Ch. 11 1-4. I. From the first proposition: We must give unto earthly goods, that stability which they are capable of. 5, 6. II. From the first and second proposition: We must in our conduct, conform to the design of Providence concerning us, and leave the success to God. 7-10. III. From the three propositions, but especially Ch. 12: 1-8. from the third, we must seek for happiness beyond the grave. 9-12. Commendation of the 13, 14. THE CONCLUSION of the whole-That there must be a state of true and solid happiness for men in a future state. In other words, the fear of God, and keeping his commandments, is the whole of man, that is, his chief good, his whole interest, privilege, honor and happiness, as well as duty: for after this vain life is past, another scene will succeed, and men shall be judged, and recompensed according to their conduct, secret as well as open, and whether it may have been good or evil. HOLDEN'S ANALYSIS. PARTI.—THE VANITY OF ALL EARTHLY CONDITIONS, OCCUPATIONS AND PLEASURES. SECT. I. The vanity of all earthly things. SECT. IX. The vanity of human pursuits SECT. II. The unprofitableness of human (1. 2.) labor, and the transitoriness of human life. (1. 3—11.) proved from the wickedness prevailing in courts of justice, contrasted with the righteous judgment of God. (3. 15—17.) SECT. III. The vanity of laborious inqui- SECT. X. Though life considered in it ries into the ways and works of man. (1. 12—18.) SECT. IV. Luxury and pleasure are only SECT. V. Though the wise excel fools, self, is vanity, for men die as SECT. XI. Vanity is increased unto men, SECT. XV. Though society has its advan- useless and vain; the Divine SECT. XVI. Errors in the performance of counsels, however, are im- divine worship, which render it vain and unprofitable. (5.1-7.) SECT. XVII. The vanity of murmuring SECT. XVIII. The vanity of riches; with at injustice; for though the the perversion of judgment an admonition as to the moderate enjoyment of them. (5. 10-20.) greatly prevail, they do not SECT. XIX. The vanity of avarice. (6. escape the notice of the Al mighty. (5. S-9.) 1-9. PART II. THE NATURE, EXCELLENCE, AND BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF WISDOM, OR RELIGION. SECT. XX. Since all human designs, la- SECT. XXV. The evil of wickedness bors, and enjoyments are vain, shows the advantage of true it is natural to inquire, What wisdom. (8. 8-13.) is good for man? What is his Supreme Good? (6. 10-12) The answer is contained in the remainder of the book. SECT. XXI. The praise of character and reputation. (7. 1.) SECT. XXII. Affliction improves the heart and exalts the character of the wise. (7. 2-10.) SECT. XXIII. The excellence of wisdom. (7. 11-14.) SECT. SECT. XXVI. An objection with the an- SECT. XXIX. The power of wealth. (10. SECT. XXX. An exhortation against speaking evil of dignities. (10. 20.) SECT. XXIV. An objection with the an- SECT. XXXI. Exhortation to charity and swer. (7. 15: 8. 7.) benevolence. (11. 1—10.) ARTICLE IX. SCHLEIERMACHER'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. Translated from the German, by REV. WILLIAM HALL, New York. Introductory Remarks. SCHLEIERMACHER is one of those peculiar writers who should be permitted, as far as possible, to speak for himself. And, therefore, as he is frequently referred to by eminent authors at the present time, and as his theological views are exerting an important influence in various quarters of the moral and Christian world, it will not be inappropriate to give the readers of the Repository a translation of some of the leading principles of his dogmatic system, as they stand in his most celebrated theological work, called, "The Christian Faith, &c." Previous to so doing, a few biographical and general observations respecting this distinguished. divine and philosopher, may not be unacceptable. Frederick Schleiermacher was born at Breslau, Silesia, Nov. 24, 1768. The earlier part of his education was received in the community of the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravians. And the religious instructions and impressions thence derived, had undoubtedly much to do in the formation of his Christian character, and practical tendency of thought. After completing his education at Halle, he rose through several subordinate positions to be Court and University preacher and professor in that city. In 1809 he was appointed pastor of Trinity Church, and professor in the University at Berlin. He died in that city, Feb. 12, 1834, shortly after joining with expressions of the most affecting devotion, in that Holy Supper which seals the union of the faithful with Christ and all His true church. The works of Schleiermacher are comprised in thirty or forty octavo volumes. His activity, as University teacher and preacher, was most happy; with the most beautiful manner, and a rare facility and elegance of elocution, he combined a profound richness of thought. His discourses are models of a clear, vigorous, and impressive style, although addressed less to the sensibility than to the reflectiveness of his hearers. We are informed, by a distinguished countryman who heard him in Germany, Rev. Dr. Robinson, of New York, that as a preacher, Schleiermacher was not so unduly philosophical as a mere foreign student of his speculative works might suspect. He is said, also, to have been the means of leading many minds from the dreary regions of skepticism to those of a warm evangelical faith. But, conceding all we can to the merits of this admirable man, who saw so much truth so clearly, and felt it so deeply, we think him justly chargeable with a want of deference to the sole authority of the Scriptures, in their wholeness, as a fully inspired canon of religious faith. Here was the loose spoke in his wheel. He was guided, we should humbly judge, too much by Plato, too little by Paul, in the formation and expression of his Christianity. He does not honor the ipsissima verba of the sacred writers, palpably and simply enough to suit our religious sympathies. But it is possible to do him injustice even here. We must remember that to be truly scriptural, is to be penetrated with the spirit of God's Word, and to seize its mighty revelations with the eye of the soul's own consciousness, and to incorporate it into the life of our own thoughts and wills. With respect to some of the following translations, it must be premised, that as exceedingly condensed and aphoristic statements, they will, of course, present obscurities and difficulties that will both demand the reader's patience and necessitate possibly some