Theologie_. See Schwarz, book iii. ch. ii. The organs of this party
are the _Studien und Kritiken_ and the _Neue Evangel.
Kirchenzeitung_.
842 Dorner, born in 1809; successively Professor in several
universities: he has recently gone to Berlin. It is a matter of
gratification that his great work, described in the text, is now in
course of translation. The account of the successive steps through
which it passed may be seen in the American _Bibliotheca Sacra_ for
1849. Also an account of it is given in Theodore Parker’s
_Miscellaneous Works_, p. 287. Lange, author of the _Leben Jesu_,
ought perhaps to be named along with the two in the text, as
belonging to this school.
843 Perhaps these two theologians ought to be regarded apart from the
average of the members of the Mediation school, as being of a
grander type. They approach the subject from a higher stand-point,
and also are more largely moulded by philosophy. On Rothe, see. Note
40 (p. 437).
844 In the _Einleitung_.
845 Id.
846 Vol. i. period i. ch. i.
847 Id. ch. ii. and iii.
848 Epoche, Abth. 2.
849 Vol. ii.
850 If the reader follows out the pedantic but useful mode before named,
of arranging the actual schools of theology after the fashion of
foreign assemblies, he will place in the right, the friends of the
confessional theology; in the centre, those of the mediation
theology; in the left, the old critical school of De Wette; and in
the extreme left, the school of Tübingen. The first has its chief
seat in Prussia, and the third probably in Thuringia and central
Germany.
851 See Kahnis, p. 262, &c.; Am. Saintes, part ii. ch. x; Hase, § 453;
Schwarz, book iii. ch. iii.
852 The dissenters from the union were not recognised legally by the
state till 1845. (See the references given in the last note.) The
principal of those who dissented were Kellner, Scheibel, and
Huschke.
853 Hengstenberg, born in 1802; professor at Berlin. His works are well
known. His work on Christology (1829), Introduction to the
Pentateuch (1831), Commentary on the Psalms (1842), and several
others, are translated.
854 Hävernick, Professor at Königsberg; died a few years since. His
chief works are, a Commentary on Daniel (1838); and an Introduction
to the Old Testament, which is translated.
855 The _Evangelische Kirchenzeitung_, the organ of his opinions, was
Pietist till about 1838; after which it favoured the reaction;
especially since the theological disputes of 1845 and the political
revolution of 1848. See Hase, § 451; Schwarz, book i.
856 Stahl, who died in 1861, was eminent for piety as well as learning.
His views may be learned from an address, _Ueber Christliche
Toleranz_, 1855. The _Kreuz Zeitung_ is the journal which has
supported this political reaction. The “Theology of the Confessions”
(i.e. of Augsburg, &c.) is the name which is given to the movement
by its friends. See Kahnis, p. 311 seq. Much interesting information
in reference to it, though occasionally expressed in a rude manner,
together with references to the German authors from which it is
drawn, will be found in the _North British Review_, No. 47, Feb.
1856, and _British Quarterly Review_, No. 46, April 1856. The
extracts there quoted are the authority for several of the
statements here made. See also Schwarz, iii. 3; Hundeshagen, _Der
Deutsche Protestantismus_, § 22.
857 In enumerating a few names among those that belong to this
reactionary party, it is fair to state that some of them have not
taken open part in the political aspects of it, and do not teach all
that is described in the last few lines, which rather express the
teaching of the more violent, and mark the tendencies to which the
others only approximate. Some of the best known are, Harless,
Delitzch, Keil, as biblical investigators; Rudelbach, Guericke,
Schmid, Kurtz, and Kahnis, as historical; and Kliefoth in practical
doctrine. (Kahnis has however lately adopted free views in
criticism. See Colani’s _Nouvelle Revue de la Theologie_, July
1862.) Vilmar in Hesse Cassel, and Leo at Halle, belong to the most
ultra section of the school. The universities where it predominates
are named at p. 277. Those however who dissent from the views of the
theologians here described ought not to forget to render a tribute
to the reverent piety and high motives of many of them. They are men
who know and love Christ, and are striving to lead men to love him.
858 It is a remarkable circumstance that the Oxford movement in the
church of England was at first an anticatholic movement. The
Catholic Emancipation Bill and the liberality of the parliament
after the Reform Bill created an alarm, which led to the study of
the non-juring divines and Anglo-catholics who had asserted the
rights of the church, and to the reproduction of their opinions.
Deeper causes were however at work; among which was the wish to find
a more solid groundwork for church belief: but the political
circumstances contributed the stimulus, though they were not truly
the cause.
