Outlines of the History of Dogma

OUTLINES OF THE

HISTORY OF DOGMA BY Dr.

ADOLF HARNACK

Professor of Church History in the University of Berlin

TRANSLATED BY

EDWIN KNOX MITCHELL,

M.A.

Professor of Grceco-Roman and Eastern Church History in Hartford Theological Seminary

NEW YORK

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON

and

TORONTO

1893 Printed in the United States

/

.

Copyright,

1893,

by the

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY [Registered at Stationers' Hall, London, Eng. ] 1

*fe

Hai

•

PREFACE. THE

English translation of

my

^

'

"Grundriss

der Dogmengeschichte" has been made, in accordance

with

my

expressed wish, by

my

former pupil and esteemed friend, Mr. Edwin

Knox

Mitchell.

It is

my

pleasant duty to ex-

him here my heartiest thanks. English and American theological literature

press to

possess excellent works, but they are in products within the

Dogma.

my

I

may

not rich

realm of the History of

therefore perhaps hope

"Grundriss" will supply a want.

be most happy,

if I

I

that shall

can with this book do

my

English and American friends and fellow-workers

some

benefit

service

which

I

—a

small return for the rich

have reaped from their

labors.

In reality, however, there no longer exists any distinction

between German and English theo-

logical science.

that

scientific

The exchange theologians

of

is

now

all

so brisk

evangelical

lands form already one Concilium.

Adolf Harnack. Wilmersdorf near Berlin, March 17th, 1892,

*

CONTENTS. PAGE

Prolegomena to the Discipline I. Idea and Aim of the History of Dogma

1

... .... .

.

Narrative of the History of Dogma Presuppositions of the History of Dogma III. Introductory IV. The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to His II.

1

8 10 10

Own

Testimony

1£

Proclamation concerning Jesus Christ in the First Generation of His Adherents VI. The Current Exposition of the Old Testament and the Jewish Future Hope, in their Bearing on the Earliest Formulation of the Christian Message VII. The Religious Conceptions and the Religious Philosophy of the Hellenistic Jews in their Bearing on the Transformation of the Gospel Message VIII. The Religious Disposition of the Greeks and RoV. The General

.

18

.

23

.

28

in the First Two Centuries and the Contemporary Greeco-Roman Philosophy of Religion

mans

.

PAKT

.

32

I.

THE RISE OF ECCLESIASTICAL DOGMA. Book

I.

THE PREPARATION.

—

Chapter I. Historical Survey Chapter II.— Ground Common to Christians and Attitude Taken toward Judaism Chapter III.— The Common Faith and the Beginnings of Self- Recognition in that Gentile Christianity which was to Develop into Catholicism .

)

.

39

40

43

CONTENTS.

vili

PAGE

Chapter IV.

—Attempt

of the Gnostics to Construct

an

Apostolic Doctrine of Faith and to Produce a Christian Theology or, the Acute Secularization of Christianity Chapter V. Marcion's Attempt to Set Aside the Old Testament as the Foundation of the Gospel, to Purify Tradition, and to Reform Christianity on the ;

58

—

Basis of the Pauline Gospel Chapter VI. —Supplement The Christianity of the Jewish

70

:

74

Christians

Book

II.

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION. Chapter Section

Chapter

I.

— Historical Survey

I.

II.

81

Establishment of Christianity as a Church and its Gradual Secidarization.

—The

Forth of the Apostolic Rules

Setting

(Norms) for

Ecclesiastical

The

Christianity.

Catholic Church A. The Recasting of the Baptismal Confession into the Apostolic Rule of Faith B. The Recognition of a Selection of Well-known Scriptures as Virtually Belonging to the Old as a Compilation of Apostolic i. e. Testament

84

85

,

;

88

Scriptures

The Transformation of the Episcopal Office in the Church into the Apostolic Office. History of the 95 Transformation of the Idea of the Church Chapter III. Continuation: The Old Christianity and 100 the New Church C.

.

.

—

Establishment of Christianity as Doctrine and

Section II.

its

Chapter IV.

Gradual Secidarization.

— Ecclesiastical Christianity

The Apologists

and Philosophy. 117

,

—

Chapter V. Beginnings of an Ecclesiastico-Theological Exposition and Revision of the Rule of Faith in Opposition to Gnosticism on the Presupposition of the New Testament and the Christian Philosophy of the Apologists Irenaaus, Tertullian, Hippoly130 tus, Cyprian, Novatian :

:

CONTENTS. Chapter VI.

— Transformation

IX PACE

of Ecclesiastical Tradition

into a Philosophy of Religion, or the Origin of Scientific Ecclesiastical Theology

and Dogmatics

Clement and Origen

149

—

Chapter VII. Decisive Result of Theological Speculation within the Realm of the Rule of Faith, or the Defining of the Ecclesiastical Doctrinal Norm through the Acceptance of the Logos- Christology 166 .

PART

.

II.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECCLESIASTICAL DOGMA. Book

I.

HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOGMA AS DOCTRINE OF THE GOD-MAN UPON THE BASIS OF NATURAL THEOLOGY. Chapter Chapter

I.

— Historical Survey

IL— The

193

Fundamental Conception of Salvation

and a General Sketch of the Doctrine of Faith 206 The Sources of Knowledge and the Authorities, or Scripture, Tradition, and the Church 212 .

Chapter HI.

—

.

A.

TJie

Presuppositions of the Doctrine of Salvation, or Natural TJieology.

—

Chapter IV. The Presuppositions and Conceptions of God, the Creator, as the Dispenser of Salvation 225 Chapter V. The Presuppositions and Conceptions of Man 229 as the Recipient of Salvation .

—

B.

....

The Doctrine of Redemption through the Person of the

God-Man Chapter

in its Historical Development.

Doctrine of the Necessity and Reality of Redemption through the Incarnation of the Son

VI.— The

God Chapter VII.— The Doctrine of the Homousion of God with God Himself

235

of

I.

II.

III.

of the

Son

.....

242

242 Until Council of Nicsea 253 Until Death of Constantius 259 Until Councils of Constantinople, 381, 383 Supplement The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit 266 and of the Trinity .

:

.

CONTENTS.

X

PAGE

— The

Doctrine of the Perfect Equality as to Nature of the Incarnate Son of God and

Chapter VIII.

Humanity

*

I.

^

II.

III.

274

— Continuation

The Doctrine of the Personal Union of the Divine and Human Natures in the Incarnate Son of God 280 The Nestorian Controversy 280 287 The Eutychian Controversy The Monophysite Controversies and the 5th

Chapter IX.

:

294 Council IV. The Monergistic and Monothelitic Controversies, 300 the 6th Council and John of Damascus .

C.

TJie

.

Temporal Enjoyment of Redemption.

— —

305 Chapter X. The Mysteries, and Matters Akin to Them Chapter XI. Conclusion Sketch of. the Historic Begin318 nings of the Orthodox System .

....

:

Book

II.

EXPANSION AND RECASTING OF THE DOGMA INTO A DOCTRINE CONCERNING SIN, GRACE AND THE MEANS OF GRACE UPON THE BASIS OF THE CHURCH. Chapter Chapter

I.

— Historical Survey — Occidental Christianity and Occidental The-

ologians before Augustine

Chapter HI.

III.

—The

.... ....

335

World-Historical Position of Augus342 tine as Teacher of the Church Augustine's Doctrine of the First and Last Things 345 The Donatist Contest. The Work " De Civitate Dei. " The Doctrine of the Church and of the

Chapter IV. I.

329

—The World-Historical Position of Augustine

as Reformer of Christian Piety

II.

326

II.

Means of Grace The Pelagian Contest.

354

Doctrine of Grace and

of Sin

363

Exposition of the Symbol. The New Doctrine of Religion 376 in the Occident till the Chapter V. History of Dogma Beginning of the Middle Ages (430-604) 382 IV. Augustine's

—

.

.

CONTENTS.

XI PAGE

Contest between Semi-Pelagianism and Augustini

I.

anism 387 Gregory the Great (590-604) Chapter VI. History of Dogma in the Time of the Carlo vingian Renaissance 392 394 I. A. The Adoption Controversy II.

.

—

395 The Predestination Controversy Controversy about the Filioque and about Images 397 The Development, in Practice and in Theory, of

B.

I.

II.

III.

the Mass

Chapter VII.

(Dogma

of the Eucharist) and of Penance 399

— History of Dogma in the Time

of Clugny,

III.

Anselm and Bernard to the End of the 12th .406 Century 407 The Revival of Piety 412 On the History of Ecclesiastical Law 414 The Revival of Science

IV.

Work upon

I.

II.

.

the

Dogma

422

.

A. The Berengar Controversy B. Anselm 's Doctrine of Satisfaction and the Doctrines of the Atonement of the Theologians of the 12th Century Chapter VIII. History of Dogma in the Time of the Mendicant Orders till the Beginning of the 16th Century I. On the History of Piety II. On the History of Ecclesiastical Law. The Doc.

423

427

—

trine of the

Church

442

On

the History of Ecclesiastical Science IV. The Reminting of Dogmatics into Scholastics III.

433

434

.

.

452

.

461

A. The Working Over of the Traditional Articuli Fidei 462 B. The Scholastic Doctrine of the Sacraments 468 C. The Revising of Augustinianism in the Direction of the Doctrine of Meritorious Works 488 .

