SWITZERLAND: ORTHODOXY IN GENEVA, AND THE NEW SPECULATIVE RATIONALISM IN
ZÜRICH.
Switzerland has failed to retain the influence over the theological
thought of Europe enjoyed by her in the days of Zwinglius and Calvin.
Impressions, instead of being given, have of late only been received.
France and Germany have contributed their respective phases of theology,
the French Cantons adopting the opinions emanating from the former
country, and the German those from the latter. We must not therefore
expect to find a very wide difference either respecting theology or
practical religion between the Swiss and their two influential
neighbors.
When the Skepticism of Voltaire and his disciples was penetrating the
French mind the Reformed Church of Switzerland did not long remain
unaffected by it. While that crafty man was enjoying his romantic
retreat at Ferney, he was visited and even flattered by persons who had
taken upon themselves the vows of the Christian ministry. The pastors of
Geneva were regarded by the Encyclopædists as sympathizers and
co-laborers in overthrowing the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel. In
the early part of the nineteenth century there was in Switzerland, as in
Germany, a strife between the old confessional faith and Rationalism.
But in Germany Reason attacked the contents of the Scriptures, while in
Switzerland the attempt was made to reduce all revealed truth to a
system of natural religion. Rationalism in the Swiss Church was Arianism
and Socinianism revived.[121] It swept away the strong Calvinism of the
old Genevan theology. The clergy were little better than the English
Deists. D'Alembert says, "All the religion that many of the ministers of
Geneva have is a complete Socinianism, rejecting everything called
mystery, and supposing that the first principle of a true religion is to
propose nothing to be received as a matter of faith which strikes
against reason." Rousseau declares that those who filled the pulpits of
that venerable city had no answer to the question, "Is Christ divine?"
Theological training was neglected. The professors, like the pastors,
committed themselves to an undisguised system of Rationalistic
Unitarianism. M. Bost, writing in 1825, says that, "for more than thirty
years the ministers who have gone out of our schools of theology, to
serve either the churches of our own land or those of France and other
foreign countries, have not received one single lecture on the truths
which exclusively belong to revelation, such as the redemption of
mankind by the death of Christ, the justification of the Saviour by
faith, the corruption of our nature, the divinity of our Saviour, &c. In
theology we were taught nothing but what are called the dogmas of
natural religion. The extent to which this practical incredulity was
carried is clear from the fact, elsewhere unheard of, I suspect, in the
annals of the Protestant churches, that, excepting for a lecture in the
Hebrew language, when the Bible was used simply as a Hebrew book, and
not for anything it contained, the word of God was never used
throughout our course; in particular, the New Testament never appeared,
either as a language-book or for any other purpose; there was no need of
the New Testament, whatever, in order to complete our four years' course
in theology; in other words, that book, especially in the original, was
not at all among the number of books required in order to accomplish the
career of our studies for the sacred ministry."[122]
The _Vénérable Compagnie_, comprising the clergymen and theological
professors of Geneva, went so far, in 1817, as to impose upon all
candidates for ordination to the ministry, the obligation not to preach
on the two natures of Christ, original sin, predestination, and other
received doctrines of their confession. As might be expected, practical
piety was thrown into the background. Children were not instructed in
the Scriptures, and the churches were attended by small congregations,
who were favored with no better gospel than the combined opinions of
Voltaire and the German Rationalists. There were here and there loud
protests against this apostasy. The Canton Vaud was benefited by the
labors of that excellent woman, Madame de Krüdener, who exchanged a life
of Parisian gayety and affluence for humble labors among the poor and
uninstructed Swiss. She loved to sit upon a wooden bench and teach all
who came to her the truths of the Bible and the necessity of a
regenerated heart. Her influence was powerful in Geneva after the
commencement of the evangelical movement. Another counteracting agency
was a sect of Methodists, nicknamed the "Momiers," who had gone thither
from England, and were rebuking the prevalent Rationalism by every
available means.[123]
From the outset Geneva had been the centre of the great religious
decline. The Theological Academy founded by Calvin had become the
nursery of as injurious errors as had emanated from Halle in the period
of Wolf's triumphant career. Its chairs were occupied by the very
teachers described by M. Bost, men in every respect unworthy to prepare
students for the Christian pulpit. But, by the providence of Him who
watches every juncture with a Father's care, a new influence was brought
to bear upon the Academy, and through it upon the whole Protestant
Church of Switzerland. Robert Haldane, having sold his large estate in
Scotland, directed his attention to the moral dearth at Geneva by
endeavoring to imbue the students with his own evangelical opinions and
earnest spirit. His labors were eminently successful. Many of the young
men became converted, and for the first time had a clear conception of
the great work before them. It was through Haldane that Merle d'Aubigné,
Adolphe Monod, Malan, and others of their school, were inspired with the
spirit of the Gospel. Switzerland can never be too grateful to God for
sending such a man at that important crisis.
