continuous admonition for
those who had heard the gospel of salvation in Christ, lest they
should somehow "drift away from the things that were heard"
(Heb. ii, 1). They are warned against "an evil heart of unbelief,
in falling away from the living God" (iii, 12). They are reminded
of the "provocation in the wilderness," and are exhorted to dili
gence "that no man fall after the same example of disobedience"

WARNING AGAINST APOSTASY 103
(iv, 11). They are solemnly told that "it is impossible to renew
again unto repentance" such as have fallen away from a high
attainment of Christian knowledge, "seeing they keep right on
crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh, and putting him
to an open shame" (vi, 4-6). Compare also the solemn statements
of x, 26-29. The peril of final and remediless apostasy from
Christ is assumed in all these alarming appeals, and we are admon
ished by them that there is lodged in the freedom of the human
will the power of breaking away from the highest and holiest good
and plunging into the hopeless ruin of a fiery judgment which
shall devour the adversaries of God. The last state of those who
make such "shipwreck concerning the faith" (1 Tim. i, 19) is
worse than the first, and is well set forth in the language of 2 Pet.
ii, 20, 21 : "For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the
world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is
become worse with them than the first. For it were better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after
knowing it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto
them." All these and other similar admonitions witness the
power and responsibility attaching to human freedom, and the
adequacy of that power to account both for the origin and the
persistence of sin in the world.

CHAPTER III
DIVERS ASPECTS OF SIN IN THE VARIOUS BIBLICAL WRITERS
1. Defective Moral Standards of Old Testament Times. A note
worthy variety of moral standards, involving as many distinctive
conceptions of the nature of sin, may be observed in different parts
of the Scriptures. We cannot fail to note the imperfect ethical
system witnessed by certain narratives and laws. The examples
of polygamy and falsehood among the ancient patriarchs ; the laws
of slavery as read in Exod. xxi, 4-21, and of divorce in Deut. xxiv,
1; the outrageous cruelties practiced in the times of the judges;
the presumptuous daring and immoralities of the kings of Israel
and Judah; these and such like are recorded in a manner which
implies not only a low moral sense, but also a low moral standard
then prevalent among the leaders of the people and in the com
munity at large. Wickedness and transgression are measured, not
so much by a profound' conception of sin as "exceeding sinful"
through the commandment of God (Rom. vii, 13), as by some
general notion of diseonformity to a conventional standard. The
vilest sinners are spoken of as "sons of Belial," good-for-nothing,
worthless fellows (Judg. xix, 22; Deut. xiii, 13), who commit
"folly in Israel" (Judg. xx, 6). Willful transgression against
God is conceived as great foolishness (1 Sam. xiii, 13; 2 Sam.
xxiv, 10). The laws of bondage in Exod. xxi, 4-21, and of per
sonal retaliation in Exod. xxi, 23-25 ; the horrible punishment of
Achan visited not on himself only, but on "his sons, and his
daughters, and his oxen, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that
he had" (Josh, vii, 24) ; the mutilation of Adoni-bezek (Judg.
i, 6), and the hewing of Agag in pieces by Samuel (1 Sam. xv,
33), are witnessing examples of the relative barbarism which had
the supposed sanction of divine law among the people of Israel.
The prevalence of such ideas and practices implies a notable lack
of fine moral distinctions and a corresponding imperfection in the
concept of sin.
2. Imprecatory Psalms. The same is to be said of the spirit
which finds expression in the imprecatory psalms.
Hold them guilty, O God;
Let them fall by their own counsels; 104

VINDICTIVE PSALMS 105
In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out;
For they have rebelled against thee. Psa. v, 10.
Let their eyes be darkened that they see not;
And make their loins continually shake.
Pour out upon them thine indignation,
And let the fierceness of thine anger overtake them.
Let their encampment be desolate;
In their tents let there not be a dweller. Psa. Ixix, 23-25.
Set thou a wicked man over him,
And let an adversary stand at his right hand.
When he is judged, let him come forth guilty;
And let his prayer be turned into sin.
Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.
Let his children be vagabonds and beg;
And let them seek (their bread) out of their desolate places.
Let the extortioner catch all that he hath;
And let strangers make spoil of his labor,
Let there be none to extend kindness to him;
Neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children.
Let his posterity be cut off;
In the generation following let their name be blotted out
Psa. cix, 6-13.
O daughter of Babylon that art to be destroyed;
Happy shall he be that requiteth thee
The reward which thou hast rewarded us.
Happy he who shall seize and dash thy infant children
Against the rock. Psa. cxxxvii, 8, 9.
The vindictive spirit of these psalms, like Elijah's commanding
fire to come down from heaven and consume those sent against
him (2 Kings i, 10, 12), belongs to an inferior plane of moral
sense as compared with the ideals of Jesus when he rebuked his
disciples for the manifestation of a similar feeling (Luke ix, 54,
55), and when he inculcated love for enemies and persecutors
(Matt, v, 44). Wherever such defective standards of moral sen
timent control, there must necessarily be some lack of keen
spiritual insight in the prevailing conceptions of the real nature
of sin. The imprecatory psalms accord with the spirit and the
letter of the legislation of Exod. xxi, 24, 25, rather than with the
gospel of our Lord Jesus. The lex talionis has its element of
righteousness, but is superseded by the higher lessons of the golden
rule. 3. Public and National Sins Overshadow the Individual. The
national life and theocratic spirit of the Jewish people tended to
absorb the individual in the state, and thus to exalt the idea of
public righteousness. The solidarity and perpetuity of the nation

106 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
were of unspeakably greater importance than any interest of a
single and separate person. It is no wonder, then, that the sins
of individuals were at times lost sight of in the presence of glaring
national wrongs, and public calamities were regarded as sure evi
dences of the wrath of God against the people as a whole. In
harmony with this it was also easy to believe that the sins of the
fathers were "visited upon the children, and upon the children's
children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation" (Exod.
xxxiv, 7). Hence, too, the burden of the messages of the prophets
had reference mainly to public affairs, to national sins, and to the
failure of the people of Israel as a chosen nation to keep the com
mandments of their God. Hosea bitterly complains that Israel
has "played the harlot," and vilely forsaken Jehovah her God by
sacrificing and burning incense to other gods (i, 2; iv, 12; ix, 1).
Isaiah arraigns Jerusalem and her rulers in language which empha
sizes the public character of their wickedness : "How is the faith
ful city become a harlot ! she that was full of judgment ! righteous
ness lodged in her, but now murderers. Thy silver is become
dross, thy wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious,
and companions of thieves; every one loveth gifts and followeth
after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the
cause of the widow come unto them" (Isa. i, 21-23). Amos
appears as a great preacher of righteousness, and the sins and
cruelties which he condemns are conspicuously such as give
infamous character to a people. He will not turn back Jehovah's
voice of judgment which roars out of Zion against the many trans
gressions of Damascus, Gaza, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel,
and he specifies such acts of cruelty as crushing helpless prisoners
under threshing instruments of iron, and grinding the • life out
of the poor and needy by heartless oppression.
4. Divorcing Morality and Public Service. This prophetic
exposure and condemnation of national sins naturally led to public
fasting with its accompanying signs of humiliation and contri
tion. All this in conjunction with the elaborate ritual of public
sacrifice and priestly ministrations had the effect of dulling the
individual conscience, and of sinking the sense of personal respon
sibility into a sort of fusion with that of the people as a corporate
solidarity. Individual sins were thus lost sight of when one's
valor and wisdom advanced the public weal. David's despicable
crimes were thus condoned by reason of his heroic services for the
nation. His uniform loyalty to the highest interests of Israel
procured for him, in spite of his sins, the title of "the man after
Jehovah's heart," and enthroned him as an idol in the hearts of
the people. Similarly the wisdom of Solomon and his successful

COLLECTIVE IDEA OF SIN 107
administration of the kingdom won for him perpetual glory in
the history of the nation, notwithstanding all his flagrant sins
and idolatry. Such a tendency logically leads to an unconscious
divorcing of morality and religion. Worship becomes an outward
form rather than a personal matter of the soul; the ministry of
a separated priesthood removes the burden of service from one's
self to a proxy; religion and ceremony are confounded, and matters
involving individual morality become private affairs not amenable
to public concern. Under the prevalence of such a discipline the
leaven of Pharisaism spread; fine moral distinctions were
obliterated; gathering sticks on the sabbath was deemed as great
a crime as murder and was punished with the same severity.
There was great effort to "cleanse the outside of the cup and of
the platter, but within they were full from extortion and excess."
5. Collective Idea of Sin and Penalty. This habit of magnify
ing the outward forms of religion and morality, and of viewing
the nation rather than the individual as the unit of responsibility,
would quite naturally overlook the matter of rewards and punish
ments after the present life. Whatever may have been thought
by individual writers, very little on this subject can be found in
the Old Testament. When the judgment of God upon the wicked
is spoken of the language employed is usually of the vague and
general kind which contemplates a collective body of sinners.
Thus in Psa. ix, 16, 17:
Jehovah hath executed judgment;
Snaring the wicked in the work of his own hands.
The wicked shall be turned back unto Sheol,
Even all the nations that forget God.
Even when the individual sinner is designated, the immediate
context will often show that his individuality is confounded with
the nation of which he forms a part. Thus in Psa. xliii, 1 :
Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation:
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
These psalmists voice that collective and communal idea of
national sin and national punishment, which is conspicuous in
Hebrew thought. The individual sinner is necessarily included
in the concept, and the penal judgment is sometimes expressed as
a personal visitation of wrath (comp. Psa. cix, 6-18), but through
out the book of Psalms the more public, national, and collective
concept of sinners and their judgment is the most pronounced.
6. Deeper Concepts of Psalms and Prophets. But in the Psalms
and the Prophets we also meet with sayings which evince profound
conceptions of personal guilt. The so-called penitential psalms

108 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
(vi; xxxii; xxxviii; li; cii; cxxx; cxliii) abound in sentiments of
deep contrition: I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
And done that which is evil in thy sight.
Hide thy face from my sins,
And blot out all mine iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me. Psa. li, 3, 4, 9, 10.
The idea expressed in verse 4 of this psalm, that the sin is against
God only, is worthy of note. That which gives it its awful guilti
ness and curse is not so much the evil it has caused others as the
thought that it was done in the very face and eyes of God himself.
The "manifold transgressions and mighty sins" (Amos v, 12) of
which the prophets speak in detail are in the specifications given
necessarily of a personal character, and while they are charged
against the "house of Israel" as a whole, they must needs have
been often considered in their individual and personal aspects.
Moreover, in the great prophets of the eighth century before Christ
we find some of the most notable distinctions made between the
outward forms of worship and the true devotion of the heart.
Hosea thus expresses Jehovah's judgment (vi, 6) :
I desire goodness, and not sacrifice;
And the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.
In Amos v, 21-24, we read the following remarkable deliverance:
I hate, I despise your feasts,
And I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies,
Yea, though ye offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings.
I will not accept them;
Neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fatlings.
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs;
For I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
But let judgment roll down as waters,
And righteousness as a perennial stream.
The prophet Micah speaks (vi, 6-8) in a similar way:
Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah,
And bow myself before the high God?
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
With calves a year old?
Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams,
With ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY 109
He hath showed thee, O man, what is good;
And what doth Jehovah require of thee,
But to do justly, and to love kindness.
And to walk humbly with thy God?
A still more sweeping word of Jehovah is found in Isa. i, 10-17 ;
and in 1 Sam. xv, 22, is a prophetic utterance which sets the
subject in brief yet striking style :
Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of Jehovah?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to hearken than the fat of rams.
7. Individual Responsibility in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. But in
Ezekiel, and briefly in Jeremiah, we observe an advance in doc
trine touching individual responsibility for sins. Jeremiah fore
told a coming day when "they shall say no more, The fathers have
eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But
every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth
the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge" (xxxi, 29, 30).
Ezekiel (xviii) is much more positive and explicit: "As I live,
saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have occasion any more to
use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine. . . . The
soul that sinneth, it shall die : the son shall not bear the iniquity
of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the
son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and
the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." This appears
as the result of the Deuteronomic teaching (Deut. xxiv, 16), and
is recognized in 2 Kings xiv, 6, and 2 Chron. xxv, 4. But although
this doctrine of individual responsibility found an emphatic utter
ance in these Scriptures, it did not supersede the concept of col
lective and national guiltiness which was so thoroughly inwrought
into the religious thought of the Jewish people.
8. Sin as Represented in the Wisdom Books. In the wisdom
literature of the Old Testament we meet with detailed portraitures
of sin made from the standpoint of the practical observer of men
and things. The voice of the accumulated wisdom, understand
ing, intelligence, knowledge, reflection, and counsel of the good
may naturally be expected to express sound doctrine touching
human sinfulness and its mischievous workings in private and
public life.
(1) In Proverbs. In the book of Proverbs wisdom speaks with
the authority of God (comp. i, 20-33), and is conceived as the com
panion of Jehovah before the foundation of the world, and as a
master workman, cooperating with him when he constructed the

110 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
heavens and the earth (viii, 22-31). When this divine wisdom con
templates the various forms of wickedness which prevail among
men and gives judgment as to their real character, we find in her
proverbial teaching that all sin is from her point of observation
the veriest quintessence of folly. It is an evil which sets on fire
the course of nature, and proves itself a noisome bane of human
society and civil government.
His own iniquities shall take the wicked,
And he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
He shall die for lack of instruction;
And in the greatness of his folly he shall
go astray. Prov. v, 22, 23.
From every point of view the wicked are virtually the enemies of
true wisdom. They are foolish souls, "simple ones," silly, short
sighted, and culpably lacking in discretion and moral sense; they
delight in mischief and in forbidden courses of conduct; they
become scoffers and take delight in evil counsels; they follow the
seductions of the adulterous woman, whose "house is the way to
Sheol, going down to the chambers of death" (vii, 27). Such are
compelled to confess, when "flesh and body are consumed,
How have I hated instruction,
And my heart despised reproof!
I obeyed not the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me. Prov. v, 12, 13.
The man who thus despises correction and hates reproof is spoken
of as a brutish soul (ijn xii, 1 ) , and the evil-doer "is loathsome
and bringeth shame" (xiii, 5). His wisdom, if one call it such, is
as we read in the epistle of James (iii, 15), "not that which
cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, demoniacal." In
the more public form of its working, "sin is a reproach to peo
ples" (xiv, 34) ; and when a wicked man is in power the people
groan (xxix, 2). "He that turneth away his ear from hearing
the law, even his prayer is an abomination" (xxviii, 9).
The following passage from Prov. vi, 12-19, is a characteristic
example of human sinfulness as set forth in this gnomic poetry :
A worthless person (man of Belial) , a man of iniquity,
Is he that walketh with perversity of mouth:
Winking with his eyes, talking with his feet,
Teaching with his fingers;
Perverseness is in his heart;
He is devising evil continually;
He sendeth forth discords.
Therefore suddenly shall his calamity come;
On a sudden shall he be broken without remedy.

DIVERS VIEWS OF SIN 111
These six things Jehovah hateth;
Yea, seven are the abomination of his soul:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood;
A heart that deviseth counsels of iniquity;
Feet that are swift to run to evil;
A false witness who will utter lies,
And he that sends forth discords among brethren.

(2) In ihe Book of Job. The problem of evil, as presented in
the book of Job, is not a discussion of the nature of human sin
fulness but rather a poetic presentation of the sufferings of a
"perfect and upright man, who feared God, and turned away from
evil." The author lived at a time when the obvious prosperity of
the wicked in certain marked examples stood out in painful con
trast to certain notable instances of bitter affliction falling upon
the innocent, and prompting inquiry into the reason of such
apparent injustice. The speeches of Job and his friends are
acknowledged to be one-sided and mistaken utterances of men who
"darkened counsel by words without knowledge" (comp. xxxviii, 2;
xiii, 3). Two things, however, are insisted upon by Job, his own
consciousness of integrity and innocency (x, 7; xiii, 18; xvi, 17;
xxiii, 10, 11; xxvii, 5; xxix, 12-17), and the manifest power and
prosperity of the wicked (xxi, 7-13). The answer of Jehovah
out of the whirlwind (xxxviii — xii) does not assume to clear up
the difficult problem of the patriarch and his disputatious friends,
and is in substance a reminder of the limitations of human knowl
edge and power. But it brings Job into humility and reverent
silence (xl, 4, 5; xiii, 1-6), and powerfully suggests that he who
"laid the foundations of the earth" (xxxviii, 4), leads forth the
constellations of heaven, and orders the ways of every living thing
from the young ravens to the huge leviathan, knows well what he
is doing and must surely care for all his servants who fear God
and turn away from evil. The prologue of the poem is, accord
ingly, an imaginative apocalypse of the comforting thought that
no sorrow or trial is permitted to come upon the servant of God
without having been first considered in the gracious counsels of
heaven, and a limit set to the hand of the adversary (i, 12; ii, 6).
The outcome of the whole discussion (iii — xii) is to show the lim
itations of human knowledge in the questions of theodicy, and the
need of some assuring revelations from on high. The epilogue
(xiii, 7-17) shows how "Jehovah blessed the latter end of Job more
than his beginning," and thus the whole book affords a lesson in
substance like that which Jesus taught in another case of sorrow:
"Neither did this man sin, nor his parents" ; the affliction was not

112 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
a punishment, "but that the works of God should be made manifest
in him" (John ix, 3). There are forms of suffering and evil
which afflict mankind which are not of the nature of penalty to the
afflicted ones, but may test the virtue and exhibit the steadfast
piety of the righteous servant of God.
(3) In the Song of Songs. If we adopt the shepherd-hypothe
sis of the Song of Songs, we find in that exquisite drama a con
demnation of such unhallowed concubinage as that of David and
the fair damsel Abishag, the Shunammite (1 Kings i, 1-4), and
of Solomon, whose hundreds of wives and concubines turned away
his heart after other gods (1 Kings xi, 3). As the book of Job
exhibits the trials and the triumph of an upright man, so the
Song of Songs extols the virtue and unchangeable affection of a
true woman when put to the severest test. The Shulammite
maiden of this drama resists all the blandishments of the uxorious
king, rejects all his offers, and abides true to her shepherd-lover
who feeds his flock among the lilies. Thus understood the Song
is no composition of Solomon, but written rather to arraign and
rebuke the flagrant offenses of his polygamy. It celebrates the
changeless devotion of two faithful hearts, whom plighted love
should unite as "one flesh" for a lifelong companionship. Herein
we discern the divinely ordered foundation of the true marriage
covenant, and by way of the nefarious contrast a stinging censure
upon such sensual life as can talk complacently of "eighty concu
bines" (vi, 8), and show inordinate desire to add another to the
number.1 (4) In Ecclesiastes. The book of Ecclesiastes furnishes no con
tribution of much importance to the biblical doctrine of sin. The
author's main outcry, repeated more than a score of times, is
"vanity of vanities, the whole is vanity." He observes the empti
ness of all the pleasures which wealth and power can supply (ii,
1-11). Though wisdom excel folly, the wise man dies like the
fool, his labor often goes to benefit another, and so life itself
seems like a hateful burden (ii, 12-23). All the conditions of
human life present to this writer the aspects of an "evil business"
(pjy)> a "sore travail which God has given to the sons of men
to be exercised therein" (iii, 10). In the mysteries of life he
says: "I turned about, and my heart was set to know and to
search out, and to seek wisdom and the reason of things, and to
know that wickedness is folly, and that foolishness is madness;
and I find a thing more bitter than death, even the woman whose
heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands : whoso pleaseth

'See the Song of Songs: An Inspired Melodrama. Analyzed, translated, and
expounded by Milton S. Terrv. Cincinnati, 1893.

ADAMIC SIN IN LATE JEWISH BOOKS 113
God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her"
(vii, 25, 26). Looking at all things on all sides, weighing one
against another, human ambitions and pursuits appear to this
unknown master of proverbs like empty things (D^an), and a
striving after the wind. Wickedness often seems to triumph;
tyrants oppress; as far as human eye can see Sheol is a realm
of silence and darkness; the dust returns to dust, the soul to
God; but whether to be reabsorbed in universal spirit, to ascend,
or to go downward, no man can tell. The book ends as it began :
"vanity of vanities — all is vanity!"
(5) In the Later Jewish Literature. In the Old Testament
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and in the Targums, the Midrash,
and the Talmud we meet with the later elaboration of Jewish
doctrine which was current at the beginning of our era and some
time before. It is noteworthy that the sin of Adam and Eve, their
expulsion from the garden, and the farreaching consequences of
their transgression first appear to have great doctrinal significance
in this later literature. For vague allusions only appear in such
texts as Ezek. xxviii, 13-15, and Job xv, 7, 8, and the phrase "like
Adam" (D1N3), in Job xxxi, 33; Psa. lxxxii, 7, and Hos. vi, 7,
is better translated "like men," or "after the manner of man."
According to Gen. iii, 16-19, a curse was pronounced upon the
serpent, the woman, the man, and the ground; but nothing was
said about penal consequences destined to come upon any besides
the original transgressors. But in Ecclesiasticus xxv, 24, it is writ
ten : "From a woman was the beginning of sin, and because of her
we all die." In 2 Esdras vii, 48 (118), we read : "It had been better
that the earth had not given Adam, or else, when it had given, to
have restrained him from sinning. ... 0 thou Adam, what hast
thou done? For though it was thou that sinned, the evil has not
fallen on thee alone, but upon all of us that come of thee."
Compare also iii, 7, 21, 22, and iv, 30, 31. In the Wisdom of
Solomon ii, 24, we are told that <fby the envy of the devil death
entered into the world," and this statement seems to have influ
enced Paul in the composition of Rom. v, 12. Here we also
notice that Satan is conceived as the original tempter rather than
the serpent. According to the Apocalypse of Baruch xxiii, 4,
"when Adam sinned and death was decreed against those who
should be born, then the multitude of those who should be born
was numbered." The book of Jubilees iii, 28, says that on the
same day on which Adam was driven from the garden "was closed
the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of what
ever walks or moves, so that they could no longer speak ; for they
had all spoken with one another with one lip and with one tongue."

114 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
The same book explains Adam's dying on the same day he sinned
in that he lacked seventy years of being a thousand, years old
when he died, and "one thousand years are as one day in the testi
mony of the heavens." In the book of Enoch, however, the origin
of sin is traced rather to the angels who kept not their heavenly
habitation, but cohabited with the daughters of men and begat
the Nephilim of Gen. vi, 4.1
9. Paul's Doctrine of Sin in the Flesh. There appears in Paul's
epistles the peculiar doctrine of sin in the flesh. "When we were
in the flesh," he says, "the sinful passions, which were through the
law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death"
(Rom. vii, 5). "I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth
no good thing" (ver. 18). "I serve with the flesh the law of
sin" (ver. 25). He speaks of "likeness of flesh of sin" and of
"walking after the flesh" and "minding the things of the flesh"
(viii, 3-5). "The mind of the flesh is death; it is enmity against
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
it be." "They that are in the flesh cannot please God" (vers.
6-8). "If ye live after the flesh ye must die" (ver. 13). He
also speaks of "lusts of the flesh," "filthiness of the flesh," "indul
gence of the flesh," "works of the flesh," such as fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness (Gal. v, 19). "He that soweth unto
his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Gal. vi, 8). In
Col. ii, 11, 18, we read of "a circumcision not made with hands,
in the putting off of the body of the flesh," and a "being vainly
puffed up by one's fleshly mind" (ynd rov vodg- Trjg- aapndg- avrov,
by the mind of his flesh). The Colossians are exhorted to slay or
"make dead the members wliich are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, passion," etc. (iii, 5). In Rom. viii, 13, we are told
that spiritual life is to be obtained by mortifying or "putting to
death the deeds of the body." In 1 Cor. ix, 27, the apostle says:
"I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage." One who is under
the dominion of a sinful nature, or is easily influenced by passions
of jealousy and strife, is called fleshly, carnal (aapKinog: Rom.
vii, 14; 1 Cor. iii, 1, 3). Notice should also be taken of the
phrases "body of sin" (Rom. vi, 6) ; "body of this death" (vii, 24) ;
"passions of sins" (vii, 5).
In these texts the words flesh, body, and members (adp^, o&fia,
and p,eXn) are practically synonymous, although the natural dis
tinction of flesh as the material or physical elements, body as the
organism composed of these elements, and members as the various

1 See for fuller account of these later Jewish haggadah, F. R. Tennant, The
Sources of the Doctrines of the Fall and Original Sin. Cambridge, 1903. Also
Ferdinand Weber, Jiidische Theologie, pp. 218-259. Leipzig, 1897.

PAULINE DOCTRINE OF SIN 115
organs or parts need not be ignored. In other portions of his
writings Paul employs all these words in their ordinary and popu
lar meaning. He speaks of the flesh of men and of beasts (1 Cor.
xv, 39) ; of the human body and its various members (1 Cor. xii,
17-20), and of celestial and terrestrial bodies (xv, 40). In other
places the word flesh denotes, like "1K»3 in the Old Testament, weak
and dependent human nature in contrast with God, and is also
often used for men generally or mankind as a whole (comp. the
phrases "all flesh," and "no flesh"). There are also other minor
shades of meaning apparent in certain forms of expression which
are of no importance in our present argument. But in the Pauline
texts cited above the word flesh denotes the lower sensuous nature
of man, dominated by sin, and so exercising control over the
spiritual life and the conscience. The apostle does not conceive
of sin as originating in the sensuous nature; much less does he
hold the doctrine of an inherent and necessary sinfulness of the
flesh, and think of matter as evil in itself. His doctrine of sin
is profound and farreaching. He employs all those Greek terms
(dfiaprdvu, dfiapria, •napdrxTU)\i,a, napdpaoig-) which designate sin as a
culpable missing of the mark, a trespass, a violation of known law
by personal and willful transgression, and he teaches that sin first
entered into the world by the trespass of one man (Rom. v, 12-19).
As a result of that original transgression sin has "abounded" and
"reigned in death," and human nature universally presents the
spectacle of sin so regnant in the mortal body that this writer
says: "I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but
I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin
which is in my members" (Rom. vii, 22, 23) . Thus the flesh (odp%)
and the body as the organized flesh (aibfia) have become the seat
and citadel of all manner of vile passions. The members ((nsXif)
present themselves as "instruments of unrighteousness," and sin
wields dominion over the whole man (Rom. vi, 13, 14). 1 Rom.
vii, 14-24, is a graphic picture of the awakened conscience when
it recognizes this wretched bondage of sin, confesses "I know that
in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing," and cries

1 This condition and aspect of the matter are accordingly well stated as follows
by Caird: "The sensuous appetites and passions acquire a new character when
they become constituent elements in the life of a self-conscious, self-determining
being. As motives to human action they lose their purely animal characteristics ;
they cease to be what they are in the animal — blind impulses acting under the
law of physical necessity, and pointing to satisfactions which are limited and
transient ; they have infused into them a new element, or undergo a transforming
process, in virtue of which they are raised out of the sphere of nature into that
of spirit, and become rivals of the higher desires and aspirations of the spirit on
their own ground." — Fundamental Ideas of Christianity, vol. ii, p. 38. Glasgow,
1899.

116 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
out, "0 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the
body of this (spiritual) death?" This conflict between flesh and
spirit — between the lower passions as demoralized by sin and
error and the nobler moral sense and reason (vovg-) — may be more
severe, at crucial moments, in a personality like Paul than in
persons of inferior spiritual insight and emotionality. The tre
mendous struggle depicted in Rom. vii, 14-24, is personally known
in full experience only by those gifted natures who have been
exceptionally "strengthened, with power through the Spirit in the
inward man. ... to apprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge" (Eph. iii, 16-19), but all real
saints in Christ Jesus must needs know something of its searching
discipline. And thus it is by a power of spiritual insight that one
who has been freed from the slavery of "the law of sin and of
death" perceives the real nature of that fleshly bondage. Only
when one has experienced the saving power of "the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus" (Rom. viii, 2) can he truly apprehend the fearful
nature of sin.
The "sin in the flesh," "flesh of sin," "mind of the flesh," and
such like terms are, accordingly, with Paul, a special and peculiar
designation of the corrupt nature of depraved men, especially the
lower passions of selfishness, evil desire, and perverse habits of
life. In Eph. ii, 1, 3, he speaks of men in this sinful state as
being "dead through trespasses and sins," and "living in the lusts
of the flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and
being by nature ((piioei) children of wrath"; that is, subject by
reason of their fleshly sinful nature to the wrath of the all-holy
and righteous God. In the inmost center of man's self-conscious
being two opposite forces are often seen to clash. "The flesh
lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for
these are contrary the one to the other" (Gal. v, 17). The man
who gives himself over to the "lusts of the flesh" and to the prac
tice of the "works of the flesh" becomes the "bond servant of
sin," and is "brought into captivity under the law of sin which
is in his members." Such a deplorable slavery is in its worst
aspect a union of all that is high and noble in man with a "body
of death."
10. Pauline Rabbinism. The extent of Paul's rabbinical train
ing is evident from his epistles, and from his own testimony as
recorded in the Acts. He was "a Hebrew of the Hebrews," "a
Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee," trained after the straitest
sect, "brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according
to the strict manner of the law of the fathers," and, as he affirms

PAULINE RABBINISM 117
in Gal. i, 14, "I advanced in the Jews' religion beyond many of
mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly
zealous for the traditions of my fathers." His rabbinical habits
of thought appear in numerous allusions and expositions, as when
he builds an argument on the singular of the word "seed" (Gal.
iii, 16), puts an allegorical construction on the story of Hagar
and Sarah (iv, 22-26), speaks of the rock which "followed" the
fathers as related in the Targum of Num. xxi, 16-20 (1 Cor.
x, 4), and gives the names of Jannes and Jambres (2 Tim. iii, 8),
which appear nowhere in the Scriptures, but are found in one
of the Targums at Exod. vii, 11. His doctrine of sin and death
as connecting with Adam, in Rom. v, 12-19, has evident logical
and historical connection with the beliefs which appear in the
apocryphal literature of the later Judaism. But this peculiar fea
ture of Paul's character and teaching is not to be deemed any
disparagement, but rather a distinguishing excellency. For this
apostle did not follow slavishly in the steps of any human master.
He imparted a deeper and more spiritual significance to the cur
rent Jewish thought of his time which he found occasion to utilize.
If in Rom. v, 12-19, he offers an ideal conception of the solidarity
of the race in sin and in redemption, in Rom. vii, 7-24, he sets
forth the real psychological origin of sin in every man and the
reason of its universality.1
1 See Henry St. John Thackeray, The Relation of St. Paul to Contemporary
Jewish Thought. London, 1900. Also F. R. Tennant, The Origin and Propa
gation of Sin. Cambridge, 1902.

CHAPTER IV
THE PENAL CONSEQUENCES OF SDT
1. Physical Death as Penalty. The dreadful results of evil-
doing are set forth in the Scriptures in a variety of ways. One
of the first to be noticed is that which appears in connection with
the Edenic story of the first transgression: "In the day thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen. ii, 17; iii, 3). The
death here contemplated is generally understood to be the dissolu
tion of the human body and its return to the dust of the earth;
and this seems to have been the thought of the author of Gen.
iii, as the language of verse 19 clearly implies. This belief has
also been strengthened by our familiarity with the solemn sanction
of the death-penalty for capital crime, as found in the books of
the Law (Gen. ix, 6; Exod. xxi, 12, 15; Lev. xx, 2, 9; Num. xxxv,
16, 21; Deut. xiii, 9; xvii, 6). So far as physical death is thus
adjudged as a righteous penalty for criminal deeds, it is of the
nature of capital punishment, and finds its justification in the
heinous character of the crime and the rights and exigencies of
civil government. The safety of the community and of the state
requires that the dangerous offender be put out of the way, and a
sound jurisprudence may determine the form and measure of
penalty to be exacted.
2. Physical Death as Universal Law. But physical death as a
fixed and universal fact, and the dissolution of man's body conse
quent thereupon, are not to be regarded as the penalty of sin.
For the law of decay and dissolution, as truly as that of birth
and growth, is part and parcel of the divine order stamped upon
the nature of all living organisms, both animal and vegetable.
Ages before man appeared on earth this law was working in all
bodies endowed with life, and there is no sufficient reason to
suppose that, if sin had never entered into the world, man would
have been any exception to this universal law. Physical death
at times takes on many a form of aggravated pain by reason of
the sins of the sufferer against his own body, but in and of itself
it need not be regarded as an evil or as a necessary result of sin.
The annual growths of the harvest, the century-living oaks of the
wood, the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, and the beasts and
cattle of the field have each a normal lifetime. Man has his
118

PENAL CONSEQUENCES OF SIN 119
"three-score years and ten." But all alike fall either by some
untimely stroke or else by slow decay and death. This universal
law of death does not appear to rest on any law of sin, and there
is no good reason to burden Christian theology with such a need
less dogma. What we call physical death may be only the terminal
crisis of transition into a higher form of organic being. This is
suggested in John xii, 24 : "Except a grain of wheat fall into the
earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth
much fruit." Similarly 1 Cor. xv, 36 : "That which thou thyself
sowest is not quickened except it die." As new organic form
is given to that which is sown, and each new seed has a body
of its own, so it would seem that a law of physical death is a
natural and necessary factor in the production of a new phase of
life. 3. Physical Evils not a Penalty for Sin. It should be observed,
furthermore, that physical evils, such as plagues, pestilences,
famines, earthquakes, and awful calamities, are no longer to be
regarded, as they once were, the penal consequences of man's
original sin. They may, however, be viewed, as the Hebrew pro
phets suggest, as the occasional judgments of God upon wicked
men and nations because of their evil-doings. So Jehovah speaks,
in Ezek. xiv, 21, of his "four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the
sword, and the famine, and the noisome beasts, and the pestilence."
The language of Gen. iii, 17, 18, implies that the growth of thorns
and thistles is an evidence that the ground from which they spring
is cursed because of man's sin, and, according to Jer. xii, 4, the
land mourns, and the herbs of the whole country wither, and the
beasts and the birds are consumed, because of the wickedness of
them that dwell therein. But all such scriptures are easily
explained without the assumption that such evils are in themselves
a necessary penal consequence of human sinfulness. God often
employs them for penal purposes, and a personal consciousness of
guilt may recognize the penal visitation and confess that it was
justly deserved. There is also the notable concept of Paul,
expressed in Rom. viii, 19-22, that the whole creation is subjected
to a bondage of corruption, and of painful groaning and travail.
But there is no intimation that this subjection is of a penal charac
ter, or that it contains and carries with it any element of guilt.
On the other hand, the main doctrine of the book of Job is that
a righteous and innocent man may be subjected to appalling
calamities and sorrow for other reasons than for personal sin.
Also the words of Jesus, in Luke xiii, 1-5, condemned the error of
those who supposed that the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mingled
with their sacrifices, must needs have been sinners above all the

120 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Galileans because they suffered so horribly. Nor were they to
suppose that the eighteen men on whom the tower in Siloam fell
were offenders above all others then dwelling in Jerusalem. Still
more explicit is the teaching of John ix, 1-3, where, in direct
answer to a question that assumed as a matter of course that such
a calamity as being born blind must needs be the penalty of some
previous sin, our Lord declared that the misfortune of the blind
man was not a punishment of his own sin or of that of his parents,
but was somehow designed to manifest the works of God. How
far and in what ways the sufferings and the evils of the natural
world subserve the purposes of infinite Wisdom we do not presume
to tell. So many of his ways are past finding out. But it is
obvious from the Scriptures that many personal afflictions have
their place and reasons in God's purposes of good will to men,
and that "our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh
for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory"
(2 Cor. iv, 17; comp. Rom. viii, 18, 28; 1 Pet. i, 6; Heb. xii,
5-13). 4. New Testament Doctrine of Death. The death which in the
New Testament is represented as the penalty of sin is the aliena
tion of the soul of man from fellowship with God. It is a dis
ruption and ruin wrought in the spiritual nature of man, and a
consequent demoralization of the image of God within him.
Thus, according to James i, 15, "lust, when it hath conceived,
beareth sin; and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth
death." Hence it is that "he who converteth a sinner from the
error of his way shall save a soul from death" (James v, 20). But
such conversion does not save any one from physical death. Paul's
teaching is to the same effect. He affirms that "the mind of the
flesh is death" (Rom. viii, 6). This (ppovnfia, mind, is the habit
ual thought and purpose of a man prostituted to vile passions
of the lower nature; it holds him in "enmity against God," so
that the sinful passions work through the members of the body
and result in spiritual death (Rom. vii, 5). Even the command
ment of God which is holy and designed to train our spiritual
nature in the ways of life, proves rather a minister of death ; and
sin, in demonstration of its own destructive nature and exceeding
sinfulness, so works according to a law deep-laid in the nature of
man as to result in his spiritual death (Rom. vii, 9-14). In this
way "the law of sin" becomes also a "law of death." For sin,
"reigning in the mortal body" (Rom. vi, 12), employs its mem
bers as "weapons of unrighteousness," subjects the whole person
to miserable slavery, and pays the allowance (bxfiavia) of such an
abject soldier: "The wages of sin is death" (ver. 23). And

PENAL CONSEQUENCES OF SIN 121
thus it is seen that death, in the penal sense, is the fatal award of
disobedience, the end of all the shameful operations of the depraved
sensual nature, "for the end of those things is death" (ver. 21).
It is to be "carnal, sold under sin," and imprisoned in a "body of
death" (vii, 14, 24). Paul does not conceive it as the separation
of soul and body and the dissolution of the latter. He speaks of
men while living in the flesh as "dead through trespasses and sins"
(Eph. ii, 1, 5; comp. Col. ii, 13).
5. Pauline Conception of Sin and Death. It accords with Paul's
profound conception of spiritual death as the wages and end of
.sin that his portraiture of Adam's transgression outlined in
Rom. v, 12-21, presents a reign of death over all the world of men
consequent upon the entrance of sin. "Through one man sin
entered into the world and death through sin," and, what espe
cially deserves notice is the fact that "sin reigned in death."
.Sin reigned in the very fact of death and by reason of the death
which it introduced into the world. It is also observed that
"death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had
not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression." This does
not refer to infants, as some have thought, but to all who lived
before the giving of the law by Moses. Sin was in the world before
the Mosaic lawgiving, and showed itself in many forms that were
not "after the likeness of Adam's transgression." "And so death
passed unto all men, for that all sinned" (e<f>' <L ndvreg- rffiaprov).
The apostle conceives all mankind as brought under the universal
reign of death by reason of the trespass of the first man, whom
he idealizes as the typical sinner. The thought of the universality
of physical death would naturally associate itself with the state
ment, but the death which carries its own penal character along
with it is the spiritual lapse from God. This passed upon Adam
¦on the very day he transgressed, and in a mystic and figurative
manner Paul thinks of all men as both sinning and dying in
Adam (comp. 1 Cor. xv, 22). So on the other hand he also con
ceives himself and others as crucified, dead, and buried with Christ
(Rom. vi, 4, 6, 8; comp. Gal. ii, 20). In the same mystic way
he speaks in 2 Cor. v, 14, of the all (ol ndvreg-) who died with
Christ. All mankind, accordingly, sin and die, and "the sting
of death is sin." Physical death in itself and as a law of nature
is not evil ; it is God's way of transmuting a living organism into
a new form of existence; but to him that sins death becomes a
fearful monster, like a scorpion with a tormenting sting (comp.
Rev. ix, 5, 10). It gives a pang of torment to all the sadness,
despondency, grief, anguish, and spiritual wretchedness of the
ungodly, and so it makes "the sorrow of the world work death"

122 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
(2 Cor. vii, 10 ),1 altogether the opposite of the "godly sorrow
which worketh repentance unto salvation." So far, therefore, as
the thought of physical death does suggest itself as a penalty for
sin, the penal element is in the fatal sting. The sinner who
"repents unto salvation" escapes this sting of death, and "cometh
not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life," and
"shall never taste of death" (John v, 24; viii, 51, 52; comp. vi,
50; xi, 26; 1 John iii, 13). Herein the Pauline and the Johan-
nean doctrines are the same.
6. Penal Consequences beyond this Life. The curse of death
began its baneful operation on the very day of the first trans
gression. For alienation from God, the condemning judgment of
conscience, the sense of shame and guilt, and the subsequent har
dening of the heart, are all to be regarded as the penal operation
of the poison of the sting of death. But to what extent, we may
next inquire, does this deadly operation of sin go on? May the
"wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish upon every soul
of man that worketh evil" (Rom. ii, 9) continue beyond this
mortal life, and go on forever in other states of being? We know
that in this earthly life sinful habits beget fixedness of character.
If, then, there be a continuation of personal existence beyond the
present life, it would seem altogether probable that the self-
conscious personality maintains its character as well as its identity
in that future state of being. Unless it can be conclusively shown
that the soul of man undergoes some radical change of moral
character by reason of its entrance into the new state of being, it
would seem inevitable that the depraved nature of the self-con
demned sinner must remain the same. So far as we observe and
know it never changes the sinful character of a man to pass from
a prison to a palace, or from one climate to another.
7. Biblical Doctrine of Retribution. So far as the Scriptures
throw light upon this question of future retribution they indicate
that the penal consequences of sin may run on eternally. The
1 Some such idea of death as the outcome of a "sorrow of the world" may be
traced in those passages of the Psalms and the Proverbs where personal distress
and terror are depicted. Thus in Psa. xviii, 4, 5 : —
The cords of death compassed me,
The floods of Belial made me afraid.
The cords of Sheol were round about me;
The snares of death came upon me.
Similar is the language of Psa. Iv, 4; lvi, 13; cvi, 3, 8. In Prov. v, 5, it is said
of the evil woman: — Her feet go down to death;
Her steps take hold on Sheol.
In such scriptures the allusion is to something more than physical death. It is
also written that "righteousness delivereth from death" (Prov. x, 2; xi, 4), and
that "in the pathway of righteousness there is no death" (xii, 28). The death
here contemplated cannot be the exit of the soul from the body.

DOCTRINE OF FUTURE RETRIBUTION 123
most solemn declarations of Jesus on this subject occur in con
nection with his warnings against the "blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit," which "shall not be forgiven, neither in this world (age),
nor in that which is to come" (Matt, xii, 32). The soul that is
guilty of this unpardonable offense is, according to Mark iii, 29,
"held fast in eternal sin" (see above, p. 93). This teaching
accords strictly with the idea that a free and responsible moral
being may by blasphemous and persistent obduracy fix its own
character into a condition of unchangeable enmity against God.
(1) Old Testament Teaching Vague. We are unable to trace
any clear historical development of this doctrine in the canonical
writings. We find much in the Old Testament about the severity
of divine judgment on those who disobey God's laws, but the
retribution appears mostly if not altogether confined to evils
inflicted during the period, of earthly life. Thus in Lev. xxvi,
14-21, and in Deut. xxviii, 15-45, we read an enumeration of
manifold curses sure to come upon Israel in case they "hearken
not unto the voice of Jehovah their God"; but the penalties
announced are in every case some form of temporal calamity, such
as pestilence, famine, sword, and wild beast (comp. Ezek. xiv, 21).
Such examples of judgment cannot be properly adduced to prove
either the fact or the nature of retribution in another world.
There are also passages in the Psalms which speak of blotting the
wicked out of the book of the living (Psa. lxix, 28), "casting
them down to ruins" (Ixxiii, 18), and to sudden desolation (i, 5,
6; ii, 12; v, 6; lv, 23) ; but these references appear in the main
to be to temporal judgments, and can only in the most general
way be applied to punishments in a future state of existence. In
like manner the striking passage in Isa. xxxiii, 14, appears to
have no direct allusion to retribution in another world. In the
thought of the prophet "the breath of Jehovah is like a stream
of brimstone" that kindles a funeral pile (xxx, 33) ; he has "his
fire in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem" (xxxi, 9) ; hostile
peoples, like Assyria, "shall be as the burnings of lime ; as thorns
cut down, that are burned in the fire" (xxxiii, 12). "Sinners in
Zion" (ver. 14) may also fear these fearful burnings of divine
judgment, and "the godless ones" may well cry out, "Who among
us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us can dwell
with everlasting burnings?" The thought seems therefore to be
that of a funeral pile which burns all wicked ones after the man
ner of Assyria, and it turns upon the perpetual fire of Jehovah's
righteous wrath rather than upon the eternity of punishment vis
ited upon the sinners.
(2) Isaiah lxvi, 2£. There are, however, two notable passages in

124 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
the Old Testament, which have been supposed to involve the doc
trine of penal suffering beyond this life. One of these is the last
verse in the book of Isaiah (lxvi, 24), where the prophet, after
depicting new heavens and new earth and a restored Jerusalem,
speaks of a going forth out of the city and looking upon the dead
bodies of those who transgressed against Jehovah. Of these enemies
of God he declares that "their worm shall not die, neither shall their
fire be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorrence (p&m) unto all
flesh." How far these words were intended to convey some idea
of bodily torment in Sheol (comp. Isa. xiv, 11-19) is difficult to
determine.1 Jeremiah (vii, 31) mentions "high places of Topheth,
which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, for burning sons and
daughters in the fire," and according to Joshua the valley of
Hinnom (DJH y) was a well-known gorge on the south side of
Jerusalem. Here children were burned in the fire after the man
ner of the idolatrous abominations of the heathen (2 Chron.
xxviii, 3). It is not improbable that these facts helped in some
measure to produce the prophetic picture in Isa. lxvi, 24. The
signal overthrow of Jehovah's enemies carries the thought of the
writer to some such ideal of judgment as is seen in Isa. xiv, 11-19,
visited upon the fallen king of Babylon, and along with it are
associated a fiery retribution, and worms that never die, and all the
abhorrence suggested by the abominations that had been practiced
just outside of Jerusalem in the former days.1 All these ideas
seem to have entered into the later concept of the "Gehenna of
fire" which finds a place in the teaching of Jesus (Matt, v, 22;
Mark ix, 43-48), but they were probably yet vague and visional
in the mind of the author of Isa. lxvi, 24.
(3) Daniel xii, 2. The other Old Testament passage which
points to the penal consequences of sin beyond this life is Dan.
xii, 2, where it is said that some of "them that sleep in the dust
of the earth shall awake to shame and everlasting abhorrence."5
Beyond this bare statement the writer says nothing from which
we can clearly determine his concept of a resurrection to shame
and to being an object of aversion. Some sort of retribution

1 The Targum thus translates it : "Because their souls shall not die, and their
fire shall not be quenched, and the ungodly shall be judged in Gehenna, until the
righteous say concerning them, TVe have seen enough.' "
2 The picture of judgment, according to Delitzsch, "looks like eternal punish
ment raised above the conditions of temporality. The prophet blends temporal
and eternal. This world and the next coalesce to his view."— Commentary on
Isaiah, in loco. "The details of the description suggest, by their obvious incon
sistency, 'that the terms are symbolic of the tortures of the souls in Hades." —
Cheyne, The Prophecies of Isaiah, in loeo. Ed. Whittaker, New York, 1890.
3 The word here rendered abhorrence is pNYl, identical with that which appears
elsewhere only in Isa. lxvi, 24. In both text3 it means an object of aversion or of
abhorrence.

DOCTRINE OF FUTURE RETRIBUTION 125
after the body has returned to dust seems to be with him, however,
a doctrinal belief, and we can scarcely doubt that it was a current
belief of the Jewish people of that time.
(4) Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. The doctrine of future
punishment for the wicked is developed and wrought out in great
detail in the Jewish apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature.
Sheol becomes more than a name for the abode of all the dead; it
is conceived by some writers as divided into various apartments,
and includes Gehenna as the eternal abode of the ungodly. In the
Ethiopic book of Enoch Sheol is described as divided into four
deep and vast hollow places, one bright and inviting with a clear
spring of water in the midst, prepared for the righteous, and three
of them gloomy, arranged for different classes of souls, the worst
being for the vilest of sinners.1 The book of Judith says of the
enemies of Israel: "The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on
them in the day of judgment, to put fire and worms in their flesh ;
and they shall weep and feel their pain forever" (xvi, 17). In
2 Esdras vii, 36, we read: "The pit of torment shall appear, and
over against it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of
Gehenna shall be showed, and over against it the Paradise of
delight." Many similar ideas are presented with great variety of
detail in these later Jewish writings. The general belief of the
Pharisees in the first century of our era is thus stated by Josephus
(Antiquities xviii, 1, 3) : "They believe that souls have an immor
tal vigor in them, and that under the earth there will be rewards
or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or
viciously in this life; and the latter are to be detained in an
everlasting prison, but the former shall have power to revive and
live again." Thus Sheol, Gehenna, and Hades became common
terms to denote the under-world, in one portion of which the souls
of the wicked were destined to suffer endless punishment for the
sins committed in this earthly life. Whether they should again
be raised up and given bodies wherein to suffer, or whether they
should be left in Gehenna without their bodies seems to have been
a somewhat unsettled question.3
(5) The New Testament Teaching. The scriptures of the
New Testament are quite explicit on the subject of future retribu
tion for the wicked, and are so generally uniform in their state
ments as to show no considerable differences of view among the
different writers. We have noticed the solemn declarations of
Jesus concerning those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit,

1 See book of Enoch, translated by R. H. Charles, chap, xxii, pp. 93-97.
2 See more on this subject in R. H. Charles, A Critical History of the Doctrine
of a Future Life, p. 302. London, 1899.

126 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and have observed the moral fixedness of character acquired by
persistent continuance in a course of moral conduct. This is a
consideration not to be lost sight of in our discussion of the penal
consequences of sin. Nothing of real value in determining the
true doctrine of New Testament writers is secured by a minute
study of the terms Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, death, punishment,
destruction, and perdition. One may use any of these words with
out thereby endorsing the particular or peculiar opinions main
tained by a sect or by a few individuals. One of the earliest
epistles attributed to Paul declares that those who know not God
and refuse to obey the gospel of Christ "shall suffer punishment,
even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the
glory of his might" (2 Thess. i, 9). Here the idea of future
penalty does not depend upon a single word, or upon any mere
form of expression. The entire context touching "the revelation
of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in
flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God"
may be treated as highly imaginative and rhetorical. There is
room for differences of opinion in a minute exegesis of the passage ;
but one thought which on any rational interpretation stands out
conspicuously is the certain penal destruction of the disobedient
when the Lord Jesus appears in judgment against them. In
another epistle we find the following more general declaration:
"We must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of
Christ; that each one may receive the things done through the
body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad"
(2 Cor. v, 10). However much of metaphor may lie in the phrase
"judgment-seat of Christ" (a matter to be elsewhere treated),
one main thought is emphasized beyond question, namely, that
every man is destined to receive recompense of his deeds after
he has completed his earthly life-work in or through the body.
If he have done what is bad, penal consequences must follow.
This Pauline doctrine is in strict accord with the teaching of
Jesus in the Gospels. We cannot mistake the significance of his
warning in Mark viii, 38: "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me
and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son
of man also shall be ashamed of him, when he cometh in the glory
of his Father with the holy angels." In the sublime picture of
judgment in Matt, xxv, 31-46, the unrighteous are represented as
driven away from the throne of his glory, pronounced "accursed,"
and sentenced to "the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil
and his angels." In Matt, x, 28, he says: "Be not afraid of
them that kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but
rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in

DOCTRINE OF FUTURE RETRIBUTION 127
Gehenna." There can be no doubt as to the obvious import of
these texts in their bearing on the future punishment of human
sinfulness. In the gospel of John (viii, 21-24), Jesus says to
the unbelieving Pharisees : "I go away, and ye shall seek me, and
shall die in your sin: whither I go ye cannot come. ... Ye are
from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not
of this world. I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your
sins: for except ye believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins."
To die in their sins was evidently to become separated from Christ
and to become incapable of coming unto him. Such hopeless
separation goes over with the sinner into the world of personal
conscious existence beyond death. And this accords with the
teaching of Jesus in his description of the rich man, who "died
and was buried, and in Hades lifted up his eyes, being in tor
ments" (Luke xvi, 23). He saw Lazarus afar off in Abraham's
bosom, and prayed that he might be sent to cool his tongue and
ease his anguish in the flame; but he is admonished that he had
received his good things in his lifetime, and that between himself
and the abode of Lazarus and the blessed dead "there is a great
gulf fixed," so that none are able to cross over from one place
to the other. This entire portraiture of the future state of the
dead is in noticeable harmony with the idea of different apart
ments or abodes in Hades, of which we read in the later Jew
ish apocalyptic writings. A condition of anguish and torments
is set over against one of comfort and blessedness, with an impassa
ble chasm between. Thus far Jesus seems clearly to recognize
and sanction the current doctrine of his time touching future
reward and punishment. Whatever else this account of the rich
man and Lazarus may teach, it most obviously sets forth the doc
trine of retribution in the manner of conscious personal anguish
after the death and burial of the body. Another fearful intima
tion of the penal consequences of sin beyond the present life is
given in the language of Jesus concerning his betrayer, whom
he calls in one place (John xvii, 12) "the son of perdition," and
of whom he says in another (Matt, xxvi, 24), "good were it for
him if that man had not been born." Such language is incom
patible with any thought of a possible blissful immortality. It is
to be explained rather as confirming the doctrine of irretrievable
ruin of the soul by wickedness. This doctrine is stated in unmis
takable terms in Rev. xxi, 8 : "The fearful, and unbelieving, and
abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with
fire and brimstone ; which is the second death." From these vari
ous scriptures, as well as from many others of like character not

128 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
necessary to adduce, it seems impossible to avoid the conclusion
that the New Testament writers and Jesus himself held and
intended to inculcate the doctrine of future punishment for the
sins of this earthly life. The bitter consequences of sin, accord
ing to these scriptures, torment the sinner beyond the grave.
They are essentially penal and are accordingly conceived as "the
judgment of God according to truth against them that practice
unrighteousness"; they are a divine visitation of "wrath and
indignation, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that
worketh evil," the absence and the opposite of "glory and honor
and incorruption and eternal life" (Rom. ii, 3-11).
8. Inferences Touching the Nature of Future Punishment. If
we inquire further as to the real nature of these penal consequences
of sin in the world to come we can only speak by way of inference
and suggestion. The popular concepts of "Hell" and "eternal
perdition" have been in great measure derived from imaginative
pictures of poets and apocalyptists, and contain a vast accumula
tion of crass notions which are no essential part of true scriptural
doctrine.1 The biblical writers employ striking metaphors and not
infrequently indulge in extravagant descriptions when they are
simply recording personal experiences of the present life. So the
psalmist in his personal trouble and sorrow cries out (cxvi, 3),
The cords of death compassed me,
And the pains of Sheol found me.
Even Paul in the midst of peril and persecution cites the language
of Psa. xliv, 22, as descriptive of his feeling (Rom. viii, 36) :
For thy sake we are killed all the day long;
We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
He protests in 1 Cor. xv, 31, that he is dying daily. When we
find such language employed in describing personal affliction in
the present life, we may well presume that in portrayals of future
existence and of the fearful expectations of judgment after death,
even stronger language would be used. When we separate the real

1 The doctrine of the finality of life's spiritual decisions has no necessary
connection with ideas of punishment which were once current, or with those
realistic pictures of hell and crude conceptions of the retributive awards of divine
justice with which it has been burdened. The harrowing, materialistic ideas of
the pains of the lost which were natural to times in which life was rougher and
more cruel, are a witness to the deep sense of the perils and terrors of sm. But
they form no part of the doctrine itself. It has to be relieved of all such acces
sories. It has to get the benefit of that finer moral sense, those higher and purer
ideas of judgment and punishment, those humaner feelings, that deeper insight
into the intrinsic nature of things, which are the results of the gradual informing
of men's minds with the spirit of Christianity. — Salmond, The Christian Doctrine
of Immortality, p. 662. Edinburgh, 1895.

SHEOL, HADES, GEHENNA 129
kernel of thought from the drapery in which the biblical writers
present this subject, the nature of future punishment for sin will
be conceived as involving a variety of elements. The sure penal
consequence of persistent transgression is to harden the heart,
sear the conscience, and create a fixedness of evil character which
it is impossible to change. Thus the willful transgressor stands
committed to eternal sin (Mark iii, 29; Heb. vi, 4-6; x, 26, 27).
This involves exclusion from the presence and fellowship of God
and of all his holy ones (Matt, vii, 23; xxv, 41; 2 Thess. i, 9),
and it implies a sort of communal depravity entailed perpetually
by contact and association with spirits of wickedness (Matt, xxv,
41; Rev. xxi, 8). Such conditions must needs be thought of as
attended with more or less suffering of anguish and despair (Matt.
viii, 12 ; xiii, 42, 50 ; xxiv, 51 ; xxv, 30 ; Mark ix, 48 ; Luke xiii, 28) .
Thus we may interpret such terms as the "unquenchable fire"
(Mark ix, 43) ; the anguish and torment ascribed to the rich man
in Hades (Luke xvi, 23, 24), and "the lake that burns with fire
and brimstone" (Rev. xxi, 8). For God himself, in the execution
of righteous judgment upon the wicked, is spoken of as a con
suming fire that fearfully seizes and devours his enemies (comp.
Exod. xxiv, 17; Deut. iv, 24; ix, 3; Psa. xcvii, 3; Isa. lxvi, 15;
Dan. vii, 10, 11; Heb. xii, 29).
9. Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus. The use of the names
Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus in connection with the future
punishment of the wicked has naturally led to the belief that there
is a local prison in which the criminals of the moral world are
to be confined forever. In the later Jewish literature this appears
as a doctrine generally accepted, and the local abodes of the
righteous and the sinners are divided off into various compart
ments. The use of these terms in the New Testament accords
with this idea. Hades includes a place of torment separated by
a great gulf from "Abraham's bosom" (Luke xvi, 23). The
"Gehenna of fire" clearly connotes a place as well as a condition
of penal woe (Matt, v, 22; xviii, 9; Mark ix, 43-48), and the
horrible torment is fearfully depicted in the apocalyptic passage
where the idolatrous worshipers of the beast are said to be "tor
mented in fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels,
. . . and the smoke of their torment is going up for ages of ages"
(Rev. xiv, 10, 11). The concept of locality also attaches to the
allusion to Tartarus in 2 Pet. ii, 4, whither it is said the sinning
angels were east down, and committed to pits (aeipolg-) of dark
ness.1 In Luke viii, 31, the demons dread to go away "into the
1 Here the imagery is derived directly from the book of Enoch where the prison
of the fallen angels is similarly described. See Enoch, x, 5, 13; xxi, 7-10.

130 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
abyss," which is another name for the abode of evil spirits (comp.
Rev. ix, 1, 2, 11; xx, 1, 3). The language employed in all these
scriptures is plainly in harmony with the prevalent belief in. a
place of torment for wicked men and angels, and the words of
Jesus in Matt, xxv, 41 — "Depart from me, ye cursed, into the
eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels" — are
to be explained in accordance with the current ideas of the Jewish
people of that time. But while this was the common belief of
that time, it need not be maintained as an essential element of
the teaching of Jesus and of the New Testament that Gehenna
is a place, or that the future punishment of sin is physical in its
nature, and therefore confined to some definite locality. In using
the language of his time a great teacher does not necessarily com
mit himself to all the ideas which popular imagination associates
with certain words and names. The one idea of penal suffering
as the certain result of sin is the fundamental thought in all such
allusions to Gehenna and its perpetual fires. In Rev. xx, 14;
xxi, 8, the state of everlasting torment is called "the lake of fire,"
and "the second death." As death was the original penalty of
sin (Gen. ii, 17), and the condition of a depraved sinner is one
of spiritual death (Eph. ii, 2; Rom. vii, 10, 13; 2 Cor. ii, 16;
1 John iii, 14), so the ultimate doom of the wicked is appropri
ately called the second death. And so, perhaps, the idea of a
resurrection unto condemnation and eternal abhorrence (John
v, 29; Dan. xii, 2) is best understood as a kind of second sen
tence and penalty of death. The sinful soul, projected into its
own depraved conditions of existence beyond the death of the
body, experiences as the necessary result of its own wickedness
a second and deeper realization of its spiritual death. Whilst,
therefore, we have no sufficient knowledge to deny the possibility
and reality of local and physical conditions after death, we are
under no compulsion to interpret literally such terms as "fire and
brimstone," and "Gehenna, where their worm dieth not." The
extensive use of metaphor and symbol in the biblical writings,
the large amount of apocalyptic elements therein, and the neces
sities of figurative speech to convey ideas of the spiritual and
unseen admonish us to seek the essential thought that is embodied
in these figurative terms rather than adopt a literal method of
interpretation which would in many instances involve manifest
absurdity. 10. Degrees of Penalty. If, now, we conclude that the penal
consequences of sin extend beyond this life, and are in their
inmost nature the legitimate result of habits and character fixed
on the human spirit by persistent acts of opposition to what is

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT 131
known to be holy and just and good, it follows logically that the
penal consequences must needs vary according to the various
degrees of guilt. The doctrine of degrees of penalty is as clearly
taught in Scripture as is the doctrine of degrees of sin and guilt
(comp. above, p. 90). The same passages which establish the
one prove the other also (comp. Matt, x, 15; Luke xii, 47, 48;
John xix, 11). The appeal to reason in Heb. x, 28, 29, assumes
as beyond controversy that he who sins under the superior light of
the gospel is "worthy of much sorer punishment" than one who
"set at naught a law of Moses." This fundamental principle, that
all righteous penalty must be proportioned according to the vari
ous degrees of sin and guilt in the different criminals, is a truth
so obvious to every reasonable mind and so universally accepted
as to require no extended argument.
11. Duration of Penalty Everlasting. The duration of future
punishment, so far as the Scriptures indicate, is everlasting. This
is the idea naturally conveyed by such a statement as that of Matt.
xxv, 46: "These shall go away into everlasting punishment"
(ndXaoiv aldiviov). Here the duration of the doom of the accursed
ones (Karnpafdvoi, ver. 41), who are sentenced to "the eternal
fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels," is designated
by the same word which describes the everlasting life of the
righteous. In like manner the fearful punishment spoken of in
2 Thess. i, 9, is "everlasting destruction (oXedpov ai&viov) from
the face of the Lord." But the eternal continuance of the penal
consequences of sin may be argued on other grounds than the
use of a single word like al&viov. The specific statement that
he who blasphemes against the Spirit has no forgiveness, "neither
in this age, nor in the age to come" (Matt, xii, 32) seems to exclude
all possibility of future pardon. For though "the age to come"
be explained as the Messianic age, there is no intimation of any
other age (aiuv) to follow which will introduce better or more hope
ful conditions for the sinner who goes out of this life as an enemy
of God.
(1) Absence of Hope or Promise. Perhaps the most impressive
argument from the Scriptures on this point is the notable absence
of any clear and explicit statement that the penal consequences of
sin will ever come to an end. This absence of any sure ground
•of hope for the wicked in any world or age to come cannot be
fairly ignored or set aside as of little import. It is as awfully
significant as the fearful language of Rom. ii, 9, concerning the
positive visitation of "tribulation and anguish upon every soul
of man that worketh evil," set over in contrast with "eternal
life" which "the righteous judgment of God renders to them

132 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incor
ruption." (2) Question of Matthew xii, 32. It is often alleged that the
language of Jesus in Matt, xii, 32, leaves it to be fairly inferred
that in the world to come there may be pardon for other sins than
the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Let this be freely
acknowledged as a legitimate inference; and yet it by no means
sets aside the doctrine of eternal doom for some. Rather, may
it be said, this very inference enhances the awful conclusion that
those who are guilty of the unpardonable sin have no hope of
forgiveness, but are shut up in eternal sin and death (comp. Mark
iii, 29). We cannot suppose that our Lord would give utterance
to such fearful statements about hopeless perdition if no human
soul had ever committed or would or could ever commit a sin
whose penal consequences might continue through ages of ages.
Our contention here is not about supposable possibilities of grace
beyond this life, and about future opportunities of knowledge
and change for those who in this life never have the light of the
gospel. We are inquiring into the possible consequences of willful
transgression, and find that, according to the Scriptures, there
is no promise of any future provision for a change of character
in incorrigible sinners, "but a certain fearful expectation of judg
ment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries"
(Heb. x, 27).
(3) Question of 1 Peter iii, 18-20. It has also been supposed
that the preaching to the spirits in prison referred to in 1 Pet. iii,
18-20 ; iv, 6, is evidence of a provision of saving grace that will
be effectual for the salvation of sinners in the world of spirits.
But here, as in Matt, xii, 32, we may grant any legitimate inference
of possible provisions for some exceptional "spirits in prison"
without in the least nullifying the equally legitimate significance
of those other scriptures already cited which clearly indicate eter
nal punishment and perdition as the sure result of willful trans
gression and sin. A careful criticism of 1 Pet. iii, 18-20, more
over, does not warrant all the inferences which some have drawn
therefrom. For if we allow the strictest literal construction, the
passage only declares that Christ, "being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened in the spirit, went also and preached unto the spirits
in prison." There is no revelation of what he preached, or of
the results of his preaching; and the entire statement is limited
to spirits "who beforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering
of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing."
There is no intimation that he preached to any other spirits, or
that any such preaching ever took place before or will ever take

DOCTRINE OF ANNIHILATION 133
place hereafter.1 And if we further infer from 1 Pet. iv, 6, that
the purpose of this preaching to the dead was to rescue them from
their prison in order that they might "live according to God in
the spirit," we are not told that even one individual of them
accepted the offer, and obtained the salvation of Christ. All our
hopeful inferences, therefore, are at the best presumptions, and
lack confirmation in other scriptures. Such presumptions are
quite insufficient to be made a ground of hope for any willful
sinner. For this same epistle sounds a notable warning to evil
doers, and says that "the time is come for judgment to begin at
the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the
end of them that obey not the gospel of Christ? And if the
righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner
appear?" (1 Pet. iv, 17, 18.)
12. Doctrine of Annihilation of the Wicked. Many have sought
to explain the penal consequences of sin as issuing in the annihila
tion of the incorrigible sinner. The "eternal destruction" is
understood as eternal in effect, and such terms as death, perdition,
destruction, perishing, cutting off, consuming away, are affirmed
to signify in their most natural import the idea of utter cessation
of existence. Some go so far as to maintain that the soul is
dependent upon the physical organism for its conscious life and
must therefore necessarily cease to exist at the death of the body.
But this view is incompatible with such language as we find in
Matt, x, 28, which clearly implies that to kill the body is not to
destroy the soul. It is also irreconcilable with all those scriptures
which imply personal conscious life, memory, and thought beyond
the grave, as in the description of the rich man after his death
and burial (Luke xvi, 23-31). Scriptures also which involve the
doctrine of a blessed heavenly life beyond death are against this
view of the soul's dependence on the body for conscious life. The
words of Jesus to the dying malefactor (Luke xxiii, 43), the prayer
of Stephen (Acts vii, 59), and the language of Paul in Phil, i,
21-24, imply a belief in the immortality of the soul. If conscious
personal life of the soul be dependent on physical organization,

1 Perhaps, after all, as J. Rendel Harris has suggested (in the Expositor ; London,
1901, pp. 346-349), our whole trouble over this obscure text of 1 Pet. iii, 19, is the
result of a careless omission, by some early scribe, of the word ENS2X after KAI,
That the book of Enoch was widely read among the Jewish Christians of the first
and second centuries is evident from the use made of it in 2 Peter and Jude (Comp.
2 Pet. ii, 4, 5; Jude 6), and as matter of fact, we read in the book of Enoch (xii
and xiii) that Enoch did, at the command of the heavenly watchers, go and pro
claim to Azazel and his associate fallen spirits that they should find no peace nor
forgiveness. Thus it was Enoch and not Christ who ''went and preached unto
the spirits in prison." But see also the Expositor for 1902, pp. 316-320, and 377-
390. This conjecture appears among the various readings of Griesbach's critical
edition of the Greek Testament. London 1809.

134 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
there is no apparent reason why the righteous more than the
wicked should survive the dissolution of the body. Such a doc
trine of the annihilation of the wicked, moreover, is clearly incon
sistent with the idea of degrees of punishment for sin. Others,
however, maintain that the wicked after death may suffer various
degrees of punishment, according to their sins, but their personal
being and faculties become gradually weakened into helplessness,
and finally become utterly ruined by the consuming curse of God
and so pass out of conscious existence. Such texts as Psa. xxxvii,
20, are cited in evidence:
The wicked shall perish,
The enemies of Jehovah shall be as fat of lambs ;
They shall consume; in smoke shall they consume away.
But this psalm has no necessary reference to the question of exist
ence after death, nor can such poetic utterances have any weight
in setting aside the more positive and specific import of such texts
as those we have adduced to show the- perpetual consequences of
sin. The admonition to "fear him who is able to destroy both soul
and body in Gehenna" (Matt, x, 28) is cited as a proof-text for
annihilation; but the mere word destroy (dTroXXvfii) does not
and cannot determine the question, for it is used also in speaking
of lost sheep and lost coins (Matt, x, 6; Luke xv, 6, 8). No
positive or satisfactory conclusion touching the future destiny of
the soul can be reached by the etymology or the suggestions of any
one word. Even the very significant word eternal, aluviog; is
insufficient in itself to determine such a question. The doctrine
of the future annihilation of the wicked is at best only a hypothe
sis beset with manifold difficulties.1 It cannot be proven from
the Scriptures. While it may seem to fit some texts, and may be
a possible meaning of some words, it does not naturally accord
with the more obvious import of the teachings of the New Testa
ment touching the endless penal consequences of sin.
13. The Question of Theodicy. Why evil in any form should
ever have entered the universe of the blessed God is one of the

1 It does not meet the immediate difficulty, not to speak of the further mystery
which is left under all theories. It means that in some cases the victory of sm
over man and God is so absolute that nothing remains for God but to get rid of
it by a coup de main. It has been characterized as the 'most wretched and cow
ardly of all theories' — a theory which surrenders man's true nobility 'in panic at
an objection, and like all cowardice fails in securing its object' (Quarry, Donellan
Lectures, p. 31). The judgment is strong, but not without its justification.
Surely it is more reasonable, more scriptural, more reverent, either to hope that
God will find some better way of using sinful souls than to extinguish them, or
else to believe that man is so great a work of God, a being endowed with capacities
so vast that no limit can be put to the possibilities of his resistance of the divine
will, and, therefore, none to the continuance of the penalties of resistance.— -Sal
mond, The Christian Doctrine of Immortality, p. 627.

QUESTION OF THEODICY 135
most perplexing problems of human thought. In view of the
awful facts and penal consequences of sin, one hesitates to accept
the belief that the God of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness
would permit among his creatures the existence of any intelli
gent being like himself to whom self-conscious existence would
prove an everlasting curse. Some necessitarian divines have
affirmed and argued that sin is necessary or in some way conducive
to the ultimate highest good of the universe. But so far as this
hypothesis admits the tacit assumption that God could have
secured a universe of moral beings without sin, it cannot present
a satisfactory vindication of the divine government of the world.
Far better is the hypothesis which starts from the demonstrable
facts of man's free personality, and maintains that the existence
of moral beings, made in the image of God, is necessary to the
realization of the best possible universe. Such beings are essential
in any conception of a moral government, but sin is in no sense
necessary to the highest good of any being or of any world. God
did not desire it, plan it, or authorize it; but he saw, as we also
may see, that it was impossible in the nature of things to have a
world of free and responsible moral beings without the accompany
ing possibility of sin. Whether in the ages of ages to come, by some
form of Christly mediation, the penal consequences of sin may
be overcome and the universe be purged of its stains, is a question
we may meditate but may not presume to answer. We have
received no message or revelation as to the possibilities of the
future times eternal. It has been thought, however, that the
language of 1 Cor. xv, 24-28, suggests a far off goal when all
authority and power adverse to Christ shall be abolished. We
need not doubt that the everlasting Father would gladly, in any
age or in any world, welcome any lost spirit that turned freely
from his sin and cried for gracious restoration. But we do not
know that any such lost spirit will ever thus freely turn unto
God. Meanwhile we hold as a tentative theodicy that God prefers
a moral universe of innumerable hosts of holy and righteous
spirits made perfect, even though that universe be in some spots
forever black with Hell, rather than have no free moral universe
at all. The best theodicy ever written is, perhaps, the book of
Job. But that poem leaves the problem of evil unsolved, and
Jehovah's answer out of the whirlwind (Job xxxviii-xli) is an
appeal to human limitations and ignorance in justification of
his works and ways. But the appeal is adapted to suggest very
powerfully that the Creator and Ruler of the world knows what
he is doing, and will look after the consequences as well as the
beginnings of all things he has made.

SECTION THIRD
THE KEGENEKATION AND ETEBNAL LITE OF MAN

CHAPTER I
CONVICTION, REPENTANCE, AND CONVERSION
1. Salvation a Pact of Experience. Having seen that man is
a moral and religious being, and that he has fallen under the
dominion of sin, our next step is to point out the way of his
salvation from sin, and from the spiritual death which results
from sin. This great salvation is a fact of human experience, as
open to investigation as is the fact of sin, and our inductive method
leads us to an examination of these matters of personal knowledge
before we inquire more deeply into the character and the redeem
ing work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The man blind
from his birth submitted to the treatment of Jesus, obeyed his
command to go and wash in the pool of Siloam, and came back
seeing. He knew very positively what had occurred to him, and
others witnessed the indisputable facts, while as yet he knew little
of him who had opened his eyes. So we may know and witness
to the facts of the consciousness of sin, repentance, and the blessed
ness of a new spiritual life before we "attain unto the unity of
the faith and of the full knowledge (kmyvuoig-) of the Son of
God" (Eph. iv, 13). His divine person and mediation are full
of mystery, and they open many questions which are better deferred
until after we shall have first examined the actual facts of regen
eration. The facts of our sinfulness we know. The teaching of
Paul that the power of God is manifest in the things which he
has made, and that his "wrath is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness of men" (Rom. i, 18), cannot be reasonably ques
tioned. And God has written his law so deeply in the heart of
man that there is no escape from the self-condemnation of wrong
doing. With some men the sense of self-reproach and guilt is at
times so pungent as to break out in the cry of despair; with
others it is comparatively light and transient. There are many
forms and degrees of sinfulness. But whenever the soul of man,
convicted of sin and also of the righteousness of God, begins to
yearn for freedom from the power of "all ungodliness and unright-
136

CONVICTION OF SIN 137
eousness of men," there is to be seen in the personal experience
of such convictions and desires the mighty inworking of some
heavenly force. Our present study is with these facts of human
experience as they have been verified in actual life and illustrated
in the biblical writings.
2. Blameless Childhood and Youth. It is often seen that pious
example in the home and a careful training turn the tender heart
toward God, inculcate the habit and sentiments of prayer, and
instill a feeling of opposition to sin as soon as the child is able
to distinguish between good and evil. Such childhood piety may
blossom into beautiful young manhood and womanhood, attain in
time an admirable maturity, and through all the stages of its
growth exhibit a remarkable separateness from sin and sinners,
and a pure devotion to truth and righteousness. And this would
seem to be the true ideal of a Christian life. Why should not
every member of the Christian home be so "nurtured in the chas
tening and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. vi, 4) as, like the child
Jesus, to advance continuously with the years "in wisdom and in
favor with God and men"? (Luke ii, 52.) We would not venture
to affirm that any other human life was so holy, harmless, unde
filed, and separate from sin as that of Jesus Christ. Only omnis
cience could assure us of the fact and number of such blameless
lives, and of not one of them could it be said as of Jesus that
he was "without sin." But it may be said, with some confidence,
that there have been, by the grace of God, thousands of beautiful
and noble lives, early consecrated, kept apart from the ways of
sin, disciplined unto righteousness and purity, and attaining a
glorious old age "unspotted from the world." At the same time
we must note the fact that thousands of those who have shown
from childhood a remarkable freedom from sin confess their con
sciousness of blameworthy shortcomings and manifold transgres
sions. The most eminent saints of history were sometime slaves
of sin, and many of them have made confession of their deep
sense of guilt as well as of their deliverance from the same.
3. Conviction of Sin. We shall, accordingly, begin our inquiry
into the origin and development of spiritual life in the individual
with a due recognition of his personal consciousness of sin. The
sense of guilt, awakened in the soul by a revelation of God's truth
and of his "wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men" (Rom. i, 18), is properly among the very first experiences
of the sinner who would have peace with God, and it is appropri
ately called conviction of sin. It arises from a vivid perception
of the nature of sin and of the holiness of God. A living, moving
contact of the Spirit of God with the heart of his human offspring

138 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
flashes strong light upon his understanding, and in that light he
sees and feels his personal alienation from Him that is holy and
just and good, and he becomes deeply troubled. Such contact of
God's Spirit and truth with our spiritual nature may be effected
in many unseen ways; we cannot discern the process; but the
result is always to compel the man to see himself a sinner before
God. The power of this conviction will naturally vary according
to the measure of guilt.
(1) Expressed in the Penitential Psalms. Some of the clear
est expressions of the sense of sinfulness and guilt found in the
Old Testament scriptures appear in the penitential psalms. Not
infrequently the anguish bewailed appears to be intensified by the
belief that the bitter sufferings of mind and body are direct judg
ments of God, the rebukes of his hot displeasure and chastenings
on account of sins. Thus in Psa. xxxviii, 1-4, an agonizing peni
tent exclaims: O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath,
Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure,
For thine arrows stick fast in me,
And thy hand presseth me sore.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine
indignation;
Neither is there any peace in my bones because of my sin.
For mine iniquities are gone over my head,
As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
In Psa. li, 1-3, we note the humble acknowledgment of trans
gressions, iniquity, and sin. The three terms may be here
regarded as possessing distinctive significance. The first denotes
actual trespasses, deliberate acts of sin, among which was some
terrible "bloodguiltiness" mentioned in verse 14. The second
suggests the inbred corruption of a depraved nature, which the
supplicant conceives as cleaving to him from his birth (ver. 5).
The third is a more generic word (nNDl"U, and may here refer not
only to the idea of failure, a missing of the mark, but also to
the accumulated sinfulness of an impure heart and a long course
of wicked conduct. How the awakened conscience abhors such
a hideous load! It looks like a mass of broken bones (ver. 8).
But the most terrible fact in this poetic picture of a crushed and
broken heart is the sinner's knowledge that he has done all this
evil in the very eyes of God. "Against thee, thee only, have I
sinned" (ver. 4). The most profound conception and conviction
of the exceeding sinfulness of sin is that which sees it as open
opposition to the Holy One. So in his deep contrition David
cried: "I have sinned against Jehovah" (2 Sam. xii, 13).

CONVICTION OF SIN 139
(2) Described in Romans vii. The most remarkable descrip
tion of conviction of sin found in the New Testament is that which
is given by Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans. Verses 7-13
inform us how the law of God operates as a holy revealer of sin,
and verses 14-25 are a vivid word picture of the inner struggles
of an awakened sinner. The real meaning and purpose of this
remarkable passage have been greatly obscured by the bare ques
tion of its fitness or unfitness to represent the experiences of a
regenerate man. It serves rather to show the power of the holy
law of God to reveal the knowledge of sin to human consciousness.
This is so obvious in verses 7-13 that no one calls it in question.
The statement of verse 9 is suggestive: "I was alive apart from
law, once; but the commandment coming (like that which pro
hibits coveting, ver. 7), sin sprung up into life, and I died."
That is to say : There was a former time (trort), which seems now
like a far-off blessed memory of childhood innocence, when I had
no sense of sin and guilt; but the law said to me, "Thou shalt
not covet"; whereupon sin found a base of operation (d^oppp),
a great opportunity, and "through the commandment wrought in
me all manner of coveting" (ver. 8) ; and so, to the same extent
that "sin sprung up into life," my better nature died. "Did then
the good become death to me?" he asks in verse 13. No, no, he
answers, but by the operation of the good and holy law sin itself
has been displayed as preeminently sinful. Its true nature, its
deadly working, is thus brought to light, and the law of God in
its inmost essence is recognized as spiritual, divine, possessing the
power and character of the Holy Spirit for the work of conviction
of sin (comp. John xvi, 8). In verse 14 we notice a change of
tense from past to present. It serves the purpose of rhetorical
emphasis, and aims to set as in a living picture before the reader's
eye the life and death struggle of an awakened sinner. The writer
continues the use of the first person, for he undoubtedly is giving
his own personal experience as memory and deep emotion combine
to make it very present to his thought. The three words employed
in verses 15, 18, and 21 — "I understand not" (oi yiv&onu),
"I know" (olda), "I find" (evpioicui), — are suggestive of various
aspects of the struggle, and may perhaps be regarded in their
connection as involving an enslavement of the understanding, the
affections, and the will. For in verses 14-17 he represents his
understanding as in some sort of bonds; in 18-20 he shows how
the fleshly nature has dominion over him; and in 21-24 the law
in his members which wars against the law of his mind keeps
bringing him into such a bitter consciousness of captivity to the
law of sin that he cries out in agony of spirit : "0 wretched man

140 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
that I am !" He conceives himself bound fast to a dead body,
the body of a sinful human nature, which he has already, in vi, 6,
spoken of as "our old man" and "the body of sin."
(3) Experienced by Millions. Such an analysis of the convic
tion of sin in a human soul could be made only by a mind of deep
spiritual insight. It is a diagnosis of personal experience which
only the most gifted and spiritual among men can fully appreci
ate. But a similar conviction of sin, wrought in the heart by the
Spirit of God, yet varying greatly with different individuals, has
been the experience of millions. To some extent it is manifest
in the little child when he first comes to know good and evil; it
is often very powerful in the wayward youth, when arrested by
some call of God and brought to acknowledge his sin and folly;
it is sometimes overwhelming in a hardened sinner, who has long
stifled convictions of truth and right, and at last comes to genuine
repentance. Such great varieties of personal experience are capa
ble, however, in the last analysis, of such a portrayal as that found
in Rom. vii.
4. Repentance. When such conviction of sin is accompanied by
a real sorrow of heart and strong desire to escape from its con
demnation and turn unto God it becomes what is called repentance.
This term is commonly defined as a godly sorrow for sin, a defini
tion warranted by the language of 2 Cor. vii, 10: "Godly sor
row worketh repentance unto salvation"; although in this state
ment the apostle has prominently in mind the sadness (Xvirrf)
and mourning (bSvpfiog-) which his former epistle had caused the
Corinthians. The New Testament word for repentance is
p,erdvoia, and means a change of mind; but in usage it means
more than a mere change of opinion or sentiment. It is a moral
change, and involves not only a deep sorrow for sin, but also an
abhorrence of it; a loathing of its guilt and shame, and a yearn
ing to be delivered from its power. In fact, the usage of the
word in the New Testament seems to presuppose that the truly
penitent soul always turns to God and finds forgiveness of sin. It
may, then, be inferred that as a rule every sinner, in whom God's
holy law reveals the damning power of sin, and who truly repents
of his sins, experiences a change of mind and of spiritual character.
To use words peculiar to John, he "passes out of death into life"
(1 John iii, 14; John v, 24). Therefore the change is spoken of
in Acts xi, 18, as a "repentance unto life," and in 2 Tim. ii,
25, as "repentance unto a full knowledge of truth." It is a change
of heart that at once tends toward life, and leads unto the knowl
edge of God's truth and love.
5. Conversion. Such turning unto God which accompanies

REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION 141
repentance is called conversion (imorpocprj). We observe that the
exhortation of Acts iii, 19, is "Repent ye therefore, and turn ye
(emorpi%l>are, be ye converted) , that your sins may be blotted out."
The conversion of men to Christ by the ministry of the apostles is
called a "turning unto the Lord" (Acts ix, 35; xi, 21; xv, 19).
The preaching of Paul, both to Jews and Gentiles was "to open
their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the
power of Satan unto God, that they might receive remission of
sins." His declaration was "that they should repent and turn to
God, doing works worthy of repentance" (Acts xxvi, 18-20). "The
conversion of the Gentiles" (Acts xv, 3) means their turning away
from their former habits of life, from the sins and immoralities
to which they had been addicted, and from the service of idols, to
the adoption of a new and better life (comp. 1 Thess. i, 9 ; Eph.
ii, 11-13; iv, 17-25; v, 8; Col. i, 21). Thus conversion, in the
full Christian sense, involves repentance and a turning from sin
to the service of the living God.
6. Requires Cooperation of God and Man. In Rom. ii, 4, Paul
speaks of the goodness of God as leading (dya, in the sense of
moving and directing) unto repentance, and in Acts v, 31; xi,
18; 2 Tim. ii, 25, repentance is referred to as a gift of God.
But if it be a gift of God, some one will ask why, then, man should
be called on to repent and turn to God. The matter explains itself
when we keep in mind the doctrine of conviction of sin as already
described. There can be no genuine repentance in the soul without
an antecedent conviction of sin by the revealing law and Spirit
of God. In thinking of repentance as God's gift we have in mind
the indispensable gracious conditions which lead to repentance.
God first flashes light upon the darkened understanding; he
reveals the knowledge of sin, and by the working of his Holy
Spirit begets a longing for deliverance from sin. All this is the
necessary preliminary to a godly sorrow for sin, and may well
be spoken of as the gift of God. But when all this work of con
viction is wrought in the heart it yet remains for the conscious
soul with its own freedom of will to respond to such calls to
repentance as we find in Matt, iii, 2, 8 ; iv, 17 ; Mark i, 15 ; Luke
xiii, 3, 5 ; Acts ii, 38 ; iii, 19 ; viii, 22. After this manner we also
see both the self -consistency and the significance of such apparently
contradictory statements as those of Jesus in John vi, 44, and v,
40 : "No man can come to me, except the Father draw him," and
"Ye will not come to me that ye may have life." It is the part of
God first to draw and lead by the convicting operations of his
Spirit ; and after this is done, or rather in connection with it, the
penitent sinner must himself repent and turn unto God.

CHAPTER II
THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH
1. Faith Defined. The word faith means, in religious experi
ence, an absolute conviction of the reality of unseen things. Faith
in God is confidence in God; not a mere belief or acknowledg
ment that there is a God, but rather a personal self -commitment
to his care, and a loving confidence in his grace and truth. Faith
also includes an element of mystic fervor; for when a human
soul commits itself through deep conviction to a power and per
sonality unseen, but believed to be all-wise and good, there is wont
to arise a warmth of emotion like the passion of love. In this
way faith in Jesus Christ implies a strong, intelligent, fervid
conviction of his grace and power and a loving trust in him as the
divine Teacher and Saviour of men. Faith thus becomes a living
test of one's hold on spiritual things. It is the response of the
human heart to the impressions of the Spirit of God.
2. Doctrine of Paul. There is a doctrine of faith peculiar to
the writings of Paul. We read in Eph. ii, 8, "By grace have ye
been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; God's is
the gift." Some interpreters here understand the demonstrative
rovro, that, to refer to the word faith immediately preceding ; but
in that case we surely should have had the feminine avrn to corre
spond with martg; which is always feminine. The pronoun refers
rather to the idea of being saved (the aeauofievov elvai) by grace
which is made emphatic in the preceding clause. The foregoing
context shows that this gracious gift of salvation is a quickening
and raising up into spiritual life of those who were "dead through
trespasses and sins." The merit and glory of it all are ascribed
to the mercy, love, kindness, and grace of God in Jesus Christ.
This way of salvation is spoken of in Eph. iii, 10-12, as an exhibi
tion of "the manifold wisdom of God, according to a purpose of
the ages which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we
have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him."
Repentance leads unto this great salvation, but the saving grace
must, according to Paul, be appropriated by an act of faith in
God. "Repent ye, and believe in the gospel," says Jesus (Mark
i, 15). Hence it is obviously improper to call faith a gift of God
when the word is used in reference to a responsible act and attitude
142

THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH 143
of an individual.1 Faith that appropriates the saving grace of God
and leads to salvation is a free act of the soul. Man is called upon
to "have faith in God," to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,"
and the belief required is not merely an assent of the mind to that
which is good, nor the exercise of reason and judgment in approv
ing wholesome doctrines. It is a conscious willing surrender of
the heart to the righteous claims of God, and a throwing oneself,
so to speak, in full confidence on the divine Saviour. In the high
est and holiest sense, faith is trust.1
3. Theme of the Epistle to the Romans. The great theme of
the epistle to the Romans is the doctrine that the gospel "is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes." Having
shown that the whole world is fallen under the condemning judg
ment of God, the apostle announces as a fundamental truth that
"now, apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been mani
fested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them
that believe" (iii, 21, 22). Here is presented in substance the
whole Pauline idea of the attainment of personal righteousness.
It is not by the performance of the works of the law; it comes
not by way of merit from anything which fallen man can do ; it
comes solely by an act of faith in the efficacy of "the redemption
that is in Jesus Christ, whom God set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood." The faith which is here contemplated
is a sort of means and condition of receiving the benefit of redemp
tion. It is an act and also a subjective state or attitude of the
soul for which the person hoping to be saved is held responsible.
4. Example of Abraham in Romans iv. In the fourth chapter
of Romans this idea of saving faith is illustrated in a number of
points by the example of Abraham. It is pointed out (1) that
the patriarch's trust in God "was reckoned unto him for righteous-
1 The different concepts and shades of meaning which attach to the word mtxnr-
in the New Testament are worthy of notice. In some passages it may connote
the antecedents and consequences of the act of saving faith, and be spoken of as
a divine possession (1 Cor. xii, 9; James ii, 1, 14); in others it seems to be used
as meaning the substance of the gospel itself (Gal. i, 23 ; Eph. iv, 13 ; Jude, vers.
3 and 20 ; and perhaps 1 Tim. i, 19 ; iv, i ; v, 8) ; in others it suggests the idea of
fidelity (Titus ii, 10; Gal. v, 22). These secondary and modified meanings of the
word have no necessary connection with the Pauline doctrine of faith as means
and condition of salvation. See Lightfoot 's dissertation on "The Words Denoting
Faith" in his Epistle to the Galatians, pp. 154-158. London, 1890.
2 The term faith can scarcely be said to occur at all in the Hebrew scriptures
of the Old Testament. It is indeed a characteristic token of the difference between
the two covenants, that under the law the 'fear of the Lord' holds very much the
same place as 'faith in God,' 'faith in Christ,' under the gospel. Awe is the promi
nent idea in the earlier dispensation, trust in the later. At the same time, though
the word itself is not found in the Old Testament, the idea is not absent; for,
indeed, a trust in the Infinite and Unseen, subordinating thereto all interests that
are finite and transitory, is the very essence of the higher [spiritual life. — Light
foot, Epistle to the Galatians, p. 159.

144 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ness." It was, accordingly, not by works, but by an act of faith,
that he was accounted righteous before God, and his subjective
relation to the judgment of God was clearly a faith-righteousness
(vers. 1-5). (2) A confirmation of this doctrine is also found in
David's words (Psa. xxxii, 1, 2), where they are pronounced
blessed "whose sins are covered," and "to whom the Lord will not
reckon sin" (6-8). (3) The apostle next shows that this blessed
ness came to Abraham before he had received the sign and seal
of circumcision, and must therefore be independent of such out
ward rites (9-12). (4) For the same reason this righteousness
of faith is also apart from works of law, for it cannot be attained
through that which works wrath by its fearful revelation of the
damning guilt of sin (13-17). (5) Abraham's faith, moreover,
was an example of unwavering confidence in God's word. "Believ
ing in hope against hope," and having his heart set on God's
promise, "he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong
through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that
what he had promised he was able also to perform" (18-22).
Finally, (6) he alleges that this sublime example of faith in God
stands written in the Scriptures as a monumental witness for all
believers in Jesus Christ (23-25). This example of Abraham is
also adduced in the epistle to the Galatians (iii, 6-29), and is
there made to establish the same doctrine of faith as the means
of justification.
5. Doctrine of James. But in the epistle of James (ii, 21-23)
the faith of Abraham as shown in his readiness to offer Isaac upon
the altar is brought forward to prove that faith is not only essential
to initiate the believer in righteousness, but also to carry forward
the new life of devotion to God. In this later example written
in the history of Abraham it is seen "that the faith wrought with
his works, and (as a result issuing) from the works the faith was
made perfect." The substance of doctrine in both Paul and
James is certainly in accord with the fundamental truth that any
and every soul of man who has been convicted of sin, and repents
and turns unto God in faith, must also "do works worthy of
repentance" (Acts xxvi, 20; comp. Matt, iii, 8; Luke iii, 8). Paul
makes it very emphatic that one who becomes dead to sin cannot
any longer live therein (Rom. vi, 1). It is not, therefore, in any
fundamental way that James and Paul differ in their teaching
about faith and justification before God. But they do differ, and
each writer is to be studied and estimated by a careful attention
to his peculiar point of view. James wishes to give strong testi
mony against such as are forgetful hearers and not actual doers
of the word of truth (i, 22-25), and he insists rightly that the

THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH 145
only faith which is genuine and profitable is that which is shown
by good works (ii, 14-18). This is an aspect of faith which Paul,
according to Gal. v, 6, could certainly not oppose.
6. Doctrine of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Still another con
cept of faith is set forth in the epistle to the Hebrews, and defi
nitely described as the "substance of things hoped for, a conviction
of things not seen" (xi, 1). As the etymology of the Greek word
translated substance (vndaraaig-) suggests, faith is here conceived
as the underlying basis of the believer's hopes, and at the same
time as a profound inward conviction (eXeyxog-, proof) of the
reality of things not seen by fleshly eyes. This conception of faith,
as illustrated by the examples of ancient worthies mentioned in
this chapter, contemplates that holy trust in God which leads to
active and loving obedience. It is, perhaps, more closely related
to the doctrine of James than to the Pauline idea of a faith apart
from the works of the law. Nevertheless, the faith by which we
apprehend the work of God in creation (ver. 3) is essentially
the same as that by which we apprehend the grace of God in Jesus
Christ. The faith of Abel is conceived as the means "through
which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous" (ver.
4) . And all the godly acts and heavenly hopes of the long list of
worthies were inspired by a conviction and assurance of invisible
realities akin to what the repentant sinner realizes when he accepts
the redemption of Christ. In every case "the one who comes to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that seek after him" (ver. 6). Such faith ever tends "to a pre
serving of the soul" (elg- ireptnoinoiv tbvxrjs; Heb. x, 39). Whether
exercised by the penitent sinner or by the hopeful saint, it unites
the confiding soul with God.
7. Doctrine of Faith in the Gospels. The doctrine of faith
occupies a prominent place in the teaching of Jesus. His earliest
preaching was, "Repent ye, and believe in the gospel" (Mark i, 15),
and his latest commission, according to Mark xvi, 16, "He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth
shall be condemned." Here faith is obviously an act and respon
sible attitude of trust, and is made a condition of salvation. A
corresponding passage in John's gospel (iii, 36) is in noticeable
harmony with the main elements of the Pauline doctrine: "He
that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on
him." In his works of healing Jesus made much of the faith in
him which was exercised by those who sought his help. "0 woman,
great is thy faith!" he exclaimed before the Canaanitish woman
who besought him for her daughter (Matt, xv, 28; comp. viii, 10;

146 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ix, 2, and Luke vii, 9). To another woman he said: "Daughter,
be of good cheer; thy faith hath saved thee. And the woman was
saved from that hour" (Matt, ix, 22). To the blind men who
cried for his favor he said: "According to your faith be it done
unto you. And their eyes were opened" (Matt, ix, 29). He
taught his disciples that they might remove mountains by faith
(Matt, xvii, 20; xxi, 21; Mark xi, 23; comp. 1 Cor. xiii, 2), and
said in the same connection: "All things, whatsoever ye shall
ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." He seems almost to
employ hyperbole when he declares, "All things are possible to
him that believeth" (Mark ix, 23). Many other examples in the
synoptic gospels teach the same doctrine of faith, as a condition
and means of obtaining the gracious help of God and of Christ.
In the gospel of John, as the one passage already cited shows,
faith is essential to salvation in Christ. "The right to become
children of God" is given "to them that believe on his name"
(i, 12; comp. ii, 23; iii, 18; 1 John iii, 23; v, 13).1 The great
text in iii, 1 6, affirms that "whosoever believeth on" the only begot
ten Son of God shall not perish but have eternal life. In v, 24,
it is declared that "he who heareth my word and believeth on
him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judg
ment." The same truth is reiterated in one form and another
so as to be a characteristic formula of this Johannine gospel
(comp. vi, 29, 35, 47; vii, 38; ix, 35-38; xi, 25, 26; xiv, 1, 11, 12).
In fact this gospel claims to have been written "that ye may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing
ye may have life in his name" (xx, 31).
8. Personal Confession. The act of personal confession may
also well be mentioned in connection with this doctrine of faith.
The two are closely associated in Rom. x, 9, 10: "If thou wilt
confess the word with thy mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and wilt
believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved ; for with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Some
such confession of Christ is spoken of in Luke xii, 8, 9, as opposed
to a denial in the presence of men (comp. Matt, x, 32 ; 1 John iv,
2, 3, 15). In the initial experience of salvation confession of sins
must needs accompany the act of faith and the confession of Jesus
Christ as Lord; for "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unright
eousness" (1 John i, 9 ; comp. Matt, iii, 6).
1 It is worthy of note that the word faith (mori?) does not occur in John's
gospel, and appears only once in the epistle (1 John v, 4), where it is called "the
victory that overcame the world."

CHAPTER III
FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND RECONCILIATION
1. Greek Words for Remission. According to the words of Acts
iii, 19, repentance and conversion are essentially preliminary to
the blotting out of sins (rd ei-aXujydijvai rag- dfiapriag-) t and the
personal act of faith is the means whereby this blessed result is
realized. But this idea of a removal of sin as a blotting out,
wiping off, erasure, or obliteration (e^aXeUf>u)) of the sins of a
human soul calls for separate examination. There are two Greek
words in the New Testament which especially deserve our atten
tion in connection with this subject, namely, afeoig- (afiaprtwv)
and diicaida). The former may be translated remission, pardon, or
forgiveness of sins; the latter means rather to justify, acquit,
clear from guilt, pronounce righteous. Both terms contain a
measure of forensic and juridical significance, and suggest the
idea of a prisoner, a debtor, or a guilty person, whose merited
penalty is discharged by order of a competent court. When such
an act of pardon restores friendly relations between the offender
and the party who has been wronged, it not only remits the penalty,
but may also include the further idea of personal forgiveness, so
that reconciliation is effected between those who were at enmity.
Applying these analogies to the relations between a guilty sin
ner and the most holy God, we may discern a wonderful depth of
meaning in such a statement as that of 2 Cor. v, 19: "God was
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto
them their trespasses." The trespasses are blotted out, removed,
reckoned as if they had not been. According to Paul the sinner
is freely justified through faith by the grace of God (Rom. iii, 24),
and being thus justified he has "peace with God," and access into
a state of blessed and glorious hope, having the love of God shed
abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom. v, 1-4). "We reckon
therefore," he says (iii, 28), "that a man is justified by faith apart
from the works of the law." He maintains (vii, 6) that "we
have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which
we were held down, so as to serve in newness of spirit." The
wretched captive, whose struggle we saw depicted in Rom. vii,
15-25, accepts by faith the gracious pardon, obtains remission of
sins, and "thanks God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
147

148 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
2. Peculiarity of Paul's Doctrine of Justification. The chief
peculiarity of Paul's doctrine of justification by faith is the inten
sity with which he conceives it as proceeding from the saving grace
of God. He sees in the example of Abraham that "faith was
reckoned unto him for righteousness" (Rom. iv, 3), and the whole
gospel of Christ is to him the revelation of "a righteousness of
God" (dimioovvn -&eov, Rom. i, 17). It is "a righteousness of
God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe"
(Rom. iii, 22) . The word righteousness here is not to be understood
as an attribute of God in the sense of his divine justice; it is a
righteousness wliich proceeds from God, and is extolled as a "free
gift" (xdpiopa), and a "gift in grace" (duped kv xdpin, Rom. v,
15-17). He calls it in Phil, iii, 9, "that which is through faith
in Christ, the righteousness from God (sic ¦deov) on the condition
of faith." This righteousness or justification (for both these ideas
run together in the word) is the gracious state which results imme
diately from the acquittal which goes with the forgiveness of
sin.1 If it seem astonishing that the "righteous Judge of all the
earth," who revealed himself to Abraham as one who will distin
guish between the righteous and the wicked (Gen. xviii, 25),
should be declared by Paul to be God who "justifieth the ungodly"
(Rom. iv, 5), let it be observed that the divine justification goes
forth only "to him that believeth." "The righteousness which is
of faith" insists that God's free gift comes not to every sinner;
only to him who makes the needful confession, and "with the
heart believeth unto righteousness" shall the salvation of God be
given (Rom. x, 6-10). To all such "God reckons righteousness
apart from works" (Rom. iv, 6, 11) in the fact that he reckons
faith for righteousness, as in the case of Abraham. The sinner
who "believes unto righteousness" is accordingly treated by God
as freed from guilt and "from the law of sin and of death" (Rom.
viii, 2). The act of faith on the part of the convicted and peni
tent sinner is accordingly followed by the gracious act of justifica
tion on the part of God.
3. Reconciliation. The result of this divine act of pardon is
a state of reconciliation and peace between God and the believer.
We have seen that, according to Paul, "the mind of the flesh is
enmity (ex^pa) against God" (Rom. viii, 7) ; but "being justified
by faith we have peace with God through Jesus Christ" (Rom. v, 1) .

1 In the strict legal sense, as Merrill has observed, "pardon differs from acquittal.
The latter term is applied where guilt is charged but not established. The inno
cent man, when found to be innocent, is acquitted. He is not pardoned, but
justified as an innocent man. In such case there is no forgiveness. But the
sinner is not innocent. The dreadful fact of his guilt is established, and cannot
be ignored. " — Aspects of Christian Experience, p. 79. Cincinnati, 1882.

RECONCILIATION 149
Such a peace with God involves the removal of the enmity, and
the infusion of holy love and joy within the heart. This blessed
result of heavenly grace is called in Rom. v, 11, "the reconcilia
tion" (r/ KaraXXayrj), and in the immediate context the apostle
writes: "If, being enemies, we were reconciled to God through
the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be
saved in his life" (ver. 10). This idea of reconciliation finds
further expression in 2 Cor. v, 18-20 : "All things are of God who
reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry
of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and
having placed in us the word of the reconciliation." This "word
of the reconciliation" is a sacred deposit in the hearts of those
who like Paul had received a commission to preach this doctrine
of reconciliation. They became ambassadors of Christ, and went
about entreating men to "be reconciled to God." Such a ministry
of reconciliation was not different from that "word which God
sent unto the children of Israel, preaching good tidings of peace
by Jesus Christ," mentioned in Acts x, 36. The preaching of
this reconciliation is the preaching of "peace with God through
Jesus Christ" which follows the free pardon of sin. This work
of reconciliation through Christ is spoken of in Eph. ii, 14-18, as
a removal of enmity between Jew and Gentile, and effecting peace
between them both and God;, thereby Christ "reconciled them
both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby; and he came and preached good tidings of peace
to you that were far off (Gentiles), and peace to them that were
nigh (Jews) ; for through him we both have access in one Spirit
unto the Father." In a similar way, we are told in Col. i, 20-22,
of God's "reconciling all things unto himself, having made peace
through the blood of the cross," so that those who were once aliens
and enemies in their evil works had become reconciled to him so
as to be "presented before him holy and without blemish and
unreprovable."' This happy reconciliation with God is something
to be received (Rom. v, 11: Xafij3dvu, lay hold of; claim and
take into possession as one's own blessed boon). But though
appropriated by the act of faith, it is a gracious provision coming
from the love of God for his enemies (Rom. v, 10). It is, in
personal experience, the result of conviction of sin, repentance,
turning to God, believing in Christ, receiving forgiveness of sins
and justification before God.

CHAPTER IV
NEW BIRTH AND NEW LIFE
1. Comprehensive of the Other Experiences. But all these per
sonal experiences of conviction, repentance, faith, forgiveness of
sin, and reconciliation with God do not exhaust the mighty work
ing of the power from on high whereby sinful man is brought
into conscious favor and fellowship with God. Other truths
vitally connected with these experiences of the soul appear in the
biblical writings and are attested by an innumerable company of
Christian believers. Chief among these is that mysterious work
of the Holy Spirit which we commonly call regeneration, or the
new birth. This must not be thought of as an experience that is
subsequent to repentance and conversion. There can be no remis
sion of sins and no sense of justification before God apart from
the regeneration of the heart. We treat the subject in this relation
because of the deeper and broader significance which it has for
the whole Christian life. The new birth and the new life, which
are contemplated in the spiritual regeneration of a sinner, will be
found to be of the nature of a new creation, and in a broad yet
true sense, comprehensive of all the experiences of personal salva
tion in Christ. Pardon and justification are gracious acts of
God done for us; regeneration is a corresponding and concomitant
work of the Holy Spirit wrought in us.
2. Idea of a New Heart in the Old Testament. The idea of a
new spiritual life, begotten as by a special creative act of God,
appears in various parts of the Old Testament. It is suggested
by the metaphor of the circumcision of the heart in Deut. x, 16;
xxx, 6; Jer. iv, 4. It seems implied in 1 Sam. x, 9, where God
gives Saul "another heart." It finds strong expression in the
penitential psalm (li, 10), "Create for me a clean heart, 0 God,
and renew a right spirit within me." It is set forth in language
of remarkable spiritual depth and beauty in Ezek. xi, 19, and
xxxvi, 26 : "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I
put within you; and I will take away the heart of stone from
your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh ; and my Spirit will
I put within you." All these scriptures imply a radical change
in the spiritual nature of man; not of course the creation of new
substance, but such a quickening of all the forces of spiritual life
as to produce another mode of life.
150

THE NEW BIRTH 151
3. Teaching of Jesus in John iii, 3-8. The most direct and
positive teaching in the New Testament on this subject is found
in the gospel of John (iii, 3-8), where Jesus says, "Except a man
be born from above (&v<^ev), he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The word avuftev in this connection seems to mean from above
rather than again, as frequently translated. It occurs again in
verse 31 of the same chapter in the statement, "He that cometh
from above is above all." In John xix, 11, Jesus says to Pilate,
"Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given
thee from above." The word has also this meaning in the epistle
of James, where it is said that "every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights" (i, 17), and. where the
wisdom is extolled "which cometh down from above" (iii, 15, 17).
And so we understand that the new birth, of which Jesus speaks
in John iii, 3-8, is the originating of a new life in the soul by
the infusion of a living germ from above, that is, "from God,"
"from heaven," or "out of heaven," whence Jesus himself came
(comp. vers. 2 and 13, and John vi, 38, 41, 42, 50). The mystery
of this generation from above is deepened by the statement of
verse 5: "Except a man be born of water and Spirit he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God." The common interpretation
which makes the words born of water mean the outward perform
ance of baptism in water has never been able to make itself thor
oughly satisfactory. It seems inexplicably strange that our Lord
should have thus spoken of Christian baptism to "a ruler of the
Jews" at the time and under the circumstances supposed.1 That
he should, have aimed to set him thinking deeply on "heavenly
things" (rd enovpdvia, ver. 12), is every way supposable, and
accords with his remarkable spiritual language to the woman of
Samaria and to others. But for him, in a conversation with Nico
demus, to declare most solemnly that the outward ceremony or
rite of baptism with water is essential in order to enter into the
kingdom of God, is certainly amazing. It is not only out of
harmony with the profound spiritual teaching of John's gospel,
but it also stands in conflict with the letter and spirit of Jesus's
words against the "blind Pharisee," who seeks only to "cleanse
1 Bernard Weiss, in his edition of Meyer's Handbook on John, affirms that "it
is historically inconceivable that Jesus should have spoken to Nicodemus of
Christian baptism." In his own exposition Weiss maintains that the two factors,
water and spirit, "are simply coordinated, the water being conceived in its essence
as a purifying factor, the spirit as the efficient creative principle of the new life."
But the main trouble is to recognize the water of ritual baptism as a "coordinate"
factor along with the creative power of the Spirit. We would rather regard the
words Maro? Kal, water and, in verse 5, as an early interpolation; for they do
not occur again in verses 6 and 8, where of the Spirit is repeated, and, taken in
the sense in which they have generally been explained, they savor of the ritualistic
and sacramental sentiment which infected Christian teaching at an early period.

152 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
the outside of the cup and the platter" (Matt, xxiii, 25, 26 ; Luke
xi, 39; Mark vii, 4). That baptism with water is indeed a sym
bol of the "washing of regeneration" (Titus iii, 5) is true enough,
but to coordinate it with regeneration, so as to make it a neces
sary condition of entrance into the kingdom of God, is to teach
"baptismal regeneration" and a "sacramentarian salvation," which
ought to be repudiated by all Protestant Christendom.
4. Significance of Titus iii, 5, and Ephesians v, 26. Post-apos
tolic connotations of baptism and of other external ordinances
have been so long read into words and phrases of the New Testa
ment that to question a current interpretation is to expose oneself
to the charge of a lack of candor. So it has come to pass that the
phrases, "washing of regeneration" (Titus iii, 5), and "the wash
ing of the water in the word" (Eph. v, 26) are claimed with an
air of authority to refer necessarily to Christian baptism.1 But
in the first passage it is said that "God our Saviour, not by works
in righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy
saved us through washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Spirit which he poured out upon us richly." Now this
washing of regeneration is no more an outward washing with
water than is the "purifying unto himself a people for his own
possession" by "our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ," in Titus
ii, 14, an external act or ceremony. To a New Testament writer
the conjunction of the two ideas of "washing of regeneration" and
"renewing of the Spirit" would be far more likely to suggest the
language and thought of Ezek. xxxvi, 25, 26, than any form or
ceremony of baptism. As little can we believe that there is any
direct reference to the outward rite of baptism in Eph. v, 26,
where Christ is said to have "loved the church, and to have given
himself up for her, in order that he might sanctify her, having
cleansed her by the washing of the water in the word, that he him
self might present to himself the church glorious, not having spot
or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and
without blemish." Here it is the church (n iKKXnala), not the
individual believer, that is held before the mind. Christ himself
does the cleansing and the washing, though, according to John
iv, 2, "Jesus himself baptized not." To suppose that Christ's own
cleansing and sanctifying of his church is done by the water of
baptism is to magnify an outward ordinance above the word and
the Spirit. Those who suppose "the washing of the water" (Eph.
•So, for example, Ellicott, Commentary on Eph. v, 26: "The reference to
baptism is clear and distinct, and the meaning of Xovrp6v, laver, indisputable."
But the word T^vrpdv is never used in the Septuagint as a translation of the
Hebrew word for laver (TV3). Again, on Titus iii, 5, he writes: "Less than
this cannot be said by a candid interpreter."

THE NEW BIRTH 153
v, 26) to refer directly to baptism naturally find great difficulty
in determining both the meaning and the connection of the phrase
kv f)TJuari, in the word.1 But nothing is clearer than that this
prjfia is God's word (prjfia ¦deov) which in chapter vi, 17, is called
"the sword of the Spirit"; that is, the mighty instrument with
which the Spirit works all cleansing and sanctifying. In chapter
i, 13, it is called "the word (Xoyog-) of the truth, the gospel of
your salvation." This word is the "power of God unto salvation"
(Rom. i, 16), active, sharp, and penetrating (Heb. iv, 12), sanc
tifying in the truth (John xvii, 17-19). In view of this clear
and uniform teaching of the New Testament, the connection of
the phrase in the word with what precedes it need not seem
difficult. Both the sanctifying and the cleansing is wrought in,
or by the instrumentality of, the word of truth. This being the
fundamental doctrine, the use of the metaphor of cleansing by
the washing of water no more points specifically to baptism in this
connection than does the like metaphor of sprinkling with clean
water in the language of Ezek. xxxvi, 25. That the metaphor may
suggest the analogy of any kind of external ablution need not be
questioned at all. So in Eph. v, 26, there may be, as some main
tain, an allusion to the bathing of a bride before marriage.2 But
whatever the particular source of the metaphor of washing in Eph.
v, 26, and Titus iii, 5, the real sanctifying, cleansing, and regen
erating in the word and Spirit of God can be no outward washing
of the body. No legitimate inference from these texts can war
rant the sacramentarian doctrine of "baptismal regeneration," or
of the necessity of baptism in order to enter the kingdom of God.
5. The New Birth a New Creation. Recurring now to the state
ment in John iii, 5, we inquire after the source and significance
of the mystic words, "Except one be born of water and Spirit."
The concept of birth, generation, a coming into being and life,
involves necessarily to some extent the idea of a new creation. It
is noteworthy that in the Pauline epistles this new spiritual life
which a Christian believer receives from God through faith is
called a new creation (naivfj Krioig-). In Gal. vi, 15, the apostle
exalts this ideal above carnal ordinances by saying that "neither
_ ' This is the frank confession of Ellicott in his notes on the passage. But he
rejects, as "scarcely probable," that meaning of kv pfyuari which he calls "the
ancient and plausible reference to the words used in baptism." It is amazing to
find him writing in the same note that the "idea" of sanctifying in the word "is
scarcely doctrinally tenable. "
2 This was an ancient custom, and the presentation mentioned in verse 27, and
the adorning of a bride for her husband in Rev. xxi, 2, favor the supposition of such
an allusion. But the sacramentarian, who insists that 2.ovrp6v must mean laver
rather than the washing, and that the reference is to the basin, font, or baptistry
rather than to the idea or the act of cleansing, naturally makes more account of
the bath tub than the bathing.

154 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
circumcision is anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."
In 2 Cor. v, 17, he says that "if any man is in Christ, he is (or
there is) a new creature; the old things are passed away; behold,
they are become new." In Eph. ii, 10, we read: "We are his
workmanship (Troinua), created in Christ Jesus for good works" ;
and in iv, 23, 24, we have the exhortation to "be renewed in the
spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God
hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth." So
again in Col. iii, 9, 10, the constant putting away of all kinds
of sinfulness is based upon the consideration "that ye have put
off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man,
who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of him that
created him."1 In all these passages the result of the mighty
working of God in the soul of man, whereby one is brought from
the death of sin into the life of righteousness, is conceived as a
new creation.2 It is, accordingly, most natural to associate this
idea of creation with being "born of God." It may be that the
truest, clearest concept of creation in the highest sense is that of a
begetting, a genesis, and to understand the real import of John
iii, 5, we should recognize in the mystic and metaphorical lan
guage of Jesus an allusion to the primeval creation as read in the
first chapter of Genesis. There we have the picture of a series of
creative acts set forth as a succession of births produced by the
word of God, and they are called "generations of the heavens and
the earth." At the beginning "darkness was upon the face of the
deep and the Spirit of God was brooding upon the face of the
waters." And when "God said, Let there be light; and there
was light," we get our first and sublimest concept of a divine
creative birth e| vSarog Kal rrvevuaroc, from water and Spirit. As
in that primeval creation light came forth out of the darkness
by the word of God, begotten as it were from the waters and the
Spirit that brooded over them, so the new life and light of God
are brought forth in the heart of man by the working of the same
Spirit from above. The "being born of water," therefore, in John
iii, 5, is not the ceremony of baptism, but a mystic allusion to the
brooding of the Spirit over the waters and the breaking of the
light out of the "darkness that was upon the face of the deep,"
1 The new creation of the spirit into fullness of knowledge and truth, is regarded
by the apostle as analogous to man's first creation. As he was then made in the
image of God, so now; but it was then naturally, now spiritually in inlyvaai^.
. . . It is not to restore the old, but to create the new, that redemption
has been brought about. — Alford, Greek Testament, notes in loco.
2 So in fact many interpreters translate the word kt'usiz, which may mean
either creature or creation. According to Schottgen, Horo3 Hebraicm, vol. i,
pp. 328, 704, the proselyte who was converted from idolatry to Judaism was
called ntjnn fTH2, a new creation.

THE NEW BIRTH 155
and the significance of the allusion is in the fact that the new
birth from above is like the creation of a new heaven and earth.
This seems to have been the thought of Paul when he says that
"God, who said, Light shall shine out of the darkness, shined in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. iv, 6). Here we have a true
concept of the new birth and the new creation in Christ Jesus.
Such generation, or regeneration, is necessarily a work of God in
man. It is the gracious product of the life of the Spirit from
above (dvudev). Conviction of sin, repentance, and faith are
essential conditions of this transition into heavenly life, and in
all these conditions the human soul cooperates with the life-giving
Spirit; and so we read in John i, 12, 13: "As many as received
him, to them gave he power (i^ovolav, authority, right) to become
children of God, even to them that believe on his name : who were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God."
6. Mystery of Spiritual Life. The mystery of this new birth
is recognized in John iii, 8, and compared to the wind1 which blows
where it will, and makes itself heard, but no one knows whence
it comes nor whither it goes. There is mystery connected with
"that which is born of the flesh," as such scriptures as Eccl. xi,
5, and Psa. cxxxix, 14, 15, confess; much deeper is the mystery of
spiritual and heavenly things. This much, however, seems to be
beyond contradiction, that in all the world of living things no
form or kind of life is known to come into existence except as the
outgrowth of some antecedent germ of life. No changing of sub
stances, no modifications of environment, no chemical compounds,
no forces of electricity or of any kind of energy known to man,
can endow one atom of the material world with the principle of
life. And so we may say of any form of inanimate matter in
the world, Except some germ of life be imparted to it from above,
that is, from some higher power or nature having life in itself, it
cannot enter the realm of life at all.1 In accordance with this
analogy, so invariable and universal in the world of nature, there
can come no spiritual element of life in man, who is "dead in
1 Bengel (Gnomon of the New Testament, in loco) does not allow the meaning
of wind to to irvev/ia in this verse but translates : "The Spirit breatheth where
it will, and thou hearest its voice, but knowest not whence it comes and whither
it goes; so is every one who is born of the Spirit." The Sinaitic MS. reads in the
last sentence: "So is every one who is born of water and Spirit." The fact that
TT-vevfia is used, fike the Hebrew nn, both for wind and spirit, occasions am
biguity. The illustration drawn from the mystery of the wind may have been
suggested by Gen. i, 2: "The Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters,"
where some render DwK nil, a wind of God. Comp. Gen. viii, 1.
3 See Henry Drummond 's suggestive chapter on "Biogenesis" in his Natural
Law in the Spiritual World, pp. 61-94. New York, 1887.

156 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
trespasses and in sins," except it be given him from above. There
must be some living germ implanted by a power not ourselves,
and it must be nourished by appropriate conditions. The Spirit
of God, brooding over, the great deep of man's elementary possi
bilities, quickens his spiritual nature into heavenly life and light,
and releases him from the darkness of sin. Thus, to use the
metaphor drawn from the first creation, he is "born of water and
Spirit," he is "called out of darkness into marvelous light" (1 Pet.
ii, 9) ; he has put off the old man of sin, with the fleshly lusts
and passions of the depraved nature, and has become a new crea
tion by power from on high. There is chaos no longer in his
soul, but peace with God through Jesus Christ. He is now dead
unto sin, but alive unto God (Rom. vi, 2, 10, 11). The germ of
new and heavenly life abides and develops into the eternal life
of God. And so we read in 1 John iii, 9 : "Whosoever is begotten
of God, doeth no sin, because his seed (anipfia avrov; that is, God's
seed, an element of the divine nature as a creative germ of new
and higher life) abideth in him." This idea of being born or
begotten of God, and thereby becoming separate from sin, is
peculiarly Johannine (comp. 1 John ii, 29; iv, 7; v, 1, 4, 18).
But it is clearly implied in the language of 2 Pet. i, 4 : "Ye may
become partakers of the divine nature, having, escaped from the
corruption that is in the world by lust." It is involved in such
Pauline expressions as "newness of life" (Rom. vi, 4) ; "the Spirit
giveth life" (2 Cor. iii, 6) ; "it is no longer I that live, but Christ
liveth in me" (Gal. ii, 20) ; "your life is hid with Christ in God"
(Col. iii, 3). In fact the doctrine of divine life begotten in the
heart of man by the Spirit of God is so common to all the New
Testament writers that it seems needless to point out incidental
and favorite forms of expression peculiar to any one author.
7. A Passing out of Death into Life. The new birth, then, is a
passing out of darkness into light, and "out of death into life"
(John v, 24; 1 John iii, 14). It is a new and heavenly creation
by the living "Power from on high," and it is necessary for
entrance into the kingdom of God. Heirs of God and partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light must be begotten of God,
born from above. In language peculiar to John, "the witness is
this, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath the life; and he that hath not the
Son hath not the life" (1 John v, 11, 12). While, therefore,
all men by reason of their religious constitution and personality are
"offspring of God" (yevog- rov deov, Acts xvii, 28, 29), no one of
these offspring enters into conscious and happy fellowship with
God except he be "born from above." There is a new and special

THE NEW BIRTH 157
impartation of heavenly life, given upon conditions of contrition
and turning unto God in faith. This new birth quickens all the
spiritual possibilities within man's nature, and, in the mystic
Pauline phrase, his life becomes hidden with Christ in God and
he is conceived as a new creation. The simple facts, sufficiently
recognized in the Scriptures, of man's religious nature and pos
sibilities, would seem to leave no ground for the controversies
which have been raised over the bearing of the doctrine of regen
eration on the universal fatherhood of God. The terms employed,
such as regeneration, justification, a new creation, passing out of
death into life, contain an obvious figurative element, but describe
facts of experience. Too many controversialists go far astray over
a mere figure of speech, and assume that a new birth and a new
creation must needs involve the production of a new being. But
no new person is created by this heavenly change. It is the same
individual whose conversion is as life from the dead. It is a
prodigal son, who forfeited his right to be called a son, and who
made himself a child of the devil, selling himself to work ungod
liness, that is restored to his father's love, dead but alive again,
lost but at length found again, and the witness of his real sonship
is of the nature of an adoption, because he had become an alien
by his wicked works. So one may say after the manner of Paul
in 1 Tim. iv, 10, that God is the Father of all men, especially of
them that believe.

CHAPTER V
ADOPTION, SONSHIP, ASSURANCE, AND SPIRITUAL FREEDOM
1. New Relationship of Adoption. In connection with the doc
trine of the new birth and the further development of this new
life of God in man, we should also take notice of the New Testa
ment teaching on the subject of the real relationship wliich such
new born children of God sustain to him. This heavenly birth,
which is conceived as a new creation, is an introduction to some
thing other and more than natural creaturehood. It is not a
relationship which can be propagated from parent to child. It
is designated in several Pauline epistles by the word adoption,
vlo&eaia, so that it is conceived as a constituted, not a natural,
sonship (a son by teoig; not by <f>vaig-). According to Eph. ii, 1-3,
all who are "dead through trespasses and sins" were "sons of
disobedience," and "we all once lived in the lusts of our flesh,
.... and were by nature (<j>vaei) children of wrath." Such,
though begotten of God by a sort of spiritual resurrection, a
"quickening together with Christ" (ver. 5), become beloved chil
dren by adoption rather than by generation. Like the prodigal,
they are welcomed into the family life, but the reception is not
so much a second birth as a new creation, and life from the
dead; "the dead is alive; the lost is found" (Luke xv, 32). The
new relationship, however, is based upon all that work of repent
ance and faith and regeneration which we have expounded in the
foregoing pages, and in the light of those spiritual experiences
we can understand the apostle when he writes: "Ye are all sons
of God through faith in Jesus Christ." "God sent forth his Son
.... that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because
ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. iii, 26; iv, 5). Similarly in Rom.
viii, 14-16 : "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are
sons of God. For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto
fear ; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that
we are children of God." In Eph. i, 5, it is said that God "fore
ordained us unto adoption through Jesus Christ unto himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will." This sonship which
enables one to "cry out, Abba, Father," is not, according to Paul,
a relationship which comes by common birth or generation. It is
158

SONS OF GOD 159
a new relation to God which the believer receives through Jesus
Christ, so that in the good pleasure of the heavenly Father he is
placed, set apart, constituted and reckoned as a son (Modai vl&v).
The idea may have been suggested by the divine adoption of Israel
as the chosen nation to be unto Jehovah a peculiar possession
(comp. Exod. iv, 22; xix, 5) ; for in Rom. ix, 4, the apostle speaks
of the Israelites as God's favored ones, "whose is the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service, and the promises." In all these passages we note
the same conception of a God-given boon, a reception into the
relationship of sons, graciously bestowed on those who accept
and obey the gospel. The person thus received is thenceforth
treated as a child in the family of God, entitled to all the rights,
privileges, and blessings of the household. "If children," says Paul,
in Rom. viii, 17, "then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with
Christ." The relationship is constituted after the manner of adop
tion ; the heirship and all related privileges are as genuine and cer
tain as if the sonship itself Were that of an only begotten of a father.1
2. Sons of God. But while the word adoption is peculiar to
Paul, and his idea of the relation it implies is somewhat governed
by his conception of the relation of the gospel to the law, "sons
of God," and "children of God," are terms which appear in other
scriptures as describing a true and blessed relationship to God
as the heavenly Father. The peacemakers "shall be called sons
of God" (Matt, v, 9), and those who love their enemies and pray
for their persecutors are praiseworthy sons of their Father who
is in heaven (Matt, v, 45). The righteous who "shall shine forth
as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" are the good ones
who in this world are called "sons of the kingdom" (Matt, xiii,
38, 43). These same are also called appropriately "sons of light"
(Luke xvi, 8; John xii, 36; 1 Thess. v, 5) and "children [reKva]
of light" (Eph. v, 8), and being "imitators of God" they show
themselves "beloved children" (Eph. v, 1), "children of God with
out blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation"
(Phil, ii, 15). In such texts the filial relation is thought of in
connection with the blessedness which it has in itself, and not with
reference to the adoption of sons. In one passage (Rom. viii, 23)
Paul uses the word adoption with reference to a future and final
1 In contrast with those theologians who study to make fine distinctions between
the ideas of divine and human adoption, Ritschl observes that "we ought rather
to ascertain the harmony between the two. Such harmony cannot be found in
the idea of the establishment of a right of inheritance for a person of alien descent.
For those persons who in the Christian sense have been adopted by God as his
children attain this rank also only under the presupposition that in a certain real
sense they derive their being from God, that is, that they have been created in his
image." — Justification and Reconciliation, p. 96. Edinburgh, 1900.

160 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
glorification, "the redemption of our body" to which believers look
forward in longing expectation, and he says (ver. 19) that "the
earnest expectation of the creation is waiting for the revealing of
the sons of God." And this accords closely with the beautiful
sentiment in 1 John iii, 1-3: "Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children
of God; and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we children of
God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know
that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall
see him even as he is. And every one that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as he is pure." In this conception of the
sonship John is not essentially different from Paul, but in sub
stantial agreement. This sonship is not by nature but of grace
and love. Its distinguishing mark is the quality of righteousness ;
for "he that is begotten of God doeth no sin" (vers. 9 and 10).
On the contrary, he that doeth sin is a child of the devil, even like
Cain, who "was of the evil one, and slew his brother" (ver. 12).
3. Witness of the Spirit. Coincident with this adoption as sons
of God there is the removal of the servile spirit of fear. There is
no longer a miserable sense of a "law in my members warring
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under
the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom. vii, 23) ; "for the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the
law of sin and of death" (viii, 2). This is like an experience of
life from the dead, a new creation in Christ, and, according to Paul,
the believer receives along with the adoption a twofold assurance
of the fact: "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit
that we are children of God" (Rom. viii, 16). God's Spirit and
man's spirit bear united testimony to the new and heavenly rela
tionship. The mighty work of God which brings about the release
from sin and the newness of life carries along with it its own proper
and peculiar assurance to the human self-consciousness. Such a
passing from death into life cannot remain hidden from the knowl
edge of the new man in Christ. The living Spirit makes his
own unmistakable impression on the soul, and in quick concurrent
response thereto the human spirit witnesses its own sense of the
heavenly fellowship.1 These concurrent testimonies resolve them-
•Paul distinguishes from the subjective self-consciousness: 7 am the child
of God, the therewith accordant testimony of the objective Holy Spirit: thou art
the child of God. The latter is the yea to the former; and thus it comes that we
cry the Abba in the spirit of adoption — Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Hand
book, in loco. But the former is also the yea to the latter. In the nature of
things, logically speaking, the divine precedes the human witness, and yet the
two are simultaneous. See John Wesley's three sermons on "The Witness of
the Spirit," in Sermons, vol. i, pp. 85-107. New York, 1854.

BOLDNESS OF ASSURANCE 161
selves into a matter of personal self-knowledge as to one's own
spiritual experience. "Who among men knoweth the things of a
man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the
things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. But we
received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit that is from
God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us
of God" (1 Cor. ii, 11, 12).
4. Boldness, Confidence, and Full Assurance. This concurrent
witness of God's Spirit and man's spirit, testifying to the believer
the fact of his adoption, is a conception peculiar to Paul ; but the
doctrine of a personal experience which it involves is common to
Paul and other writers. It is implied in the steadfast boldness
(Trappnoia) with which the child of God "approaches the throne of
grace," and enters into the holy places (Heb. iv, 16; x, 19). In
the first epistle of John this boldness is spoken of not only as a
present and abiding fearlessness toward God but a like feeling of
confidence in view of the day of judgment (ii, 28; iii, 21; iv, 17;
v, 14). Paul also writes of our boldness in Christ and "access in
confidence through our faith in him" (Eph. iii, 12). The faithful
minister gains "great boldness in the faith which is in Christ
Jesus" (1 Tim. iii, 13). Still more emphatic is the expression
of "all riches of the full assurance of understanding" in the
mystery of God, in Col. ii, 2, and the "full assurance (nXrjpotpopia)
of hope and of faith" in Heb. vi, 11; x, 22. Such assurance is
begotten in the heart by the personal fellowship with God which
his true children enjoy. They have the confidence of little chil
dren, and every faculty of the feeling, the understanding, and
the will attests the heavenly union.1 Here also belong those con
firmations of personal experience of which John speaks: "We
know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love
the brethren" (1 John iii, 14). "Hereby we know that we are
of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him" (ver. 19;
comp. ver. 24, and iv, 13, 17). Such assurance is no vain boast
of self-delusion, but the simple acknowledgment of an inward trust,
a confidence in God whose saving power has been realized in the
soul. And this confidence is strengthened by the continuous and
unwavering "testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and
sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God,
we have behaved ourselves in the world" (2 Cor. i, 12). There are

1 The witness of the Spirit is sacred to the person who enjoys it. It is the
most precious jewel of the heart. It is the hidden treasure, the pearl of great
Srice. It is the secret of the Lord, committed to the believer in trust, not to be
espised, nor to be treated as a common thing. It is, therefore, to be spoken of
with carefulness in the presence of those who appreciate it, and not boastfully
before the multitude. — Merrill, Aspects of Christian Experience, p. 179.

162 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS-
mysteries of the invisible about these things, but the facts of per
sonal feeling and intelligent conviction bear their own witness
to the conscious soul. We may not tell whence the wind comes,
nor whither it goes (John iii, 8), but at the same time we may
have the most unquestionable evidences of its actual movement and
effect ; and "so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
5. Christian Freedom. Along with the boldness and assurance
which come to the soul in the blessed experiences of pardon, regen
eration, and adoption, we must notice also that "liberty in Christ"
which Paul and others magnify as a glory of the true Christian
life. In Gal. v, 1, it is written, "For freedom did Christ set us
free''1; and in verse 13, "Ye, brethren, were called for freedom."
Also in the allegory of Gal. iv, 24-26, where the two covenants
are contrasted, those who are in Christ Jesus and walk after the
Spirit are conceived as children of the free and heavenly mother
Jerusalem, and not to be "entangled again in a yoke of bondage."
They are free citizens of a spiritual and heavenly commonwealth,
and not to be thought of as bound fast in any system of servitude
other than that of voluntary and most honorable loyalty to Jesus
Christ. And so we further read, in 2 Cor. iii, 17, that the Lord
Jesus is the living Spirit and power by which the entire work of
redemption and of revelation is accomplished, "and where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." This ideal of spiritual
freedom is still further brought out in the epistle to the Romans,
vi-viii. We are admonished that one may be a bondservant either
of sin or of obedience to God in Christ. If one obeys sin, he is
the slave of sin; if he obeys God, he is the servant of righteous
ness. "Thanks be to God," says the apostle, "that whereas ye
were bondservants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to
that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being
made free from sin, ye became bondservants of righteousness"
(Rom. vi, 17, 18). Further on he adds (ver. 22), "Now, being
made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your
fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life." And after
depicting the mighty struggle for deliverance from "captivity under
the law of sin," which is so vividly set forth in Rom. vii, he declares
in viii, 2, that "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made
me free from the law of sin and of death." This is the liberty
of a free human spirit, that has broken with sin, and laid hold on
Christ, and passed into the new life of conscious peace and fellow
ship with God. "The liberty of the glory of the children of God,"
1 Some render, "With freedom did Christ set us free," on which Alford com
ments: "That is, free men is your rightful name and ought to be your estimation
of yourselves, seeing that freedom is your inheritance by virtue of Christ's redemp
tion of you."— Greek Testament, in loco.

CHRISTIAN FREEDOM 163
referred to in Rom. viii, 21, is the same royal estate of Christian
freedom, only conceived, perhaps, in a later stage of glorious reve
lation. This same idea of liberty as realized in a blessed service
of God appears in the language of 1 Pet. ii, 16, where those who
are notable for well-doing are spoken of as "free, and not using
their freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of
God." James also speaks of the gospel as "the word of truth,"
and calls it "the perfect law, the law of liberty" (i, 18, 25). He
who looks into this law with a steady, continuous, loving devotion,
"being not a hearer that forgetteth, but a doer that worketh, this
man shall be blessed in his doing." This spiritual freedom, then,
is in its inmost nature the realization of a fast fellowship with God
and a loving obedience. It brings the soul aloft out of all sense
of groveling bondage to sin, and breaks away from mere forms and
ceremonies, as from a bondage of the letter that killeth (comp.
2 Cor. iii, 6). Rites, ritual services, fasts, pilgrimages, all such
merely outward forms and a mechanical "observance of days, and
months, and seasons and years" (Gal. iv, 10), are comparatively
like "weak and beggarly rudiments," and one who is dependent
on them or unable to rise above them into a pure personal com
munion with the living God, is entangled in a yoke of bondage.
He knows not the light and the liberty of the sons of God. With
him rites are an end rather than a means to an end. Such out
ward forms are utterly insufficient to release a human soul from
the bondservice of sin. He only is the true Christian freeman
whom the truth of Christ makes free, and he abides, not as a serv
ant, but as a son in the house of his heavenly Father. He walks
and talks familiarly with God. Hence the saying of Jesus in John
viii, 36 : "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
Compare also the whole context in verses 31-38.1
'According to Ritschl, "Melanchthon enumerates four grades of freedom —
freedom from sin and the wrath of God, the freedom of the new life inspired by
the Holy Ghost, freedom from the Mosaic law, and freedom from the yoke of
human ordinances in the worship of the Church. Calvin omits the first and the
third of these, and puts in the forefront another aspect of freedom, to which he
was necessarily led from regard to the true nature of justification. It is just the
other side of justification by faith, that nothing of law or legal works should play
a part in it. To this fundamental principle we must reduce the last of the aspects
of Christian freedom, the right, namely, to regard human ordinances in the Church
as indifferent." — Justification and Reconciliation, p. 115. Edinburgh, 1900.

CHAPTER VI
PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL LIFE
1. New Life Involves Growth. Having attained the adoption
of sons of God we are at the first only as little children, "babes in
Christ," and we have seen that the new birth from above does
not produce another personality. The subject of the marvelous
change from death unto life is still the same in all the elements
of natural constitution. The personal identity attaching to body,
soul, intellect, and power of volition remains unchanged ; but "the
new (veog-) man, who is being renewed unto knowledge after the
image of him that created him" (Col. iii, 10), henceforth "walks in
newness of life" and "serves in newness of spirit" (Rom. vi, 4;
vii, 6). By the regeneration of the Spirit he becomes a "new kind
of man" (Kaivbg- dvdpuTrog; Eph. iv, 24) , a new creature, or a "new
kind of creation" (Kaivfj Kriaig; Gal. vi, 15; 2 Cor. v, 17 )/ In the
early period of this new kind of spiritual life he is without mature
knowledge of the things of God, and of course needs instruction
in "heavenly things" (John iii, 12). Hence we find in many a
scripture exhortations to "go on unto full growth" (reXetorng; Heb.
vi, 1), to "grow up into Christ in all things" (Eph. iv, 15), to
"increase with the increase of God" (Col. i, 10; ii, 19), that is,
with such increase in all spiritual attainments as God in his own
ways confers. In 1 Pet. ii, 1, 2, it is written : "Putting away all
wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil
speakings, as newborn babes, long for the spiritual guileless milk,
that ye may grow thereby into salvation." In 2 Pet. iii, 18, it is
also urged, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ." The faith of the Thessalonians is spoken
of as "growing exceedingly," and their love toward one another
as "abounding" (2 Thess. i, 3). In the Old Testament we meet
the familiar figure of the righteous man, who is "like a tree
planted by streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its sea
son, and its leaf withers not" (Psa. i, 3). "The righteous shall
1 The distinction between the two Greek synonyms for neui is interesting and
suggestive. The word veor is used, to designate what is new in time, recent,
young, fresh. The vtoc man is one who has been recently converted and is
fresh and young in Christian experience; the Kaw6? man is new in quality and
character, and enjoys a newness (nat-vArr/-) of life unknown to him before. See
Biblical Hermeneutics, p. 96. 164

SPIRITUAL GROWTH 165
flourish like the palm tree : he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon"
(Psa. xcii, 12). And so of every one who passes out of the death
of sin into the life of righteousness it may be said, in the beautiful
words of Hosea (xiv, 5, 6) concerning restored Israel: "He shall
blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His
branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree,
and his smell as Lebanon." Such ideals of a vigorous life and a
healthy growth and fruitage naturally associate themselves together
in the scriptural presentation of Christian character.
2. Elements in Spiritual Growth. The divers elements involved
in spiritual growth appear in the New Testament teaching as we
cannot expect to find them in the Old. For though the Law, the
Prophets, and the Psalms contain expressions and suggestions of
the most blessed fellowship with God and of the most profound
spiritual struggles, these heavenly truths have a much clearer and
richer setting forth in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hence Paul
could speak confidently of this latter as a ministration of the spirit
and of righteousness which far surpassed in glory and excellence
the older Mosaic ministration which was "written and engraven on
stones," and was relatively a ministration of condemnation and of
death (2 Cor. iii, 6-11). One of the first things to be realized
in the personal growth of the newly adopted child of God is a
sloughing off, so to speak, of the tissues of the old sensual "body of
sin" (Rom. vi, 6). As the living germ in the grain of seed-corn
throws off its outer husk and hull, and as. the kernel of the acorn
easts off its shell when the new plant shoots forth, so is the putting
off of the old man essential to the putting on and development of
the new man in Christ. While the new life may be imparted in
a moment of time, the getting clear from the old body of sin and
of death may not be the work of an hour or a day. In many cases
it is the work of years. Along with this breaking away from the
old conditions there must be a vigorous putting forth of the new
life of righteousness, and this will speedily show its independence
of external ritual and superiority to all such "bondage of the let
ter." There must follow instruction in the way of righteousness,
and increase of knowledge and wisdom. The passion of holy love
will manifest itself from the first and intensify the hunger and
thirst after righteousness and true holiness. Personal sanctity and
holiness of heart and life must needs accompany and further this
life of God in the soul, and hallow all its stages of advance. The
continual working and illumination of the Holy Spirit must needs
enhance all possible spiritual attainments in such "children of
light," and the activities, discipline, and matured experiences of
advancing age work together unto the perfection or practicable

166 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
completeness of Christian character. Some of these experiences
call for a more detailed discussion here.
3. Argument of Romans vi. In the sixth chapter of Romans
we have an argument intended to show the incompatibility of sin
with the new life of righteousness which is received through faith
in Christ. Three most important considerations are advanced
which we may briefly state as follows: (1) Death unto sin and
life in Jesus Christ involves such a crucifixion of the old man
that the former bondage to sin is utterly broken, and the passions
and lusts which held the higher nature down like a dead body
imprisoning a living spirit (comp. vii, 24) are done away
(Karapyndij, annulled, abolished, put an end to). This means a
thorough-going emancipation from the bondage of sin (vers.
1-11). (2) Therefore, the argument proceeds, sin is no longer
to reign in the body, and sinful lusts must be no more obeyed, but
the members of the body are thenceforth to be consecrated unto
God as "instruments of righteousness," just as if the body itself
were alive from the dead (vers. 12-14). (3) It follows, then,
that, as a matter of logical necessity, servants of righteousness
cannot be servants of sin. The servant of sin may indeed be free
as regards righteousness (ver. 20; but what a wretched slavery
such freedom!), but it is clear that the servant of righteousness
is made free from sin. And the outcome of it all is that "now
being made free from sin, and become servants of God, ye have
your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life" (vers.
15-23). There is no mistaking the main points in this argument.
Sin and righteousness are opposites. We cannot live in both at
the same time, and therefore deliverance from the one involves
subjection to the other. With the new birth the entire life of the
individual takes a new trend. There is no burden of condemna
tion crushing down upon them that have obtained pardon and
remission of sins, but, according to Rom. viii, 1-11, the Spirit of
heavenly life, by whose potent agency the new birth is accomplished
from above (dvay&ev), triumphs over the flesh, and the adopted
child of God is thenceforth to be led and governed by the Spirit
which sanctifies the whole nature and ultimately glorifies it in eter
nal life.
4. Doctrine of 1 John iii, 9, 10. This same doctrine is written
in Johannine style in 1 John iii, 9, 10. The necessary opposition
of sin and righteousness is conceived as so complete that the two
cannot coexist and control the human spirit at one and the same
time. "Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin, because his
seed abideth in him; and he cannot sin (oi) divarai dfiaprdveiv),
because he is begotten of God." In verse 6 of the same chapter

SANCTIFICATION 167
it is affirmed that "whosoever abideth in him (that is, in Christ)
sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither know
eth him." There is, in this apostle's thought, an irreconcilable
antagonism between the life of the sinner and that of the child
of God who "abides in the Son and in the Father" (ii, 24 ; comp.
i, 3, and John xiv, 23). It was not in his mind to affirm that a
child of God can never under any circumstances fall into sin, and
bring condemnation upon himself; nor does he teach that the
religious life of all the children of God must needs be uniform in
light and power. He elsewhere contemplates the case of a "brother
sinning a sin not unto death" and receiving life from God (v, 16),
and he declares to his little children (reKvia), whom he would deter
from sin, that "if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for
our sins" (ii, 1). He admonishes against saying that "we have
no sin," and "have not sinned," and says that "if we confess our
sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (i, 8-10). We cannot sup
pose, therefore, that this apostle shut his eyes to the great variety
of human experiences, and intended to maintain that the believer
in Christ, once forgiven of sin and "cleansed from all unrighteous
ness," could never thereafter grieve the Spirit and lapse into sin
again. He simply does not entertain such questions in his epistle,
although, as we have just shown, he recognizes a "propitiation for
our sins" amply sufficient to meet all special situations. His main
contention is the fundamental truth that fellowship with the
Father and with Jesus Christ is utterly inconsistent with the
doing of sin (ttoi&v ttjv dfiapriav iii, 4).1 Whosoever abideth and
would continue to abide m the blessed heavenly fellowship does
not, must not, cannot commit sin. His sins are supposed to be
sent away (cupirjju), and his spiritual nature cleansed from all
unrighteousness, and, in possession of a blessed hope, he "purifieth
himself, even as God is pure" (iii, 3; comp. 2 Cor. vii, 1).
5. Sanctification and Holiness. Such purification from sin is
clearly indicated in the scriptural use of the words for sanctifica
tion and holiness (dytdfa, dytaofiog-, dyioiavvn, Soiog-, boidrng).
All who have the life in Christ are regarded as sanctified (Acts xx,
32; xxvi, 18), that is, set apart and consecrated to a holy purpose

1 Verse 6 affirms that ' ' whosoever abideth in him sinneth not ; whosoever sinneth
hath not seen him, neither knoweth him" (obx iopanev aiirdv ovde lyvoxev avrdv).
The perfect tense here employed contemplates, as in ii, 3, the condition described
as continuing into the present. It refers to the prevailing character and habit of
"every one that sinneth" (Trap 6 a/iapTavini). This habitual sinner is not thought
of as a man who has suddenly fallen and turned temporarily from the light, but
one who has not seen and does not know the Lord Jesus. To all such the Lord
himself can also say, as in Matt, vii, 23, "I never knew you."

