vero, reali, divino et ineffabili influxu potentiae suae gratiosae, ita ut effiraciter et vere convertat, illuminet, salvet in illo, cum illo et per illud operante Spiritu Sancto ; in hoc enim consistit verbi divini et luimani differentia." So Hollaz says,i " Verbum Dei, qua tale, non potest fiugi sine divina virtute aut sine Spiritu Sancto, qui a verbi) suo inseparabilis est. Nam si a verbo Dei separetur Spiritus Sanctus, non esset id Dei verbum vel verbum Spiritus, sed esset verbum luimanum." As the Spirit, so to speak, is thus immanent in the Word, he never operates on the mind except through and by the Word. On this point Lutlier and the Lutheran divines insisted with great earnestness. They were especially led to take tliis ground from the claims of fanatical Anabaptists, to direct spiritual communications independent of the Scriptures to which they made the written Word subordinate : " Pater neminem tra- here vult, absque mediis, sed utitur tanquam ordinariis raediis et instrumentis, verbo suo et sacramentis." ^ " Constanter tenendum est, Deum uemini Spiritum vel gratiam suam largiri, nisi per ver- bum et cum verbo externo et prascedente, ut ita praemuniamus nos adversum enthusiastas, id est, spiritus, qui jactitant, se ante verbum et sine verbo Spiritum habere, et ideo scripturam sive vocale verbum judicant, flectunt et reflectunt pro libito, ut faciebat Mone- tarius, et multi adhuc hodie, qui acute discernere volunt inter Spir- itum et literam, et neutrum norunt, nee quid statuant, sciunt."'' The Lutherans, therefore, reject the distinction made by Calvin- ists between the external and internal call. They admit such a distinction, " sed," as Quenstedt* says, " ut externam vocationem in- ternae non opponamus, nee unam ab altera separemus, cum externa vocatio internae medium sit ac organon et per illam Deus efficax sit in cordibus hominum. Si externa vocatio non ex asse congruit internae, si externe vocatus esse potest qui non interne, vana fuerit, fallax, illusoria."
Rationalistic Vieiv.
A third doctrine which is opposed to the Scriptural teaching on this subject, is that which makes no distinction between the in- fluence of the Spirit and the providential efficiency of God. Thus Wegscheider ^ says, "'• Operationes gratias immediatas et supernatu rales jam olim nonnulli recte monuerunt, nee diserte promissas esse
1 Examen, ni. ii. 1, 4; Holmiae et Lipsise, 1741, p. 987.
2 Formula Concordia, xi. 76; Hase, Libri SymboKci, p. 818. See Con/essio Augustana, I. V. 2; Ibid. p. 11.
8 Articuli Smalcnldici, viii. 3; Hase, p. 331.
4 Systema Theolor/icuin, iii. v. ii. e'x^eais, viii.; Wittenberg, 1685, part ii. p. 467, a.
5 Institutiones Theolof/ia, in. iii. § 1.52; fifth edit., pp. 469, 470. VOL. II. 42
658 PART in. Cn. XIY.— YOCATTON.
in libris sacris nee necessarias, quum, quae ad animum emendandum valeant, omnia legibus naturae a Deo optime efficiantur, nee de- nique ita conspiciias ut cognosci certo et intelligi possint. Accedit, quod libertatem et studium hominum impediunt, mysticorum som- nia fovent et Deum ipsum auctorem arguunt peccatorum ab hom-
inibus non emendatis commissorum Omnis igitui de gratia
disputatio rectius ad doctrinam de providentia Dei singular! et con- cursu refertur." To the same effect De Wette says : " It is one and the same efficiency, producing good in men, which accord- ing to the natural anthropological view we ascribe to themselves, and according; to the religious view to God. These two modes of apprehension ought not to be considered as opposed to each other, but as mutually compensative." Again, " Religious faith regards, the impulse to good (die Begeisterung zum Guten) as an efflux from God ; philosophical reflection as the force of reason." ^
It depends of course on the view taken of God's relation to the world, what is the degree or kind of influence to be ascribed to Him in promoting the refoi'mation or sanctification of men. Ac- cording to the mechanical theory, adopted by Deists, Rationalists, or (as they are often called in distinction from Supernaturalists) Naturalists, there is no exercise of the power of God on tlie minds of men. As He leaves the external world to the control of the laws of natui'e, so He leaves the world of mind to the control of its own laws. But as almost all systems of philosophy assume a more intimate relation between the Creator and his creatures than this theory acknowledges, it follows that confounding the providential agency of God over his creatures with the influence of the Holy Spirit, admits of the ascription to Him of an agency more or less direct in the regeneration and sanctification of men.
According to the common doctrine of Theism second causes have a real efficiency, but they are upheld and guided in their operation by the omnipresent and universally active efficiency of God ; so that the effects produced are properly referred to God. He sends rain upon the earth ; He causes the grass to grow ; He fashions the eye and forms the ear ; and He feeds the young ravens when they cry. All the operations of nature in the exter- nal world, which evince design, are due not to the working of blind physical laws, but to those laws as constantly guided by the mind and will of God. In like manner He is said to control the laws of mind ; to sustain and direct the operation of moral causes. His relation to the world of mind is, in this point, analogous to his rela
1 Doymatik, 2ter Th. iii. i. § 77; Berlin, 1816, 2d part, p. 167.