The rise of Protestantism furnished a new class of symbols which were intended to serve as marks of dis- tinction between the old papal and the new evangelical churches. Of these the first was the A uysburg Confes- sion (q. v.) of 1530, and the supplementary symbolical books of the Lutheran Church, closing Avith the Book of Concord in 1580. The Reformed churches framed distinct symbols of their own — the Zwinglian, the Te- trapolitana, etc. Of this class the Thirty-nine A rticles of the Church of England, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the second Helcetic Confession (see the respective articles) acquired especial prominence. The Romish Church, for its part, was obliged, by the rise of Protes- tantism, to formulate its faith anew with a view to marking the features peculiar to its teachings, which was done in the Professio Fidei Tridentina and the Cate- chismus Romanus (see the corresponding articles). The accumulation of this wealth of material has operated decisively upon symbolics, so that the term has come to denote the science which is employed upon the doctrines that distinguish the several confessions of Christendom. Its method may be historical, statistical, polemical, or irenical ; but the ground upon which it operates can only be that of comparison of dogmas.
Like the historv of doctrines, to which it stands re- lated, symbolics is a modern branch of theological sci- ence, but is possessed of so much individuality as to necessitate a separate treatment. The foundation for the science was laid in the preliminary \vorks of Walch, Semler, Planck, and others (see below, Liteirtture), while its actual beginnings date to Winer and Marheineke. The former drew up tables in which he simjily present- ed to view, side by side, the differences existing in the various confessions, while the latter sought to exhibit the internal unity of each separate confession. It is evident that the treatment of .symbolics requires the use of both these methods, and will vary according as the writer occupies the ground of one confession or another, or as he places himself above cdl confessions. It was because of this fact that Mohler's Symbolih, from the Roman Catholic point of view, drew forth the famous work of Baur from the Evangelical position (see below). The science speedily developed the necessity for examin- ing its material, not simply in the letter of the symbol- ical books, but in the spirit of the confessions. Every detail has accordingly been made the subject of earnest study ; and the ethical, social, political, and artistic bear-
SYMBOLISM
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ings and (lifTcrciicps of the various symbols have been examined. This I'act gives rise to the question wheth- er the term symboHcs is adcHjuate to the thing it is in- tended to represent; but all attempted substitutes have been so clumsy that they failed to win their way into favor. In Great ISritain and America the subject is usually included under dogmatic theology (q. v.).
Literature. — Walch, Iiitrod. in Libros Si/mh. Eccl. Liith. (Jen. 1~32); Sender, Apparal. ad Libros Symb. Eccles. Luth. (Halle, 1775); Feuerlin, Bibl. Sijmbolica (Gcitt. 1752, 17G8) ; I'lanek, Gesc/i. (I. Entstehung, d. Vtrdrnk- rungen, u. d. Bildung des prot. Lehrbegrilf's (Leips. 1791- 1800) ; id. Hist. ti. vergleichende Darstelhmg d. verschie- denen Dogm.-Sijsteme, etc. (Gott. 179G; 3d ed. 1822); Winer, Comparatire Darst. d. Lehrbegr. d. verschiedeven Kirchenparteien, etc. (Leips. 1824, etc. 4to); Marhei- neke, SgmboUk (Heidelb. 1810, etc.) ; id. Inst. Synibolicm Doctrinanim, etc. (Herl. 1812, etc.); jMarsh, Comp. Vieiv of the Cliiirches of England and Rome (Lond. 1841, 8vo) ; Mohler, Sgtnbolik (Mayence, 6th cd. 1843) ; Baur, Gegen- satz d. KathoUcismus u. Protestuntismus, etc. (Tub. 1834). See in connection therewith Sack, Nitzsch, etc.; Koll- "ner, Symb. alter christl. Coiif. (Ilamb. 1837; 1844, 2 vols.); Guericke, Allgem. christl. Symbol. [Lutheran] (Leips. 183',)); I\udelbach, Reformation, Lutherthum und Union (ibid. 1839) ; Giibel, Lutherische u. ref. Kirche (Bonn, 1837) ; Schneckenburger, Lutherisch. u. ref. Lehrbegriffe (Stuttg. 1855, posthumous) ; Thiersch, Ka- thol. V. Protestantkmus [lectures] (Erl. 1848, 2d ed.); Schenkel, Wesen d. Protestantismus (Schaffhausen, 1846- 52, etc.). See especially Schaff, Creeds of Christendom (N. Y. 1877, 3 vols. 8vo). — Herzog, Real-EncyUop. s. v. See Symbolical Books.
Symbolism is that system which represents moral or intellectual qualities by external signs or symbols. It is characteristic of the earlier and ruder stages of de- velopment, when the mind and moral nature have not yet grown to the age which takes direct cognizance of mental and moral qualities, or takes cognizance of them only through external signs that bear a real or a con- ventional resemblance to them. The Old Test, is full of symbolism ; the Jewish Temple, like the Tabernacle which it superseded, though no image of the Deity was permitted in it, was itself a symbol of the soul of man, in which God abides, if it be holy and ready to receive him ; and all its utensils, as well as all its services, were symbolical. See Tvi'k, and the various articles on the Old-Test, ceremonials and sacred objects. Symbolism was also naturally characteristic of the Church of the Middle Ages, which undertook to carr}^ home to the eyes, minds, and hearts of the people spiritual truths through external symbols. The origin of some of these it is now difficult to discover. Many naturally suggest the correlative truth to the mind; others make the sug- gestion through historical or scrii)tural association. The following is a partial list of some of the ]jrincipal sym- bols in use in the ('hristian churches, for a fuller account of which the reader is referred to Clements [Mrs.], Hand- book of Legendary and Mythological A rt. The glory, au- reole, and nimbus all represent light or lightness, and are symbols of sanctity. The nimbus surrounds the head ; the aureole the body; the glory unites the two. The nimbus attaches in lioman Catholic art to all saints; the aureole and glory oidy to the persons of the God- head and to the Virgin Marj'. The tish is an emblem of Christ. See Iciithvs. The cross, in its various forms, is also an emblem both of Christ and his passion. See Cross; Crucifix; Labauum. The lamb is a common symbol of Christ. It derives its significance from the fact that it was one of the chief sacrifices of the Jewish Temple, and from the words of .John the Baptist, " Be- hold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John i, 29). The lamb is often represented in art bearing a cross. The lion is another symbol of Christ, who in Scripture is called " the Lion of the tribe of Juda" (Rev. v, 5). The pelican, which is said to bare open her breast to feed her young with blood, is an em-