168 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
in life.1 And thus in Old Testament thought the sabbath day,
the place of worship, the priests, and the people Israel were spoken
of as sanctified (cip). But in the New Testament the word sanc
tify, as applied to believers in Christ, means not only a consecra
tion to a holy purpose but also an inner purifying of the soul.
Both ideas may be included in the prayer of Jesus that his disci
ples might be sanctified in the truth (John xvii, 17). According
to Eph. v, 25-27, "Christ loved the church, and gave himself up
for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the
washing of water in the word, that he might present the church
to himself as a glorious bride, not having spot or wrinkle or any
such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." Here
obviously the idea of cleansing from all defilement is the promi
nent thought, and so it is again in the somewhat similar language
of 1 Thess. v, 23 : "The God of peace himself sanctify you wholly ;
and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without
blame, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ." Such sanctifica
tion is a work of the Holy Spirit (2 Thess. ii, 13; 1 Pet. i, 2), and
consists in personal holiness of heart and life. The heart of
everyone who would "increase and abound in love" is to be "estab
lished unblameable in holiness before our God and Father in the
presence of our Lord Jesus with all- his holy ones" (1 Thess. iii,
13). The believer must "present his members as servants to right
eousness unto sanctification" (Rom. vi, 19; comp. verse 22), and
"abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul" (1 Pet.
ii, 11). All this is confirmed by the words of 1 Thess. iv, 3-7:
"This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain
from fornication ; that each one of you know how to possess him
self of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the
passion of lust. . . . For God called us not for uncleanness, but
in sanctification." The apostle appeals to his own holy, righteous,
and blameless behavior as an example (1 Thess. ii, 10), and in
2 Cor. vii, 1, he admonishes and exhorts in the following strong
and significant words: "Having these promises, beloved, let us
cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God." All this accords with the doctrine
of "the new man, who after God has been created in righteousness
and holiness of truth" (Eph. iv, 24), and it fits the lofty thought
of this same epistle that God "chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blemish before him in love" (i, 4). All these scriptures imply a
thorough clearance from the old sinful life, and the attainment
of a state of personal purity. It involves the cultivation and
'Compare the like use of the word in 2 Tim. ii, 21; Heb. ii, 11; x, 10, 14.

PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS 169
growth of positive virtues, as we shall see ; but the main thought
in the Spirit's work of "cleansing from all unrighteousness" is
rather an ideal of release from the old bondage of the flesh; a
freedom from the dominion of sin. This emancipation may not
be the work of a few days. The struggle may be a long one. The
"cleansing from all defilement of flesh and spirit" may require
repeated washings from above. And yet, in some hearts, this great
work may be speedily accomplished. Habits, temperament, and
training may condition many of the operations of the Spirit.
6. Practical Righteousness. In order, then, that the inner
cleansing of the sanctification be genuine and permanent, there
must be along with it the positive knowledge and practice of
righteousness. A holy life is impossible apart from a righteous
life, and it is important that our concept of righteousness be
accurate and exalted. "Except your righteousness [SiKaioavvn]
be something more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall
in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." If one may not even
enter the kingdom without such superior righteousness, much less
can he be reckoned great in the kingdom of heaven without the
true knowledge and possession of what Christ means by righteous
ness. He means no mere outward observance of the letter of the
law ; no Pharisaic show of worship, and fasting, and sacrificing at
the temple; no saying and doing not (Matt, xxiii, 3). No tithing
of small herbs, nor even of all one's income (Luke xviii, 12), can
be made a substitute for those "weightier matters of the law, jus
tice, and mercy, and faith" (Matt, xxiii, 23). A cleansing of the
outside, while the heart is ready for extortion and excess, is like
the whited sepulcher, "outwardly beautiful, but inwardly full of
dead men's bones and of all uncleanliness" (vers. 25-28). The
righteousness of the kingdom of heaven sees in the old prohibition
of murder a solemn admonition for "every one who is angry with
his brother" (Matt, v, 21, 22; comp. 1 John iii, 15). Not only
the act of adultery is a violation of the law, "but every one that
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery
already with her in his heart" (Matt, v, 28). The old law of
retaliation is for the individual supplanted by the higher law of
non-resistance of evil, doing good for evil, loving your enemies
and praying for your persecutors (vers. 38-45). True brotherly
love must not grow cold upon forgiving an offender seven times;
it will not thus set a limit to its pure affection, not even "until
seventy times seven" (Matt, xviii, 22) ; and such forgiveness must
come freely "from the heart" (ver. 35). For, according to the
old. proverb, "As one thinks in his soul, so is he" (Prov. xxiii, 7).
The true, pure inner feeling and purpose give character to the out-

170 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ward act. "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart
bringeth forth that which is good" (Luke vi, 45), and God knows
the hearts of all men (Luke xvi, 15) and the righteousness wliich
endures his gaze must be no outward show but the genuine feeling
and purpose of the soul. The doctrine of righteousness in the
epistle of James is in substantial agreement with the teaching of
Jesus. "The wrath of man works not the righteousness of God"
(i, 20), that is, the kind of righteousness which God wills, and
which will be acceptable in his sight. The attainment of
such righteousness requires the "putting away of all filthi
ness and overflowing of wickedness." It is the outgrowth of
"the implanted word, which is able to save the soul." The
man who exemplifies this righteousness is a faithful doer,
not a forgetful hearer of the word of truth by which he was
brought forth into the light and life of God (comp. ver. 18).
"He that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so
eontinueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth, but a doer that
worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing" (ver. 25). This
perfect law of liberty is in some sense identical with the "word of
truth" (ver. 18), but that "word" is in the writer's thought no
other than the Law and the Prophets as summed up, explained,
and enhanced in the teaching of Jesus. It embodies the "royal
law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself" (ii, 8). The doing of it is a fulfilling (reXeiv; ¦nXnpuaai)
of the law in the present ethical sense, even as Jesus did (comp.
Matt, v, 17) ; a consummation of the inmost ideals of moral excel
lence. It is a perfect law, inasmuch as it is, like the word of
God's holiest revelations, a discerner of the thoughts and intents
of the heart. It allows no stumbling even in one thing; "for
whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one [com
mandment], has become guilty of all" (ii, 10). It is a law of
liberty to the man who looks into its real spiritual nature, sees the
blessedness of doing its commandments from a pure heart, and
obeys out of unfeigned love of the truth. In perfect love and
obedience of this sort of law the soul enjoys its highest freedom.
The righteousness of this law is manifest in the bridling of the
tongue (i, 26), in visiting the fatherless and widows in their
affliction (27), in showing one's faith by his works (ii, 14-26),
and in exercising the heavenly wisdom which is "pure, peaceable,
gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
variance, without hypocrisy. And the fruit of [such] righteous
ness is sown in peace for them that make peace" (iii, 17, 18).
Such a personal righteousness is no empty appearance of piety,
like "the leaven of the Pharisees" (Luke xii, 1), but a deep in work-

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION 171
ing principle of obedience to the truth. Similarly in the first
epistle of Peter the life of holiness is inseparable from devout
obedience to the word of truth. The "sanctification of the Spirit"
operates "unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ"
(i, 2). Christians are regarded "as children of obedience," who
are to be "holy in all manner of living" (i, 14, 15). They are
to "purify their souls in the obedience of the truth unto unfeigned
brotherly love, loving one another from the heart fervently"
(i, 22), and showing forth "the excellences [dperdg; virtues,
powers, perfections] of him who called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light" (ii, 9). It is blessed to "suffer for righteous
ness' sake," and to "have a good conscience" and a "good manner
of life in Christ" (iii, 14, 16). Having died unto sin we should,
after the example of Christ, live unto righteousness (ii, 24).
7. Doctrine of Christian Perfection. This doctrine of a loving
obedience to the truth and a personal uprightness of life is com
mon to all the New Testament writings, but may be further
enforced and illustrated by the ideals of perfection in the excel
lencies of Christian character which meet us here and there. It
almost startles us to find Jesus saying, "Ye shall be perfect as
your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt, v, 48). But should it be
more remarkable than the commandment, "Sanctify yourselves,
and be ye holy, for I am holy"? (Lev. xi, 44; xix, 2; xx, 7, 26;
xxi, 8; 1 Pet. i, 16.) We are admonished by Zophar that we can
not "find out the Almighty to perfection" (Job xi, 7), and it
would be preposterous in a finite being to presume to equal the
perfections of the Infinite. But we may feel assured that the
saying of Jesus involves no such unreasonable presumption.
There is a perfection predicable of the highest possible Christian
life, and its noblest ideals are to be attained by an imitation of
God. No defective model is offered by Christ, but rather that
of the heavenly Father who is good, and true, and righteous
altogether: "As you have a perfect heavenly Father, who sends
, rain on the jUst and the unjust, imitate him, love as he loves, that
you may be true sons of your Father who is in heaven, perfect
sons as he is a perfect Father." The young man who thought he
had observed all the commandments lacked something yet. "Jesus
said unto him, If thou wouldst be perfect [reXeiog-'], go, sell thy
possessions, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in
heaven; and come follow me" (Matt, xix, 21). Here is the ideal
of an attainable perfection, and it involves a perfect surrender of
all things that would hinder the complete following of Christ.
James employs similar language at the beginning of his epistle
(i, 4) : "Let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect

172 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and entire, lacking in nothing." Every possible grace and virtue
is to be acquired, and so a completeness of character, that is not
wanting in any good thing, will follow as a blessed consummation.
The fact that this ideal is not realized in numerous examples is
no proof that the perfection contemplated is unattainable: This
very practical "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ"
reveals no symptom of fanaticism, and has no liking for a religion
or a faith that does not verify itself by works. "In many things,"
he says (iii, 2), "we all stumble." But he immediately adds, "If
any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to
bridle the whole body also." Paul does not scruple to speak of
perfection as the goal of Christian life, although with him it is
mainly a future consummation. He expresses his confidence "that
he who began a good work in them would perfect it until the day
of Jesus Christ." He prays that their "love may abound yet more
and more in knowledge and all discernment," and that they may
be "filled with the fruits of righteousness" (Phil, i, 6, 9, 11). He
himself disclaims any assumption of having "already obtained"
his highest ideal of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, and
of conformity to his death, for that can be consummated only in
the resurrection; but he says: "One thing I do, forgetting the
things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things
which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus." The goal (oKonog; thing
looked at) toward which he pressed on was an object in the dis
tance on which his eye was steadily fixed, and upon reaching which
he expected to obtain the reward of his heavenly calling in Christ.
The imagery employed is substantially the same as that of 1 Cor.
ix, 24-26, and the thought is that of running a race in the games
in which only the successful runner receives the prize of a crown.
The apostle conceived himself engaged in such a contest, and hav
ing "finished his course," he would in due time receive "the crown
of righteousness" (2 Tim. iv, 7, 8). Nevertheless, though the goal
be yet in the distance, he speaks in Phil, iii, 15 (the verse imme
diately following the statement of his "pressing on toward the
goal") of himself and of those who share his feeling and opinion
as being in some sense "perfect," and he exhorts the Philippian
brethren to imitate him as an example of Christian conduct. He
admonishes them that their citizenship (¦noXirevfia) is in heaven
(iii, 20), and further on adds (iv, 8, 9) : "Finally, brethren, what
ever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever
things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely, whatever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue .
and if there be any praise, think on these things ; what things also

CHRISTIAN VIRTUES 173
ye learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do ;
and the God of peace shall be with you." Surely, the constant
meditation and practice of such things must needs lead to a high
state of Christian perfection. The apostle elsewhere calls those
who are mature in power and penetration of mind perfect (reXeioi,
full-grown; 1 Cor. ii, 6; xiv, 20). It is his ambition and hope to
"present every man perfect in Cnrist," and with that glorious end
in view he labors and struggles with all the power which Christ
supplies (Col. i, 28, 29). It is the prayer of all the Christian
brotherhood that they "may stand perfect and fully assured in
all the will of God" (Col. iv, 12). From these various statements
it appears that with Paul the goal of Christian perfection is at
the end of the Christian race. In that day the persevering saint
receives his crown, "the prize of his high calling." Meantime we
only know in part; we see in a mirror darkly; "but when that
which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away"
(1 Cor. xiii, 10). Love, however, is "the bond of perfectness"
(Col. iii, 14), the greatest of all virtues, and is a present and
abiding possession of the Christian heart, and he who along with
this priceless possession has its associate virtues, may be called per
fect, complete, full-grown.
8. Specific Christian Virtues. This relative perfection in Chris
tian excellency is to be further considered in the light of those
specific virtues which altogether make up the completeness of full-
grown Christian character. In Gal. v, 22, 23, we have a note
worthy list of these graces of character set over against an exten
sive enumeration of "the works of the flesh," and they are called
"the fruit of the Spirit." We observe that the word fruit is in
the singular (6 xapndg-), as if to suggest that all the virtues named
are one combined and vitally inseparable product of the Holy
Spirit, like one bunch or choice collection of fragrant flowers.
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control." The possession of
all these holy and godlike qualities fills out the ideal of being
perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, and they are represented
here as living fruit in contrast with dead works of the flesh. In
Eph. v, 8-11, we have a conception of these Christian qualities
as "the fruit of the light." The passage reads: "Ye were once
darkness, but now light in the Lord: walk as children of light (for
the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and
truth), proving what is well-pleasing unto the Lord; and have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness." The fruit
of the light must needs be what will bear close inspection without
any fear of damaging exposure. In the epistle to the Philippians

174 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
sincerity and blamelessness of life are commended along with
abounding love and knowledge, and a "being filled with fruit of
righteousness" (i, 9-11) ; also steadfastness, and "progress and
joy of the faith" (i, 25). The several excellences enumerated in
iv, 8, are to be exhibited along with the mind which was in Christ
Jesus, the loftiest possible example of brotherly love and unselfish
humility (ii, 2-8). The true children of God are thus "blameless
and harmless, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and per
verse generation, among whom they appear as luminaries in the
world" (ii, 15).
9. Love the Greatest of All. If we were to collect all the
passages which mention and extol the graces of Christian charac
ter, we might transcribe a large portion of the New Testament.
But of all the virtues love is by far the greatest. It is the root
and fountain of all excellencies in personal life and character. It
is "the bond of perfection" (Col. iii, 14), the heavenly girdle in
which all other excellencies unite and are banded together unto
perfection. It is the essential element and condition of all healthy
development in spiritual life. The first and greatest of all the com
mandments, because it is the sum of all divine law and revelation, is
this, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And a second like unto it
is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt, xxii, 37;
comp. Luke x, 27; Deut. vi, 5; x, 12; xi, 13; Lev. xix, 18). This
is that "perfect love," which, according to 1 John iv, 16-19, gives
boldness in the day of judgment, and casts out fear and torment
ing punishment. For "God is love; and he that abideth in love
abideth in God, and God abideth in him." To him who thus
abides, "Love your enemies" is not a hard commandment. Faith
works through love (Gal. v, 6), and the love of God is perfected
in him who keeps his word (1 John ii, 5). In Eph. iii, 14-19, we
note the remarkable prayer that "the Father, from whom every
family in heaven and on earth is named, would grant you, accord
ing to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power
through his Spirit in the inward man, that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith, in love being rooted and grounded1 that
ye may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the

_ ' The emphatically prefixed in love being rooted and grounded is quite in keeping
with the Pauline doctrine of the faith working through love (Gal. v, 6; 1 Cor. xiii).
Through the strengthening of their inner man by means of the Spirit, through the
dwelling of Christ in their hearts, the readers are to become established in love,
and, having been established in love, are able to comprehend the greatness of the
love of Christ. — Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Handbook, in loco.

CONTINUAL CULTIVATION 175
fulness of God." Of all this perfection in Christian faith and
power and knowledge love is the root and foundation and central
bond, and herewith agrees the exhortation of v, 1, 2, "Be ye there
fore imitators of God, as beloved children ; and walk in love, even
as Christ also loved you." Such love begets and strengthens the
love of neighbor and brethren. So far as inward feelings and out
ward acts may exhibit perfection of Christian character, we find
perhaps the most magnificent portraiture of love in 1 Cor. xiii.
All other gifts and powers are declared worthless apart from love.
Faith and hope command high admiration, but love is greater still.
"Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love vaunteth
not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seek
eth not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil;
rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth in the truth; cover-
eth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth
all things. Love never faileth" (vers. 4-8). In this forcible
description the word love is obviously employed by way of synec
doche for the person in whom this heavenly grace abides, and no
comment is needed to make the portrayal more impressive or more
intelligible. 10. Continual Cultivation and Growth. The high and holy
attainments in spiritual life, thus far outlined are experiences that
require continual cultivation. The "Power from on high" which
originates the new life is indispensable in all the stages and forms
of its development, and we may here apply the words of the
psalmist in their fullest possibility of meaning: "Jehovah God
is a sun and a shield : Jehovah will give grace and glory : no good
thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Psa.
Ixxxiv, 11). His continuous cooperation may therefore be counted
on as matter of course. But the Holy Spirit himself can do no
perfect work in the heart of man unless there be deep in that
heart a "hunger and thirst after righteousness," and a faithful
use of every means available for discipline and "instruction in
righteousness." Substantial progress can be made only in con
scientious fidelity to the truth, and the pure and earnest heart
will be on the constant search for truth. It will seek the wisdom
which cometh from above and be not only willing but anxious to
be taught. The apostle rejoiced in "the order and steadfastness
of the faith in Christ" which the Colossians showed, and he wrote
them these significant words of counsel : "As therefore ye received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and builded up in
him, and established in your faith, even as ye were taught, abound
ing in it with thanksgiving" (Col. ii, 5-7). By such a steadfast
course of life and training one comes to beautiful maturity and

176 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
strength of Christian character. The babe in Christ may "be holy
and without blemish before him in love," but strength, wisdom,
and maturity in virtues come through the manifold discipline of
a protracted life.
11. The Discipline of Trial. The conflict with evil, the suffer
ings and persecutions to which the Christian confessor is often
subjected, the battle for the right, the constant struggle to propa
gate the gospel, severe personal self-denial, the increasing knowl
edge of God and of Christ and of holy things which comes from
diligent study of the truth — these all have much to do in develop
ing the virtues of godliness and in strengthening the heart in
righteousness. Jesus forewarned his disciples that the world would
hate and persecute them (John xv, 18-20; xvi, 33), but he prayed,
not that they might be taken out of the world, but rather that they
might be kept from the evil (xvii, 15). Exposure to severe trial
puts one's faith to the test, and affords occasions of noblest spir
itual triumph. Hence the words of James: "Count it all joy,
my brethren, when ye fall into manifold trials, knowing that the
proof of your faith worketh patience. And let patience have its
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.
Blessed is the man that endureth trial; for when he has been
approved (HoKtuog; proved, tested), he shall receive the crown of
life" (James i, 2-4; 12). Similarly Peter: "Now for a little time,
if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, that the
proof of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though
it is proved by fire, might be found unto praise, glory, and honor
in the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. i, 6, 7). Again in iv, 12,
13 : "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among
you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange
thing happened unto you; but inasmuch as ye are partakers of
Christ's sufferings, rejoice, that also in the revelation of his glory
ye may rejoice with exceeding joy." Paul speaks of the churches
of Macedonia, "how that in much proof of affliction the abundance
of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of
their singleness of heart," as seen in their ready and liberal con
tributions (2 Cor. viii, 2). Abraham's faith was most remarkably
tested in his offering of Isaac ; and the heroes of faith, "of whom
the world was not worthy," "had trial of mockings and scourgings
and bonds and imprisonment" (Heb. xi, 33-38). Such bitter trial,
when one even "resisteth unto blood, striving against sin," serves
like paternal chastisement to discipline the sons of God, and makes
them "partakers of his holiness" (xii, 4-11). All such chasten
ing seems grievous at the time, "yet afterward it yields peaceable
fruit to them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of

BEAUTY OF HOLINESS 177
righteousness." These teachings are further enhanced by the
suggestions of the apocalyptic vision of the great multitude "com
ing out of the great tribulation, washing their robes and making
them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. vii, 9-17). Thus all
trials, all spiritual discipline, all chastisements of the heavenly
Father, and all devout personal activity which these may occasion
serve to strengthen the moral character, and to develop the graces
of Christian maturity and perfection. "Our light affliction, which
is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an
eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. iv, 17). The moral value of
affliction was not unknown to the psalmist, "It is good for me
that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes" (cxix,
71). 12. Growth and Discipline a Manifold Experience. We have
thus shown that real growth and discipline in spiritual life,
according to the Scriptures, can be no one-sided experience. And
no one word appears sufficient to designate the manifold operations
and results of this spiritual development. Not even the terms
sanctification, holiness, and perfection cover the entire portraiture
of that "image of the heavenly" which is the ideal of the blame
less children of God. We must recognize the elements of growth,
the putting away of all impurity of flesh and spirit, the essential
antagonism of a life of sin and the regenerate life, the positive
facts of sanctification, holiness, and righteousness, the possession
of all Christian virtues, and of perfect love that casts out fear.
Nor must we fail to see how all the holy virtues are cultivated by
the discipline of trial in order that we may be partakers of the
holiness of God and so be without blame before him in love.
This broad, full, uplifting view of the manifold possibilities of
spiritual life in Christ should leave no room for doubtful and
confusing disputations, for all these elements of perfection in the
Christian life receive about equal prominence in the teachings
of the New Testament.
13. The Beautiful in Religion. This ideal of completeness in
Christian life and character has also what may fittingly be called
its assthetical aspect. The beautiful has its absorbing influence
upon every well-trained soul, so that man, who is created in the
image of God, and is "renewed unto knowledge after the image
of him that created him" (Col. iii, 10; comp. Eph. iv, 24), must
needs have the same appreciation of all real excellence which
God himself has. We read in 1 Pet. iii, 4, of "the incorruptible
adorning (koouoc-) of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight
of God of great price." Every element of moral excellence that
goes to inake up the godlike character of "righteousness and holi-

178 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ness of truth" is of the nature of a beautiful ornament to "the
hidden man of the heart." Such qualities in the human per
sonality are "well-pleasing" in the sight of God.1 They excite in
him the emotion of the beautiful as they do also in the souls of
all who love God with a pure heart. The absolutely Beautiful is
God himself, and a yearning after the perfection of heavenly excel
lence on the part of man is itself essentially a thing of beauty.
Close fellowship with God develops this ideal of beauty and deep
ens it into a holy passion. It is the peculiar blessedness of the
pure in heart to see God, and communion with his works of wis
dom and power and love begets in the human heart a deep, strange
sense of the One all-pervading Spirit of the universe.* The
divine sense of beauty is implied in the Creator when it is written
that he "saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was
very good" (Gen. i, 31).8 In like manner the purified heart of
man thrills with emotions of delight in the contemplation of
"whatsoever things are honorable, just, pure, lovely, and of good
report" (Phil, iv, 8). In Psa. xxvii, 4, the one deep desire of
the writer is the threefold blessedness of "dwelling in the house
of Jehovah," "beholding the beauty (DW, delightfulness) of Jeho
vah," and "inquiring in his temple." In Psa. xc, 17, the prayer
is : "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us." The ways
of wisdom are called, in Prov. iii, 17, "ways of beauty." In Psa.
xxix, 2, and xcvi, 9, we meet the phrase Knp-f]Tin, the beauty of
holiness, which is also rendered, in holy array. In the sense last
named the reference is to hallowed garments worn by those who
were engaged in acts of divine worship (comp. 1 Chron. xvi, 29 ;
2 Chron. xx, 21; Psa. ex, 3), but in this sense the word employed
points to the adornment of the worshipers who appeared in such
holy array. The aesthetic charm of a gorgeous ritual service is a
well-known power over the feelings of cultivated observers as well
as over those who are relatively without aesthetic taste, and how
ever much we condemn "a form of godliness" apart from the
power thereof (2 Tim. iii, 5), we should be keenly alive to that
which is outwardly and inwardly beautiful in religion. For there
is such a thing as "the beauty of holiness," and it is the beauty
of God and of all that is truly heavenly.
1 Note the use of ageord?, pleasing, in 1 John iii, 22 ; pud eiiapeoTo?, well-
pleasing, in Rom. xiv, 18; Eph. v, 10.
2 The eternal trinity — Truth, Goodness, Beauty — is a divine unity of elements
not to be confounded with each other, nor can they be sundered. Beauty, phys
ical, intellectual, moral, raises the soul to a consciousness of the infinite Goodness,
and awakens in the bosom of man the desire of an eternal future and of a sublime
existence. C. M. Tyler, Bases of Rehgious Belief Historic and Ideal, p. 201.
New York, 1897.
' The Sept. translates this, xaXi ?,tav, beautiful exceedingly. The aesthetic
nature of God was thrilled with delightful emotion.

CHAPTER VII
MEANS OP PROMOTING SPIRITUAL LIFE
1. The Fellowship and Ministries of the Church. In connec
tion with such growth and discipline as we have described in the
foregoing pages we must notice further those means which have
been divinely sanctioned for the purpose of cultivating man's
spiritual life, and which have to do directly with personal experi
ences. And first of all we emphasize the importance of the fel
lowship of the pure and good. The true religious life, according
to the scriptural ideal, is best promoted in connection with socie
ties and communities bound together by a common faith and prac
tice. In such a fellowship and communion of the sanctified we
perceive the true ideal of the Christian Church. To such a com
pany it may be said with the greatest solemnity : "Ye are fellow-
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, being built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus
himself being the chief corner stone ; in whom each several build
ing, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord ;
in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in
the Spirit" (Eph. ii, 19-22). Here is a conception of the church
as comprehensive as it is profound. The saints are citizens of
one great commonwealth1 having heavenly interests and aims
(comp. Phil, iii, 20), and hence called family-relations (oUeloi,
members of the household) of God. Then the thought passes by
a natural transition from the idea of a household to that of the
house as a great structure builded by God, of which Jesus Christ
himself is the chief corner stone, and with the laying of which the
apostles and prophets of the New Testament were identified.*
This great building of God (comp. 1 Cor. iii, 9) is continually
increasing and is destined to "grow into a holy temple \va6g-, sanc
tuary'] in the Lord," embracing in its communion all the members
of God's household in all the world and for all time; but as a
part and parcel of this magnificent structure "each several build
ing,"* every distinct congregation, or local church, like that at
1 Compare the phrase commonwealth of Israel in verse 12.
1 See on this subject Biblical Hermeneutics, pp. 123-127.
3 The Greek nana oi/codo/07, wliich is the best authenticated reading here cannot
be properly rendered the whole building, , ^imich would require the article, nana 17
oLnoSoufi. The apostle means that every building which consists of the members
179

180 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Ephesus or at Corinth, "is builded together for a habitation of
God in the Spirit." Each individual of this "household of the
faith" (Gal. vi, 10) is a child of God, born from above, and receiv
ing the spirit of adoption. The great practical purpose of this
churchly fellowship is edification in Christian life and truth. In
this same epistle to the Ephesians (iv, 11-16) we find a similar
concept of the church as a great organism, "the body of Christ,"
and the different members of this body are knit together and
builded up, and thus individually and collectively make the
increase of the body.1 The various ministers and ministries of
the church are said to be given "for the perfecting of the saints,
unto the building up of the body of Christ : till we all attain unto
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ: that we may be no longer children, tossed to
and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speak
ing truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the
head, even Christ; from whom all the body fitly framed and knit
together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the
working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase
of the body unto the building up of itself in love." This scripture
especially declares the great aim of the ministries of the church.
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers serve at least
a sixfold purpose: (1) a correcting and training that will over
come the ignorance, instability, and errors of childhood; (2) the
perfecting of the saints for holy service; (3) the promotion of
unity in faith and knowledge; (4) the exhibition of truth and
love; (5) due attention to each several part of the body; (6) the
increase of the body as a whole. The positive value of this holy
ministration for the edification of the children of God is so
apparent as to call for no extended discussion. In 1 Cor. xii, 4-7,
the apostle teaches that "there are diversities of gifts, but the same
Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same
Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God,
who worketh all things in all. But to each one is given the mani-
of any distinct community is closely joined together with all others of its kind,
and thus grows into the one great temple of God. Thus each several building
here means, as J. A. Beet says, the "various parts of the one great structure.
Such were the various churches, Jewish or Gentile. So Matt, xxiv, 1, the buildings
of the temple; that is, the various parts of the temple at Jerusalem. Frequently a
great building is begun at different points; and in the earlier stages its parts seem
to be independent erections ; but as it advances all are united into one whole. So
there were in Paul's day, as now, various churches."— Commentary on Ephesians,
in loco. 1 One may profitably compare the figure of the vine and its branches in John
xv, 1-8.

THE SACRAMENTS 181
festation of the Spirit to profit withal." The entire chapter is
given to explanations of this diversity of gifts and ministrations.
All believers are in one Spirit baptized into one body of Christ,
and all are made to drink of one Spirit. Each particular member
needs the cooperation of every other member, and so apostles,
prophets, teachers, powers, gifts of healings, helps, governments,
kinds of tongues are set in the church for the edification of the
whole body. The same lesson is taught by means of the same
figure in Rom. xii, 4-8. The church conceived as the body of
Christ and perfected in heavenly beauty and excellence is in itself
a glorious ideal, "not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing"
(Eph. v, 27), but in the actual conditions of its development and
working in this world, it is not an end in itself, but rather a means
to an end. As our Lord said of the sabbath (Mark ii, 27) so we
may say of the church: it was made for man and not man for it.
The same is true of all sacred institutions. They exist for the
highest culture and advantage of the children of God. The
church is the congregation and communion of those who are
"called to be saints" (Rom. i, 7),1 and the fellowship which the
members enjoy together, the solemn vows they take, the worship
they observe, the counsels and instruction they give and receive,
the "speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody with the heart to the Lord and
giving thanks always for all things" (Eph. v, 19, 20; comp. Col.
iii, 16), and all the varied ministries of apostles and prophets and
teachers are so many direct means of cultivating the religious
spirit, and strengthening every element of Christian character.
2. The Sacraments. The sanctity of this churchly fellowship
and the solemnity of the bonds which knit all the members of this
body to one another are perpetually evidenced by the two sacred
rites of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. These, being regarded
as signs and seals of a holy covenant relationship before God, are
commonly called sacraments, because they involve solemn obliga
tions, like the taking of an oath of allegiance and fidelity. Vari
ous forms and ideals of baptism were current among the Jewish
people before the time of Christ. The rite took on peculiar
solemnity in connection with the ministry of John, the forerunner
of Jesus, and the whole teaching and work of that remarkable
prophet is called "the baptism of John" (Matt, xxi, 25 ; Mark xi,
30; Luke vii, 29; xx, 4; Acts i, 22; xviii, 25; xix, 3), and "the
baptism which John preached" (Acts x, 37). It is also called
"the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins" (Mark i, 4;
Luke iii, 3). John baptized great multitudes of the people, who
'On the word tmAiiela, church, see Biblical Hermeneutics, pp. 74, 75.

182 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
confessed their sins, recognized John as a prophet, and "were will
ing for a season to rejoice in his light" (John v, 35). But the
steadfast testimony of John was that he himself was but a voice
in the wilderness to make ready the way of the Lord, and to bap
tize with water unto repentance; but there was a mightier One
coming after him who should baptize with the Holy Spirit.
(1) Christian Baptism. Jesus himself did not perform the
ceremony of baptism with water, but according to John iv, 1, 2,
his disciples made and baptized more converts than John. This
they would not have been likely to do without his sanction,
although it is noticeable that not a word is said about it in the
synoptic records of his appointing and sending forth the twelve to
preach the gospel of the new kingdom (Mark iii, 13-15; vi, 7-13;
Matt, x, 1-15; Luke vi, 12-19; ix, 1-6; x, 1-16). In the com
mission recorded in Matt, xxviii, 19, and Mark xvi, 15, 16/ how
ever, baptism receives distinctive mention, and the Acts of the
Apostles shows an apparently uniform practice of baptizing all
Christian converts upon confession of sin and of belief in Jesus
the Christ (ii, 38, 41; viii, 12, 38; ix, 18; x, 48; xvi, 15, 33; xviii,
8; xix, 5). A saving significance seems to be given to the water
of baptism in 1 Pet. iii, 21, where it is called "an antitype" of the
water of the flood, by means of which Noah and his family were
saved. But the writer takes pains to say that the baptism of
which he speaks is "not a putting away of the filth of the flesh,
but a question of good conscience toward God." No ritual wash
ing in water can save a soul from sin, and baptism, in this text as
in a number of other places, is best understood of that inner
washing and purification of which the outward rite is only a
symbolic sign. So, too, in those passages in the Pauline epistles
where the main reference is to the death unto sin and the newness
of life which the believer realizes in Christ, the allusion to baptism
is metaphorical, the formal ceremony being mentioned as the sign
and symbol of the work of grace in the soul. "As many as were
baptized into Christ put on Christ" (Gal. iii, 27). "In one Spirit
we were all baptized into one body" (1 Cor. xii, 13). "All we
1 The last-named passage occurs in the appendix to Mark's gospel, is of uncertain
origin, and certainly no part of the original gospel according to Mark. See notes
to the critical editions of the Greek Testament by Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford,
Westcott and Hort. Inasmuch, also, as no use of the trinitarian formula for
baptism occurs elsewhere in the New Testament, and the common method of
reference in the Acts of the Apostles is to baptism "into the name of the Lord
Jesus" (ii, 38; viii, 16; x, 48; xix, 5), it is believed by some scholars that the lan
guage of Matt, xxviii, 19, is not an exact version of the words of Jesus himself,
but a clothing of them in the words of a formula which came into early use in the
church. Similarly, the doxology of the Lord 's Prayer in Matt, vi, 13, came to
be interpolated, probably, from the common prevalence of such formulas in acts
of public worship. But these facts do not in the least take from the value of the
prayer, or from the nature and purpose of the rite of baptism.

THE SACRAMENTS 183
who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.
We were buried with him through baptism into death" (Rom. vi,
3, 4; comp. Col. ii, 12). As a suggestive symbol of this profound
conception of entrance into the new life of Christ the rite of
baptism in water was divinely significant in the mind of Paul ; but
apart from the spiritual reality of which it is the sign the cere
mony in itself would be an empty form. The "one baptism"
referred to in Eph. iv, 5, is the one genuine baptism "into Christ,"
and so necessarily supposes the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for
no immersion of the body in water, and no pouring or sprinkling
of clean water on the body, can effect a change of heart, or bring
the soul into fellowship with Jesus. Paul's mystic nature appre
hended the deep spiritual truth figured in baptism, but he was
so far from exalting this rite above the ministry of the word, that
he declares that Christ sent him "not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel" (1 Cor. i, 17). The rite of baptism has been regarded
as in some sense taking the place of the older rite of circumcision.
Abraham "received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the right
eousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision"
(Rom. iv, 11; comp. Gen. xvii, 10, 11), and the ceremony obtained
formal recognition in the Mosaic legislation (Exod. xii, 48 ; Lev.
xii, 3). It was also conceived as a symbol of the purification of
the heart before God (Deut. x, 16; xxx, 6; Jer. iv, 4; Rom. ii, 29).
So far, therefore, as both these rites symbolize heart-purity, and
are signs and seals of a covenant relation, and tokens of formal
union with the people of God, they serve to illustrate each other.
But the older rite of circumcision has been abrogated by the gos
pel of Christ, and all the purpose it may have served as the sign
and seal of covenant relations and of sanctification of heart is now
met by the simpler and more suitable rite of baptism in water.
Specific confirmation of this is, perhaps, to be recognized in the
language of Col. ii, 11, 12: "Ye were circumcised with a circum
cision not made with hands, in the putting off the body of the
flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him
in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith
in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." The deep
spiritual experience expressed by these figures of death and resur
rection in Christ supersedes all the carnal ordinances of Judaism.
The rite of baptism has received almost universal recognition in
the Christian Church, and even without the authority of a specific
commandment of the Lord, would be a beautiful and appropriate
form of public initiation into the covenants and fellowship of the
children of God. But it is the more impressive and binding by
reason of the sanction it received from Christ and the apostles,

184 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and the reverential observance it has commanded through all the
Christian centuries.1
(2) The Lord's Supper. As the rite of baptism in the Chris
tian Church takes in some measure the place of circumcision in
the Jewish community, so the Lord's Supper (KvpiaKov delnvov;
1 Cor. xi, 20) takes the place of the Jewish feast of Passover.
According to Paul, Christ has become the Christian's paschal lamb
(1 Cor. v, 7), and in the mystic symbolism of the Lord's Supper
the believer signifies in a formal way the vital union he enjoys
with Christ. This blessed union is forcibly expressed in the words
of Gal. ii, 20: "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer
I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now
live in the flesh I live in faith, which is in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself up for me." In the light of this
confession we perceive the deep spiritual import of 1 Cor. x, 16,
17 : "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion
(Kotvwvia) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break,
is it not a communion of the body of Christ? — seeing that we,
who are many, are one bread, one body: for we all partake of the
one bread" (£« rov kvbg- dprov: share from the one common bread),
and so participate in the one common life of one great organism.
The spiritual unity of all believers is thus most plainly affirmed,
as also the fact that they all derive their spiritual subsistence from
one common source. Paul himself has given us the earliest record
we possess of the institution of the Lord's Supper (see 1 Cor. xi,
23-26), and it agrees in substance with that of the synoptic gos
pels (comp. Matt, xxvi, 26-29; Mark xiv, 22-25; Luke xxii, 14-20).
The Passover was a memorial of Israel's deliverance out of the
bondage of Egypt; the Lord's Supper is a memorial of our
redemption "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb with
out blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. i, 19). In the observance
of this sacred rite the believer recognizes a divinely ordained means
of showing forth his faith in the atoning death of Christ, and his
abiding spiritual fellowship with him. In the mystic way of

1 The age of serious controversy over the questions of time, place, subjects, and
mode of baptism seems to be past. The allusions to immersion, affusion, and
sprinkling are numerous in the Scriptures, and all these modes of ceremonial
purification have their sufficient warrant to justify the personal choice of the
individual believer. In the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (chap, vii) it is
commanded to baptize in running water; but if that is not at hand, other water
may be used, either cold or warm. It is also permitted to perform the rite by
pouring water on the head. The practice of infant baptism is without any specific
commandment, and also without the record of any clear example, in the New
Testament. It has, however, been inferred from the mention of household bap
tisms, and from the analogy of circumcision, and may find a sufficient reason
for itself in the obvious propriety of a public and formal consecration of children
to God. We hold, accordingly, that, with or without scriptural warrant, it "is
to be retained in the church."

MINISTRY OF THE WORD 185
stating it, he eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Son of man,
and so comes to have life in himself (John vi, 53).
3. The Ministry of the Word. The fellowship and communion,
which are enhanced by these symbolic signs of the new covenant,
must needs be very helpful in developing the spiritual life of the
children of God. But far more important than the formal observ
ance of any outward rites is the faithful ministry of the word of
God, a preaching and teaching of the great eternal truths which
have to do with the moral and religious nature of man. Many
of these are treasured in the scriptures of the Old Testament,
and, according to Paul, "were written for our learning" (Rom. xv,
4). "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teach
ing, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in right
eousness ; that the man of God may be complete, furnished com
pletely unto every good work" (2 Tim. iii, 16, 17). The Law,
the Prophets, and the Psalms may therefore be profitably searched
for religious instruction and edification. The record of creation
in Genesis is full of richest suggestions touching the personality
and power of God, and implies his immanence in all the world.
The promise to the woman (iii, 15), and the symbols of judgment
and mercy in flaming sword and cherubim (iii, 24) are prophetic
of a divine purpose to redeem from sin and death. The familiar
story of Cain and Abel is freighted with moral lessons of imper
ishable value. The covenant with Noah and its symbolic sign of
the bow in the cloud (ix, 9-17) illustrate the ancient ideas of
divine compassion and the doctrine of communion between God
and man.1 The various rites of the Levitical worship, the vows
and the purifications, the sabbath, the new moons, the sacred
seasons and pilgrimages and fasts, the solemn assemblies and the
sacrifices, all witness to the religious culture of the Israelitish
people, and along with the lively oracles of the prophets and the
spiritual songs of the psalmists furnish numerous lessons for
instruction in righteousness. Or if we look for special illustra
tions from individual life and character, we may cite the examples
of Enoch, who walked with God ; of Abraham, the friend of God ;
of Jacob and his wrestling with the angel ; of Joseph, the honored
servant of God ; of Moses, who spoke face to face with Jehovah ;
of Samuel, the venerable prophet, and David, the man after God's
own heart. The Psalms and. Prophets abound with pious utter
ances which show that at various periods of the Old Testament
history human hearts in Israel were led through remarkable experi
ences of conviction of sin, repentance, faith, and turning unto

1 See these lessons more fully indicated in Biblical Apocalyptics, pp. 38-67.

186 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
God. The symbolical rites and the laws for personal purification
inculcated the doctrine of holiness, and the necessity of "clean
hands and a pure heart" in everyone who would approach unto
God (Psa. xxiv, 3, 4). In these and many other ways the scrip
tures of the Old Testament afford instruction in divine truth;
but we find the teaching embodied in the New Testament a still
fuller and clearer revelation of the word of God. Jesus himself
is the supreme Teacher. His parable of the sower and the seed
illustrates the nature of the "word of the kingdom," and how
differently it is received by different human hearts. His parable
of the good seed and the tares is even more suggestive. "He that
soweth the good seed is the Son of man," and his coming into the
world was a going forth to sow. The enemy sows evil seed, and
the different sowings produce "sons of the kingdom," and "sons
of the evil one." It is, therefore, a matter of the greatest possible
moment how we hear and what we hear and receive as the word
of God. The incarnation, life, teaching, ministry, miracles, death,
and resurrection of Jesus are a revelation of "the good word of
God and the powers of the age to come" (Heb. vi, 5). Every
manifestation of divine truth from the beginning is in some sense
the word of God, who has spoken at sundry times, in diverse man
ners and by different portions (Heb. i, 1). Thus the gospel, the
word of the kingdom, the truth as it is in Jesus (Eph. iv, 21), who
himself is "the way and the truth and the life" (John xiv, 6) —
even the eternal Word who was in the beginning with God and
was God — this word of God, so inexhaustible in depth and full
ness, is the light of the world, and a most efficient instrument for
building up the child of God in righteousness and in all virtues.
Great zeal in religious life may often display itself without correct
knowledge of the truth (Rom. x, 2), and a fervent piety is often
seen in persons who are lamentably deficient in their acquaintance
with "the word of the kingdom." But such facts admonish us
the more that all sound and commendable Christian growth must
be according to faithful instruction in the truth. The ancient
priests of Israel were required to teach the statutes which Jehovah
had spoken (Lev. x, 10, 11). "The priest's lips should keep knowl
edge, and they should seek the law at his mouth" (Mal. ii, 7).
Wise and useful proverbs were sought out and set in order that
men might "know wisdom and instruction, and discern the words
of understanding" (Prov. i, 2). In accordance with the great
Teacher's example and counsels the apostles of the early church
gave great attention to teaching (Acts ii, 42) and "the ministry of
the word" (vi, 4). "Paul and Barnabas tarried in Antioch, teach
ing and preaching the word of the Lord" (xv, 35). Paul in

PRACTICAL GODLINESS 187
founding the church of Corinth "dwelt there a year and six
months, teaching the word of God among them" (xviii, 11), and
for the space of three years he labored in Ephesus, "teaching pub
licly and from house to house," and "shrinking not from declaring
the whole counsel of God" (xx, 20, 27). He wrote the Corinthi
ans about his supreme desire to profit them by speaking to them
"either by way of revelation, or of knowledge, or of prophesying,
or of teaching" (1 Cor. xiv, 6). He admonished the churches of
Galatia that he received the gospel through revelation of Jesus
Christ, and made the same known unto them in the ministrations
of his divine apostleship, and he emphasized the work of religious
instruction by saying, "Let him that is taught in the word com
municate unto him that teacheth in all good things" (Gal. vi, 6).
He wrote Timothy and Titus that the minister of Christ must
be "apt to teach," "speak the things which befit the sound teach
ing," "hold to the faithful word which i6 according to the teach
ing, that he may be able both to exhort in the sound teaching, and
to convince the gainsayers" (1 Tim. iii, 2; 2 Tim. ii, 2; Titus i, 9;
ii, 2). Luke wrote his gospel that Theophilus might be informed
"concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach," and
"might know the certainty concerning the words wherein he had
been instructed" (Acts i, 1 ; Luke i, 4). And thus it appears that
without diligent instruction and study in the truth of God there
can be no healthful growth "in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. iii, 18).
4. Exercises of Practical Godliness. Numerous forms of reli
gious activity may be viewed as means of promoting spiritual life
and cultivating the virtues of Christian character. A vigilant
guarding of oneself against all kinds of evil is an essential accom
paniment of the petition, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver
us from evil." Such vigilance should care to keep the body from
all defilement (1 Cor. vi, 19, 20; ix, 27; 2 Cor. vii, 1; 1 Pet. ii,
11) ; to practice faithfulness with an erring brother (Matt, xviii,
15-17; Gal. vi, 1), to bear the infirmities of the weak (Rom. xv, 1;
Gal. vi, 2), to give of one's means liberally and distribute readily
according as one is prospered (1 Cor. xvi, 2; 2 Cor. vii, 2, 7;
1 Tim. vi, 18), to show love and hospitality to the stranger (Heb.
xiii, 2; Rom. xii, 13), to redeem the time and observe diligence
in business (Eph. v, 16; Col. iv, 5; Prov. xxii, 29), and to be
faithful in the discharge of all duties in the family and house
hold (Eph. v,22— vi,9; Col. iii, 18 — iv, 1; 1 Pet. ii, 18— iii, 7). All
these and other like activities of practical godliness are essential
to a strong and beautiful development of the Christian life ; but
they are all implied in what has already been said of the elements

188 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of growth and the cultivation of every personal excellency in Chris
tian perfection.
5. Prayer. But among all the means of grace the direct per
sonal approach of the soul to God in prayer is preeminent. It is
a sort of instinct in the religious nature of man to "cry out unto
the living God," and this fact is an evidence that we are the
offspring of God. The Scriptures abound with examples of prayer,
and no ritual of worship, no offering of sacrifices, no intercession
of priests ever seem to have proved sufficient to release the indi
vidual heart from the sense of need and of obligation to seek
personally unto God. Prayer in the broadest sense includes
acknowledgment of past mercies and thanksgiving for all divine
favors, confession of sin and unworthiness, supplication for all
manner of temporal and spiritual benefits, and ascription of praise
to God. In the Hebrew Psalter we meet with all these forms of
prayer and praise, and not a few of them are examples of the
deepest and most thorough searching of heart before God. The
supplications of Moses, as recorded in Exod. xxxiii, 12-16, and
Num. xi, 11-15, are remarkable for the boldness of their appeals
to Jehovah. Abraham's intercession for Sodom (Gen. xviii,
23-32) is no less notable. The struggle of Jacob at Peniel is
unsurpassed as a picture of prevailing prayer alone with God (Gen.
xxxii, 24-30). Jesus taught his disciples to pray and enhanced
his teaching by his own example. He supplied a model prayer,
and uttered parables to show that men ought always to pray.
"What man is there," he argued, "who, if his son ask him for a
loaf, will give him a stone ; or if he ask for a fish, will give him
a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts
unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is
in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" Hence his
own command: "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and
ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt.
vii, 7-11; comp. xviii, 19; xxi, 22; Mark xi, 24; Luke xxi, 36;
John xv, 7; xvi, 23, 24). The apostolic teaching on this subject
is no less explicit. According to James, "If any of you lack wis
dom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraid-
eth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith,
nothing doubting." "Confess your sins one to another, and pray
one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a
righteous man availeth much in its working" (i, 5; v, 16). "Be
ye of sound mind," says Peter, "and be sober unto prayers" (1 Pet.
iv, 7). And John writes: "This is the boldness which we have
toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he
heareth us" (1 John v, 14). "Brethren, pray for us," says Paul;

PRAYER 189
"pray without ceasing; in nothing be anxious; but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God; praying at all seasons with all prayer
and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perse
verance and supplication for all the saints" (1 Thess. v, 17, 25;
Phil, iv, 6; Eph. vi, 18). From these scriptures and others of a
like nature it is evident that God is a living presence in the world.
He even notices the sparrow that faileth on the ground and num
bers the hairs of our head (Matt, x, 29). The uniformities we
see in nature can offer no valid objection to the doctrine of prayer,
for those uniformities are themselves of his ordaining and have in
him their permanent support. His infinite wisdom and power are
doubtless competent to make all things work together for good to
them that love him and are called according to his purpose (Rom.
viii, 28). We may often pray unwisely; "we know not how to
pray as we ought, but the Spirit helpeth our infirmity" (ver. 26).
David prayed for the life of the child, and his desire was not
granted him (2 Sam. xii, 16-18). Jesus prayed in Gethsemane
that the cup might pass, but he drank it in amazement of soul,
sweating drops of blood. Paul besought the Lord thrice that the
thorn in his flesh might depart (2 Cor. xii, 8), but the weakness
remained. Yet no such intensely fervent prayer of the heart to
God goes without some blessed answer. The child is not spared,
but comfort of soul is given. The cup of Gethsemane is not taken
away, but an angel comes to strengthen. The thorn in the flesh
remains, but there comes the sweet assurance, "My grace is suf
ficient for thee : for my power is made perfect in weakness." The
true idea of prayer implies that in the nature of the act we defer
to an infinite intelligence above us, whose wisdom and goodness
may often answer our supplication in ways we thought not of.
The thing for which we ask may be conditioned on other wills
whose free action we cannot influence, and God himself will not
coerce. Or we may ask for a seeming and real good which, if
given, would effectually prevent our subsequent attainment of a
higher boon. And so the human heart, with its ineradicable
impulse to pray, may come to God in boldness, and in confidence,
nothing doubting, and may ask for any good thing. No such
earnest "supplication in the Spirit" goes unanswered. It may
not be the specific answer we desire; for the Infinite Wisdom
has his ways and his thoughts, which are far above ours (Isa.
Iv, 9). But the Infinite Wisdom is also the Infinite love, who
"withholdeth no good thing from them that walk uprightly" (Psa.
Ixxxiv, 11). If that good thing for which we pray seems to be
withholden, some other and greater good is given in ways we do

190 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
not comprehend. The spiritual nature that seeks the presence
and help of God with a pure longing must needs receive of the
infinite fullness, for such the Father seeks to be his worshipers
(John iv, 23). And thousands of thousands of such true wor
shipers have received most blessed answers to their prayers. The
heart is enlarged in its sympathies by the habit of prayer. Its
hunger and thirst after righteousness receive thereby the deeper
satisfaction. The consciousness of a personal fellowship and
communion with the living. God exalts the spiritual life and
prepares it for the fuller vision of God.
6. The Sevenfold Exhortation of Hebrews z, 19-25. In all
these means of grace we surely recognize a divine provision for
the cultivation of the spiritual life of man. The child of the
kingdom, born from above, a new creation in Christ, receiving the
spirit of adoption, holy and without blame, perfected in love, is
certainly an ideal worthy of all possible struggle to attain. The
exhortation of Heb. x, 19-25, in which the writer passes from the
doctrinal to the practical part of his epistle, contains a sevenfold
admonition. Those who would enter into what this writer con
ceives as the heavenly Holy of holies in the house of God must
have (1) a true and purified heart, (2) a body washed from all
defilement, (3) a full assurance of faith, (4) an unwavering con
fession of hope, (5) a watching of one another for good,
(6) assembling together for worship and fellowship, and (7)
faithful exhortation. "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to
enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which
he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that
is to say, his flesh; and having a great priest over the house of
God; let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having
our body washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession
of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised;
and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good
works; not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom
of some is, but exhorting one another ; and so much the more, as
ye see the day drawing nigh."

CHAPTER VIII
ETERNAL LIFE
1. Meaning of the Phrase. Our studies thus far into the origin
and development of new spiritual life in man have prepared the
way for further inquiry into the heavenly nature and destination
of this life. The phrase eternal life (£«?? aluvtog-), which is con
spicuous in the writings of John but by no means confined to
them, demands our first attention. It has become so much asso
ciated in Christian thought with the doctrine of future existence
that an important part of its significance is overlooked. The new
birth from above introduces the believer into a new element of
spiritual life, and is spoken of as a passing out of death into life,
so that "he that hath the Son hath the life, and he that hath not
the Son of God hath not the life" (1 John v, 12). Here "the life"
is contemplated as a present actual possession; "God gave unto us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son" (ver. 11) ; and the state
ment is strictly parallel with John iii, 36 : "He that believeth on
the Son hath eternal life ; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Equally
explicit and unmistakable is the language of John v, 24: "He
that heareth my word and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal
life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death
into life." In John vi, 54, we meet with this declaration of pro
found mysticism : "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." In
xvii, 3, we read what bears to some extent the manner of a defini
tion: "This is eternal life, that they should know thee, the only
true God, and him whom thou didst send, Jesus Christ." The
eternal life which is thus contemplated as a present possession is
no other than the blessed life of God in the soul begotten by the
heavenly birth and nourished by living communion with God.
It is not merely the knowledge of God and of Christ; it is rather
vital union with them, as that of the branches with the vine, so
that the disciples "shall know that I am in my Father, and ye
in me, and I in you" (John xiv, 20). The knowledge of God that
comes of such vital union and fellowship is a partaking of the
divine nature, and, to use a Pauline expression, the "life is hid
with Christ in God" (Col. iii, 3). This eternal kind of life is
191

192 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
also closely associated with the idea of light shed abroad through
all the spiritual and intellectual faculties of men. "In him was
life, and the life was the light of men" (John i, 4). That is, the
impartation of new life from above brings along with the life a
heavenly illumination. He who is begotten of God should be
quick to learn that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at
all. And if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son
cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John i, 5, 7). Such are true "chil
dren of light," and such divine illumination develops the eternal
life as the light of the sun promotes the growth of many living
things in the natural world.
2. Paul's View of Life, Light, and Liberty. The mystic ele
ment in the writings of Paul is scarcely less noticeable than that
of the Johannine books. No New Testament writer exhibits pro-
founder conceptions of spiritual life and fellowship with God.
He thinks and speaks of believers as risen with Christ, and seek
ing things above where Christ is seated on the right hand of God
(Col. iii, 1). Their citizenship is in heaven (Phil, iii, 20), and
they sit with Christ in the heavenlies (kv rolg- knovpavioig; Eph. ii,
6).1 He, too, knows the power of heavenly illumination, "seeing
it is God that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. iv, 6). "Ye were once
darkness, but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light"
(Eph. v, 8). This surpassing light which accompanies the knowl
edge of the glory of God in Christ is conceived by Paul as a pro
duct of the Spirit of the Lord, and a reflection of the glory of the
Lord Christ as seen in the mirror of the gospel. The highest lib
erty of the soul is attained in this transforming light. It is the
freedom of which Jesus speaks in John viii, 32, 36: "Ye shall
know the truth and the truth shall make you free. If the Son
shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." This holy spiritual
liberty exalts the soul above all slavish fear, and enables one to
apprehend the living Christ as the light of the world. Paul puts
it in contrast with the bondage and darkness which so blinded the
spiritual insight of the heart of Israel in his time that they could
not apprehend "the illumination ((puria/iog-) of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor. iv, 4) . Spiritual
illumination dispels the darkness of sin and error, and brings the
real freedom. Accordingly we read (2 Cor. iii, 17, 18) : "Where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And we all, with

• Compare Biblical Hermeneutics, p. 276.

ETERNAL LIFE 193
unveiled face (that is, not veiled as was the heart of Israel, verses
14-16), beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are trans
formed into the same image from glory to glory." The believer
who receives this liberty-giving Spirit of the Lord beholds the
glory of his Lord as it is reflected in the mirror of the gospel,
which he calls in this same connection (iv, 4) "the gospel of the
glory of Christ." This vision of Christ is a present experience
of the soul, and consists in devout and appreciative contemplation
of the person and glory of the Lord Jesus. Such a vision of glory
has the effect of transforming the devout beholder into the same
likeness. He becomes Christlike. He "puts on the new man,
who is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that
created him" (Col. iii, 10). The transformation is not the work
of a moment, but may be a long-continuing process, as is suggested
by the words from glory to glory. The eternal life in Christ of
which he has "laid hold" (1 Tim. vi, 12) becomes in him an
increasing spiritual power, and advances from one degree of glory
to another. It is also a transformation from the vision of glory
which one sees in the mirror of Christ's gospel into a glory of
personal fellowship with God, which is "as the dawning light that
shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. iv, 18).
3. Eternal Life a Present Possession. Eternal life, then, is to
be understood primarily of the free, pure, permanent, and ever-
increasing spiritual life of Christlikeness. It is a present pos
session and a glorious reality to the believer, who can say with
Paul, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free
from the law of sin and of death" (Rom. viii, 2). As spiritual
death is the direct penal consequence of sin, so is spiritual life the
direct product of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's
heart; and as the one is a reality of positive knowledge and con
viction, so is the other. "The wages of sin is death; but the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. vi, 23).
We have already observed (p. 120) that the penalty of sin is a
ruin of the spiritual nature of man, the blighting of religious life,
the self-destructive alienation of the soul from the fellowship of
God. When this condition becomes fixed and permanent the
blighted nature is guilty of eternal sin. Such fixedness in evil
character is in itself a penal consequence of persistent sinning.
On the other hand, eternal life may be viewed as a fixedness of
opposite character. The children of light have laid hold of the
eternal life which is God's free gift; and "the fruit of the light
is in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (Eph. v, 9).
4. Endless Permanence in Life. But in the gospel of John we
find eternal life contemplated also as an ultimate reward, a future

194 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
glory, as well as a present possession. The life in Christ is eternal
in that it endures in eternal permanence. It has a destination
that runs on not only "from glory to glory" but also from eon to
eon. Jesus speaks of the water of life which becomes in him who
drinks thereof "a fountain of water springing up unto eternal
life" (iv, 14). Again in verse 36 he speaks of "gathering fruit
unto life eternal," and in vi, 27, of food "which abideth unto life
eternal." In xii, 25, we have the strong and peculiar words wliich
remind us both of Matt, xvi, 25, and Luke xiv, 26: "He that
loveth his soul loseth it ; and he that hateth his soul in this world
shall keep it unto life eternal." The eternal life is so exalted in
thought that everything which stands in the way of its attainment
seems in comparison so mean and despicable as to be an object
of hatred. The sordid soul-life, animal life (i>vxv), which seeks
all its good in this world is hateful when seen in its antagonism
to the life eternal which aims at permanent satisfaction, and seeks
things above this world "where Christ is seated on the right hand
of God" (Col. iii, 1). In all these passages in John's gospel the
eternal life contemplated is some future glorious boon, an endless
permanence in the life and light of God.
5. Eternal Life in Synoptic Gospels. In the synoptic gospels
the phrase eternal life also connotes a future reward or inherit
ance. In Mark x, 29, 30, Jesus says : "There is no man that hath
left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children,
or lands, for my sake and for the gospel's sake, but he shall receive
a hundred fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters,
and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in
the age to come life eternal." The parallel passage in Matt, xix,
29, reads, "shall receive manifold, and shall inherit life eternal."
In Luke xviii, 30, the reading is, "Shall receive manifold more in
this time, and in the age to come life eternal." Furthermore, in
Matt, xix, 16; Mark x, 17; Luke x, 25; xviii, 18, eternal life is
spoken of as an inheritance, and this word involves the idea of a
property or blessedness to be received at some future time. The
phrases in this time, in this world, and on the earth as contrasted
with in the age to come imply experiences of life in some other
world or age beyond the present. In the picture of eternal judg
ment, which is written in Matt, xxv, 31-46, the righteous who go
"into eternal life" "inherit the kingdom prepared for them from
the foundation of the world." That inheritance is an entrance into
the joy and glory of the King himself.
6. Eternal Life in the Epistles. In the various epistles the
ideal of a glorious inheritance in eternal life is frequently pre
sented. No unrighteous person can inherit the kingdom of God

ETERNAL LIFE 195
(Gal. v, 21 ; 1 Cor. vi, 9, 10; Eph. v, 5), but those who "by patience
in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption" shall
receive eternal life as reward rendered by the righteous judgment
of God (Rom. ii, 7). Grace reigns through righteousness unto
eternal life (Rom. v, 21), and they who are "made free from sin
and become servants to God, have their fruit unto sanctification,
and the end [final result and consummation] life eternal" (vi, 22).
So, too, "he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap
eternal life" (Gal. vi, 8). In the Acts of the apostles (xx, 32;
xxvi, 18) Paul speaks of "the inheritance among all them that are
sanctified." In the epistle to the Hebrews we read of "them that
shall inherit salvation" (i, 14), and of them that "receive the
promise of the eternal inheritance" (ix, 15). In 1 Pet. i, 4, the
writer tells his readers that God has begotten them unto a living
hope, "unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away reserved in heaven for them." In Col. i, 12, the
apostle "gives thanks unto the Father who made us meet [that is,
fit, sufficient, competent] to be partakers of the inheritance of the
saints in light" ; and in Eph. i, 13, 14, he speaks of "being sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest [dppa(5u)v,=
pledge and part payment] of our inheritance, unto the redemption
of God's own possession"; that is, unto the final consummation
of the redemption of all those whom God claims as his peculiar
treasure and the people of his own possession (comp. 1 Pet. ii, 9 ;
Exod. xix, 5; Deut. vii, 6).
7. A Glorious Inheritance, Now and Forever. From all these
scriptures it becomes apparent beyond controversy that the spir
itual life begotten in the heart of man by the power of the Holy
Spirit is part and parcel of a glorious inheritance. It is a pos
session of manifold fullness, and is conditioned in a fitness of
character, a godliness (evae0eia, reverent piety and beautiful reli
gious conduct) which "has promise of the life which now is, and
of that which is to come" (1 Tim. iv, 8). There can be no living
this life apart from God, for it is begotten in the soul by a
heavenly birth and is continually nourished and sti'engthened by
the Spirit of God. The child of God receives the spirit of adop
tion, is made a partaker of the divine nature, and cries out, Abba,
Father. This heavenly relationship, vitally uniting the soul of
man with the eternal Spirit, is of the nature of eternal life. It
brings great blessedness in this life and in this world ; but it is as
abiding as the nature of God. It is continually springing up into
eternal life. It is, in a Johannine way of thinking, a life unlim
ited by time and place, but ever abiding in fellowship with the
Holy One, and with his Son Jesus Christ. But in no way incon-

196 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
sistent with this concept it is also thought of as an everlasting
inheritance. "If children of God, then also heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. viii, 17) ; and if "sufficient to be
made partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light" (Col. i,
12), their portion is an ever-continuing fellowship with the Eter
nal One. And so by every inference and suggestion of these scrip
tures each individual life, whose "fellowship is with the Father,
and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John i, 3), continues eternally
in that blessed companionship. Both in this age and in that which
is to come, in this world or in any other to which he may depart,
on the earth or in the heavens, the child of God abides in life,
and in love, and therefore in endless conscious bliss. We may
accordingly add one word to the beatitude, and say, "Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall eternally see God."

CHAPTER IX
THE DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY
1. The Fact and the Doctrine. In discussing the penal conse
quences of sin we were naturally led to inquire into the nature
and possibilities of a future existence. Every argument bearing
on the subject, whether by way of analogy, or of reason, or of
scriptural investigation, resulted in the conclusion that man's
conscious existence does not end with physical death, and that
his personal identity and moral character, whether it be good or
whether it be evil, projects itself as by a law of nature into the
new state of existence which follows the present mortal life.
Aside from the narrow limits of that discussion, our study thus
far has been directed mainly to facts of actual experience and of
positive knowledge. The nature and moral condition of man as
he exists in this world, his sinfulness and his consciousness of guilt,
and the varying experiences of repentance, faith, regeneration,
sanctification, and eternal life are made familiar to us by the
testimony of innumerable witnesses who confirm the biblical teach
ing concerning these subjects. But coming now to inquire more
directly into the nature and possibilities of spiritual life beyond
this present world, we enter a realm of mystery. We may dis
tinguish between the fact or certainty of a future life for man
and the biblical doctrine of immortality. As a matter of fact,
the belief in some form of future existence is well nigh, if not
absolutely, as universal as the human race. Our concept of God,
our moral sense, our spiritual intuitions, our native longings and
hopes, and our growing rational conviction of the conservation
and survival of all that is highest and best in the world combine
into a sort of a priori assurance of immortality. But when we
attempt to formulate our doctrine of the future state, and study
the numerous and varying ideals that have been constructed by
poetic fancy, we find it difficult to distinguish between what is
fact or evident truth, and what is the product of imagination.
It is an interesting and not unprofitable study to gather up and
compare the different views touching a future life which have
been held among the different nations and tribes of men; but
the scope of our inquiries is limited to the teachings of the Old
and New Testaments. These teachings, however, comprehend the
197

198 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
most and the best that has ever anywhere been spoken. What is
the biblical doctrine of immortality?
2. Human Limitation and Doubt. The concepts of time and
of eternal duration arise from the necessary limitations of our
human thought. There is a remarkable statement made in Eccl.
iii, 11, which may well receive a passing comment here. The
writer says that God "has put eternity [d?yn, the everlasting] in
their heart, so that man may not find out the work which God
has done from beginning to end." His meaning seems to be that
God has put in the soul of man the concept of eternal duration,
and the result with the wise man is that he perceives and acknowl
edges the necessary limitations of his finite nature. Beginning
and end are alike wrapped in mystery, but the idea of eternity is
set in his heart and cannot be put away. In Eccl. xii, 5, it is
said that man in dying "goes to his eternal house." He passes
into the hidden (comp. D^W in ver. 14), silent, mysterious realm
of the dead. "Who knoweth the spirit of the sons of men whether
it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goeth down
ward to the earth?" (iii, 21). Doubt and perplexity seem to trou
ble the soul of this debater, to whom all human pursuits end in
"vanity of vanities." With him at least one thing is sure: "The
dust [of man's body] shall return to the earth as it was, and the
spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (xii, 7). These words
are an obvious allusion to what is written in Gen. ii, 7, and iii, 19,
and the bare statement that the spirit returns unto God throws
no light upon the nature of the future state of existence. It is
as perfectly compatible with a pantheistic conception of absorp
tion into the Infinite as with the belief in a personal future exist
ence of conscious fellowship with God in the heavens.
3. Doctrine of the Old Testament. In a study of the Hebrew
scriptures we find a number of allusions to a current doctrine of
the continuance of personal life beyond its present state, but all
•of them together are insufficient to make up a clear or satisfactory
revelation touching the life to come. Little, if anything, can be
found in the most ancient portions of the Old Testament litera
ture. It is remarkable that the appeal which is employed to
awaken faith and hope in Israel is not to the thought or motives of
a future existence and a judgment to come, but to the living God,
"who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of bondage." In that land of the Nile the Israelites must have
-come more or less in contact with the Egyptian doctrine of the
underworld, and of the solemn judgment to be passed before Ra
and Osiris and Ptah. It may be that the absence of any corre
sponding doctrine among the emancipated Hebrews was a designed

IMMORTALITY 199
reaction from excess of that subject brought to their attention in
their house of bondage. They went forth to emphasize rather the
laws of righteous judgment in the present world, "to keep the
commandments of Jehovah, to walk in all his ways, to serve him
with all the heart and soul; for he is the great God, who doth
execute justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loveth the
sojourner" (Deut. x, 12-18).
(1) Sundry Intimations. Nevertheless there are various inti
mations of belief in a future life noticeable in the Old Testament.
The theophanies and angelophanies, whether they be regarded as
historical facts or matters of vision and dream and ideal descrip
tion, suggest another and higher realm of spiritual beings. To
the Hebrew seer this world was all alive with God and his angels.
It would seem, in fact, that the doctrine of immortality among
any people becomes definite and positive according as the doctrine
of God becomes clearly defined and exalted. The statement that
a patriarch died in a good old age, and "was gathered to his peo
ple" (Gen. xxv, 8, 17; xxxv, 29; xlix, 29, 33), appears to mean
something different from burial in the ancestral tomb, but is too
vague to furnish anything more than the general idea of a gather
ing in the realm of the dead. The grave itself seems in some
way to connect with a vast underworld of departed souls. The
superstitions of necromancy imply a belief in the continued life
of those who had disappeared from the world. The story of
Saul's interview with the witch of Endor (1 Sam. xxviii) shows
a current belief that a prophet like Samuel might be summoned
back from the underworld to speak with the king of Israel. And
the traditions of Enoch and Elijah, and their translation without
seeing death, necessarily involve some notion of a heavenly state
where godly men may continue to hold exalted fellowship with God.
(2) Expressed in Many Psalms. The psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs of a nation usually express their belief in a future
life, if any such belief exist at the time of their composition.
In Psa. Ixxiii, 23-26, it is easy to see an outgrowth of the idea
of Enoch walking with God:
I am continually with thee;
Thou hast holden my right hand.
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel.
And afterwards receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire
beside thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth;
But God is the strength of my heart and my
portion forever.

200 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
In these lines we observe how an elevated theism accompanies
and enhances the idea of a heavenly life with God, a life that
must needs continue beyond this earthly state of being. A similar
sentiment is conspicuous in the language of Psa. xvi, 10, 11 :
Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor give up thy pious ones to see the pit.
Thou wilt show me the path of life;
In thy presence is fulness of joy;
In thy right hand there are pleasures forever.
This devout singer is evidently smitten with the conviction that
he is absolutely safe in the hand of his God. He expresses his
calm assurance and joyful expectation that the pathway of life
will open before him as he goes onward, and he has a blessed
security for the present and the future because Jehovah is always
before him, or at his right hand (ver. 8). His pathway to the
life eternal might lead him through "the valley of the shadow
of death" (comp. Psa. xxiii, 4), and down into the darkness of
Sheol, but then with another psalmist he could say: "God will
redeem my soul from the hand of Sheol; for he will take me"
(xlix, 15). Here, as in Psa. Ixxiii, 24, there is an obvious allusion
to the translation of Enoch, whom "God took" (rp$>, Gen. v, 24),
and the thought may be that he will not enter into the realm
of Sheol at all, but that God will come to his rescue and take
him away to himself, as he did the ancient father of Methuse
lah. The same living trust in God and the idea of continuous
dwelling with him are apparent in many other psalms:
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble;
Therefore will we not fear though the earth change,
And though the mountains be moved in the heart of the seas.
Thou art my hiding place; thou wilt preserve me from trouble;
Thou wilt compass me about with songs of deliverance.
Be thou to me a rock of habitation,
Whereunto I may continually resort.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God in whom I trust.
All such metaphors of secure abode, secret intercourse and abid
ing trust in the eternal and invisible God evince a strong faith

IMMORTALITY 201
in these sweet singers of Israel, and are not compatible either with
ignorance of a future life or of disbelief in it. For who but
those who possess confident hope of everlasting fellowship with
God can properly employ such language as that of Psa. xxvii, 1?
Jehovah is my light and my salvation ;
Whom shall I fear?
Jehovah is the stronghold of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
(3) Job xix, 25-27. To this same class of composition belongs
that impassioned outburst of divine inspiration which we read in
Job xix, 25-27 :
And I, I know that my Avenger lives,
And afterwards shall he upon the dust arise,
And after my skin — they have struck this off —
Even without my flesh shall I behold Eloah:
Whom I, I shall behold for myself,
And mine eyes shall have seen, and not a stranger.
There is no little obscurity attaching to particular words in this
passage, and it may be attributed to the fact that they are the
broken utterances of extreme emotion. The poet represents Job,
at a moment of his deepest anguish, expressing his confident
expectation of a final vindication. He seems to have no very
definite idea of the time or the manner in which it will take place.
His Avenger may come after he himself shall have returned to
dust, and may rise up over his dust to vindicate his cause. But
one thing he knows and boldly declares, that, whether in the body
or out of the body, whether in this life or in some other life to
come, the living God will surely avenge his wrongs, and show
forth his innocence.
(4) The Realm of Sheol. Other Old Testament texts con
nected with this subject relate more directly to the doctrine of
the resurrection, and will be noticed in our discussion of that
doctrine. The word Sheol, as a common designation of the abode
of the dead, is often employed in a way that assumes a general
belief in personal existence after death, but it supplies no clear
or positive revelation as to the real nature of the future life. The
ideas of reward or of penalty are gathered from what is said in
the connection rather than from anything of special significance
in the word itself. In his bitter sorrow over the loss of Joseph
the aged patriarch Jacob cries: "I will go down into Sheol unto
my son mourning" "(Gen. xxxvii, 35). In Job xi, 8, Sheol is

202 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
spoken of as if it were the opposite of the high heaven, a deep,
dark, subterranean abyss; and in Job xvii, 13-16, we read:
If I look for Sheol as my house;
If I have spread my couch in the darkness;
If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father;
To the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister;
Where then is my hope?
And as for my hope, who shall see it?
It shall go down to the bars of Sheol,
When once there is rest in the dust.
Here certainly there is no light or hopeful picture.1 The realm
of the dead is but dimly distinguishable from corruption, worms,
and dust. The same close association of Sheol and the grave
appears in Isa. xiv, 9-11, where in a highly wrought poetic descrip
tion the shades of departed princes address the king of Babylon
upon his coming down among them and say to him :
Art thou become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?
Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the noise of thy cymbals;
The worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
The entire passage assumes a current belief in the continued
existence of the human soul after death, but the vision is a vague
and gloomy one, and has its basis in the poetic fancies of a heathen
eschatology. The wordD'NSl. shades (ver. 9), belongs to the same
realm of thought, and might be translated "powerless shades,"
implying souls of fallen heroes.1 In Job xxvi, 5, 6, the three words,
Rephaim, Sheol, and Abaddon occur together:
The powerless shades tremble beneath the waters and their inhabitants;
Sheol is naked before him [God], and Abaddon hath no covering.
The use of the word Abaddon in this connection, as in some
sense a further characterization of Sheol, indicates that in the
writer's mind Sheol is the abode of the helpless dead, deep down
underneath the waters, and it is a region of destruction and ruin

1 It is not a whit better than the doleful view of the state of the most honored
dead wliich Achilles expresses to Ulysses in Homer, Odyssey, xi, 487-491 :
0 do not thus to me make light of death,
Glorious Ulysses; I would be a serf
And toil alone with any other man
Who has no snare, and whose life is not much,
Rather than reign o'er ail the wasted dead.
2 The word is used in both singular and plural to designate a man or men of
great size (e. g., 1 Chron. xx, 6, 8; Deut. ii, 11, 20), but as referring to souls of the
dead it is always used in the plural (Job xxvi, 5; Psa. lxxxviii, 10; Prov. ii 18;
ix, 18; xxi, 16; Isa. xiv, 9; xxvi, 14, 19). The word D'HinVi here used poetically
for princes, means he-goats, or bell-wethers. See Kay and Cheyne on Isa. xiv, 9.

IMMORTALITY 203
(jH3N)i where the souls of the mighty princes are affected with a
sense of fear. It appears, therefore, that no study of the word
Sheol, as employed in the Old Testament, will bring to light any
definite idea of the condition of departed souls. Its use shows that
the doctrine of a future life was a current belief, but it affords
us little or no help for the elucidation of the doctrine. In some
scriptures Sheol is mentioned as if it were the abode of all the
dead, both righteous and wicked; in other passages it would seem
to be the prison of the ungodly; and yet in others it is referred
to as a place or condition from which God will rescue his own
devout servants who delight in him and keep his law. In most
instances the word occurs in poetic compositions.
(5) The Greek Word Hades. We find the same indefinite-
ness attaching to the Greek word Hades ("Aidng; invisible land or
realm). In nearly every passage in the Old Testament where the
word Sheol occurs it is represented in the Septuagint version by
Hades. The word appears eleven times in the New Testament,
but in only one or two passages do we find anything in the con
text to throw light upon its meaning. One of these occurs in
Peter's discourse (Acts ii, 27, 31), where he comments on a quo
tation from Psa. xvi, 8-10 ; but the apostle's comment adds no new
significance to the word. He applies the psalm to the resurrection
of Christ, arguing that it does not fit the fact that David, the
assumed author, died and was buried, and his tomb was among
them at that day. Jesus, on the contrary, "was not left in Hades,
neither did his flesh see corruption."1 Hades here, as Sheol in
the Hebrew psalm, stands simply as the current designation of
the invisible realm of the dead. Much more suggestive is the
passage in Luke xvi, 23, where it is written : "The rich man died,
and was buried; and in Hades he lifted up his eyes being in tor
ments, and he seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."
Here we have something more than the indefinite use of a word;
we have a word-picture of the unseen world. The Hades of this
picture seems to include "Abraham's bosom" as well as a region
of torment, but the two are separated by "a great gulf" (ver. 26),
over which none may cross from one place to the other. The
entire word-picture is drawn after the manner of a parable, and we
are not at liberty to assume all the details of the description, with
the conversation between Abraham and the rich man, to be so many
prosaic statements of an actual occurrence. Else might we argue
with equal assurance that the good and the bad dwell forever in
sight of each other in Hades, and hold conversations like the one
'Peter uses the Septuagint translation which renders the Hebrew flPIK'i pit,
by diaQ&opa, corruption.

204 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
here recorded. Equally futile is the notion that, according to
this scripture, poverty like that of Lazarus gains one admission
to heavenly comfort and fruition ; for this father Abraham, during
his earthly life, was a rich man. The main lessons of the parable
point to the responsibilities of mortal men to one another in this
life. He who fares sumptuously in this world and allows an
unfortunate brother to die in abject poverty at his door, is tor
mented in his existence after death; while the poor unfortunate
may appear in the other world to be a friend of God, and a fit
companion of him who was noted as the "friend of God" (Isa.
xii, 8; 2 Chron. xx, 7; James ii, 23). This portraiture of exist
ence after death, however, belongs rather to the doctrine of the
New Testament.
4. Doctrine of the New Testament. Recurring now to the doc
trine of eternal life, as set forth in the preceding chapter, we
proceed to show what the Christian Scriptures have to say about
the future blessedness of the righteous. The foundation of the
Christian's hope is in knowing that his "life is hid with Christ
in God" (Col. iii, 3). It appears that one's personal and conscious
existence may continue beyond death in a condition far apart from
fellowship with God and his saints. "He that obeyeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him"
(John iii, 36). Without the heavenly life implanted in him by
the birth from above he cannot see the kingdom of God (vers.
3 and 5). And in the highest teaching of the Old Testament as
well as in the New the main ground of confidence in a blissful
immortality is living fellowship with the eternal God. The funda
mental thought in all the symbolism of the temple and the taber
nacle of Israel was that God would condescend to dwell with man,
and sanctify Israel in his glory (Exod. xxix, 42-46) ; and the
ultimate consummation of the kingdom of God is a "reigning in
life" (comp. Rom. v, 17), which, in corresponding apocalyptic
symbolism, is portrayed by the vision of the tabernacle of God
with men, God himself dwelling among them and wiping away
every tear from their eyes (Rev. xxi, 3, 4). Then, it is said (Rev.
xxii, 5), "There shall be night no more; and they need no light
of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them
light: and they shall reign forever and ever." In presenting the
New Testament doctrine of immortality and the heavenly life we
shall accordingly begin with the Apocalypse of John, and there
after study the teachings of the epistle to the Hebrews, the Pauline
epistles, and the gospels in the order here named. We may the
more appropriately begin with the Apocalypse, inasmuch as that
book connects closely with the ideas of heavenly life and activity

IMMORTALITY 205
which are peculiar to this class of writings in the Old Testament
and in the later apocryphal literature of the Jews.
(1) In the Apocalypse of John. We must keep in mind that
the Apocalypse of John is cast in the highest forms of biblical
symbolism, and that its various statements may not be taken as
prosaic declarations of fact or of doctrine. Its elaborate visions
of the heavenly world are not realistic but ideal. Nevertheless, it
is not difficult to discern under the various figures and symbols
a substratum of current beliefs which the author accepted as his
¦own, and which he has enhanced with all the embellishment which
his style of composition would naturally appropriate. His ascrip
tion of glory and dominion "unto him that loveth us, and made
us to be a kingdom and priests unto his God and Father" (i, 6;
v, 10) carries with it as an essential thought the fundamental
truth that Christ's followers constitute a peculiar possession of
God, destined to live and reign with him forever (comp. 1 Pet. ii,
9). We also find in the epistles to the Seven Churches, among
the promises "to him that overcometh," language which has sig
nificance only when understood to refer to heavenly rewards.
Thus "eating of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God"
(ii, 7), receiving the hidden manna and the new name (ii, 17),
the name in the book of life (iii, 5), becoming a pillar in the
temple of God and going out thence no more (iii, 12), and finally
the remarkable words, "He that overcometh, I will give to him
to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat
down with my Father in his throne" (iii, 21) — these all point to
the triumphs and eternal blessedness of those who cleave to the
truth and abide faithful to Christ in every trial that may come
to test them. There can also be no doubt that when the writer, in
chapter iv, describes in glowing style what he saw and heard
through "a door opened in heaven," he intends to impress his
readers with a sublime conception of a supernatural world, in
which God rules in unspeakable majesty. At this point we observe
a very obvious connecting link between Old and New Testament
revelations. The vision of God's throne in the heavens is modeled
after what is written in Isa. vi and Ezek. i, and with these we
should also compare the magnificent apocalyptic picture of Dan.
vii, 9-14. Such ideals of the King of glory and of his associates,
and ministers, and servants become impressively significant of the
future glory of all the children of God, who are also "heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer with him, that
we may be also glorified with him" (Rom. viii, 17). The sig
nificance is the more direct and unmistakable when we read in
Daniel that "the kingdom and the dominion shall be given to the

206 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
people of the saints of the Most High" (vii, 27), and in Rev. v, 9,
that people "of every tribe and tongue and nation are made a
kingdom and priests unto God; and they reign upon the earth,"
and "they shall reign for ever and ever" (xxii, 5). It is evident
that in the thought of the apocalyptist the redeemed saints of God,
who triumph in Christ, shall be partakers eternally in his heavenly
kingdom and glory. In some sense they are to reign with him
on the earth and in the heavens, for eternal life in Christ insures
all this. The vision of "the souls of them that had been slain
for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held," to
each of whom was given a white robe and a comforting assurance
of righteous judgment (vi, 9-11), would be meaningless and inex
plicable apart from the current doctrine of immortality. Still
more magnificent and impressive is the vision, in vii, 9-17, of the
"great multitude which no man could number, out of every nation,
and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the
throne, arrayed in white robes and palms in their hands. . . . They
serve God day and night in his temple ; and he that sitteth on the
throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. They shall hunger
no more, neither thirst any more. . . . The Lamb shall be their
shepherd and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life:
and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes." Similar por
traitures of a glorified existence in a higher realm are furnished in
Rev. xiv, 1-5 ; xv, 2-4 ; xx, 4-6 ; but, as the interpretation of these
passages is involved in questions of the plan and scope of the book
as a whole, we pass them by with this bare reference,1 and proceed
directly to the vision of the New Jerusalem in chapters xxi and
xxii, 1-5. This picture of the holy city of God, coming down out
of heaven, arrayed in beauty as a bride adorned for her husband,
is a symbol of the coming and kingdom of Christ and of its pre
destined renovation of all things. He who sits on the throne
says: "Behold, I am making all things new. . . . He that over
cometh shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he
shall be my son" (xxi, 5, 7). The composite symbolism of the
entire vision presents us a picture of the church and kingdom of
Christ in time and eternity, but with the ideals of ultimate glori
fication especially in view. In these visions of glory and triumph
no note of distinction is made between those who are in the flesh
and those who are perfected in the heavenly places, for they all
constitute one body in Christ. Once united in living fellowship
with him these children of God inherit all the riches and triumphs
and glory of his kingdom in time and eternity. He who thus

' On the exposition of all these passages, see my Biblical Apocalyptics.

IMMORTALITY 207
lives and believes in Christ never dies (John xi, 26). The inhab
itants of this heavenly Jerusalem dwell with God and God abides
with them. Death has no more dominion over them, nor shall
they know mourning and crying and pain any more. They shall
see God's face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. They
shall abide by the river of the water of life, eat freely of the tree
of life, and "the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall
reign forever and ever." All these exquisite ideals most assuredly
contemplate a blessed immortality of conscious personal existence.
(2) In the Epistle to the Hebrews. The epistle to the Hebrews
magnifies "the great salvation" provided in Jesus Christ, and the
salvation cannot be fairly and fully explained except it be made
to include the heavenly blessedness that is consequent upon obedi
ence to Christ, the great high priest over the house of God. The
angels are ministering spirits unto such as shall inherit the great
salvation (i, 14). The suffering and death of Christ are for the
purpose of bringing many sons into glory (ii, 10), and through
his leadership, more potent than that of Joshua, the people of
God look for a blessed sabbath-rest in heaven (iv, 9). Such
blessed hope is "as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and entering into that which is within the veil ; whither as a fore
runner Jesus entered for us" (vi, 19). The ancient fathers died
in faith and expectation of a heavenly country, for God has pre
pared for them a city (xi, 13-16). In xii, 22, 23, it would seem
that the writer had read the visions of Rev. xiv, 1, and of the New
Jerusalem, for he speaks of an entrance into those heavenly places
as a possible present experience : "Ye are come unto mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly and church
of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge
of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect." Once in
living fellowship with "the people of the saints of the Most High,"
the true child of God has entered upon the inheritances of the
heavenly life, and receives an earnest of the redemption of his
glorious possession. He boldly enters the holy place by the new
and living way which his adorable high priest has opened for him,
even into heaven itself (comp. ix, 11, 24; x, 19).
(3) In the Epistles of Paul. ' There is ground for the opinion
now widely prevalent that the Pauline epistles are not uniform
in their treatment of questions of eschatology. But this want of
clearness and harmony appears chiefly in the apostle's statements
touching the coming and kingdom of Christ, and the resurrection
of the dead. Reserving these subjects for separate discussion, we
here inquire only after his teachings concerning a future life.

208 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Whatever his belief in the coming of the Lord and the resurrection
of the saints, he comforts the Thessalonians with the assurance
that those who have fallen asleep in Jesus are with God and
will, along with the saints yet living, be finally and forever with
the Lord in the heavens (1 Thess. iv, 14, 17), and he admonishes
them that, "whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with
him" (v, 10). He never seems to lose sight of the blessed truth
that the future inheritance of the saints in the heavenly kingdom,
whatever the order and manner of its realization, is the certain
salvation of "God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal
comfort and good hope through grace" (2 Thess. ii, 16). One
great thought emphasized in the epistle to the Romans is that
the believer is "dead unto sin but alive unto God in Christ Jesus,"
and in some sense he so lives in and with Christ that, as in the
case of his risen Lord, "death hath no more dominion over him"
(vi, 6-11). Hence he is "persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord" (viii, 38, 39). This vital union with God
in Christ is the power of an imperishable life, and the apostle
therefore has no fear of earthly trials. "For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward" (viii, 18). And
so "the God of hope" enables his children to "abound in hope"
(xv, 13). He who has the mind of the Spirit, loves the truths of
God, and seeks to scatter them abroad so as to promote the work
of the Holy Spirit among men, shall surely "reap eternal life" as
his reward (Gal. vi, 8). In 2 Cor. v, 1-8, we are taught that the
dissolution of "the earthly house of our tabernacle" is to be imme
diately followed by a "clothing upon with our habitation which
is from heaven," so that "what is mortal is swallowed up of life,"
and the apostle declares that he is "willing rather to be absent
from the body and to be at home with the Lord." Here the put
ting off of the mortal flesh is but to pass into closer fellowship
with the Lord, and to be more at home with him. In Phil, i,
21-24, the same apostle speaks of his confidence that Christ will
be magnified either by his life or by his death. "For to me to
live is Christ, and to die is gain. ... I am in a strait betwixt
the two, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ; for
it is far better: yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your
sake." In this passage "living in the flesh," and "abiding in the
flesh" are phrases equivalent to "being at home in the body"
(2 Cor. v, 6), and in both places the writer clearly implies his

IMMORTALITY 209
belief and confidence that upon the termination of his life in the
fleshly body he will at once "depart and be with Christ." This
latter would with him be "very far better" than to abide in the
flesh. To die would be inestimable gain, but for the sake of the
brethren and the church it was needful for him to live in the flesh
and seek "fruit from his work." In 2 Tim. i, 10, he speaks of
"the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who abolished death
and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."
He cheerfully "suffers hardship unto bonds," and "endures all
things for the sake of the elect, that they may obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (ii, 10). And then
he cites by way of confirmation what seems to be a portion of a
Christian hymn already familiar to the church when this epistle
was written: For if we died with him,
We shall also live with him:
If we endure,
We shall also reign with him.
Further on in this epistle (iv, 6-8) he speaks calmly but tri
umphantly of his own death and of the glory which awaits him
beyond : "I am already being offered, and the time of my departure
is come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course,
I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me the
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall
give to me at that day : and not only to me, but also to all them that
have loved his appearing." Whatever other ideas were entertained
by Paul in connection with this doctrine of immortality and
heavenly blessedness, this much is clear from the passages cited
above from his epistles, that this earthly life, with all its oppor
tunities of faith, and love, and good works, and self-denial, and
sufferings, is with the Christian a life hidden in Christ and imper- -
ishable; and when he puts off the mortal flesh he only passes on
into a closer fellowship with Christ, attains to glory unspeakable,
and lives and reigns with his Lord, with whom, indeed, he is ever
more at home.
(4) Teaching of Jesus in the Synoptics. Much of the teaching
of Jesus concerning the future life stands in such close connection
with his doctrine of the kingdom of heaven that the one subject
cannot be well separated from the other. In the synoptic gospels
the kingdom of God is often mentioned in a manner that implies
permanent blessedness. The poor in spirit, and those who are will
ing to suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, shall inherit the
kingdom of heaven. They are called upon to rejoice and be exceed
ing glad because their reward in heaven is great (Matt, v, 12).

210 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Men should not lay up treasures upon the earth, but in heaven,
"where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves
do not break through nor steal" (vi, 20). The righteous who
make real sacrifices and suffer losses for Christ's sake "shall
inherit eternal life" (xix, 29) ; they are called by their king in
the judgment the "blessed of my Father," and are given to "inherit
the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world"
(xxv, 34). They "shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of
their Father" (xiii, 43). All these sayings manifestly contemplate
a reward and a glory not of this world. We find much of this
same teaching recorded also in the gospels of Mark and Luke.
And all these synoptists put on record the transfiguration of Jesus,
and declare that "there talked with him two men, who were Moses
and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease
(efouor, departure) which he was about to accomplish at Jerusa
lem" (Luke ix, 30). Whether this record be explained as a real
event, or as a dream, or as a vision (opajxa, Matt, xvii, 9), it pre
supposes from first to last the personal immortality of such saints
as Moses and Elijah. They are conceived as existing and capable
of appearing in glory, and of communicating with each other.
(5) Teaching of Jesus in John's Gospel. In the fourth gospel
the doctrine of eternal life, both as a present possession and an
everlasting inheritance, receives, as we have already shown, peculiar
emphasis. The new life implanted from above is like a new
creation; it becomes in the receptive heart a fountain of water
springing up unto eternal life. Christ coming down from heaven
becomes to those who believe in him the bread of life, of which
they eat and live forever (vi, 50, 51). Such "never taste of
death" (viii, 52), for Jesus says: "I am the resurrection and
the life : he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live :
and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die" (xi,
25, 26). Such language becomes him who "knows that the Father
had given all things into his hands, and that he came forth from
God, and goeth unto God" (xiii, 3). He is acquainted with both
worlds of being, and declares with the positiveness of personal
assurance: "I came out from the Father, and am come into the
world: again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father" (xvi,
28; comp. viii, 14, 42; xiv, 12; xvii, 11). Coming from One
who speaks with such heavenly consciousness and light, the mem
orable saying in John xiv, 1-3, is perhaps the most explicit teaching
of our Lord on record touching the blissful immortality and
heavenly life of believers : "In my Father's house are many man
sions ; if it were not so, I would have told you ; for I go to pre
pare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,

IMMORTALITY 211
I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I
am, there ye may be also." There are two other passages in this
Gospel which we do well to study in connection with the one last
cited. In vi, 38, 39, Jesus says: "I am come down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the will of him that sent me, that of all that which he hath
given me (nav 5 dedwsev fioi; observe the neuter singular, and the
concept of the whole vast body of believers as one gift) I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up at the' last day." In the inter
cessory prayer he again thus refers to this gift of the Father:
"Father, that which thou hast given me (6 dedcoudg- uoi), I desire
that, where I am, they also may be with me ; that they may behold
my glory, which thou hast given me ; for thou lovedst me before
the foundation of the world." In the preceding verses he has
prayed "that they may all be one," and "that they may be perfected
into one." The one great body of Christ's inheritance is here
evidently contemplated as a unit, and this thought is prominent
at the beginning of verse 24 ; but when the idea of "beholding his
glory" finds expression, each individual believer is thought of as
seeing for himself and not for another; for they are all to be
with him, and the plural (KdKeivoi, they also) is employed in spite
of the apparent grammatical impropriety.1 Thus each one and all
of those whom the Father gives the Son as a glorious possession,
and who thus become joint heirs with Christ (comp. Rom. viii, 17)
are conceived as beholding the ineffable glory of his heavenly
abode. He prepares a place for them among the mansions of his
Father's house, and there he will receive them unto himself. They
shall be like him and see him as he is (1 John iii, 2).

1 Alford 's note on John xvii, 24, is discriminating and appreciative : "The neuter
has a peculiar solemmty, uniting the whole church together as one gift of the Father
to the Son. Then the nancivoi resolves it into the great multitude whom no man
can number, and comes home to the heart of every individual believer with in
expressibly , sweet assurance of an eternity with Christ." — Greek Testament, in loco.

CHAPTER X
THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION
1. A Doctrine Variously Apprehended. The biblical doctrine
of immortality and eternal life cannot be fully presented without
a careful study of those scriptures which speak of the "resurrec
tion of the dead." The fact or reality of resurrection, in some
sense, is conceded to be a positive doctrine of the Scriptures,
and Paul's argument, in 1 Cor. xv, 1-19, makes this doctrine
fundamental to Christian faith and hope. But centuries of experi
ence, observation, and controversy, since Paul wrote, have shown
that a great doctrine may be generally and even universally
accepted, while the modes of conceiving and stating it may vary
to extremes which are quite irreconcilable. It may also be found
upon careful investigation that the different biblical writers who
deal with this subject are not in exact accord with one another.
2. Vaguely Expressed in Old Testament. It is not strange that
the idea of a complete restoration of the dead body should become
associated with the doctrine of a future life. But the idea seems
to arise in the later elaborations of the doctrine, and in attempts
to answer the question, "In what form and manner do the dead
ones live hereafter?" Thus in the Zoroastrian doctrines of the
future we find in the older portions of the Avesta only a general
affirmation of the renovation of all things, but in the later litera
ture the resurrection of the body is shown to be as credible a thought
as the creation of any bodily form at the first.1 In like manner
the Hebrew scriptures contain no very certain indications of this
doctrine before the time of the Babylonian exile, and all that is
found is of a vague and general character, and usually expressed
in the poetic and apocalyptic style.
(1) Psalm xvii, 15. As an example of vagueness and uncer
tainty in a text often cited in proof of bodily resurrection we
may note the different interpretations of Psa. xvii, 15. The com
mon version is most familiar: "As for me, I will behold thy face
in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy
likeness." On this Adam Clarke thus comments: "I do not
think that he refers to the resurrection of the body, but to the

1 Compare Yasna xxx, 9; Vendidad xviii, 51, and the more elaborate argument
of the Bundahish xxx. 212

THE RESURRECTION 213
resurrection of the soul in this life ; to the regaining of the image
which Adam lost." The Anglo-American revisers carry the idea
of beholding God, given in the first member of the parallelism, into
the second member thus: "I shall be satisfied, when I awake,
with beholding thy form." But the Polychrome Bible renders
it, "I shall be refreshed at thine awaking, with a vision of thee."
This follows the Septuagint and the Vulgate, which read, "I shall
be satisfied when thy glory appears." Thus the awaking is under
stood of the awaking of Jehovah, not of the psalmist. The writer
of the psalm is one in great trouble because of "deadly enemies
that compass him about" (ver. 9), and he calls on Jehovah to
arise and deliver him from their power (ver. 13), confident that
when God's glorious form appears, he himself will behold it and
be satisfied. All these are possible explanations of the text, and
show that the thought intended is too uncertain for the passage
to be of any value as a proof-text of the doctrine of resurrection.
(2) Language of Other Poets and Prophets. In Deut. xxxii,
39, we read: "I put to death and make alive again." Similarly
the parallelism in 1 Sam. ii, 6 :
Jehovah puts to death and makes alive;
He brings down to Sheol, and he brings up.1
A similar thought is also expressed in Isa. xxv, 8: "He hath
swallowed up death forever; and Jehovah will wipe away tears
from off all faces." But such a statement determines nothing
as to a resurrection of bodies from the grave, neither can we make
the language of Hos. xiii, 14, mean more than a recognition of
Jehovah's absolute power over death and the whole realm of the
dead: I will ransom them from the power of Sheol;
I will redeem them from death.
O death, where are thy plagues?
O Sheol, where is thy destruction?
Nevertheless, it is not difficult to recognize in this language some
idea of resurrection from death. The earliest readers of these
poets and prophets might easily have supposed that the mighty
God, who has all power over the realms of the dead, and who is
himself the author of life, could rescue his people from the bands
of Sheol and restore them to a life more glorious than they had
known before. Certain it is that the readers of a later time have

1 These lines are repeated in Tobit xiii, 2 : — "He leads down to Hades, and he
leads up again. " Also in a slightly changed and enlarged form in the Wisdom of
Solomon, xvi, 13 : "Thou hast authority over life and death, and thou leadest down
to the gates of Hades and leadest up again."

214 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
thought the words appropriate to the doctrine of a personal resur
rection from the dead, and Paul so cites them in his discussion of
the doctrine (1 Cor. xv, 54, 55).
(3) Hosea vi, 1-3. The following language from Hos. vi, 1-3,
has been variously understood and applied :
Come and let us return unto Jehovah;
For he hath torn, and he will heal us;
He hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us :
On the third day he will raise us up,
And we shall live before him.
And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah;
His going forth is sure as the morning:
And he shall come unto us as the rain.
As the latter rain that watereth the earth.
Whether we understand these words as the language of smitten
Israel exhorting one another to turn to Jehovah, or the utterances
of the prophet himself appealing to the fallen people of Israel
and urging them to return to their God, the idea of a resurrection
attaches to the words revive us, and raise us up. But the entire
context shows that the persons addressed are not physically dead,
and therefore there can be no thought here of a resurrection of
dead bodies, or of a calling back departed souls to life in the flesh.
The other metaphorical allusions employed in the passage indicate
a spiritual and national quickening, a restoration to God's favor,
a healing of that which had been torn (comp. v, 14), a binding
up of that which had been smitten by divine judgments, and a
refreshing such as the morning brings and such as comes with
the welcome rain. So the metaphor of resurrection is to be spir
itually taken, and cannot be cited to prove that this prophet or
the Israelites of his time believed in the doctrine of a resurrection
of the body.1
(4) Isaiah xxvi, 19. The concept of a physical resurrection is
much more definitely expressed in Isa. xxvi, 19. The entire con
text (vers. 12-21) must be studied in order to grasp the author's
range of thought. He represents the people of Jehovah as having
been under the rule of other lords ; in their distress they call upon
him, writhe as in labor-pains, and confess their helplessness to

1 Many of the older expositors, however, insisted that verse 2 contains an express
prediction of the resurrection of Jesus on the third day. Some displayed a dis
position of bitter hostility towards those who could find no such specific prediction.
Such facts admonish us that not only have predictions of Christ been discovered
in Old Testament texts where no sound exegesis finds them, but also that ideas
of a physical resurrection have been evolved out of poetic metaphors, which, when
first used by the biblical writer, were not at all designed to inculcate such a dogma,
nor to affirm it as a fact.

THE RESURRECTION 215
save their land or multiply their nation. The prophet imperson
ates the penitent and prayerful people, and referring to the lords
who had oppressed them, he says (ver. 14) : "The dead ones
shall not live; the shades shall not "rise up; therefore didst thou
visit and destroy them, and cause all memory of them to perish."
Then, after telling how Jehovah had multiplied the nation that
kept pouring out prayers even wliile he was chastening them, he
breaks out in the following poetic strain:
Thy dead shall live; my body — they shall rise;
Awake and sing, O dwellers in the dust;
For the dew of lights is thy dew, and the earth shall cast
forth her shades.
These dead ones who shall live are the deceased ones of Jehovah's
people and nation; they are conceived as one body, the collective
Israel, of which the prophet considers himself a part and calls
it "my body." Each individual of this collective body is destined
to live again, and he uses the plural "they shall rise." The divine
power which shall bring them forth is called "the dew of lights" 1 ;
not earthly dew which quickens perishable vegetation, but the
dew of heavenly luminaries, which starts forth into life the spirits
of the dead, "the shades." So enrapturing is the thought that
the prophet breaks out with emotion, and calls upon the dwellers
of the dust to awake and sing for joy. But this highly wrought
poetic scripture cannot be legitimately construed to support the
doctrine of a universal physical resurrection. Jehovah's dead ones
live again, but the shades of the lords who oppressed Israel shall
not live nor rise (ver. 14). This statement is as positive as that
in Job xiv, 10-12:
The strong man dies and is laid low;
Yea, man breathes out his life, and where is he?
As waters go off from the sea.
And the river wastes and dries away:
So man lieth down and shall not rise;
Till the heavens be no more they shall not awake,
Nor shall they be roused up from their sleep.
No future resurrection is compatible with these assertions, and
the language in Isaiah is equally explicit touching the dead
oppressors of Israel. But the dead body (n?3J, carcass) of God's
people shall live and rise again; the dwellers in the dust may
1 Some understand DITIN, lights, here as in 2 Kings iv, 39, to signify herbs;
but this interpretation seems to miss the true and deeper thought of the prophet.
"The prophet means to say," says Cheyne, "Thy dew, O Jehovah, is so full of the
light of life that it even draws forth the shades from the dark womb of the under
world." — Commentary on Isaiah, in loco.

216 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
awake and sing for joy. All this may be understood literally or
figuratively. If taken in the strict literal sense, we have the
positive assertion that there is no future resurrection for the
enemies of Jehovah and his people. They are utterly destroyed
and their memory is made to perish. But the dead among God's
people shall live again, and their dead bodies shall be raised up
out of the dust of the earth. If taken figuratively, we have a
poetic prophecy of the certain destruction of Israel's enemies, and
the salvation of the people of Jehovah. The oppressors shall
cease; they shall perish and be known no more. But Jehovah's
chosen nation is an imperishable body. Though they fall, "they
shall rise again." In exile and oppression, and vainly writhing in
labor pains to bring forth children, they are assured that Jehovah
will increase the nation in his own supernatural way. He will
multiply the people and even enlarge the borders of their land
(ver. 15), and his marvelous work will be like a resurrection of
the dead. Israel, thus divinely rescued from oppression and exile,
will be like a prodigal reclaimed, of whom the joyful father says :
"This son was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is found."
Thus interpreted, the imagery of a physical resurrection is
employed to denote a national restoration.
(5) Ezekiel xxxvii, 1-H. The figurative interpretation of Isa.
xxvi, 19, is strengthened by comparison with Ezek. xxxvii, 1-14,
where the same imagery is carried out in much greater detail to
portray the restoration of the exiled house of Israel to their own
land. The prophet had a vision of an open valley full of dry
bones, and the whole process of resurrection to life is pictured
before us. There was a noise, and an earthquake, and the bones
came together, and then sinews and flesh and skin covered the
bones, and finally breath came into them, and they lived, and
stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Here certainly
we have the unmistakable details of a resurrection of bodies to
life again. But the entire vision is a symbolical picture, and
not to be literally understood. The true interpretation is recorded
by the prophet as a part of the visional revelation. "These bones
are the whole house of Israel." They represent the people of God
in their Babylonian captivity, crying out as from the misery of a
living death: "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we
are clean cut off." But the Lord Jehovah says to them : "Behold,
I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your
graves, 0 my people ; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
And I will put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place
you in your own land." Thus the spiritual quickening, of the
people, who regarded themselves as ruined, dead, and buried, and

THE RESURRECTION 217
their restoration to their own fatherland, are the things symbolized
by the vision of the resurrection of dry bones. Whether Ezekiel
believed in a future resurrection of all the dead, or in the literal
resurrection of the bodies of any of those who were dead and
buried, is a question which this scripture does not answer.1 No
true prophet of Israel, however, could well doubt the power of
God to raise up out of their graves whomsoever he would, but we
must not affirm as a fact, or a positive doctrine, what is simply
assumed as a possibility.
(6) Daniel xii, 2, 3. Another Old Testament passage bearing
on the doctrine of the resurrection is Dan. xii, 2, 3 : "Many from
the sleeping ones of earth-dust shall awake, these to life eternal,
and those to reproaches and contempt eternal. And they that are
wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse, and they that
turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever." What
is specially notable in this passage is a resurrection both to eternal
life and to eternal contempt (|1N"n> abhorrence). It is mentioned
among the things which are to come to pass at the time when the
Jewish "people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found
written in the book." It seems to occur in connection with "a
time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even
to that same time." This time of unparalleled distress is appar
ently the same as that which is mentioned in ix, 26, 27, of this
same book.2 It follows the overthrow of the impious enemy of
the people of God, and the apocalyptic seer is assured that no
member of the true Israel shall finally perish. Those enrolled in
the book of life shall find glorious "deliverance" (ver. 1), and
the wise and useful who turn many to righteousness shall enjoy
various degrees of heavenly reward. But the resurrection referred
to is not general or universal. Not all of those who sleep in the
earth-dust shall awake, but "many of them" shall, and of these
many, some awake to life eternal, and some to reproaches and

1 It is not properly a similitude that Ezekiel uses in this vision, if from the
certain fact of a general future resurrection he would fortify Israel in the belief
and expectation of their own political resuscitation; but it is this resuscitation
itself exhibited now in vision, that they might be prepared to look for it after
wards in reahty. The mere circumstance of such a resurrection-scene being thus
employed by the prophet, for such a specific purpose, could not of itself prove the
doctrine of a future general resurrection of the dead, no more than his employing
the machinery of cherubim and wheels of peculiar structure in his opening vision
is a proof of the actual existence of such objects, either in the past or the future,
in heaven or on earth. In both cases alike, what was exhibited in the vision was
a representation in symbol of something corresponding that might be expected in
the transactions of hfe, and the events of providence; but whether that symbol
might have any separate and substantial existence of its own was not determined
by such an employment of it, and in fact was quite immaterial as regarded the end
in view. — Fairbairn, Exposition of Ezekiel, in loco.
2 How all this accords with the bitter persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes is
shown in my Biblical Apocalyptics, pp. 190-194, 199, 205-207, 210-212.

218 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
contempt eternal.1 Such a vague and mystic apocalyptic picture
cannot be made to serve any definite dogmatic purpose in the
exposition of the doctrine of the resurrection. It gives an ideal
of future calamity for the enemies of God and of future triumph
and blessedness for the righteous. It affirms an awakening of
many of those who sleep in the dust, and so far it accords with
Isa. xxvi, 19; but it differs very noticeably from Isa. xxvi, 14, in
affirming the resurrection of some to eternal reproach and con
tempt. The writer is probably not referring to a resurrection of
the wicked generally, but to apostate Israelites, like those men
tioned in xi, 30, 32, who are destined to be an eternal abhorrence.
He does not say that all the dead shall rise; he does not even say
that all the people of Israel will awake from the dust of the
earth. The words contain no answer to the question how the
dead are raised up, and with what sort of a body they return to
life. The awaking from the dust may be only an apocalyptic
figure designed to indicate some special restoration in Israel in
which eternal destinies of opposite character are recognized. The
passage stands alone in the Old Testament, having no real parallel
in affirming a partial resurrection, and indicating a resurrection
of some to a condition of perpetual abhorrence.
(7) Variety of Later Jewish Opinions. These Old Testament
scriptures furnished a sufficient basis for subsequent elaborations
of the doctrine of the resurrection. How far this doctrine may
have been derived or developed from the contact of the Jewish
people with men of other religions we may not with any certainty
affirm. The doctrine was held by the disciples of Zoroaster and
formed a part of the Mazdean faith, as is shown from portions of
the Avesta.2 The apocryphal and pseudepigraphical books of the
later Judaism indicate the various speculations of their time.
The Alexandrian writers seem to have discarded the idea of a
physical resurrection and to have adhered rather to the doctrine
of a spiritual immortality and eternal life.8 But the resurrection
of the body was quite generally believed, and some of the Jewish
books affirm a restoration of the body without change of form.1
Some teach a resurrection of all the dead," while others declare

1 No writer who wishes to make himself understood would employ the word
many if he intended all. "Many from the sleeping ones" cannot mean all the
sleeping ones. The expression the many, ol itoMoi, in Rom. v, IS, is not par
allel, and cannot be cited to prove that D'QT in Dan. xii, 2, may have the sense
of all mankind. In Paul's epistle the word is qualified and limited by the
article, and serves a special purpose in a hypothetical argument.
2 Yasht xix, 11, 12, 89, 90.
3 Wisdom of Solomon iii, 1-9 ; v, 16.
* Apocalypse of Baruch 1, 2; Judith xvi, 17; Sibylline Oracles iv, 181.
• Fourth Ezra vii, 32. Test, xii Patriarchs, Benj., x.

THE RESURRECTION 219
• that the righteous only will be raised.1 The Sadducees held that
the human soul dies with the body and knows no other life.2 The
Essenes believed in the immortality of souls/ and the Pharisees,
who constituted the majority of the Palestinian Jews, maintained
both the immortality of the soul, and the resurrection of the
body (comp. Acts xxiii, 8). But even among the Pharisees them
selves there seem to have been some differences of opinion, some
believing in the resurrection of the righteous only, while others
"looked for a resurrection both of the just and unjust" (Acts
xxiv, 15).' The Alexandrian Jews seem, however, to have imbibed
the Greek philosophy so far as to accept the notion that matter is
essentially evil; they, accordingly, would naturally discard the
doctrine of a restoration of the flesh. Such remarkable variety
of Jewish opinion, prevalent at the beginning of the Christian era,
is a fact to be carefully observed, and should admonish us against
assuming, without specific evidence, that our Lord or any of his
apostles accepted or endorsed any one of these current opinions.
3. The Fuller Teaching in the New Testament. The doctrine
of the resurrection of the dead finds a fullness of treatment in the
New Testament which is in notable contrast with the vagueness
of allusions in the Old. The apostles of our Lord, and all who
were familiar with the religious opinions current in their time,
must have come in contact more or less close with the different
views on this subject which appear in the later Jewish literature
just referred to. The Greeks who lived at the centers of philo
sophical thought and culture were disposed to treat the doctrine
with indifference, and even with contempt (Acts xvii, 32), and
Paul found among the Corinthians some who said, "There is no
resurrection of the dead" (1 Cor. xv, 12). It is now impossible
to tell precisely what was the error of Hymenseus and Philetus,
for the only indication left us is that they affirmed the resurrection,
or "a resurrection," to be already past (2 Tim. ii, 18). The state
ment is too vague to afford us any certain information of the mean
ing they put upon the word resurrection (dvdaraatg-).

1 Book of Enoch li, 1, 2; lxii, 15, 16; xci, 10; xcii, 3.
' Josephus, Antiquities xviii, i, 4. Comp. Acts xxiii, 8.
3 Josephus, Antiquities xviii, i, 5.
4 See Josephus, Antiquities xviii, i, 3; Wars ii, viii, 14. In the last named pas
sage it is said, as a belief of the Pharisees, "that all souls are incorruptible, but
the souls of good men are only removed into other bodies; but the souls of bad
men are subject to eternal punishment." The fourth book of the Sibylline Oracles
belongs probably to the latter part of the first century, and expresses, in lines 181
and 182^ a widely accepted Jewish opinion of that time, namely, that God will
again raise up and fashion anew "the bones and ashes of men as they were before."
How this belief passed over into patristic doctrine may be seen in Tertullian's
treatise, De Resurrectione Carnis, and in Augustine's De Civitate Dei, where it is
maintained (xxii, 19) that the hair and the nails shall be restored, inasmuch as
Jesus said, 'Not a hair of your head shall perish" (Luke xxi, 18).

220 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
4. No Help from Etymology of Greek Words. The Greek
word employed in the New Testament to express resurrection of
the dead is dvdaraaig-, which means a rising up, and implies some
manner of exaltation of the dead. They rise or stand up again
in some new form and power. But we obtain no particular assist
ance in determining the nature of the resurrection by means of
the etymology of this word or of any other. Two Greek words
appear in the New Testament in connection with this subject,
ihe verbs kyeipu and dviarrjui, and their derivatives, lyepotg- and
dvdaraaig: Both these words convey the idea of rising up, but
the former is often used in the sense of arousing one from sleep;
when it is used in connection with the awaking and raising
one from the dead, eyeipu sheds no light upon the manner of the
awaking and the raising of the sleeper. In Acts iii, 15; iv, 10;
v, 30, it is said that God raised up Jesus from the dead, and the
same word appears in the gospels in a number of passages where
the resurrection of the Lord is mentioned. The verb kyeipu
is employed by Paul throughout the fifteenth chapter of first
Corinthians and also in his other epistles to denote the rising
from the dead. But the same word is also often found in many
passages where there is no reference to the idea of resurrection.
It is used four times in Matt, ii (vers. 13, 14, 20, 21) in refer
ence to Joseph arising and taking the infant Jesus into Egypt
and out of Egypt. In Matt, viii, 15, it is said that Simon Peter's
wife's mother arose from her couch, and ministered to those about
her, and in verses 25 and 26 of the same chapter the word is used
to describe the awaking of Jesus out of sleep and of his arising
and rebuking the winds and the sea. Jesus himself said to the
three disciples, when they beheld his transfiguration and were
prostrate through fear: "Arise and be not afraid" (Matt, xvii, 7).
This general sense appears again and again from the common
usage of the verb in the gospels and the Acts. The noun syepatc
occurs only once in the New Testament (Matt, xxvii, 53), and
in this case refers to the resurrection of Jesus. An examination
of the verb dviarryii and the noun dvdaraaig- results in disclosing
the fact that the verb is oftener used in the more general sense
of any rising or standing up, while the noun is always found in
connection with the resurrection from the dead. But while in
New Testament usage the nouns eyepatg- and dvdaraaig- always refer
to the resurrection, and the corresponding verbs are often employed
in the same sense, though quite as often in a more general way,
in no case does any one of these words assist us in understanding
the mode or the nature of the resurrection of the dead. They
indicate a fact, or a general idea, but they cannot be made to serve

THE RESURRECTION 221
the interest of any special theory of the resurrection. In like
manner, it should be added, the references to a resurrection of
the dead in the Old Testament speak of living again, standing
up, and awaking out of sleep, but the words used determine nothing
of themselves as to the new mode of life and the nature of the
new body which is to die no more.
5. The Teaching of Jesus Christ. In our study of the New
Testament doctrine of the resurrection we shall first of all inquire
into the teaching of Jesus Christ, and examine in detail the fact
and significance of his own resurrection and ascension, the mystery
of his forty days' sojourn after the day of his resurrection, the fact
of his raising others from the dead, and his teaching on the sub
ject as recorded in the gospels. The fact of the resurrection of
Jesus is primary and fundamental to the New Testament revela
tion of our Lord. No statements of his are better authenticated
than his repeated assurances to his disciples that he must suffer
death at Jerusalem, and rise again on the third day (Matt, xvi, 21 ;
xx, 19; xxvii, 63; Mark viii, 31; ix, 31; x, 34; Luke ix, 22; xviii,
33). No fact of the New Testament is better attested than that
Jesus fulfilled his own predictions, died on the cross, was buried,
and rose again on the third day. And this fact, or series of facts,
cannot be properly separated from a study of our Lord's doctrine
of the resurrection of the dead.
(1) Significance of Christ's own Resurrection. The significance
of this fact cannot be well overestimated in its bearing on the
doctrine, nor should we fail to note the prominence it had in the
first preaching of the apostles (comp. Acts ii, 24, 32, 33; iii, 15;
iv, 10; x, 40; xiii, 30; xvii, 31; 1 Cor. xv, 12-17). This universal
and uniform testimony of the disciples and the early Church is at
once a proof and illustration of Jesus's saying in John x, 18 : "I
have power (kgovoiav> right, authority) to lay down my life, and
I have power to take it again." Such sayings and the fact of
his resurrection entitle him to be called the "Prince of life"
(Acts iii, 15), and the "Author of eternal salvation to all
them that obey him" (Heb. v, 9). The Son of God has life
in himself, and raises up and makes alive whom he will (John
v, 21).(2) Significance of the Ascension. Another fact that stands in
very significant relation to the resurrection of Jesus, though less
fully attested, is that forty days after his resurrection Jesus "was
received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God"
(Mark xvi, 19). The record in Luke xxiv, 51, is that while Jesus
was blessing his disciples "he parted from them, and was carried
up into heaven." The last statement is wanting in a few ancient

222 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
manuscripts,1 but in Acts i, 1-11, the ascension is made a matter
of ample record and more minute detail. It is repeatedly assumed
or referred to in the apostolic preaching and in the epistles (Acts
ii, 33; vii, 55; Eom. viii, 34; Eph. i, 20; iv, 8-10; Col. iii, 1;
1 Pet. iii, 22; Heb. i, 3; iv, 14; vii, 26; viii, 1; x, 12; xii, 2;
Eev. iii, 21. Comp. John vi, 62; xx, 17). The resurrection and
ascension are looked upon as essential parts in the one great fact
of the glorification of the Son of God, so that the resurrection
apart from the ascension was not an end or complete consummation
in itself, but required the exaltation to the right hand of God to
perfect the glorification.
(3) Rationale of the Forty Days. The rationale of the forty
days' sojourn of the Lord is given in Acts i, 3, as affording him
opportunity to show himself to his disciples, and furnish them
indubitable evidences (reKpfipia) of his having truly risen from the
dead. In Acts x, 40, 41, Peter says: "God raised him up the
third day, and gave him to be made manifest, not to all the people,
but unto witnesses that were chosen before by God, even to us,
who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead."
His different appearances to individuals and to assembled groups
of the disciples are recorded in the four gospels and briefly referred
to in 1 Cor. xv, 5-8. The discrepancies apparent in the several
accounts are not of the nature of any irreconcilable contradictions,
but are rather incidental evidences of the reality of the great fact
which they all witness. We may not be able to harmonize the
accounts satisfactorily, or to explain the exact order of events, but
the obvious independence of the different narratives, and their
agreement in the main, afford a surer proof of their fidelity to fact
than would a set of narratives so uniform as to suggest artifice and
collusion. (4) Forty Days in the Flesh. During the forty days Jesus
retained the fleshly body which after his resurrection still showed
the print of the nails in his hands and of the spear in his side (John
xx, 27). When the disciples were terrified and affrighted at his
presence in the midst of them, and imagined that they beheld a
spirit, or an apparition, as when once they saw him walking on
the sea (Matt, xiv, 26), he went to pains to convince them of their
error, and to prove to them that he had flesh and bones (Luke

1 Hort calls it "a Western non-interpolation. The text was evidently inserted
from an assumption that a separation from the disciples at the close of a gospel
must be the Ascension. The Ascension apparently did not lie within the proper
scope of the gospels, as seen in their genuine texts: its true place was at the head
of the Acts of the apostles, as the preparation for the day of Pentecost, and thus
the beginning of the history of the Church." — New Testament in Original Greek;
Appendix, Notes on Selected Readings, p. 73.

THE RESURRECTION 223
xxiv, 39). He called upon them to handle him, and he called for
food and. ate it in their presence. Peter affirms in Acts x, 41,
that the disciples "ate and drank with him after he rose from the
dead." In view of these unmistakable evidences that he arose with
the same body of flesh and bones that was put in the tomb, we
cannot accept the notion widely current that Jesus arose with a
new and glorified body. There were reasons why Jesus should
retain for the forty days before his ascension the identical body
that was buried. Thus could he best furnish indisputable proofs
of the reality of his resurrection, and the records show that such
physical evidence was demanded by the unbelief of his own dis
ciples. His sudden vanishing from sight at Emmaus (Luke xxiv,
31) is no proof that he possessed a different kind of body, for he
had repeatedly done much the same thing before his crucifixion
(Luke iv, 30; John viii, 59; x, 39; xii, 36). l His coming into the
room among the disciples "when the doors were shut for fear of the
Jews" (John xx, 19, 26) is no convincing evidence that his body
was no longer fleshly. As well might we argue that his walking
on the sea of Galilee is proof that he had not at that time his
natural body. It is not said either that he entered the room or
that he vanished miraculously. That is an unwarranted inference
of expositors. But if he did enter the room miraculously, such
fact would not prove that his body had undergone essential change
of nature since the time he walked on the sea, for he was certainly
as capable of the miraculous after his resurrection as before.
(5) Not Glorified During the Forty Days. According to the
records, then, Jesus arose with the same fleshly body which was
laid in Joseph's tomb. This resuscitated body he retained for forty
days that he might convince his disciples of the reality of his
resurrection, and might the more naturally fulfill his teaching
"concerning the kingdom of God" (Acts i, 3). His own mani
festation of himself to men in the flesh must needs be, after this
resurrection as before, by means of actual incarnation. There is
not the least intimation in any of the records that he showed him
self during the forty days in a supernatural glory. Before his
death he took three of his disciples up into a mountain, "and was
transfigured before them : and his face did shine as the sun, and
his garments became white as the light" (Matt, xvii, 2). "His

1 The language of Luke xxiv, 31,"he vanished out of their sight," favors the idea
of an intangible and ghost-like appearance of Jesus, as if his entire showing himself
to the two disciples up to that point had been only Docetio or apparitional. But
how he aipavror kykvero on-' avrov, became invisible from them, is not told any more
definitely than how he cupl/Jr/, was hidden, or hid himself, and went out of the
temple unseen by those who took up stones against him, according to John viii,
59. Imagination easily reads into such statements some things which the words
do not clearly warrant.

224 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
garments became glistering, exceeding white; so as no fuller on
earth can whiten them" (Mark ix, 3). "The fashion of his coun
tenance was altered, and his raiment became white and dazzling"
(Luke ix, 29). But no such glory distinguished the form of the
risen Jesus. If only the transfiguration and the strange walking on
the sea had occurred during the forty days after the resurrection,
how would they have been put forward as proofs of "his new glori
fied body" ! The appearance of the angel that rolled away the
stone and addressed the women at the tomb "was as lightning, and
his raiment white as snow" (Matt, xxviii, 3). According to Mark
(xvi, 5) the women "saw a young man sitting on the right side,
arrayed in a white robe; and they were amazed." Luke says that
"two men stood by them in dazzling apparel" (xxiv, 4). But
nothing of this supernatural character is said to have appeared in
the countenance or apparel of the risen Christ. He avoided any
display that would tend to terrify his disciples, and he assured
them that his resuscitated body was the natural body of flesh and
bones, and retained the marks of its recent wounds.
(6) Glorified at the Ascension. We conclude that the Lord
Jesus was perfected in the glory of his resurrection when he was
"received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God."
Not until after the "cloud received him out of the sight" of his
earthly followers (Acts i, 9), was he "received up into glory"
(1 Tim. iii, 16). His subsequent appearance unto Saul (1 Cor. xv,
8) was after this glorification, and necessarily unlike his appear
ances on earth during the forty days. It was accompanied by "a
light from heaven above the brightness of the sun" (Acts xxvi, 13),
and Saul was blinded by "the glory of that light" (xxii, 11) . Such
a revelation of the ascended Lord was everyway befitting, and
Ananias might well speak of it to Saul as a "seeing of the Kight-
eous One, and hearing a voice from his mouth" (xxii, 14; comp. ix,
17). The resurrection, ascension, and heavenly glorification of
Christ are thus to be taken together in order to apprehend his
personal exhibition and example of resurrection, and an unspeaka
ble significance must needs be recognized in these transcendent
facts. Eor it is thus that "our Saviour Jesus Christ has abolished
death, and brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel" (2 Tim. i, 10).
(7) Jesus's Raising Others from the Dead. The fact that Jesus,
during his earthly ministry, raised a number of persons from the
dead, has also its bearing on the doctrine of the resurrection.
But such raising of the dead was only one among many signs of
his heavenly mission: "The blind receive their sight, and the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the

THE RESURRECTION 225
dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached unto
them" (Matt, xi, 5). The wisdom and power that can restore
sight to the blind are equally competent to raise the dead to life.
The three notable examples of such resurrection are the daughter
of Jairus (Mark v, 22-24, 35-43 ; Matt, ix, 18, 19, 23-25 ; Luke viii,
41, 42, 49-56), the son of the widow of Nain (Luke vii, 11-16),
and Lazarus (John xi, 1-44). These examples verify the saying
of Jesus recorded in John v, 21 : "As the Father raises the dead
and makes them alive, even so the Son makes alive whom he will."
They also give force to such sayings as John vi, 40 : "This is the
will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son and
believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him
up at the last day." It is unspeakably significant that he, who
raised others from the dead, and who himself laid down his own
life and then took it again, affirms so positively: "The hour
cometh in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and
shall come forth" (John v, 28). All this will appear the more
clearly as we study the teaching of Jesus concerning the resurrec
tion. (8) Jesus's Teaching in the Synoptic Gospels. In Luke xiv, 14,
Jesus speaks of a divine recompense to be made "in the resur
rection of the just"; but aside from what this form of expres
sion suggests, the only teaching of our Lord, found in the synoptic
gospels, and bearing on the nature of the resurrection, is what
he said in answer to the question of the Sadducees, and which
appears with a few verbal differences in all these gospels (Mark
xii, 18-27; Matt, xxii, 23-33; Luke xx, 27-38). It seems some
what strange that he should have said so little on a subject of so
much interest and importance; but we are told, in Mark ix, 10,
that when Jesus spoke to some of the disciples about his own rising
again from the dead, they "questioned among themselves what the
rising again from the dead should mean." They were not in a
condition of mind to understand how their Lord and Messiah was
to die and afterwards to rise again, though on the current doctrine
of the resurrection they all probably shared the more common
belief of the Pharisees. In the reply which Jesus made to the
Sadducees, who sought to puzzle him with the supposable case of
seven brethren, who, according to the levirate law of Deut. xxv,
5-10, were all married to one and the same wife, but who could
not all have her in the resurrection, we observe a number of state
ments which indicate a deeper and more spiritual apprehension of
the resurrection than seems to have been held among the Pharisees
in general. From the several synoptic records we may learn:
(1) The position of Jesus is clearly one of opposition to the doc-

226 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
trine of the Sadducees. He maintains that the dead are raised and
live unto God, and he thereby condemns the Sadducean opinion
that the soul and body perish alike at death. (2) He boldly
charges the Sadducees with ignorance of the Scriptures and of the
power of God. He shows that they were superficial readers of the
book of Moses, and discerned not the depth of meaning and the
guggestiveness of the language recorded therein. A defective
knowledge of the power of God hindered their spiritual insight,
and naturally led to disbelief of angels and spirits. (3) He con
demned their crass notion of a physical or bodily resurrection,
which was evinced in the question of the Sadducees. They obvi
ously assumed that in the resurrection the same fleshly body, with
all its adaptations to the conditions of human life on earth, must
needs be perpetuated without change. (4) He positively declares
that in the resurrection-life these human relationships do not exist.
"They neither marry, nor are given in marriage," and therefore
do not beget offspring, nor continue the family relationships of
this world. "They are sons of God, being sons of the resurrec
tion." (5) He teaches, further, that the risen saints are like the
angels of God in heaven. They become spiritual beings in a
loftier manner than the physical conditions of this mortal life
permit. Mortality is so swallowed up of life that they "cannot
die any more, for they are equal unto the angels." (6) His cita
tion and exposition of Exod. iii, 6, shows his conception of Abra
ham, Isaac, and Jacob as living and immortal. The words, "I am
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,"
could not, in his way of reading the Scriptures, allow us to sup
pose that those patriarchs were not at that very moment alive.
"He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Any other
inference would be a great error in understanding the Scriptures.
(7) The gospel of Luke contains a few statements not found in
Matthew and Mark. His language concerning the matter of mar
riage is as follows: "The sons of this world (age) marry, and
are given in marriage: but they that are accounted worthy to
attain to that world (age) and the resurrection from the dead,
neither marry, nor are given in marriage." He also adds the
words, "Neither can they die any more," "They are sons of God,
being sons of the resurrection," and "all live unto him." These
statements show that only the resurrection of the just is here con
templated, and nothing in any of these gospels appears to favor
the doctrine of the resurrection of all men, good and bad. Not
all men, but only those who are accounted worthy, attain the
resurrection from the dead. What becomes of the unworthy is a
question not here entertained. (8) It is obvious to the unbiased

THE RESURRECTION 227
interpreter that there is nothing in all this teaching of Jesus which
either affirms or implies a resurrection of the flesh. On the con
trary, the risen ones are like the angels of God. They are incor
ruptible and immortal. They are deathless, and so inherit the
eternal life of the world to come, of which we read in Luke xviii,
30. What sort of bodies the angels of God in heaven possess is
nowhere revealed to us. (9) The citation and comment on Exod.
iii, 6, would seem to be without cogency in an argument touching
the resurrection if the patriarchs named were not already risen and
living unto God at the time of Moses. There is no intimation
that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are merely living in Sheol
(Hades), waiting for a future resurrection. Some men have
imported this idea into their expositions, but Jesus utters no word
that clearly warrants such a thought. (10) From all these con
siderations it is obvious that, according to Jesus, the resurrection
of the dead is no restoration of fleshly bodies, but an exaltation
and glorification of the living spirit of man. The true sons of
God in their resurrection become not mere resuscitated human
beings, with bodily natures adapted to the marriage relations of
earth, but are equal unto the angels and become possessed of spir
itual powers like them. That Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had
attained that age and world of life is implied in the argument of
Jesus, who, in all this scripture, utters no word about the simul
taneous resurrection of all the dead at any one future time. If
at death, or soon after, the spiritual nature of man is exalted and
glorified into heavenly life, and becomes a living spirit like the
angels of God, incapable of dying any more, then the language and
teaching of Jesus in reply to the Sadducees is intelligible, cogent,
luminous, and full of force and comfort for the righteous.
(9) Jesus's Teaching in John's Gospel. In the gospel of John
we find one passage that affirms without qualification the future
resurrection both of the just and of the unjust : "The hour cometh
in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice and shall
come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of
life; and they that have practiced evil unto the resurrection of
judgment" (v, 28, 29). This corresponds with Dan. xii, 2, in
declaring a resurrection of the two classes, the good and the evil;
but it differs from Daniel in making the resurrection universal
— "all who are in the tombs" — not merely "many from among
them that sleep in the dust." This notable difference between the
two texts must be fairly recognized: one teaches a partial, the
other a universal resurrection of the dead. And this fact shows
that the different biblical writers entertained distinct and diver
gent conceptions of the resurrection, or contemplated the subject

228 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
from different points of view. In John's gospel, in the imme
diate context of the passage just quoted, Jesus makes three dis
tinct statements about resurrection. In verse 24 he says : "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth
him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judg
ment, but hath passed out of death into life." This language
describes the spiritual experience of one who is awakened by the
truth of God, quickened into newness of life by the Spirit, raised,
so to speak, out of his deathlike bondage to sin, and made a partaker
of the "eternal life" which is a present possession of Christian
believers. But that which immediately follows in verse 25 adds
another and distinct conception: "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." Here we
observe that specific mention is made of an hour both present and
yet coming, when "the dead (ol veKpoi) shall hear the voice of the
Son of God, and shall live." This "hearing the voice" is not iden
tical with "hearing my word, and believing him that sent me" in
verse 24. This latter is hearing and accepting the message of
salvation brought by Christ; but hearing his voice (comp. ver.
28 and xi, 43) is hearing the life-giving summons which calls one
forth out of the domain of death and of the tomb, as in the case
of Lazarus. We accordingly understand our Lord to refer in verse
25 to those instances of resurrection of the dead which occurred
in his own time, such as the raising of Jairus's daughter, the son
of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus. These examples belonged to
that period which was well spoken of as "the hour that cometh
and now is" (comp. iv, 23). But in verse 28 Jesus affirms the
resurrection of "all that are in the tombs," and he speaks of it as
occurring at "an hour that is coming" (epxerai &pa). The phrase
all that are in the tombs may be regarded as clearly connoting
the idea of a resurrection of bodies from the grave ; and yet a rigid
literal interpretation may be seen to be inconsistent with the thought
that all the dead are referred to. For the dead are not all in the
tombs (kv rotg- uvn/tEioig-); thousands were never buried, and other
thousands are in the depths of the sea.1 And if the strict literal
meaning of the word tombs cannot be insisted on, the phrase may be
best understood as comprehending all the dead, and equivalent to
"all that have passed out of this mortal life and are in the domain
of death," and all who shall in their own times thus pass away.
In John vi, 39, 40, 44, 50, 51, 54, 58, Jesus speaks repeatedly of
giving eternal life to them that believe on him; he declares they
1 The word uvripelov always means a sepulcher, or tomb, constructed for respect
ful interment of the dead, and for a memorial of them.

THE RESURRECTION 229
shall not die, but live forever; and he says again and again that
he "will raise them up at the last day." But there is nothing in
any of these passages to determine the nature of the resurrection,
save that it obviously involves eternal life and glory. In the lips
of Jesus the phrase at the last day may or may not have designated
the same thought that it conveyed to the minds of others. In the
lips of Martha (xi, 23), "the resurrection of the last day" proba*
bly meant a future simultaneous resurrection of all the dead, or at
least of all the righteous dead ; for that was a current belief among
many of the Jewish people of that time. But it was not the habit
of our Lord to correct or antagonize all the erroneous opinions of
the common people, and when at times he did assume the delicate
task, he sought to suggest a deeper and richer significance for cur
rent phrases. In John xi, 25, 26, we have a remarkable series of
statements addressed to Martha, which show that with him the
resurrection meant something quite different from what she had
supposed. "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the
life : he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live : and
whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die." This, in
its connection with Martha's words, is equivalent to saying : "Think
not of a far-off time of general resurrection. The power to raise
the dead and to make them live again is here in me. What I
can do 'at the last day' I can also do at the present hour.1 I am
the resurrection in this deep sense, that 'whosoever believes in me
and lives in me shall never die.' " So far as these words correct
the thoughts of Martha and others of like opinion, they suggest
that the power of the resurrection is in Christ, and is an abiding,
ever-present power. Accordingly, in his deeper thought, "the last
day" would mean the day of ultimate glorification ; not necessarily
one particular day or hour in which all believers are to be simul
taneously glorified. Every individual believer must come person
ally to his own last day.
(10) Jesus Absolutely Assures Immortality, but Offers no Theo
ries. The passages we have now examined include all that our
gospels have to say of the teaching of Jesus concerning the resur
rection. One may naturally wish to have learned more than this
from the Great Teacher. We cannot construct from his words a
convincing argument for the resurrection of the fleshly body that
returns to dust. Nor can we prove from his teaching that all the

1 It is well in this connection to observe also a similar word of Jesus to the
crucified malefactor, who prayed, "Lord, remember me when thou comest in thy
kingdom." Jesus replied: "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with
me in Paradise" (Luke xxiii, 42, 43). The supplicant thought of a distant time,
a future kingdom; but Jesus emphasizes the words to-day: not at a remote period,
but this very day thou shalt be with me in a blessed Paradise.

230 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
dead are to be raised simultaneously. But the things he does
declare in his teaching about the resurrection, his raising up of
Lazarus and others from death, and his own resurrection and
ascension into heaven, taken altogether, are as absolute assurances
of immortality and eternal life for the obedient children of God
as we may expect in this life to receive. The manner of the resur
rection is left in much uncertainty; the mode and conditions of
immortality are not made manifest to us; but the truth of the
doctrine is placed beyond all reasonable doubt or controversy.
6. Doctrine of the Apocalypse of John. In passing now to
examine what the other New Testament books have to say about
the resurrection of the dead, we turn first to a passage in the
Apocalypse of John (xx, 4-15) which contains some things notice
ably parallel with John v, 28, 29. There are two classes of the
-dead portrayed after the manner of apocalyptic symbolism, one of
which is pronounced "blessed and holy," and the other is brought
before "a great white throne" for judgment. The blessed ones
are "the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony
of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not
the beast, neither his image, and they lived and reigned with Christ
«. thousand years." They are said to "have part in the first resur
rection," and over them "the second death has no power." They
represent the glorified martyrs and those who kept themselves pure
from all manner of idolatry. They are the same souls that in
vi, 9-11, cry from the altar, and are given each a white robe; they
belong to the same class as the two witnesses who were killed, but
afterward went up to heaven in a cloud (xi, 3-12). In this blessed
and holy resurrection they have fulfilled in them the promise of
iii, 21 : "He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with
me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father
in his throne." This first resurrection is a living and reigning
with Christ a thousand years. "The rest of the dead," according
to the vision, belonged to a different class, and they came forth
unto a resurrection of judgment. "The sea gave up the dead that
were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in
them ; and they were judged every man according to their works."
We may note that nothing is here said of the dust of the earth
giving up its dead, but "death and Hades" are put in the same
category with "the sea." And nothing is said in any part of the
vision of a resurrection of fleshly bodies. No mention is made of
a second resurrection, but "the second death, the lake of fire,"
appears to be set in contrast with "the first resurrection."1 This

1 For a fuller exposition of Rev. xx, see my Biblical Apocalyptics, pp. 450-459.

THE RESURRECTION 231
apocalyptic vision accords in a general way and in its fundamental
teaching with the sublime portrayal of judgment found in Matt.
xxv, 31-46, in which the King, who acts also as Judge, welcomes
the blessed ones of his Father to a joint inheritance in the king
dom of glory, but sends the accursed ones away into eternal pun
ishment. Both of these passages of Scripture are obviously sym
bolic representations of most important truths, but they afford us
no solid ground for inferences touching the nature of the resur
rection of the dead. They are concerned with questions of eternal
destiny rather than with modes of existence in the future.
7. Paul's Doctrine of the Resurrection. We find in the writ
ings of Paul our fullest New Testament elaboration of the doctrine
of the resurrection of the dead, and in one chapter he discusses the
particular question, "How are the dead raised up, and with what
manner of body do they come ?" But it is noteworthy that he did
not answer this question in so clear a way as to prevent expositors,
from his time until now, differing most remarkably in their at
tempts to interpret his meaning. Such differences among exposi
tors, however, should not excuse us from an honest endeavor to
ascertain what the apostle meant to teach. Diversity of opinion
on a great subject, so far from detracting from the importance of
the subject itself, is rather a strong witness to the deep fundamen
tal character of that which is involved in the discussion.
(1) Acts xxiv, 15. According to Acts xxiv, 15, Paul declared
before Felix his belief "that there shall be a resurrection both of
the just and unjust"; but apart from this one statement we find
nothing in his addresses or his epistles which recognizes the doc
trine of a resurrection of the unjust. This is a noteworthy fact,
and yet it does not follow that he made little of the doctrine, or
ever discarded it. We can prove nothing from his silence on that
point, though it would seem that the scope of his various epistles
afforded as much occasion to speak of the resurrection of the unjust
as of the just. Perhaps, however, in Paul's way of thinking, as in
the Johannine Apocalypse, the resurrection of the unjust was con
ceived rather as a future coming unto judgment. The idea of
resurrection was comprehended or presupposed in that "manifesta
tion before the judgment seat of Christ," when "each one" and
"all" "receive the things done in the bodv, whether good or evil"
(2 Cor. v, 10).
(2) 1 Thessalonians iv, 13-18. The epistles to the Thessalonians
are believed to be the earliest of Paul's writings, and in one pas
sage of the first epistle (iv, 13-18) the apostle speaks with great
assurance about the resurrection of "them that are fallen asleep in
Jesus," whom he also calls "the dead in Christ." He would fain

232 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
comfort his Thessalonian brethren by assuring them that those
who fall asleep do not perish, but really precede the living in the
presence of the Lord. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God
bring with him. . . . For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we
that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be
with the Lord." This is usually understood as implying an
expectation on the part of the apostle that he and his Thessalonian
brethren would most of them live to see the descent of the Lord
Jesus from heaven, but before they should be "caught up in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air," the dead in Christ were to be
raised from their graves; then those thus raised would together
with the living be caught up into the heavens. This snatching
away of the living along with those risen from the dead involves
the idea of a sudden translation without seeing death, and is paral
lel with what is written in 1 Cor. xv, 51, 52 : "Behold, I tell you
a mystery: we all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump ; for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed." The translation of Enoch (comp. Heb.
xi, 5) and of Elijah, and the ascension of Jesus in the clouds
(comp. Acts i, 9, 11) may have furnished the imagery of this rap
ture of living saints.
When these several statements are subjected to critical analysis,
and we question the import and inferences which a number of the
words and phrases suggest, we are left in no little uncertainty as to
the exact meaning of the apostle. The one positive assurance, very
full of comfort and unmistakable in its main thought, is that both
the saints who had fallen asleep in Jesus, and those who were at
the time alive and waiting for the coming of the Lord, were all
of them together to be ultimately caught up to be forever with the
Lord in the heavens. But if Paul expected that he himself and
most of his contemporaries would be alive at the coming of the
Lord, it would seem, unless the mortality of the Christians of that
generation were exceptional, that "the dead in Christ" would con
stitute but a small minority of those who were to be glorified at
his coming. Then when it is said that "God will bring them that
are fallen asleep in Jesus with him," one naturally asks from
whence will he bring them? If he leads or brings them along
with him, must they not be already "with the Lord" ? Nothing is
intimated of a bringing them from Hades, or from some receptacle

THE RESURRECTION 233
of souls where Christ himself is not. We cannot well understand
the apostle to assume the unconscious sleep of the soul in the grave.
But if we suppose that he brings the disembodied souls out of
Hades to be restored again to their former bodies, the resurrection
of the bodies follows upon the Lord's descent from heaven, and
precedes the change and rapture of the living saints. The dead in
Christ thus rise first and anticipate the living by a few moments
(or hours?). Such a brief precedence of their brethren in the
flesh would seem to be no remarkable advantage, and we fail to
see how such a thought could be of any special comfort to the
bereaved Thessalonians. The Lord's descent from heaven, the
shout, the archangel's voice, and the trump of God, are part and
parcel of the imagery of Jewish apocalyptics, and will be discussed
in connection with the doctrine of the coming of Christ and his
kingdom. We are concerned with this passage now only so far
as it helps us to understand Paul's doctrine of the resurrection of
the dead. Nothing is here said as to the nature of the body in
the resurrection. The dead in Christ rise and are caught up to
meet the Lord on high, and abide forever with him. Eliminated
from the apocalyptic imagery in which it is cast, the one great
fundamental lesson, full of comfort for all readers, is the assurance
of eternal fellowship with Christ in the heavens. This is the
blessed hope of the living saints and the glorious fruition of "them
that are fallen asleep in Jesus." This is in substance no other
than the inheritance in eternal life in conscious, living fellowship
with God, already expounded in foregoing pages.
(3) The Fifteenth Chapter of First Corinthians. By far the
most thorough and elaborate discussion of the resurrection to be
found in the New Testament is that of the fifteenth chapter of first
Corinthians, but that which deals directly with the nature of the
resurrection-body is confined mainly to the last part of the chapter
(vers. 35-58). The entire passage, however, demands our most
careful study. It may be arranged in six paragraphs, expressive
of so many distinct considerations in the apostle's argument.
Verses 1-11. The fact of Christ's actual resurrection from the
dead is first of all emphatically affirmed and confirmed by refer
ence to numerous witnesses to whom he appeared. Of the six
appearances of Christ here mentioned only two or three corre
spond clearly with those narrated in the gospels. No allusion is
made to the testimony of the women who were first to see him,
nor to that of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus ; but it is
notable that Paul ranks his own vision of Christ in the same
category with those of Peter and James (comp. 1 Cor. ix, 1).
But his sight of the Lord Jesus, on his way to Damascus (Acts

234 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ix, 3-9, 17), was certainly quite different in character from any
of those recorded in the gospels, for it was a vision of the glorified
Christ. It occurred at midday, and in the midst of "a light from
heaven above the brightness of the sun" (Acts xxvi, 13). It was
therefore more like that which Stephen beheld when "he looked
up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing on the right hand of God" (Acts vii, 55). But to Paul
this sight of the risen and glorified Lord was as real as any fact
of his life, and was entitled to as much credit as the testimony of
Cephas or of James. The vision, moreover, contemplated the risen
Christ as having entered into his heavenly glory, and not, as during
the forty days, lingering a while with flesh and bones to give
tangible proofs to disheartened and faithless disciples that he was
actually risen. In this respect his exceptional vision of the
ascended Christ had a special relevancy to this argument for a
glorious resurrection of the dead in Christ.
Verses 12-19. In view of these irrefutable witnesses the apostle
argues in his next paragraph that denial of the resurrection of the
dead must needs involve denial of an authenticated fact, and with
it a repudiation of the Christian faith, the apostolic ministry, the
forgiveness of sins, and all hope of a future life.
Verses 20-28. He then proceeds to teach that the resurrection
of the dead is the triumphal consummation of the divine order of
the kingdom of God and of Christ. Death is the last great foe to
be annihilated. "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ ghall
all be made alive." This statement, when compared with that of
Eom. v, 17-19, appears to make the resurrection as universal a fact
as human sinfulness, but there is no mention in the entire chapter
of a resurrection of the ungodly. It may be, however, that the
apostle counted these among the "enemies" who are to be ulti
mately "put under his feet" (ver. 25), and he felt the incongruity
of speaking of them as being made alive in Christ. The most
remarkable teaching in this paragraph is that which affirms dis
tinctive orders (rdyuara, ranks, classes, companies, or divisions, as
of an army) in the resurrection. Christ himself is called the first
fruits (dnapxn)- Next in order after him are "those who are the
Christ's at his coming." How large this company may be, and
just what persons may have been included or excluded by the
designation ol rov xpwrov kv ry napovoip avrov, those of the Christ
in his coming, is left for the reader to infer. For without any
explanation he proceeds: "Afterwards (elra, not rare, then) the
end, when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and
power." This end is obviously the goal or consummation of the
reign of Christ when he shall have "put all things in subjection

THE RESURRECTION 235
under his feet," and shall have abolished death. If we should
understand the coming (napovoia) of Christ to be a continuous
process, going on during the entire period in which he is putting
all things in subjection unto himself, it would naturally follow
that the resurrection of those who are Christ's is also to be under
stood as a process continuing to the end of his reign.
Verses 29-Slf. The fourth paragraph corresponds to the second
in again showing what serious and deplorable consequences must
follow a denial of the resurrection of the dead. Baptism for the
dead, and exposure to constant peril of death, signify nothing
for the Christian confessor "if the dead are not raised at all."
It ought not to be overlooked, however, that both these paragraphs
touching the absurd consequences of denying the resurrection of
the dead are without force against the doctrine of a happy future
life without the body. That is, if one deny the resurrection of
the flesh, but maintain a purely spiritual and eternal life to come,
these protests of the apostle would be obviously without point.
Verses 85-49. The apostle next takes up the question, "How are
the dead raised, and with what manner of body do they come?"
These two interrogative sentences are not identical in meaning,
but seem rather to present two closely related queries : (1) How is
it possible for the dead to arise? and (2) With what kind of a body
do they arise ? But the two questions are not answered separately.
The answer to the first is essentially involved in that of the second
and is seen in the wisdom and power of God which govern the
whole visible creation. We have been already admonished (vers.
23-28) that the resurrection itself is a part of the preestablished
order of the kingdom of God, and now this thought is expanded
so as to show that it is in conspicuous analogy with other arrange
ments in the world of nature, in which God gives to every kind
of seed, and to each one of the particular seeds, a body of its own.
The man, therefore, who blindly puts the double question is dtypuv,
one who lacks intelligence and reason. For (1) the sowing and
quickening of all kinds of seeds shows that throughout the vegetable
world life is perpetuated through death. The bare grain of wheat
that is sown is not made alive except it die, and the particular grain
that is sown is not the body that shall be, "but God giveth it a
body even as it pleased him." And it has pleased God to ordain
that each individual seed shall produce its own kind and not
another. The grain of wheat is made to produce a new body of
wheat, not of some other kind of grain. But the new body that
is made alive is not the dust of the old body quickened into a
new life, but a God-given body, the particular substance of which
is not defined (vers. 36-38). And so far as this applies to the

236 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
question in hand, we are left to infer that the body of the resur
rection is not constituted out of the dust of the old body of flesh,
but is a perpetuation of the personal life that was in the body of
flesh in a new body of its own, supplied according to a divine order
of things in the kingdom of God. But the analogy of the gTain
is not carried out by the apostle in further detail, for he (2) passes
on to call attention to the fact that "all flesh is not the same flesh."
Here in this earthly life the flesh of men and beasts and birds
and fishes is noticeably different. Who, then, shall presume to
limit the possibilities of change in the organic forms of life?
He goes on to say (3) that "there are also celestial bodies, and
bodies terrestrial." Just what bodies in the heaven and upon the
earth (knovpdvia and kmyeia) are here intended is not altogether
clear. In view of the fact that sun, moon, and stars are separately
mentioned in the next verse, and since masses of inorganic matter
could hardly be called bodies in the sense which the apostle's argu
ment requires,1 it seems that allusion is made to such bodies as
properly belong to the heavenly regions. Since no specification
is made, we need not insist that the allusion is to bodies of the
angels ; and yet the saying of Jesus that "in the resurrection they
are as angels in heaven" (Matt, xxii, 30) goes far to persuade us
that angelic natures are intended. These might be naturally put
in contrast with such bodies as properly belong to the earth, the
fleshly bodies of men and of beasts. Thus it is pleasing to God to
provide appropriate bodies for all living creatures upon earth. And
each has a glory of its own : "The glory of the celestial is one, and
that of the terrestrial is another." Whereupon it is added, with
out a connective particle, as a further illustration and suggestion :
"There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory"
(ver. 41). These facts are simple matters of observation, and
show the diversities that it pleases God to incorporate in his entire
creation. And so this whole paragraph (vers. 35-49), like that
of verses 20-28, indicates an obvious divine order of the world and
of all things in it. For evidence of this we have only to look at
great suggestive facts. Throughout the rest of this paragraph
(vers. 42-49) the apostle applies his suggestive analogies to the
resurrection of the dead. First we have a series of contrasts
between the body as it is sown and as it is raised (42-44), and
then the wonderful differences are shown to correspond to the
1 "The whole connection requires," says Meyer, "that aauara should be bodies
as actual organs of life, not inorganic things and materials." He also observes
that to explain "heavenly bodies ' ' as meaning sun, moon and stars would be to
attribute to the apostle a modern and nonbiblical use of words. — Exegetical Hand
book, in loco.

