Systematic Theology (Volume 1 of 3)Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
Systematic Theology (Volume 1 of 3)
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Baptists -- Doctrines; Theology, Doctrinal
E. G. Robinson: “The first statement of the Bible is, not that
there is a God, but that ‘In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth’_ (Gen. 1:1)_. The belief in God never was and never
can be the result of logical argument, else the Bible would give
us proofs.” Many texts relied upon as _proofs_ of God’s existence
are simply _explications_ of the idea of God, as for example: _Ps.
94:9, 10—_“He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that
formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the nations,
shall not he correct, even he that teacheth man knowledge?” Plato
says that God holds the soul by its roots,—he therefore does not
need to demonstrate to the soul the fact of his existence.
Martineau, Seat of Authority, 308, says well that Scripture and
preaching only interpret what is already in the heart which it
addresses: “Flinging a warm breath on the inward oracles hid in
invisible ink, it renders them articulate and dazzling as the
handwriting on the wall. The divine Seer does not convey to you
_his_ revelation, but qualifies you to receive _your own_. This
mutual relation is possible only through the common presence of
God in the conscience of mankind.” Shedd, Dogmatic Theology,
1:195-220—“The earth and sky make the same sensible impressions on
the organs of a brute that they do upon those of a man; but the
brute never discerns the ‘invisible things’ of God, his ‘eternal
power and godhood’_ (Rom. 1:20)_.”
Our subconscious activity, so far as it is normal, is under the
guidance of the immanent Reason. Sensation, before it results in
thought, has in it logical elements which are furnished by
mind—not ours, but that of the Infinite One. Christ, the Revealer
of God, reveals God in every man’s mental life, and the Holy
Spirit may be the principle of self-consciousness in man as in
God. Harris, God the Creator, tells us that “man finds the Reason
that is eternal and universal revealing itself in the exercise of
his own reason.” Savage, Life after Death, 268—“How do you know
that your subliminal consciousness does not tap Omniscience, and
get at the facts of the universe?” Savage negatives this
suggestion, however, and wrongly favors the spirit-theory. For his
own experience, see pages 295-329 of his book.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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