J.H. Heidegger's Corpus of Christian Theology: Theology in General: Revealed Theology, Part 1

[A fundraising update: We are 25% of the way to our fundraising goal 25 new $100/month subscribers! Thanks be to God. If you are being blessed by the translation work, please consider supporting the work and speeding it on its way.  Click here to watch a brief video on the project.]

13.  The necessity of Revelation.

At the same time, for a solid and saving knowledge of God and God’s works, and so of the whole way to the Heavenly goal and reward, Divine Revelation is obviously required.  For God dwelleth in light inaccessible, whom no man seeth, nor is able to see, unless He reveal Himself, 1 Timothy 6:16.  Therefore, He was obliged to reveal Himself, not only so that by that Revelation man might be excited to the νόησιν/perception of the works of God, in order to see clearly the invisible things of God,[1] and also in order to feel after and find God;[2] but especially so that He might learn from it, what it means that God is, and in this perfection discern a second, which applies more nearly to God as אֵל שַׁדַּי, El-Shaddai, God Almighty, the omni-sufficient God, that He is able to be the God of the sinner; and then perceive that consummate commendation of both the Divine mercy and righteousness, that He is willing to be the God of the sinner, and to be sought and found by him; and finally understand how He ought to be sought so that He might be found.  For, without this recognition, understanding, and faith it is impossible to please God, to come to Him, to walk with Him, and to worship Him, Hebrews 11:6.  And the revelation of these things is required, not only by the need of man, and the desire of obtaining eternal salvation, implanted in him, and inhering in his deepest marrow; but also by the goodness of God, whereby to man as a rational creature, created to glorify God, and propagated from the one blood of a sinner,[3] and overloaded with manifold benefits, He is able to communicate Himself whole, to the extent He promises, and His benign will furnishes.  Who will shew us any good?  Lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us, O Jehovah! Psalm 4:6.  With thee is the fountain of life, and in thy light shall we see light, Psalm 36:9.  For in the Wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, εὐδόκησεν ὁ Θεὸς, it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, 1 Corinthians 1:21.  According to the riches of His grace He hath abounded toward us ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ φρονήσει, in all wisdom and prudence, making known to us τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ, κατὰ τὴν εὐδοκίαν αὐτοῦ, the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He had purposed in Himself, Ephesians 1:7-9.  Finally, this Revelation sheds abroad the love of God,[4] zeal in seeking, peace and confidence in what is found, and knowledge that is in every way fruitful and pleasing to God.[5]  And hence arises the Revealed Theology of Wayfarers, the full and systematic exposition of which is our chief intention.

14.  A definition of revealed Theology, and a description of a Theologian.

Now, Revealed Theology is the Doctrine concerning God, reconciling sinful man to Himself in Christ, and concerning the right knowing and pious worshipping of the same, sought from God revealing it in His word, and established in purity before Him, as it were, for the salvation of sinful man and the glory of the Name of God.  Hence also he is the γνήσιος/true Theologian, who, what things he speaks, ὡς λόγια Θεοῦ λαλεῖ, speaks as the oracles of God, 1 Peter 4:11; who λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς ἐξ εἰλικρινείας, ὡς ἐκ Θεοῦ, κατενώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν Χριστῷ λαλεῖ, in Christ speaks the word of God, as of sincerity, as of God, in the sight of God, 2 Corinthians 2:17, even indeed εἰς αὐτὸν, to Him, or for the sake of His glory, Romans 11:36; who πείθει/persuades, not men, but God, Galatians 1:10; who γνωρίζει ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ, declares the name of God, or whatever is able to be known concerning God for His glory and the salvation of sinful man, John 17:26.