Book

.

.

.

.

III.

THE THREE-FOLD ISSUING OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA. Chapter Chapter

I.

— Historical Survey — The Issuing of the

II.

tholicism

501

Dogma

in

Roman

Ca510

CONTENTS.

Xll

I.

PAGE Codification of the Mediaeval Doctrines in Opposi510 tion to Protestantism (Tridentine Decrees) .

.

Post-Tridentine Development as a Preparation for 518 the Vatican Council 527 III. The Vatican Council Chapter III. The Issuing of the Dogma in Anti-Trinita529 rianism and Socinianism II.

—

I.

Historical Introduction

529

535 The Socinian Doctrine Chapter IV. The Issuing of the Dogma in Protestantism 541 II.

—

I.

II.

541

Introduction Luther's Christianity

545

Luther's Strictures on the Dominating Ecclesi551 astical Tradition and on the Dogma IV. The Catholic Elements Retained with and within 557 Luther's Christianity

III.

.

.

.

—

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

PROLEGOMENA TO THE

DISCIPLINE.

Idea and Aim of the History of Dogma.

I.

Religion

1.

since

it

is

a practical affair with mankind,

has to do with our highest happiness and

with those faculties which pertain to a holy

But

Religion,

life.

in every religion these faculties are closely con-

nected with some definite faith or with some

which are referred back

nite cult,

Christianity

lation.

is

Divine Reve-

to

that religion in

impulse and power to a blessed and holy

up with

which the

life is

bound

God as the Father of Jesus Christ. God is believed to be the omnipotent

faith in

So far as this

Lord

defi-

of

heaven and earth, the Christian religion

includes a particular knowledge of God, of the world so far,

how-

ever, as this religion teaches that

God can be

truly

known only

inseparable from

and

of the purpose of created things

historical 2.

The

in Jesus Christ,

it is

;

knowledge. inclination to formulate

religion in Articles

of Faith

tianity as the effort to

is

f the content of ArFaith.°

as natural to Chris-

verify these articles with

reference to science and to history.

On

the other

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

2

hand the universal and supernatural character of the Christian religion imposes upon its adherents the duty of finding a statement of

it

which

will not be

impaired by our wavering knowledge of nature and history

before every possible theory of nature or of

itself

Problem

and, indeed, which will be able to maintain

;

The problem which thus

history.

arises permits,

Insoluble.

indeed, of no absolute solution, since is relative

and yet religion essays

;

all

to bring her ab-

solute truth into the sphere of relative

and

and every thinking Christian

come

the problem does not

testifies,

to its solution

that account the progressive efforts

been Attempts at

Solution.

made

to solve

it

knowledge

But history

to reduce it to statement there.

teaches,

knowledge

;

that

even on

which have

are of value.

The most thorough-going attempt at solution hitherto is that which the Catholic Church made, and which the churches of the Reformation (with more or less restrictions) have continued to make, viz. Accepting a collection of Christian and Pre3.

:

Christian writings and oral traditions as of Divine origin, to

deduce from them a system of doctrine,

arranged in

form

scientific

which should have as

God and

of the world

its

and

for apologetic purposes,

content the knowledge of of the

means

of salvation;

then to proclaim this complex system {of dogma)

compendium of Christianity, to demand of every mature member of the Church a faithful acas the

ceptance of the

same

is

it,

and at the same time

to

maintain thai

a necessary preparation for the blessed-

;

PROLEGOMENA.

With

ness promised by the religion.

Church

augmen-

brotherhood, whose character

tation the Christian

as " Catholic

this

" is essentially

indicated under

this conception of Christianity, took a definite and,

was supposed,

as

science of nature ious faith in

much

as

it

incontestable attitude toward the

and

of history, expressed its relig-

God and

required of

and yet gave

Christ,

(inas-

members an acceptance

all its

of these articles of faith) to the thinking part of the

community a system which

is

capable of a wider and

Thus arose dog-

indeed boundless development.

matic Christianity. 4.

The aim

of the history

of dogma

is,

(1)

To

ex-

plain the origin of this dogmatic Christianity, and,

To describe its development. 5. The history of the rise of dogmatic Christianity would seem to close when a well-formulated sys-

Aim

of

History of

Dogma

(2)

tem

of

belief

had been established by

means, and had been made the

"

Rise

of

Dogma.

scientific

articulus constitu-

tivus ecelesiw" and as such had been imposed upon the entire Church.

from the 3d Christology

dogma creto

is

it

This took place in the transition

to the 4th century

was

established.

when

the Logos-

The development

of

in abstracto without limit, but in con-

has come to an end.

For, (a) the Greek

Develop-

ment of Dogma. Greek Church.

Church maintains that

its

system of dogma has been

complete since the end of the " Image Controversy (b)

the

Roman

ity of the

"

Catholic Church leaves the possibil-

formulating of

the Tridentine Council

new dogmas

and

still

more

open, but in

in the Vatican

Roman Church..

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OP DOGMA.

4

has

in fact on political

it

dogma

as a legal system

grounds rounded out

which above

all

demands

obedience and only secondarily conscious faith

Roman

its

;

the

Catholic Church has consequently abandoned

the original motive of dogmatic Christianity and

has placed a wholly EvanepiChurches,

new motive

in its stead, retain-

ing the mere semblance of the old

;

(c)

The Evan-

gelical churches have, on the one hand, accepted a

greater part of the formulated doctrines of dogmatic

Christianity and seek to ground them, like the Catholic

Church, in the Holy Scriptures.

But, on the

other hand, they took a different view of the authority of the

Holy

Scriptures, they put aside tradition

as a source in matters of belief, they questioned the significance of the empirical

dogma, and above

all

Church as regards the

they tried to put forward a

formulation of the Christian religion, which goes directly

Word

"

true understanding of the

Thus

in principle the ancient dog-

back to the

of God."

matic conception of Christianity was set aside, while

however in certain matters no

fixed attitude

was

taken toward the same and reactions began at once

and

still

continue.

Therefore

is it

announced that

Protestant

the history of Protestant doctrine will be excluded

Excluded,

from the history of dogma, and within the former will be indicated only the position of the

and

Reformers

of the churches of the Reformation, out of

the later complicated development grew.

history of

dogma can be

pleted discipline.

which

Hence the

treated as relatively a com-

PROLEGOMENA. The claim

0.

Church that the dogmas are

of the

simply the exposition of the Christian revelation, because deduced from the Holy Scriptures,

On

confirmed by historical investigation. trary,

it

is

not

Expo-

^j?gti

^

a uon.

the con-

becomes clear that dogmatic Christianity

dogmas) in

(the

Dogmas not

its

conception and in

its

construc-

work of the Hellenic spirit upon the Gospel soil. The intellectual medium by which in early times men sought to make the Gospel comprewas

tion

the

became

insep-

arably blended with the content of the same.

Thus

hensible and to establish

arose the dogma, in

it

securely,

whose formation,

to be sure,

other factors (the words of Sacred Scripture, require-

ments of the

and

cult,

and

of the organization, political

social environment, the impulse to

to their logical

push things

consequences, blind custom,

etc.)

played a part, yet so that the desire and effort to

formulate the main principles of the Christian re-

demption, and to explain and develop them, secured the upper hand, at least in the earlier times.

dogma proved to 2?^?^. same was to be the pure Dogma,

Just as the formulating of the

7.

be an illusion, so far as the

exposition of the Gospel, so also does historical investigation destroy the other illusion of the Church, viz.

:

that the dogma, always having been the

same

have simply been explained, and that

eccle-

therein,

siastical theology

to explain the

has never had any other aim than

unchanging dogma and

heretical teaching pressing in

formulating of the

dogma

to refute the

from without.

The

indicates rather that the-

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

6

ology constructed the dogma, but that the Church

must ever conceal the labor of the theologians, which thus places them in an unfortunate plight. In each favorable case the result of their labor has

been declared to be a reproduction and they themselves

have been robbed of their best service; as a under the

rule in the progress of history they fell

condemnation of the dogmatic scheme, whose foundation they themselves had laid, and so entire generrations of theologians, as well as the chief leaders thereof, have, in the further

development of dogma,

been afterwards marked and declared to be heretics

Dogma

or held in suspicion. ress of history Augustine,

g.

devoured

its

has ever in the prog-

own

progenitors.

Although dogmatic Christianity has never,

the process of

its

development, lost

and character as a work

and of Origin),

through Augustine and

original style

of the spirit of perishing

antiquity upon Gospel soil

apologists

its

of the Greek

{style

yet

later

it

experienced

through

pioned a

new and more evangelical

by Paulinism; Augus-

it

of the tra-

dogma, rather did he co-ordinate the old and

the new; Luther, indeed, attempted

carry

of

conception of

however hardly attempted a revision

ditional

Both

more than the former, cham-

Christianity, guided chiefly tine

first

Luther a

deeper and more thorough transformation. these men, the latter

in

through.

The Christian

dogma gained through

it,

but did not

quality of

the

the influence of each, and the

old traditional system of

dogma was

relaxed some-

.

.

