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forma of Christianity there is a permanent and definite content of truth; and it is to this ideal side of Christianity that systematic 3. Dogmat- theology devotes itself, while historical

The peculiar bond between dogmatics and ethics must be judged by the relation in which the subjects of the two departments, the religious and moral elements of Christianity, stand to each other. It becomes necessary, therefore, to avoid any such sharp demarcation between the two as was carried out especially by certain theologians of the school of Kant, who regarded morality as founded simply in man himself and as autonomous, and therefore independent of religion. Christian morality, however, is absolutely ruled by belief in God, revealed through Christ as holy love; and, on the other hand, Christian belief is morally conditioned in that it is connected with repentance and centered on the good and holy God. Consequently, not only are dogmatics and ethics by no means independent of each other, but they have much in common. They must not, however, be confused, as has been done by C. I. Nitzaeh (System der chriatlichen Lehre, Bonn, 1829), E. Sartoriua (Die Lehre roan der heiligen Liebe, Stuttgart, 1861), and others; for both departments of theology have distinctive characteristics, in that dogmatics must proceed from the religious side of the Christian life (in other words, from Christian faith) to God, revealed in his works of salvation; while it is the province of ethics, considering the ethical aide of the Christian life (i.e., Christian morality), to set forth moral good, which is realized in the form of human freedom.

Theological ethics is essentially different from philosophical ethics in that it does not seek to further general human knowledge for the q. Relation benefit of the whole race, but serves of Theo- first and foremost the Christian logical to Church. It investigates not human Philosoph- morality as a whole, but the ideal ical Ethics. content of truth in historical Christianity; and it postulates not merely intellectual capacity, but also the possession of Christian piety to comprehend the life which proceeds from Christian faith. However, within certain limits, the two systems of ethics must approach each other, in proportion as theological ethics becomes more acientifie, and philosophical ethics more morally earnest. Such points of contact

between theological and philosophical ethics will justify the use of the latter by the former, although there must be an avoidance of any dependence of theological ethics on philosophical, such as appeared in early Christian theology in relation to the Platonic and especially to the Stoic philosophy, since it would be detrimental to Christian morality; while there must be an equal effort to shun any mechanical mixture, such as prevailed in the theology of the Middle Ages between Aristotelian and Christian ethics, since it would be subversive of the unity of the moral life.

g. Sources arise certain points of view decisive of Ethics. for the choice of its sources. It is evident, from the close bond between historical and systematic theology, that the history of Christianity makes accessible essential sources for the history of ethics. Out of the entire history of Christianity, the history of the Church is most important here, in that it extends to the present time; and, since the Church has become a collection of religious bodies divided by their creeds, ethics can not disregard these diversities of sect. It is true that the science need not consider all divergencies, such as those between the Lutherans and the Reformed; but since the difference between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism is a basal one even in the domain of morals, ethics must here assume a confessional character. It must employ the Protestant creeds as the classical expression of Reformation principles, as also other Protestant ecclesiastical literature; but the Bible, as the history of special divine revelation, remains the chief source of all. Theology must consider exhaustively all the various steps by which the component parts of the Bible are connected, both historically and essentially, with the true revelation of salvation, and with its cardinal point, the reconciling and redeeming revelation of God as holy love in Jesus Christ; and it must also weigh the processes whereby these components, connected with the factors just mentioned, receive their divine origin. Thus there arises the need of critical investigation of the Bible itself, as well as of all other portions of historical Christianity, to discover the universally valid concepts of Christianity. The more important, then, does personal Christian consciousness become as a source of ethics. It is, however, incorrect to regard this as the primary source, as does J. C. K. van Hofmann (Theologische Ethik, Nerdlingen, 1878), for the objectivity of Christianity finds in the experience of the individual Christian only an expression which is circumscribed and obscured. Nevertheless, this experience is important in the critical search for Christian doctrine in the Bible, since it facilitates the selection of the permanent religious and moral elements of the Bible, and renders possible their spiritual comprehension. On the other hand, for those elements of theological ethics which it shares with its philosophical counterpart, it must, like the latter, avail itself of a purely intellectual observation of the nature,