THE RESURRECTION 237
earthly and the heavenly as represented in the first Adam and the
last (45-49). There is no subject formally expressed in verses
42 and 43 : "It is sown in corruption ; it is raised in incorrup
tion : it is sown in dishonor ; it is raised in glory : it is sown in
weakness ; it is raised in power." It is as if we should say : "There
is a sowing in corruption ; there is a raising up in incorruption" ;
but there is scarcely room to doubt that awua, the body, is the
subject to be understood in all these sentences, and this is con
firmed by verse 44, which declares that "it is sown a natural body ;
it is raised a spiritual body." A more important question arises
over the meaning of sowing the body. Does the foregoing figure
of sowing the grain (vers. 36, 37) so essentially involve the sense
of burying it in the earth that we must in analogous consistency
of thought understand the sowing of the body as the interment of
the lifeless corpse in the grave? Perhaps the somewhat similar
.saying of Jesus in John xii, 24, has helped to strengthen this
idea: "Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit."
But the point and purpose of these words in John are quite dif
ferent from that which the apostle has especially in view, and
nothing is said about sowing the grain of wheat. The placing of
a seed in the ground is planting, not sowing; the sowing is one
thing, and the covering of the seed with the soil on which it falls
is another. That the apostle is not referring, in verses 42-44, to
the burial of the body in the earth is evident from the following
¦considerations: (1) The word trrreipu, sow, does not mean to
bury anything in the ground, but designates rather the act and
process of scattering the naked grain. The use of this word in
1 Cor. ix, 11 ; Gal. vi, 7, 8 ; James iii, 18, and in many other pas
sages, suggests no thought of burying a lifeless body in the earth.
Had the writer intended to express the idea of burial, there is
no reason why he should not have used the word ddirra, which
always means to inter a corpse (e.g., Matt, viii, 21 ; Luke xvi, 22 ;
Acts ii, 29), and is so employed in verse 4 of this same chapter in
reference to the burial of Christ. (2) The qualifying phrases,
in corruption, in dishonor, and in weakness are not appropriate for
describing the lifeless body that is put in the grave. Although in
our modern usage "corruption, earth, and worms" are terms com
monly associated with the grave, the word for corruption in this
text has no such connotation in the New Testament, but denotes

' (j>-3op& bears the general idea of ruin, destruction, failure to attain certain
possibilities, and so applies commonly to moral corruption; but diafy&opa is the
proper word to denote bodily corruption, and should have been employed here
by Paul if he had intended to designate sepulchral decomposition. Comp. Acts
ii, 27, 31 ; xiii, 34-37.

238 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
rather the natural condition of humanity during the present life,
together with the destructive effects which sin carries with it into
the entire human organism. So in Gal. vi, 8 : "He that soweth
unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." This (jr&opd
which is reaped out of the flesh (kx rrjg- aapKog-) is not the corrup
tion of the sepulcher, but a moral and spiritual destruction, the
opposite of "eternal life" which those reap who sow unto the
Spirit. So also in Bom. viii, 21, the creation groans and travails
in expectation of deliverance "from the bondage of corruption into
the liberty of the glory of the children of God." Here the cor
ruption is surely not the decay which follows the burial of a corpse,
but a conscious condition in which one groans in pain. In 2 Pet.
ii, 19, we read that those who are given to the lusts of the flesh
"are themselves slaves of corruption"; and in i, 4, we are told
of the possibility of "becoming partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust."
From this common usage of the word it appears that by sowing in
corruption the apostle does not mean the interment of the dead
body in the grave, but rather the decaying process through which
it is constantly passing from the cradle to the grave. And this
is precisely what he says in 2 Cor. iv, 16 : "Though our outward
man is passing through a process of corruption (diaQ&eipErai),
yet our inward man is renewed day by day." Hence we interpret
the words it is sown in corruption as meaning that the human
body, conceived as the outward organism of the living soul, is, by
reason of its mortal nature, constantly subject to corruption and
decay. But for the continual renewal which it receives in the
order of God it would quickly fall into ruin. And, so far as the
imagery of verses 36-38 here applies, we may add that this body
will not be quickened into immortal vigor and incorruption "except
it die." After the final ruin reached at death it is raised in incor
ruption, in glory, and in power, and God gives each one a body of
his own as it pleases him. The other phrases, in dishonor, and
in weakness, are still less appropriate to a dead body than in cor
ruption. Many corpses have, indeed, been shamefully treated by
barbarous enemies, and in that sense may be said to have been
"sown in dishonor"; but it is only by farfetched and irrelevant
fancies that the body is thought of as buried in dishonor. On
the contrary, it is the universal practice of mankind to honor their
dead in the burial. It is a sad but faithful comment on these
words of Paul that men sin against their own bodies more in life
than in death. Multitudes of those of corrupt minds defile the
body and treat it with all manner of dishonor and infamy in the
lusts of the flesh, but they will have the defunct corpse most honora-

THE RESURRECTION 239
bly embalmed and interred in a costly mausoleum. Furthermore,
to speak of a dead body as being buried in weakness seems little
else than a stupid misuse of words. The weakness and infirmities
of the flesh during the present life are conspicuous facts of experi
ence, but who that appreciates intelligible speech would ever write
about the weakness of a corpse! (3) The defunct corpse which
is deposited in the grave cannot be properly called a psychical body
(aSijia %jrvxtKov, ver. 44) -1 A psychical body must incorporate a
living soul. "The first man Adam," whom the apostle immedi
ately (ver. 45) cites for illustration, did not "become a living
soul" until God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life"
(Gen. ii, 7) . A dead body may, perhaps, be called a auua <f>vatKov,
but not a aibfia ¦fvxiKov. The natural, psychical, or soulish body is
an outward and visible organ of the human soul, fitted to the con
ditions of this earthly life, and it is here put in contrast with the
spiritual body (aibfia -rrvevuartKov) which is the heavenly organ of
the spirit, adapted to the conditions of heavenly life. In the fol
lowing verses (48 and 49) it should be observed that the words
psychical and spiritual interchange with earthy and heavenly.
(4) It appears, furthermore, that the scope of the apostle's argu
ment in this passage involves a contrast between the manner and
conditions of our earthy life in the body and those of the heavenly
life of incorruption, and glory, and power. It is not a contrast
of the lifeless corpse as it appears the hour it is put in the grave and
the same identical body as it appears resuscitated and brought up
out of the dust in a moment of time. The analogy of the dying
seed (ver. 36) does not fit this last conception; for it is sown
in its full life and vigor, and dies after it has fallen to the soil,
and only an invisible germ sprouts forth into new life, while the
old body remains in the earth and is not made alive again at all.
But in this argument the conditions of human life on earth are
put in striking contrast with the conditions of spiritual and
heavenly life after the resurrection. We accordingly understand
the series of contrasts stated in verses 42-44 as designed to enhance
the unspeakable glory of man's spiritual organism after the resur
rection by declaring its remarkable difference from the corrupt,
dishonored and infirm conditions of his mortal life on earth. For,
having thus stated his striking contrasts, he proceeds (vers.

'Thus Whitby: "It seems probable that the word sown doth not relate to the
body's being lain in the earth, but rather to its production in the world; for when
it is interred, it is no more an animal body, but a body void of Ufe. The
apostle doth indeed (verses 36, 37) speak of seed sown in the earth, but then he
speaks of it as still alive, and having its seminal virtue, or animal spirit in it, and
dying afterwards; whereas our bodies first die, and then are cast into the earth. " —
Commentary on the New Testament, in loco. London, 1744. Similarly Calvin,
Neander, Hengstenberg, Heinrici, T. C. Edwards, Beyschlag, Charles, Schmiedel.

240 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
45-49) to show that these differences between the earthly and the
heavenly state correspond to the opposite natures of the Adam
and the Christ. This form of illustration was suggested by the
contrast between a psychical body and a spiritual one. "The first
man Adam," according to Gen. ii, 7, "became a living soul" (ipvx^j) ,
but according to Paul's gospel and the highest New Testament
teaching, Christ, "the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit" (rtvevjia).
And this arrangement follows a divine order, "first, the psychical;
afterwards the spiritual." The sowing occurs in the first state;
the fruitage and glory in the second. "The first man is from the
earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven." The outcome of
this part of the discussion is that, in the divine order, man's destiny
is to become something far beyond a mere living soul. Everything
that is earthy must have its adaptations to earthly environment,
and while man continues his life in the flesh on earth, he must
needs be earthy, and be sown, as we have seen, in corruption, in
dishonor, and in weakness. But, in the resurrection, the earthy
is to be superseded by the heavenly in incorruption, in glory, and
in power. Whereupon, the apostle concludes this paragraph with
the exhortation: "As we have borne the image of the earthy, let
us also bear the image of the heavenly."1 And so, in answer to
"With what manner of body do they come?" (ver. 35) we are told
that we are to exchange the psychical and earthy for the image
of the heavenly.
Verses 50-58. It remains for the apostle to add a number of
concluding observations, although with them he adds nothing in
substance to his doctrine of resurrection. It follows as a logical
consequence from the foregoing discussion, and is now formally
stated as a positive conclusion "that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God." The psychical body, therefore, cannot par
take of the spiritual and heavenly "inheritance of the saints in
light," neither is it possible for the earthy to retain its earthy con
ditions, and bear the image of the heavenly. There must, accord
ingly, be a change from the earthy state of corruption to the
heavenly state of incorruption. But at this point the apostle
recalls the thought of remaining alive in the flesh unto the coming
of the Lord, and being "caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air," as he had written the Thessalonians,' and now he
writes the Corinthians this similar form of doctrine: "Behold, I
tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
1 The subjunctive reading, Qopkaouev, seems to be the best attested.
2 See 1 Thess. iv, 15-17, and our comments above on pp. 231-233.

THE RESURRECTION 241
incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Here, as in first Thessa
lonians, we naturally infer from the language employed that the
apostle expected to remain alive unto the coming of the Lord, and
he assumes that many of his Corinthian brethren would also thus
remain. Some would doubtless fall asleep before that grand event
of the Lord's descent from heaven, but not all. In Thessalonians
he says nothing about the change which the living must undergo
in order to inherit the incorruptible kingdom, but simply affirms
that they "shall be caught up in the clouds unto a meeting of the
Lord in the air" ; but here, in writing to the Corinthians, having
declared "that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,"
it behooves him to show that, even in the event of a translation into
heaven without falling asleep in death, there must be a change
from the corruptible to the incorruptible. For without such
change the earthy could not "bear the image of the heavenly."
Hence the conclusion announced in verse 53: "This corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immor
tality." This accords with his previous argument and confirms
it; from all of which it is to be understood that the body of the
resurrection, the one which is adapted to the heavenly kingdom,
is not and cannot be a body of flesh and blood. It must be changed
so as to be incorruptible and immortal. The image of the earthy
must be exchanged for the image of the heavenly. So enrapturing
is the thought of such heavenly glorification that the apostle closes
his discussion with exclamations of victory and thanksgiving, and
an exhortation to steadfastness in the faith and work of the Lord
(vers. 55-58).
(4) Second Corinthians iv, 16 — v, 10. Another important ex
pression of Pauline doctrine on the resurrection and the heavenly
life is found in 2 Cor. iv, 16 — v, 10. The first statement in this
passage affirms that a process of decay and a process of renewal are
going on simultaneously every day. The one process is virtually
identical with the sowing in corruption, and the other with the
raising up in incorruption, which is asserted in 1 Cor. xv, 42. In
verse 14 preceding Paul has said "that he who raised up the Lord
Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with
you." Hence the idea of resurrection and glorification in the
presence ©f Christ is in the apostle's mind, and with it he associates
the thought of being made perfect through sufferings (comp. Heb.
ii, 10, and 2 Tim. ii, 8-12). In accordance with the order of
God, and the provision for continual renewal to counteract the
process of decay, he declares that our temporary afflictions do in
an abundant manner bring about for us "an eternal weight of
glory." The contrast is so great that he speaks of the affliction

242 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
as a "momentary lightness," and the glory as an "eternal weight";-
and then, by way of further explanation, he adds, "while we look
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not
seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things
which are not seen are eternal." This looking at (oKoneiv,
contemplating, turning attention to, fixing the mind's eye on)
the things which may not be seen with the natural eye (to pr)
(iXe-rroueva) is noticeably relevant and suggestive. The unseen and
eternal things are more real and substantial than those which
appear to fleshly eyes, and we need not doubt or wonder when it
is thus plainly intimated that the resurrection body must needs
be invisible to mortal gaze. In immediate connection with this
reference to the unseen and eternal it is written: "For we know
that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a
building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the
heavens." The earthly house is here obviously a designation of
the human body, called "our outward man" in iv, 16, above, which
is subject to decay and dissolution. But upon the event of its
dissolution, "we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands." This building is not heaven itself, but the new body
which God gives in place of the earthly, temporary, visible taber
nacle of the fleshly body, which is dissolved and put off in death
(comp. 2 Pet. i, 13, 14). This appears also from the following
verse: "For verily in this (earthly house) we groan, longing to
be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven." This
building from God, not made with hands, accords with the figure
of the grain in 1 Cor. xv, 36-38, and here as there it might be
said, "The house which is dissolved is not the building that shall
be, but God gives it a new habitation even as it pleases him."
The word tabernacle (aKfjvog; tent) is applied to the earthly house,
but the heavenly structure is called a building (o'iko3outj) and a
habitation (olKnrrjpiov), words that denote permanent abode. This
house, moreover, is said to be "eternal, in the heavens," and "from
heaven," and so it belongs to the category of "the things which
are not seen and are eternal." In connection with the word
habitation the apostle introduces another but similar figure of
"being clothed upon" and "being clothed" (inevdvaaodai, and
ivdvodfievot; comp. 1 Cor. xv, 53, 54). He seems to have no liking
for the doctrine of a separate disembodied condition of the soul,
nor does he entertain the Greek conception of a naked, wandering
ghost, flitting here and there without shelter or clothing. "We
are longing," he says, "to be clothed upon with our habitation
which is from heaven; if so be that being clothed we shall not
be found naked. For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do

THE RESURRECTION 243
groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but
that we would be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swal
lowed up of life." Here there is no conception of an intermediate
state of possible long continuance between death and the resur
rection.1 The apostle seems to have had in mind the being
"changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," even as he
wrote in 1 Cor. xv, 52. His longing for the clothing of the
heavenly habitation is acknowledged in verse 2, and in verse 4
he expresses his antipathy to being unclothed, and his wish rather
to remain alive and to be so clothed upon by his heavenly vesture
"that the mortal ( Td dvrp-ov, that which is liable to death) may be
swallowed up of life." But at the time of this writing Paul
appears to have felt, as Peter in 2 Pet. i, 14, that "the putting off
of his tabernacle was coming swiftly on," and hence his language
in verses 6-8 : "Being always of good courage, and knowing that,
whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord
(for we walk by faith, not by sight) ; we are of good courage, I
say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be
at home with the Lord." The doctrine and sentiment of this
confession are in complete harmony with Phil, i, 20-24, which
may well be cited here as both parallel and explanatory : "Christ
shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ... I am in a strait
betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ;
for it is far better." According to this faith one need have no
fear of death and dissolution of the body. For if the earthy taber
nacle be dissolved, we have a building from God; it is not made
with hands; it is in the heavens and from heaven; and it may
therefore become our actual possession (%o/*ev, ver. 1) immediately
after the dissolution of the earthly and the mortal. So by dissolu
tion of the mortal and reception of the immortal, whether through
death or by a sudden translation, "death is swallowed up in vic
tory." The writer of these scriptures evidently does not expect
to "be found naked" at any time. He expects even in the event
of death to be clothed upon by an invisible; eternal vesture from
God, and so he continually walks by faith and not by sight. He
makes it his aim, as a matter of honorable ambition, "whether at
1 The dogma of "the Intermediate State," an outgrowth in part of the rabbinical
theories of the underworld," has no valid foundation in the Scriptures, finds not
a word of support in the teaching of Jesus, and furnishes the logical basis of the
Romish doctrine of purgatory and also of various doctrines of a future probation
of souls that made a failure of this present life. It depends for all the support it
has upon a foregone conclusion touching the nature of the body of the resurrection
and the time of its being raised up. Assuming that a long period must elapse
between death and the resurrection of the identical fleshly body that is put into
the grave, it speculates on the vague possibilities of such a "disembodied state."
But from beginning to end it is wholly speculative and imaginary.

244 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto the Lord" (ver. 9). In
such a state of life and action one experiences the inner working
of God himself, and has "the earnest of the Spirit" (ver. 5)
which is a conscious foretaste of the heavenly inheritance (comp.
Eph. i, 14). As a motive for such honorable ambition to be
always well-pleasing to Christ, the apostle concludes this passage
with the solemn statement: "For we must all be made manifest
before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive
the things done in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad." In these words we may discern an implied
reference to a resurrection as well as a judgment of the unjust
(comp. Acts xxiv, 15) ; but, if so, it did not accord with the scope
of the epistle to enlarge on that particular subject, or to show how
it might be adjusted to the doctrine of the resurrection as else
where explained to the Corinthians.
(5) In Romans and Philippians. We find nothing elsewhere in
this apostle's writings to supply other or additional information
touching the resurrection of the dead. Such teaching as that of
Rom. vi, 5-14, simply affirms the "newness of life" and holy fel
lowship which the believer enjoys in Christ. It involves death
unto sin and life unto God, so that when sin is not allowed to
reign in the mortal body, and the members are presented as instru
ments of righteousness, one is, so to speak, "as alive from the dead."
So again in Eom. viii, 11 : "If the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised Christ Jesus
from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies through his
Spirit that dwelleth in you." This quickening we observe is of
"mortal bodies" (dvnrd auuara), that is, bodies liable to death, not
dead bodies, or lifeless corpses. The process by which these mortal
bodies are to be made alive is not stated. The time is equally
indefinite. It may be by the sudden rapture, referred to in 1 Cor.
xv, 51, 52, at the coming of the Lord; or it may be immediately
after the dissolution of the earthly house, as expressed in 2 Cor.
v, 1. In Phil, iii, 10, 11, Paul speaks of his ambition and long
ing to know Christ, "and the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death, if
by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead."
The exact concept which is here to be formed of "the resurrection
from the dead" is not altogether clear. The reference seems to
be to some particular order or class of the dead, like "those of
the Christ, at his coming" (1 Cor. xv, 23). In verses 20 and 21
of the same chapter it is also written: "Our citizenship is in
heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ; who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that

THE RESURRECTION 245
it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the
working whereby he is able to subject all things unto himself."
This also accords with the teaching of 1 Cor. xv, 53. The cor
ruptible, dishonorable, and weak mortal must put on incorruption.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and hence
this mortal body must be changed and fashioned after "the image
of the heavenly."
(6) In Colossians, Ephesians, and Second Timothy. In Col. iii,
1-4, we have a beautiful expression of Pauline doctrine, and one that
seems to have been of special comfort and inspiration to the apostle
in his last years: "If then ye were raised together with Christ,
seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not
on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be
manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory."
Here the confidence of union with Christ has begotten the faith
and experience of "eternal life," which knows no death (comp.
John xi, 26), and no separation from Christ, but abides in joyous
expectation of a manifestation with him in glory at no distant
day. The same inspiring thought is set forth in Eph. i, 20,
and ii, 6, where "the Father of glory" is said to have raised up
Jesus Christ from the dead, "and made him sit at his right hand
in the heavenlies," and has also "quickened us together with Christ,
and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus." This living fellowship with Christ
and God is in great part, as we have previously shown, a present
possession. The Christian believer has already "passed out of
death into life" (John v, 24), and his body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit which is in him (1 Cor. vi, 19), but immediately upon
his putting off the fleshly tabernacle he receives his building from
God, eternal, in the heavens. Accordingly Paul, in prospect of
martyrdom, said: "I am already being offered, and the time of
my departure is come. I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid
up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the right
eous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but
also to all them that have loved his appearing" (2 Tim. iv, 6-8).
That day of the Lord's "appearing" was evidently for him in the
near future, at the time of his departure from his earthly life.
At that day he expected to receive the crown from the heavenly
righteous Judge and Lord. The glorified Christ, reigning and
judging "at the right hand of the Majesty on high," and enthroned
in the glory of his Father which he had before the world was, is

246 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
doubtless capable of "appearing" to every one of his saints at the
time of their departure, somewhat, perhaps, as he did to Stephen
at the time of his martyrdom. Thus he comes again and receives
them unto himself (John xiv, 3), and unto each one will he give,
in his own time and manner, his spiritual body as it shall please
him. And so, each in his own order and time, shall we all "be
clothed upon with our habitation wliich is from heaven."
8. Various Types of Biblical Doctrine. One result of our
examination of what the different biblical writers say about the
resurrection of the dead is that their statements, taken as a whole,
are not altogether uniform or harmonious. Different types of
doctrine appear in the canonical as well as in the apocryphal books.
But in the main the various types of doctrine are not so divergent
as to be pronounced inconsistent with each other. The Old Testa
ment references are so few and vague that we cannot put them
forward as conclusive on any one phase of the subject. The New
Testament teaching is very much fuller, but neither Christ nor
his apostles have told us all we desire to know about the nature
and the conditions of those who attain to the resurrection from the
dead. From what is written we may reasonably infer that the
change from mortal to immortal modes of life is such that no
revelation and no language can clearly impart to the human mind
the actual realities. We should not, therefore, think it strange
that differences of conception and statement, characteristic of indi
vidual modes of thought, appear among the different writers on a
theme like this. The teaching of Jesus was suggestive and cor
rective rather than formal and discursive. He nullified the objec
tions of the Sadducees by exposing their false notions of the resur
rection life, but he offered no revelation on the subject beyond a
few remarkable statements, partly negative, partly suggestive, but
notably adapted to correct the current belief in a literal restoration
of the fleshly body.
9. No Basis for Many Prevalent Theories. In a careful study
of all that is written in the Scriptures touching the resurrection
we are not able to find evidence sufficient to warrant most of the
fancies and theories which have widely prevailed. That the body
of the resurrection is to be a reconstruction of the same particles
of matter which are buried in the grave is a dogma which has no
support in the teaching of Christ or of his apostles. That it is
constructed out of some indestructible germ, that belongs to the
body and is buried with it, has been elaborately argued from Paul's
figure of the grain (in 1 Cor. xv, 36-38), and from certain specula
tions of Jewish rabbis. But the conjecture is entitled to no seri
ous consideration, for Paul's allusion to the grain that is sown is

THE RESURRECTION 247
not of a nature to give endorsement to the peculiar rabbinical
fancy, and his entire argument throughout that chapter is con
spicuously different from the style and the thought of the Jewish
schools of that time. The apostle, moreover, positively denies that
flesh and blood can inherit the kingdom of God, and his concept
of a new, spiritual, and heavenly organism is totally incompatible
with the idea of a material body developed out of an infinitesimal
germ. Some writers have enlarged upon the supposable impossi
bilities of restoring the bodies of the innumerable dead. They
have cited the fact of one human body going to form some part
of another, as when devoured by cannibals. The different mem
bers of one and the same body have in some cases been scattered
far apart, and separated by intervening oceans. Some have argued
that all the dust of the earth would be insufficient to reconstruct
the material bodies of all men who have lived and died, and others
have alleged that, if all who have ever lived were to stand up at
one time, there would not be room enough on the entire surface of
the earth to place them. These crass conceptions and the supposed
impossibilities are all irrelevant and futile, and they have grown
out of the notion of a resuscitation of the mortal body of flesh
and blood. That several Old Testament writers entertained some
idea of a future resurrection of the physical body, and cast their
utterances in the forms of popular expression, may be true. But
so far as they have done so, their utterances do not prove the truth
of any particular dogma or theory. Incidental allusions are not
proofs. Nearly all the issues of controversy on this subject have
arisen over attempts to dogmatize on questions which the Scrip
tures have left undetermined.
10. The Main Idea is a New Organism. So far as the concept
of the resurrection of the dead differs from that of the "immor
tality of the soul," it seems to consist mainly, according to the Scrip
tures, in some new and more enduring organism of the conscious
personal life. It is the projection of that life, in the order of
God, and with all that constitutes its spiritual nature and charac
ter, into the unseen and eternal future. This change from a con
dition of corruption to one of incorruption is conceived as a resti
tution of the individual who dies and is buried. He does not
perish in the dust, but rises up in a new and imperishable body
such as it pleases God to give to every one. A few very explicit
declarations of Scripture affirm a resurrection both of the just
and the unjust. The wicked awake to shame and contempt, and
come forth to a resurrection of judgment, which is of the nature
of a second death. But the righteous are clothed in light as with
a garment. They shine as the stars forever, and like the sun in

248 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
the kingdom of their Father. They put off the earthly tabernacle,
but immediately receive from God their new house, not made with
hands, eternal, in the heavens.
11. All the Dead Not Raised Simultaneously. It has been com
mon with theologians to speak of "the general resurrection of the
last day" as if all the dead were to be simultaneously raised up
out of their graves at some future day or moment of time. But
our study of the Scriptures has failed to find sufficient warrant
for this dogma. On the contrary, we find numerous intimations
that the resurrection of different persons and orders occurs at
different periods of time, and indeed may be a process ever going
on, although we know not how. The incidental use of such a
phrase as at the last day cannot determine such a question, for
every individual may and must in a very obvious sense have his
own last day, whether it be simultaneous with that of others or
not. The statement of John v, 28, 29, is not equivalent to saying
that all who are in the tombs shall come forth at one and the same
instant, for the context shows, as we have seen, that such a thought
is not in the mind of the speaker, but rather a succession of resur
rections. And when Paul writes that "as in Adam all die, so in
Christ shall all be made alive," he does not say that they shall all
be made alive at once. As well might one insist that when Jesus
says, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me," he means
that all this drawing unto himself is the matter of an hour or a
day. The language of Dan. xii, 2, clearly conveys, as we have
seen, the idea of a partial resurrection. So too, in 1 Cor. xv, 20-26,
Paul speaks of different orders and successive periods of the resur
rection. The language of Phil, iii, 10, 11, seems also to imply a
partial and special resurrection from among the dead, for why
should the apostle have such longing and struggle "to attain unto
the resurrection from the dead" if all the dead are necessarily and
as a matter of course to be raised up in one general resurrection
of the last day? The same comment may be made on the lan
guage of Jesus in Luke xx, 35, "they who are accounted worthy
to attain the resurrection from the dead," for if all the dead are
to be raised up in one general resurrection, what is the sense of
being counted worthy of obtaining a part in the inevitable?1 It
may be that in passages like the last two cited the reference is to
the "resurrection of the just" (Luke iv, 14) . We may conceive the
righteous and the wicked as two great companies, and that Paul

1 According to Godet, "the resurrection from the dead is very evidently, in this
place, not the resurrection of the dead in general. What is referred to is a special
privilege granted only to the faithful who shall be accounted worthy." Com
mentary on Luke, in loco.

THE RESURRECTION 249
was anxious to obtain a part in the resurrection of the righteous,
and that Jesus also means the resurrection of the just when he
speaks of being worthy to attain unto it. But even if we allow
this interpretation of the language in Luke and Philippians, it will
not fit the doctrine of successive orders and times as stated in
1 Cor. xv, 23. But if we suppose that the just and the unjust
form the two classes to whom allusion is made, it is nowhere
affirmed that all the individuals of either of these two classes are
raised up simultaneously. What we have been accustomed to think
of as a single and instantaneous event may be in the wisdom and
power of God a continuous process, or it may have various times
and seasons "which the Father hath set within his own authority."
We deem it highly important for the expositor of this class of
Scriptures to refrain from positive assertions where the sacred
writers are not unquestionably clear. On these mysterious ques
tions of the time and manner of resurrection we see at best but
"in a mirror, darkly." We know only in a very small part, and
we can at most explain only in part.
12. The Subject Belongs to the Unseen. It is worthy of special
remark that in Paul's teaching in 2 Cor. v, 1-8, the new organ of
the spirit, the building or habitation which we have in the heavens
in place of the dissolved tabernacle of the flesh, is not a natural
product out of the elements of the earthly house, but is from God
and from heaven. How and from what he fashions it, we are not
told. The most obvious import of the apostle's words is that, upon
the dissolution of the mortal frame, God immediately clothes the
spirit with a bodily organism, invisible as the spirit itself, immor
tal, eternal, glorious. How much of the mortal body is utilized
for the immortal we cannot know. As the eternal things are
declared in this context to be invisible, we ought not to err in
assuming that the substance of the heavenly body is of a nature to
be seen by mortal eyes, or touched by fleshly hands. There are
millions of living creatures about us in this world which even the
microscope reveals but imperfectly; much less can they be dis
cerned by the naked eye. In the realm of the unseen and eternal
mysteries of spiritual life there are many things which we must
accept by faith and not by sight. John writes that it is not yet
manifest what we shall be, but if he shall be manifested, we shall
be like him and see him as he is. When the Lord was transfigured
before the three disciples "his face shone as the sun, and his gar
ments became white as the light." We may well regard that trans
figuration as an ideal of the image of the heavenly which those
who are risen in Christ shall ultimately bear. For aught that
anyone can prove to the contrary, the resurrection of the dead may

250 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
be a process that is continually going on, like all the other gracious
work of the salvation of Jesus Christ. The great comprehensive
announcement of our Lord, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I
will draw all men unto myself" (John xii, 32), is quite analogous
with the statement of Paul, "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ
shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. xv, 22). But neither of these
general statements implies that the drawing unto Christ and the
making alive of all men are to be accomplished at one last period
or point of time. The mighty work is better conceived as going
on during the whole time that the enthroned and reigning Christ
is putting all his enemies under his feet (1 Cor. xv, 25). The
new life of God, which is implanted by spiritual regeneration,
develops day by day into eternal life, and whenever its mortal
tabernacle is dissolved, the living soul receives its new building
from God which is fashioned after the image of the heavenly and
eternal. But on all these mysteries of the invisible world we must
be content not to know all that we may verymuch desire to ascertain.
13. Summary of the Biblical Teaching. Eecapitulating now, we
may briefly sum up the results of the foregoing discussion in the
following statements:
1. Jewish and Christian interpreters have read into certain
poetical passages of the Old Testament a crass conception of a
resurrection of fleshly bodies, and these notions have taken on
various materialistic forms in popular thought. It is natural for
the popular imagination to clothe all concepts of a future life in
materialistic forms.
2. There was no uniformity of opinion on this subject among
the Jewish people. Some of the Jews denied the resurrection
altogether, and rejected the doctrine of angels and spirits. Those
who affirmed the doctrine of a future resurrection differed among
themselves as to its nature and extent: some believing in the
resurrection both of the just and unjust, others only of the just.
3. The teaching of Jesus in the synoptic gospels does not favor
any theory of the resurrection of the natural body. In his reply
to the Sadducees he declared that in the resurrection they are not
fleshly but spiritual beings like the angels in heaven.
4. In the fourth gospel Jesus affirms in one passage the resur
rection of "all that are in the tombs," both the good and the evil ;
but in the same connection he outlines three kinds of resurrection,
and in other parts of this gospel teaches that they who partake of
his life and spirit shall never taste of death.
5. The Apocalypse accords with the fourth gospel in presenting
the idea of a "first resurrection" and a "second death," but the
doctrinal content is uncertain by reason of its setting in a composi-

THE RESURRECTION 251
tion so mystical and visional that interpreters differ widely among
themselves as to its meaning.
6. Paul is much more explicit and detailed in his treatment of
the subject, and his teaching involves the following propositions:
(1) The resurrection of the dead is a fundamental article of the
Christian faith. (2) It is conceived as in some sense a quickening
of the mortal body and making it alive with immortal vigor. This
thought attaches especially to the mystery of a sudden change
which those experience who remain alive unto the coming of the
Lord from heaven. (3) The apostle gives no place for the doc
trine of an intermediate state of long duration between death and
the resurrection. The heavenly body is given immediately after
the dissolution of the earthly house, and is as truly an organism
as is the earthly body. (4) The body of the resurrection is not
the body that is sown during the earthly existence; it is not a
body of flesh and blood, but is to exist in striking contrast to the
corruptible, dishonored, and weak conditions of this mortal life,
and to abide in incorruption, glory, and power. (5) The dead
are not all raised simultaneously, but each in his own order and
in his own time.' (6) Since flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, the mortal body must be put off by death, or
by some transmutation and transfiguration, and be so changed as
to be adapted to the conditions of heavenly life with our glorified
Lord. There must be a new spiritual organism for each risen and
glorified human personality.

CHAPTEE XI
VARIOUS ASPECTS OP THE HEAVENLY GLORY
1. The General Conception. The significance of the biblical
doctrines of eternal life, immortality, and resurrection is of
unspeakable moment. The truths set forth in the foregoing chap
ters contemplate citizenship in heaven so positively assured to the
Christian in his earthly life that he reckons himself as already a
member of the commonwealth which is in the heavens (Phil, iii,
20). He is in some sense already risen with Christ; he has his
heart set on things above where his Lord is enthroned, and indeed
he is made to sit with him in the heavenly places (Eph. ii, 6).
The prayer of Jesus, in John xvii, 24, for all those who are to
make up his peculiar treasure is that they may be with him where
he abides, and that they may behold his glory. We may, then,
appropriately inquire, before leaving this general subject, What
are the things that make up the various aspects of this heavenly
glory? We have been admonished that amid the limitations of
this present life we can at best see only as in a mirror and learn by
means of enigmatic language and symbolism, and can accordingly
know only in part (1 Cor. xiii, 12). But this fact serves only
to enhance in our minds the unspeakable glory which is yet to be
Tevealed, and while we seek to gather up and state the various
ideals of heavenly life which the Scriptures suggest, we must
still keep in mind, what has previously been made emphatic, that
the essence of eternal life is loving fellowship with the Father and
with Jesus Christ. This fellowship is one that never faileth. It
grows deeper and stronger with increase of divine knowledge, and
passes on from glory to glory, both in this age and in that which
is to come — in this world and in any other to which the risen child
of God may go — so that the pure in heart shall be forever blessed,
inasmuch as they shall eternally see God.
2. Heavenly Becognition. One of the first things to invite our
thought, when we contemplate this heavenly life, is the question
of recognition and reunion. It is fundamentally the simple ques
tion of the perpetuation of conscious personal identity. When we
ask, Shall we know each other in the future state ? we should first
inquire, Shall we know ourselves? It would seem to be beyond
reasonable controversy that if there be any future life of man at
252

HEAVENLY RECOGNITION 253
all, it must needs be a life that would recognize itself as having
had a previous existence.
(1) Doctrines of Absorption and of Transmigration. There
are, indeed, two distinct concepts of the destiny of the human soul
which have a place in certain systems of religious belief. One is
the doctrine of absorption, which affiliates with a pantheistic
conception of the universe. All human souls are conceived as
but so many emanations from the one universal Essence, and to
it all ultimately return. The conscious personal life ceases when
the soul is thus received back into the impersonal unconscious
essence of the world. This doctrine, of course, involves the anni
hilation of all personal self-consciousness and is essentially materi
alistic. Another concept of the soul's future state is found in
the doctrine of transmigration, according to which the soul at
death passes into the body of some animal, reptile, or insect. The
soul may thus pass through innumerable forms of life, and become
again and again incarnate in a human body, and yet retain no
recollection of any of its former states. But neither of these
conceptions is compatible with the biblical doctrines of eternal
life and the resurrection of the dead, for our Scriptures are utterly
misleading if they do not clearly teach the conscious, blissful
immortality of the children of God.
(2) The Biblical Suggestions. The thought of being gathered
to one's people (Gen. xxv, 8; xlix, 29, 33), and the saying of
David (2 Sam. xii, 23) that he should some time go to his dead
child, carry with them an idea of personal reunion. Burial in a
common grave, or in the ancestral tomb, does not satisfy the import
of the language employed. And so with all the scriptures previ
ously cited to show the immortality of the soul and the resurrec
tion of the dead, there in an implied assumption of personal iden
tity and reunion after death. If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are
not dead, but live unto God (Exod. iii, 6; comp. Luke xx, 37, 38),
they are no other than the same personal beings they were upon
earth. The language of Isa. xiv, 15, 16, implies a recognition of
the king of Babylon in Sheol, and the same statement holds good
of our Lord's picture of the rich man and of Abraham and Lazarus
in Hades (Luke xvi, 23). How, moreover, could the Lord Jesus
have said to his disciples,. "I go to prepare a place for you, and I
come again and will receive you unto myself, that where I am,
there ye may be also," if personal recognition, reunion, and blessed
fellowship are not presupposed? But aside from the numerous
scriptures of this class, which unmistakably imply heavenly recog
nition and fellowship, we have more direct suggestions in the nar
ratives of the transfiguration of Jesus where Moses and Elijah,

254 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
who "appear in glory," obviously know each other and commune
with Christ, and are also by some means recognized by Peter, who
calls them each by name. The words of Jesus to the dying male
factor, "To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise" (Luke xxiii,
43), are meaningless without the concept of personal reunion and
fellowship beyond death; and Stephen's prayer, "Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit," involves the hope and expectation of a conscious
transition of the personal spirit to the presence of Jesus at the
right hand of God (Acts vii, 56-60). Many interpreters also
understand the friends, who receive the faithful and wise stewards
into the eternal tabernacles (Luke xvi, 9), to be those persons
whom they have befriended on earth by means of the mammon
of unrighteousness. These, going on before them into the heavenly
abodes, receive and welcome them there into the eternal glory.
But if the subject of dei-uvrai, may receive, be understood of the
angels, or of Christ and of God, the idea of heavenly recognition
and eternal fellowship is clearly involved. One may naturally
wonder that the doctrine of heavenly recognition should ever be
questioned by a believer in the soul's immortality. "They who
are accounted worth}' to attain that world, and the resurrection
from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: for
neither can they die any more : for they are equal unto the angels ;
and they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection" (Luke
xx, 35, 36). Here it is clearly taught that marriage, the propaga
tion of offspring, and the family relations which arise thereby in
this world, are not perpetuated in the life to come; but it by no
means follows that any hallowed and beautiful friendship of earth
must be broken off in the heavens, or become any less in personal
affection. True knowledge must enlarge, and heavenly acquaint
ances unknown on earth may come to be esteemed above all that
were ever known in the body of flesh and blood.1 What home-
gatherings must there be in the Father's house of many mansions !
What unspeakable possibilities of bliss in the heavenly Jerusalem,
among innumerable hosts of angels, and with the spirits of just
men made perfect, who compose the general assembly and church
of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven! (Heb. xii, 22, 23.)
What incalculable treasures in heaven must they have who are
"meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light"
(Col. i, 12), "children and heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ" ! (Eom. viii, 17.) But all these ideals would be without

1 Even Socrates is represented as saying: "What would not a man give if he
might converse with Orpheus, and Musaeus, and Hesiod, and Homer? Nay, if
this be true, let me die again and again. I shall have a wonderful interest in there
meeting and conversing with the heroes of old." — Plato, Apology, 41.

A SABBATH REST 255
significance apart from belief in personal identity continuing in
the heavenly life along with recognition of saints, and blissful
intercourse. In John's beatific vision of the great multitude
before the throne of God, arrayed in white robes and with palms in
their hands (Bev. vii, 9-17), a large part of what most deeply
affects the heart is the implied knowledge of the past which those
who come out of a great tribulation must have, and the comfort,
communion, and fellowship which must needs attend the guiding of
them unto fountains of waters of life, and having every tear wiped
from their eyes. The essential facts of self-conscious personality
show that man is constituted for intelligent fellowship and love,
and personal recognitions, reunions, and blissful associations are
to be gloriously perfected rather than abolished in the life to come.
3. Absence of All Evil. The blessedness of the heavenly life is
further enhanced in our thought by the assured absence of all that
involves pain and trouble. In the scripture last cited it is said
that the glorified ones hunger no more, nor thirst, nor suffer any
evil stroke. "There shall be no night there, and there shall in
nowise enter anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination
and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb's book of
life" (Bev. xxi, 25-27). There "thieves do not break through nor
steal" (Matt, vi, 20). Such absence of all that can cause trouble
or distress does not, however, as in the Buddhist concept of Nir
vana, involve extinction of self-conscious personality, but rather
a higher and more perfect activity of the sensibility, the intellect,
and the will.
4. A Sabbath Best. In Heb. iv, 9, we have the future blessed
ness of the saints conceived as "a sabbath rest (aafifiariaftog-)
that remaineth for the people of God." A greater than Joshua
leads the true Israel into such blessed heavenly rest as God him
self enjoys. It is attained in a higher and holier land than the
Canaan which was promised to the fathers of the Hebrew people,
and it is obtained through faith and holiness. Even those ancient
Hebrew fathers "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims
on the earth. For they that say such things make it manifest
that they are seeking after a country of their own. And if indeed
they had been mindful of that country from which they went out,
they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire
a better country, that is, a heavenly : wherefore God is not ashamed
of them, to be called their God : for he hath prepared for them a
city" (Heb. xi, 13-16). And thus according to this writer the
sabbath rest that remains for God's people is the possession of a
heavenly fatherland (narpida), and a city which God himself has
prepared for them.

256 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
5. Advance in Knowledge and in Heavenly Vision. Another
element of the heavenly glory will be advancement in knowledge
beyond all that is possible to man in this earthly life. "Now I
know in part," says Paul (1 Cor. xiii, 12) ; "but then shall I know
fully even as also I was fully known." John assures us, as chil
dren of God, that at the heavenly manifestation of God "we shall
be like him; for we shall see him even as he is" (1 John iii, 2).
And in Rev. xxii, 4, 5, it is written that the servants of God "shall
see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And there
shall be night no more ; and they need no light of lamp, neither
light of the sun; for the Lord God shall give them light." All
this is significant of mental and spiritual illumination. "God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with him, and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not
the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another" (1 John i, 5-7). Hence those
who enjoy fellowship with God and with one another are fittingly
called "children of light" (Eph. v, 8; 1 Thess. v, 5), for, accord
ing to 1 Pet. ii, 9, they have been called by God himself "out of
darkness into his marvellous light." Jesus himself said: "I am
the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John viii, 12). This
light of life comes to every soul that is begotten of God, and,
according to the ancient proverb concerning the path of the right
eous, it is "like the dawning light, that shineth more and more
unto the perfect day" (Prov. iv, 18). But the light of the
heavenly glory connotes a range and perfection of knowledge that
far transcends the highest possibilities of attainment on earth.
God "dwells in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen,
nor can see" (1 Tim. vi, 16). For it is as true now as in the
time when Moses prayed that he might behold the glory of Jeho
vah: "Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me
and live" (Exod. xxxiii, 20). But when "that which is mortal is
swallowed up of life" (2 Cor. v, 4), the saints in light shall see
God face to face. "When that which is perfect is come, that which
is in part shall be done away" (1 Cor. xiii, 10). The limitations
of this mortal life will be removed. In the fullest sense will it
be made to appear that "there is nothing hid, save that it should
be manifested; neither was anything made secret, but that it
should come to light" (Mark iv, 22). Of a thousand thousand
mysteries the Lord may say to us, as he said to Simon Peter:
"What I do, thou knowest not now; but thou shalt understand
hereafter" (John xiii, 7). Now we can see but parts of his ways,
but in the heavenly light we shall not only see him as he is, but

REIGNING WITH CHRIST 257
understand his creation, his providence, his power, and all his
universe as we can not understand them now.
6. Increase of Capacity. Along with such marvelous increase
of knowledge we also associate personal fellowship in the glory of
God, and a corresponding increase of capacity and power for all
heavenly activity. All that is now realized in the richest religious
experiences of saints is to be intensified in and after the resurrec
tion of the just. The worship of God in the holy heavens of light
must needs be a far more intelligent one than we may now offer.
For the God of life and light, who has already "shined in our
hearts, to give us the illumination of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus" (2 Cor. iv, 6) will assuredly increase
our capacity for divine illumination in his house of many man
sions, and what the apostle prays for, in Col. i, 9-13, will be
carried to a perfection which it is now impossible for man to
estimate: "That ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to walk worthily of the
Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and
increasing in the knowledge of God ; strengthened with all power,
according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and long-
suffering with joy; giving thanks unto the Father, who made us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us
into the kingdom of the Son of his love." According to verse 20,
we may apply all this both to "things upon the earth, and things
in the heavens."
7. Reigning with Christ. We can now apprehend but dimly, at
best, what it is to "reign with Christ." We read in Bom. v, 17,
that "they who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of
righteousness shall reign in life through Jesus Christ." In 2 Tim.
ii, 12, it is said, "If we endure, we shall also reign with him."
In Rev. iii, 21, it is written: "He that overcometh, I will give to
him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and
sat down with my Father in his throne." In Rev. xx, 6, we are
told that the second death has no power over the blessed and holy
ones who have part in the first resurrection, "but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand
years."1 In Rev. xxii, 5, it is said of those who shall see the face
of God and have his name on their foreheads, that "they shall
reign forever and ever." All these scriptures imply a superior
association with Christ in the administration of the affairs of his
kingdom. His triumphs are their triumphs, and of all his pos-

1 For exposition of these apocalyptic passages, see Biblical Apocalyptics, in loco.

258 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
sessions they are joint heirs. So also in the visions of Daniel
(vii, 18), "the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom,
and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever." Behind
all this symbolism of throne, and reign, and kingdom, we recog
nize the assurance of unspeakable honor and exaltation in the
manifold operations of the eternal Ruler. His enthroned kings
and priests participate, so to speak, in his state counsels, and are
set in authority over all that he hath (comp. Matt, xxiv, 47; xxv,
21 ; Luke xix, 17). Some such ideal of heavenly glory and power
and dominion is evidently intended in the Lord's promise to his
twelve disciples: "When the Son of man shall sit on the throne
of his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel" (Matt, xix, 28).
8. Glory Through Ages of Ages. Finally, the inconceivable ages
of ages through which the heavenly glory evermore intensifies
give all other aspects and ideals of it an overwhelming impressive
ness. The Hebrew and Greek phrases usually translated forever
and ever are strikingly expressive. *W a?)V? may be rendered to
eternity and beyond; or forever and onward. In Eph. iii, 21, the
Greek expression is, literally, "unto all the generations of the age
of the ages." In Rev. xxii, 5, and often elsewhere we meet the
phrase unto the ages of the ages. JEons, and dispensations, and
illimitable sweep and progress of all that is ennobling in the
heavens of God are naturally associated in thought with these
suggestive indications of inconceivable duration. And we may
well believe that every thousand years of the heavenly life will be
an "intermediate state" between the preceding and the next follow
ing thousand years, so that through all the ages of ages one
period of heavenly blessedness will prepare the way for something
still more blessed and glorious beyond, and the modes and possibili
ties of eternal life may vary with the successive millenniums.
Such a concept is hospitable toward any theory of the future state
which makes for blessedness. It need have no controversy with
any rational ideal of being at home with Christ, "forever with the
Lord," and beholding him as he is. All the hymns of the Chris
tian ages which celebrate the eternal union of God, and Christ, and
angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect, accord with this
illimitable outlook. Now we know only in part; it does not yet
appear what we shall be, or what we may become. But the
human mind, in our present mortal life, becomes bewildered in its
attempts to grasp the possibilities of the life and growth of th?
ages of ages.

PART SECOND
THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST

SECTION SECOND
THE PEBSON OF OHEIST
CHAPTER I
PACTS OP HIS EARTHLY LIFE
1. Born of the House of David. In the opening chapters of the
gospels of Matthew and Luke we read that Jesus was born at
Bethlehem, in Judaea, whither his parents had gone from their
home in Galilee. He was the firstborn son (6 rrparoroKog; Luke
ii, 7) of Mary, the wife of Joseph, whose genealogy is recorded in
two different ways in Matthew and Luke. Some have inferred
from the language of Luke i, 32, that Mary was also a descendant
of the house and family of David, and it has been maintained
that Matthew has preserved the genealogy of Joseph, and Luke
that of Mary. This hypothesis, however, has not commanded
general acceptance, for Joseph is expressly named in Luke iii, 23,
and there is no mention of Mary in that connection; a fact inex
plicable if the writer had intended to make a record of Mary's
lineage. It is probably impossible at this day to harmonize these
different genealogies,1 but the discrepancies in the lists of names
are not sufficient to discredit the main fact which the two records
attest, namely, that Jesus was an offspring of the house of David.
There seems to have been no question, from the times of the earli
est apostolic tradition, "that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah"
(Heb. vii, 14). Paul speaks of him as "born of the seed of David"
(Rom. i, 3; comp. 2 Tim. ii, 8; Acts xiii, 23). Matthew's gospel
begins with the title, peculiarly Hebraic, "Book of the generation
of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." The
descent from the royal house of David is noteworthy as making

1 See Biblical Hermeneutics, pp. 411-413. 259

260 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
for him an external claim that fitted current Jewish beliefs con
cerning the Messiah.1
2. Record of the Virgin Birth. The opening chapters of Mat
thew and Luke also record the fact that this firstborn son of Mary
was supernaturally conceived in her virgin womb by the power of
the Holy Spirit. The gospel according to John contains no
parallel narrative of the miraculous birth of Jesus, but seems
clearly to imply it by saying that the Logos, or Word, who was in
the beginning with God, and without whom no work of creation
was made, "became flesh, and dwelt among us." Three of the
gospels thus concur in witnessing this fact of a supernatural incar
nation of Jesus as the Son of God, but they differ in their record
of details. The prologue of John's gospel is cast in the style of
Alexandrian-Greek thought, gives no details of Jesus's birth or
childhood, but carries our concept of his origin aloft and afar, "in
the bosom of the Father." In Matthew's narrative the special
dreams and revelations touching the miraculous conception come
to Joseph; but in Luke the revelation is made to Mary by the
salutation and direct announcement of the angel Gabriel. Mat
thew tells us nothing of the earlier residence of Joseph and Mary
at Nazareth, but informs us of their going down into Egypt to
escape the wrath of Herod, and says that, when they returned and
heard that Herod's son Archelaus was reigning over Judaea, they
were afraid to go thither and withdrew and went to Nazareth in
Galilee. This tradition varies from that of Luke, who explains
how the birth of Jesus occurred somewhat unexpectedly at Bethle
hem, makes no mention of a journey to Egypt, nor of the visit of
the wise men from the East, but records the appearance and words
of the angels to the shepherds near Bethlehem, and the visit of the
shepherds to "the babe lying in the manger," the circumcision and
naming of Jesus "when eight days were fulfilled," and his pre
sentation in the temple at Jerusalem, after forty days, as the
Levitical law of purification required. Luke's narrative also con
tains many details of the birth of John the Baptist, the visit of
Mary to Elisabeth, and the poetic utterances of Mary, Zacharias,
and Simeon. However we may account for these differences
between Matthew and Luke, they cannot be shown to involve any
real inconsistency or contradictions of statement. Rather do they
supplement each other, and evince the fullness of the early tradi
tions, of which Luke affirms that "many had taken in hand to draw
up a narrative." One may also regard the literary form of a
narrative and the insertion of prophetic songs as marks of a later
1 See Matt, ii, 5, 6; John vii, 42; and comp. Mic. v, 2; Jer. xxiii, 5, 6; Isa. ix, 7;
xi, 1, 10; 2 Sam. vii, 16; Psa. lxxxix, 3, 4.

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF JESUS 261
strata of tradition, and the embellishments of composition peculiar
to the writer without thereby disparaging, the main facts of the
record.1 3. Childhood and Growth. According to Matthew's gospel,
Herod became furiously angered because the Magi did not return
to bring him word about the newly born babe of Bethlehem, but
went back by another route to their own country in the far East.
Advised of his cruel edict for the slaughter of all the children in
and about Bethlehem who were less than two years old, Joseph
took the child Jesus and his mother into Egypt and remained, there
until after Herod's death. Then they all returned to Galilee, and
dwelt at Nazareth, where Jesus grew up and spent the first thirty
years of his life. He became known as "the carpenter's son," and
is called "the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James,
and Joses, and Judas, and Simon" (Mark vi, 3). Several sisters
are also mentioned, from which it appears that Mary became the
mother of other children besides Jesus, "her firstborn Son."1 But
the child Jesus early showed his exceptional strength of character
and wisdom. When he was twelve years old he went up with his
parents to Jerusalem, and amazed the Jewish teachers in the tem
ple by his understanding and the superior wisdom with which he
asked and answered questions. But he returned to Nazareth with
Joseph and Mary, and was subject unto them as a dutiful child
until he was about thirty years of age. It is said of him that,
during these years, he "advanced in wisdom and stature, and in
favor with God and men" (Luke ii, 52; comp. 1 Sam. ii, 26).
4. His Baptism and Temptation. When Jesus was about thirty
years old he left Nazareth and went to the river Jordan at some
' A full critical discussion of the questions of "the virgin-birth" is quite beyond
the purpose and the limits of this volume. Those interested in these questions are
referred to the following literature. Charles Gore: Dissertations on Subjects con
nected with the Incarnation. Dissertation i, pp. 3-68. London and New York,
1895. Percy Gardner: Exploratio Evangelica. Chapter xix. London and New
York, 1899. James Thomas: Our Records of the Nativity and Modern Historical
Research. London, 1900. P. W. Schmiedel, in Encyclopaedia Biblica; Article,
"Mary." H. Usener: in same Encyclopaedia; Article, "Nativity-Narratives."
W. Sanday, in Expository Times, of April, 1903. Alexander Brown, in London
Quarterly Review of April, 1903. M. S. Terry, in Methodist Review of November,
1901. T. Allan Hoben, in American Journal of Theology of July and October,
1902, and Bacon, Zenos, Rhees and Warfield in same Journal of January, 1906.
C. A. Briggs: The Incarnation of the Lord. Sermon x. New York, 1902. Paul
Lobstein: The Virgin Birth of Christ; trans, by V. Leuliette. London, 1903.
W. M. Ramsay: Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? London, 1898. Soltau: Birth
of Jesus Christ. Eng. trans. London, 1903. G. H. Box: The Gospel Narratives
of the Nativity and the Alleged Influence of Heathen Ideas; in Zeitschrift fur die
neutestamentUche Wissenschaft for 1905, Heft i. R. J. Cooke: The Incarnation
and Recent Criticism, New York, 1907.
8 These brothers and sisters of Jesus might have been children of Joseph by a
former marriage, and so many have believed. But if this were the case, it is quite
strange, not to say inexplicable, that such a fact is nowhere mentioned or even
intimated in the gospels. On the other hand, the mention of Jesus as Mary's
"firstborn son" most naturally implies that she had other children born after him.

262 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
place in the wilderness of Judsea where John was baptizing. When
he presented himself for baptism John hesitated, feeling that he
had need rather to be baptized by Jesus; but immediately after
the baptism Jesus "saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit
as a dove descending upon him; and a voice came out of the
heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased"
(Mark i, 10, 11). Thereupon he withdrew into the wilderness,
and for forty days passed through a severe struggle of temptation
over the manner in which he should show himself to be the Son
of God. He triumphed over the evil one in that conflict, and
"returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and a fame
went out concerning him through all the region round about.
And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all" (Luke
iv, 14, 15).
5. His Public Ministry and Death. Soon after his return to
Galilee he chose twelve disciples to be intimately associated with
him in his ministry, and to witness his mighty works and his
teaching. He subsequently appointed seventy others to go out into
the various cities and places of the land and to proclaim that the
kingdom of God was nigh at hand. The mention of three pass-
overs in the gospel of John (ii, 13; vi, 4; xii, 1) justifies the
prevailing belief that the public ministry of Jesus extended over at
least three years.1 These years were filled with the performance
of many wonderful works, especially of healing, and with the incul
cation of the truths and mysteries of the kingdom which he came to
establish in the world. His teaching and his works provoked the
bitter opposition of the Jewish leaders of that time, and he was
arrested, condemned, and crucified. But his life and work made
an indelible impression upon some men in high positions. He
was buried in the tomb of a rich man of Arimathea, who had been
deeply affected by his teachings, and had secretly become a disciple.
6. A Man Among Men. From all the traditions and records,
Jesus appears to have been in every way a man among men. He
passed like other children through the period of helpless infancy
and dependent childhood. The lowly estate of his parents is
inferred from their offering "a pair of turtle-doves, or two young
pigeons" on the occasion of the purification (Luke ii, 24), a pro
vision allowed for such as had not sufficient means to offer a lamb
(Lev. xii, 8). But the family of Joseph and Mary at Nazareth,
though belonging to the class of the poor, do not seem to have
1 The idea that it was only one year in duration seems to have arisen from the
mention of "the acceptable year of the Lord," in Luke iv, 19, and also from the
fact that the first three gospels mention but one passover. But this inference is
entitled to no more credit than that of Irenseus from John viii, 57, that Jesus
at that time must have been nearly fifty years old.

TRANSCENDENCE OF JESUS 263
suffered from poverty, but were in a way to earn for themselves a
respectable livelihood. At a subsequent time Jesus said to one
who wished to become his disciple: "The foxes have holes, and
the birds of the heaven have nests ; but the Son of man hath not
where to lay his head" (Matt, viii, 20). Like other men he was
often hungry and thirsty, and he wept and prayed. According to
Heb. iv, 15, he was subject to human infirmities and was "in all
points tempted like as we are." He spoke of his own trials (Luke
xxii, 28). His sense of human limitation was manifest in many
ways, and he declared, when speaking prophetically of a great
event to come, that he did not know the time when it should come
to pass (Mark xiii, 32). The tenderness of his affections appeared
when he took little children in his arms, and blessed them. His
amazement and sore trouble of soul in Gethsemane, and the words
of his prayer that the bitter cup and hour might pass from him,
reveal a depth of human emotion that is most remarkable; and
his words and agony on the cross show that he was human to the
last. 7. A Man of Transcendent Greatness. But while the evidence
is abundant that Jesus of Nazareth was very human and sub
ject to all those feelings of pain, emotion, anxiety, shrinking from
trial, and exultation in hope and spiritual comfort, there is even
more abundant evidence that he was a man of transcendent great
ness. His personal influence over those with whom he came in
contact was of a most marvelous character; and the fact that
to-day, after nearly two millenniums, the name and teachings of
Jesus Christ command the reverence of the civilized world, and
seem in a fair way to be the most important force in developing
the highest possible civilization among all nations, indicates that
this remarkable personage is second to no other that has ever
appeared among men. This fact is the more astounding when
we consider the obscurity of his early life; his associations with
the poor and lowly, and his utter lack of friends in high places
of influence who dared to show themselves in his favor; also his
persistent refusal to court notoriety, or allow his mighty works to
be published abroad during his lifetime. The shortness of his
public career would seem to have been fatal to a successful intro
duction of his gospel to the world. Confucius and Buddha lived
nearly half a century to formulate and propagate their doctrines,
but Jesus less than four years. Furthermore, the shame and
ignominy of public crucifixion would seem to have gone far to cover
up the whole work of his life in reproach and oblivion. But in
spite of all these adverse conditions, the teaching of Jesus has gone
out into all the earth, and his personality is recognized as the

264 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
most adorable of all that have ever been honored as founders of
new systems, or as opening a new era in the history of the human
race.1 8. Manner and Matter of his Teaching. This personal superi
ority of Jesus becomes the more impressive when we observe the
remarkable manner and matter of his teaching. His method
seems to have been that of simplicity itself, and there is no proof
that he ever sought to thrust himself into public notice. Much of
his teaching was imparted privately to his chosen disciples.
Proverbs and parables and allegories fell from his lips, and were
caught up by his hearers and repeated until they formed an exten
sive body of Xoyta, sayings; and these have been incorporated in
our written gospels and remain as jewels in the religious litera
ture of the world. So potent and self-evidencing are his state
ments of truth that they need no arguments to make them more
convincing.' This fact explains how it was that he "taught as one
having authority, and not as the Jewish scribes" (Matt, vii, 29),
and the officers of the chief priests and Pharisees were compelled
to acknowledge, "Never did man so speak" (John vii, 46). His
sermon on the mount, his response to various questions put to him,
and the contents of his discourses in John's gospel, though they
be there cast in the peculiar style of a disciple writing long after
ward, all breathe an authority and a spirituality of thought which
have no parallel among the original teachings of men. So com
manding is his authority as a teacher of the truth that when upon
any subject it is made clear to us what Jesus said and thought,
that testimony is the end of all controversy.
9. His Marvelous Self-Expression. No less marvelous is the
calm self-expression of superior authority which often appears in
the sayings of this great teacher. He calls himself "the Son of
man," and declares that he has power on earth to forgive sins
(Luke v, 24; Matt, ix, 6). He assumes an authority in lawgiving
above that of Moses (Matt, v, 21-32), and declares that his mis-

1 See these facts admirably constructed into an argument for the superior
personahty of Jesus by Dr. John Young, of Edinburgh, in his work entitled, The
Christ of History: An Argument Grounded on the Facts of his Life on Earth.
New York, 1866.
* Harnack notes the fact that there appears nowhere in the first thirty years
of Jesus's Ufe any evidence of violent soul-struggles, crises, and storms, and break
ing with the past. "Everything seems to pour from him naturally, as though it
could not do otherwise, like a spring from the depths of the earth", clear and un
checked in its flow. Where shall we find the man who at the age of thirty can so
speak, if he has gone through bitter struggles — struggles of the soul, in which
he has ended by burning what he once adored, and by adoring what he burned?
Where shall we find the man who has broken with his past, in order to summon
others to repentance as well as himself, but who through it all never speaks of his
own repentance?" Das Wesen des Christentums, p. 21. Eng. trans, by T. B.
Saunders, p. 36. New York, 1901.

SINLESSNESS OF JESUS 265
sion is to perfect (nXrjpuaat, complete, fulfill, consummate) the law
and the prophets (Matt, v, 17). He assumes to be greater than
Solomon, greater than Jonah, greater than the temple, and to be
Lord of the sabbath (Matt, xii, 6, 8, 41, 42; Mark ii, 28). And
what shall we think or say of one who quietly and calmly employs
such self-expression as the following texts contain? "All things
have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth
the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest" (Matt, xi, 27, 28; comp. Luke x, 22-24). "Take
and eat this bread, and drink of this cup, for these are my body and
my blood of the covenant, which is shed for many" (Mark xiv,
22-24; Luke xxii, 19, 20). "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son
of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves" (John
vi, 53). "I am the bread of life" (John vi, 35, 48). "I am the
way, and the truth, and the life" (John xiv, 6). "If I be lifted
up from the earth, I will draw all men unto myself" (John xii,
32). "Before Abraham was born, I am" (John viii, 58). "I am
the resurrection and the life. . . . Whosoever liveth and believeth
on me shall never die" (John xi, 25, 26). Such superhuman
claims would seem in any other person like the extravaganzas of
insanity, but in Jesus Christ they have come to be regarded as
perfectly befitting and natural.
10. His Sinlessness. Another quality of this transcendent per
sonality is his sinlessness. All tradition and testimony unite to
pronounce him "holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners"
(Heb. vii, 26) ; "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin" (Heb. iv, 15). He "did no sin, neither was guile found in
his mouth" (1 Pet. ii, 22) ; "in him is no sin" (1 John iii, 5) ;
and he "knew no sin" (2 Cor. v, 21). He is spoken of "as a lamb
without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. i, 19), and as "the
holy and Righteous One" (Acts iii, 14). Pilate declared to the
priests and to the multitudes, "I find no fault in this man" (Luke
xxiii, 4), and both he and his wife referred to him as "that right
eous man" (Matt, xxvii, 19, 24). Even the demons address him as
"the Holy One of God" (Mark i, 24). One of his own most mem
orable sayings is, "Which of you convinceth me of sin ?" From his
childhood up to the close of his life he maintained the record of a
spotless character, and while assuming authority to forgive the
sins of others, he never acknowledged a need of repentance or of
remission of sins on his own part. He stands sublimely apart as
the one transcendent sinless personality among men.

CHAPTER II
THE TITLES, "SON OP GOD" AND "SON OP MAN"
1. The Title, "Son of God." The sinlessness of Jesus Christ,
when contemplated in connection with the remarkable matter and
manner of his teaching and the marvelous self-expression of his
inner consciousness, comports very noticeably with the announce
ment of the angel in Luke i, 35: "The Holy Spirit shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee ;
wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the
Son of God." This last sentence may also be translated, "That
which is to be born shall be called holy, the Son of God." The
voice out of the heavens which came to Jesus after he had been
baptized declared him "my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased." This language is in substance the same as that addressed
to "my servant, my chosen," in Isa. xiii, 1, which is believed to
have Messianic significance. The language of the temptation, "If
thou art the Son of God" (Matt, iv, 3, 6), implies some unique
and supernatural relation to God. It is worthy of note that, in
the synoptic gospels, Jesus does not call himself the Son of God,
although the title is ascribed to him by others, and he allows him
self to be thus addressed (see Matt, viii, 29; xiv, 33; xxvi, 63;
xxvii, 54; Mark iii, 11; xv, 39; Luke iv, 41; viii, 28).
(1) Old Testament Origin and Messianic Significance. The
title was evidently understood both by Jesus and his contemporaries
to denote not only a unique relation to God, but also a claim to be
the Messiah who was to come into the world and fulfill certain
oracles of the Old Testament prophets. Its origin may be traced
to such scriptures as 2 Sam. vii, 14, where Jehovah promises to be
a father to David's future son and to establish his throne forever.
The second psalm represents Jehovah setting his king on the holy
hill of Zion, and saying unto him, "Thou art my Son; this day
have I begotten thee" ; and the psalm has obvious relation to the
promise made to David. When the high priest asked, "Art thou
the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" he evidently assumed that
the claim to be the Messiah was involved in a self-appropriation of
the title, "Son of God" (comp. Mark xiv, 61; Luke xxii, 67-71),
and he and the people construed it as blasphemy. On the other
hand, Nathaniel's exclamation, "Thou art the Son of God; thou
266

ONLY BEGOTTEN SON 267
art the King of Israel" (John i, 49) was a devout acknowledgment
of the Messiahship of Jesus.
(2) His Knowledge of the Father. A deeper conception of the
divine Sonship of Jesus appears in his unique claim of personal
acquaintance with God: "No one knoweth the Son, save the
Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and
he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him" (Matt, xi, 27).
Here, certainly, is the expression of a consciousness of God, a
knowledge of the Father, and a power to make him known to
others, which are more than human. The divine mysteries are
matters of everyday life with this Son of God, this beloved of the
heavenly Father. The language is in vital harmony with that of
John x, 38 : "Ye may know and understand that the Father is in
me, and I in the Father"; and also that of xiv, 10, 11: "I am in
the Father, and the Father in me." Where else among all
prophets or teachers can we find any other such witness of con
scious life in God? He speaks as if he were in some sense one
with God, knowing him intimately as a beloved son knows his
affectionate father, and so partaking of his divine nature and
fellowship as to call him in an exceptional manner "My Father"
(comp. Luke ii, 49 ; xxii, 29 ; xxiv, 49 ; Matt, vii, 21 ; x, 32, 33 ;
xvi, 17; xviii, 10; John ii, 16; v, 17; xiv, 2, etc.). These various
expressions imply something more than a mere inner moral like
ness to God; they point to an essential spiritual relationship,
unique in itself, and superior to that of any other man. In the
language employed in Mark xiii, 32, and Matt, xxiv, 36, we also
observe that, while affirming a limit to his own knowledge, Jesus
assigns "the Son" a rank above men and angels.
(3) The Only Begotten Son. Another form of this title
peculiar to the writings of John is "the only begotten Son" (John
i, 14, 18; iii, 16, 18; 1 John iv, 9). The only begotten child in
any family is naturally thought of as a special treasure in the
affection of the parents (comp. Heb. xi, 17; Luke vii, 12; viii, 42;
ix, 38), and this fact is a matter of common remark. But as men
and angels are called "sons of God," the title, "only begotten Son"
of God must be intended to express an exceptional and superior
relationship. In this unique relation to God he can have no
brethren and no sisters. The title being found only in John, we
may with good reason believe that it holds a close ideal relation
to his doctrine of the Logos who became flesh and thus manifested
the grace and truth of the eternal Father. He who was in the
beginning with God (John i, 1), and who in the days of his
incarnation spoke of "the glory which he had with the Father
before the world was" (xvii, 5), was preeminently "the Son of

268 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
God," 6 vldg- rov ¦deov, and "the only begotten from the Father."
In bringing many sons into glory, and making them all one in
the fellowship of God, "he is not ashamed to call them brethren"
(Heb. ii, 11), but he himself, by reason of his premundane exist
ence in the glory of God and his supernatural incarnation, is "the
only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father" (John i, 18),
and who is therefore alone competent to reveal the everlasting
Father unto men. He hath seen him and declared him.
2. The Title, "Son of Man." The title, "Son of man," however,
is the one which Jesus most frequently employs when speaking of
himself, especially as we read in the synoptic gospels. Except in
Acts vii, 56, where Stephen says, "I see the heavens opened, and
the Son of man standing on the right hand of God," this title of
our Lord is found only in his own discourses. He seems to have
chosen it as one full of meaning and well adapted to suggest the
profound significance of his incarnation and his messianic minis
try, while at the same time the common use of it as a title did
not expose him to collision with his enemies who were watching
to catch him in his talk (Mark xii, 13 ; Luke xi, 54) ; for "Son
of man" does not appear to have been understood by the Jews as
a messianic title.
(1) Its Usage in the Old Testament. The phrase is not an
uncommon one in the Old Testament. It often appears in poetic
parallelisms as synonymous with "man," as in Psa. viii, 4:
What is man that thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
In Ezekiel (ii, 1, 3, 6, 8; iii, 1, 3, etc.) it appears as the charac
teristic designation of the prophet himself when addressed by Jeho
vah, and it has been thought to have some peculiar significance as
coming from one who was upon "the likeness of a throne," and
had "a likeness as the appearance of a man" (i, 26). The title,
"Ben- Adam" was adopted to impress the prophet with the thought
that he was a man among men, and his readers would be made to
feel that the heavenly messages he bore were evidences of Jehovah's
interest in the creatures - who had been made in the image and
after the likeness of God. Daniel's vision of one "like a son of
man coming with the clouds of heaven" (vii, 13) has obvious con
nection with the words of Jesus in Matt, xxiv, 30 ; xxv, 31 ; xxvi,
64, and Luke xxi, 27. It matters not that in Daniel the expression
is indefinite, "like a son of man," and that it stands in a noticeable
contrast to the symbols of beasts, "like a lion," "like a bear," "like
a leopard." Nor need we dispute the statement that the "son of
man" in Daniel's vision is a collective term, and identical in mean-

SON OF MAN 269
ing with "the people of the saints of the Most High" (ver. 27).
If we believe that the language ascribed to Jesus in the passages
cited above (and also in Matt, xvi, 27, 28; Mark viii, 38; Luke
ix, 26) implies a conscious allusion to Daniel's words, we may also
believe that that Messianic prophecy had something to do with
Jesus's choice of the title, "Son of man." As truly as in the case
of Ezekiel our Lord was a man among men, and inasmuch as one
great purpose of his mission in the world was to teach the world
that humanity is a lost child of God which he would fain restore
to its heavenly Father, so much the more significant are the allu
sions to the words of Daniel and Ezekiel. He came forth from
God, and he knows the Father as no man knoweth him (Matt.
xi, 27), yet he desires to emphasize his identification with the
humanity he came to save. For "it became him, for whom are
all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many
sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they that
are sanctified are all of one (Father) : for which cause he is not
.ashamed to call them brethren. . . . Since then the children are
sharers of flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook
of the same, that through death he might bring to naught him
that had the power of death, that is, the devil ; and might deliver
all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. For verily not of angels doth he take hold for the
purpose of helping (kmXafifidverai), but he taketh hold of the seed
of Abraham. Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made
like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii, 10-17). This is an excellent and
impressive rationale of the manifestation of Christ in the flesh, and
by way of comment on the passage we observe four things: (1)
the common origin of Christ and his sanctified followers as
children of one heavenly Father, so that our Lord may call us
brethren; (2) the necessity of Christ's incarnation, for in no other
way could he abolish death and deliver man from the fear of it;
(3) hence the fitness of Christ's perfect human nature, "like unto
his brethren," for he came to save men in the flesh, not angels;
(4) and so the perfection of Christ's sanctifying and saving work
is attained through sufferings. How fitting, then, and how sig
nificant that our Lord should bear the title, "Son of man," and
thus identify himself with the humanity he came to sanctify and
save! (2) "Son of Man" in the Book of Enoch. The use of the title,
"Son of man" in the book of Enoch is too remarkable to be over
looked. In chapter xlvi, 1-3, we read: "I saw one whose head
was white like wool, and with him was another being whose coun-

270 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
tenance had the appearance of a man and his face was full of
graciousness, like one of the holy angels. And I asked the angel,
who showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of
man, who he was, and whence he was, and why he went with the
Head of days? And he answered, This is the Son of man who
hath righteousness, and who reveals all the treasures of that which
is hidden, because the Lord of spirits hath chosen him, and his
lot before the Lord of spirits hath surpassed everything in upright
ness for ever." Again in xlviii, 2-7, we read that "the Son of
man was named in the presence of the Lord of spirits, and his
name was before the Head of days. And before the sun and the
signs were created, before the stars of the heaven were made, his
name was named before the Lord of spirits. He will be a staff
to the righteous on which they will support themselves and not
fall, and he will be the light of the Gentiles and the hope of those
who are troubled in heart. All who dwell on earth will fall down
and bow the knee before him, and will bless and laud and celebrate
with song the Lord of spirits. And for this reason has he been
chosen and hidden before him before the creation of the world
and for evermore. And the wisdom of the Lord of spirits hath
revealed him to the holy and righteous, for he preserveth the lot of
the righteous." Still further, in lxii, 5-7, we have a picture of
"the Son of man sitting on the throne of his glory. And the
kings and the mighty and all who possess the earth will glorify and
bless him who rules over all, who was hidden ; for the Son of man
was hidden before him, and the Most High preserved him in the
presence of his might and revealed him to the elect." Another
passage, in lxix, 27, 29, speaks also of the Son of man sitting on
the throne of his glory and executing judgment upon sinners;
"for the Son of man has appeared and sits on the throne of his
glory, and all evil will pass away before his face and depart; but
the word of the Son of man will be strong before the Lord of
spirits." All these citations are from that section of the book of
Enoch which is called "The Similitudes." The author evidently
derived his idea of the Son of man from the book of Daniel,
and added to it ideals drawn from the Wisdom-literature of the
Hebrews. With him this Son of man is the Messiah, and is
repeatedly called "the Anointed One," "the Elect One," "the Right
eous One." But he is conceived as a supernatural being, who
"stands before the Lord of spirits, and his glory is for ever and
ever, and his might unto all generations" (xlix, 2). He was with
the Most High before the creation of the sun and stars, sits upon
the throne of his glory, executes judgment, and reigns in righteous
ness forever. So strikingly do these expressions conform to well-

SON OF MAN 271
known teachings of the New Testament touching the person of
Christ that there is reason to suspect that they are not the words
of the original writer, but Christian interpolations which found
their way into the Ethiopic version of the book of Enoch. But,
accepting them as pre-Christian, it is not difficult to believe that
a late Jewish writer, after the times of the Maccabees, might have
constructed out of the sublime suggestions of the book of Daniel
(vii, 9-14), and from such portrayals of Wisdom as we read in
Prov. viii, 20-31, all these heavenly conceptions of the Messiah as
the Son of man. Whether Jesus himself ever read these Simili
tudes of the apocryphal Enoch, we may not say; but many inter
views with wise men of his nation and with teachers of the law,
like the one recorded in Luke ii, 46, were possible to him during
the eighteen years which passed between that event in the temple
and the time of his baptism at the Jordan; and from such con
versations he might have gathered up all the various ideals of the
Messiah which were entertained among the Jewish people of that
day. He may have added to them in his own thought the concep
tion of "the Servant of Jehovah" from Isa. Iii, 13 — liii, 12.1
The "one like unto a son of man" in the apocalypse of Daniel (vii,
13), whether understood personally or collectively, "came with the
clouds of heaven to the Ancient of days, and there was given him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations,
and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed." This mag
nificent conception embodies in substance all the supernatural ele
ments which appear in the Son of man as presented in Enoch.
The idea of preexistence, as suggested in Prov. viii, must have
been as familiar to Jesus as it was to any of the later Jewish
writers, and his own profound interpretations of Scripture, of
which we possess not a few examples in the gospels, leave no
room for us to question that in the course of his "advance in wis
dom and in favor with God and man" (Luke ii, 52) he selected
from his own abundant stores of the knowledge of the Scriptures
and of all sacred things such forms of expression as would best
suit his deep spiritual understanding of the kingdom of God and
the mission of God's Anointed One. His increase in wisdom was
as normal as his bodily growth.

1 This view is maintained by Charles in his annotated translation of the book of
Enoch (Oxford, 1893), Appendix B; pp. 314-316: "While retaining its super
natural associations, this title underwent transformation in our Lord's use of
it. . . . And just as his Kingdom in general formed a standing protest against
the prevailing Messianic ideas of temporal glory and dominion, so the title, 'Son
of Man' assumed a deeper spiritual significance; and this change we shall best
apprehend if we introduce into the Enoch conception of the Son of man the Isaiah
conception of the Servant of Jehovah."

272 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
(3) The Lord's Own Favorite Title. "Son of man" is, accord
ingly, our Lord's own favorite Messianic title. He deliberately
assumed it because of its scriptural connotation, and also because
it most appropriately designated his Christly manifestation in the
flesh. Paul's doctrine of the first and the last Adam seems to be
a further elaboration of this Messianic concept. The first Adam
was made in the image of God ; the second in the likeness of men ;
and as by the transgression of the first man death passed upon all
men, so by the redemptive Messianic ministry of "the second man
from heaven," those who have borne the image of the earthy
shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Our Lord's chosen title
is one which magnifies his own humiliation by suggesting the
great purpose for which he came into the world.1 Others may
call him the Son of God ; he does not forbid them. But it is at
least interesting to note that when, according to Matt, xvi, 13-20,
Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man
is ?" Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God." Whereupon Jesus pronounced a remarkable blessing upon
Peter, and yet "charged the disciples that they should tell no man
that he was the Christ."
(4) A Person Sublimely Unique. Our conclusion is that the
title, "Son of man," as well as "Son of God," served of design to
point him out as the very Christ of God. His person was sub
limely unique, and he and those who were nearest to him felt that
in him were fulfilled, or soon to be fulfilled, the Messianic hopes
of Israel. He was divinely commissioned and manifested for
effecting "the consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jeru
salem" (Luke ii, 25, 38). But this redemption was to be accom
plished in a more profoundly spiritual manner than the Jewish
people of that day were able to apprehend. His exaltation to the
right hand of God, and his exercise of all power in heaven and on
earth until he shall have put all things under him, imply a sove
reignty of the world, and a participation in the glory of his Father
which we shall treat in another connection.

1 So Beyschlag : "The Son of man is the God-invested bearer of the kingdom
that descends from above, that is to be founded from heaven ; it is he who brings in
the kingdom of God. " — New Testament Theology, vol. i, p. 64. Edinburgh, 1895.

CHAPTER III
THE SUPERNATURAL IN THE PERSON OP CHRIST
1. The Supernatural Birth. The supernatural birth of Jesus
Christ is unmistakably attested by the gospels of Matthew and
Luke, and clearly implied in the gospel of John. The criticism
which questions the credibility of the first chapters of these gos
pels is conspicuously negative in its character and has not been
able to show any real contradictions in the varying narratives.
These narratives of the birth and childhood of Jesus are apparently
from another source of tradition than that from which the main
portions of the synoptic gospels arose, but they must have origi
nated too near the time of the facts recorded to be arbitrarily cast
aside as untrustworthy. Matthew's record embodies the secret of
Joseph, and Luke has preserved the secret of Mary, and we cannot
allow the noteworthy variations of the two traditions nor any
a priori assumptions in denial of the supernatural to prejudice the
main testimony which they bear to the virgin birth of Jesus.
Luke's gospel has been regarded as in some sense, or to some
extent, embodying the gospel according to Paul,1 and his narrative
of the birth of Jesus may be taken as in full accord with what
Paul meant by "God's sending forth his Son, born of a woman,
born under the law" (Gal. iv, 4). There is also a suggestion of
preexistence in the words, "God sent forth his Son," as truly as
there is a witness of the supernatural "Spirit of his Son" in verse
6, immediately following. This is in deep harmony with the
words of Luke i, 35 : "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and
the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee." The birth
of Jesus is to be regarded as the product of a supernatural agency
like the creation of the first Adam, who in Luke's genealogy (iii,
38) is called "the son of God." If we believe that vegetable and
animal life in the cosmos originated, not in nonliving matter, but
in a principle of life imparted directly from the ever-living God,
it ought not to be difficult for us also to believe that the human
life of the immaculate Son of God was supernaturally begotten of
the same eternal Source of life. Luke's record calls both Jesus and
Adam son of God and has a perceptible relationship with Paul's
' This belief is as old as the time of Irenaeus and is repeatedly mentioned in
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book iii, chaps, iv, xxiv; book v, chap, viii;
book vi, chap. xxv. 273

274 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
habit of contrasting the first Adam and the last. The mystery of
the origin of the first man is beyond our ken, and the incarnation
of "the second man from heaven" (6 Sevrepog- dvdphmog- e£ ovpavov ;
1 Cor. xv, 47) is even more impenetrable. But all that is excep
tional and marvelous in the subsequent career and the exaltation
of Jesus is in perfect harmony with the story of his supernatural
birth. It was fitting that the advent of such a personage should
be celebrated by a choir of angels (Luke ii, 8-14), and that
prophetic words should be spoken over the Child by the aged
Simeon and Anna (ii, 25-38). It was very appropriate that wise
men from the far East should be guided to his cradle by a con
spicuous star (Matt, ii, 1-12), for this "root and offspring of
David" was himself "the bright, the morning star" (Rev. xxii,
16), destined in the great future to draw all the truly wise ones
to himself, and lift them up into the holy heavens. And it accords
with all this that the public ministry of Jesus was heralded by a
Levitical prophet, who appeared as his forerunner "in the spirit
and power of Elijah" (Luke i, 17; comp. Matt, xi, 14), and pro
claimed the coming of one far mightier than himself, the latchet
of whose shoes he was not worthy to stoop down and unloose, and
who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and execute judgment as
with the purging fire of God (Mark i, 7, 8; Matt, iii, 11, 12; Luke
iii, 16) . When Jesus received baptism at the hand of this prophet,
of whom he testified that none greater had ever been born of
woman (Matt, xi, 11), the heavens opened above him, the Spirit
descended upon him, and a voice out of heaven declared: "This
is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt, iii,
16, 17).
2. The Baptism, Temptation, and Triumph. The baptism of
Jesus and the descent of the Spirit upon him were of the nature
of an inauguration to his public ministry. There followed imme
diately the temptation in the wilderness, which is made prominent
in all the synoptic gospels. This trial corresponds and contrasts
with the temptation of the first Adam, who miserably failed when
beset with the wiles of the devil (Gen. iii, 1-7). The second
Adam proved himself worthy to be called the Son of God, was
tempted in the threefold manner of the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eye, and the lust of dominion, but he put the adversary to
flight and came off more than conqueror. Whatever interpreta
tion be put upon the narratives of this temptation and the whole
subject of demonology as presented in the New Testament, the
early triumph of Jesus over Satan is significant of a purpose to
overcome the dominion of evil. The power of sin and its appal
ling consequences among men may well be conceived as a kingdom

MIRACLES OF CHRIST 275
of wickedness, and the ministry of Jesus Christ, as told in the
New Testament, treats it as a tremendous fact. According to
1 John iii, 8, "he that doeth sin is of the devil, and the Son of
God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil."
And so the Son of God might well have asked himself at the
beginning of his ministry, "How can one enter into the house of
the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong
man? And then will he spoil his house" (Matt, xii, 29). His
manifestation in the flesh had for its high aim the salvation of
man from the evil forces of the world; his signal victory, at
the beginning of his career, over the prince of darkness evinced
his ability to despoil the principalities and powers, and it was
prophetic of an ultimate putting of all his enemies under his feet.
There is, accordingly, peculiar significance in the language of
Luke iv, 13, 14: "When the devil had completed every tempta
tion, he departed from him for a season. And Jesus returned in
the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and a fame went out con
cerning him through all the region round about." Thereupon he
began that series of wonderful works which were in themselves a
conspicuous sign of the ultimate overthrow of the kingdom of
Satan and of the coming of the kingdom of God (comp. Luke x, 18 ;
Matt, xii, 28). Hence we regard the baptism and the temptation
of Jesus Christ as charged with an element of supernaturalism.
By means of these extraordinary experiences he came into conscious
contact with what are called in Eph. vi, 12, "the world rulers of
this darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
From that time onward he was to act "in the power of the Spirit,"
and to cope with infernal forces, as he had not done before.
3. The Miracles of his Ministry. The supernatural element in
the person and work of Jesus is a very conspicuous feature of the
gospel narratives. Nothing is more certain than that the earliest
reports of the life of Jesus teemed with the accounts of his mira
cles. The oldest written sources from which our present gospels
derived their contents of the words and works of Jesus were evi
dently records of the numerous "signs and wonders" which were
performed by him. The gospel of Mark, now generally believed
to be the oldest of the Synoptics, and containing much that seems
to have been derived directly from disciples and contemporaries
of Jesus,1 has been appropriately called "a miracle-gospel" because
of the prominence it gives to the mighty works of the Son of
God. According to Matthew (xi, 2-5) and Luke (vii, 18-23) the
great prophet who came as the forerunner of Christ fell into a
1 Tradition says from Peter. See Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book ii,
chap. 15; book iii, chap. 39.

276 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
despondency much like that recorded of the ancient Tishbite
(comp. 1 Kings xix, 4, 10, 14), and seemed to doubt whether
Jesus were indeed the Messiah who was coming; and "in that
hour he (Jesus) cured many of diseases, and plagues, and evil
spirits; and on many that were blind he bestowed sight"; and
then he sent word to the desponding prophet : "Go and tell John
the things which ye have seen and heard : the blind receive their
sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto
them." One who was so familiar with the Law and the Prophets
as John the Baptist (comp. Luke iii, 3-19; Matt, iii, 3; xiv, 4)
would, on receiving such a message from Jesus himself, at once
perceive that these mighty works were the sure tokens of Messiah's
day. The prophecies of Isaiah (xxxv, 5, 6; lxi, 1-3) thus received
significant fulfillment.
4. Miracles Natural with Christ. The miracles of Jesus Christ
are accordingly to be regarded as a natural and appropriate accom
paniment of his unique personality, and also of his Messianic
office and ministry. They are rationally explicable when thus
viewed as signs and wonders caused by the manifestation of a
supernatural person upon earth. In his adorable personality, as
we shall further see, this "Christ of God" is immeasurably greater
than all his miracles, and to one who accepts him as the "only
begotten of the Father," "the light of the world," "risen from
the dead," "received up into heaven," and enthroned "at the right
hand of God" it is utterly superfluous to offer any apology for
the reported miracles of his earthly life. It would rather have
been a greater marvel if such a transcendent personality, appearing
at the time he did, had wrought no miracles. If, indeed, he were
supernaturally begotten of the Holy Spirit, if the gospel records
of his infancy and early life be true, if the descent of the Spirit
upon him at his baptism and the accompanying voice from heaven
be accepted as veritable facts, then certainly all his miracles
recorded in our gospels would but naturally fill out the legitimate
sequel of a beginning so exceptional. His easting out of evil spirits,
and healing all manner of sickness and diseases most appropriately
follow his far-reaching triumph over the prince of darkness when
tempted in all points as other men. It is worthy of note that a
large proportion of his mighty works were miracles of healing, and
in an age and generation that conceived "the whole world as lying
in the evil one" (1 John v, 19), and regarded bodily infirmities
as the bonds of Satan (Luke xiii, 16), such displays of his wisdom
and power were strikingly significant of his divine purpose to sub
due the entire realm of evil. How fitting that the world's

MIRACLES OF CHRIST 277
Redeemer should heal the sick, cleanse the leper, give sight to the
blind, multiply the loaves and the fishes, walk upon the waters
of the sea, and calm the raging storm, and show himself the Prince
of life by raising the dead !
5. No Ostentatious Display of Miracles. Yet never did Jesus
make an ostentatious display of his miraculous power. His man
ner was utterly unlike those wizards who go about performing
strange feats to awe and confound the vulgar crowd. He would
not exhibit a sign from heaven to gratify a morbid curiosity. It
is rather with a sigh of pity over human weakness and lack of
spiritual insight that he says, "Except ye see signs and wonders
ye will not believe" (John iv, 48). To men like the scribes and
Pharisees of his time, who would see a sign from heaven, he said :
"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign" (Matt.
xii, 39). It was foreign to his mission to work a prodigy. His
miracles were all of them remarkable manifestations of love and
mercy, and stand forth in the gospel records as so many types of
what he is perpetually aiming to accomplish in the salvation of
mankind. Profound spiritual lessons, most profitable for religious
instruction, may be derived from them as truly as from his inimi
table parables. Even his cursing of the barren fig tree has a most
solemn admonition to men of every age.
6. Miracles Proofs of Divine Wisdom and Power, but Not of
Omnipotence. The miracles of Jesus, however, should be studied
as exhibitions of his divine wisdom as well as proofs of his power.
These mighty works of healing and of raising the dead are no
sufficient evidence of omnipotence, nor of omniscience ; nor should
they be construed and appealed to as a demonstration of the deity
of Christ. For the disciples were able to perform like miracles,
and no one would presume to construe their exercise of such power
as a proof of their omnipotence. Jesus himself made no such
claim, but on the contrary declared most positively that "the
Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father
doing. ... I can of myself do nothing. . . . The works which
the Father hath given me to accomplish, the very works that I do,
bear witness of me (not that I am omnipotent, but) that the
Father hath sent me" (John v, 19, 30, 36). Miracles, whether
performed by Jesus, or by his disciples, or by any other true
prophet or teacher, are manifestations of the supernatural, and
God is glorified thereby. But while Jesus so positively affirmed
that his mighty works were wrought by a power given him from
the Father, he exercised that power in a manner which no prophet
or apostle presumed to imitate; for he spoke with an authority
and wisdom so commanding that we recognize in him a conscious

278 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
relationship to God superior to that possessed by any other. They
performed miracles in the name of Jesus, but he performed them
in a way that commanded astonishment "at the majesty of God"
(Luke ix, 43). He possessed the secret of God, and real miracles
are the exercise of such a knowledge of the secrets of the world
as will secure effects desired without any violation of natural law.
Other and inferior servants of God may be gifted to perform such
works without full knowledge of the secrets of the Almighty, but
to Jesus was given the wisdom as well as the power of God (Mark
vi, 2).
7. The Resurrection and Ascension. The mighty works of the
ministry of Jesus Christ were consummated, in a manner worthy
of the wisdom and power of God, by his resurrection from the
dead and ascension into heaven. According to the gospel of Paul
(Rom. i, 4), he was thereby "declared to be the Son of God with
power." He was marvelously "manifested in the flesh"; he was
also as marvelously "received up in glory" (1 Tim. iii, 16). The
resurrection of our Lord and his ascension and session at the right
hand of God are events which connect essentially with each other,
and together indicate his heavenly glorification. This supernatu
ral ending of his Messianic career accords most fittingly with its
supernatural beginning. It is the appropriate sequel and the
consummation of the incarnation of the only begotten Son of God.
"No one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of
heaven" (John iii, 13). "He that cometh from above, from
heaven, is above all," and he calmly says: "I am not of this
world" (John iii, 31; viii, 23). No facts of the New Testament
are more firmly attested than the resurrection of Jesus and his
exaltation to the throne of God. He foretold these things to his
disciples, but they were slow to comprehend his words and "ques
tioned among themselves what the rising again from the dead
should mean" (Mark ix, 10). Immediately after the crucifixion
they were smitten with terror and concealed themselves ; but after
the third day they all declared that they had seen their risen Lord,
and they gave minute details of his various appearances. The
variations in their reports evince the unspeakable awe and reserve
which those appearances inspired. For forty days he showed him
self alive after his passion, and did eat and drink in the presence!
of the disciples, and furnished them many proofs of his identity.
"See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself," he said to them ;
"handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye
behold me having" (Luke xxiv, 39; comp. John xx, 27). He
thus retained his fleshly body for the forty days, but when he was
parted from them and ascended far above all the heavens, that he

RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION OF CHRIST 279
might fill all things" (Eph. iv, 10), he was glorified "with the
glory which he had with the Father before the world was" (John
xvii, 5). Paul was well acquainted with Peter, and spent fifteen
days with him at one time in Jerusalem (Gal. i, 18). He testifies
that the risen Christ was seen by Peter, and James, and the twelve,
and also by more than five hundred at once, most of whom were
living at the time he wrote to the Corinthians (1 Cor. xv, 5-7).
During all the generation following their Master's ascension the
disciples went everywhere "preaching Jesus and the resurrection,"
and were ever ready to seal their testimony with their blood. And
the ascension is attested as positively as the resurrection. Jesus
said to Mary Magdalene, "I ascend unto my Father and your
Father, and my God and your God" (John xx, 17). The appen
dix to Mark's gospel says that "the Lord Jesus was received up
into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mark xvi,
19). Luke's gospel states that after his various appearances to
the disciples, "it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted
from them," and most of the ancient manuscripts add, "he was
carried up into heaven" (Luke xxiv, 51). In Acts i, 9, it is writ
ten that "as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud
received him out of their sight." In Acts ii, 32-34, Peter declares
that God raised up Jesus from the dead and exalted him by his
right hand. Paul affirms, in Rom. viii, 34, that "Christ Jesus was
raised from the dead, and is at the right hand of God." In Heb.
iv, 14 ; vii, 26 ; viii, 1, it is said that "Jesus, the Son of God, hath
passed through the heavens," "was made higher than the heavens,"
and "sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in
the heavens." These and other similar statements place the ascen
sion into heaven on as positive a testimony as the fact of the
resurrection ; and while Luke alone records that the disciples were
looking on Jesus when he was parted from them and taken up,
the whole New Testament is practically a unit in affirming his
ascension and sitting at the right hand of God.

CHAPTER IV
THE SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OP JESUS CHRIST
1. The Mighty Works and Mighty Words of Jesus Inseparable.
The supernatural in the person of Christ appears in a striking
manner in his own self-expression in connection with the work of
his ministry. It is impossible to separate the mighty works of
Jesus from his mighty words. There is the record of his virgin
birth with its unquestionable basis in the belief of a supernatural
beginning of his incarnate life; the testimony of his resurrection
and ascension evinces a like faith in his miraculous exit from the
world, and the records of his ministry teem with accounts of his
going about working miracles of goodness. Thus the entire mani
festation of this Messianic Son of man and Son of God is com
passed about with miracle. It seems utterly futile to accept a part
of this record as true and another part as untrustworthy. Like
the seamless coat which Jesus wore, the self-consistent witness of
the apostolic tradition to his supernatural career cannot be rent.
If we dispute the records of his miraculous entrance into the world
on grounds of critical conjecture and doubt, we do not see how the
accounts of his miraculous exit from the world can be consistently
maintained. And if these be given up, with what better reason
shall we accept the miracles of his public ministry? All these,
moreover, stand in such vital relation to his words of grace and
truth that we cannot fairly hold to the one and reject the. other.
2. His Consciousness of God. One of the first things to be
noticed in the self-expression of Jesus is his consciousness of God.
According to Matt, xi, 27, he possesses an immediate knowledge
of the Father such as no one else enjoys. This superior knowledge
found significant expression when he was twelve years old and
began to feel the necessity of being engaged in the affairs of his
Father (Luke ii, 49). It spoke out in his utterance of the beati
tudes, and of the other profound teachings in the Sermon on the
Mount and elsewhere, and it gave the impression of authority not
to be found in other teachers (Matt, vii, 29). How intimate the
acquaintance with the heavenly Father that speaks so confidently
of his immanence and love as to assure us that the hairs of our
head are all numbered, and not even a sparrow faileth on the
ground without his sympathetic notice! (Matt, x, 30.) He knows
280

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OF CHRIST 281
of the "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth" (Luke xv, 10), and of the Father's will that not
one of his little ones perish, and how their angels are ever looking
on the Father's face in the heavens (Matt, xviii, 10, 14). He tells
the disciples how the heavenly Father, "who seeth in secret," will
surely reward the good, how he knows and cares for all their needs,
and that it is his good pleasure to give them the kingdom (Luke
xii, 32). His intimacy with God is also evinced in his rising up
at times a great while before day, and going apart into a desert
place to pray, and sometimes continuing all night in prayer to
God (Mark i, 35; Luke vi, 12). The gospel of John is especially
rich in its record of the God-consciousness of Jesus, and while it
is admitted that the record is cast in a style peculiar to the writer,
the content is essentially the same as that of the synoptic gospels
on this subject. So one cannot but feel that the language of the
marvelous prayer in John xvii discloses a consciousness of intimacy
and fellowship with God that has no parallel. But many other
passages in this gospel express the same consciousness of God:
"The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father
doing. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things
that himself doeth" (v, 19, 20). "I do nothing of myself. . . .
He that sent me is with me ; he hath not left me alone ; for I do
always the things that are pleasing to him" (viii, 29). "I am not
alone, but I and the Father that sent me" (viii, 16). "The living
Father sent me, and I live because of the Father" (vi, 57). "Not
that any man hath seen the Father, save he that is from God, he
hath seen the Father" (vi, 46). "The Father knoweth me, and I
know the Father" (x, 15). "I and the Father are one. The
Father is in me, and I in the Father" (x, 30, 38). In view of
such expressions of his conscious oneness with God his Father,
well might the officers sent to arrest him declare, "Never man so
spake" (vii, 46), and well might the author of the fourth gospel
write : "No man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten
Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him"
(i, 18).
3. His Sense of Subordination. It is perhaps no less striking
that this consciousness of God is accompanied also with a sense
of subordination, limitation, and dependence. It is remarkable
that the fourth gospel, which abounds in the loftiest teaching of
his preexistence, his oneness with God, and his authority to judge
the world, contains the most positive assertions of this subordina
tion. "I can of myself do nothing"; "The Son can do nothing
of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing" (v, 19, 30). "As
the Father hath given me commandment, even so I do." "The

282 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Father is greater than I" (xiv, 28, 31). He acknowledges the
limitation of his knowledge in Mark xiii, 32, and Matt, xxiv, 36.
He tells the ambitious sons of Zebedee that "to sit on my right
hand, and on my left hand, is not mine to give ; but it is for them
for whom it hath been prepared of my Father" (Matt, xx, 23).
His praying unto the Father, his agony and strong crying in
Gethsemane, his wail of abandonment on the cross, and his final
commending of his spirit to the Father (Luke xxiii, 46), all imply
a noteworthy subordination and dependence, which are the more
remarkable by reason of his many other expressions of the con
sciousness of superhuman power. Could he not beseech the
Father and obtain the help of "more than twelve legions of
angels"? (Matt, xxvi, 53.)
4. Consciousness of Commitment to a Purpose of the Ages.
This last citation, however, connects with the intimation of a
conscious self-commitment to fulfill a divine purpose of the ages
already written in the Scriptures: "How then should the scrip
tures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" The same chapter of
Matthew (vers. 24, 56) records as sayings of Jesus, "The Son
of man goeth, even as it is written of him," and "all this is come
to pass, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."
This consciousness of his personal connection with a divine, eternal
purpose of God finds repeated expression in the gospels. While
yet only twelve years old he was feeling the pressure of some kind
of a necessity (del) to be about his heavenly Father's business
(Luke ii, 49). Later he declared to the multitude: "I must
preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to the other cities also"
(Luke iv, 43). Over and over again he repeated the word, "The
Son of man must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and after three
days rise again" (Mark viii, 31 ; comp. Luke ix, 22 ; xiii, 33 ; xvii,
25; xxii, 37; xxiv, 7, 26, 44, 46; John ix, 4; xx, 9). A self-
commitment to the conditions of an eternal purpose of love
involved no compulsion, as from without, or any infringement of
the pure personal freedom of the Lord Jesus. He freely accepted
the mission of the accomplishment of the blessed work, and his
oft-expressed consciousness of the holy obligation is as marvelous
as his obedience unto the death of the cross.
5. Consciousness of Preexistence. The consciousness of his
commitment to the great purpose of the ages accords with all the
sayings of Jesus that imply preexistence. These sayings are
peculiar to the fourth gospel, and have a logical connection with
the doctrine of the Logos, who became flesh, and manifested a
"glory as of the only begotten from the Father" (i, 14) . The Son
of man speaks of his descending out of heaven, as one "whom the

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OF CHRIST 283
Father sanctifieth and sent into the world" (iii, 13 ; x, 36) . "I am
come down from heaven," he says (vi, 38) ; "I am from above; I
am not of this world ; I came forth and am come from God ; before
Abraham was born, I am; I came out from the Father, and am
come into the world; again, I leave the world and go unto the
Father" (viii, 23, 42, 58; xvi, 28). When some of his disciples
questioned his mystic sayings he said to them: "Does this cause
you to stumble? What then if ye should behold the Son of man
ascending where he was before" (vi, 62). Most remarkable are
those passages in his prayer where he says, "Glorify thou me with
the glory which I had with thee before the world was ; thou didst
send me into the world ; thou lovedst me before the foundation of
the world" (xvii, 5, 18, 24). All these utterances express a con
sciousness of heavenly life and glory with the Father before his
manifestation in the flesh. And they also add significance to the
words addressed to Philip, in xiv, 9, 10: "He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father; I am in the Father, and the Father in me";
and to the similar utterance in xii, 45: "He that beholdeth me
beholdeth him that sent me." Whatever element of theosophic
mysticism, or of idealism is recognized in this language, none can
ignore the transcendent consciousness of aeonic union with God
which it implies.
6. Conscious Freedom from Sin. Here should be mentioned also
our Lord's unbroken consciousness of complete freedom from sin.
This appears not alone from the open challenge to his enemies,
"Which of you convicteth me of sin?" (John viii, 46.) It is a
standing feature of his whole life from the beginning. His man
ner, his words, his works, his exposure of the evil leaven of the
Pharisees, his disclosure of the real depths and extent to which
the prohibitions of murder and adultery in the decalogue penetrate,
his showing that all evil thoughts and deeds originate in the heart
of man and defile him, his extolling of the blessedness of the pure
in heart, the utter failure of all the efforts of his enemies to prove
him guilty of any fault whatever — all these facts are indicative
of his sinlessness and of his consciousness of the same. All this
accords perfectly with the testimony of his one supreme purpose
and desire to accomplish the will of the holy and righteous Father.
The words of Psa. xl, 8, as construed in Heb. x, 7-9, are a beauti
ful and striking statement of the fact itself: "Lo, I am come
to do thy will, 0 God." And so we read in John v, 30 : "I seek
not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." And again
in vi, 38 : "I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will,
but the will of him that sent me." This exalted devotion to the
will of God and ever-present consciousness of doing that will, place

284 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
the whole life work of the Son of God in a glory peculiarly
sublime. 7. Consciousness of Being Saviour of Men. Deserving of par
ticular notice are also those sayings of Jesus which express his
consciousness of being the Saviour of men. The angels announced
him as "a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke ii, 11), and
his name Jesus implied "that he shall save his people from their
sins" (Matt, i, 21). His own words are, according to Luke xix,
10, "the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was
lost." All his mighty works of healing were especially illustrative
of his gracious purpose in coming into the world, and the record
of them in our gospels enables us to study them as so many typical
examples of what he is continually doing through the ministry of
his Spirit in the salvation of men from sin and spiritual death.
How wonderful his consciousness of power over nature when "he
arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great
calm"! (Matt, viii, 26) or when he stood over Simon's wife's
mother "and rebuked the fever, and it left her"! (Luke iv, 39.)
In like manner he rebuked the demons (Luke iv, 35, 41; ix, 42).
Where can we find anything more touchingly sublime than his
manner toward the leper who kneeled down to him and said, "If
thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Being moved with compas
sion, he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, and said unto
him, I will; be thou made clean" ! (Mark i, 41.) How he silenced
the narrow, sabbatic notions of the Pharisees by the majestic chal
lenge, "Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good, or to do harm ?
to save a life, or to kill?" (Mark iii, 4.) His words, his action,
and his manner all breathed the consciousness that he was "lord
even of the sabbath day." We discern the evidence of like super
human consciousness when he says to the critical scribes, "The Son
of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins" (Mark ii, 10). In
perfect accordance with this lofty assumption of authority are
those sayings in the fourth gospel in which he declares himself
the life and the light of the world. "This is the will of my
Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son and believeth on
him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last
day. ... I am the living bread which came down out of heaven:
if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever" (vi, 40, 51). "I
am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk
in the darkness, but shall have the light of life," "When I am
in the world I am the light of the world," "I am come a light
into the world, that whosoever believeth on me may not abide in
the darkness" (viii, 12; ix, 5; xii, 46). "I am the resurrection
and the life : he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OF CHRIST 285
live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die"
(xi, 25, 26). The personality that was thus "anointed with the
Holy Spirit and with power, and went about doing good" (Acts
x, 38), and time and again gave expression to such marvelous
words, transcends immeasurably all other men. The self-con
sciousness that speaks calmly and naturally of such relations to
God, and of such a heavenly power to save men from darkness and
sin and death, and bring them into the life and light of God him
self, is truly awe-inspiring. Such a revealer of God might well
say, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John xiv, 9).
Such a "Son of the Blessed" might well speak of himself as we
read in Matt, xi, 27, and then add the words that imply a conscious
ness of power to give heavenly comfort and peace: "Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest." 8. Consciousness of His Messiahship. Finally, we observe the
consciousness of his Messianic dignity and destiny which finds
great variety of self-expression in the gospels. It has long been
a question among the theologians when and how Jesus first came
to know himself the Christ of God. Many have inclined to believe
that the revelation first came to him at the time of his baptism, when
the voice out of heaven pronounced him the beloved Son, in whom
the Father was well pleased. We doubt, however, the wisdom of
attempting so definite an answer to the question. In the absence
of any testimony of Jesus himself on this point it seems presump
tuous to say when and how such a conviction arose in his soul.
It would seem that already, at twelve years of age, he was divinely
gifted to discern that he "must be about his Father's business," and
it is reasonable to suppose that, as he advanced in wisdom and in
the grace of God, he came by degrees to know more and more
clearly the significance of his coming into the world. The Mes
sianic consciousness of Jesus may be conceived as including all the
various forms we have so far mentioned, namely, a living conscious
ness of God, and of subordination to the will of the Father, in
harmony with an eternal purpose of accomplishing the regenera
tion of the world. Along with this came out occasional intima
tions of preexistence in the bosom of God, of conscious freedom
from all taint of sin, and of being the Saviour of the world.1
These all enter into the Messianic work, as conceived by Jesus

1 Such convictions are not to be regarded as results reached after a process of
reflection. Rather, as Baldensperger has observed, "the Messianic resolution of
Jesus was not called forth by means of intellectual reasonings ; on the contrary,
it was rather a direct revelation within the marvelous depths of his religious spirit-
life, by which his person was overwhelmingly and immediately smitten as by an
electric shock." Das Selbstbewusstsein Jesu, p. 164. Strassburg, 1888.

286 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
himself, and all these facts together give the greater significance
and propriety to his chosen title of Son of man. He knows him
self as having come from heaven, and as being so identified with the
highest interests of man, as those interests can only be secured in
accordance with obedience to the truth, that he can say, "Whoso
ever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister,
and mother" (Mark iii, 35).
(1) Assumed in his Fulfilling Law and Prophets. The con
sciousness of Messianic authority speaks out in those sayings in
which he assumes to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, and to show
that even the weightiest commandments of the decalogue are not
fully obeyed in the mere observance of the letter. He gave to
murder and adultery and swearing a profounder definition than
any Jew of his time had thought, and he positively set aside the
old Mosaic statutes of retaliation, and proclaimed the higher law
of "Love your enemies." He assumes to be a preacher and prophet
greater than Jonah, and gifted with a wisdom greater than Solo
mon (Matt, xii, 41, 42). He showed himself greater than Elijah
when he rebuked the disciples who would have called down fire
from heaven to consume the inhospitable Samaritans (Luke ix,
54, 55). The tone of authority which characterized all his teaching
was that of the Messenger of a new covenant, who said, as if express
ing a thought that was ever present with him, "The Father loveth
the Son, and hath given all things into his hand" (John iii, 35).
(2) Directly Acknowledged. The direct expression or acknowl
edgment of his Messiahship appears in those texts in which he
asks his disciples the opinion of the people concerning himself.
When Simon Peter confessed him as "the Christ, the Son of the
living God," he anwered with no little emotion : "Blessed art thou,
Simon Bar- Jonah; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father who is in heaven" (Matt, xvi, 17). He thus
declared Simon a partaker of divine revelation on this question,
and a living stone or rock on which his Church was to be builded.
In Luke's gospel (ix, 20) he is pronounced "the Christ of God,"
and in a passage of John's gospel (vi, 69), Peter says, "We have
believed and know that thou art the Holy One of God." In the
same chapter (ver. 27) Jesus speaks of himself as "the Son of
man, whom the Father, even God, hath sealed." That is, the
Father had confirmed and authenticated his Messianic ministry
by the heavenly approval given at his baptism and the many
"works of God" which he had performed. This reached a climax
when he rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, and the multitude of
his disciples saluted him, saying, "Blessed is the King that cometh
in the name of the Lord." The Pharisees would have had him

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OF CHRIST 287
rebuke such noisy demonstration, but he answered: "If these
should hold their peace, the stones would cry out" (Luke xix, 40).
(3) Indicated in his Doctrine of the Kingdom. His doctrine
of the kingdom of God led him again and again to indicate his
conscious relation to that kingdom as the Messianic ruler and
judge. The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are familiar to
him, and it is his delight to impart them to the inquiring souls
who love the truth. His parables illustrative of the kingdom not
only show his own knowledge of the mysteries of God, but deeply
confirm his right to be acknowledged as the Messianic King,
anointed to preach good tidings to the poor, proclaim the release
of captives, restore sight to the blind, set the bruised at liberty,
and proclaim the year of Jehovah's grace, the beginning of a
new era, even as the prophets had written (Luke iv, 18-21). The
eschatological element in his doctrine of the kingdom is especially
noteworthy. He spoke of the end or consummation of the age
when "the Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and
them that do iniquity" (Matt, xiii, 41 ; comp. xxiv, 30, 31 ; Mark
xiii, 26, 27). He said that some of those who stood by him
should "in no wise taste of death, till they had seen the kingdom
of God come with power" (Mark ix, 1). In the presence of the
high priest, where the scribes and elders of the Jews were assem
bled, he uttered the memorable words : "Henceforth ye shall see
the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming
on the clouds of heaven" (Matt, xxvi, 63 ; Mark xiv, 62). He told
his disciples that "in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall
sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt, xix, 28). What pro
phetic vision and what majestic consciousness of wisdom and power
in his language in Luke x, 18, 19 : "I beheld Satan fallen as light
ning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread
upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy;
and nothing shall in any wise hurt you." The portrayal of the
Son of man sitting on the throne of his glory and executing judg
ment upon all the nations (Matt, xxv, 31-46) accords with the
sayings in John's gospel that the Father "has given all judgment
unto the Son," and "given him authority to execute judgment,
because he is Son of man" (v, 22, 27). In him also is the power
of the resurrection, and "all that are in the tombs shall hear his
voice, and shall come forth" (v, 28). Especially calm and yet of
supernatural import are his words in John xiv, 1-3 : "Let not your
heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father's house are many mansions. ... I go to prepare a place

288 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
for you. And ... I come again and receive you unto myself."
He speaks with the consciousness of being Lord of both worlds,
and as no one can well be conceived as speaking unless, as he said
of himself, he had descended out of heaven and was, even on earth,
as one who was also in the heaven (John iii, 13). After his own
resurrection, according to Matt, xxviii, 18, 19, he associated his
name with that of the Father and the Holy Spirit, and said : "All
authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth."
9. Significance of This Consciousness. The significance of all
these varied expressions of the self-consciousness of our Lord is
their witness to his transcendent personality. No other man ever
spoke like this, for no other ever possessed such consciousness of
immediate fellowship with God and of superhuman relationship
to the mysteries of earth and heaven. One might conceive a
superior philosopher and poet, gifted with deep religious instinct
and with a bold imagination, constructing such ideals of a personal
life out of many possible sources ; but these self-expressions of the
consciousness of Jesus Christ have an unmistakable historic back
ground. They all center in a divine-human personality from
which there is no getting away. That the first disciples of Jesus,
or those who succeeded them for two or three generations, created
such a character out of their own extravagant ideals of what the
Christ should be, is a hypothesis utterly inadequate to meet all the
facts of the life of Jesus and all these diversified expressions of
his Messianic consciousness. In fair view of all the facts such a
hypothesis is unthinkable. The only solution which fully accounts
for such a marvelous self-revelation of the most influential person
that ever appeared in this world is that which the Christian faith
of the centuries has acknowledged both in creed and in song.
Such words, such thoughts, such calm consciousness of being at
home alike in the heavens and in the earth, such sense of subordi
nation as to be able to do nothing without the Father, yet united
with a power and authority to lay down his life and to take it
again — these and like expressions of transcendent being find
rational explanation only in the faith that Jesus Christ was the
veritable incarnation of the mystery of God (1 Tim. iii, 16). The
earliest confessions and worship of the Christians recognized in
that mystery an adorable Personality,
Who was manifest in the flesh,
Was justified in the spirit,
Was seen of angels,
Was preached among the nations,
Was believed on in the world,
Was received up in glory.

CHAPTER V
CHRISTOLOGY OP THE FIRST APOSTLES AND OP THE
GENERAL EPISTLES
1. Sources of Information. Thus far our study of the person
of Christ has been directed mainly to the facts of his life and
to his self-expression as recorded in the gospels, especially the
synoptic gospels. Our next step will be to inquire after the
earliest apostolic teaching, and our sources of information are a
few passages in the Acts of the apostles and in the epistles of
James, Peter, and Jude. The date of these writings is a very
open question, and most of them are doubtless later than the
principal Pauline epistles; but, so far as they present a doctrine
of the person of Jesus Christ, they appear to reflect the popular
conceptions of the apostolic age. They are, accordingly, a class
of witnesses which may be best examined before we proceed to
the more elaborate teaching found in other New Testament writ
ings. 2. The Preaching of Peter. The first recorded example of
apostolic preaching is Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost
(Acts ii, 14-40). The speaker regards himself and his hearers
as living "in the last days," about which Joel had prophesied, and
he represents" "Jesus the Nazarene" as "a man approved of God
by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him."
The close agreement of this description of Jesus with that made
by the same apostle in Acts x, 38, is noteworthy: "Jesus of
Nazareth whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with
power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were
oppressed of the devil ; for God was with him." It is also worthy
of our attention that the gospel according to Mark, which early
tradition ascribes largely to Peter, is in striking harmony with
this simple but comprehensive statement. When this apostle
healed the lame man at the door of the temple, he did it "in the
name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene" (Acts iii, 6) ; and also when
he exhorted his convicted hearers to repent and be baptized he
assumed and said that it must be done "in the name of Jesus
Christ" (ii, 38). It is to be noticed, further, that Peter proclaims
this Jesus of Nazareth as crucified, raised up from the dead, and
exalted by the right hand of God (ii, 23, 32, 33). Thus he affirms
and confirms the great facts attested in the gospels, and makes
289

290 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
them fundamental in his preaching. He affirms "that God hath
made thisJesus both Lord and Christ" (ii, 36), and he calls him
God's glorified Servant (or Child, nalda) Jesus, "the Holy and
Righteous One," "the Prince (or Author dpxnydg-) of life" (iii,
13-15). It was impossible, he says, that this Christ of God
should be permanently held fast in the bonds of death (ii, 24).
But God raised him up, "and exalted him at his right hand to be
a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission
of sins" (v, 30, 31). He furthermore declares that the exalted
Christ had received of the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and
had poured forth that marvelous affusion of heavenly power, whose
effects they had themselves witnessed, and which was of a nature
to make that day of Pentecost forever memorable in Christian his
tory (ii, 33). He teaches also that the delivering up of Jesus to
his enemies and the crucifixion, although accomplished by the
hands of lawless men, were in accordance with "the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God" (ii, 23). It was part and
parcel of the divine purpose and mystery of the ages, of which
Jesus himself had often spoken. We should observe how this
accords with what is written in Luke xxiv, 26, 46-49, that "the
Christ must suffer, must rise, must enter into his glory, and send
forth the promise of the Father." That all this is part of the
great purpose of ages and generations is furthermore declared in
Acts iii, 21, where we are told that the heaven must receive this
Christ Jesus "until the times of restoration of all things, whereof
God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from
of old." In Acts x, 42, Peter makes the further statement that
he and his fellow apostles were "charged to preach unto the people
and to testify that this risen Christ is he who is ordained of
God to be the Judge of the living and the dead." These various
sayings of Peter, as they are reported in the Acts, seem very frag
mentary, but it is remarkable how full a presentation they give of
the person of Jesus Christ. The Christ whom this apostle preached
is identical with the Christ of the gospel of Mark. He is the
Messiah in whom God declares himself well pleased. His life is
made famous by the wonders and mighty works which he per
formed. He went about doing good. He was crucified, raised up,
and exalted to the right hand of the Father, and made the Prince
of life. "In none other is there salvation; for neither is there
any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein
we must be saved" (Acts iv, 12). He is the King and Disposer
of the ages, accomplishing the eternal purposes of God, the right
eous and holy Judge of the living and the dead. This preaching
of Peter, so simple, direct, and comprehensive, amounts to nothing

CHRISTOLOGY OF PETER 291
less than a glorification and even a deification of Jesus. He does
not call him God, but he proclaims him as the Anointed Son and
Saviour who rules in heaven and on earth and does the works of
God. 3. The First Epistle of Peter. In the first epistle of Peter we
find comparatively little concerning the person of Christ which
does not appear in the preaching reported in the Acts. What is
written therein on the subject contains no different type of doc
trine. The trinitarian element which appears in the first two
verses of the first epistle is remarkable: "Foreknowledge of God
the Father, sanctification of the Spirit, and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ." These three are mentioned together in
Acts ii, 32, 33, but in a less formal manner. The third verse of
the epistle is a brief but beautifully comprehensive statement of
the apostolic gospel : "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto
a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
Here Jesus is both Lord and Christ, risen from the dead, and
begetting a living hope in them that love and obey him. In iii, 22,
he is said to be "on the right hand of God, having gone into
heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject
unto him." He is called "the Shepherd and Bishop of souls," and
"the Chief Shepherd" (ii, 25; v, 4). Repeated reference is made
to the sufferings of Christ, and he is called "a living stone, rejected
indeed of men, but with God elect, precious" (ii, 4). He has left
us an example to follow as those who walk in the steps of one
"who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (ii, 22).
He is also spoken of as "a lamb without blemish and without spot,
who was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was
manifested at the end of the times" (i, 19, 20). Reference is
also made to a future "revelation of Jesus Christ," "the revelation
of his glory" (i, 7, 13; iv, 13). Believers are called upon to sanc
tify Christ in their hearts as Lord (iii, 15), and to "set their
hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto them" at
the time of that future glorious revelation of the Lord. That
revelation involves "eternal glory in Christ" (i, 13; v, 10), "whom
not having seen ye love ; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet
believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls"
(i, 8, 9).
4. Second Peter and Jude. The second epistle of Peter and
that of Jude contain very little that bears distinctive witness to
the person of Christ. They both appear to belong to a later time
than that of the first epistle of Peter, and what they say of the

292 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Lord Jesus is of the most general character. The epistle of Jude
is generally believed to be the earlier of the two, and forms the
basis of second Peter, the second chapter of which is largely
fashioned after the more original and vigorous writing of Jude.
In this brief letter Jesus Christ is called "the only Master
(deonorng-) and our Lord Jesus Christ" (vers. 4, 17, 21, 25).
Those who are "called and beloved in God the Father" are firmly
"kept for Jesus Christ" (ver. 1), but must also "keep themselves
in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life" (ver. 21). The ascription of "glory, majesty,
dominion, and power to the only God our Saviour through Jesus
Christ our Lord" (ver. 25) clearly recognizes God as the Saviour,
and Christ as the Mediator of his glory and grace. In 2 Peter we
meet with the phrases, the righteousness of our God and Saviour
Jesus Christ, the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the grace and knowledge of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (i, 1, 8, 11, 16; ii, 20; iii, 18).
These ascriptions of knowledge, salvation, and power to Jesus
Christ imply his exaltation at the right hand of God and associate
him with God. The old contention that, because the grammatical
construction of the words our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, in
i, 1, is the same as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in iii, 18,
therefore this writer calls Jesus God as well as Lord and Saviour,
cannot be fairly maintained; for not only is the translation "our
God and the Saviour" conceded as entirely proper, and adopted in
the American Standard Revision, but the statement, in i, 17, that
Jesus "received from God the Father honor and glory, when there
was borne such a voice to him by the Majestic Glory, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," shows that the author
of this epistle conceived the beloved Son as holding a subordinate
relation to God the Father. Nevertheless, it must also be con
ceded that the construction of the words our God and Saviour so
as to make them both refer to Jesus Christ is grammatically both
possible and proper.
5. The Epistle of James. The epistle of James makes only a
few references to the person of Christ, but those few are sufficient
to indicate the author's thoroughly worshipful devotion to "the
Lord Jesus Christ" (i, 1; ii, 1), of whom he declares himself a
bondservant. The aim of the epistle is conspicuously practical
and finds no occasion to speak particularly of Jesus, but it recog
nizes "the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ" (ii, 1) as a regulative
principle of all true Christian life. This faith centers in the Lord
Jesus as "the Lord of glory." The grammatical construction of

CHRISTOLOGY OF JAMES 293
the genitive rfjg- dogng-, of glory, in this last clause has puzzled inter
preters, and is confessedly obscure; but that adopted in the cur
rent English versions seems on the whole the best, and is made
emphatic by repeating the word Lord immediately before these
words. We may, however, understand these last words as an
adjectival genitive qualifying the entire phrase preceding, and
translate accordingly, "the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus
Christ." He is glorious in his exaltation, and like God himself
has no respect of persons, but "chooses them that are poor as to
the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he
has promised to them that love him" (ii, 5). According, to this
epistle, "the coming of the Lord is near at hand" (v, 8), whence
we infer that the author accepted the current belief of the first
apostles that their Lord was enthroned in glory and would soon
come again to judge the world. The doctrine of these catholic
epistles and of the preaching of Peter is thus seen to be in har
mony with the portraiture of Christ found in the synoptic gos
pels. The preaching of Stephen and of Philip, as may be inferred
from Acts vi, 14; vii, 52-59; viii, 12, 35, was of the same general
type, and aimed to magnify "the Name" (Acts v, 41, 42). The
doctrine of the three epistles of John will be more properly con
sidered in connection with the Johannine Christology.

CHAPTER VI
THE CHRIST OF JOHN'S APOCALYPSE
1. Date and Composition of the Book. One may well hesitate
in determining the date and rank of the Christology of the New
Testament Apocalypse. The present trend of expert criticism is
to recognize a variety of sources and older fragments of a some
what heterogeneous character out of which the book in its present
form has been compiled and wrought over into a perceptible unity
of plan. The two passages in the book itself which indicate its
date are xi, 1, 2, and xvii, 10, from which one naturally infers
that the Jewish temple was yet standing and Nero was emperor
of Rome. The riddle, of "the number of the beast" in xiii, 18, is
also best explained by the numerical value of the Hebrew letters
in the name Nero Caesar (nDpJViJ), which when added together
make the sum of six hundred and sixty-six. The external evi
dence, however, has been quite generally understood as fixing the
date near the close of Domitian's reign (about A.D. 96), and it
is overwhelmingly strong and uniform in assigning the author
ship to John, the son of Zebedee, the disciple of Jesus. It is
noteworthy that the apostolic origin of no book of the New
Testament is better attested by external evidence than that of
this Apocalypse of John. But it may be that the work is com
posite, and that, like most of the numerous Jewish apocalypses dat
ing all the way from B.C. 175 to A.D. 200, it has appropriated ele
ments of earlier writings. The apostle John himself might have
done this, and it is a noteworthy fact that there is scarcely a figure
or a symbol in this New Testament Revelation which may not be
traced to some corresponding idea written in the Old Testament.1
So far as it represents a distinctive Christology, we shall regard
it as an apocalyptic portraiture of the same Son of man who is
described in the synoptic gospels as "coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory" (comp. Matt, xxiv, 30, and
Rev. i, 7). The Christ of this prophecy is the one who was dead,
but is risen to the throne of God and "holds the keys of death
and Hades." He is "ruler of the kings of the earth," and his
throne is the throne of God. In all these conceptions the Christ

1 For what may be said in favor of the apostolic origin and early date of the
book, see BibHcal Apocalyptics, pp. 253 ff. For the critical discussions see the
Encyclopaedia Biblica, Art. Apocalypse, and the literature mentioned therein
9QA

294

APOCALYPTIC CHRISTOLOGY 295
of the Apocalypse is identical with the Messiah of the earliest
apostolic preaching. But the author's manner of describing the
supreme majesty and glory of Jesus Christ is confessedly visional.
2. The Christophany of i, 12-16. The Christophany described
in i, 12-16, is a most impressive picture of the Son of man, and
its details are appropriated mainly from Dan. vii, 9, 10. His
garment and girdle, his forehead and hair white as wool and as
snow, his flaming eyes, his feet like burnished brass, his voice like
that of many waters, the sword proceeding from his mouth, and
his countenance like the dazzling sunlight, are all indicative of
a supernatural Being. When, now, this august personage declares
himself to be "the first and the last," "the Living One," once dead
but now alive for the ages of ages, we cannot mistake the purpose
of the writer to honor and glorify this Son even as he would honor
the Father Almighty (comp. John v, 23), for he applies to him
attributes which the Old Testament prophets apply to Jehovah.
3. The Lamb in the Midst of the Throne. It should also be
noted how conspicuously the Christ is associated in the visions of
this seer with the throne of God. In v, 6, he appears as "a Lamb
in the midst of the throne" (comp. vii, 17). His position was so
in the midview of the throne and the Lamb himself was so related
to "him that sat on the throne," that the throne itself is called
in xxii, 1, "the throne of God and of the Lamb." This Lamb
is no other than the "one like unto a son of man" in the Chris
tophany of i, 12-16, and who says in iii, 21, "I overcame, and sat
down with my Father in his throne." The symbolism of "a Lamb
standing as though it had been slain," has unmistakable reference
to the redemptive work of the Saviour of men, whom he "pur
chased unto God with his blood" (v, 9), but our interest at present
is only with his exalted position at the throne of heaven. This
conception is most naturally connected with the uniform apostolic
teaching that Jesus, the Christ, has ascended into heaven and is
enthroned at the right hand of God, where, according to Paul
(Rom. viii, 34), he "maketh intercession for us." So the Apoca
lypse of John, like the preaching of Peter and of others, exalts
Christ to the right hand of God, to share his throne, and to be
"a Prince and a Saviour" (Acts v, 31). It is also worthy of note
that this Lamb of the Apocalypse has seven horns, symbols of
perfection of power, "and seven eyes, wliich are the seven Spirits
of God sent forth into all the earth" (v, 6). The seven Spirits
of God have been already described as so many "lamps of fire
burning before the throne" (iv, 5), and being here identified with
the seven eyes of the Lamb, we infer that the writer associated
the thought of perfection of wisdom as well as perfection of power

296 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
with the Lamb. The seven Spirits of God are the Spirit of the
Lamb just as the throne of God is the throne of the Lamb.
4. His Titles, Glory, Triumphs, and Worship. This "revelation
of Jesus Christ" is remarkable for the number and variety of
significant titles ascribed to him. He is "the Alpha and the
Omega," "the first and the last," "the faithful and true witness,"
"the beginning of the creation of God," "the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, the Root of David," "the Word of God," "King of kings
and Lord of lords," "the root and the offspring of David, the
bright, the morning star." He appears also in the visions as a
mighty angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud
and a rainbow, and "his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars
of fire" (x, 1). He is seen standing on Mount Zion with twelve
times twelve thousand of his holy ones (xiv, 1), and also sitting
on a white cloud, like a son of man, having a golden crown and a
sharp sickle (xiv, 14). He appears also as a heavenly conqueror
sitting on a white horse, followed by the armies of heaven, wear
ing many diadems, smiting the nations and ruling them with a
rod of iron (xix, 11 ff.). Along with God he receives the worship
of all the hosts of earth and heaven (v, 8-13; vii, 9, 10).
5. The Grand Total Impression of the Revelation. It is not
necessary to put forward any theory or exposition of this remarka
ble Apocalypse in order to perceive its witness to the adorable per
sonage, whose name stands at the beginning, and whose relation
to the throne of God is made so prominent throughout. Nor need
we enter here upon any discussion of peculiar verbal expressions,
or of the various symbols employed by the writer. It is quite
sufficient to appeal to the grand total impression which this apoca
lyptical revelation of Jesus Christ must needs make upon any
appreciative reader. The transcendent personality, whom the
author of this book adored, is exalted into heavenly splendor, is
"in the midst of the throne of God," and receives ascriptions of
blessing and honor and glory and dominion from "every created
thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and on the sea,
and all things that are in them" (v, 13). But it is his great pur
pose and desire to restore men to the tree of life and the "Paradise
of God" (ii, 7). His messages to the churches are salutations of
grace and peace, but he also executes judgment in righteousness.
His ultimate aim is to make all things new (xxi, 5) ; hence his
authority is over heaven and earth; he is seated on his Father's
throne (iii, 21), and the kingdom of the world is to become his
own (xi, 15). This doctrine of the Apocalypse is in essential har
mony with Paul's conception of the rule of Christ, "He must reign,
till he hath put all his enemies under his feet" (1 Cor. xv, 25) .

CHAPTER VII
THE PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY
1. Significance of Paul's Conversion. In the study of the Paul
ine portraiture of Jesus Christ we are impressed from first to last
with the fact that the revelation of Jesus, which came to him at
the time of his conversion, was a most decisive inner experience,
and the memory of it ever afterward stood forth as a living vision
in his soul. The reader should carefully study and compare the
narratives in Acts ix, 3-9, 17-19; xxii, 6-16; xxvi, 12-20, with the
statements of 1 Cor. ix, 1 ; xv, 8 ; Gal. i, -12, 16 ; and Eph. iii, 3.
That revelation worked a radical crisis in his religious nature,
and during all his subsequent life Paul seemed "determined not
to know anything save Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor.
ii, 2). His uniform testimony was, "It is Christ Jesus that died,
yea, rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us" (Rom.
viii, 34). This revelation was like a voice out of heaven
speaking in his soul with an authority he could never ques
tion. To his thought thereafter God was in Christ and Cnrist
was a new and deeper revelation of God than he had known before.
In all his epistles he associates the names of "God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ." With slight variations we find these
holy names thus placed together both in the salutations with which
his epistles open, and in the benedictions with which they close.
God and Christ are existing in one superior glory, and are the
source of "grace and peace." In 2 Cor. xiii, 14, we have the trini
tarian formula: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with
you all." Unlike the formula of Matt, xxviii, 19, the name of
the Lord Jesus here precedes that of God, the Father.
2. The Thessalonian Epistles. The Thessalonian epistles make
prominent the coming of the Lord Jesus from heaven, and by vari
ous allusions they represent him as the Son of God, raised from
the dead, having power to deliver men from the wrath to come,
and to gather together all who have salvation in him and catch
them away to meet him in the heavens (1 Thess. i, 10; ii, 19; iii,
13; iv, 14-17; v, 23). There is to be a "revelation of the Lord
Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire,
297

298 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2 Thess. i, 7, 8; comp.
Psa. lxix, 6; Jer. x, 25; Isa. lxvi, 14, 15). "He will take away
the man of sin with the breath of his mouth (ii, 8 ; comp. Isa. xi,
4; Job iv, 9; Dan. vii, 11, 26), but he will glorify his saints,
establish them, and guard them from the evil one, and direct their
hearts into the love of God, and the obtaining of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ" (ii, 14; iii, 3, 5, 16). From all of which it is
evident that the Lord Jesus, as set forth in these earliest epistles
of Paul, is Lord of heaven and earth, and exercises divine judg
ment and power in the administration of the kingdom of God.
All this accords perfectly with the doctrine of the earliest apostolic
preaching. 3. The Corinthian Epistles. At the beginning of the first
epistle to the Corinthians we have "the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ" presented as an object of worship to "all in every place
who are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints." Fur
ther on (vers. 23, 24) it is said that "Christ crucified is to the
Jews a stumblingblock and to the Gentiles foolishness, but unto
them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, he is God's power and
God's wisdom." To all such he becomes "wisdom from God, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (ver. 30).
The gospel of Christ is "God's wisdom in a mystery," and they
who have "the mind of Christ" have a knowledge of "the deep
things of God" which worldlings cannot apprehend (ii, 6-16).
"There is one God, the Father, of whom are all things; and one
Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through
him" (viii, 6), and "Christ is God's" (iii, 23). He would have
the Corinthians know "that the head of every man is Christ ; and
the head of the woman is the man ; and the head of Christ is God"
(xi, 3). The spiritual rock that followed Israel in the desert was
Christ (x, 4) . This Lord Jesus Paul recognizes as his own judge,
who searches him through and through (& dvaKpivuv), and who in
his own time will "bring to light the hidden things of darkness,
and make manifest the counsels of the hearts" (iv, 4, 5). For
he has a day of revelation, and before his tribunal every man must
be made manifest according to his works (i, 7, 8; iii, 13; comp.
2 Cor. v, 10; Acts xvii, 31). He is the second Adam, the man
from heaven, a life-giving spirit, who is to abolish death, and
subject all things to God (xv, 22, 24-28, 45, 47). In the second
epistle we are told that "the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was
preached among you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was
not yea and nay, but in him is yea. For how many soever be the
promises of God, in him (i.e., Christ) is the yea: wherefore also

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 299
through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us"1
(i, 19, 20) . In him the apostle and all saints find an unfailing source
of inspiration unto every good word and work (ii, 12, 14, 17 ; xii,
19; xiii, 3, 4). His grace was shown in the fact "that, though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his
poverty might become rich" (viii, 9). He is the image of God
reflected as in a mirror to the adoring saint, who is thereby "trans
formed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the
Lord, the Spirit" (iii, 17, 18). That is, as the immediate context
shows, the Lord Christ is the illuminating Spirit, through whom
the veil of spiritual darkness is taken from the heart, and men
are permitted to behold in him the glory of God. For the apostle
goes on to say that "the illumination of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God," is ready to beam on all such as
do not permit their thoughts to be blinded through unbelief. "For
it is God, that said, Out of darkness light shall shine, who shined
in our hearts for an illumination of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ" (iv, 4-6). The glory that shined
from the face of Moses by reason of his speaking with God was so
overpowering "that the children of Israel could not look sted-
fastly" thereon (iii, 7; comp. Exod. xxxiv, 29) ; how much more
excessive must be "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" !
It is as true now as in the time of Moses that man may not see
the face of God and live (Exod. xxxiii, 20), but the doctrine of
Paul (as of John i, 18) is that God has graciously provided a
heavenly illumination by means of "the gospel of the glory of
Christ," in which gospel, as in a mirror, the glory of God as it
shines in the face of Jesus Christ is reflected, and we all "with
unveiled face," beholding in that mirror the glory of the Lord,
receive along with the blessed vision "the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God."
4. The Epistle to the Galatians. The epistle to the Galatians,
aside from the salutation and the benediction, and a few expres
sions common to all the epistles, contains little that bears directly
on the doctrine of the person of Christ. We may note the empha
sis with which its author speaks of the indwelling Christ who
enables him to "live unto God. With Christ I have been crucified;
and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me: and that
which I now live in the flesh I live in faith which is of the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (ii, 19, 20 ; comp.
1 According to Meyer the distinction between the yea and the amen is that the
yea denotes the certainty and confirmation objectively given in Christ, and the amen
is the certainty subjectively existing, and which finds expression through the ex
perience and ministry of the gospel. In Christ and through Christ are all God's
promises certified so as to redound through us to the glory of God.

