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Hzegeeie or Her menentios THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG

revelation of God. Melanchthon drew the portrait of an Evangelical theologian: "A good theologian and faithful interpreter of the heavenly teaching should be expert first in language, next in logic, and then a witness." Criticism was free and Luther spoke without reserve regarding the value of the canonical books. Reliable interpretation was demanded, which contributed clearness and certainty to faith. In the stress of the first need the interpreters dealt little with theory and contented themselves with propounding fundamentals. Scripture was defined as the collection of standard sources of the Christian religion. Alongside the formula: " Scripture is the interpreter of Scripture " was another: " Let all knowledge and exposition be according to the analogy of faith."

For the orthodoxy of the seventeenth century, Scripture is the document containing the teaching inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible could therefore not be self-inconsistent, and exegesis was prevailingly apologetic. The teztus receptua was canonized, and in the Old Testament the inspiration of the pointing was maintained. Rules

y. Post- for interpretation were formulated

Reforms- anew, and the Philologia sacra of tion S. Glass (ed. I. A. Dathe, Leipsic,

Theories. 1776) was the exegetical text-book of the Lutheran confession. From this point of view an important book is that of A. Rivet, Isagoge ad scripturam sacri Yeteris et Novi Testa menti (Leyden, 1627). For the Roman Catholic Church the norm continued to be expressed by the maxim: " Tradition (or the Church) is the inter preter of sacred Scripture," and more attention was paid to patristic work upon Scripture than to philological investigation. Richard Simon laid the foundations of a historical-critical science of Scrip ture, but not without a polemical purpose against the Protestant principles regarding the Bible. Simon's work was put on the Index because of its critical openness; its meaning was first grasped by i Protestants when historical criticism came to its rights. The next step in the way was taken by the opponents of Protestant confessionalism. Socinian exegesis remained without influence be cause of its subjective dogmatism. But such work as that done by Grotius was important, and the danger to confesaionalism was discerned by A. Calovius and attacked in his Biblia Veteria Teatnmen.ti illustrate (4 vole., Frankfort, 1672-76). Meyer advanced the cause of unprejudiced reason in a remarkable critique upon the fundamental dogma " Scripture its own interpreter," reason being, according to him, a gift of God displayed both in Scripture and in the formulation of dogma. A. H. Francke bewailed the fact that men con cerned themselves with criticism, which affected only the outer shell of Scripture, and left untouched the elucidation of the deeper sense of Scripture. He therefore turned aside from the dogmatic valua tion of the Bible and applied himself to a devo tional exposition founded on scientific principles and applying the psychological principle of the individuality of the author. Against the Pietistic school of exegesis the Reformed theologian J. A. Turretin busied himself in the interest of a gram- 248

matical-historical exegesis (Tractatus bipartitua, Geneva, 1728, ed. Teller, 1776). His principle in that theology is the teaching transmitted in Scripture, and to the study of Scripture the mind should come as a tabula roses, ready to receive the true sense. Here also first appeared the postulate of a presumptionleas exegesis as opposed to a dogmatic. The eighteenth century saw the first scientific work written in German on exegesis, that by S. J. Baumgarten, Ausfiihrlicher Vortrag der bibliachen Hernaeneutik (ed. Bertram, Halls, 1767). The theology of this writer is Pietistic, founded upon the philosophy of Leibnitz and Wolff. He was preceded by J. A. Bengel (also of the Pietistic school), whose principal labors were upon text criticism. In the Dutch school J. Cocceiua was the antipodes of Grotius, so that the saying took form: " Grotius could find Christ nowhere in sacred literature, Cocceius found him everywhere."

With Herder, Karat, and the founders of the new school of history (Niebuhr) and of research into the sources of classical philology (F. A. Wolf) began new times with new results, based upon historical investigation into the religion of the Old Testament and examination of the sources of early Christianity. The Protestant doctrine of inspiration became untenable under the leadership of J. S.

Semler, J. J. Wetetein, and J. A. 8. Exegesis Erneati, all under the sway of the

as Affected historical spirit but still not entirely by History. freed from dogmatic influence. Thus

Semler held Scripture to contain the word of God and therefore not to contain inconsistencies. Difficulties were dismissed on the theory of Accommodation (q.v.). L. J. Riickert (Commentar uber den Brief . . , an die Rinner, Leipsie,1831) remarked that " the exegete, as an exegete, is neither orthodox nor heterodox, neither a supernaturalist nor a rationalist nor a pantheist, neither pious nor godless, neither emotional nor without feeling." D. F. Strauss could not deride sufficiently the doctrine of inspiration held by the early Protestants. Exegetical theory was therefore influenced greatly by the effort to solve the historical-critical problems while allowing the revelational character of Scripture. The effort was making to recognize the human and the divine side of the Bible. To this problem philosophy .made no contributions of importance. Karat's contribution was not philosophical but practical. H. Olshausen's attempt to reinstate the allegorical method met no success, while the work of his predecessors was esmmed up in lmmer's HermeneutikdesNeueraTestamerets(Wit tenberg,1873; Eng. transl., Hermeneutics o f the New Testament, Andover, 1877). F. Liicke attempted to give to exegesis a stronger theological tendency, and F. H. German sought a religious guaranty for the results of the hermeneutical processes under s method which should include the historical-philological method and should take account of the harmony of Scripture. J. T. Beck endeavored to advance the cause by a " pneumatic interpretation " on the basis that the Bible is an organism, the spirit of each part of which is the author, which spirit the interpreter must incarnate in his own holy life before he can explain Scripture.