Basic HTML Version
10
Scripture, and began to pride himself on being a seeker after God. In course of time it became
rather common to speak of man’s discovering God, as if man ever discovered Him; and every
discovery that was made in the process was dignified with the name of “revelation.” God came
in at the end of a syllogism, or as the last link in a chain of reasoning, or as the cap-stone of a
structure of human thought. Under such circumstances it was but natural that some should
regard it as incongruous to begin Dogmatics with the study of God. It is rather surprising that so
many, in spite of their subjectivism, continued the traditional arrangement.
Some, however, sensed the incongruity and struck out in a different way. Schleiermacher’s
dogmatic work is devoted to a study and analysis of the religious consciousness and of the
doctrines therein implied. He does not deal with the doctrine of God connectedly, but only in
fragments, and concludes his work with a discussion of the Trinity. His starting point is
anthropological rather than theological. Some of the mediating theologians were influenced to
such an extent by Schleiermacher that they logically began their dogmatic treatises with the
study of man. Even in the present day this arrangement is occasionally followed. A striking
example of it is found in the work of O. A. Curtis on The Christian Faith. This begins with the
doctrine of man and concludes with the doctrine of God. Ritschlian theology might seem to call
for still another starting point, since it finds the objective revelation of God, not in the Bible as
the divinely inspired Word, but in Christ as the Founder of the Kingdom of God, and considers
the idea of the Kingdom as the central and all-controlling concept of theology. However,
Ritschlian dogmaticians, such as Herrmann. Haering, and Kaftan follow, at least formally, the
usual order. At the same time there are several theologians who in their works begin the
discussion of dogmatics proper with the doctrine of Christ or of His redemptive work. T. B.
Strong distinguishes between theology and Christian theology, defines the latter as “the
expression and analysis of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ,” and makes the incarnation the
dominating concept throughout his Manual of Theology.
B. Scripture Proof for the Existence of God.
For us the existence of God is the great presupposition of theology. There is no sense in
speaking of the knowledge of God, unless it may be assumed that God exists. The
presupposition of Christian theology is of a very definite type. The assumption is not merely
that there is something, some idea or ideal, some power or purposeful tendency, to which the
name of God may be applied, but that there is a self-existent, self-conscious, personal Being,
which is the origin of all things, and which transcends the entire creation, but is at the same
time immanent in every part of it. The question may be raised, whether this is a reasonable
assumption, and this question may be answered in the affirmative. This does not mean,
however, that the existence of God is capable of a logical demonstration that leaves no room