300 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
iv, 19). In iv, 4-6, he furnishes the definite concept of the Son
of God as "sent forth," "born of a woman," "born under law," and
providing that God might "send forth the Spirit of his Son into
our hearts, crying, Abba, Father."
5. The Epistle to the Romans. The epistle to the Romans, like
the one to the Galatians, deals mainly with the saving mediation
of Christ, but there are several passages which refer to the person
of Christ in a way that demands our attention. At the begin
ning of this epistle the apostle declares himself a bondservant of
Jesus Christ, whom he describes (vers. 3 and 4) as "born of
the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared the Son
of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection of the dead." Here, as in Acts xiii, 29-39, the humili
ation of Christ and his exaltation by the resurrection are design
edly contrasted. Paul, like Peter (comp. Acts ii, 29-36), loved
to think of his Lord as the son of David and heir of all the prom
ises; not permitted to see corruption in the tomb, but raised up
from the dead, and enthroned at the right hand of God (viii, 34).
Thus was the Son of God placed beyond the power and dominion
of death (vi, 9) so as to be "Lord of both the dead and the living"
(xiv, 9). He is descended from the Israelite fathers according to
the flesh, and, according to a time-honored punctuation and inter
pretation of Rom. ix, 5, he is also "over all, God blessed forever."
Through him "will God judge the secrets of men" (ii, 16). In
v, 12-21, he is set forth as the great ' antitype of Adam through
whom sin entered into the world, for through Jesus Christ shall
"grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life." He is
"God's own Son, sent in the likeness of sinful flesh" (viii, 3), but
he pleased not himself, and submitted to reproaches that he might
receive his redeemed ones to the glory of God (xv, 3-7). Paul as
his minister unto the Gentiles has great "glorying in Christ Jesus
in things pertaining to God" (ver. 17), and he visits the churches
"in the fulness of the blessing of Christ" (ver. 29). He begs his
brethren "by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit"
to join with him in "prayers to God" (ver. 30).
6. The Epistle to Philemon. In the short epistle to Philemon
we may note the warmth with which Paul twice (vers. 1 and 9)
calls himself a "prisoner of Christ Jesus," and also mentions
Epaphras as his "fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus" (23). He
praises the faith which Philemon has "toward the Lord Jesus" (5),
and prays that it may become "effectual unto Christ" (6), and
that his own heart may be refreshed "in Christ." He would fain
receive profit of Philemon "in the Lord" (20), and he trusts that
he will receive Onesimus "no longer as a slave, but more than a

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 301
slave, a brother beloved both in the flesh and in the Lord" (16).
This remarkable ideal of loving fellowship in the Lord Christ
evinces a vivid concept of the divine and worshipful personality of
the Lord, and illustrates the thought elsewhere (Col. iii, 3)J
expressed by the apostle of spiritual life hidden with Christ in
God. 7. The Pastoral Epistles. In the pastoral epistles we find the
true humanity of Jesus recognized in the statements that he was
"manifested in the flesh" (1 Tim. iii, 16), and sprung "from the
seed of David" (2 Tim. ii, 8). His preexistence seems to be
implied in the "faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim.
i, 15). In 1 Tim. ii, 5, we are told that "there is one God, one
mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus,
who gave himself a ransom for all." In Gal. iii, 19, Moses is
referred to as a mediator by whose agency the law was delivered
to Israel ; here the mediator is of a higher order, and the mediator
•offers himself up as a ransom for all men. When allusion is made,
in 1 Tim. i, 11, to "the gospel of the glory of the blessed God,"
the writer immediately adds: "I thank him who has endued me
with power, even Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me
faithful, appointing me unto service." Here Christ Jesus is
recognized as the Lord who is exalted in unspeakable glory, exer
cises a heavenly authority, and appoints men unto holy minis
tries. In 2 Tim. i, 1, Paul speaks of "the promise of the life
which is in Christ Jesus," and, in verses 9 and 10, of the
"purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
times eternal, but hath now been manifested by the appearing of
our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel." The fact that
Christ Jesus is "our Saviour" becomes the more noteworthy when
we study the expressions, "God our Saviour, and Christ Jesus our
hope" (1 Tim. i, 1) ; "our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ"
(Titus ii, 13); "God our Saviour" (1 Tim. ii, 3; Titus ii, 10;
iii, 4) ; "Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus iii, 6). This general
and indiscriminate use of "God our Saviour," and "Jesus Christ
our Saviour," shows that in the mind of the writer God and Christ
are one in the ministry of salvation. According to 1 Tim. iv, 10,
"the living God is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that
believe"; but in v, 21, "God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels"
are mentioned in holy and reverend association. Christ Jesus is
also the final judge of the living and the dead (2 Tim. iv, 1, 8, 14),
and his title and power as Lord are repeatedly acknowledged
(1 Tim. i, 14; 2 Tim. i, 8; iii, 11; iv, 17, 18, 22). The great

302 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
"mystery of godliness" (1 Tim. iii, 16) consists in the marvelous
facts enumerated in the poetic confession:
He was manifested in the flesh,
Was justified in the Spirit,
Was seen of angels,
Was preached among the nations,
Was believed on in the world,
Was received up in glory.
Thus in the pastoral epistles the glory of Christ transcends that
of any other being except the "One God," who, in 1 Tim. vi, 15, 16,
is called "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and
Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light
unapproachable; whom no man hath seen, nor can see," and who
will, in his own times, "show forth the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ."
8. The Ephesian Epistle. The three Pauline epistles, which
more than all others are entitled to be called Christological, are
those to the Ephesians, the Philippians, and the Colossians. After
the usual salutation the epistle to the Ephesians opens with a
reminder that "every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies is in
Christ, even as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ chose
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him" (i, 3, 4). The epistle
abounds in references to "the mystery of his will," and the "good
pleasure of his will," and of his eternal purpose "to sum up all
things in Christ, things upon the heavens and things upon the
earth" (i, 10). This summing up, or gathering together again
for himself under one head (dvaKe<f>aXaicjoao&ai, note the middle)
all things in heaven and earth must needs involve such a disclosure
of the character of "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory" (i, 17) that one who apprehends and appreciates it will
surely be gifted with "a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him." With this uplifting thought in his soul the
apostle prays for his readers that the eyes of their heart may be
enlightened in order that they may "know what is the hope of
his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward
who believe, according to the working of the strength of his might
which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead
and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenlies, far above
all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name
that is named, not only in this world (or age) , but also in that which
is to come: and he put all things in subjection under his feet,

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 303
and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is
his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (i, 18-23).
According to iii, 18, 19, if anyone is "strong to apprehend with
all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge," he too
"may be filled unto all the fulness of God." Believers are "created
in Christ Jesus for good works" (ii, 10), and the Church is con
ceived as "the household of God, builded upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief
corner stone ; in whom each several building, fitly framed together,
groweth into a holy sanctuary in the Lord" (ii, 19-21). As the
husband is head of the wife, "so also is Christ the head of the
church, being himself the Saviour of the body" (v, 23). The
mystery of Christ and of his Church is great (v, 32), but the
enlightened heart, described in i, 18, will delight in the study of
these sacred truths, and will admire the apostle's revelation and
"understanding in the mystery of Christ" (iii, 4). The shining
of Christ upon the soul that awakes to spiritual life at his call is
able to bring forth into the light all hidden things (v, 13, 14).
And thus this epistle is unique in its mystic tone and in profound
conceptions of God in Christ gathering unto himself a redeemed
and glorious body of saints, and dwelling in them as in a holy
habitation. The gospel embodies "the unsearchable riches of
Christ," and is a "dispensation of the mystery which from all ages
hath been hid in God," and which is to be "made known through
the church unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenlies,
as the manifold wisdom of God, according to the purpose of the
ages which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" (iii, 8-11).
Christ Jesus is thus conceived as central in the glory of this
mystery of God, and he is referred to in iv, 9, as having "descended
into the lower parts (rd Karurepa)1 of the earth, and having also
1 According to Meyer this expression means that Christ "descended deeper than
the earth, even into the subterranean region, into Hades. The object was to pre
sent Christ as the one who fills the whole universe, so that, with a view to his enter
ing upon this his all-filling activity, he has previously with his victorious presence
passed through the whole world, having descended from heaven into the utmost
depth, and ascended from this depth to the utmost height." Exegetical Hand
book, in loco. Eng. trans, of 4th German ed., 1880. This interpretation accords,
perhaps, with the most natural meaning of the words, but has nothing in the con
text that requires or even suggests an allusion to Hades. Yet this interpretation
has been adopted by many ancient and modern expositors (e. g., Irenaeus, Jerome,
Alford, Ellicott, Beet). It is not necessary, however, to say with Meyer that he
"descended into the utmost depth," for Paul does not use the superlative. Inas
much as the phrase lowest parts of the earth is used in Psa. cxxxix, 15, to denote the
womb, Witsius and some others explain it of the descent of the preexistent Christ
into the womb of the virgin. Chrysostom, Theodoret, and others, see in the words
an allusion to the death and burial of Christ." But the more widely accepted
modern interpretation takes the words T^r yv? as a genitive of apposition —
"this lower earth," "lower parts of the universe," as contrasted with the height
(vtpo?) of heaven.

304 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things."
This passage is somewhat remarkable for its free appropriation
of the language of a well-known psalm (lxviii, 18), and the appli
cation of it to Christ. The words of the psalm are addressed
directly to Jehovah, the God of Sinai:
Thou hast ascended on high;
Thou hast led away captives;
Thou hast received gifts among men.
The imagery is that of the triumphal return of a conqueror to
his fortress in the height ("the mountain which God hath desired
for his abode," ver. 16; comp. "the height of Zion," Jer. xxxi,
12), leading in his train a large body of captives whom he has
taken (comp. Judg. v, 12), and receiving tributary gifts from
among the subject nations (comp. Isa. Ix, 5-11). The God of
Israel is thus conceived as ascending in triumph to his chosen
dwelling in the holy mountain of Zion. But the apostle not only
applies this language to the ascension of Christ "far above all
the heavens," but he also changes one important word so as to
represent his hero as bestowing rather than receiving gifts among
men. The gifts which he bestowed are specified in verse 11,
"apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers," and the
purpose for which these were given is stated further on. The
significance of this passage for the doctrine of the person of Christ
is to be seen in its bold application to him of language which the
Hebrew scripture employs in describing the triumphs of Jehovah,
and also in its assertion that Christ has ascended above all heavens
so as to fill all things." In Exod. iii, 7, 8, Jehovah says : "I have
seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, . . . and I am
come down (TIKI, and I descended; Sept., Karepnv) to deliver
them," etc. It is not improbable that this very passage floated
before the mind both of the psalmist and of the apostle when they
wrote. There is no necessity of assuming that Paul's memory
failed him so that he substituted gave for received, nor that he
intended to quote the passage accurately, or to interpret it in its
true historical meaning. Nor is it important to determine whether
by "the lower parts of the earth" he means Hades, popularly con
ceived as located under the earth, or the grave, or the earth itself
as lower than the heavens. The main thoughts are the descending,
and the ascending, and the giving gifts unto men. With that
mystic and spiritual insight which discerned so many suggestive
figures of Christ in the Old Testament the apostle saw the fitness
of the passage under discussion to portray the incarnation, ascen
sion, and triumph of the Lord Jesus. The triumphal ascent of

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 305
Christ to the highest heaven implied that he also previously came
down from on high, and so far it accords with the teaching of
John iii, 13; vi, 62; xvii, 5. Thus a concept of personal pre
existence is put forward, for "lie that descended is the same also
that ascended." It may be alleged in general that one may ascend
who has not previously descended, so that ascent into heaven does
not necessarily imply a previous descent therefrom. But this alle
gation is precluded by the imagery of a conqueror ascending to
his own native height and leading captives in his triumphal march.
Moreover, the ascent "far above all the heavens, that he might fill
all things" is an ascription of exaltation to Christ which involves
transcendent and most worshipful relation to the throne <and
dominion of the Most High. The "filling of all things" suggests
the divine prerogative of Jehovah, who says in Jer. xxiii, 24 : "Do
not I fill heaven and earth?" Omnipresence would thus seem to
be predicated of the ascended Christ; and yet other uses of this
expression in the epistle make it somewhat questionable just how
far we are at liberty to press the literal import of the language.
For while the statement of this verse is made without any limit
or qualification — "that he might fill all things" — it is said imme
diately afterwards that he gave apostles, and prophets, and pastors,
and teachers "for the building up of the body of Christ, till we
all attain unto . . . the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ." Moreover, in i, 23, it is said that the church "is his body,
the fulness of him that filleth all in all." This last saying is best
explained as meaning that he fills "all things" (rd irdvra, i.e., the
whole universe,) "with all things" (kv ndaiv, i.e., with all things
which the universe contains, kv to be taken with dative of the
instrument) : he fills the universe of things with all things which
are therein. This is in harmony with Col. i, 16-19 ; 1 Cor. viii, 6 ;
Heb. i, 2, and John i, 3, 10. Unless, therefore, his church be
understood to be coextensive with the universe, his fullness extends
beyond that of "his body," and permeates all elements and crea
tions of the cosmos. It would seem, therefore, that the absolute
omnipresence of Deity is thus attributed to Jesus Christ, and it
is expressly said in Col. ii, 9, that "in him dwelleth all the fulness
of the Godhead (tfedrjjr, Deity) bodily." And yet this apostle
prays that his readers "may be filled unto all the fulness of God"
(Eph. iii, 19). What sort of fullness can all this mean? Some
"measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" is, according to
iv, 13, attainable by all who belong to the body of Christ. They
partake of his rrXriptona, and his fullness seems from iii, 19, to be
identical with "all the fulness of God" (™v to nXrjpufta rov i?eov).
The solution of this mystery is difficult because of our habit of

306 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
conceiving omnipresence in terms of space and bulk. We think
and speak as if a universal spiritual presence were of the nature
of a diffused material essence. This was not the idea of Jesus
when he said: "Where two or three are gathered together in my
name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt, xviii, 20), and "I
am with you alway" (xxviii, 20). And Paul himself speaks of
his "being present in spirit" with the Corinthian church though
"absent in body" and with them performing an act of authoritative
discipline "in the name of the Lord Jesus, ye being gathered
together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus" (1 Cor.
v, 4). This concept of a spiritual as distinct from a bodily pres
ence requires that the "fulness of him that filleth all things with
all things" be not defined in terms of material bulk, but be con
ceived rather as a personal capability of manifesting sympathy,
wisdom, and activity wherever and whenever desired. We should
think of spiritual ubiquity as we think of love, truth, energy, or
efficiency making itself known wherever occasion may demand.
God thus fills the universe, and Christ partakes of this divine
pleroma; and all those who are Christ's are "strengthened with
power through the Spirit in the inward man" by that vital rela
tionship. They are filled with like energy and efficiency, and thus
become "partakers of the divine nature."
The person of Christ, as presented in the epistle to the Ephe
sians, is accordingly the central figure in the great purpose of God
which runs through all ages and reveals itself in. the administra
tion of the world. He descended from heaven; he showed forth
the manifold wisdom of God; he ascended above all the heavens;
he has given his Church all necessary ministrations and helps ; he
himself, like the omnipotent Father, is cognizant of all things in
heaven and in earth, and his personal spirit and authority are
potent throughout the universe. And yet the ultimate source of
all this power and wisdom and grace is "the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory" (i, 17). Jesus is the Christ of God.
9. Epistle to the Philippians. The epistle to the Philippians
is less mystic in tone and style than the Ephesian epistle, and, like
the letter to Philemon, exhibits elements of a more personal and
familiar cast, arising out of precious remembrances (i, 3; iv, 1).
The apostle speaks of the "tender mercies of Christ Jesus," and
of the "fruit of righteousness which is through Jesus Christ unto
the glory and praise of God" (i, 8, 11). He has confidence in "the
supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," and has assurance that
"Christ will be magnified in his body," whether he suffer a mar
tyr's death in the near future or be permitted to abide longer in
the flesh; for with him "to live is Christ, and to die is gain"

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 307
(i, 19-22). His personal desire is "to depart and be with Christ,"
but it seems on the whole more needful for him to abide in the
flesh in order to advance the Philippians' progress and joy in the
faith. Aside from expressions and references which are common
to all the epistles the one most important Christological passage
in this epistle is ii, 5-11 : "Have this mind in you which was also
in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, counted not
the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but
emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the
likeness of men ; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the
name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and
of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
This scripture has naturally held a very prominent place in
all polemic discussions of the person of Christ. Simple as the
main purport of the passage is, when considered as an exhortation
to self-denial and humility, the phrases form of God (juopc^w/ deov),
the being on an equality with God (rd elvai laa #ew), and emptied
himself (kavrdv kKevuoev), have occasioned perpetual controversy,
and even now seem as far as ever from final determination.1 Some
writers point out nice distinctions of meaning between the words
for form (fiofxprj), likeness (b/ioiuua), and fashion (axwa), an^ Pre"
sume to make such distinctions serve the interests of dogma. It
is noticeably assumed by others that the word existing (i-rrapx^v)
means preexisting from eternity,1 that "existing in the form of
God" is equivalent in sense to "being on an equality with God,"
and that "emptied himself" must signify something quite different
from "humbled himself." But there seems to be no room for seri
ous difference of opinion as to the facts of Christ's exaltation as
affirmed in verses 9-11. "Wherefore also (did Kai, that is, as the
fitting consequence and reward of such emptying and humbling
himself) God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name
1 The word ksv6u, here employed, has naturally lent itself to the so-called "kenotic
theories" of the incarnation; but it is not said that he emptied himself of any
essential equality with God, nor does anything in the passage require us to think
here of Christ's preexistent state. The whole passage, as we show, is capable of a
more simple and natural exposition in the recorded facts of the man Christ Jesus
in his earthly life.
2 The following paraphrase of verses 6 and 7 by J. B. Lightfoot is a good example
of dogmatic exegesis: "Though existing before the worlds in the eternal Godhead
yet he did not cling with avidity to the prerogatives of his divine majesty, did not
ambitiously display his equality with God; but divested himself of the glories of
heaven, and tools upon him the nature of a servant, assuming the likeness of men."
Notes on Epistle to the Philippians, in loco. How much soever of truth this
paraphrase contains, it takes great liberties with the apostle's language.

308 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
which is above every name." This exaltation is no other than the
resurrection and ascension of Christ to the throne of God, "far
above all the heavens" (Eph. iv, 10), and it is here represented as
a meritorious result of his self-humiliation. It is the highest pos
sible illustration of what Jesus himself taught in Matt, xxiii, 12 :
"Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever
shall humble himself shall be exalted." Hence in this notable
passage in Philippians we observe a most unquestionable distinc
tion between God and Christ ; for God honors Christ, who empties
and humbles himself and acts the part of a slave. To affirm that
the exaltation of Christ was a consequence of his humiliation, but
not in any sense a reward or recompense, is to allow dogmatic pre
suppositions to control our exegesis. Why should not the honor
and glory of sitting on the right hand of God be considered a
reward for his earthly suffering and obedience unto death ?1
Turning now to the leading words of the passage, we may fairly
submit (1) that imdpx<>>v, existing, does not necessarily mean pre
existing, nor does the context require us to import that thought;
(2) that the form of God does not mean the nature or essence of
God (<)>vaig; or ovaia), nor is it equivalent to "the being on an
equality with God"2; (3) that emptying himself does not neces
sarily mean divesting himself of any real quality or attribute of
his nature, nor necessarily mean something so very different from
humbling himself that the one phrase must refer to a preexistent
state while the other refers to what occurred during his earthly
life. All this may be said negatively; but when we inquire after
the exact meaning and significance of these terms we may well
hesitate to pronounce a positive conclusion. For, in the absence
of anything essentially determinative, who will presume to say just
what is meant by the form of God? Aside from this passage the
word fioptprj occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except in
Mark xvi, 12, where it is said that the risen Jesus "was manifested
in another form unto two of them, as they walked, on their way
into the country." Here the reference is to some aspect of his
bodily form. In our text the form of God is contrasted with the
1 Compare Heb. ii, 9 ; xii, 2, where this is affirmed.
2 One may, indeed, understand the one phrase as equivalent to the other, but
only by an inference and a construction which may be offset by what others regard
as an equally valid interpretation. Thus one may explain: Existing in the form
of God (i. e., preexistent glory) he did not regard such glorious equality with God
as a prize to be eagerly grasped and held fast, but he laid it aside for a while, etc.
But ought not the unbiased interpreter to see that such a construction is not
necessary when one so natural as the following can be offered instead of it? Existing
in the form of God (i. e., in the image and glory of God like the first Adam, as
Paul conceived man in general, 1 Cor. xi, 7) he did not eagerly grasp after a higher
equality with God like one ambitious to gain a prize, but took the very opposite
course, abased himself, and acted the part of a servant rather than that of a lord
and ruler.

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 309
form of a servant; but how may we suppose God's form differs
from a servant's form ? If any visible aspect or shape be supposed,
it may at once be said that the bodily form of a servant may be as
noble and commanding as that of a king; nay, many a slave has
possessed a far more imposing and glorious figure to look upon
than his lord. So far as ranks and classes of mankind are dis
tinguished as princes, rulers, lords, and slaves in outward aspect
or bodily form, they all alike exist in the form and likeness of
men. The word form, therefore, does not seem to mean anything
essentially different from likeness (buoiufia), and might have eUuv,
image, substituted in its place in this passage without changing in
the least the lesson which the apostle aims to inculcate. In 1 Cor.
xi, 7, it is said that man "is the image and glory of God" (elttdv Kal
dofa ¦deov irTtdpxw), the reference being obviously to Gen. i, 26.
In 2 Cor. iv, 4, Christ is called "the image (eIkuv) of God," and
in Col. i, 15, "the image of the invisible God." It would seem
to follow from all this that the form or image of God in which
Christ Jesus is said to exist need not be understood as the distinctive
form in which he existed before he was manifested in the flesh
and became in the likeness of men. That is, without denying the
preexistence of Christ, this passage in Philippians does not neces
sarily set forth that doctrine. In this epistle the word eIkuv,
image, does not occur, but pofxpij, form, is employed as its equiva
lent. In this case the apostle seems to have had his favorite
contrast of the first and second Adam in mind, and the several
allusions may be explained in some such paraphrase as the follow
ing: In self-denial and lowliness of mind, each counting other
better than himself and so guarding against faction and vain
glory (vers. 3 and 4), imitate the spirit and example of Jesus
Christ, who, like the first Adam, was made in the image and
after the likeness of God (Gen. i, 26), and as man exists in "the
image and glory of God" (1 Cor. xi, 7), yet, when tempted to
become like God (comp. Gen. iii, 5) in power and dominion by
grasping as a prize the kingdoms of the world and all their glory
(Matt, iv, 8; Luke iv, 6), and to rule like the god of this world,
he did not regard such an equality with God as a boon or booty
to be eagerly grasped; but on the contrary, he set at naught all
such selfish ambitions, emptying himself for the time of all assump
tion of lordship and power, laying hold (Xafiav) rather of the
outward appearance and figure of a bondservant, even declaring
that he came not to be served but to do service for others and to
give his life for many (Mark x, 45), for he came in the likeness
of men, thus identifying himself with common humanity; and
being thus seen and recognized as a man among men, he subjected

310 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
himself willingly to the humiliation of an obedience so implicit
that it did not shrink from the ignominious death of the cross.
Wherefore, on account of this lowliness of mind and self-sacrifice
for others, God highly exalted and honored him. Such a ref
erence to the well-known facts in the life of Jesus would have been
far more natural and cogent than allusions to his preexistent state
and assumed equality with God.
The honor and glory to which this conspicuous self-renunciation
led Christ Jesus must be duly emphasized. Some writers seem
far more anxious to maintain Christ's preexistence and his "equality
with God" (which he "counted not a thing to be grasped") than
to accept the unquestionable fact that "God highly exalted him."
That exaltation "gave unto him the name which is above every
name," and the word employed here (kxapiaaro; comp. i, 29 ; Rom.
viii, 32) clearly affirms that this ennobling gift of God was gra
ciously bestowed. But how marvelous that gift of grace wliich
exalted Christ to the intent and purpose "that in the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on
earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
The last phrase here expresses the object aimed at in the confessing
that Jesus Christ is Lord. The confession of this blessed truth
redounds "to the glory of God the Father," and by its very terms
associates the Lord Jesus in the same glory. And thus Christ
Jesus is, along with "God the Father," presented as an object
of worship before whom all should bow.1 This adorable Lord is
a personality as well as a spiritual power that fills the vision of the
apostle's soul. He reckons all things as loss, and is willing to
make any sacrifice and undergo any labor "for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord"; and with all possible
energy and zeal he "presses on toward the goal of the upward
calling of God in Christ Jesus" (iii, 8, 14). He reckons himself
a citizen of heaven, "from whence we wait for a Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation,
that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the
working whereby he is able to subject to himself all things" (iii,
20, 21). Such is the magnificent portraiture of the person of
Christ, as presented to us in the epistle to the Philippians.

1 The phrase in the name, according to Ellicott, "denotes the spiritual sphere,
the holy element as it were, in which every prayer is to be offered and every knee
to bow." — Commentary, in loco. So, too, Meyer, commenting on this phrase in
Eph. v, 20, observes that "what is embraced in the name Jesus Christ is the ele
ment, in which a grateful consciousness moves in the act of thanksgiving." Beet
comments thus: 'A name is personahty as known and recognized among men, and
as distinguished from others. In the recognized personality of Jesus abides the
majesty before which God designs all to bow. " — Commentary on Philippians ii, 10.

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 311
10. The Epistle to the Colossians. In the epistle to the Colos
sians the Pauline Christology reaches its highest forms of state
ment. Here, too, as in other epistles, the apostle speaks of "the
mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the genera
tions, but has now been manifested to his saints" (i, 26), and he
affirms that "the riches of the glory of this mystery" consists
essentially in the profound thought of "Christ in you, the hope
of glory." Great indeed must be "the mystery of God, of Christ,
in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden"
(ii, 2, 3). That Christ, who embodies all the treasures of heavenly
wisdom, should dwell among and within the converted Gentiles, so as
to be to them the hope of eternal glory, is an idea adapted to elevate
the Christian heart to heights of spiritual rapture. To lodge this
thought in every mind (vov&ereiv, i, 28) is Paul's high aim and
holy ambition, for by admonishing every man and teaching every
man he is ever striving to "present every man perfect in Christ."
The thrice repeated every man, in verse 28, is worthy of special
note, as indicating the world-wide aim of Paul's gospel. All per
fection in spiritual life, in this world and in the world to come, is
to be attained "in Christ." His saving personality is conceived
as an all-pervasive element of wisdom, love, and power, apart from
which there is no hope of glory.
(1) Fullness of the Deity. Not only are "all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ," but according to ii, 9,
10, "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Deity (rrjg- deornrog-
Godhead; nature of God) bodily, and ye are filled full in him, who
is the head of all principality and power." We should notice the
distinction in signification between -deorng- here and ¦duorng- in
Rom. i, 20. In Romans the apostle speaks of "the eternal power
and divinity" of God perceptible in the works of creation, referring
to the divine qualities or Godlike attributes of the Creator which
may be inferred from the things which he has made. But deorng-
means the divine nature, or essence, and is properly translated only
by the word Deity, or Godhead. It appears, therefore, beyond ques
tion that this scripture affirms the essential deity of Christ. But
it is Deity dwelling in bodily form (au/iariKuig-), and must therefore
be understood as dwelling in Christ after he became manifest "in
the body of his flesh" (i, 22), not before his incarnation, when as
yet he did not exist aufiariKug: The thought is accordingly turned
to "the body of his glory" (Phil, iii, 21), in which he is "seated
on the right hand of God" (iii, 1). By this heavenly exaltation
he has become "the head of all principality and power" (comp.
Eph. i, 20-23; Phil, ii, 9), and participates not only in the glory
of the Father, but also in attributes and prerogatives of Deity.

312 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
The fullness (rd nXrjpuya) of Christ and his making full those
who "were circumcised in the circumcision of Christ," "buried
with him in baptism," and "raised with him through faith in the
working of God" (vers. 11, 12), are to be understood in the same
manner in which we have explained "the fulness of him that filleth
all in all," and "filled unto all the fulness of God" in Eph. i, 23,
and iii, 19 (see above, pp. 305, 306). 1
(2) Significance of i, 13-18. But the most important Chris-
tologieal text in Colossians is the passage (i, 13-18), where it is
declared that "the Son of his love," who effects our redemption,
"is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the
earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones, or
dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things have been
created through him and unto him; and he is before all things,
and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the
body, the church : who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead ;
that in all things he might have the preeminence." In this classic
passage the person of Christ is presented (1) in his relation to
God and the whole creation (vers. 13-17), and (2) in his relation
to the church (18). In calling him "the image (sIkcov) of the
invisible God," the apostle affirms only what is written in 2 Cor.
iv, 4; for the addition of the epithet invisible merely expresses the
uniform teaching of the New Testament that God is not seen by
mortal man (John i, 18; 1 Tim. vi, 16). There is nothing in
either of these texts to show that the image of God in which Christ
exists is essentially different from the image and likeness of God
in which the first man was created (Gen. i, 26), and "the image
and glory of God" which 1 Cor. xi, 7, makes the distinguishing
feature of man in general considered as the highest creation of
God. But when it is said that Christ is "the firstborn of all
creation," and that all things in the universe, whether visible or
invisible, were created in him, through him, and unto him, we are
at once lifted in thought to the concept of Deity. The additional
statement that "he is before all things, and in him all things hold
together," not only affirms the preexistence of Christ, but implies
his essential lordship over the universe of God. The personifica
tion of Wisdom, in Prov. viii, 22-30, contains some ideals which
may have floated before the apostle's mind when he wrote this
passage; but though wisdom was a possession of Jehovah "before
his works of old," and "was brought forth before the hills ; while

•What is stated in Col. ii, 14, 15, might be very appropriately affirmed of
Christ; but as the subject of all the verbs and participles in verses 13-15 seems so
obviously to be God (roi> deov of ver. 12), I make no further mention of it here.

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 313
as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning
of the dust of the world," and was with God "as a master work
man," there is nothing in the highly embellished portraiture of
the Old Testament writer which goes so far as to say that all things
Were created in and through and unto wisdom. Moreover, no
reader of Prov. viii, 22-31, fails to see that the description of
Wisdom there given is ideal, as is also the somewhat similar pas
sage in the apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon, vii, 24-30; but what
is written in Col. i, 13-18, is affirmed of "the Son of his love, in
whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins." Here
is a real personality, not an abstract ideal personified; and it is
difficult to believe that either Paul or his first readers could have
understood the language here employed in any other way than as
descriptive of the real person of Christ.
(3) Firstborn of All Creation. The exact import of the phrase
firstborn of all creation is not altogether clear. The Arian inter
pretation, which makes Christ himself a part of the creation,
that is, the first created being in the universe, is not incompatible
with the phrase when taken by itself; for the expression firstborn
of all creation (or of every creature) no more forbids our inferring
that the firstborn is himself a creature than the phrase first born
from the dead, in verse 18, or first born of the dead, in Rev. i, 5,
forbids our inferring that this firstborn was himself once truly
dead and buried. Nor need we deny that the title of firstborn
carries with it here, as in Rom. viii, 29, and Psa. lxxxix, 27, the idea
of superior excellence. But the immediate context requires that
the word npardroKog- be here understood of the Son as born before
all creation, existing before all things, as verse 17 declares.1 It is
not said that he existed eternally before all things, nor does the
word require us to believe that Paul reckoned Christ among created
beings. The word denotes rather a divine generation from the
Father, and, like (lovoyevrjg- in John i, 18, designates his exceptional
and unique origin as begotten, not created. He was begotten of
the Father before there was any created thing or being, and so
far is he exalted in his nature above every creature that all created

1 Ritschl insists that the preposition np6 in verse 17 points to priority of place
rather than of time. "The temporal priority of Christ before the world cannot be
the point at issue; that would be a barren thought. Superiority over the world is
ascribed to Christ in view of the world which belongs to him in his position as the
image of God and the head of the community. It is as the image and revelation of
the invisible God (2 Cor. iv, 4) that the exalted Christ is firstborn of aU creation.
In this connection firstborn can be understood only in the metaphorical sense in
which the corresponding Hebrew word is used, namely, he who is preferred— the
same sense in which it is used in Rom. viii, 29, and probably also in Rev. i, 5.
Christ is he who is preferred, who belongs to God in contrast with creation as a
whole, which is not the image and direct revelation of God.'' Justification and
Reconciliation, p. 402.

314 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, were brought into
being by him, or through his agency, and he is the final cause
(elg- avrov), the end and aim of the whole creation of God. He is
truly "the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
(4) His Preeminence. The remaining statements in this pas
sage only enhance the significance of what has been already affirmed
of Christ. Not only have all things been created by him, but in
him as a uniting and conserving bond "all things hold together,"
and are preserved in their orderly arrangements. His headship of
the church," which is his body, is a familiar and peculiar thought
of Paul, and has been already noticed in Eph. i, 22, 23. He is,
moreover, "the beginning" (apxtf), Dot only "the beginning of the
creation of God," as we read in Rev. iii, 14, being "before all
things," but more specifically the beginning of the new order of
things which is introduced by his manifestation among men and
by his resurrection from the dead. Hence it is immediately added,
as if in part defining this beginning, he is "the firstborn from the
dead" (comp. Rev. i, 5), and so preeminently "the Prince of life"
(Acts iii, 15), being thus "powerfully declared to be the Son of
God" (Rom. i, 4). For, as this apostle elsewhere argues, "Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more; death no more hath
dominion over him" (Rom. vi, 9). The purpose of all this is
"that in all things he might become himself preeminent." The
yevrrrai in this last clause contrasts with the kariv in the preceding
statement, and indicates that his preeminence is the outcome of a
divine purpose and order in the manifestation of Christ.1 The
result is that this transcendent Son of the Father's love (comp.
vers. 12, 13) holds the first place and highest rank in all points
(kv iraaiv) that he may bring about the reconciliation of all things
unto himself. Accordingly, and in confirmation of this truth, we
are told in the next verse that God was pleased that "all the
fulness" should dwell in Christ.
11. The Pauline Doctrine of Preexistence. In our study of the
Christology of Paul we should here examine the several passages
in his writings which have been supposed to teach the preexistence
of Christ. The witness of the Colossian epistle to this doctrine
seems unmistakable. In some sense Christ was before all things,
and by him all things, visible and invisible, were created and are

1 The final clause indicates that the apostle has a progress of development in
his mind — a progress from a beginning to a consummation— and in this the rising
from the dead and being head of the body is an essential step. He moves forward
in his thought from the preexistent state, before the creation of all things, to the
final result, when the reconciliation of all things shall have taken place. This
clause thus points to the eternal divine purpose, which is in process of accomplish
ment. — T. Dwight, in American ed. of Meyer's Exegetical Handbook of New
Testament, in loco.

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 315
held together.1 But the other Pauline texts bearing on this subject
are open to some question. We have already seen that the famous
kenotic text in Phil, ii, 5-11, is capable of another interpretation
than that which it has generally received. But certain other texts
demand attention.
(1) The phrase "sent forth from God." There are those pas
sages which speak of Jesus as one sent forth from God. One of
these is Gal. iv, 4 : "When the fulness of the time came, God sent
forth his Son, born of a woman, born under law." Another text
is Rom. viii, 3: "God, having sent his own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, . . . condemned sin in the flesh." These state
ments, however, are not in themselves sufficient to establish the
doctrine of a real preexistence; for any prophet or apostle sent
forth into the world by a divine commission may be thus spoken
of. John the Baptist was a man thus sent from God (John i, 6).
But at the same time it should be admitted that these forms of
expression are in harmony with the idea of personal preexistence.
(2) Christ the Spiritual Rock. The real preexistence of Christ
is argued from the statement of 1 Cor. x, 4, that the fathers "drank
of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ."
In the verses preceding mention is made of the pillar of cloud
which accompanied Israel in their march out of Egypt, and of
their passage through the sea and of their eating the manna and
drinking water from the rock, which food and drink, being
miraculously supplied, are called spiritual (irvevfiariKov). There is
nothing said in the Old Testament narrative about a rock that
followed the Israelites in their journey,* but in the early part of
the journey Moses smote a rock in Horeb (Exod. xvii, 6), and
later, at Kadesh (Num. xx, 1-11), and in each case there came
forth water from the rock. In all these miraculous events of
cloud, and sea, and manna, and water gushing from the smitten

:In the Pauline statements touching the preexistence of Christ Beyschlag
observes the striking fact "that the apostle nowhere really establishes or teaches
the preexistence of Christ, but, especially in his earlier epistles, presupposes it as
familiar to his readers, and disputed by no one." — New Testament Theology,
vol. ii, p. 78.
2 The Targum of Onkelos has a curious mistranslation of Num. xxi, 18-20, which
the critical reader will perceive to be a singular reading of the Hebrew text, mis
taking the proper names for verbs and for common nouns of similar letters. The
Targum reads : ' And from the wilderness it (the well) was given to them. And
from the time it was given to them it went down with them to the rivers, and from
the rivers it went up with them to the height (or to Ramath), and frorn the height
to the valleys which are in the fields of Moab, at the head of the height (or of
Ramath) which looks over the face of Beth-jeshimon." From this mistranslation,
perhaps, arose the various Jewish legends of the fountain and rock which followed
the IsraeUtes in all their journeys through the desert. The various forms of the
tradition may be read in Schottgen's Horss Hebraicae, pp. 623, 624. It is prob
able that this tradition was familiar to Paul, and that it was in his thought when
he wrote this letter to the Corinthians. See my article on "The Song of the Well"
in the Bibliotheca Sacra of July, 1901.

316 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
rock the apostle discerned the immediate presence of the ever-living
God, and types (rimoi, ver. 6; rvmKUs; ver. 11) of spiritual things
which were full of suggestion and admonition for himself and
for those to whom he was writing. In such typical and spiritual
significance he might say "the rock was Christ." For every such
manifestation of God's presence and power in Israel's history was
a figure of what Christ is and does in his abiding presence with
those who truly participate in the communion of the blood and
¦of the body of Christ (vers. 15-17). Accordingly, Paul, might
with equal propriety have said that the pillar of cloud and the
manna were Christ. The rock was Christ in much the same sense
that "Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia," and Sarah, the freewoman,
is "the Jerusalem that is above, which is our mother" (Gal. iv,
25, 26). The statement made twice over in the context that these
events of Old Testament story have a figurative significance for
us justifies the above interpretation, and removes the passage in
1 Cor. x, 4, from the list of texts which teach the real preexistence
<of Christ.
(3) First Corinthians xv, k5-lfi. Another passage is in 1 Cor.
xv, 45-49, where the first man Adam is contrasted with the last
Adam, who is called "a life-giving spirit," and "the second man
from heaven." The first man is said to be kK yrjg- xoixog; from earth,
earthy, in allusion to Gen. ii, 7. The earthly origin and nature
of his body are here affirmed, for the apostle could hardly have
intended to affirm that the soul of the first Adam was from the
earth. That was from the breath of God and so far heavenly. In
what specific sense, then, is Christ from heaven* and heavenly?
He, too, possessed a oiofia ipvxiicov, natural body, as well as the
first man. He died and was buried. A reference to the heavenly
preexistence of Christ and to his incarnation as the earthly mani
festation of the last Adam would suit the words well enough, but
has no relevancy to the context. Emphasis is placed in verse 45
on what each of these contrasted Adams became (kyevero elg-),
and the next verse calls attention to the fact that the spiritual
does not precede but follows the natural. The heavenly origin
and nature of the second man, accordingly, are here thought of
in reference to what he became as a life-giving spirit by his resur
rection from the dead, not to what he was before he came into

'The words clearly denote some sort of heavenly origin or derivation, but not
necessarily personal preexistence. So the baptism of John was from heaven (Matt.
xxi, 25). But in this argument of Paul touching the resurrection Meyer well says
that the phrase from heaven "applies to the glorification of the body of Christ
originating from heaven, i. e., wrought by God (comp. 2 Cor. v, 2, 3), in which
florified body he is in heaven, and will appear at his parousia (comp. Phil, iii, 20).
lef erring from heaven back to the incarnation is contrary to the context and mixes
up things that differ." — Exegetical Handbook, in loco.

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 317
the world. Hence it is shown that "we, who have borne the image
of the earthy, shall also bear the image of the heavenly." There
is, therefore, no necessary reference to the personal preexistence
of Christ in this Pauline argument for the resurrection.
(4) Second Corinthians viii, 9. The preexistence of Christ is
clearly in accord with the language found in 2 Cor. viii, 9, where
"the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" is extolled in the fact "that,
though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might become rich." Accepting or assuming
the doctrine of Christ's preexistence, these words may be regarded
as a simple and natural reference to his voluntary relinquishing of
the riches of his heavenly glory and living the life of poverty in
which he appeared among men. The aorist tense of knruxevae,
became poor, is deemed quite decisive of the definite reference to
the once-occurring event of his entering upon the state of earthly
poverty, and most naturally implies the preexistent state of
heavenly glory, out of which he came forth in order to become
incarnate. And yet it must in all fairness be conceded that these
statements may be explained by facts which belonged to the his
torical life of Jesus Christ on earth. In this same epistle (vi, 10)
it is affirmed of all the true ministers of God that they commend
themselves "as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making
many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
According to Eph. iii, 8, Paul preached to the Gentiles "the
unsearchable riches of Christ," by which he certainly did not mean
the riches of his preexistence, and when further on (ver. 16) he
speaks of "the riches of his glory" he refers to the risen and
glorified Christ rather than to any preexistent riches of glory.
The being rich and becoming poor, in 2 Cor. viii, 9, are not
mutually exclusive opposites, nor are the words rich and poor to
be understood alike literally; for while the poverty was outward
and manifest, the riches were essentially an inalienable possession
and of a spiritual kind. So it was that the Master and Lord
could humble himself to wash the disciples' feet and yet remain
their Lord and Master. In like manner in the days of his flesh
our Lord was both rich and poor ; for he was unspeakably rich in
heavenly gifts and power, the Son of God and heir of all things,
and yet had not where to lay his head. The apostle, writing long
after the glorification of Jesus, conceived and spoke of one and
all of these facts of the self-humiliation of Christ in the definite
aorist tense, for his manifestation in the flesh was then a fact of
the past.
12. Pauline Texts which Call Christ God. A study of the
Pauline Christology requires us further to examine those texts

318 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
which have been supposed to speak of Christ as God. Most of
these have been appealed to as proof-texts for the deity of Christ,
for it has seemed to many that they speak of the Saviour in a
form of language which attributes the highest divine title to him.
A more minute study of the Greek manuscripts, however, has
largely deprived these texts of the dogmatic value they once seemed
to possess.(1) First Timothy iii, 16. The reading in 1 Tim. iii, 16, "God
was manifested in the flesh," has been proven to be an error. There
is no trace of it to be found previous to the fourth century. The
oldest manuscripts do not read deor, God, but og; who, and this is
now accepted in all critical editions of the Greek Testament, in
all the recent and revised versions, and by all the leading inter
preters. The margin of the Anglo-x\merican Revision informs
the reader that the word God in this passage "rests on no sufficient
ancient evidence." It has been argued, however, that the reading
6'r presents a grammatical difficulty in having no masculine ante
cedent. This consideration probably led to the ancient correction
which some manuscripts contain in the reading 5, which, so as to
make the relative agree with the preceding to fivarrjpiov, the mys
tery. But as Christ himself is called, in Col. ii, 2, "the mystery
of God," the grammatical inaccuracy furnishes no decisive argu
ment.1 It is clear that Christ is not here called God, but here as
elsewhere in the Pauline writings he is called the mystery of
God. (2) Titus ii, IS. Another text is Titus ii, 13, where the refer
ence of the words "the great God" turns upon a question of gram
matical construction. On this question distinguished interpreters
have long disagreed-. Shall we read, "the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ," or "the appearing
of the great God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ"? The argu
ments put forth on each side of this question seem to be quite
evenly balanced, and leave us, therefore, without positive result.
That the language may be legitimately construed so as to make
"the great God" an appellative of Christ ought in all fairness to
be conceded; but equal fairness of judgment seems to demand
that the arguments for this view be not held as decisive. Here,
therefore, as in other cases where learned and deliberate opinions
are in open conflict, and the opposing arguments are so evenly bal-
'The following comment of Hort is worthy of note: "8e<5f- is not a word likely
to be chosen deUberately to stand at the head of this series of six clauses, though
it might seem to harmonize with the first of the six. . . . The concurrence of three
independent data, baoTvoyovuiv^, 8r, and the form of the six clauses, suggests that
these clauses were a quotation from an early Christian hymn; and, if so, the pro
per and original antecedent would doubtless have been found in the preceding
context which is not quoted." — Notes on Select Readings, p. 134.

PAULINE CHRISTOLOGY 319
anced, we cannot adduce the text in question as fairly determining
any doctrine of importance.
(3) Romans ix, 5. We are obliged to express the same judg
ment on the much-disputed construction of Rom. ix, 5, where a
very strong argument can be made to show that the words who is
over all, God blessed forever, refer to the Christ mentioned imme
diately before. These words, expressive of the exaltation and
divinity of Christ, come in as an appropriate contrast to the pre
ceding phrase according to the flesh, after the manner of the similar
contrast in Rom. i, 3, 4. The other interpretation, which puts a
full stop after the word flesh and translates the following words
as a doxology to God,1 is open to strong objection for the reason
that the word evXoynrog; blessed, occupies a wrong position in the
sentence to be thus construed (comp. Luke i, 68 ; 2 Cor. i, 3 ; Eph.
i, 3; 1 Pet. i, 3). Similar ascriptions of blessing and praise to
the Lord Jesus Christ appear in 2 Tim. iv, 18; 2 Pet. iii, 18; Rev.
i, 6 ; v, 13, and possibly in 1 Pet. iv, 11. On the other hand, it is
strenuously urged that Paul commonly distinguishes so definitely
between Christ and God that we should naturally hesitate in the
presence of such a sentence as the closing portion of Rom. ix, 5,
and adopt, if reasonable, any construction which goes to make the
apostle consistent with himself. In Rom. i, 25 ; xi, 36 ; 2 Cor.
xi, 31 ; Gal. i, 5 ; Eph. iii, 21 ; Phil, iv, 20, and 1 Tim. i, 17, we
find similar doxologies to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus.
After weighing all the arguments, on both sides, we are compelled
to acknowledge that either construction is possible, and about as
much can be said in favor of one interpretation as the other.
(4) Ephesians v, 5. The phrase kingdom of the Christ and of
God (rov xpiarov Kal ¦deov), in Eph. v, 5, is too incidental to be
made the ground of an argument for the deity of Christ on the
plea that the words Christ and God are here construed as two
different titles of the same person. There is nothing in the con
text fo make such a dogmatic construction plausible,' and the phrase
kingdom of God is so common as not to call for a repetition of the
article (comp. Gal. v, 21; 1 Cor. vi, 9, 10; xv, 50). The kingdom

JThus: "Whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh.
He who is over all, God, be blessed forever." This punctuation is adopted by
Lachmann and Tischendorf, and appears in the margin of Westcott and Hort and of
the American Revisers' Version. A most comprehensive and thorough discussion
of both sides of this question, by Timothy Dwight, who refers the doxology to
Christ, and Ezra Abbott, who refers it to God, may be found in the Journal of the
Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, for 1881, pp. 22-55 and 87-154.
2Some of the older polemical writers contended that the absence of the article
before &eoii is a proof that Christ is here called God. But this plea is set aside by
such Trinitarian exegetes as Alford, Ellicott, Meyer, and Beet. It may be here
noticed that the common reference of b i?e<Sr, «i Heb. i, 8, to Christ as a vocative
appellative is also disputed by high Trinitarian authorities, as will be shown in the
next chapter.

320 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of heaven is both Christ's and God's, and this placing of the two
names together here, as often elsewhere, is an exaltation of Christ
in the glory of God the Father.
(5) Acts xx, 28. The language of Acts xx, 28, should also be
noticed in this connection, since it is reported as a part of Paul's
address to the Ephesian elders. The question is whether we should
read "church of God, which he purchased with his own blood," or
"church of the Lord" (Kvpiov). Ancient and excellent evidence for
each reading exists, and critics of acknowledged ability and learn
ing have taken opposite sides in the discussion.1 It is certainly a
strange thing to speak of the blood of God, and any rational
explanation of such language would seem to require an assumption
of the fleshly human nature of Jesus as implied in the passage.
In that case it is the blood of the Son of God, the human Christ,
and not God's blood in any strict sense of the words. For God
is a Spirit, and cannot be flesh and blood. According to Paul, in
Rom. viii, 32, "God spared not his own Son (Idiov vlov), but deliv
ered him up for us all," and we are saved "through faith in his
blood" (Rom. iii, 25; v, 9), that is, the blood of Jesus Christ. In
view of the conflicting testimony of the oldest documentary evi
dence for the readings in Acts xx, 28, it is probable that the text
is here corrupt,1 and because of such conflicting testimony and
the high authorities which may be cited in support of each reading,
no party is at liberty to employ this scripture as decisive of a
doctrinal issue. It ought to be apparent to every unbiased ex
pounder of the apostolic writings that no doctrine of religion can
be permanently helped by what has any appearance of dogmatic
persistence in the face of strong textual evidence to the contrary.
A doctrine of genuine importance ought not to depend on precari
ous grounds or arguments of doubtful value.

1 For the reading &eov stand the great uncials N and B, the Greek texts of Alford,
Wordsworth, Westcott and Hort, and the English Revisers. For Kvpiov are the
uncials A, C*, D, and E, the Greek texts of Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, and the
American Revisers. For a very discriminating discussion of the subject see Ezra
Abbott's article in the Bibliotheca Sacra for 1876, pp. 318-352.
2 Instead of <?"* roi idiov al/iarac; through his own blood, which is not well supported
by ancient evidence, X, A,B, C, D, E, and the texts of Lachmann, Tregelles, Tischen
dorf and Westcott and Hort read did. tov aluaror roi idiov, through, the blood of his own,
and Hort suggests that the word vlov, son, may have dropped out of the original text
"at some very early transcription, thus affecting all existing documents. Its insertion
leaves the whole passage free from difficulty of any kind. " — Notes on Select
Readings, p. 99. Thus emended the revised text would read: "Church of God,
which he purchased with the blood of his own Son. "

CHAPTER VIII
CHRISTOLOGY OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
1. Character and Scope of the Epistle. The epistle to the
Hebrews naturally serves, in the construction of New Testament
Christology, as a transition from the doctrine of Paul to that of
the writings of John. For its Alexandrian cast of thought is
unmistakable, and its portraiture of the heavenly and preexistent
Christ is in striking harmony with that of Col. i, 13-18. The
main argument of the doctrinal part of the epistle is to prove
Christ superior to the angels, worthy of more glory than Moses
or Joshua, superior as a high priest to Aaron, minister of a more
perfect tabernacle than that of the Levitical priesthood, and medi
ator of a new and better covenant.
2. The Pacts of the Incarnation. The incarnation and perfect
humanity of Jesus are assumed or affirmed in numerous allusions,
and the allusions show the author's familiarity with the life and
teaching of the historical Christ as it had come to him by direct
transmission from "them that heard" (ii, 3). Inasmuch as the
saving mission of our Lord was for the redemption of mankind, it
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, and therefore he
became partaker of flesh and blood, was in all points tempted as
other men are, and is not ashamed to call them brethren (ii, 11-18).
He is called "the firstborn" of God (i, 6) which title is equivalent
to Paul's phrase, the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. viii,
29). x He was a scion of the tribe of Judah (vii, 14), touched
with sympathy for human infirmities (iv, 15), yet altogether sin
less. His miracles, his agony in the garden, his learning obedience
through suffering, his enduring the cross and despising its shame,
his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to "the right
hand of the Majesty in the heavens," are all referred to in this
epistle as familiar facts.
3. Various Designations of Christ. In connection with these
familiar facts of his manifestation in the flesh we find in this
epistle a series of most remarkable designations of Christ's person
1 The word wgardTOKO^, firstborn, in these texts, does not seem to be equivalent to
' the firstborn of all creation" in Col. i, 15, nor to "the firstborn from the dead"
Col. i, 18, and Rev. i, 5. Still less is it the same as uovoyevfc, only-begotten, in the
Johannine writings. It here denotes rather the rank of Jesus among his holy
brethren, in "the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven" (Heb. xii, 23).
Comp. the use of the word in Psa. lxxxix, 27.
321

322 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and work. In the first four verses, which announce the author's
principal theme, we find at least seven distinctive propositions
affirmed of Jesus as God's Son: (1) God appointed him heir
of all things; (2) through him he made the worlds of time;
(3) he is the effulgence of the glory of God; (4) he is the exact
likeness of his substance; (5) he sustains all things by the word
of his power; (6) he has made purification of sins; (7) he is
now enthroned at the right hand of God. A little further on in
the same chapter he is presented as an object of the worship of all
the angels of God, and psalms are quoted in which it is assumed
that he is addressed as God and Lord (vers. 8 and 10). He is also
called "the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" (iii, 1).
He is the supreme minister of the sanctuary of God in the heavens
(viii, 2), the mediator of a new and better covenant than that of
Sinai (viii, 6; ix, 15), the author and perfecter of our faith
(xii, 2), the great shepherd of the sheep (xiii, 20). Taken
altogether, these various designations present a most exalted doc
trine of the Christ of God. He is declared at the very opening
of the epistle to be the latest and highest medium of divine revela
tion; for God, who spoke in ancient time to the fathers of the
Hebrew people, spoke in the last days of the old dispensation in
the person of one who was above angel, prophet, and priest, and
who inherited the more excellent name of son, the constituted heir
of all things and maker of the worlds.
4. Doctrine of Preexistence. Among these designations of our
Lord there are statements which seem even to go beyond Col. i,
13-18, in affirming the preexistence and supreme power of the Son.
His agency in the creation of the world is to be understood here
as in Col. i, 16, 1 Cor. viii, 6, and John i, 3, and the statement of
Heb. xi, 3, that the world-ages "were framed by the word of God,"
moves in the same realm of thought, and has essential connection
with the idea of "upholding all things by the word of his power,"
as expressed in Heb. i, 3. All this is in notable harmony with
the statement of Col. i, 17, that the Son of God "is before all
things, and in him all things hold together." The concept of
preexistence is also traceable in the assumption of Heb. iii, 3, that
Jesus was the builder of the house of which Moses was but a part.
It appears also in the typical illustration from Melchizedek, who is
spoken of as "having neither beginning of days nor end of life,
but made like unto the Son of God" (vii, 3),1 thus implying that

1 The Son of God is not said to be made like to Melchizedek, but the contrary;
for the Son of God is more ancient, and is the archetype. Comp. viii, 5, where
likewise heavenly things are set forth as more ancient than Levitical things.
Bengel, Gnomon on Hebrews vii, 3.

CHRISTOLOGY OP HEBREWS 323
Christ is himself the great archetypal model, made such "according
to the power of an indissoluble life" (vii, 16). In xiii, 8, we read
that "Jesus Christ is yesterday and today the same, and unto the
ages," a simple affirmation of the unchangeableness of Christ in
the past, the present, and the future; but it cannot be fairly
claimed that kx&eg-, yesterday, must mean the eternal past. The
doctrine of preexistence, however, is unmistakable in the epistle,
and is assumed to be a part of the gospel of salvation which was
first taught by the Lord and afterwards confirmed by them that
heard him. It is, perhaps, implied in the author's use of Psa.
viii, 5 ; especially if we allow the temporal sense of Ppaxi> n, and
think of Jesus as "made for a little while lower than the angels"
(Heb. ii, 7, 9). Thus the incarnation is conceived as a temporary
manifestation of one who had existed from times eternal. Also
in x, 5, 6, our author employs the Septuagint version of Psa. xl,
6, 7, in a way to suggest the same far-reaching thought. God
prepared him a body in which he came to do the Father's will.
Here is a concept of divine incarnation.
5. Effulgence of Glory and Image of Substance. Deserving
special attention are the words of Heb. i, 3 : "Being the effulgence
of his glory and the very image of his substance." It is apparent
that the writer was influenced, in his selection of these words, by
the language of the book of Wisdom vii, 25, 26, where it is said
that wisdom "is a breath (drfiig) of the power of God, and a clear
effluence (dtroppota) of the glory of the Almighty; an effulgence
(d-rravyaana) of everlasting light, an unspotted mirror (fowrrpov)
of the working of God, and an image (eU&v) of his goodness." The
Alexandrian cast of the epistle is nowhere more conspicuous than
in this passage, and here it is obvious that the older apocryphal
writing was made to serve the New Testament writer's purpose.
The word dnavyaaua has the same meaning in both books, and
XapaKrrjp, very image, signifies nothing essentially different from
eiKuv image. The exact import of dnavyaa/jia has been much dis
puted, and some of the best exegetes hesitate over the question
whether we should explain it actively, a streaming forth, radiation,
effulgence, or passively, as a result produced, reflected radiance,
reflection, refulgence. This nice distinction is not, however, a
matter of much importance in ascertaining the real doctrine of
the text. Both meanings may be accepted as substantially true in
describing Christ as a manifestation of the glory of God, for he is
both the effulgence and refulgence of that glory, the active beam
ing forth and also the reflected brightness of the divine dofr.
The other phrase, xaPaK1"nP rW vnoardaeiog; very image of his
substance, cannot be properly interpreted in any other sense than

324 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
that the Son is an exact representation of the essential being of
God. The word xaPaKTW denotes strictly the stamped impression
which an instrument made for the purpose leaves visible upon the
surface that is stamped. Such an impress must needs be the very
image of that which produces the mark. The word v-nooraaic?
(etymologically, what stands under, and so supports) indicates
that which is the foundation and support of any thing or being;
that without which it could not be what it is. Hence when applied
to God it means the very nature, essence, or substance of the Deity.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the exact representation, the image,
and likeness, of God's real nature. The phrase is, perhaps, a more
striking way of expressing the same truth that inheres in the
words image of God, in 2 Cor. iv, 4, and image of the invisible God,
in Col. i, 15. As the "effulgence of his glory," the Son radiates
forth into a visible manifestation the glory of his Father ; as the
"very image of his substance," he bears upon his person and charac
ter a perfect representation of the essential nature of God. The
dnavyaa/ta involves and suggests the everlasting source, the "eter
nal generation," so to speak, of the Son; the xa?aKTW affirms
the exact likeness, and with its following genitive, of his substance,
indicates the coessential or consubstantial relationship of this only
begotten Son to God. It may also be added that both the efful
gence and the image of his substance are conceived, in true Alexan
drian style, as eternally existent and coexistent, like the eternal
Wisdom that is extolled in Prov. viii, 22-30, and in the Wisdom
of Solomon, vii, 25, 26.
6. Question of Divine Titles Applied. It remains to notice
briefly how divine titles are applied to Jesus Christ in this epistle.
The most remarkable example is found in i, 8, in the quotation
from Psa. xiv, 6 : "Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever." The
grammatical construction of these words is ambiguous. The
American Standard Revision presents the marginal reading : "Thy
throne is God forever," and the marginal reading of the psalm is,
"Thy throne is the throne of God." The nominative form of
the word for God, both in the psalm and in the citation (6 deog-, not
¦Bee, comp. Matt, xxvii, 46), seems to favor the marginal reading,
which is a perfectly legitimate grammatical construction, and has
the support of high Trinitarian authorities.1 It should also he

1 Tischendorf 's and Westcott and Hort's Greek texts adopt the nominative
reading, and Dwight in his additions to Liinemann admits that this construction
can hardly be denied. Westcott says: "It is scarcely possible that Elohim in the
original can be addressed to the king. The presumption, therefore, is against the
behef that 6 #edr is a vocative in the LXX. Thus, on the whole, it seems best to
adopt the rendering, God is thy throne (or thy throne is God) ; that is, thy Kingdom
is founded upon God, the immovable Rock." On the other side, Stuart, Alford,
Moll, Bleek, Delitzsch, De Wette, and Ebrard construe 6 i?£(Jr here as a vocative.

CHRISTOLOGY OF HEBREWS 325
observed that the language immediately following, both in the
epistle and in the psalm, "Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed
thee," is not compatible with a vocative construction; for it would
be very strange to read, "Therefore, 0 God, thy God hath anointed
thee." On the other hand, it must be conceded that the nominative
of the Greek word -deog- may be and is used instead of the vocative,
and the common version, "Thy throne, 0 God," is also perfectly
grammatical. It may also be observed that the citation of Psa.
cii, 25, and its direct application to Christ in Heb. i, 10, accords
with the vocative construction in verse 8 of this same chapter.
Such being the facts, all we can say of such a text when cited for
purposes of doctrine is that it may refer either to Christ or to God.
A similar question arises in the doxology at the close of xiii, 21.
To whom is the ascription of "the glory forever and ever" there
applied, to Jesus Christ who is last mentioned in the context imme
diately preceding, or to "the God of peace," the first and main
subject of the entire sentence, the God who brought again our
Lord Jesus from the dead? This epistle regards the Son of God
as entitled to the worship of all the angels of God (i, 6), and the
language of 2 Pet. iii, 18, and Rev. i, 6, ascribes glory to Jesus
Christ forever. So there is no question as to the propriety of
ascribing such glory to our Lord as well as to our Father in heaven ;
the only issue here is the grammatical construction of the conclud
ing words of the doxology. On this question interpreters are quite
evenly divided,1 and, therefore, no one can employ the text for
dogmatic purposes as if it were incapable of more than one
legitimate construction.
1 Bengel, Alford, Delitzsch, Dwight, and Westcott refer the doxology to the God
of peace; Bleek, Tholuck, Stuart, and Liinemann refer it to Jesus Christ. See
Westcott 's Additional Note on the Apostolic Doxologies in bis Commentary on this
epistle, pp. 464, 465.

CHAPTER IX
THE JOHANNINE CHRISTOLOGY
1. The Johannine Peculiarities. We have had occasion already
to make use of the gospel according to John, and have noticed
therein the corroborating testimony to many facts which the synop
tic gospels record, and to the remarkable expressions of our Lord's
self-consciousness. But the fourth gospel contains other things
of a peculiar cast, bearing on the doctrine of the person of Christ,
which demand a separate discussion. The three epistles of John
are so in accord with the gospel on this subject that they may
also be cited as like witnesses to the Johannine Christology. The
doctrine of the Logos and the entire style and content of the fourth
gospel confessedly represent a later and peculiar manner of con
ceiving the person of Jesus, the Son of God. The philological
and historical questions of the authorship, date, and scope of this
remarkable idealistic portraiture of Christ are a vast study by
themselves, and cannot here be entertained. But we accept both
the gospel and the epistles as a truthful presentation of the Christ,
the Son of the living God. As compared with the synoptic records
this writing of John is conspicuously more philosophical, more
ideal, more spiritual, more mystic, but, we think, no less truthful
and impressive in its way.1 The facts and the thoughts which it
records bear the impress of a disciple who has long meditated on
the significance of the manifestation of his incarnate Lord.
2. The Word, or Logos. Unlike the human genealogies of Jesus
which are found in Matthew and Luke, the doctrine of the
Word confronts us at the opening of John's gospel, and turns our
thought at once to the beginning of all things : "In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God." This Word was the life and the light of men, and "became
flesh and dwelt as in a tabernacle (koKrjvuoev) among us. In this
allusion to the tabernacle we perceive a metaphor drawn from
Exod. xl, 34-38, where it is said that the glory of Jehovah came
down and filled the tabernacle of meeting, and hung like a cloud

1 We may with all reverence describe it as the history of Jesus read as a chapter
in the life of God. . . . The distinguishing feature in the mind of the evangel
ist is that he read God through Jesus before he attempted to read Jesus through
God. The book is a history written from a standpoint which its subject himself
had supplied. — Fairbairn, The Place of Christ in Modern Theology, p. 340. New
York, 1893. 326

JOHANNINE CHRISTOLOGY 327
of glory in the sight of the whole house of Israel ; for it is imme
diately added : "We beheld his glory, glory as of an only begotten
from a Father, full of grace and truth"; and in verse 18 it is
written : "No man has seen God at any time ; the only begotten
Son,1 who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him."
It seems obvious, from all this, that "the Word" is in some real
sense identical with the Son of God, and is here conceived as
essentially the highest revelation of God.
3. The Logos in Greek Philosophy and in Philo. This term
Xoyog; Word, was not original with the author of the fourth gospel.
Long before any of the New Testament books were written there
were divers speculations of a theosophic character about the crea
tion of the world and God's relation to the visible universe. Poets
and writers of wise proverbs had made much use of such terms as
Logos, and Wisdom, in connection with the idea of God's self-
manifestation. Heraclitus of Ephesus (B.C. 500) used the word
Logos to designate the underlying, universal principle of the uni
verse, the divine eternal Reason, immanent in all things. The
Stoic philosophers reproduced this doctrine of Heraclitus, and
conceived the Logos as the soul of the world, working out the all-
embracing and eternal order of the universe. In Alexandria Greek
thought and Oriental mysticism commingled a century or two
before Christ, and we find a remarkable illustration of the mixture
in the various writings of Philo, an Alexandrian Jew, contem
porary with Jesus. This writer speaks of the divine Logos as the
"elder Son of the Father," and his "firstborn." He calls him the
"image of God," "the oldest angel," "archangel of many titles," a
"second God," and the "archetype and pattern of the light." He is
also conceived as the "indwelling Word," and the "uttered Word,"
the relation of which to each other is like that of thought to speech.
Philo's Logos is the sum total of all divine energies, both as they
exist in archetypal ideas in the divine mind and as they come forth
in the varied forms of creation. He is, in fact, the ideal world
as conceived by God, and also the actual world as outwardly exist
ing in all visible products of creative energy. But in view of his
numerous epithets and varied forms of statement it is difficult to
determine the precise conception which Philo attached to the term

1 The reading God only begotten, uovoyevf/^ -&f,6^, is too well attested to be ignored in
the discussion of this passage. It appears in X*, B, C*, L and in ancient versions and
patristic citations, and is inserted in the Greek text of Westcott and Hort. The
evidence is not, perhaps, sufficient to displace the more common reading, only
begotten Son; but it is of sufficient importance to suggest the profound and far-
reaching significance of the Logos-doctrine in this prologue of John. According to
Thayer (Greek-English Lexicon New Testament, under uovoyevfi?), the reading tfedf
"appears to owe its origin to a dogmatic zeal which broke out soon after the early
days of the Church."

328 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Logos. It is a matter of dispute among the learned how far he
really hypostatized the divine Logos, for some of his declarations
on the subject are hard to reconcile with each other. His ideas
are no doubt, to some considerable extent, an elaboration of the
teaching of Plato concerning the eternal archetypes of all things
which come into being and form in time. But we are not here
concerned to expound the various sayings of Philo about the Logos.
They represent only an Alexandrian method of conceiving God's
relation to the world, and one which is peculiar to Philo himself.1
4. Personification of Wisdom in Jewish Writings. In the
apocryphal book of the Wisdom of Solomon (vii, 24-26) we find
a striking personification of Wisdom, which has close affinity with
some aspects of the Logos of Philo :
Wisdom is more mobile than any motion;
Yea, she pervadeth and penetrateth all things by reason of her pureness.
For she is a breath of the power of God,
And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty. . . .
She is an effulgence from everlasting light
And an unspotted mirror of the working of God,
And an image of his goodness.
In the same book, ix, 1, 2, we find the following prayer :
God of the fathers and Lord of thy mercy,
Who madest all things in thy Logos,
And by thy Wisdom didst form man.
And again, in xviii, 15, 16:
Thy all-powerful Logos leaped from heaven out of the royal thrones,
a stern warrior into the midst of the land doomed to destruction, bear
ing thy faithful commandments as a sharp sword, and standing, it
filled all things with death; and it reached unto heaven while it stood
upon the earth.
Similarly the son of Sirach, in Ecclesiasticus xxiv, 3-10, where
Wisdom says of herself:
I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,
And covered the earth as a mist.
I dwelt in high places,
And my throne is in the pillar of the cloud. . . .
He created me from the beginning before the world;
And to the end I shall not fail.
In the holy tabernacle I ministered before him,
And so was I established in Sion.

J For discussions of Philo's doctrine of the Ti&yoc- see Gfroerer, Philo und die
alexandrinische Theosophie, in his Kritische Geschichte des Urchristenthums.
Erster Theil, chap, viii, pp. 168-326. Stuttgart, 1831. Also Domer, History of
the Doctrine of the Person of Christ, vol. i, pp. 19-39.

JOHANNINE CHRISTOLOGY 329
But the older source from which these concepts of Wisdom may be
read is Prov. viii, 22-30, where Wisdom thus speaks :
Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way,
Before his works of old,
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning.
Before the earth was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth;
When there were no fountains abounding with water. . . .
When he established the heavens I was there, . . .
When he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Then I was by him as a master workman.
All these poetic portraitures belong to the so-called "Wisdom
literature" of the Old Testament, and partake of its spirit.
5. Creation by the Word of God. The concept of God as Creator
carries along with it the thought that all things were first brought
into existence through wisdom, for without wisdom none of the
objects of creation could have been made and pronounced very
good. This lofty ideal of wisdom, as it took shape in the Hebrew
mind, may well have started from suggestions of the Elohistic
picture of creation in Gen. i, 1 — ii, 3. A philosophic and poetic
reader of that sublime description of God's work would naturally
notice how each creative act is introduced by dt6k nDX'l. and God
said. Such ail omnifie word of God as brought light out of
primeval darkness was necessarily a manifestation of the unseen
personal Power. Hence one of the psalmists gives this profound
thought the following poetical expression:
By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made,
And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth;
For he spake, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast. Psa. xxxiii, 6, 9.
And so it became a common Hebrew conception and an article of
faith that all created things which have been brought into mani
festation, and continue through the ages, "were framed by the
word of God" (Heb. xi, 3).1 A philosophic mind, moreover, would
naturally perceive in such a picture of creation the distinction
between God as he exists in his essential nature and as he expresses
himself in an outward act of power.
6. Theophanies and Angelophanies. The theophanies and an-
gelophanies of the Old Testament would naturally suggest further
modifications of this concept of God as revealing himself in some
1 Here the term employed is firf/ia, not XSyoc ; but there is no essential difference
of thought, as a comparison with 2 Pet. iii, 5, shows, where it is said that heavens
and earth were "compacted by the word (Myo?) of God."

330 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
visible form. "The angel of Jehovah" that appeared in a flame
of fire in the bush, and seems to be identified with Jehovah in the
narrative of Exod. iii, 2-6, presents an ideal of divine revelation
which receives additional emphasis by comparison with what is
written in Exod. xiv, 19; xxxii, 34; xxxiii, 2, 14. In these places
the angel of God appears to be identical with the pillar of cloud,
and to represent the presence of Jehovah and to bear his name.
This manner of thought and speech led to the later substitution of
the terms Memra, Dibbura, and Shekina for the sacred name of
Jehovah, as we observe in the Aramaic Targums.1 The later Juda
ism shrank from pronoulicing the holy name of four letters (mrr).
and so the words Memra and Shekina, as well as the title Lord
pJIN), were employed as welcome substitutes.
7. John's Gospel Gave the Logos New and Deeper Significance.
From the foregoing outline and references it is evident that Xoyog;
Word, in the fourth gospel, was no new or strange term first intro
duced into theosophic writing by the author of this remarkable
composition. The first apostles of Christianity must have often
come into contact with current systems of speculative thought.
Paul encountered Stoic and Epicurean philosophies at Athens.
The Alexandrian Jew, Apollos, "a learned man (dvijp Xoyiog-) and
mighty in the scriptures" (Acts xviii, 24), taught in Ephesus
before he was thoroughly instructed in the doctrines of Jesus, and
it is hardly supposable that he was not familiar with Alexandrian
theosophy. But another Alexandrian Jew, Cerinthus, came at a
later period to Ephesus, taught a form of Gnosticism that was
largely mixed with Jewish and Christian elements, and, according
to ancient tradition, came into sharp conflict with the apostle John.
It was impossible for the early teachers of Christianity to avoid
conflict with the doctrines of that eclectic Alexandrian philosophy
which, in one form and another, sought to establish itself in every
religious and literary center of the Greek-speaking Orient. It is
a notable fact, moreover, that the first apostles of Christianity
were obliged to use the Greek language for the propagation of
their gospel of salvation, and to employ many a common Greek
word to inculcate ideas which were new to the world. Thus old

1 Thus in the Targum of Onkelos, Gen. iii, 8, we read : "They heard the voice of the
Word (N"IDV3) of the Lord God walking in the garden." The Jerusalem Targum
of Exod. xxxiii, 11, reads: "The voice of theTPor<J(SOm)he heard, but the splendor
of his face he did not behold." In Exod. xvii, 7, the Onkelos Targum reads: "Is
the Shekina (&U,3C) of the Lord among us or not?" It is also worthy of note in this
connection that the Targum on Isa. ix, 6; Mic. v, 1, and Zech. iv, 7, says that the
Messiah is from eternity and to eternity, and, according to the book of Enoch
(xlviii, 2, 3, 6), his name was called the Son of man before the sun and stars were
made; he was chosen before God, and hidden in him before the world was created;
and he will abide before him to all eternity.

JOHANNINE CHRISTOLOGY 331
and familiar words were turned to new uses and filled with new
meaning and significance.1 The term Xoyog-, word, was seen by
the author of the fourth gospel to be admirably fitted to express
his lofty conception of the Christ of God. He appropriated it and
filled it with a fullness of meaning it had never borne before. It
is not a vague and indefinable concept like the Xoyog- of Philo;
nor is it the archetypal idea (Idea and eidog-) of Plato, nor the
Memra of the Targums, nor the personified Wisdom (fiDan) of the
book of Proverbs. And yet all of these may have contributed
somewhat to the doctrine of the Word as set forth in ths prologue
of John's gospel. The superiority of John's conception and the
originality of his genius appear in the ease and simplicity which
he evinces in all this realm of thought. His divine Logos is no
mixture of dualistic and docetic fancies; no philosophic portrayal
of powers and attributes, now in repose and now again in activity.
There is in his language the calm expression of one who knows of
what he speaks. The Word of God is to him a living reality.
For he tells us at the beginning of his first epistle that he himself
had heard, and seen with his own eyes, and even handled the Word
of life, which was so manifested in Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
that he could personally "bear witness and declare the eternal life,
which was with the Father." This heavenly Logos is the "only-
begotten from the Father," the "only begotten Son (or God) who
is in the bosom of the Father," and has revealed his nature and
glory by a personal incarnation among men.
8. Necessity of Incarnation. According to John, all true knowl
edge of God must come to us through some manner of incarnation.
The thoughts of God, the mind, will, wisdom, and feeling of the
eternal Father cannot be expressed except by such a manifestation
of himself as can be seen, heard, and touched by conscious contact.
Hence the necessity of real personality in the divine Logos of
revelation. The Hindu mystic has much to tell us about Avatara,
incarnation, transmigration of souls, and ultimate repose in the
bosom of Brahm, the divine Essence of the Universe. We may
discern a profound concept of the truth in all this mystic dream
ing, but it lacks the element of personal reality, which is the
distinguishing feature of John's doctrine of the incarnation and

'"The apostolic proclamation," says Delitzsch, "did not scorn the forms of
ideas already coined by the Alexandrian philosophy, but it filled them with the
contents presented by the history of their New Testament realization. As Chris
tianity withdrew the limits from the spirit of the Old Testament revelation, and
separated the imperishable gold of its substance from the dross of its cosmical
elements so it became a refining fire for Hellenistic and Hellenic philosophy, the
transfiguration and consecration of what was true, and of the forms in use for both in
the presentation of the Truth." — System of Biblical Psychology, p. 211. Eng.
trans., Edinburgh, 1869.

332 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
visible manifestation of the Word. The eternal God revealed him
self in the Word which "became flesh and tabernacled among
us . . . full of grace and truth." This manifestation is no other
than that which is to be seen in the person of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, who "is come in the flesh."
9. Suggestive Words and Phrases. A closer study of the pro
logue will discover a number of far-reaching suggestions. At the
beginning of the creation the Word already was; did not begin to
be. The statement implies that the Word was without beginning,
and is himself no part of God's creation. Then it is added, "and
the Word was with God" (npog- rbv tfedv), obviously indicating some
manner of distinction between God and the Word; and then it is
immediately added, as if to emphasize the unity and substantial
identity of the Word with Deity, "and the Word was God."1 The
word deog- is here without the article and occupies the position of
emphasis in the sentence, being thus made the emphatic predicate,
and affirming the divine nature of the Logos. Thus it is shown
that this Word is no "second God," like the Xoyog- of Philo, but
of the essential nature of Deity.1 The first three verses of the
prologue point to the narrative of creation in Gen. i, where it is
written over and over again, "God said," and it was done. The
creative Fiat was a manifestation of God himself, and the personal
Logos of John's gospel is God himself speaking, acting, and bring
ing all things into being.
10. The Word of Life. That all things were created through
the Word or Son of God (ver. 3) is a doctrine we have already
found in 1 Cor. viii, 6; Col. i, 16; and Heb. i, 2; xi, 3. He is
before all things; without him nothing ever came into existence,
and in him all things hold together. But when it is added in
John's prologue, verse 4, "In him was life, and the life was the
light of men," we advance to another lofty concept of the Logos.
In v, 26, we read: "As the Father hath life in himself, even so
gave he to the Son also to have life in himself." In xi, 25, and
xiv, 6, he is called emphatically "the life." At the beginning of
the first epistle of John he is called "the Word of life," and there
it is declared that "the life was manifested, and we have seen,
and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal life,
which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us." This
manifestation of the life was, according to John, specifically and
definitely in the historic fact that "Jesus Christ is come in the

¦Comp. Gloag, Introduction to the Johannine Writings, p. 171. London, 1891.
2 We may, perhaps, best indicate the import of the anarthrous emphasis of #e<Sf
in the sentence (cat #ecV tjv 6 \6yoc' by the translation, and Deity was the very nature of
the Word.

JOHANNINE CHRISTOLOGY 333
flesh" (1 John iv, 2; 2 John 7), for it was such an unmistakable
disclosure concerning the Word of life that it could be heard,
seen, and handled (1 John i, 1). Paul taught that "the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. vi, 23 ;
comp. Col. iii, 3, 4; 2 Tim. i, 1), but according to John's gospel
Jesus declares himself "the bread of life which cometh down out
of heaven, and giveth life unto the world" (vi, 33, 35, 41, 48, 50) ;
and according to the epistle (v, 11, 12), "God gave unto us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath the
life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life."
11. The Word of Light. The Logos of John's gospel is also
the light as well as the life of men. This light was no new thing,
shining for the first time when the Word became flesh. It was
coetaneous with the creation of the world, when God said, "Let
there be light," for "God is light and in him is no darkness at
all" (1 John i, 5). And this light did not go out when sin
entered the world and filled the hearts of men with darkness.
The light keeps right on shining in the darkness,1 whether men
regard it or not, and it has been shining from the beginning until
now. Here and there, during the long times of darkness, some
pious souls have caught gleams of this heavenly light, and have
given glory to God (Psa. xxvii, 1 ; xxxvi, 9 ; xliii, 3 ; xcvii, 11 ;
exii, 4; Prov. iv, 18; Mic. vii, 8), and prophets saw its future
shining as a revelation of Jehovah's glory (Isa. Ix, 1-3, 19, 20).
But the sad, condemning fact remains that "the light is come into
the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for
their works were evil" (iii, 19). Evil doers hate the light, which
convicts them of sin and guilt (iii, 20). Hence it is that while the
light is all the time shining in the darkness "the darkness appre
hended it not."" Even before the Word became flesh "there was
coming into the world the light, the true light, which lighteth
every man" (ver. 9), and this only genuine light was from the
Logos, who was in the beginning with God, and was God. He
accordingly declares: "I am the light of the world: he that fol-
loweth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light
of life" (viii, 12 ; comp. ix, 5 ; xii, 35, 36, 46 ; 1 John i, 5-7 ; ii, 8) .
Thus the Logos of John's gospel has life in himself and is at the
same time the fountain of light to men. He is the creative Word
and the Word of spiritual illumination. He was all this in the
beginning; but, having come in the flesh, he has manifested the
life and the light of God in a fullness never known before.

1 Note the force of the present, ipaivei, in verse 5.
2 Oi tunk'Xa^sv ; that is, did not seize hold upon it so as to make it a possession of
its own.

334 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
12. Doctrine of Preexistence. The entire presentation of Christ
in the fourth gospel is in strict harmony with this doctrine of
the preexistent Word of God who was manifested in the flesh. He
himself says, in iii, 13, "No man hath ascended into heaven, but
he that descended out of heaven, the Son of man, who is in
heaven." x In vi, 62, he speaks of "the Son of man ascending up
where he was before." In viii, 58, he says : "Before Abraham was
born, I am." In xvii, 5, he prays to the Father: "Now glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was"; and in verse 24 he adds, "for thou
lovedst me before the foundation of the world." These passages
all clearly involve the doctrine of personal preexistence, and they
accord with the statement in the prologue that the Word "was
in the beginning with God" ; and this has been the interpretation
put upon them by the great majority of expositors during the
Christian centuries. The profoundly realistic manner in which
the doctrine of incarnation is thus conceived is most impressive.
13. The Idealistic Explanation. But there are those who ex
plain all these utterances touching Christ's preexistence in a purely
mystic or ideal way. Appeal is made to the Platonic doctrine of
archetypal ideas, to the use of the term Logos in Philo and in
the apocryphal book of Wisdom ; to the personification of Wisdom
in Prov. viii ; to the fact that, in Heb. viii, 5 ; ix, 23, the Mosaic
tabernacle is conceived as a copy of heavenly things; and to the
ideal of the New Jerusalem of John's Apocalypse, "coming down
out of heaven from God" (Rev. xxi, 2). These references are cited
to show that the heavenly original of all things which appear in
time was, during the first century, an idea very common and cur
rent in the widely scattered communities of Greek-speaking Jews.
These facts are indeed beyond successful contradiction, and the
proofs have been sufficiently given in the foregoing pages. But it
does not follow that John's doctrine of the Logos and of the
heavenly preexistence of Christ is identical in meaning with these
Platonic and Jewish-Alexandrian conceptions, or was derived from
them. On the contrary, it is maintained that the teaching of the
fourth gospel, while appropriating current words and expressions

1 The genuineness of the words 6 av kv rij> ovpavu, who is in heaven, is very doubtful.
They are not found in the great manuscripts N, B, L, T, C, nor in a number of other
ancient authorities, and they are omitted from the text of Westcott and Hort, who
say in their Notes on Select Readings: "There are many quotations of verse 13
(in early Christian writers) which stop short at tov avdp&nrov ; and it is morally certain
that most of them would have included 6 in> kv t£> ovpavy if it had stood in the texts
used by the writers. . . . The character of the attestation marks the addition as
a Western gloss, suggested perhaps by i, 18; it may have been inserted to correct
any misunderstanding arising out of the position of ava^k^rjKev, hath ascended, as
coming before Kara/iar, descended." Notes on Select Readings, p. 75.

JOHANNINE CHRISTOLOGY 335
of this ideal cast, fills them with a significance they had not
borne before. And the various assertions of a personal character,
and the emphasis put upon them both in the gospel and in the
first epistle of John, are not compatible with a mere ideal existence
or preexistence.1
(1) Does Not Accord with John's Explicit Language. The lan
guage employed in John's gospel is too explicit and personal to
be satisfactorily explained after the manner of conceiving Plato's
doctrine of archetypal ideas. For Plato's ideas were pure abstrac
tions of thought, the perfect models or forms in which all things
intelligible were conceived as eternally existing. He seems to have
regarded them as something which human souls might have con
templated in a preexistent state,1 so that the process of learning
things in this life is a recollection of preexistent thoughts.8 So
lacking in clearness and consistency are some of Plato's statements
on this subject that one may well believe that his views underwent
considerable change in the course of his own life and study. But
no possible construction of his ideas (Ideal) and forms (eldrf) can be
rationally adjusted to the words of John's gospel.
(2) Logos Not Synonymous with Abstract Terms. Equally
futile is any attempt to expound the Johannine teaching by means
of the various and often contradictory statements of Philo. Nor
can the concepts of the Logos in the Wisdom of Solomon be made
to fit the specific and sublime utterances of the fourth gospel.
If the Logos be explained as Reason, Intelligence, Wisdom, Power,
or some other like term, it should be said, by way of reply on the
other hand, that we may readily perceive a certain simple and
intelligible meaning in declaring that God created the world in
the exercise of his perfect wisdom ; but when one says, "This Power
became flesh and dwelt among us," "This Reason shall ascend up
where it was before," "Glorify this Wisdom with the glory it had
before the world was," we cannot but feel that there is an element
of unreality in the entire conception. John's Logos is not an
abstract quality or idea hypostatized, but an eternal Person, in
scrutably identified with Deity, and manifested in the flesh of Jesus.

1 It is almost amazing that in his special pleading for a purely ideal preexistence
of Christ, Beyschlag should thus comment on John viii, 58: "He does not say, I
was; his point is not his having been before, but his eternal being. Abraham is
only a transient appearance — he is the appearance of the Eternal in time. Before
God thought of the birth of Abraham, ne stood before him, through whom he
would lead humanity to the goal of its destiny, the Alpha and Omega of his decree "
(New Testament Theology, vol. i, p. 254). But if his ''eternal being" and preexist
ence were real in no deeper sense than the ideas of Plato (comp. Beyschlag, p. 252),
he was no more eternal or preexistent than Abraham. The archetypal Abraham
must have been as real and as eternally preexistent as Jesus Christ. Omniscience
would think of the birth of Abraham as occurring long before that of Jesus.
2 Phffidrus, 249, 250. 3 Phaedo, 76.

336 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
(3) More than Memra, Shekina, or Angel. We may go further
and maintain that the use of Memra, Dibbura, and Shekina in the
Targums and what is said of the angel of Jehovah appearing in the
bush, and accompanying the Israelites through the desert, are not
sufficient to furnish a full or satisfactory interpretation of the
Johannine Logos who "was in the beginning with God and who
was God." These words of John and those also which relate to
Christ's preexistence, point to a more definite belief, a conception
which cannot without unnatural violence be fitted to the vague,
fanciful, and abstract ideals of the later Jewish theosophy. John's
conception is notably positive and realistic.
14. John's Doctrine Par Above the Current Theosophy. Over
against all these attempts to explain the Logos of John's gospel
we submit that the apostle presents a doctrine far in advance of
the current theosophic speculations of his time. He appropriates
a well-known term, long employed with various shades of mean
ing in Hellenic and in Hellenistic literature, and fills it with a
new and higher significance. With him the Logos of God is con
ceived rather in the light of God's activity and self-manifestation
at the beginning of the creation. The Hebrew poets as well as the
writer of Gen. i had made it a familiar thought in Jewish circles
that God spoke the world into being. John places this idea in a
new setting at the beginning of his gospel, appropriates for his
purpose the suggestive term Logos, and declares that the Word
of God and God himself are one. The Logos is God, the eternal
Spirit, speaking, acting, manifesting himself, first in creation and
afterward in the incarnate Son of his love. This manifestation
of God embodies all that is deepest, highest, and most glorious in
the suggestions attaching to the terms Logos, Dibbura, Memra,
and Shekina. In him is the perfection of Might, Wisdom, and
Love, but not as so many attributes personified or hypostatized
after the manner of poetic and philosophic thought. "The only
begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father," 1 is the living,
conscious embodiment of Deity, and the only one capable of inter
preting (k^7jyeofiai, explain, unfold, declare) the invisible God by
a visible incarnation.

1 The phrase 6 av elf tov k6\itov tov Karp6c; who is in the bosom of the Father, is equiv
alent in meaning to ftel^ord twos «>i2ft God (^vrrpoj- Tdv&e6v)in verse 1. The ixv, how
ever, of verse 18, points rather to the timeless existence of the Only Begotten, as the tjv
points to the preexistence of the Logos; and the preposition tic in verse 18, as dis
tinguished from 7rpoV in verse 1, may indicate entrance (reentrance) into the ante-
mundane glory (comp. xvii, 5) consequent upon the historical manifestation in
flesh ; as if the writer for the moment thought of the fellowship of Father and Son
as temporarily interrupted by the necessary conditions of incarnation. The'definite
historical character of the incarnate manifestation, conceived as a completed fact,
is shown by the use of the aorist in el-fiyf/Garo, he declared.

JOHANNINE CHRISTOLOGY 337
15. Erroneous Metaphysical Distinctions. The chief difficulty
in conceiving the whole subject of the incarnation of the Logos
has been, perhaps, an erroneous notion of the deity of Christ as
of something distinct from the deity of the Father. The age
long controversies over metaphysical distinctions between essence
(ovoia), substance (vnoaraaig-), and person (np6auTTovy Persona) have
involved these words in such confusion that it seems desirable to
avoid the use of them entirely, and to adopt if possible some other
forms of stating the biblical doctrine of Christ and of God.
Some distinction must be recognized in John i, 1, between the
Logos and God, and some explanation should be given of the love
of the Father for the Son before the foundation of the world (xvii,
24) .' The distinctions here implied point to real facts and experi
ences in the personality of God, but the mystery is not to be solved
by any interpretation which supposes the preexistent Logos to pos
sess an individual will and intelligence distinct from the will and
intelligence of God. Such a dual concept of the nature of Deity is
not the doctrine of John's gospel. The Holy Spirit and God him
self are one. There is no other Holy Spirit. When it is said that
"God is Spirit" (iv, 24) the reference is to the Father who is repeat
edly mentioned in the context. And so also, in i, 1, the Logos, who
was with God in the beginning, was God. Whatever the distinction
intended in the phrase npdg-rdvdeov, with God, there is no mistaking
the emphatic declaration that "the Logos was God." Our author
nowhere attempts to describe or explain the incarnation. His
whole portraiture of the Lord Jesus is ideal, mystical, all-compre
hensive, and therefore we should not look in his record for accounts
of the infancy, growth, and human limitations of the man Christ
Jesus. The scope and plan of his writing did not make use of
those facts; but it does not follow that he did not know and
believe them. He is not so much the annalist as the interpreter
of the incarnate Word of God. He thinks the thoughts of the
Lord Jesus after him, and gives them mystic expression.
16. Jesus Christ in the Flesh. But while the Christ of the
fourth gospel is the preexistent Word, who both came down from
heaven and ascended into heaven, he is also a man, and speaks of
himself as such (viii, 40). He is no other than "Jesus of Nazareth,

1 The statement that Christ "was foreknown before the foundation of the world"
(1 Pet. i, 20) presents no difficulty, for that is a simple truism of the divine pre
science, like that of the election of the sojourners to whom Peter's epistle was
addressed (i, 1, 2). Any prophet or apostle of God may be spoken of, like Jere
miah (i, 5), as known, sanctified, and appointed in the purpose of God for a holy
work before his appearance or existence in the world. But such a statement aB
"thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world," coming from the lips of
Jesus himself in the act of prayer, cannot be thus explained as a matter of knowl
edge or of purpose.

338 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
the son of Joseph" (i, 45). That "the Word became flesh" is
affirmed as positively as that he "was in the beginning with God."
The reality of the incarnation is made emphatic at the beginning
of the first epistle: "That wliich was from the beginning, that
which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that
which we beheld, and our hands handled concerning the Word of
Life." Here we have unquestionably the same style of thought
and expression as in the Johannine gospel, and the language points
to a real, tangible personality, not to an abstract idea. It is
fundamental in the teaching of this epistle "that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh" (iv, 2). The denial of this fact is a mark of
"the deceiver and the antichrist" (2 John, 7). He "came by water
and blood" (v, 6), for the baptism in Jordan and the death of the
cross attested the reality of his life in the flesh. In 3 John, 7,
the word Name is employed with a peculiar emphasis instead of
the fuller phrase name of the Son of God, in 1 John v, 13. Com
pare John xv, 21, and Acts v, 41. So these epistles represent the
common apostolic preaching and confession "that Jesus is the
Christ" (v, 1 ) , and in ii, 1, he is called our "Comforter," or "Advo
cate with the Father." The fact that Jesus in the flesh was a
manifestation of God, and of the life and love of God, is affirmed
in the gospel (ix, 3; xiv, 9; xvii, 6) and in the first epistle (i, 2;
iii, 5, 8; iv, 9). In no part of the New Testament is the subordi
nation of Jesus to the Father so explicitly and repeatedly affirmed
as in the fourth gospel. Over and over he declares that "the
Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father
doing." His human sympathy and affection appear incidentally
but most significantly in connection with Lazarus and his sisters
at Bethany (John xi, 3-5). His weeping at the tomb of his friend
gave the Jewish lookers-on occasion to say, "Behold how he loved
him !" And he was very human and tender to the last, and com
mended his mother, standing at the cross, to the disciple whom he
loved (xix, 26, 27). It cannot therefore be said, with any rea
sonable propriety, that the humanity, of Jesus is overlooked or
disparaged in the Johannine books. On the contrary, it is most
positively presented. But the great aim of the writer is not so
much that of a reporter of the facts of Jesus's earthly life as of
an interpreter of the Saviour of the world, who came forth from
the bosom of God. An old disciple, who had intimately known
Jesus in the flesh, and had leaned upon his bosom, after more than
fifty years of meditation, teaching, and worship, gives his own
translation of the thoughts of his Master.

CHAPTER X
SUMMARY OP THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCTRINE OP THE
PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST
1. The Divers Dogmas of Historical Christology. Historical the
ology acquaints us with divers attempts to formulate the various
biblical statements touching the person of Christ into one coherent
doctrine. A vast literature has grown up around this subject, and
in connection with the great ecumenical creeds, known as the
Nicene, the Chalcedonian, and the Athanasian, and the later con
fessions in substantial accord with them, other opinions and the
ories of the person of Christ became historic under such names as
the Arian, Apollinarian, Nestorian, Eutychian, and Socinian
Christology. Each one of these represented a strenuous effort to
define the relation which Jesus Christ, the Word and Son of God,
sustains to the eternal Divine Nature, whom we worship as God,
the Father Almighty. Was he of the same identical divine nature
(homoousian) , or of a similar nature (homoiousian) ? Or was he
even of a different nature or essence (heteroousian) ? Whatever
partisan feeling, or whatever dishonesty of procedure appeared at
times among any of the different parties in the long conflict of
opinion, we should credit all of the great leaders with a profound
sincerity in their search for the truth. The one conspicuous fact
is that these ancient leaders and teachers in the Church differed
in their conclusions concerning the person of Christ. And proba
bly everyone of the dogmas on this subject, maintained in the
ancient or in the later times, has its defenders at the present day.
Exact unanimity of opinion and uniformity of statement have
never universally prevailed since the subject first became a matter
of controversy ; nor is such unanimity ever likely to prevail among
all the disciples who call themselves Christians. All these dog
matists have appealed to the Scriptures in maintaining their par
ticular views, confessedly willing to abide by the unquestionable
teaching of Jesus Christ, and of his prophets and apostles. But
the fact of their differences of interpretation shows the utter
fallacy of the claim that the Scriptures are an "infallible" revela
tion and means of determining questions of this kind.
2. Divers Types of the Biblical Doctrine. But our study of the
Christology of the different New Testament writers discloses the
fact that the evangelists and apostles are not all in strict accord.
339

340 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
They represent different types of doctrine when they speak at
length about the person of Christ. Biblical theology has in modern
times put this fact in such conspicuous light that many of the
contentions of former times have become nugatory. The notion
that all the biblical writers, being inspired of God, must needs
exhibit unanimity of opinion and statement is fast becoming obso
lete. It is seen that the greatest and purest men of all the
Christian ages have honestly differed on matters of grave import
ance, and all the evidence in hand goes to show that the first
college of apostles was no exception. Paul, and Apollos, and
Cephas, and James, and John looked upon Jesus from different
points of view; each saw some things which the others did not
seem to apprehend or emphasize; to each was given a distinctive
message and ministry; and yet they were, in life and spirit, "all
one in Christ Jesus." A number of men may differ widely on
certain subjects, and yet all be true. Varieties of conception and
statement are not necessarily contradictions. By means of the
different presentations of Jesus the Christ, as found in the New
Testament, we are richer in our spiritual possession than we could
have been had we been left shut up to any one writer's report and
portraiture of our Lord.
3. One-sidedness of Polemics. In view of these facts it ought
to be seen that we do not truly honor our Lord Jesus by suppression
of any of the facts reported of him in the gospels, or by magnifying
any one aspect of his nature and personality to the neglect of others.
Some theologians seem to feel scandalized by the plain statement
in Luke's gospel that Jesus grew in grace and in wisdom; also
by the fact of Jesus's own positive declaration, according to Mat
thew and Mark, that he himself did not know the day and the hour
of the coming events of which he spoke. The older Christology
was in the habit of building an argument for the deity of Christ
on the claim that he is repeatedly called God in Paul's epistles
and in Heb. i, 8; but textual criticism and the most painstaking
exegesis now concede that all the texts on which that claim was
founded are capable of another interpretation. One-sided dog
matism has nowhere, perhaps, displayed its partisan bias more
notoriously than in reading the doctrine of the preexistence of
Christ and also that of his absolute equality with God into Phil.
ii, 5-8, while it has at the same time ignored, or dismissed with
few words, the statement of verse 9, immediately following, that
"God highly exalted him." Some partisan writers have even dis
played confusion and distress over this latter statement. They
appear also unwilling to observe that it accords better with the
teachings of Christ and his apostles to say that "God was in Christ"

PERSON OF CHRIST 341
than to say that "Christ is God." We may affirm the true biblical
interpretation of both these statements, but our Christology will
become more scriptural, more impressive, and more worshipful by
conforming to apostolic ways of expression than by strenuous
adherence to the nonhuman, abstract, metaphysical dogma of
Christ's deity as set forth in the Nicene creed and in the later
Trinitarian symbols. It is only by exact interpretation of all the
relevant scriptures and by a dispassionate comparison and adjust
ment of them that we escape the one-sidedness of partisan polemics,
and recognize the various types of doctrine and peculiar forms of
speech which are perceptible among the different biblical writers.
4. The Simplest Facts of His Life. We begin most naturally
with a study of the simplest facts of the reported life of Jesus.
There is a large body of these facts over which no serious differences
of opinion exist. Jesus was truly human, born of a woman, a
scion of the tribe of Judah and the house of David. He grew up
from dependent infancy and childhood to middle age like other
men. He doubtless learned as other children learn, for he advanced
in wisdom as he advanced in years and in physical growth. His
baptism by John, his subsequent ministry, his conflict with the
leaders of the Jewish people, and his crucifixion are familiar facts
which no one now disputes.
5. His Subordinate Relation to God. We observe, next, that he
became conscious at an early period of his life that he was sent
upon a divine mission by his heavenly Father. According to Luke's
gospel, when he was only twelve years old he spoke with an under
standing of sacred things which astonished the Jewish teachers
in the temple. In his later ministry he spoke with a wisdom and
authority unparalleled among the great religious teachers of the
world. He never claimed or assumed omniscience, but God so
possessed him from the beginning to the end of his earthly life,
that, though he advanced in wisdom, he never uttered that which
was not truthful, never maintained a false opinion, never had to
correct an error in his own teaching, and never committed an act
of sin. His obedience and subjection to the will of God constitute
a conspicuous feature of his life and teaching. In John's gospel,
where we find the most remarkable self-expression of superior
wisdom and power, we find also the most positive assertions of his
subordination to the Father. He calls himself a man who tells the
truth which he received from God (viii, 40). He can do nothing
of himself, but the Father who sent him and who abides in him
is the real doer of his mighty works. His prayers accord perfectly
with this acknowledged subordination; his sufferings and his sup
plications in Gethsemane and the bitter cry on the cross, "My God,

342 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
why hast thou forsaken me," evince these facts of his dependence
in a manner most impressive.
6. His Consciousness of Unique Relationship to God. As he
advanced in wisdom the consciousness of his unique relationship to
God seems to have deepened and strengthened within him. The
heavenly revelation made to him at his baptism in the Jordan
(Mark i, 10, 11) marked a distinctive crisis in his life, and drove
him for a time into the wilderness of temptation; but, unlike the
first Adam in his hour of trial, he "counted not the being on an
equality with God a thing to be grasped," but humbled himself and
chose the way of obedience. From that day onward Jesus pro
ceeded with his work "in the power of the Spirit" (Luke iv, 14),
and more and more his conscious convictions deepened into the
knowledge that he came forth from God and was going away to be
with God (npog- rbv $ebv vndyet, John xiii, 3; comp. i, 1). The
various recorded expressions of his self -consciousness reveal such
transcendent knowledge of the Father Almighty as to exalt him
immeasurably above all other prophets and teachers. It became
perfectly natural for him to say of himself : "All things have been
delivered unto me of my Father : and no one knoweth the Son save
the Father; neither doth any know the Father save the Son, and
he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him" (Matt, xi, 27).
And so, as he neared the end of his earthly ministry, he expressed
this heavenly consciousness with an intensified emphasis: "Have
I been so long time with you, and thou dost not know me? He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John xiv, 9).
7. His Heavenly Preexistence. This profound inner conscious
ness of God found at times both a natural and a supernatural
expression in allusions to his heavenly preexistence and his coming
forth from God. This doctrine appears unmistakably in the writ
ings of Paul and of John, and is best accounted for as having first
found utterance in the teaching of Jesus himself. In the light of
this teaching we are led to think of God as existing eternally in
the perfection of personal sensibility, intellect, and will. These
constituent elements of personality subsist and act in God as in
man, who "exists as the image and glory of God" (1 Cor. xi, 7).
The greatest and most real Being in the universe is He who speaks
of himself in this wise: "I am who I am." Every intelligent
being, bearing the personal image of God, and existing in the
glory and power of heavenly life, must needs experience emotional
resources of delight within himself, and so this "only begotten
Son of God" speaks of a glory and a love of the Father with him
self "before the foundation of the world" (John xvii, 5, 24).
These facts agree with John's conception of the Logos existing in

PERSON OF CHRIST 343
the beginning with God, and existing as only begotten Son in the
bosom of the Father. The facts and the various expressions indica
tive of preexistence find their best explanation in the fundamental
truth that "the Word was God." Thus in the depths of the divine
nature and personality the Father loved the Son before the founda
tion of the world ; for the eternal Father, Word, and Spirit have,
within the Father's bosom, infinite resources of delightful love.
So, too, according to Paul, "the Son of his love, who is the image
of the invisible God, is before all things, and in him all things
hold together" (Col. i, 13-17).
8. Self-Coherence of the Supernatural in Christ. This doctrine
of the preexistent Word is the logical complement and clearest
explanation of the supernatural which forces itself upon us in the
manifestation of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This adequately ex
plains, so far as we may know it, the mystery of the miraculous
birth, and gives intense significance to the incarnation of "the only
begotten Son." The mystery of his coming into the world com
ports uniquely with his resurrection and exit from the world, and
with all the miraculous works and the incomparable words of
wisdom and truth which appear in the records of his earthly life.
His exaltation at the right hand of God places his person and his
name far above every name, "that in the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil, ii, 10, 11). The
apostolic salutations, doxologies, and benedictions associate these
heavenly names, and teach us to honor and worship the Son even as
we worship the Father.
9. A likeness of Method in Paul and John. Paul's manner of
addressing the philosophers of Athens was somewhat like that of
John in setting forth a new and higher doctrine of the Logos to
the thinkers of his time, whom he would fain persuade to the belief
that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." As the apostle to
the Gentiles found an altar in Athens inscribed "to an unknown
God," and as he appropriated that inscription as a text and start
ing point from which to turn the thoughts of the men of Athens
to the true doctrine of "the God who made the world and all things
therein" (Acts xvii, 24), so John appropriated a word, Logos, long
common in Greek philosophy, and suggestive of much that was
deepest in Hellenic and in Jewish theosophical thought, and filled
it with a sublime significance. He gave the term an emphatic
personal setting, and made its far-reaching suggestiveness a means
of setting forth the true concept of the Son of God in his essential
relations to the everlasting Father. In the manifestation of Jesus
in the flesh, whom he had personally heard and seen and touched

344 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
(1 John i, 1), John beheld the true Word of life and light, a radia
tion of the real Logos who was in the beginning, who was with God,
and who was God. And by his superior witness to the facts with
which he was very familiar, he has filled that old philosophical
term Logos with a divine significance which it never contained
before, and which can never be taken away from it.
10. The Godhead of Christ Jesus. According to Paul's Chris
tology it was the Father's good pleasure that in the Son of his love
"all the fulness should dwell," and he affirms that "in him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. i, 19; ii, 9). He
should not, therefore, be conceived as an incarnation of a part of
God, as of one element, one npoaomov, or one viroaraaig-, of eternal
Deity. In him dwelt and was manifest the totality of Deity, "all
the fulness of the Godhead." Somehow he enshrined the fullness
of God in a human personality, and now and ever in him the
Divine Essence in its fulness permanently dwells. According to,
John's Christology he is the "only begotten from the Father," and
yet "is in the bosom of the Father." The Father is in him, and
he is in the Father. The Father dwelt in the beloved Son through
every moment of his incarnate life, and withheld not from him
the fullness of his Spirit. But this divine indwelling was condi
tioned by the facts and necessary limitations of his manifestation
among men, and when he "ascended where he was before," those
temporary limitations were removed. He is at home in the throne
of God, and the divine purpose of the ages is to be consummated
in him when all who believe on him through the word of his gospel
shall behold him in his heavenly glory. The Christological con
ceptions of Paul and John supplement each other, and when they
are fairly combined with all the other New Testament teaching
on the subject they present for our meditation and worship a
transcendent Personality, filled with the fullness of God. We
do not presume to understand or to explain the inner mystery
of his being. We deem it wise to abstain from attempting to
determine the precise metaphysical relations of the divine and
the human in this "only begotten Son of God." But the biblical
doctrine of this adorable Personality makes it emphatic that he
is of the same nature (homoousian) , and not, as the Arians held,
of a similar nature (homoiousian) , much less of a different nature
from that of the everlasting God.
11. The Mystery of God. When we endeavor to combine all
the facts involved, and with them to inquire after the premundane
relations of the Father and the Son and the Spirit, we soon find
ourselves overwhelmed with the sense of our human limitations.
We may with Paul speak of this whole subject as "the mystery

PERSON OF CHRIST 345
of God," and "the mystery of Christ." "God is in Christ," and
"Christ is God's." As a theological term, the Logos, or Word, is
not altogether synonymous with the Christ. Christ Jesus is a
name that always points us to the historical Christ of the gospel;
the Logos suggests more directly the supernatural and premundane
Being in whom abides the mystery of the ages, but who voluntarily
took upon himself the human, fleshly manifestation of Jesus Christ
our Lord. But we should not forget that this doctrine of the
Person of Christ has been the fruitful subject of controversy
through all the Christian centuries, and never was the question,
"What think ye of Christ ?" more commanding than at the present
hour. Such a question cannot be finally settled by any one man
or by any council of the churches. Every age will make its own
answer, or, rather may we say, Christ himself has his own specific
and unmistakable answer for every age. But the answer for ever
resolves itself into "the mystery of God," and all they whose lives
become hidden with Christ in God may rest in blessed assurance
that they shall hereafter behold him in the glory of his Father,
and then only shall they "see him even as he is."

SECTION SECOND
THE MEDIATION OF JESUS OHEIST

CHAPTER I
THE MYSTERY OP MEDIATION AND OP INCARNATION
1. Nature of Mediation. The adorable personality of Jesus
becomes still more impressive and affecting when studied in con
nection with his redemptive ministry of mediation. The words
mediator and mediation imply two parties who are at variance, and
an efficient mediator is one who can fairly represent the two and
make peace between them. The peace thus secured is called a
reconciliation. According to 1 Tim. ii, 5, "There is one God, one
mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus,
who gave himself a ransom for all." A competent mediator must
be vitally acquainted with the feelings and interests of both the
parties whom he would bring together, and when those who are
alienated are, as in this case, God and man, the efficient mediator
must be at once a partaker of the divine nature and also of flesh
and blood. Such was Jesus Christ. Although in glory with the
Father and partaking of his love before the world was, he was in
the fullness of time born of a woman, grew up as other men from
infancy to manhood, was tempted in all points as we are, and
suffered and died the death of the cross. Thus "it became him,
for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salva
tion perfect through sufferings." The perfection of this human
experience was as essential to the world's Mediator as was his
heavenly preexistence in the bosom of the everlasting Father.
Hence it is that, from a New Testament point of view, all the
problems of the moral universe center in Jesus Christ, and through
his mediatorial ministry they are to find their ultimate solution.
2. Doctrine and Ideals of Incarnation. In the prologue of
John's gospel we have a very remarkable presentation of the doc
trine of divine incarnation. The eternal Word of God became
flesh and dwelt among men in a way adapted to show forth the
glory, grace, and truth of the eternal Father. The mediation of
Jesus Christ cannot receive a full biblical exposition apart from
346

INCARNATION 347
this fact and doctrine of incarnation, for "God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself." The idea of incarnation may
be shown to have had from the beginning both a cosmical and a
personal expression in many different ways. The outward expres
sion of God's everlasting power and divinity may be seen in natural
phenomena to which it has not always occurred to man to give a
spiritual interpretation. The heavens have declared his glory,
and the wonders of creation have made known his wisdom and
power, but the vain reasonings of men have too generally perverted
the import of these cosmic revelations of God. Even in the myths
current among the nations, and in the strange superstitions of the
earth, we are able to discern the concepts of divine incarnation
written in the heart of man. Some writers maintain that the idea
of incarnation is a crude belief of rude society in its earliest stages :
uncivilized and ignorant tribes conceive God as a great man, but
later and more accurate thinking begets the conviction of an
impassable gulf between God and man. We reject this construc
tion of the facts alleged, and submit as a more trustworthy and
tenable opinion that this human way of thinking about God is
eminently proper. The biblical doctrine is that man is himself
the highest visible image and likeness of the invisible God, and
surely the heavenly Father may be most properly conceived as
partaking of the qualities of his noblest offspring. The various
ideas of incarnation traceable in the religious thought and in the
mythologies of the nations may be studied as so many different
indications of the one great truth that our God and Father thus
condescends to make himself known to his human offspring.
Zoroaster is said to have received his revelations through an arch
angel of colossal form, nine times as large as an ordinary man.
Hindu mythology is particularly noted for its innumerable stories
of incarnation, or descents of the various deities. The god Vishnu
is remarkable for his numerous manifestations. Whenever iniquity
seems to triumph and religion is exposed to danger he issues forth
from the unseen realms in some new avatar.1 In the older cult
of Brahmanism Brahm is conceived as the divine spiritual essence
from which all things proceed, and Brahma is his first manifesta
tion, the first lawgiver of India, and the inspirer of the Vedas.
The doctrine of transmigration, so conspicuous in all the native
religions of India, is essentially a concept of reincarnation. Bud
dhism furnishes a most remarkable conception of the doctrine of
incarnation. Its fundamental tenet is that the successive Buddhas

1 So in the Bhagavad Gita (iv, 7, 8) he says: " I manifest myself from age to age
for the defense of the good, for the suppression of the wicked, and for the estab
lishment of justice."

348 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
are beings who repeatedly make their appearance in human form,
yet only after immense intervals of time. Previous to his incarna
tion in human form the Buddha is believed to have passed through
various births, at one time appearing as a reptile, at another as a
bird; but when at last he appears as Buddha, he is always born
of a woman, and born under the ordinary laws of human life.
The distinguishing qualities of the Buddha are calmness, gentle
ness, and repose, and these thus become incarnate in their highest
manifestation. Here, then, is an ideal of all that is nOblest and
best in moral attainment set forth before us in the form of a
perfected human being. But while the Father has not left himself
without witness among the nations, all other manifestations of
himself have been eclipsed by the incarnation and mediation of
Jesus Christ. Even the superior revelations of God given in the
books of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms are consummated
and superseded by the manifestation of the Christ; how much more
completely has this manifestation consummated and eclipsed the
inferior revelations of the whole Gentile world !
3. Mystery and Purpose of the Ages. It appears from the
teachings both of John and of Paul that the marvelous incarnation
of God in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, is the great
mystery of the ages, hidden during the times of the eternal past,
but disclosed through the personal manifestation and mediation of
the only begotten Son of God. We are to conceive this great
mystery and purpose of God as a process going on through the
ages. These ages have their epochs, and crises, and consumma
tions. The regeneration of mankind is not brought about in one
thousand years, nor are human hearts with their many experiences
of emotion and intelligence the creation of an instantaneous act
of omnipotence. Times and seasons of world-wide significance,
and the many modes of his self-revelation are matters which the
everlasting Father keeps within his own counsels, but it is his good
pleasure to make known to men such blessed truths as make for
their well-being. The revelation of God in Christ is often spoken
of, especially in the writings of Paul, as a holy "mystery"
(yvorfjpiov). In the twenty-seven passages of the Greek Testament
where this word occurs it always denotes some noble spiritual
truth, some hidden fact or mystical relation, which, though with
held from the many who care for none of these things, is made
known to them that have the Spirit of God. Paul speaks of "God's
wisdom in a mystery, that which has been hidden, which God fore
ordained before the ages unto our glory" (1 Cor. ii, 7).' In the
doxology with which he concludes the epistle to the Romans he
speaks of "the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept

PURPOSE OF THE AGES 349
in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested and . . .
is made known unto all nations unto obedience of faith" (xvi,
25, 26). In Eph. i, 9-11, we read of "the mystery of his will,
according to the good pleasure which he purposed in him unto a
dispensation of the fulness of times, to sum up all things in Christ,
the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth." The
same idea finds repeated statement in Eph. iii, 9, 11, and in Col.
i, 26. Other epistles witness the same eternal truth. The earth,
the world, the universe has its deep mystery and purpose, which
comprehends all things in the heavens as well as the things in the
earth. The Lord Christ in the continuous ministry of his media
tion between God and man is bringing into light this mystery of
the ages. His redeeming work and its eternal purpose of love have
their origin in the bosom of the Father, and this sublime concept
accords notably with all that is highest and best in the theistic
arguments of teleology. This universe of being shows manifold
evidences of intelligent design, and the divine "purpose of the
ages" means that back of all phenomena there exists not only an
invisible Energy by which all things are held together, but also
a Supreme Intelligence, wliich sees all things and rules all things
from beginning to end. We, who can see but parts of his ways,
gladly study what may now be known of him as he reveals himself
in the one great Mediator.

CHAPTER II
OLD TESTAMENT IDEAS OP MEDIATION
1. Value of Old Testament Ideas. The scriptures of the Old
Testament enable us to see, in great measure, how God's eternal
purpose of the ages was gradually unfolded. The everlasting
Father made himself known to the Melchizedeks and Jethros of
ancient time as truly if not as fully as to Abraham and Moses.
The Wisdom from above has cried aloud in the high places and
along the pathways of the sons of men (comp. Prov. viii, 1-4),
and all nations of men have heard the heavenly voice and have
shown "the work of the law written in their hearts." But God
bestowed exceptional advantages upon the Jewish people, and
chiefly in the fact that" they were intrusted with the records of a
divine revelation (comp. Rom. iii, 2), which show how God spoke
unto the fathers in many different ways. And these Hebrew scrip
tures are still profitable for us in our study of the ever-unfolding
mystery of God and of Christ.
2. Primitive Priesthood and Mediation. It is quite natural for
any worshiper of a supernatural Power to resort for assistance to
some mediator between himself and the Deity. This fact has been
to some extent apparent among the devotees of all the religions
of the world. Among savage tribes we note the need and the
reverence felt for the medicine man, the soothsayer, or the priest,
who is supposed to possess some superior influence with the powers
invisible. In the biblical narratives of early patriarchal times the
head of the household acted as priest and mediator. Melchizedek
is mentioned in Gen. xiv, 18, as "king of Salem" and "priest of
God Most High." Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jethro, priest
of Midian, are represented as building altars, offering sacrifices,
and calling upon God, as if acting the part of mediators and
intercessors. Especially noteworthy is the account of Abraham
standing as an intercessor before Jehovah, and pleading for the
cities of the plain when their enormous wickedness had exposed
them to the sentence of destruction from the righteous Judge of
all the earth. The hero of the book of Job is depicted as an ancient
patriarch and priest, offering up burnt offerings for the sins of
his sons and daughters (Job i, 5). Such mediation, intercession,
and sacrifice, whatever their various forms among the different peo-
350

IDEAS OF MEDIATION 351
pies, are an obvious provision for the sense of spiritual need which
is deeply felt in the heart of man. For men are the offspring of
God, and they come into conscious being possessed of a religious
nature that instinctively feels and yearns after the living God.
And the most ancient forms of priestly mediation between man
and God evince an inborn yearning of the soul for peace and
favor with the Author of its being.
3. Moses and Samuel as Mediators. Moses is represented as pre
eminently a mediator between Israel and God. The people were
filled with a deep sense of awe, and they said unto Moses : "Speak
thou with us, and we will hear ; but let not God speak with us, lest
we die. . . . And they stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto
the thick darkness where God was" (Exod. xx, 19, 21). We also
read that "Jehovah spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speak
eth unto his friend" (Exod. xxxiii, 11; comp. Num. xii, 8; Deut.
xxxiv, 10). We find remarkable examples of Moses pleading before
Jehovah in Exod. xxxii, 31, 32, and Num. xi, 11-15, and in the
first-mentioned intercession he is spoken of as "going up unto
Jehovah" to make atonement for the sins of the people. Similarly
Samuel the prophet is besought to pray for the sinful people that
they may not die (1 Sam. xii, 19-23). He offered burnt offer
ings to Jehovah, cried out aloud unto Jehovah, and was signally
answered in behalf of Israel (vii, 9, 10). In all this he acted the
part of a mediator and priest.
4. The Levitical Priesthood. Moses was of the tribe of Levi
(Exod. ii, 1), and according to the Levitical tradition he conse
crated his brother Aaron to the priesthood, and the sons of Aaron
were thereafter set apart by a perpetual statute to execute the
office of priest in Israel. According to Exod. xiii, 2, 12, 15;
xxii, 29, Jehovah claimed all the firstborn of Israel as his peculiar
possession, but he substituted the tribe of Levi for the firstborn of
all the people, and ordained that they alone should minister in holy
things before him (Num. iii, 12, 41, 45; viii, 16-19). The trust
worthiness of this Levitical tradition has been questioned, for sub
sequent to the times of Moses we read of such men as Gideon and
Samuel and David and Solomon and Elijah offering sacrifices
before Jehovah, apparently without any knowledge of such exclu
sive right of the descendants of Aaron. The great prophets from
Samuel to Jeremiah show no such respect for priesthood, burnt
offerings, and sacrifices as a knowledge of such a Mosaic appoint
ment of Aaron's sons and the elaborate ritual of Levitical worship
would naturally command. The probability is that this elaborate
ritual of priesthood and offerings and multiplied ceremonies was
of slow growth, and did not reach the completeness in which it

352 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
how appears in the Priest Code of the Pentateuch until the time
of Ezra and the second temple. But the story of the wandering
Levite in Judg. xvii, 7-13, the eagerness of Micah to secure his
priestly services, his subsequent capture by the Danites to be the
priest of their tribe, and the fact that he is called "the son of
Gershom, the son of Moses," and that "his sons were priests to
the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land"
(xviii, 30), show the priestly standing of the Levites in those
unsettled times. Moreover, the ministration of Eli, the priest, in
a temple of Jehovah at Shiloh, and a going up "from year to year
to worship and to sacrifice unto Jehovah of hosts in Shiloh," as
recorded in 1 Sam. i, 3-9, point to a very ancient seat of Levitical
worship at that place, where, according to Judg. xxi, 19, an annual
"feast of Jehovah" was observed. The priestly prerogatives of the
whole tribe of Levi are also clearly witnessed in Deut. xviii, 1-8.
But our concern is not so much with the history of the Levitical
priesthood as with its mediatorial significance. The officiating
priest at the altar of sacrifice acted not for himself alone. He was
mediator and representative of other worshipers before God. He
was required to care for everything pertaining to the altar and the
holy places (Num. xviii, 5, 7), to offer incense, light the lamps,
attend to the showbread, and keep the fire continually burning on
the altar of burnt offerings. The priests were also to be teachers
of the law (Lev. x, 10, 11; Deut. xxxiii, 10). Their highest serv
ice, however, was to officiate in the offering of the various sacrifices
described in the elaborate ritual of Lev. i — vii. In this they appear
as the divinely ordained representatives of all Israel. The most
solemn and significant service, developed in the later history of the
Levitical priesthood, was that of the high priest on the day of atone
ment. Having washed his body and put on the hallowed garments,
he proceeded to offer the burnt offering and the sin offering to
make atonement for himself and for his house (Lev. xvi, 2-6).
After this he took the censer full of burning coals, and burned
incense so that the fragrant cloud arising therefrom covered the
mercy seat above the ark ; then he took the blood of the bullock
which served as a sin offering for himself, and afterward the blood
of the goat which served as the sin offering of the people, and,
passing within the inner veil, sprinkled the blood of the bullock
and goat upon the mercy seat, and thus "made atonement for
himself, and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel"
(Lev. xvi, 12-17). In all this symbolical service the high priest
appears as a representative of all Israel, a sanctified and sympa
thetic mediator between a sinful people and a holy God, and the
mediation which he effects is supposed to accord with the holiness

LEVITICAL OFFERINGS 353
of God on the one hand, and the needs and necessities of the people
on the other.
5. The Sacrificial Offerings. The office and work of the Leviti
cal priesthood cannot be fairly set forth without at least a brief
notice of the various offerings which were required by the laws and
regulations of the Priest Code. These sacrificial offerings early
acquired the threefold character of (1) self -surrender and self-
dedication of the worshiper to God, (2) thanksgiving for his bene
fits and mercies, and (3) propitiation for sin. Cain and Abel are
represented as bringing fruits of the ground and firstlings of the
flock to present before Jehovah, and both fruits and firstlings are
called a nnJD, offering, or gift (Gen. iv, 3-5). The burnt offerings
of Noah after the flood (Gen. viii, 20-22) were of the nature of
thanksgiving and dedicatory worship. The ancient records of the
patriarchs show a noticeable connection of their sacrifices and their
prayers. We are not able to determine how far the idea of sac
rificial blood in the earliest times was conceived as an expiatory
offering for sin, but it is evident that in every case the sacrifice
offered was a formal expression of self-surrender to God. The
animal sacrifice, in its pouring out of the warm lifeblood of the
victim, was suggestive of a vicarious offering up of life in accord
ance with what was believed to be the good pleasure of God, and
the accompanying acts of festivity and thanksgiving were expressive
of the worshiper's trust in God and of his delight in the conscious
acceptance of all his benefits.
(1) Cereal Offerings. The elaborate ritual of the Priest Code
carefully distinguishes between bloody and bloodless offerings. The
cereal offerings, or "meal offerings," consisted of corn in the ear,
fine flour, and cakes baked or fried, and were accompanied with
olive oil, frankincense, salt, and wine (Lev. ii). These were asso
ciated with libations, or drink offerings, of wine, and both together
were a devout acknowledgment, as stated in 1 Chron. xxix, 11-14,
that all things in the earth and heaven belong to Jehovah, and that
all offerings which man can make to God are but a giving back
to him some respectful portion of what he himself has bestowed.
(2) Blood Offerings. The offerings which involved the shedding
of blood, according to the ritual of Lev. i — vii, were of four kinds :
the burnt offering {rbv), the peace offering (avbw mi), the sin offer
ing (nNbn), and the trespass offering (DEW). The first two were
in large part, like the meal offering, expressive of self-dedication and
thanksgiving. The "whole burnt offering" symbolized the offering
up to God of all that the worshiper represented, himself body and
soul, his family and household, his property of every sort. All these
were regarded as God's gracious gifts to him, and were to be held in

354 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
readiness for any service of God to which they might be put. The
peace offering was a public declaration of peaceful and friendly
relationship between the worshiper and his God. The sacrificial
feast which accompanied it was a joyful expression of fellowship
with God, as if the happy participants were really eating and drink
ing in the presence of Jehovah.1 But the sin offering and the
trespass offering were preeminently designed to make atonement
for the sins of the people. They presuppose a separation between
the worshiper and God, and also a deep sense of guilt which must
have, in order to remission, the shedding of the lifeblood of the
vicarious victim. The law of the trespass offering ( D6W), accord
ing to Lev. v, 14 — vi, 7, and Num. v, 5-8, contemplated individual
offenses which call for restitution. If the trespass were a criminal
appropriation of another's goods, the guilty man was required to
restore in full, and also to add a fifth of its value as a fine. When
the offense was an act of carnal impurity with a bondmaid the
priestly law contemplated the deed as an infringement of the rights
of property which demanded open satisfaction (Lev. xix, 20-22).
Probably also some similar thought of compensation for lost service,
or of fine for censurable defect, entered into the reasons for the
trespass offering required in the case of the Nazarite (Num. vi, 12)
and of the leper (Lev. xiv, 11-18). The trespass offerings accord
ingly contemplated individual offenses involving the consciousness
of personal guilt.
(3) The Sin Offering. But among all these offerings the most
solemn and impressive appears to have been the nKDn, sin offering,
the detailed ritual of which is read in Lev. iv, 1 — v, 13. A specific
order of procedure and various sacrificial victims were ordained
according to the rank and position of those for whom atonement
was to be made. But whether the offender be the anointed priest,
the whole congregation, the civil ruler, or one of the common
people, in every case the atonement called for the shedding of blood.
The only apparent exception is that of one so poor as not to be
able to bring even "two turtledoves or two young pigeons" (v,
11-13). But the flour which in such case was allowed as a sub
stitute, was not to be mixed with oil or frankincense, but to be
burned upon the altar, and upon "the fire offerings of Jehovah"
(mm 'K*N). Thus it was made to partake of the atoning efficacy of
the animal sacrifices and reckoned as a real sin offering. The
representative and propitiatory character of the sin offerings is seen
•Sacrifices on high places, like the one indicated in 1 Sam. ix, 12, 13, 23-25,
were obviously of the nature of a public banquet at which the people and their
God feasted and rejoiced together. 1 Sam. xx, 29, is evidence that families were
wont to observe such sacrificial meals together. Comp. also xvi, 2-5, and Gen.
xxxi, 54.

LEVITICAL RITUAL 355
in the fact that they were required not only for individual offenses,
and sins of ignorance, but also for the whole people. They were
offered on the great national feast days, on the occasion of conse
crating the priests, and at the dedication of the tabernacle. They
appear in most solemn significance in the ritual of the day of
atonement (Lev. xvi). Everything connected with the ceremonies
of that day was of the most awe-inspiring character, and the service
was ordained not for specific and individual sins, but rather to
"make atonement for the holy sanctuary and the tent of meeting,
and the altar, and the priests, and all the people of the assembly."
After all the other expiatory rites of an individual character, and
aside from those of the other annual feasts and of the new moons
(Num. xxviii, 11-15), the ritual of the day of atonement on the
tenth day of the seventh month assumes that there is yet some
defilement or deficiency which ought to be provided for in most
impressive form. And so on that day the high priest must take
the censer full of burning coals from the altar, and sweet incense
and the blood of the sin offering, and go within the veil and let
the cloud of incense cover the mercy seat, and sprinkle the blood
upon the mercy seat seven times.
6. The Goat for Azazel. The ceremonial of confessing all the
iniquities of Israel over the head of the goat that was "sent away
for Azazel into the wilderness," which formed also a notable part
of the ritual of the day of atonement, deserves at least a passing
notice. Whatever the origin of this part of the ceremonies, and
whatever the real meaning of the word Azazel, formal confes
sion of all their sins and putting them upon the head of the goat,
which "bore upon him all their iniquities unto a solitary land,"
were a striking symbolical picture of the expulsion of sin and
iniquity from the people of Israel. It was a public declaration
that the sins of all the people were now sent away from them
unto their own place, transferred to the abode of the evil spirits
in the desert.1 Thus both the people and their dwellings would
be conceived as purged from the guilt and judgment of trans
gressions. 7. Symbolical Significance of the Blood. The classic passage in
the Levitical law which defines the symbolical import of the expia
tory offerings of blood is Lev. xvii, 11 : "The life of the flesh is
in the blood, and I have given (appointed) it to you upon the altar
to make an atonement for your souls : for it is the blood that makes

'Compare the "passing through waterless places" (Matt, xii, 43), and the
"casting into the outer darkness" (Matt, viii, 12), and "departing into the fire
prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt, xxv, 41), as a going forth to one's
appropriate place.

356 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
atonement by reason of the soul (life)." It is not the mere blood,
as a material substance, that possesses the efficacy here ascribed
to it, but the blood yet warm with the life of the victim. When
the worshiper brought his offering and placed his hands upon its
head he openly confessed thereby his guilt and obligation, and
must have conceived that the animal offered was in some sense a
vicarious sacrifice for himself ; and when the lif eblood was "poured
out before Jehovah" the symbolic rite was itself a public declara
tion that the life of the victim without blemish or spot was substi
tuted in the mercy of God for the life of the transgressor. Whether
the blood were poured out at the foot of the altar, or sprinkled on
the horns of the altar, or at the golden altar of incense, or on the
mercy seat within the veil, it was in every case regarded as a
divinely appointed offering to make atonement for the souls of
men.1 8. The Consuming of the Flesh. In connection with these ideas
of atonement, symbolized in the shedding of sacrificial blood, the
disposition of the flesh of the animal victims was not without sug
gestions of purification. The burning of the fat upon the altar, as
an offering made by fire unto Jehovah (Lev. iv, 26, 31, 35), sig
nified a free offering up to God of the better part of the worshiper,
and the burning of the flesh of the sin offering without the camp
in the clean place where the ashes of the altar were carried (Lev.
iv, 12, 21) suggested a complete removal of the sins of the flesh.
For a thorough taking away of sin requires more than the atoning
efficacy of the blood of expiation: there must be also a blotting
out of all iniquity; and this was symbolized by devoting the flesh
of the sin offerings, as if defiled by its contact with sin, to the con
suming fire.
9. Significance of naa and its Derivatives. The word isa and
its derivatives, which are usually translated by atone and atone
ment, deserve a passing notice in connection with the Levitical
laws of expiation. The primary meaning seems to be indicated
by a usage which involves the idea of covering over, or hiding.
Thus in Gen. xxxii, 20, Jacob thinks he can cover the face of Esau
with such a princely gift that his injured brother will not look
upon the wrongs of the past." Hence easily arose the meaning of
covering over in the sense of appeasing, pacifying, propitiating,

1 This was obviously the opinion, as we shall see farther on, of the author of
the epistle to the Hebrews, who elaborates the idea in his ninth chapter, and con
cludes that "according to the law, I may almost say, all things are cleansed with
blood, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no remission" (ix, 22).
2 The word JT1D3 is used in tne same way in Gen. xx, 16, where Abimelech
gives a thousand pieces of silver for a covering of the eyes of all who were with
Sarah that they might not see the offense to which she had been exposed.

ATONEMENT FOR SIN 357
and in the sacrificial codes of the later priestly legislation the
atonement offered was conceived as covering, concealing, and blot
ting out the sins of the guilty. The individuals thus covered or
atoned for were regarded as delivered from exposure to the penal
consequences of transgression. And this entire sacrificial arrange
ment appears in the biblical record not as an invention of men, nor
as a service which recognized any merit in the person who brought
the offering, but as a conspicuous condemnation of sin. It is Jeho
vah who has graciously provided this substitute of animal life for
the life of the sinner, and has appointed the offering of blood
upon the altar to make atonement for the guilty soul. It should
also be noted that the Hebrew word commonly translated mercy
seat is msa, the cover, or lid, of the ark of the covenant. The ark
contained the two tables of the decalogue, God's testimony against
sin, and this capporeth, or cover, was to be sprinkled with blood
on the day of atonement (Lev. xvi, 11-17), and was thus made a
significant symbol of "mercy covering wrath." a '
10. Frequent Biblical Allusion to Sacrifices. Further details of
priestly mediation and of sacrifices for sin, according to the Leviti
cal ritual, need not detain us. But we shall find in other scrip
tures, and in the New Testament teaching, frequent allusion to
the offerings of blood as an atonement for sin. How far these
outward symbols of expiation entered into the eternal purpose of
God, and were typical of holy mysteries which became manifest
in the mediation of Jesus Christ, is a question not to be lost sight
of as we pursue our inquiries. The Old Testament ritual of media
tion and of service contains sundry object-lessons which were
of the nature of a preparatory discipline, looking to the media
torial ministry of the Son of God. And the same may be said of
other religious systems which have served to cultivate the sense
of spiritual need and to turn the yearnings of the human heart
toward God. For all these methods of feeling after the Infinite
Helper may be conceived as so many expedients through which the
heart of unspeakable Love has been working to draw all men unto
himself. They also evince the necessity which the guilty but peni
tent soul feels for some saving efficiency higher than himself in
order to deliverance from the power of sin. Efficient rescue from
depths of self-despair must needs come through some manner of
suffering and sacrifice.
11. Human Sacrifices. The awful practice of offering human
sacrifices is probably best explained as a giving up to God the best,
the dearest, the most sacred treasure possible. Abraham's willing-

1 For fuller showing of this symbolism, see Biblical Hermeneuties, p. 272, and
Biblical Apocalyptics, p. 83.

358 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ness thus to offer up his only son for a burnt offering obtained for
him Jehovah's great blessing (Gen. xxii, 16, 17) . Jephthah offered
his daughter and only child as the noblest possible sacrifice (Judg.
xi, 31, 39). The king of Moab in the extremity of battle as a
last resort offered his eldest son as a burnt offering (2 Kings iii,
27). But the prophets of Jehovah condemned this practice (Mic.
vi, 7; 2 Kings xvi, 3; xxi, 6; xxiii, 10) ; it was denounced as an
"abomination to Jehovah" in Deut. xii, 31, and explicitly forbidden
in the Levitical code (Lev. xviii, 21). The practice, however,
shows to what extremes religious zeal will go in efforts to obtain
and hold favorable relations with God. The devotion thus evinced
may be most admirable, but its method of display is barbarous and
abominable. 12. Priesthood and Sacrifice Express Deep Religious Convictions.
One unavoidable conclusion, which forces itself upon us when
we study those customs of priesthood and sacrifice which go back
to primitive times, is that they are all the expressions of religious
conviction, and evince the need, felt everywhere and at all times,
of some kind of mediation between man and God. In earliest
times the head of the family acted as priest and offered the sacri
fice, as appears in the examples of Noah and Jacob and Job.
Whether the Deity recognized were conceived as a household God,
or the God of the tribe to which the worshiper belonged, or
the one God over all, the worship in its essential elements would
be the same. Hence we are to recognize the real depth and
significance of the lowest forms of sacrificial worship, and to note
that they all indicate desire and effort on the part of the worshipers
to be on good terms with God. The offering seems in all cases to
have been prompted by the query, "Wherewithal shall I come
acceptably before my God?" The answer, of course, may take on
various phases at different times and places. It may be in the
form of fruits, libations of wine, whole burnt offerings, the blood
of choice victims from flock and herd, and even a human sacrifice.
The principle is the same in all. Along with such a variety of
offerings would be associated divers conceptions of propitiation,
atonement, expiation, and reconciliation, as also divers notions of
priesthood. But in all ministrations of this kind the priest acts
the part of a mediator between God and man. As it is well stated
in Heb. v, 1, he is "taken from among men and appointed for
men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and
sacrifices for sins, and bear gently with the ignorant and erring."
And so, probably, the best explanation of priesthood and sacrifice,
the wide world over, is that God himself thus put it into the heart
of man to do his best to be on favorable terms with the Author

INSUFFICIENCY OF SACRIFICES 359
of his being. Thus has the Father sought to draw men; but
their forms of approaching him were often matters of their own
devising. 13. Insufficiency of Animal Sacrifices. According to Heb. x,
1-4, all the Levitical offerings were insufficient to perfect the wor
shiper. The blood of animal sacrifices cannot take away sins.
But those symbolical and typical ministrations of mediation were
a "shadow of the good things to come." They serve to illustrate
and in their measure reveal the greater and more perfect sacrifice
of Christ, and the nature of his divine-human mediation. The
earlier forms of worship, regarded as divine institutions, were gra
ciously provided to assist man in his earnest feeling after God.
The heavenly Father overlooked the misconceptions, the ignorance,
and the errors; but in the fullness of time he brought in the
clearer light to make known the mystery and the purpose of the
ages. It is, accordingly, a great error to condemn, as some do,
all the sacrificial offerings of the old time as inhuman, heathenish,
and barbarous, arising out of superstitious fear of a vengeful Deity.
No doubt demoralizing superstitions have too largely prevailed,
but the degrading conceptions of placating an offended Deity spring
from false views of God. The deities of the heathen world were
often thought of as arbitrary, lustful, passionate beings, who
deceived men by delusive dreams and subjected them to cruel
plagues in order to gratify old feelings of revenge. Service offered
to such a deity would naturally contemplate the removal of his
wrath and spite. But we cannot regard such notions of God as
having ethical content or value. The profound views of sin and
guilt symbolized in the Levitical cult impart a nobler aspect to
all offerings of blood. With the Hebrews atonement meant a
divinely provided means of making God and man at one. The
guilt-laden soul sought peace with the Holy One by means of the
most sacred token of self-surrender he could bring. The real
object was not to placate a revengeful Power, but to offer a rea
sonable, holy, and acceptable sacrifice before the Giver of all
life, who had himself graciously instituted this means of recon
ciliation. 14. Ideas of Mediation in the Prophets. The prophets of the
Old Testament present an ideal of mediatorial intercession and
vicarious suffering which is far in advance of the Levitical ritual
of sacrifice. They expose the emptiness of outward forms, and
proclaim Jehovah as the God who yearns with infinite compassion
after his erring people, and who would rather see in them a loving
obedience than excessive observance of ritual. Isaiah proclaims
Jehovah as having no delight in the oblations and burnt offerings

360 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of a people whose worship is only an outward heartless formality,
while they fail to put away their evil doings (Isa. i, 10-17). Simi
larly Micah declares (vi, 6-8) that righteous action, loving affec
tion, and walking humbly with God are a better means of approach
ing Jehovah than "thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers
of oil." Vainly will one offer up his firstborn child for the sin
of his soul. God looks rather for a deep struggle of the soul after
purity and righteousness that results in spiritual transformation.
The book of Hosea is remarkable for its doctrine of condemning
judgment mixed with divine compassion. Israel is depicted as a
faithless wife who has notoriously played the harlot in departing
from Jehovah. Her guilt is set forth in the darkest colors, and
the certainty of penal retribution is forcibly declared. Having
sown the wind, she shall reap the whirlwind. Having plowed
wickedness, she must needs reap iniquity. And yet through all
this prophecy there breathes a spirit of divine affection for the
sinful nation. Jehovah would fain receive back his faithless wife,
notwithstanding all her running after other lovers. He cries out
as if in bitter anguish: "0 Ephraim, how shall I give thee up?
0 Israel, how shall I deliver thee over to judgment? My heart
is turned upon me; my compassions are kindled together. I will
not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy
Ephraim ; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in the midst
of thee" (xi, 8, 9). In a similar way Isaiah arraigns the "sinful
nation, a people laden with iniquity, who have forsaken Jehovah
and despised the Holy One of Israel" (i, 4), and he announces
that because of their evil doings the judgments of fire and desola
tion have visited the land. But at the same time he pleads with
them to put away the evil of their doings, and "though their sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool" (i, 18). Jeremiah recalls the
piety of Israel's youth, the love of her espousal in the wilderness
(ii, 2), but he cries out in astonishment over her backslidings,
and her "playing the harlot with many lovers" (iii, 1). If one
run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, he will seek in
vain to find a man that doeth justly, that seeketh after truth (v, 1) .
And he speaks out the feeling of Jehovah himself when he cries :
"Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter
of my people! . . . For they proceed from evil to evil, and they
know not me, saith Jehovah" (ix, 1, 3). The righteous judgment
of God was signally executed on the sinful nation by Assyria, the
rod of his anger (Isa. x, 5), and by the chastisements and woes of
the Babylonian exile; but in all their woes the lovingkindness of

JEHOVAH'S SUFFERING SERVANT 361
Jehovah continued toward them, and he brought his people back
from the lands of their exile as he had in the older time brought
them up out of the Egyptian bondage. His loving purpose of
redemption never failed.
15. The Suffering Servant of Jehovah in Isaiah liii. The most
remarkable prophetic portraiture of vicarious suffering is found in
Isa. Iii, 13 — liii, 12. It is an old question of exegesis whether the
servant of Jehovah in this passage is the same "Israel my servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend," so
frequently mentioned in preceding chapters (xii, 8, 9; xiii, 1; xliii,
10; xliv, 1, 2, 21; etc.), or some one individual of the nation, or
the Messiah. Our use of the prophecy, however, need not wait
for a final determination of that question ; for the ideas of vicari
ous suffering presented in the language of the prophet are essen
tially the same in all these expositions, since the character described
is that of "a man of sorrows," who leads Zion out of captivity,
.gives his soul as a trespass offering for sin, and makes intercession
for the transgressors. Whatever, therefore, the possible explana
tions of the whole passage, the idea set before us is that of an
individual. (1) The Preceding Context. In the preceding context (Iii,
1-12) the restoration of Zion and Jerusalem is portrayed in lively
form. The captive daughter of Zion is called upon to shake her
self from the dust and to go forth out of captivity, assured that
her exodus from present oppression shall be more glorious than
that from the Egyptian bondage. "For Jehovah hath comforted
his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem, hath made bare his holy
arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth
have seen the salvation of our God." In departing from the
present house of bondage they need not go out in such haste as in
the ancient exodus, for Jehovah will go before and behind them
like a pillar of cloud and of fire (ver. 12). Thereupon the prophet
introduces his graphic picture of the servant who shall act wisely
and become highly exalted.
(2) The Contrasts. In this graphic outline we cannot fail to
observe several remarkable contrasts. The servant acts wisely and
is exalted very high, yet is his form marred more than any man,
and is also despised and rejected of men. He grows up as a
tender plant, and as a root from the dry ground, but somehow
he brings healing to a sick and sorrowing world. He is led as a
lamb to the slaughter, yet he divides the spoil with the mighty.
He is terribly stricken on account of the sins of the people, but
he sees the fruits of the travail of his soul and is satisfied. He
is even made a curse for others, being wounded and bruised for

362 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
their sins and bearing their iniquities, but by his knowledge he
succeeds in making many righteous. It even pleases Jehovah to
bruise him and put him to grief, but, as a result, "the pleasure of
Jehovah shall prosper in his hand."
(3) Mediatorial Soul-Passion. Among the many facts of his
humiliation and suffering is the notable statement of verse 6 that
"Jehovah hath mediated in him (n man) the iniquity of us all."
The word which we here translate mediated, and which is com
monly rendered laid on, or made to light on, is used in the same
causative form (hiphil), but intransitively, in verse 12, where it
means maketh intercession. It indicates in both places the media
torial soul-passion and struggle of personal intercession, and what
is remarkable is that in verse 6 Jehovah himself is the causative
subject of the intercession, and in verse 12 the suffering servant
of Jehovah, who pours out his soul unto death and bears the sin
of many, is the one who intercedes for the transgressors. So it
is Jehovah who causes the iniquity of others to strike (jus) and
work an agony of travail in the soul of his servant, and the
servant's mediatorial intercession avails for the transgressors.
(4) Triumph and Exaltation. The final triumph and exalta
tion of this servant of Jehovah are as wonderful as his subjection
to suffering. He becomes highly exalted, attracts the attention of
many nations and kings, his days are lengthened, a great posterity
is promised him, he brings righteousness to multitudes, his soul
is satisfied with the result of its travail, and he is conceived at last
as a great conqueror who divides the spoil among his mighty heroes.
Though numbered with the transgressors, he is a revelation of the
arm of Jehovah's power.
(5) The Christian Interpretation. Well might Christian inter
preters have ever recognized in this prophetic picture of "a man
of sorrows" a striking portraiture of Jesus Christ. For, whatever
collective idea may here as in other parts of this book attach to
the "servant of Jehovah," this description obviously contemplates
a person who is distinguished from the whole house of Israel and
who suffers for transgressions not his own. No less than seven
times is it said in one form or another that he was smitten for
the sake of others, and verse 9 declares that he himself was guilty
of no violence or wrong. After the manner of the sin and trespass
offerings of the Levitical ritual, his soul was made an offering for
sin, poured out unto death, and he bare the sin of many.
16. Idea Given in Daniel ix, 24. The language of Dan. ix, 24,
is worthy of attention as indicating the writer's idea of the termi
nation of an old order, the end of certain forms of transgression
and sin, and the introduction of a new order of everlasting right-

PENITENTIAL PSALMS 363
eousness. The passage is best translated in the form of Hebrew
parallelisms :
Seventy heptades are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city,
To close up the transgression and to consummate sins,
And to expiate iniquity and to introduce eternal righteousness,
And to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint a Holy of holies.
The expiation of iniquity here spoken of seems to be some propitia
tory mediation of epochal significance, which is to be effected at
the point of time to which the prophecy refers. The sealing up of
vision and prophecy most naturally means the fulfilling and cessa
tion of prophetic oracles by the opening of the Messianic age of
universal knowledge (comp. Isa. xi, 9). The consecration of a
new Holy of holies implies the institution of a "greater and more
perfect tabernacle," with its new and living way of entrance for all
the pure in heart (comp. Heb. ix, 11; x, 19). It is easy to see
how these references to some new and superior methods of expia
tion were capable of a special Messianic application, and the song
of Zacharias contains (Luke i, 68, 77) profound conceptions of
"redemption for his people," "knowledge of salvation," and "remis
sion of sins," which formed a part of Israel's Messianic hope as
held among the most pious of the nation. And it was thus through
sacrifices, and symbolic forms of worship, and soul-stirring oracles
of prophets, and prayers of the psalmists, that God's purpose and
the mystery of the ages were slowly working in the course of Israel's
history and preparing the way for a clearer revelation.
17. Doctrine of the Penitential Psalms. The psalmists as well
as the prophets magnify that inner spiritual conception of media
torial self-offering which is better than all burnt offerings. The
most acceptable "sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken
and a contrite heart, 0 God, thou wilt not despise" (Psa. li, 17).
The deep inner struggles of the contrite heart partake of the nature
of God's own yearnings to bring the truly penitent sinners into
experiences of holy life and peace. The so-called "penitential
psalms" are like so many cries out of the depths of profound sor
row for sin. They are full of confessions which acknowledge that
rescue must come, if it come at all, from a lovingkindness of God
which is able to blot out transgression and cleanse from all unright
eousness. Of all these penitential psalms the twenty-second is the
most remarkable for the number and variety of its self-expressions
of personal agony. Some expositors believe it to be a composition
of David, describing a terrible struggle of soul through which he
himself passed. Others have ascribed it to Hezekiah, and some
to Jeremiah the prophet. Others discern in the pleading sufferer

364 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of this psalm a personification of Israel in exile, and not a few
insist that the language can be legitimately explained only of the
sufferings of Christ and the glorious results secured thereby.
Whatever view one takes of its authorship and immediate occasion,
the various sentiments of this impassioned lyric, like those of
Isa. liii, are to be studied for their profound suggestions touching
the personal agony that may be felt in mediatorial intercession.
The exclamation at the beginning implies a terrible sense of aban
donment by God: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me ?" This feeling of rejection is the more amazing and impres
sive in view of the suppliant's continual cry, and the trust and
deliverance of his fathers, as stated in verses 1-5. He thinks of
himself as a writhing worm rather than as a man, an object of
reproach and contempt among the people. All who gaze upon him
in his agony treat him with derision; they laugh him to scorn,
wag their heads, and cry out with biting sarcasm:
Roll it on Jehovah; let him deliver him;
Let him rescue him, for he delighted in him.
In the midst of this great distress he finds no deliverer at hand,
although God has been his trust from infancy. The following
words show the extremity of his affliction :
Many bulls have compassed me about,
Strong ones of Bashan have surrounded me.
They have opened their mouth upon me —
As a lion tearing and roaring.
Like waters am I poured out,
And all my bones are sundered;
My heart has become like wax.
Melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue is cleaving to my jaws;
And thou dost set me in the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed me about;
A crowd of evil-doers have encircled me.
They have pierced my hands and my feet,
I can number all my bones ;
They keep looking and gazing at me.
They divide my garments among them,
And upon my vesture they cast lots.
In this extremity of woe he directs his prayer again to Jehovah
(vers. 19-21), and suddenly a marvelous answer comes. WMff,
Thou hast answered me, he cries ;
I will declare thy name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly will I praise thee.