The immediate issue of this awakening was the organization of the
Evangelical Dissenting Church. All who had grown dissatisfied with the
formalism and Rationalism of the National Church came to the new fold
and co-operated in the work of reformation. A school of theology,
established in Geneva, was visited by students who came seeking an
education that might enable them to relieve the moral wants of the
masses. Gaussen, the author of _La Theopneustie_, was one of the
professors. The new Church soon found in him its leader. He has recently
died, but his long life has been of valuable service to the kingdom of
Christ. Besides reviving and reorganizing the Sunday School system in
Geneva, and personally superintending the religious instruction of the
children, for whom he wrote his inimitable _Catechisms_, he became the
author of many theological works adapted to the wants of clergy and
laity. In company with a few friends, he published the popular Swiss
version of the New Testament. It occasioned him real joy when he
witnessed late in life the improvement of the National Church of
Switzerland. But it must be confessed that the parent has yet much to
learn and accomplish before reaching the high evangelical status now
occupied by the earnest daughter.
The name of Vinet belongs to the whole of Protestant Europe, and is
identified with the revival of religious sentiment in Switzerland,
Germany, Holland, and France. His excellent writings have familiarized
him to the theological readers of Great Britain and the United States.
The separation of Church and State was one of the leading aims of his
life, and he eloquently contended for it whenever occasion offered. In
1837 he accepted the invitation of the government of his native canton
to take charge of the professorship of Theology in the Seminary in
Lausanne. Already profoundly impressed with the opinions of Pascal, he
admired the more evangelical portion of Schleiermacher's theology.
Combining these, he originated the only native theological system which
Switzerland has produced since Calvin's day.[124] In all his works he
manifests profound thought and erudition. His _Homiletics_ and _Pastoral
Theology_ have already become text-books in many theological seminaries.
The spirit now dominant at Geneva clearly indicates the success of the
late efforts toward reform. The congregations have largely increased;
various humanitarian enterprises have been vigorously prosecuted;
societies for the circulation of religious knowledge have been founded;
and the laity have come to the assistance of the clergy in labors for
the social and moral elevation of the masses. For a quarter of a century
young men have been judiciously trained in theology, and Switzerland is
now supplying many prominent French pulpits with her graduates.
The present sojourner in Geneva finds but few remnants of that skeptical
preaching and general religious indifference so lamentably prevalent
before the rise of the Evangelical Dissenting Church. M. Levalois, who
is an avowed skeptic, looks upon a very different scene from that which
once so delighted Rousseau. Coming from the source they do, his words
are a valuable testimony to the religious growth of the mother-city of
French Protestantism. "I now come," says this traveler, "to the
essential characteristics of Geneva. Before being literary and liberal,
the Genevan is Christian. In Geneva the free-thinking stranger is
_advised_ of Christianity. In the souls of men, instead of meeting with
no resistance, no solidity,--as, for instance, among the greater part of
our Parisian Catholics,--instead of finding himself in the face of a
creed mechanically repeated, of a memory and not of a conscience,--you
feel yourself in contact with an individual who will believe, who can
believe, who is in full possession of the _why_ of his belief. Nothing
in the world is to me so sacred as sincerity in intelligent faith. Just
as I despise certain time-serving Catholics, who are converted because
they dread socialism, or because they dread the Empire, so much do I
respect the man who freely attaches himself to the Gospel, devotes
himself to Christ, and prays to Him. Does this imply that I return from
Geneva a Protestant? No; I have not been _converted_, but, I repeat,
_advised_. I have seen Christianity working, not only in churches, but,
which is much more edifying, in individuals. Yes, I have seen it in
turns the inspirer of language, the spring of actions, the spur and the
discipline, rule and support of the future, impregnating, so to speak,
the flesh and the spirit. Such a spectacle excites one to reflection. We
have been in too great haste to exclaim, Christianity is dead! An hour's
conversation with two or three Genevese, suffices to convince us that if
Christianity is dead it is not yet buried."[125]
The course of lectures delivered in the Theological Academy of Geneva in
the winter of 1862-'63, may be taken as an illustration of the character
