19. THEOLOGICAL SYSTEMS.

The peculiar nature of Christian theology has given rise to the question whether it is proper in the field of theology to speak of theological systems. The answer to the question depends of course on the meaning in which the term system is used. Christian theology, or doctrine, is indeed a system inasmuch as it presents to the student a complete unit (ein abgeschlossenes Ganzes). It is a system inasmuch as it is "an orderly arrangement of parts or elements into a whole" or "an organized body of truth." The one author of Christian theology is the one, true, and living God, who proclaims the divine truth in the Old as well as in the New Testament, by Moses no less than by Paul, so that Holy Scripture sets forth, not the subjective views of Moses, or Isaiah, or Peter, or Paul, or John, etc., but the sacred doctrine of God Himself. Scripture doctrine is everywhere and in the same degree divine doctrine (doctrina divina).

Again, in this divine doctrine, clearly and infallibly stated in Holy Scripture, the article of justification by grace, through faith in Christ, is the central teaching, to which the other articles of faith either lead up (articuli antecedentes) or point back (articuli consequentes). 1 Cor. 2, 2: "I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Arts 20, 27: "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." In all of St. Paul's preaching, which, according to his own testimony, embraced "all the counsel of God" unto salvation, the doctrine of Christ Crucified for the sins of the world was basic and pivotal.

In view of this close connection of the various Christian doctrines with its central teaching and with one another, a connection which is so intimate that errors in one point must inevitably produce errors also in the others, Christian theology may certainly be called a system. And we apply the term especially to point out not only the absolute unity of the whole body of truth, but also the perfect coherency of its elemental parts. Luther is right in saying : "In philosophy a small error in the beginning is a very serious error in the end. So also in theology a slight error will destroy the whole doctrine. For the doctrine is like a mathematical point; it cannot be divided, that is, it cannot brook either subtraction or addition. Hence the doctrine must be one certain, perpetual, and round golden ring, in which there is no break. If even the least break occurs, the ring is no longer perfect." St. L., IX, 644 f. Whoever, for instance, errs with respect to the Holy Trinity must err also with regard to the deity of Christ; or whoever teaches synergism cannot teach in its unadulterated form the doctrine of divine grace. Just because Christian theology is a system, it does not permit any perversion or denial of a single one of its doctrines; for every perversion of its constituent parts must necessarily destroy the entire system.

Nevertheless Christian theology may not be called a system in the sense in which human systems of knowledge are so called. In science and philosophy a system is "an orderly collection of logically related principles and facts, arranged so as to express the whole range of truth in any department." In that sense sacred theology is not a system; for it is not constructed by human reason on the basis of a given fundamental principle. Its author is not man, but God. In it reason has only an instrumental, not a magisterial, function (usus instrumentalis, non usus magisterialis). Nor does it deduce and demonstrate its truths from a given premise or principle, but it merely inculcates the truths set forth in Holy Scripture, with the proper emphasis on the cardinal doctrine of justification by grace. In other words, the analysis and synthesis which the theologian applies never go beyond the Word of God. Wherever Holy Scripture contains lacunae, or omissions, the system of the Christian theologian likewise contains lacunae, or omissions.
The true theologian teaches only what Holy Scripture teaches, not more and not less. His system is only a declaration and statement of Scriptural doctrine.

This is a point of the greatest importance, and only as the theologian continually and conscientiously observes it, will he be kept from the fatal mistake of adding to the Word of God human opinions and doctrines, a perversion of Christian doctrine against which Holy Scripture most earnestly warns. Let the Christian theologian therefore bear in mind the basic truth that in the system of Christian doctrine, while it is complete so far as its scope is concerned, that is, so far as it pertains to the salvation of sinners, we may nevertheless speak of "missing links"; that is, there remain questions which Scripture does not answer. For example, Holy Scripture sets forth most emphatically the sola gratia and the universalis gratia; that is to say, sinners are saved solely by grace, and divine grace desires the salvation of all sinners. This being true, the question arises: "Why, then, are not all men saved?" The proposed explanation that the difference lies in men (aliquid discrimen in homine), since some are better than others, is most strenuously denied by God's Word, which declares that all men by nature are in the same guilt (in eadem culpa). Rom. 3, 22-24: "For there is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

With the same emphasis Holy Scripture denies also the Calvinistic explanation that God has eternally predetermined some to damnation. Hence it is clear that Holy Scripture does not answer the question Cur alii, alii non? This does not mean that Holy Scripture does not give us any information with regard to the question of salvation and damnation. It tells us clearly that, if sinners are saved, they are saved solely by grace and that, if they are lost, they are lost through their own fault. Nevertheless, when we compare two individual sinners, as David and Saul, or Peter and Judas, and ask, "Why was the one saved and the other not?" (Cur ali·i prae ali is f), this question remains unanswered. Nor is it proper for the Christian theologian to endeavor to answer the question; for in that case he must draw on human reason to decide what is properly a matter of divine revelation. .Attempts to solve the particular point in question have resulted either in Calvinism, the denial of universal grace, or in synergism, the denial of grace alone. But the Christian theologian must affirm both the universalis gratia and the sola gratia. In the system of Christian doctrine therefore lacunae, or doctrinal "missing links," must be admitted, as St. Paul himself declares when he writes: "We know in part, and we prophesy in part," 1 Cor. 13, 9. The Christian theologian must know and teach in part only, that is, only as the divine truths which he is to inculcate are clearly set forth in Holy Scripture. In connection with this point we may note also the following truths: -

a)