TWENTY-SECOND PSALM 365
The remainder of the psalm (verses 23-31) is a triumphal declara
tion of the result of his sufferings and his prayers. He seems to
struggle up out of depths of agony into heights of power, whenoe
he calmly surveys "all the ends of the earth" returning to Jehovah
and bowing down before him as their rightful ruler, whose right
eousness is to be celebrated through all generations. This remark
able poem abounds with metaphors which run into hyperbole, but
the extravagance of the figures serves to intensify to the uttermost
the portraiture of personal affliction. The psalm is usually reck
oned among the Messianic psalms, but it contains expressions which
are inapplicable to Jesus Christ. This much, however, should be
said, that the sufferer who gives utterance to these impassioned
words is an innocent sufferer, and in all his agony he gives forth
no vent of anger against those who revile him. No other Old
Testament scripture suggests in equal space so many facts men
tioned in connection with the crucifixion of the Son of man. Verse
1 was uttered by him on the cross (Matt, xxvii, 46; Mark xv, 34).
The wagging of heads, the mockery and sarcasm, the thirst, the
piercing of hands and feet, the parting of his raiment and casting
lots for it, are all mentioned in the gospels in describing the last
agony of Jesus. And the last word of the psalm, nB>u, he has
done it, or it is accomplished, reminds us of Jesus's last word,
according to John xix, 30, rereXearai, it is finished. All these facts
along with the representative character of the sufferer, who assumes
that his triumph through unspeakable agony is destined to secure
the redemption and reunion of "all the families of the nations,"
makes the twenty-second psalm a typical prophetic oracle. It sets
before us an ideal Israelite, in whom is no guile, subjected to a
passion of soul that makes him a representative partaker of the
sufferings of Christ and of the glories destined to follow.
18. Connection with Israel's Messianic Hope. A study of the
foregoing ideas of priestly and sacrificial mediation, as found in
the Hebrew scriptures, will enable us also to see how this general
concept of mediatorial intercession and salvation became naturally
associated with Israel's Messianic hope. The Lord who sits at the
right hand of Jehovah, according to Psa. ex, and is destined to
subdue and judge among the nations, is declared by the oath of
Jehovah to be "a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
The epistle to the Hebrews (chaps, vi and vii) magnifies this say
ing as a most significant ideal of the priesthood of Jesus Christ,
who is proclaimed (viii, 1, 2) as "a high priest who sat down
on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a
minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the
Lord pitched, not man."

CHAPTEE III
SAYINGS OP JESUS RELATIVE TO REDEMPTION
1. Comparatively Little on this Subject in the Gospels. It is
preeminently desirable, in our study of the mediation of Christ, to
know as accurately as possible the teachings of our Lord himself.
It is the prevalent belief that the synoptic gospels furnish us
with the most exact tradition of his words, and we shall first
examine what they report touching the giving of his life for the
salvation of man. But we shall also study in the same connection
whatever the fourth gospel has to say upon the same subject We
should admonish ourselves, however, in advance, that the gospel
records are not the class of biblical writings in which one would
look for any extensive treatment of the doctrinal significance of
Jesus's death. They are rather a record of the facts of his birth,
life, works, death, and resurrection, and bear the style of memoirs.
We do not find in them any formal or detailed instruction on the
significance of these great facts. The disciples were strangely
slow to understand what their Lord did say to them about his
death and resurrection, but so far as we have any report of his
teaching on these matters, whether in the synoptics or in the gospel
of John, we study them as words of the highest value.
2. His Entire Life a Ransom for Many. Of all the reported
sayings of Jesus, bearing on the doctrine of mediation, the most
noteworthy is probably that which is recorded in Matt, xx, 28, and
Mark x, 45: "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." The
main question in this passage touches the precise meaning of the
last three words, a ransom for many (Xvrpov dvri noXXwv).
In defining the word Xvrpov, ransom, in such a statement as is
here made, we cannot fairly ignore the usage and connotation it
holds in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament.1 In Exod.
xxi, 30, it means the price that may lawfully be put upon the life
of one who is exposed to the penalty of death, and by the payment

1 It is used alike for the translation of "|fi3, p^B, and fhtti, all of which
have in common the meaning of ransom, redemption, or price of redemption. The
word avrtfarrpov in 1 Tim. ii, 6, seems to be substantially identical in meaning,
and TArpuaic- (Luke i, 68; ii, 38; Heb. ix, 12) and atroTivrpuaic- (Rom. iii, 24;
Eph. i, 7; 14; Col. i, 14; Heb. ix, 15) also have the same general significance and
connotation. 366

RANSOM FOR MANY 367
of which he is to be released from such penal exposure. In Exod.
xxx, 12, the word is employed to designate the poll tax of half a
shekel which "every man shall give as a ransom for his soul unto
Jehovah." In Lev. xxv, 51, it stands for the price paid for the
liberation of one who has been sold into bondage. The word is
also used in connection with the redemption of land that had been
sold (Lev. xxv, 24), and the redemption of the produce of the
land which by the law of tithing belonged unto Jehovah (Lev.
xxvii, 31). In all these examples and illustrations of the ransom
the main idea is that of substituting one thing for another. Hence
the preposition dvri, for, in place of, is naturally employed in
Matt, xx, 28, as most consonant with the idea of a ransom price.1
The Son of man gives his life as a ransom price for the liberation
of many who are assumed to be held under some sort of bonds.
In what this bondage consists nothing in the text or context tells ;
but the statement in Matt, xxvi, 28, that his blood "is shed for
many unto remission of sins," and the use of the verb Xvrpdh)
in Titus ii, 14, and 1 Pet. i, 18, in the sense of "ransoming from
all iniquity," and "ransoming from a vain manner of life," are
good evidence that the ransom contemplated by Jesus in the text
under discussion is deliverance from the bondage of sin. The
figure of "selling one's self to do evil" would probably have been
familiar to readers of the Old Testament (comp. 1 Kings xxi, 20,
25 ; 2 Kings xvii, 17), and Paul develops this idea at length (Bom.
vi, 16-23; vii, 14, 23). What Jesus himself taught about the
impossibility of serving two masters and about repentance and
remission of sins accords with the same idea. When, therefore,
he declares that he "came to give his life a ransom for many" the
most natural and obvious thought suggested is that of redemption
from the bondage of sin. But the process or mode by which this
redemption is accomplished is not here described; nor should we
assume that the "giving of his life" in this text refers exclusively
to his death on the cross. Jesus foretold his death and spoke of
its necessity (comp. Luke ix, 22; xxiv, 7, 26, 46; John xii, 23-27) ;
he recognized the closing period of his earthly life as a crucial
hour; but when he says, "For this cause came I unto this hour,"
we are not justified in the inference that the events of his death
on the cross were of more value in his work of mediation than
many other events of his life. We must duly recognize all the
great facts of his incarnation, and his resurrection and ascension,
and the apostolic teaching that he ever lives to make intercession
for us. The sacrifice of his life includes also every cup of agony
•The preposition trepi is, however, used in connection with TArpa in the Sep
tuagint of Num. xxxv, 31.

368 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
which he drank (comp. Matt, xx, 22; xxvi, 42; John xviii, 11),
and the baptism of overwhelming trials which he underwent (comp.
Mark x, 38; Luke xii, 50). His severe temptations in the wilder
ness, his longsuffering with a "faithless and perverse generation"
(Matt, xvii, 17), his upbraiding of Chorazin and Bethsaida, his
weeping over Jerusalem, and his amazement and bloody sweat in
Gethsemane were all of them together only a part of the media
torial struggle involved in his giving his life a ransom for many.
He recognized it as the high purpose of his mission "to seek and
to save that which was lost" (Luke xix, 10). He "came not to
call the righteous, but sinners" (Matt, ix, 13), and he would search
far and labor long to gather in "the lost sheep of the house of
Israel." In all these statements we read the struggle of an
intensely sympathetic friend of the sinner, one who, like the ideally
good shepherd, is ready to lay down his life for the sheep. He
endured all manner of opposition of sinners, and "resisted unto
blood, striving against sin" (Heb. xii, 3, 4). Such a giving of
his life for the ransom of many from the bondage of sin need not
and ought not to be complicated in thought by attempts to discover
in the mediation of Christ something analogous to every idea which
the figure of a ransom suggests. In what manner this heavenly
Eedeemer accomplishes his ministry of redemption is a legitimate
inquiry, and will be considered in the pages which follow; but
when Jesus says that his life was given to bring about the libera
tion of mankind from the power of sin it diverts attention from
his main thought when one asks "to whom the ransom was paid,"
and how it could be an "equivalent satisfaction" of the debt which
guilty man owed God.1 Confusion of thought must needs attend
the effort to press into dogmatic significance every suggestion and
implication of a metaphor. In such a text as Deut. vii, 8 — "Jeho
vah redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of
Pharaoh king of Egypt" — we do not suppose that a ransom price
was paid to Pharaoh or to the Egyptians ; nor do we once imagine
1 It seems hardly necessary to make mention of the old patristic fiction of God
giving the soul of Jesus as a ransom to Satan, who was thought of as holding
humanity in captivity. Such an importance accorded to Satan formed part of a
fanciful and absurd demonology now quite effectually exploded. The later An-
selmic theory of substituting the infinite merit of Christ's sufferings as an equiv
alent satisfaction for the infinite demerit of sin moves in a realm of thought quite
foreign to the Scriptures. It has a logical affinity with the later Romish doctrine
of indulgences, and with ultra Antinomianism and its fictions of the imputation
of man's guilt to Christ, and of Christ's personal righteousness to the elect. The
originators and advocates of these theories failed to perceive that a ransom of
such infinite merit, and such a complete satisfaction of justice, logically leave
no reasonable ground for the doctrine of salvation by grace. Whatever grace
may be alleged in such a monergistic scheme is by the hypothesis so essentially
compulsory as to rob it of all the real qualities of mercy. But perhaps the worst
feature of this monergistic scheme was its sovereign exclusion of the nonelect
from any share in the imputed righteousness of Christ.

WORDS AT THE LAST SUPPER 369
that Sheol and death receive a stipulation when we read Hos. xiii,
14 : "From the hand of Sheol I will ransom them ; from death I
will redeem them." The great fact in this case is that Jesus
Christ entered into all the experiences of human life. He was
tempted in all points as we are; he confronted the scorn and malice
and violence of a hostile world; and in all this struggle he sacri
ficed himself and gave up his own life to rescue men from sin.
It seems, therefore, irrelevant and idle to inquire after some par
ticular creditor to whom such a ransom must have been paid.
When we think properly of a deliverer who of his own good will
subjects himself to a fearful struggle, involving the sacrifice of
his life to rescue others from the peril of death, we do not ask
to whom, but rather for whom, that costly price of self-sacrifice was
paid. Such ransoms are prompted by the purest emotion of love;
one noble life is given instead of the many exposed to death, and the
sufferings involved are even gladly borne for the sake of the rescued
ones and for the glory that must result from such a work of redemp
tion. 3. Words of Jesus at the Last Supper. Another important say
ing of our Lord bearing on the doctrine of his mediation is found
in connection with the Last Supper, when he took the cup and gave
it to the disciples, and said, according to Matt, xxvi, 28 : "Drink
of it all ye; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is shed
for many (irepl rroXXuv) unto remission of sins." The parallel text
in Mark xiv, 24, reads : "This is my blood of the covenant, which
is shed for many" (vnep noXXibv). The reading in Luke xxii, 20, is
peculiar, is omitted from some ancient manuscripts, and has been
thought by some critics to be an interpolation1 : "This cup is the
new covenant in my blood, that which is poured out for you"
(vnep vuuv). Paul's statement in 1 Cor. xi, 25, corresponds closely
to that of Luke: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood : this
do, as oft as ye drink, in remembrance of me." These solemn
words, together with what Jesus said in the same connection about
eating the bread as a symbol of his body given and broken for them,
have obvious allusion to some typical significance in the passover
meal which our Lord and his disciples were eating togther. They
clearly imply that in some sense he became for them a true paschal
lamb and whatever else the paschal supper signified ; and it agrees
with this idea, that, according to Luke xxii, 16, 18, he himself

1 Thus Westcott and Hort, after stating the difficulties of the critical problem,
observe: "These difficulties, added to the suspicious coincidences with 1 Cor. xi,
24, 25, and the transcriptional evidence given above, leave no moral doubt that
the words in question were absent from the original text of Luke, notwithstanding
the purely Western ancestry of the documents which omit them." — Notes on
Select Readings, p. 64.

370 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
partook of it neither by eating nor drinking. All the synoptists
record Jesus's refusal to drink thenceforth from the fruit of the vine
until he should drink it new (koivov) in the kingdom of God. If,
however, we suppose that he ate of the paschal lamb with them, but
declined to eat of the bread and drink of the cup, we obtain nothing
of essential value for determining the significance of our Lord's
words on the occasion. He declared the bread to be his body
and the cup his blood of the covenant which was shed for many,
. and the language can mean no less than that he himself was in
some sense given as a sacrifice for many, whether he himself at
that time ate of the paschal lamb or not. It is also well to note
in passing that Paul conceived Christ as "our passover slain"
(1 Cor. v, 7). Whatever the particular forms observed in the
course of the paschal meal in the time of our Lord, there can be
no doubt that the feast itself was celebrated as a memorial of
Israel's deliverance from the bondage of Egypt (comp. Exod. xii,
14; xiii, 9). The story of that deliverance could not well be told
apart from the memorable sprinkling of the blood of the first
paschal lamb upon the side posts and lintel of the houses to defend
the dwellers therein against the destructive plague. Thus the
entire feast of the passover was on the one hand essentially a
memorial of Israel's redemption unto Jehovah ; on the other hand,
the words my blood of the covenant, used by Jesus according to
all the synoptists, can hardly be explained otherwise than as a
conscious appropriation of the language of Exod. xxiv, 8, where
the reference is to the blood of burnt offerings and peace offerings
sacrificed unto Jehovah ; but the emphatic statement that he would
not drink of this symbol of the blood of the covenant until he
should drink it Kaivov, new in kind, with them in the heavenly
kingdom, reminds us of the words of Jeremiah (xxxi, 31-34) about
the new covenant between Israel and Jehovah,1 and helps to point
out the spiritual significance of all this language of Jesus at the
paschal meal. It was a new kind of eating and drinking to which
he would elevate their thoughts by means of this symbolic meal,
a feasting together in the heavenly kingdom of his Father.' The
eating of his body and drinking of his blood must mean a par
taking of his spirit and of the eternal life which he imparts (comp.
John vi, 53-58, 63). He surrenders himself, body and soul, to
the death of the cross, for the redemption of many from a worse

1 The use made of this passage from Jeremiah in Heb. viii, 6, ff ., is worthy of
careful study in connection with the words of Jesus. The plan of our treatise
requires us to treat it in another connection.
2 One might compare the figure of "reclining with Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt, viii, 11), and the blessedness of those
"who are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev. xix, 9).

GOD'S LOVE FOR THE WORLD 371
than Egyptian bondage. For it is only as his spotless life is thus
freely offered that he himself becomes the potent means and medi
ator of human salvation. The shedding of the blood of this
paschal lamb has for its object, as Matthew (xxvi, 28) records it,
"remission of sins." We cannot therefore with proper regard to
the simplest suggestions of the language and its occasion divorce
from the words of Jesus at the last supper the then current ideas
of atonement through the sprinkling of blood. One may appro
priately say, in the language of Isa. liii, 10, "It pleased Jehovah
to bruise him and to make his soul an offering for sin." The
institution of the new covenant of his gospel, like that of the old
covenant of Mount Sinai, was accordingly ratified by the shedding
of blood, and it was the blood of Jesus, the blood of the new
covenant, shed for many because given for the life of the world.
From all which it appears very evident that we cannot fairly or
satisfactorily explain the teaching of Jesus touching his own divine
mediation without admitting his obvious allusions to Old Testa
ment ideas of atonement. In this fact we may also observe how
the ritual of an inferior religious cult may prepare the way for
something more spiritual and divine.
4. God's Great Love for the World. So far as the gospel of
John sets forth the teaching of Jesus on the subject of his own
divine mediation, it supplements and confirms the doctrine found
in the synoptics. Perhaps the most noteworthy declaration in
the New Testament touching the love of God as exhibited in the
saving mediation of his Son is that which is written in John iii,
14-16: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in
him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should
not perish, but have eternal life." It is an old question of exegesis
whether all these are words of Jesus or an enlargement of his
words made by the evangelist. The only trustworthy answer seems
to be the general one that the teaching of Jesus had so thoroughly
taken possession of the evangelist's thought and life as to find its
true expression not in the exact terms employed by the Lord, but
rather in the language and style of the disciple. Whether Jesus
uttered these sentiments near the beginning or at the end of his
ministry is a question of no essential importance to John. His
aim is to present Jesus for all that he is worth to the believer
(comp. xx, 31), and the words to Nicodemus in iii, 14-16, fairly
interpreted, include the following truths: (1) The mediatorial
offering of Christ has its origin in the love of God, which is a
world-embracing love. (2) The offering involves the most affect-

372 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ing of all possible sacrifices, the giving of an only begotten Son1
for the rescue and the eternal life of the perishing world of man
kind. (3) The Son thus offered is in some sense a vicarious sac
rifice for those who are liable to perish, but who, through faith in
him, may have eternal life and be saved. (4) In the course of this
divine procedure the Son of man is exalted before the eyes of men
(comp. the irpoeypdfyn, openly portrayed, of GaL iii, 1) "even as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness" (comp. Num. xxi, 9) .
(5) In order to accomplish this salvation of the world it was some
how necessary (del) that the Son of man should be thus lifted up
(inbcjdrjvai). This being lifted up refers most naturally to his being
lifted up on the cross,1 and the voluntary surrender of himself to
the death of the cross is the mode, according to John's gospel, in
which the love of God asserted itself and became effectual for the
salvation of the world.
5. Giving of his Flesh and Blood for the Life of the World.
This giving of the Son of man for the life of the world is further
set forth in the remarkable words of John vi, 50, 51, and what
is written in connection with them. The figure here is not that
of a sacrificial victim offered on the cross, but of living bread out
of heaven : "I am the living bread which came down out of heaven :
if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: yea, and the
bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world."
But the provision of such heavenly food necessarily involves the
sacrifice of the life of the Son of man ; for he goes on to say that,
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye
have not life in yourselves. He that eateth my flesh and drink
eth my blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the
last day." This is no doubt mystical language and is to be spir
itually interpreted (comp. ver. 63), but it has the most vital
relation to the doctrine involved in the words of the Last Supper
touching the eating of his body and the drinking of his blood.
The gracious provision of God in giving his Son that the world
through him might be saved becomes effectual in the individual
believer only as he personally accepts the wonderful gift of the
Father's love, and inwardly appropriates the living bread from
heaven. So "he that believeth hath eternal life" (ver. 47).

•The offering of "the only begotten Son" may find some measure of its im
pressiveness in a conscious allusion to the offering of Isaac by Abraham in Gen.
xxii, 2, 16.
'Compare John viii, 28; xii, 32-34. In the last-named passage the writer
understands Jesus to "signify by what manner of death he should die"; but the
words, if I be lifted up from the earth (ek ttjc yfjc-, out of the earth) are hardly com
patible with the mere idea of being lifted up on the cross, and verse 33 has been
suspected as an interpolation. But viii, 28, "When ye have lifted up the Son of
man," indicates the crucifixion.

THE INTERCESSORY PRAYER 373
6. Dying for Others. The vicarious offering of his own life
for the sake of others is also seen in John x, 11, 15, where Jesus
declares himself the good shepherd who lays down his life for the
sheep. The idea suggested in this illustration is not that of an
expiatory offering for sin, but rather of an exposure to loss of
life consequent upon faithful care of the flock. A similar thought
is conveyed in the language of xv, 13: "Greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." A
man may thus lay down his own life for the sake of his friends
in one or another of many ways; and yet it is in keeping with
the imagery of offering the blood of life upon the altar to speak
of all such modes of giving up one's life for the sake of another
as examples of vicarious sacrifice without which there could have
been no salvation of the one that was rescued. This idea certainly
pervades the gospel of John, and appears in the construction which
the author puts upon the saying of Caiaphas, "That it was expedient
that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation
perish not" ; for he looked upon this utterance of the high priest
as an inspired oracle, "That Jesus should die for the nation; and
not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together
into one the children of God that are scattered abroad" (xi, 50-52).
The idea of sacrifice, even unto the laying down of life, appears
also in the proverbial saying of xii, 24 : "Except a grain of wheat
fall into the earth and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bear
eth much fruit." This principle of sacrifice in order to reach
some greater good is fundamental in the moral world, and the
death of Jesus is its highest possible illustration.
7. Intercessory Prayer in Chapter xvii. But in no portion of
the fourth gospel do we find a more impressive self-revelation of
Jesus Christ as Mediator between God and man than in his high-
priestly prayer in chapter xvii. With a sublime self -consciousness
of oneness with the Father, and at the same time of oneness with
the men who are given him out of the world, he stands as a great
high priest who has already virtually passed into the heavenly
places and "appears before the face of God for us" (comp. Heb.
ix, 24). He is conscious of having come forth from the Father,
of having glorified him on the earth, of having accomplished the
ministry of his incarnation, and of having arrived at the crucial
hour of leaving the world and being glorified with the glory which
he had with the Father before the world was. He has manifested
the Father's name and given his word to the disciples ; and now, as
he is about to leave them and go unto the Father, he prays for them
that they may be kept and guarded from the evil of the world, and
sanctified in the truth. As he had sanctified or consecrated himself

374 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
in willing sacrifice, he prays that they also may be consecrated in a
freewill offering of themselves in the truth. And finally he prays
that they and those who should thereafter believe on him through
their word "may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me and
I in thee, that they may be perfected into one ; that the world may
know that thou didst send me, and lovest them, even as thou lovest
me." And so the one great Mediator pleads, desiring that those
who are thus united in holy fellowship "be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for
thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." This remark
able intercession is equivalent to a declaration on the part of Jesus
that he came forth from God as a divinely appointed Bevealer
of the Father's grace and glory, and as a Mediator divinely conse
crated to effect the perfect union and fellowship of God and all
them that are sanctified in the truth. He alone can say to the
Father, "They are thine: and all things that are mine are thine,
and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them." After the
manner of Heb. ii, 13, and its context, we may here behold the
sanctifier and the sanctified "all of one," and we see the author of
their salvation, made perfect through suffering, leading many sons
into glory, and saying, "Behold, I and the children whom God
hath given me."
8. Words of Jesus on the Cross. At this place it seems most
fitting to notice the sayings of our Saviour on the cross. Matthew
and Mark inform us that "about the ninth hour Jesus cried with
a loud voice: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Luke says nothing of this, but he reports three other sayings:
(1) "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do";
(2) "To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise"; (3) "Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit." In John's gospel there is
no mention of any of these sayings, but three others are recorded :
(1) "Woman, behold thy son! Disciple, behold thy mother!"
(2) "I thirst"; (3) "It is finished."1 All reverent readers and
expositors have felt the marvelous height and depth and breadth
of these seven words. The cry of abandonment and agony is a
citation of the first words of the twenty-second psalm. It expresses
an awful sense of loneliness, and maybe compared with the language
of the mighty conqueror who speaks in Isa. lxiii, 3-6, and declares
that he found no arm to help him in the terrible struggle with his
foes. That conqueror was sprinkled with the lifeblood of his ene
mies whom he had trampled in his wrath ; but the agony of Jesus
on the cross, as well as in Gethsemane, was not a wrestling with
1 These seven sayings appear in Matt, xxvii, 46 ; Mark xv, 34 ; Luke xxiii, 34,
43, 46; John xix, 26, 27, 28, 30.

WORDS OF JESUS ON THE CROSS 375
flesh and blood, but rather with powers invisible. He had come
to the last and supreme struggle of giving up his life as a ransom
for the world of sinful men. If his soul was "exceeding sorrow
ful, greatly amazed, and sore troubled" in Gethsemane (Mark xiv,
33, 34), it is probable that there was even deeper anguish on the
cross. But his God did not forsake him, and in his uttermost
sense of vicarious suffering he revealed the Father also. For God
was even thus in Christ, loving the world, yearning in unspeakable
desire to save the world, "making intercession with groanings
which cannot be uttered," and thus disclosing his holy passion to
"reconcile the world unto himself." The prayer for the forgiveness
of them that crucified him accords with the greatness of his dying
love ; the promise of paradise to the penitent soul that shared with
him the ignominy of the cross enlarges our vision of the heavenly
places prepared by the Christly Mediator for all them that believe
on him; and his commending his own spirit at death into his
heavenly Father's hands is an example which every one of his
disciples may follow. The three sayings preserved in John's gospel
show him to be very tenderly affectioned and human to the last,
and the exclamation rereXearai, it is finished, expresses the calm,
superhuman, godlike consciousness of one who is more than a
conqueror.1 Had we no other sayings of our Lord aside from these
uttered on the cross, we should still possess the elements of a seven
fold gospel of the Son of God.

1 Harnack observes the fact that those who looked upon the death of Jesus as
a sacrifice "soon ceased to offer God any blood-sacrifice at all. Wherever the
Christian message subsequently penetrated, the sacrificial altars were deserted and
dealers in sacrificial beasts found no more purchasers. If there is one thing that is
certain in the history of religion, it is that the death of Christ put an end to all
blood-sacrifices." Das Wesen des Christentums, p. 99. Eng. trans., p. 169.

CHAPTER IV
DOCTRINE OP JOHN AND OP PETER
1. Doctrine of the First Epistle of John. The doctrine of the
first epistle of John accords so closely with that of the fourth
gospel that in now passing to a study of the apostolical epistles
we may appropriately begin with this important document of the
early Church. For though this epistle may be among the very
latest products of the apostolic age its doctrine of the mediatorial
work of Christ appears to be in substance identical with what we
find in the very earliest examples of apostolic teaching. A remark
ably close parallel to the great text in John iii, 16, is the compre
hensive statement of 1 John iv, 9, 10, where, in immediate con
nection with the words "God is love," we read: "Herein was the
love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be a propitiation for our sins." Verse 14 says that "the
Father has sent the Son as Saviour of the world." Nothing is
clearer in these statements than that the "propitiation for our sins"
originates in the love of God. The work of Christ as "Saviour
of the world" is not to appease a wrathful Deity, as was supposed
in propitiatory sacrifices among the heathen, but rather a move on
God's part to provide a covering of sins. This word IXaafiog-, trans
lated propitiation, is employed in the Septuagint for the Hebrew
0^123, coverings, in the sense of atonement for sin and the conse
quent pardon and removal of the sin. So in this epistle of John
the manifestation of Christ was for the purpose of taking away
sin (iii, 5; comp. John i, 29), and thus destroying the works of
the devil (iii, 8). This provision for the uttermost removal of
sin centers in Jesus Christ, who "is the propitiation for our sins ;
and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" (ii, 2). He
brings to the knowledge and within the reach of man the potent
means by which sin is covered, blotted out, taken away; and such
an effectual doing away with sin as the work of the devil is insep
arably associated in John's thought with purification from sin. He
who embraces the Christian's hope "purifieth himself even as God is
pure" (iii, 3 ) . A new and heavenly life is begotten through this divine
propitiation, so that continuance in sin becomes utterly incompatible
376

IMAGERY OF BLOOD OFFERINGS 377
with the soul thus purified. For "whosoever is begotten of God doeth
no sin, because his seed (that is, God's seed, the germ of heavenly
life imparted dvu&ev, from above, John iii, 3) abideth in him:
and he cannot sin because he is begotten of God" (iii, 9). The
obstacle in the way of bringing the sinner into fellowship with
God is the essential opposition of sin and holiness. This epistle
emphasizes it as the contrast of light and darkness. "God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all." If sinful man come into this
light of God, and see and know and love the God of light, he cannot
go on walking in darkness. He must become a child of the light.
"If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from
all sin" (i, 5-7). The difficulty, accordingly, in the way of recon
ciliation between sinful man and God is not some imaginary exi
gency of divine government, but the fact of sin in man. This fact,
however, is a breach of the divine order of life, and in that sense
may be conceived as rebellion against God's rule. Bighteousness
and love alike require that this rebellion cease. No change is
required in God. He is essentially unchangeable in love and truth
and fidelity and righteousness. But "if we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we con
fess our sins, he is faithful and righteous (marog- Kal diKatoc)
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
(i, 8, 9). Herein we discern the origin, the means, the process,
and the result of Christ's "propitiation for our sins."
2. Old Testament Imagery of Blood Offerings. No faithful
exposition of these texts can separate them from the imagery of
Old Testament offerings of blood for the remission of sin. It is
"the blood of Jesus Christ his Son" which is recognized as in
some powerful way efficient for the purification of the sinner from
all unrighteousness. The sinner has no means or resources within
himself to effect a cleansing from all sin. His own penitence and
confession of guilt have in them no cleansing power. There must
come to his rescue some mediatorial ministry from a source higher
than himself; the mediation must involve sacrifice of sufficient
significance and worth to affect both God and man, and it should
fulfill all those ideas of propitiation, expiation, removal of sin,
reconciliation with God, atonement, and satisfaction which are
symbolized in offering the blood of life upon an altar to make
atonement for the souls of men (Lev. xvii, 11). Such .mediatorial
propitiation is manifested in the death of Jesus, and "hereby know
we love, because he laid down his life for us" (1 John iii, 16).
This laying down one's life for others is, as we have already read
in John xv, 13, the greatest possible manifestation of love.

378 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
3. The living Paraclete. This manifestation of love in the per
son and ministry of the Son of God has an abiding value in the
propitiation for our sins. For Jesus is conceived as now in actual
living intercession with the Father, and thus his presence before
God in the heavens is a perpetual ministry of reconciliation. "And
if any man sin we have an Advocate (napdKXnrov, Comforter,
Helper, sympathetic and cooperative Intercessor) with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous" (ii, 1). The concept of the holy and
righteous Advocate ever living and making intercession for sinners
(comp. Isa. liii, 12; Rom. viii, 34; Heb. vii, 25) helps us in the
interpretation of all the scriptures which refer to his work of
mediation and atonement. We are not to press to a literal sig
nificance every metaphorical suggestion of such terms as expiation,
intercession, and propitiation; but we do recognize in them all, as
employed by the New Testament writers, a true and profound con
ception of the saving work of Jesus Christ. He is the bleeding
Sacrifice, the righteous Friend and Comforter, the interceding
Advocate and Mediator between God and man, and by being •all
this and more he ever abides as a "propitiation for our sins." But
all this ministry of atonement is of no avail for us except "we
confess our sins" and "walk in the light" of God. It is noticeable
that in this epistle Jesus Christ is set forth as Paraclete, while in
the fourth gospel the Paraclete is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
sends in the name of the Son. The peculiar office and work of
the Holy Spirit demands its own separate treatment, as showing
the abiding and continuous operation of the heavenly ministrations
of saving grace. Jesus Christ has finished the work given him to
do in the flesh, but as the effective Paraclete he continues the same
immanent Saviour of the world.
4. The Coining through Water and Blood. We cannot complete
our study of Christ's mediation as found in this epistle without
giving attention to the somewhat obscure passage in v, 6-8. The
best accredited text may be thus literally translated : "This is he
who came through (did) water and blood, Jesus Christ ; not in (kv)
the water only, but in the water and in the blood. And the Spirit
is that which is bearing witness, because the Spirit is the truth.
Because three are they who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water,
and the blood, and the three agree in one" («Y rd ev eiatv, are
directed toward the one thing; that is, unite in one and the same
testimony). There is no sufficient reason for supposing that the
coming through water and blood refers to the "blood and water"
which came out of Jesus' side when he was pierced by the spear of
the soldier (John xix, 34) ; for that incidental fact, mentioned
only in the fourth gospel, cannot be shown to have been any

THROUGH WATER AND BLOOD 379
important feature of the Saviour's coming. The reference of the
words to the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper is also
untenable ; for the aorist tense of the verb came (kXduv) points to
a definite historical fact in the past, and it is not true that he
came or comes through the sacraments. The sacraments, moreover,
are institutions for acknowledging covenant relations and for per
petuating the memory of Christ's death, and are not in any proper
sense the accompaniment or means of his coming. And if the
writer intended to refer to the two sacraments he should have
employed terms more specific than the mere words water and blood;
for while water may suggest baptism, the single word blood is not
sufficient to indicate the Lord's Supper, in which the bread is as
conspicuous as the wine. A satisfactory explanation of these words
requires that we point out two conspicuous facts in the incarnate
life of Jesus which may properly be designated by the phrases
through water and blood and in the water and in the blood. And
there are two signal events, one at the beginning and the other at
the end of his public career, which most obviously answer to the
expressions water and blood as here employed. Those events were
his baptism in the water of the Jordan and his bloody death upon
the cross. This exposition satisfies the requirements of the lan
guage, and is confirmed by the analogous statement of Heb. ix, 12,
that Christ came near (¦napayevdjievog-) "through his own blood,
and entered once for all into the holy place, having obtained eter
nal redemption." The water of his baptism and the blood of his
cross mark two distinctive crises in the mediatorial ministry of
Jesus, and a special emphasis is put upon the blood by the more
definite formal repetition: "Not in the water only, but in the
water and in the blood" ; and the change in prepositions employed
(e*> after did)1 serves to indicate that the baptism and the cross
were not only means through which, but also conditions in the
bounds and elements of which, he came into the world to be a
propitiation for our sins. This more definite statement not only
presents an additional form of conceiving the two great events here
referred to, but seems intended also to controvert the heresy of
Cerinthus, who maintained, according to Irenaeus,' that the Christly
nature came upon Jesus at his baptism but withdrew from him
before he suffered on the cross.
5. Testimony of the Spirit. The testimony of the Spirit as
stated in verses 6-8 gives peculiar interest to this whole passage,
and supplements the idea of the continuous heavenly ministry of
Jesus Christ the righteous as our Advocate with the Father already

1 Compare a similar use of the prepositions kv and Sia in 2 Cor. vi, 4-8.
2 Against Heresies, chap, xxvi, 1.

380 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
noticed (ii, 1). Along with these notable facts of the water and
the blood we have also the abiding witness of the Spirit; and this
fact is of the greatest possible value in the case, "because the Spirit
is the truth," even as the Christ himself claims to be in John
xiv, 6. Accordingly, no one of these great facts stands apart by
itself, but all combine in threefold testimony to the saving ministry
of Jesus ; "for there are three who bear witness, the Spirit and the
water and the blood, and the three agree in one." The Spirit is
here assigned the precedence, and instead of the neuter the mascu
line form (rpelg-) of the numeral is used, as if the writer's thought
was mainly on the personal Paraclete, somehow identical with the
Christ himself (ii, 1), whose living presence gives perpetual efficacy
to the water and the blood. All this united testimony witnesses to
the great central truth, stated in v, 11, but which is in fact the
burden of the whole epistle : "God gave unto us eternal life, and
this life is in his Son." His coming through water and blood was
the manifestation of the mystery of the ages, to which the Spirit
of truth is ever pointing.1
6. Doctrine of John's Apocalypse. The doctrine of John's
Apocalypse is equally positive and unmistakable in presenting the
saving work of Jesus Christ under the figures of atonement by
means of the shedding of blood. In the salutation (i, 5) he is
called the one "who loves us and loosed us from our sins by his
blood," and in i, 18, he declares himself the Living One, who "was
dead, and behold, I am alive for the ages of the ages." More than
a score of times in this Apocalypse he is called "the Lamb." The
Greek word employed is not dfivog- (as in John i, 29, 36), but apviov,
little lamb. A very suggestive passage is that in v, 1-6, where we
Tead that, when no one could be found in heaven or on earth or
nnder the earth able to open the sealed book, it was said that "the
Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, would open
the book; and when the seer looked to see the mighty Lion come
forward, he beheld "a little lamb standing as though it had been
slain." But though the diminutive form of the word for lamb may
be suggestive of something small or feeble, the picture of this Lamb
by the throne is otherwise portrayed so as to suggest the highest
power and wisdom. He has seven horns and seven eyes, "which
are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth," and
he was worshiped in the songs of heaven as the Lamb "who was
slain and who purchased unto God with his blood men out of every
'So in substance Huther: "By means of the witness of the Spirit the whole
redemptive life of Christ is permanently present, so that the baptism and death
of Jesus, although belonging to the past, prove him constantly to be the Messiah
who makes atonement for the world." — Meyer, Critical and Exegetical Band-
book, in loco.

DOCTRINE OF PETER 381
tribe and tongue and people and nation" (ver. 9). In vii, 14,
the glorified multitudes of heaven are described as those who
"washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb." In all these allusions, and others like them which appear
in later portions of the book, there is unquestionable reference to
sacrificial ideas of the blood of atonement.1 In this particular the
Apocalypse, the epistle, and the gospel of John are seen to be in
thorough harmony, and their common doctrine of Jesus offering
himself as a sacrificial lamb is witnessed also by the language put
in the mouth of John the Baptist in John i, 29, 36: "Behold,
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." This
form of expression obviously contemplates a sacrificial victim, and
one without spot or blemish. His removing or bearing away
(aipuv) the sin of the world suggests the deepest and most far-
reaching import of vicarious atonement, and accords with the
doctrine of the new song in Rev. v, 9.
7. The Teaching of Peter. The early teaching of Peter, as
recorded in the Acts of the apostles, makes prominent the provi
sion for remission of sins in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts ii, 38 ;
iii, 26; iv, 10-12; v, 31; x, 43). The emphasis placed on "the
name of Jesus Christ," and on his work as Saviour from sin, can
be satisfactorily explained only in the light of his mediatorial office
and work as set forth in other scriptures. How else shall one
interpret the strong words of Acts iv, 12, "In none other is there
salvation: for there is not another name under heaven, that is
given among men, wherein we must be saved"? If this teaching
of Peter stood alone, unsupported and unexplained by other apos
tolic preaching, we might not cite these fragments of his sermons
as conclusive proof that current ideas of the expiation of sin entered
into his conception of the saving work of Christ. Nor are we to
suppose that this apostle's doctrinal views of the death of Christ
were fully developed at the time he spoke the words recorded in
the Acts. We find upon further inquiry that he, as well as the
other apostles, recognized from the first that Christ had made an
atonement for sin. The preaching of Philip (Acts viii, 35), based
upon Isa. liii, 7, 8, set forth Jesus in the figure of a sheep that
is led to the slaughter, and would most naturally have explained
that same scripture in the light of sacrificial offerings of blood to
one who had come from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to worship.
8. Sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus. Passing to the first epistle

1 It is an error, however, of some interpreters to find in the "garment sprinkled
with blood' in xix, 13, an allusion to the blood of expiation or atonement. There
we have the figure of a conquering hero, drawn from Isa. lxiii, 1-6, and the blood
which stains his apparel is not his own blood, but that of his enemies whom he
tramples down in the fierceness of his wrath.

382 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of Peter, we observe in the salutation (i, 2) an allusion to the
"sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," and in verses 18 and 19
of the same chapter we read: "Ye were redeemed, not with cor
ruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life
handed down from your fathers ; but with precious blood of Christ,
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." No faithful
exegesis of this scripture can fail to recognize the obvious allusion
to such atonement as was wont to be made by the blood of sacrificial
lambs. A comparison of the phrase without blemish and without
spot with the requirements of sacrificial offerings in the law of
Exod. xii, 5; Lev. xxii, 19-21; Deut. xvii, 1, puts this beyond all
reasonable question. How could a Jew like Peter or any other of
his time conceive redemption from sin by means of blood except
in the light of that doctrine of vicarious blood of life enunciated
in Lev. xvii, 11, and so familiar in the ritual of Jewish worship?
The entire passage is one of the most explicit on record for show
ing the propitiatory character of the death of Jesus Christ.
9. Bearing our Sins in his Body. In 1 Pet. ii, 21-24, the media
torial sufferings of Christ are further set forth in language which
has obvious allusion to the Servant of Jehovah as described in
Isa. liii, 4-9 : "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example,
that ye should follow his steps : who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again;
when he suffered, threatened not; but committed himself to him
that judgeth righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his
body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sin, might live unto
righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed." The statement
that he "carried our sins in his body up to the tree" (dvqveyKEv e-rrl
rd t-vXov) conveys the idea that somehow our sins were crucified
upon his cross. The thought is not that of bearing sins up to
an altar and placing them thereon; for the cross was in no true
sense an altar, nor can we think of sins as an offering upon an
altar; but rather he carried the burden of our sins upon his soul
up to the cross and nailed it with himself thereon. His soul was
thus made an offering for sin (comp. Isa. liii, 10), and by his
personal suffering and sacrifice we obtain remission of guilt and
the power of living unto righteousness. But this vicarious suffer
ing was no fictitious quid pro quo, no mechanical or commercial
payment of a debt, no infinite equivalent for an inconceivable
infinite demerit.1 It was rather a mighty mediatorial struggle
1 The theory that the sins of the world were imputed to Christ, or that the
guilt of sin was thus imputed, and that he was punished for the same with an
infliction of suffering and death equal in penal value to all the woe that must
have come upon the guilty world, and that all this was necessary to satisfy the
demands of justice in the nature of God, may now be treated as obsolete. The

PARTAKING CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS 383
even unto death, the death of the cross, whereby we, "having died
unto sins," that is, having broken with sin and having become
separate from its power by faith in the passion of our Lord, and
by an intense sympathetic fellowship in his sufferings, "might live
unto righteousness." And so again, to use Isaiah's words (liii, 5),
"by his bruise ye were healed." 1 In this respect there is a vicari
ous element in the sufferings of Christ, and in his bearing our
sins up to the cross, which is no example for us, and cannot be.
10. Partaking in Christ's Sufferings. But while some aspects
of Christ's sufferings place him apart from other men, and render
his the only name under heaven by which we may be saved, there
is another point of view from which it appears that all who suffer
for Christ's sake are partakers of his sufferings. We are told in
1 Pet. iii, 17, 18, that it is praiseworthy to suffer in the will of
God for welldoing, "because Christ also suffered for sins once,
the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God."
In iv, 1, we also read: "Forasmuch then as Christ suffered as to
the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind, for he that hath
suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin." The writer's thought
is here turned to the more ordinary sufferings of our fleshly human
nature in its struggle with temptations to sin. He who suffers in
his struggle to overcome sin, and steadfastly refuses to yield to
its power as Jesus did in the days of his flesh, "hath ceased from
sin," that is, has utterly broken with it and ceased from its con
trol. The brethren, therefore, who are exposed to fiery trial, are
exhorted to rejoice in the thought that they are thus made "par
takers of Christ's sufferings" (iv, 13). The writer of this epistle
was himself "a witness of the sufferings of Christ" (v, 1), and he
had confidence that he and all who followed the divine Master
should also be partakers of the heavenly glory that was to be
revealed; but Christ alone could be spoken of as "a lamb without
blemish," whose precious blood makes expiation for the sins of
men.

theory of full penal satisfaction made by Christ is logically at the basis of the
Romish doctrine of indulgences and the later forms of Antinomianism. If Christ
has truly paid all the penalty, divine justice can have no further claim on anyone
for whom Christ died. A righteous God cannot exact his claims twice over. The
theory of penal satisfaction, moreover, logically excludes grace. Where an obli
gation has been fully discharged, there is nothing left to pardon.
1 Healing is to be taken here in the sense of cure and restoration from sin as a
fearful disease. Comp. the figure in Isa. vi, 10; Jer. iii, 22; Hos. xiv, 5.

CHAPTER V
DOCTRINE OP THE PAULINE EPISTLES
1. Christ's Mediation the Substance of Paul's Gospel. In the
Pauline epistles we find the mediatorial work of Christ set forth
as the very substance of the gospel. The few allusions to the doc
trine in Paul's preaching, as recorded in the Acts, accord also with
the teaching of the epistles. Thus he proclaims, at Antioch of
Pisidia, remission of sins and justification through the crucified
and risen Jesus (xiii, 38, 39) ; at Athens he declares that "it was
necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead"
(xvii, 3) ; at Miletus he enjoins the elders of the church "to feed
the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood"
(xx, 28). In 1 Thess. i, 10, Jesus is mentioned as the one "who
delivers1 us from the wrath to come," and in v, 10, as our Lord
"who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with him." Such incidental allusions imply a well-defined
doctrine of the saving work of Christ.
2. The Corinthian Epistles. The Corinthian epistles contain
numerous allusions of a similar character, but do not attempt any
elaborate treatment of the doctrine of the cross. In proclaiming
at Corinth the mystery or the testimony1 of God, Paul made "Jesus
and him crucified" his great central theme (1 Cor. ii, 2). He held
"the word of the cross" to be "the power of God to them that are
saved" (i, 18), and that "Christ Jesus was made unto us wisdom
from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption"
(i, 30). The Christian believer is "bought with a price" no less
or other than the death of the Lord Jesus (vi, 20; vii, 23; viii, 11;
xv, 3), who "died for our sins according to the scriptures." It
was therefore no new or exceptional idea for this apostle to recog
nize the bread and cup of the Lord's Supper as a symbol of the
communion of the body and of the blood of Christ (x, 16; xi,
25-27), and for him to speak of Christ as our immolated paschal
lamb (v, 7). In the light of all these statements it seems impossi
ble to read 2 Cor. v, 14-19, without feeling that the writer is
intending to give unmistakable expression to the vicarious nature
1 Compare the deliverer, tov pvduevov, of this text with the same word in Rom.
xi, 26.
2 There seems little to choose between the two alternative readings uvarfyptov
and uaprvpiov, both of which are well attested by ancient authorities.
384

RECONCILING THE WORLD 385
of the death of Jesus : "The love of Christ constraineth us ; because
we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore the all died (ol ndvreg-
dnkdavov) ; and he died for all, that they who live should no longer
live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose
again." There is, no doubt, a certain mystical element, peculiar
to Paul, in this manner of thinking and speaking (comp. Rom. vi,
5-11; Gal. ii, 20). All who partake of the saving grace of Christ
are conceived as crucified and dying along with Christ. In this
ideal but spiritually real sense these all die, because in fact and
truth he died for the sake of all of them (vnep ndvruv). This
entire ministry of saving mercy has its source in God (kK rov ¦&eov,
ver. 18), "who reconciled us unto himself through Christ, and gave
unto us the ministry of reconciliation."
3. God in Christ Reconciling the World. According to Paul,
all men are, by the depraved tendencies of their nature and by
their persistent habits of transgression, at enmity toward God;
but from the bosom of God, as from a fountain of infinite love,
spring the passion and the purpose of restoring the fallen, of
redeeming the captives of sin, and of effecting a state of harmony
and holy fellowship between himself and man. "The ministry
of reconciliation" is the mediatorial work of Christ, who died for
all, and its magnitude and scope are set forth in most impressive
words: "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,
not reckoning unto them their trespasses." The object sought
in this ministry of reconciliation is the whole world (koouov).
Nothing less than this could satisfy the yearnings of infinite love,
and no more profound or suggestive statement bearing on the doc
trine of redemption can be made than finds expression in the
words, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." It
may well seem strange that any exegete should argue; in the face
of this statement, that we are to think of God as reconciled to
the world rather than the world to God. But it has been main
tained that, inasmuch as the Scriptures represent God as a righteous
judge, indignant every day with the wickedness of the wicked
(Psa. vii, 9-11), and as Paul himself speaks of "the wrath of
God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" (Rom.
i, 18; comp. Eph. v, 6; Col. iii, 6), the reconciliation here spoken
of must needs have reference mainly to the removal of God's wrath
against the sinful world. It may be that the controversy is to some
extent a vain wrangle over words, for there can be no question
as to the attitude of the Holy One toward human sinfulness : he
is "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on miserable
perverseness" (Hab. i, 13). But the question in 2 Cor. v, 18, 19,
is not about the essential antagonism of the holiness of God and

386 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
the sinfulness of the world, but about the object or aim of the
reconciliation in Christ; and if the usage of the word KaraXXdaour,
reconcile, in the New Testament is permitted to have its full weight
in deciding the point at issue there ought to be no controversy.
In the passage before us the word is employed three times in three
successive verses (18-20), and in each case the reconciliation is
unto God, not of God unto the world, or unto us. The noun
KaraXXayrj, reconciliation, occurring twice in this same passage, in
the phrases the ministry of reconciliation and the word of recon
ciliation, is spoken of as something given and committed unto us,
and in the absence of any other reference must be understood as
in strict harmony with what the thrice repeated verb affirms — the
reconciliation unto God. The use of these same words in Rom.
v, 10, 11, is precisely the same: "Being enemies, we were reconciled
to God through the death of his Son." The reconciliation thus
received is affirmed in the most explicit terms to be a reconcilia
tion unto God (tg5 i9eo>). The wrath of God against all unright
eousness of men is everywhere and always to be assumed or under
stood, but what is made conspicuous in Rom. v, 8-11, is not this
wrath, but the adorable love of God which provides for the recon
ciliation of his enemies unto himself. The peace between God
and the sinner effected by this reconciliation is conceived by Paul
as a peace of the sinner toward God ( npdg- rdv ¦deov, Rom. v, 1)
rather than a peace of God toward the reconciled and justified
sinner. The incidental mention of the "reconciliation of the
world" in Rom. xi, 15, is in perfect accord with the construction
of the word given above, as is also the solemn charge of the apostle,
in 1 Cor. vii, 11, that the wife who has improperly departed from
her husband ought to be "reconciled to her husband." The wife
is the erring party in the case supposed, and, like the sinner, is
to be reconciled to the husband. And these are all the instances
in the New Testament where the words KaraXXdaacj and KaraXXayrj
occur. The intensified form dnoKaraXXdaau, which seems designed
to add to the shorter word a suggestion of the completeness or
thoroughness of the reconciliation, occurs only in Eph. ii, 16, and
Col. i, 20, 21, and is in each of these texts employed to express
the complete reconciliation unto God of those who stood in the
relation of aliens and enemies to him. There would seem, there
fore, to be no ground whatever, in the usage of this term, for the
idea that it contemplates a reconciliation of God to man. Even
the word diaXXdaau, as employed in Matt, v, 24, shows that the
reconciliation enjoined is toward the injured brother. The sinner
in this ease is the one who is about to offer his gift at the altar;
he is to go at once and be reconciled to the brother who has good

RECONCILIATION UNTO GOD 387
reason to complain against him.1 The injured brother holds toward
this offender a relation similar to that which God is supposed
to hold toward the sinner in the texts previously cited, and here
as there the reconciliation is explicitly spoken of as a reconciliation
of the offender to the offended, not of the injured person to the
transgressor. This latter may be understood as something neces
sarily involved in the transaction and sure to follow, but it is
not the particular thing affirmed in any of these scriptures. All
these scriptures, however, teach that the reconciliation of the sinner
to God is effected through the mediation of Christ, and God and
Christ are conceived as one in seeking to bring about this recon
ciliation. There is nothing in the entire passage of 2 Cor. v, 18-21,
which speaks of God as an enemy to be reconciled toward man.
There is no allusion to a wrath and hostility toward the sinner on
the part of God, but, on the contrary, the whole process of recon
ciliation originated in him, is mediated through Christ, and pro
claimed by the ministers of the word as ambassadors on behalf
of Christ. It would seem, therefore, a perversion, not to say a
caricature, of this scripture to read into it the idea of God stand
ing afar off, filled with sovereign displeasure and hostility toward
the world, and only to be appeased and reconciled to man by receiv
ing some satisfactory compensation for offenses against his majesty.
The apostle's representation is the most striking opposite of this.
God is set forth as entreating and beseeching those who are
estranged from him by their trespasses to become reconciled to
himself: "As though God were entreating by us, we beseech you
on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God." When now we
proceed to inquire into the nature of Christ's mediation in the
reconciling of the world to God, we find that he embodies and
illustrates by his humiliation and vicarious suffering on account
of sin the spirit, the heart, the mind of God. In his saving minis
try of reconciliation God is in Christ, not apart from him. Hence
the remarkable words that follow in 2 Cor. v, 21: "Him who
knew not sin he made sin on our behalf, that we might become the
righteousness of God in him." That is, the perfectly sinless Christ,
yearning with the emotion of God himself to rescue man from the
power of sin, is appointed by God to the task of identifying himself
with humanity so closely as to feel the burden and horror of all
its sinfulness. The language is bold and striking, but no more
so than Isa. liii, 10, where it is said that Jehovah was pleased to

*A very different course is prescribed in Matt, xviii, 15, for one who thinks
that his brother has sinned against him. In such a situation he is to go after his
faulty brother, show him his sin, and seek like God himself to gain him over to
the Church.

388 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
bruise his servant and to make his soul a trespass offering (DCN;
Septuagint, nepl duapriag-) . It is not improbable that the apostle
had this very passage of Isaiah in his thought. The statement
cannot mean that God in any literal or real sense made the sinless
One an actual sinner. Many of the older interpreters maintain
that the word sin is here to be understood in the sense of sin offer
ing, and not a little may be said in favor of this explanation.1 It
is much to be preferred over that interpretation which holds that
Christ was made to suffer the punishment of sin; for the concep
tion of punishing the sinless for the sinful, and of imputing guilt
to Christ and his personal righteousness to the credit of the guilty
transgressor, is a scholastic fiction and abhorrent to the moral
sense. But we may understand the apostle here as using the word
sin in a bold, pregnant sense for a personal contact with sin, a
subjection to suffering and death on account of sin, so real as to be
mystically conceived as a terrible identification with the sins of the
world. The divine purpose of his thus becoming sin for our sake
was "that we might become the righteousness of God in him."
Here too the word diKatoavvn, righteousness, is employed in the
same bold way as the word sin in the previous sentence. The
abstract is used for the concrete, and the strange brevity of each
expression involves an obscurity in the thought which no exegesis
has been able to clear away.
4. Epistle to the Galatians. We find a somewhat similar decla
ration in the epistle to the Galatians (iii, 13) : "Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law, having become in our behalf a curse :
for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that
upon the Gentiles the blessing of Abraham might come in Jesus
Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith." In this passage the word curse, Kardpa, is emphatic and
bears a boldness of expression much like that of sin in 2 Cor. v, 21,
and it is to be noticed that in both cases the words are used without
the article, thus indicating some general character or quality of
Christ's redeeming work, and the abstract is used for the concrete
to intensify the rhetorical force of the statement. According to
Deut. xxi, 22, 23, "a sin worthy of death" was to be punished by
putting the criminal to death and hanging his dead body on a
1 The fact that it is used in the Septuagint of Isa. liii, 10, for QBW, trespass
offering, and regularly in the Priest Code for fltftDn, sin offering (for example,
Exod. xxix, 14, 36; Lev. iv, 3, 8, 20, 32, etc.; Num. vi, 11, 16; vii, 16, 22, etc.),
furnishes a strong support for this view. In Ezek. xliii, 25 ; xiv, 17, 22, and other
places it is used in the same sense and construed with Troika. The objection
that the Septuagint usually has the phrase nepl auapriacr is not insuperable.
Codexes A and B have tic duaprlav in Lev. iv, 32. Moreover, the explanation
of sin in 2 Cor. v, 21, in the sense of sin-bearer, is virtually equivalent to what is
represented by the sin offering.

A CURSE FOR US 389
tree; the body was not to be left all night upon the tree, but
buried the same day; for, says the Hebrew text, "accursed of God
is one that is hanged." Our apostle does not quote accurately either
the Hebrew text or the Septuagint, but expresses the main thought
in both. The publicly executed criminal was looked upon as an
object of God's curse. In a similar manner in verse 10 he quotes
another passage from Deut. xxvii, 26, to prove that "as many as
are of the works of the law are under curse." That is, all who
are conditioned in life by a law of works are under strictest obliga
tion to observe perfectly all that the law prescribes and to continue
in such perfect obedience. Otherwise they fall at once under the
curse which the law of Deut. xxvii, 26, pronounces. But the apos
tle insists that as matter of fact no man is justified before God by
way of such perfect continuance in keeping the whole law, and
he cites in proof the words of Hab. ii, 4 : "The one who is right
eous shall live by faith." Here then is a way of salvation by faith,
opened by the mediation of Christ, and availing to redeem the
Jewish people from the curse which their law imposed on everyone
who failed to perform all its requirements. The divine purpose
of Christ's mediation, however, was not merely the redemption of
the Jews from the curse of the law, but also that upon the Gentiles
the gospel preached beforehand unto Abraham (ver. 8) might come
with its fullness of blessing. Thus it is that both Jews and
Gentiles "receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
5. Becoming a Curse for Us. In order to accomplish this re
demption from the curse of the law Christ "has become a curse
for us" (vnkp iyubv, on our behalf; for our sake). The reference
to the curse of being hanged on a tree associates most naturally
with the thought of Christ nailed upon the cross (comp. 1 Pet.
ii, 24; Col. ii, 14). So in Gal. iii, 1, Christ is said to have been
"openly set forth crucified." This public and shameful suffering
of death had all the outer semblance of the curse of the law, and
this open exhibition of Jesus as if he were an accursed criminal
was a conspicuous part of his humiliation. It is, perhaps, a little
less startling to say he "became a curse on our behalf" than to
say that God "made him a sin on our behalf." But both state
ments are of the nature of metonymy, and cannot be literally under-
derstood. Both express the voluntary self-humiliation of Christ
and his vicarious identification with man under the curse of sin.
He entered into the depths of human suffering and felt most keenly
the bitter exposure of sinful man to the curse of violated law, and
being himself personally without sin and without any condemna
tion from law he was the more capable of becoming "greatly amazed
and sore troubled" (Mark xiv, 33) over the desperate situation of

390 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
sin-cursed humanity under the curse of holy law. In all this
portraiture of the vicarious suffering of the Redeemer we should
look, therefore, to see, not a victim of some extraneous demand of
law, but rather a voluntary sympathetic friend of the sinner, the
purest embodiment of love as well as of fidelity to truth and right
eousness, in whom God's Spirit rules, and whose every action
reveals the mind and feeling of God himself. Hence the peculiar
force of the language employed further on in the epistle (iv, 4, 5) :
"God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we
might receive the adoption of sons." This redemption from the
curse of the law delivers one also from its dominion as a rule of
life leading to salvation, so that the newly adopted sons of God
are no longer in the position of bondservants, but of sons and heirs,
in whose hearts the Spirit cries Abba, Father (vers. 6 and 7).
Hence, too, the exultant confession of the apostle in vi, 14 : "Far
be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto
the world." Being crucified with Christ he lives in Christ, as
we have already heard him say in 2 Cor. v, 14, 15; and in this
new and heavenly relationship there is no more curse of legal
condemnation, but marvelous salvation from sin. Hence the
mystical but characteristic Pauline confession of faith (Gal. ii,
19, 20) : "Through law I died to law, that I might live to God.
With Christ have I been crucified; and it is no longer I that live,
but Christ liveth in me ; and that which I now live in the flesh I
live in faith, namely, that of the Son of God who loved me and
gave himself up on my behalf." These words suggest how God is
truly in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. The Lord
Jesus Christ "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us
out of this present evil world according to the will of our God
and Father" (i, 4). Thus this epistle furnishes a most valuable
contribution to the doctrine of the mediation of Christ.
6. Epistle to the Romans. Paul's epistle to the Romans is
usually regarded as his masterpiece for the exposition of Christ's
mediatorial work in the salvation of men. His great theme is the
gospel considered as the "power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth" (i, 16). After a very full showing that all the
world of mankind is under condemnation before God on account
of a universal sinfulness he makes in iii, 21-26, one of the most
formal and comprehensive statements in the New Testament touch
ing the redemption from sin which is effected by the grace of God
in Jesus Christ. The passage may be quite literally translated as
follows: "But now apart from law a righteousness of God has

ROMANS III, 21-26 391
been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ1 unto
all them that believe; for there is no distinction; for all sinned
and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus : whom God
set forth as a mercy seat1 through faith in his blood, for a showing
of his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done
aforetime in the forbearance of God ; for the showing of his right
eousness in the present time, that he himself might be just and
the justifier of him who is of the faith of Jesus."
7. Discussion of Romans iii, 21-26. There are numerous con
trasted phrases and minute shades of thought suggested in this
passage which it is scarcely the province of dogmatics to expound.
Our aim must be to set forth as clearly as possible the apostle's
conception of "the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," and the
manner by which it becomes effective in showing forth the right
eousness and grace of God and in securing the forgiveness and justi
fication of the sinner. With this object in view we must study care
fully the import of the more striking words and phrases of the text.
(1) Not a New Teaching. We observe first that Paul does not
regard his teaching here as something new and original with him
self, but as a truth which is "witnessed by the law and the pro
phets" ; for he cites the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms through
out the epistle to confirm his doctrine (comp. i, 17 ; iii, 10 ; iv, 3-8 ;
ix, 25-33). We understand it, however, as Paul's exposition, the
way in which this gospel of God was Tevealed in his conscious
experience and thought (comp. Gal. i, 11-17). It accordingly
bears the peculiarities of a gospel according to Paul.
(2) Originates with God. According to Paul's gospel the entire
work of redemption in Christ originates with God, so that what
ever Christ does God does ; and "the redemption which is in Christ"
is a manifestation" both of the righteousness and the free grace
1 Genitive of the object : faith that takes hold on Jesus Christ. So too, in
verse 26, "he who is of the faith of Jesus" is the one who has faith in Jesus, and
believes unto salvation.
2 YKaarhpvov, mercy seat. Here used without the article, as is the word Son in
Heb. i, 2 (kv via), because the nature, relative quality, or symbolic import of the
term is uppermost. This word occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in
Heb. ix, 5, where the writer is specifying the different articles of furniture in the
holy places of the tabernacle.
'Two Greek words are employed in this passage to express the idea of mani
festation, <j>avkpaoic and evdeiSjic The former seems to point to an outward sen
sible exhibition, which anyone so disposed may look upon, and so it differs from
airoKaXv^iic, revelation, which is a disclosure made subjectively to the individual
soul. A manifestation, however, perceptible to all, may be the outcome of a
series of revelations witnessed by prophets of God. The word ivSei^ic-, on the
other hand, conveys the idea of a public demonstration, an evidential showing
forth of some great fact or truth. Both ideas unite in the ¦KpoiSero of verse 25:
whom God set forth, etc.

392 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of God. Justice and love divine thus "meet and kiss each other"
in this manifestation of God. Hence it follows that God may be
shown to be righteous and to be at the same time a justifier of the
man who has faith in Jesus Christ.
(3) Passing over Former Sins. This demonstrable proof of the
righteousness of God explains also his forbearance in passing over
the sins which had been committed in the times previous to the
appearing of Christ. His righteousness and grace were never
wanting, and were never separate from his eternal purpose in
Christ (comp. Eph. iii, 11), but his forbearing mercy overlooked
times and conditions of ignorance (comp. Acts xvii, 30). This,
however, is not to be understood or construed as inconsistent with
the fact that "the wrath of God is also revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who restrain the truth
in unrighteousness" (Rom. i, 18), but it is a vindication of his
love and justice in all the ages of human history. What, there
fore, finds an open demonstration in the manifestation of the his
torical Christ "in the present time" is essentially true for all times,
and furnishes our only theodicy of the divine administration of
the moral world.
(4) Two Greek Words. There are two Greek words in this
passage which must necessarily have great significance in the apos
tle's doctrine of the mediation of Christ between God and man.
They are dnoXvrpuatg-, in verse 24, and IXaorrjptov, in verse 25.
The first means redemption in the sense of deliverance from some
condition of bondage, and does not differ in any essential or import
ant manner from the main signification of the word Xvrpov, ransom,
which we have already considered in connection with the teaching
of Jesus (p. 366 ).1 Jesus offered his life "a ransom for many"
(Mark x, 45), and that self-sacrifice provided for the redemption
of the many. "The redemption that is in Christ Jesus" is the
divine power in his person and work by the efficiency of which the
sinner may be delivered from his sins. It is through this redemp
tion that he "is justified freely by his grace." In all this more
elaborate statement, however, we find thus far no essential thought
which we have not already obtained from the simpler declaration
of Mark x, 45, that Jesus "came to give his life a ransom for many."
But the word IXaarrjptov seems designed to direct the reader to

1 For the convenience of the reader disposed to examine all the passages in
the New Testament where \vrp6a and its compounds occur we subjoin the fol
lowing: The verb "kvrp6a only in Luke xxiv, 21; Titus ii, 14; 1 Pet. i, 18; "kvTpov
only in Matt, xx, 28; Mark x, 45; Ivrpaoic- in Luke i, 68; ii, 38; Heb. ix, 12:
AvrparJ/c- in Acts vii, 35 ; avri\vTpov in 1 Tim. ii, 6 ; awolvrpuaic in Luke xxi, 28 :
Rom. iii, 24- viii, 23; 1 Cor. i, 30; Eph. i, 7, 14; iv, 30; Col. i, 14; Heb. ix, 15;
xi, 35. At the root of all these words is Xva, to loosen, or set free.

JESUS AS MERCY SEAT 393
a more definite conception of "the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus," and may be regarded as a concrete figurative illustration of
il dnoXvrpurjii, the redemption. Here we meet with one of those
niceties of biblical exegesis which is of sufficient importance to be
studied with much patience and care. Four distinct interpreta
tions have been put upon this word, which may be fairly represented
by the Latin terms, propitiator, propitiatorium sacrificium, pro-
pitiatio, and propitiatorium.1 The distinctive thought in each of
these terms may be expressed by the corresponding Greek words,
IXaarrjg , IXaarrjpiov ¦dvjia, IXaofidg; and IXaarrjpiov, and in English
by propitiator, propitiatory sacrifice, propitiation, and propitiatory,
this last word in the concrete sense of place or instrument of pro
pitiation. Of these different interpretations it is safe to say that
the first named has too little in its favor to deserve extended notice.
If the writer intended a personal reference to Christ as a propitia
tor, he should have used the word IXaarrjg; and not the neuter
form, IXaarrjpiov. The second interpretation, which supplies the
word tivfia, sacrifice, or else maintains that, as a neuter substan
tive, IXaarrjpiov without any additional word like ¦dvp.a understood
here means propitiatory sacrifice, has been adopted by a goodly
number of distinguished expositors.1 The meaning, then, is that
God has exhibited Jesus Christ conspicuously as a propitiatory
offering for the sins of men. Against this interpretation there are
several weighty objections: (1) The word does not appear to be
elsewhere (unless very rarely) employed in this meaning.8 If the
writer wished to express the thought of sacrificial offering, he
ought by all means to have added the word Svya, or some equiva
lent. (2) It is incongruous with New Testament thought and
teaching to speak of God setting forth his Son Jesus Christ as a
propitiatory sacrifice. As such an offering Christ rather presented
himself unto God (Eph. v, 2; Heb. vii, 27; ix, 14, 26, 28; comp.
John xvii, 19). (3) The phrase in his own blood would be super
fluous and tautological if the preceding IXaarrjpiov meant an expia
tory sacrifice.
The Authorized and Revised English Versions of the New Testa
ment translate the word by the abstract term propitiation, thus
following most copies of the Vulgate. This interpretation may

1 The three forms propitiator, propitiatio, and propitiatorium are actually found
in the different manuscripts of the Latin versions of the New Testament.
2 So De Wette, Fritzsche, Meyer, Alford, Jowett, Hodge, Wordsworth, Cony-
beare and Howson.
a Dion Chrysostom (Orat. xi, 1) and Nonnus (Dionysiaca xiii) are cited by
Meyer and others as sustaining the meaning of sacrificial offerings. Also 4 Mac
cabees xvii, 22, where, however, Swete (Septuagint, in loco) reads Sea . . . tov
IXaorripiov ¦ftava.Tov avrav, through their propitiatory death. Here the word is
masculine and an adjective qualifying death, and hence not a parallel example.

394 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
construe IXaarrjpiov as a neuter noun in the sense of means of
propitiation, or it may construe IXaarrjpiov as an adjective in the
accusative masculine and as a predicate of ov, whom. Thus the
margin of the Revised Version has it, whom God set forth to be
propitiatory. Against the first construction lies the fact that the
word is found nowhere else as a neuter in the abstract and general
meaning of propitiation. No other example is adduced in which
IXaarrjpiov appears as equivalent or synonymous with IXaaadg-.
If the writer desired or intended to say propitiation, why did he
not employ the unequivocal word which is so rendered in all ver
sions of 1 John ii, 2, and iv, 10 ? Against the construction which
makes it a masculine adjective qualifying oV, whom, and explains
it as descriptive of a personal element in Christ, it may be urged
(1) that the adjective is nowhere else applied to persons; (2) that
in the examples adduced the object to which it is applied follows
the adjective1; and (3) it is an uncouth and unexampled assertion
to say that "God set forth Christ propitiatory," or "to be propitia
tory." God has indeed sent forth and set forth his Son as a mani
fold revelation of himself in the Christ, but not as propitiatory
to himself. So far as he is a sacrifice unto God he offered himself
by the sacrifice of himself. Otherwise conceived, there is needless
confusion of thought.
We prefer that interpretation of IXaarrjpiov in this text which
accords the word the meaning which it bears everywhere else in
the biblical Greek, and which has the support of the ancient Greek
commentators and a large number of the ablest exegetes of modern
times.1 In the only other place where it occurs in the New Testa
ment (Heb. ix, 5) it designates the "mercy seat," the lid or cover
of the ark. This cover was the most central and sacred article
of furniture in the Holy of holies in the tabernacle. According to
Exod. xxv, 17-22, it was made of pure gold, and two cherubim
were wrought into the same piece, one at each end, with their wings
spread out over the mercy seat and their faces toward it and toward
one another. This golden lid covered the two tables of "the testi
mony" which were placed within the ark, and there, "from above
the mercy seat," Jehovah promised to meet and commune with
Moses. Into this place the high priest entered alone, once in the
year, and sprinkled the mercy seat with blood, "to make atone
ment (ied$>, Sept., i£iXdoKeodai) for the children of Israel." The

•The examples often cited are i/Wts^mov fiv^ua (Josephus, Antiquities xvi,
7, 1) and Yhaerripiov davarov (4 Maccabees xvii, 22), already cited above.
'So Origen, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Cyril, Theophylact, Erasmus; Luther,
Calvin, Grotius, Olshausen, Philippi, Tholuck, Umbreit, Liddon, Gifford (in
Speaker's Commentary), Lange, Cremer (Bibhco-Theological Lexicon), Ritschl
(Rechtfertigung und Versohnung, vol. ii, p. 169).

JESUS AS MERCY SEAT 395
slab of gold thus fitted to cover the top of the ark was called in
the Hebrew msan, the capporeth, and this word is everywhere
translated in the Septuagint by iXaarrjpiov. In Exod. xxv, 16 (17),
where the word first appears, this Greek version reads: "Thou
shalt make a propitiatory cover of pure gold" (IXaarrjpiov knitieua
Xpvolov Ka&apov).1 Elsewhere throughout the Septuagint rnsa
is uniformly translated by IXaarrjpiov, without any further defin
ing word. In view of these facts it is difficult to suppose that
Paul would have employed a Greek word so familiar to all readers
of the common version of the Old Testament in any other meaning
than that which it bears in that version. The reasons, accordingly,
for this meaning of the word in the passage under discussion are
the following: (1) This is the only well-accredited meaning of
the word in the biblical Greek. (2) The mercy seat was the most
sacred and solemn symbol connected with the system of Levitical
service in the tabernacle and in the temple. It was the secret
place of the Most High, the throne of the presence chamber of
Jehovah, the God of Israel. In that most holy place he would meet
and commune with his people, through their anointed representa
tive. (3) The symbolical significance of the mercy seat made it
a very appropriate figure for the apostle to use by way of metaphor
to illustrate "the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." It is worthy
of special note that in Heb. ix, 7-12, immediately following the
only other place in the New Testament where IXaarrjpiov occurs,
the symbolism of the Holy of holies is spoken of as a figure
(napafioXrj) of the atoning ministry of Christ, who "through his
own blood entered in once for all into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption." ' (4) This interpretation best ex
plains the addition of the emphatic phrase in his blood. The
mercy seat was a golden covering, over which were the faces and
wings of the cherubim. It had no propitiatory significance until
the priest sprinkled it with the blood of atonement. So, in the
figure, it is only after Christ has entered the holy place through
his own blood that God set him forth as a mercy seat and exhibited
the saving mystery of eternal redemption "through faith in his
blood." And so it was "that the way into the holy place was not
made manifest while the first tabernacle was yet standing" (Heb.
ix, 8) . (5) The middle voice employed in the Greek verb npokdero,
* It may be equally proper to construe the kwt&tua in this exceptional text as
in apposition with Waarripiov, and so Gifford actually does: "Thou shalt make
a propitiatory, a lid of pure gold. " He also observes that this apposition of the
two words " is the more natural, because on this first occurrence of mSD
the translators might wish to show that they had both meanings under their
consideration." 'On the symbolism of the mercy seat, see further Biblical Hermeneutica,
p. 272, and Biblical Apocalyptics, p. 83.

396 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
set forth for himself, also comports with this interpretation of
iXaarrjpiov. It indicates God's own personal interest and partici
pation in the redemption which is in Christ, and in the consequent
"showing forth of his righteousness." God openly set forth in
his own interest his Son Jesus Christ as the reality and fulfillment
of all that was symbolized by the mercy seat.
Further confirmation of this interpretation will be seen, we think,
as we pass under review the various objections that have been
raised against it: (1) Some writers have declared that 'iXaarrjpiov
is an incorrect translation of the Hebrew mS3. To which it would
be sufficient to reply, in view of the facts already adduced, that,
whether it be a correct or an incorrect translation, it is the one
word uniformly employed in the biblical Greek to represent the
capporeth, and Paul would not have been likely to make use of it
with another or an exceptional meaning. But the truth is that the
verb 133 in its intensive form (piel), and the derivatives of the
same, are almost invariably used in the sense of making an atone
ment for sin; covering it over as if putting it out of sight. And
this is the obvious significance of the capporeth in the holy place.
Sprinkled with the blood of atonement it was a perpetual symbol
of the divine reconciliation secured thereby. It covered "the tes
timony" of the two tables of law deposited within the ark, and
thus proclaimed how mercy covers wrath, and effects the reconcilia
tion of the sinner unto God. And this idea was appropriately set
forth by the Greek word IXaarqpiov, a means and instrument
divinely appointed to secure reconciliation between the sinner and
his God, and hence it is appropriately translated into English by
mercy seat. (2) It has been objected that there is an incongruity
in the figure of the blood of a sacrifice and that of a mercy seat.
But the incongruity, if any, is one of the objector's own making.
The mercy seat as such was not without blood (Lev. xvi, 14; Heb.
ix, 7), and the text under discussion affirms explicitly that Christ
as a mercy seat effects the redemption by means of his own blood.
We have already seen that IXaarrjpiov does not mean a sacrifice,
or a propitiatory offering; but its significant symbolism is never
apparent apart from the blood which the high priest sprinkled
thereon in the day of atonement. (3) Others object that the idea
of mercy seat would be inappropriate in view of the fact that Christ
is here said to be set forth "for a showing (evdeti-ig-) of his righteous
ness." But this objection overlooks the fact that in Paul's thought
the grace and the righteousness of God in Christ are never separate.
No more emphatic statement appears in this whole passage than
that we are "justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus." Moreover, both grace and righteousness

JESUS AS MERCY SEAT 397
are alike symbolized in the blood-sprinkled cover of "the ark of
the covenant." (4) It is also objected that it would be violently
abrupt to introduce such a figure here, without anything in the
preceding context preparing the way for it. But this objection
seems to forget that the word IXaarrjpiov occurs nowhere else in
Paul's writings, and if its well-attested and uniform meaning else
where seem abrupt in this connection, how much more out of place
would be an exceptional and questionable use of the word? We
believe, on the contrary, that the emphatic mention in the preceding
verse of the gracious "redemption that is in Christ Jesus" does
prepare the way for this figure of atonement, and the repeated
references to "the law," both before and after this verse, assume
that the readers of this epistle were familiar with the means and
methods of atonement provided in the law. (5) The last observa
tion may also sufficiently dispose of the objection that such a refer
ence to the capporeth would be out of place in an epistle addressed
in part to Gentile readers. If this objection were valid, it must
also apply to numerous other Old Testament references in the epis
tle. But Paul's contention throughout this epistle is first and
mainly with the Jew, and he may as well have assumed that his
first readers would be familiar with the mysteries of the holy place
in the tabernacle, as does the author of Heb. ix, 7-14. (6) But it
is urged that Christ is nowhere else in the New Testament pre
sented under the figure of a mercy seat; to which it has been well
replied that the same objection may be made to the figure of the
brazen serpent (John iii, 14), the baptism unto Moses and the
spiritual Rock (1 Cor. x, 2-4), Christ "made sin for us" (2 Cor.
v, 21), and "a curse for us" (Gal. iii, 13). And it should also
be observed that in the immediate context and argument following
the only other mention of the mercy seat in the New Testament
(Heb. ix, 5) we read quite an elaborate exposition of the "figure"
(napafioXrj) of Christ's mediation as seen in his entering in once
for all into the holy place, through his own blood, and his thus
obtaining eternal redemption (ver. 12; comp. x, 19, 20). (7)
But the most weighty objection is generally felt to be the absence
of the article before iXaarrjpiov. In the somewhat analogous illus
tration of 1 Cor. v, 7, the language of the apostle is rd ndaxa rymv
ervdn Xpiardg; Our passover (that is, paschal lamb) was sacrificed,
even Christ. Here the word passover is made definite both by the
article and the pronoun, and it would seem to have been certainly
proper, if not necessary, to qualify the word mercy seat in like
manner, had the apostle used IXaarrjpiov in this specific sense.1
'And so Theodoret paraphrases it: "The Lord Christ is the true mercy seat"
(to aTitfttvov ikaori]piov).

398 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
The force of this argument is not to be denied, and it may be
admitted that the more general term, a propitiation, would have
suited the context. Nevertheless, as Schaff says in his additions to
Lange's comments, this objection is by no means conclusive. For
in expressing the main thought of 1 Cor. v, 7, Paul might truly
have said, "Christ was sacrificed as a paschal lamb." This form
would have emphasized his character as a paschal lamb rather than
his being our paschal lamb. And so we believe that the absence
of the article before IXaarrjpiov gives emphasis to the symbolical
character and significance of the word. He was not manifested
or set forth as the mercy seat of the sanctuary made with hands
(comp. Heb. ix, 11), but as a mercy seat which embodied and
represented all that was ever typified and symbolized in the well-
known blood-sprinkled mercy seat of the tabernacle. Furthermore,
the two clauses, through faith and in his blood, which follow and
attach immediately to the word IXaarrjpiov, are of such a definitive
character as to exclude the article before the word. God set forth
Christ not as the mercy seat of the old tabernacle, but as a mercy
seat in which the Christly redemption becomes eternally efficient
through faith in his blood. These additional words, thus defining
and enhancing the saving significance of Christ's priestly media
tion, sufficiently account for the absence of the article. (8) Final
ly, it has been objected that npoedero, set forth, would not be a
suitable word to use in reference to the cover of the ark which was
ever kept in the most holy place and hidden from the view of the
people. But this objection is thoroughly refuted by the fact that
Christ's mediation makes known the mystery of the ancient types
and symbols. "The way unto the holy place was indeed not made
manifest while the first tabernacle remained standing" (Heb. ix,
8) ; but the veil no longer hides that secret place; we may now
enter "with boldness into the holy place by the blood of Jesus"
(Heb. x, 19). The great thought in the setting forth of Christ
as a mercy seat is that God has thus manifested the profound
mystery of the most secret and sacred symbol connected with his
ancient law and testimony. Every essential truth which is found
in the words propitiation, reconciliation, and atonement is included
in Christ's mediation conceived as the reality of what was sym
bolized by the mercy seat, and God's setting forth his Son in this
light was the consummate revelation of his own glory, grace, and
truth. (5) Realized through Faith. This passage, furthermore, em
phasizes the important truth that the righteousness of God mani
fested in Christ is a blessedness to be realized only "through faith
in his blood." The Pauline phrase righteousness of God (comp.

THE LAW MAGNIFIED 399
Rom. i, 17; x, 3; 1 Cor. i, 30; 2 Cor. v, 21; Phil, iii, 9) is to be
here understood as a righteousness which in some sense proceeds
from God, and it is well-pleasing in his sight when it becomes
the actual possession or state of him that believes in Jesus. It is
"through the redemption that is in Christ," and "through faith in
his blood" that a man may become "freely justified" by the grace
of God. Like Abraham, one believes in God and in Christ, and it
is reckoned unto him for righteousness (Rom. iv, 3). This doc
trine of faith is something that may be verified in human experi
ence. The gracious blessedness is mediated in Jesus Christ and
appropriated by personal faith on the part of the believer. God's
justice and grace are both magnified in the sacrifice of Jesus.
While the first tabernacle stood the way into the Holy of holies
was hidden from view (Heb. ix, 8), but the blood of Jesus has
opened the way into the holy places not made with hands, and
exposed to the eye of faith a mercy seat which assures the free and
complete pardon of every sinner "who is of the faith of Jesus."
In all this divine ministration God and Christ are one, and in the
blood of the cross we have an exhibition of the way of salvation
that was symbolized by the mercy seat.
(6) Magnifies the Law. It is to be noticed that this "righteous
ness of God," while attainable "apart from law," has in the highest
possible manner honored the law. There can be no unrighteous
ness in the God who judges the world (iii, 5, 6), and his law is
essentially holy and righteous and good (vii, 12). The symbolism
of the mercy seat forever sets Christ forth as the "end1 of the law
unto righteousness to every one that believeth" (x, 4). The law
is not dishonored, but rather enhanced, by the gracious provision of
making faith in Christ the regulative principle wliich leads the
believer unto righteousness. "Through the law cometh the knowl
edge of sin" (iii, 20; vii, 7), for in its inmost nature and essence
"the law is spiritual" (vii, 14) ; that is, it is of the very nature of
the Spirit of God. The law, in this deepest sense, is God himself
revealing his essential holiness and righteousness to the hearts of
men (comp. i, 15). But in the symbolism of the mercy seat the
claims of this spiritual law, as represented in the "tables of testi-

'The word reXoc, end, is here to be understood in its ordinary meaning of
termination, conclusion. Christ has ended the law as a condition and means lead
ing unto righteousness. But, as Phihppi has well said, "in a dogmatic point of
view, the fact of Christ being the end of the law is no doubt based simply upon
the fact that he is the fulfillment and aim of the law. For either the law itself
would be without sanction, or its aboUtion by Christ without reason, if he had
abrogated without fulfilling it. On the other hand, the law evinces its own as
well as Christ's authority in the fact that it proposed as its object and aim to
come to an end through fulfillment by Christ. It has come to an end, because
now, in place of the requirement of works, the requirement of faith is established
(vii, 1-6)."— Commentary on Romans, x, 4.

400 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
mony" within the ark and safely guarded there, are seen to be
now covered and ended for him that believes in Jesus ; for faith in
the blood of Christ, instead of perfect obedience to the law, is reck
oned unto him for righteousness.
(7) Mysterious Necessities of the Moral World. In this im
portant passage in Romans we thus have in somewhat fuller form,
and by means of symbolic illustration, the same truth that we have
already studied in the profound statement of 2 Cor. v, 19, that
"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." We are
not able to derive from either passage a particular theory of atone
ment. The sublime fact is declared; deep and far-reaching sug
gestions are put forward; but the holy mystery of God in Christ
remains. The redemption in Christ is an exhibit of mysterious
necessities of the moral world, and is mediated and becomes efficient
unto salvation "through faith in his blood." Sin is shown to be
"exceeding sinful" (vii, 13), and in the light of the holy, righteous,
good, spiritual law every mouth is stopped and all the world is seen
to be under the condemning judgment of God (iii, 19).
8. Continuous Reconciliation, Romans iv, 25. But according to
Paul the redemption that is in Christ is effected and carried on to
completion by the resurrection and heavenly life of Jesus as well
as by his death on the cross. He says in iv, 25, that he "was
delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justifica
tion." In some places it is said that God delivered him up for us
(viii, 32) and in others that Christ delivered himself up (Gal. ii,
20; Eph. v, 2; comp. 1 Tim. ii, 6; Titus ii, 14; Matt, xx, 28), but
whichever way we state it, his being delivered up unto death was
on account of human sinfulness, and his resurrection was equally
necessary for the consummation of his mediatorial work. Hence
the significance of what is written in v, 8-11 : "God commendeth
his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. Much more then, being now justified in his blood,
shall we be saved from the divine wrath through him. For if,
while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death
of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be continuously
saved in his life ; and not only so, but we also glory in God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the
reconciliation." The complete redemption is, accordingly, not only
a remission of sins through the mediating death of Jesus, but a
continuous and eternal salvation, in which the believer, being recon
ciled to God, lives the new life of righteousness by faith, and real
izes that there is no enmity in his heart toward God, but a glorious
state of reconciliation. To the same effect is that which is written
in vi, 8-11 : "If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also

THE GREAT ANTITHESIS 401
live with him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead
dieth no more ; death no more hath dominion over him. For the
death that he died, he died unto sin once for all : but the life that
he liveth, he liveth unto God. Even so reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus." This
general trend of thought and argument is carried on to the close of
chapter viii, where the apostle asks (ver. 32), as if in a rapture
of emotion : "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him
up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all
things ?" Again in xiv, 8, 9, he returns to this inspiring thought :
"Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ
died and lived, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the
living." 9. The Great Antithesis of Romans v, 12-21. In the great
antithesis set forth in v, 12-21, we should observe how the gracious
mediation of Christ is made to offset all the consequences of Adam's
transgression. "By the trespass of one the many died, but much
more did the grace of God, and the gift in the grace of the one man
Jesus Christ, abound unto the many" (ver. 15). In all these con
trasts we note especially the difference in the kind of effects result
ing from the acts of the two opposite representatives of humanity.
Through the one, condemnation and death were imposed upon all
men, but through the righteous act of Christ provision is made for
the justification of all, so that "where sin abounded, grace did more
exceedingly abound, in order that, as sin reigned in death, even so
might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord." In all these scriptures we may perceive
the great thought of iv, 25, that Christ died for our sins, and was
raised and ever lives for our justification and eternal life. And
so the efficiency of Christ's redeeming work is perpetual. So long
as sin and trespass and death continue in Adam's posterity, so long
the Christly redeeming grace continuously avails to counteract the
evil, and is not therefore to be conceived as a finished work.
Because of Adam's trespass, sin abounds and death reigns ; because
of Christ's redemptive mediation, grace abounds more exceedingly
and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. The grace is
greater than the sin.
10. The Doctrine in Ephesians and Colossians. So far as the
Ephesian and Colossian epistles refer to the mediation of Christ
they are in perfect accord with the other Pauline writings. In
Eph. i, 6, 7, we read of "the glory of his grace, which he freely
bestowed on us in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption in his
blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of
his grace." According to ii, 13-16, the Gentiles who "once were

402 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ," and both Gentile and
Jew are happily "reconciled in one body unto God through the
cross, having slain the enmity thereby." With great confidence,
therefore, the apostle speaks of the love of Christ, who "gave him
self up in our behalf, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an
odor of a sweet smell" (v, 2). Such an obvious allusion to Old
Testament offerings (comp. Exod. xxix, 18; Lev. i, 9, 13, 17) shows
beyond question that the writer had no hesitation in putting for
ward the sufferings and death of Christ as having something in
common with the expiatory sacrifices of the Hebrew ritual. It
was the offering up of a spotless life on behalf of the lives of many
who were "dead through trespasses" that they might live and walk
in light as beloved children of God. Further on (v, 25) it is said
that "Christ loved the church and gave himself up on her behalf."
Thus we observe that Christ's giving himself up as a sacrifice for
the benefit of others is a very familiar Pauline thought (comp. Gal.
i, 4 ; ii, 20 ; Rom. iv, 25 ) . It is prominent in the great kenotic text
(Phil, ii, 5-8) which emphasizes his humbling himself and becom
ing obedient even unto the death of the cross. It is equally explicit
in the epistle to the Colossians, where we are told that it was the
Father's good pleasure "through him to reconcile all things unto
himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross" (i, 20).
In him, the Son of the Father's love, "we have our redemption, the
forgiveness of our sins" (i, 14). So far as Jew and Gentile were
guilty of trespasses and felt the condemning power of the law upon
their conscience, the death and resurrection of Christ effected com
plete deliverance. They are conceived as "buried with him in bap
tism," and "raised with him through faith in the working of God,
who raised him from the dead, having forgiven us all our tres
passes; having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that
was against us, which was contrary to us : and he hath taken it out
of the way, nailing it to the cross" (ii, 12-14). The condemning
statute of the law hung like a bonded debt over us ; but the Lord
Jesus took it as he did the burden of all our sins, carried it in his
own body upon the cross and nailed it there (comp. 1 Pet. ii, 24).
Our faith lays hold with adoring wonder on this vicarious suf
ferer, so that we become crucified with him, but with him also
live again.
11. In the Pastoral Epistles. The pastoral epistles have but few
direct references to the doctrine of redemption in Christ, but these
confirm the Pauline teaching. In 1 Tim. i, 15, we are admonished
how "faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." In ii, 5, 6, we
have the very comprehensive declaration, "There is one God, one

EFFECTIVE MEDIATION 403
mediator also between God and men, himself man,1 Christ Jesus,
who gave himself a ransom for all" (dvrlXvrpov vnkp ndvruv).
The word here translated ransom occurs nowhere else in the New
Testament, but seems to be intended for a more emphatic form of
Xvrpov, which is employed in Matt, xx, 28, and Mark x, 45. The
meaning is substantially the same in all these texts. The Redeemer
is a vicarious sufferer ; he freely lays down his life in the place of
and on behalf of many. The same truth is also affirmed in Titus
ii, 14: "Christ gave himself for us, that he might redeem us
(Xvrpaonrai ijfidg-) from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a
people for his own possession, zealous of good works." Thus we
are assured that the grace of God brings salvation within reach of
all men who deny themselves all ungodliness and live righteously
(vers. 11 and 12). God and Christ work together in accomplish
ing this glorious salvation.

1 Effective mediation between two parties, disparate as God and man, would
seem to require the intervention of one who was at once partaker of the nature
and secrets of both parties. And this was the pecuhar qualification of Christ
Jesus, who came into the world as the representative of "the King of the ages,
the incorruptible, invisible, only God" (i, 17), and "came to save sinners" (i, 15).
To accomplish this redemptive mediation he must needs be "manifest in the flesh"
(iii, 16) in order to reveal the invisible God to men in the flesh, and to give him
self a ransom for all. Hence the emphasis here put upon the humanity of the
mediator. "The human nature of Christ," says Ellicott, "is specially mentioned
as being the state in which his mediatorial office was visibly performed. The
omission of the article (before man, in ii, 5) must be preserved in translation. In
a different context Christ might clearly have been designated as the man, 'the
representative man of humanity'; here, however, as the apostle only wishes to
mark the nature in which Christ acted as mediator, but not any relation in which
he stood to that nature, he designedly omits the article."— Commentary, in loco.

CHAPTER VI
DOCTRINE OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
1. Outline of the Epistle. Of all the New Testament writings
the epistle to the Hebrews furnishes the most elaborate discussion
of the mediatorial ministry of Christ. In that part of the epistle
which we may regard as peculiarly doctrinal (i — x, 18) the Lord
Jesus is set forth in several different relations, and. an outline of
the author's argument is in substance as follows : After an intro
ductory paragraph (i, 1-4) in which the Son of God is extolled
as heir of all things, maker of the ages, effulgence of God's glory,
and very image of his being, upholding all things, effecting purifica
tion of sins, and enthroned with the Most High, the author proceeds
to show (1) that as Son of God he is far above the angels (i, 5 — ii,
18) ; (2) that he is worthy of more glory than Moses and Joshua
(iii, 1 — iv, 13) ; (3) that he is a great high priest, superior to
Aaron and like Melenizedek (iv, 14 — vii, 28) ; and (4) that he is
minister of a more perfect tabernacle and mediator of a better
covenant (viii, 1 — x, 18). It will be seen upon the very face of
this outline how largely the writer draws upon the Old Testament
for imagery and illustration to enforce his argument. He seems
never to forget that he is writing to Hebrews. Though Jesus is -
made for a little time lower than the angels, it is "that by the grace
of God he should taste death for every one," and, "having made
purification of sins," and "because of the suffering of death,"
should be "crowned with glory and honor." It was eminently fit
ting (enpenev) that God, "for whom are all things, and through
whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, should
make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (ii,
9, IO).1 This princely leader partook of the flesh and blood of the
seed of Abraham that he might be truly identified in nature with
the children he would save, and "that through death he might bring
to naught him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and
might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage" (ii, 14, 15). He is not laying hold
upon angels for the purpose of helping such beings as they are, but
upon men of flesh and blood, beset with manifold temptations. It
was, accordingly, a matter of obligation and necessity (&<petXev,

1 We have no English word that fully represents all that is suggested by a.pxi)y6c,
here and in xii, 2, rendered author. It fairly means one who both begins and leads
on in some great enterprise. 404

PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS 405
ver. 17) that he should "in all things be made like unto his
brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest
in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation (IXdoKeo&ai)
for the sins of the people." Here for the first time in this epistle
Jesus is called "high priest," and it deserves note that the word
propitiate, profoundly suggestive in its metaphorical allusion to
the mercy seat (IXaarrjpiov, comp. ix, 5; Rom. iii, 25), is employed
to designate his priestly work. It is also worthy of note that Jesus
is called priest and high priest only in this epistle to the Hebrews,
and here the title of high priest is ascribed to him at least ten times.
2. Superior Priesthood of Jesus. Having introduced him (in
ii, 17) as "a merciful and faithful high priest," and having further
called him in iii, 1, "the Apostle and High Priest of our confes
sion," he goes on to speak in chapters iii and iv of Christ's superi
ority to Moses and Joshua, and in iv, 14, returns to this subject of
the high-priesthood of "Jesus the Son of God, who has passed
through the heavens," and devotes the rest of the epistle mainly
to a presentation of his heavenly ministry. Of this superior priest
we are told that he it touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
tempted in all points as we are, without sin, called and appointed
of God, a man who prayed with strong cries and tears, who learned
obedience by the things which he suffered, and, having been per
fected through suffering, became to all who obey him the author of
eternal salvation (iv, 15 — v, 9). Psa. ex, 4, is cited and repeated
several times (v, 6, 10; vi, 20; vii, 17), and the whole chapter vii
is given to show that Christ is divinely styled "a priest for ever after
the order of Melchizedek." The superior order or manner of Mel
chizedek is enhanced in chapter vii by a number of considerations,
all well adapted to impress a devout Hebrew of the first Christian
century. (1) First, it is pointed out that the ancient king of
Salem, described only in Gen. xiv, 18-20, was both king and priest,
and, being without recorded genealogy, and without record of his
birth or his death, he remains a priest continually (vers. 1-3).
(2) His superiority to Abraham and to the sons of Levi is next
argued by means of a peculiar rabbinical argument (vers. 4-10).
(3) Further, if the Levitical priesthood had been perfect, there
could have been no reason for another priesthood after the order of
Melchizedek rather than of Aaron (vers. 11-19). (4) Christ's
priesthood, moreover, is confirmed by Jehovah's oath, giving it a
majesty unknown to the Levitical priests (vers. 20-22). (5) It
is also an unchangeable priesthood, for, ever living to make inter
cession, Christ can have no successor (vers. 23-25). (6) Finally,
he is sinless, made higher than the heavens, and by the word of
the oath perfected forever (vers. 26-28).

406 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
3. Symbolism of the Tabernacle. But the deeper mysteries of
his priestly work are to be seen in the symbolism of the tabernacle
and the mediatorial ministry of the new covenant in Christ. The
Son of God is declared to be the minister of a more perfect taber
nacle and the mediator of a better covenant, enacted upon better
promises (viii, 1-6), and Jer. xxxi, 31-34, is cited as the word of
the Lord in proof of this declaration. The old sanctuary and its
holy places and vessels and ordinances of divine service were only
"a copy and shadow of the heavenly things" (viii, 5; ix, 9, 23;
x, 1), and were destined in the nature of things to grow old and
vanish away (viii, 13), giving place to that which is essentially
better and more spiritual. As every priest is appointed to offer
gifts and sacrifices (viii, 3), so Christ entered once for all into the
Holy of holies in the heavens (ix, 12, 24), as if sprinkling the
heavenly mercy seat with his own blood. He has thus "been once
offered to bear the sins of many" (ix, 28) ; "once at the end of
the ages manifested to put away sin by his sacrifice" (ix, 26) . This
repeated mention of the offering of Christ through his atoning
blood "once for all" (comp. vii, 27; ix, 12, 26, 28; x, 10; 1 Pet.
iii, 18) has obvious allusion to the well-known law of the Jewish
high priest going into the Holy of holies "once in the year" (ix, 7 ;
Lev. xvi, 34), and sprinkling the mercy seat with "blood of goats
and calves and bulls" (ix, 12, 13; x, 4; comp. Lev. xvi, 14, 15).
The entrance of Christ "into heaven itself now to appear before
the face of God for us" (ix, 24) has made that presence-chamber a
"throne of grace," into which we too may boldly enter by the new
and living way which he has dedicated for us in his blood (iv, 16;
x, 19-21). Thus has he "obtained eternal redemption" (ix, 12;
comp. Rom. iii, 24) ; "for if the blood of goats and bulls, and the
ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify
unto the cleanness of the flesh: how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve
the living God?" (ix, 13, 14.) All this language with its multi
plicity of metaphorical allusion to the places and ordinances of the
Levitical sanctuary, and especially to the divine service of the
day of atonement, accords strikingly with our exposition of Rom.
iii, 24, 25, and goes far to confirm it. Our high priest and minis
ter of the true tabernacle "sat down on the right hand of the
throne of the Majesty in the heavens" (viii, 1, 2) ; his throne is
God's throne (i, 8) ; he is conceived as sprinkling that throne in
the heavenly Holy of holies with his own blood, and abiding there
forever as a heavenly mercy seat, "manifested to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself."

COVENANT OR TESTAMENT 407
4. Mediator of the New Covenant, Hebrews ix, 15-18. This
manifoldness of metaphorical allusions all centering in the thought
of a heavenly high priest, who enters the holy place offering his
own blood and abiding thus continually, is also in accord with that
interpretation of the difficult passage in ix, 15-18, which recognizes
in "the mediator of the new covenant" one who in his own person
and work is at once maker, mediator, and sacrificial offering.1 This
fact does not seem to be duly appreciated by those interpreters who
insist that the word Sia&fjKn must in verses 16 and 17 mean a
testament, a will, or deed of bequest. Outside of these two verses
the word is used fifteen times in this epistle, always in the sense of
covenant. Such is its meaning also in every other passage of the
New Testament where it occurs, as also in the Septuagint, where
it nearly always appears as the representative of the Hebrew ma.
It would seem, therefore, like a harsh and violent procedure in
exegesis to import a new meaning of the word into these two verses,
and such procedure can be justified only by most decisive reasons.
(1) Reasons for "Testament" in Hebrews ix, 16, 17. The fol
lowing reasons for such a sudden change of meaning have been
offered: (1) The language of verses 16 and 17, retaining the
idea of a covenant, is exceedingly harsh and unmeaning; for
(2) dia&kfievog- in both these verses can only mean a maker of a
will or testament, and not of a sacrificial offering; (3) it is not
true that the death of a covenant maker is necessary to make a
covenant valid; (4) the mention of "the eternal inheritance" in
verse 15 suggests the idea of a will or testamentary document, and
so justifies the change in meaning from covenant to testament.
(5) Moreover, the statements of verses 16 and 17 are of the nature
of a general well-known custom, and therefore most naturally

1 It will be well for the reader to notice the following translations of Heb. ix,
16, 17. The Authorized Version reads: "For where a testament is, there must
also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after
men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth."
The Anglo-American Revision has: "For where a testament is, there must of
necessity be the death of him that made it. For a testament is of force where
there hath been death (margin, over the deadi) for doth it ever avail while he that
made it liveth?" The American Standard Edition makes the last sentence affirma
tive instead of interrogative : " For it doth never avail while he that made it liveth. "
Macknight translates: "For where a covenant is made by sacrifice, there is a
necessity that the death of the appointed sacrifices be produced. For a covenant
is made firm over dead sacrifices, seeing it never hath force whilst the appointed
sacrifice liveth." In a similar way "J. C," in Adam Clarke's Commentary: "For
where there is a covenant, it is necessary that the death of the appointed victim
should be exhibited; because a covenant is confirmed over dead victims, since
it is not at all valid while the appointed victim is alive." He further observes:
"bia&kuevoc is not a substantive, but a participle, or a participial adjective,
derived from the same root as Sia^Kti and must have a substantive understood.
I therefore render it the disposed or appointed victim, alluding to the manner
of disposing or setting apart the pieces of the victim, when they were going to
ratify a covenant."

408 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
explained as referring to the fact that the death of a testator is
necessary to place his will and deed of bequest beyond question.
These reasons, however, are not satisfactory or conclusive,1 and
whatever relief they may seem to afford in explaining some of the
statements of verses 16 and 17, they leave other statements without
a clear interpretation. Difficulties present themselves on any expo
sition, and our search should be for that view of the passage which
best satisfies all the demands of the writer's argument.
(2) Reasons for "Covenant." Over against the reasons given
for translating dwdrjKti testament we may say (1) that the word
appears to have that meaning nowhere else in biblical Greek;
(2) that the context is very much against it: dta&nKT) is the main
word in the passage, and the "new covenant" and "first covenant"
mentioned in verse 15 cannot be properly rendered testament, but
unquestionably refer back to vii, 22; viii, 6-10; and the same
thought of covenant is continued in verse 18, where the first cove
nant is again referred to as having been dedicated with blood.'
(3) There is nothing, moreover, in the entire context to suggest
the idea of a testamentary document, not even in the mention of
"the eternal inheritance," for that is conceived as a matter of
God's promise (knayyeXla), not as an estate bequeathed through
forms of legal attestation. But covenants and promises are cor
relative ideas.3 (4) A mediator of a covenant and a testator of
a deed of bequest are not correlative ideas ; so that to use the word
in such a different meaning would be to introduce without justifica
tion an idea foreign to the Hebrew mind and unlikely to be
employed in addressing Hebrews. (5) It may also be urged that
the death of a testator is not necessary to make his will valid in
law ; no more so, at any rate, than the death of a covenant-maker
is necessary to confirm a covenant. If it be strange and harsh to
say that "where a covenant is, there must be of necessity the death
of him that made it" (ver. 16), is it not equally strange and very
questionable as a matter of fact to say that a testament or will is
valid only after the death of him that made it ? In the case of the

•It should be observed that every one of them is either a bare assertion or
virtually a begging of the question at issue. The third and fifth of the assertions
may be as truly affirmed of the view wliich insists on the sense of covenant.
2 The connection makes it most difficult to suppose that the key-word (iiadfiiaj),
is used in different senses in the course of the verses, and especially that the char
acteristic of a particular kind of Sia&fjia), essentially different from the first cove
nant of verses 15, 18, should be brought forward in verse 16. For it is impossible
to maintain that the sacrifices with which the old covenant was inaugurated
couldbe explained on the supposition that it was a testament. Nor does it appear
that it could be called a testament in any sense. — Westcott, The Epistle to the
Hebrews, p. 300. London, 1889.
3 Compare the phrase the covenants of the promise in Eph. ii, 12, and compare
Rom. ix, 4.

COVENANT OR TESTAMENT 409
author, mediator, and finisher of our redemption from sin, such
a statement about a testamentary deed has no relevancy, nor does
it tend to illustrate any feature of the continuous mediatorial work
of Christ, for he will never change his mind, or break his word.
Any supposable word, testament, or declaration of the Christ must
needs be as valid and sure before his death as after. (6) But the
conspicuous fact of this new covenant is that the great mediator
of it gave his own blood for the eternal redemption of those who
have been called (ol KSKXnfi&voi), and the writer of this epistle
makes this point most emphatic throughout the entire argument,
and farther on he speaks of it as "the blood of the covenant," and
"the blood of an eternal covenant" (x, 29; xiii, 20). (7) With
this important fact in mind we should also observe that the death,
which according to verse 15 "took place for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first covenant," was the death
of the mediator, Christ himself . (8) Accordingly, as stated above,
the remarkable and unique feature of this new covenant is that
its maker, mediator, and sacrificial victim, by whose blood the
promise of the eternal inheritance is made forever fast and sure
(fiefiala),: are all one. This fact explains the boldness and apparent
harshness of the language of verses 16 and 17, and it is in keeping
with that style of thought which also conceives Christ as a throne
of grace (iv, 16) and a mercy seat (Rom. iii, 25) . (9) This inter
pretation, moreover, accords best with the word Qepetriku in verse
16. If one would speak of proving, attesting, or announcing a per
son's death, he could not appropriately use the word <pepeodai, which
might, indeed, refer to the bringing forward of a legal document
for probate, but not to prove the testator's death. But the one
manifestation of the Christ at the end of the ages for the putting
away of sin by the sacrifice of himself (ix, 26) is fittingly desig
nated by (pepea&ai, which points to the bringing of his death for
ward into prominence,1 and is equivalent to the open setting forth
of Jesus Christ crucified, as in Gal. iii, 1, and the setting him forth
as a mercy seat through faith in his blood, as in Rom. iii, 25.
In this case the death of Christ, referred to in verse 15, is conceived
as brought forward and set in strong light as the seal of the new
covenant. (10) The words knl -dvalaig- in verse 17, have peculiar
force and significance in connection with the foregoing exposition,
but are unsuitable for expressing the idea of the death of a testator.

1 It is not said that he who makes the covenant must die, but that his death
must be brought forward, presented, introduced upon the scene, set in evidence,
so to speak. This sense of fkptaftat. appears to be perfectly natural, and to be
more simple than the sense commonly attributed to the word, either to be alleged
as a fact, or to be pleaded in the course of an argument, or to be current as a
matter of common notoriety. — Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 265.

410 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
The phrase is seen in its true significance in connection with ratify
ing a covenant in Psa. 1, 5, where inl veKpoig; is employed by the
Septuagint translators for the Hebrew rot ^y over sacrifice:
Assemble unto me my pious ones,
Those that ratify my covenant over sacrifice.1
To make or ratify a covenant it was necessary that a sacrificial
victim or several victims be slain, and in the specific reference to
the dedication of the first covenant wliich immediately follows in
verses 18-22 Moses is mentioned as taking the blood of calves and
goats and sprinkling it as the sign and seal of the covenant which
God commanded (citing from Exod. xxiv, 8). Accordingly, the
only suitable explanation of a covenant knl veKpoig- (ie/iaia would
seem to be one made strong over dead victims slain for the purpose
of ratifying the covenant. The death which "took place for the
redemption of the transgressions" (ver. 15), and also for provid
ing "the blood of an everlasting covenant" (xiii, 20), is the death
of Jesus Christ the mediator of the new covenant. This death,
which marked a crisis of the ages, is brought forward into promi
nence, and is to furnish the solution of the apparent incongruity
of making the mediator and sacrificial victim of the covenant one
and the same. As high priest Jesus entered the holy places
"through his own blood" (ver. 12) ; as mediator and author and
finisher of the new covenant he secures by his own death "the
promise of the eternal inheritance" to all who have been called
(ver. 15) ; and so we are assured that the new covenant as truly
as the first covenant has been consecrated with blood (ver. 18),
and it is as true under the one as under the other that "apart from
the shedding of blood there is no remission" (ver. 22). This
significant symbolism of sacrifice and blood is prominent through
out the entire context (vers. 13-22), and is not for a moment to
be lost from view, or interrupted by a supposed irrelevant refer
ence to the making and attesting of legal deeds of bequest. With
such an understanding of the main thoughts in this passage it
makes no essential difference whether we translate the last part of
verse 17 affirmatively or interrogatively. The entire verse may

1 The best illustration of the formalities of making or cutting a covenant (see
the Hebrew Lexicons on the phrase JV13 013) over sacrifice is read in Gen.
xv, 8—18, where Abram divides the dead victims, and places the parts over against
each other, and the flaming torch is seen to pass between the pieces. The same
custom of cutting and dividing the victims, and of passing between the portions
is referred to in Jer. xxxiv, 18, 19. It will be noticed that the phrase krrl vtupolc,
over dead ones, in Heb. ix, 17 (A. V., "after men are dead"; R. V., "where there
hath been death") when used in reference to the ratification of a covenant is
virtually equivalent to iirl tivaiaic; over sacrificial victims, in Psa. 1, 5. Compare
also the phrases kirl ftpauaoiv, nd/iaoiv, and ^aitTWjioic, in Heb. ix, 10.

COVENANT OR TESTAMENT 411
be rendered thus: "For a covenant over dead sacrificial victims
is firm, since it never has any force while the maker of it lives."
That is, a covenant is confirmed on the basis and with the accom
paniment of sacrifice, so that in reality it is without force or
validity unless the covenant maker signify the surrender of his own
life by the blood of the slain victims which he offers in the course
of the solemn transaction.1
5. This Not a Covenant between Equals. In studying these
illustrations which rest upon the customs and the symbolism of
covenants we must not overlook the fact that any covenant between
God and man cannot be a covenant between equals. Such a cove
nant is, however, a most striking assurance of the gracious con
descension of the Most High, and Jesus, as the mediator of the
new covenant, represents in his redemptive work the interests of
both God and man. These considerations serve to show also how,
in the mind of the writer, covenant maker, mediator, and sacrificial
offering all unite in the Son of God who is so remarkably described
in the opening words of this epistle. This adorable mediator is
heir of all things, maker of the ages, effulgence of the glory of
God, upholder of all things, and purifier from all sin. Only such
a transcendent Son of God can be at once maker, mediator, and
sacrificial victim of an eternal covenant.
6. Alexandrian Cast of the Epistle. The foregoing study of
Christ's priesthood and mediation as set forth in the epistle to
the Hebrews has doubtless put beyond question our statement that
no other book of the New Testament furnishes so elaborate a dis
cussion of this subject. The entire treatment is unique, and the
learned critic and exegete cannot fail to note the Alexandrian cast
of thought and the extensive and peculiar use of the Old Testa
ment writings. These are recognized as a sacred deposit of heav
enly truth; but the Septuagint version, not the Hebrew text, is
uniformly quoted, and passages where this version differs notably
from the Hebrew are made the basis of special argument and illus
tration.1 The tabernacle and its holy places are looked upon as

'Westcott has written so ably on this passage that we here add one more
citation: "In ordinary covenants the death of the persons who made the cove
nant was represented of necessity in symbol only, and both parties were alike
liable to change. . . . Here fresh considerations offer themselves which underlie
the argument of the passage. The covenant to which the writer looks is not one
between man and man, who meet as equal parties, but between man and God.
The death of the covenant victim, therefore, assumes a new character. It figures
not only the unchangeableness of death, but also the self-surrender of death.
. . . Christ was himself the covenant victim. In this aspect he attested the
inviolable force of the covenant which he established." — The Epistle to the He
brews, p. 302.
s Most notably so in x, 5, where a citation of Psa. xl, 6, reads, according to the
Septuagint ; " a body didst thou prepare for me," but the Hebrew text of this passage
reads, "ears thou hast dug for me," the word dug most naturally referring to the

412 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
figures of heavenly realities opened to us through the mediation of
Jesus Christ, and Melchizedek is extolled as a type of our high
priest who is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
But with all these and other peculiarities, which scientific exegesis
must duly note, the teaching of this epistle on the subject of
Christ's mediation is in fundamental harmony with the other books
of the New Testament. The writer treats the death, exaltation,
and everlasting intercession of our Lord much after the manner
of Paul. Neither of these writers seems to know much of Jesus
Christ in the days of his flesh, but they both magnify his heavenly
exaltation. Paul emphasizes the idea of righteousness, and the
writer to the Hebrews that of holiness; but so closely do they
agree in the main that the epistle to the Hebrews was long believed
to be the work of Paul, and this opinion has not been without some
advocates in quite recent times. On the offering of the body and
blood of Christ the teaching of the epistle is also remarkably like
that of the first epistle of Peter.
7. Substantial Agreement of All the New Testament Writers.
We find, then, that on the sacrifice and mediation of Christ all
the New Testament writers are in substantial agreement. After
showing due respect to the various classes of writings, and to their
obvious individual peculiarities of thought and diction, we are
compelled to acknowledge that according to all the scriptures of
the New Testament there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ
crucified, "nor is there any other name under heaven, that is given
among men, wherein we must be saved." Peter and John and Paul
and the author of Hebrews have their own ways of setting forth
this truth, but none of them gets away from the doctrine which
we trace in the words of Jesus at the Last Supper and at all those
other times when he spoke of giving his life a ransom for many,
or of laying it down in behalf of others.

hollow cavity of the ear. However the error of the Greek version arose, the author
of the epistle makes the word body significant by regarding it as the organ of
Christ's incarnation and the means of doing the ivill of God. This is seen further
in verse 10, where "the body of Jesus Christ" has obvious reference to this cita
tion from the psalm. God "takes away the first," that is, sacrifices and offerings,
"that he may establish the second," that is, the will of God.

CHAPTER VII
SUMMARY OF THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE
Having now examined with some care the import of the language
of the biblical writers touching the mediation of Jesus Christ, we
shall conclude this section with a brief statement of the principal
truths which may be read in these scriptures and clearly proved
thereby. Our statements in this epitome of doctrine are of the
nature of so many expressions of conviction as to the real teaching
of the various portions of Scripture which we have examined and
endeavored to expound, and they should, accordingly, be read as
the results of a faithful exegetical study of the word of truth
rather than as the dogmas of a formulated creed.
1. A Continuous Process, Not a Finished Work. Our first
observation is that the mediatorial ministry of Jesus Christ is a
continuous process, not a finished work. We are not authorized
by any biblical teaching to maintain that such terms as atonement,
propitiation, expiation, and redemption, as applied to the saving
ministry of our Lord, imply that he has completed or is near the
completion of the work for which he came into the world. He
truly died, and thus offered himself "once for all" (Bom. vi, 10 ;
Heb. vii, 27; ix, 12, 26, 28; x, 10; 1 Pet. iii, 18) ; that fact is
simple and definite matter of history; but that particular event
was, relatively, only an incident in the vast work of Christ's
mediation. It was only the passing of our great high priest into
the heavenly Holy of holies "through his own blood," that he
might appear in the presence of God for us, and there abide forever
as our high priest and mediator. How could his being "delivered
up for our trespasses" have availed had he not also been "raised
for our justification"? (Rom. iv, 25.) According to Paul, "It
is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead,
who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us" (Rom. viii, 34). And according to this apostle it is also the
Holy Spirit that "maketh intercession for the saints according to
the will of God" (Rom. viii, 27), and in 2 Cor. iii, 17, he calls
our Lord himself the Spirit who transforms us into the image of
the glory of God. The eternal Spirit and Christ and God are
one in all this ministry of reconciliation, and the Lord Christ has
no more finished his work of mediation than has the Holy Father
413

414 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
or the Holy Spirit finished yearning for mankind. The heavenly
redemption is thus seen to be a process that must needs go on so
long as there remains one sinner to be saved.
2. Largely Set Forth by Symbols and Metaphors. The nature
of Christ's mediation is largely set forth by means of metaphors
and symbols. This fact should admonish us that greatest care
must be exercised in our interpretations of biblical texts bearing
on this subject.1 Human language is at best imperfect, and there
are some figures of speech from which, perhaps, no two men would
derive precisely the same idea. We need not wonder, therefore,
that divers theories of atonement have sought support in what on
close analysis appear to be only incidental features of an object
referred to in a metaphor. We have seen that the New Testament
writers speak often of the saving work of Christ in terms that
plainly derive their significance from the sacrificial ceremonies of
the Jewish people, and their language cannot be fairly interpreted
without attention to Old Testament facts and teachings concern
ing the offering of blood upon the altar. Such words as atone
ment, propitiation, and expiation' are inseparable from sacrificial
customs and the ideas such customs were adapted to inculcate.
These customs and ideas are also part and parcel of the religious
history of mankind. We have aimed to indicate in the foregoing
pages the fundamental ideas which attach to the Old Testament
ritual of sacrifices and offerings, and also to guard the reader
against pressing incidental points of analogy and symbolism too
far. Language and illustrations based upon popular customs
should always be treated as popular, not as exact and scientific
in its purpose. To apprehend aright the vicarious element in the
self-offering of Christ, we must eliminate the pagan notion of

•Due regard must also be had for pecuhar forms of expression which char
acterize particular writers. There are mystical sayings which are peculiarly
Johannine, and for that very reason not to be understood as if they were of the
nature of a_ dogmatic formula. There are also texts and paragraphs in Paul's
writings which evince his rabbinical training, and also bold realistic statements
which may by valid exegesis be resolved into mystical or ideal conceptions. It
is a misleading procedure for anyone arguing in the interests of a disputed dogma
to insist on a literal interpretation of such pecuhar forms of speech.
2 The word atonement occurs in the New Testament but once, in the common
English version of Rom. v, 11, where the Revised Version substitutes reconcilia
tion. In the Old Testament it is the common rendering of some form of the Hebrew
"lQ3> the primary meaning of which is to cover, as we have elsewhere explained.
Hence as an English word it can have no weight in determining the biblical con
ception. Propitiation is a Latin term, and appears in the New Testament only
as a translation of IkacTfipiov in Rom. iii, 25, which we have shown to mean a
mercy seat (as in Heb. ix, 5), and of VXaaudc- in 1 John ii, 2, and iv, 10. The word
in these two last-named texts has obvious reference to what Christ does for the
forgiveness and removal of the sins of the world, but furnishes no explanation
of the method of the propitiation. Expiation is not a biblical word, and so far as
it suggests anything other than what Scripture teaches concerning atonement,
propitiation, and reconciliation it has no place in a biblical theology.

NECESSITY OF MEDIATION 415
placating a wrathful Deity, and look more deeply into the spiritual
significance of "the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without blemish unto God."
3. Use of Current Forms of Speech. To make known a truth so
far-reaching and profound, Christ and his apostles most fittingly
appropriated figurative conceptions and forms of speech that were
at once current and popular and sacredly associated with religious
service. It is to be noted that our Lord chose the time of the
passover for the laying down of his life in vicarious sacrifice, and
that Paul speaks of the sacrifice of Christ as our passover (1 Cor.
v, 7). Sacrificial worship, priestly intercession, and the lofty
ideals of a covenant relation to God had furnished a large part of
the providential preparation of the chosen people for the advent
of the Christ. But the great prophets of Israel from Samuel
onward had taught that sacrifices and burnt offerings were of no
intrinsic value, and could not be acceptable before Jehovah unless
expressive of a pure devotion of the heart of the worshiper and a
faithful obedience to the word of God (comp. 1 Sam. xv, 22 ; Isa.
i, 11-17; Hos. vi, 6; Mic. vi, 6-8; Amos v, 21-24; Jer. vi, 20; vii,
22, 23; Psa. xl, 6-8). Much more, then, may we suppose that our
Lord and his apostles would penetrate beneath the forms of priestly
service and of sacrifices (comp. Matt, xii, 5-8 ; 1 Cor. v, 7, 8 ; Rom.
xii, 1, 2; Heb. ix, 9; x, 4), and fill their metaphorical allusions to
them with the deepest spiritual significance. We should study in
like manner to pass beyond the letter and to grasp the true spir
itual import of such words as atonement and propitiation when
applied to the sufferings of Christ. Our expositions, we trust,
have shown that there is no need of loading the biblical writers
with the pagan notions of placating a vengeful Deity, or of recon
ciling an offended God to the sinner. One may construct such
a dogma, and many have so interpreted certain scattered texts of
Scripture; but we think such a construction is unnecessary, and
not justified in the light of the more authoritative statements of
Christ and his apostles.
4. Necessity of Christ's Mediation. A certain divine necessity
for the mediatorial sufferings of Christ is assumed in many scrip
tures (Matt, xvi, 21 ; xxvi, 54 ; Mark viii, 31 ; Luke ix, 22 ; xiii, 33 ;
xvii, 25 ; xxii, 37 ; xxiv, 7, 26, 44, 46 ; John iii, 14 ; ix, 4 ; xii, 32-34 ;
Acts iii, 18 ; iv, 12 ; xvii, 3 ; Heb. ix, 23) ; and aside from any such
specific statement it would truly seem in the nature of things that
such suffering and sacrifice must have been imperatively necessary
or the only begotten Son of God would not thus have given up his
life. Wherein, then, this necessity? Not, as we have read the
Scriptures, in a demand of abstract justice to maintain God's honor

416 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and dignity as a Ruler of the moral world. God's righteousness,
whether as Father, Ruler, or Judge, is sure to manifest itself in
Love, so that even in the pardon of our sins and cleansing us from
all unrighteousness he is ever "faithful and righteous" (1 John
i,9). (1) Necessity in Man. The necessity, for Christ's redeeming
work is from our point of view most readily seen, first, in the
sinfulness of man and his inability to release himself from its
thraldom. The soul that sins must surely die (Gen. ii, 17; Ezek.
xviii, 4, 20) ; "lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin; and
the sin, when it is full-grown, bringeth forth death" (James i,
15) ; "the wages of sin is death." When, therefore, we ask who
shall deliver men from this fearful bondage of sin and of death
our only answer is that such salvation is the free gift of God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. It must come from above. There
is no other way of life, no other name under heaven in whom we
must be saved, if saved at all. Studying the whole manifestation
of God in Christ, we are led, especially in John's gospel, to conceive
him as light, life, love, righteousness, wisdom, power, and glory —
a sevenfold revelation. Christ comes forth from the bosom of the
Father, makes an end of the law for righteousness unto everyone
that believeth, and brings life and immortality to light.
(2) Necessity in Nature of God. But there is also intimation
in such scriptures as John iii, 16, that there exist mysterious neces
sities in the nature of God, as well as in the helplessness of perish
ing men, that required the giving of his only begotten Son to be
the Saviour of the world. The creation of such a world as ours,
with its myriad forms of life and its innumerable "offspring of
God," capable of becoming children of God by heavenly birth and
adoption, would seem to have involved obligations on the part of
the Creator which no human mind can properly estimate. Accord
ing to the profound conception of the fourth gospel, the Word
that became flesh was with God in the entire process of creation,
and no man has ever seen God or is capable of revealing him except
"the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father." We
may, accordingly, believe that, speaking after the manner of man,
and not irreverently, the righteousness of love and the love of right
eousness toward the dependent objects of his creation required
on the part of God a redemptive manifestation of himself in the
mediation of Jesus Christ. We thus conceive God as the eternal
Father counting himself obligated by every conceivable bond of
love and righteousness to exert himself to the uttermost to save
from sin and its perdition every creature whom he permitted to
come into being bearing the image and likeness of God. If, after

CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS NOT PENAL 417
all such mighty provisions of love, the human offspring persist in
sin and "sell himself to do evil," the Father has proven his own
unspeakable affection, and has discharged his own obligation.
5. Such Suffering Not Penal. The sufferings of Christ, then,
are not to be thought of as a penalty. No righteousness, human
or divine, can inflict penalty on the righteous or on any being that
is not convicted of sin. But, according to Paul (Rom. viii, 3),
"God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and con
cerning sin (nepl dfiapriag-)1 condemned sin in the flesh." The
entire manifestation of Christ as the holy, self-sacrificing Son of
God has broken the power of sin in human nature, and thus put
it forever under condemning judgment (comp. 1 John iii, 8 ; Heb.
ii, 14) . And if we inquire further why Christ must suffer in this
public condemnation of sin, the true answer is, because God suffers
and must needs have suffered concerning sin as soon as ever it
appeared in the moral world. Whatever view we take of Christ's
life, work, and suffering we must recognize in him some correspond
ing manifestation of his Father. And so when we behold Christ
weeping and lamenting over Jerusalem, and crying, "0 that thou
hadst known the things that belong unto peace ! How often would
I have gathered thy children, but ye would not!" we behold the
Father also. And in like manner in all his utterances of sorrow,
of judgment, or of love, he is the divinely anointed Revealer of
the thoughts and feelings of God.
6. Does Not Remove All Consequences of Sin. A fact not to
be overlooked is that nothing which God in Christ has done or
can do removes all consequences of sin. Sins that are past events,
"the sins done bef oretime," may be freely forgiven in the blessed
forbearance of God, but they must forever remain as deeds of the
past. They cannot possibly be undone, or cease to be facts in
the history of the moral world. And the natural results or con
sequences of many sins work on through successive generations in
spite of all the redeeming efficacy of the grace of God. These facts
also serve to show that the great saving work of Christ is not to
rescue man from punishment for wrongdoing, but rather to deliver
him from sin itself. The sacrificial mediation of Christ is not a
penalty for the sins of men, nor even a substitute for penalty;
but it is rather to be apprehended as "a power of God unto salva
tion to every one that believeth."

1 This phrase, being the usual rendering of the Hebrew for sin offering in the
Septuagint (comp. Heb. x, 6, 8), may be explained in that sense here; or it may
be explained as in substance equivalent to what this apostle expresses in somewhat
stronger form in 2 Cor. v, 21. But it cannot be shown to mean that God visited
punishment on Jesus Christ, as if by any sort of imputation he could be made a
real substitute for the guilty and suffer the penalty due to them.

418 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
7. Not an Objective Process or Ground of God's Activity. The
biblical conception of Christ's work is not that of an objective
process going on outside of humanity. Such a notion seems possi
ble only as we are taught to think of the atonement as "an objective
ground" on which it is made possible for God to forgive sin.
The logic of this conception implies that God's love and saving
mercy could not be exercised except as a result of Christ's offering
his life as a ransom; whereas, according to the Scripture, the entire
mediation of Christ has its origin in the love of God. The suffer
ings of Christ are not the ground or cause of the exercise of God's
saving grace; the love of God is the cause and source of the suffer
ings. So God is in Christ, not apart from Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself. And the atonement, the propitiation, the
reconciliation, is in us, not apart from us. Nor should we think
of God as apart from his world, or outside of humanity, in any such
way as to warrant our affirming objective grounds for his becoming
reconciled to us.
8. Essentially Spiritual in its Operation. It is evident, there
fore, that we are to think of Christ's work of mediation as some
thing essentially spiritual. Sacrifices and offerings have no value
except as figuresi of spiritual realities, or as illustrations of heavenly
truths. In his coming to do the will of God, and so to manifest
the nature and power of God, Christ taketh away such formal rites
that he may establish the will of the heavenly Father (Heb. x, 9).
And it is the will of God that all men should be saved from sin.
His love for the world has given his only begotten Son to reveal
a saving grace sufficient to embrace all humanity. But the grace
and the mediation can become effective only as men in faith accept
the heavenly provision and are born of the Spirit. Thus they
"pass out of death into life," and "walk after the Spirit."
9. Effectual Through a Living Faith. Inasmuch, then, as
Christ's mediation is a spiritual work, it becomes effectual in the
heart and life of men only as they become united with Christ by
a strong living faith. The Christ of God is a living Saviour, and
in him we have our most blessed access to God. The personal
experiences of life and light and peace and fellowship with God
enable the Christian believer to apprehend the profound significance
of such biblical concepts as a personal participation in the suffer
ings of Christ (comp. Rom. viii, 17; 2 Cor. i, 5, 7; Phil, iii, 10;
1 Pet. iv, 13), a being crucified with Christ (Gal. ii, 20; v, 24; vi,
14; Rom. vi, 6), dying and being buried with Christ (Rom. vi,
4, 8; 2 Cor. v, 14; Col. ii, 12; iii, 3), and also rising and reigning
with him (Eph. ii, 2; Col. ii, 12, 13; 2 Tim. ii, 11, 12). As we
are thus "partakers of the sufferings of Christ" (1 Pet. iv, 13), we

THEORIES OF ATONEMENT 419
may also "become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. i, 4).
And so the conviction of sin, the deep sense of guilt, the experience
of repentance and conversion, the remission of sin, the new birth
from above, and all the blessedness of the new spiritual life "hid
with Christ in God" are brought about by means of the redemption
in Christ, and are possible in no other name under heaven or among
men. Like the new birth from above, all these gracious experi
ences of salvation are opened unto us by reason of the love and
righteousness of God as revealed in the mediation of his Son Jesus
Christ. 10. No Theory of Atonement in the Scriptures. We offer no
theory or philosophy of atonement in Christ other than what may
appear in these statements of the manifold Scripture teaching on
the subject. The Scriptures certainly furnish us no theory of
Christ's divine-human mediation, but we ought not therefore to
condemn, as some do, all attempts to formulate such theories.
For what is a theory of the atonement but an attempt to set forth
a rational conception of the nature and necessity of Christ's redeem
ing work?1 Regeneration and eternal life are impossible to man
without the removal of his sinfulness and guilt, and the rational
theorist inquires how this salvation is brought about in the mani
festation of Christ. The result of our study has been to show that
this divine redemptive mediation is so multifarious in its operation
that no definitive theory can fairly express its depth and breadth
and height. Whether we say with John iii, 16, "God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
on him should not perish, but have eternal life" ; or with 2 Cor.
v, 19, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself" ; or
with 1 Pet. iii, 18, "Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for
the sake of the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" ; or
with 1 John iv, 10, "God loved us and sent his Son as a propitiation
for our sins"; or with Heb. ii, 10, "It became God in bringing
many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect
through sufferings" — whether, I say, we appropriate any one of
these or of a score of other biblical statements of similar character
and import, we express at most only an incomplete idea of all that

1 It would seem that each of the more notable theories of the atonement has
had a sort of genetic relation to certain dominant ideas of the time when it orig
inated. The patristic notion of a ransom paid to Satan for the release of mankind
from his thrall could have been possible only at a time when crass doctrines of
demonology were widely prevalent. The Anselmic theory of absolute satisfaction
had a stronghold in mediaeval ideas of absolute monarchy and the divine rights
of kings. Tne "governmental theory" may be traced to Grotius and the promi
nence given in his day to international law. And the great humanitarian move
ments of the nineteenth century with their emphasis on altruism and moral reforms
prepared the way for the "moral influence theory," and have supplied its chief
arguments and illustrations.

420 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
belongs to Christ's mediation. The great work of redemption ex
pressed in any one of these texts is generally found to be involved
in one or more figures of speech which call for some measure of
analysis and explanation. Hence appears the impossibility, also,
of maintaining a doctrine of atonement in Christ on the basis of
the language of divers texts of Scripture taken as so many authori
tative utterances. A rational exegesis of each separate text and
its immediate context often shows that men have read their doc
trinal theories into biblical statements which furnish them no real
support. While, therefore, a number and variety of observations
may fairly summarize the teachings of Christ and his apostles on
the subject, the doctrine of redemptive mediation in Jesus Christ
is too broad and deep and mysterious to be satisfied with any single
definition or theory.
11. Mystical Body of Christ. There is, however, an ideal of
"the mystical body of Christ," given in the New Testament, which
should receive distinctive attention in our study of the divine-
human mediation of our Lord.' The profound truth of the com
munion of saints in and through the Spirit of Christ finds, per
haps, its most remarkable expression in John xvii, 20-26, where
Jesus prays that all those, whom the divinely appointed ministry of
reconciliation shall gather together out of the world, may be per
fected INTO one (rereXeiUfievoi elg- ev). They are all to be one,
even as the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, that
they may ultimately be with the glorified Christ in the heavenly
light, and behold the glory and the love which were existent before
the foundation of the world. There comes to us with these words
an ideal of perfection in the love and fellowship of God which no
comment of ours can place in clearer light. Paul's words about
being raised up with Christ, and sitting "with him in the heaven
lies" (Eph. ii, 6), seem like an echo of Jesus's intercessory prayer.
"The heavenlies" of perfection in Christ and in God are not "heav
enly places" merely, but heavenly fellowship of all saints, heavenly
powers, heavenly wisdom and knowledge, and all heavenly glories
of the life eternal.1 The vital unity of the mystical body of Christ
is also shown in the figure of the vine and its branches (John xv,
1-9). Jesus is himself the genuine living vine, his Father is the
vinedresser, and his disciples are the branches which can have no
fruit apart from the true vine. In strict accord with this ideal
we are assured, in John vi, 53, that no one can possess the eternal
life except he "eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood."
Thus only can the living Christ, "ascending up where he was

1 See Biblical Hermeneutics, p. 276. New York, 1890.

COMMUNION OF SAINTS 421
before" (ver. 62), bestow the heavenly manna, and make good the
word, "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in
me, and I in him." These words are offensive to the literalist and
the man of a carnal mind, but to the man of spiritual intuition
they are instinct with spirit and with life. In the first epistle
of John (i, 3) we meet another statement of the same spiritual
truth : "Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus
Christ." Such fellowship is also called "abiding in the Son and
in the Father," and constitutes the essence of "the life eternal"
(ii, 24, 25).
12. The Communion of Saints. The same rich mystical thought
appears in Paul's allusions to the communion of saints at the Lord's
table : "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion
(Koivorvla, a joint participation) of the blood of Christ ? The bread
which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?"
(1 Cor. x, 16.) So again in 1 Cor. xii, 12, 13, we read: "As
the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of
the body, being many, are one body ; so also is Christ. For in one
Spirit were we all baptized into one body." The saints of all ages
and lands are to be thus conceived as constituting the mystical
body of Christ, and they are "severally members thereof." They
make up his "church, which is his body, the fulness of him that
filleth all in all" (Eph. i, 23). This mystical body is not yet com
plete. Divers ministries of apostles and prophets and evangelists
and pastors and teachers exist "for the perfecting of the saints,
unto the building up of the body of Christ ; till we all attain unto
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ" (Eph. iv, 12, 13). Here, surely, is an ideal of
the great consummation contemplated in the mediation of Jesus
Christ which inspires holiest thoughts. And when to all this we
add the figure of the Church as the Spouse of Christ, who is at
once her Saviour and her Lord, we but enhance our concept of the
all-embracing love of God in Christ. The Lord Jesus is the
Saviour of the mystical body, for he "loved the church, and gave
himself up for her, that he might present the church to himself
glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing" (Eph. v,
25-27). It is worthy of note that while in Pauline thought the
Church of Christ was "purchased with his own blood" (Acts xx,
28), in the Apocalypse of John the great and glorious company
of those who were, by the blood of the Lamb that was slain, "pur
chased for God out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and
nation" (v, 9), are shown in heavenly vision as "the Bride, the
wife of the Lamb" (xxi, 9).

422 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
This picture is a consummation of our highest thought of "the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus." By means of it we are ele
vated far above all special theories of the atonement. We "behold
the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." We
behold the mystical body of Christ, all those who believe on him
through the word of his apostles, sanctified and cleansed by the
washing of water in the word, made one in the Father and in the
Son, abiding in the heavenlies, and sharing, in the glory of the risen
and ascended Lord. The members of this mystical body are "a
great multitude which no man can number, out of all peoples,
arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands, their robes washed
and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they
before the throne of God, and he that sitteth on the throne shall
spread his tabernacle over them, and the Lamb that is in the midst
of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto
fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear
from their eyes." And thus we behold the Author of our salva
tion made perfect through sufferings, bringing many sons into
glory, and saying, as he presents them in the presence of that glory
with exceeding joy, "Behold, I and the children whom God hath
given me." Thus we behold God, in Christ, through the eternal
Spirit, reconciling the world unto himself.

SECTION THIRD
THE KINGDOM AND COMING OF CHRIST

CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST
1. Heavenly Enthronement of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the great
prophet and apostle of our confession, also our great high priest
"after the order of Melchizedek," has, according to the epistle to
the Hebrews, "passed through the heavens," has been "made higher
than the heavens," and is enthroned at "the right hand of the
Majesty in the heavens" (iv, 14; vii, 26; viii, 1). Such language
has its necessary mystical and figurative element, but the essential
thought is that our Lord Jesus Christ is our heavenly King as
well as our heavenly Priest. According to Paul, who employs a
similar style of speech, "he must reign till he hath put all his
enemies under his feet" (Rom. viii, 34; 1 Cor. xv, 25). This
heavenly enthronement of the Christ was a mighty inspiration to
the first apostles and to the earliest converts of their preaching,
and it finds conspicuous notice in the early part of the Acts of the
apostles (i, 2, 9; ii, 33; iii, 21; v, 31; vii, 55). The Lord whom
they had seen and heard had "gone up on high," and the holy
heaven must receive him "until the times of the restoration of all
things." According to the Revelation of John (xxi, 5) he that
sitteth on the throne of God and of the Lamb is "making all things
new." But along with this idea of his heavenly throne and domin
ion was also associated that of his coming again to judge the world,
to raise the dead, to overthrow the powers of darkness, and to lead
the sons of God into his everlasting glory.
2. Old Testament Doctrine of the Kingdom of God. The idea of
the kingdom of God is presented in many ways in the Old Testa
ment. That the Creator of the heavens and the earth must needs
also be the everlasting Ruler of the same appears to be assumed
without question. But what we have been accustomed to speak of
as "second causes," and the operations of "natural law," found
little or no place in Hebrew thought. The poets of Israel conceive
God as immanent in all natural phenomena. Wind and storm,
fire and earthquake, manifold lightnings, and rushing torrents of
423

424 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
waters are but so many movements of the Almighty Ruler, who is
never absent from his world (Psa. xviii, 7-15). "He covers him
self with light as a garment; he stretches out the heavens as a
curtain ; he lays the beam? of his chambers in the waters ; he makes
the clouds his chariot, and walks upon the wings of the wind"
(Psa. civ, 2, 3). This mighty Ruler of the elements is no less the
Ruler of men. "For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he is the ruler
over the nations" (Psa. xxii, 28). The prophets as well as the
poets express the same great thought: "Jehovah shall be king
over all the earth" (Zech. xiv, 9). "He sitteth upon the circle
of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; he
stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out to
dwell in; he bringeth princes to nothing; he maketh the judges
of the earth as vanity" (Isa. xl, 22, 23). Abraham cannot think
that Jehovah, "the judge of all the earth," will fail to do what
is right (Gen. xviii, 25), and Jeremiah speaks of him as judging
righteously, and trying the reins and the heart (Jer. xi, 20). All
these theistic concepts are profoundly truthful and sublime. Very
frequently among the psalmists we also meet such lines as these:
Jehovah cometh to judge the earth;
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with equity. Psa. xcviii, 9.
God reigneth over the nations;
God sitteth upon his holy throne. Psa. xlvii, 8.
In the book of Daniel these ideas of God's dominion are announced
in a most positive manner and with noteworthy specifications.
One of the most emphatic lessons taught by the prophet is that
"the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to
whomsoever he will. . . . He removeth kings and setteth up
kings," and giveth the mightiest monarchs of the world to know
"that the heavens do rule," and that God's kingdom "is an ever
lasting dominion" (ii, 21; iv, 17, 25, 26, 32, 34). Visions and
prophecies of great kingdoms, like Babylon and Persia, rising and
falling one after another, enhance these lessons of God's heavenly
rule, and, in ii, 44, the prophet declares the specific purpose of the
God of heaven to set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed.
(1) God Rules in Many and Divers Forms. In studying the
Old Testament ideals of the kingdom of God we are impressed with
the fact that the dominion of the Most High is entirely compatible
with divers forms of human administration. Ambitious leaders
and princes may usurp authority, and think themselves able "to
change times and seasons," but sooner or later they come to naught.
The Most High is no less truly ruler among the nations though a

GOD THE SUPREME JUDGE 425
Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, a Persian Cyrus, or a Grecian Alex
ander hold for a time the scepter of the world. These are all
subordinate to the God of heaven, who puts each one of them aside
in his own time.1 And when their dominion finally gives place to
that of "one like unto a son of man," and "the kingdom, and
dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (vii,
13, 14, 27), we are not to suppose that God will for a moment
abdicate the throne of heaven, or cease to rule over the inhabitants
of the earth. Neither the reign of the saints nor the reign of the
Messiah is to exclude Jehovah, the righteous judge of the whole
earth, from the government of the world. He abides the King
eternal and invisible.
(2) God, as the Supreme Judge. No truth of the Hebrew scrip
tures is more elaborately set forth than that God as supreme ruler
of the world must needs also execute judgment. The manner in
which this important doctrine is treated in the Scriptures deserves
more attention than it has generally received from the confessional
theologians. In narrative, in psalm, and in prophecy we find
repeated allusions to the heavenly Ruler as the judge of men. As
righteous judge of all the earth he visited destruction upon the
cities of the plain (Gen. xviii, 25). As such he also enters into
judgment with his people, and will purge away their blood-guilti
ness with the burning blast of judgment (Isa. iii, 14; iv, 4). The
psalms of Israel depict Jehovah sitting upon his throne and execut
ing his judgments of righteousness (Psa. ix, 4, 7, 8 ; lxxv, 7 ; lxxxii,
8 ; xcviii, 9 ) . The passage in Psa. 1, 3-6, assumes an apocalyptic tone :
Our God shall come, and let him not keep silence;
A flre before him shall devour.
And round about him it is very stormy.
He calls to the heavens from above,
And to the earth, that he may judge his people;
Gather ye unto me my saints,
Who make covenant with me over sacrifice.
And the heavens declare his righteousness,
For God is he that judges.
The spirit and form of poetry in which these sublime conceptions
of judgment are wrought out do not detract from their value for
doctrine but rather serve to enhance it. The psalmists and pro
phets of Israel discerned in plagues, and great calamities, and
1 When Israel grew tired of judges and desired a king like all the nations, Samuel
charged them with rejecting God as their king (1 Sam. viii, 7; x, 19). But such
rejection of God, and the anointing of Saul as king, did not in the least remove
Jehovah from being their real king and judge. And Samuel himself admonished
all Israel to fear and obey Jehovah their God, lest his hand of power should be
against them and consume both them and their king (1 Sam. xii, 14, 15, 25).