research and inquiry on his part, in order to do them that justice which is every writer's due. If they awaken thought, if they lead us, even by evoking protest and contradiction, to a more positive perception of "what our evangelical faith is," they will fulfil the great desire and hope of the true-hearted and magnanimous author. We further add, that the propositions will be given in the order in which they stand in the original, and that none will be omitted. What lies between, of illustration and explanation, constituting the great body of the book, must, for the most part, be passed by. In the first place, we have a general introduction, or preliminary discourse, occupying about a fifth part of the whole which, as the author observes, "has no other object than partly to give the exposition of a dogmatic lying at the foundation of the work itself, partly to propound the method and arrangement followed in the same." This, therefore, is divided into two chapters, the first of which contains an exposition of the Dogmatic, set forth as follows: 1. Since the Dogmatic is a theological discipline,' and thus has its relation solely to the Christian church: therefore what it is, can be explained, only when we have come to an understanding upon the notion of the Christian church. 2. The piety which constitutes the basis of all churchly communities, considered purely in itself, is neither a knowledge (Wissen), nor an act (Thun), but a determination of the Feeling, or of the immediate self-consciousness. 3. The common element of all expressions of piety, however various, whereby they at once distinguish themselves from all other feelings, therefore the invariable essence of piety, is this, that we are conscious of ourselves as absolutely dependent, or what will amount to the same, as being in relation with God. 4. The feeling just described, forms the highest degree of human self-consciousness, which, nevertheless, in its actual forth-coming, is never separated from the lower, and through union with the same in a oneness of moment, also shares in the opposition of pleasure and pain. 5. The pious self-consciousness, like every essential element of human nature, will also, in its development, necessarily constitute a community; and, in fact, on the one hand, an unequally fleeting one, and on the other, a definitely limited one, i. e. a church. 6. The different definitely limited religious communities making their appearance in history, are related to one another partly as different degrees of development, partly as different kinds. 7. Those formations of piety in which all pious conditions of spirit express the dependence of everything finite upon One Highest and Infinite Being, i. e. the monotheistic, take the highest rank, and all others are related to them as subordinate, from which it has been the allotment of man to pass over to that higher condition of spirit. 8. As being different in nature, those formations of piety are removed farthest from one another, which, as it respects the pious emotions, subordinate in a contrary manner, some, the natural in human conditions to the moral, others, the moral to the natural. 9. Every individual formation of community-piety, is one in part, externally, as an impulse going out from a definite epoch, according to the truth of history, in part, internally, as a peculiar modification of all that which also arises in every cultivated mode of faith of the same kind and degree, and therefore the characteristic The italics are added by the translator to indicate key-thoughts or peculiar terms. essence of every such formation, can be discovered only by taking the two elements together. 10. Christianity is a monotheistic mode of faith belonging to the teleological (i. e. morally perfective) tendency of piety, and is distinguished from all others by this, that everything in it is referred to the redemption accomplished through Jesus of Nazareth." We will here make a pause with our author's propositions, in order to present the reader with his comment on the second of the series here given, viz; that piety is essentially a feeling,-a doctrine which deeply underlies the whole structure of Schleiermachian theology, and about which metaphysical heads in our own land have been somewhat embroiled. On 1. "That a church is nothing else but a community, having reference to piety, is for us evangelical Christians certainly put beyond all doubt, since we impute it to a church equally as a degeneracy, when it charges itself with anything else than this, whether it be the affairs of science or of external arrangement; as we also always rise in resistance, when the leaders in the State or those in science as such, would likewise regulate the affairs of piety. the contrary, we may not forbid the latter to observe and to judge from their stand-point, as well piety itself as the community that stands related to it, and to define their proper place in the general sphere of human life, in so far as piety too and church are a material for knowledge; indeed we are here ourselves entering upon such observation. So also we do not forbid statesmen to establish the external relations of pious communions according to the principles of civil order, which nevertheless by no means implies, that this communion should proceed from the State, or should be a constituent part of the same. But not only we, but also such churchcommunions, which do not attempt so strictly to separate Church and State, or churchly and scientific communion, will still be obliged to agree to our exposition; for they can certainly attribute only indirectly to the church an influence upon such communions, but can consider as its essential business, only the preservation, regulation, and promotion of piety. 2. Although feeling and self-consciousness are here put in juxtaposition, as if one and the same thing, the design of this is by no means to introduce universally a usage of language absolutely equalizing both expressions. The expression feeling has in the language of common life long been customary in our sphere; but for scientific language, it needs a more accurate definition, and this is to be given to it through the other word. Does, therefore, any one take the expression feeling, in so wide a sense, as to embrace even unconscious conditions thereunder; then must he be reminded, that it is here to be abstracted from such a use. Again there has been added to the expression self-consciousness, the definitive immediate, in order that no one may think of such a self-consciousness THIRD SERIES, VOL. V., NO. 1. 12 |