PROLEGOMENA. what

— this was

much

so

7

the case in Protestantism

that one does well, as remarked above, no longer to

consider the symbolical teaching of the Protestant

churches as wholly a recasting of the old dogma. 9.

An

understanding of

process cannot be secured doctrines

the dogmatico-historic

by

isolating the special

Periods in History of

Dogma-

and considering them separately (Special

History of Dogma) after that the epochs have been previously characterized (General History of It is

much

better to consider the " general "

" special " in

arately,

Dogma) and the

each period and to treat the periods sep-

and as much as possible

to prove the special

doctrines to be the outcome of the fundamental ideas

and motives.

It is

not possible, however, to

more than four principal gin of

Dogma.

II.

a.

divisions, viz.

:

I.

The Development

make

The

of

Ori-

Dogma

in accordance with the principles of its original con-

ception (Oriental Development from Arianism to the

Image-Controversy).

opment

of

Dogma

II.

b.

The Occidental Devel-

under the influence of Augustine's

Roman papal politics. II. c. Issuing of Dogma (in the churches

Christianity and the

The Three-fold of the

Reformation

— in Tridentine Catholicism — and

in the criticism of the rationalistic age,

i.e.,

of So-

cinianism) 10.

The

history of dogma, in that

it

sets forth the

process of the origin and development of the dogma, offers the

very best means and methods of freeing

the Church from dogmatic Christianity, and of hast-

ening the inevitable process of emancipation, which

value of

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

8

But the history

began with Augustine. testifies

also to the unity

it

dogma

and continuity of the

Christian faith in the progress of far as

of

its history, in

so

proves that certain fundamental ideas of the

Gospel have never been

lost

and have

defied all

attacks.

II.— History of the History of Dogma. Mosheim,

The narrative

of the History of

Dogma begins

first

etc.

in the 18th century with

Mosheim, Walch, Ernesti,

Lessing, and Semler, since Catholicism in general

not fitted for a critical handling of the subject,

is

al-

though learned works have been written by individBaronius,

ual Catholic theologians (Baronius Bellarmin, Peta-

etc.

vius,

Thomassin, Kuhn, Schwane, Bach,

etc.),

and

since the Protestant churches remained until the

18th century under the ban of confessionalism,

al-

though important contributions were made in the Luther,

time of the Reformation (Luther, Okolampad, Mel-

etc.

anchthon, Flacius, Hyperius, Chemnitz) to the cal treatment of the

upon the labors Erasmus, etc.

(L. Valla;

criti-

History of Dogma, based in part

of the critically disposed humanists

Erasmus,

etc.).

But without the learned

material, which, on the one band, the Benedictine Benedictine, etc.

and other Orders had gathered together, and, on the other, the Protestant Casaubonus, Vossius, Pearson,

Dalläus, Spanheim, Grabe, Basnage, etc., and withGottfried Arnold.

out the grand impulse which fried Arnold), the

work

pietism gave (Gott-

of the 18th century

would

PROLEGOMENA. have been inconsiderable.

dogma

history of

gave

it

9

Rationalism robbed the

of its ecclesiastical interest

over to a critical treatment in which

and its

darkness was lighted up in part by the lamp of

common understanding and

of general historical contemplation

Dogma by

History of

(first

Lange, 1796, previous works by Semler,

Rössler, Löffler, etc., then the

Lehrbuch,

Aufl.

1.

Bdd. 1802

1811,

3.

an excellent

f.,

Aufl.

Lange.

Dogma

History of

by Mimscher, Handb. 4 Bdd. 1797 2

by the torch

in part

Münscher.

Munter

1832,

Stäudlin 1800 and 1822, Augusti

f,

1805 and 1835, Gieseler, edited by Redepenning 2

The valuable handbooks of Baumgarten-Crusius 1832, i.e. 1840 and 1846, and of Meier Bdd. 1855).

1840,

i.e.

mark

1854,

Baume:arten-Crusius.

the transition to a class of

works in which an inner understanding of the proof the History of

cess

Dogma

which Lessing had already

has been won, for

and

which

Lessing,

Herder, Schleiermacher and the Romanticists on the

Schleier-

one side, and Hegel and Schelling on the other, had

Schelling.

striven,

for

Herder,

prepared the way. of

F. Chr.

3.

Thl. 1865

in

1847,

Glaubenslehre 2 Bdd.

a one-sided way,

1840

f.

(cf

.

also Strauss,

Marheineke 1849).

the Schleiermacher point of view,

Thl.

1857)

Baur.

which the dogmatico-historic

was, so to speak, lived over again

(2.

Vorles.

1867,

i.e.

process, conceived to be sure in

From

Hegel,

Epoch-making were the writings

Baur (Lehrb. f.),

macher,

and Hagenbach

(1840,

is

Neander

i.e.

1867).

Dorner (History of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ, 1839 i.e. 1845-53) attempted to unite

Neander.

Hegel

Dorner.

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

10

From

and Schleiermacher.

the Lutheran Confes-

standpoint Kliefoth (Einl. in

sional

Thomasius

(2

Bdd. 1874

f.

d.

D. G. 1839),

and 1887 edited by Bon-

Schmid (1859 i.e. 1887 ed. by Hauck) and, with reservations, Kahnis (The Faith of the wetsch

1

Bd.),

A

Church, 18G4). Nitzsch.

the History of

marked advance

Dogma by

Nitzsch

(1

is

indicated in

For

Bd. 1870).

a correct understanding especially of the origin of

dogma beck,

the labors of Rothe, Ritschi, Renan, Overv.

Engelhardt,

Weizsäcker and Reville are

valuable.

PRESUPPOSITIONS OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA. Introductory.

III. Gospel

is

chnst.

i

in the " fulness of time.

The gospel appeared

.

^ n( ^ e Q 0Sp e j

i js

Jesus Christ.

the announcement

is

made

In these sentences

that the Gospel

is

the

climax of an universal development and yet that has

its

power in a personal

stroyed not," but "fulfilled." life

before

God and

of Judaism,

in

Jesus

Life.

He

witnessed a

new

God, but within the confines

and upon the

soil of

the Old Testament

whose hidden treasures he uncovered. shown, that everything that in the

it

Christ " de-

is

It

can be

"lofty and spiritual"

Psalms and Prophets, and everything that had

been gained through the development of Grecian ethics, is reaffirmed in the plain

but

it

obtained

its

power

and simple Gospel

there, because

it

became

— PROLEGOMENA.

11

and deed in a Person, whose greatness consists also in this, that he did not remould his earthly enlife

vironment, nor encounter any subsequent rebuff, in other words, that he did not

become entangled

in

his times. 2.

Two

generations later there existed, to be sure, confeder° ated Conunited and homogeneous Church, but there £ re s atlons '

no

were scattered throughout the wide confederated congregations

of

Roman

-

empire

Christian believers

(churches) who, for the most part, were Gentile-

born and condemned the Jewish nation and religion as apostate; they appropriated the

Old Testament as

by right and considered themselves a "new nation", and yet as the "ancient creation of God", theirs

while in sacred

departments of

all

communities

is

these confederated Gentile Christian v

the preliminary condition to the rise

dogmatic Christianity.

The organization

of these churches began, indeed,

in the apostolic times is

and thought certain

forms were gradually being put forward.

The existence of of

life

and their peculiar constitution

negatively indicated by the freeing of the Gospel

While

from the Jewish church.

in Islamism the

Arabic nation remained for centuries the main trunk of the

new

religion, it is

an astonishing fact in the

history of the Gospel, that

it

soon

left its

native soil

and went forth into the wide world and realized

its

universal character, not through the transformation of the

Jewish

world-religion

religion,

but by developing into a

upon Grceco- Roman

soil.

The Gos-

Freeing of Gospel fr0,n

Jew "

h Church

-

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

12 Gospel

became a world-religion in

pel

having a

that,

World-Religion.

message for

all

mankind,

it

preached

it to

Greek

and barbarian, and accordingly attached itself to the spiritual and political life of the ivorld-

Roman

wide Classical Epoch of

Gospel History.

3.

empire.

Since the Gospel in

its

and was preached only

ish

this transition,

original form

was Jew-

to the Jews, there lay in

which was brought about,

in part

gradually and without

disturbance,

through a severe

consequences of the most

From

stringent kind.

Church and

of the

crisis,

of

and in part

the standpoint of the history

dogma, the

brief history of the

Gospel within the bounds of Palestinian Judaism

And

accordingly a paleontological epoch.

is

yet this

remains the classical epoch, not only on account of the Founder and of the original testimony, but quite Paul's Mis-

as

much

because a Jewish Christian (Paul) recog-

sion.

nized the Gospel as the power of God, which able to save both

Jew and

was

Greek, and because he

designedly severed the Gospel from the Jewish national religion of the

Law.

and proclaimed the Christ as the end

Then other Jewish

Christians, personal

disciples of Jesus, indeed, followed (see

also the 4th

him

in all this

Gospel and the Epistle to the

Hebrews) No Chasm Between Earlier

Yet there

Epoch and brief Succeeding Period.

is

in reality

no chasm between the older

epoch and the succeeding period, so far as the

Gospel

is

in itself universalistic,

very soon became manifest.

which Paul and

and

this character

But the means by

his sympathizers set forth the uni-

PROLEGOMENA.