of the instruction imparted in that influential institution. M. Secretan
delivered learned lectures on "Theism." He showed that the objections
which can be raised, on the ground of natural religion, against the
existence and personality of God, lose all their force on Christian
ground; therefore Hegelianism has no base. M. Naville, in his course on
"Spiritualism," summoned the resources of his learning and genius to aid
him in his heroic combat with every form of current materialism. Pastor
Coulin lectured on "Christian Works." It was an eloquent appeal for
renewed Christian activity. MM. Bungener, Bret, and Rorich lectured on
"Christian Life;" M. Gaberel on the "Part taken by Geneva at the time of
the Reformation;" and also on the "Present Literary and Religious state
of Germany;" M. Archinard on the "Ancient Religious Edifices of
Switzerland;" M. Aug. Bost on the "First Fifteen Centuries of the
History of Mankind;" and M. De Gasparin on the "Family Life, its
Organization and Duties." In addition to these, there were lectures on
detached subjects, such as religious prejudices, the study of the Bible
by simple-hearted believers, drunkenness, the religious education of
children, the instruction of catechumens, the dissipation of cities, and
the duty of evangelization.[126]
Of the German cantons, Basle has been the only one which has
successfully resisted the encroachments of Rationalism. The University
has fully recovered from the influence of De Wette, and the professors
now stand in the front rank of evangelical thinkers. The _Mission House_
has been a highly useful agency. Though not a half-century old, it has
already trained four hundred missionaries, nearly three hundred of whom
are still living and actively engaged in evangelizing the dark places of
the earth. The people are unwilling to permit any minister to occupy one
of their pulpits whom they have reason to suspect of skeptical opinions.
The infidel Rumpf was excluded in 1858 from the list of candidates for
the ministry, and all his subsequent efforts for restoration have failed
in the chief council. A similar occurrence took place in Berne in 1847,
upon the calling of Zeller to the theological professorship.
We now turn to a less evangelical part of Switzerland. Zürich is one of
the acknowledged centres of European Rationalism. Its spiritual decline
has been rapid during the last twenty-five years. In 1839, Strauss, the
author of the _Life of Jesus_, was invited by the chief council to take
a theological chair in the seminary. But the people arising as one man
against the measure, the appointment failed, the council was overthrown
by a popular revolution, and the city still pays a pension to the
disappointed aspirant. But in lamentable contrast with that event is one
of more recent occurrence. As late as 1864, when the little town of
Uster was about to elect a pastor, the candidate declared himself "a
friend of progress and light." Some religious men, unwilling to see
their children placed under the instruction of a skeptic, took upon
themselves the task of showing in what the "progress" consisted. They
accordingly published a notice to their fellow citizens in which they
set forth the avowed opinions of their candidate. The document asserted
that he believed the Bible to be a tissue of fictions and fables; Jesus
a sinful man like others, neither risen from the dead, nor sitting in
the glory of his Father; no one can assert with positiveness a life
beyond the grave; and the opinion that we are reconciled to God by Jesus
Christ, merely a superstition and a day-dream. The authors of the
circular besought the ecclesiastical council to deliver them and their
children from the promulgation of such doctrines, and further reminded
them that every pastor on entering upon his functions must swear to
preach faithfully the word of God, both law and gospel, according to the
fundamental principles of the evangelical Reformed church. The council
took no notice of the remonstrance, though the candidate did not deny
the charges. He was elected by eight hundred and sixty-five votes
against one hundred and forty-five. In the church, where the result was
proclaimed, the acclamations were so loud that they "shook the windows."
In the evening there was a serenade, accompanied by rockets and blue
lights.[127]
The only representative of evangelical doctrines in the theological
faculty of Zürich is a tutor, placed there and supported by a private
society. The most effective means by which Rationalism emanates from
that city is periodical literature. The leading publications are, _The
Church of the Present_, and _Voices of the Times_. The latter journal
was commenced in 1859. Its editor, Lang, is a frequent contributor to
prominent Rationalistic serials of Germany, particularly the _Protestant
Church Gazette_ of Berlin. He has published, besides other works, _A
System of Doctrine_, and _A March through the Christian World_.