859 The names of Stilling and Oberlin have been already cited, as
instances of devoted Christians who realised the truth and tried to
spread it. A writer in the _Foreign Quarterly Review_, vol. xxv. p.
132, attests from personal experience his knowledge of the existence
of earnest faith in parishes at the time when the universities were
nurseries of doubt.
860 The missions existed previously, having been commenced by the
Moravians in the last century, and carried on by several detached
missionary associations in the present. On the recent improvement in
Germany, see articles in the _North British Review_, No. 31 for Nov.
1851, and No. 40 for Feb. 1854.
_ 861 Die Innere Mission_, founded by Dr. Wichern.
862 The Kirchentag arose out of the Kirchenbund, and met first at
Wittenberg, in the church which contains the bones of Luther and
Melancthon, in 1848, while war and revolution were raging around.
863 In addition to those named in the text, mention ought to be made of
the association of the “Friends of Light,” founded by Uhlich, which
represents the individual principle like the Quakers, and has
resulted in forming some free congregations in Königsberg and
Magdeburg. (Consult _Die Deutsche Theologie_, p. 26; Hase’s _Church
History_, § 456.) The movement was accused of rationalism by its
opponents. Also the Gustavus Adolphus Association, begun in 1832 for
the relief of all classes of protestants, was one of the first means
of promoting Christian union, and indirectly produced the
Kirchentag. An account of these two last associations may be found
in a pamphlet (1849) by C. H. Cottrell, _Religious Movements of
Germany in the Nineteenth Century_. Kahnis notices the great facts
of this revival, but with a slight sneer (p. 276, &c.).
864 It is enough to mention Schleiermacher’s _Glausbenslehre_, and the
works of Ewald; e.g. the prefaces to the poetical and prophetical
books, and his work, the _Geschichte des Hebr. Volkes_.
865 In Lecture V. (p. 194.)
866 See Damiron, _Essai sur l’Histoire de la Philosophie en France au
19__me__ siècle_, 1828; and Nettement’s _Hist. de la Litt. Franc.
sous la Restoration_, 1853, and _Hist. de la Litt. Franc. sous le
Gouvernement de Juillet_, especially b. v, vi, vii, xi; and a review
of Nettement in the _British Quarterly Review_, No. 37; also H. J.
Rose’s _Christian Advocate’s Publication_ for 1832.
867 See Morell’s _Hist. of Philosophy_, i. 543-72, and Damiron, pp.
(1-105).
868 Chateaubriand (1768-1848) wrote his _Génie du Christianisme_ in
1802. See Nettement, first work, quoted above, vol. i. b. x.; and,
second work, vol. ii. p. 330; and the criticism by Villemain, _La
Tribune Moderne_, ch. v.; and Sainte-Beuve’s _Portraits_, vol. x.
869 In his _Génie du Christianisme_.
870 The sources for understanding the systems of Socialism, besides the
works of its founders, are Alfred Sudre’s _Histoire et Refutation du
Communisme_, 1850, (especially ch. xvi-xx,) which obtained the
Monthyou prize, and gives a history of communism in all ages; also
Nettement, second work, ii. b. vii.; Morell’s _Hist. of Philosophy_,
ch. vii. § 2; an article in the _Quarterly Review_, No. 90, July
1831; and in the _Westminster Review_, 1832; and two very valuable
articles in the _North British Review_, No. 18, May 1848, and No.
20, Feb. 1849. Those who are aware how much Socialism has influenced
French philosophy and literature, as well as politics, will see that
it is at once the index of certain forms of religious thought and
the cause of subsequent ones, and will pardon the space bestowed in
the text upon these visionary schools.
871 1760-1825. See Morell, as above.
872 Fourier, 1768-1818. See the same sources for information, and
Nettement’s second work, ii. 30. One of the chief Fourierists was
Considérant.
873 It was a system in fact which has been tried in the mode of working
the Cornish mines.
874 The St. Simonians separated about 1831 into two parties; one led by
Bazard, showing a logical tendency, and including Leyroux; and the
other led by Enfantin at Menilmontant, showing an emotional, among
whose adherents was Michel Chevalier. The source of dispute was the
emancipation of the working classes and of woman; Enfantin going
beyond the other school in reference to these points. In 1832 the
government interfered, and dispersed his supporters. On the relation
of French journalism to the political movements, see two articles in
the _British Quarterly Review_, vols. iii. and ix.
