In Germany, JMarheiuekc, who, in imitation of Planck, transformed symbolics into a comparison of the ' different Christian confessions, greatly advanced the I real scientific character of irenical theology, partly as I the general union of the churches, partly as that of the different confessions. The same spirit, though joined [ to much partiality, pervades also the Roman Catholic Symbolik of Adam Jlohler, and in a more liberal tone I Leopold Schmid's Geist des Kalholicismns oder Grundle- j gung der chrisihcken Irenik (1848). On the contrary, ! such works as Dr. F. A. Staudenmaier's (f 1856) Zum religiusen Erieden d.Zukmift (1846, 2 vols. 8vo) disfigure Protestantism to such an extent, and are written in so illiberal a tone, that, if such were more abundant, they would kindle again the fiercest strife. Yet the scientific basis of religious and denominational peace has made I much progress since Schleiermacher gave a scientific development to polemics and apologetics. This is espe- cially evident in J. Peter Lange's Christliche IJogmatik, the third part of which (Heidelberg, 1852) contains a clever sketch of practical dogmatics, or of polemics and irenical theology. According to him, it is the province of irenical theology to Ijring out of the different relig- ious opinions those Avhich coincide with the Christian dogma, to free them from all errors and excesses, and to bring them into the life and consciousness of the Church, or to submit them to the Christian dogmas (§ 5). It has therefore to search out the hidden efforts of truth in all religious manifestations. All distortions of truth are evidences of the existence of an original truth. Irenical theology is again divided into elemeidarif, i. e. an expo- sition of the struggles of truth and of the means of as- sisting it ; and concnte, i. e. an exposition of the organic
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liDcration aiul development of truth in humanity until | the completion of the Church. !Sin, however, will al- ways remain an obstacle to absolute peace till it is final- ly abolished in the kingdom of God. For this we must prepare ourselves by adhering to :Meldenius's maxim : "In necessariis unitas, in noii necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas." See Dr. !•'. J. Liicke, Ueber d. Alter dieses kirc/ilickm Friedensspruches (Gott. 1850). — Her- zog, Reul-Kncyklopddie, vii, GO ; Ersch u. Gruber's Eimj- klofddie, ii, 23.
Ir-ha-Heres, in the A. Vers. " The City of De- STiiLCTioN" (OjHt^ "1^^", Ir-ha-he'res, v. r. Ir-ha-che'- res, Cnn ~i^" ; Sept. 'Ax^Qtc, Vulg. Cicitas Soils'), the name or appellation of a city in Egypt, mentioned only in Isa. xix, 18. The reading Clrt, Ileres, is that of most MSS., the Syr., Aq., and Theod. ; the other readuig, O'^H, Cheres, is supported by the Sept., but only in form, by Symm., who has vroXic r'/Xiov, and the Vuig. Gesenius {Tfiesaur. p. 391, a; 522) prefers the latter reading. There are various explanations; we shall first take those that treat it as a proper name, then those that suppose it to be an appellation used by the prophet to denote the future of the citj%
1. '• The city of the Sun," a translation of the Egyp- tian sacred name of Heliopolis, generally called in the Bible On, the Hebrew form of its civil name An [see On], and once Beth-shemesh, "the house of the sun" (Jer. xliii, 13), a more literal translation than this sup- posed one of the sacred name. See Beth-shemesh. This explanation, however, is highly improbable, for we find elsewhere both the sacred and the civil names of Heliopolis, so that a third name, merety a variety of the Hebrew rendering of the sacred name, is verj' im- likely. The name Beth-shemesh is, moreover, a more literal translation in its first word of the Egyptian name than this supposed one. It may be remarked, however, as to the last part of the word, that one of the towns in Palestine called Beth-shemesh, a town of the Levites on the borders of .ludah and Dan, was not far from a Jlount Heres. D"in \T[ (-Tudg. i, 8.5), so that the two names, as applied to the sun as an object of worship, might probably be interchangeable. See Heres.
2. " The city Ileres," a transcription in the last part of the word of the Egyptian sacred name of Heliopolis, Ha-1{,\, " the abode (liter. " house") of the sun." This explanation, however, woidd necessitate tlic omission of the article.
3. Jerome supposes D"in to be equivalent to "i'^ri, "a potsherd," and to be a name of the town called by the (ireeks Ostrucw'e, 'OcrrimKivi) ("earthen"). Akin with this is the view of others (see Alexander ad loc), who suppose that reference is made to Tahpanes, the brick-kilns of which are mentioned by Jeremiah (xliii, 9).
4. ".1 cit 11 preserved," meaning that one of the five cities mentioned should be |)reserved. Gesenius, who proposes this construction, if the last half of the word be not part of the name of the place, compares the Ar- abic chanixd, " he guarded, kept, ])reserved," etc. It may be remarked that the word Hekes or Hkes, in an- cient Kgy|>tian, probably signifies "a guardian." This rendering of Gesenius is, however, merely conjectural, and has hardly l)een adojited by any other leading in- terpreter.
5. Tlic ordinary rendering, "« city destroyed," lit. "a city of destruction;" in the A. V.'- the city of destruction," meaning that one of the five cities mentioned should be destroyed, according to Isaiah's idiom. Some maintain that the jirophet refers to five great and noted cities f)f Egypt when he says, "In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan ;" but they cannot agree as to what these cities are. Others suppose that hy Jive a round number is meant; while others tlnnk that some proportional number is referred to— five out of 20,000, or five out of 1000. Calvin inter-