Professor Biedermann, an instructor in Zürich, has embodied his
skeptical opinions in a _Manual of Christian Doctrine_, for the use of
the youth in Swiss colleges. Dr. Volckmar, another theological professor
of the same city, has advanced in his numerous works on primitive
Christianity, opinions even more radical than those of Strauss or the
Tübingen School. All those men are members, in good standing, of the
Reformed church of Switzerland.[128]
The Rationalistic works in question are studiously adapted to the common
mind. They contain a complete system, which we term the New Speculative
Rationalism. It declares a strong attachment to Protestantism, and
professes to cultivate a much higher development of Christian life than
was aimed at by its German predecessor. Like the Groningen school of
Holland, it lays stress on the character of Christ. It proposes to
establish a new church, which shall have a wider door for the entrance
of Protestant Christians than that opened by the confessions. The
present fold is entirely too small; the new Rationalism would organize
one of colossal popular dimensions. "Our church," say these teachers of
Zürich, "is truth and morality. Whoever thinks upon these things and
strives for them shall find a place in it." Their opinions are the
direct result of the Hegelian philosophy applied speculatively to the
obsolete, destructive Rationalism of Germany.
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. Protestantism mistakes itself in treating the Bible
as authority. Though the Scriptures declare our relations to God, they
should not escape our free criticism and occasional censure. Every man
has a right to interpret them for himself, and on his individual
understanding of their contents he should feel bound to act. No man has
a right to impose his opinion upon another, nor has any church a
guarantee for obliging its members to subscribe to a fixed creed. All
deductions from the positive statements of the Scriptures are mere human
opinions, and should only receive the credit due to them as such. What
are confessions but human opinions?
CHRIST. Strauss was wrong in taking his cold view of Jesus. There was a
real historical personage whom we properly call Jesus. Nothing is
gained, but everything lost by resolving all the statements of the
gospels into myths. It is through Christ that salvation is attained, for
Christianity is the reconciliation of God and man as revealed to us in
the consciousness and life of Christ. He is the end of the law, the
second Adam, the fulfilment of prophecy, the head of a renovated
humanity. In him we find the revelation of a new religious principle in
man, a real unity with God, a filial adoption, freedom from natural
corruption, the pardon of sin, and victory over the world. Jesus became
the one man who bore in himself the fullness of the godhead.
Important concessions to Christianity seem to be made; nevertheless
subtle Pantheism underlies their statements. But one of their opinions
subverts everything they grant to orthodoxy. Christ was not, according
to their view, the Messiah in the sense foretold by the prophets and
preached by the apostles. We must judge him apart from all poetry,
speculation, and human judgment. The Christ of the present church is the
creation of theologians, not the character portrayed by the evangelists.
Unfortunately for our correct view of him, Paul speculated entirely too
much upon his nature and work. The resurrection of Christ never took
place, because there was no necessity for it. It was a good thing for
the apostles to believe that such an event took place, for it encouraged
them. Christ never showed himself to any one after his death, and the
belief that he did appear arose purely from the excited nerves,
imaginative temperament, and strong desire of his followers to see him.
His spirit did not die with his body, but entered upon another stage of
existence.
Jesus did not work miracles, for he had not the power. He was eminently
a moral man, the very personification of the truly religious character.
Religion became flesh in him, and he was the exemplification of love.
The salvation we find through him is by virtue of his example and
inculcation of moral truths. The spirit of Christ still exists, but it
does not live in a purely personal relation, nor does it operate as a
personal existence. His spirit and example are with us, but he is not
here himself. The good man is favored with the influence imparted to
humanity by Christ's exemplary life, but he is nowhere actually present
in the world.
GOD AND HIS MIRACLES. No miracles, in the orthodox sense of the term,
have ever occurred. The scientific examination of the Scriptures
banishes them altogether. Neither are miracles possible, otherwise we
should see them every day. They would be acts of arbitrary authority on
God's part; and if he performed them he would destroy the harmony and
connection of natural laws. Christianity was not introduced by miracles.
It was inaugurated, and even originated, by underlying causes of a
purely natural character. Miracle is only a creation of the imagination,
and should be discarded as a human error.