13

versal character of the Gospel (proving that the Old

Testament religion had been with) was

fulfilled

and done away

understood, and, vice versa, the

little

manner and means by which the Gentile Christians came to an acceptance of the Gospel, can only in part be attributed to the preaching of Paul.

we now

as

New

possess in the

Testament substan-

tial writings in

which the Gospel

thought out that

it is

Old Testament

So far

is

so thoroughly

prized as the supplantei" of the

religion,

and writings which

at the

same time are not deeply touched with the Greek spirit,

does this literature differ radically from

all

that follows. 4.

00

The growing Gentile Church, notwithstanding ° 7

Paul's significant relation toward

prehend,

nor

it,

did not com-

really experience the crisis,

which the Pauline conception

out of

of the Gospel arose.

In the Jewish propaganda, within which the Old

Testament had long since become liberalized and spiritualized, the Gentile

ually subjecting the

Church, entering and grad-

same

to itself,

seldom

felt

the

problem of the reconciliation of the Old Testament with the Gospel, since by means of the allegorical

method the propaganda had freed themselves from the letter of the law, but its

spirit;

indeed they had simply cast

national character. the

had not entirely overcome

Jews and

Moved by

later also of the Gentiles

people

" for itself,

the

their

the hostile power of

consciousness of inherent strength to "

off

and by the organize a

Church as a matter

of course

Gentile

Church did

^J^^ Problem,

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

14

took on the form of the thought and

which

in

immoral and vulgar.

istic, Gentiie

R

lived, casting aside

it

ganizations,

ed

Many character^

mon y

which with

to their kinship

life of

the world

everything polythe-

Thus arose the new

all their

newness bore

or-

testi-

with the original Palestinian

churches, in so far as,

(1)

was

the Old Testament

istics

likewise recognized as a primitive revelation, and in so far as, (2) the strong spiritual

monotheism,

(3)

the outlines of the proclamation concerning Jesus Christ,

(4)

the consciousness of a direct and living

fellowship with (5)

God through

the gift of the Spirit,

the expectation of the approaching end of the

world, and the earnest conviction of the personal responsibility

and accountability

of each individual

To

soul were all likewise maintained.

be added

finally, that

these

is

to

the earliest Jewish-Christian

proclamation, yes, the Gospel

itself,

bears the stamp

of the spiritual epochs, out of

which

it

arose,

—of the

Hellenic age, in which the nations exchanged their

wares and religions were transformed, and the idea of the

worth and accountability of every soul became

widespread;

so

that

the

Hellenism which

soon

was not

abso-

pressed so mightily into the Church lutely strange iS

Do mahas ih

t

°Gent5e only.

^'

tile

^ie

and new.

hi^OTV of dogma has

do with the Gen-

—the history of theology begins, with Paul — but in order to understand his-

Church only

is true,

to

it

,

torically the basis of the formation of doctrine in the

Gentile Church,

it

must take

into consideration, as

already stated, the following as antecedent condi-

PROLEGOMENA.

15

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, (2) The general and simultaneous proclamation of Jesus Christ in the first generation of believers, (3) The tions:

(1) v '

Presuppositions.

current understanding and exposition of the Old

Testament and the Jewish anticipations of the fu-

and their speculations, (4) The religious conceptions and the religious philosophy of the Helture

The religious attitude of the Greeks and Romans during the first two centu-

lenistic Jews,

and

ries,

(5)

the current

Grceco-Boman philosophy

of religion.

IV.— The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to His (^The Gospel

is

Own

the good

Testimony.

news

of the reign of the

Almighty and Holy God, the Father and Judge the world and of each individual soul.

which makes men and gives them

God

is

man who

secure, even

if

who

seek to

kingdom

gives him-

win the world and

to

while those

keep their

life

fall

hands of the Judge, who condemns them to

This reign of God, in that

it

rises

above

all

ceremonies and statutes, places

men under

which

Whole-hearted love

to

is

old

God and

ever

it

Js

he should immediately

the world and his earthly life;

hell.

e

"oT

to realize their citizenship in the ap-

lose

into the

p

In this reign,

citizens of the heavenly

proaching eon, the life of every self to

of

^^

G

and Jyet new,

viz.

:

to one's neighbor.

a law,

In this love, wher-

controls the thoughts in their deepest springs,

that belter justice is exemplified

which corresponds

Love

to

God and

Man

-

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

16

perfection of God.

to the

The way

to secure this

by a change of heart, i.e. by selfdenial and humility before God and a heart-felt righteousness

is

In such humility and trust in

the soul realizes

own un worthiness. The Gospel, even sinners, who are so disposed,

however,

calls

its

unto the kingdom of God, in that

with his

satisfaction

justice, i.e.,

the forgiveness of the sins

separated them from God.

S V"

er1>

ty

La W Lo v e sri

For-

vctiGss of sin.

Word and Deed

in Jesus.

them

assures

guarantees them

In the three-fold form, is set forth,

(God's

sovereignty, higher justice [law of love] and for-

giveness of sin)

is

inseparably connected with

Jesus Christ everywhere called

In him

self.

his

it

For in the proclamation

Jesus Christ. pel,

Gospel

it

which have hitherto

however, in which the Gospel G

God

trust in him.

is

the Gospel

meat and drink and,

personal

He

men.

is

men

unto him-

word and deed;

therefore, is it

and into this

life,

of the Gos-

life

it is

become his

he would draw

all

who knows the Father. Men him how kind the Lord is; in him

the Son,

should see in

they

may

God

over the world and be comforted in this trust

experience the power and sovereignty of

him, the meek and gentle-hearted One, should they follow

;

and inasmuch as

calls sinners

sured that

he, the holy

and pure One,

unto himself, they should be fully as-

God through him

forgives siny'

This close connection of his Gospel with his person, Jesus

but

left

by no means made prominent

his disciples to experience

himself the Son of

Man and

led

it.

them on

in

He

words, called

to the con-

— PROLEGOMENA. he was their Master and

that

fession

17

Messiah.

Jesus Messiah.

them people a comprehensible expression, and

Thereby he gave

and

for his

to his lasting significance for

at the close of his life, in

an hour of great solemnity,

he said to them that his death also like his

life

an imperishable service which he rendered

"many"

By

for the forgiveness of sins.

was

to the

this

he

raised himself above the plane of all others, although

they

may

already be his brethren; he claimed for

himself an unique significance as the as the

Judge ;

Redeemer and

for he interpreted his death, like all

his suffering, as

a triumph, as the transition

ing in his disciples the conviction that he

Lord over the dead and the

is

ligion of the Gospel rests

Christ,

i.e.

upon

living.

lives

(The

re-

looking upon him, that historical Per-

God

and earth, and that God, the Judge,

and Kedeemer.

which

still

this faith in Jesus

son, the believer is convinced that

ligion

to his

and he proved his power by actually awaken-

glory,

and

The

frees

rules

heaven

is also

Father

religion of the Gospel is the re- Fr e e°sS from

men from

all legality,

which, how-

same time lays upon them the highest moral obligations the simplest and the severest and lays bare the contradiction in which every man ever, at the

—

finds himself as regards them.

demption out

men

Redeemer,

and blessed

it

life

life of

it

leads

God, leaves them in his hands, into union with the inexhaustible

Jesus Christ,

who has overcome

the world and called sinners to himself.^ 2

brings re-

of such necessities, in that

to the gracious

and draws their

But

J

gal "

a11

ity

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

18

The General Proclamation concerning

V.

Jesus Christ in the First Generation of His Adherents. Jesus Risen Lord.

i

]\j;

know Jesus

en had learned to

found him to be the Messiah.

Christ and bad

In the

first

him everything was

erations following

two gen-

said about

him which men were in any way able to say. Inasmuch as they knew him to be the Risen One, they exalted him as the Lord of the world and of history, hand

God, as the Way, the

way,

sitting at the right

Life.

Truth and the Life, as the Prince of Life and the living

Power

and the

of death

King.

new King

of a

of

existence, as the of a

Although strong individual ence, Scriptural learning

coming new kingdom. feeling, special experi-

and a fantastic tendency

gave from the beginning a form him, yet

common

Conqueror

to the confession of

characteristics of the proclamation

can be definitely pointed out. f

SSsc!pies°'

The content

2.

of the disciples' belief

eral proclamation of

it

on the ground of the certainty

of the resurrection of Jesus,

lows

:

Jesus

— he will dom,

is

come again and

God and

new community raei.

set forth as fol-

establish a visible king-

—they who believe on him and surrender them-

grace of

itself

can be

the Messiah promised by the prophets

selves entirely to this belief,

church

and the gen-

may

assured of the

of a share in his future glory.

A

of Christian believers thus organized

within the Jewish nation.

munity believed

feel

itself to

And

this

new com-

be the true Israel of the

PROLEGOMENA.

19

Messianic times and lived, accordingly, in

all their

Thus could

thoughts and feelings in the future.

all

the Jewish apocalyptic expectations retain their pow-

time of the second coming of Christ.

er for the

the fulfilment of these hopes the

For

new community pos-

sessed a guarantee in the sacrificial death of Christ,

as also in the manifold manifestations of the Spirit,

which were

upon the members upon

visible

their

entrance into the brother-hood (from the beginning

seems

this introduction

to

by have been accompanied J r

The

baptism) and in their gathering together. session of the Spirit

vidual that he

was an assurance

was not only a

God.

