THEOLOGY. 



589 



have reserved the most weighty to the last. You 

 must strive with all your might, that as little of the 

 gospel as possible, especially in the vulgar tongue, 

 may he read in the cities under your jurisdiction ; 

 the little which is in the mass ought to be suffi- 

 cient; neither should it be permitted to any mortal 

 to read more ; for as long as men were contented 

 with that little, all things went well with them, 

 but quite otherwise since more was commonly read. 

 This book, above all others, has raised the storms 

 and tempests with which we are carried away. 

 And truly, if any man diligently examine it, and 

 then consider the things which are practised in our 

 churches, he will see that they differ very much 

 from one another, and that our doctrine is altogether 

 different from it, and often contrary. These docu- 

 ments are therefore to be concealed with great 

 caution and diligence, lest we should be involved 

 in greater troubles and tumults." (Consil. de 

 Stabil. Rom. Sede. p. 6.) 



Systematic Theology arranges methodically the 

 great truths of religion, so as to enable us to con- 

 template them in their natural connexion, and to 

 perceive both the mutual dependence of the parts 

 and the symmetry of the whole. As didactic 

 theology gathers up and exhibits the labours of the 

 exegetical theologian as these bear on any given 

 point, so systematic theology collects into one con- 

 nected form the whole of the doctrines which 

 didactic theology, in its more desultory labours, 

 may have established. The principles of every 

 science may be arranged according to a variety of 

 methods ; but that one is generally to be preferred 

 ivhich follows the order of nature ; and not only 

 leads us on from one degree of knowledge to 

 another, but also at each step presupposes nothing 

 which is to be explained or proved afterwards. 

 There are, however, not a few who exclaim against 

 every thing like the reduction of theological truth 

 into a system: it is viewed as a disparagement to 

 the word of God, which does not proceed in this 

 artificial way, and it is accused of being the parent 

 of many errors, over-nice distinctions, and subtle 

 and fallacious reasonings, and also of that slavish- 

 ness of mind which we often perceive hindering 

 men from freely acquiescing in the plain dictates of 

 reason and scripture. However true these things 

 may be in respect of some systems, they form no 

 valid objection to systematic theology as it should 

 be. It is reasonable to object to a system that is 

 improperly arranged, too technical in its form, or 

 encumbered with a multiplicity of useless distinc- 

 tions : it would be our duty to protest against any 

 system that would pretend to be one unbroken, indis- 

 soluble chain of reasoning, such as a system of mathe- 

 matical truth is, every doctrine of which depends 

 for demonstration on those doctrines which precede 

 it ; for no point in theology is to be believed 

 because it harmonizes with what precedes it in the 

 system, and seems necessarily to flow from it, but 

 because in express terms, or by implication, it 

 has a place in the word of God. Yet many advan- 

 tages are derived from systematizing in theology. 

 Indeed, it is impossible to avoid it even in a con- 

 siderable degree. In the mind of every intelligent 

 reader of the scriptures, a system, or various 

 partial systems, are formed, whether he will or not, 

 and the different parts of these, by their union, 

 reflect new light on each other. Since the work 

 is thus begun, it is certainly best that it should be 

 carefully perfected ; if in this unfinished form it is 

 useful, it must be more so when completed. 



Besides, there is certainly an approach to systema- 

 tizing in some parts of the Bible, particularly in 

 the epistle to the Romans ; but though this were 

 not the case, it would be no objection against holy 

 writ on the one hand, or against systematic theo- 

 logy on the other. It is no objection against holy 

 writ, because to one who considers attentively the 

 whole plan of providence regarding the redemption 

 and final restoration of man, it will be evident that 

 in order to the perfecting of the whole, the parts 

 must have been unveiled successively, and by 

 degrees, as the scheme advanced towards comple- 

 tion. And if the doctrines to be believed are 

 delivered there with sufficient clearness, we have 

 no reason to complain, nor is it for us to prescribe 

 rules to infinite wisdom. Again, it is no objection 

 to systematic theology, that doctrines are not thus 

 methodically digested in the bible. Holy writ has 

 been given us, that it may be used for our spiritual 

 instruction and improvement; reason is given us, 

 to enable us to make the proper use of both the 

 temporal and spiritual mercies which God has seen 

 meet to bestow. In respect of both classes of 

 mercies, he confers liberally the material or means 

 of enjoyment ; he gives the capacity of using them ; 

 and he requires the exertion of that capacity, for 

 turning to the best account the benefits he has con- 

 ferred. It is, then, our duty to arrange the doc- 

 trines of holy writ in the way most useful for 

 assisting us to understand and remember them. 

 He must be an inconsiderate man who denies that 

 religion is systematic. The scriptures are not an 

 assemblage of writings which have no other relation 

 to each other but juxta-position, or collocation in 

 the same volume : they are a continued revelation 

 of his eternal counsels. There is an arrangement 

 here, as well as in his other works, although it may 

 require time and patience to discover it. Religion 

 has first principles, and secondary truths dependent 

 on these principles, and precepts founded on both 

 And surely if it is an advantage to have other 

 sciences methodically arranged, the understanding 

 and memory of man should not be deprived of it 

 in this one, which is the highest and best. The 

 study of the scriptures cannot be recommended to 

 us, that we may load our memories with a multi- 

 tude of unconnected ideas, but that we may bring 

 together and combine the truths which are scat- 

 tered up and down in them, and thus " understand 

 what the mind of the Lord is." Though the spirit 

 of system may have led to serious evils, this only 

 teaches us to watch over our hearts and the 

 operations of our minds : because what is good 

 is abused, we are not on that account to deprive 

 ourselves of the legitimate use of it The 

 earliest works that, in the strict sense of the 

 term, can be called systems of thi ology, were, in 

 the third century, the work of Origen, concerning 

 principles, and in the fourth century, the Cate- 

 chetical Discourses of Cyril of Jerusalem, and the 

 Enchiridion of Augustine ; the first two among the 

 Greeks, and the third among the Latins. But these 

 would now be reckoned very defective as systema- 

 tic exhibitions of sacred knowledge. In the middle 

 ages there were writers who were more than syste- 

 matic enough ; but, as we shall have occasion after- 

 wards to mention, religion has been little indebted 

 to their labours. It was at the era of the Refor- 

 mation that systematic works began to appear, which 

 were at once full, and calculated to be truly useful. 

 Clearness of method, scripturalness of doctrine, re- 

 verence for the word of God, as the alone source 