875 The novels of such writers as George Sand, Victor Hugo, &c. give
expression to these aspirations for social improvement, and the
disposition to attribute all evil to social disarrangement.
876 The systems of St. Simon and Fourier did not demand the abrogation
of social inequality between man and man. Both would revolutionise
the present state of things; but the one would replace it by a
graduated scale of functionaries, the other by a more democratic and
less federal system of corporations. But communism is founded on the
idea of entire social equality as regards the material advantages of
life. The old schemes of Babœuf and the first French revolution
hardly existed in 1848, but were replaced by two forms of communism;
the theoretic or “Icarian” of Cabet, and the practical of Louis
Blanc. On these systems, with that of Proudhon, see the sources
before described, especially Sudre and the _North British Review_,
No. 20, where this new phase is well described. Also Hase’s _Church
History_, § 493.
877 Comte’s chief work, the _Philosophie Positive_, has been well
translated in an abridged form by Miss Martineau, 1853. In reference
to him see Morell, _History of Philosophy_, i. 577, &c. and
important criticisms on his system in the following reviews, _Revue
des Deux Mondes_, by E. Saisset, 1850, vol. iii; _North British
Review_, No. 30, Aug. 1851; No. 41, May 1854; _British Quarterly
Review_, No. 38, April 1854. Comte’s later religious views are given
in the _Catéchisme Positiviste_, 1852, and the _Culte Systématique
de l’Humanité ou Calendrier Positiviste_ (1853).
878 Introduction, ch. i. (English translation.)
879 Id. ch. ii. and books i-v.
880 Book vi.
881 See note on the subject in Lecture VIII.
882 On Cousin, see Morell’s _History of Philosophy_, ii. 478 seq.
883 Mr. Morell, who was formerly a disciple of this school has brought
out this thought in his work on the _Philosophy of Religion_, 1849,
ch. vi.
884 During the reign of Louis Philippe an attack was made on the
university of Paris by the Jesuits, on the ground that the views
taught there were pantheistic. The same view was adopted in an
article in _Fraser’s Magazine_, No. 170, Feb. 1844, which is
valuable in giving quotations of passages which indicate the
tendency of this philosophy, though the writer fails to appreciate
the value of it as a reaction against the old Voltairism. The same
charge is expressed in the sketch which H. L. C. Maret gives of the
philosophy of the nineteenth century (in _Essai sur le Panthéisme_,
1845). See also Nettement’s second work, vol. i. book vi; Saisset,
_Revue des Deux Mondes_, 1850, vol. iii; and Damiron’s _Essai_, pp.
105-197.
885 It has not been thought necessary to name Salvador the Jew, author
of _Hist. des Institutions de Moses_, 1828; _Jésus Christ et sa
Doctrine_, 1839; _Paris, Rome, et Jerusalem_. His writings were
criticised by Mr. H. J. Rose’s _Christian Advocate’s Publication_,
1831, and have been lately reviewed by the Semitic scholar A.
Franck, in a series of papers in the _Journal des Débats_, Jan. 24,
Feb. 12, May 29, June 4 and 6, 1862; and by Renan in the _Etudes de
l’Hist. Relig._ p. 189, &c. Salvador’s view is both Jewish and
sceptical. Magnifying the Jewish system, he regards Christianity as
an offshoot of it, imperfect in its kind; and looks to the spirit of
Judaism as the future hope for the world. He professes a creed which
is called by Franck _Infinitheism_. Whatever in his opposition to
Christianity is not derived from the eclectic school is the result
of his Jewish prejudices.
886 No mention has been made of several aggressive writers who publish
in the French language, mostly in Belgium, works on infidelity
resembling in tone those of the last century, such as Volney. There
are two such works by P. Larroque, viz. a destructive one, _Examen
Critique des Doctrines de la Religion Chrétienne_, first, as they
are stated in the dogmas of the church, and secondly, in the
scriptures; in which he makes a collection of difficulties in the
Bible, book by book: and another work, constructive in tone,
_Renovation Religieuse_, 1860. A work of similar intention by P.
Rénand, _Christianisme et Paganisme, identité de leurs origines ou
nouvelle symbolique_, 1861, is a kind of reproduction of Dupuis and
Volney, modified by Feuerbach. In the preface to the last-named
work, the writer refers to works by Eenen and Proudhon, similarly
directed against Christianity.