God

Faith in the the

Father

God

added

:

of

to each indi-

" disciple "

"called saint," and, as such, a priest Israel

to this

of Spirit,

*jjFg23f P leshl P-

but also a

and king

became

was

pos-

Possession

of

faith in

faith in Jesus,

the Christ and Son of God, and the witness of the gift of the

Christ.

Holy

Spirit, i.e. of the Spirit of

men

In the strength of this faith

the fear of the

Judge and

in trust in

rested first of all

yet

it

had

its

lived in

who had own people.

God,

already begun the redemption of his

The rproclamation

God and

concerning ° Jesus, the Christ, Preaching Based Enentirely upon the Old Testament, Old owTesta Testa'

'

starting-point in the exaltation of

Jesus through his resurrection from the dead.

To

prove that the entire Old Testament pointed toward

him, and that his person, his work, his fate were the actual

and verbal fulfilment

prophecies,

was the

of the

Old Testament

chief interest of believers, in so

far as they did not give themselves entirely to ex-

ment.

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

20

This reference did not

pectations of the future.

make clear the meaning and worth Messianic work this it did not seem to need

serve at once to of the

—

— but rather to establish

the Messiah-ship of Jesus.

However, the Old Testament, as stood,

it

was then under-

gave occasion, through the fixing of the per-

son and dignity of Christ, for widening the scope of the thought of Israel's perfected theocracy.

And,

in addition, faith in the exaltation of Jesus to the

right

hand

of

Gcd caused men

to think of the begin-

ning of his existence in harmony therewith.

Then

the fact of the successful Gentile conversion threw a

new

light

upon the scope of

significance for all

mankind.

sonal claims of Jesus led liar relation la

e
a$

rrjs

terpretation of the ever,

was the

praef.),

it

(for

anti-gnostic in-

Holy Scriptures)

came very near accepting

it

Origen, how-

;

(see,

de princip.

in the beginning of the 3d century the

i.e.

Alexandrian Church was following the Roman, and gradually became

" Catholic".

Later

still

the Syrian

churches also followed, as the documentary source of the Apostolic Constitutions proves,

nothing of the "apostolic

Only

Occidental sense.

which knows

rule of faith"

at the

in

the

end of the 3d century

did the Catholic Church become a reality through

common

the

apostolic

lex

and distinguish

sharply from the heretical parties

came

indeed, probably

first

;

itself

remote churches,

through Nicea to an ac-

ceptance of an "apostolic rule of faith."

But even

was not accepted at a single stroke. The Recognition of a Selection of Well-

the Nicene creed mtntwfuognfzed'as

B

*

knoiun Scriptures as Virtually Belonging to the

Old Testament; Scriptures

i.e.

(see

as a Compilation of Apostolic

the "Introductions to the N. T."

by Reuss, Holtzmann, Weiss)

Law and

the Prophets

churches the

Word

.

By

(rd ßißXid)

the side of the

there

was

of the Lord, or briefly "

in the

6 xuptos",

which was indisputable. The words and deeds of the Lord ("the Gospel") were recorded in numerous,

oft-revised scriptures closely related to each

other, which

were

called the

"Lord's Writings", also

— THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION. " köyia",

then

—yet not

80

after the middle of the 2d

till

— Century

" evayyiXia "

GTokmv "

these were publicly read at least after c.

;

140 (Justin).

The

and

" oxo;jyqiJ.oveo;j.ara

named

last

title

rmv

ano-

expresses the

judgment, that everything which was reported of the Lord could be traced directly or indirectly to the apostles.

Out

of these

numerous evangelical

Tatians Diatessa-

writings there were in certain churches,

already

before the middle of the 2d century, four that were

prominent

our present Gospels

—which,

e.g.,

very

soon after 160 were worked over by Tatian into a

About the same time form, more than likety in

single Gospel (Diatessaron)

they took on their

Rome.

final

.

Together with these writings the Epistles

of the apostle Paul,

which had been

were read in the churches,

i.e.

collected earlier,

by the

leaders, as

the Epistles of Clement, Barnabas, Ignatius and particularly

Poly carp

had a

pels

testify.

direct relation

While however the Gosto the kerygma and met

the requirements of tradition (Ignatius, Justin), such

was not

the case with the Pauline Epistles.

all definite

Finally

scriptural productions of prophetic spirits

(irvsufiaropopoi)

were revered as inspired Holy Scrip-

whether they were Jewish apocalypses with

tures,

high-sounding names, or the writings of Christian prophets and teachers. the Old Testament, but

The

ypa-<prf

or simply Uyei), apocalyptic verses

Of

like worth, but

tion

:

o

xbptos Xiyet

iv

was primarily

with, " 6 y.opios Xiyei" {fiypaitxat

were

different in kind,

also cited.

was the

roT evayyeXtai (fulfilling

cita-

of proph-

ron

-

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

90

ecy

—ethical rules).

Many

teachers gladly spoke in

the words of the apostle Paul, without according

them the same rank as the Scriptures and the Word of the

Lord (were the Epistles

in the churches before

Marcion,

Marcion's

who

180?).

c.

rejected the

and gave

little later,

collection of Scrip-

canonical rank (Luke's Gospel, 10

it

At

Pauline Epistles). a

Old Testament and the

new

prophetic proofs, formed a tures

Paul publicly read

of

same time probably,

the

the gnostic school leaders did the same,

favoring the writings in widest circulation

new

the churches, but with

Tatian, Encratites)

.

as dualistic.

in such circles the for they

to the front;

theological, soteriological,

The new

among

additions (Yalentinus,

Everywhere

came

Epistles of Paul

tions,

or

were

and could be interpreted

critically constituted collec-

which the gnostics

over against the Old

set

Testament, were clothed with the same authority as the Old Testament and were allegorically interpreted in

harmony with

it (still,

secret scriptures)

and the Forming

y.opto?

churches.

It

.

besides, secret tradition

Again, a reference to the

and

Ypa'

y.opio$

dcd ? did

closed

xop6$ rescued for the

New

collection.

Closed Testament there was not in the No N. T. in

churches in the 3d century

hand a second

new

collection, it

;

but where there was at

was used

virtually as the

Old Testament and no questions were raised.

The

incomplete collection served ad hoc every purpose

which, as one might think, the complete alone could serve.

Catholicism never came, however, to be a

religion of the book.

mained the standard

The words for the

of the

guidance of

the development of doctrine pursued

its

Lord life,

own

re-

and

course

3d Century.

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

94

at all times, being influenced only in a secondary

way by

Results:

Results

which

the

fol-

ceptanctof

New

New

The

(1) v '

mos * valuable it

Testament.

Testament conserved the

part of the primitive literature; but

gave over to destruction almost

all

the remaining

literature as being arrogant or corrupt; (2) the

New

Testament made an end to the production of inspired writings, but

it

New

the

and the

ecclesiastically profane

and likewise

literature possible (3)

made an

also

set fixed limits to it;

Testament obscured the historic sense

historical origin of its

own documents,

same time occasioned the necessity thorough-going study of these documents and it

of a

at the

vided for their active influence in the Church the

New

that

all

the statements in

" facts "

spiritual,

its

own documents

it

new

facts

tions

New

Testament

(5)

the

(4)

ten-

should

clear, sufficient

necessitated the learned, theological

production of ;

;

but, in requiring

;

be considered entirely harmonious,

and

pro-

Testament repressed the enthusiastic

dency to the production of

but

and mythological concepset

boundaries to the

time of revelation, exalted the apostolic age and the apostles themselves to an unapproachable height

and thereby helped requirements, but

to lower the Christian ideal it

and

likewise preserved the knowl-

edge and power of the same, and became a goad for the conscience;

(6)

the

New

Testament guarded

effectively the hesitating canonical esteem for the

Testament; but

it

likewise

made

it

Old

an offence to

exalt the Christian revelation above that of the

Old

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION.

95

Testament, and to brood over the specific meaning of the former;

the fatal

(7)

the

New

Testament encouraged

tendency to identify the Master's words

with apostolic tradition (teaching of the apostles), but through the acceptance of the Pauline Epistles

a standard the loftiest expression of the con-

set as

sciousness of redemption,

Paulinism

tion of

it

and through the canoniza-

introduced most valuable leaven

into the history of the

Church

;

(8)

through the claim

Church that both Testaments

the Catholic

of

longed to her alone, she robbed

the

New

be-

other Christian

all

churches of their title-right to them

made

it

;

but while she

Testament a norm, she constructed

an armory from which in the time to come the sharpest weapons have been

drawn out against

'

her-

self.

The Transformation of the Episcopal Office in the Church into the Apostolic Office. History C.

Transfor-

Episcopal Office into

of the Transformation of the Idea of the Church.

The claim that the faith

that

apostles formulated a rule of

was not sufficient; it was necessary the Church had kept the same pure and

to

show

that she

possessed within herself a living court of appeal to

decide

all

points under controversy.

Originally

men

simply referred to the churches founded by the apostles,

in

which the true teaching was and the "ancients".

fered no absolute certaint}r tullian, influenced

and

with the disciples of the

to the connection of these

apostles

to be found,

;

But

this appeal of-

hence Irenseus and Ter-

by the imposing development

of

A

lic

£S° Office.