426 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
wars, and revolutions of kingdoms, the penal execution of judg
ment by him whose "throne is in the heavens and whose kingdom
ruleth over all" (Psa. ciii, 19). According to Ezek. xxviii, 21-24,
Jehovah executes his judgment against Sidon when he sends pesti
lence and blood in her streets; and he speaks in xiv, 21, of "the
sword, and the famine, and the noisome beasts, and the pestilence"
as his "four sore judgments upon Jerusalem," that is, his modes
of executing judgment. In harmony with these conceptions of
divine judgment we observe in other scriptures how the notable
punishments of men and cities and peoples are put forward as so
many examples of God's judgments in the earth. The deluge was
a world-judgment on mankind because of excessive wickedness.
Joseph's brethren felt in their trouble and confusion that they
suffered a righteous judgment of God (Gen. xiii, 21, 28). The
plagues of Egypt were so many judgments of Jehovah upon that
idolatrous land and people (Exod. vi, 6; vii, 4; xii, 12; Num.
xxxiii, 4). The disruption of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah
and the bitter exile that followed were similar examples of the
execution of divine judgment, and the whole series of prophetic
oracles against the heathen nations, recorded in Isa. xiii — xxiii; Jer.
xlvi — li ; Ezek. xxv — xxxii, and Amos i — ii, inculcate the same doc
trine that the Most High is both ruler and judge among the nations.
(3) Apocalyptic Day of Jehovah. The apocalyptic portions of
the Old Testament portray Jehovah as the heavenly King who
sits upon his throne of judgment, and assembles nations and king
doms of men before him that he may execute upon them the
decisions of his righteous will. Notable examples in illustration
of this may be read in Zeph. iii, 8-20; Joel iii, 11-21; Ezek.
xxxviii — xxxix; Isa. xxiv — xxvii, and xxxiv — xxxv. Such visita
tions of divine judgment are called "the day of Jehovah," "the
great and notable day of Jehovah," and "the day of his anger."
They are in each case a day of judgment, and this prophetic origin
and usage of that phrase must not be ignored.1 The poetic form
and spirit in which these ideas of the day of judgment are set
forth may be seen in the following passages :
Alas for the day! for the day of Jehovah is near,
And as a destruction from Shadday shall it come. Isa. xiii, 6.
Blow ye a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm in my holy mountain;
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For the day of Jehovah cometh, for it is near;
A day of darkness and of gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness. Joel ii, 1, 2.

1 See Isa. ii, 12; xiii, 6, 13; Jer. xlvi, 10; Ezek. xiii, 5; xxx, 3; Joel i, 15; ii, 1;
ii, 14; Amos v, 18, 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. i, 7, 18; Zech. xiv, 1; Mal. iv, 1, 5.

PROPHECIES OF THE KINGDOM 427
The reader should observe that this last-cited passage has reference
to a great plague of locusts that had just spread desolation through
the land, and the prophet makes use of the impressive imagery to
depict the invasion of a still more hostile and destructive army
from the north. That desolating invasion is conceived as a great
and terrible day of Jehovah. Similar portrayals of the coming
and the judgments of Jehovah are written in Isa. xiii, 9-19; xix,
1-4; xxxiv, 1-5; Mic. i, 1-5.1 The unmistakable doctrine of all
these scriptures is that the eternal God is Ruler and Judge of the
world. The overthrow of mighty cities, like Nineveh and Babylon
and Tyre, are so many signal examples of his "executing judgment
in the earth," and the prophets call such a national catastrophe a
"day of Jehovah."
(4) Messianic Prophecies of the Kingdom. The Messianic
prophecies which speak of the coming of Christ as a king throw
further light on the doctrine of the kingdom of God. One of the
ancient promises to Israel was that they should be more than any
other people the peculiar treasure of Jehovah, "a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation " (Exod. xix, 5, 6). From the time of David
onward the highest ideal of the Anointed One of Jehovah was that
of a righteous and powerful king in Israel. Nathan gave David
the prophetic assurance that his house and throne should be estab
lished forever (2 Sam. vii, 12-16), and this word of the prophet
was of the nature of an eternal covenant of assured mercies (comp.
2 Sam. xxiii, 5; Isa. Iv, 3). This idea finds expression in Psa.
lxxxix, 4, 29, 36, 37. The name of David became the synonym
of an ideal king and shepherd of the people (Hos. iii, 5; Jer.
xxx, 9; Ezek. xxxiv, 23; xxxvii, 24). In Jer. xxiii, 5, 6, we read
this specific oracle : "Behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah,
that I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall
reign as king and deal wisely, and execute judgment and righteous
ness in the earth. In his days shall Judah be saved and Israel
dwell securely; and this is his name which he shall be called,
Jehovah our righteousness" (comp. xxxiii, 15, 16). In Isa. ix,
6, 7, the Child of the wonderful name is to sit "upon the throne
of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it in
judgment and in righteousness forever." The same Anointed One
is represented in Isa. xi, 1-10, as a shoot out of the stump of
Jesse, endued with spiritual gifts, girt about with righteousness,
smiting the earth with the Tod of his mouth, and filling it full
of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea. Micah
also foretells a ruler in Israel who is to come from Bethlehem of

_ * On these and other apocalyptic descriptions of " the day of Jehovah," see also
Biblical Apocalyptics, pp. 90-180.

428 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Judah, and be great unto the ends of the earth (v, 2-4). In the
second psalm we read a dramatic representation of Jehovah estab
lishing his Son as king upon his holy Mount Zion, and promising
him the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. The same
Messianic ruler may also be recognized in the righteous king whose
glorious reign is celebrated in Psa. lxxii, and whose name and glory
are identified with those of Jehovah. The conquering hero of
Psa. ex, to whom Jehovah says, "Sit thou at my right hand until
I make thy enemies thy footstool," unites in himself the threefold
office of king and priest and judge. In Dan. vii, 9-14, the Most
High is represented as an ancient judge and ruler, seated upon
his glorious throne in the heavens and surrounded with myriads
of ministering angels. One like a son of man approaches him and
receives at his hand the everlasting dominion of the world, and in
verse 27 it is written that "the kingdom and the dominion, and
the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be
given to the people of the saints of the Most High." Thus this
"Son of man" and the saints of God live and reign together.
(5) The Messiah an Associate with the Most High. In all
these and in other Messianic scriptures we observe that the Anointed
of Jehovah is in some way an associate of the Most High. He
bears the responsibility of executing judgment in the earth. But
it is important to note that, in the loftiest elevation and glory of
his reign, he possesses no wisdom or power apart from Jehovah.
As we proceed, therefore, to a study of the New Testament doc
trine of the kingdom of Christ and of God, let us keep in mind
the following: (1) No prophecy of the reign of the Messianic
King contemplates or suggests an abdication of the God of heaven
from his throne or from his government of the world. However
great and glorious the kingdom of the Messiah, it will be as true
after his coming as before that "the kingdom belongs to Jehovah,
and he is Ruler over the nations." (2) The transition from one
period and dispensation to another involves no physical changes
in the earth or heavens, or in the constitution of man upon the
earth. But the advent of the Messiah was conceived as introduc
ing a new era in the history of the people of God, and was destined
to introduce new excellencies of religious life and worship. God,
the eternal Ruler, however, abides forever the same, immanent in
all the movements of the world. (3) The kingdom of the Messiah
is not a dominion different from that of Jehovah, but it contem
plates the introduction of new agencies and new enlightenment
for the higher development of mankind. The outcome of the new
dispensation is conceived as the creation of new heavens and a
new earth (Isa. li, 16; Ixv, 17; lxvi, 22). But Jehovah and his

VIEWS CURRENT AMONG THE JEWS 429
Anointed will be united together in the dominion and they shall
reign upon one throne.
3. Views of the Kingdom Current among the Jews. In passing
on to a study of the kingdom of God as it is set forth in the New
Testament we inquire, first of all, after the ideas of the Messiah
and of his rule that were current among the Jewish people at the
time when Jesus was born. We find in our gospels a very frequent
use of the phrase kingdom of God, and kingdom of heaven. John
the Baptist began his ministry by declaring, "The kingdom of
heaven is at hand," and Jesus himself soon after followed with
the same proclamation. No explanation of the phrase is given in
connection with the records of its earliest publication by John or
by Jesus. We naturally suppose that the words would be popularly
understood as an announcement of the reign of the Messiah as
foretold by the Hebrew prophets and expected by the Jewish peo
ple. But the Messianic ideal was not the same with all the people.
Some enthusiasts were looking for a warlike chieftain, endowed
with the gift of national leadership and able to throw off the Roman
yoke and restore the political power of the Jewish nation to some
such splendor as it held in the days of David and Solomon.
Others seem to have entertained a more spiritual view, and like
Simeon, and Anna, and Zacharias, connected with the hope of
the redemption of Jerusalem thoughts of the confirmation of
ancient covenants and promises, the remission of sins, unspeakable
peace and consolation, and a life of holiness (comp. Luke i, 67-79 ;
ii, 25-38). Between these two extremes there was a more preva
lent belief that Israel was the elect people of Jehovah, destined to
become a theocratic kingdom and to realize the glorious hopes por
trayed in the writings of the prophets. From Matt, xi, 1-10, and
its parallel in Luke vii, 19-28, we infer that John the Baptist
shared largely in these current expectations of his time, and that
he was disappointed in the failure of Jesus to fulfill what he
regarded as the Messianic hope of Israel. Nevertheless, the vari
ous records of his own preaching accord with a high spiritual
conception. He called upon the people to repent, and his baptism
is called the "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."
He admonished his Jewish countrymen not to imagine that mere
descent from Abraham would avail them before God, for every
tree, whether sprung from Jewish or heathen soil, which does not
bring forth good fruit must be cut down and cast into the fire.
He advised the sharing of one's goods with those who are in need,
and he spoke against extortion, violence, and insubordination. In
all his references to the Messiah who was about to come he made
it clear that he himself was only a forerunner, a voice in the wil-

430 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
derness to prepare his way. The coming One was to baptize with
the Holy Spirit, purge the true from the false, gather the wheat
into his garner and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire (Mark
i, 2-8; Matt, iii, 7-12; Luke iii, 3-17).
4. The Doctrine of Jesus. For a true understanding of the
nature of the kingdom of God and of Christ, we may seek our first
and fullest information in the teachings of our Lord himself. In
teaching the disciples how to pray Jesus gave the following as one
of the leading petitions :
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done —
As in heaven, so on earth.
The last clause may be understood as qualifying the coming of the
kingdom as well as the doing of the will of "our Father in the
heavens." It serves also the purpose of defining the preceding
clause, and indicates, accordingly, that the coming of the kingdom
is to result in the accomplishment of God's will upon earth as it
is done in heaven. This doing the will of our heavenly Father
must therefore be a fact of fundamental importance in guiding
us to the true idea of the kingdom of heaven. It assumes in its
very terms a moral and spiritual relationship and suggests the idea
of a moral order. As the word kingdom implies an organized
community of individuals having a common nature and life, the
will of God also implies in those who do it a conformity to God
in spiritual nature and action. The performance of all that the
will of God requires in moral beings may vary in degrees of
observance in heaven and in earth: we naturally predicate of
heavenly things a measure of perfection above that of earthly
things. But the members of the kingdom of God, whether in
heaven or on earth, have' this in common, that they all, according
to knowledge and ability, do the will of the heavenly Father.
(1) A Kingdom of Heaven. The expression kingdom of heaven
(ij (iaaiXeia ruv ovpavuv, the kingdom of the heavens) is peculiar
to the gospel of Matthew, being found elsewhere in the New Testa
ment only in 2 Tim. iv, 18, where the phrase, his heavenly king
dom, is not identical but virtually equivalent. There is no good
reason to doubt that our Lord made repeated use of the several
expressions kingdom of heaven, heavenly kingdom, and kingdom
of God, and we need not seek to find a significance in one of these
phrases that is not really in the others. We simply note the fact
that the kingdom of the heavens is peculiar to Matthew, the expres
sion occurring therein about thirty times. The words suggest that
the kingdom is of heavenly origin and nature. As the Christ

LESSONS OF THE PARABLES 431
cometh from heaven to earth to reveal the will of God to men, so
his kingdom is "of the heavens," and those who enter into it do
the will of their Father who is "in the heavens." In Matt, vi,
14, 26, 32, occurs the phrase your heavenly Father; in xv, 13, and
xviii, 35, my heavenly Father; in xxvi, 29, my Father's kingdom.
The kingdom of God is heavenly just as God the Father is heavenly.
In comparing the parallel texts of Matt, xxvi, 29, Mark xiv, 25, and
Luke xxii, 30, we note what appears to be an interchangeable use
of the expressions my Father's kingdom, the kingdom of God, and
my kingdom. The term kingdom of God occurs four times in
Matthew (xii, 28; xix, 24; xxi, 31, 43), and often in the other
gospels, in the Acts, and in the Pauline epistles. We learn from
these various terms that the kingdom of God and of Christ is a
heavenly kingdom, in accord with the heavenly nature of God, and
therefore "not of this world" (John xviii, 36).
(2) Lessons of the Parables. It is the main purpose of the
parables of Jesus to make known to all truth-loving disciples "the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt, xiii, 11). These mys
teries are things unseen and eternal (comp. 2 Cor. iv, 18), but not
unknowable. They pertain to spiritual life and experience, and
must therefore be spiritually discerned, if known at all. This will
at once appear when we inquire what the parables have to tell us
about the kingdom of God. The parable of the sower and the
seed, as Jesus himself explained it, shows us how "the word of the
kingdom" (Matt, xiii, 19) is received by different classes of hearers,
and what various results must follow according to the kind of soil
upon which it falls. The word of the kingdom is the same as
"preaching the gospel of the kingdom" (comp. iv, 23; xxiv, 14;
Luke iv, 43), for "the seed is the word of God" (Luke viii, 11),
the convincing truths of religion, which are scattered by the num
berless ministries of Christ the great sower in the hearts of men.
The hearts of men are like so many different kinds of soil condi
tioned by previous habits of life, and they are fruitful or unfruitful
according to their various self-induced conditions. The kingdom
of heaven, as illustrated in this first parable of Jesus, is thus seen
to belong to things invisible, having to do with the spiritual pos
sibilities of men. The parable of the good seed and the tares
presents another aspect of the kingdom. Not only does the good
seed of the gospel fall on different kinds of human soil, but after
it is sown in good ground the enemy of all righteousness goes about
sowing evil seed among the wheat, and producing growths which
appear and remain to annoy and injure until the harvest time.
The sons of the kingdom and the sons of the evil one are thus
permitted to grow together until the consummation of their time,

432 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
but in the end all things that cause stumbling shall be gathered out
of the kingdom, and the righteous shall shine forth as the sun
(iii, 37-43). The other parables of this same chapter set forth
other aspects of the kingdom. Its outward growth in the world
is like a grain of mustard seed, among the smallest of seeds when
planted, but greater than herbs and like a tree when it is grown.
Its inward working in humanity is like that of leaven hidden in
the meal which in due time leavens the whole mass. Sometimes
the kingdom of heaven is found, as it were, by accident, like a
treasure hid in the field; sometimes only after long and diligent
searching, like a merchant who seeks far and near for goodly
pearls; but in either case the obtaining of the treasure or the
pearl is through the selling of all one has, for the heavenly king
dom is worth more than all other possessions. This kingdom
is also like a net gathering out of the sea fish of every kind, but
when filled and drawn to the beach there comes a separation : the
good ones are preserved and the bad are cast away. In Mark
iv, 26-29, it is said that "the kingdom of God is as if a man should
cast seed upoa the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day,
and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how, . . .
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear." This
parable, like those of the mustard seed and the leaven, conveys the
idea of development after the law of an unseen and mysterious
order of the world. But whether we understand it of the growth
of the living word of truth in the individual heart, or of the more
visible development of Christ's kingdom in human history, the
parable clearly shows that this kingdom is a heavenly power in the
world. It is no sudden phenomenon, no hasty growth. It
matures and strengthens after the manner of a natural process,
and thus follows the order of the God of heaven. The parable of
the laborers in the vineyard (Matt, xx, 1-16) indicates how many
may be distinguished as first or as last in the kingdom of heaven
by the spirit they display. Of the three classes of laborers those
last sent into the vineyard, although they served but one hour,
receive equal reward with those who toiled from morning until
even. The reason seems to be that the last, who were found stand
ing in the marketplace at the eleventh hour only because no man
had hired them, went into the vineyard without even the mention
of wages or reward.1 They did not, like Peter, ask, "What then
shall we have?" (xix, 27) nor did they agree for a stipulated wage,
•The erroneous and misleading repetition of the words "whatsoever is right I
will give you," found in the received text of verse 7, where they have no place in
the true text, has been an effective obstacle to the correct interpretation of this
parable. The spirit of the true laborer is the vital lesson; not the hours, nor tho
penny a day.

LESSONS OF THE PARABLES 433
like those first hired; nor did they even hear the householder
promise them, as he did those called at the third hour, "whatsoever
is right I will give you." They represented rather that higher
ideal of service for God which asks What shall I do? rather than
What shall I receive? And so we are taught further on. in the
chapter that he who would be first among the followers of Jesus
must be willing to act as a bondservant of them all. The parable
of the servant, in Luke xvii, 7-10, furthermore admonishes us that
after our best endeavors we may reckon ourselves unprofitable
servants; and in the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt.
xviii, 21-35) we have our Lord's own comment on the petition,
"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." In the parable
of the two debtors (Luke vii, 41-47) we are reminded of the wealth
of love which is displayed where there is a lively sense of the for
giveness of many sins. We read in the picture of the Pharisee and
the publican a condemnation of self -righteousness (Luke xviii,
9-14), but the duty of importunate prayer is encouraged by the
parables of the friend at midnight (Luke xi, 5-13) and the unjust
judge (Luke xviii, 1-8). We are shown in the parable of the
rich man the fatal fallacy of laying up treasure for oneself and
not being rich toward God (Luke xii, 15-21). Other lessons of
like suggestiveness appear in the unrighteous steward who acted
shrewdly in making friends by means of "the mammon of unright
eousness" (Luke xvi, 1-13), and in the story of the rich man and
Lazarus, whose changed conditions after death exhibited the fear
ful mistake of failing to know one's responsibility to his fellow
man (Luke xvi, 19-31). All these parables, it should be noticed,
inculcate some very practical lesson and at the same time set
forth important truths of the kingdom of Christ and show the
spiritual nature of the kingdom. Another set of parables indicates
some kind of a transfer of the kingdom of God from the Jews to
the Gentiles. Wliile furnishing a remarkable answer to the ques
tion, "Who is my neighbor?" the parable of the good Samaritan
(Luke x, 29-37) suggests that even a heathen may illustrate the
spirit which governs in the kingdom of Christ better than a narrow
priest or Levite among the Jewish people. The parable of the two
sons warned the Jewish priests and elders that the publicans and
the harlots might go into the kingdom of God before them (Matt.
xxi, 28-32). The parable of the wicked husbandmen (Matt, xxi,
33-34) employs the imagery of Isa. v, 1-7, and condemns the lead
ers of the Jews who had stoned the messengers of God and plotted
against the life of Jesus ; and the chief priests and Pharisees were
told in terms of ominous import : "The kingdom of God shall be
taken from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the

434 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
fruits thereof." This same lesson of the casting off of the Jewish
people and the calling of the Gentiles into the kingdom is seen in
the parable of the marriage of the king's son (Matt, xxii, 1-14),
and also in that of the great supper (Luke xiv,. 16-24). All these
parables go to show that the kingdom of God of which they speak
is the dispensation of divine grace which was inaugurated by Jesus
Christ. The rejection of this spiritual kingdom was of the nature
of a secession from the true inheritance of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. The rejection of the Christ was a rejection of the cove
nants and the promises, and "the sons of the kingdom" by natural
descent must needs be given over to "weeping and gnashing of
teeth," when they saw multitudes banqueting with the great patri
archs in the kingdom of heaven, and they themselves cast out
(Matt, viii, 11, 12); Luke xiii, 28, 29). The parable of the
pounds, in Luke xix, 11-27, was called forth by the supposition
of some "that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear,"
and is not essentially different from that of the talents in Matt.
xxv, 14-30. The lesson of each is the importance of making the
greatest possible use of one's opportunities. In the twenty-fifth
chapter of Matthew we have three vivid pictures which are the
more suggestive by reason of their relation to each other. In the
time of the end the kingdom will be like wise and foolish virgins
who wait the coming of the bridegroom, but the foolish ones by
careless and culpable lack of preparation fail to obtain admission
to the marriage feast. Hence the admonition, "Watch, for ye
know not the day nor the hour." The next parable shows that
there is something more to do in this matter than to watch; great
and useful service for the Lord should be done in his absence.
Then the sublime picture of final judgment reveals the truth that
our eternal destiny must be determined by the facts of our rela
tionship to Christ and his brethren.
(3) A Spiritual Kingdom. So far, now, as the parables of
Jesus explain the nature of the kingdom of God, they show upon
their very face that the kingdom is essentially spiritual and to be
spiritually discerned. It needs but a brief examination of the
main lesson in each to perceive that the kingdom of heaven, which
they all in some measure illustrate, is the dominion of Christ over
the hearts of men. It is not an external visible establishment of
this world, but it has its roots in the unseen and eternal, and
enlarges its power according as the will of God is done on earth
as in the heavens. All our experiences of regeneration and eternal
life are vitally connected with the life of the kingdom of God.
(4) The Greatest in the Kingdom. But other teachings of
Jesus, aside from his parables, are equally explicit touching the

LESSONS OF THE PARABLES 435
spiritual nature of the kingdom of Christ. When the disciples
asked, "Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven ?" he set a little
child in the midst of them and said : "Except ye become as little
children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the
same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt, xviii, 1-4).
On another occasion he said: "Suffer the little children to come
unto me, and forbid them not: for of such1 is the kingdom of
God. . . . Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a
little child, he shall in no wise enter therein" (Mark x, 13-15). In
all these statements we learn what manner of spirit and disposition
they must have who belong to the kingdom of God. True subjects
of Christ's rule must put away ambition and jealous rivalry, and
possess the simplicity and trust of a little child. Moreover, he
who is to be called great in the kingdom of heaven is one who
carefully performs and teaches the commandments of God, even the
least of them (Matt, v, 19) ; for the surest evidence of love is a
conscientious keeping of the commandments (John xiv, 15, 21;
xv, 10). The happy subject of the heavenly kingdom is not the
man who is self-righteous and self-satisfied, but the one who feels
a real spiritual want within his soul, and hungers and thirsts after
the living God. Such are pronounced blessed, and are called
"poor in spirit," because of their own keen sense of insufficiency
and need of help from above. "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven"
(Matt, v, 3). For "the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity"
chooses for his abode "the broken and humble spirit" (Isa. lvii,
15; Psa. xxxiv, 18; li, 17), and Jesus accordingly declared:
"Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Phari
sees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt.
v, 20). This kingdom belongs rather to those "that have been
persecuted for righteousness' sake" (v, 10). The lovers of the
truth and martyrs for its sake inherit the kingdom. "Not every
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in
heaven" (vii, 21). It is exceedingly difficult, nay, impossible, for
one who is bound up with great riches of this world to enter this
kingdom (Mark x, 23). Such an one, in order to be perfect and
to deposit his treasure in heaven, must deny himself, give what
he has to benefit the poor, and thereby show the depth of his love
for God and man. And the faithful disciple of Christ, who is
ready to leave everything else to follow his Lord with a loving

1 Meyer says : " By of such we are not to understand literal children, for the Mes
sianic kingdom cannot be said to belong to children as such, but to men of a child
like disposition and character." — Exegetical Handbook, in loco.

436 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
heart, "publishes abroad the kingdom of God" (Luke ix, 60).
He becomes a living gospel and epistle of the kingdom, and by his
service of love will come to know its heavenly mysteries more and
more. (5) The Fundamental Law of Love. It further appears that
the fundamental law of the kingdom of God is that of love. The
first and greatest commandment is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart" ; and the second is, "Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself." These declarations of Jesus were no new
revelation, but a selection from the ancient laws (comp. Deut.
vi, 5; Lev. xix, 18) of those "two commandments," which embodied
the spirit and substance of both tables of the decalogue, and on
which the entire law and the prophets rested. And when the
scribe acknowledged the wisdom of the great teacher's words, and
said that such love "is much more than all whole burnt-offerings
and sacrifices," Jesus responded: "Thou art not far from the
kingdom of God" (Mark xii, 28-34).
(6) Jesus's Teaching Different from John's Ideal. We may
learn further, from Matt, xi, 2-11, and Luke vii, 18-28, that the
real nature of the kingdom of God and of the Messiah's work were
quite different from the ideal which John the Baptist had con
ceived. While in prison John seems to have yielded to some
doubts, and he sent to Jesus inquiring, "Art thou he that cometh,
or are we to look for another?" Jesus referred him to his many
miracles of mercy, and said, as a suggestive admonition: "Blessed
is he whosoever shall not find occasion of stumbling in me." John
the Baptist and all who shared his views were in danger of stum
bling by reason of the manner in which Jesus went about his work.
They were so far governed by current ideas of the Messiah who
was to come that they failed to understand the spiritual significance
of the ministry of Jesus. Although John had publicly proclaimed
that the one who came after him would be mightier than himself,
and would "baptize in the Holy Spirit and in fire," he did not
perceive in what he heard about Jesus that which sufficiently ful
filled his expectations. It is noticeable that Jesus did not directly
condemn the Messianic notions of his contemporaries; he aimed
rather to correct them. By comparison, by contrast, by suggestion,
he sought to turn men's thoughts to the spiritual nature of the
kingdom of God. He extolled the real greatness of John the Bap
tist, declaring that "among them that are born of women there
hath not arisen a greater," but he immediately added : "He that
is an inferior (jimporepog-) in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than he." Any little child in the kingdom, any of those common
people who in the coming dispensation of the Spirit were to "taste

KINGDOM IN JOHN'S GOSPEL 437
of the heavenly gift, and be made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
and taste the good word of God, and the powers of the age to
come" (Heb. vi, 4, 5), would be greater than the greatest of the
pre-Messianic prophets. For these children of the coming king
dom would be more fully acquainted with the mysteries of its
spiritual life. John's error, like that of many others, was in
looking for outward, visible, worldly exhibitions of power rather
than for vicarious sacrifices of love. This error begat the clamor
and zeal wliich would fain have taken Jesus by force and made
him king (John vi, 15). Hence the significance of Jesus's words
in Matt, xi, 12: "From the days of John the Baptist until now
the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent ones are seiz
ing on it." That is, from the time when John first announced
that the kingdom of heaven was at hand many had been over-
zealous to behold some open and mighty display of Messianic
power. Like the Israel of Samuel's day they wanted "a king like
all the nations." The questions of John in prison betrayed an
element of this mistaken zeal and impatience. The error naturally
led to the presumption of seizing on the kingdom by some move
ment of violence, and it arose out of failure to understand the
true nature of the kingdom of God.
(7) Jesus's Teaching in John's Gospel. In passing from the
synoptic gospels to other New Testament writings, we find no
different doctrine of the nature of the kingdom of heaven, but
many additional lessons touching its spiritual character. In John's
gospel we read the profound truth : "Except a man be born from
above he cannot see the kingdom of God" (iii, 3, 5). The king
dom, then, is not a spectacle for worldly vision, but a matter of
the inner life of man (comp. Luke xvii, 20, 21), and its powers
and glories must accordingly belong to the things unseen and
eternal. Accordingly, in viii, 23; xviii, 36, 37, Jesus says: "I
am from above; I am not of this world. My kingdom is not of
this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my
servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews." He
further says, in answer to a question of Pilate: "I am a king: to
this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the
world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that
is of the truth heareth my voice." These words explain themselves
to a man of spiritual understanding. Christ's kingdom comes not
forth out of (kx) a world of matter or of physical sense, but is
of heavenly origin. It makes no display of military forces for
the purpose of establishing its empire in the world. It is especially
remarkable in being a kingdom of truth. This may be a Johan
nine conception, for in the gospel and the first epistle of John

438 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Jesus Christ is set forth as the embodiment and revelation of the
truth of God (i, 17; viii, 32; xiv, 6; xvii, 17; 1 John iii, 18, 19;
v, 20). Jesus Christ is the heavenly king who witnesses the truth,
and whose subjects know, love, and obey the truth. They also love
one another with an affection strong as life itself, and their devo
tion both to one another and to God is "not in word nor with the
tongue, but in deed and in truth." l
5. Doctrine of Pauline Epistles. In the Pauline epistles we
learn tha;t the kingdom of God is the blessed spiritual inheritance
of all who enjoy life in God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is
a glorious possession into which one enters by faith. Its spiritual
character is obvious from Rom. xiv, 17, where, in discussing cer
tain questions of conscience about meats and drinks, he says : "The
kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." That is, it is not to be con
ceived as a dominion which concerns itself about subtle ceremonial
questions of eating and drinking, but one which requires that its
subjects shall know the blessedness of righteousness and peace and
joy which is realized in living fellowship with the Holy Spirit of
God. It is a kingdom that may be entered at any time by one
who truly accepts the redemption of Christ. Paul also observes
that "the kingdom of God is not in word but in power" (1 Cor. iv,
20) ; that is, not in the empty self-assertion of such as have little
or nothing else than boastful words, but in the power of the Holy
Spirit wliich had shown itself in the apostle's preaching among the
Corinthians (ii, 4). The community of kindred spirits among
whom the Holy Spirit works in such sanctifying power must needs
be a kingdom of holy and heavenly character. It is impossible,
therefore, for the unrighteous, and idolaters, and adulterers, and
thieves, and revilers, and extortioners, and such like to inherit the
kingdom of God (1 Cor. vi, 9, 10; Gal. v, 21; Eph. v, 5). It is
common also for Paul to speak of this kingdom as an inheritance,
and to contemplate it not only as a present possession but also as
a future and eternal blessedness. The redeemed "shall reign in
life through Jesus Christ" (Rom. v, 17), the eternal life of glory
and honor and incorruption (comp. ii, 7). Being joint heirs with
Christ they both suffer with him and are glorified with him. But
while a real "inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of

1 Harnack makes the following comprehensive statement: "The kingdom has
a threefold significance. Firstly, it is something supernatural, a gift from above,
not a product of natural, ordinary life; secondly, it is a purely rehgious good,
the inner link with the Uving God; thirdly, it is the most important experience
that a man can have, since it permeates and dominates his whole existence, be
cause sin is forgiven and misery is banished." — Das Wesen des Christentums,
p. 40. Eng. trans., p. 67.

AN IMMOVABLE KINGDOM 439
God" (Eph. v, 5) includes every blessed hope and promise of
eternal life, it cannot exclude the present possession realized in
the spiritual fellowship of Christ and of God. For according to
Col. i, 11-14, our heavenly Father makes us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance ; he has already by the operations of his redemp
tive grace "delivered us out of the power of darkness, and trans
lated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love." Here Christian
believers are spoken of as already "translated into the kingdom."
They know the power of God in Christ that has delivered them
from sin and spiritual darkness and introduced them into the
heavenly light of spiritual life. Having believed, they are "sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inherit
ance unto the redemption of God's own possession" (Eph. i, 14).
So the ultimate consummation of all future blessedness in Christ
is but the glorious sequence of an inheritance already known as to
its heavenly nature and in part bestowed.
6. Other New Testament Teaching. Other portions of the New
Testament add somewhat to this doctrine of the kingdom of Christ
by way of suggestion and illustration, but offer no different ideal.
Mention is made in Heb. xii, 28, of "receiving a kingdom that
cannot be shaken," and the argument of the context speaks of the
removing of some things that were capable of being shaken in
order "that those things which are not shaken may remain." In
the two preceding verses the word of Hag. ii, 6, 7, is cited as find
ing fulfilment in the shaking and removal of that which is to give
place to "a kingdom that cannot be shaken." The things that
were then shaken were the old fabric of effete Judaism, with its
burdensome ritual cf feasts and fasts and sacrifices and burnt
offerings. These had "become old and aged and nigh unto vanish
ing away" (viii, 13), but the main argument of this epistle is to
show that they were at most only "a copy and shadow of the
heavenly things" which are manifested through the mediation of
Jesus Christ. They must needs be shaken and pass away in order
that the immovable kingdom of heaven might be revealed and
remain as an "eternal inheritance." Hence the great force and
beauty of the language in Heb. xii, 18-24: "Ye are not come
unto a mount that might be touched, . . . but ye are come unto
mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made
perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than Abel." In this most
glorious fellowship we discern the "kingdom that cannot be

440 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
shaken." Unto this heavenly inheritance the persons addressed had
already come (npooeXwXvdare, ye have come, ver. 22). This im
portant fact and teaching must not be overlooked. Like "the
inheritance of the saints in light" and "the kingdom of the Son
of his love" into which Paul conceived himself and his Colossian
brethren to have been already transferred (Col. i, 13), so the
immovable kingdom which supplants effete Judaism is "the heaven
ly Jerusalem," which affords personal communion and fellowship
with God and Christ and all the holy ones. It is an inheritance
which remains secure through ages of ages, and is held in com
mon with "spirits of just men made perfect," but it is of such a
spiritual nature as to be entered now by faith (comp. Heb. iv, 3).
These two ideas of present and future inheritance do not exclude
each other.
7. Contemplates Present and Future Blessedness. There are
some texts in which the future glory and blessedness of the king
dom seem to be chiefly in the mind of the writer, and in which
qualifying words are employed to indicate the thought which is
uppermost. In 2 Tim. iv, 1, 18, and in 2 Pet. i, 11, both context
and qualifying terms point our thoughts to a future deliverance
and to the eternal heavenly kingdom. But when James (ii, 5)
speaks of God's choosing "them that are poor as to the world to
be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to
them that love him," one is reminded both of present riches of
faith and of glories yet to come. In 1 Thess. ii, 12, the calling
of men "into his own kingdom and glory," is to be understood
as a process continually going on, and the being "counted worthy
of the kingdom of God" (2 Thess. i, 5) is an expression which
may contemplate both present and future possession of the king
dom. But the most specific allusions of this kind to a future
inheritance in light do not in the least set aside the fact that the
kingdom of heaven is of a spiritual nature and may be entered and
possessed now through faith in Christ. Even "the holy city, new
Jerusalem, comes down out of heaven from God," and is described
as "the tabernacle of God with men" (Rev. xxi, 2, 3). And this
dwelling of God with men is not essentially different from his
coming with Christ and making his abode with the man who loves
him and keeps his word (comp. John xiv, 23). All this and more
may be understood and should be longed for when we pray, "Thy
kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth."
8. Concluding Summary. From the foregoing examination of
scriptures bearing on the subject of the nature of the kingdom, we
conclude, (1) that the kingdom of heaven so frequently mentioned
in the teaching of Jesus, and illustrated by his parables, is not to

NATURE OF THE KINGDOM 441
be understood of a visible political organization. (2) The king
dom of Christ, or the Messianic kingdom, is no other than the
kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. The exaltation of
Christ to the right hand of the throne of God involves no essential
change in the divine government of the world, but marks a new
era in human history. (3) The method of Jesus in his self-
manifestation did not accord with the current Messianic expecta
tions of the Jewish people; but he did not formally controvert
their expectations : he sought rather to give their thoughts a more
heavenly and spiritual turn, and to inculcate the great fundamental
truths which in time would be their own interpreter. (4) His
teaching, however, logically involved the disruption of the religious
system of effete Judaism, and the establishment of a new and
higher religious cultus which embodied the truths of his gospel
of salvation. (5) Membership in this heavenly kingdom is to be
obtained through spiritual regeneration and a holy life, and it is
open to all men of every nation who will accept its conditions of
grace, and conform to its principles of righteousness and love.
(6) In proportion as many individuals are brought into this king
dom and exhibit its heavenly virtues, the kingdom itself becomes
more and more a manifested power of God in the world. Like the
stone cut out of the mountain without hands (Dan. ii, 45), and
like the mustard seed, it grows from small beginnings and is
destined to bring the whole world into subjection to its truth.
(7) The children of this kingdom are heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ, and accordingly participate in the kingdom, power,
and glory which are perfected through the ages. They partake
alike of Christ's afflictions and triumphs; they suffer with him
and reign with him (Rom. viii, 17 ; 2 Tim. ii, 12). (8) This com
prehensive view of the nature of the kingdom enables us to under
stand the noteworthy eschatological concept of Christ's dominion
which we so constantly meet in the New Testament. From the
point of view both of Christ and of his first apostles, the kingdom
and the power and the glory of this new manifestation of the
Father were essentially in the future. Throughout the entire
period of Jesus' stay on earth the kingdom was not yet come, but
only nigh at hand. And whenever and whatever the crucial hour
of transition from the old covenant into the new, the coming of
the kingdom and its development, as figured by the stone cut from
the mountain without hands which became a great mountain and
filled the whole earth, and by the parables of the mustard seed and
ihe leaven, must needs fill the entire history of the Christian ages.

CHAPTER II
THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST
1. Variety of Biblical Statements, Words, and Phrases. The
essentially spiritual nature of the kingdom of Christ and of God
appears more fully as we study the biblical statements of the time
and manner of its coming. When we pray, "Thy kingdom come,"
we do not contemplate a sudden collapse of the physical heavens,
nor an immediate revolution of human affairs. The coming of
Christ and the progress of his kingdom in power and glory are
sublime divine realities which appear in manifold ways and have
gradual and continuous manifestation. There are many state
ments in the teachings of Jesus which declare the kingdom to have
been near at hand while he himself was yet manifest in the flesh ;
but there are others which contemplate the coming of the Lord and
his kingdom as an event of the future. The manner of his coming
is also variously represented. Some scriptures speak of Christ
coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory, while
in another place we read that "the kingdom of God cometh not
with observation." One naturally inquires whether these texts
involve real contradictions and inconsistencies. There is also a
number of words and phrases that must receive careful examina
tion in connection with this subject, as for example, napovoia
coming, or presence; epxop-ai, to come; kniqbdveia, appearing;
naXivyeveaia, regeneration; anoKaraaraaig, restitution; avvriXeia
rov aliovog; end, or consummation of the age. These and some other
like expressions will be duly noticed in connection with the dis
cussion of the texts of scripture wherein they occur.
2. Coming in the Near Future. Those scriptures which speak
of the coming as in the near future demand our first attention.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus began their public ministry with
the announcement that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matt.
iii, 2; Mark i, 15). The disciples of Jesus were subsequently
sent out to repeat the same important message (Matt, x, 7 ; Luke
x, 9, 11), and were told, according to Matt, x, 23, that the Son
of man should come before they completed their apostolic ministry
in the cities of Israel. These several statements imply that the
kingdom was not at the time fully come, but only near at hand;
and yet the coming of Christ would take place before they should
442

THE COMING NEAR 443
have gone through all the cities of Israel in fulfillment of their
mission. In Luke xviii, 8, he observes: "When the Son of man
cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ?" This question follows
the parable of the importunate widow and the unjust judge, as
if to teach : If an unrighteous judge may be thus prevailed upon
by persistent importunity, how much rather shall the righteous
God hear and answer the prayers of those whom he loves ? How
beit, he adds, as if uttering an unpleasant reflection, when the
Son of man comes he will not find on earth such persistent faith
as he could wish.1 Other declarations even more direct and unmis
takable connect the coming of the Son of man in glory and for
judgment with the coming of his kingdom, and affirm that some
of those then living were not to taste of death until they had seen
the coming and kingdom of Christ (Matt, xvi, 27, 28; Mark ix, 1;
Luke ix, 27). Furthermore, when the Pharisees on one occasion
asked him "when the kingdom of God cometh," he answered them
that it "cometh not with observation." That is, the coming of
the kingdom is not a public spectacle for men to look at and
exclaim, Lo, there it is! For, he added, "the kingdom of God
is among you."1 All these scriptures show that the coming of
the kingdom was not thought of as a far future event, and the
statements of our Lord before the high priest imply that it is
something that is to take place as a process, from that time and
onward: "Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the
right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matt.
xxvi, 64; comp. Mark xiv, 62; Luke xxii, 69). To all these
scriptures we add that most positive declaration of Matt, xxiv, 34
(and its parallels in Mark and Luke) : "Verily I say unto you,
This generation shall not pass away till all these things be accom
plished." Whatever else, therefore, we learn concerning the time
and manner of the coming of the kingdom of Christ, we cannot
escape the conviction that it was proclaimed as an event of the
near future by Jesus himself. Nothing in all his reported sayings
is more emphatic and positive than that some of his contemporaries
would live to see the coming of the Son of man in his kingdom
and in the glory of his Father.

'It is to be observed that nothing in these passages requires us to suppose
that apostolic ministries must cease, and all persecution and lack of faith disappear,
at this coming of the Son of man.
2 See Luke xvii, 20. Jesus evidently had in mind some aspect of his kingdom
which these Pharisees did not comprehend. A kingdom may be represented and
be in fact present in the person of its king, and so it truly was in the midst of
them in the person and ministry of the Son of God and Saviour of men. These
words of Jesus are thus best understood as one of his bold and impressive asser
tions. Similarly it is written in John i, 10, 11 : "He was in the world, and the
world was made through him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his
own, and they that were his own received him not."

444 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
3. Jesus's Eschatological Discourse. Supposed difficulties of
exegesis involved in these teachings concerning the time of the
coming may disappear when we shall have more clearly appre
hended the manner of the coming of the Son of man in his king
dom. The passages already cited will help us also in this further
discussion. The important statements of Jesus in Luke xvii, 20-37,
agree in all essential points with what the three synoptic gospels
record as the great sermon of Jesus on the subject of his coming
and of the end of the age, and Matthew actually incorporates them
in his report of that remarkable discourse. This sermon on the
Mount of Olives is in its main outline the same in all the synoptics,
and appears to be as thoroughly attested as any of the teachings
of Jesus. In fact, no discourse of Jesus of any similar length
reported in our gospel is better authenticated than this one, and
so far as concerns our present inquiry it matters not whether we
confine ourselves to the report of one of these evangelists or take
them all together. The incongruities which have perplexed inter
preters are not materially relieved by eliminating sections or say
ings peculiar to any one of these synoptic reports. Mark's gospel
alone, which may be regarded as the most primitive of the three
as we now possess them, contains all the supposed incongruities in
these eschatological sayings of our Lord. Touching the relative
nearness of the coming as well as the manner and the sign of it,
all these gospel records are substantially at one in declaring things
which must take place before the end of the age, the signs of its
being close at hand, and an apocalyptic description of the event
itself. They all agree, moreover, in reporting this discourse of
Jesus as an answer to the twofold question of his disciples : "When
shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of their coming
to pass?" The question was prompted by the statement of Jesus
that the buildings of the temple should be utterly overthrown.
4. The End of the Age. It is not our purpose in this volume
to present a full analysis and discussion of the contents of this
remarkable discourse of Jesus.1 We shall first point out that "the
end" (rd reXog-), and the "consummation of the age" (awriXeia
rov aliivog; peculiar to Matt, and Heb. ix, 26) are expressions
which refer to the termination of a period of time then current,
the close of a certain dispensation under which the speakers were
living. There is really no room to doubt that in using these
familiar phrases Jesus and his disciples appropriated the well-

1 For such analysis and discussion the reader is referred to my Biblical Apoca-
lyptics, pp. 213-252, where the different theories of interpretation, the parallel
teaching of the synoptics, the occasion and scope of the discourse and an analysis
of its contents, and a full exposition of the several parts, are treated in detail.

END OF THE AGE 445
known Jewish designations of the age or period which preceded the
coming of the Messiah and that age which was to follow his
coming. It was common to speak of this age and the age to
come,1 and it can only be a source of error and of misunderstand
ing when these words are so translated as to convey to the popular
mind the idea of the end of the physical world. The common
version "end of the world" is naturally understood as the final
collapse of the physical universe and the close of all human his
tory. But the "end of the age" meant to Jewish hearers the end
of the pre-Messianic age. The disciples of Jesus, according to
Matt, xxiv, 3, evidently supposed that the ruin of the temple must
needs also involve the end of the age preceding the time of the
coming of Messiah ; he would introduce some new order of things.
So far now as the end of the pre-Messianic age was marked by some
decisive crisis, we have no higher authority than this discourse of
Jesus for determining the time and manner of that crisis. Does
the answer of Jesus to this question of his disciples justify the
opinion that the ruin of the Jewish temple did mark the end of
the pre-Messianic age? We are persuaded that, if no dogmatic
bias had come in to influence interpretation, and these and parallel
scriptures had been permitted to explain themselves, there need
have been no serious difficulty in perceiving that Jesus most posi
tively affirms the end of the age and the triumphal coming of the
Son of man as occurring in the near future, before that generation
should pass away. For (1) it is all but universally conceded that
a large part of what is here recorded as about to take place was
actually and remarkably fulfilled in the events which preceded
and accompanied the ruin of the temple. (2) It is also beyond
question that Jesus explicitly said his coming would immediately
follow the tribulation of those days; or according to Mark, would
take place "in those days after that tribulation." (3) He further
declared most emphatically : "This generation shall not pass away,
until all these things be accomplished." We see no possible way
of setting aside these facts except by reading into other statements

'The Hebrew phrases were DTPI D^V, this age, and N3H dW> ^e coming
age. The uniform teaching of the New Testament is that the ministry of
Christ and the apostles took place "in the end of the days," "the last days,"
"the end of the times"; that is, the last days or closing period of the pre-Messianic
era. See Heb. i, 1; ix, 26; 1 Pet. i, 20; Acts ii, 17. In 1 Cor. x, 11, Paul speaks
of himself and his contemporaries as those "upon whom the ends of the ages
have come." Accordingly, the Messianic reign of our Lord Jesus, so far as any
crucial turning point that marked the close of the one age and the beginning of
the other may be pointed out, did not begin while Jesus was yet in the flesh.
And after his enthronement at the right hand of God, the apostles did not regard
the end of the pre-Messianic age as having yet fully come. They knew not the
day, nor the hour, and they continued to speak of the parousia of the Lord as
an event of the future.

446 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of the discourse a meaning not necessary, and not justified by other
teachings of the Scriptures.
5. Supposed Inconsistencies. Those other statements which have
been supposed to be inconsistent with the time-limit are (1) the
words of Matt, xxiv, 14: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations ;
and then shall the end come"; (2) the saying that the day and
hour are not known to man, nor to the angels, nor even to the Son,
but to the Father only; and (3) the language employed in Matt.
xxiv, 29-31, and parallels in Mark and Luke, which is thought to
be incompatible with the prophetic description of an event like
the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. But it can be easily
shown that these suppositions are destitute of any sure ground
in the Scriptures.
(1) Matthew xxiv, H. Taking them in the order named we
first observe that the preaching referred to in Matt, xxiv, 14, does
not mean the conversion of all the nations of the habitable globe
as we know it now, but is to be explained by the familiar usage
of world and nations as seen in other New Testament statements.
According to Acts ii, 5, "devout men from every nation under
heaven were dwelling at Jerusalem" on the day of Pentecost, and
the enumeration of Parthians, Medes, Elamites, etc., in verses
9-11, shows that the thought of the writer did not go beyond the
limits of the Roman empire. We have already seen that Jesus
advised his disciples that they would not complete their mission
even in the cities of the land of Israel before the coming of the
Son of man (Matt, x, 23). Paul declares in Col. i, 6, 23, that in
his time the gospel was "bearing fruit and increasing in all the
world," and that it "was preached in all creation under heaven." 1
It would seem, accordingly, that the most obvious meaning of
Jesus, and in fact the only exposition of his words which fits the
context, was that the promulgation of the gospel, so as to secure
for it a firm and ineradicable hold on human life and thought,
was necessary (del, Mark xiii, 10) before the old sanctuary and
its cult be overthrown. In other words, the end of the then exist
ing covenant with its ordinances, and ritual, and sanctuary (comp.
Heb. ix, 1), should not come until the gospel of the new covenant
had first been preached unto all the nations round about for a
testimony that the kingdom of God was truly at hand, and that
the Messianic King had appeared, born of the seed of David accord
ing to the flesh, but declared the Son of God with power by his
resurrection and enthronement at the right hand of the Majesty on
•For other texts illustrating this usage of the terms world and nations, see
Luke ii, 1; Acts xi, 28; xvii, 6; xxiv, 5; 2 Tim. iv, 17.

THE DAY UNKNOWN 447
high. This explanation points out both the fact and the necessity
of such a preaching of the gospel before the overthrow of the Jew
ish metropolis and its holy house of worship.
(2) The Day and Hour Unknown. In Matt, xxiv, 34-36, and
Mark xiii, 30-32, it is written, in immediate connection with the
statement that "this generation shall not pass away until all these
things be accomplished," that "of that day or that hour no one
knoweth, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the
Father only." It is held by some that Jesus could not have spoken
these two sayings in such immediate connection, and it is accord
ingly supposed that the apostolic tradition confused a number of
things which he spoke in an entirely different connection. But
this hypothesis involves a violent and very unsatisfactory piece of
criticism, and it springs from the peculiar assumption that if Jesus
knew an event as certain to come to pass within the time of a
generation of thirty or forty years, he must also have known the
day and the hour. All this seems to us quite arbitrary and untena
ble. It is perfectly natural and intelligible to affirm the certainty
of a great event, foreseen to occur within the limit of half a cen
tury, and at the same time to disclaim any certain knowledge of
the day or the hour of its occurrence. All the exhortations of
Jesus to watch and pray in view of the uncertainty of the day
and the hour accord with the presupposition that such unknown
day and hour must of course come within the time limits of the
generation of those whom he addressed, that is, before some of
them should taste of death (comp. Matt, xvi, 28). The absurdity
of a contrary opinion appears in the obvious stupidity of a solemn
admonition which declared the great event as sure to come within
the lifetime of some of them while the day or hour of its occurrence
might be centuries after their generation should pass away !
(3) Apocalyptic Language. The allegation, made by literalistic
expositors, that the language of Matt xxiv, 29-31, is too majestic
and world-significant to describe such an event as the fall of
Jerusalem and the Jewish temple becomes utterly nugatory when
we compare the words of Jesus with the language of other prophetic
scriptures which describe events of far less moment to mankind.
There is scarcely a word or phrase in this passage, and its parallels
in Mark and Luke, which is not in substance appropriated from
the apocalyptic portions of the Old Testament, where the refer
ence is to the overthrow of such world-powers as Egypt, and Tyre,
and Babylon.1 On the day of Pentecost Peter quoted the words

'Compare Isa. xiii, 6-14; xix, 1; xxvii, 13; xxxiv, 1-5; Joel ii, 1-11; Mic. i,
3, 4; Dan. vii; 13, 14; Zech. ii, 6; xii, 11-14. The vivid portraiture of the day
of the Lord" in 2 Pet. iii, 10-13, consists of a free appropriation of such texts as

448 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of Joel n, 28-32, where we read of "wonders in the heavens and in
the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun turned
into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and notable
day of the Lord cometh"; and the apostle declared that this
prophecy was fulfilled at that time (Acts ii, 14-21). But the
ruin of the temple was the momentous crisis, which marked the
fall of Judaism and the consequent outgoing and triumph of the
kingdom of Jesus Christ, and we conceive it as the sign of the
greatest event in the history of mankind, and therefore pre
eminently worthy to be described in sublime apocalyptic style,
such as Jesus employed.
6. The Words irapowCa and «px°h<«- Matthew's gospel employs
the word napovoia, four times in this twenty-fourth chapter to
designate the coming of the Son of man, but this term does not
appear in the other gospels, although it is quite frequent in the
apostolic epistles. The word strictly means presence, as opposed
to absence, as one may observe in its usage in Phil, ii, 12 : "Not as
in my presence (napovoia) only, but much more in my absence
(dnovoia), work out your own salvation." When applied to Christ
the word might be translated presence, and denote his personal
spiritual fellowship with the believer who worships in his name
(comp. Matt, xviii, 20 ; John xiv, 23) ; but as the personal presence
of anyone implies some previous coming, napovoia is very properly
rendered in many passages by the word coming, and differs not
essentially from what is also represented by the word epxofiat.
This latter word refers to the coming and kingdom of Christ in
Matt, xvi, 27, 28 ; xxiv, 30 ; xxv, 31 ; John xiv, 3 ; Rev. i, 7 ; xxii, 7.
And Luke xvii, 20, says that "the kingdom of God cometh not
with observation." Nothing, therefore, in these words or in any
statement of scripture bearing on the subject, necessarily teaches
that the coming of Christ or of his kingdom is of the nature of a
spectacle that is visible to fleshly eyes. We have already found
that the nature of the kingdom of God is spiritual and to be
spiritually discerned, and we accordingly believe that the coming
of the Son of man in the clouds, in his kingdom, and in the glory
of his Father, is not a matter of physical display in the world of

those just cited, and others like Isa. li, 6; Ixv, 17; lxvi, 22; Ezek. xxxii, 7, 8.
It is not at all improbable, nor to be wondered at, that some of the first apostles
as well as those who came later misapprehended the real import of these apoca
lyptic words. The apostolic and post-apostolic interpreters of Hebrew prophecy,
as well as the ancient seers themselves, "sought and searched diligently concern
ing what manner of time the Spirit did point unto" (1 Pet. i, 10, 11). The real
question here is one of the interpretation of apocalyptic language, which we
cannot here take space to discuss in detail, but which the reader may find elab
orately treated in Biblical Apocalyptics, New York, 1898. See also Biblical
Hermeneutics, pp. 338-389, New York, 1890.

NO SPECTACULAR DISPLAY 449
sense, but perceptible only in such a deeper sense as "the invisible
things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen"
(Rom. i, 20), and as faith "sees him who is invisible" (Heb.
xi, 27).
7. Admonition of Luke xvii, 20-37. Jesus admonished his dis
ciples that to some it was not given to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven (Matt, xiii, 11). The Pharisees eyed him with
suspicion, and sought to ensnare him in his words. And so he
spoke both to them and to his own disciples in mystic but sug
gestive forms of speech. His parables of the mustard seed, the
seed growing secretly, and the leaven, showed that the kingdom
of God comes according to an ordered progress, "first the blade,
then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." It is worthy of note
that in Luke xvii, 20-37, after he had admonished the Pharisees
that the kingdom cometh not with observation, Jesus said to his
disciples : "Days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the
days of the Son of man, and shall not see." A study of verses
22, 24, 26, and 30 makes it plain that "one of the days of the
Son of man" does not mean one of the days of his fleshly life,
such as the disciples were then enjoying, but rather days of his
future revelation from the heavens. The disciples were, like the
Pharisees, slow to learn that the kingdom of God and the revelation
of the Son of man were not matters of spectacular display. To the
Pharisees Jesus suggested that the kingdom was already among
them, and they knew it not. To the disciples he gave the timely
admonition that days were coming on when they, too, would be
zealously looking for one of the days of heavenly revelation of the
Son of man, and would fail to see it for want of spiritual dis
cernment. They, too, would be saying, Lo, here ! and Lo, there !
and so misunderstand its silent, pervasive, universal presence
(napovoia) which, like the sheet lightning, instantaneous from the
far east to the remotest west, is yet quite intangible. Such a
revelation is incompatible with local bodily presence.
8. Synoptic Testimony Quite Decisive. So far, now, as the
synoptic gospels throw light upon the time and manner of the
coming of Christ, we cannot escape the conviction that their testi
mony is decisive in connecting that great crisis of ages with the
ruin of the Jewish sanctuary. Up to that point the new gospel of
the kingdom had met its fiercest opposition from Judaism and
its bitter zealots, but thereafter it went forth triumphantly among
the Gentiles, being released from the entanglements of outward
legalism which so seriously obstructed the ministry of Paul. Jesus
announced that immediately after the tribulation of those days
there would "appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven," and

450 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
we are persuaded that both the sign of the Son of man and the
heaven in which it appears must be understood in the same spiritual
manner in which we understand all other mysteries of the kingdom
of God. For Jesus declared to the Pharisees most emphatically
that the kingdom comes not with observation. It is no public
phenomenon to which men can point and say, Lo, it is here or there
(Luke xvii, 21).1 A spiritual kingdom can only be spiritually dis
cerned. It may come in the same moment of time to persons and
communities far apart in locality. "For as the lightning, when
it lighteneth out of the one part under the heaven, shineth unto
the other part under heaven, so shall the Son of man be in his day"
(Luke xvii, 24). The salient point in this comparison is not the
sudden glare of lightning which dazzles the eye, but the instantane-
ousness of its appearance in places as far apart as the east is from
the west (comp. Matt, xxiv, 27). So where two or three meet in
his name, one group in London and another in Calcutta, the Christ
can come to each in the same moment of time. His coming is in
every case a coming from heaven, and every manifestation of his
saving grace is in some measure a coming of the kingdom of
heaven. 9. Excludes Literalism. The foregoing exposition of the synop
tic teaching on this subject will be of course unacceptable to the
literalisf. He must have spectacular phenomena, cosmic cata
clysms, and a visible political organization exercising physical
power over the nations of the earth. He can discern no coming
of the kingdom in the silent progress of the gospel in the world.
But such an interpreter of the scriptures is obliged to set aside
in some unseemly way the most explicit statements of Jesus. He
usually resorts to the vague hypothesis of a "double sense" in the
words of prophecy. He is very like the Jewish scribes who looked
here and there for something external and political in the world
of sense, and fails to perceive the obvious aim of Jesus to correct
such a misleading conception of the kingdom of God. He refuses
to interpret the apocalyptic language of Jesus, appropriated

1 Commenting on Luke xvii, 21, Alford says of the kingdom of God : " Its com
ing shall be so gradual that none during its waxing onward shall be able to point
here or there for a proof of its coming." — Greek Testament, in loco. It is strange
that so many expositors have failed to observe that, so far from confirming his
contemporaries in their sensuous notions of the kingdom, Jesus aimed to lift
them into a more spiritual way of thinking of it. It did, indeed, accord with
Old Testament modes of prophetic announcement to picture the kingdom as
coming "all at once" (as Beyschlag says, New Testament Theology, vol. I, p.
52). The prophets, he observes, "had the complete picture of it before them in
one great view, and they thought of its coming with observation, so that one on
the watch might see it coming down from heaven by a great miracle of God."
But Jesus taught the "progressiveness and development of the kingdom, in virtue
of which it cannot fall ready made from heaven, but must develop itself in the
earth, in the human race, and in the history of the world."

KINGDOM IN JOHN'S GOSPEL 451
directly from Old Testament prophecies long, ago fulfilled, after
the manner of its usage in the Hebrew writers, and insists that
symbolical portraitures of revolutions in human government and
of appalling calamities of war and bloodshed connected with the
ruin of cities and temples must needs be understood literally when
spoken by the lips of our Lord. It is evident that the real issue
with such an interpreter is over a principle of biblical herme-
neuties, which must be determined by a calm appeal to the facts
of usage in the great body of the prophetic scriptures.
10. Doctrine of John's Gospel. The synoptic teaching of the
kingdom and coming of Christ is admirably supplemented by the
doctrine of the fourth gospel. This was written some time after
the fall of Jerusalem, and its peculiarly spiritual conception both
of the ministry and the kingdom of Christ is worthy of special
attention. The King and the kingdom are thought of as coming
"from above." They are not of this world, and the heavenly King
declares that his great purpose in coming into the world is to
"bear witness unto the truth." His coming and his triumph are
destined to effect the judgment of this world and to cast out the
prince of darkness (xiii, 31).
(1) John iii, 8-7, 31-36. One of the most memorable lessons
of this gospel is the necessity of being "born from above" in order
to enter the kingdom of God (iii, 3-7). This teaching is not
compatible with a physical and spectacular theory of the kingdom,
but it supplements and confirms the lessons of Jesus in his para
bles. In John iii, 31-36, we have a correspondingly spiritual idea
of the relation of the Father and the Son to them that enter
the kingdom of God. It is the Son "who cometh from above"
(6 kpxofievog; who is about to come), who is truly also "above all,"
and into whose hand the Father has given all things. His coming
from above (dva&ev) is spoken of in the same verse as a coming
from the heaven (kK tov ovpavov), and is conceived as a present
and continuous manifestation,1 so that, as an abiding truth, "he
that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth
not the Son shall not see life." To "see life" is evidently the
same as "seeing the kingdom of God" (ver. 3). It accords
with this spiritual doctrine of his kingdom that when Jesus
perceived the disposition of the people "to come and take him
by force to make him king," he went away and secluded him-

1 In verse 13 we meet with the enigmatical saying of the descent of the Son of
man out of heaven who is nevertheless in the heaven. These last words are want
ing in some ancient copies, but it is difficult to explain how they came to be inter
polated. It is far easier to account for their early omission than for their inter
polation. They convey the thought of Christ's continuous existence in heaven
even while incarnate among men.

452 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
self in the mountain (vi, 15). The popular ideal of the Messianic
kingdom was not the one which he sought to inculcate, and his
triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding upon a young ass, was a
symbolical act adapted to show forth the meekness and humility
of this true king of Israel and the blessedness of his coming in
the name of the Lord. But it was not until after Jesus was glori
fied that the disciples understood the significance of these things
(xii, 13-16). His declarations before Pilate (xviii, 36, 37), which
we have already cited to show the spiritual nature of his kingdom
(comp. p. 437), are also to be recalled in this connection: "My
kingdom is not of this world; my kingdom is not from hence."
It cometh from above, and cometh as continuously and unostenta
tiously as truth itself.
(2) John xiv, 3. In this text Jesus tells his disciples that he
is going away to prepare a place for them, and that he will come
again and receive them unto himself. This coming again to
receivevhis own disciples and friends (QlXovg; xv, 14, 15) is most
naturally understood as a process continually going on, as truly
so as that which he affirms in verse 18 : "I will not leave you as
orphans : I am coming unto you." It would seem absurd to teach
that the original disciples who heard these assurances, and all the
devout and saintly friends of Jesus who have departed this life
since these words were first spoken, are yet waiting for the coming
of the Lord to receive them unto himself in the heavenly man
sions.1 Rather should we believe that Jesus's desire and prayer
that they may be with him where he is and behold his glory (xvii,
24) is finding continual answer through the progress of the cen
turies. The fourteenth chapter of John's gospel is notable for a
blending of the idea of spiritual life in Christ and the eternal
life of fellowship and glory with Christ in a heavenly state. In
verse 23 Jesus says: "If a man love me, he will keep my word:
and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and
make our abode with him." Here is a coming and abiding pres
ence both of the Father and the Son. But in verse 19 he says:
"Yet a little while, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye
behold me: because I live, ye shall live also. In that day ye
shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you."
Taken all together these various sayings teach that man may live
a heavenly life on earth. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit
abide with all such, and in his own time the Lord, who is himself
the way and the truth and the life (ver. 6), will come and receive
them unto himself in his Father's house of many mansions.
'The word uovai, mansions, abodes, conveys the idea of dwelling places of a
permanent character. Comp. "the eternal tabernacles" in Luke xvi, 9.

APOSTOLIC ALLUSIONS 453
(3) The Passage in John xxi, 22, 23, is peculiar in its careful
refraining from any attempt to explain what Jesus meant when
he said to Peter in reference to the disciple whom he loved: "If
I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" Some
inferred from these words "that that disciple should not die."
But it is written : "Jesus did not say unto him that he should not
die; but, If I will that he tarry (ueveiv, remain) till I come, what
is that to thee ?" This careful record ought to admonish us against
hasty inferences from the reported words of Jesus touching his
coming, as well as from the dogmatism which oracularly declares
that his coming again, in John xiv, 3, cannot mean a coming of
Christ to receive into heavenly life the spirit of a dying saint at
the moment of its departure from this mortal state.1 For anything
that can be proven to the contrary, such a dying is perfectly com
patible with remaining until the Lord come, and in spite of all
that is said in opposition, this idea has somehow permeated the
thought of Christendom, and has found strong and definite expres
sion in the songs of the Church universal. How common to think
and to say of any saint that passes from this mortal life, "The
Lord has come and taken him away to himself in the heavens."
11. General Apostolic Allusions. Aside from the Apocalypse,
there is comparatively but a small portion of the apostolic writings
which treats directly of the time and manner of the coming of
Christ and his kingdom. In James v, 7, 8 ; 2 Pet. i, 16 ; 1 John
ii, 28, and 1 Thess. ii, 19 ; iii, 13 ; v, 23, we read examples of inci
dental allusion to the coming (parousia) of the Lord as of a
common and well-known expectation of blessed hope. In these
passages the word napovoia, presence, does not necessarily mean a
spectacular manifestation visible to fleshly eyes, but conveys the
same idea of a spiritual coming and presence which we have already
explained. Whensoever and wheresoever the kingdom of God
comes with power, the coming and presence of the heavenly King
must also be understood, and so far as seeing the kingdom of God
and entering into the kingdom (John iii, 3, 5) contemplate being
"set before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding
•Commentators like Meyer, who reject every interpretation of John xiv, 3,
which leans towards "a merely spiritual import" of the words of Jesus, and who
insist that the coming can here mean only the "parousia at the last day," seem
to be unaware that their notion of a single spectacular coming, visible at one
and the same hour to all men, is as unscripturai as it is unthinkable in the nature
of things. The coming of which Jesus speaks is undoubtedly the same as his
parousia, or presence ; but whether he come to receive a Stephen up to bis throne,
or to execute his judgment upon his murderers, the parousia is not a spectacle
such as the literalistic expositor assumes. The effects of such a judgment may
be seen, but not the personal movements of the heavenly Judge. Such literal
expositors have too one-sided a notion of Christ's parousia, and make too little of
Christ's teaching in John xi, 26: "Whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall
never die."

454 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
joy" (Jude 24), such reception into heavenly glory is an essential
portion of the inheritance of the saints in light. Accordingly, any
manifestation of the power and glory of Christ involves some cer
tain aspect of his heavenly kingdom.
12. Import of the Word ein+4v«io. At this point we may appro
priately notice the import of the word km<pdveia, manifestation, or
appearing, in its reference to God and to Christ. In 2 Tim. i, 10,
"the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus" is his past historical
manifestation in the flesh; but in chapter iv, 1, 8, of this same
epistle the reference is less clear, although it is entirely compatible
with the idea of a continual process, like that of the coming of his
kingdom. The language in the first verse is: "I adjure thee in
the sight of God and of Christ Jesus who shall judge the living
and the dead, both by his appearing and his kingdom : preach the
word." As the notion of the judgment of Christ ceases to be
understood as a spectacular event, or as one that must needs be
simultaneous with all the living and the dead of all ages, and as
it adjusts itself to the doctrine of the kingdom of Christ as a
process of spiritual conquest and dominion, it will become obvious
that the appearing of Christ is not an event that occurs once for
all, at a definite moment in the course of time. It occurs repeat
edly and indeed continuously, as the children of the kingdom "fall
asleep" and, like Stephen at his departure from mortal life, "see
the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right
hand of God" (Acts vii, 56). In strictest harmony with this con
ception the apostle speaks, in 2 Tim. iv, 8, of his confident expecta
tion of "the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give to me at that day: and not only to me, but also
to all them that have loved his appearing." This appearing of
Christ, according to 1 Tim. vi, 14, 15, the heavenly King "shall
show forth in its own times." The day of its revelation is not
one and the same point of time for every soul that has loved his
appearing, but it has its various and innumerable times. So, too,
God manifests his word in the gospel message in its own times
(Titus i, 3), but the word comes not at the same time to all. In
Titus ii, 13, we read of "the blessed hope and appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ"; but nothing in this
text or context obliges us to limit the realization of this "blessed
hope and the appearing of the great God" to any one period of
time for all the redeemed. Each must attain to that blessedness
in his own time, and we are not to assume that the epiphany of
the great God must be something visible to the eyes of men in the
flesh. The writer contemplates rather the spiritual and eternal,
and he speaks in verse 11 of the grace of God which "has appeared

REVELATION AND APPEARING 455
(£ne<pdvTj), bringing salvation to all men," and in iii, 4, of the like
appearance of "the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love
toward man." Nothing, therefore, in any one of these texts
requires us to understand the appearing of Christ as a physical
phenomenon yet to be revealed to mortal men, and to be perceived
by all men at one moment of time. The only other passage which
contains this word (kmipdveia) is 2 Thess. ii, 8, which we shall duly
notice in connection with the doctrine of that epistle.
13. Import of diroKdXin|>is and <|>aWpa>cris. Two other words require
a passing notice in this connection because of their occasional use
in the same general meaning which we have pointed out in the word
eni<t>dveia. In 1 Cor. i, 7, Paul speaks of "waiting for the revela
tion of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall also confirm you unto
the end, unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." Here
the word revelation (dnornXwhig-) is obviously equivalent to mani
festation or appearing, and may be understood, as we have explained
the appearing of the Lord, of that heavenly revelation of himself
which he makes in his own times. The day of Jesus Christ is the
time at which he reveals himself and his heavenly glory (comp.
John xvii, 24) to his redeemed saints, but as matter of fact this
day of glorious revelation cannot be the same moment of time for
all. For the New Testament doctrine of immortality and resur
rection, as we have already seen, necessarily involves the fact that
some saints are glorified with Christ before others are born. We
cannot, therefore allow a literalistic exegesis to force the absurd
conclusion that "the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" must be one
and the same moment of his personal revelation to all generations
of men. The same comments will apply to the word as it is
employed in 1 Pet. i, 7, 13; iv, 13; 2 Thess. i, 7. The word
«j>avep6<*> is also used to denote any kind of spiritual or heavenly
manifestation. In Col. i, 26, the mystery of the ages is said to
be "now manifested" to the saints of God; and in Col. iii, 4, it is
written: "When Christ, our life, shall be manifested, then shall
ye also with him be manifested in glory." There was a mani
festation of Jesus Christ in the flesh, and there is to be a mani
festation of the same Christ in glory; but this latter should not
be thought of as occurring at one and the same time to all genera
tions of mankind. In Heb. ix, 26, we are told that "now once at
the consummation of the ages Christ has been manifested to put
away sin"; but in verse 28 it is said that he "shall be seen
(b<jydrjoerai) a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for
him, unto salvation." Similarly in 1 Peter: "Christ was mani
fested at the end of the times for your sake" (i, 20) ; and yet,
"when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested (i.e., whensoever to

456 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
any one of you) ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth
not away" (v, 4). Other statements of like character are made in
1 John i, 2; ii, 28; iii, 2. The noun (fravepuaig; manifestation,
occurs only in 1 Cor. xii, 7, and 2 Cor. iv, 2. In the first passage
mention is made of "the manifestation of the Spirit" through
divers gifts, and in the second a commending of one's self to every
man's conscience in the sight of God "by the manifestation of
the truth." The one thing we here emphasize in all these scrip
tures is the obvious fact that the appearing, the revelation, and
the manifestation of Christ are not to be understood as spectacular
physical phenomena visible at one moment of time to all men.
This fact being shown, there is left no solid ground for the exegesis
of the literalist who insists that the coming of Christ and of his
kingdom can be only a public event, once for all manifest to the
whole world.
14. The Statement in Acts i, 11. In the first eleven verses of
the Acts of the apostles we are told that Jesus showed himself
as still living after his passion and death, and during forty days
he spoke to his chosen apostles of "the things concerning the king
dom of God." To their question about the time of his "restoring
the kingdom to Israel" he replied that it was not for them to know
times and seasons which the heavenly Father kept within his own
authority. He did not then say, as in Mark xiii, 32, that he did
not know the time, but he turned their thoughts to something of
more importance, the mighty coming upon them of the Holy Spirit
not many days thereafter, and of their becoming his witnesses "in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth." All this was profoundly significant that his
"restoring the kingdom" was to be a very much greater thing than
their narrow Jewish concept of the kingdom contemplated. But
"while they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received
him out of their sight. And while they were looking stedfastly
into heaven as he went, behold two men stood by them in white
apparel; who also said, This Jesus, who was received up from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going
into heaven." Peter was doubtless one of the witnesses of this
event, and we recognize an allusion to it when he speaks, in Acts
iii, 21, of the Lord Jesus, "whom the heaven must receive until
the times of the restoration of all things." His coming again from
heaven, whatever its manner (rponog-), is doubtless the same "com
ing in his own glory" which he speaks of in Luke ix, 26, and
parallel passages. Whatever essential fact or truth is expressed in
his "coming on the clouds of heaven," whether written in Isa.
xix, 1; Dan. vii, 13; Mark xiii, 26; Matt, xxvi, 64, or Rev. i, 7,

DOCTRINE OF THE APOCALYPSE 457
the same is included in the statement of Acts i, 11. But the phrase
ov rponov, translated in like manner as, does not warrant all that
the literalistic interpreter is wont to read into it. Such a specific
construction is seen to be misleading when applied to this phrase
in Acts vii, 28; 2 Tim. iii, 8; Matt, xxiii, 37 (and the parallel in
Luke xiii, 34) — the only other places where it occurs in the New
Testament, and where, in each case, it is commonly translated
simply as, or even as. It is not the specific manner in which
Moses killed the Egyptian (Acts vii, 28), or in which Jannes with
stood Moses (2 Tim. iii, 8), or in which a hen gathers her brood
under her wings (Matt, xxiii, 37), but rather a general resemblance
or likeness in the point of fact referred to. A proper translation of
the phrase in all these texts would be simply even as. Jesus would
often have gathered the children of Jerusalem under his protection,
even as a mother bird protects her young. And so the psalmist
would fain take refuge in the shadow of God's wings (Psa. lvii, 1).
But neither the psalmist's metaphor nor the simile of Jesus would
be helped by a literalistic interpretation which exhausts itself in
looking into the particular manner in which the wings of God and
of Christ cover those who trust in him.1 The angels did not even
say to those who saw Jesus ascend that they should behold his
return; but they simply assured them that, as surely as Jesus had
gone into heaven, even so he should again come from heaven. This
coming from heaven is accordingly to be explained in the light of
all parallel scriptures.
15. Doctrine of John's Apocalypse. This book of "the revela
tion of Jesus Christ" is most positive in its declarations that the
great events of which it treats "must shortly come to pass" (i, 1, 3 ;
xxii, 6, 7, 10), and there can be no reasonable denial or doubt of
the fact that the main subject of the revelation is the kingdom and
coming of the Christ. The language of xi, 1-3, 8, implies that
the Jewish temple and courts, and the city where the Lord was
crucified were yet standing, but nigh unto destruction when this
book was written. The mystic riddles of xiii, 18, and xvii, 9-11,
are best explained by the supposition that the book was written
in the time of Nero, during whose reign the war was begun wliich
ended in the overthrow of the Jewish temple and its local cult.
The modern criticism, which essays to point out internal evidences
of compilation in the book as we now have it, admits that the

1 Is it, or is it not, true that the interpretation of Acts i, 11, which insists that
the bv Tpditov must be the salient point of the passage, and can only mean a
literal, visible coming in clouds just above the heads of those who "look for his
coming and his kingdom," loses sight of the real kingdom and glory of Christ
amid the clouds? It seems to put far more stress on the clouds than on the king
dom.

458 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
passages referred to must have been written in the time of Nero,
and belonged to a smaller apocalypse which the compiler appro
priated and wrought into his own larger work. Whatever theory
of the date and composition one may prefer, it would seem that the
exposition which best explains and harmonizes the contents of this
remarkable prophecy is that which sees in the Babylonian harlot
of chapter xvii another symbol of the corrupt and murderous city
"which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt" in xi, 8. The old
Jerusalem became a harlot (comp. Isa. i, 21), and miserably fell;
but that fall was followed by the coming down out of heaven from
God of the New Jerusalem, the pure and glorious bride of Christ.
We believe the New Testament Apocalypse of John to be a genuine
product of earliest Christian doctrine, and a work remarkable for
its symmetrical structure. The great theme is announced in true
apocalyptic style in the language of i, 7 : "Behold he cometh with
clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they who pierced him,
and all the tribes of the land shall mourn over him." This lan
guage is characteristic of apocalyptic writing and is in substance
identical with that of Matt, xxiv, 30, and also with Zech. xii, 10, v
from which, in fact, it may well be supposed to have been appro
priated. And the entire book appears upon analysis and exposition
to be virtually an expansion of our Lord's discourse concerning
the end of the age as reported in all the synoptic gospels.1
(1) The First Part, i — xi. The book is divisible into two nearly
equal parts, which seem, like the double dreams of Joseph and of
Pharaoh, to represent the same great events under different sets
of symbols. The first part, which ends with chapter xi, portrays
the terrible vengeance of the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God
upon his enemies, as if the author contemplated the ruin of Jeru
salem and of those who pierced him and cried, "His blood be upon
us and upon our children," in the light of the parable of the king
"who sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and
burned their city" (Matt, xxii, 7). This part contains three series
of revelations, the seven churches, the seven seals, and the seven
trumpets, and the final catastrophe is reached at the sounding of
the last trumpet, which also signals the triumph of the heavenly
king; for "there followed great voices in heaven, and they said,
The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom (or possession)
of our Lord and of his Christ: and he shall reign for ever and
ever" (xi, 15). Thus the blood of Christian martyrs (comp. vi,
10) is avenged, the old temple disappears from view, and there
opens "the new temple of God which is in heaven, and there was
•See all these points amply detailed and maintained in my Biblical Apoca
lyptics, in the sections on the Gospel Apocalypse, and the Apocalypse of John.

DOCTRINE OF THE APOCALYPSE 459
seen in his temple the ark of the covenant," which, according to
Heb. ix, 8, could not be made manifest while the first tabernacle
was yet standing.
(2) The Second Part, xii — xxii. The second part (xii — xxii)
contains another series of apocalyptic visions which present other
aspects of the same time of trouble, and other pictures of the
coming and kingdom of Christ. There are the divers revelations
of Antichrist and of the workings of the mystery of lawlessness.
The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet appear, each in his
own order. The seven last plagues are seen to correspond remarka
bly to the seven trumpets of doom. But most conspicuous of all
is the detailed portrayal of Babylon the harlot, a symbol of the
apostate Jewish Church, upon which Jesus charged the guilt of
"all the righteous blood shed on the land" (comp. Matt, xxiii,
35-37). More lamentably than in Isaiah's time had the once faith
ful city become a harlot (Isa. i, 21; comp. Jer. ii, 20; iii, 1).
But immediately after the fall of this great Babylon, the mother
of harlots and of abominations, many glad voices in the heavens
say : "Halleluiah ; for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigneth" ;
the heavens open, and one, who bears the threefold title of "Faith
ful and True, the Word of God, and King of kings," goes forth
leading the heavenly armies to the ultimate overthrow of beast,
false prophet, and dragon. Thereupon the holy city, new1 Jeru
salem, is seen "coming down out of heaven from God, made ready
as a bride adorned for her husband." The details given of the
appearance of Jerusalem the Bride are in notable contrast with
those of Babylon the harlot, and the crowning glory of the holy
city is that "the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein :
and his servants shall serve him . . . and they shall reign for ever
and ever" (xxii, 3-5).
(3) New Jerusalem a Symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven. We
understand this graphic picture of the heavenly Jerusalem to be
an apocalyptic symbol of the kingdom of heaven. Its coming down
from heaven to earth is the answer to the universal prayer, "Thy
kingdom come : thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." The
vision of John descries it in bold and glorious outline, filling the
ages and covering the world with its blessedness. When "he that
sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new" (xxi,
5), he expressed in a word the work which is to occupy the whole
period of the Messianic reign. He who declares himself the begin
ning and the end portrays the true and faithful words of these
prophecies as already come to pass (xxi, 6), even though they
1 The use of naivfj here suggests the idea of a new kind of Jerusalem. Comp.
also verse 5.

460 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
contemplate a "reign unto the ages of the ages." Other scriptures
explain to us that his reign begins with the regeneration of the
individual heart, and thence works outward and onward to the
renovation of all things. "If any man is in Christ, he is a new
creation: the old things are passed away; behold they are become
new" (2 Cor. v, 17). But when these separate new creations in
Christ become multiplied by millions of millions, they prove that
the kingdom of heaven is like the mustard seed and the leaven.
Such divine growths go on night and day, one knows not how
(comp. Mark iv, 27), but the kingdom and city which cometh down
out of 'heaven is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the
prophets, Christ himself being the chief corner stone, and the
sublime structure groweth into a holy temple in the Lord (comp.
Rev. xxi, 14, and Eph. ii, 20-22). Like the stone which became a
great mountain and filled the world (Dan. ii, 35), the kingdom
of heaven is destined to possess both earth and heaven, and to
make all things new. A collation of all these scriptures and an
analysis and comparison of their metaphors, symbols, and state
ments would seem sufficient to show with unmistakable certainty
the spiritual manner of the coming and kingdom of Christ.
16. Biblical Doctrine of Antichrist. A full discussion of the
doctrine of Christ's second coming must not ignore those scriptures
which speak of the coming, the manifestation, and the destruction
of the great enemy of God and man who is variously designated as
the Devil, Satan, and Antichrist. The subject belongs to the
peculiar concepts of angelology and apocalyptics, but takes cog
nizance of the facts of evil which force themselves upon the atten
tion of mankind. These stern facts are made prominent in the
theology of dualism which affirms two eternal principles or powers
of light and darkness, good and evil. There can be no question
that our Scriptures recognize the existence of a kingdom of dark
ness opposed to the kingdom of light, and the spiritual hosts of
wickedness are conceived as organized and led on by a prince of
demons, who is spoken of in Eph. ii, 2 ; vi, 12, as "the prince of
the powers of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the sons of
disobedience." This great enemy of truth and righteousness is
destined to certain overthrow by the coming and manifestation of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The concept has its elements of sublimity
and opens into an inviting field of imaginative speculation. An
extensive literature has grown up around the subject, and the
Antichrist has been identified with Nero, the pope of Rome,
Mohammed, and Martin Luther. A study of the biblical doctrine
may well exclude the conflicting opinions of post-apostolic times
and the whole mass of later speculations.

DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST 461
(1) Old Testament Concepts. We may trace elements of this
doctrine in the use made of the names of mythological monsters
by the Hebrew poets and prophets. Amos ix, 3, speaks of the
serpent in the bottom of the sea, and in Isa. xxvii, 1, it is said
that "Jehovah will punish leviathan, the swift serpent, the crooked
serpent, and the monster (tannin) that is in the sea." Similar
allusions are made in Isa. li, 9 ; Job iii, 8 ; xxvi, 12, and Psa. lxxxix,
10, to leviathan, Rahab, and the dragon or monster of the sea. In
some of these scriptures the mythological names are applied to
great world-powers, like Egypt and Babylon, which are conceived
as terrible monsters arrayed in warlike opposition to God. What
the Hebrew prophet thought or knew about the mythical monster
whose name he appropriated for the special purpose, we cannot
now tell. All we can say of the Old Testament use of such words
is that they were employed to denote an ideal of monstrous opposi
tion to God and his people. Similarly, but with less of the mythi
cal aspect, Satan appears in Job i, 6; ii, 1, and Zech. iii, 1, as a
great adversary and accuser, but it may also be noticed here that
the great dragon of John's Apocalypse is identified with "the old
serpent, the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world"
(Rev. xii, 9). It is not improbable that Jewish contact with
Persian dualism and angelology during the Babylonian exile, and
under the dominion of Cyrus and his successors, served to develop
the idea of a kingdom of light persistently assailed by a kingdom
of evil demons. What is said in Dan. x, 13, 20, about contending
angelic princes of the different provinces is obviously in accord
with the ideas of a highly developed angelology.
(2) Antichrist in John's Apocalypse. In this most Hebraic
book of the New Testament we have not only a revelation of Jesus
Christ, but also a most remarkable revelation of the nature and
power of Antichrist. The name Antichrist is not employed by the
apocalyptic writer, but the great enemy of God and his people is
portrayed by means of a variety of expressive symbols. He first
.appears in chapter ix, 11, as king and angel of the abyss, from the
smoking pit of which arose the tormenting locusts. His name is
given in Hebrew and Greek in terms that mean Destroyer. Again,
in xi, 7, he appears as "the beast which comes up out of the abyss,"
and destroys the two witnessing prophets of God. In xii, 3, 9, he
is revealed as "a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns," and is called "the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the
whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were
cast down with him." In xiii, 2, this dragon gives "his power
and his throne and great authority" to the monstrous beast that
¦came up out of the sea, breathing out great blasphemies against

462 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
God and making, war with the saints. In xvi, 13, there is a vision
of the dreadful trinity of dragon, beast, and false prophet, out of
whose mouths proceed "three unclean spirits, as it were frogs ; for
they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto
the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the
war of the great day of God, the Almighty." In xvii, 1-8, he
appears again as a scarlet-colored beast, carrying an abominable
harlot, full of names of blasphemy, and possessing one after another
of the kings that do his will. This is obviously the same old
serpent and dragon that comes up out of the abyss and is destined
"to go into destruction" (dnuXeiav). In the final picture of this
enemy of God, which is given in xix, 19 — xx, 10, we behold the
beast, the false prophet, and the dragon utterly vanquished as they
gather their armies together for a last desperate assault upon God
and the camp of his saints ; but the fire of' God comes down out of
heaven and devours them. It is evident that in all these prophetic
visions we have a manifold apocalyptic portraiture of the great
foe of God and Christ in his persistent warfare against truth and
righteousness. It is the old conflict of light and darkness, of good
and of evil, represented on the one side by "the throne of God and
of the Lamb," and on the other by "the throne of the beast." The
throne of the beast is the same as the throne and power and great
authority of the dragon (xiii, 2). In the interpretation of such
prophetic scriptures one naturally asks how far the biblical writer
meant to be understood as describing events that were to occur
in actual and literal accord with his statements. On this question
expositors have long differed, and the literalist is still searching
European history for some character that will answer to the beast
out of the abyss. Is it not wiser and better to understand these
various symbols as a graphic idealization of the age-long conflict
between truth and error, righteousness and wickedness, as it is
continuously going on in the world? These conflicts have historic
crises, which signally emphasize the truth set forth in the ideal
pictures of the prophet, and we may discern the spirit and actual
working of Antichrist in every form of evil which hinders the
progress of the kingdom of God among men.
17. The Pauline Doctrine of Antichrist. As in the Apocalypse
so in Paul's writings the name Antichrist does not occur, but no
portion of the New Testament is more directly involved in the
subject than what is written in 2 Thess. ii, 1-12, concerning "the
man of sin," "the son of perdition," "the lawless one," and "the
mystery of lawlessness." These various titles, taken all together,
make upon the reader a much stronger impression of the working
of Satan than the mere word Antichrist. This lawless man of sin

DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST 463
is one "who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called
God, or that is an object of worship" (oifiaojia), and his coming
is said to be "according to the working of Satan with all power
and signs and lying wonders." That is to say, he works in accord
with the well-known wiles of the devil, the great opposer of God
and of Christ and of all that is good. But the Lord Jesus, we are
assured, "shall slay him with the breath of his mouth, and bring
him to naught by the manifestation of his coming."
(1) Relation of Second Thessalonians ii, 1-12, to First Thessalo
nians iv, 13-18. It has been alleged that the second epistle to the
Thessalonians was written to correct some wrong impressions made
by the first epistle touching the coming of the Lord from heaven.
In the first epistle it is written : "The Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with
the trump of God." The resurrection, the reunion, and glorifica
tion of the saints are the main truths spoken of in connection with
these words, and these truths we have already discussed (pp. 231-
233 ) . Here we only observe that, according to the apostle, the com
ing of the Lord from heaven was contemplated as an event of the
near future. The words, "we that are alive, that are left unto the
coming of the Lord" (1 Thess. iv, 15) are unnatural and insig
nificant when supposed to be applicable to people living centuries
and millenniums afterward. The apostle's language is in perfect
harmony with the declaration of Jesus that some of them that
accompanied him in the days of his flesh should in no wise taste
of death until they had seen the Son of man coming in the glory
of the Father and with the angels (Matt, xvi, 28). The meta
phorical and apocalyptic language of all these parallel scriptures is
to be understood as the common biblical method of speaking of the
heavenly things which are not seen by fleshly eyes, but are spiritual
and to be spiritually discerned. The apostle's picture of the com
ing of the Lord from heaven agrees in substance and in imagery
with what he writes about it in 2 Thess. i, 7-10, and in 1 Cor. xv,
51, 52. It would almost seem as if he had read and had in mind
John's apocalypse of the seven trumpets in Rev. viii — xi. But
what is most noteworthy is the fact that these words of Paul are in
all essentials of description remarkably parallel with those of Jesus
in Matt, xxiv, 29-31. Paul says nothing about the darkening of
the sun, the falling of the stars, and the shaking of the heavens;
but he does speak of a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the
trumpet of God. He does not say that the Son of man comes with
the clouds, but he does assure his fellow Christians that those who
witness that coming shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the heavens. Jesus also spoke of "sending forth his angels

464 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
with a great sound of a trumpet, and gathering together his elect
from one end of heaven to the other." Both these descriptions of
the coming of Christ are in striking harmony, and both employ the
language of Hebrew apocalyptics to portray momentous realities
of the kingdom and power of the Lord Jesus.
(2) Meaning of Second Thessalonians ii,2. The language of this
verse does not justify the notion that Paul's first epistle to the Thesh
salonians had been misunderstood, and there is nothing in this sec
ond epistle to show that the coming of the Lord Jesus would not take
place before that generation passed away. Nor are the apostasy
and the revelation of the man of sin spoken of as events of a distant
future. What the apostle urges upon the Thessalonians in this
passage is that they be not suddenly and unreasonably disturbed
by any person or persons assuming to speak to them in the spirit
of prophecy, or by any word or epistle purporting to come from
himself, or from Silvanus or Timothy, to the effect that "the day
of the Lord is immediately present" (kveorTjKev).1 The apostle's
language is in notable accord with what Jesus said to his disciples,
admonishing them not to be led astray by false prophets nor trou
bled by rumors of wars, "for these things must needs come to pass ;
but the end is not yet" (Matt, xxiv, 6) . The second epistle to the
Thessalonians, therefore, is in strict harmony with the first epistle
as to the time and manner of "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and our gathering together unto him," and there is nothing in
either epistle that naturally or necessarily carries the thought of
the reader beyond the time of the generation then living.
(3) Imagery of Paul's Picture of Antichrist. A study of the
various expressions found in 2 Thess. ii, 3-10, shows that the
graphic picture of "the man of sin" is largely drawn from the
language of Daniel, where Antiochus Epiphanes is described in
highly wrought apocalyptic style. In Dan. vii, 8, 25, 26; viii,
9-12, 23-25 ; and xi, 21-45, we read of a "little horn" wherein "were
eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things,"
"wearing out the saints of the Most High, and thinking to change
times and law," "waxing great even to the host of heaven, magnify
ing himself even to the Prince of the host and standing up against
the Prince of princes," "profaning the sanctuary and setting up
the abomination that maketh desolate," "exalting himself and
magnifying himself above, every god, and speaking marvellous
things against the God of gods." Moreover, the phrase man of sin

'Comp. the use of evtar&c iu Rom. viii, 38; 1 Cor. iii, 22; vii, 26; Gal. i, 4;
Heb. ix, 9. Liinemann renders: "As if the day of the Lord is already present " ;
Schmiedel: "immediately impending." According to Ellicott the verb denotes
"the actual presence and commencement of the day of the Lord."

DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST 465
appears to have been derived from 1 Maccabees i, 10 ; ii, 62, where
this same despicable persecutor of the Jews is called "a sinful root"
and "a sinful man."1 According to Daniel the terrible beast which
bore the little horn "was slain and his body was destroyed and given
to the burning flame," which issued as a fiery stream from the
presence of the Ancient of days who sat upon the throne of
fiery flame. When, therefore, Paul depicts "the man of sin, the
son of perdition," as the one who "opposeth and exalteth himself
against all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he
sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God," "whose
coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness
for them that perish"; and when he also declares that "the Lord
JesuS shall slay1 him with the breath of his mouth and bring him
to naught by the manifestation of his coming," it is very obvious
that the whole description is modeled after the language of Daniel.
With anyone thus familiar with the Hebrew prophets the language
also of Isa. xi, 4, naturally comes to mind, where it is said that the
Messianic offspring of David, on whom the Spirit of Jehovah rests,
"shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." The phrase son of
perdition is applied to Judas Iscariot in John xvii, 12, and may
denote anyone who is destined to destruction.
(4) Other Peculiar Words and Phrases. According to this epistle
the day of the Lord is to be preceded by a notable "falling away,"
in verse 3 called definitely rj dnoaraoia, the apostasy. It is difficult
here to think of any other falling away than that which is spoken
of in 1 Tim. iv, 1, 2, as having been expressly witnessed by the
prophetic Spirit and generally known in the apostolic days, "that
in later times some shall fall away (dnoarrjoovrai) from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through
the hypocrisy of men that speak lies." In 2 Tim. iii, 1-9, we read
a similar description of "the last days." These prophecies of great
apostasy are clearly in accord with the utterances of Jesus who
declared very explicitly that, before the end of that age, "many
false Christs and many false prophets should arise and lead many

1 The words of 1 Mace, ii, 62, are avijp auapruMc ; The common text of 2 Thess.
ii, 3, reads 6 av&pumoc ttjc- auagriac, the man of sin; but Tischendorf, Tregelles,
Westcott and Hort, following codices N and B, read avouiac in place of duapriac,
thus making it the man of lawlessness.
2 This reading, avefai, slay, seems on the whole to be best supported, and
agrees with the text of the Septuagint in Isa. xi, 4. But the other reading, avaXaati,
shall consume, is also well attested. The Aramaic of Dan. vii, 11, has the equivalent
of both these words in saying that "the beast was slain and his body given to the
burning of fire."

466 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
astray, and because iniquity should be multiplied, the love of the
many should wax cold" (Matt, xxiv, 5, 11, 12). As a matter of
fact and of record such apostasy and all the forms of wickedness
here specified did show themselves during the later days of that
age whose decisive end was marked by the overthrow of Jerusalem
and its Jewish cult and temple. But this gTeat "falling away"
seems to be closely connected in Paul's thought with what he
calls, in verse 7, "the mystery of lawlessness," and which he says
"is already in operation" (rjdn evepyelrai). It is a mystery which
is characterized by utter disrespect for law. Evidences of its
operation in Thessalonica may be read in the record of Paul's treat
ment there (Acts xvii, 1-9). Jewish jealousy and fanaticism
roused up the rabble and set the whole city in an uproar, thus
exhibiting the spirit and the methods of the lawlessness (rrjg
dvouiag-). This spirit of lawlessness, especially among the Jews,
met the apostle in all the world in which he traveled. It followed
him from Thessalonica to Beraea, and drove him from that place.
It opposed him with blasphemous raillery at Corinth (Acts xviii,
6), and finally secured his imprisonment at Jerusalem, and
Caesarea, and Rome. It is conceived as a "mystery," more deep
and subtle than anything we call apostasy. Its nature was that
of an evil leaven working in the hearts of men who make and speak
lies. As "the mystery of godliness" (1 Tim. iii, 16) is revealed
in the Christ of God, so the "mystery of lawlessness" is revealed
in the Antichrist. But there is another word in this passage, so
indefinite and uncertain, that no one is now able to explain it with
any measure of assurance. The revelation of Antichrist and the
day of the Lord are delayed by what is called in verse 6 rd narixov,
and in verse 7 6 kots^wv. What is "that which restrains," and
who is "he who restrains?" The true answer seems to have been
part of a secret which the apostle imparted to the Thessalonians
when he was yet with them, but of which we now have and can have
no certain knowledge. It is an old and widespread opinion that
rd Karexov refers to the Roman empire, the instrument and repre
sentative of "the higher powers" (comp. Rom. iii, 1) ordained of
God to maintain law and order among men ; b Karexov would then
refer to the emperor, who embodied in himself the civil power, and
was God's minister to restrain outbreaks of lawlessness. Theodore
of Mopsuestia and Theodoret explained "that which restrains" as
the limiting decree involved in the statement of Matt, xxiv, 14,
according to which the end could not come until the gospel had
first been preached in all the world. It has also been argued that
"the restrainer" was the Jewish state itself, whose continued exist
ence opposed a strong check to the persecution of the Christians,

DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST 467
and so enabled the gospel to obtain a sure foundation in tlie world.1
In view of these different opinions and of the indefiniteness of the
apostle's allusion, it seems presumptuous and futile to determine
the exact meaning of the statement; but whoever the restrainer
may have been, he was sooner or later to "be taken out of the
way," and no revelation of Antichrist has followed the removal of
the Roman empire or of any of its emperors which may not also
be seen in "the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders" which occurred before the overthrow of Jerusalem
and the Jewish state.
(5) Essential Content and Import of the Pauline Doctrine. In
attempting to state the essential meaning of a scripture like that
of 2 Thess. ii, 1-12, we may distinguish between the writer's con
cept and construction of a current belief of bis time and the deeper
essential truth of the doctrine thus expressed. The leading
thought running through this graphic picture of the man of sin
was not original with Paul, and we have shown how largely the
description is derived from the prophecies of Daniel. Wliile thus
appropriating much from common sources it is to be supposed that
he would add some things of his own. But it is quite impossible
for anyone now to know just how far Paul accepted without
modification various current opinions of Jewish eschatology and
demonology. His picture of Antichrist is that of a monster of
impiety and lawlessness, but in the times of peril and great expecta
tion in which his ministry fell, he may not always have analyzed
and weighed the full import of his apocalyptic language. It may
be that when he wrote these earlier epistles his thoughts found
expression in terms with which he had been familiar in the Jewish
synagogues and rabbinical schools, but which he gradually dis
carded. The picture of Antichrist here given is peculiar to this
one epistle, and must be accepted as an individual construction of
popular belief in the great enemy of God and his people. It is
in its own way a part and parcel of the current Jewish demonology,
and, if we accept it as a genuine composition of Paul, we should
interpret it in the light of his other epistles and of the whole New
Testament teaching on the same subject. We need not suppose
Paul to have been ignorant of what Jesus said about the coming
of false Christs and false prophets (Mark xiii, 22), and of Satan

•So B. B. Warfield, in The Expositor, 3rd Series, Vol. IV. London, 1886.
Bengel observes: "The ancients thought that Claudius himself was the restrainer;
so they supposed that Nero, Claudius' successor, was the man of sin."— Gnomon,
in loco. Grotius, Le Clerc, Wetstein, Whitby, and others maintained a similar
view, but they differed among themselves as to which emperor was the man of sin.
J. S. Russell argues forcibly that Nero was the man of sin here described. See his
The Parousia, pp. 179-189. London, 1887.

468 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
fallen as lightning from heaven (Luke x, 18). But the New
Testament prophets and apostles, like those of more ancient time,
did not always fully comprehend the time and manner of the things
which the Spirit within them pointed out (1 Pet. i, 11). One
notable thought common to all the biblical conceptions of Anti
christ and of the end of the age is that "evil men and impostors
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Tim.
iii, 13), until the Lord God himself crush Satan under the feet of
his saints (Rom. xvi, 20). And this seems to be the law of destiny
for all impious men and systems whose existence hinders the
progress of truth and righteousness. Even a heathen proverb says
that "whom the gods would destroy they first make mad." So it
was most conspicuously with that generation of the Jewish people
from whom Paul experienced his fiercest opposition. They waxed
worse and worse, furnished occasion for many false Christs and
deceivers, and multiplied transgressions so that Josephus wrote of
them that "no age ever bred a generation more fruitful in wicked
ness from the beginning of the world." 1 It would seem, therefore,
that "the lawless one" described by Paul was a graphic impersona
tion of all the antichristian forces of his time coming to a head,
reaching a climax of "all power and signs and lying wonders," and
perishing before the manifestation of the Lord Jesus.
In speaking of such a crucial epoch as that of the signal fall
of Judaism and the triumph of the new covenant of God in Christ,
all the biblical writers make use of apocalyptic modes of thought
and expression. We need not suppose that they knew the times,
or the manner, or the details of those mighty events of which
they spoke by the word of the Lord. But we have lived to see
that the "revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven" is a mani
festation as continuous and enduring as his throne in the heavens,
and that it has its seasons and epoch-making crises "which the
Father hath set within his own authority" (Acts i, 7). The
apostle uttered a fundamental and abiding truth when, in 2 Thess.
i, 7, 8, he spoke of "the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven
with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance
to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel
of the Lord Jesus, who shall suffer punishment, even eternal
destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his
might, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints." This
is the same coming in power and in glory of which Jesus himself

1 Wars of the Jews, book V, chap, x, 5. In chap, xiii, 6, of the same book he
speaks of that last period of Jewish nationality as having "brought forth a genera
tion of men much more atheistical than were those that suffered such punishments
(as Sodom); for by their madness all the people came to be destroyed."

DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST 469
spoke in Matt, xvi, 27, 28. Such a coming of the Lora must needs
slay the man of sin and bring his Satanic power to naught. But
it was probably not given to Paul to comprehend the continuous
comings and judgments of the Lord Jesus which were to fill millen
niums of human history with revelations of his heavenly power.
He seems not to have elaborated the world-historic import of his
own statement in 1 Cor. xv, 25, that the Christ "must reign till
he put all his enemies under his feet," but he could write in all
confidence to his Christian brethren in Rome : "The God of peace
shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly" (Rom. xvi, 20). In
this confidence he was not mistaken or ever put to shame, for his
prophetic eye saw the decisive beginning of what would require
ages to consummate. The end of the old order and service, which
for a thousand years had centered in the Jewish temple, was near
at hand when the apostle wrote, and it marked the crisis of the
ages; and a writer accustomed to thinking and speaking in terms
of Jewish apocalyptics would naturally portray the coming both of
Christ and of Antichrist in the language of current popular beliefs.
The idea of a spectacular coming of Antichrist rests on the same
literalistic exegesis as that of a spectacular coming of Christ in the
visible physical heavens. A deeper insight into "the mystery of
lawlessness" is obtained by giving more attention to what is in
fact the real and essential nature of Satanic opposition to God. In
other epistles Paul speaks of Satan as "the prince of the powers
of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of dis
obedience" (Eph. ii, 2). He speaks of "the wiles of the devil,"
and admonishes us that "our wrestling is not against flesh and
blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against
the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. vi, 11, 12). Here is the
concept of a prince of the demons, the great leader and inspirer of
all that is antichristian. His hosts of wickedness operate in the
invisible realms of the air; and are not to be opposed by weapons
of the flesh (2 Cor. x, 4) ; for in his workings "with all deceit of
unrighteousness" we are told that "even Satan fashioneth himself
into an angel of light" (2 Cor. xi, 14). How he worked in the
sons of disobedience and with signs and lying wonders is seen in
the example of Elymas the sorcerer whom Paul addressed as "full
of all guile and all villainy, thou son of the devil, thou enemy of
all righteousness" (Acts xiii, 10). All such works of darkness,
at all times and by whomsoever performed, are manifestly "accord
ing to the working of Satan, and with all deceit of unrighteous
ness for them that perish."
In Paul's doctrine of Antichrist we accordingly recognize a

470 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
graphic concept of the workings of Satan as they were to reveal
themselves in the last days of the age and generation to which
the apostle belonged. He conceived all the evils of those last
days as summed up and impersonated in the great prince of the
demons, and his description of the man of sin and son of perdition
is his peculiar construction of the current Jewish demonology in
its relation to the Antichrist.1 But his language is appropriated
mainly from Daniel, and his portraiture of "the lawless one" is to
be understood and interpreted of the operations of Satan himself.
The fundamental truth to be recognized in it all is the fact that
the coming of Christ and the ultimate triumph of his kingdom
are destined "to destroy the works of the devil."
18. The Antichrist of the Johannine Epistles. In the first and
second epistles of John we meet what may be regarded as a later
construction of the doctrine of Antichrist and a more general and
spiritual conception of the operations of the evil one. The writer
is an elder who feels that he is living in "the last hour," and that
"the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shin
ing." He assumes it to be commonly understood that, when Anti
christ comes, such fact is evidence of its being the last hour,
and he affirms that "even now there have arisen many antichrists"
(1 John ii, 18). He declares further on (ver. 22) that "he is
the antichrist who denies the Father and the Son," and in iv, 3,
he writes : "Every spirit that conf esseth not1 Jesus is not of God :
and this is the spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it
cometh; and now it is in the world already." In denying that
Jesus is the Christ he makes himself emphatically the liar
(6 tpevorng-), for he thereby openly falsifies the Messiahship of the
1 How far the apostle Paul was familiar with the current literature of his time
bearing on the doctrine of Antichrist is not apparent. One of the earliest post-
apostohc descriptions of Antichrist, and one quite in harmony with Paul's picture
of "the lawless one," may be read in the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, chap.
xvi. The following passage from the Sibylline oracles, book iii, lines 63-70, is
worthy of note: From the Sebastenes Beliar shall come
Hereafter, and shall make the hills stand high,
And he shall also make the sea stand still.
And the great fiery sun, and the bright moon;
And he shall raise the dead, and many signs
Perform for men; but nothing shall in him
Be brought unto perfection but deceit.
And many mortals shall he lead astray.
Faithful and chosen Hebrews, and some others,
Lawless men, such as never heed God's word.
The Sebastenes are perhaps most naturally understood as the people of Sebaste,
or Samaria. A Jewish writer at the time of Christ might readily have conceived
Beliar-Antichrist as a product of the hated and despised Samaritans. Others
have understood the Sebastenes to be the race of Augustus Ceesar.
2 A very remarkable ancient reading substitutes 3 Xvet, who destroys, or does
away with, in place of 8 ui; iuoXoyti, who does not confess. It is represented in
the Latin version by solvit, and appears also in a number of the early patristic
citations. See Westcott, Epistles of John, pp. 163-166.

DOCTRINE OF ANTICHRIST 471
Lord Jesus and the divinity of his person. In this statement the
writer seems to be raising a note of warning against the Gnostic
heresy which was then beginning to trouble the Church and to
pervert the true doctrine of the relations of "the Father and the
Son." In 2 John, 7, we find the language even more explicit:
"Many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that con
fess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver
(6 nXdvog), and the Antichrist." That is, in the spirit and opera
tions of the many deceivers who are abroad in the world, denying
the truth of "God the Father, and of Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Father" (vers. 3 and 9), we must recognize the arch-deceiver and
the Antichrist. These antichrists are apostates from the Christian
body, for "they went out from us, but they were not of us" (1 John
ii, 19). Their apostasy made it manifest that they possessed not
the Spirit of the Lord Jesus nor the love of God the Father. In
all essentials, however, this general concept of the Antichrist is in
thorough harmony with that of Paul in 2 Thess. ii, 1-12. Accord
ing to both these views the revelation of Antichrist is preceded
and accompanied by a great apostasy, and the spirit of Antichrist
is the spirit of presumptuous opposition to Jesus Christ and to "all
that is called God, or that is worshipped." All false teaching and
deceptive prophesying is of the evil one, and every malicious and
blasphemous enemy of the gospel of Jesus is an embodiment of
the Antichrist. To the same effect we read in 2 Pet. ii, 1 :
"Among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily
bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought
them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction." This agrees
also with what we have already cited from 1 Tim. iv, 1, 2, and
Matt, xxiv, 5, 11, and with what, is written in 2 Pet. iii, 3, and Jude
18. Wheresoever such a spirit of opposition to the truth of God
prevails, there is the Antichrist.
19. General Conclusion. In all the scriptures bearing on this
doctrine of Antichrist one may recognize a portraiture of Satan,
the great enemy and opposer of God. He manifests his working
and his spirit in manifold ways, and we are so advised of his wiles,
and power, and signs, and lying wonders as not to be taken
unawares in his crafty deceptions. According to our Lord's teach
ing in John viii, 14, "the devil was a murderer from the begin
ning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own ; for he is
a liar, and the father thereof." Here we have, in the style of the
fourth gospel, a noteworthy statement of the whole New Testa
ment doctrine of Antichrist. The various portraitures of the great
adversary by the different biblical writers are to be studied as so

472 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
many individual modes of conception peculiar to men of different
mental characteristics, while amid sundry diversities of expression
there is a common substance of doctrine. All these writers con
template a great antagonist of God and his people. The conflict
deepens in intensity at certain extraordinary crises of the ages;
but, in the ultimate struggle, all antichristian evils must perish
before the irresistible power of God. Most of these teachings are
cast in apocalyptic form, and we may distinguish between the form
and the essential truth within the form. When we have the pic
ture of Michael and his angels at war with the dragon and his
angels we observe at once the mythical character of the imagery,
and two courses of inquiry open before us: one is to trace the
origin of the imagery and compare its analogies in the various
religious cults and literatures of the nations; another, and the
one we are concerned with, is to seek the essential truth that is
hidden under the pictorial forms of thought. Whether there be
an actual host of personal spirits of wickedness, led on by a mighty
prince of the demons; or whether these terms are to be explained
as figurative but necessary modes of speech by means of which we
express ideas of the terrible power of physical and moral evil in the
world of men, may be left an open question. There can be no
reasonable doubt that the biblical writers conceived and spoke of
the devil and his angels as real beings, working in the sons of
disobedience, and often possessing them and rushing them to their
own destruction. Much of that which is written touching the
Antichrist implies such a realistic view on the part of the writers.
Each interpreter of the scripture must determine for himself, this
question of the invisible "principalities and powers." But of this
much we may speak with the greatest assurance, and affirm as an
unquestionable fact of the moral world that the good and the evil
are mighty realities with men. Whatever their strongholds among
invisible spirits in high positions or in low, they may well be
conceived and spoken of as essentially antagonistic kingdoms, and
as the kingdom and coming of Christ have been shown to be most
glorious facts of revelation and experience, so, too, the oppositions
of the kingdom of Satan are continuously showing their power
"with all deceit of unrighteousness," and in manifold delusions of
error. This is the great conflict of the ages, but, to use biblical
terms of thought, the woman's seed shall bruise the old serpent's
head, the God of peace shall bruise Satan under the feet of his
saints, and in his own times the Lord Jesus shall slay and consume
the lawless son of perdition, and bring him to naught by the
manifestation of his presence.

CHAPTER III
CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST
1. Christ to Overcome the World. Both the nature and the
coming of the kingdom of Christ have further illustration in a
study of those scriptures which relate to his spiritual conquest of
the world. We are told in 1 Cor. xv, 25, that Christ "must reign
till he hath put all his enemies under his feet," but this is simply
a Pauline way of expressing the psalmist's ideal of the Messiah,
who obtains from Jehovah the nations and the uttermost parts of
the earth for his possession (Psa. ii, 8), and sits enthroned at his
right hand until his enemies are made his footstool (ex, 1). From
another point of view the workers and witnesses for Christ share
in these Messianic triumphs. Paul spoke of himself and his
Christian brethren as "God's fellow-workers" (1 Cor. iii, 9; comp.
2 Cor. vi, 1; Mark xvi, 20). According to 1 John v, 4, 5, the
victory that overcomes the world is to be recognized as inherent in
the faith that Jesus is the Son of God ; for it is affirmed of every
one who has this faith that "God abideth in him and he in God"
(iv, 15). He suffers with Christ, and shares with him in the
kingdom and the power and the glory. If any of these witnesses
lay down their lives for the truth, they are caught up unto God
and unto his throne. In such self-sacrifice, according to the
apocalyptic mode of thought, "the salvation, and the power, and
the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ" are
advanced and enhanced when his martyrs love not their lives even
unto death, but overcome the evil one by reason of the blood of the
Lamb and the word of their testimony (Rev. xii, 10, 11). Mani
fold, therefore, must be the aspects of the kingdom of Christ in
connection with the innumerable agencies of its continuous spread
and triumph in the world.
2. Old Testament Messianic Ideals. In order to obtain a full
biblical conception of the heavenly kingdom we must revert again
to the Old Testament Messianic hopes, and the suggestions they
furnish touching the development and duration of the kingdom
of the saints of the Most High. For every ideal of growth, pros
perity, overthrow of hostile powers, diffusion of truth and peace
and righteousness which is traceable in the various Messianic
prophecies, may be brought forward to show what is contemplated
473

474 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
in the coming of the kingdom of the Christ. Oracles already cited
for other purposes must be again adduced to show that the king
dom foretold is no temporary display of power, but a dominion
extending through a long period of growth and expansion.
(1) Ancient Promises. The ancient Abrahamic promises assure
the patriarch that his seed shall become a great and mighty nation
and be made a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen. xii,
3; xviii, 18; xxii, 18). David is also assured that his house and
throne and kingdom shall be established forever (2 Sam. vii, 16),
and the Messianic psalms take up the thought and repeat it with
poetic embellishment:
Once have I sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie unto David;
His seed shall endure forever,
And his throne as the sun before me.
It shall be established forever as the moon,
And as the faithful witness in the sky. Psa. lxxxix, 35-37.
(2) Psalms ex and lxxii. In Psa. ex the Messianic King sits
at the right hand of Jehovah, judges among the nations, and over
throws all the hostile kings. The rod of his power moves forth
out of Zion, and his people rally around him like young warriors,
numerous as the dewdrops of the morning. He is also a priest
like Melchizedek as well as king and conqueror. A similar ideal
is also found in Psa. lxxii. The king executes the judgments of
God, rules the people in righteousness, shows kindness to the poor,
and breaks the cruel oppressor in pieces :
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass;
As showers that water the earth.
In his days shall the righteous flourish
And abundance of peace, till the moon be no more.
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,
And from the river unto the ends of the earth.
(3) Isaiah ii, 2-4. So far as these poetic ideals of the kingdom
of the Messiah serve to indicate the extent and duration of that
dominion, they point to a gradual growth that ultimately fills the
habitable world. The same distinguishing feature appears in the
triumphs of the Messianic time as portrayed in the prophets. The
remarkable oracle of uncertain date, which is found in Isa. ii, 2-4,
and Mic. iv, 1-4, may be shown to be a very truthful outline of
the origin and progress of Christianity. Jerusalem was the con
spicuous starting point of this new law and word of Jehovah. The
gospel of the kingdom went forth out of Zion as a new revelation
of the righteousness of God, but its spirit and power exalted Zion

MESSIANIC IDEALS 475
into the higher conception of "the city of the living God, the heav
enly Jerusalem" (comp. Heb. xii, 22). A going up to this mountain
of Jehovah involves no pilgrimage to earthly heights like Zion and
Gerizim, as the ignorant Samaritan might vainly imagine (John
iv, 20-24), but simply a worshiping of the Father in spirit and in
truth. No literal interpretation can be put upon the language
which says that the temple mountain shall be elevated above all
other hills, and that all the nations shall flow as a stream to that
particular place, and that the peoples shall literally beat their
swords into plowshares. But when we discern in this figure of
supernatural elevation a symbol of "the general assembly and
church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and Jesus the
mediator of a new covenant" (Heb. xii, 23, 24), we recognize the
whole passage as an ideal of the glorious Messianic era, when
nations shall learn war no more, and every man shall dwell at peace
with his neighbor. But all this implies a long period for its
accomplishment, as is also the case with those other oracles of
like significance written in Isa. Ivi, 6-8 ; lx, 18-22 ; lxvi, 18 ; Zech.
viii, 20-23.
(4) Isaiah ix, 1-7, and xi, 1-10. We derive the same necessary
inference from the prophecy of the Messianic Child in Isa. ix, 1-7,
who bears the wonderful name of manifold significance.1 The
dominion of this heir of David breaks the yoke and rod of the
oppressor, puts an end to bloody wars, introduces peace and right
eousness, and continues forever. The Christian expositor sees at
once that all these ideals are notably fulfilled in the New Testament
kingdom of Christ, when understood of the rule of Jesus in the
hearts of men; and in the assurance that he must reign until all
things are put in subjection under him. The same teaching is
also apparent in the prophecy of Isa. xi, 1-10, which outlines the
work and ultimate triumph of the Messianic Son of David. He
is represented as a shoot from the stock of Jesse, endued with the
wise and holy Spirit of Jehovah, a righteous and holy judge, who
effects a universal peace as ideal as that of Eden. This peace is
to be accompanied by a universal knowledge of Jehovah, filling
the earth as the waters cover the sea, and all the nations shall seek
his glorious rest. So, too, in Zech. ix, 9, 10, the king of Zion
is portrayed as one who "shall speak peace unto the nations, and

1 The critical reader may well study the series of symbolical names in Isa. vii,
2, 14; viii, 3; ix, 6: " Shear-jashub, Immanuel, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, and Pele-
yoets-el-gibbor-dbi-ad-sar-shalom. This last, a compound of four double names,
is usually translated "Wonderful-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Father of eternity,
Prince of Peace." But, except for its length, there appears no more reason for
translating it than Maher-shalal-hash-baz. The whole section is a kind of Apoca
lypse of symbolic names. See Biblical Hermeneutics, pp. 331-334.

476 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the
ends of the earth." 1 These are only a few out of many examples
of the Old Testament Messianic hope, and they all point out an
ideal of progress and conquest which in the nature of things
requires long ages for complete accomplishment.
(5) Daniel ii, 44, and vii, 13. A few things in the book of
Daniel, bearing on this point, demand our special attention. The
kingdom which the God of heaven is to set up (ii, 44) is a power
which shall break in pieces and consume the kingdoms of the world.
It is like a stone cut out of the mountain by some unseen super
natural force, and it was seen to smite the colossal image and to
become a great mountain and fill the whole earth (ver. 35). The
same kingdom is represented in vii, 13, 14, 27, as a triumphing and
everlasting dominion, to which all peoples and nations and lan
guages shall be in subjection.
It would seem beyond controversy that all these Messianic
prophecies contemplate a kingdom which in the nature of things
must gradually acquire its universal dominion over all peoples.
Its conquests are not the miraculous triumphs of an hour, a day,
or a year of human reckoning : they imply a long period of develop
ment and progress. In the prophetic pictures of overwhelming
disaster and ruin of the world-powers we are briefly shown in bold
outline what must take ages of ages to fulfill. Reading these lively
oracles in the light of the teaching of Jesus, we perceive that this
Messianic kingdom is a supernatural power that works silently in
the progress of human history. It aims first of all to subdue the
hearts of men and bring men into subjection to the spirit of Christ.
Thence it works outwardly upon society, operating as a holy leaven
upon the entire mass of humanity till the whole is leavened by the
potent elements of its great mystery of godliness. We are com
pelled, therefore, by all these facts, to conclude that the period
of the kingdom of Christ began with his enthronement at the right
hand of God, and with that consequent crisis of dispensations which
was marked by the ruin of the Jewish temple and its cult. Then
the word of the Lord went forth from Jerusalem as never before,
proclaiming its heavenly ideals of a kingdom of righteousness, and
peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Its future stretches onward
indefinitely, and can be known to us only in the broad outline

'The suggestions of Zech. vi, 12, 13, are worthy of note: "The man whose name
is Branch (comp. iii, 8, and Jer. xxiii, 5; xxxiii, 15; Isa. iv, 2) shall grow up and
build the temple of Jehovah, and shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon
his throne, and he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall
be between them both." Thus priest and king are conceived as united in one per
son, and no conflict between the two could then arise. And the ruling upon his
throne and at the same time building the temple show that his period of dominion
is to be of long duration and of manifold development.

JUDGMENT-SEAT OF CHRIST 477
suggested in the prophecies of its filling the earth and bringing
all things in subjection to Christ.
3. Christ as Ruler and Judge. Other aspects both of the past
and the future of this kingdom are to be seen when we consider
the work of Christ as ruler and judge of mankind. In Rom. xiv,
10, Paul tells us that "we shall all stand before the judgment-seat
of God"; but in 2 Cor. v, 10, he says: "We must all be made
manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath
done, whether it be good or bad." In his view, therefore, the judg
ment seat or tribunal (Pfjfia) of God and Christ are the same. In
John v, 22, we are told that the Father judgeth no man, but hath
committed all judgment unto his Son, and this agrees with the
statement in Acts xvii, 31 : "He hath appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he
hath ordained (upioev, set apart by decree, Psa. ii, 7) ; whereof
he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from
the dead." We have already had occasion to point out that, accord
ing to the Old Testament, the execution of judgment is a con
spicuous prerogative of the supreme Ruler of the world. We have
also pointed out the poetic and apocalyptic forms in which his
days of judgment are described (see pp. 426, 427), and the Mes
sianic passages in which the Anointed of Jehovah is conceived
as an associate judge with the Most High and engaged with him
in executing judgments in the earth. God is therefore not to be
thought of as abdicating his throne when the Messiah sat down
at his right hand; nor are we to think of "the day of Jehovah,"
or the day of judgment, as one definite moment, hour, or day, fixed
at the end of all human history. We miss the true scriptural
doctrine of judgment (tasco. Kploig) when we limit it to such a
single point of time. The day of judgment is always the day on
which the penal execution occurs. This is true alike of nations,
communities, and individuals. There is no ground for the sup
position that the methods of executing judgment during the reign
of Christ are at all different from those of Jehovah as described
by the prophets. The very phrase judgment-seat of Christ is
essentially a metaphor.1 So far, therefore, as the present and
future government of the world is under the control of the supreme
Judge, God the Almighty and his Christ are one. Jehovah has
enthroned his anointed Son upon his holy hill of Zion, and all
men must honor the Son even as they honor the Father (John
v, 23).

•See Biblical Apocalyptics, p. 80.

478 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
4. Days of Judgment. This execution of judgment, like the
mediation of the Son of man, is accordingly to be understood as a
continual process. But there are exceptional days of judgment.
As in the older scriptures we read of "the day of Jezreel" (Hos.
i, 11), and "the day of Midian" (Isa. ix, 4), and "the day of Jerusa
lem" (Psa. cxxxvii, 7), so we understand that the great and terri
ble day of the Lord came upon Jerusalem, which killed the prophets
and stoned them that were sent unto her, at that bitter hour when
her holy house was left unto her desolate (Matt, xxiii, 37, 38).
That crisis may be recognized as the first signal act of judgment
under the reign of the Lord Christ, and it marked, as we have
seen, the decisive end of the pre-Messianic age.
5. The Judgment in Matthew xxv, 31-46. The continuous
administration of the Son of man as judge of all men and nations
is pictured in strong parabolic outline in Matt, xxv, 31-46. The
whole chapter is peculiar to Matthew and profoundly suggestive
touching matters of final judgment. The parable of the virgins,
in verses 1-13, emphasizes the importance of constant watchful
ness. The parable of the talents advances to the thought that
the coming of the Lord may be long delayed, and that every good
and faithful servant should be working for the interests of his
master in his absence as well as in his presence. But the third
lesson, which combines the symbolic form of apocalypse and the
simplicity of parable, enhances the solemnity of the judgment
and of Christ's rendering to every man according to his works.
He will separate the righteous from the wicked. He discerns the
thoughts of the heart, and knows the springs, and motives, and
principles of all human action. No man can conceal anything
from his penetrating glance. He will expose every refuge of lies,
so that no sinner can escape conviction before his tribunal. And
this process of divine judgment is ever going on and must continue
so long as the heavenly Ruler and Judge sits upon his throne.
6. Times and Modes of Judgment Not Specifically Revealed. It
appears also, that the judgment of Christ takes cognizance of
individuals, and renders to every man "according to what he hath
done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. v, 10). But when and
how this judgment is to be executed in each particular case no
one may presume to say. The times and seasons and modes of
retribution and reward are not for us to know. It would be foolish
and futile to say in advance just when, where, and how "he who
sows unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." But
many things come to judgment in ways that may be recognized by
men at once. We are told in 1 Tim. v, 24, 25, that "some men's
sins are openly manifest, going before into judgment; but some

ETERNAL JUDGMENT 479
also they follow after. In like manner also the good works are
openly manifest ; and those which are otherwise cannot be hidden."
That is, some men's sins are so open to the eyes of their contem
poraries that a righteous judgment of condemnation is immediately
passed upon them, and so they really go into judgment before any
formal or final sentence is pronounced upon the sinner himself.
His sins precede him into the judgment. They plainly show
beforehand what the ultimate judgment upon their author must
be. But with other men the case is quite different. Their sins
become evident only upon competent trial and conviction, and so
come to light afterwards. This is true of the good works of men
as well as of the evil. Some are made conspicuous beforehand,
while others are not brought into the light until the day disclose
them (comp. 1 Cor. iii, 13). But we should note in all this work
of judgment that the day and the hour of final disclosure are not
the same with every man. It is not said that we must all appear
at one and the same moment before the judgment seat of Christ.
But this is the essential doctrine : "There is nothing hid save that
it should be manifested; neither was it made secret, but that it
should come into manifestation" (Mark iv, 22). Just when,
where, and how this final manifestation and judgment will take
place with each individual is not for us to know.
7. Eternal Issues of the Judgment. The epistle to the Hebrews
(vi, 2) places the doctrine of "eternal judgment" among the first
principles of Christian truth, and the final issues of the judgment
depicted in Matt, xxv, 31-46, assign the wicked to eternal punish
ment and the righteous to eternal life. We must accordingly
include in the biblical doctrine of eternal judgment the final issues
both of retribution for sin and of recompense for righteousness,
and these results of "the things done in the body" appear in the
state of existence in which each one will find himself after he has
put off the body of mortal flesh. And so it is written: "As it is
appointed unto men once to die, and after this judgment ; so also
the Christ, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall
appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him
unto salvation" (Heb. ix, 27, 28). This second appearing of
Christ, apart from sin, to them that wait for him unto salvation,
as well as the judgment here spoken of, is something to come to
each man after death. The great unseen hereafter presents to the
wilful sinner "a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a
fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries" (Heb. x, 27) ;
but for all who live and die in the true faith of God there is the
promise of a heavenly country, a blessed fatherland (narplg-),
an abiding city, which has the foundations, whose builder and

480 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
maker is God (Heb. xi, 10, 16; xiii, 14). This homeland and
heavenly city is no other than the Father's house of many abiding
places, of which Jesus spoke assuringly to his disciples (John xiv,
2). Nor need we doubt that "the city which has the foundations"
is the holy Jerusalem apocalyptically portrayed in Rev. xxi, 10-27.
Into the fellowships of this heavenly Jerusalem the pure in heart
now come (Heb. xii, 22), but, as elsewhere shown, they never die,
but exchange mortality for life, eternal in the heavens.
8. Judgment of God and of Christ One. And thus we perceive
that the judgment seat of God and the judgment seat of Christ
are the same, and that the future of the kingdom of Christ must
needs be a process of divine judgment and rule, in no essential
element different from the dominion of the Most High as depicted
in the Old Testament. If it be said that this doctrine makes
Christ's kingdom the same as God's "general government of the
world," it is well to answer that God knows no general govern
ment of the world which is essentially different from his particular
government. The great distinguishing fact in the kingdom of
Christ is that it is a new dispensation of the Father Almighty, in
which new truths and new responsibilities are brought to bear on
human life. God rules and judges as really after having com
mitted all judgment unto the Son as he did before. He is never
absent from the throne of the universe, and from the beginning
God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. The distin
guishing feature of this dispensation of the mystery of the ages
(comp. Eph. iii, 8, 9; Col. i, 26; Rom. xvi, 25) is the fuller and
more specific revelation of heavenly things which it opened to the
world. God overlooked the former times of ignorance, but now
requires repentance everywhere, "inasmuch as he hath appointed a
day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man
he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men
in that he hath raised him from the dead" (Acts xvii, 30, 31),
Such a revelation of God in Christ opens a new era in the history
of mankind, and imposes its heavier obligations. "A man who
set at naught the law of Moses died, without compassion, on the
word of two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment
shall he be judged worthy who has trodden under foot the Son
of God?" (Heb. x, 28, 29; comp. xii, 25; Matt, x, 15; xi, 20-24;
xii, 41, 42).
9. A New Power in the World. We are, accordingly, to under
stand that the kingdom of Christ is a new heavenly power intro
duced into the governing forces of this world. It is not of the
world, but it aims to subjugate the world to the truth. The Lord
Jesus Christ is exalted to the right hand of the throne of God as

MILLENNIAL REIGN 481
the supreme judge and ruler of the world, and as prophet, priest,
and king he must needs exercise his power in accordance with the
nature of his kingdom. It has pleased the Almighty Father that
all the fullness necessary to his world-wide mission should dwell
in the Son of his love (Col. i, 19), and according to John's gospel
(v, 19-27) the Father has given the Son power to make alive whom
he will, and authority to execute judgment because he is Son of
man; and so all men should honor the Son even as they honor
the Father. We must, therefore, keep constantly in mind that in
all his work of revelation, mediation, salvation, and dominion the
Christ of God represents no separate or independent power.
Rather, as he himself affirms (John x, 30), "I and my Father are
one." 10. Its Period One of Untold Ages and Generations. It is thus
in a broad and truly scriptural way of thinking that we conceive
the continuous development and advance of the kingdom of Christ
in the world. Its period of development is one of untold ages and
generations. Through all the passing centuries, and probably for
many millenniums of human history yet to come, this King of
glory sits upon his throne, directing and overruling all. He has
come to execute judgment many times since he ascended to the
glory of the Father. And he has appeared in glorious revelations
of heavenly life to millions of his saints at the hour of their
departure from this world. Thus in a very true and holy sense
were they caught away to a meeting of the Lord in the air. Such
a departing to be with Christ is not to be deemed incompatible
with the Lord's coming to receive them unto himself. And this
glorious process is continually going on, and has been since the
time when Stephen saw the heavens opened, and beheld the glory
of God, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.1
We should not suppose that the exit from the world of the Lazarus
who was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom (Luke xvi,
22) was essentially different from that of every other child of God
who departs this mortal life in the faith of Jesus. It is equally
proper for us to think of angels coming in like manner and gather
ing to the heavenly home all those who are counted worthy to
obtain that world; and in no case are we to suppose that such
ministering spirits are sent forth without the Lord. He who was
with the disciples always, even to the consummation of the age
(Matt, xxviii, 20), and who is present wherever two or three are
gathered together in his name (Matt, xviii, 20), is competent to
be in like manner with every angel that ministers to such as shall

•Comp. Biblical Apocalyptics, p. 481.

482 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
inherit salvation. In every event of the departure from this life
of those whose names are written in heaven, "the Lord Jesus is
revealed from heaven with the angels of his power to be glorified
in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed in
that day" (2 Thess. i, 7-10). Thus is he continually coming to
verify the promise of John xiv, 3, and to receive unto himself and
glorify the devout Stephens and Pauls who long for that heavenly
manifestation as their most blessed hope. Blessed is that disciple
who is thus ready to depart and to be with Christ; for he can
say in fervor of spirit: "Henceforth there is laid up for me the
crown of righteousness which the righteous judge shall give me
at that day" (2 Tim. iv, 8). That day is the day or time of his
departure (ver. 6). For why should we commit this scripture to
the notion that even now, after nearly two thousand years, Paul
is still waiting and longing for the crown of righteousness !
11. Regeneration and Restitution of All Things. This incal
culable period of Christ's dominion over the world is requisite for
the regeneration and restitution of all things. In Acts iii, 21, we
read of the "times of restoration of all things, of which God spoke
by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old." This word
restoration (dnoKardoraatg-, restitution, reconstruction) seems to
point to the rectifying of all that has gone wrong in the world,
and the ultimate abolishing of all rule and authority and power
that oppose the progress of the kingdom of God. In Matt, xix,
28, we read of "the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit
on the throne of his glory." The word regeneration (ij naXiyyeveoia)
fitly points out the spiritual character of Christ's rule in the world,
and suggests the unseen forces which he employs in executing the
saving work of the gospel of his kingdom. The period of this
regeneration is coextensive with the Messianic era, and must con
tinue as long as the Son of man sits upon the throne of his glory ;
but "the times of restoration of all things" suggests rather the
idea of a finished work, when the Lord shall have put all his
enemies under his feet (comp. 1 Cor. xv, 25). The times are those
of an indefinite future when Israel's highest hopes are to be
realized. The restoration of the kingdom to Israel, referred to
in Acts i, 6, entered into the Messianic hope of the disciples.
The expectation that in some way Elijah must first come and
restore all things is witnessed in Matt, xvii, 11, and Mark ix, 12.
This expectation appears to have been based upon the prophecy
of Mal. iv, 6, and it should be noted that our Lord assured his
disciples that Elijah had already come, and that they understood
him to refer to John the Baptist (Matt, xvii, 12, 13). We find no
detailed exposition of what the biblical writers understood by these

RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS 483
allusions to a "restoration of all things," but, in general, we may
well believe that they included all that was ever contemplated by
the Old Testament prophets as destined to result from the coming
of the Messiah in the world. His kingdom would sooner or later
put an end to the evils introduced by sin, and restore the world
to a state of universal peace and happiness somewhat like that
blissful ideal which the traditions of Eden and Paradise suggested.
Some such ideal may be inferred from what Paul writes about "the
earnest expectation of the creation waiting for the revealing of
the sons of God," and his hope that "the creation itself shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the
glory of the children of God" (Rom. viii, 19-21). Both "the
regeneration" and "the restoration of all things" imply some such
glorious future, but its times and seasons of accomplishment are not
made known to us. Such regeneration and restoration of the world
are not the work of a day or a year. But the ages of ages belong
to Him at whose right hand the Son of man is seated, and in his
own times and ways the Christ of God shall receive "the nations
for an inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for a pos
session." 1
12. Paul's Statement in First Corinthians xv, 24-28. It remains
to add here the statements of Paul in 1 Cor. xv, 24-28, that there
will come an end of the redemptive ministry of the Son of God,
"when he shall deliver up the kingdom to the God and Father;
when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
. . . And then shall the Son himself be subjected to him that
did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all." This
terminus (rd reXog-) seems to imply the ultimate completion of the
entire work of Christ's mediation, including the resurrection and
the putting of all things in subjection, even the abolition of death.
But that final issue is far away in the future times eternal, and
it is not now manifest to us what its full significance shall be.
1 Comp. Biblical Apocalyptics, p. 481.

CHAPTER IV
THE MISSION AND MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
1. Vital Relation of the Kingdom of Christ and the Ministry of
His Spirit. The biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit furnishes
additional light upon the mediation, the kingdom, and the coming
of Christ. According to John's gospel the departure of Jesus from
the world was expedient both for the highest good of the disciples
and for the coming of the kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus
must needs go away from the gaze of fleshly eyes in order that
he might come again in the more heavenly glory of a living
spiritual presence, and abide permanently with his disciples and
with all those who should believe on him through his word.
Herein we may see how the fourth gospel supplements the synoptics
in a more spiritual disclosure of the kingdom of the truth and of
the presence of the King invisible. The withdrawal of Jesus from
the sight of men and his spiritual coming again in ways unseen
by mortal eyes are to be understood as an essential part of the
manner in which the Son of man was to be glorified. And so
the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is essential to a complete presenta
tion of the New Testament teaching concerning the parousia, the
coming and dominion of the Christ of God.
2. The Spirit Operative Before End of Age. The true doctrine
of the Holy Spirit will serve to obviate difficulties which some
have felt in determining the exact date of the beginning of the
gospel-dispensation. We have seen that so far as any traditional
sayings of Jesus set a time limit to the pre-Messianic age and the
coming of the Son of man in his power and glory, the end of that
age was to be reached before the generation then living should pass
away, and it was specifically connected with the overthrow of the
Jewish temple. That significant event marked a crisis of the ages,
a decisive turning point between the old and the new; but, as a
matter of fact, the spirit of the new age became very powerful in
the world sometime before that fearful day of judgment on the
Jewish nation. It is also a fact that the spirit of the old age
lingered as a shadow over many hearts long after that decisive
event. There was no such clash between the dispensations of Sinai
and Zion that the whole wide world must needs pause and say,
Lo, there! Before the crisis it was richly given to the disciples
484

DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 485
of our Lord to be made partakers of the Holy Spirit, to taste of the
heavenly gift of saving grace and "the powers of the age to come"
(Heb. vi, 4, 5). The coming and kingdom of Christ may have
epochal times and seasons, but it is so spiritual and heavenly in
its real nature that it may also transcend limitations of time and
place. By duly observing different points of view and the manner
of expression peculiar to different writers, we shall come to see
that such a statement as John vii, 39, "The Spirit was not yet,"
does not mean that the Holy Spirit was not in the world and active
in human hearts before the glorification of Christ. It was the
Holy Spirit that spoke through the prophets and psalmists of
Israel, and according to Gen. i, 2, the Spirit of God was distinctly
active in the very beginning of the creation of the world.
3. Meaning of the Word "Spirit." The Scriptures furnish us
no definition of the word spirit. The Hebrew nn and the Greek
nvevfia have the same meaning, usage, and connotation as the Latin
spiritus which has become familiarly Anglicized, and is employed
in the same variety of significations, namely, breath, wind, courage,
disposition, temper, vital principle which animates all sentient life,
and especially, in the highest sense, that rational element, or entity
in man in which we find the constituent powers of feeling, think
ing, and volition. These powers we have already seen to be essen
tial elements of human personality. We have also seen that the
words spirit and soul, when referring to man, are often used inter
changeably (pp. 52, 53), but the word soul is used in the Old
Testament rarely (e.g., Judg. x, 16; Jer. xiv, 19; xv, 1; li, 14;
Amos vi, 8), and never in the New in reference to God. In a
general way we may understand the word spirit to mean the same
when applied to God as when applied to man. In man it is that
center and substance of his higher nature which is distinguished
from his bodily form. We think and speak of God, however, as
altogether spirit. "God is Spirit" (John iv, 24). Spirit consti
tutes, so to speak, the characteristic element and totality of his
nature. 4. Threefold Elements of Personality. But in the unity of this
divine spiritual nature as in that of man we may naturally look
for the same trinal constituents of personality, Will, Feeling, and
Intelligence. We have been told again and again that man exists
as the image and glory of God (comp. Gen. i, 26; 1 Cor. xi, 7),
and we may therefore appropriately inquire whether at least some
essential elements of this image of God be not the trinal spiritual
unity of personal thought, desire, and will. The trinitarian
formula, in 2 Cor. xiii, 14, of "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit,"

486 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
recognizes a distinction of the Holy Spirit from God and from
Christ. The same distinction is expressed in "the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" in Matt, xxviii, 19.
A like trinitarian distinction appears in the impressive salutation
of Rev. i, 4, 5: "Grace and peace (1) from him who is and who
was and who is to come; and (2) from the seven Spirits before
his throne; and (3) from Jesus Christ." And wliile each of
these hallowed names is again and again mentioned in the New
Testament as the source, power, and means of all heavenly help,
it is also noticeable that at times the Father is spoken of as dis
tinctively the source from whom (k% oi), and the Son as the one
through (did) whom, and the Holy Spirit as the one in (kv) whom
or by whose efficient agency all things are.1 We have seen that
"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself," and "in
him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Conceived
as the Logos or Word of God, he is the wisdom of God, the thought,
reason, intelligence of the divine Personality, and in his manifesta
tion through incarnation he reveals at once the glory of heavenly
wisdom, love, and power. But as all the fullness of Deity found
bodily expression through him, and yet he was distinctively the
Logos, so in the Father dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
potentially and actively, and all things are accordingly from him;
while in the Holy Spirit dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
efficiently. All the fullness of the Deity becomes operative and
personally present in the world and in the heart of man by the
power of the Holy Spirit. In him we live and move and have our
being. It is therefore natural and proper that God and the Holy
Spirit of God should be often spoken of in the Scriptures as one.
If in the deepest and truest sense God is a Spirit, the Spirit of God
and God himself must needs be one. Whatever mysterious dis
tinctions, therefore, exist in the personal nature of the Godhead,
we recognize the Holy Spirit as essentially identical with God.
We are not to think of this eternal Spirit as merely an influence,
an energy, or an impersonal emanation flowing out from God,
but rather as God himself, the personal, creative, sustaining, ever-
present Spirit. The Spirit of God is described in Gen. i, 2, as
"brooding upon the face of the waters," and thus acting as the
all-pervading Generatrix of the swarms of living creatures which
come forth (comp. ver. 20) from the waters by the Word of God.
The Hebrew poets conceive the heavens as made and garnished by
•Comp. 1 Cor. viii, 6; xi, 12; xii, 3; Rom. vi, 23; xv, 16; xvi, 27; 1 Thess.
i, 5. " In every work effected by Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in common, the
power to bring forth proceeds from the Father; the power to arrange from the Son ;
the power to perfect from the Holy Spirit." — Kuyper: The Work of the Holy
Spirit, p. 19. New York, 1900.

DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 487
the Spirit as truly as by the Word of God (Psa. xxxiii, 6 ; civ, 30 ;
Job xxvi, 13; xxxiii, 4). When the psalmist says, "Whither shall
I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence?"
(cxxxix, 7) he thinks of the Spirit of God as identical with his
personal presence. The prophets also conceive the Spirit of Jeho
vah to be the same as Jehovah himself (Isa. xl, 13; xlviii, 16;
lxi, 1 ; lxiii, 10 ; Ezek. xi, 5 ; Zech. iv, 6 ; vii, 12) .
5. Epithets Applied to the Spirit of God. The epithets which
are applied to the Spirit of God in the Old Testament are those
which involve the essential qualities of the divine nature. Three
passages make use of the expressive term thy (or his) Holy Spirit
(Psa. li, 11; Isa. lxiii, 10, 11), and we cannot suppose that this
Holy Spirit is any other than "the Holy One of Israel." In Isa.
xi, 2, where "the Spirit of Jehovah," which is to rest upon the
Messianic Branch out of the roots of Jesse, is foretold, that Spirit
is defined as "a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of
counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and reverence of Jeho
vah." Here the Spirit of God is contemplated as a communicated
gift, but the qualities specified are essential attributes of the Holy
One himself. This same Holy Spirit was imparted to the prophets
and psalmists in order to qualify them to utter the messages of
God (Mic. iii, 8 ; Isa. li, 1 ; Ezek. ii, 2 ; iii, 24 ; xi, 5 ; xxxvii, 1 ;
2 Sam. xxiii, 2; Neh. ix, 20, 30; comp. 1 Pet. i, 11; 2 Pet. i, 21),
and such inspiration was effected by the personal presence and
inworking of God himself. The same is true of Moses's remark
able prayer in Num. xi, 29 : "Would God that all Jehovah's people
were prophets, that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them!"
In all these and similar scriptures there is no essential distinction
to be made between God and his Spirit. He is himself in every'
ease the Spirit.
6. The Spirit Capable of Grief. The idea of grieving his Holy
Spirit, expressed in Isa. lxiii, 10, suggests that so far as we may
attempt distinguishing the Holy Spirit from God himself the
Spirit represents the affectional or emotional nature of God, the
feeling as distinct from intellect and will. It is this element of
the human personality that is specifically the subject of passion;
and the admonition, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God" (Eph.
iv, 30), has the same significance in the Old Testament as in the
New. Grieving or in any way disturbing the spirit of a man
(or the heart of a man) is affecting the emotional nature of the
man himself. So the rebellious people of God "grieved, tempted,
and provoked the Holy One of Israel" (Psa. Ixxviii, 40, 41). This
divine emotion is expressed in such sayings as "it repented Jehovah
that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart"

488 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
(Gen. vi, 6; comp. Exod. xxxii, 14; Judg. ii, 18; 1 Sam. xv, 11;
Jer. xxvi, 19, etc.). These anthropopathic forms of speech, which
have given offence to superficial readers, show that in the per
sonality of God as of man the capacity for emotion is an essential
element. And so in the broadest and deepest sense it may be
affirmed that as no man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit
of the man which is in him, even so none knoweth the things of
God save the Spirit of God (1 Cor. ii, 11). And in all these ways
we recognize in the Old Testament as in the New that the Spirit
of God and God himself are essentially one.
7. Advance in the New Testament Doctrine. But we find in
the New Testament a more specific doctrine of the work of the
Holy Spirit than is anywhere apparent in the Hebrew scriptures.
The phrases God's Spirit, the Spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit
of God are no doubt to be understood in the New Testament in
the same way as "the Spirit of God" in the Old, and the classic
text in John iv, 24, "God is a Spirit," confirms what we have
already sufficiently shown, that God and his Spirit are one and
the same divine Being. Those New Testament texts also, which
refer to the personal inspiration of the Old Testament writers
(e.g., Mark xii, 36; Acts i, 16; xxviii, 25; Heb. iii, 7; x, 15),
recognize the Holy Spirit as in some sense the author of those
scriptures, and hence every sacred scripture is appropriately said to
be "God-breathed" (fteonvevorog). But we shall see, as we proceed,
that the same divine inbreathing of the Spirit of God is through
the mediation of Jesus and along with his heavenly glorification
imparted as a blessed gift to every member of the body of Christ.
"To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit
withal" (1 Cor. xii, 6, 7).
8. Christ and the Holy Spirit. We notice first those passages
which speak of the Holy Spirit in connection with the life and
work of Jesus. According to Matt, i, 20, the child Jesus was
begotten of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. This
great mystery is thus explained to Mary in Luke i, 35 : "The Holy
Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall
overshadow thee : wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten
shall be called the Son of God." In these words, which readily
fall into the form of Hebrew parallelisms, "the Holy Spirit" in
the first clause is equivalent to "the power of the Most High" in
the second, and that which is begotten is "God's Son." The Holy
Spirit, the power of the Most High, and God himself are essen
tially one. All the four gospels mention the descent of the Spirit
of God upon Jesus at the time of his baptism, and all declare that
the Spirit descended in the form of a dove. Immediately after-

DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 489
ward he was impelled or "led up by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil" (Matt, iv, 1; comp. Mark i, 12; Luke
iv, 1). According to Luke (iv, 14) he returned after the tempta
tion "in the power of the Spirit into Galilee," and in Matt, xii, 28,
he assumes to cast out demons by the Spirit of God. In Peter's
discourse before Cornelius (Acts x, 38) he speaks of "Jesus of
Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with
power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were
oppressed of the devil, for God was with him." In Heb. ix, 14,
it is said that he "through the eternal Spirit offered himself with
out spot unto God," and Peter declares that "being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having, received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit, he poured forth" the Holy Spirit upon the
disciples on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii, 33). In connection
with this outpouring of the Spirit, as an effect of Christ's ascension
to the Father, we may also cite Paul's idea of his ascending on
high, leading captivity captive, and bestowing gifts on men, giving
some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some pastors and
teachers (Eph. iv, 7-11). From his birth until his ascension into
the heavens Jesus was vitally connected with the Holy Spirit of
God. He was conceived by the Spirit, baptized and anointed by
the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, wrought miracles by the Spirit,
offered himself through the Spirit, and after his ascension received
and shed forth the Spirit of God upon his worshipers.
9. The Johannine Teaching. But aside from this relation of
the Holy Spirit to the personal manifestation of Christ in his
incarnation, we should devote special attention to the doctrine of
the Spirit as it appears in the gospel of John. Here we find the
dispensational aspects of the Spirit's ministry more definitely set
forth, and here we meet the title of Paraclete, or Comforter, and
most important revelations touching the nature of his work. At
the close of Luke's gospel and at the beginning of the Acts of
the apostles we read the command of Jesus for the disciples to
tarry in Jerusalem until "clothed with power from on high" (Luke
xxiv, 49). This power from above is called "the promise of the
Father," and is the same as baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts
i, 4, 5, 8). But in the fourth gospel Jesus says to his disciples:
"It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the
Comforter (6 napaKXnrog-) will not come unto you; but if I go,
I will send him unto you" (John xvi, 7). In another place (xv,
26) he says: "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send
unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth that proceedeth
from the Father, he shall bear witness of me." In 1 John ii, 1,
Jesus is himself called "a Comforter (or Advocate) with the

490 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Father," and this fact adds force to the words of Jesus in John
xiv, 16-20 : "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may be with you forever, even the Spirit of
truth : whom the world cannot receive ; for it beholdeth him not,
neither knoweth him : ye know him ; for he abideth with you and
shall be in you. I will not leave you desolate (like orphans) : I
will come unto you. Yet a little wliile, and the world beholdeth
me no more ; but ye behold me : because I live, ye shall live also.
In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me,
and I in you." There can be no reasonable misapprehension of the
main import of these words. The continued visible presence of Jesus
Christ in the flesh was not for the highest good of the disciples.
It was for their advantage, and for the consummation of the high
est purposes of divine Love, that Jesus disappear from the gaze
of the world. The spiritual and eternal things of God are not
seen (comp. 2 Cor. iv, 18). The Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit
of truth, is not a being whom the world can behold. Jesus must
therefore go away into the holy heavens unto the Father (xiv, 12,
28; xvi, 28; xvii, 11), in order that the Spirit of truth, the Para
clete, the Comforter, the Helper, the Advocate, may come to the
disciples and to all those who should afterward believe on Christ
through their word.
10. Procession and Personality. Two things first of all deserve
attention in these declarations of Jesus concerning the Paraclete.
(1) "He proceedeth from (kKnopeverai, goeth forth from) the
Father" (xv, 26). He is given, or sent by the Father at the
prayer and in the name of Jesus (xiv, 16, 26), and yet Jesus also
says: "I will send him" (xv, 26; xvi, 7). Thus going forth from
the Father and being sent by the Son, this Spirit of truth may
be properly called both "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of
Christ" (comp. Rom. viii, 9; Gal. iv, 6; Phil, i, 19; Acts xvi, 7;
1 Pet. i, 11). In 2 Cor. iii, 17, 18, the Lord Christ is himself
called the Spirit. So in the mystic and mysterious relations of
the Godhead the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are conceived
as essentially one God. The Son, however, is conceived as begotten
of the Father, and the Spirit proceedeth from the Father, and
Son and Spirit are alike sent by God, and the Spirit is sent both
by the Father and the Son. (2) Another thing to notice in these
scriptures is the direct personality attributed to each of these
divine names. Not only have we the masculine b napaKXtp-ocr,
but the masculine demonstrative Ike'ivo? is repeatedly employed
when this Holy Spirit of truth is referred to. Personal acts are
thus ascribed to him : "he shall teach" ; "he shall bring to remem
brance"; "he shall bear witness"; "he shall guide unto all the

DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 491
truth." These and other like references, to be noticed more fully
in another connection, cannot be fairly explained by the figure of
personification, for they essentially involve personal acts of God
himself.1 11. The Power of the Spirit After the Glorification of Jesus.
The glorification of Jesus, according to John's gospel, was accom
plished when he went away from the world and ascended unto
the Father. In the great intercession recorded in John xvii, Jesus
prays for the heavenly glorification: "Father, glorify me with
thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the
world was." Many other scriptures witness also that he attained
the throne of his glory when he ascended on high and poured forth
the gifts of the Spirit (Acts ii, 33; Rom. i, 4; Eph. iv, 8). In the
light of all these facts we can the better understand the statement
of John vii, 39: "The Spirit was not yet; because Jesus was
not yet glorified." That is, the Holy Spirit was not yet given
as the gospel Comforter and guide. Before Jesus could send the
Comforter for his greater ministrations of causing the "rivers of
living water" to flow within the souls of Christian believers (vii,
38), he must first lay down his life, and take it again, and ascend
unto the Father. The Spirit, accordingly, has his own times and
seasons of special manifestation, and in the order of ages and dis
pensations there was to be a definite fullness of times for an epoch-
marking gift of the Holy Spirit of God. That day of the coming
of the Spirit as "the promise of the Father" was witnessed at the
Pentecost, when the disciples "were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them
utterance" (Acts ii, 1, 4). Why Jesus should remain forty days
on earth after his resurrection, why ten days should pass after the
ascension before "the promise of the Father," and why a whole
generation should pass away after the Pentecost and before the end
of the pre-Messianic age, are all questions relating to "times and
seasons which the Father hath set within his own authority" (Acts
i, 7; comp. Mark xiii, 32). But in the wisdom of God they all
have their reason and their purpose. We have elsewhere (pp. 222-
224) suggested reasons why Jesus should for the space of forty days
after his resurrection show himself alive by many proofs; it was
fitting that the disciples should for ten days after the ascension

•The Spirit here spoken of is a personal existence. Personal epithets are
applied to him, and the actions ascribed to him are personal actions. He is to be
the substitute of the most marked and influential personality with whom the
disciples had ever been brought in contact. He is to supply his vacated place.
He is to be to the disciples as friendly and staunch an ally and a more constantly
present and efficient teacher than Christ himself. — Marcus Dods, in the Ex
positor's Bible, Gospel of John, in loco.

492 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
continue steadfastly in prayer and expectation of the baptism of
the Holy Spirit; it was also necessary that the gospel of the
kingdom of Christ should be preached unto all the nations by the
Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven (Matt, xxiv, 14; Mark xiii, 10;
1 Pet. i, 12) before the end of that pre-Messianic age should come.
But the baptism of the Holy Spirit was essential to the successful
preaching of the new gospel of the kingdom, and was therefore
shed forth soon after the ascension of Jesus to the right hand
of God. During this apostolic period as well as afterward it was
all-important that the teachers and builders of the Church should
be "made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and taste the powers of
the age to come" (Heb. vi, 4) . And all this came to pass in order
that "the age to come," the Messianic era, might be preeminently
the era of the dispensation of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is
now the abiding presence of God Most High; the living executive
of the Father and the Son. His mission and ministry are "for
the perfecting of the saints," and the "building them together into
¦ a holy temple in the Lord, for a habitation of God in the Spirit,"
"till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. i, 19-22; iv, 12, 13).
And so it is the mission of the Spirit to carry forward the work of
the kingdom of Christ and of God unto ultimate completion.1
12. The Pentecostal Gifts of Power. The marvelous outpouring
of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost must accordingly be
recognized as having epochal significance both for the coming and
for the completion of the kingdom of heaven. This was the first
signal fulfillment of the words of John the Baptist, that there was
to come after him One far mightier than himself who should
baptize in the Holy Spirit (Matt, iii, 11; Mark i, 8; Luke iii, 16;
John i, 33). That last and greatest prophet of Old Testament
revelation foresaw that he was standing on the verge of a new

1 In Une with these thoughts Luthardt observes: "Jesus Christ rules the ages.
He has become the ruling power of the world and its history; and that not merely
in the sense of general intellectual power, for we do not mean merely that the
spirit of Christianity as combined with the intellectual Ufe of mankind rules the
world. It would then be no power of inward renovation and moral regeneration.
Neither have we to deal with the influence left behind by the person of Christ;
an influence which, propagated from generation to generation by that vital power
which proceeded from him, is thus communicated to every individual who comes
within the radius of its agency. Christ is not merely a past greatness, but a present
Uving power. When he took leave of his disciples it was with the words, 'Lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the world.' He is gone to God that he may
be near to us. He has cast aside the limitations of space that he may be every
where present. He departed from the circle of his disciples that he might be
with his Church at all times and in aU places. . . . His departure from earth
marked the commencement of a higher kind of presence, a higher order of agency.
He rules the ages; and he will rule hearts." — Saving Truths of Christianity, pp.
174-176. Edinburgh, 1880.

OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT 493
era, and preparing the way of One who should fulfill all the
promises made to the older prophets and to the fathers of the
Jewish race. In order now to appreciate the real greatness of
this event on the day of Pentecost we should duly observe the
following facts :
(1) Foretold by Jesus. This baptism of the Holy Spirit was,
according to Acts i, 5, distinctly foretold by Jesus : "John indeed
baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit
not many days hence." Similarly, in Luke xxiv, 49: "Tarry ye
in the city until ye be clothed with power from on high." Both
the manner and the matter of these words show how indispensable
in the thought of Jesus was this outpouring of the Spirit as a
qualification for the subsequent ministry of the apostles. At one
of his appearances after the resurrection Jesus "breathed on the
disciples, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit: whose
soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them ; whose soever
ye retain, they are retained" (John xx, 22, 23). This act of the
risen Lord, however, seems to have been prophetic of their future
ministry rather than an actual enduement of power then and there
bestowed upon those disciples.
(2) Expected and Prayed For. The steadfast and prayerful
waiting in the upper chamber in Jerusalem is also a noticeable fact.
Luke says (xxiv, 52) that the disciples "returned to Jerusalem
with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God."
Thus they sacredly obeyed the injunction of their Lord, and
waited for the promise with pious and confident expectation.
(3) The Promise Fulfilled. The promise was fulfilled with
accompanying supernatural manifestations of power. The record
of it in Acts ii, 1-13, is brief but very direct and positive. The
great fact was that "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues," and a similar remarkable
outpouring of the Spirit occurred on several subsequent occasions
(comp. Acts iv, 31; viii, 17; ix, 17; x, 44-47; xi, 15, 16; xix, 6).
(4) Peter's Interpretation. Peter's interpretation of the great
event showed that it was a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy of what
was to occur "in the last days," namely, a pouring out of
God's Spirit upon all flesh so that all should prophesy.1 In the
closing days of the pre-Messianic age the notable prayer of Moses
(Num. xi, 29) was thus to be answered, and other signs and won
ders in heaven and on earth were also to take place before the
great and notable day of the Lord should come. Peter's discourse
also (in Acts ii, 33) helps us to understand why this pouring forth

1 See the exposition of Joel's words in Biblical Apocalyptics, pp. 174, 175.

494 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of the Holy Spirit is called "the promise of the Father" (Acts i,
4; Luke xxiv, 49), for not only had Joel prophesied of these things,
but in Isa. xxxii, 15, and xliv, 3, we read of the promise of the
pouring out of the Spirit from on high upon the seed of Jacob
(comp. also Ezek. xxxvi, 27; Zech. xii, 10). It was a promise
given by God through many ancient prophets, and, according to
John xiv, 26, and xv, 26, the Spirit himself "proceedeth from the
Father." Peter also in this same discourse exhorted his convicted
hearers to repent and be baptized and receive the same "gift of the
Holy Spirit," inasmuch as the promise was to them and to their
children and to all whom God should call. And so also Paul
teaches that Gentiles as well as Jews may "receive the promise of
the Spirit through faith" (Gal. iii, 14). He also speaks of being
"sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of
our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto
the praise of his glory" (Eph. i, 13, 14). This "promise of the
Father" was thus conceived as in a very marked way the culmina
tion of all the Old Testament promises to the fathers and in the
prophets. (5) Immediate Results. The immediate results of the outpour
ing of the Spirit at Pentecost were seen in the mighty quickening
of the disciples, their speaking with tongues, their preaching and
prophesying (of which Peter's sermon is an example), the con
viction of multitudes who heard their word, and the consequent
addition of thousands to their numbers, the boldness of their
ministry, and the unflagging zeal with which, in the face of perse
cution and death, they all with one accord persisted in publishing
abroad the new gospel of salvation.
(6) Typical Significance. The typical significance of the great
events of that day of Pentecost is profound and far-reaching.
Being in a preeminent way the culmination of the promises of
God given through the prophets, this pouring out of the Spirit
signified that then and thenceforward, to the end of that age and
onward through the coming Messianic age, God himself would
come into closer personal relations with men than before. What
had been the peculiar privilege and glory of illuminated prophets
was thenceforth through the mediation of Christ to be the heavenly
Father's free gift to all who would receive it. Sons and daughters,
young men and old men, servants and handmaidens should all be
made partakers of the Holy Spirit and of the visions and dreams
and oracles of life which it is the province of God's Spirit to bestow.
The rushing, mighty wind, the firelike tongues distributing them
selves, and the multitudes hearing, every man in his own language,
were symbolically significant of the power and purpose of the

MINISTRATIONS OF THE SPIRIT 495
new gospel in the world. If the confusion of tongues at Babel
scattered men abroad, the gift of Pentecostal tongues was prophetic
of the new word of life that was destined to translate itself into
all the tongues of men, and bring all the scattered nations into
spiritual concord.
(7) Three Fundamental Truths. As a result and summary of
all these observations of the work of the Spirit three fundamental
truths may be affirmed: (1) God is essentially the Spirit. The
Spirit of God is no other than the Holy One himself, but the
specific operations of the Spirit, so far as they are impliedly dis
tinctive and special in character, may be regarded as the more
immediate manifestations of the active sympathy of our heavenly
Father in his personal cooperation with the children who delight
to do his will. (2) This affectionate ministry of the Spirit could
not be perfectly accomplished without the manifestation of Jesus
Christ among men, and his subsequent glorification at the right
hand of God. After this glorification the Spirit, the Comforter,
was sent forth to consummate the ministry of Jesus and to be the
efficient executive of the Father and the Son in the regeneration of
the world. (3) The signal event of the outpouring of the Spirit
at Pentecost was the fulfillment of Jesus's promise of the Com
forter. That event indicated the near approach of a new era,
"the age to come," of which the prophets and Christ himself had
spoken. From that time onward men were to learn that heavenly
excellence and eternal life must be realized through faith in the
Unseen. It was the breaking of the dawn of the Messianic age,
the dispensation of the Spirit.
13. Ministrations of the Spirit. The gifts and operations of
the Spirit of God, as indicated in the Scriptures and witnessed in
the heart of man, are manifold. The Spirit worketh from above
and has its essential mysteries. We may feel the presence and
become familiar with the effects of this "power from on high,"
but human eye has never seen nor can it see the things of the
Spirit of God. We hear the sound of the wind as it blows hither
and thither, but we cannot behold it- or know whence it comes
or whither it goes. And so we must think and speak of the works
of the Spirit as of things unseen but very powerful. Paul speaks
of diversities of gifts and of ministrations, workings, and mani
festations of the Spirit (1 Cor. xii, 1-11), and in the mystic
symbolism of the Apocalypse we read of "the seven Spirits which
are before the throne" (Rev. i, 4), and of "the seven Spirits of
God, sent forth into all the earth" (v, 6). These we take to be an
apocalyptic manner of designating the one eternal Spirit of uni
versal presence and power. The mystical significance of the num-

496 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ber seven, used thus in connection with the Holy Spirit, is recog
nized in the ancient Christian hymn:
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.
It is not important that we assign the manifold workings of the
Spirit to just seven modes of gracious activity. These may be more
or fewer, as various experiences show, but we mention seven dis
tinctive works of the Spirit, which fairly represent the fullness
of his heavenly ministration.
(1) Conviction of Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment. Accord
ing to what we read in John xvi, 8, it is one leading purpose of
the Comforter to "convict the world in respect of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment." The word here rendered convict
(kXeyx^) carries with it the idea of exposing things in their true
light. It involves the process and the result of a searching test
which is sure to bring condemnation, reproof, and shame to the
evildoer. "All things when they are reproved (kXeyxdfieva) are
made manifest by the light" (Eph. v, 13). And so it is said in
John iii, 20, that the evildoer hates the light and refuses to come
to the light lest his works should be reproved (kXeyxdjj, exposed
lo severe censure and the shame of open conviction) . But accord
ing to Jesus the conviction effected by the Spirit of truth has
regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment in a manner which
he goes on to indicate in verses 9-11: "Of sin, because they
believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to the
Father, and ye behold me no more; of judgment, because the
prince of this world hath been judged." The meaning of these
words is not apparent at first sight, for it involves a depth and
scope of religious conception peculiar to the most profound sayings-
of the fourth gospel. The Lord Jesus is speaking from his own
elevated point of view, and seems to contemplate the whole period
and work of the Spirit's operations in one comprehensive glance.
As the devil once "showed him all the kingdoms of the world
in a moment of time" (Luke iv, 5), so now the eternal Spirit
opens in one moment the vision of all the ages to his eye. The
language implies a crucial hour like that of chapter xii, 31, 32:
"Now is the judgment of this world : now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto myself." The words should therefore be inter
preted as a momentary aeonic conception of the world (Kooftog-).
There are three things concerning which the Spirit works convic
tion, namely, sin, righteousness, and judgment. (1) The world is
convicted negl auapriag; "concerning sin, because they believe not

MINISTRATIONS OF THE SPIRIT 497
on me." As in the judgment picture of Matt, xxv, 31-46, all sin
and all righteousness of the persons judged were determined by
the relations and activities of those persons toward the Son of
man, who there appears upon his judgment throne, so here all sin
is viewed as a failure or a refusal to believe on Christ. Being the
Light of the world, he becomes the supreme test of all human
hearts in their relation to truth, for "this is the condemning judg
ment, that the light is come into the world" (iii, 19). And there
fore Jesus says : "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they
had not had sin : but now they have no excuse for their sin" (xv,
22; comp. Acts xvii, 30, 31). Christ is the supreme revelation
of God, and the most fearful and fatal form of sin is a persistent
and blasphemous rejection of the truth when it comes with the
clearest conviction of the Spirit to one's heart. And so all sin is
shown, in its real nature, by persistent refusal of the manifested
truth of God. We need not say that all sin consists in unbelief of
Christ, but rather that he is the typical sinner whose attitude
toward Christ as "the way, and the truth, and the life" (xiv, 6) is
that of persistent unbelief. It is in the light of this sort of convic
tion concerning sin that John writes : "Who is the liar but he who
denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist — he who
denies the Father and the Son" (1 John ii, 22). The Spirit of
truth that proceeds from the Father, and witnesses of Christ, is
the living agent who convinces the sinful heart of its personal guilt
by disclosing what sin is. It is by the direct working of this Spirit
that the word of God becomes "living, and active, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and
spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts
and intents of the heart" (Heb. iv, 12). (2) But the convincing
power of the Spirit deals also with righteousness, the direct con
trast and opposite of sin. And as sin has its seat and manifesta
tion in the heart of the unbelieving world, so, on the other hand,
righteousness has found its supreme exhibition in Him who could
calmly say before his enemies, "Who among you convicteth me of
sin?" (viii, 46.) The spotless righteousness of Christ is the
most conspicuous possible antithesis of the sin of the world, and
his going unto the Father so that his disciples behold him no more
in the flesh has exalted, completed, and glorified this ideal of right
eousness into absolute perfection. He was and shall forever be
"the righteous one" (Acts iii, 14 ; vii, 52 ; xxii, 14 ; 1 Pet. iii, 18 ;
1 John ii, 1 ; James v, 6). He is the only being who could pray:
"0 righteous Father, the world knew thee not, but I knew thee;
and these knew that thou didst send me; and I make known unto
them thy name, and will make it known" (John xvii, 25, 26). It

498 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
was expedient for him to go unto the Father, and being thus
glorified, to send forth the living Spirit of truth, convince the
world concerning righteousness, and make this perfect ideal of
righteousness forever monumental. It was also expedient for him
to go away from the gaze of his disciples in order that they hence
forth might live by faith, not by sight, and that the righteousness
of faith might become the blessed possession of every believer
(comp. Rom. iii, 21, 22). (3) Furthermore, the Spirit is to con
vict the world "concerning judgment, because the prince of this
world has been judged." Twice before in this gospel has "the
prince of this world" been mentioned (xii, 31; xiv, 30), and he
is no doubt to be identified with the devil, of whom it is said, in
viii, 44, that "he was a murderer from the beginning, and stands
not in the truth, because there is no truth in him." He is the
arch-antichrist, and hath nothing in common with the Son of God
(comp. xiv, 30). The Prince of light stands in essential opposi
tion to the prince of darkness, and according to 1 John iii, 8,
"The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works
of the devil." Therefore the eternal Spirit of truth, who wit
nesses of Christ and reveals the things of God, must needs pass
condemning judgment on the enemy of all righteousness. This
judgment of the prince of this world, as expressed here and in
xii, 31, covers the whole period of the dispensation of the Spirit,
and yet seems like the vision of a moment, as when Jesus "beheld
Satan fallen as lightning from heaven" (Luke x, 18). It is in
truth a process extending through all the centuries required for
drawing all men unto Christ.1 It is a judgment that exposes the
wiles of the devil, exhibits him as the bitter enemy of all truth,
and declares what his penal sentence has been and must ever be.
Hence the force of the perfect in the verb KEKptrai, has been
judged; is already adjudged to condemnation. And such judg
ment of the prince of this world is also the condemnation which
the Spirit of truth must needs pronounce against all workers of
iniquity who, like Satan, oppose and exalt themselves against God.
And so, in the parable of eternal judgment in Matt, xxv, 31-46,
the Son of man, sitting on the throne of his glory, executes this
judgment of the Spirit when he says to those on his left hand,
"Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared
for the devil and his angels." Thus, in every case, the work of
conviction concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, brings out
¦That which was to be effected by his Spirit in, the Church during the whole
course of ages down to the end of the world, he concentrates, as it were, into a
single point of space, and a single moment of time; even as our eye, with the
help of distance, concentrates a world into a star. — Hare, The Mission of the
Comforter, p. 38. London, 1876.

MINISTRATIONS OF THE SPIRIT 499
into unmistakable certainty the real nature of both the evil and the
good. (2) Regeneration. That mighty work of the Holy Spirit of
God whereby one is "delivered out of the power of darkness and
translated into the kingdom of the Son of his love" (Col. i, 13;
comp. 1 Pet. ii, 9) is spoken of in John iii, 5-8, as being "born of
the Spirit." Whosoever is thus begotten of God is conceived as a
"new creation" (2 Cor. v, 17; Gal. vi, 15), "created in Christ Jesus
for good works" (Eph. ii, 10), "the new man, who after God hath
been created in righteousness and holiness of truth" (Eph. iv, 24).
This mighty change is also conceived as being raised from the dead
so as to "walk in newness of life" (Rom. vi, 4) ; and even the
quickening of our mortal bodies into the resurrection life is through
the power of the indwelling Spirit (Rom. viii, 11). The new
birth, conceived as a new creation and a resurrection from a state
of death, is thus enhanced in our thought as essentially a super
natural work wrought within us, which is effected by the specific
agency of the Spirit of God. And so it is written, "According to
his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus iii, 5).
(3) Sanctification. Regeneration, strictly speaking, only intro
duces one into newness of spiritual life. "The law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus" makes and keeps one free from the law
of sin and of death (Rom. viii, 2). He that is dead unto sin
cannot live any longer therein (Rom. vi, 2). "Whosoever doeth
not righteousness is not of God," and "hereby we know that we
abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit"
(1 John iii, 10; iv, 13). All growth in the Christian life, and
all deepening and perfecting of Christian graces, come through the
continual supply and ministration of the Spirit (Phil, i, 19 ; Gal.
iii, 5). So we read of the "sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Pet.
i, 2; 2 Thess. ii, 13; comp. Eom. xv, 16). All the saints of God
"are sanctified in Christ Jesus" (1 Cor. i, 2), but the sanctification,
like the washing of regeneration, and justification in the name of
Christ, is effected and realized "in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor.
vi, 11). The Holy Spirit operates directly in the human spirit
by means of every instrument of truth, and Jesus prayed that the
disciples might be sanctified in the truth (John xvii, 17). We
noticed above that the Spirit's work of conviction was wrought
through the word of divine revelation, which discerns the thoughts
and intents of the heart (Heb. iv, 12) ; sanctification of the heart
is effected by the same mighty instrument of truth. "The Spirit
of truth" must needs appropriate and employ the truth in the
entire sanctification of one's spirit and soul and body (1 Thess. v,

500 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
23). He who truly walks in newness of life lives by the Spirit
and walks by the Spirit (Gal. v, 25). The purified soul that is
blessed with the vision of God is "transformed into the same image
from glory to glory by the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Cor. iii, 18) . Here
the Lord Jesus Christ is himself called the Spirit (ver. 17), and
those who are transformed into his image1 are also spoken of as
"epistles of Christ, written with the Spirit of the living God"
(ver. 3). The abiding presence of the Spirit is a personal fellow
ship or communion (2 Cor. xiii, 14; Phil, ii, 1) which promotes
sanctification of the human spirit, and the love of God is shed
abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom. v, 5). "Joy in the
Holy Spirit" (Rom. xiv, 17) is a phrase worthy of notice in the
same connection, for fellowship, love, and joy point to high and
blessed attainments of the sanctified. "The earnest of the Spirit"
(2 Cor. i, 22; v, 5), which is given the believer as both a foretaste
and a pledge of his inheritance in God's own possession (Eph.
i, 14), is an expression which richly enhances the holy fellowship
of God, and being "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph.
i, 13; iv, 30) adds to the thought of foretaste and pledge the
idea of God's fixing thereon the special stamp of his personal
assurance. The privilege of being "filled with the Spirit" (Eph.
v, 18; Acts ix, 17; xi, 24) is also a good assurance that the pente-
costal baptism of the Spirit (comp. Acts ii, 4) is available unto
all who will receive it. By these manifold attainments of holy
life in the Spirit one ''comes to know the love of Christ which
passeth knowledge," and apprehends how he "may be filled unto
all the fulness of God" (Eph. iii, 19).
(4) Witness and Communion. Another specific work of the
Holy Spirit is to impart directly to each child of God the assuring
testimony that he is born from above. The classic text is Rom.
viii, 16 : "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that
we are children of God." This divine assurance is also necessarily
involved in the establishing and anointing, referred to in 2 Cor.
i, 21, 22, as a work of God, "who also sealed us and gave us the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." Paul speaks in Rom. ix, 1,
of his own conscience bearing witness with him in the Spirit.
John says (1 John v, 7) that "it is the Spirit that beareth witness,
because the Spirit is the truth." Hereby we know that he abideth
in us, by the Spirit that he gave us" (1 John iii, 24). This wit
ness of the Spirit is the assuring conviction of the new birth and
1 Mahan observes: "The Spirit sanctifies by presenting Christ to the mind
in such a manner that we are transformed into his image. The common error of
Christians, in respect to this subject, seems to be this: looking away from Christ
to the Holy Spirit for sanctification, instead of looking for the Spirit to render
Christ their sanctification." — Christian Perfection, p. 172.

MINISTRATIONS OF THE SPIRIT 501
of the spiritual life which is wrought in the heart by the direct
agency of the Holy Spirit of God. The abiding presence or "com
munion (Koivuvla, fellowship, 2 Cor. xiii, 14; Phil, ii, 1) of the
Holy Spirit" must needs be of essentially the same nature, an
assuring continual conviction that our new life in the Spirit "is
hid with Christ in God" (Col. iii, 3). Our filial relation to God
is thus impressed upon us as a blessed conviction, and so long as
that conviction remains we cry, Abba, Father, thereby witnessing
on our part that we are children of God.
(5) Revealing the Truth. Along with this assuring witness of
the Spirit we should also notice the direct agency of the same Spirit
in communicating light and knowledge and wisdom to the soul.
He is called emphatically "the Spirit of truth," and comes to
"guide into all the truth," to take of the things of Christ and
declare them to the heart and conscience of the believer (John
xvi, 13-15). In this passage the Spirit is spoken of as hearing
the things he makes known, just as in xv, 15, Jesus says, "All
things that I heard from my Father I have made known unto you."
The Son and the Spirit hear of God the things they reveal : they
are alike partakers of those divine secrets which it has pleased
the heavenly Father to reveal unto men. But the Spirit declares
the things of Christ and so continues his ministry of heavenly
revelation. It is this Spirit of truth who enables us "to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" (comp. Matt, xiii, 11,
and xi, 25). Thus the Holy Spirit bears witness of Christ (John
xv, 26). All this accords most closely with what is written in
1 Cor. ii, 9-14: "Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not,
and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things
God prepared for them that love him, these things God revealed
unto us through the Spirit." These are called "the things of the
Spirit of God," which the natural man cannot receive or know.
This communicating of truth by the Spirit is called in 1 John ii,
20, 27, "an anointing from the Holy One." "The anointing which
ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that anyone
teach you; but his anointing teacheth you concerning all things,
and is true." This Spirit also reveals the future and "declares
the things that are to come" (John xvi, 13), and also brings to
mind the sayings of Jesus (xiv, 26). These operations of the
Spirit show that he is the great Illuminator, who flashes light upon
the human understanding, so that in his light we see light (Psa.
xxxvi, 9). So the psalmists and prophets were in some sense
organs of the Spirit (comp. Heb. iii, 7; Matt, xxii, 43; 2 Sam.
xxiii, 2), when they uttered the oracles of God. "Men spake from
God, being moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. i, 21; comp. 1 Pet.

502 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
i, 11). The Holy Scriptures were thus God-breathed (2 Tim. iii,
16), and hence their profitableness for teaching and instruction in
righteousness. For thus one becomes "filled with the knowledge
of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding" (Col.
i, 9 ; comp. Eph. i, 17, 18). The sons of God are led by the Spirit
of God (Rom. viii, 14; Gal. v, 18). And we should not overlook
the fact that the Messianic Branch to come forth from the stock
of Jesse was to be gifted with the spirit of wisdom and under
standing, the spirit of counsel, and the spirit of knowledge (Isa.
xi, 2). It is also profoundly suggestive in the symbolism of Rev.
v, 5, 6, that the Root of David appears as a Lamb "having seven
eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the
earth." He thus represents "the wisdom of God."
(6) Imparting Gifts of Power. The Spirit of Jehovah which
was to rest upon the Branch of Jesse, according to the prophecy
of Isa. xi, 2, was to be also a "spirit of power," and Jesus bade
the disciples tarry in Jerusalem "until clothed with power from
on high" (Luke xxiv, 49). "Ye shall receive power," he said
(Acts i, 8), "when the Holy Spirit is come upon you." The
great outpouring of the Spirit which came upon the disciples at
Pentecost was the first signal fulfillment of that "promise of the
Father"; but the same blessed gift is an abiding power in the
Church of God. Jesus went to the Father and wa3 seen no more ;
but the Spirit was sent as his invisible Executive to abide per
manently. "He abideth (uevei) with you and shall be in you"
(John xiv, 17). Paul speaks of "the power of the Holy Spirit"
(Rom. xv, 13, 19), and of "being made powerful in all power
according to the might of his glory" (Col. i, 11), and "being
strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man"
(Eph. iii, 16). After his temptation Jesus "returned in the power
of the Spirit into Galilee" (Luke iv, 14), and every disciple who
has since that time triumphed over evil has done so in the power
of the same Holy Spirit. "It is the Spirit that giveth life" (John
vi, 63 ; 2 Cor. iii, 6), and "the last Adam, the man from heaven, is
a life-giving Spirit" (1 Cor. xv, 45) ; and so the power of God
which effects the resurrection of the dead (comp. Matt, xxii, 29;
1 Cor. vi, 14) is exerted and becomes effective through the Spirit
(Bom. viii, 11, 23). As the first awakening of the soul of man
from the death of sin and his regeneration into newness of life is
accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit, so the uttermost
consummation of his redemption is to be realized by means of the
mighty working of the same Spirit. And all this is "according
to the working (kvepyeia) whereby the Lord Jesus Christ is able
to subject all things unto himself" (Phil, iii, 21). Thus we see

THE COMFORTER 503
that the phrase the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. xv, 13, 19)
is essentially equivalent to the power of God. The apostle speaks
of preaching the gospel "in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power" (1 Cor. ii, 4; comp. 1 Thess. i, 5; 2 Cor. vi, 6, 7), and all
human efficiency in the ministries of the gospel and the propaga
tion of the truth of God in the world must needs be through the
power of the Holy Spirit, which is the only real "power from on
high." Among the Spirit's gifts of power we also note those
extraordinary charisms of the early Church which are referred to
in Heb. ii, 4: "God bearing witness both by signs and wonders,
and by manifold powers and distributions of the Holy Spirit,
according to his will." These remarkable manifestations are thus
described in 1 Cor. xii, 4-11 : "Now there are diversities of gifts,
but the same Spirit. ... To each one is given the manifestation
of the Spirit to profit withal. For to one is given through the
Spirit the word of wisdom ; and to another the word of knowledge,
according to the same Spirit: to another faith, in the same Spirit;
and to another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit ; and to another
workings of powers (dwdfieuv, of miracles) ; and to another
prophecy ; and to another discernings of spirits : to another kinds
of tongues: but all these worketh the one and the same Spirit,
dividing to each one severally even as he will."1 These manifold
gifts of power have been distributed into great diversities of minis
trations, manifesting themselves at certain times and places more
notably than at others. But altogether they give assurance of
the mighty energy with which the Holy Spirit ever worketh to
consummate the age-long triumphs of the kingdom of God and
of Christ.
(7) The Comforter. Finally, if in the foregoing outline we
have omitted any distinctive form or quality of the manifold opera
tions of the Spirit, all that remains to be noticed may be compre
hended under the word Paraclete (irap&Kkirrog-), which our English
versions of the New Testament have commonly translated Com
forter. The word is found only in the writings of John (xiv,
16, 26; xv, 26; xvi, 7; 1 John ii, 1), and we have already observed
that, in the one passage in the first epistle where it occurs, it is
explicitly applied to Jesus Christ as our "Advocate with the
Father." And when Jesus says, in John xiv, 16, that the Father
"will give you another Paraclete" he clearly implies that the title
is also truly descriptive of himself. It is generally admitted that
'Whedon classifies these divers charisms "into gifts of mind, of voice, and of
action; thought, word, and deed. Under mind are gifts of wisdom, knowledge,
faith, discerning of spirits, and interpretation; under gifts of voice or utterance,
prophecy and tongues; under gifts of action, heahng and working of miracles." —
Commentary on the New Testament, in loco.

504 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Comforter is not an adequate translation of napdKXnrog-; the pri
mary meaning of the Greek word is that of advocate, as commonly
rendered in 1 John ii, 1. It designates one who pleads the cause
of another, and acts as his legal counselor and friend. The Para
clete is a helper, an official friend at court, an advocate, who not
only keeps himself in closest touch with those who desire his
assistance, but is also very ready to plead their cause in time of
need. And so "the Spirit helpeth our infirmity," and "maketh
intercession for the saints according to God" (Rom. viii, 26, 27).
Such a divine helper in our times of need is a great Comforter,
and hence the propriety of this title to represent the Spirit of
truth as an abiding Helper. There is unspeakable comfort in the
promise that "he may be with you for ever"; "he abideth with
you, and shall be in 3'ou" (John xiv, 17). Moreover, the Greek
words napaxXea and napaKX-noig- are not infrequently used in the
sense of bringing comfort and consolation. "The God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies," is called "the
God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our affliction, that
we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through
the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Cor.
i, 3, 4). In Acts ix, 31, we read of "the comfort of the Holy
Spirit," in which the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Sama
ria was greatly edified and enlarged.
Such, according to the Scriptures, are the sevenfold manifesta
tions of the Spirit, and these divers ministrations of the personal
"Power from on high" are the source of all life and growth in the
kingdom of God. Through the continuous and unfailing work of
the Holy Spirit of truth the kingdom of heaven is coming, and the
will of God is done on earth as in heaven. And in all these ways
our Lord continues his saving mediation, and "God is in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself."
14. The Greater Works of the Spirit. The many and marvelous
ministrations of the Holy Spirit accomplish the highest fulfilling
of the Law and the Prophets, and place the little child of the
kingdom of Christ far in advance of the greatest prophets of the
older time (Matt, xi, 11). Not only was it expedient for Jesus
to go away to the Father that the Comforter might come, but his
departure was to open the way for his disciples and apostles to
perform greater works than even those which he himself had
wrought. Hence the emphatic statement of John xiv, 12 : "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I
do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because I go unto the Father." This is a most remarkable declara
tion, and it points to a truth of the kingdom of Christ which men

THE GREATER WORKS 505
are prone to ignore. Here we find our Lord exalting the works
of the Spirit above all that is fleshly, material, and spectacular.
(1) Greater than Physical Signs and Wonders. The "greater
works" to which Jesus referred were certainly not miracles in the
realm of physical nature; for as matter of fact no greater signs
and wonders of the miraculous kind than those wrought by our
Lord have ever been performed by any of his followers. The
apostles did indeed show forth many "mighty works" similar to
those of the great Master. Peter healed a lame man at the tem
ple (Acts iii, 7) ; at Lydda he healed iEneas who was palsied and
had kept his bed for eight years ; and at Joppa he raised up Dorcas
from the sleep of death (ix, 34, 41). Many other miracles of this
kind were wrought by other apostles (Acts v, 15, 16; viii, 7; xix,
12). But it cannot be shown that any one of the disciples or that
all of them together ever performed miracles of this sort greater
than those of Jesus. Nor can it be shown that all the reported
miracles of the apostolic age were either greater in kind or in num
ber than those that were wrought by Jesus during his earthly
ministry. (2) Jesus's Estimate of Miracles. The masses of men have
been strangely slow to perceive that Jesus himself set a relatively
low estimate upon the outward signs and wonders which accom
panied his ministry. It taxed his patience and disturbed his soul
to note the lack of faith and of prayer which sought for strength
in outward signs. "0 faithless generation," he cried, "how long
shall I be with you ? how long shall I bear with you ?" (Mark ix,
19.) It is as with a sigh of pity that he says: "Except ye see
signs and wonders, ye will in no wise believe" (John iv, 48). It is
said in Mark viii, 12, that "he sighed deeply in his spirit" when
the Pharisees came to question him and to seek of him a sign from
heaven. According to Matt, xii, 39, he said to them: "An evil
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign." When the mul
titude asked in a similar manner for a sign, and referred to the
manna in the wilderness, Jesus pointed them to deeper mysteries
of the bread out of heaven, and declared himself to be the bread
of eternal life (John vi, 30-35). With gracious tenderness of
condescension he showed his hands and side to Thomas, but at the
same time added the words of profound significance : "Blessed are
they that have not seen and yet have believed" (John xx, 29).
When the seventy returned and exulted that the demons were sub
ject unto them in his name, he bade them the rather rejoice that
their names were written in heaven (Luke x, 20). And so at
many times and in many ways our Lord intimated that his work
ing of miracles was a compassionate condescension to the morbid

506 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
weakness of human nature and the conditions of his time.1 But
he clearly taught that the mission of the Comforter would intro
duce greater things and nobler examples of power from on high.
(3) Lesson from Elijah. The comparative worthlessness of
external signs and wonders as a power to change the spiritual life
is strikingly shown in the story of Elijah the prophet. He chal
lenged all Israel and the prophets of Baal to meet him on mount
Carmel, and to test by prayer and sacrifice whether Jehovah or
Baal were the true God. The details of Elijah's marvelous tri
umph are written in 1 Kings xviii, and depicted with dramatic
impressiveness. The prophets of Baal, four hundred and fifty in
number, prepared their victim and called on the name of their
god from morning until noon, but without any sign of answer.
Then Elijah mocked them with words of stinging irony, "and they
cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives
and lances, till the blood gushed out upon them." But long after
midday "there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that
regarded." Then Elijah prepared his altar, and made a trench
about it, and piled on the wood and placed his victim thereon, and
then, to make the miracle the more astounding, he poured four
buckets of water over the whole place, and poured them on a second
and a third time, until the water filled the trench about the altar.
And when Elijah prayed, behold, "the fire of Jehovah fell, and
consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and
the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench." So
overwhelming was the immediate impression that "all the people
fell on their faces, and they said, Jehovah, he is the God ! Jehovah,
he is the God!" It would be difficult to portray a triumph in
the way of miracle more decisive than this. Generations of devout
readers have admired the demonstration of the transcendent great
ness of Jehovah and his prophet. But how few have had the dis
cernment to see that all this display of miracle effected no change
in the faith of the people. The worship of Baal went on in the
kingdom of Israel without any sign of abatement. There is no
evidence that a single thorough and permanent conversion was
secured by all that sublime exhibition on mount Carmel. Jezebel
was enraged at the slaughter of the prophets of Baal, and threat-

1Edersheim observes: "So far from being a mere worker of miracles, as we
would have expected if the history of his miracles had been of legendary origin,
there is nothing more marked than the pain, we had almost said the humiliation,
which their necessity seems to have carried to his heart. ... In truth, when,
through the rift in his outward history, we catch a glimpse of Christ's inner being,
these miracles, so far as not the outcome of the mystic union of the divine and
the human in his person, but as part of his mission, form part of his humiliation."
— The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Vol. I, p. 489. London and New York,
1883.

THE GREATER WORKS 507
ened the life of Elijah; and that great prophet, who seemed so
omnipotent on Carmel, fled before the word of the idolatrous
queen, and hid himself in a cave in mount Horeb. There "a word
of Jehovah came to him" (xix, 9), a revelation adapted to rebuke
his self-conceit and to correct his error. "What doest thou here,
Elijah?" inquired a heavenly voice. "And he said, I have been
very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; for the children of
Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and
slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left;
and they seek my life." Then followed Jehovah's apocalypse of
the still small voice, mightier than wind and earthquake and fire.
Truth in the heart, faith, hope, love, are greater gifts than power
over fire and earthquake and storm. Such physical forces may
"break in pieces the rocks before Jehovah," but have no power to
change one human heart. In the light of this suggestive revela
tion, we can the better appreciate the proverb,
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;
And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Prov. xvi, 32.
(4) Paul's Estimate of External Wonders. The language of
Paul is no less suggestive and significant when he says : "Though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love,
I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. . . . And if
I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I
am nothing" (1 Cor. xiii, 1, 2). Elsewhere he also writes: "The
things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are
not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. iv, 18). The eternal things are no
less real because unseen, and as the eternal is greater than that
which is temporal, so the spiritual things which are not seen are
greater than the things which are material. The obvious teaching
of all these scriptures is to magnify the things of the spirit above
all signs and wonders of the world of sense, and we must not look
in the realm of physical nature for the "greater works" which Jesus
declared his followers should perform as a consequence of his
going unto the Father (John xiv, 12). These greater mighty
works include all the spiritual operations of the kingdom of Christ
until he shall have given up that kingdom to the Father, having
abolished all adverse rule and authority and power (1 Cor. xv, 24).
He that converts one sinner from the error of his way shall save
a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins (James v,
20), and one such work is unspeakably greater than the miraculous
healing of a palsied arm. Such miracles of salvation are wrought
through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus those who were dead
through their trespasses and sins are made alive (Eph. ii, 1 ; Col.

508 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
ii, 13; comp. Eph. v, 14). This quickening and raising up into
spiritual life is the continuous work of the Spirit of truth and of
power, who convicts the world of sin and of righteousness and of
judgment. 15. Shows the Real Nature of the Kingdom of God. A proper
apprehension of the essential superiority of spiritual things enables
us the more clearly to discern the real nature of the kingdom of
God, and the continuous mission and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
We worship the holy Father, the holy Christ, and the holy Spirit;
but it is the more frequent usage of the Scriptures to call the
Spirit holy, and so we commonly employ the title, the Holy Spirit.
The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are mysteriously one, but their
metaphysical interrelations in the Godhead are not matters of
direct biblical revelation. We honor the Son even as we honor the
Father, and we recognize in the continuous ministry of the Holy
Spirit the fullness of the Godhead working in all, through all,
and over all, for the perfection of the kingdom of Christ and of
God. 16. Personal Presence of the Living God. From all that we
have now presented touching the mission and ministry of the Holy
Spirit it must be apparent that herein we become personally
acquainted with the living God. All the longing of pious mys
ticism, and the affinity for pantheistic union with the Eternal
Existence which have shown themselves in millions of the religious
peoples of the earth may find deepest satisfaction in this doctrine
of the Spirit. The human soul cries out for a God that is per
sonally present, and not afar off; an abiding Comforter, whom
the world cannot receive nor cast out. The Spirit of truth reveals
himself with all this blessed assurance to them that worship in
spirit and in truth. Herein we recognize the blessed reality which
was from the beginning but has been sadly overlooked at times — the
reality of the vital, everlasting immanence of God.

PART THIRD
OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN

SECTION FIRST
THE UNIVEKSA1 BEVELATION
CHAPTER I
THE MYSTERY OF THE INVISIBLE
1. Witnessed Among All Nations. The most mysterious of all
facts within us and beyond us is the presence of an unseen Power
whom we call God. In the discussion of this mystery we enter,
as it were, the Holy of holies in our exposition of biblical doctrine.
At no point of our foregoing study have we been able to escape
the pressing fact of the immanence of God ; for no rational treat
ment of the common experiences of religion is possible without
constant recognition of the invisible but all-pervasive Being who
is the ultimate ground of the universe and of all that it contains.
But at this point we must pause to make note of those lower forms
of religious thought and practice which show, as an apostle teaches,
that "a living. God, who made the heaven and the earth and the
sea, and all that in them is, . . . left not himself without wit
ness" among any of the nations of men in any generation of the
past (Acts xiv, 15-17). It is now quite generally conceded that
there are, and probably have been, no tribes of men so degraded
as to be destitute of religious conceptions.1 Somehow the most
primitive savages conceive the idea that every moving thing in
nature is endowed with life. The sun and moon and stars possess
an invisible force or energy by which they move regularly through
the heaven. The winds and the waters are instinct with life,
possessed, it may be, each with its own self-conscious spirit; the
1 See above, pp. 60-63, in our discussion of the reUgious element in man, and
comp. E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, Vol. I, pp. 416-423. Third American ed.
New York, 1889. 509

510 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
flowering plant, the waving leaf, nay, even the very sticks and stones
that are stirred before the eye, have been conceived as having an
invisible life and power within themselves. The superstitions of
fetishism, the practices of divination, the belief in ghosts and
goblins, and the manifold conceptions of another world, invisible
to mortals on the earth, witness in almost countless forms the
universal fact that man possesses a sort of instinctive, intuitive,
and necessary sense of dependence upon some Higher Power whom
he cannot find out to perfection. Nor should we overlook the
fact that the concepts of animism, fetishism, and magic survive in
numerous religious rites of our own time, and in the midst of
prevailing enlightenment and scientific culture. How many among
us can rid ourselves of the superstition of haunted houses, and
haunted wells, and haunted caves? What reverence is felt by
thousands for the crucifix, or the mere sign of the cross made with
the hand, or for the uplifted host, or for sacred relics, amulets,
rings, lucky coins, talismans, charms, incantations of wizards, or
the touch of "holy water"? These all, wherever found, bear wit
ness to man's universal belief in the existence of a Power or of
powers invisible.
2. The Divers Interpretations. It was but natural that there
should arise among men divers interpretations of this universal
consciousness of the influence of Powers unseen. The various
religious cults and the poetic creations of mythology are but so
many different attempts to explain the nature and operations of
the Eternal Energy which is the real basis of all phenomena. It
is to be expected that these divers attempts at explaining the
Invisible should be fraught with more or less error, but the all-
commanding and impressive fact remains in spite of every failure
to resolve its mystery. It may be that the phenomena of sleep
and dreams, of swoons and ecstasy, of life and death, developed
the notions of ghosts and of good and evil angels. These all sug
gest a preternatural, if not a supernatural world of beings. But
inferences from these phenomena do not explain the higher con
cepts of God and the facts of religion. The most noteworthy
nature-myths, which purport to explain the regular recurrence of
night and day, sunset and dawn, winter and summer, are obviously
based upon those manifestations of the forces of nature which
evince the existence of an unseen law and order of the world. The
myth itself is the poetic or imaginative creation of a story out
of an idea. It arises from a natural impulse of the mind to
account for some striking fact or some existing custom. A solar
myth is a story about some doings of the sun conceived in a realistic
way, as if the sun were a real person endowed with life and thought.

PHILOSOPHICAL THEORIES 511
Such myths spring from an instinct in primitive peoples to see
some sort of personal intelligence and will in all the more notice
able objects and processes of nature. There is, or is supposed to
be, a real "Soul of the world," the Anima Mundi, which lives and
moves through all things ; and thence it is easy to imagine, further,
that there are also many distinctive souls in possession of the
various phenomena of sun, moon, stars, winds, clouds, and waters.
Of course there are many myths which have no vital connection
with religion, and some men will argue that the belief in God
as the Creator of the world is itself a myth. All we need here
say to facts of this kind is that in all mythologies and in all forms
of religion rational and irrational elements have been strangely
mixed, and the divers interpretations of the mysterious Energy
that works unseen through all the world and through all ages bear
unmistakable witness to the fact of God, the mysterious Power,
whom no man hath seen or can see.
3. Philosophical Theories. It was also but natural that the
sages and the philosophers of the most enlightened peoples should
exercise their wisdom upon the mysterious problems of the world.
Cosmic philosophy ancient and modern is an effort of the culti
vated human mind to penetrate into the mystery of things and
to tell us how they came to be what they are and how they all
hold together. The ancient Ionic philosopher Thales, who is said
to have traveled far in quest of knowledge, and to have studied
with the priests of Memphis, maintained that all nature is endowed
with life, everything is full of gods, and water is the primordial
element of the universe. Anaximander put forth the doctrine of
"the Infinite," a sort of illimitable original substance or first
principle, out of which all things arise and into which they return
again. According to Heraclitus the origin of all things and the
principle of perpetual motion are to be found in fire, a clear light
fluid or dry vapor, out of which all the visible forms of nature
and the souls of men are evolved, and each particular soul, accord
ingly, partakes of the quality of the natal environments and the
soil from which it springs forth. According to Plato, spiritual
entities are the only real things in existence, and the material
world is in perpetual change, flowing into forms of being and
then flowing out. He argued that the great Soul of the world
must have existed before the world itself, and so likewise must
all human souls have existed before the bodies they inhabit here.
Still more subtle, speculative, and dreamy are the cosmic theories
of Brahmanic literature, especially as found in the philosophic
and theosophic treatises known as the Upanishads. Modern theo
ries of evolution were anticipated in part by the ancient thinkers

512 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of India and of Greece; but of one and of all these theories we
may say that they fail to explain the riddle of the universe. They
are at most and best only so many attempts at an explanation of
the gTeat mystery of being. The invisible secret is recognized as
the most real of things existing, but the explanations are defective
and unsatisfactory. One may search through the entire history
of modern philosophy, from Descartes to Hegel, and observe that
the one mysterious fact, around which as a center all inquiries and
all theories move, is the invisible Reality of things.
4. Current Theistic Arguments. We are, furthermore, obliged
to affirm substantially the same judgment concerning the current
standard arguments of rational theism. So far as they go, they
appear to be valid and helpful to faith in the -Unseen, but they
leave us without any clear knowledge or conviction as to the real
nature of God. The so-called "cosmological argument" is a
familiar syllogism : (1) All things existing must have a sufficient
first cause; (2) no such cause is found in the things which do
appear; (3) therefore the first cause must be the self -existent
and eternal Being whom we call God. The "ideological argu
ment" is a worthy associate of the foregoing, and is virtually a
counterpart and corollary of it. We are shown that the great
world of which we form a part exhibits manifold adaptations of
means to ends, adaptations so obvious as to imply an intelligent
Designer, without whose power and wisdom many things could
not have been made as they are made. The "anthropological
argument," or, as some call it, "the moral argument," is only an
application of the two preceding modes of reasoning to facts which
are conspicuous in the moral and spiritual constitution of man.
The "ontological argument" is less intelligible; it moves in a line
of a priori assumptions, and has been so variously constructed and
modified as to beget with some a doubt of its having any real value
as an argument. But admitting that all these arguments are
irrefutable as proofs of the existence of God, and that they open
the way for legitimate inferences touching his power and wisdom,
they still leave us without satisfactory knowledge of his personal
character. We think that in various forms of the creation we
behold unmistakable proofs of benevolent design ; yet are we con
fronted with other facts which seem rather like the contrivances
of horrible malevolence. What means the fearful struggle for life,
which has been going on in the animal world for incalculable
ages? Sharp claws, crushing jaws, and poisonous fangs are not
always indicative of beneficent design. We are often told that the
world of animal life is on the whole a very happy world. Earth>
air, and waters "teem with delighted existence," and "shoals of

THEISTIC ARGUMENTS 513
the fry of fish are so happy that they know not what to do with
themselves."1 But while this is true for a time, we should not
close our eyes to the fact that there are also shoals of larger swim
mers that never seem more happy than when in the act of gulping
down the smaller fry. And these larger fish become in turn the
prey of others greater than themselves. The great shark and the
powerful lion exhibit no signs of more exquisite delight than when
they crunch the yielding bones and devour the quivering flesh of
their helpless victims. What evidences of divine goodness shall
we find in this class of facts, or what sort of beneficent design
planned millenniums of such torture and death? Some of these
difficulties may be obviated by a wider induction of facts, but after
all that our reason can formulate into arguments like those of
theism, the heart is not satisfied. We yearn to know more about
the moral and personal qualities of the Great Designer.
5. Words of Zophar and Elihu. And so the all-pervading mys
tery remains, but it is a certain fact from which we cannot get
away. It ever confronts us in our thoughtful hours ; we cannot
lawfully thrust it from our immediate cognition; all men in all
times have felt the presence and the power of some invisible Person
or Energy that holds the world together. We may call it Fate,
or Force, or God; but whatever its proper name, it seems to possess
the qualities of wisdom and will. The poetic language of Zophar
and Elihu, in the book of Job, expresses very forcibly our con
sciousness of. limitation and lack of knowledge in the presence of
this mystery: Eloah's secret, canst thou find it out?
Or Shadday's perfect way canst thou explore?
Higher than heaven's height, what canst thou do?
Deeper than Shed's depths, what canst thou know?
Its measurement is longer than the earth,
And broader than the sea. Job xi, 7-9.
Lo, God is great, we know him not;
Unsearchable the number of his years.
For he it is who draws the water drops;
Whence they distil to rain in place of mist;
Even that with which the heavens flow down,
And drop on man abundantly.
Is there who understands the floatings of the cloud,
The thunderings of his canopy?
Behold upon it spreadeth he the light,
Whilst darkening the sea's profoundest depths.2
Job. xxxvi, 26-30.

•'Paley, Natural Theology, chapter xxvi.
'Translation by Tayler Lewis in the American ed. of Lange's Commentary.

CHAPTER II
BIBLICAL RECOGNITION OF THE OODS AND CULTS
OF THE NATIONS
1. Gods of the Nations. Allusions to the various gods of the
nations with whom Israel came in contact are frequent and abun
dant in the Scriptures. We are told that the ancestors of Abraham,
who dwelt in old time beyond the Euphrates, served other gods
(Josh, xxiv, 2). In Egypt the Hebrews came into close touch
with an ancient and elaborated religious cult, with its temples,
and sacred scribes, and magicians and sorcerers (Gen. xii, 8;
Exod. vii, 11), and upon the exodus of the chosen people from
that land of bondage Jehovah "executed judgments against all the
gods of Egypt" (Exod. xii, 12; Num. xxxiii, 4). During their
journeys and in the land of Canaan Israel "chose new gods"
(Judg. v, 8; Deut. xxxii, 17), and ran away after the gods of the
nations that were round about them, and all through their history,
down to the time of the Babylonian exile, they persisted more or
less openly in the idolatrous practices of the nations with whom
they had intercourse. They found no nation or people without a
god and a religious cult.
2. Traces of Heathen Myths. Even the myths of the nations
are recognized in such names and monsters as "leviathan the swift
serpent, the crooked serpent, and the monster (pin) that is in
the sea" (Isa. xxvii, 1). Rahab is mentioned in a similar way
in Isa. li, 9 ; Psa. lxxxix, 10 ; Job xxvi, 12. For while these words
are employed by the poets and prophets to designate hostile powers
like Egypt and Babylon, they go back linguistically and historically
to ancient nature-myths. Compare the allusions to Leviathan in
Job iii, 8; xii, 1; Psa. Ixxiv, 14; and to Behemoth in Job xl, 15,
and to the serpent at the bottom of the sea, in Amos ix, 3. Helal-
ben-Shahar (or Lucifer), in Isa. xiv, 12, has also the appearance
of a mythological name, and Lilith (night-monster) in Isa. xxxiv,
14, has similar suggestions of ultimate derivation from the realm
of nature-myths. It has long been seen that the Hebrew word
Tehom, translated the deep in Gen. i, 2, has its connection with
the raging Tiamat of the Babylonian story of creation. Other
allusions of like character appear in the poetic metaphors found
in the Psalms and the Prophets,1 and comparative research shows
•See Gunkel: Schopfung und Chaos, pp. 82-87. Gottingen, 1895.
514

NAMES OP GODS 515
that there are numerous myths and symbols which travel from
race to race, and from one religious cult to another, and whose
power of life is not extinguished with the century, the people, or
the religion in which they had their origin.
3. Names of the Gods. The names of the various deities of
the nations found in the Scriptures give a more specific witness to
the actual religious thought and worship of the ancient peoples
with whom the Israelites came in contact. The most common
Hebrew word for God is Elohim (dv6n), and we find it applied
both to the gods of the nations and to the God of Israel. Dagon,
Chemosh, and Baal as well as Jehovah are called Elohim (comp.
1 Sam. v, 7 ; Judg. xi, 24; 1 Kings xviii, 24), and even magistrates
and rulers bear the same title (Exod. xxi, 6; Psa. lxxxii, 1, 6).
The word seems to have a natural linguistic connection with
El 6k), which is also used to designate the gods of the nations as
well as Israel's God. Both these words express primarily the idea
of power. Israel's God is spoken of as "a great and terrible El"
(Deut. vii, 21), and "the great, the mighty and the terrible El"
(Neh. ix, 32). The plural form of Elohim has been accounted for
in different ways: some are of opinion that the plural indicates
a polytheistic origin and usage of the name; others explain it as
the plural of majesty, and others as a designed recognition of the
manifold powers inherent in the divine nature. So Elohim is con
ceived as the pluripotent Being, who combines in himself and
represents all the powers on high. The word is often used with
the article, the Elohim, to designate the only true God (comp.
Deut. vii, 9; 1 Kings viii, 60; xviii, 39; Isa. xiv, 18). The same
is true of El 6*tn). The name Baal is frequently mentioned in
connection with the idolatrous cults of Canaan, and may be
regarded as an appellative rather than a proper name. It means
owner, lord, master, and when applied to the deity it designates
him as the possessor and lord of the particular province or district
of country where the worship is performed. Thus we read of
Baal-Peor, Baal-Hermon, and Baal-Zephon. The fertility of the
land and the blessings of rain and corn and wine and oil are the
beneficent gifts of the god of that particular land. The name in
some places seems to have been associated with sun-worship, and we
have also the compounds Baal-gad, "lord of fortune," "Baal-zebub,
"lord of flies," that is, the deity who delivers from the pest of flies.
The plural of this word, Baalim, would thus refer to the numerous
local Baals, which seem to have had their individual names (Hos.
ii, 17), had their altars on high places (Jer. xix, 5), and were
probably worshiped under different forms in different localities.
The name Ashtaroth appears in several texts in connection with

516 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Baal (comp. Judg. ii, 13; 1 Sam. vii, 4; xii, 10), but the form
Ashtoreth appears in 1 Kings xi, 5, 33, as the name of "the god
dess of the Sidonians." The name is found in other forms, as
Astarte, Ashtart, and is doubtless to be in some way associated or
identified with the Assyrian goddess Ishtar, the queen of the gods
and "the queen of heaven" referred to in Jer. vii, 18 ; xliv, 17. By
the Phoenicians and the Greeks this same goddess seems to have
been identified with Aphrodite, and was probably connected with
the rites of Tammuz referred to in Ezek. viii, 14. The cult of this
goddess Ashtoreth was of a pernicious tendency, encouraged unchas-
tity, and is called in 2 Kings xxiii, 13, "the abomination of the
Sidonians." Chemosh was the name of the national deity of the
Moabites, and in Num. xxi, 29, and Jer. xlviii, 46, the Moabites
are called "the people of Chemosh," as if they were sons and
daughters of the god. We learn from 2 Kings iii, 26, 27, that
this deity was worshiped by human sacrifices. Hence, in 2 Kings
xxiii, 13, Chemosh is called "the abomination of Moab." In the
same verse mention is made of "Milcom, the abomination of the
children of Ammon." Ammonites and Moabites occupied con
tiguous territory, and their religious cults were probably quite
similar. The names Molech, Moloch, and Milcom are but different
forms of the same word which means a king, and designates the
deity as the great ruler of the land and people where he is wor
shiped. Human sacrifices were common among the Ammonites as
well as among the Moabites. The argument of Jephthah, in Judg.
xi, 24, implies that Chemosh was also recognized as the god of the
Ammonites. Dagon is mentioned in Judg. xvi, 23, and 1 Sam.
v, 2-7, as the name of the god of the Philistines. The Hebrew
etymology would suggest that the images of this deity had, at least
in part, the form of a fish, but this is questioned and denied by
recent lexical authorities. Passing beyond the borders of Canaan
we meet the name of Rimmon, a Syrian deity, in whose temple
Naaman and his king were wont to worship (2 Kings v, 18). The
name is probably the same as that of Ramman, the Assyrian god
of the wind, the thunderstorm, and the lightning. It is note
worthy that when Naaman, "knowing that there is no God in all
the earth but in Israel," asked pardon for bowing with his royal
master when he thereafter accompanied him into the house of
Rimmon, the prophet Elisha bade him "go in peace," and did not
forbid him to carry home with him "two mules' burden of earth"
that he might, even in Syria, worship on the holy soil of Israel's
God. In 2 Kings xvii, 30, mention is made of Sueeoth-benoth
(probably identical with Sakkuth in the Hebrew text of Amos v,
26), Nergal, Asbima, Nibhaz, Tartak, Adrammelech, and Anam-

NAMES OF GODS 517
melech, names of so many gods of the nations whom the king of
Assyria transported from the eastern provinces of his empire and
settled in the cities of Samaria. Some of these names are probably
corrupt, and little or nothing is known now of the cults which they
represented. The same is to be said of the Assyrian god Nisroch,
in whose temple Sennacherib was worshiping when slain (2 Kings
xix, 37). In Isa. xlvi, 1, Jer. 1, 2; li, 44, we meet the names of
the Babylonian deities Bel, Nebo, and Merodach. Bel is probably
the same as Baal, meaning lord, and when connected with the name
Merodach may be regarded as an appellative, Lord Merodach.
The Babylonian inscriptions speak of him as "the great Lord,"
"the King of the heavens and the earth." The form of the name
found on the monuments is Marduk. Nebo, or Nabu, had a tem
ple near Babylon, and was worshiped as the god of wisdom and
learning. It is not important here to enlarge upon these names. From
extra-biblical sources we may learn the names and attributes of
many other deities which were worshiped by the nations with whom
Israel had more or less intercourse. The vast pantheon of Baby
lonian, Assyrian, Persian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cults has
been brought to our knowledge by learned specialists, who have
given their lives to the study of the monuments of the life and
thought of these ancient nations. No evidence is found to show
that any of the tribes and peoples of antiquity were without gods
and religious practices. In every case the names of the deities
worshiped commanded the reverence of the worshiper, and it is
worthy of our attention that, in spite of the prohibition of Exod.
xxiii, 13 — "Make no mention of the name of other gods" — so many
of the names of foreign gods are recorded in the sacred books of
Israel. These records show in how many ways the chosen people
were brought in realistic touch with the religious life of other
nations; and the names of the deities mentioned, and also cor
responding names of all the gods of other peoples not known to the
Israelites, point in every case to a religious cult through which
innumerable human hearts were feeling after the mystery of the
Invisible.

CHAPTER III
ORIGIN OF THE CONCEPT OF GOD
1. Involved in the Origin of Religion. Inquiry after the origin
of the idea of God is virtually the same as asking after the origin
of religion. In our study of the natural constitution of man we
have noticed the religious element which appears in all races and
generations of men, and we observed that it always and everywhere
involved a sense of necessary dependence on some unseen higher
Power. The notion of that higher Power may be very vague and
imperfect, but in civilized man and in the savage alike it persist
ently asserts itself. It includes in many cases a belief in the
existence of spiritual beings who have power over man's life and
destiny, and whose favor is to be sought by some form of service
or of sacrifice. It appears that wherever human life has existed
upon the earth religion has been manifest as an essential element
of that life. It is, accordingly, as proper and as pertinent to
inquire after the origin of human life on earth as after the origin
of religion and the concept of God.
2. Inadequate Theories. Accordingly, one's views of the origin
of religion and of the concept of God are likely to be governed
largely, if not wholly, by his views of the origin of man. Religion
itself inheres in man's spiritual nature and includes his conscious
ness of relationship to the unseen Power on whom he is dependent ;
it would therefore seem that the origin of religion and its concept
of God must have been the first human recognition of such mystic
and divine relationship. But who shall presume to say when,
where, and how that consciousness and concept of the superhuman
Mystery first dawned on the soul of man? The various theories
of the origin and earliest forms of religion fail to account for all
the facts which enter into the concept of God. We possess an
immense literature on the ideas and culture of prehistoric man,
and on the facts of animism, fetishism, totemism, ancestor wor
ship, and the mythologies and folk-lore of peoples ancient and
modern, but the vast collection of these facts contains no certain
testimony touching primitive man's conception of a supernatural
Power. All religion is essentially animistic. It is the feeling
of a finite soul after the great Oversoul. Whether we suppose
the earliest form of religion were fetishism, or animism, or ances-
518

CONCEPT OF GOD 519
tor worship, we have at most only the facts and forms of an
existing cult, not any certain knowledge of the origin of that cult.
The hypothesis that primitive man elaborated his concept of
Deity by a process of observation and inference as he pondered
things visible and invisible, the phenomena of sleep, and dreams,
and swoons, and ecstasy, and death, and thence came to believe in
ghosts and to worship them out of a sense of fear that they might
injure him if not propitiated — all this is but a fine-spun series of
suppositions utterly incapable of demonstration. It is not difficult
to ascertain with much accuracy what were and are the thoughts
and practices of sundry very primitive tribes of men; but when
we inquire what were the first ideas of God and what the first
forms of religious worship among the first one hundred or one
thousand human beings that appeared on earth, we obtain no
satisfactory answer in any naturalistic theory that has been pro
posed. 3. A Question of Psychology Rather than of History. We shall
not obtain much light upon this question by turning our whole
attention to the supposed conditions of primitive man. He is too
far away from us, and his thoughts and practices too indistinct
for us to trace with scientific certainty. We shall do far better to
study man as he now is. All evidence goes to show that religion
is as old and primitive as human life, and as universal as the
human race. The original concept of God in man is therefore a
question of psychology rather than of history. It matters little
for this question whether one or another known form of religion
first appeared in human life, for back of any and of all forms of
religious expression must have been some sense or concept of the
invisible Mystery. Why should there be any such concept in man
more than in the fish of the sea or the fowl of the air? We can
find our only worthy answer in the facts of human personality.
We can conceive no satisfactory definition of religion that does
not recognize in man a feeling of relationship to the invisible
Power whom we call God, and such feeling is inseparable from
certain conceptions of the Deity and certain voluntary acts which
the feeling and the concept inspire.
4. The Concept a Revelation. Is it or is it not a fact that our
first concept of a higher Power is of the nature of a revelation
coming directly from that Power ? We may call it a discovery, a
perception, or an intuition, but it is inseparable from the influence
upon us of the mystic Reality. The dawn breaks in upon us and
we recognize the light that expels the darkness; the infantile
mind may, for its convenience, construct out of the phenomena
the myths of TJshas, Eos, and Aurora, but we know that our

520 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
thoughts and mythic tales did not originate the dawn. The light
first revealed itself to man and was never a creation of his thoughts,
but his explanations of it have been many and various. So, too,
the infant soon recognizes the mother's tender touch and care,
but who can describe the dawning consciousness of a child's per
ception of parental nursing, or tell what dreams and fancies
inchoate first flashed upon the infant soul? In like manner may
we affirm that the first concept of God, whenever or wherever
apprehended, is never a product of human reason but always a
revelation coming from above. The initial stages of the experi
ence may be a feeling after God, just as the infant clings instinct
ively to its mother's breast; but it is also true that no such feel
ing after God occurs without God's previous feeling after the
human soul, and making manifest his presence and superior power.
We accordingly maintain that among all the tribes and nations
of men, from the beginning until now, God has made himself
known. He is the Light which has imparted and ever imparts
spiritual light and life to everyone who comes into this world.
Men have misconceived and misinterpreted this heavenly Light,
but it keeps continuously shining, and it is impossible that man,
who exists in the image of God, should fail to reflect that image
in the dawning and growing consciousness of his own personal
emotions, ideas, and acts of volition.1
5. Revelation Gradual and in Parts. But some man will ask
why it is that God should reveal himself so feebly and so variously
among the nations. Our inability to answer the question does not
alter the fact that all knowledge of God and all progress in every
department of human knowledge has come gradually, in many
different portions and in divers ways. Shall we not also ask why
the omniscient Creator of heaven and earth and man produces
anything by way of birth and growth? Why especially should
man be born a helpless infant and require the slow and patient
nourishment and the long and tedious discipline of years? Why
should he not come to maturity in an hour and be gifted from the

1 The foUowing passage from Professor C. B. Upton's Lectures on the Bases of Re
hgious Belief may be appropriately cited here : " If it be true, as we have seen reason
to conclude it is, that the individual man, though in respect to God a finite and
dependent being, has yet, immanent in his consciousness, the presence and activity
of the universal ground of his own being, and that it is the presence of this universal
principle within him which alone enables him to have dynamic and cognitive
relations with the other finite existences in the cosmos, it follows from this very
fact that man, as a thinking, a moral and a spiritual being, is conscious of wholly
transcending his own finitude, and can discriminate between the action of this
universal or higher self, as we term it, and that of his own finite self, that there is
a certain self-revelation of the Eternal and Infinite One to the finite soul, and
therefore an indestructible basis for reUgious ideas and religious beliefs as dis
tinguished from what is called scientific knowledge." — The Hibbert Lectures for
1893, p. 16. London, 1894.

PROGRESSIVE REVELATION 521
first with a perfect knowledge of his origin, his manifold rela
tions, and his ultimate possibilities? We do not presume to
answer such questions. We point out the facts as they present
themselves to us and affirm that God's ways must be sought therein.
The individual man, the family, the clan, the tribe, the race, and
the nation all reach their highest and best through gradual stages
of advance, not by sudden or instantaneous coming into perfection.
Why should we be slow to believe that our Father in heaven has
been disclosing parts of his ways, here a little and there a little, to
every family and race of man ? We need not think it strange that
he has at sundry times revealed his eternal power and goodness
even through shadowy mythical forms of heathen superstition.
Who knows but those vague, childlike images of nature-myths and
current folk-lore were the only language the babes could under
stand? And who can tell what concepts of wisdom, power, and
love were awakened by the naive traditions of gods and spirits
immanent in clouds and waters and trees? Some of the most
degrading forms of polytheism are found in connection with the
idea of one God over all. We are of opinion that to a greater
extent than has been generally allowed there may be traced in all
the known religions of mankind evidences of a belief in one
supreme Power, the God and Father of us all, working in sundry
ways to make himself known to his human offspring. The wisdom
which is from above has cried aloud in the high places and along
the pathways of the sons of men much after the manner of the
Hebrew prophet: "If I be a father where is my honor?" And
the men who have heard this heavenly voice have shown "the work
of divine law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing wit
ness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or
else excusing them" (Rom. ii, 15). Too generally, however, it
must be confessed, as Paul wrote it long ago, that these offspring
of the scattered tribes of men have "not approved of having the
God in their knowledge," and so, though "knowing God, they
glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks, but they became
vain in their reasonings, and their foolish heart was darkened"
(Rom. i, 21, 28). Hence it would seem that, so far from evolving
the concept of God out of a process of reason, human reason has
too often perverted the self-revelation of God in the hearts and
consciences of men. And so it has ever been that the light that
is in us may become darkness, but he that diligently follows the
light will not fail to find God.
6. Childhood of the World. We accept as a fact the universal
revelation of God in the heart of man, but we do not overlook the
other fact that the revelation has always been in relative accord-

522 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
anee with the environment and intelligence of men reared under
conditions of animal life on earth. Some men in every generation
have risen above their fellows, and have been, according to the
measure of their gifts and wisdom, lights in the world. But the
masses of mankind, in all ages and among all the peoples, have
been (to use Paul's figure) until now in a state of infancy and
childhood, imperfect in understanding, minors untaught and un
skilled, babes (vrjnioi, Gal. iv, 1, 3). Millions of Christians are
yet, religiously, in a state of pupilage, and need, like the millions
of other cults, to be under wise and sympathetic tutors. The pro
gress of the world in enlightenment has been, from the outlook
of any one generation, tediously slow. Men naturally become rest
less and discouraged. But God's eternal purpose moves steadily
onward to its distant goal, and "one day is with him as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day." The eight, ten, or
twenty thousand years of human life on earth are probably, in
proportion to its entire extent and destiny, only as so many hours
would be in one man's life of three score years and ten. Our
previous study of the kingdom and coming of Christ warrants
the blessed thought that through all the ages thus far our Father
in the heavens has so loved the world as to impart some measure of
his kindly light to every man. But we see only parts of his ways,
and even these we do not always understand or interpret aright.
The gifted apostle to the Gentiles wrote : "We know in part and
we prophesy in part." We cannot tell why God should take so
long to unfold the mystery of the ages, but with the apostle we
cheerfully and hopefully accept the self-evident truth that "when
that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done
away."

SECTION SECOND
THE HEBBEW BEVELATION

CHAPTER I
THE CALL AND COVENANT OF ABRAHAM
1. The Migration and the Promise. According to the biblical
tradition the series of divine revelations imparted to the Hebrew
people began with the call of Abraham. His migration from the
far East and his journey throughout all the land of Canaan
brought him from first to last in constant touch with divers people
who served other gods. When he pitched his tent near Shechem
he found that the Canaanite was already in the land. He traveled
on into the South country, and went down into Egypt, and found
everywhere tribes and nations that were given to the worship of
various deities. We now know, from other than biblical sources,
that, at the supposed date of Abraham's migration, the Babylonians
ki the East and the Egyptians in the Southwest were already
possessed of a highly developed religious cult and priesthood, and
the same was probably true, in some measure, of all the intervening
nations. It is noteworthy and significant that, at such a time
and under such conditions of that vast Orient, the great ancestor
of the Hebrew people should be called of God to go out from his
country and kindred, and journey from the Euphrates to the Nile,
and receive the promise that his posterity should be a great nation
and a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen. xii, 1-3). He
surely was no type or representative of what is now commonly
spoken of as "primitive man," for he moved during his entire
career amid civilizations that were already aged.
2. Meeting with Melchizedek. According to Gen. xiv, 18-20,
Abraham met in the land of Canaan a remarkable king and priest
to whom he reverently gave a tenth of the spoils he had taken,
and from whom he received a blessing in the name of his God
El 'Elyon. Thus he acknowledged Melchizedek superior to him
self, for "without any dispute the less is blessed of the better"
(Heb. vii, 7). Melchizedek was priest of El 'Elyon, a name which
is commonly and appropriately rendered "God Most High." The
name means, strictly, "the Power which is above" ()vf>y 5>k), that
523

524 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
is, the Supreme Power, or the Being who rules on high.1 So
Abraham stands not alone in that ancient time as the friend of
God, but rather as an inferior to the great king and priest of
Salem. 3. Defective Ethical Standards. We should also notice here the
ethical shortcomings of Abraham. His duplicity was rebuked by
Pharaoh (Gen. xii, 18), his bigamy and polygamy are mentioned
in the records of his life, and the service of the three hundred and
eighteen trained men who were "born in his house" (Gen. xiv, 14)
implies a body guard of servaiits who were virtually slaves of his
family. The traditions of Isaac and of Jacob make mention of
like matters in their personal and family life, and the banishment
of Hagar and her child into the wilderness was an exhibition of
cruelty which our Christian sense condemns. But these defective
morals were not estimated in those ancient times and among the
Oriental peoples as we judge them in the light of a developed
Christian conscience. And in Palestine and adjacent lands, even
to this day, may be found many a nomadic sheik, whose tents,
and flocks, and slaves, and wives, and concubines, and habits of
duplicity are remarkably like those of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
4. Nomadic Life Favorable to Religions Thought. Notwith
standing the defective moral sense implied in the records of the
ancient patriarchs, the nomadic life was, on the whole, favorable
to reflection and the cultivation of high religious sentiment.
When Abraham walked forth abroad and looked toward heaven
and the innumerable stars (comp. Gen. xv, 5), he received revela
tions from on high and had communion with God. Not the ancient
patriarchs only, but also Moses, and David, and Amos in later
times knew the solemn blessedness and the stern discipline of the
shepherd life. Exposed to extremes of heat and cold, to lack of
food, and to attack by wild beasts and robbers, the heroic virtues
were developed in their souls; and, on the other hand, repose by
restful waters, wandering in the green pastures, climbing among
the hills, and watching the sky, and clouds, and changing seasons,
naturally inspired ideals of what is beautiful and good. Through
all these visions, and struggles, and meditations came various reve
lations of the mystery of God.
5. The Covenant of Promise. To all this must be added the
divine covenant with Abraham, and the repeated promise that his
posterity should be multiplied as the stars of heaven. The various
passages in Genesis which relate to this subject may be combined

1 It may be an interesting inquiry of comparative theology to ascertain how
closely the idea and import of the name El'Elyon correspond to the Chinese
conception of Shangti.

COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM 525
into a kind of sevenfold apocalypse.1 But the more formal account
of the covenant and its seal of circumcision is written in the
priestly narrative of Gen. xvii, in which the heavenly covenant-
maker announces himself as El Shadday, that is "God Almighty." *
The great pledge and promise of this covenant is thus recorded
(ver. 7) : "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and
thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting
covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee." The
sign and seal of this covenant was circumcision, a bloody rite,
suggestive of the consecration of the source of paternal virility to
the God of the covenant. Like other forms of bodily mutilation
this rite became a sort of tribal mark and bond of indissoluble
fellowship between the men of a community set apart for a particu
lar purpose. It seems to be in essential accord with the rite of
blood-covenanting still common in the East and going back to
times immemorial.3 While this practice was observed by the
ancient Egyptians, the Colchians, the Syrians, the Arabians, and
other peoples, it seems to have been elevated in the thought of the
Hebrews to the high distinction of representing a sacred bond of
friendship with God. In the later time Abraham was commonly
spoken of as "the friend of God" (Isa. xii, 8 ; 2 Chron. xx, 7 ; James
ii, 23). A covenant was generally understood to be a compact
between equals, but it was a revelation of surpassing friendship
and heavenly favor for God the Almighty to condescend to enter
into a sort of blood-relationship with a man. Accordingly, the
idea of a plighted agreement and abiding friendship between God
and the descendants of Abraham runs through the entire biblical
literature. It was as if God had promised and had bound himself
by a solemn oath (comp. Gen. xxii, 16 ; Heb. vi, 13) to multiply
the offspring of his friend Abraham, give them the land of the
Canaanite, and make them eventually a blessing to all the nations.'
6. Anthropomorphic Conceptions. Quite related in thought to
this idea of God entering into covenant with man is the anthropo-
1 See my Biblical Apocalyptics, pp. 71-74.
'Comp. this name as found also in Gen. xxviii, 3; xxxv, 11; xUii, 14; xUx, 25,
and Exod. vi, 3.
3 See the numerous forms and the accompanying comments on them in H\ C.
Trumbull's The Blood Covenant ; A Primitive Rite and its Bearings on Scripture.
New York, 1886.
4 The figure of a covenant between God and Noah, and God and Abraham,
and God and Israel has its very natural and interesting significance, and the
doctrine of Christ as "the Mediator of the new covenant" of God with the new
Israel is a familiar New Testament idea. But these biblical conceptions furnish
no sufficient warrant for the complicated notions of "a covenant ^between the
Father and the Son" as a basis of human redemption. The doctrine of "the
covenant of works" and "the covenant of grace" belongs to the postulates of
the so-called "Federal Theology," and is a portion of the speculative and scholastic
methods of thinking prevalent in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Such
speculation has no legitimate place in modern bibUcal dogmatics.

526 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
morphism so frequently occurring in portions of the Hebrew scrip
tures. In no chapter of Genesis is this peculiar manner of describ
ing the Deity so striking as that which narrates the visit and
conversation of Jehovah with Abraham, at his tent by the oaks
of Mamre (xviii). He appeared unto the patriarch and feasted
with him, and when about to depart he spoke as follows : "Because
the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is
very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done
altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me ; and
if not, I will know." The narrative goes on to relate Abraham's
intercession for Sodom, which secured the promise of "the Judge
of all the earth" to spare the wicked city if only ten righteous
persons could be found therein. Other parts of Genesis exhibit
the same peculiar human way of representing God. In ii, 7,
Jehovah is conceived as fashioning man's body out of the dust of
the ground and breathing life into his nostrils. In vi, 6, he beheld
the great wickedness of man and was sorry that he made him; "it
grieved him at his heart." In xi, 5, it is written: "Jehovah came
down to see the city and the tower which the children of men
builded." In xxxii, 24, we read that "there wrestled a man" all
night with Jacob, and at the breaking of the day he revealed him
self as God. Similar anthropomorphisms appear in other scrip
tures, and they are apt to strike the reader at first as so many naive
and almost crass conceptions of the Deity. But we must not
overlook the fact that such a manner of conceiving and speaking
of God is not confined to the earliest periods of religious history.
The later Hebrew writers who maintained a lofty monotheistic
idea of God, and even the gifted authors of most popular Christian
hymns make use of the same vivid portraitures of the Most High
as sharing the human form and moved with human affection.
Anthropomorphism may have its explanation partly in the nature
of poetic composition and partly in the necessities of human
speech. The oldest narratives of the Old Testament exhibit a
considerable element of poetry, and an ancient war song, a national
ballad, or even a prose composition based upon an earlier poetic
celebration of a great event, may employ concepts of the Deity
which the author and first readers did not understand literally.
In Exod. xv, 3, 6, 8, Jehovah is called "a man of war" ; "his right
hand dashes in pieces the enemy," and the <fblast of his nostrils
piles up the waters" ; but such imagery may be found in the poetry
of all cultivated nations. In 1 Kings viii, 23-30, we observe that
Solomon's prayer of dedication recognizes no God like Jehovah;
"the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him" ; but
this only true God "keeps covenant and loving-kindness with his

PATRIARCHAL REVELATIONS 527
servants," hearkens to their cry, and keeps his eyes open night and
day toward the temple in Jerusalem. It is also true that an indi
vidual author, or a school of religious writers, may be characterized
by peculiar ways of describing the activity of the Creator and
Ruler of the world. The more noteworthy anthropomorphisms of
Genesis are all found in those narratives which the modern critical
analysis of the book ascribes to that ancient Judsean prophetic
writer who is commonly designated by the symbol J, and who
thought and spoke of the worship of Jehovah as dating from
earliest times. The priestly writer of Exod. vi, 2-8, informs us,
however, that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not known
to them by the name of Jehovah, but as El Shadday.
7. Other Patriarchal Revelations. The revelation of God seen
in the call and covenant of Abraham was continued and confirmed
in Isaac and in Jacob: "I will establish the oath which I sware
unto Abraham thy father" (Gen. xxvi, 3) ; "I am the God of
Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac" (xxviii, 13). Thus
over and over again the endearing pledge of divine favor is
renewed. Jacob's dream at Bethel brings to him a new and fuller
revelation of the God of his fathers, and prompts him to record
a vow of allegiance to him. The ladder reaching from earth to
heaven, with God's angels going up and down, opens the concept
of a supernatural world. The covenant between Jacob and Laban
in the mountain of Gilead has its pillar of witness, and its solemn
appeal to "the God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor and the
Fear of Isaac" (xxxi, 53). The struggle at Peniel marks a crisis
in the religious life of Jacob, gives him the new name of Israel
and the gracious blessing of "having seen God face to face" (xxxii,
30). The chastened sequel of that patriarch's life, the loss of
Joseph, and the going down into Egypt, involve numerous addi
tional communications from the God of Abraham and of Isaac,
and the final scene, when, having pronounced his prophetic blessing
on his sons, "he gathered up his feet into the bed, and expired, and
was gathered unto his people," was certainly a most remarkable
euthanasia. 8. The Biblical Narratives Give Truthful Pictures. The pic
tures of patriarchal religion portrayed in the book of Genesis do
not conceal the fact that ethnic idolatry found some recognition
and toleration in the household. Rachel concealed and carried
with her into Canaan the teraphim of her father Laban (Gen.
xxxi, 20, 34). These teraphim seem to have been small images
of supposed guardian deities of the household, like the Penates
among the ancient Latins, and were probably "the foreign gods"
which Jacob required his household to put away at Shechem

528 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
(xxxv, 2). The divining cup of Joseph (xliv, 5, 15) may also
indicate more or less infection received almost unawares from con
tact with the magicians of Egypt. Moreover, the readiness of
Abraham to obey the divine voice which bade him go and offer
his only son for a burnt offering implies the patriarch's familiarity
with the practice of human sacrifices. Altogether, we may say
that the outlines of ancient nomadic life in and about Canaan, as
portrayed in the Hebrew traditions of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
are faithful and true. The oral transmission of such stories was,
of course, likely to embellish them in many ways. Each narrator
would naturally set forth his own ideal, and we accordingly find in
the biblical records of the most ancient time distinguishable nar
ratives of different cast and structure. Our theology makes no
contention with that critical analysis which finds evidences of three
different writings (known as J, E, and P) in the book of Gene
sis, but maintains, rather, that this analysis enables us the more
clearly to trace changes and development in the Hebrew conception
of God. The oldest Judaean, or Jehovistic narrative (J) is graphic
and poetical and abounds in anthropomorphism. The somewhat
later Elohistic record (E) is probably the product of an Ephraimite
of the northern kingdom of Israel who held a more spiritual con
ception of God. The priestly narrative (P) is written in a more
formal and prosaic style and from the standpoint of a highly
developed monotheism. But taken as a whole these narratives
supply us with a fascinating idea of the divine element in the
call of Abraham and the religious development of the patriarchal
shepherds. Those ancient worthies walked and talked with God,
and with them began a new departure and an exceptionally lofty
series of divine revelations destined to be a blessing to all the
nations.

CHAPTER II
THE DIVINE LEGATION OF MOSES
1. The Hebrew Exodus. In the divine call and mission of Moses
we discern a new and epoch-making advance in the Hebrew revela
tion. The exodus from the land of Egypt, of which he was the
great leader under God, was the traditional Independence Day of
the Hebrew people and nation. For centuries they had been in
bondage and their deliverance was attended with such marvels
that their national poets and prophets of all after time ceased not
to celebrate it as a momentous interposition of Jehovah, their God,
and a sublime display of his power and glory. The following
passage from Isa. lxiii, 12-14, is characteristic of the prophetic way
of viewing the great event and expressive of the national belief.
Jehovah is extolled as the affectionate friend and savior of the
people, and their real father and redeemer,
Who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses;
Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting
name;
Who led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that
they stumbled not;
As the cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah caused
them to rest;
So didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
2. The New Name Jehovah. According to Exod. vi, 2, 3, a
most noteworthy element of the divine revelation through Moses
was the announcement of the name Jehovah: "I am Jehovah;
and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob as
El Shadday, but by my name Jehovah I did not reveal myself
Cnjmi Kb) to them." This is the unmistakable revelation of a
new name unknown to the ancient patriarchs of the nation, and
this fact is confirmed by the (Elohistic Ephraimite) writer of
Exod. iii, 13-15, where God says to Moses: "I am who I am
(irrtN "ltPK renin);1 say unto the children of Israel I am (PPfiK) hath
sent me unto you. . . . Jehovah (niiT), the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
hath sent me unto you ; this is my name for ever, and this is my
memorial unto all generations." It is evident from this passage

1 Others render: I will be who I will he. 529

530 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
that, in the mind of the writer, I am and Jehovah were one and
the same, and this memorial name is one wliich contains both
suggestion and assurance that the God of the patriarchs will be
with his people Israel forever.1 The correct pronunciation and
the significance of the name mil' have been matters of dispute.
It is said that a rigid but erroneous interpretation of Lev. xxiv,
11, 16 ("blaspheme the Name"),2 begat among the Jewish people
a superstitious fear of pronouncing this divine name. The Mas-
soretes attached to it the vowels of the word 'ilK (Lord), and
hence the current pronunciation Jehovah. But the name is most
naturally explained as the imperfect of the verb mn, to be, or
become, and as implying continuous existence. It should accord
ingly be written Yahweh,' and be understood as the One who is and
will forever be. Yahweh is the everlasting God who wills to make
himself known in his own ways and times. He is the same
Almighty God, El Shadday, who revealed himself to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and purposes also to manifest his personal intelli
gence and activity throughout all generations. He revealed him
self to Moses as to no other before his time (comp. Num. xii, 8;
Exod. xxxiii, 11; Deut. xxxiv, 10), and by his name Jehovah he
established in new form his ancient covenant with Abraham and
his seed.4 And so the gifted poet sings, in Deut. xxxii, 9-12 :
Jehovah's portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,
And in the waste howling wilderness;

1 This explanation of the sacred name holds as an opinion of remote antiquity,
whether the words of Exod. iii, 14, be the language of B, or an explanatory inser
tion made by a later hand. The explanation has certainly a very natural correla
tion with the statements of Exod. vi, 3, and Ehyeh and Yahweh are from the
root ron, or rprt.
2 In Lev. xxiv, 11, the Septuagint translates 3pJ, blaspheme, by iirovou&ra,
and in verse 16 by bvouafa, indicating that even at the time of this Greek version
it was deemed fatal to name the name HI IT.
3 The pronunciation Yahweh is favored by the contracted poetic form n\ Yah,
and also by the Greek transliteration Ta/3e. Some beUeve that Yahweh is the
hiphil, or causative form of the verb, thus indicating one who causes things to
be, the Creator.
4 The frequent use of the name Jehovah in the accounts of the patriarchs, as,
for example, in Gen. xii, 8 ; xv, 7 ; xxi, 33 ; xxvui, 13, seems to be in conflict with
the statement of Exod. vi, 3. The harmonistic explanation that the name was
well known to the patriarchs but not understood by them is quite unsatisfactory.
Much more simple and natural is the explanation furnished by the critical analysis
of the documents out of which the book of Genesis was compiled. The priestly
annalist (P) of Exod. vi, 2-8, does not employ this name in his previous narratives,
but the Jehovistic writer (J) observed no such distinction in the names of the
God of Abraham. The assertion sometimes made, that the introduction of a new
name for Israel's God at that eventful epoch would have been equivalent to the
setting up of a new God, is neither self-evident nor demonstrable. The significance
of a proper name, and particularly when a new name is given, should be obvious
at the time it is first employed, and the new name Yahweh was notably relevant
to the time when the God of Israel was to be magnified above aU the deities of
the nations by the mission and ministry of Moses.

SINAITIC LEGISLATION 531
He compassed him about, he cared for him,
He kept him as the apple of his eye.
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,
That fluttereth over her young,
He spread abroad his wings and took them,
He bare them on his pinions.
Jehovah alone did lead him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
3. The Sinaitic Legislation. Moses, Mount Sinai, and the giv
ing of the law to Israel are inseparably associated in the tradi
tions of the Hebrew people. The substance of the Sinaitic legisla
tion appears in most remarkable form in the decalogue, the "ten
words," which were uttered by Jehovah himself amid the most
sublime accompaniments of thunder, lightning, sound of a trum
pet, quaking and smoking mountain. They were also delivered
unto Moses in the mount in the form of two tables of stone graven
with the finger of God. They were the divine basis of the covenant
between Jehovah and Israel at Sinai, and were called "the two
tables of the testimony." The two tables were in substance as
follows : Fibst Table
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make for thyself any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain.
4. Observe the sabbath day to sanctify it.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother.
Second Table
6. Thou shalt not commit murder.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
These tables of the fundamental law and testimony of God are
supplemented in Exod. xxi — xxiii by numerous "judgments" which
Moses was to set before the people. They are mainly of a simple
and primitive character and notably adapted to the needs of an
agricultural and nomadic populace. The statutes relating to
domestic slavery receive prominent attention, and divers laws
appear in modified forms and with noticeable repetitions and addi
tions in the different sections of the Pentateuch. As the nation
developed in strength, met new emergencies or faced new condi
tions, the relevant laws were codified anew and adjusted to the
demands of the times. All subsequent legislation of this kind
would naturally and probably be called Mosaic.

532 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
4. Comparative Legislation of the Nations. We find no civilized
people or nation without laws, and we must not forget the profound
observation of Paul that the Gentile nations are not without the
law of God written in their hearts. Although without such laws
and oracles of God as were the advantage and glory of the Hebrew
people, they nevertheless possessed revelations from heaven of the
wrath of God "against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men." We have recently recovered the code of Hammurabi, believed
to be the Amraphel of Gen. xiv, 1, the contemporary of Abraham.
The laws are written on a huge stone about eight feet high, and
are cast in the form of judgments conspicuously after the manner
of the Sinaitic legislation of Exod. xxi — xxiii. Many of the laws
are in substance identical with those of the Mosaic code, and
Hammurabi himself is represented on the stone tablet as receiving
them from Shamash, the God of the sun and the source of light.
We have also the sacred laws or "Institutes of Manu," whose origin
eludes us amid the mists of Hindu antiquity and legend ; but they
claim, nevertheless, to have been first given by the Creator of man
kind to the ten great sages whom he made at the beginning and
trained in sacred things. We are familiar also with the legends of
Minos, the king and lawgiver of Crete, the son of Zeus, who received
from "the Father of gods and men" the laws which he delivered to
his people. He was wont to resort to a cave in Crete in which he
obtained his laws by dictation from the deity and afterward reported
them in different portions and at different times. His name also
connects in Grecian story with Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver,
who made a journey to Crete to confer with Minos, and who also
extended his researches into Egypt and other countries. When
he went to Delphi, to consult the oracle of Apollo, he was declared
to be the beloved of the gods, even more of a god than a man, and
it was promised him that his laws should be the best in the world.
Similar legends are told of Solon, the famous Athenian lawgiver,
whose statutes and ordinances were cast in metric form, like those
of Manu, and were inspired by Apollo and the Muses. There,
too, was Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, born, accord
ing to tradition, the day that Rome was founded. He was wont
to wander in the sacred groves, had frequent interviews with the
goddess Egeria, and received from her the revelations which enabled
him to become the founder both of the religion and the legislation
of his people.
There are those, perhaps, who fear that such comparisons tend to
disparage Moses and his divine legation. We believe, on the con
trary, that a faithful study of all that can be known of these men
and nations and their laws will magnify and enhance the Hebrew

DIVINE-HUMAN LEGISLATION 533
legislation. Vainly will we seek to honor Moses by denying that
God himself has also spoken to other prophets and other peoples.
Moses himself would in spirit rebuke such narrow jealousy, and
say rather: "Would to God that Jehovah would put his Spirit
upon all the peoples and make them all prophets!" It is both
interesting and noteworthy that Moses, who was learned in all
the wisdom of the Egyptians, stands forth in the biblical records
as the great lawgiver of Israel, and that Hammurabi, the contem
porary of Abraham, and so living more than five hundred years
before Moses, proclaimed the same laws in great part as the gift
of the God of light. The great ethical commandments, like those
of the decalogue, did not originate with Moses or with Ham
murabi; they were spoken from heaven to men and written in
human hearts before the times of Abraham. Abraham was called
out of the land of Hammurabi, and his migration extended into
Egypt where the future Hebrew lawgiver was born. There is no evi
dence that the different codes of these lawgivers were dependent on
each other. The Hebrews did not copy their laws from the stones of
Babylon, nor from the sacred scribes of Egypt. Law, in its deeper,
fuller, higher meaning, is essentially a revelation of God to man.
Moses, Confucius, Hammurabi, Manu, Minos, Lycurgus, Solon,
and Numa represent so many different aspects of divine legation,
and show the essential relations of law and religion. "One only
is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to
destroy. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights" (James i, 17; iv, 12).
Law and religion alike, but each in its own way, disclose the spir
itual relationship between God and man.1 And so the Sinaitic
legislation of Moses, and its various modifications and codification
in the subsequent history of Israel, form an important portion of
the Hebrew revelation.

'In perfect accord with this deep truth, and beautiful in its expression, is
that classic passage of Richard Hooker: "Of Law, there can be no less acknowl
edged than that her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world.
All things in heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling her care,
and the greatest as not exempted from her power; both angels and men, and
creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner,
yet all, with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy."
— Ecclesiastical Polity, at end of First Book, Section 16.

CHAPTER III
CANAANITISH CONFLICTS AND MESSAGES OF THE PROPHETS
1. Israel's Apostasy from Jehovah. Nothing seems to come to
perfection of itself, and that which seems to us most excellent is
found to be the result of long and serious struggles. Seasons of
great moral and religious awakening have quite generally been fol
lowed by long periods of decline. The history of Israel is no
exception, but rather a monumental exhibition of this fact, and,
withal, an admonition of corresponding weight. All the traditions
of the Hebrew people and all their sacred records witness a uniform
report of their tendency to forsake the commandments of Jehovah.
Even while Moses was yet with them they murmured and rebelled,
and when they encamped in the plains of Moab they "joined them
selves unto Baal-peor" (Num. xxv, 3, 5; Hos. ix, 10; Psa. cvi, 28).
In their conquest and settlement of the land of Canaan they did
not succeed in utterly driving out the idolatrous inhabitants who
were there before them, but made alliances with some of them,
and for a long time lived on friendly terms with neighboring states
and princes. According to Josh, xxiv, 14-28, the people entered
into a solemn covenant before Joshua and before God to put away
the strange gods and serve Jehovah only, their God who brought
them out of Egypt and drove out the Amorites and other peoples
before them; but the book of Judges tells us over and over how
these children of Israel persistently ran into evil, "forgat Jehovah
their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth," and were again
and again delivered by Jehovah into the hand of various heathen
oppressors. Thus they became leavened with the superstitions and
idolatry of the nations that were round about them. Ephod and
teraphim and molten images were connected with the priestly
service of a descendant of Moses in the house of Micah in Ephraim
and in the tribe of Dan (Judg. xvii, 5, 12 ; xviii, 18, 30). David's
wife, Michal, had one of these images in her house (1 Sam. xix,
13),and we can hardly suppose that Josiah succeeded in thoroughly
eradicating all such idolatry from the land (comp. 2 Kings xxiii,
24). The use of the ephod. as a means of ascertaining the mind
of God is repeatedly mentioned in the history of David (1 Sam.
xxiii, 9; xxx, 7), and seems in no essential principle to be different
from the methods of divination practiced by the king of Babylon
534

MONOLATRY 535
(comp. Ezek. xxi, 21). The prevailing worship on high places,
and that of the golden calves at Bethel and at Dan, witness the
strong trend of the popular worship to idolatrous customs. The
traditions of Samuel and of Elijah confirm these facts, and we find
that, in spite of all laws to the contrary and of all the efforts of
the great prophets to correct this evil, such idolatrous modes of
worship and defective conceptions of God were maintained in Israel
and in Judah until they were carried away into exile.
2. The Concept of Monolatry. The language of the biblical
record favors the belief that the concept of God, prevalent with the
ancient Hebrew patriarchs and with the Israelites long after the
exodus from Egypt, was that of monolatry rather than of absolute
monotheism. Whether the gods of other nations had a real exist
ence was at that time no concern of the children of Israel; it was
sufficient for them to know that Jehovah was greater than all the
gods (Exod. xviii, 11). The first commandment of the decalogue
neither assumes nor affirms the nonexistence of other gods, but
simply forbids the worship of any other by the people of Jehovah.
The language of Jephthah, in Judg. xi, 23, 24, recognizes Chemosh
as the god of the Ammonites in the same manner that it recognizes
Jehovah as the God of Israel. Even David seems to have supposed
that to be exiled from the land of Israel was to be driven out of the
inheritance of Jehovah into the service of other gods (1 Sam. xxvi,
19). Such a concept of a national or a local deity was widespread
among the ancients, and it finds expression in the language of the
Samaritan colonists in 2 Kings xvii, 26. Absolute monotheism,
moreover, was scarcely consistent with the Deuteronomic legislation
which aimed to localize the worship of Jehovah at one central
sanctuary (Deut. xii, 5-7). Such legislation had a certain value
and was a means of breaking down other local sanctuaries and the
idolatry connected with them, but it inculcated monolatry rather
than monotheism. It was not adapted to elevate the masses of com
mon worshipers above the idea that each nation and country must
have its own Deity. It begat the custom of pilgrimages to the
holy place and, so far, prevented the higher conception of God
which Jesus opened to the woman of Samaria when he declared
God to be a Spirit who reveals himself everywhere to the true wor
shiper. It should be seen, however, that the symbolism of profane,
and holy and most holy places serves the purpose of a suggestive
object-lesson of approach unto God, and may be very helpful to the
popular mind that is not prepared to receive the doctrine' of the
omnipresent Spirit. The graduated sanctity of holy places in the
Levitical tabernacle and in the temple had an educating value, and
the sacred structure with its furniture and services was a figure for

536 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
the time of spiritual mysteries which could be clearly discerned
only after the manifestation cf the Christ (Heb. ix, 8-10).
3. Jehovah a Terrible God. The concept of monolatry and the
national struggle for life against the gods and peoples of Canaan
combined to beget the idea that Jehovah was a most fearful Deity.
The Sinaitic theophany, as described in Exod. xix, 10-20, and xx,
18-21, inspired and was intended to inspire an awful sense of
Jehovah's power and majesty. Gideon saw Jehovah's angel face to
face, and was smitten with overwhelming fear (Judg. vi, 22, 23).
Manoah feared that he must die because he had seen God (Judg.
xiii, 22). Fearful also were the judgments which befell the men
of Beth-shemesh and Uzzah because of their presumption in med
dling with the ark of Jehovah (1 Sam. vi, 19; 2 Sam. vi, 6-8).
Such excessive fear of God led to strained and erroneous notions
of his justice. It sanctioned the law of retaliation (Exod. xxi, 24;
Deut. xix, 21) and many other statutes of a revengeful and bar
barous character. It was in full accord with the archaic jurispru
dence which destroyed the sons and daughters and all the posses
sions of a family because of the sin of the father, as in the case
of Achan (Josh, vii, 24-26). In this same spirit Samuel "hewed
Agag in pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal" (1 Sam. xv, 33), the
seven sons of Saul were "delivered over and hung up unto Jehovah
in Gibeah of Saul" (2 Sam. xxi, 6), and Elijah called down fire
from heaven to consume his enemies (2 Kings i, 10). Jehovah
himself was thought of as "a man of war," dashing his enemies in
pieces and consuming them as stubble (Exod. xv, 3, 7). As a
reason for prohibiting the worship of graven images he declares:
"I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation
of them that hate me." And this concept of the wrath, fury,
jealousy, and anger of Jehovah is traceable throughout the Old
Testament. It speaks out fearfully in the vindictive psalms. Both
the earlier and the later prophets express the same sentiment in
many an oracle. So far as any of these scriptures convey the
thought of Jehovah's essential hostility to all manner of evil they
contain a fundamental truth important in every stage of divine
revelation. The language employed is also largely figurative.
The jealousy of God is to be understood as a metaphorical allusion
to the true marriage relation. Jehovah is thought of as a faith
ful husband moved with a deep sense of wrong when his chosen
people, who are plighted to him in the bonds of a sacred covenant,
become unfaithful and act the part of a harlot (comp. Hos. ii,
2, 5; Isa. i, 21; 1, 1; Jer. ii, 2; iii, 1, 8; Ezek. xvi, 8). Against
such atrocious wrong the outraged love of God becomes a consum-

JEHOVAH OF HOSTS 537
ing fire and burns in fury as against the crime of highest treason
(comp. Deut. iv, 24; xxxii, 19-23).
4. Jehovah of Hosts. The phrase Jehovah of hosts occurs so
frequently in the Old Testament as to deserve a brief examination.
It comports with the poetical concept of Jehovah as a man of war,
the captain and leader of innumerable armies. The word K3X
(plural sebhaoth, hosts) is used in Exod. vii, 4; xii, 41, and fre
quently elsewhere in referring, to the armies of Israel, and nothing
was more familiar in the traditions of the nation than that Jehovah
led the hosts of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and "went before
them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by
night in a pillar of fire, to give them light" (Exod. xii, 51 ; xiii,
21). But the word is used also in referring to the sun, moon,
and stars as "the host of heaven" (Deut. iv, 19 ; 2 Kings xvii, 16 ;
Jer. viii, 2) and as objects of worship, since the vast array and splen
dor of the heavenly luminaries have from earliest times elicited the
adoration of many peoples. The word is used also of the angels
of heaven, conceived as a mighty host standing in Jehovah's pres
ence and ever ready to execute his orders (1 Kings xxii, 19; Psa.
ciii, 21). In course of time the phrase came to indicate in com
mon usage the Most High God, who rules the earth and the heavens
and all that is therein (Isa. xl, 22-26). His dominion is alike
over the hosts of the earth and of all the heavens.
5. Human Sacrifices. In view of the defective conceptions of
God in the earlier stages of religious thought and life, and also
in view of the terror and vengefulness of Jehovah as apprehended
by the Israelites, we need not wonder that many pious souls were
led to think that a human sacrifice must needs be the greatest pos
sible offering one could make to God. Abraham's apparent readi
ness to offer up his only son Isaac; Jephthah's offering of his
daughter in sacrifice, and Saul's purposed sacrifice of his son Jona
than (1 Sam. xiv, 45), imply that such offerings to God were not
looked upon as an abomination at the time. The offering of
children to Moloch at a later period (2 Kings xvi, 3; xxiii, 10)
shows how strong a hold this practice had upon multitudes in
Israel. Such a spectacle as the king of Moab sacrificing his eldest
son for a burnt offering upon the wall of the besieged city (2 Kings
iii, 27) was adapted to make a profound impression, and may
have commended itself to many Israelites in spite of all laws to
the contrary. See above, pp. 357, 358.
6. Ideas of God Enlarged with National Growth. But while
contact with other nations exposed the Hebrew people to many
corruptions of belief and morals, it also served at times to furnish
occasion and motive for enlarging their ideas of God and the world.

538 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
From the time of the exodus until their final dispersion the tribes
of Israel were brought in touch with the other peoples, and their
political and commercial relations together with their various
experiences of exile compelled them to come face to face with the
religious customs of such civil powers as Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria,
Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece, not to speak of their home
contact with powerful tribes on their immediate border. Enlarged
ideas of the world prepared the way for more exalted ideas of God,
and monolatry would gradually be displaced or supplemented by
the grander concept of monotheism. It was sufficient for the
nomadic Hebrew, and the Israelite domiciled in his land of
promise, to know that Jehovah was greater than all the gods of
the heathen, and to worship no other god besides. But when, under
David and Solomon, the tribes of Israel became a united nation
and a kingdom that ruled over all the kingdoms from the border
of Egypt to the river Euphrates (1 Kings iv, 21), possessing a
navy of ships that traversed the seas afar (1 Kings ix, 26; x, 22),
it became apparent that there could be no God in heaven or on
earth like Jehovah, the God of Israel, whom even the heaven of
heavens could not contain (1 Kings viii, 23, 27). Solomon, how
ever, with this lofty concept of Jehovah, fell into lamentable coali
tion with the religious cults of his foreign wives, and thus entailed
irreparable harm upon his kingdom and nation. Nevertheless, from
his time onward great prophets arose in Israel and inculcated the
monotheism which in the darkest times of the nation's exile pro
claimed : "I am Jehovah, and there is none else ; besides me there
is no God" (Isa. xiv, 5).
7. Significance of the Temple. The temple built by Solomon
served in a very powerful way to inculcate the doctrine as well as
the worship of Jehovah. Whatever the exact facts as to the taber
nacle at Shiloh (Josh, xviii, 1 ; Judg. xxi, 19, 1 Sam. i, 3) and its
history previous to the time of David, there is no question as to
its general plan of graduated holy places and its theocratic sig
nificance for the Hebrew people. These were the same in temple
and tabernacle. As a matter of fact, the temple of Solomon may
have had its pattern modeled after the plans of older structures in
Egypt and in Syro-Phcenicia, for the king of Israel procured Sido-
nian architects and builders from Hiram, king of Tyre. In Solo
mon's prayer of dedication the thought of God, whom the heavens
cannot contain, dwelling on earth, keeping his covenant of loving
kindness with his faithful servants, and hearkening to their sup
plications, is expressed as a marvelous revelation (1 Kings viii, 23,
27, 29). Three things of prime importance were emphasized by
means of the temple worship: (1) the holiness of Jehovah; (2)

THEOCRACY 539
his condescending grace in dwelling with his people, and (3) the
conditions on which his people may approach him and secure his
favor. The concept of monolatry was not without ethical content,
and the God whose worship was united with the moral code of the
decalogue must have been regarded as unapproachable in majesty,
"glorious in holiness and fearful in praises" (Exod. xv, 11). The
most secret and unapproachable places in Egyptian and Syro-
Phcenician temples were adapted to inspire feelings of awe in the
worshiper. But the idea of the ethical separateness and sanctity
of Jehovah was a revelation peculiar to Israel. It is noteworthy
that the song unto Jehovah, in Exod. xv, 1-18, celebrates the sanc
tuary, the holy habitation of Jehovah in the mountain of his
inheritance, as well as the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host in
the Red Sea. And no conceivable object-lesson could better ex
press and impress the absolute holiness of the God of Israel than
the symbolism of the Holy of holies in his sanctuary. Within that
secret place Jehovah was conceived as "enthroned above the cheru
bim" (Psa. lxxx, 1), and when the consecrated priest stood at the
golden altar of incense, with his face to the veil which hid the
holiest place from view, having the golden candlestick on his left
hand and the showbread on his right, he represented the pure wor
shiper in his nearest approach unto the Holy One of Israel. This
conception appears in the vision of Isaiah, when he saw Jehovah on
his throne, attended by the seraphim and heard them saying one
to another, "Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts ; the whole earth
is full of his glory" (vi, 3). The same symbolism also enhances
the idea of a covenant of grace, reaffirmed again and again since
the call of Abraham: "0 Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no
God like thee in heaven above nor on earth beneath; who keepest
covenant and lovingkindness with thy servants that walk before
thee with all their heart" (1 Kings viii, 23). Such a holy cove
nant requires also becoming obedience on the part of all the people.
They must "be perfect with Jehovah, to walk in his statutes and
to keep his commandments" (ver. 61).
8. Concept of a Theocratic Kingdom. The idea of a theocratic
government of the chosen people would be a very natural out
growth of the idea of a covenant between God and a tribe or nation.
In Exod. xix, 4-6, Jehovah thus speaks through Moses to the house
of Jacob : "If ye will obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then
shall ye be mine own possession from among all the people: and
ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation."
Whatever the exact time of its origin this concept of Jehovah as
King of Israel is very ancient, and it grew with the nation's
growth. When the elders of the people urged Samuel to appoint

540 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
over them a king to judge them after the manner of the other
nations, their request was construed as equivalent to a rejection
of Jehovah that he should not be king over them (1 Sam. viii, 7;
x, 19). Up to that time there had been no established ruler of
the people, no executive officer having permanent position and
authority in the state. God raised up the great leaders who from
time to time were recognized by the nation as lawgivers, judges,
and shepherds of the people. Moses, Joshua, and the successive
judges like Barak and Gideon, were each called out to meet emer
gencies, as the times demanded. To seek justice before such a
leader was "to inquire of God" (Exod. xviii, 15), and the decision
rendered was "the judgment of God" (Deut. i, 17). And so the
idea of Jehovah as Israel's immanent Ruler took strong hold of
the nation, and found expression in the great prophets, as in Isa.
xxxiii, 22: "Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jeho
vah is our king; he will save us." Whatever was the civil and
religious organization of the tribes at any period of their history,
the various princes, elders, officers, judges, and priests were but so
many subordinate ministers of Jehovah. And this theocratic idea
was by no means displaced by the establishment of the monarchy in
Israel. Jehovah was the great King, whom all kings and judges
of the earth should serve with fear and trembling (Psa. ii, 10, 11).
But Israel was Jehovah's peculiar treasure among the nations, a
chosen people, destined to serve a lofty purpose in the world.
Hence this people was shown peculiar favors :
When Elyon gave the nations their inheritance,
When he separated the children of men,
He set the bounds of the peoples
According to the number of the children of Israel.
For Jehovah's portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. Deut. xxxii, 8, 9.
It was in perfect accord with this Hebrew particularism that the
earlier monolatry should expand into the higher prophetic mono
theism. 9. Apocalyptic Visions of Jehovah. The thought of Jehovah as
the great King of Israel naturally led to the apocalyptic por
traitures of his heavenly throne and his hosts of ministering
angels. For when it was common to speak of God as "King of
all the earth, reigning over the nations, sitting upon his holy
throne" (comp. Psa. xlvii, 7, 8), it was easy to feel the power of
such a vision as that of Micaiah, in 1 Kings xxii, 19 : "I saw Jeho
vah sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by
him on his right hand and on his left." A similar picture is seen
in "the sons of God coming to present themselves before Jehovah,"

ANGELOLOGY 541
in Job 1, 6 ; ii, 1. Traces of the same imagery may be found in
Gen. i, 26 ; iii, 22, where God speaks as in the presence of a heav
enly assembly, and the plural form of utterance, "let us make,"
etc., is best explained, as in Isa. vi, 8, by supposing it addressed
to the angelic ministers of his royal court. In the first chapter
of Ezekiel this visional picture is drawn out in great detail, and
"the likeness of the glory of Jehovah" is enhanced by the opening
of the heavens, the four cherubic living creatures, radiant with the
brightness of burning coals of fire and flashes of lightning, moving
the wheels of a chariot that seemed instinct with life and bearing
above it the likeness of a throne, and "a likeness as the appearance
of a man upon it above." Quite similar is the vision, in Dan.
vii, 9, 10, of the "Ancient of days," sitting enthroned amid a
heavenly host; "his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of
his head like pure wool ; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels
burning fire. A fiery stream came forth from before him, and
thousands of thousands ministered unto him." Such portraitures
served to set forth the glory of the heavenly King of Israel, and
to cultivate the most exalted conceptions of his majesty and power ;
and yet, with all their grandeur and impressiveness, they contain
elements of anthropomorphism.
10. The Biblical Angelology. This apocalyptic concept of the
God of Israel, enthroned above the hosts of heaven and earth, with
thousands of thousands ministering unto him, furnishes the logical
basis of the biblical angelology. Even the Sinaitic theophany was
spoken of by the poets as a shining forth and a coming of Jehovah
"from the ten thousands of his holy ones" (Deut. xxxiii, 2). As
gods and goddesses form the machinery of the epic poets in their
descriptions of heaven, earth, and hell, so innumerable angels of
varying rank and power figure in the apocalyptic scriptures. In
Jacob's dream at Bethel there appeared "angels of God ascending
and descending" upon a ladder that reached from earth to heaven
(Gen. xxviii, 12). In the book of Daniel they are not only "ten
thousand times ten thousand" in number, but have distinctive ranks
and provinces. In Job i, 6; ii, 1; xxxviii, 7, "the sons of God"
are commonly understood to be a title for the angels of God. In
Zech. i, 8-11, we read the apocalyptic vision of the angel of Jeho
vah standing among the myrtle trees, accompanied by others who
appeared as so many riders upon horses of different colors, and in
vi, 1-8, of the same book is a similar vision of four chariots, drawn
by horses of varying color, and "going forth from standing before
the Lord of all the earth." They are called the four winds or
messengers of heaven (comp. Psa. civ, 3, 4). These visional
chariots are also to be compared with the elaborate vision of the

542 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
four cherubim and the mighty wheels of Jehovah's chariot in Ezek.
i, 4-28. All these are apocalyptic scriptures and symbolic of God's
immanence in the whole domain of creature life. He is the divine
Ruler of this world, and he is conceived as employing innumerable
messengers and ministers of his will. He is the regal Commander
of all the heavenly hosts, and no part of his dominion is to be
supposed to be left without the immediate oversight of one or more
such ministering spirits. How much of all this is imagery and
how much is reality we may not presume to say. It may all be
interpreted as a highly embellished doctrine of animism, the anim
ism of the Hebrew faith. It is immeasurably above that form of
animism which is found in primitive cults of nature worship, and
has its entire setting in the doctrine of a personal Deity,
Who covers himself with light as with a garment;
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain;
Who sends forth springs into the valleys;
Who waters the mountains from his chambers;
Who causes the grass to grow for the cattle;
Who touches the mountains and they smoke.
These and other like statements of Psalm civ present the true bibli
cal animism, all nature instinct with the life of God; and when
ever the concept employs the interposition of angels, the funda
mental fact in every case is that God himself, the Infinite Spirit,
is immanently present and active. Herein we find the sure basis
of our doctrine of universal Providence, so minute in its oversight
and care that never a bird, a beast, or an insect is without the
sympathetic attention of the omnipresent Spirit of the world.
The doctrine of angels is, accordingly, a phase of the biblical doc
trine of God. The glory of the "holy angels" is, in part, the glory
of the everlasting Father, and the whole concept of their heavenly
ministries in the interests of men has close affinity with the Jewish
ideas of the Shechinah, the manifested presence and glory of Jeho
vah among his people. Thus Jehovah went before them at the
exodus "in a pillar of cloud," and in Exod. xiv, 19, this pillar seems
to be identified with "the angel of God." On the whole, it is to
be observed: (1) The angel of Jehovah and Jehovah himself are
mysteriously identified in Gen. xvi, 11, 13; Exod. xxiii, 20-23;
xxxii, 34; xxxiii, 14; Isa. lxiii, 9. The angel of Jehovah who
called to Moses out of the burning bush spoke as being himself the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exod iii, 2-6). So the angel
of Jehovah is the personal manifestation of Jehovah himself. (2)
In a similar way the angels of the seven churches and "the angel
of the waters" (Rev. xvi, 5), in the Apocalypse of John, are in
some sense identified with the churches and with the waters. The

PROPHETIC MONOTHEISM 543
idea arises out of visional and symbolical modes of thought. (3)
The wide and varied use of the word angel in the sense of agent
or messenger of God accords with the idea that any ministrant
angel is really God himself working in the particular way de
scribed. Thus priests and prophets are Jehovah's angels (Mal. ii,
7 ; iii, 1) ; pestilences and winds also fulfill his word (2 Sam. xxiv,
17; Psa. civ, 4), and thus act as his agents and messengers. The
angels of God are invisible and innumerable powers of God imme
diately present and active in every part of his universe. (4) But
this poetic and apocalyptic concept of God's angels is by no means
exclusive of the actual existence and ministry of countless personal
spirits, who lovingly and intelligently cooperate with the Most
High in his dominion of the world. As we conceive the illimitable
universe alive with God in every part, we can as easily associate
with this idea the thought of ten thousand times ten thousand holy
angels whom he elects and constitutes to share his glory. This idea
has found a place in all the religions of mankind, but notably in
Mazdaism, from which it is not improbable that the Jewish people
borrowed somewhat during the time of Babylonian exile and under
the Persian domination, with which latter they were on most
friendly terms. As a people's doctrine of immortality and the
future life rises in dignity, coherency, and beauty in proportion
to the excellence of their doctrine of God, so the doctrine of angels
and principalities in the heavens of God is found to correspond
with the prevailing concept of the glory of God. That millions
of spiritual beings should be going up and down this earth in
ministries of wisdom and love is a thought so far from detracting
from the power of God that it Tather enhances in us the concept
of his heavenly majesty. The highest revelation of God in Christ
is depicted as an appearing in the glory of his Father with the holy
angels. 11. The Prophetic Monotheism. The Hebrew revelation of God,
as traceable in the Old Testament, appears in its highest and full
est excellence in the writings of the great prophets and poets.
The lofty monotheistic conception seems to have taken full pos
session of Amos, whose rapt soul hears the voice of Jehovah in
the thunder that roars out of Zion and withers the top of mount
Carmel (i, 2). Jehovah is no local deity, concerned for one land
and people only, for he sends his penal judgments on Damascus,
and Gaza, and Tyre, and Edom, and Ammon, and Moab, as well
as on Judah and Israel. He led the Philistines from Caphtor and
the Syrians from Kir as truly as he led Israel out of Egypt (ix, 7).
No one can escape his searching gaze, though he hide in the top
of Carmel or in the bottom of the sea, in the depths of Sheol or

544 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
in the heights of heaven (ix, 1-3). He controls the rain, sends
abroad the wasting pestilence, forms the mountains, creates the
wind, and declares unto man his inmost thought (iv, 7, 9, 13).
No evil may befall a city but Jehovah has something to do with
it (iii, 6). His hand spreads out the constellations of heaven, and
"turneth the shadow of death into the morning" (v, 8). But he
is a moral Ruler, who hates the evil, and loves the good, and estab
lishes justice and is very gracious and merciful (v, 14, 15) ; he
will not accept feasts and burnt offerings in place of righteousness
(v, 21-24), and "the day of Jehovah" will come as a woeful dark
ness upon all transgressors (v, 18-20). In the prophecy of Hosea
we find the same lofty monotheism. The God of Israel rules over
the whole creation, and makes Egypt and Assyria serve his pur
poses. He has power over death and Sheol (xiii, 14) ; Besides
him there is no savior (xiii, 4). He abhors and punishes all
manner of sin, and "has a controversy" with the land whose inhabi
tants do any sort of evil (iv, 1-5). He "desires goodness and not
sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings"
(vi, 6). But that which is specially prominent in Hosea is the
doctrine of God's tender compassion for Israel in their backsliding:
"How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I cast thee off,
Israel? My heart is turned within me, my compassions are kin
dled together" (xi, 8 ; comp. xiv, 4-7 ; 18-20) . Micah is not behind
his contemporaries in magnifying the universal power and domin
ion of Jehovah, and he, too, in exceptionally strong terms, declares
the relative worthlessness of ritual offerings as a substitute for
doing justice, lovingkindness, and walking humbly with God (vi,
7, 8). Who is a God like unto Jehovah, who pardons iniquity,
delights in loving-kindness, and performs the truth and the loving
kindness which he swore unto Abraham and Jacob from the days
of old? (vii, 18-20.) Isaiah even surpasses his contemporary
prophets in extolling the glory and power of Jehovah. His vision
of "the King, Jehovah of hosts," "sitting upon a throne, high and
lifted up" (vi, 1-5) imparts peculiar impressiveness to his descrip
tions of the supernatural power by which the Assyrian is used as
a sharp razor and as a rod to execute the purposes of God (vii, 20 ;
x, 5, 33). Egypt, and Elam, and Shinar, and Hamath, and the
islands of the sea are under Jehovah's oversight and power as truly
as are Judah and Ephraim (xi, 11-16). This great prophet also
proclaims the worthlessness of burnt offerings, and incense, and
solemn meetings, when the worshipers are spiritually unclean and
do not "seek justice, judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow
(i, 10-17). In the book of Jeremiah the same high doctrine
appears again and again. "Jehovah is the true God; he is the

THEOLOGY OF THE PSALMS 545
living God and an everlasting King ; at his wrath the earth trem
bles and the nations are not able to abide his indignation" (x, 10).
He is ruler of the sun and moon and stars, and the waves of the
sea (xxxi, 35) ; nothing is too hard for him (xxxii, 17, 27). He
fills heaven and earth (xxiii, 24), and executes judgments upon
all the nations of the earth (chaps, xl — li). In like manner six
chapters of Ezekiel (xxv — xxx) declare Jehovah's absolute domin
ion over all nations and kingdoms. The same doctrine appears
also in the words of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. But
more impressive than any other prophet in portraying the absolute
dominion of God in the world is the great author of Isa. xl — lxvi.
In many forms of rhythmic oracle he speaks of Jehovah as "the
Holy One of Israel," as the almighty Being "who hath measured
the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with
the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance.
. . . He sitteth above the circle of the earth and the inhabitants
thereof are as grasshoppers; he stretcheth out the heavens as a
curtain, and bringeth princes to nothing, and maketh the judges
of the earth as vanity" (xl, 12, 22, 23). There is no other God
besides him, and he forms the light and the darkness (xiv, 5-7).
His thoughts and his ways are immeasurably above those of men
(lv, 8, 9). But though heaven is his throne and earth his foot
stool (lxvi, 1), his special delight is to attend to "him that is
poor and of a contrite spirit." His loving-kindness, great good
ness, and mercies toward Israel were so deep that "in all their
affliction he was afflicted" (lxiii, 7-9). He loves justice and hates
robbery, and he anoints his prophet to "preach good tidings unto
the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to
the captives, to comfort all that mourn" (lxi, 1-3). Such oracles
of God reach no higher strain than in the writings of this great
poet-prophet of the Babylonian exile.
12. Theology of the Psalter. The Hebrew Psalter contains
many conceptions of the power, wisdom, and love of God which
are well worthy of a place beside the noblest monotheistic teach
ings of the Prophets. The five books of the collection, as they
now stand in the Hebrew canon, contain psalms of various dates
and authorship. It is impossible for us to determine the origin or
the age of many of these sacred lyrics, but as touching the creation
and dominion of the world, they all present one common idea of
God. He is the Author of all things, and the visible universe is
an open book from which we may learn of God's wisdom and power.
The heavens declare his glory and the firmament shows the work
of his hands (xix, 1).

546 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made,
And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He layeth up the deeps in storehouses.
For he spake, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast. Psa. xxxiii, 6-9.
His omnipresence is magnificently celebrated in Psa. cxxxix, 7-10.
He is also described as laying the foundations of the earth,
stretching out the lofty heavens, sending forth springs into the
valleys, caring for the birds and the beasts, and making the grass
grow for the cattle. Whether these thoughts be expressed in a
song of praise or formulated into a creed, their doctrine is that of
a personal Power and Intelligence who brought all things into
existence, and on whom all things depend. Other psalms proclaim
his tender mercies, his holiness, righteousness and truth. There
is probably no hymn or spiritual song that has comforted more
human souls than the twenty-third psalm, in which Jehovah is
extolled as a tender shepherd and a. royal host. Beautiful also is the
beginning of Psa. lxxxix: "I will sing of the lovingkindness of
Jehovah for ever; with my mouth will I make known thy faith
fulness to all generations." This gracious Lord is the dwelling
place of his people in all generations, and with him a thousand
years are but as one day (xc, 1, 4). He gives his angels charge
over the faithful soul that abides in his secret fellowship (xci, 1,
3, 11). He reigns also in heavenly splendor and majesty, dis
closes his righteousness before the nations, while at the same time
his loving-kindness toward them that fear him is great as the
heavens are high above the earth (xciii, 1; xcviii, 2; ciii, 11).
13. Hebrew Ideal of Creation. The post-exile Judaism added
little or nothing to the high monotheistic teachings of the
Prophets, for the later psalms do no more than repeat in substance
the older concepts of the God of Israel. At this point, however,
we may well adduce the ideal of creation as depicted in the first
chapter of Genesis. This magnificent composition is now quite
generally believed to be the work of a great Jewish theist of the
exile period, who was inspired to write the sacred traditions of
his people from the priestly point of view. Whatever interpre
tation of this creation-narrative one may hold, there is no mistak
ing the author's sublime conception of the divine origin of the
world. God who in the beginning made the heavens and the earth
must himself have been without beginning. He is the source of
light and of all life, and by the word of his power he brings the
things which now appear out of that which is not seen (comp.
Heb. xi, 3). All the growths of nature and all kinds of animal

THE MESSIANIC HOPE 547
life spring forth at his command, and the advance in the order
and ranks of creaturehood from lower to higher, from vegetable
up to man, reveal the Creator as a being of infinite power and
intelligence who sees the end from the beginning. The entire
description is as charmingly simple as it is impressively sublime.
Its doctrinal content is in substantial agreement with the Prophets
and the Psalms. Even the New Testament repeats without any
noticeable addition these Old Testament ideas of creation by the
immediate agency of God.1
14. The Messianic Hope of Israel. One of the most noteworthy
portions of the Hebrew revelation of God's wisdom and love is the
Messianic hope which appears variously set forth in the Law, the
Prophets, and the Psalms. This Messianic hope appears like a
prophetic gospel running through all the sacred literature of the
chosen people. The various oracles point to a future birth of an
anointed Person and a new era destined to bring the highest good
to men. According to Gen. ix, 27, God is somehow to enlarge
Japheth and dwell in the tents of Shem. A future seed of Abra
ham is to be made a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen.
xii, 3; xxii, 18). The seed of the woman is to bruise the head of
the serpent (Gen. iii, 15). God will raise up a prophet like unto
Moses out of the midst of Israel (Deut. xviii, 15, 18). David is
not permitted to build a temple for Jehovah, but he is told that
one of his sons shall build the house, "and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father and he shall
be my son" (2 Sam. vii, 13, 14). This thought is taken up and
celebrated in the Messianic psalms (e.g., ii; ex). Amos declares
that Jehovah will raise up the fallen booth of David (ix, 11).
Other prophets repeat the hopeful promise in a variety of ways.
Zephaniah and Jeremiah, in the face of appalling calamities, when
Judah is about to be carried into Babylonian exile, express the
unwavering confidence that the mighty God of Jacob will redeem
his people from exile and establish David's throne forever (Zeph.
iii, 8-20; Jer. iii, 14-18; xxiii, 5-8; xxxii, 36-42; xxxiii, 14-26).
Ezekiel assures the captive people of a restoration that shall be
like a resurrection from the dead, and indicates that the temple,

1 See the exposition of these creation records in Biblical Apocalyptics, pp. 38-49.
But no exposition of the biblical records furnishes us with any certain information
of the method of God's creation. All things that appear might have been brought
forth by a process of evolution continuing through ages of ages, for all that the
Scriptures teach to the contrary. Nor is there anything in these ancient records
to assure us that God created the material world "out of nothing." Some such
thought may be implied in 2 Mace, vii, 28, but the language of Heb. xi? 3, is
more guarded: "That which is seen has not been made out of things which do
appear." This is not equivalent to saying that the visible creation was produced
out of nothing. God is of himself the cause and source of all things, and all things
are dependent upon him. Comp. Bowne, Philosophy of Theism, pp. 170, 178, 179.

548 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
and city, and land of Israel shall become the dwelling place of
Jehovah. The great prophecy of the exile (Isa. xl — lxvi) abounds
with words of comfort for the people of Jehovah. "Israel shall be
saved in Jehovah with an everlasting salvation" (xiv, 17), and
Jehovah will even create new heavens and a new earth, in which
the seed and name of Israel shall remain forever (Ixv, 17 ; lvi, 22).
The post-exilic prophets continue this Messianic hope, and Zecha
riah speaks of "the man whose name is Branch," who shall grow
up and build the temple of Jehovah, and be a priest upon his
throne (iii, 8; vi, 12, 13). This hope continued to strengthen in
the nation's heart, and was never more expectant than at the time
of the birth of Jesus Christ.
15. A Purposed Goal in Human History. This magnificent
series of prophetic oracles, taken as a whole, contains a most
remarkable revelation of the character of God. They show that he
who created the heavens and the earth, and placed man over all
other orders of living things, yearns over his offspring with the
affection of a father. Though his children disobey, and provoke
him to anger, and grieve his heart, the everlasting Ruler purposes
in his infinite wisdom to destroy the operations of evil and to
introduce eternal righteousness (comp. Dan. ix, 24). He is both
a loving Father and a righteous Judge. He chooses Israel as a
firstborn son, a child, however, subjected to chastisement, and exile,
and many sorrows, in order that he and all others who learn to
obey the truth may become partakers of a glorious inheritance.
He reveals himself to them in many ways, and confirms his cove
nant with the fathers in spite of all their unfaithfulness. In the
darkest days of oppression he cheers them with the prophetic word :
"Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is
risen upon thee. . . . Nations shall come to thy light, and kings
to the brightness of thy rising. . . . Thy sun shall no more go
down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for Jehovah shall
be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be
ended" (Isa. Ix, 1, 3, 20, 21). Thus in all this series of divine
revelations we may see how times and nations and individuals are
made to contribute to the consummation of a goal of humanity,
so that God and man shall at last meet and dwell together in glori
ous felicity. These oracles of prophecy point us to an all-compre
hending Mind, who sees the end from the beginning, and who has
a blessed purpose running through the ages. Just when and where
and how the purposes of his grace shall reach fulfillment, the
prophets themselves are not gifted to make known, but they are
assured that God rules over the dominion of men, and their psalm
ists cry:

GOD A FATHER 549
Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah;
The people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Jehovah looketh from heaven;
He beholdeth all the children of men.
Let thy lovingkindess, O Jehovah, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in thee. Psa. xxxiii, 12, 13, 22.
This prophetic concept of a goal of human history, toward which
the wisdom and love of God made a chosen people contribute in
an exceptional way, enables us to understand the real character of
the divine election of Israel. One great thought was impressed
upon the nation, from first to last : "Jehovah thy God hath chosen
thee to be a people for his own possession above all the peoples
that are upon the face of the earth" (Deut. vii, 6). Here is the
solemn announcement of a personal act of choice. Why he thus
chose and favored one people above all others is no more difficult
to answer than why he ever chooses one child of a family, or one
individual out of the thousands of a nation, to stand out separately
and conspicuously above the others. But exceptional favors impose
corresponding obligations, and in the revelation of the one true
God of heaven and earth Israel led the way, and has fulfilled the
promise made to Abraham and the purpose of God as declared by
the prophets.
16. Concept of God as Father. The highest and most endearing
concept of God, whether found in the Old Testament or in the
New, or among the nations anywhere, is that of Father. The
prophet Hosea (xi, 1) represents Jehovah as saying: "When Israel
was a child, then I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt."
Similarly, we read in Jeremiah, "I am a father to Israel, and
Ephraim is my firstborn" (xxxi, 9; comp. iii, 4, 19), and in Exod.
iv, 22, Moses is commanded to tell Pharaoh that Israel is the first
born son of Jehovah. In Mal. i, 6, Jehovah pleads with Israel
and says : "If I be a father, where is mine honor ?" He promised
through the word of Nathan to be a father to the son of David
(2 Sam. vii, 14), and the author of Psa. lxxxix, 26, 27, seems to
allude to this when he makes Jehovah say concerning some royal
son of David, He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father,
My God and the rock of my salvation.
I also will make him my first born,
The highest of the kings of the earth.
In Psa. lxviii, 5, God is proclaimed as "a father of the fatherless,
and a judge of the widows," and in Psa. ciii, 13, it is written,
"As a father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear
him." With all these statements one may also associate the words

550 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
of Isa. lxvi, 13 : "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I
comfort you." In Isa. lxiii, 16, the Israelites in exile, feeling that
their ancient fathers Abraham and Jacob no longer acknowledge
them as true and worthy descendants, are represented as crying out
unto Jehovah and saying : "Thou, 0 Jehovah, art our father, our
redeemer from everlasting is thy name." But in the next chapter
(Ixiv, 8) the relation of father is spoken of as equivalent to that
of creator: "0 Jehovah, thou art our father; we are the clay,
and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." In
most of these passages the Fatherhood of God is conceived as a
national relationship rather than a personal one, and the idea is
nowhere fully developed in the Hebrew scriptures. But wherever
the personal relation is suggested, it is that of God's gracious
tenderness and sympathy toward them that keep his law.
17. Summary of Old Testament Doctrine. The doctrine of God
derived from the Hebrew scriptures as a whole is worthy of our
highest admiration. In no nation or tribe of men before the time
of Jesus Christ can we find anything comparable to it as a revela
tion of the unseen mystery of the world of being. If the Deity
be at times conceived after the manner of a man, it is also made
emphatic that man himself bears the image and likeness of God.
If passions of jealousy and wrath are ascribed to him, it is because
he can have no fellowship with the wicked who disobey his law.
As far back as the oldest Hebrew records give us any light upon
the subject, the God of Abraham and the God who made the world
was conceived as a mighty Personality. He is no personification
of the forces of nature, and is never identified with the world or
with any of its visible forms of life. But he is worshiped as the
almighty Power who is back of all phenomena. He is conceived
as marching forth out of the fields of Edom, and making earth
and heaven tremble at his presence (Judg. v, 4, 5). He leads
the armies of Israel and causes the stars in their courses and the
floods of the ancient rivers to fight against Sisera. His interposi
tions in behalf of his servants David and Elisha are heard like "the
sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees" (2 Sam. v,
24), and like the "noise of chariots, and of horses, and of a great
host" (2 Kings vii, 6). He rides upon the whirlwind, utters his
voice in the thunder, sets bounds to the seas, sends forth springs
in the valleys, and makes the grass grow upon the mountains.
There is no spot in all the world where he is not. Heaven is his
throne; earth his footstool. And all these concepts of Deity are
in perfect accord with the purest theism, and find a place in Chris
tian hymnology as well as in Hebrew psalmody. For this "high
and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity" dwells not only "in the high

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD 551
and holy place," but also "with him that is of a contrite and
humble spirit" (Isa. lvii, 15).
(1) Essential Qualities of Nature. Speaking more particularly
of the essential qualities of the nature of God, as revealed in the
Hebrew scriptures, we should specify his unity. The distinguish
ing watch cry of Israel was, "Jehovah is one," and the monotheis
tic teaching declared that besides him there is and can be no God.
He is essentially omnipresent, eternal, immutable, the everliving
One. He is essentially spiritual in his nature, for "the Spirit of
God," and "the Spirit of Jehovah" are terms expressive of this
truth. (2) Personality of God. The unity and spirituality of the
divine nature necessarily involve the fact of personality. Any
being who knows and delights in what is good, ordains laws for
his subjects and punishes transgression must needs be a personal
agent. The God of Israel expressed himself as a self -revealing
personality in the utterance of the memorial name, I am who I am.
The greatest thing cognizable in human thought is personality, and
in the sublime picture of creation drawn by the Hebrew theist at
the beginning of his narrative, the final and highest act in the
order of the creation was the making of man in the image of God
We recognize this divine image in the personality of intelligence,
sensibility, and will. Man, thus made in God's image, may discern
the elements of the divine Personality in his own spiritual nature.1
All the categories of human thought assert themselves in the per
sonal consciousness of intellections, emotions, and acts of volition.
And all our ideas of time and space, of cause and effect, of law and
freedom, are without possible explanation, and, indeed, impossible
of statement, except as they are distinctively known in the personal
consciousness of each individual of the race.
(3) Divine Attributes in Personality. In accord with the fore
going analysis of personality the attributes of God may all be
comprehended under the trine division of omnipotence, omnis
cience, and omnisentience, or, in simpler terms, power, wisdom,
and love.s In the human being these three are manifest in acts of
1 "Personality," says Mansel, "comprises all that we know of that which exists;
relation to personahty comprises all we know of that which seems to exist. And
when from the little world of man's consciousness we would Uft up our eyes to the
inexhaustible universe beyond, and ask to whom aU this is related, the highest
existence is stiU the highest personality; and the Source of all being reveals him
self by his name, I AM." — Limits of Rehgious Thought. Bampton Lecture III,
p. 105. Boston, 1859.
2 Miley discriminates, we think very properly, between essence and attribute
in God. Such essential qualities of the divine nature as unity, eternity, and
spirituaUty are not strictly attributes, but designations of essential being. At
tributes inhere in personality, and, thus conceived, are capable of the most simple
classification. See Miley, Systematic Theology, Vol. I, pp. 160-164. New York,
1892.

552 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
the will and in states or operations of the intellect and the feelings,
and the same is true in God, the highest personality. The great
distinction between the divine and human personality is that in
God these attributes exist in absolute perfection.
Omnipotence. Our study of such names of God as El, Elohim,
and El Shadday led to the belief that the earliest conceptions
of the Supreme Being regarded him mainly as one possessed of
unlimited power. Those scriptures which imply a current mono
latry rather than monotheism extol the God of Abraham and of
Israel as the Mighty One who can send floods of waters to destroy
mankind, and rain fire and brimstone to overthrow the wicked
cities of the plain of Sodom. The marvels of the exodus made
known Jehovah's absolute control over all the elements of nature.
And so annalist and poet and prophet alike declare that there is
nothing in heaven or earth too difficult for him to accomplish
(comp. Jer. xxxii, 17, 27; Dan. iv, 35). He can "measure the
waters in the hollow of his hand, mete out heaven with a span,
comprehend the dust of the earth in a measure, and weigh the
mountains in scales" (Isa. xl, 12). As in the memorial name he
announced himself as I am that I am, so from beginning to end
of the Hebrew revelation he virtually declares I will do what I
will. "He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven,
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his
hand, or say unto him, What doest thou ?"
Omniscience. Wherever occasion offers, the Scriptures affirm
or assume that the Creator and Ruler of the world is infinitely
wise. By his wisdom he created the heavens and the earth. In the
bold imagery of Prov. viii, 22, 23, Wisdom is personified as abiding
with Jehovah "from eternity, from the beginning, before the earth
was." Within this rich envelope of poetic thought we perceive the
Hebrew doctrine of wisdom as an eternal attribute of the Creator.
In some deep sense wisdom and God are one. He knows and is
able to declare the end from the beginning, for he is the first and
the last (Isa. xliv, 6 ; xlvi, 10). He knows the innermost thoughts
of man (Psa. xciv, 11). Such omniscience must needs compre
hend foreknowledge of the goal of all human history, and what
soever enters into his eternal purpose of the ages and generations.
Omnisentience. We adopt this term for want of a better and
because of its obvious conformity to the very common words om
nipotence and omniscience. It serves to describe the God of Israel
as an infinitely sentient Being, capable of emotion, affection, and
the uttermost sensitiveness to all that is right and wrong, pure and
impure. This attribute comprehends all the moral qualities, such
as goodness, faithfulness, righteousness, and holiness, in divine

OMNISENTIENCE 553
perfection, for these may be properly thought of as expressions of
the moral sense of God. It has been too much the habit of theolo
gians to overlook the biblical revelations of divine emotion. It
has even been deemed a disparagement of the heavenly nature of
God to suppose him capable of any kind of suffering. To be a
perfect and blessed Deity he must needs be without passions. And
yet all relevant facts show that the most refined and exalted spir
itual natures are most susceptible of intelligent emotion. Beings
least capable of tender feeling are found among the lowest orders
of animal life. The notion that various emotions in God must
imply a limiting of his divine perfection has no basis in the Scrip
tures. Rather may it be affirmed that incapability of the various
emotions of pleasure and of pain would be a reprehensible limita
tion of the God of the Hebrew revelation. He is represented as
yearning in wonderful pity and compassion over the objects of his
care, and also as angry and deeply grieved over the sins of men.
"His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" (Judg. x, 16).
"How shall I give thee up, 0 Ephraim ? how shall I cast thee off,
0 Israel ? My heart is turned upon me, my compassions are kin
dled together" (Hos. xi, 8). Whatever element of anthropopa-
thism, or of poetic license, be recognized in such representations
of God, there is no mistaking the main thought. In all the afflic
tion of his people he was afflicted, and in his love and in his pity
he redeemed them (Isa. lxiii, 9) . They often rebelled against him,
and "grieved his Holy Spirit," but he did not cast them off. His
loving favors were adapted to cheer those who trusted him "as
one whom his mother comforteth" (Isa. lxvi, 13; comp. xlix, 15).
He was the loving Shepherd of Israel, and carried the lambs in his
bosom (Isa. xl, 11). The queen of Sheba said that "Jehovah was
in love with Israel for ever" (1 Kings x, 9), and, according to
Psa. ciii, 13, "as a father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth
them that fear him." Emotions of tenderest affection are thus
attributed to Jehovah. But the passion of hostility toward that
which is evil is as pure as the passion of love for that which is
good. Hence in numerous other texts of Scripture the righteous
ness, truth, fidelity, loving-kindness, and tender mercies of Jehovah
are extolled together. In Deut. vii, 9, the faithfulness of Israel's
God is thus declared: "Know that Jehovah thy God, he is God;
the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that
love him and keep his covenant to a thousand generations." The
idea of faithfulness is naturally associated with goodness and
mercy. It is noteworthy how frequently the words lovingkindness
(ion) and tender mercies (dWl) occur together in the Hebrew
Psalter. The righteousness and holiness of Jehovah are also inti-

554 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
mately associated. Righteousness and judgment are the founda
tion of his throne, for "Jehovah of hosts is exalted in judgment,
and the holy God is sanctified in righteousness" (Psa. lxxxix, 14;
Isa. v, 16). He is extolled by psalmists and prophets as "the Holy
One of Israel." So pronounced are the references to his holiness
that some writers would rank the title ETip, holy, among the
names of God.1 Others treat it as a synonym of the majesty and
glory of the divine nature, designed to sum up all the other perfec
tions of God, while others explain it as denoting Jehovah's peculiar
relations to Israel.3 Some truth attaches to all these views of
ttmp and yet it remains obvious that the holiness of Jehovah is
that quality of his emotional nature which separates him personally
from everything that can defile. He can have no fellowship with
the impure. This truth was made prominent in the Levitical
legislation. The graduated sanctity of the holy places in the taber
nacle, the consecration of priests and altar, the numerous and
minute distinctions between things clean and unclean, the entire
body of statutes embraced in Lev. xvii — xxvi, and now commonly
called the "Law of Holiness," and, above all else, the symbolism
and solemnity of the Holy of holies, in which only the high priest
was permitted to enter, once in the year, wearing a miter with a
golden plate inscribed "Holiness to Jehovah" — these provisions
served as an object-lesson to teach the immaculate separateness and
moral purity of the God of Israel. All these moral perfections, as
well as all affections of loving tenderness, are comprehended in the
divine attribute of omnisentience.

