The Christian Faith Under Modern Searchlights — John Shaqi
The Christian Faith Under Modern SearchlightsJohnson, William Hallock
Religion
The Christian Faith Under Modern Searchlights
Johnson, William Hallock
Modernism (Christian theology)
14: "Commentary on St. Luke," 1900, p. 282.
15: "Commentary on St. Matthew," 1910, p. 168.
Critical acumen, says Lemme, may seek to empty the saying of its
content, but "there remains the exclusiveness of the mediatorial work of
Jesus for the totality of mankind, there remains the absolute uniqueness
of His redemption, there remains His lonely elevation above the entire
realm of the human, there remains His unique fellowship of life with the
Father, which enabled Him, and Him alone, to know God adequately, or,
what is the same thing, to reveal the truth. We must take our choice:
such an utterance is either the delirium of a reckless self-exaltation,
or the appropriate testimony of a divine Being demanding unreserved
faith."[16]
16: "Jesu Irrtumlosigkeit," 1907, pp. 7, 8.
The logion has been made the subject of an exhaustive monograph by
Schumacher, who concludes that the reciprocal knowledge of the Father
and the Son implies the consciousness of divine Sonship in a full
metaphysical sense.[17]
17: "Die Selbstoffenbarung Jesu bei Mat 11, 27 (Luc 10, 22),"
1912, ("Freiburger Theologische Studien," Heft. 6), pp. 202, 219, etc.
In his lectures on the "Essence of Christianity," Harnack takes the text
as it stands, but, ignoring the implications of reciprocal knowledge,
says: "The consciousness he possessed of being the Son of God is,
therefore, nothing but the practical consequence of knowing God as the
Father and as His Father. Rightly understood, the name of Son means
nothing but the knowledge of God."[18] In his critique of Harnack, Loisy
objects to this interpretation as being "artificial and
superficial,"[19] and says: "Obviously the text indicates a
transcendental relationship, whence springs the lofty dignity of Christ,
and not a psychological reality, which in regard to God is clearly
impossible. Father and Son are not here simply religious terms, but have
already become metaphysical theological expressions, and dogmatic
speculation has been able to take possession of them, without much
modification of their sense."[20] Loisy takes the meaning as
fundamentally the same as John i. 18, and cannot accept it in the form
we have it as a genuine word of Jesus.[21]
18: "Das Wesen des Christentums," p. 81; "What is
Christianity?" p. 138.
19: "L'Évangile et L'Église," 1904, p. 82; E. T., "The Gospel and
the Church," p. 97.
20: "L'Évangile et L'Église," 1904, p. 78; E. T., p. 94.
21: "L'Évangile et L'Église," 1904, p. 80; E. T., pp. 96, 97.
In his "Sayings of Jesus," Harnack omits from the text, on what seem to
be slender grounds, the first clause of the parallel, "No one knoweth
the Son but the Father."[22] He candidly admits, however, that if the
text stands no fair exegesis can prevent a Christological reference. It
must mean "a relationship of Father and Son which never had a beginning,
but remains ever the same." "We cannot by any method of interpretation
make it much less metaphysical."[23]
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