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West, there to disband Major-General Massey's brigades." * "Divers of the disbanded came from very remote countries, and had passes, some for Egypt, others for Mesopotamia and Ethiopia." This paragraph, Carlyle thinks, is some of Joshua's wit.

"This work was no sooner over but it pleased God to visit the general with a sore fit of the stone. Saint Paul needed a thorn in the flesh; and by thirst and lack of water, Samson might know himself to be a man. This fit continued on him for many days together. So soon as he was recovered he made a journey to London. This was the first time of his visiting London since he marched forth with the army, having a small desire to see that place till he could bring an olive branch in his mouth, choosing rather to hasten peace than spin out the war; which made an humble tent more acceptable to him until he had obtained his end, than a glorious city," etc., etc.

He arrived in London Nov. 12, 1646, and the volume is concluded with the speeches upon that occasion, a character of the army, a list of all its officers, and a journal of every day's march.

ARTICLE VIII.

DORNER'S HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

By Professor Henry B. Smith, Amherst College.

Die Lehre von der Person Christi geschichtlich und biblisch-dogmatisch dargestellt von Dr. J. A. Dorner. In drei Theilen. Erster Theil. Entwickelungs geschichte der Lehre von der Person Christi in der ersten vier Jahrhunderten: Stuttgart, 1845. [The Doctrine of the Person of Christ by Dr. J. A. Dorner. In three Parts. Part First; The History of the Development of the Doctrine in the first four centuries, pp. xxx. and 1129.]

THIS work of Dr. Dorner is one of the ripest products of German scholarship in the department of doctrinal history. The way in which it has grown up to its present form is an illustration of the historical thoroughness and philosophical method of that scholarship, as well as of the conflicts to which the orthodox faith is exposed in Germany,

1849.]

Fundamental Character of the Discusion.

157

and the mode in which it repels its assailants and maintains its integrity.

Two articles in the "Tübinger Zeitschrift" for the years 1835 and 18.36 formed the basis of the present work. These were written with such command over the subject-matter, and were, besides, so adapted to the controversy about fundamental facts and doctrines of Christianity, which was then at its height in Germany, that they at once attracted the highest attention and admiration. Some extracts from the preface to these articles may serve to give an idea of the spirit of the circumstances in which they were composed. Beginning with the motto: Descendit deus, ut assurgamus, the author proceeds: "In the long conflict between Christianity and reason, it is a matter of congratulation that that point is gradually coming to be universally and distinctly understood, which is of the very first importance, if the controversy is ever to be decided. All the energies of the two conflicting parties are collecting themselves more and more around the Person of Christ, as the central point where the matter must be determined; and this is a great advance towards an adjustment of the hard strife; for when the question is rightly put, the answer is already half found. It is also easy to see, that in this case everything depends upon the question, whether there need have been, and really has existed, such a Christ as we find in the sense, if not always in the words, of the church—that is, a being in whom the personal and perfect union of divinity and humanity is truly consummated and historically made manifest. For if we suppose, on the one hand, that philosophy could incontrovertibly prove that the person of Christ in this sense is a self-contradicting notion, and therefore an impossibility, there would then no longer be any conflict between Christian theology and philosophy. With the overthrow of this doctrine, Christian theology and the Christian church would cease to have an existence in any legitimate sense of the word Christian; as with the capitulation of the metropolis the whole land falls to the enemy. There would then be peace between the parties. And, on the other hand, if, as some maintain, the idea of a Christ who is both human and divine can be proved on philosophical grounds to be rational and necessary, then, too, it is equally clear that philosophy and theology would be essentially reconciled with each other, and would ever after have a common labor, or rather would have really become one; and philosophy would then not have lost, but strengthened its claims to existence. Hence, in the great battle which is fighting between the greatest powers in the world, Christianity and reason, it is well for both VOL. VI. No. 21.

14

parties, that the contest should centre more and more around the point where alone all is to be won and all is to be lost."

The allusions made in the above extract are to the great parties which at that time divided, and which still divide, the German theological public. There was the extreme, destructive party, taking as its foundation the pantheistic interpretation of Hegel's system, and the attempted critical demolition of the historical basis of Christianity in Strauss's Life of Jesus: this maintained that the doctrine of the Person of Christ was by historical criticism proved to be mythical, and on philosophical principles shown to involve contradictions. There were, on the other hand, those who asserted, that they could show, on speculative grounds, the necessity of such a manifestation of the Godhead as that which the church, on other grounds, believed to be consummated in the person of its Redeemer. Besides these two philosophical parties, there was a third; which declared that all attempts to give a philosophical view of the doctrine were wholly vain and fruitless. This last position, the author says, cannot be admitted, unless we assume that there is a great gulf fixed between reason and faith, so that they which would pass from hence cannot, neither can they pass over that would come from thence: "For he that holds Christianity to be reasonable, must also assume that there is a constant upholding and strengthening of reason by means of Christianity itself, so that no limits can be assigned to its progress. If Christ, as theology must be convinced, is indeed the key to the world's history, as well as to the solution of all the great problems of our existence, it is not humility but wilful inactivity, not to be constantly learning to use this key better in the opening of the mysteries."