1 Piepenbring, Theology of the Old Testament, p. 106.
2 Schultz, Old Testament Theology, Vol. II, pp. 131, 168, 169. W. R. Smith,
Prophets of Israel, pp. 224-229.

SECTION THIRD
THE BEVELATION IN JESUS OHEIST

CHAPTER I
THE THREEFOLD MANIFESTATION
1. Love, Wisdom, and Power in the Person, Mediation, and
Kingdom of Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the study of whose
person, mediation, and kingdom we have devoted the chief portion
of this volume, has made known to us the nost perfect revelation
of God yet vouchsafed to mankind. That threefold manifestation
exhibits in each of its wonderful phases the love, the wisdom, and
the power of our heavenly Father, and we have seen that the
blessed Son of his love is the very incarnation of the invisible God,
the image of his substance, who in the days of his flesh declared
that "no man knows the Father but the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son willeth to reveal him." Our previous study of this Christ
has prepared us to see and now to point out the fact that, whether
we contemplate him in his person, his mediation, or his kingdom,
he is a revelation of the Father who sent him. His adorable per
sonality and his heavenly kingdom, as truly as his ministry of
reconciliation, disclose the eternal will, wisdom, and love of the
invisible Being, who has not left himself without witness among
any of the nations, but who spoke of old time to the Hebrew fathers
and prophets in an exceptional way, and made that peculiar people
a chosen possession "above all the peoples upon the earth."
2. Complemental to Old Testament Revelation. The New Testa
ment revelation of God is, accordingly, a fulfillment or a comple
ment of truths given of old in the Law and the Prophets. We find
in the gospels and epistles a recognition of the same essential
attributes of God which are extolled in the Hebrew scriptures.
The majesty and glory of Jehovah are there set forth in a manner
so marvelous that it would seem impossible to conceive anything
more awful and impressive. The unity, omnipotence, omnipres
ence, righteousness, and holiness of the God of Israel find such a
fullness of statement in the Prophets and the Psalms as to leave
little if anything additional to be expected in the New Testament.
But the Old Testament revelation is at its best incomplete and
555

556 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
one-sided. The almighty God of Israel is portrayed as high and
lifted up, dwelling in the thick darkness, true and righteous alto
gether, but his holiness is conceived in such solemn and awful
separateness from man as to repel rather than attract the common
soul. The severity of his judgments is so terrific that his loving
kindness is thrown into shadow. His choice of a peculiar people
for his own special possession has been construed too often into a
relative hatred of other nations, and the vindictive psalms witness
the extremes to which this feeling of vengeance toward enemies
gave way among the pious Israelites. The book of Esther is a
monument of this vindictive spirit, and there is little in the Hebrew
scriptures to correct or counteract it. While the Abrahamic
promise contemplated the blessing of all the families of the earth,
and the prophets at times caught the ideal of nations coming to
the light of Israel, the national partialism and the historical sepa
rateness of the people were so strong as to make the broader view
of no effect. The coming of Christ was to fulfill all that was excel
lent in the older revelation, supplement defects, correct the one-
sidedness of exclusive partialism, and introduce the universalism
of the gospel of a spiritual kingdom of heaven that was destined
to make all things new.
3. Christ the Power of God. In the manifestation of Christ we
behold a new revelation of the power of God. The prevalent idea
of God's power in the Old Testament and among the nations is
that of physical force. The Almighty is he who sends out his
lightnings, hurls the destructive thunderbolt, makes the mountains
tremble, and controls the proud waves of the sea. The New Testa
ment does not ignore that supreme power; it rather magnifies our
concept of omnipotence; but the manifestations of the power of
God in Christ are more conspicuously powers of the Spirit. It is
written that, after his temptations, "Jesus returned in the power
of the Spirit into Galilee" (Luke iv, 14), and from his person went
forth a kind of "authority and power" that healed all manner of
diseases, cast out unclean spirits, and wrought many other "mighty
works" which filled the hearts of multitudes with gladness. This
divine power was not only a wisdom and subtle force that could
analyze all kinds of sickness and impart the healing touch, but also
an authority to forgive the sins of men. As he that rules his
own spirit is mightier than the hero who takes a city (Prov. xvi,
32), so the heavenly power that works a revolution in one's inner
life is immeasurably greater than any physical force. The still
small voice of the unseen Spirit of Christ is mightier than the
strong wind and earthquake and fire, and it reveals a power that
never operates apart from infinite wisdom and love; for it is a

CHRIST THE WISDOM OP GOD 557
spiritual energy that thrills the soul, convicts of sin, regenerates the
moral life, and proves itself to be "the power of God unto salva
tion to every one that believeth." Hence the consciousness of
superhuman, spiritual authority over life and death, which, in
accordance with the Father's love, declared : "I lay down my life
that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I
lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again" (John x, 18). In accordance with such
authority Christ also further revealed the infinite resources of the
power of the Spirit in the whole work of his divine mediation ; for
we have seen that in all his mission and ministry of redemption
"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." And
his enthronement at the right hand of God is but another concept
of the heavenly power. All authority has been given unto him in
heaven and on earth, and it is no other than the authority and
power of God, which irresistibly, silently, steadily puts all things
in subjection under his feet, "all rule, and authority, and power,
and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come" (Eph. i, 21). In all this
Christ Jesus our Lord is a manifestation of the power of our
heavenly Father, and so we honor the Son as we honor the Father,
and worship and say, "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and
the glory."
4. Christ the Wisdom of God. But in Christ we behold the
wisdom as well as the power of God. The Old Testament extolled
the wisdom of Jehovah, and in Proverbs (viii, 22-31) we have the
personification of this eternal attribute conceived as rejoicing
always before the Creator of the world, and present as a master
workman when God established the heavens and the earth. The
New Testament makes Christ the embodiment of this heavenly
wisdom. The apostle speaks of a "full assurance of understand
ing" by means of which one may "know the mystery of God, even
Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowl
edge" (Col. ii, 3). This fullness of wisdom in Christ is seen in
"his understanding and his answers" which amazed the rabbinical
teachers in the temple while as yet he was but twelve years old.
While he was thus growing, waxing strong, and advancing in wis
dom and stature, he was filled in the developing capacities of his
manhood with "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The bibli
cal records clearly show his human limitations, and he himself
declared most emphatically, even when he was near the end of his
earthly career, that he was limited in his knowledge as the angels
in heaven (Mark xiii, 32) ; but there was no defect in the quality
of the wisdom with which he was divinely filled. There is great

558 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
significance in the phrase nXnpovfievov oo<f>ia, becoming full of wis
dom, in Luke ii, 40. His perfect human nature in its normal
growth from infancy to manhood was continuously filled with wis
dom, love, and power to his utmost capacity; but the human lim
itations of his incarnation remained until he was received up into
heaven. This limitation, however, was not of a nature to admit
of any error in thought, word, or deed. We make an absolute
distinction between defective knowledge that expresses itself in
terms of ignorance and in false opinions, and fullness of wisdom
and knowledge that declines to utter a word that is not true and
righteous altogether. The teachings of Jesus are a marvelous
treasury of divine wisdom and knowledge. No other man ever
thus spoke. His mission was to "bear witness unto the truth," and
in his heavenly wisdom to found and administer a kingdom "not
of this world" (John xviii, 36, 37). His mediation and his king
dom are alike a manifestation of the "great mystery of godliness."
The redemption of the world through Christ is to be conceived as
"God's wisdom in a mystery, even that hidden wisdom which God
foreordained before the ages unto our glory" (1 Cor. ii, 7). In his
entire ministry of personal teaching, of self-sacrificing mediation,
and of ruling until he shall have subdued the last enemy, he
appears as revealer of "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God."
5. Christ the Love of God. In all the depths of the riches of
heavenly revelations in Christ nothing so tenderly affects the heart
of man as his manifestation of the love of the Father. At his
baptism in the Jordan a voice from heaven proclaimed, "Thou art
my beloved Son ; in thee I am well pleased." The entire message
of the gospel centers in the blessed thought that God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son to save the world. The
apostolic exhortation is : "Be ye imitators of God, as beloved chil
dren, and walk in love even as Christ loved you." All this is in
deepest harmony with Christ's own prayer: "Holy Father, keep
them in thy name whom thou hast given me, that they may be one,
even as we are: I in them and thou in me, that they may be
perfected into one ; that the world may know that thou didst send
me, and lovedst them even as thou lovedst me." Alike then in his
person, his mediation, and his heavenly kingdom, Christ is the
supreme manifestation of the love of the Father, so that he may
well say, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." The
beloved disciple reiterates the blessed truth that "God is love."
All the ideals of tender affection, and even of passionate emotion,
which we found in the Old Testament doctrine of omnisentience,
appear in actual human manifestation in Jesus Christ. Whether

CHRIST THE LOVE OP GOD 559
he takes little children into his arms and blesses them, or tenderly
heals the sick and opens the eyes of the blind, or groans in the spirit
and weeps- at the gTave of Lazarus, or cries over Jerusalem, "How
oft would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" or
forgives the sins of the erring, and says even to the adulteress, "I do
not condemn thee; go and sin no more," or instructs his disciples
to forgive offenders unto seventy times seven; whether in his last
hour he commends his mother to the care of a beloved disciple, or
prays for the forgiveness of them that crucified him, and lays down
his own life in behalf of his friends and his foes — in all these acts
of love we behold not Jesus only, but the Father also. The God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is imaged in the incarnate
Christ himself, and every divine attribute which we have compre
hended under omnisentience is manifested in the same adorable
personality. He is the faithful and true witness and example of
the righteousness and the holiness as well as the love of the Father.
God did not lay aside any divine attribute, nor empty himself of
any essential quality of his nature in order to manifest himself
in the likeness of men, but, as we have shown in our study of the
person of Christ, it pleased the Father that in the Son of his love
should dwell "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The incar
nation was not a kenotic but a pleromic revelation of God.

CHAPTER II
CHRIST'S OWN TESTIMONY AND TEACHING
1. Jesus's Testimony in Matthew xi, 25-27. There is no saying
of Jesus preserved to us in the gospels that bears more directly on
the subject before us than the one written in Matt, xi, 25-27 : "I
thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst
hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst
reveal them unto babes : yea, Father, for so it was well pleasing in
thy sight. All things have been delivered unto me of my Father,
and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any
know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will-
eth to reveal him" (comp. Luke x, 21, 22). It is quite arbitrary
and unjustifiable to question this text, as some crities have done,
solely on account of its remarkable harmony with the doctrine and
style of the fourth gospel. Its sentiment is in thorough harmony
with the general spirit and teaching of our Lord, and the three
things which demand our careful attention are the following:
(1) The filial relationship of Jesus to God, and the consciousness
that he is personally the medium of a very special and superior
revelation of his Father; (2) this superior revelation is intelligible
to babes in understanding, that is, people of simple and receptive
hearts like guileless children, as against those who pride themselves
in their own wisdom and knowledge; (3) the Father himself
enjoys a real pleasure in thus revealing himself to such as are,
like Jesus, "meek and lowly in heart." These three noble truths
find ample support in other teachings of our Lord recorded in the
synoptic gospels, as we proceed to show.
(1) Fuller Revelation of the Father. The consciousness that he
came to reveal the Father in a more complete manner than had
been made known in the Law and the Prophets, is apparent in the
teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Both the substance
of his teaching and the authority with which he spoke astonished
the multitudes that heard him (Matt, vii, 28, 29). I came not to
destroy the law or the prophets, he says, but to fulfill. I declare
unto you a deeper sense in the old commandments than the world
has yet recognized. The law against murder is violated by every
one who is angry with his brother. The law against adultery is
broken even by the lustful look and thought. He is guilty of
560

CHRIST REVEALING THE FATHER 561
swearing profanely who allows his speech to go beyond the simple,
straightforward yea and nay. The law of personal retaliation and
hatred of enemies is to be superseded by the new commandment,
"Love your enemies and pray for them that persecute you; that
ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh
his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the
just and the unjust" (v, 44, 45). In the matter of prayer he puts
stress on one's personal approach to the Father. The psalmist
uttered one of the most affecting conceptions of Jehovah to be
found in the Old Testament when he said, "As a father pitieth
his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear him" (ciii, 13).
But the utterance is general, and is based on the conception of
reverential awe rather than of love in the heart of the child.
Jesus speaks of "thy Father," and inculcates personal confidence
and affection in one's approach unto God: "When thou prayest,
enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to
thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret
shall recompense thee" (vi, 6). He assures us that our heavenly
Father knows our needs before we ask him. Be not anxious, he
says, about food and drink and clothes. Your heavenly Father
feeds the birds, and clothes the lilies, and are ye not of much more
value in his sight than they ? And so, in addressing God in prayer,
he teaches us to say, "Our Father; give us our daily bread ; forgive
us our debts; bring us not into temptation." Elsewhere he says:
"Not one sparrow shall fall on the ground without your Father;
but the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (x, 39, 30).
With what personal confidence, then, ought we to pray unto our
Father who is in the heavens ! We are, accordingly, admonished
to be perfect children, inasmuch as we have such a perfect heavenly
Father (v, 48), and to let our light shine before men, that they,
too, may see, and know, and glorify our Father who is in the
heavens (v, 16). Other teachings of Jesus in the synoptic gospels
involve this same impressive doctrine of our heavenly Father. He
assures those who are persecuted and brought to bear witness for
him before governors and kings that it shall be given them in that
hour what they shall say by the Spirit of their Father (Matt.x,20).
This is in noteworthy harmony with the doctrine of the Comforter
in John's gospel. "Call no man your father on the earth," he
says (xxiii, 9), "for one is your Father, the heavenly." This
means that the filial relation to God should be realized in a man
ner so enhancing to our thought that no merely human title, not
even that of father, should for a moment lead us to forget our
blessed relationship to our heavenly Father. His frequent use of
the expression my Father has also its suggestions. ''Whosoever

562 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
shall do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my
brother, and sister, and mother" (xii, 50). Here, surely, Jesus
reveals his Father in a most personal and affectionate way. Every
pure human relationship is thus sanctified with those whose lives
are "hid with Christ in God," and all the blessed possibilities of
regeneration and eternal life take on an overwhelming heavenly
aspect by the suggestions of such spiritual relationship to "the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Add to this the
solemn words of Matt, x, 32, 33: "Every one who shall confess
me before men, him will I confess before my Father who is in the
heavens. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I
also deny before my Father who is in the heavens." Also those
of Matt, xv, 13 : "Every plant which my heavenly Father planted
not, shall be Tooted up." In all such statements Jesus not only
assumes a unique relation to God as his heavenly Father, but
also implies the provision for a personal filial relation to God of
all that love him. He also reveals the Father in various aspects
of his heavenly tenderness in such other sayings as, "If two of
you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask,
it shall be done for them of my Father who is in the heavens"
(Matt, xviii, 19). "It is not the will of my Father who is in the
heavens, that one of these little ones should perish" (ver. 14).
"Verily I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold
the face of my Father who is in the heavens" (ver. 10). "The
righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father" (xiii, 43). "I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my
Father appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table
in my kingdom; and ye shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel" (Luke xxii, 29, 30; comp. Matt, xix, 28). It is
impossible to study these sayings of our Lord and fail to see that
in a variety of profoundly suggestive ways he is making the Father
known to them that are willing to know him. His language has
at times the style of metaphor and proverb, but the essential
thought is never difficult to grasp, and in every instance we catch
some new and impressive glimpse of the love of our Father who
is in the heavens.
(2) Simplicity of Christ's Gospel of the Father. Furthermore,
this manner of revealing the Father has its peculiar adaptation to
those who possess childlike simplicity and willingness to learn the
truth. Things that concern our deepest needs, things of a very
practical character but of far-reaching importance, are often hid
den, by reason of barriers of their own construction, from those
who are wise in their own conceit. The simplicity of the gospel
of Christ is one of its highest claims upon our confidence, and the

CHRIST REVEALING THE FATHER 563
beatitudes, pronounced in Matt, v, 3-8, upon the poor in spirit, the
sorrowful, the gentle, the merciful, and the pure in heart surpass
in beauty and tenderness even such exceptionally comforting words
of the Old Testament as, "Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a
broken heart, and saveth such as are of a contrite spirit" (Psa.
xxxiv, 18) ; or those of Isa. lvii, 15 : "I dwell in the high and
holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit."
The simple adaptation of Christ's teaching to touch the heart of
humanity everywhere is its crowning excellence. Herein he sur
passes psalmists and prophets that were before him. While it is
written, in Dan. vii, 27, that "the kingdom and the dominion, and
the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be
given to the people of the saints of the Most High," Jesus says,
"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom" (Luke xii, 32). In explaining the purpose
of his parables he said to the disciples : "Unto you it is given to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (who
vainly pride themselves in ability to see and hear) it is not given.
. . . Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they
hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous
men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and
to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not" (Matt, xiii,
11-17; comp. Luke x, 21-24). All this and much more of a
similar kind illustrates the simple, direct, and touching manner in
which Jesus made known the Spirit of his Father and our Father
who is in heaven.
(3) The Father's Delight in His Children. But these same
teachings also reveal the delight of our heavenly Father in com
municating his grace to those who are of a receptive heart. Such
revelation is a positive pleasure (ebdoKla, a delightful satisfaction)
unto him. He is as well pleased to impart the riches of his king
dom to his children as he is well pleased in his beloved Son (Matt.
iii, 17 ; xvii, 5). As the Father loves his anointed Son, and delights
to honor him, he reveals in this conspicuous fact that he has
exquisite joy in all his obedient children. The great command
ment which Christ extols as comprehensive of the whole Law and
the Prophets would be without force if we did not assume that the
Father himself loves us with an affection that passeth understand
ing. How wonderfully and genuinely must he love us to expect
that we love him with all the heart and soul and mind and strength !
He surely expects reciprocal affection, and in the entire ministry
of his Son Jesus Christ he has given us assurance of his unspeak
able pleasure in manifesting his holy love for man, and in receiving
from man the simple, childlike response of a love unfeigned.

564 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
2. Great Advance on the Old Testament View. In this more
personal revelation of the love of our heavenly Father, Jesus made
a noteworthy advance beyond the general teaching of the Old Tes
tament. He spoke with an authority greater than that of Moses
and the prophets, and in proportionate clearness brought God
nearer to the human heart. For while the Law and the Prophets
and the Psalms extol the loving-kindness and long-suffering of
the God of Israel, and in a few instances ascribe to him the title
of Father, the power, majesty, righteousness, and holiness of God
receive by far the more elaborate treatment. In that older time
the nation and the family were put so far above the individual that
personal interests were comparatively lost from sight. Hence when
Jehovah says in Jer. xxxi, 9, "I am a father to Israel, and
Ephraim is my first-born," it is the nation, the people as a col
lective body, not the individual Israelite, that is thought of as "the
dear son, the darling child" (ver. 20). So, too, in Hos. xi, 1,
"when Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out
of Egypt," it is not an individual but all the tribes of Israel that
the prophet has in mind. The same appears in Exod. iv, 22:
"Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is my son, my first-born." Also in
Isa. lxiii, 16; Ixiv, 8, "Thou, 0 Jehovah, art our Father," is the
cry of Jehovah's servant Israel, who calls himself "thy holy people,
the tribes of thine inheritance." While such a collective idea of
Jehovah's first bom son was the prevailing thought, the true per
sonal relation of each individual to God as his heavenly Father
could not be fully made known. This highest and holiest personal
relationship was first brought to light in Jesus, who at twelve
years of age spoke confidently of "my Father" (Luke ii, 49), and
whom at the Jordan the voice out of heaven proclaimed as "my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." What the prophet Hosea
(xi, 1) said of Israel as a people, the evangelist sees fulfilled per
sonally in Jesus (Matt, ii, 15). The magnificent language, which
in Isa. xiii, 1-4, is addressed by Jehovah to Jacob his servant and
Israel whom he has chosen, is in Matt, xii, 18-21, applied directly
to Jesus Christ. And, similarly, in all the teaching of our Lord
relative to his Father and our Father who is in heaven, he puts
forward the more personal revelation of the Father to the indi
vidual heart of everyone "to whom the Son willeth to reveal him."
3. The Only One Good. It is further to be remarked that in his
revelation of the Father Jesus declares him as the one God who is
the impersonation of all goodness. To the man who addressed
him as "good Master," he said : "Why callest thou me good ? None
is good save one, the God" (hg; b &e6g-\ Mark x, 18). This declara
tion should not be construed into a denial of Christ's goodness, but

JOHANNINE DOCTRINE OF GOD 565
is designed rather to put forward the highest conception of per
sonal goodness and center it in God. Somewhat after the manner
of Eliphaz (in Job iv, 18; xv, 15), who would enhance the thought
of God's holiness by suggesting that his holy ones and even the
heavens themselves are comparatively unclean, Jesus affirms that
God alone is absolutely good. This characteristic quality of the
divine nature must needs comprehend all those moral attributes
which we have classified under omnisentience, namely, faithfulness,
goodness, loving-kindness, emotionality, righteousness, and holi
ness; and hence we learn that the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ possesses all these qualities in absolute perfection.
The Pharisee, whose notions of righteousness and goodness were
altogether conventional, and who was wont to "tithe mint, and
rue, and every herb, and pass over the justice and the love of God"
(Luke xi, 42), was hardly susceptible to such a revelation of divine
goodness as these words of Jesus contain. This declaration con
cerning goodness might perhaps be paraphrased so as to conform
to what our Lord said about his knowledge of the day and hour
(Mark xiii, 32) : "No one is absolutely good, not even the angels
in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."
4. Doctrine of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel. The peculiarities of
the fourth gospel are such as to justify our study of its doctrine of
God in connection with the same doctrine found in the first epistle
of John. In both gospel and epistle we find the teaching of Jesus
touching his heavenly Father set forth in language and style
peculiar to the Johannine writings, but the doctrine is in all essen
tials in complete harmony with that of the synoptic gospels. The
doctrine of the Logos, in whose incarnation was beheld "a glory as
of an only begotten from a Father full of grace and truth," has its
commanding significance for the true revelation of God. There
are also other statements of a general character, which here call for
only a passing notice. The Father is "the only true God" (xvii, 3 ;
comp. vii, 28 ; viii, 26) ; he is the "holy Father," and the "righteous
Father" (xvii, 11, 25), also "the living Father," who has life in
himself, and has given to the Son to have life in himself (vi, 57 ;
v, 26). In the first epistle (i, 9 ; ii, 29 ; iii, 7 ; v, 20) we meet with
the same general statements, and from all such teaching we derive
the concept of a blessed Father, full of grace and truth, existing
through eternity but manifesting himself in time as holy and right
eous altogether, and that supreme manifestation is in and through
his Son.
(1) God is Spirit. The most specific declaration of the essen
tial nature of God to be found in John's gospel is in iv, 24, where
Jesus says to the woman of Samaria, "God is Spirit." The Greek

566 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
word nveifia, Spirit, is here without the article and occupies the
emphatic position in the sentence, thus notably describing the
nature rather than the personality of God. The Samaritan woman
seems to have held the old notion of her ancestors (comp. 2 Kings
xvii, 26, 27) that each country has its local deity, and that within
that region one place of worship would be more acceptable than
another. Over against this notion Jesus set forth the sublime
spiritual and monotheistic concept of God, the one universal
Father, whose presence may be known in any place. Nay, instead
of presuming to find God in this mountain or in that, the Father
himself is the one who seeks the true worshipers. The real con
cern of one who would know the Father must be, not a question of
time, and place, and outward forms of reverence, but the spirit and
truth in which he opens his inmost soul to the reception of that
which is good. Spiritual truth may be spiritually discerned in any
place, and every spot where God thus makes himself known to his
true worshiper is holy ground. The essential attributes of a spirit
are not and cannot be seen by fleshly eyes, but they may be felt
and known in personal consciousness. Spirit answers to spirit,
and God's wisdom, love, and power are spiritual verities to be truly
apprehended by spiritual intuition. Only the spiritual man can
truly discern, examine, and receive the things of the Spirit of God.
(2) God is the Life and the Light. We have noticed that, in
John vi, 57, Jesus calls God "the living Father." In another place
(v, 26) he says: "As the Father hath life in himself, even so gave
he to the Son also to have life in himself." Accordingly, the pro
logue of this gospel declares that "in him was life, and the life was
the light of men" (i, 4) . The coming of Christ is that men "may
have life, and may have it abundantly" (x, 10). Life and light
are thus closely associated in the mind of this evangelist, and the
main thought is that of spiritual life and its heavenly illumination.
God is the one eternal source of life and light, and these he imparts
to man through the incarnation of the Word through whom all
things were made. Hence by necessary implication the Father is
the source of all life and all light in the universe. All possibilities
of life, vegetable, animal, and spiritual, exist primordially in him.
Life and light associate naturally together, and since "the life was
the light of men," Jesus says with great force, "I am the light of
the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life" (viii, 12). In this connection the
language of 1 John i, 5, may well be cited : "God is light, and in
him is no darkness at all." He became incarnate that he might
appear and witness "the true light which lighteth every man" (i, 9 ;
ix, 5; xii, 46).

GOD IS LOVE 567
(3) God is Love. The love of the Father finds highest expres
sion in the person and work of his "only begotten Son." The
language of John i, 18, is very remarkable. It is "the only begot
ten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father," who alone can fully
reveal him. This statement is in substance the same as that of
Jesus himself in Matt, xi, 27, but in this fourth gospel we note
the phrases only begotten Son, and the bosom of the Father. These
are terms of holiest affection, and the concept of the eternal Word,
in the beginning with God, existing in the glory of the Father,
and beloved of the Father before the world was (comp. xvii, 5, 24),
yet becoming flesh and manifesting himself as a man among men,
is unique and marvelous among all the self-revelations of God.
While this Son of the Father makes known the truth and holiness
and righteousness of God, and magnifies all moral excellencies to
the highest conceivable perfection, his manifestation of the love
of God has noteworthy preeminence. The classic text, which em
bodies the whole gospel in one sentence, is John iii, 16 : "God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life." This is
the love divine which, when duly felt, prompts our loving God with
all the heart and soul. "As the Father hath loved me, I also have
loved you: abide ye in my love" (xv, 9). The same idea of God's
love is emphasized in the first epistle of John. We are to love
one another because "love is of God, and every one that loveth
is begotten of God, and knoweth God." Thus every true child of
God is to know the love of the Father, and all such are to love one
another also, as dear children, in whom God delights to abide and
perfect his own heavenly love. "God is love ; and he that abideth
in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him" (iv, 7-16).
"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that
we should be called children of God" (iii, 1). All these sayings
are but echoes of the teaching of Jesus in the gospel according to
John. God is the tender, affectionate, all-compassionate Father.
As truly as he is a Spirit so also God is love, and we think of his
omnisentience as preeminently the delicate sensitiveness of an
infinite loving-kindness toward his whole creation. The groaning
and travailing world of life suffers no emotion that is not also
felt in the bosom of the Father. How unfathomable the love that
so grasps the world as to feel every joy and every pang of insect,
bird, beast, and child of man that ever lived and moved upon the
face of the earth, in the depths of the sea, or in the heavens above !
(4) Johannine Concept of the Fatherhood. The name of the
Father is employed in referring to God about one hundred and
twenty times in the gospel, and twelve times in the first epistle of

568 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
John. The expression is generally "the Father," and frequently
"my Father," but, with the sole exception of xx, 17, "your Father"
does not appear as in the synoptic gospels. To the unbelieving
Jews who claimed God for their Father he said: "If God were
your Father, ye would love me, for I came forth and am come
from God. ... Ye are of your father the devil" (viii, 42-44).
So in the parable of the tares those who offend and work iniquity
are called "sons of the evil one" (Matt, xiii, 38) . There is nothing
in the nature of fatherhood nor in the yearnings of love to coerce
filial obedience in any human heart. And so while all men are
offspring of God, and the whole world of life has its origin in the
eternal Spirit, men have rebelled against God, rejected his truth,
alienated themselves from his fellowship, and "sold themselves to
do evil." But on the other hand, to as many as receive this Son
of God, "gave he the right to become children of God" (i, 12).
This "right to become children of God" is a Johannine phrase,
and the idea is not very different from Paul's doctrine of
adoption (vlo&eaia). It is the gracious bestowal of a peculiar
power or authority (kgovoia) for personal fellowship with God
and with Christ. To those who enjoy such filial right the father
hood of God becomes in Christ a blessed and glorious vision. "He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (xiv, 9). The ever
lasting Father lives, loves, and shows his wisdom and power in
the person of his Son, whom he has sent to be the Saviour of the
world. There are many mansions in the Father's house prepared
for and awaiting those that love him (xiv, 2), and it is the only
begotten Son who prepares them, and comes and receives his own,
and takes them away to behold his heavenly glory. The Father
is thus manifested and glorified in the Son. Hence the force and
suggestiveness of the words, "I am in the Father and the Father in
me." At the same time the dependence of the Son upon the Father
is declared in most positive terms: "The Son can do nothing of
himself, but what he seeth the Father doing; for what things
soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. For the
Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself
doeth" (v, 19, 20; comp. viii, 28; xii, 49). It is in accordance
with this self -testimony that he can both say, "I and the Father are
one" (x, 30), and "the Father is greater than I" (xiv, 28). The
Father as the infinite source of all love, wisdom, and power holds
the essential relationship of fatherhood, but in the outworking of
his purpose of redemption he acts in dynamic unity of fellowship
with the only begotten Son, and the real basis of such fellowship
is a spiritual unity of nature and of life.

CHAPTER III
APOSTOLIC CONCEPTS OF THE FATHER
1. In the Epistle of John. It is a revelation in itself to study
and discover the concept of "our Father who is in heaven" as it
appears in the teachings of the first apostles of our Lord. We have
already observed that the doctrine of the first epistle of John is
in substance identical with that of the fourth gospel. There are,
however, a few passages in the epistle which deserve additional
notice as illustrating the writer's conception of the Father. His
controlling thought may be supposed to have had its origin in that
profound supplication of Jesus that Christian believers everywhere
"may all be one, even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that thou
didst send me" (John xvii, 21). For at the beginning of his
epistle he observes : "Our fellowship is with the Father, and with
his Son Jesus Christ" (i, 3). Hence the whole company of
believers are as "little children," who "have an Advocate with the
Father," and "know the Father," and know also that "all that is
in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the
vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (ii, 1,
13, 16). What manner of love such sonship and such knowledge
of God display! (iii, 1.) Hence the great lesson that "every one
that loveth is begotten of God and knoweth God, and he that loveth
not knoweth not God; for God is love" (iv, 7, 8). Such knowl
edge of God and loving fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ bring
the purified believer as a little child into the very bosom of the
Father. 2. In the Other Catholic Epistles we meet only incidental refer
ences to God as "the Father" (James i, 27 ; iii, 9 ; 1 Pet. i, 2, 3, 17 ;
2 Pet. i, 17; Jude 1; 2 John, 3, 4, 9). The expression Father
of lights, in James i, 17, is peculiar, and points to God as the
creator of the heavenly luminaries, sun, moon, and stars, as told in
Gen. i, 14-16. In Heb. xii, 9, God is called "the Father of spirits,"
that is, of such spirits as angels and the "spirits of just men made
perfect" (comp. ver. 23 and i, 7, 14). But these few references
attest a prevalent apostolic concept of God as the blessed Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all who enter into the life and
fellowship of Jesus. 569

570 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
3. In the Pauline Epistles we find the same vivid conception of
God as the Father of Jesus Christ and of all them that believe in
him. In his address to the men of Athens Paul proclaims "the God
that made the world and all things therein," and who also "made
of one every nation of men, and determined the bounds of their
habitation." He accordingly teaches that men are "the offspring
of God," and that "in him we live and move and have our being"
(Acts xvii, 24-29). Here is a broad and profound concept of God
as the universal Father, the maker and upholder of the visible
universe, without whom nothing lives and acts: It is a lofty
theism, an all-embracing monotheism, and mankind at large is
thought of as begotten (yevog-) of him as an eternal Father.
(1) Various Striking Phrases. At the beginning of every epis
tle this apostle makes mention of "God our Father." The same
phrase occurs many times in other parts of the epistles, and varies
with such forms as "God the Father," "our God and Father," "God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." In Rom. viii, 15, and Gal.
iv, 6, we meet the intensified expression, Abba, Father. The Ara
maic word Abba had often fallen from Jesus's lips in prayer (comp.
Mark xiv, 36), and it came to have a charming significance in the
worship of the first Christian congregations. The tenderness and
assurance implied in these phrases may be further noticed in such
exquisite conceptions as "the Father of mercies and God of all
comfort, who comforteth us in all our affliction" (2 Cor. i, 3) ;
"the God of patience and of comfort" (Rom. xv, 5) ; "God our
Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope
through grace" (2 Thess. ii, 16) ; "God rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us" (Eph. ii, 4) ; "God commend
eth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us" (Rom. v, 8). In Phil, i, 8, the apostle calls
God to witness his deep longing after the saints "in the tender
mercies of Jesus Christ." Christ's divine love and personality
have so taken possession of his heart that his affection for the
Philippians is truly Christ's affection working in him. What he
feels is what Christ feels, and God himself is witness to it all and
shares the same tender feeling. In Phil, ii, 1, mention is made
of the "consolation of love, fellowship of the Spirit, and tender-
mercies1 and compassions," and at the close of the epistle (iv, 19)
the writer says : "My God shall supply every need of yours accord
ing to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." As recognizing the
common source of all Christian comfort we notice also in the salu-

1 In Luke i, 78, we have the word here rendered tendermercies connected with
another of similar import, and the compound expression is employed as designating
an attribute of God : cirh&yxva kteovc, bowels, or heart of mercy of our God.

PAULINE DOCTRINE OF GOD 571
tation at the beginning of the pastoral epistles the invocation of
"grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord." (2) Monotheistic Attributes. The God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ is conceived in the Pauline epistles as possessed of
every quality and attribute ascribed to him in the highest prophetic
monotheism. He is "the King eternal, incorruptible, invisible, the
only God." He is "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of
kings, and Lord of lords ; who only hath immortality, dwelling in
light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen or can see: to
whom belong honor and power eternal" (1 Tim. i, 17; vi, 15, 16).
How adorable "the mystery of God" and "the mystery of Christ,"
in whom are hidden "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" !
(Col. ii, 2, 3.) "0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments and his
ways past finding out!" (Rom. xi, 33.)
(3) Sympathy with the Groaning Creation. The prof ound con
cept of "the whole creation groaning and travailing in pain along
with us," as expressed in Rom. viii, 22, implies that God is not
only immanently present and active in his entire creation but that
he is also intensely and unspeakably sympathetic with all its suffer
ing. It is the eternal Spirit of God who himself "maketh inter
cession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." There
is no throb of pain in all the universe which finds not responsive
pulsation in the bosom of the Father. Whatever elements of mys
tic and poetic thought may be traceable in this passage, the apos
tle's teaching suggests that the whole suffering world, through all
its millenniums of struggle for life and the accompanying pains
of death, has somehow shared in corresponding emotions and inter
cessions of the Spirit of God. As the magnificent objects of the
visible creation evidence "his everlasting power and divinity"
(Rom. i, 20), so the long travail of all the tribes of flesh and blood
upon the earth shows signs of the unutterable groanings and sym
pathy of the Spirit himself. Not a sparrow falls on the ground
without the Father, and "not one of them is forgotten in the sight
of God" (Luke xii, 6). His tender mercies cannot ignore but they
rather embrace the pains of all sentient life, and out of all its
anguish and struggle he purposes to effect a glorious deliverance
of this whole suffering creation. For Paul's conception of the
power, wisdom, grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father, as
revealed in Jesus Christ, is large enough to include such a redemp
tive deliverance "from the bondage of corruption." All this belongs
to the mystery of God in Christ, the mystery of the ages.

CHAPTER IV
THE EVERLASTING FATHERHOOD
1. Monistic, Immanent, Transcendent. It is only after a thor
ough study of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ that we can
look back over the bygone generations of mankind and observe how
our heavenly Father has been ever present and active in all the
world of being. The biblical doctrine of God involves the pro
foundest monism and also the facts of divine immanence and
transcendence. The eternal Spirit is the one principle and ground
of all that exists, both visible and invisible. All the infinite and
infinitesimal variations of phenomena are the products of his living
energy, and without him was nothing ever made or unmade. His
abiding immanence is but a necessary correlative of this primary
concept of monism. There is and can be no place or entity from
which he is absent, and so the Scripture speaks of him as in all
and through all, from everlasting to everlasting. And this is the
true pantheism, the only rational concept of omnipresence; and
the divine immanence of God our Father is made the more affecting
to our thought and feeling by reason of his attributes of omnisen
tience. Being an eternal personality of wisdom, power, and love,
he must needs also be transcendent in the sense that he ever
exercises conscious dominion over all that is. He is not separate
from his world, or above and outside the things that exist, but he
is consciously in all, through all, and over all, to make all things
work together for good in the accomplishment of his eternal pur
poses of love and of wisdom. All, therefore, that we conceive and
speak of as "the laws and order of the universe" are but the methods
by which our heavenly Father worketh hitherto, and will work
forever. 2. God Conceived as Generator and Generatrix. Our concept of
the creations of God should not ignore the fact that the heavens,
the earth, and the sea, and all that in them is, are products of divine
generation. According to Gen. ii, 4, "These are the generations
(nnf>in, begettings) of the heavens and of the earth." God, the eter
nal Spirit, is the Generator and the Generatrix of every seed, and
herb, and tree, of every living creature that moves upon the face of
the earth, of every winged bird, and of whatsoever passeth through
the paths of the sea, as well as of man to whom he has assigned a
572

GENERATOR AND GENERATRIX 573
rank and dominion over them all.* Every argument and conclusion
of a rational theism point to God as the great First Cause and intel
ligent Designer of all that has been made ; the revelation of God
in Christ adds to this the blessed thought that the Creator of the
world and of all its living tribes of flesh and blood is an everlasting
Father. The times and methods of his creative work are beyond
our ken. We conceive them under our necessary limitations of
thought, but there is no word or name that represents God's causal
relations to the world more suggestively and more fittingly than
that of Father. He has begotten out of his own illimitable re
sources of power, wisdom, and love "all things that are in the
heavens above, in the earth beneath, and in the waters that are
under the earth."
3. Providential Oversight and Rule. The doctrine of divine
Providence cannot be separated from that of creation, and the idea
of God as the eternal Father fills the doctrine with a personal
significance. It implies that there is no natural government of
God that is not moral in its end and aim. The divine order is,
first the natural, then the spiritual. The one prepares the way for
the other, and it is God's way. And so the natural is for the
spiritual rather than the spiritual for the natural, just as the sab
bath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. There is for
man an inestimable moral value in the very conditions of his exist
ence in a material body and a material world.3 His subjection to
physical wants, his limitations in time and space, and the natural
ties of kinship and obligation are part and parcel of a providential
discipline adapted to cultivate the ethical nature. The doctrine
of God's superintending providence is logically inseparable from
the biblical concept of his immanence and his omnisentience. The
aesthetic sentiment expressed when God beheld and pronounced all
his creations "very good" (Gen. i, 31) evinces the moral sense as

•In the grand biblical picture of creation God is represented as dividing the
light from the darkness, and " the Spirit of God was brooding upon (nSITlD) the
face of the waters." In obedience to God's life-imparting Word (nDSC) the waters
swarmed with swarms of living things (Gen. i, 2, 20). Many expositors have
noticed the suggestiveness of the feminine participle nSITTO. brooding, and some
have seen in it an allusion to the mythical conception of the world-egg which
figures in some ancient cosmogonies. Dillmann (on Genesis, in loco) admits such
a reference, but he remarks that " here the sensuous and gross representation is
transfigured into a tender, thoughtful figure ; as the bird over her nest, so the all-
penetrating Spirit of God moves over the primeval waters, producing therein, or
communicating to them, vital powers, and so rendering creation possible." What
ever its recognition in the myths of the world, the concept of the Creator as both
Generator and Generatrix is worthy of all acceptation, and has its noteworthy
biblical setting. The creations of God are the generations of his eternal Spirit of
life. In him is the fountain of life, not only of the life of men, but of every Uving
creature in the earth and the heavens.
'See J. T. Crane's article on "The Moral Value of a Material World," in the
Methodist Quarterly Review for April, 1858, pp. 228-241.

574 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
well as -the intelligent judgment of the great "Master Workman."
His minute personal care extends to every sparrow and to the cattle
on a thousand hills; how much more must he care for man who
exists in his own image! For the most ignorant and degraded
savage is of more value than all birds and cattle, and no nation or
tribe of men has been left without the witness of his fatherly
concern. Moreover each individual receives as minute attention as
if there were no other in the world. "All the earth is mine" has
been our Father's declaration from of old (Exod. xix, 5), and the
great purpose of the call of Abraham and of the divine election
of Israel was to secure innumerable blessings for all the families
of the earth. For each and for all of these alike the everlasting
Father cares with unspeakable tenderness, and makes all things
work together for their good. He is at once the abiding and
faithful Sustainer, Preserver, and Ruler. Our heavenly Father
is in love with all his world, not willing that anything should
perish. 4. Suffers with the Groaning Creation. The idea of our heaven
ly Father as the continuous Generator of all that lives and moves
involves the further thought of his abiding sympathy with the
suffering world. The Pauline hint of "the whole creation groaning
and travailing in pain together until now" comports with this idea,
and gives to the providence of God a still more profound sig
nificance. When we contemplate the ages of ages of physical strug
gle and death which preceded the appearance of man upon earth
and keep in mind that never one living thing suffered and died
without our Father, we obtain a most thrilling concept of the omni
sentience of God. How appalling to our thought the millions of
millions of living creatures that have gone down in the struggle
for existence ! And the groaning and travail and dying still go on.
Our inference is that he who is the personal Generator and Genera
trix of all forms of sentient life suffers along with them, and not
a pang of insect, reptile, fish or bird or beast ever fails to move
the emotions of his love. And not these only, "but ourselves also,
who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the redemption of our body." In this same
connection we are assured that "the Spirit helpeth our infirmities,
and maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered" (Rom. viii, 23, 26). Whatever else this means, it shows
the whole suffering world of God's creation to be groaning as with
travail pains, and the eternal Spirit himself to be in sympathetic
emotions of unspeakable affection. There seems to be no such
thing as "dead matter," for its most inert forms appear to be in
such subserviency to the eternal Force that thrills all things that

THE GROANING CREATION 575
we may not think of them as dead. There is no force in the uni
verse but the conscious energy and activity of the eternal Spirit, the
loving, sympathetic Spirit of our heavenly Father. Oh, what a
passionately loving Soul is this, the Soul of the world ! It is in
and through this all-embracing Spirit that we live and move and
have our being. This paternal sentiency must needs have embraced
all the tribes and families of mankind, the prehistoric races from
the first man onward. However obscured and sunken in depravity,
no human being could ever have escaped the affectionate notice and
yearning of the Father, for "God so loved the world" as to give
his only begotten Son for its redemption.
5. The Cry, "How Long, 0 Lord ?" The suffering creation may
well cry out, as the ages pass, "How long, how long, 0 Lord ?" It
is quite natural for us, with our limited knowledge, to think God
"slack concerning his promise," as men in all times have had their
notions of slackness in the management of this world (comp. 2 Pet.
iii, 9). We may well wonder why the struggle of life should go
on through such immense periods of time, and yet reach no end
apparently worth such incalculable pains and toil. Why should
our heavenly Father, who has all power and wisdom, tolerate such
apparent waste of energy? Why permit the long, long times of
ignorance, and vice, and wars, and oppressions, and crimes?
Perhaps we ask such questions in our ignorance, and look too lit
tle upon other aspects of the facts. Why birth and growth at all ?
Why not have fruit without seed, and without blade, stem, bud, or
blossom ? Why should anyone be born blind, or live for fifty years
an invalid and helpless? We do not find that God makes any
organism perfect at the start. There may be, each in its order, a
perfect seed, a perfect bud, a perfect full-grown fruit. But the
higher we rise in the order of life the more sensitive to pain
becomes the being capable of suffering. Why should the Christ
of God be born a helpless babe, and slowly grow into youth and
afterward become a man of sorrows and give his life a ransom
for many? Alas, the questions of theodicy are many, and it is
not given unto any of us to answer them.1 We can at most only
see in part, but if we look with care, we shall see enough to estab
lish us in faith and hope and love. God's method in all the world
of life is evolutionary. Organisms grow and pass by processes of

1 Men wonder and question how God can be truly the Father of all men, and
vet permit anyone to "suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face
of the Lord and the glory of his might" (1 Thess. i, 9). We answer that this is

penal consequences of sin (pp. 122—135)

576 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
development from simple to complex forms of being. But when
our thought turns to the unknown extent of all cosmic suffering
we find ourselves incompetent to judge of the times and seasons
wliich the eternal Father "has set within his own authority" (Acts
i, 7). With him "a thousand years are but as yesterday when it
is past, and as a watch in the night" (Psa. xc, 4), and the days of
the years of our suffering are not worthy to be compared with the
ages of struggle through which the Father sees it needful to sub
ject the whole creation to frailty and to travail. But since he is
a Father, acting in the perfection of wisdom and of love, his long
and varied chastening must aim to bring many sons into glory, fit
them for the highest liberty of sons of God, and make them par
takers of his holiness. We may be assured he wastes no time in the
consummation of his holy purposes, but he provides that when
that which is perfect is come it shall not possess the frailty and
immaturity of childish things. It shall be an imperishable growth
of God's own planting and development.
6. No Waste of Material or Energy. Not only is there no waste
of time with our everlasting Father; there is also no waste of
material or of force in the evolution of his universe. From our
limited point of view there are no doubt many seeming wastes in
the earth and in the heavens. The immensity of the universe
transcends all our calculations. Astronomers have estimated the
distance of the sun from us to be somewhat over ninety millions
of miles ; the earth, then, must in her annual circuit move around
a space of more than one hundred and eighty millions of miles in
diameter, and yet this immense circle forms comparatively but an
inconsiderable measure of that vaster circle of the heavens in which
the fixed stars appear to us as so many little points of light. Even
the utmost bounds of our entire solar system would include a space
of relatively small extent if viewed from any one of those distant
points of light. But the stars which we call fixed are found to
be in immeasurably rapid motion, and many of them are suns a
thousand times larger than our own, and rushing through depths
of space with a force and a swiftness that utterly amaze ns and
baffle all human computation. What an incalculable waste of
power is this, and what good purpose can it serve?1 Or shall we

1 Scientists have computed "that the sun emits as much heat each second as
would result from the burning of 11,600,000,000,000,000 tons of coal, and of this
enormous amount of energy the portion utilized (that is, in our solar system)
corresponds only to that due to the consumption of about 50,000,000 of tons.
Remembering that what is true of the sun is true of his fellow suns, the stars,
that all the thousands of stars we see, all the millions revealed by the telescope,
as well as many myriad times as many more that lie beyond the range of our most
powerful telescopes, are suns similarly pouring heat and light into space, how
enormous, according to our conceptions, is the waste of energy!" But what man

NO WASTE WITH GOD 577
rather say that the everlasting God who made and upholds these
suns and systems knows perfectly what he is doing and what he
intends to do forever? It is not only in the immensities that
we find what seem like wastes of energy. Wherefore the myriad
flowers that "blush unseen, and waste their sweetness on the desert
air"? What countless seeds fall into the earth and never bring
forth fruit unto perfection! What shall we think of the enor
mous loss of life in all the vegetable and animal world? Some
will think we do not answer wisely, and many may say that our
answer is a worthless fancy; but we hesitate not, in view of the
revelation of our Father which the Lord Jesus has made known,
to affirm that the infinitely wise and beneficent Power that num
bers the hairs of our heads and watches with care every sparrow
that falls to the ground, must needs care for every atom of his
universe. With him there are no wastes, as we count wastes. No
life of insect, shrub, or flower, no living soul in any animal (least
of all in man) goes out of being. Every atom of matter, every
energy or force, however great or small, and every living soul
of fish, or fowl, or beast, or man, must needs be utilized. It is
not ours to know or tell how these things are, but, once possessed
with the concept of the everlasting Father of the universe, we
argue a priori that all things work for good, and not a fragment
of the whole is lost. Whatever endless suffering and possibilities
of self-depravity are inherent in beings made in the image of
God, they cannot change his eternal purpose to make the whole
creation move on toward the goal for which he is working hitherto
and forever. In the working out of that blessed purpose nothing
in time or space is wasted. And in view of this illimitable
operation and abiding presence of God in all the universe of being,
it is, perhaps, suggestive that in the language of the Lord's
Prayer, as given in Matt, vi, 9, our Father is the one who is "in
the heavens" (kv roiig- ovpavdig-). This plural form suggests that
our heavenly Father is in all the heavens. He fills the illimitable
universe, and nothing in earth or in the uttermost heavens beyond
us can for a moment be apart from him. Such is the Father

is competent to speak of all the possibilities and purposes of such stupendous
manifestations of energy? We believe there is no Energy, but that of the hving
Father, immanent in all his works. The same devout scientist, from whom we
have just quoted, beautifully adds: "Our faith in the wisdom of God need not be
shaken unless we assume that our science teaches us the whole of that which is.
But inasmuch as science itself has taught us over and over again how little we
really know, how little we can know, I think that we may very well beheve in this
instance that the seeming mystery arises from the imperfection of our knowledge.
If we could see the whole plan of the Creator instead of the minutest portion,
if we could scan the whole of space instead of the merest corner, if all time were
before us instead of a span, we might pronounce judgment." — R. A. Proctor, Our
Place Among Infinities, pp. 43, 44. New York, 1876.

578 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
who has given us his most blessed revelation of himself in the
incarnation of Jesus Christ.1
7. Defective Concept of Monarchy and Absolutism. This larger
concept of our heavenly Father should offset and clarify such
other concepts of him as are based upon the imagery of conven
tional terms, like king, ruler, governor, potentate, lord, and master
(deonorng-). These all have their place and propriety in the bibli
cal writings, but when any one of them is exalted into such
prominence as to magnify the idea of an absolute monarchy and
a monergistic sovereignty over man and his eternal destiny, the
true doctrine of God is perverted, and the concept of the everlast
ing Fatherhood is lost from view. No small portion of Christian
theology took shape at a time when absolute monarchy and the
divine right of kings were acknowledged widely in human govern
ment. The Anselmic doctrine of atonement has its roots in the
notions of absolute sovereignty prevalent in mediaeval times.
Many rulers even seemed to act upon the principle that "might
makes right." It may be easily seen how such a habit of think
ing should develop a one-sided doctrine of the everlasting Father.
His sovereignty is ever to be acknowledged and adored, but it is
no arbitrary dominion. His lordship and power are those of a
loving Father rather than those which most men associate with
a powerful king. The kingdom of Christ and of God, as we
have seen, is a kingdom of truth, having for its fundamental law
the commandment of love. It is like seed growing secretly, by
night and by day, and putting forth "first the blade, then the
ear, then the full grain in the ear" (Mark iv, 28). The great
Sovereign of this kingdom is a nourishing Father, who welcomes
with joy every returning prodigal son. He goes far and suffers
long to seek and to save that which was lost. In the light of
such revelations of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
such deistic terms as the Absolute and the Unknowable become
irrelevant. They express at best only a vague philosophical con
cept which can have no real value to one in whose heart has been

'The idea of incarnation is repugnant to some. Herbert Spencer slurs the
notion that the Cause to which we can put no limits in space and time, and of which
our entire system is a relatively infinitesimal product, took the disguise of a man
for the purpose of covenanting with a shepherd chief in Syria. But he seems to
be awed by the vision of the astronomer, who sees in the sun a mass so vast that
even into one of his spots our earth might be plunged without touching its edges.
To which a Scotch minister replies that "no conception of God is less imposing
than that wliich represents him as a kind of millionaire in worlds, so materialized
by the immensity of his possessions as to have lost the sense of the incalculably
greater worth of the spiritual interests of even the smallest part of them." That
which the universal heart of man cries out after is not a God of vast bulk, abso
lute and unknowable, but a heavenly Father, who is abundant in loving-kindness
and truth.

DIVINE MATERNITY 579
given the "illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. iv, 6).
8. The Idea of Divine Maternity. We cannot overlook the fact
that in some religious cults and from ancient times the idea of
divine maternity has been associated with the concept of God.
In the polytheistic cults we meet with the names of male and
female deities. The greatest gods of the pagan peoples have had
their female consorts, and the worship of such deities has naturally
resulted in practices of most revolting sensuality. But these facts
should not prevent our observing the biblical intimations of the
qualities of maternal affection in our heavenly Father. The divine
unity and fatherhood are not compromised by any new or enlarged
conception of the love of God which truly magnifies him in our
hearts. The Old Testament has not a few suggestions of motherly
qualities in God. The feminine participle employed in Gen. i, 2,
conveys the thought that the Spirit of God was brooding like a
mother bird over the face of the waters. Further on in the same
chapter, where it is said that "God created man in his own image,"
it is immediately added, "male and female created he them," as
if it required both male and female in the creature to represent
fully the image of man's Maker. Accordingly, as we have already
seen (p. 572), the Creator may well be thought of as both Genera
tor and Generatrix. All "the generations of the heavens and the
earth" (Gen. ii, 4) are his offspring. In Isa. xlix, 15, it is written:
"Can a woman forget her nursing child? Yea, they may forget,
yet will not I forget thee." In the same chapter the prophet
speaks of "nursing fathers" as well as "nursing mothers," and
in lxvi, 13, he represents Jehovah as dandling and caressing his
people like little children, and saying to them: "As one whom
his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you." And such ten
derness of motherlike affection became incarnate in the Lord
Jesus. When he took little children in his arms and blessed them,
and also when he said that his heavenly Father numbers the hairs
of our heads, he leads us to think of a loving, fondling mother
rather than of a mighty Ruler of worlds. Even the Mariolatry
of the Church of Rome has its relevant suggestions here, and a
scientific student of religion may do well to inquire whether this
form of madonna worship was not the product of a deep yearn
ing in the human heart for some tender maternal element in God.
It is noteworthy that this Romish practice arose about the fourth
century of our era, when many a yearning heart might well have
turned away in disgust from the cold, metaphysical concepts of
God and of Christ, which were forced upon the Church in the
storms of the trinitarian controversies, and sought elsewhere for

580 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
something more human and divine. A wholesome reaction from
one-sided and superstitious notions on this subject must be sought
in a recognition of the real maternal qualities inherent in the
essential nature of our Father in heaven. Paternal and maternal
love abide eternally in the bosom of our God. "The highest
human is divine," and has been manifested in the person and
mediation of Jesus Christ, whom a beloved disciple could speak
of as "what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, and
our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life."
This union of paternal and maternal qualities in our concept
of God well fits the truth that God is Love. In the divine per
sonality as in the human there abideth wisdom, power, and love,
these three; and the greatest of these is love. For Love is the
most active energy in creation, in redemption, and in providence.
With a fatherly and motherly tenderness, in all creation, God is
active hitherto and evermore so as to make all things work together
for good to them that love him. All manner of love implies some
sort of reciprocal affection. It is no mere poetic license that speaks
of "mother earth." The seed that falls into the ground, the blade
that springs up, and the ear and the full grain in the ear respond
at every stage of growth to the maternal nursing of earth and light
and air. We find the qualities of male and female in the forms of
vegetable life. The glad springtime is redolent with what seem
to be emotions of mingling joy and struggle in grass, and blossom,
and bird, and the cattle on a thousand hills. And though the
whole creation groans and travails, what is it but the striving after
an object of desire? — "the liberty of the glory of children of God."
But first comes the natural, then the animal (wliich, alas! too
often shows its beastly aberrations), and then the spiritual and
the heavenly, in which the male and female natures become exalted
into the perfection of deathless angels of God. For they become
one in the glory of the Father and the Son and the Eternal Spirit,
who loved before the foundation of the world.
9. The Everlasting Trinity of Wisdom, Power, and Love. The
revelation of God in Christ makes manifest the everlasting Trinity
of Wisdom, Power, and Love.1 These correspond with intellection,
volition, and sensibility in our self-conscious personality, and these
three are so essentially one that we cannot conceive any one of
them existing or acting apart from and independently of the
others. One or another may become prominent on occasion, and

•This trinal concept of the divine personahty is admirably stated in W. N.
Clarke's lectures entitled, Can I beheve in God the Father? In the chapter on
"Divine Personahty" he elaborates the propositions that God is a great Thinker,
a great Wilier and a great Lover.

THE EVERLASTING GOAL 581
for the time seem to leave the others out of sight or in abeyance,
but a thorough analysis of the facts of personality shows the
essential unity of these faculties of the living soul of man. We
conceive the personality of God to be like that of man, and herein
we recognize the image and glory of God in which man exists and
was originally made (Gen. i, 27; 1 Cor. xi, 7). That this trinal
personality of God is something immeasurably more than that of
man should be assumed, since omniscience, omnipotence, and
omnisentience must needs transcend all human knowledge. It is
to be observed also that in the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit each of these essentials of personality is manifest. The
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom and of power by whose divine
ministrations the love of God is shed abroad in the hearts of men.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the manifested wisdom of God
and the power of God, and his mission of divine mediation is the
supreme demonstration of the love of God; and the love of the
Father, the wisdom and the knowledge of God and his everlasting
power and divinity are everywhere extolled in the biblical revelation.
Besides all this, it may, perhaps, be truthfully affirmed that in
some deeper sense the everlasting Father is preeminently the
Almighty; the eternal Word or Son of the Father is the revealer
of all heavenly wisdom; and the eternal Spirit fills our fullest
and richest concept of the all-pervading omnisentience of God.
According to the Johannine teaching, the Son is the only begotten
of the Father (John i, 14, 18; iii, 16) ; the Spirit proceeds from
the Father (xv, 27) ; the Son and the Spirit are sent by the Father
(iii, 34; xiv, 26) ; and the Spirit is sent both by the Father and
the Son (xiv, 26 ; xv, 26) . The holy and heavenly Personality that
exists and acts in these mysterious interrelations is "the only God"
(6 ubvog- $eog; v, 44; xvii, 3), but he exists and acts as Father,
Word, and Spirit, an adorable Unity. Men may never be able
to resolve the difficulties of the Trinity as they have been magnified
by the polemics of centuries; but if we turn our thought to the
trinal unity of every normal human personality, and keep in mind
that man exists in the image and glory of God, we shall be able
the better to worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
and at the same time behold and believe that the Spirit and the
Son of his love are truly one with the Father, essential and insepa
rable in the divine personality, and evermore revealing the nature
of the everlasting Father.
10. The Everlasting Goal. It remains for us only to observe
that in the everlasting power, wisdom, and love of God the entire
universe moves onward toward a goal of perfection and glory worthy
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our limited vision

582 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
can set no bounds to God's future operations. As he has been
working hitherto, so doubtless he will keep on working through the
ages of ages. Every stage of progress and accomplishment serves
only to open into illimitable possibilities beyond. The apostle Paul
looked forward to an end, when Christ shall have abolished all
adverse powers, and shall have brought all things into subjection
to himself, and "shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father"
(1 Cor. xv, 24-28). But whatever glorious revelations and tri
umphs that grand event may show, they will not and cannot
exhaust the resources of eternal Wisdom and Love. In these
mysteries of the ages we may safely argue a priori on the basis of
the nature and power of the God whom Jesus Christ reveals. All
things are possible to his Father and our Father, his God and our
God. In the order of his wisdom there seems to be no stage or state
of being which is not of the nature of an intermediate state between
what went before and what is sure to follow it in glory. "From
glory to glory" is the motto of his continuous transformation of
the sons of God. We need have no manner of doubt that in his
own times the whole travailing creation shall be delivered from
its pains and bondage and corruption and become transfigured
into higher forms of life and power. The Omnisentience of eter
nal Wisdom and Power will not refrain from his sympathetic inter
cession and groaning so long as any living creature is waiting and
yearning for the glorious liberty of the children of God. For as
a father pitieth his children, and as a mother comforteth, so shall
our Father who is in the heavens comfort and glorify his own.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

(When there are satisfactory English translations of the foreign works named
in this list the original titles are not given.)
Adeney, Walter F. — The Theology of the New Testament. New York, 1894.
A brief, readable, and useful compendium.
Alexander, W. Lindsay. — A System of Biblical Theology. 2 vols. Edin
burgh, 1888.
Consists of theological lectures, abridged, arranged, and edited from the author's
manuscripts by James Ross. Is comprehensive, and combines some features of both
biblical and systematic theology.
Alger, William R. — Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life.
Boston, 1860. Many later editions.
A classical treatise, indispensable to the student of the doctrine.
Arminius, James. — The Worlcs of. Translated from the Latin by James
Nichols. 3 vols. Third volume by W. R. Bagnall. Auburn and Buf
falo, 1853.
Valuable as original disputations in defense of the main points of doctrine at issue
between the Arnunian and the Calvinlan theology.
Banks, John S. — A Manual of Christian Doctrine. Edited with Introduction
and Additions by J. J. Tigert. Nashville, 1897.
A convenient handbook, condensed and comprehensive.
Bauer, Georg Lorenz. — Theologie des alten Testaments, oder Abriss der
religiosen Begriffe der alten Hebraer, von den altesten Zeiten bis auf
den Anfang der christlichen Epoche. Leipzig, 1796.
Biblische Theologie des neuen Testaments. 4 vols. Leipzig, 1800-1802.
Valuable for studying the early attempts to distinguish Old and New Testament the
ology, and for noting the various types of doctrine in the different biblical writers.
Baumgarten-Crusius, L. F. O.— Grundztige der biblischen Theologie.
Jena, 1828.
Interesting mainly as one of the earlier efforts to construct a biblical rather than a con
fessional theology.
Baur, Ferdinand Christian. — Vorlesungen iiber die neutestamentUche The
ologie. Leipzig, 1864. New edition with Introduction by Otto Pfleid-
erer. Gotha, 1892.
These lectures were first edited by F. F. Baur, son of the author. They give the dis
tinguished professor's views on the teaching of Christ and of the apostles more fully than
any one of his other works.
Beck, J. T. — Outlines of Biblical Psychology. Translated from the German.
Edinburgh, 1877.
 Vorlesungen iiber christliche Glaubenslehre. 2 vols. Edited by
Lindenmeyer. Gutersloh, 1886-1887.
Productions of a devout and painstaking study of the Scriptures. The second volume
of the Vorlesungen gives under four main sections a valuable outline of biblical dogmatics.
Beckwith, Clarence Augustine. — Realities of Christian Theology. An
Interpretation of Christian Experience. Boston and New York, 1906.
Interprets the central truths of the Christian faith in condensed and comprehensive
form, in accord with true scientific method, and with constant reference to the facts of
personal experience.
Beet, Joseph Agar. — A Manual of Theology. London and New York, 1906.
Consists of sixty-six chapters, arranged under eleven parts and notably exegetical.
The result of many years of faithful study; combines to some extent apologetics and ex
position, and treats with noteworthy clearness the main doctrines of the gospel. Some
what original and noteworthy in its eschatology. 583

584 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Bernard, Thomas D. — The Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament.
New York, 1867. New ed., 1900.
The Bampton Lectures for 1864, and worthy of note as an early English attempt at
biblical theology.
Beyschlag, Willibald. — New Testament Theology, or Historical Account
of the Teaching of Jesus and of Primitive Christianity according to the
New Testament Sources. English Translation by Neil Buchanan.
2 vols. Edinburgh, 1894.
The most able and commanding work on New Testament theology that is now acces
sible to English readers. No student in this department can afford to do without it.
Biedermann, Alois Emanuel. — Christliche Dogmatik. 2 vols. Second ed.
Berlin, 1884-1885. Vol. II edited by J. Rehmke.
A rationalistic and somewhat pantheistic exposition of the doctrines of Christianity in
accord with the Hegelian philosophy. The first 169 pages of the second volume contain
a very interesting outline of biblical dogmatics under the title of Die Schriftlehre.
Bovon, J. — Theologie du Nouveau Testament. 2 vols. Lausanne, 1893-1894.
In this learned and valuable treatise the New Testament is recognized as the historical
foundation and beginning of the author's proposed Study of the Work of Redemption.
The first volume discusses the life and teaching of Jesus, and the second presents the
apostolic teaching under five sections: (1) Jewish Christianity; (2) Paulinism, to which
the epistle to the Hebrews belongs as "Paulinism of the second degree"; (3) the catholic
epistles; (4) the Apocalypse, ana (5) the Johannine Theology.
Bretschneider, Karl Gottlieb. — Handbuch der Dogmatik der evangel-
ischen Kirche. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1838.
A comprehensive treatise, clear in statement, coldly critical, somewhat rationalistic
but maintaining the positions of supernaturalism.
Brown, William Adams. — Christian Theology in Outline. New York, 1906.
A strong, clear, compact, and comprehensive restatement of the main truths of Chris
tian doctrine in the light of modern philosophical and scientific thought.
Bruce, Alexander Balmain. — The Kingdom of God; or, Christ's Teaching
according to the Synoptic Gospels. Edinburgh, 1890.
 St. Paul's Conception of Christianity. New York, 1894.
 The Epistle to the Hebrews. The First Apology for Christianity.
Edinburgh and New York, 1899.
These, like all the works of Professor Bruce, are of permanent value, and deserve re
peated study.
Buell, Samuel. — A Treatise on Dogmatic Theology. 2 vols. New York,
1890.
Consists of lectures given in the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Epis
copal Church, and gives much space to sacramentarian dogmas.
Buesching, A. F. — Dissertatio exhibens epitomen theologiae e solis literis
Sanctis concinnatse. Gottingen, 1756.
Deserving notice chiefly as one of the very earliest efforts to construct a biblical rather
than a dogmatic and scholastic theology.
Burwash, Nathaniel. — Manual of Christian Theology on the Inductive
Method. 2 vols. London, 1890.
A convenient, readable, comprehensive treatise.
Caird, John. — The Fundamental Ideas of Christianity. 2 vols. Glasgow,
1899.
The Gifford Lectures of 1892-3 and 1895-6. The author treats the chief topics of
Christian faith with such masterly skill that no well read theologian can afford to ignore
these volumes.
Calvin, John. — Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated from the
original Latin, and collated with the author's last edition in French, by
John Allen. Presbyterian Board of Publication, Philadelphia.
This monumental masterpiece of the dogmatics of the Protestant Reformation has
appeared in more editions and translations tnan are easily told. The first edition (Basel,
1536) was a book of only six chapters, written before the author was twenty-seven years
old; the latest during his lifetime, in Latin (1559), when he had reached the age of fifty.
The work is arranged in four parts, or books, corresponding to four parts of the Apostles'
Creed, Father, Son, Spirit, and Church.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 585
Charles, R. H. — A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life, in
Israel, in Judaism, and in Christianity. London, 1899.
Exceedingly valuable and indispensable to the student of the later Jewish literature
on the subject of the future life.
Clarke, William N. — An Outline of Christian Theology. Cambridge, 1894.
A volume of the greatest intrinsic value. Probably the most readable, intelligible, and
popular statement of Christian doctrine produced in modern times.
Coelln, Daniel Georg Conrad von. — Biblische Theologie, mit einer Nach-
richt iiber des Verfassers Leben und Wirken, herausgegeben von David
Schulz. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1836.
Exhibits extensive learning, but follows the method of De Wette and adopts his head
ings for the main divisions. The Old Testament theology is given under the two heads
of Hebraism and Judaism, and that of the New Testament under (1) The Teaching of
Jesus, and (2) The Teaching of the Apostles.
Cone, Orello. — The Gospel and its Earliest Interpreters. New York, 1893.
A suggestive work, well worthy of attention.
Cramer, L. D. — Vorlesungen iiber die biblische Theologie des neuen Testa
ments. Edited by Na?be. Leipzig, 1830.
Cremer, August H. — Biblisch-theologisches Worterbuch der neutestament-
lichen Gracitat. Gotha, 1866. Many later editions. English trans
lation by William Urwick. Edinburgh, 1872. Several later editions.
An invaluable work, indispensable to the scientific student of New Testament theology.
Curtis, Olin Alfred. — The Christian Faith, Personally given in a System of
Doctrine. New York, 1905.
A unique, original, and very readable presentation of the main truths of the Christian
religion, adapted to stimulate thought and encourage religious inquiry.
Dahle, Lars Nielsen. — Life after Death and the Future of the Kingdom of
God. Translated from the Norse by John Beveridge. Edinburgh,
1896.
An interesting specimen of dogmatic literalism in biblical exegesis, and especially
elaborate in its treatment of the intermediate state and "the great events of the time of
the end."
Denio, Francis B. — The Supreme Leader: A Study of the Nature and Work
of the Holy Spirit. Boston, 1900.
A very excellent and helpful monograph.
Denney, James. — Studies in Theology. New York, 1895.
 The Death of Christ. Its Place and Interpretation in the New Testa
ment. New York, 1902.
 The Atonement and the Modern Mind. New York, 1903.
These volumes are suggestive, learned, conservative in sentiment and often strong in
argument where not altogether convincing.
De Wette, Wilhelm Martin Leberecht. — Biblische Dogmatik des alten
und neuen Testaments; oder kritische Darstellung der Religionslehre
des Hebraismus, des Judentums and Urchristentums. Berlin, 1813.
Third improved ed., 1831.
Like all the productions of this author, a masterpiece of lucid, concise, and compre
hensive presentation of the subjects which it handles. The first and larger part of tht
volume sets forth the religion of the Old Testament under the heads of Hebraism and

hensive presentation of the subjects which it handles. The first and larger part of the
volume sets forth the religion of the Old Testament under the heads of Hebraism and
Judaism. The apocryphal books, Philo and Josephus, are drawn upon as sources of

information, as well as the canonical books. The New Testament part treats the teaching
of Jesus and that of the apostles under two distinct divisions.
Dickson, William P. — St. Paul's Use of the Terms Flesh and Spirit. Baird
Lecture for 1883. Glasgow, 1883.
A critical, scholarly, and exceedingly valuable contribution to the study of biblical
psychology and of Pauline theology.
Dillmann, August. — Handbuch der alttestamentUchen Theologie. Heraus
gegeben von R. Kittel. Leipzig, 1895.
Accurate in its statements, thorough in exegesis, and always helpful.

586 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Dorner, Isaac August. — A System of Christian Doctrine. Translated from
the German by Alfred Cave and J. S. Banks. 4 vols. Edinburgh,
1880-1882.
One of the most important and comprehensive contributions to the modern literature
of Christian doctrine, and in full sympathy with the evangelical Protestant spirit-
Following in the steps of Schleiermacher, the author made this ripe product of his study-
a worthy companion of his earlier great classic on the History of the Development of
the Doctrine of the Person of Christ.
Drummond, Robert J. — The Relation of the Apostolic Teaching to the Teach
ing of Christ. Edinburgh, 1900.
The Kerr Lectures for 1900. Somewhat discursive, but contains much of real worth.
Du Bose, William Porcher. — The Soteriology of the New Testament, New
York, 1892.
 The Gospel in the Gospels. New York, 1906.
These excellent monographs discuss with marked ability and thoroughness the saving;
ministry of Jesus Christ, his Person and his Humanity. They belong to the highest'
order of theological exposition.
Duff, Archibald. — Old Testament Theology; or, The History of Hebrew
Religion from the Year 800 B. C. London, 1891.
This volume deals mainly with the books of Amos, Micah, and portions of Isaiah, and
furnishes much valuable material for the study of Old Testament theology.
Duhm, Bernhard. — Die Theologie der Propheten, als Grundlage fur die
innere Entwicklungsgeschichte der israelitischen Religion. Bonn, 1875.
A valuable help in tracing the historical development of biblical doctrines in the
prophets of the different periods of Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian supremacy.
Ebrard, J. H. A. — Christliche Dogmatik. 2 vols. Konigsberg, 1851.
An interesting and useful presentation of the substance of Christian doctrine as held
by the Reformed Churches of Germany, France, and Switzerland.
Ewald, Heinrich. — Old and New Testament Theology. English transla
tion by T. Goadby. Edinburgh, 1888.
Ewald's German work consists of four volumes and covers a wide field. This transla
tion is confined mainly to the second and third volumes, and treats of God and the uni
verse, the nature of faith in Christ, the Christian Trinity, and immortality.
Fairbairn, A. M. — The Place of Christ in Modern Theology. New York, 1893.
Not a formal treatise on systematic theology, but, according to the author, "an attempt
at formulating the fundamental or material conception of such a system." It is one of the
ablest contributions of modern times to the exposition of fundamental Christian truth.
Foster, Randolph S. — Studies in Theology. 6 vols. New York, 1889 —
1899.
The plan of this opus magnum contemplated eleven volumes, of which six were pub
lished before the author's death. These volumes contain much of real value, but are
needlessly diffuse and enlarged by extensive quotations from other writers.
Foster, Robert Verrell. — Systematic Theology. Nashville, 1898.
A bulky volume, dealing with biblical theology, cosmology, anthropology, Christology,
soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology.
Frank, F. H. R. — System der christlichen Wahrheit. 2 vols. Second ed.
Erlangen, 1885-1886.
Belongs to the Lutheran school of dogmatics, constructs the system of Christian truth
on the basis of the totality of realities ascertained in personal experience (a subject pre
viously discussed in his System der christlichen Gewissheit), makes all Christian truth
center in the thought of God's becoming man in Jesus Christ, and expounds it under the:
three main heads of the Principle, the Execution, and the Aim of God's redeeming work.
Fulliquet, Georges. — La Pensee religieuse dans le Nouveau Testament.
Etude de Theologie Biblique. Paris, 1894.
A popular and interesting exposition of New Testament doctrine, with special emphasis-
on the relation of doctrines to spiritual life and experience.
Gould, Ezra P. — The Biblical Theology of the New Testament. New York,
1900.
An admirable treatise in small compass, and quite comprehensive in its plan and
method.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 587
Gunkel, Herman. — Die Wirkungen des heiligen Geistes nach der popularen
Anschauung der apostolischen Zeit, und der Lehre des Apostels Paulus.
Eine biblisch-theologische Studie. Gottingen, 1899.
An excellent specimen of thorough historical critioism in biblical theology.
Hase, Karl August. — Evangelische protestantische Dogmatik. Leipzig,
1826. Sixth ed., 1870.
A condensed and very interesting treatise, which arranges all the doctrines under the
two heads of Ontology and Christology.
Haupt, Erich. — Die eschatologischen Aussagen Jesu in den synoptischen
Evangelien. Berlin, 1895.
Hitzig, Ferdinand. — Vorlesungen fiber biblische Theologie und messianische
Weissagungen des alten Testaments. Herausgegeben von Kneucker.
Karlsruhe, 1880.
Apparently lacking in unity of aim and in comprehensiveness, but, like all this author's
works, incisive, suggestive, and critical.
Hofmann, Johann Chr. Karl von. — Der Schriftbeweis. Ein theologischer
Versuch. 2 vols. NSrdlingen, 1852-1856. 2d ed., 1857-1860. (2d
vol. in two large parts.)
 Biblische Theologie des neuen Testaments. Nach Manuskripten und
Vorlesungen bearbeitet von W. Volck. Nordlingen, 1886.
The older work is a mine of valuable exegetical discussions of biblical doctrine, and has
exerted wide influence on subsequent writers. The later work, edited by Volck, is an
excellent compendium of New Testament theology.
Hodge, Charles. — Systematic Theology. 3 vols. New York, 1871-1873.
A work of great learning and wide scope, maintaining the older Calvinian system of
doctrine as against Arminian interpretations. It is a monumental contribution to its
school of thought, and worthy of the careful study of the specialist in confessional
dogmatics.
Holsten, Karl Johann. — Zum Evangelium des Paulus und des Petrus.
Rostock, 1867.
 Das Evangelium des Paulus dargestellt. Berlin, 1880.
 Paulinische Theologie dargestellt. Berlin, 1898.
Valuable as the successive contributions of one who was a leader in the formulation
of Pauline theology.
Holtzmann, Heinrich Julius. — Lehrbuch der neutestamentlichen Theologie.
2 vols. Leipzig, 1897.
Somewhat radical in its critical treatment of the documentary sources of New Testa
ment theology, but easily to be ranked among the most thorough, scientific, comprehen
sive, and masterly works on the subject extant.
Hudson, Thomson Jay. — A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life.
Chicago, 1896.
A work that may be very profitably studied without admitting that its argument
amounts to a demonstration.
Immer, A. — Theologie des neuen Testaments. Bern, 1877.
This learned and comprehensive treatise discusses (1) the Religion of Jesus; (2) the

Jewish Christianity of the primitive apostles; (3) Paulinism; (4) the post-Pauline Jewish
Christianity; (5) the mediating course between Paulinism and Jewish Christianity; and
(6) the Johannine Gospel and First Epistle.
Kaftan, Julius. — Dogmatik. Freiburg, 1897.
The author is a prominent representative of the Ritschlian theology, and here presents
in a noteworthy manner the main dogmas of the Christian faith as seen from his some
what modified point of view.
Kayser, August. — Die Theologie des alten Testaments, in ihrer geschicht-
lichen Entwicklung dargestellt. Nach des Verfassers Tode herausge
geben mit einem Vorwort von Ed. Reuss. Strassburg, 1886.
Kennedy, H. A. A. — St. Paul's Conception of the Last Things. New York,
1904.
These "Cunningham Lectures for 1904" are a very valuable contribution to the litera
ture of the Pauline eschatology.

588 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Knapp, George Christian. — Lectures on Christian Theology, translated by
Leonard Woods. 2 vols. Andover, 1831-1832. 8th American ed.
1 vol. New York, 1859.
An elaborate work of real value. It is cast in the form of a systematic theology, but
is, in fact, a very full treatise on biblical dogmatics. In its English translation it has
had an extensive circulation.
Krop, Frederic. — La Pensee de Jesus sur le Royaume de Dieu d'apres les
Evangiles synoptiques avec un appendice sur la question du "Fils de
rhomme." Paris, 1897.
Kuyper, Abraham. — The Work of the Holy Spirit. Translated from the
Dutch with Explanatory Notes by Henri De Vries. Introduction by
B. B. Warfield. New York, 1900.
Probably the most elaborate work on the subject extant, rigidly Calvinistic, and
pointing out in great detail the relations and work of the Spirit in the creation and re
demption of the world.
Ladd, George T. — The Doctrine of Sacred Scripture. A critical, historical,
and dogmatic Inquiry into the origin and nature of the Old and New
Testaments. 2 vols. New York, 1883.
An exceedingly valuable work, but too diffusely written to serve the most helpful
purpose. It treats many of the most important topics of biblical doctrine, and is a
storehouse of information.
Laidlaw, John. — The Bible Doctrine of Man; or, The Anthropology and
Psychology of Scripture. Edinburgh, 1879. New ed., 1895.
Belongs strictly to works on biblical dogmatics, and is well worthy of thoughtful
study.
Lange, John Peter. — Christliche Dogmatik. 3 vols. Heidelberg, 1849-
1852.
A ponderous and comprehensive work, suggestive and interesting in many places, but
sometimes fanciful.
Liddon, H. P. — The Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. London,
1867.
Bampton Lectures of 1866, which have been published in many editions and have had
an immense circulation. Their real value as a contribution to fundamental Christian
doctrine is generally conceded.
Lipsius, Richard A. — Lehrbuch der evangelisch-protestantischen Dogmatik.
Third ed. Braunschweig, 1893.
This edition contains some noticeable changes from the two previous editions of 1876
and 1878, and was published after the author's death under editorial care of Otto Baum
garten. The work is a comprehensive presentation of Christian dogmatics in the light
of the cooperating life and experience of the individual and the Christian community.
Lobstein, P. — An Introduction to Protestant Dogmatics. Translated from
the French by Arthur Maxson Smith. Chicago, 1902.
Admirable as an introduction to the scientific statement of the task and the methods
of the modern theologian.
Luthardt, Christoph Ernst. — Apologetic Lectures on the Fundamental
Truths of Christianity. Translated from the German by Sophia Taylor.
Edinburgh, 1865.
 The Saving Truths of Christianity. Edinburgh, 1868.
 The Moral Truths of Christianity. Edinburgh,1873.
Though assuming an apologetic purpose and claim, these volumes are a substantial
contribution to the exposition of Christian truth, and they belong to the department
of Christian dogmatics.
Lutz, J. L. S. — Biblische Dogmatik. Nach dessen Tode herausgegeben von
Rudolf Riitschi, mit einem Vorwort von Schneckenburger. Pforz
heim, 1847.
A comprehensive and valuable contribution for its time.
Macpherson, John. — Christian Dogmatics. Edinburgh, 1898.
A compact but comprehensive and learned treatise, representing a moderate Calvinism.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 589
Marheineke, Philipp. — System der christlichen Dogmatik. Edited by
Mitthies and Vatke. Berlin, 1847.
Follows the trinitarian method of grouping all biblical and Christian doctrine under
the headings God, God the Son, and God the Spirit, and views the several doctrines from
the standpoint of the Hegelian philosophy.
Martensen, H. — Christian Dogmatics. A Compendium of the Doctrines of
Christianity. Translated from the German by William Urwick.
Edinburgh, 1866.
Presents briefly and with distinguished ability the chief doctrines of Christianity, and,
like Marheineke, groups them all under the three divisions of the Father, the Son and
the Spirit.
Menegoz, Eugene. — Le Pecae1 et la Redemption d'apres Saint Paul. Paris,
1882.
 La Predestination dans la Theologie Paulinienne. Paris, 1884.
 La Theologie de l'Epitre aux Hebreux. Paris, 1894.
These are all treatises of sterling value.
Milligan, George. — The Theology of the Epistle to the Hebrews, with a
critical Introduction. Edinburgh, 1899.
A volume to be cordially commended to students.
Miley, John. — Systematic Theology. 2 vols. New York, 1892-1894.
One of the most able and thorough presentations of the Arminian theology extant, and
ranks as an authority in American Methodism.
Mueller, Julius. — The Christian Doctrine of Sin. Translated from the
German of the Fifth Edition by William Urwick. 2 vols. Edinburgh,
1868.
Holds the rank of a theological classic on the important subject which it treats quite
exhaustively.
Neander, Johann August W. — History of the Planting and Training of the
Christian Church by the Apostles. Translated by J. E. Ryland. Re
vised by E. G. Robinson. New York, 1865.
An old standard work, having permanent value for the student of New Testament
theology.
Nitzsch, Carl Immanuel. — System of Christian Doctrine. Translated from
the fifth German edition by Robert Montgomery and John Hennen.
Edinburgh, 1849.
A very interesting and suggestive manual.
Nitzsch, Friedrich August Berthold. — Lehrbuch der evangelischen Dog
matik. In two parts. Freiburg, 1889-1892.
A comprehensive and scientific statement of current evangelical doctrines, and of the
principles needful to the study of the same.
Noach, Ludwig. — Die biblische Theologie. Einleitung in's alte und neue Tes
tament, und Darstellung des Lehrgehaltes der biblischen Biicher nach
ihrer Entstehung und ihrem geschichtlichen Verhaltniss. Halle, 1853.
Treats the Old and New Testaments in two parts, but bestows much more attention
upon the literature than upon the doctrinal contents.
Oehler, G. F. — Theology of the Old Testament. A revision of the transla
tion in Clark's Foreign Theological Library, with additions of the second
German edition, an Introduction and Notes by George E. Day. New
York, 1883.
A comprehensive and standard work, arranged under the three heads of Mosaism,
Prophetism, and Old Testament Wisdom.
Orr, James. — The Christian View of God and the World as Centering in the
Incarnation. Being the Kerr Lectures for 1890-1891.
These lectures cover a wide range of fundamental Christian truths, and combine a
scientific with a thoroughly evangelical treatment of the several doctrines.

590 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Pfleiderer, Otto. — Der Paulinismus. Leipzig, 1873. 2d ed., 1890.
 Paulinism : a Contribution to the History of Primitive Theology. Trans
lated by Edward Peters. 2 vols. London, 1877.
 The Influence of the Apostle Paul on the Development of Christianity.
Translated by J. F. Smith. New York, 1885.
All these works are indispensable to the critical study of New Testament theology, but
the author's views are often radical, and have not met with general favor.
Piepenbring, Ch. — Theology of the Old Testament. Translated from the
French by H. G. Mitchell. New York, 1893.
Exhibits the development of religious thought among the Hebrew people.
Pope, William Burt. — A Compendium of Christian Theology. 3 vols. Lon
don, 1875-1876. New York, 1880.
 A Higher Catechism of Theology. London, 1883.
These volumes rani among the fullest and ablest expositions of the English Wesleyan
Arminian theology.
Raymond, Miner. — Systematic Theology. 3 vols. Cincinnati, 1877-1879.
A very_ clear and readable presentation of Arminian theology. It deals also with
Apologetics, Ethics and Ecclesiology.
Ridgeley, Thomas. — A Body of Divinity, wherein the Doetrines of the
Christian Religion are explained and defended. 2 vols. London,
1831-1833. New ed. revised by John W. Wilson. New York, 1855.
A profusely elaborate series of lectures on the Westminster Confession, following
its order of questions and answers.
Riehm, Edward Karl August. — Der Lehrbegriff des Hebraerbriefes darge
stellt und mit verwandten Lehrbegriffen verglichen. Basel. In two
parts, 1858-1859. New and improved ed. in one vol., 1867.
An elaborate and masterly exposition of the doctrines of the epistle to the Hebrews,
along with comparison with corresponding ideas in the other biblical writers.
Ritschl, Albrecht. — Die christliche Lehre von der Rechtfertigung und
Versohnung. 3 vols. Bonn, 1870-1874.
The second volume of this famous work (2d ed., 1882) treats the "biblical material of
the doctrine," and is an important contribution to biblical theology. The influence of
Ritschl on the modern theological thought of Germany has been powerful and far-reach
ing, and is now felt in much of the English world. The translation of the third volume
(New York, 1900) has placed the author's own statement of his system within the reach
of English readers.
Rothe, R. — Dogmatik. 2 vols. Heidelberg, 1870.
Edited from the author's manuscripts by D. Schenkel. An important contribution to
Christian doctrine, somewhat after the ideas and spirit of Schleiermacher. His previous
work on theological ethics had treated the chief doctrines of Christianity as the essential
basis of sound morals.
Sabatter, A. — The Apostle Paul. A Sketch of the Development of his Doc
trine. Translated by A. M. Hellier. Edited, with an additional Essay
on the Pastoral Epistles, by George G. Findlay. 3d ed. New York,
1896.
An important contribution to the Pauline theology.
Salmond, Stewart D. F. — The Christian Doctrine of Immortality. Edin
burgh, 1895.
A full and helpful discussion of the doctrine of man's future life.
Schenkel, Daniel. Die christliche Dogmatik vom Standpunkte des Gewis-
sens. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, 1858-1859.
Expounds German liberalism in doctrine, and emphasizes conscience as the organ of
religious truth.
Schleiermacher, F. D. E. — Der christliche Glaube nach den Grundsatzen
der evangelischen Kirche im Zusammenhange dargestellt. 2 vols.
Berlin, 1821-1822. Reutlingen, 1828. Berlin, 1884.
One of the most important contributions to religious dogma that has ever appeared.
In connection with his earlier Reden iiber die Religion, this ripe product of the distin
guished author opened an era in the scientific treatment of theology.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 591
Schlottmann, Konstantin. — Compendium der biblischen Theologie des alten
und neuen Testaments. Herausgegeben von Ernst Ktihn. Leipzig,
1889. 2d ed., 1895.
A very convenient and comprehensive manual, covering both the Old and the New
Testaments.
Schmid, Christian Friedrich. — Biblical Theology of the New Testament.
Translated by G. H. Venables. Edinburgh, 1871.
One of the earlier and best-known books on the subject, and still worthy of consul
tation.
Schmidt, Wilhelm. — Die Lehre des Apostels Paulus. Gutersloh, 1898.
Critical, and deserving the attention of students in Pauline theology.
Schnedermann, Georg. — Jesu Verkundigung und Lehre vom Reiche Gottes
in ihrer geschichtlichen Bedeutung. Erste Halfte: Die Verkiindigung
Jesu vom Kommen des Konigsreiches Gottes. Leipzig, 1893.
Schultz, Hermann. — Old Testament Theology. The Religion of Revelation
in its pre-Christian Stage and Development. Translated from the
fourth German edition by J. A. Paterson. 2 vols. Edinburgh,,l892.
The learned and accomplished author modified his critical views of Old Testament
literature and doctrine after his first German edition of this work was issued (1869), and
his more matured opinions appear in this translation (made from the 4th German ed.).
It holds a commanding place among works on Old Testament theology.
Seeberg, Alfred. — Der Tod Christi in seiner Bedeutung fur die Erlosung.
Eine biblisch-theologische Untersuchung. Leipzig, 1895.
A remarkably comprehensive discussion of the saving significance of the death of
ChriBt, and an important contribution to biblical theology; but not altogether satisfac
tory. It maintains the essential harmony of all the New Testament writers in their
views of Christ's death. The author begins with the epistle to the Hebrews, and then
examines, in order, the teaching of John, of Paul, of Peter, the speeches recorded in the
Acts, and, last of all, the synoptic gospels.
Shedd, William G. T. — Dogmatic Theology. 2 vols. New York, 1888.
Vol. iii. Supplement, 1894.
An elaborate work, learned and comprehensive, aiming to state and defend the Augus-
tinian and older Calvinian theology.
Sheldon, Henry C. — System of Christian Doctrine. Cincinnati, 1903.
A very complete and able exposition of the doctrines of the Christian faith, compre
hensive and scientific in thought and statement, and worthy of special commendation to
students and ministers.
Smeaton, George. — The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Edinburgh, 1889.
An able and comprehensive discussion of the doctrine after the manner of biblical
dogmatics.
Smith, Henry B. — System of Christian Theology. Edited by William S.
Kerr. New York, 1884.
A unique and very able treatise, which aims to make all Christian theology center in
the person and ministry of Christ.
Somerville, David. — St. Paul's Conception of Christ; or, The Doctrine of
the Second Adam. Edinburgh, 1897.
A book that cannot well be overlooked in the study of Paul's Christology.
Stade, B. — Biblische Theologie des alten Testaments. Erster Band: Die
Religion Israels und die Entstehung des Judentums. Tubingen,
1905.
A masterly treatise, thoroughly scientific, critically historical, the product of ripe
scholarship and patient study.
Stearns, Lewis French. — Present Day Theology. New York, 1893.
A series of twenty-seven essays on as many different Christian doctrines, all of which
are treated with ability and sober thought.

592 BIBLICAL DOGMATICS
Steudel, Joh. Christian Friedrich. — Vorlesungen iiber die Theologie des
alien Testaments. Nach dessen Tode herausgegeben von G. F.
Oehler. Berlin, 1840.
One of the older books that deserves study. It adopts the method of biblical dog
matics in three parts: (1) the Doctrine of Man; (2) the Doctrine of God, and (3) the
Doctrine of the Relation between God and Man.
Stevens, George B. — The Theology of the New Testament. New York,
1899.
 The Pauline Theology: a Study of the Origin and Correlation of the
doctrinal teaching of the Apostle Paul. New York, 1892.
 The Johannine Theology : a Study of the doctrinal contents of the Gos
pel and Epistles of the Apostle John. New York, 1894.
 The Christian Doctrine of Salvation, New York, 1905.
These volumes constitute the most important and valuable contribution which Ameri
can scholarship has thus far made to biblical theology. They all deserve cordial recom
mendation to students of New Testament doctrine.
Strong, A. H. — Systematic Theology. New York, 1886.
One of the most valuable and comprehensive works on systematic theology that has
appeared during the last generation.
Summers, Thomas 0. — Systematic Theology : A Complete Body of Wesleyan
Arminian Divinity. Revised and edited by J. J. Tigert, Nashville, 1888.
Consistsof lectures on the Twenty Five Articles of Religion, and holds the rank of an
authoritative exposition of Arminian theology in Southern Methodism.
Titius, Arthur. — Jesu Lehre vom Reiche Gottes. Freiburg, 1895.
A very thorough and systematic statement of the doctrine of the kingdom of God, and
worthy of special commendation.
Turrettn, Francis. — Institutio Theologia? Elenctica?. 3 vols. Geneva,
1688. New ed., Edinburgh, 1847-1848.
A systematic and elaborate work, following the catechetical method of questions and
answers in the order of the prevalent confessions of the time, and maintaining the most
rigid orthodoxy of the Calvinian theology.
Twesten, August D. C. — Vorlesungen fiber die Dogmatik der evangelische
lutherischen Kirche. 2 vols. Hamburg, 1826, 1837.
' An unfinished work, but interesting as a modification of the Lutheran theology under
the broadening influence of the teaching of Schleiermacher.
Van Oosterzee, J. J. — The Theology of the New Testament. A Handbook
for Bible Students. Translated from the Dutch bv M. J. Evans. New
York, 1871.
 Christian Dogmatics. — A Text Book for Academical Instruction and
Private Study. Translated from the Dutch by J. J. Watson and M. J.
Evans. 2 vols. New York, 1874.
The first named is a condensed, convenient, and useful manual; the later and larger
work is a mature and elaborate exposition of Christian truth worthy of attention and
study.
Vatke, Wilhelm. — Die biblische Theologie wissenschaftlich dargestellt. Die
Religion des alten Testamentes, nach den kanonischen Btichern ent-
wickelt. Erster Theil. Berlin, 1835.
'- The first part is devoted to a presentation of the religion of the Old Testament, and the
work was never completed by a further setting forth of the theology of the other canonical
books. This work is noted as one of the first attempts to construct the historical develop
ment of the Old Testament theology after the manner now generally adopted by the
more advanced biblical criticism.
Volz, Paul. — Jiidische Eschatologie. Von Daniel bis Akiba. Tubingen und
Leipzig, 1903.
An invaluable help for tracing the history of the later Jewish eschatological opinions
from B. C. 300 to A. D. 200.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 593
Watson, Richard. — Theological Institutes, or a View of the Evidences, Doc
trines, Morals, and Institutions of Christianity. 3 vols. 1823-1824.
New ed., with a copious Index and an Analysis by J. McClintock.
2 vols. New York, 1850.
The monumental contribution of the earlier Wesleyan Methodism to systematic
theology ._ The work is unequal in its parts, obsolete now in some of its discussions, and
abounds in extensive quotations from others. But it ranks with the ablest productions
of its time.
Weber, Ferdinand. — Jiidische Theologie auf Grand des Talmud und ver-
wandter Sehriften gemeinfasslich dargestellt. Leipzig, 1880. 2d re
vised edition, by F. Delitzsch and G. Schnedermann. 1897.
Invaluable as a guide to theological opinions as set forth in the literature of the later
Judaism.
Weinel, Heinrich. — Die Wirkungen des Geistes und der Geister im nach-
apostolischen Zeitalter bis auf Irenaeus. Freiburg, 1899.
A work of the greatest, value for the study of the operations of the Spirit and an im
portant contribution to biblical dogmatics.
Weiss, Bernhard. — Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Translated
from the third German edition by David Eaton. 2 vols. Edinburgh,
1882.
A work of exceeding value and a thesaurus of material for working out the problems
of New Testament doctrine. It ranks among the foremost of its class.
Weiss, Johannes. — Die Predigt Jesu vom Reiche Gottes. Gottingen, 1892.
2d ed., 1900.
 Die Idee des Reiches Gottes in der Theologie. Giessen, 1901.
The last named was read at a theological conference at Giessen, and is a supplement
to the preceding. They both maintain the eschatological conception of the kingdom of
God.
Wendt, Hans Hinrich. — The Teaching of Jesus. Translated by John Wilson.
New York, 1892.
This English translation gives only the second part of the German original, but it con
tains the author's exposition of the teaching of Jesus. The first part is a critical discus
sion of the gospel as sources of doctrine. A second edition of the German work (Gottingen
1901) has condensed the two volumes of the first edition into one of 640 pages. No other
work on the teaching of our Lord holds a higher place among New Testament scholars.
Wittichen, Carl. — Beitrage zur biblischen Theologie:
 1. Die Idee Gottes als des Vaters: ein Beitrag zur biblischen Theologie,
hauptsachlich der synoptischen Reden Jesu. Gottingen, 1865.
 2. Die Idee des Menschen: zweiter Beitrag zur biblischen Theologie
hauptsachlich der synoptischen Reden Jesu. Gottingen, 1868.
 3. Die Idee des Reiches Gottes: dritter Beitrag zur biblischen Theo
logie, inbesondere der synoptischen Reden Jesu. Gottingen, 1872.
These three small volumes present all together an admirable outline and discussion of the
biblical doctrine of the Father, of Man, and of the Kingdom of God. While dealing.
mainly with the teaching of Jesus, they also pay becoming attention to the other biblical
writings, especially the Old Testament and the Apocrypha.
Wood, Irving F. — The Spirit of God in Biblical Literature. A Study in
the History of Religion. With an Introduction by Frank C. Porter.
New York, 1904.
Biblical, historical, critical, comprehensive. One of the most satisfactory books on
the biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit that has been written.
Zacharia, Gotthilp Traugott. — Biblische Theologie, oder Untersuchung
des Grundes der vornehmsten biblischen Lehren. 4 vols. Gottingen,
1771-1775.
Interesting as one of the elaborate treatises of its time, and one of the early attempts
at biblical theology, but of little intrinsic value for a modern student.

INDEX OF SCMPTUKE TEXTS

This index includes only those texts on which

some comment

is made

Genesis

Genesis.

Numbers.

I, 2. 154
485,
XL, 5.
528.
XI, 11-15.
138
351
486
514,
" 15.
528.
XIV, 22.
102
573n
579.
XLIX, 39. 199
253.
" 33.
102
" 3.
154.
33. 199
253.
XVI, 32.
66
" 11.
64.
" 34.
64.
Exodus.
Deuteronomy
" 36-38.
76.
Ill, 2-6.330
,542.
1,17.
540
" 36.
79.
" 6. 226
227,
VI, 5.
52
436
" 37.
59, 79.
353.
VII, 6.
549
" 38.
64, 73.
" 7.
304.
" 8.
368.
" 31.
76
178,
" 8.
304.
X, 16.
150
573.
" 13-15.
529.
XII, 33.
47
II, 7.65,
71
,526.
IV, 23. 159
164.
XIII, 13.
104
" 17.
118.
VI, 2.
529.
XXI, 32.
388
" 18.
59.
" 3.
529.
" 33.
388
" 24.
59.
XIV, 19.
330.
XXIV, 1.
104
" 35.
76.
XV, 1-18.
539.
XXVII, 36.
389
Ill, 3.
118.
" 3.
526.
XXVIII, 15-
45.
123
" 5.
309.
" 6.
526.
XXX, 6.
150
" 15.
185.
" 8.
526.
" 19.
57
" 16-19.
113.
XVIII, 15.
540.
XXXII, 8.
540
" 17-18.
119.
XIX, 5.
159.
9-13.
530.
" 34.
185.
XXI, 4-21.
104.
9.
540.
IV, 1-5.
62.
" 23-35.
104.
39.
213
" 10.
47.
" 34-35.
105.
V, 1-3.
79.
XXIII, 13.
517.
Joshua.
" 3.
64, Co.
XXV, 17-22.
394.
VII, 24.
104
VI, 6.
488.
XXXII, 34.
330.
VIII, 30-23.
353.
XXXIII, 2.
330.
Judges.
IX, 4.
" 9-17.
47.
185.
" 12-16.
" 14.
188.
330.
I, 6.
X, 16.
104.
553.
XI, 1-9.
67.
XXXIV, 7.
106.
XI, 23.
535535.
352.
" 5.
XIII, 1-3.
526. 7.
XL, 34-38.
326.
" 24.
XVII, 7-13.
XIV, 1.
30.
Leviticus.
XIX, 22.
104.
XVII, 7.
525.
IV, 13.
90.
XX, 6.
104
XVIII, 23-32.
188.
" 26.
356.
" 16.
86
" 25.
424.
" 31.
356.
XXV, 8. 199
253.
" 35.
356.
1 Samuel.
" 17.
199.
XVI, 2-6.
252.
I, 3-9.
352.
XXVIII, 13.
527.
" 11-17. 252
357.
II, 6.
213.
XXXI, 20.
527.
XVII, 11. 47
355.
VIII, 7.
425n
540.
" 34.
527.
" 14.
47.
X, 9.
150.
" 53.
527.
XIX, 17. 59
436.
" 19.
425n
540.
XXXII, 24-30.
188.
" 18.
436.
XV, 32.
109.
24.
526.
XXIV, 11.
530.
" 33.
104.
30.
527.
" 16.
530.
XXIV, 5.
55.
XXXV, 29.
199.
XXVI, 14-21.
123.
XXVI, 19.
535.
59.5
596

INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS

2 Samuel.
VII, 14.
XII, 13.
" 16-18.
" 23
XXIII, %.
XXIV, 10. 1 Kings.
VIII, 23-30.
" 23
XVIII, 20-40.
XIX, 9
XXII, 19. 2 Kings.
1,10.
" 12.
Ill, 37.
V, 18.
XVII, 26.
" 30. Job.
I, 5.
" 13.
II, 6.
Ill, 8.
XI, 7-9.
" 7.
" 8.
XIV, 10-13.
XVII, 13-16.
XIX, 25-37.
XXI, 24.
XXVI, 5. 6.
12. 461,
XXVII, 6.
XXXI, 33.
XXXVI, 26-30.
XXXVIII, 4.
XLII, 7-17.
Psalms.
I, 3.
V, 10.
VIII, 4.
IX, 16.
" 17.
XVI, 8-
" 10.
" 11.
XVII, 15.
XVIII, 4. 5. 7-
XIX, 7-
XXII " 28.

10.

15.11.

266. 138.189.
253. 20. 55.

526.538.506. 507.
540.

105. 105.
537.516.535.
516.350. 111.
111.461. 513.171.
201.215.202.201. 49.
202.
202.
514. 55.
113.
513. 111.
111.

164. 105. 72.
268. 107.107.
203.200.200.212. 122n.122n.
424. 32.

363-365. 424.

Psalms.
XXVII, 1.
4.
XXIX, 2.
XXXIII, 6-9.
XXXVII, 30.
XXXVIII, 1-4.
XL, 8.
XLIII, l.
XLIV, 32.
XLV, 6.
XLVII, 8.
XLIX, 15.
L, 3-6.

LI,

5. 1-3.

201. 178.
178. 70.
134.138.
283. 107.128.
324. 424.
200. 425.410. 138.

4. 108, 138.
5. 84, 138.

10. 1.
3.

LVII,
LVIII, _
LIX, 23.
" 28.
LXXII.
LXXIII, 18.
" 33-36.
LXXVIII, 40.
41.
LXXXII, 7.
LXXXIV, 11.
LXXXIX, 10. 461, 514.
35-37. 474.

150.
457. 84.
105.
123.
474. 123.
199.
487.487. 113. 175.

XC, 17.
XCII, 13.
XCVI, 9.
XCVIII, 9.
CIII, 13.
CIV, 2.
" 3.
CIX, 6-13.

178. 165.178.
424.533.424.424. 105.

CX. 365, 428, 474.

3.
CVI, 3.
CXIX. " 71.
" 73.
CXXXVII, 7.
8. 9.
CXXXIX, 7.
14.
15.
Proverb9.

178.128. 32.
177. 66.
478. 105. 105.
487. 155.155.

I, 20-23. 109.
" 24-31. 94.
Ill, 17. 178.
IV, 18. 193, 256.
V, 5. 122n,
" 12. 110.

Proverbs.

V. 13.

110.

" 22.

110.

" 23.

110.

VI, 12-19.

110.

VII, 27.

110.

VIII, 28-31. 110

,312,

329

,557.

" 33.

552.

" 33.

552.

X, 3.

122n

XI, 4.

122n

XII, 1.

110.

" 38.

122n

XIII, 5.

110.

XIV, 34.

110.

XVI, 33.

507.

XX, 37.

48.

XXIII, 7.

169.

Ecclesiastes.

ii, i-ii.

112.

" 13-23.

112.

Ill, 10.

112.

" 11.

198.

" 31.

198.

XI, 5.

155.

XII. 5.

198.

" 7. 65

198.

Isaiah.

I 4.

360.

" 10-17.

109.

360.
" 18.
360.
" 19.
57.
" 30.
57.
" 31-33.
106.
II, 2-4.
474.
VI, 1.
19.
" 10.
94.
IX, 1-7.
475.
" 4.
478.
" 6.
427.
" 7.
427.
XI, 1-10.
427,
475.
" 2.
487.
" 4.
465.
XIII, 6.
426.
" 9-19.
427.
XIV, 9-11.
202.
" 11-19.
124.
" 13.
514.
" 15.
253.
" 16.
253.
XIX, 1-4.
427.
XXV, 8.
213.
XXVI, 13-31.
214,
215.
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS

597

Isaiah.

XXVI,
XXVII, xxx,
XXXI,
XXXIII,

xxxrv, XL,
it
XLII,

XLIX, LI,
LII,

214.
461, 514. 123.

LIII,

LVII,
LXIII,

LXIV,LXVI,

19. 1.
33. 9. 123.
12. 123.
14. 123.
22. 540.
1-5. 427.
14. 514.
22. 424.
23. 424.
1-4. 564.
1. 266.
5. - 66.
15. 579.
9. 461, 514.
13 — LIII, 12.
361, 362.

5. 7.
8.
10.
20. 3-6.
10.12-14.16. 8.
13.
24.

383.381.381. 387. 86.
374.487.529. 564.564.579. 124.

Jeremiah.

I, 9. 19.
IV, 4. 150.
VII, 12-16. 94.
IX, 1. 360.
" 3. 360.
XII, 4. 119.
XVII, 9. 84.
XXIII, 5. 427.
6. 427.
XXX, 2. 19.
XXXI, 9. 564.
20. 564.
" 29. 31, 109.
30. 109.
Ezekiel.
XI, 19. 150.
XIV, 21. 119, 426.
XVIII, 2. 31.
3. 109.
4. 66, 109.
20. 109.
XXII, 4. 90.
XXVIII, 31-24. 426.
XXXVI, 25. 152, 153.
" 26. 150.
XXXVII, 1-14. 216.

II,

IV,
VII,

IX, It il x, a
XII,

28. 35.
44. 5.9-14.9.
10.

48, 49n.
460.476. 48.
428.541.541.

13. 268, 271, 476.
15. 46, 48.
18. 258.
27. 206.
7. 55.
8. 55.
34. 362, 363.
13. 461.
20. 461.
2. 124, 130, 217.
218, 227, 248.
3. 217, 218.
Hosea.

I, 2.

106.

" 11.

478.

IV, 12.

106.

VI, 1-3.

214.

" 6.

108.

*' 7.

113.

IX, 1.

106.

XI, 1.

564.

" 8.

360, 553.

" 9.

360.

XIII, 14.

213.

XIV, 5.

165

6.

165.

Joel

II, 1.

426

" 3.

426

" 28-32.

448

Amos.
V, 12. 108.
" 21-24. 108.
IX, 3. 461.
Micah.
I, 1-5. 427.
IV, 1-4. 474.
V, 2-4. 428.
VI, 6-8. 108, 360.
Habakkuk.
II, 4. 389.
Haggai.
II, 6. 439.

Zechariah.
VI, 12. 476n.
" 13. 476n.
IX, 9. 475.
" 10. 475.
XII, 1. 66.
XIV, 9. 424.

Malachi.

IV, 6.

482.

7.

439.

Matthew.
I, 1. 22n.
II, 15. 564.
Ill, 2. 442.
" 6. 146.
IV, 1-11. 99.
" 3. 266.
" 6. 266.
V, 3. 435.
" 9. 159.
" 12. 209.
" 17. 3, 15, 265.
" 18. 171.
" 20. 169.
" 31. 90, 169.
" 22. 90, 169.
" 24. 386.
" 28. 58.
" 44. 105.
" 45. 159.
VI, 9. 577.
" 10. 430.
" 13. 182n.
" 20. 209, 255.
" 23. 89.
VII, 12. 59.
" 29. 280.
VIII, 11. 370n.
" 36. 284.
IX, 13. 368.
" 14-17. 16.
" 33. 146.
" 29. 146.
X, 7. 442.
" 15. 90.
" 23. 442.
" 28. 52, 126,
133, 134.
" 29. 67.
*' 30. 280.
" 32. 562.
" 33. 562.
XI, 1-10. 425.
" 3-5. 275.
" 3-11. 436.
" 11. 16.
" 13. 437.
" 35-37. 560.
" 87. 265,267.
" 38. 265, 267.

598

INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS

Matthew.

Matthew.

Luke

XII, 6.
265.
XXV,
14-30.
434.
1,32.
259.
" 8.
265.
It
31-46.126,231,
" 35.
266,
273,
" 18-31.
564.
478
479,
488.
" 31.
92
131,
497
498.
" 51.
50.
132.
tt
41.
130.
" 67-79.
429.
" 32.
92
131,
it
46.
131.
" 78.
570n
132.
XXVI,
24.
127.
II, 1.
74.
" 39.
277
505.
it
28.
369
371.
" 24.
262.
" 41.
265.
tt
64.
443.
" 35.
272.
" 43.
265.
11
66.
90.
" 25-38.
429.
" 50.
562.
XXVII,
46.
374.
" 38.
272.
XIII, 10-16.
34.
XXVIII,
3.
224.
" 40.
558.
" 19.
431.
tt
19.
182
182n,
" 49.
280.
" 38.
159
468.
486.
" 53.
271.
" 43.
159
210,
IV, 1-13.
99.
562.
Mark.
" 13.
275.
" 52.
5.
1,10.
342.
" 14.
275
556.
XIV, 26.
222.
" 11.
342.
" 39.
284.
XV, 13.
562.
" 15.
142
445
442.
VI, 31.
59.
" 28.
145.
" 41.
284.
" 44.
101
170.
XVI, 13-
20.
272.
II, 10.
284.
VII, 18-33.
275.
" 17.
286.
" 27.
181.
" 19-38.
429
436.
" 28.
463.
Ill, 4.
284.
" 41-47.
433.
XVII, 3.
223.
" 5.
89.
VIII, 11.
431.
9.
210.
" 38-
•30.
92.
" 31.
129.
11.
482.
" 29.
90,94
123.
IX, 39.
224.
XVIII, l-
4.
435.
IV 22.
256
479.
" 30.
210.
" 10.
562.
" 26-29.
432.
" 43.
278.
14.
562.
VI, 3.
261.
" 54.
105.
15.
387.
VIII, 12.
505.
X, 18.
287.
19.
562.
" 38.
126.
" 19.
287.
" 21-
35.
433.
IX, 3.
224.
" 30.
505.
XIX, 21.
171.
" 10.
225.
" 31.
560.
" 28.
258
482.
" 13.
482.
" 22.
560.
" 29.
194
210.
" 19.
505.
" 27.
52.
XX, 1-
16.
432.
" 33.
146.
" 29-37.
433.
XXI, 28-
33.
433.
" 43.
129.
" 54.
286.
" 33.
433.
X, 3-
12.
59.
XI, 5-13.
433.
" 34.
433.
" 13-
15.
435.
XII, 10.
92.
XXII, 1-
14.
434.
" 18.
564.
" 15-31.
433.
" 33-
33.
225,
" 33.
435.
" 47.
90.
226.
" 29.
194.
" 48.
90.
37.
52.
" 30.
194.
XIII, 1-5.
119.
39.
59.
" 45.
366-3<>:i
" 16.
276.
XXIII, 9.
569.
XII, 18-
27.
225
226.
XIV, 14.
225.
" 23.
169.
" 38-
34.
436.
" 16-34.
434.
37.
57
457.
" 36.
488.
XVI, 1-13.
433.
XXIV, 1.
180n.
XIII, 10.
446
492.
" 9.
254.
3.
445.
" 11.
20.
" 19-31.
433.
5.
466.
" 30-
33.
447.
" 32.
481.
11.
466.
" 33.
267.
" 23.
127
129,
12.
466.
XIV, 22-
24.
265.
133,
203
253.
14.
446
466,492.
" 24.
" 33.
369.375.
" 24.
127
129,
133.
29-31.4 17,-n;;:
" 34.
375.
XVII, 7-10.
433.
34-
36.
447.
" 64.
90.
" 20-37.
444
449.
34.
443.
XV, 34.
374.
" 20.
443.
36.
247.
XVI, 12.
308.
" 31.
450.
XXV, 1-
13. 478—
" 16.
145
182.
" 34.
450.
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS

599

XVIII, it tt ii
XIX,
it
XX,

" 36.
XXII, 19.
" 20.
" 39.
" 30.
XXIII, 34.
" 43.
" 43.
" 46.
XXIV, 4.
31.
" 39.
" 49.
" 51.53.

Luke.
1-8.
8.9-14.
13.10.11-27.
27-38. 225,
35. 248,

265,

229n, 133,
254,282,

223,

433.
443. 433.
169.
368. 434.
226.
254.254.265.369.562.562.374.254.229n,374.374.224.223n.278.493.221.493.

John.

I, 1-
" 4.
" 9.
" 12
" 13.
" 14.
" 18.

326, 332,
337.
192, 322,567. 2.
155, 568. 155.
267, 326."
267, 268,
281, 327n, 567.

III.

IV,

49. 3-8. 5-8.5.8.
13. 14-16.16.
18.
20.
30-36.36. 1.2.
14.
22.24.
36.
48.

267
151, 451.449.
151, 154.
155, 162.
334, 451n
371.
267, 416,
419, 567.
267. 496.451.
145, 191,
204. 182.
182.194. 7.
82, 485,
488, 555. 194.
277, 337,505.

John.
V, 19-27.
" 19.
" 31.
" 33.
" 34.
" 35.
" 36.
" 29.
" 30.277
" 36.
" 40.
VI, 30-35.
" 35.
" 38.
" 39.
" 40.
" 44.
" 48.
" 50.
" 51.
" 53.
" 54.
" 57.
" 62.
VII, 39.
" 46.
VIII, 12.

IX,

X,

21-24. 33.38.32.
36.
43-44.43.44. 46.
58. 1-3.
3.
5.
10.
" 11.
" 15.
" 18.
" 30.
" 38.
XI, 3-5.
" 25.
" 36.
" 33.
" 50-53.
XII, 13-16.
" 34.
" 31.
" 33-34.

481.
277, 281.
225.477.
140, 156,
191, 228.
228. 566. 130.
281,283. 277. 141.
505.
265.
211, 283.
211, 283.
225, 284. 141.
265.372.
284, 372.
265, 420.191.
566.
283, 334.
485, 491.281
256, 284, 566. 127.
283, 437.
372n 192.
163.
568.283.
498.283.
283, 334. 120.
112.
283.566.373.
373.
221, 557.568.
267. 338.
210, 229,
265, 285.
210, 229,
265, 285.
229. 373.
452.
119, 372.498. 372n

John.

XII, 33.
" 45.
" 46.
XIII, 3.

XIV

, 1-3.

tt

3.

it

3.

tt

6.

tt

9.

11

10.

tt

11.

il

13.

il

16-30.

li

20.

ii

23.

tt

26.

ii

28.

ii

31.

XV

1-9.

it

13.

tt

18.

a

19.

a

22.

tc

26.

XVI

8.

"

9-11.

tt

13-15.

li

28.

XVII

3.

it

5.

tt

12.

il

17.

"

18.

"

20-26.

((

24. :

334

ii

26.

XVIII

36.

il

37.

XIX

11.

tt

26.

tt

27.

It

28.

11

30.

tt

34.

XX

19.

"

22.

it

23.

it

26.

tt

27.

tl

29.

it

31.

XXI,

22.

23.

250, 265.
283.284.210.210.
568.
452, 453.
265.
283, 568.
267, 283. 267.
504, 507.490. 191.
452. 20.
282, 568.
282.420.
373.452. 452.497.490.
496. 496.
501.
210. 191.
283, 334. 127.
33, 168.
283.
420.
21 In, 283,
, 337, 452. 64.
437, 452.
437, 452. 91.
338, 374.
338, 374.
374. 374.378.223.493.
493.223.222. 505.146.453.
453.

Acts.
I, 1-11. 222.
" 3. 222, 223.
" 5. 493.

600

INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS

Acts.

I, 6.

482.

" 11.

456.

" 16.

488.

II, 1-13.

493.

" 5.

446.

" 14-31.

448.

" 14-40.

289,

290.

" 27.

203.

" 31.

203.

" 33. 491

493.

" 38.

381.

Ill, 13-15.

290.

" 19. 141

147.

" 21. 290

456,

482.

" 26.

381.

IV, 10-12.

381.

" 13. 290

381.

" 35.

400.

V, 31. 141

381.

VII, 38.

457.

" 38.

33.

" 51.

58.

" 56-60.

254.

" 56.

454.

" 59.

133.

VIII, 4.

33.

" 35.

381.

IX, 3-9.

234.

" 17.

234.

X, 36.

149.

" 40. 222

223.

" 41. 222

223.

" 43.

290.

" 43.

381.

XI, 18. 140

141.

" 38.

74.

XIII, 10.

469.

XIV, 15-17.

509.

XV, 38.

35.

" 39.

35.

XVII, 1-9.

466.

16.

62.

33-35.

62.

" 24-29.

82,

156,

570.

30.

480.

" 31. 477,

480.

XVIII, 24.

330.

XX, 28.

320.

XXII, 11.

224.

XXIV, 15.

231.

XXVI, 13. 224,

234.

XXVIII, 25.

488.

Romans.

I, 3.

300.

" 4. 300,

491.

Romans.

i,

n,

in,

IV.

v,

VI

VII,

VIII

7.
17.18-20.18-32.18.
20.21.25.28. 3-11.4.
9
1415. 2.
9.
10-18.19.
21-26. 21.22.23. 5.
6.
11. 1.
8-11.
11.13-19.
13-31.
17. 1.
4.5-14. 7.
8-11.
12.13.14.
17.18.19.21.
23. 120
5-11.5. 6. 7-24.
9-14.
14-24.
14. 18.
22. 23.24.25. 1-11.

181.148. 27.85.
136.
311.521. 88.
521. 128.141.
58, 122, 131.
27, 56, 521.
27, 56, 521. 7.
85.85.90.
391-400.
143, 148.
143, 148. 85.
143, 144.
148.148.148.
148, 149, 386.
386, 400.
149, 386.
64, 85,
117, 121.
401.
257. 144.
156, 499.
244. 139.
400.120. 115.
115.162.162.162.121.
160, 193.
385. 114. 16.
117.120,
115, 116.
114. 114.
115.115.114.114.
162, 166.

Romans.

VIII

116,
315,

244,

2. 3.3-5.
6-8. 6.
11.13.
14-16.15.16. 51, 160,
17. 159,
18.
19-23. 119,

IX, a x,

XI,
XII,
XIV,

XV,

31.
33.33. 25.
26.27.
32.30.38.39. 4.5.4. 6-10.
9.
10.
15. 4-8.8.
10.
17.18. 4.

49, 159,
504,

300,

438, 21,

193.
417. 114.114.120.
499. 114.158.
570.500.
205.208. 483,
574. 163.
571.574. 49.
574.
504.401. 128.
208.208. 159.
319. 399. 148.146.146.
386. 181.
401.
477. 500.178n.185.

1 Corinthians.

II

I, 7.
" 14.
" 16.17. 6.
10-14.

455. 21.21.
183.
173.
82, 501.

Ill,

11.13. 14.15. 1.
" 3.
" 9.
IV, 20.
V, 4.
" 7.
VI, 19.
VII, 11.
" 25.
" 34.

51, 161, 488. 21n.52.52.
114.114.179.
438.306.
184, 370, 397. 66.
386. 21. 52.

INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS

601

1 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians.

Ephesians.

VII, 40.

21.

V, 10.

126, 477.

II, 10.

154.

IX, 24-26.

172.

" 14.

121.

" 14-18.

149.
" 27.
114.
" 14-
19.
384, 385,
" 16.
386.
X, 4. 117,
315, 316.
386.
" 19-22.
179.
" 16.
184, 421.
" 17.
154, 164.
Ill, 8-11.
303, 349.
XI, 7.
309.
" 18-
¦21.
149, 387.
" 8.
317.
" 27.
90.
" 19.
147,
419, 385.
" 10-12.
142.
XII, 4-7.
180.
VI, 10.
317.
" 12.
161.
" 4-11.
503.
" 21.
387, 388.
" 14-19.
174.
" 6.
488.
VII, 1.
168.
" 16-19.
116, 303.
" 7.
488.
" 10.
122u, 1 ill.
" 19.
305.
" 13.
421.
VIII, 2.
176.
" 31.
258.
" 13.
182, 421.
9.
317.
IV, 5.
183.
XIII, 1.
507.
XI, 14.
469.
" 8.
491.
3.
507.
XII, 8.
189.
" 9. 303n,
304, 305.
4-8.
175.
XIII, 14.
297,
485, 501.
" 10.
304, 305.
" 10.
173, 256.
Galatians.
" 11.
304, 305.
" 13.
252, 256.
I, 4.
390.
" 11-16.
180.
XIV, 15.
49.
" 6.
102.
" 13.
421.
" 19.
49.
" 7.
102.
" 13.
305, 421.
" 20.
48, 173.
" 14.
117.
" 15.
164.
XV, ill.
233.
II, 19.
299, 390.
" IS.
89.
" 8.
224.
" 20.
121,
156, 184,
" 24.
80
164, 168.
" 12-19.
234.
299,
385, 390.
" 30.
94, 487.
" 20-26.
248.
Ill, 1.
102, 389.
V, 1.
159, 175.
" 20-28.
234.
" 13.
388, 389.
" 2.
175, 402.
" 22.
121, 250.
" 27.
182.
" 5.
319.
" 23.
249.
IV, 4.
273
315, 390.
" 8.
159, 192.
" 24-28.
135, 483,
5.
390.
" 8-11.
173.
581.
" 6.
570.
" 10.
178n
" 25.
473.
" 10.
163.
" 19.
181.
" 29-34.
235.
" 22-36.
117, 162.
" 20.
181.
" 31.
128.
V, 1.
162.
" 25-27.
168.
" 35-49.
235-240.
", 6.
174n.
" 20
152, 153.
" 36.
119.
" 13.
162.
VI, 11.
469.
" 36-38.
242, 246.
" 17.
116.
" 12.
469.
" 44.
53.
" 19.
87, 114.
" 17.
153.
" 45-49.
316.
" 30.
87, 114.
Philippians.
" 50-58.
240,241.
" 33.
173.
I, 8.
570.
" 51.
232.
" 33.
173.
" 9-11
174.
" 52.
232.
VI, 8.
" 10.
114. 180.
" 21-24
133, 208,243.
2 Corinthians.
" 14.
390.
" 25.
174.
I, 12.
161.
" 15.
153, 164.
II, 1.
501, 570.
" 22.
500.
Ephesians.
" 2-8.
174.
Ill, 6-11.
16, 165.
i, i
168.
" 5-11.
307-310.
" 15-18.
34.
" 9-11.
349.
" 13.
488.
" 17.
162, 192,
" 10.
302.
" 15.
159.
299, 490.
" 13.
153
, 195, 439,
Ill, 9.
148.
IV, 4-6.
299.
494, 500.
" 10.
244, 248.
" 4.
88.
" 14.
195
, 439, 500.
" 11.
244, 248.
" 6. 155
. 192. 257.
" 18-33.
303.
" 13-15
172.
" 16-V. 10. 241-244.
" 20.
245.
" 20.
192.
" 17.
120, 177.
" 21.
557.
" 21.
244, 245.
" 18.
507.
" 23.
305.
" 22.
244, 245.
V, 1-8.
208, 249.
II, 1-3
116
, 121, 158.
IV, 7.
49.
" 1.
" 5.
" 6.
46.
" 5.
121.
" 8.
172
, 174, 178.
500.
" 6.
192
, 245, 420.
" 9.
172
, 174, 178.
208.
" 8.
142.
" 19.
570.
CO 00 «J M Oi 09 n
P ff

t 5 -< ' ~ -

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INDEX OF SCRIPTURE TEXTS

603

Hebrews.

l

Peter.

l Joh

a.

XII, 3.

322.
III, 31.
182.
Ill,
5.
376.
" 4-11.
176.
" 33.
291.
6.
167.
" 9.
66
569.
IV, 1.
383.
a
8.
376.
" 18-24.
439.
" 6.
133.
tt
9.
156,
166, 377.
" 22-33.
207.
" 11.
33.
n
10.
166.
" 38.
439.
" 13.
176.
tt
14.
140,
156, 161.
XIII, 8.
323.
" 13.
176,
291, 383.
it
16.
377.
" 14.
480.
" 17.
133.
it
19.
161, 323.
" 18.
56.
" 18.
133.
"
31.
161.
" 30.
322.
V, 1.
383.
a
22.
178n
" 21.
325.
" 4.
" 10.
291.
291.
IV tt
2.3.
256.470.
James.
(i
7-
16.
567.
I, 2-4.
176.
2
Peter.
it
7.
156, 469.
" 4.
171
172.
I, 1.
292.
li
8.
469.
" 12.
176.
" 4.
156.
ii
9.
267, 376.
" 15.
120.
" 8.
292.
li
10.
376, 419.
" 17.
533
569.
" 11.
292.
a
14.
376.
" 18.
163
170.
" 16.
292, 453.
n
16-
19.
174.
" 20.
170.
" 17.
292.
tt
17.
161.
" 25.
163
170.
" 31.
501.
V
1.
156.
II, 1.
292.
II, 1.
471.
it
4.
146n
156, 473.
" 5.
293
440.
" 4.
129.
"
5.
473.
" 10.
170.
" 30.
103, 292.
a
6-
8.
378, 379.
" 21-23.
144.
" 31.
103, 292.
tt
11.
156.
Ill, 2.
172.
Ill, 4.
167.
it
12.
156, 191.
IV, 13.
533.
" 6.
167n.
tt
14.
161.
V, 7.
453.
" 8.
325.
tt
17.
88.
" 8.
293
453.
" 16.
8,25.
tt
18.
156.
" 30.
120.
" 18.
164, 292.
tt
19.
276.
2 John.
1 Peter.
1
John.
I, 3. 168
171
382.
I, 1
323, 338.
7.
338, 471.
" 3.
291.
" 3.
421, 569.
3 John.
" 6.
176.
" 5-7.
377.
7.
338.
" 7.
176
291.
" 5.
192
256, 323,
Jude
.
" 8.
291.
566.
1.
292.
" 9.
291.
" 7.
192, 256.
4.
292.
" 13.
291.
" 8-10.
167.
17.
292.
" 18.
382.
" 9.
146
323, 377.
21.
292.
" 19.
291
382.
" 11.
440.
25.
292.
" 20.
291.
II, 1.
167,
378, 489,
" 33.
171.
504, 569.
Revelation.
II, 1.
164.
" 3.
376.
I,
4.
486, 495.
" 3.
164.
" 11.
88.
li
5.
486.
" 4.
291.
" 16.
99.
"
6.
205, 325.
" 9.
171.
" 18.
470.
It
7.
458.
" 11.
168.
" 19.
471.
tt
12-16.
295.
" 16.
163.
" 30-27
20.
II,
7.
205.
" 19.
56.
" 30.
501.
it
17.
205.
" 31-34.
382.
" 33.
497.
III,
5.
205.
" 33.
291.
" 24.
421.
a
12.
205.
" 35.
291.
" 25.
421.
a
21.
205, 230,
Ill, 4.
177.
" 27.
501.
257.
" 10-13.
447n.
" 28.
161, 453.
IV,
5.
295.
" 15.
291.
" 29.
156.
V,
1-6.
380.
" 17.
383.
Ill, 1-3.
160.
u
5.
502.
" 18-30.
132.
" 1.
567.
"
6.
295, 495,
" 18.
383
419.
" 4.
87.
502.
604

INDEX OP SCRIPTURE TEXTS

Revelation.
V, 9. 206.
" 10. 205.
" 13. 296.
VI, 9-11. 206, 230.
VII, 9-17. 177, 206, 255.
X, 1. 296.
XI, 1-3. 457.
" 1. 294.
" 3. 294.
" 3-12. 230.
- " 8. 457.
XII, 3-9. 461, 462.

Revelation.

XIII,

2.

il

11.

XIV,

10.

tt

11.

XVI,

13.

XVII,

1-8.

tt

9-11.

tt

10.

XVIII,

18.

XIX,

3.

tt

9.

tt

11.

XX,

4-15.

461. 457. 129. 129.
462.462.457.
294.294.381n.370n.296.230.

Revelation.

XX, 6.

257.

" 14.

130.

XXI, 2.

153n, 440.
" 5.
206.
6.
459.
7.
206, 296, 459.
8.
127, 130.
" 35-
37
255.
oai, i-
5.
206.
" i.
295.
" 5.
206, 256,
257, 258.
GENEEAL INDEX

The letter n placed after a page-number indicates that the reference is in
the footnote.

Abbott, Ezra, 319n, 320n.
Accadian Psalms, 63n.
Adoption, 158.
Alexander, W. L., 41.
Alford, 154n, 162n, 325n, 450n.
Angelology, 460, 541.
Angelophany, 329.
Animism, 542.
Annihilation, 133.
Anselmic Theory, 419n, 578.
Anthropomorphism, 525, 526.
Antichrist, 460-472.
Apostasy, 101.
Assurance, 160, 161.
Ascension of Jesus, 222, 224, 278.
Attributes of God, 551.
Augustine, 219n.
Authority of Scripture, 28.
Avatara, 331.
Avesta, 9, 29, 63n, 212, 218.
Bacon, 261n.
Baldensperger, 285n.
Baptism, 151, 152, 182, 183.
Baruch, cited, 113, 218n.
Beautiful, The, in Religion, 177.
Beck, 47n.
Beet, 81, 180n.
Bengel, 155n, 322n, 325n.
Beyschlag, 239n, 272n, 315n, 335n,
450n.
Bhagavat Gita, 347n.
Bigamy, 58.
Blasphemy of the Spirit, 92, 96.
Bleek, 325n.
Blood of Life, 47.
Blood Covenant, 525.
Blood Offerings, 353, 354, 377.
Blood, Symbolism of, 355, 356.
Body, The, 46.
Bowne, 547n.
Box, G. H., 261n.
Brahm, 331, 347.
Briggs, 261n.
Buddha, 348-
Bull, Bishop, 77n.
Burwash, 41.

Caird, E., 61.
Caird, J., 60n, 115n.
Calixtus, 38.
Calvin, 37.
Canon, Limits of, 9, 10.
Canon, Hebrew, 13.
Canon, New Testament, 14.
Capital Punishment, 118.
Carpzov, 8.
Cereal Offerings, 353.
Cerinthus, 379.
Charles, R. H., 2n, 125n, 239n, 271n.
Cheyne, 124n, 215n.
Church, The, 179, 180.
Childhood Piety, 137.
Chinese Classics, 9, 29.
Circumcision, 525.
Clarke, Adam, 212, 407n.
Clarke, W. N., 41, 62n, 580n.
Communion of Saints, 421.
Comforter, The, 378, 489, 490, 503.
Concept of God, 518.
Confession, 146.
Conscience, 55, 56.
Conversion, 140, 141.
Conversion of Paul, 297.
Conviction of Sin, 137, 496.
Cooke, R. J., 261n.
Crane, J. T., 573n.
Creation, 70, 73, 546.
Creationism, 65.
Curtis, O. A., 42.
Day of Jehovah, 426.
Day of Judgment, 478.
Death, Physical, 118.
Death, Spiritual, 120.
Death, The Second, 130.
Decalogue, 15, 531.
Degrees of Penalty, 130.
Degrees of Sin, 90.
Deities, Names of, 62.
Delitzsch, 51n, 124n, 325n, 331n.
Demonology, 274, 461, 462, 467, 469-
Denney, 78n.
Depravity of Race, 84.
Dillmann, 573n.

605

606

GENERAL INDEX

Dispersion of Men, 67.
Dods, 491n.
Dorner, 58n, 328n.
Drummond, H., 73, 74n, 155n.
Dwight, 314n, 319n.
Ecclesiasticus, cited, 113, 328.
Edersheim, 506n.
Egyptian Ritual, 63n.
Elijah, Lesson from, 506.
EUicott, 152n, 310n, 403n, 464n.
End of the Age, 445.
Enoch, Book of, cited, 125, 129n,
219n, 269, 270.
Enthronement of Jesus, 423.
Esdras, Second, cited, 113, 125, 218.
Eternal Judgment, 479.
Eternal Life, 191-196.
Eternal Punishment, 131.
Eusebius, 10, 14, 275n.
Evolution, 71.
Expiation, 414n.
Fairbairn, A. M., 326n.
Fairbairn, P., 217n.
Faith Defined, 142.
Fatherhood of God, 157, 549.
Federal Theology, 525n.
Fiske, John, 73n.
Freedom in Christ, 162, 163.
Freedom of Will, See Will.
Future Punishment, 128.
Gardner, 261n.
Gehenna, 125, 126, 129, 130.
Generator, 572.
Generatrix, 486, 572.
Gfroerer, 328n.
Gifford, 395n.
Gloag, 322n.
Goal in History, 548.
Goal, The Everlasting, 581.
Godet, 248n.
Godhead of Christ, 344.
Godliness, Practical, 187.
Gods, Names of, 62, 515.
Golden Rule, 59.
Gore, 261n.
Gregory of Nyssa, 37.
Griesbach, 133n.
Growth, Spiritual, 164, 165, 175, 177.
Guilt, 89, 90.
Guilt-Offering, 90.
Gunkel, 514n.
Hades, 125, 126, 127, 129, 203.
Hahn, 39.
Hammurabi, 532.
Hardening the Heart, 91.
Hare, 498n.

Hamach, 264n, 375n, 438n.
Harris, J. R., 133n.
Hase, 39.
Head, The, 48.
Heard, 51n.
Heart, The, 47, 48.
Heavenly Recognition, 252-255.
Helvetic Creed, 8, 23.
Hoben, 261n.
Hodge, 40.
Holiness, 167, 168, 554.
Hooker, 533n.
Hopkins, S., 88n.
Hort, 222n, 318n, 320n, 334n, 369n.
Hottinger, lOn.
Human Sacrifice, 357, 358, 537.
Huther, 56n, 380n.
Huxley, 68n.
Ignorance, Errors of, 90.
Image of God in Man, 78-82.
Immortality, 197.
Imprecatory Psalms, 104, 105.
Imputation, 382n.
Incarnation, 331, 346, 347.
Inerrancy, Dogma of, 18, 23.
Infallibility, Dogma of, 24.
Immanence of God, 508.
Inspiration, 8, 18-23.
Intermediate State, 243n, 258.
Illingworth, 63n.
Irenseus, 379.
Jehovah, new Name, 529, 530.
Jehovah of Hosts, 537.
Jerusalem, The New, 206.
Jewish Traditions, 7, 8.
John of Damascus, 37.
Josephus, 10, 125, 219n, 468n.
Jubilees, Book of, cited, 113.
Judgments of God, 426, 477, 480.
Judith, Book of, cited, 125, 218.
Justification, 148.
Justin Martyr, 18.
Kojiki, The, 9, 29.
Koran, The, 9, 29.
Kuyper, 486n.
Lange, 39.
Lawgiving among Nations, 532.
Le Conte, 71n.
Levitical Priesthood, 351.
Lewis, T., 513n.
Leydecker, 38.
Liberty in Christ, 162.
Life in Blood, 47.
Lightfoot, J. B., 143n, 307n.
Logos in John, 326.
Logos in Philo, 327.

GENERAL INDEX

607

Lord's Supper, 184.
Love, 174, 436.
Liinemann, 325n, 464n.
Luthardt, 492n.
Lycurgus, 432.
Maccabees, First, cited, 465.
Maccabees, Second, cited, 547.
Maccabees, Fourth, cited, 391n.
Macpherson, 41.
Macloskie, 70n.
Macknight, 407n.
Mahan, 500n.
Manu, 532.
Mansel, 551n.
Marheineke, 38.
Martensen, 38.
Maternity in God, 579.
McFadyen, 35.
Mediation, 346, 350.
Melanchthon, 37.
Mercy-seat, Christ a, 393-399.
Merrill, 148n, 161n.
Messianic Hope, 365, 473-476, 547.
Meyer, 160n, 174n, 236n, 299n, 303n,
310n, 316n.
Miley, 551n.
Millennial Reign, 481.
Mind, The, 49, 50.
Ministry of Word, 185, 186.
Ministrations of Spirit, 495.
Minos, 532.
Miracles of Christ, 275-277.
Mohammedanism, 2.
Monogamy, 58.
Monolatry, 535.
Monotheism, 543.
Moral Sense, 55.
Moses, Divine Legation of, 529.
Mueller, J., lOln.
Mystery of Ages, 348.
Mystery of God, 345.
Mystery of Spiritual Life, 155.
Mystical Body of Christ, 420, 421.
Myths, Allusions to, 510, 511, 514.
Names of God, 515.
Necessity of Mediation, 415, 416.
New Birth, 150.
New Creation, 153.
New Testament superior to Old, 15-
17.
Nitzsch, F. A. B., 39.
Nitzsch, K. I., 39.
Numa, 532.
Oehler, 52n.
Omnipotence, 552.
Omniscience, 552.
Omnisentience, 552, 553.

Origen, 37.
Origin of Man, 69.
Origin of Sin, 95-99.
Paley, 513n.
Papias, 14.
Parables, Lessons of, 431.
Paraclete, 378, 380, 490, 503.
Parousia, 448, 453.
Pauline Rabbinism, 116.
Paul's Conversion, 297.
Penal Blindness, 94.
Penitential Psalms, 94, 108, 138, 363.
Pentecost, 492, 494.
Perfection, 171, 172.
Personality, 56, 57, 82, 97, 485, 551.
Philippi, 399n.
Philo, 327, 328.
Plato, 254n.
Polygamy, 58.
Prayer, 188, 189.
Pre-Adamites, 64n.
Preexistence, 282, 314, 334, 342.
Priesthood, 351,358.
Primitive Man, 77.
Proctor, 576n.
Propitiation, 376, 378, 394, 414n, 415.
Providence, 573.
Quarry, 134n.
Quenstedt, 8.
Ramsay, 261n.
Ransom, 366.
Raymond, 40.
Realities, Primary, 45.
Reconciliation, 148, 149.
Regeneration, 150, 499.
Reigning with Christ, 257.
Religion Universal, 1, 60, 61, 63.
Religion, The Christian, 3.
Religion, Philosophy of, 2.
Remission of Sin, 147.
Repentance, 140, 141.
Restitution of All Things, 482.
Resurrection, 212.
Resurrection, Jewish Opinions, 218.
Retribution, 122.
Revelation, Universal, 509.
Revelation, Gradual, 520.
Rhees, 261n.
Righteousness, 169, 170.
Ritschl, 85n, 159n, 163n, 313n.
Russell, 467n.
Sabbath-Rest, 255.
Sacraments, 181.
Salmond, 128n, 134n.
Sanctification, 167, 168, 499.
Sanday, 261n.

608

GENERAL INDEX

Schleiermacher, 38.
Schmiedel, 261n, 464n.
Schoettgen, 154n, 315n.
Schultz, 554n.
Second Death, 130.
Self-Consciousness of Jesus, 280.
Shades, The, 202.
Shedd, 40.
Sheldon, 41.
Sheol, 125, 126, 129, 201, 203.
Sibylline Oracles, cited, 219n, 470n.
Sinfulness, 83.
Sinlessness of Jesus, 265.
Sin Offering, 354, 355.
Smith, H. B., 41.
Smith, W. R., 354n.
Smyth, N., 58n, 98n.
Social Relations, 59.
Socrates, 254n.
Solon, 532.
Son of God, 266.
Son of Man, 268.
Sons of God, 159.
South, 77n.
Spencer, H., 578n.
Spirit, 51, 53.
Spirit, The Holy, 484.
Strong, A. H., 40.
Stuart, 325n. .
Sufficiency of Scriptures, 24, 27, 35.
Tabernacle, Symbolism of, 406.
Talmud, cited, 11.
Targum, 142n, 315n, 330n.
Tartarus, 129.
Tennant, 114n, 117n.
Terminology, Theological, 42.
Tertullian, 219n.
Testament XII Patriarchs, 218n.
Thackeray, 117n.
Theistic Arguments, 512.
Theocracy, 539.

Theodicy, 134, 135.
Theodoret, 397n.
Theophany, 329.
Tholuck, 325n.
Thomas, J., 261n.
Tobit,i cited, 11, 213n.
Traditions, Jewish, 7, 18.
Trial, Discipline of, 176.
Trichotomy, 51, 52.
Trinity, 485, 486, 580.
Tripitaka, 9, 29.
Trumbull, H. C, 525n.
Turretin, 37.
Tyler, C. N., 178n.
Tylor, E. B., 509n.
Unity of Race, 64.
Upton, 520n.
Usener, 261n.
Vedas, 9, 29, 63n.
Virgin Birth, 260, 261n, 273.
Virtues, Christian, 173.
Warfield, 261n, 467n.
Weber, 77n, 114n.
Weiss, 48n, 151n.
Westcott, 324n, 325n, 408n, 409n,
41 In.
Wesley, 22n, 160n.
Whedon, 58n, lOOn, 503n.
Whitby, 239n.
WiU, Freedom of, 56, 57, 98, 99, 100.
Wisdom, Book of, cited, 81, 213, 218,
322, 328.
Wisdom Personified, 328.
Witness of the Spirit, 160, 500.
Word of God, The, 32, 33.
Word, Ministry of, 185, 186.
Young, 264n.
Zenos, 261n.

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