15.  A fuller declaration of revealed Theology.

For, since man is from God, and is in no manner able to be except from God, still less is he blessed, unless he be and return to God; it is manifest, that there is nothing more insatiably to be known by him, that God, and His Name, that is, His virtues/attributes, which especially ought to be celebrated and commended by sinful man.  In other respects, to sinful man God is a πῦρ καταναλίσκον, consuming fire, Hebrews 12:29.  And so God is not able to be approached by sinful man, nor to be savingly known, apart from His good pleasure; neither is He able to be pleased apart from Christ, whom God has set forth to be a ἱλαστήριον/propitiation, Romans 3:25.  God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their sins to them, 2 Corinthians 5:19.  Therefore, God ought to be known, as reconciling sinful man to Himself in Christ, so that almost all Theology, just as if it were written in the blood of Christ, speaks of Christ, and of those things that are necessary for the knowledge of Him, and directs especially to Him.  I determined not to know any thing, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, 1 Corinthians 2:2.  For every Prophecy has to be κατὰ τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς πίστεως, according to the conformity of that faith, which is built on that one foundation, Jesus Christ, Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 3:11.  He is τῆς πίστεως ἀρχηγὸν καὶ τελειωτὴν, the author and finisher of the faith, Hebrews 12:2.  Now, man, miserably corrupted and wholly darkened by sin, in himself, and entirely without God, is able to discover nothing, whereby he might know God as reconciled to him in Christ.  And so whatever is to be known concerning God for His glory and the salvation of the sinner, ought to be known from God, or His word and indubitable revelation.  Jehovah alone giveth wisdom; out of His mouth is ‎דַּ֣עַת וּתְבוּנָֽה׃, Knowledge and Understanding, Proverbs 2:6.  The words of the wise ought to proceed ‎מֵרֹעֶ֥ה אֶחָֽד׃, from one Shepherd, Christ and His word, Ecclesiastes 12:11.  All description concerning God and Divine things ought to be instituted ‎אֶֽ֫ל חֹ֥ק, according to the thing determined or decreed by God, to which nothing is to be added or diminished, Psalm 2:7, in comparison with Deuteronomy 4:2.  And, let not men deceive themselves, that it is lawful for them and pious, to speak whatever they please concerning God, as if from God; they are obliged to speak ἐνώπιον Θεοῦ, before God, who, as judge and witness, presides in the conscience of man.  Therefore, absolutely nothing is to be said, except what, as fetched from God, the conscience of man is able to approve to that same exacting judge and exactor of its sayings, between which conscience and God alone all this business is conducted.  Whence also the Apostle (2 Corinthians 2:17) requires that εἰλικρίνειαν/sincerity, whereby the man of God καπηλεύει/peddles not the word of God,[6] in such a way that he ἀθεμίτῳ μίξει, unlawfully mixes, flat wine with the good, dross with silver, Isaiah 1:22; chaff with the wheat, Jeremiah 23:23; that is, deceits and lies with the truth, things stripping away all power to move the soul, the ἐνέργειαν/efficacy to divine asunder the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow, to discern the thoughts of the heart, Hebrews 4:12, with the word:  but rather has the good testimony of his conscience, because he, animated by the fear and love of God, desires διδάσκειν κατ᾽ εὐσέβειαν, to teach in accordance with godliness/piety, 1 Timothy 6:3; Titus 1:1, and so to speak nothing except what God has commanded to be spoken, and what has χρείας οἰκοδομὴν, the use of edifying, Ephesians 4:29:  and so he keeps a vigilant watch over himself, lest perhaps there be πταῖσμα, an offense, or slip, even in a word, since he is a perfect man, who offends not in a word, James 3:2; and, although in the heart there are ‎מַעַרְכֵי/dispositions/preparations, yet ‎מַעֲנֵ֥ה לָשֽׁוֹן׃, the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord, Proverbs 16:1.  Finally, the North Star and Lodestar of all doctrine of this sort is the glorification of God through the salvation of the sinner, inasmuch as Christ the Lord came in the flesh, and is going to come to judgment ἐνδοξασθῆναι ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ θαυμασθῆναι ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς πιστεύουσιν, to be glorified in his saints (sinners sanctified by Him), and to be admired in all them that believe, 2 Thessalonians 1:10.  Which glorification of God consists in this, that men show forth τὰς ἀρετὰς τοῦ ἐκ σκότους ἡμᾶς καλέσαντος εἰς τὸ θαυμαστὸν αὐτοῦ φῶς, the praises/virtues of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and so He saves the sinner through the marvelous harmony of His virtues and perfections, 1 Peter 2:9.

16.  The criteria of true Religion.

This is the sum of orthodox Theology, this is the nucleus.  From which also ready is the judgment concerning the indubitable criteria of Orthodox and saving Religion.  For that is undoubtedly the true and saving Theology and religion, which both teaches the true God from the true God, that is, from His indubitable revelation, who, as it is evident from the most certain notions and arguments, is the true and highest God:  and elicits and sets forth that one and only means, which every upright and true conscience is able to judge to be suitable for reconciling the sinner to an angry God, just judge, and inexorable avenger of sin, through due satisfaction to His justice, made accessible by revelation out of the innermost depths of the Divine will itself:  and, finally, explains by the same revelation the worship worthy of the one and only God, who sanctifies the sinner, and uniquely pleasing to Him.

