RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Biblical Theolog-y
ought not to be resolved into a purely human development. The impression is gained rather that the Bible contains a primary 5. Con- iife 0f faith, having the character of SWorkVe uncorrupted self-consistency and unbroken independence, and that consequently there is underneath a uniform and fundamental idea. As standing for this, mention must be made of K. I. Nitzsch, System der christlichenLehre (Bonn, 1829), and H. Ewald, Lehre der Bibel von Gott (3 vols., Leipsic, 1871), and particularly of J. C. K. von Hofmann, whose great work (Die heilige Schrift des Neuen Testaments zusammenhangend untersucht, completed by Volck, Munich, 1886) culminated in the description of the history of the entire New Testament preaching as a historical development of the uniform word which is not the product of the individual authors. Hermann Cremer (Biblisch-theologisches Worterbuch der neutestamentlichen Gracitat, 8th ed., Gotha, 1895) endeavored in a new way to bring into view the unity of the contents of Scripture by collecting the individual notions of the Bible and following their development from the Hebrew into the Greek. According to him there are not only different modes of expression at different times, but there is a Biblelanguage, a linguistic body of the divine word, ever developing itself. It is a scientific necessity that Biblical theology regard the individuality of the Bible as the basal principle of its entire activity For the religion of the Bible is not merely a part of the historical past; it is an active factor in the present. In like manner the Bible is not merely a document showing the manner in which the Christian Church originated; it is the authentic tradition of the word of God, out of which the Church is ever originating (M. Kaehler, Der historische Jesus, 2d ed., Leipsic, 1896). On this account Biblical theology must always proceed from the unexceptionable agreement, which can only be reached at the end of a development; its way leads, therefore, from the New to the Old Testament, through the whole to the parts. Since, however, that result is nowhere offered in complete form, it is the task of this branch to educe from that which exists what is essential — the entirety— so that the examination of the particular is ever a means to an end, and is always under the control of the final aim of the work.
Accordingly it is not the task of Biblical theology to criticize the theology of the Bible and to judge it by the measure of a probable understanding of
6 The *^e °"Sma^ to be obtained scientif-
True ically, but to show as a matter of fact
Aim. what the contents of the Bible are
and at the same time to bring into
view the different forms and shapes in which these
contents are offered. It owes to the Church a pure
exhibition of the " word " by the preaching of which
the Church has lived in all ages. On this account
no help is gained by considering some " probable
gospel of Jesus," sought behind the sources, but the
necessity is that the Jesus Christ of primitive
tradition be described, and that in the various
jorms in which it has been handed down. Again,
the highest aim is always to produce a theology
of the entire Bible (such an effort is K. Schlottmann, Kompendium der biblischen Theologie, 2d ed., Leipsic, 1895). But the separate treatment of the Testaments will generally recommend itself for practical reasons, since a great deal of preliminary work is necessary on the Old Testament, and because the difference of degrees of revelation must be indicated. But the correlation between the two must, after all, never be overlooked. It is a matter of course that the Biblical theology of the whole Bible can never dispense with exegesis. But it raises itself above the purely exegetical by its relation to systematic theology. It is released from the duty of exhibiting all the mazes and changes of development which are not essential to the understanding of the unified whole. On the other hand, it must not be misled into compressing Biblical riches into a narrow, one-sided system, which will take the form of contemporary dogmatics, for the dogmatic interest will take charge of the process of digesting the immense amount of subject-matter. One task of Biblical theology is to open the way of return from contemporary crystallization into formulas in dogmatics to the source itself. In this sense it will be of very great service to evangelical theology, provided it directs us to disclose more clearly and richly God's word in Holy Scripture and thus protests in the name of the document of revelation against every claim of human infallibility, for " God alone is infallible " (Zwingli).
M. Kaehler. Bibliography: Discussions on the methods of the discipline are in: C. A. Briggs, Study of Holy Scripture, pp. 569-606, New York, 1899 (historical and critical, discriminating); G. R. Crooks and J. F. Hurst, Theological Encyclopaedia and Methodology, pp. 249-255, New York, 1894; A. Cave, Introduction to Theology, pp. 405-421, Edinburgh, 1896; W Wrede, Ueber Aufgabe und Methode der sogenannten neutestamentlichen Theologie, Gottingen, 1897; L. Emery, Introduction a V etude de la theologie protestante, pp. 122-127, Paris, 1904 (the foregoing all contain bibliographies). An excellent review of recent literature is furnished in the Theologische Rundschau, May, 1907 (an excellent periodical devoted to the review of works on theology).
Works additional to those in the text which deal with the whole of Biblical theology or of some phase of both the O. and the N. T. are: L. Noack, Die biblische Theologie, Halle, 1853; F. Gardner, The Old and the N. T. in their Mutual Relations, New York, 1885; H. Schultz, Alttestamentliche Theologie, Gottingen, 1885, Eng. transl., Edinburgh, 1892 ; W. L. Alexander, A System of Biblical Theology, 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1888; C. L. Fillion, L'Idee centrale de la Bible, Paris, 1888; C. G. Chavannes, La Religion dans la Bible, 2 vols., Paris, 1889; C. H. Toy, Judaism and Christianity, Boston, 1S90 (called by Dr. Briggs " the best book on the subject"); A. Duff, 0. T. Theology, Edinburgh, 1891 (original); R. H. Charles, Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life in Israel, Judaism and Christianity, London, 1899 (the one book in the field).
Additional and worthy books on O. T. theology are: C. H. Piepenbring, Theologie de VAncien Testament, Paris, 1886, Eng. transl., New York, 1893; A. Dillmann, Handbuch der alttestamentlichen Theologie, Leipsic, 1895 (posthumous); W. H. Bennett, Theology of the O. T., London, 1896 (a handbook); R. Smend, Lehrbuch der alttestamentlichen Religionsgeschichte, Freiburg, 1899; A. B. Davidson, The Theology of the O. T., Edinburgh, 1904 (somewhat disappointing).
Additional works on the N. T. are W. F. Adeney, Theology of the N. T., London, 1894 (corresponds to Bennett on the O. T.); H. J. Holtzmann, Lehrbuch der neutestamentlichen Theologie, 2 vols., Tubingen, 1897 (one of the best on the subject); G. B. Stevens, Theology of the N. T., New York, 1899; E. P. Gould, Biblical Theology of
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