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and of the same essence with both. In him is completed the unfolding of God in a Trinity, wherein the Deity appears in infinite, allsufficient fulness and perfection.

2. In virtue of the most perfect oneness of essence, all the divine attributes belong to each of the three divine persons in perfectly the same, that is, in an infinite degree; but, in virtue of their personal distinction, a personal character belongs to each, which determines their peculiar internal and external action. God the Father is the original ground of all life, (Ephes. 4:6; James 1: 17), from whom all visible and invisible gifts proceed, that is, through the Son and the Spirit. He himself is, indeed, invisible to the creature, unsearchable and unapproachable (1 Tim. 6:15, 16.), but he reveals himself in the Son and in the Spirit, in whom, also, he is revealed to the creature and becomes accessible, (John 1:18; 1 Cor. 2: 10.)-God the Son, begotten of the Father from eternity, is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15, 16), and the brightness of his glory (Heb. 1:3), to whom the Father hath given to have life in himself (John 5: 26.) According to the personal distinction, he is God who appears and is manifested, the face of God, through whom the Father creates, sustains, and preserves all things (John 1:1, 3; Heb. 12, 3; Col. 1:15, 16.)—God the Holy Ghost, eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son, and personally distinct from both, is God who communicates, in whom the Father and the Son meet in perfect and living unity and communion, through whom the Deity gives and distributes divine power, life, and grace (John 16: 13, 14; 2 Pet. 1: 21; 1 Cor. 2: 9, 10.), and through whom the union between the Deity and the creature is completed.

OBS.-God's unfolding of himself in a Trinity precedes all history and lies beyond and above it. But the revelation of this triune essence belongs to history, and is its subject; hence, the consciousness of it did not originally belong to human knowledge, but was made attainable through the gradual progress of revelation. Now, as we should study and judge the history of former generations not merely according to their own imperfect light, but also according to the perfect light of our own times, even so the triune being of God, which influenced history from the beginning and is presupposed by

it, must be described according to the measure of our present knowledge, previous to the consideration of history itself.

§ 3. The External Action of God.

In addition to the necessary and eternal action of God within himself, there is another mode of divine action, of which his own existence is perfectly independent, and which is, consequently, neither essentially necessary nor eternal, namely, that of Creation. This action is not an unfolding of his being or a generating, but only an expression of his will, or of his free grace, through which all beside him that has life, was produced from nothing (Heb. 11: 3). God created, not because he needed creatures in any manner, not for his sake, but for their sakes; it was his will that creatures should exist who might be happy and blessed in the fulness of the life which flowed from his grace and love. -The Creation already belongs to history, because it originated space and time, within the bounds of which its movements take place; hence, it is an event which has occurred.-With the creative action of God are connected both the preservation of all, by which the powers and means granted to creatures when they were made, are maintained, and also, the government of the world, which guides the free development of the creature, watches over it and controls it with kingly and judicial power. The action of God in revealing himself is distinct from both; by this he does not merely rule over history, but also in it, enters into it, acts with it, and, in connection with it, unfolds himself in an ever enlarging communication of himself.

OBS.-The two names of Elohim and Jehovah correspond to these two aspects of the historical action of God, namely, on the one hand, as he is the Creator, Preserver and Judge-and, on the other, as he himself enters into history, acts with it, and assumes a body in it. The former name, involving fundamentally the conception of power, describes God as the fulness and source of all life, who, bearing in himself the powers of all life and development, through his creative action, gives them an external position, and who imparts to history a commencement admitting of further development. But Elohim, as the Creator, is both the Preserver, since the preservation of all is a continuation of the creation, and also the Judge, since judgment is the measuring of the unfolded end according to the capability of de

velopment bestowed on the commencement.-Jehovah, on the other hand, involving fundamentally the conception of being or becoming, (obviously, however, not in the sense that his being itself, but the revelation of his being begins,) is the God of development, who himself enters into the development, acts with it, and guides it securely to its end. The name Elohim is a pledge that the results of the divine action which it designates are capable of being developed, or, that they can reach the appointed end, but not that they will also actually reach it, while the name Jehovah is a pledge of the actual development, or a surety that the power will and must be unfolded, and the commencement be assuredly maintained, until the appointed end shall be ultimately reached. As far as God is Elohim, he is the God of the Gentiles also, but as Jehovah, he is the God of Israel alone, for the Gentiles have forsaken the path of the development which Jehovah sustains and directs, and walk in their own ways, (8 21.) According to the example of the Greek version of the Bible, or the Septuagint, (¿ 113. 2. Obs.) in which these names are rendered by Sɛos and xúpios, Luther's German Bible translates Elohim and Jehovah respectively: Gott (God) and Herr (Lord).*

§ 4. The Creature.