Holy Scripture, in all its parts, is the divinely inspired, infallible Word of God, in which He teaches man the only way to salvation. To this way of salvation, which is both complete and perfect, the Christian theologian must add nothing, neither must he take away from it even the least particle, John 10, 35; 2 Tim. 3, 16; 2 Pet. 1, 21; John 8, 31. 32; Rev. 22, 18-20. Any change or perversion of the divine Word is a scandal, which offends God and ultimately renders impossible the salvation of sinners, which God has purposed by giving His Word to men.

b)

Modern rationalistic theology, which denies the fundamentals of the Christian doctrine for the very reason that it rejects the divinely inspired Word of God as the only source and norm of faith, seeks to construct its own unified system of teachings (ein einheitliches Ganzes) on the basis of "Christian consciousness,'" "Christian experience," "regenerate reason," etc. In other words, it substitutes for the true principium cognoscendi a false standard of doctrine and dethrones Holy Scripture from its exalted eminence of being the only authority in religion. To the modern rationalistic theologian Holy Scripture is only an "authentic record" of divine revelation, in which divine and human elements are incongruously blended and from which his "enlightened mind" must glean the truths that are to constitute his "system of theology." Or to state it in different terms, modern rationalistic theology refuses to identify the Word of God with Holy Scripture; for it regards Holy Scripture as only containing the Word of God. These theologians hold that the subjective judgment of the individual must decide just what is the Word of God, or divine truth, in Holy Scripture. This procedure must be condemned as a crimen laesae maiestatis against the divine Lord, as a revolt against His divinely established authority, and as a downright rejection of His holy Word, which must result in unspeakable confusion and perversion. This is evident from the fact that the pantheistic system of Schleiermacher and the modernistic system of Ritschl, both of which are built up on the subjective authority of human reason, equally reject the Gospel of Christ and inculcate doctrines in direct opposition to it. The appeal of rationalistic theologians to "Christian consciousness," "Christian experience," and the like, as foundations of systems of faith are a mere pretense to conceal their unholy endeavor of casting aside Holy Scripture and its divine doctrines and teaching their own word.

c)

The Christian theologian, in performing his functions as a teacher of the Church, must always remember that all the statements of Holy Scripture are infallible truths, which nothing can overthrow, and that it is therefore his sacred duty to present these truths just as they are set forth in Holy Scripture, without addition or subtraction. Systems of philosophy or of science are constructed by human reasoning on the basis of facts or theories gathered by the originator himself; but sacred theology is a science which God Himself, its divine Author, presents to men complete and perfect and altogether adequate for its divinely designed purpose. Hence men are to preach the Word of God and not to philosophize about it; they are to be preachers, not demonstrators, of the truth. The Christian theologian has completely accomplished his task if he has set forth clearly and unmistakably the sacred truths taught by God in Holy Scripture. Nothing more is asked of him, but also nothing less.

d)

The Christian theologian's work of systematizing therefore consists only in presenting the several divine truths given in Holy Scripture under their proper heads. These truths are derived from the proof-passages (sedes doctrinae), that is, from the clear and unmistakable passages in which the particular doctrines are set forth, and not from the "entirety of Scripture" or the "scope of Scripture" (vom Schriftganzen). The purpose of this systematizing is to present "all the counsel of God," or to teach each and every doctrine which God's Word teaches. If the theologian goes beyond this, if he presents his own personal views as the teaching of God's Word, he is no longer a Christian theologian, but a false prophet.

e)

The charge so frequently made that Luther himself developed his doctrines, in particular the doctrine of justification by grace, is refuted by his own statements on this point. According to his own confession the great Reformer never operated with "the scope of Scripture," but with Scripture-passages so clear and unmistakable that upon these his doctrines rested as upon an im pregnable rock. It is for this reason that Luther's theology is so thoroughly Scriptural. He constructed no system of doctrine outside and beyond the written Word of God, but received and taught in simple faith the sacred truths positively set forth in the sedes iLoctrinae of Holy Scripture. He was a systematician whose whole system of doctrine was rooted in, and governed by, God's Word. He writes: "It is certain that whosoever does not rightly believe or desire one single article ... certainly does not believe any at all with true earnestness and right faith. And whosoever is so presumptuous as to deny God or call Him a liar i,n one word of Scripture, and does this deliberately, ... will also deny God in all His words and in all of them call Him a liar. Therefore it is necessary to believe all and everything truly and fully or else believe nothing. The Holy Spirit does not allow Himself to be separated or divided, so that He should teach or have us believe one doctrine as true and another as false." St. L., XX, 1781.

f)

In conclusion it may be said that the rationalistic systems of theology, which pride themselves so smugly on their inner harmony and perfection, are after all decidedly imperfect and incomplete. They cannot be otherwise, since human reason is unable to answer in a satisfactory manner the paramount questions which properly belong to the sphere of divine revelation. In other words, unless God answers for us the questions pertaining to the great verities of spiritual knowledge, they never will be answered. Consequently, wherever the Holy Spirit, the infallible Revealer of divine truth, saw fit to be silent with respect to doctrinal issues, human reason must likewise be silent. Theologians who propose to construct complete systems of truth on the basis of their reason or their subjective theology perpetrate a piece of fraud which is unpardonable and which leads to downright apostasy from the Word of God, to uncertainty in spiritual matters, and to endless confusion and contradiction. For all who err from Scripture err from truth in general; and the systems of doctrine that are not Scriptural are likewise not rational. For this the history of dogma furnishes abundant proof.

Overview chap. 2