887 The _Conférences_ originated with Frayssinous in a kind of public
catechising about 1802. Being changed into sermons in 1807, they
were transferred from the Carmes to St. Sulpice, but closed by the
government in 1809. They were resumed in 1815, and were transferred
about 1830, through Ozanam’s intercession with the archbishop of
Paris, De Quelen, to Nôtre Dame; where Lacordaire opened his course
in 1836. He, Ravignan, and Felix, respectively made themselves
distinguished. A. Pontmartin has pointed out the adaptation of each
teacher to the phase of public thought. (_Père Félix_, 1861, pp.
26-32, quoted in the _Christian Remembrancer_, Jan. 1862). These
particulars are partly taken from Nettement’s works above cited.
888 The church during the Bourbon restoration was more Gallican than
Ultramontane. See Nettement’s first work, t. ii. book vii. For a
survey of French literature during the present reign, see Reymond’s
_Etudes du second Empire_.
889 This idea is well expressed in the passages quoted in Note 9.
890 One of the modern young French writers most distinguished for power
of analysis, is H. Taine, who deserves mention in connexion with the
tendency which is in a different manner represented by Renan.
Taine’s literary character was sketched, but not with the praise
which he deserves, in the _Westminster Review_, July 1861; and also
with a special reference to his religious opinions in Scherer,
_Mélanges_, ch. xi. He was supposed to be a positivist, but now
declares himself to favour Spinoza.
891 E. Renan, born 1823. His chief works are, _Histoire Générale et
Systèmes Comparés des Langues Sémitiques_, 1845; _De l’Origine du
Langage_, 1849; _Averroes_, 1851; _Job_, 1859; _Cantique des
Cantiques_, 1860; and Essays collected, viz. _Essais de Critique et
de Morale_, 1859; and especially _Etudes de l’Histoire Religieuse_,
1859, which contains a remarkable preface on the office of modern
criticism. A true criticism on the last two works may be seen in
_Blackwood’s Magazine_, Nov. 1861, used in these remarks; and
another by Scherer, _Mélanges de la Critique Religieuse_, ch. xv. He
is now writing on _Les Origines du Christianisme_. See _Fraser’s
Magazine_, October 1862.
892 This will be seen to be the enumeration of the essays in the _Etudes
de l’Histoire Relig._ The essay on the future prospects of Christian
churches alluded to is in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ for Oct. 15,
1860, where Renan examines the prospects of the centralised system
of papacy, of the national system of the English and Russian
churches, and of the individual system of free churches; and argues
that the tendency of society is to adopt the latter, both in freedom
of creed and of constitution.
893 At the close of _La Chaire d’Hébreu_, 1862, he has however assumed a
view of the world and of nature, less negative and more definite.
894 See the preface to _Etudes Relig._ especially pp. 14, 15. It is
hoped that injustice is not done to M. Renan by these statements.
Perhaps they interpret his thoughts more pointedly than he himself
would do, and attribute to him as positive conclusions what rather
are incipient tendencies. They are the result however of a careful
study of his various works, and were written before his recent
_Discours d’Ouverture; De la part des Peuples Sémitiques_, which
seems to confirm them.
895 In Lect. V.
896 Some remarks will be found a few pages farther, in reference to the
subjective spirit and stronger consciousness of the ethical element
in human nature, which are evinced in the literature of the present
century.
897 Such as Herbert and Morgan.
898 On the influence of the Lake school of poetry, see D. M. Moir’s
_Sketches of the Poetical Literature of the past half century_,
1851, ch. i. and ii. The Lake school being a reaction against the
materialist school, which almost degraded spirit to matter, traced a
soul in nature, and was in danger of elevating matter to spirit.
Other branches of art besides poetry exhibit a similar change of
tone. This is remarkably manifest in the modern landscape art of
England, and is developed incidentally in Mr. Ruskin’s work, _The
Modern Painters_. We have already had occasion, in Lecture VI, to
advert to the similarity in result of the Lake school of English
poetry to the Romantic school of Germany. Both were spiritual
schools; but the former strove to learn from the freshness of
nature, the latter from the freshness of an earlier stage of
civilization.
899 A very able analysis of the mental character of Wordsworth, to whom
the words in the text allude, was given in the _National Review_,
No. 7, Jan. 1857.
900 Two very valuable essays occur, on Bentham and Coleridge
respectively, in Mr. J. S. Mill’s _Essays and Dissertations_, vol.
i. (reprinted from the _Westminster Review_, Aug. 1838 and March
1840). See especially the comparison of these two philosophers at p.
395 seq.
901 This is shown in a very striking manner in the _National Review_,
Oct. 1856, in which a comparison is instituted of the effects on the
English mind of the three teachers, J. H. Newman, Coleridge, and
Carlyle.