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

96

the episcopate in

Rome and by

once' given to the apostles,

now

the ancient respect

prophets and teachers

transferred to the bishops, so conceived of the

same that the

"

ordo episcoporum per successioneni

ab initio decurrens " guaranteed

to

bility of the apostolic inheritance.

them the inviola-

With each

this

between an historical (the churches

thesis oscillated

are those founded by the apostles; the bishops are

the disciples of the disciples of the apostles)

dogmatic aspect. Apostoiic Succes sion

* er

clearly

*s

and a

Yet already with Irensßus the

prominent

:

"

episcopi

cum

lat-

episcopatus

successione cerium veritatis charisma acceperunt (the

charisma of truth depends upon the

office of

"

the

bishops which rests upon the apostolic succession)

.

is

simply a dogmatic expression for the

exalted

place

which the episcopate had already

actually

won

This thesis

inally

it

did not, moreover, orig-

any way entirely identify apostles and

in

bishops;

for itself;

it

remained also uncertain in

tion to the individual bishops for the ancient

parity:

and

its applica-

left

room

still

spiritus, ecclesia, fldeles.

Calixtus of Rome, however

(v. Tertull.,

de pudic.j

Hippol., Philos. IX.), claimed for himself full apostolic

regard and apostolic powers, while Tertullian

allowed to

him only

the locus magist er ii.

In the

Orient and in Alexandria the apostolic character

was quite late in gaining recogniIgnatius knew nothing about it (the bishop

of the bishops tion. is

the representative of

God unto

his

own

church)

and neither did Clement, and even the basal docu-

:

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION. ment

97

of the Apost. Constitutions is silent.

Yet

in

the time of Origen the doctrine began to establish itself in

The idea

Alexandria.

Church was

of the

greatly influenced by this development.

the Church

was

claims rested upon

He who

its

its

belongs

blessedness

came the

God,

hope and

its

Christian

well-ordered life

Church

the

to

sure of

is

Then the Church

his be-

visible establishment of this confession of

faith (fides in regula

posita

salutem de observatione

its

its

possession of the Spirit, upon

{Holy Church).

the apostles, and

its

est,

legis)

;

habet legem et the legacy of

it is

Christian character rests upon

possession of the true apostolic teaching (Catholic

Church in the sense of doctrine,

universality and

of

—the form of

the 2d century)

.

pureness

expression since the end of

One must be a member

one apostolic Church in order

pirical,

of this

em-

to partake of

salvation, since here alone is found that

knowledge

The Church ceased to be salvation and of the saints

which gives blessedness. the sure

communion

of

and became the condition of salvation lowing chapter).

(v.

the

fol-

This conception of the Church

(Irenaaus, Tertullian, Origen)

which represents the

development of the churches into the one definite

—a creative act, to be sure, of spirit — not evangelic, neither Church

is

it

is

the Christian it

hierarchic;

has never entirely disappeared from the Catholic

churches.

Church

Originally ^"tEST 1 D p~ the heavenly Bride of Christ, the ment

abiding-place of the Holy Spirit; and

its faith in

idea of

But almost from the beginning

it

was

in-

;

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

98 iiierarchical Church

Idea

'

fl

hierarchical Church idea. ue nced by J the

The latter

was only hinted at by Irenaeus and Tertullian (the last named finally contended against it and in this contention he even reverted to the primitive Church idea it

spiritus equals ecclesia, universal priesthood)

:

was

and other

farther developed by Calixtus

Roman

especially

priests,

by Cyprian, while the

Alexandrians blended the earliest Church idea with a mystic-philosophical conception, and Origen,

al-

though greatly impressed by the empirical Church, never Cyprian.'

lost sight of its relative significance

and

office.

Calixtus and Cyprian constructed the hierarchical

Church idea out cies

of existing relations

which these imposed

;

and the exigen-

the latter rounded out the

standard of the former, but on one point, touching the justification

the earthly character of

of

the

Church, he lagged behind, while Calixtus had resolutely

advanced to

The

chapter).

tury that

it

completion

its

crises

sufficient,

—save in isolated

—to simply preserve the Catholic faith;

one must obey the bishops in order isting

ism

to

guard the

ex-

Church against the openly proclaimed heathen-

(in practical life)

,

heresy and enthusiasm (the

The idea of the Church became supreme

primitive Christian recollections)

one episcopally constituted

and the significance

was

the following

were so great in the 3d cen-

was nowhere

communities,

(v.

left in

.

of doctrine as a

the background:

bond

of

The Church,

upon the bishops, who are the successors apostles, the representatives of

God,

is

union

resting of the

by reason

of

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION.

99

these fundamental facts itself the apostolic legacy.

According

to

vation {extra

Cyprian the Church

quam nulla

ized confederation.

solus)

It rests

the seat of sal-

is

as a single, organ-

,

wholly and solely upon

the episcopate, which, as the continuation of the

The union

the bearer of these powers.

individual with

E

K;

"

with the powers of the apos-

apostolate, equipped tles, is

church Rests upon

God and

Christ

of tho

therefore con-

is

ceivable only in the form of subordination to the

The attribute, however, of the unity of the Church, which is of equal significance with that bishops.

comes only through

of its truth, since the unity

manifests

it

primarily in the unity of the epis-

This has been from the beginning a unit

copate.

and

itself

love,

remains a unit

are installed by

change.

in so far as the bishops

still,

God and

continue in brotherly inter-

The individual bishops are

not only as leaders of their

own

to be considered

particular churches,

but as the foundation of the one Church

Thence

in episcopo est").

("

ecclesia

follows farther, that

it

the bishops of those churches founded by the apostles possess

no longer any peculiar dignity

(all

bish-

ops are equal, since they are partakers of the one office). '

The Roman

chair, however, '

'

a peculiar significance, since apostle

upon

tolic gifts in

these gifts

whom

Christ

it

came

was the

first

to

have

Chair.

chair of the

conferred the apos-

order to indicate clearly the unity of

and of the Church

;

and farther

also, be-

cause historically the Church of this chair was the root

and mother

of the

Roman

one Catholic Church.

In a

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

100

severe Carthaginian crisis, Cyprian so appealed to

Rome

as

if

communion with

this

was the guarantee

of the truth

the claims of the

Roman

over other churches nally,

;

Church

(its

bishop)

but later he denied

bishop to special rights

(contest

with Stephen).

Fi-

although he placed the unity of the organiza-

Church above the unity in articles of faith, the essence of Christianity was guarded by him to this extent, that he demanded of the bishops tion of the

everywhere a Christian steadfastness, otherwise they ipso facto would forfeit their as yet

knew nothing

Cyprian also

office.

of a character indelibilis of the

bishops, while Calixtus

and other Roman bishops

vindicated the same to them.

A consequence of

his

theory was, that he closely identified heretics and schismatics, in

which the Church did not then

fol-

The great one episcopal Church, which he presupposed was by- the- bye a fiction such a homo-

low him.

;

geneous confederation did not in reality exist; Constantine himself could not complete

CHAPTER

it.

III.

CONTINUATION: THE OLD CHRISTIANITY AND

THE NEW CHURCH. [See the Literature on

Montanis

tmnism?"

*•

^ HE

Montanism and Novatianism.]

denial of the claims of the ethical

life,

the

paling of the primitive Christian hopes, the legal and political

forms under which the churches protected

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION.

101

themselves against the world and against heresies

middle of the 2d century,

called forth soon after the first

in

nities,

Asia Minor, then in other Christian commua reaction which sought to establish, or rather

and conditions

to re-establish, the primitive times

and

to protect

Christianity from the secularizing

tendency.

The

result of

Montanist

crisis

and the

asserted itself all the

this crisis

more strenuously as a its

truth in

and objective foundation, that

new

it

legal

its historical

accordingly gave a

significance to the attribute of holiness, that

expressly authorized a double state,

a secular, it

so-called

was, that the Church

like)

which has

organization

(the

—within

exchanged

its

itself,

it

— a spiritual and

and a double morality, that

character as the possessor of certain

salvation for that other, viz. to be an indispensable

condition for the transmission of salvation and to be

an institution

for education.

compelled to withdraw (the

The Montanists were

New

Testament had

already thereby done good service), as well as Christians

who made

the truth of the Church de-

pendent upon a rigid maintenance of

The consequence was that tury two great Christian

at the

its

moral claims.

end of the 3d cen-

communities put forth

claims to be the true Catholic Church tional

all

:

viz.

the na-

Church confederated by Constantine and the

Novatian churches which we refused with the remnant of Montanism.

schism in

The beginnings

Rome go back

and Calixtus.

to the

of the great

time of Hippolyt

/&

,

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

102 M(

t

Ai

nus

^*

m

T ne Montanist

had undergone a

opposition

Originally

great transformation.

it

was

the stupen-

dous undertaking of a Christian prophet (Montanus)

who with upon

the assistance of prophetesses felt called

to realize for Christianity the rich prophetic

He interpreted these

promises of the Fourth Gospel.

in accordance with the Apocalypse,

and proclaimed

that the Paraclete had appeared in his in

whom

also Christ, yea, even

own

person,

God Almighty, had

come to his own in order to lead them into all truth and to gather together into one fold his scattered Accordingly it was Montanus' highest aim flocks. to lead the Christians forth

from their civic relations

and communial associations and

to

form a new,

homogeneous brotherhood which, separated from the world, should prepare itself for the descent of the

The opposition which

opposed by Leaders

heavenly Jerusalem.

of church,

orbitant prophetical message encountered from the leaders of the churches,

Marcus Aurelius,

and the persecutions under

intensified the already lively es-

chatological expectations

martyrdom.

this ex-

and increased the desire for

That which the movement

lost,

how-

ever, in definiteness (in so far as the realization of

the ideal of uniting all Christians plished, except for a brief period limits)

it

gained again after

the proclamation of

it

c.

was not accom-

and within narrow 180 inasmuch as

invested earnest souls with

greater power and courage,

which served

to retard

the growing secularizing tendency within the Church.

