modern German theories. They are unintelligible to the majority of educated men, and as to the poor, for whom the gospel is es- pecially designed, they are absolutely meaningless.
Remarks. As the theory above referred to, in its main features has been repeatedly brought under review in these pages, there is the less need for any remarks in its application to the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. It may be sufficient to call attention to the fol- lowing points : —
1. If there be no such thing as generic humanity, no such ob- jective reality ; if Adam were not the human race ; if he and his posterity are not identical in such a sense that his acts were their acts as truly as they were his own ; in other words, if the scholastic doctrine of realism, which until of late, has been regarded as ut- terly exploded, be not true, then this whole theory collapses. Its foundation is gone.
2. If it be not true that in man the soul and body are one ; one living substance developing itself under two aspects, so that there can be no soul without a body ; if in the person of Christ there are two substances or natures hypostatically united, and not only one nature and life, so that his divine nature is in the fullest sense human, and his human, divine, then again the whole foun- dation of the theory is gone; then there can be no communi- cation of his divine humanity or theanthropic life to his people to be in them the germ of a new life, noetic and somatic, to be historically developed as was the nature derived from Adam, until it issues in the resurrection and final consummation.
3. It is to be remembered that it is said that this generic hu- manity which constitutes the identity between Adam and his race which is the analogue of the mystical union between Christ and his people, resolves itself into " an invisible law." Now what does that mean ? What is a law ? In the lips of philosophers and scientists the word law often means nothing more than a fact. What are the laws of Kepler but facts ? By the laws of nature is often meant nothing more than generalizations concerning the orderly sequence of events. At other times a law means a uni- formly acting force. An organic law is a force uniformly acting to produce a given organic result. The germ of a bird and of a fish are undistinguishable by the microscope or by chemical agents ; yet by an organic law, a uniformly acting force, the one develops into a bird, the other into a fish. What then is meant by
660 PART HI. Ch. XX. — the means of grace.
saying that generic humanity resolves itself in a law ? Can it mean anything more than a uniformly acting force ? Then when it is said that generic humanity as united with the divine nature, so as to become itself divine while it continues human, is communi- cated to us, does it mean anything more than that a new uni- formly acting force is implanted in our nature, as when the mag- netic force is introduced into a piece of iron — an illustration, obviously imperfect indeed, used by the advocates of the theory ? Then what becomes of a personally present Christ ? All Christ does for us is to implant a new law in our nature, which by its natural, historical development works out our salvation. It is this aspect of the case that made the German opposers of Schleierma- cher, say that after all he had a Christ that was, but is not now. Christ appeared in the world, and produced a certain effect, and then passed away, leaving nothing but his memory. It is not said that the advocates of the theory in question view the matter in this light ; but it is said that some of the first minds among his countrymen regarded this as the logical consequence of Schleier- macher's system. That system passed in Germany for what it was worth, an ingenious philosophical theory. In this country it is propounded as the truth of God.
4. It is a part of the theory under consideration that we become partakers of Christ's redemption only in virtue of our partici- pation of his life. His life brings with it his merit and his power. He is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption only so far as, and only because, we become subjectively wise, right- eous, holy, and free from the consequences of our sins. It is the Christ within us and not the Christ without us and above us, that is our confidence and glory. It is hard to see on this theory what meaning there is in praying to Christ for his intercession, his guid- ance, his protection, or his love. He has implanted a new law within us which works out our salvation by just as natural a pro- cess of development, as that by which a seed expands into plant and flower. It is not for other men to say how a theory lies in the minds of its advocates, or to sit in judgment on their religious experience ; but they have the right to protest against any theory which, in their apprehension of it, takes away their personal Sav- iour and gives them nothing but a new invisible law in their members ; which substitutes for the Incarnate Son of God " the organic law of Christ's human life."
5. This new doctrine is a philosophy ; and philosophy we know from an infallible authority, is a vain deceit. It is vain