902 This is the arrangement adopted in Mr. Pearson’s work on Infidelity,
named on p. 13, note.
903 Concerning Comte’s philosophy see the note on p. 295. The
_Westminster Review_ is the periodical which at present embodies its
spirit. The works of Mr. G. H. Lewes, his _History of Philosophy_,
and his exposition of Comte (Bohn 1853), may be noticed as books in
which the philosophical, and, to some extent, the theological spirit
of positivism prevails. The mind of Mr. J. S. Mill has been largely
influenced by this philosophy, to which his tastes for natural
science disposed him; though the influence on him of the philosophy
of his father, James Mill, and of Bentham, as well as his own
originality of mind, prevents him from being a mere disciple of
Comte. These writers however have almost abstained from touching
directly on the subject of religion. The character of Positivism, as
an intellectual tendency, has been sketched by Mr. Morell, in the
_Lectures on the Philosophical tendencies of the Age_, 1848.
904 The view of religion as a worship of the ideal of humanity, in the
form of practical ethics and social study, which is taken by the
better class of Positivists, is stated at length in the _Westminster
Review_ for April 1858, together with an explanation of the
extravagant views of Comte, in the _Catéchisme Positiviste_, which
has been translated by one who was formerly highly respected as an
indefatigable teacher, in one of the public schools, and afterwards
in one of the universities.
905 Secularism is the name adopted a few years ago by Mr. G. J.
Holyoake. See _Christianity and Secularism; Report of the Public
Discussion between the Rev. B. Grant and Mr. Holyoake_; also,
_Modern Atheism, or the Pretensions of Secularism examined; a course
of Four Lectures, delivered in the Athenæum, Bradford_, by the Rev.
J. Gregory, &c. 1852; _Secular Tracts_, by the Rev. J. H. Hinton;
_The Outcast and the Poor of London_, Whitehall Sermons, by the Rev.
F. Meyrick, p. 91 seq. In its social aspect it is the form of
naturalism which has been borrowed from Owen and Combe; in its
religious, from Comte. The political tone of this system is
expressed in a poem, _The Purgatory of Suicides; a Prison Rhyme, by
Thomas Cooper the Chartist_, 1858; and the religious in _the
Confessions of Joseph Barker, a Convert from Christianity_, 1858.
Also in the tracts of Mr. Holyoake, e.g. _The Logic of Death_,
written in 1849, during the cholera. These last two writers are the
chief teachers of the system. Some small magazines are devoted to
its propagation. A criticism on these tendencies among the working
classes will be found, from the Unitarian point of view, in the
_National Review_, No. 15, Jan. 1859, where this class of political
and religious obstacles, encountered in dealing with the working
classes, is contrasted with the mere animalism described in Miss
Marsh’s _English Hearts and Hands_; and from a more sceptical point
of view, in the _Westminster Review_ for Jan. 1862, where an extract
is given (p. 83) concerning Holyoake’s view of Deity. The following
terrible utterance, taken from his _Discussion with Townley_ (p.
68), will give an idea of his tone: “Science has shown us that we
are under the dominion of general laws, and that there is no special
Providence. Nature acts with fearful uniformity: stern as fate,
absolute as tyranny, merciless as death; too vast to praise, too
inexplicable to worship, too inexorable to propitiate; it has no ear
for prayer, no heart for sympathy, no arm to save.”
906 The chief points against which the objections have been taken are,
the scriptural account of the character of Christ, the doctrine of
atonement, and the necessity of faith to salvation. See the Report
of the discussion which is referred to at the commencement of the
last note.
907 Mr. Buckle’s work on the History of Civilization is an instance to
which these statements apply.
908 The difficulties alluded to are, those suggested by geology,
concerning the narrative of creation, the deluge, and the date of
the creation of man; or by physiology, concerning the longevity of
the patriarchs; or by ethnology, concerning the unity of mankind.
909 T. Carlyle. The character of his writings and philosophy is
explained and criticised in Morell’s _History of Philosophy_, ii.
249 seq.; and in an able manner in the _Westminster Review_, Oct.
1839; both which sources have been much used in the following brief
account. The latter article would be considered probably to need a
slight alteration, in consequence of the slight change of character
in Carlyle’s more recent works.
910 Cfr. his _Life of Sterling_, 1850, pp. 126, 7.
911 It may be enough to refer to such a passage as _Past and Present_,
pp. 305-9.
_ 912 Past and Present_, pp. 193, 4.
913 Id. pp. 271, 2.