Manual of Sacred History

1. HISTORY, viewed in a general aspect as a science, is the methodical narration of events in the order in which they successively occurred, exhibiting the beginning and progress, the causes and effects, and the auxiliaries and tendencies of that which has occurred. An occurrence, which is a term implying that a certain change has taken place, assumes the precise form in which it appears, not through any natural necessity, but through the influence of a free will which is distinct from it, so that, even under the same circumstances, the occurrence might have, possibly, assumed another form. The true idea or conception of History is, therefore, applicable to the life of a free creature alone, and, indeed, so long only, as the creature is susceptible of a change. When it has arrived at the limit or end of its development, its history terminates. The life of God, considered in itself, is not capable of being historically described, since it is absolute perfection, and, consequently, undergoes no change. But history may, with great propriety, describe the life and operation of God, either directly in the creature, or else in reference to it; for the different stages of development, and the differences of condition in the life of the creature, involve progress and variation in the control which God exercises over it.

2. SACRED HISTORY is that history which proceeds from the combination of the action of God, and the action of the creature.

It consequently exhibits, on the one hand, the action of divine. grace, and, on the other, the exercise of the liberty of the creature; it sets forth, as the task assigned to it, the fulfilling of the divine counsel (Ephes. 1:11), both in the creature itself, and also in reference to it. Its commencement coincides with the commencement of the creature to which the creative influence of God gave life and the capability of being developed; its progress depends on the continuance of the divine action in the development of the creature through the active influence which appears in the form of a divine revelation; its end is reached, when the divine counsel is completely unfolded and manifested, and when, consequently, the creature has attained to its highest or most perfect state. The Holy Scriptures constitute its source. Thus, Sacred History is emphatically termed sacred, both on account of the source from which the knowledge of it is derived, and on account of the nature of its contents, and the commencement, progress, and end of its development.

OBSERVATION. The term sacred designates that which is separated from common secular uses and consecrated to God and his service. A history, accordingly, which is occupied exclusively with the subject of the fulfilling of the divine counsel both in the creature itself, and also in reference to it, is, with propriety, termed a Sacred History. It is also evident, that individuals and nations, facts and plans, belong to such a history in so far and so long only, as they stand in essential connection with that counsel and hinder or promote it, or, as far as they are either already included in it, or are appointed to be included in it hereafter.

§ 2. The Being of God.

1. God, the Creator and Preserver of all things, is the original principle or ultimate ground of all life, and, consequently, of all history. God is, emphatically, the true and absolutely perfect life, having the ground and source of his existence, not in another, but in himself (John 5: 26); he is, hence, not restricted by any external limitation, but is eternal and infinite, and, in his eternal blessedness, he is characterized by all-sufficiency.-God is, in reference to his essence, one God-for the highest and most perfect life is, necessarily, undivided, or unity. But the oneness

of the essence or being of God does not exclude the distinction of Persons in God; on the contrary, God has, in the revelation of himself in history, really manifested himself as the triune God, whose being, although it is one only, is unfolded in a three-fold personality, (Father, Son, and Spirit.) Both history, in the events which it sets forth, and also the human mind, when it reasons profoundly, necessarily lead to the recognition of a personality in the one divine essence, developed not as one only, but as three-fold. This unfolding of the unity of the divine being in a trinity of Persons is eternal and necessary, constituting the ground of the divine life and existence. It does not itself belong to history, since it is eternal, and, therefore, lies beyond the confines of time and space, while history, describing that which successively or gradually arises, can unfold itself in space and time only. Nevertheless, it is presupposed in history, and is recognized by it as the ground of its own origin, since God manifests himself in history as a triune God.

OBS.-All life is action; the highest and most perfect life is also action in the highest degree. If God is eternal, he is also eternally active. All action requires an object adapted to the active power which is present, and hence the infinite power of God requires an infinite object. Such an object cannot be distinct from himself, but must exist in him, since the indispensable condition, or, all the grounds of his life, are concentrated in himself. If this object were the world, the world would necessarily be eternal, and on its existence the existence of God would depend; further, a finite world could never be an absolutely worthy object of the divine action, or occupy and entirely absorb the infinite power of his life. An infinite object, that is to say, the infinite God himself alone can be an absolutely worthy object of infinite action. Hence, God can never have been secluded in himself in rigid unity. His life, his action, that is, his thoughts, his will (love), and his desires, both require, and are themselves, an unfolding of his being, first of all, as a subject and an object-Father and Son. But a duality is merely a distinction without unity, an antithesis without an intermediate link; after a trinity appears, the antithesis ceases, and the difference established by an unfolding in a duality, is brought back to a unity; (an illustration of this point, derived from the material world, may be found in the triangle and the cube.) This necessary Third (person) in God is the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son,

« Eelmine Jätka »

Books

Manual of Sacred History: A Guide to the Understanding of the Divine Plan of ...