ence is concerned. It is not impossible that, hereafter, memory may become a consciousness of the past ; that all we ever thought, felt, or did, may be ever present to the mind ; that everything Avrit- ten on that tablet is indelible. Persons who, by long residence in foreign countries, have entirely lost all knowledge of their na- tive language, have been known to speak it fluently, and under- stand it perfectly, when they came to die. Still more wonderful is the fact that uneducated persons, hearing passages read in an un- known language (Greek or Hebrew, for example), have, years after, when in an abnormal, nervous state, repeated those passages correctly, without understanding their meaning. If unable to com- prehend ourselves, we should not pretend to be able to comprehend God. Whether we can understand how there can be succession in the thoughts of Him who inhabits eternity or not, we are not to deny that God is an intelligent Being, that He actually thinks and feels, in order to get over the difficulty. God is a person, and all that personality implies must be true of Him.
Modern Philosophical Views. The modern philosophy teaches that " Die Ewigkeit ist die Ein- heit in dem Unterschiede der Zeitmomente — Ewigkeit und Zeit verhalten sich wie die Substanz und deren Accidentien." ^ That is, Eternity is the unity underlying the successive moments of time, as substance is the unity underlying the accidents which are its manifestations. Schleiermacher's illustration is borrowed from our consciousness. We are conscious of an abiding, unchang- ing self, which is the subject of our ever changing thoughts and feelings. By the eternity of God, therefore, is meant nothing more than that He is the ground-being of which the universe is the ever changing phenomenon. The eternity of God is only one phase of his universal causality. " Unter der Ewigkeit Gottes verstehen wir die mit allem Zeitlichen auch die Zeit selbst beding- ende schlechthin zeitlose Ursachlichkeit Gottes." ^ To attain this philosophical view of eternity, we must accept the philosophical view of the nature of God upon which it is founded, namely, that God is merely the designation of that unknown and unknow- able something of which all other things ai-e the manifestations. To give up the living, personal God of the Bible and of the heart, is an awful sacrifice to specious, logical consistency. We believe what we cannot understand. We believe what the Bible teaches as
1 Strauss, Dogmatik, i. p. 561.
2 ChristUche Glaube, i. § 52, Werke, edit. Berlin, 1842, vol. iii. p. 268.
390 PART I —THEOLOGY. [Ch. V. — Divine Attributes.
facts ; that God always is, was, and ever will be, immutably the same ; that all things are ever present to his view ; that with Him there is neither past nor future ; but nevertheless that He is not a stagnant ocean, but ever living, ever thinking, ever acting, and ever suiting his action to the exigencies of his creatures, and to the ac- complishment of his infinitely wise designs. Whether we can har- monize these facts or not, is a matter of minor importance. We are constantly called upon to believe that things are, without being able to tell how they are, or even how they can be.
§ 7. Immutability. The immutability of God is intimately connected with his im- mensity and eternity, and is frequently included with them in the Scriptural statements concerning his nature. Thus, when it is said, He is the First and the Last ; the Alpha and Omega, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever ; or when in contrast with the ever changing and perishing world, it is said : " They shall be changed, but thou art the same ; " it is not his eternity more than his immu- tability that is brought into view. As an infinite and absolute Being, self-existent and absolutely independent, God is exalted above all the causes of and even above the possibility of change. Infinite space and infinite duration cannot change. They must ever be what they are. So God is absolutely immutable in his essence and attributes. He can neither increase nor decrease. He is subject to no process of development, or of self-evolution. His knowledge and power can never be greater or less. He can never be wiser or holier, or more righteous or more merciful than He ever has been and ever must be. He is no less immutable in his plans and purposes. Infinite in wisdom, there can be no error in their conception ; infinite in power, there can be no failure in their accomplishment. He is " the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James i. 17.) " God is not a man that He should lie ; neither the son of man that He should repent ; hath He said and shall He not do it ? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good ? " (Num. xxiii. 19.) " I am the Lord, I change not." (Mai. iii. 6.) " The counsel of the Lord standeth forever ; the thoughts of his heart to all genera- tions." (Ps. xxxiii. 11.) " There are many devices in a man's heart ; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand." (Prov. xix. 21.) " The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass ; and as I have purposed, 80 shall it stand." (Is. xiv. 24.) " I am God, and there is none