Systematic Theology (Volume 2 of 3)Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
Systematic Theology (Volume 2 of 3)
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Baptists -- Doctrines; Theology, Doctrinal
Creation is not simply the thought of God,—it is also the will of
God—thought in expression, reason externalized. Will is creation
out of nothing, in the sense that there is no use of preëxisting
material. In man’s exercise of the creative imagination there is
will, as well as intellect. Royce, Studies of Good and Evil, 256,
points out that we can be original in (1) the style or form of our
work; (2) in the selection of the objects we imitate; (3) in the
invention of relatively novel combinations of material. Style,
subject, combination, then, comprise the methods of our
originality. Our new conceptions of nature as the expression of
the divine mind and will bring creation more within our
comprehension than did the old conception of the world as
substance capable of existing apart from God. Hudson, Law of
Psychic Phenomena, 294, thinks that we have power to create
visible phantasms, or embodied thoughts, that can be subjectively
perceived by others. See also Hudson’s Scientific Demonstration of
Future Life, 153. He defines genius as the result of the
synchronous action of the objective and subjective faculties.
Jesus of Nazareth, in his judgment, was a wonderful psychic.
Intuitive perception and objective reason were with him always in
the ascendant. His miracles were misinterpreted psychic phenomena.
Jesus never claimed that his works were outside of natural law.
All men have the same intuitional power, though in differing
degrees.
We may add that the begetting of a child by man is the giving of
substantial existence to another. Christ’s creation of man may be
like his own begetting by the Father. Behrends: “The relation
between God and the universe is more intimate and organic than
that between an artist and his work. The marble figure is
independent of the sculptor the moment it is completed. It
remains, though he die. But the universe would vanish in the
withdrawal of the divine presence and indwelling. If I were to use
any figure, it would be that of generation. The immanence of God
is the secret of natural permanence and uniformity. Creation is
primarily a spiritual act. The universe is not what we see and
handle. The real universe is an empire of energies, a hierarchy of
correlated forces, whose reality and unity are rooted in the
rational will of God perpetually active in preservation. But there
is no identity of substance, nor is there any division of the
divine substance.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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