In Asia and Phrygia

many

Christian communities

;

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION.

103

acknowledged in corpore the Divine mission of the ^ujjfjtf prophets in other provinces assemblies were formed phry& ia -

;

in

which the current teachings

of these prophets

were considered as a Gospel, at the same time various modifications were going on (sympathies of the

The Roman bishops came near acknowledging the new prophecies). In the Montanist churches (c. 190) it was no longer a question confessors in Lyons.

of a

new

organization in the strict sense of the word,

or of a radical re-formation of the Christian organizations, but rather,

were these questions already pushed

clearly traced, aside,

The

wherever the movement can be

even when they were active and

original prophets

thusiasm

;

had

influential.

no bounds

set

to their en-

there were also no definite limits to their

high pretensions: God and Christ had appeared in

them

;

the Prisca

saw Christ

living in female form

these prophets

made the most extravagant prophecies

and spoke in a

loftier tone

tles;

than any one of the apos-

they subverted apostolic regulations; they set

forth, regardless of every tradition,

ments

for the Christian life

body of Christian believers to be the last

;

;

new command-

they railed at the great

they thought themselves

and therefore the highest prophets, the

But

bearers of the final revelation of God.

they had passed

off

after

the stage, their followers sought

an agreement with the common Christian churches.

They recognized recognized by

it.

the great

Church and begged

They were willing

selves to the apostolic regula

and

to

to be

bind them-

to the

New

Tes-

^J^d? Church.

8

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

104

tament;

they

no longer hesitated

to

ecclesiastical organization (the bishops).

accept

the

And

they

own commend as

accordingly demanded the recognition of their prophets,

whom

they

now sought

to

successors of the earlier prophets (prophetic succession)

;

the "

new " prophecy

is

really a later revela-

Church understands

tion, which, as the

it,

presup-

poses the earlier; and the later revelation pertains

simply and solely

which

it

(in addition to the

confirmation

gives to the Church teaching as opposed to

the gnostic) to the burning questions of Christian

discipline which

it

rigid observance.

the

new prophecy

more

decides in the interest of a

Therein lay the significance of for

its

adherents in the empire

and accordingly thej had bestowed their faith r

freely.

Through the belief that in Phrygia the Paraclete had given revelations for the entire Church in order to establish a relatively severe

from second marriage,

regimen (refraining

severer

fast

regulations,

mightier attestation of Christianity in daily

life,

«complete readiness for

martyrdom) the original en-

thusiasm received

death-blow.

was

after all a

its

,

But

this flame

mighty power, since Christendom

large made, between the years

at

190 and 220, the

greatest progress toward the secularization of the

Gospel.

The triumph

of

Montanism would have

been succeeded by a complete change in the ownership of the Church and in missionary operations: its

churches would have

cessions,

therefore,

(the

been

decimated.

Con-

New

Testament,

apos-

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION. tolica regula, episcopate)

did not help the Monta-

The bishops attacked the form

nists.

105

new

of the

prophecy as an innovation, threw suspicion on

ma-

content, interpreted the earlier future hopes as terialistic

mands

and sensuous, and declared the

ethical de-

to be extreme, legalistic, ceremonial, Jewish,

contrary to the

They

its

New Testament,

and even heathenish.

set over against the claims of the

to authentic divine oracles,

the

Montanists

newly formed

New

Testament, declared that every requirement was to be found in the declarations of the two Testaments

and thus clearly defined a revelation epoch, which extended to the present time only through the

New

Testament, the apostolic teaching and the apostolic office of

bishops (in this contest the

for the first time

made

tament contained

new

Testament was not prophetic, but

They began

the

New

apostolic, (2) that

apostolic dignity could not be reached .

Old Tes-

perfect, (1) that the

prophetical elements,

of the present day)

ideas were

by any person

finally to distin-

guish between the morality required of the clergy

and that required of one wife).

of the laity (thus in the question

In this

way

which had once been dear

they discredited that

to the

whole of Christen-

dom, but which they could no longer make use

of.

In so far as they repelled the alleged misuse, they rendered the thing

itself less

and

less

powerful

(chil-

iasm, prophecy, right of laity to speak, rigid sanctity)

,

without being able to entirely suppress

it.

The

most vehement contest between the parties was

in

AtÄ* Montan ism.

— OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

on

106 Heated Controver-

$&§?&!



Montanists, otherwise acknowledging the bishops,

HPSS of sin.

The

re gard to the question of the forgiveness of sin.

•

Holy

ascribed this right to the those

who possess the Holy

the Spirit

is

Spirit alone

Spirit)

,

(i.e., to

—for the power of

not necessarily attached to the

office

and recognized no human right in the forgiveness

which rested

sins,

of the Divine

donare

far

more on the

(rare)

laying hold

mercy {"potest ecclesia (spiritus)

They therefore who had committed souls to God. The

sed non faciam

delicto,,

expelled from their churches

all

mortal sins, committing their

")

.

bishops on the other hand, contrary to their principle,

of

were obliged

to

maintain that

own

baptism

alone cleanses from sin, and to vindicate the right

conveyed by the power of the keys by a reference to the apostolic

office in

order to protect the standing

of the ever less holy churches against the dissolu-

tion

which would have resulted from the

gime.

Calixtus

was the first

to

make

earlier re-

use of the right

of the bishops to forgive sins in the widest sense,

and

to extend this right

even to mortal

sins.

He

was opposed, not only by the Montanist, Tertullian, but in Rome itself by a very high ecclesiastical rival bishop (Hippolytus) The Montanists were compelled to withdraw with their "devil-prophecy", but .

they withdrew willingly from a Church which had

become

" unspiritual "

(psychic).

serted the stability of the its

Christianity.

which had the

The bishops

as-

Church at the expense of

In the place of the Christianity

Spirit in its midst,

came the Church

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION. organization which possessed the

and the 3.

Testament

spiritual office.

Meanwhile the carrying out

of the bishops in part

New

107

of the pretensions

to the right to forgive sins (opposed

by the churches and the Christian

the confessors)

and the extension

of the

heroes,

same

Bishops

Assume

to

rgi

Si ns B

eveu Ul

sins

to

mortal sins (contrary to the early practice, the early conception of baptism and of the Church) was at-

tended by great

difficulties,

although the bishops

encountered not onty the early practice of the primitive rigid discipline, but also a wide-spread laxness.

The extension of the forgiveness of sins to adulterers was the occasion of the schism of Hippolytus. After the Decian persecution, however,

it

was necessary

to

declare even the greatest sin, apostasy, as pardonable,

likewise to enlarge the ancient concession that

one capital sin after baptism might ble (a practice

still

be pardona-

founded upon the Hennas Pastor) and

to abolish all rights of spiritual persons (confessors), i.e.

to

make

the forgiveness of sin dependent upon

a regular, casuistic, bishopry action

Rome and

Cyprian) Jtf '

(Cornelius of

then was the Church Only J

.

idea radically and totally changed.

The Church

eludes the pure and the impure (like Noah's ark)

;

inits

members are not collectively holy and every one is by no means sure of blessedness. The Church, solely in virtue of

its

endowments,

is

holy (objective), and

these have actually been conferred, together with the

pure teaching, upon the bishops (priests and judges in the

name

of

God)

;

it is

an indispensable salva-

idea of

Church

^aSaf

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

108

tion institute, so that no one will be blessed

remains without; fidelium, rather

is

also societas fidei, but not

is

it

it

who

a training-school and cultusIt possesses also, in addition

institute for salvation.

to baptism, a second cure for sin, at least in practice;

was

the theory, however,

Now

tain.

time were the clergy and

sharply distinguished religiously

laity

est

for the first

confused and uncer-

still

numerus episcoporum

")

,

("

ecclesia

and the Roman

bish-

ops stamped the clergy with a character indelibilis (not

Now

Cyprian).

also

began the theological

speculation in regard to the relation of the Church,

as a

communion

of saints, to the empirical holy

Church, to the milder secularizing of Christianity Novatian Opposition

tempered by the "means of grace."

But

all this

could not be accomplished without a great counteragitation

soon

which began

among

spread

all

at

Rome (Novatian) and

the

provincial

churches.

Novatian required only a minimum, the unpardonableness of the sin of apostasy (upon the earth) other,

wise the Church would no more be

holy.