1. A Creature, according to the conception which the mind forms of it, does not possess in itself the ground or source of its own existence, which is, on the contrary, to be referred to God, the ultimate ground of all things. Its life is, therefore, finite, that is, circumscribed by space and time, within which it acts, and beyond which it cannot subsist. It is bound to space and time by its materiality. The body is the organ of the power of action in which its life is manifested.-The life of the creature appears in two modes, which are essentially different-a personal and an impersonal life, or, Spirit and Nature, according as its vital powers are called into exercise by a free determination of which it is conscious, or only by instinct and a natural necessity. The created and finite spirit is conscious of itself and of its rela

* ["Our own (translators of the English Bible) have only in four places of the Old Testament used the name of Jehovah; in all other places, which are almost innumerable, they render it the Lord. But, for distinction's sake, when this word corresponds to Jehovah, it is printed in capitals." Campbell's Four Gospels, Prelim. Diss. VII. Part I. p. 256.-TRANSLATOR.]

tion to God and nature; it acts in the domain of morals and religion, and is accountable for its actions. A different case is presented by nature, the ultimate design of which does not lie in itself, but in the finite spirit to which it is assigned, and which dwells and acts in it. Even the finite spirit, however, is inefficient without nature, in and through which it manifests its life; it belongs, with its body, to nature; and the individual body sustains to the individual spirit the same relation which nature, as an entire body, sustains to the spirit as a whole.

2. The life of nature, not being free, does not admit of a history; its development is not supported by liberty and self-determination, and hence, in similar relations, it always assumes the same forms. The statements which bear the name of a history of nature (Natural History), are, properly speaking, merely a description of nature. The development of the life of nature advances into the region of history solely on account of its connection with the life of the spirit, for the spirit is appointed to sustain and rule nature, and conduct it to its end and completion. The same animated and significant connection which exists between matter and the spirit of the individual, exists also between nature and spirit; all that promotes or hinders the development of the spirit, exercises a similar influence on nature, and, conversely, every catastrophe in nature produces a corresponding effect on the indwelling spirit.

§ 5. The Source of Sacred History.

1. The source whence the knowledge of History is obtained, as far as the latter is really entitled to the name of Sacred, is, necessarily, sacred itself; even as a history becomes sacred through the indwelling of a divine influence, in the development of the creature, so, also, does its source become sacred through the indwelling of the divine knowledge within the circle of human knowledge. Such a source is presented to us in the volume which we term the Sacred Scriptures. It may be regarded as a collection of public archives, containing the documents, transactions and developments of the covenant on which the presence and action of God in the history of the creature depend.

2. The Sacred Seriptures were written by men for the benefit of men, and, consequently, conform to the character of man, precisely as Sacred History itself appears in the same light, since man is its subject, and mankind the sphere in which it moves. But they, too, like the development of which they bear witness, assume a truly divine character, for the writers were holy men of God, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Pet. 1:21). Their own investigations and reflections, their own gathering, searching and sifting, and, in general, the efforts of their own minds, were not suspended, but rather purified, sanctified and exalted. Their mental action was, consequently, sustained and made fertile by the divine Spirit, with a view to the preparation of the Scriptures, in a two-fold manner: either, all that lay beyond the limits of human experience and human knowledge was imprinted by the Spirit on their minds in prophetic contemplation, or, in those cases in which events lay within the bounds of human knowledge, their natural ability to distinguish between error and truth was in so far exalted and sanctified, that they were enabled to ascertain and comprehend the truth in its purest form.

§ 6. Relation of Sacred History to Kindred Branches of

Knowledge.

1. While we observe the distinction which exists between Sacred History and Profane History, it is important to notice. the relation in which these stand to each other, as well as the features which are common to both. The essential distinction between the two is found in the circumstance that while Profane History merely exhibits the general action of God, or his preservation of all things, and his government of the world, Sacred History, in addition to these features, also exhibits the special action of God manifested in the revelation which he has given of himself (§ 2, 3). He controls and rules over Profane History, in order that its own course may not thwart his designs, or its developments frustrate his general plan and counsel; but he himself appears in Sacred History, exhibits his action in it, assumes a body and unfolds himself in it.—They also sustain a certain relation to each other, and possess features common to both. They

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