Such being the position of the different parties, Dr. Dorner proposed a twofold purpose in giving his historical exposition of this central doctrine of the Christian faith. On the one hand he would show, that the acts were not yet closed; that is, that philosophy had been precipitate in affirming, either that the doctrine involved irreconcilable contradictions, or that it had been demonstrated as necessary by an "a priori construction." On the other hand, from what has already been achieved for the understanding of this doctrine, he would draw the inference, that the attempt is not so fruitless as many maintain. In addressing himself to this work, he leaves out of view the history of our Saviour's life, and also his atoning work, and confines himself exclusively to a history of the doctrine of the Person, that is, of the Two Natures of Christ, as this has been unfolded in the progress and controversies of the Christian Church.

1849.]

Character of Dorner's Work.

159

The two treatises which were written to carry out this view were expanded, some four years afterwards, into an octavo volume of about 550 pages, published in 1839. In the Introduction to this book he repudiates the notion that any one could give a true exhibition of the history of a doctrine without any doctrinal basis; and sets forth as the leading idea of his work, that Christ is of importance, not merely as a historical personage, nor yet alone in an ideal or metaphysical point of view, (as the pantheist maintains,) but that both the historical and ideal, the divine and the human, are absolutely one in his perfected person; and that he is the head of the race, which race is not a mass, but an organism. And he propounds the "idea of the God-man Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is man and the Head of the church, as the word which alone can solve the enigma that weighs upon German Christianity." This work established the reputation of its author. It is perhaps the most finished example, in historical theology, of the clear and masterly unfolding of the history of a doctrine in its successive stages. It is both critical and comprehensive. It unites, in rare proportion, historical accuracy and philosophical insight with a firm faith in the substantial truth of the orthodox doctrine respecting the Person of Christ. It is dictated by, and it serves to illustrate the wholesome influence of a firm conviction in the harmony and ultimate reconciliation of reason and faith, of Christianity and philosophy. One of the chief excellences of the work in this first edition, is its special criticism upon the later Christological controversies in Germany. We do not know where there is to be found so lucid an account of the bearing of the later philosophical and theological systems of Germany upon the great doctrines that centre in Christ, as is contained in the latter half of this volume. The respective influence and positions of the schools of Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel are clearly presented and thoroughly criticised. The Christology of Schleiermacher closes the series; and from this long research and review the author looks forward with earnest faith to the time of a rich harvest in which the

1 For this position he is somewhat severely taken to task by Baur in his History of the Trinity. It is the claim of Baur, as of Strauss, that he goes to the study of history without any preconceived opinion; although it would not be diffieult to show, that he goes there, assuming the essential truth of the pantheistic interpretation of the doctrine. So Strauss interprets the life of Christ without any previous bias-only he denies the possibility of a miracle. Dorner, in the continuation of the above sentence, implies the true reason for his seeming assumption and that is, his personal faith in Christ on the ground of the testimony of the Scriptures.

ripest fruits of the past shall all be gathered. "And as Ethiopia and Arabia, after bowing down to the prophet, are to bring their loyal tribute to the Lord, so shall the middle ages with their scholasticism, and the later philosophy also, so shall the whole religious history of the world, both before and after the advent of Christ, be seen to congregate around that One; all shall lay down their best gifts before Him, who first gave them the key by which they could understand themselves, and who also makes them worthy to contribute to his honor; and by their labors the glories of his Person shall be displayed in ever-increasing lustre, and imbibed with conscious love by the human race." (p. 529.)

We should be glad to dwell more in detail upon Dr. Dorner's exposition of the German systems, but we must leave this part of his work, of which a second edition has not yet been published, that we may give a more full view of the book which stands at the head of this Article. This is the first volume of a new edition, which is to be comprised in three octavos. This volume was issued in three parts during the years 1845 and 1846, and makes a book of more than eleven hundred pages, fitted out with those admirable indices, which the Germans understand the art of making so well. The second volume, which is to comprise the remainder of the history, was promised for the year 1846, but it has not yet made its appearance.1 The third vol. of the new edition is to be wholly new; it will contain a full biblical and doctrinal treatise upon the subject; to be published as soon as the leisure of the author will permit."

From the ability which has been displayed in his criticisms upon the opinions of others, and from his thorough acquaintance with all the forms in which the doctrine has been held, we are warranted in indulging the highest expectations of the value of this concluding essay. The partial obscurity which seems to us to hang around his own views of the doctrine, so far as these can be inferred from the principles on which his criticism is conducted, and from incidental

1 At the time Dr. Dorner published the first edition of his book he was professor of theology at Tübingen; in the second edition he appears as professor at Königsberg; and in a German catologue of Books for 1847, we find the title of a pamphlet on the "Relation of Church and State," which is said to be his Inaugural Discourse on assuming a theological chair at the University of Bonn. These rapid changes, taken in connection with the more rapid political changes of his country, may account for the delay in the completion of his work. The only other book of his we have seen, is an able and critical Latin treatise De Oratione Christi Eschatologica, (Matt. xxiv. 1—36. Luc. xxi. 5-36. Marc. xiii. 1-32.) Asservata, published in 1844, to celebrate the tri-centennial festivities of the University of Königsberg.

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