This

minimum, however, had the same significance as the far more radical demands of the Montanists two generations before. of the ancient

that a

There was in

Church

idea,

a vital remnant

it

was strange pure (katharoi)

although

Church should consider

itself

it

and truly evangelical, merely because ingness to tolerate apostates second Catholic church,

mortal sinners)

.j,

a

mg from Spam

.

(later

A second Catholic

of its unwill-

perhaps other

Church, stretch-

>

to

Asia Minor,

arose,

whose archaic

.

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION.

109

fragments of the old discipline, however, did not help

to

it

of life

;

become a more independent earthly system

nor did

it

really distinguish itself

other Church, although of the

same invalid

With wisdom,

from the

declared the ministrations

it

(practice of re-baptism)

and

foresight

relative severity the

bishops in these crises brought their churches around

a new

to

attitude.

As

it

was, they could use only

one bishop's Church and they learned to consider themselves rightly as

At

the

form in

pupils and as its sheep.

same time the Church had taken on a which it could be a powerful support to Besides, its inner life

the state.

organized

image

was much

better

than formerly in the empire, and the

treasure of the Gospel (the

its

was

still

ever in

its

keeping

of Christ, the assurance of eternal life, the

monotheism and piety

exercise of mercy) as once the of the Psalmists

remained alive within the hard and

foreign shell of the Jewish Church.

Note

1.

The Priesthood.

old Catholic

Church idea

is

The rounding out of the clearly manifested in the

completed development of a priestly order. ourgical priests are found

(Marcion's followers)

;

first

in the

among

Hier-

the gnostics

Church the prophets

(Didache) and the local ministers

(I.

Clement) were

formerly likened to the Old Testament priests. tullian first calls the bishop a priest,

Ter-

and from that

time until about 250 the priestly character of the bishops and presbyters

was evolved very

rapidly in the

Orient, as well as in the Occident; so strong indeed

Tb

^

r est " {j

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

110

was

the influence of heathenism at this point that an

or do of priestly assistants (lower ordination) arose The completed idea of priest (in the Occident first).

meets us first in Cyprian, in the time,

and

in the

Roman bishops of that

document which

sentatives of the

the basis of

The bishops

the Apostolic Constitutions. arily also the presbyters)

lies at

were held

(second-

to be the repre-

Church before God (they alone are

permitted to bring the offering) and representatives of

God

Church (they alone grant or with-

before the

hold the Divine grace as judges in the place of

and Christ; they are the depositaries ies,

who

JuluÖ to

system!

of the myster-

dispense a grace which they thought to be

an anointing of a materialistic appeal

God

this claim, appeal

In support of

sort).

was made increasingly

to the

Old

Testament priests and the entire Jewish cultus sysDoors and

tem, naturally in a supplementary way.

windows were thus thrown open, rights

and duties

and Judaism,

of the priests,

after that they

as regards the

toward heathenism

had disregarded the

exhortation of the aging Tertullian to return to a

common

priesthood.

-

Tithes, cleansings

and

finally

Sabbath ordinances (transferred to Sunday) were gradually established. sacrifice.

Note 2. The Sacrificial Offering. Priesthood and sacrifice condition each other. The sacrificial idea had from the beginning the widest play in the Church the

new

(see

Book

I.

Chap.

3,

Sec. 7)

;

therefore

conception of the priest must of necessit}"

influence the conception of the sacrifice, even though

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION.

Ill

the old representation (pure sacrifice of the spirit,

whole

sacrifice of

praise, the

remained.

This influence manifested

ways,

within the

(1)

was introduced the

Christian

received

(see

significance (see Tertul.)

complete in Cyprian.

;

of

sacrifice

etc.

even

"satisfaction"

To him

it is

self-evident that

who cannot remain

to be erased, entitle

sacrifice)

must

sinless,

the

reconcile

one to a special reward.

to penitential exercises, the

effective

fruitless)

life

two

Deeds done, where special sins are not

angry God.

and

itself in

this development appears

through penance (atoning

most

still

more and more among others Hermas) and these

a meritorious, and

the Christian,

sacrifice)

special acts of fasting, of vol-

untary celibacy, of martyrdom,

prominently

a

life

giving of alms

means (prayer without alms

.

In the writing,

De opere

is

Next is

the

barren

et eleemos.,

Cyprian has given an elaborate theory, one might alms as a means of grace which a can provide and which God accepts. Follow-

say, concerning

man

ing the Decian persecution the opera et eleemosynae

crowded into the absolution system of the Church

and secured therein a firm footing One can :

God's indulgence

—win again for

tian standing through works.

wholly ity

satisfied

himself his Chris-

men had remained

this, the entire

system of moral-

would have been encompassed by

was necessary dei,

with

If

—through

it.

Hence

it

to enlarge the conception of gratia

and not as hitherto

upon the sacrament

to

of baptism

make .

it

depend

solely

This was first accom-

Me^° ri ous Works.

;

112

Pushed, however, by Augustine;

Re-SaSin

5

nflce of

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

"

sacrifice

Christ.

also is

underwent a change in the

He

Cyprian epoch-making.

the idea of

(2)

Here

cultus.

first

clearly as-

sociated the specific offering of the Lord's Supper

with the

specific priesthood;

he

declared the

first

passio domini, and also the sanguis Christi and the dominica hostia the object of the eucharistic offering,

and thereby reached the idea

of the priestly

re-enacting of the sacrifice of Christ awtxaros xa\ zoo alparos also in the

regulations)

;

(y

-paayopä too

Church

apostolic

he placed the Lord's Supper decidedly

under the point of view of the incorporation

Church and tified

of the individual

way

in a clear

commemoration

The

with Christ, and

for the first

cer-

time that the

of those taking part in the offering

(vivi et defuncti) nificance.

of the

had a

special {deprecatory) sig-

real effect of the sacrificial

those participating was,

meal

for

however, the making of

prayers for each other more efficacious

;

for unto the

forgiveness of sins in the fullest sense this act could,

notwithstanding

all

the enrichment and lofty repre-

sentations of the ceremony, not be referred.

There-

was the re-enactment Christ remained still a mere claim

fore the claim that the service of the sacrifice of

for against the conception so closely related to the

cultus of the times, that participation in the service

cleansed from sin as in the mysteries of the

mater and

of Mithras, the fundamental ecclesiastical

principle of baptism tion.

As

magna

and repentance stood

in opposi-

a sacrificial act the Lord's Supper never

THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION.

113

attained to equal importance with baptism; but to

the popular imagination this solemn ritual, modelled after the ancient mysteries,

must have gained the

highest significance.

Note

3.

Means of Grace, Baptism and EuchaJ ±

That which since Augustine has been

rist.

"means

of grace

",

called

the Church of the 2d and 3d cen-

tury did not possess, save in baptism

:

According to

the strict theory the baptized could not expect any

new bestowal must rather

men

means

of

fulfil

of grace

from Christ, he

But

the law of Christ.

possessed in absolution, from the

in practice

moment when

mortal sins were absolved, a real means of grace,

whose significance was screened by baptism. upon

flection

this

means

of grace

remained as yet

wholly uncertain, in so far as the thought that absolves the sinner through the priest

by the other

(see

above)

,

Re-

was

God

crossed

that the penitential acts of

sinners the rather secure forgiveness.

The ideas con-

cerning baptism did not essentially change (Hoefling,

Sacrament der Taufe. of sins

Bdd. 1846).

2

was looked upon

Forgiveness

in general as the result of

baptism (however, here also a moral consideration entered ness

;

:

The

sins of the unbaptized are sins of blind-

therefore

it is fit

penitent from them)

necessary

now

of forgiveness.

;

8

God

should absolve the

actual sinlessness,

to preserve,

which it was

was considered

Often there

tion with the remissio

tatis the

that

is

the result

mentioned in connec-

and the consecutio

ceterni-

absolutio mortis, regeneratio hominis,

Means

of

Grace,

Ba P tism

-

OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF DOGMA.

114

ad similitudinem dei, consecutio Spiritus sancti ("lavacrum regenerationis et sanctificationis ") and all possible blessings as well. The restitutio

e"

Pm

,

ever-increasing enrichment of the ritual

in part a

is

consequence of the purpose to symbolize these pre-

supposed rich effects of baptism

;

in part

it

owes

its

origin to the desire to worthily equip the great mys-

An

terium.

explanation of the separate acts had

already begun (confirmation by the bishop).

The

water was looked upon as a symbol and vehicle.

The introduction

of infant baptism lies wholly in

the dark (in the time of Tertullian

it

was already

wide-spread, but condemned by him, de bapt. 18,

because he held that the cunctatio was indicated

by reason

pondus

of the act

;

Origen referred

The attempts of some to The Lord's Supper repeat baptism were repelled. was looked upon not only as an offering, but also as it

Lord's Supper.

of the

back to the apostles).

a divine gift (Monographien von Doellinger 1826,

Kahnis 1851, Rueckert

was never

whose

1856),

strictly defined,

effect,

however,

because the rigid scheme

(baptismal grace, baptismal duties) excluded such.

Imparting of the Divine per

was the

life

through the Holy Sup-

chief representation, closely connected

with purely superstitious ideas (väpnazuv

äüava<jias)

:

the spiritual and the physical were strangely mixed (the bread as y^uxrt?

communication and

Church father made a

The

realistic

alistic

became

mystical;

but

clear

C