The personality of God is freely spoken of, but his self-consciousness,
in the strictest sense, is not allowed. Hence God is really deprived by
them of all plan, aim, love, and favor. He is a spiritual being, but he
is not a spirit. He is spirit, yet not a real, thinking, self-conscious,
willing spirit. He is not a personality or individuality. "A person,"
these men appear to say, "must have a place to stand upon, and surely we
would not say this of God? The fact is, we grossly misrepresent the
great All-Father. We picture him in our sensuous forms, and almost
imagine him to be like one of ourselves."
IMMORTALITY. The Speculative Rationalists attach less importance to
individual immortality than their predecessors conceded. We might infer
this, however, from the Hegelian point of view adopted by the former.
They profess adherence to Schleiermacher's dictum: "In the midst of the
finite to be one with the infinite, and to be eternal every moment." But
they adhere to the doctrine of "eternal life," by which term they mean
an existence commencing and terminating with faith. It is a life of such
value that it should be called "eternal" life, although it ends with our
last breath in this world. It consists in the attainment of the end of
our existence and of conquest over sin. Thus, they reduce the eternal
life of which the gospel speaks to a mere method and duration of stay in
this world. This life, with them, exhausts life; the kingdom of God has
not an eternal, but a present and temporal existence; there is,
therefore, no new heaven and new earth.
SIN. The fall of man did not take place. It is an absurd superstition.
Since the world is but a limited and imperfect representation of God,
sin came into it immediately upon its origin. We err when we look at sin
apart from a correct conception of the world. Sin has its seat in the
natural weakness of man, for he is a temporal being, and in process of
necessary development from impure naturalness to reason and freedom. It
is the condition in which man finds himself before arriving at an idea
of what he is or will be. If it be asked, "Why is sin in the world?" the
rejoinder is made, "Why is not man, in the outset of his existence, what
he is destined to be, and why must he stand in need of development?"
Sin, in the beginning, was natural imperfection, but it never becomes a
work of the will until man is developed. It is the melancholy result of
an awakened consciousness. But, after man is once aroused to
self-consciousness and begins his actual, sinful life, he never becomes
a lost sinner.
FAITH. The gospel is not a compendium of principles. Its only value
consists in its description of the moral and religious character of
Christ, and every one must derive from it such opinions as seem most
plausible and reasonable. But they err who excogitate from it those
severe dogmas which express only dreams of the imagination and wishes of
the religious spirit. Faith in the gospel is not a condition of
salvation. For faith is the inner relation of the spiritual man to God,
not the acceptance of fixed traditions. It is such a feeling, emotion,
and relation as can exist independently of doctrine. Objective truth is
not the measure of faith, and the salvation of man is not conditioned by
his theoretical opinions. The human spirit in man is the agent of
regeneration. Therefore, man, and not God, is the author of human
regeneration. Justification by faith is produced by seeking God's favor,
but Christ has nothing at all to do with the matter.
We cannot as yet foresee the complete result of the efforts of the New
Speculative Rationalism to propagate itself. German Switzerland will be
influenced by Germany, and because of the thorough improvement already
inaugurated in the latter country no general resurrection of skepticism
need be feared. The evangelical professors at Basle are eagerly watching
every new movement, and we believe they have sufficient strength to meet
every emergency. Christianity is aggressive. Sometimes it is obliged to
halt and give battle. The carnage may last long, and the on-looking
world may, in its ignorance, decide too speedily that the day is lost.
But the victory of error is only temporary. The ark in Dagon's house was
still the ark of God. Since good men are a perpetual power to a people,
we may reasonably hope that the Swiss reformers will continue to animate
the citizens of all the French and German cantons. May the pulpits and
theological chairs of Switzerland ever be filled with men who can say
what Zwinglius uttered one New Year's Day as his first words to the
assembled multitude in the cathedral of Zürich: "To Christ, to Christ
will I lead you,--to the source of salvation. His word is the only food
I wish to furnish to your hearts and lives!"
FOOTNOTES:
[121] Hagenbach, _Kirchengeschichte d. 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts_, vol.
II., p. 416.
[122] Alexander, _Switzerland and the Swiss Churches_, p. 194.
[123] Kurtz, _Church History_, vol. ii., p. 334.
[124] Farrar, _Critical History of Free Thought_, p. 444.
[125] _L'Opinion Nationale_, 1863.
[126] _Christian Work_, Aug., 1863.
[127] _Semaine Religieuse._ Geneva: 1864.
[128] Riggenbach, _Der Heutige Rationalismus besonders in der Deutschen
Schweiz_. Basel: 1862.