17.  The religions of the Gentiles, of the Jews, and of the Muhammadans are tested by the rule of the same.

But tested by this rule, the Theology and religion of the Gentiles, Jews, and Muhammadans is found not to be saving religion, but mere infidelity and lamentable superstition.  For, with respect to the Gentiles, they never had any indubitable Divine revelation, since the oracles of which they boasted were long ago branded with the stigma of vanity:  nor were they ever able to discover any means, or atoning sacrifice, for reconciling offended Deity, whereby satisfaction might be rendered to Divine justice offended by sin, since they were miserably distracted with divisions of opinions, some denying the immortality of the soul, others the communion of God with the soul; some bringing in a mere man as sinner satisfying for the sins of men, others mere a God; some dreaming that perfect righteousness unites a sinner to God, others an act of virtue:  nor, finally, did they refer their worship to the true God, but to created minds in vast numbers, and in shameful Polytheism, and had no worship pleasing to God.  The reasoning with respect to the Jews is similar, who, defecting from the true God of Israel, do not understand the Scriptures of the Old Testament, with the veil of Moses covering their face,[7] and with the key of knowledge lost, and set the deliria of their Kabbalah[8] in opposition to it; they promise to themselves the expiation of sin, with the Messiah, promised by Moses and the Prophets, rejected, through the performance of ceremonies and their own זכות/righteousness and merits; finally, they do not direct their worship to the True God, the Most High, who is not without Christ and His Spirit, and arrange it, not in institutes pleasing to God, but in rites already fallen into disuse and unprofitable.  Finally, the Muhammadans boast of a spurious revelation, which the impostor Muhammad, receiving through I know not what pigeon, passed on in the Quran, a filthy patchwork, stitched together from the books of the Old and New Testament wrested from their proper sense, the Talmud, and the fables of the Gentiles, to the sayings of which he commanded his vassals to be obedient without any liberty of inquiring or disputing, or to be compelled to obedience by arms:  They place satisfaction for sins, not in Jesus, whom they, although commending Him magnificently, deny to have been able to render satisfaction for us, because (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:48) a soul is not able to offer a price for another soul; but in their own righteousness:  and they refer their worship, not to the glory of the true God, but of some false god, whom they venerate as corporeal and cruel, without Son and Spirit:  indeed, with works of solid piety and manly worship cast aside, they delight their god with the works of old wives’ superstition and barren asceticism.

18.  The truth of the Christian religion.

But the Christian Religion fulfills all those criteria of the true religion.  For, as we will demonstrate more fully in its place, it has a Divine Revelation beyond all exception; and it pays homage to the principium of faith and salvation comprehended in that Revelation, even Jesus Christ, who, as God and man together, was able, and willing without reluctance, to render a sufficient λύτρον/ransom for sin to an angry God on behalf of the sinner, and thus was able to justify the sinner:  and it prescribes that no other worship is to be rendered to god, than that which in His Revelation He has solemnly testified to be altogether pleasing to Himself, with the unerring conscience of man adding its witness.

19.  To the truth of the Christian Religion the impiety and error of Christians ψευδωνύμων, falsely so called, is no objection.

But it is really no objection, that the great part of those naming Christ, either by the profession itself, or by their works and less than holy ἀναστροφῇ/conversation, manner of life, project a spirit averse to these principal heads of the Christian religion.  For, Moses, the Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles, in innumerable places, most clearly foretold, that not only were such going to arise, Matthew 24:23; Acts 20:29; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, etc.; 1 Timothy 4:1, etc.; 2 Timothy 3:1, 2, etc.; 2 Peter 2:1, and by that very thing they, having in fact obtained the fulfillment, they have won credit for their Revelation:  but also, with Christ only just preached, impious men παρεισέδυσαν, crept in unawares, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, Jude 4; who, although having the Scripture, the μόρφωσιν εὐσεβείας, delineation of piety, have denied its δύναμιν/power, 2 Timothy 3:5;[9] professing that they know God, in works they have denied Him, Titus 1:16; of whom Saint Paul spoke κλαίων/weeping, because they walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, Philippians 3:18.  Let us not marvel, that for a long time αἱρέσεις ἀπωλείας, damnable heresies, were able to inundate with great fury, 2 Peter 2:1, suppose the crowds of heretics, especially the Antitrinitarians, and others ancient and more recent, overthrowing the cardinal points of salvation; but also ἀποστασίαν/apostasy, falling away, itself, 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1, which sort the Papacy conceived in the criteria of religion indicated above, although having the Scripture in hand and on their lips, yet drawing more closely to Pagans, Jews, and Muhammadans, than to true Christians, and bore, with τῷ κατέχοντι, the one letting, and for a long time hindering, removed, 2 Thessalonians 2:7.

[1] Romans 1:20.

[2] Acts 17:27.

[3] Acts 17:26.

[4] See Romans 5:5.

[5] See 2 Peter 1:8.

[6] 2 Corinthians 2:17:  “For we are not as many, which corrupt (καπηλεύοντες/peddle) the word of God:  but as of sincerity (ἐξ εἰλικρινείας), but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”

[7] 2 Corinthians 3:12-16.

[8] The Kabbalah is a set of secret, esoteric Rabbinic doctrines, handed down orally and based on a mystical interpretation of the Hebrew Scripture.  The Zohar is one of the principal texts for Kabbalists.  It was probably written by Moses de León in the thirteenth century, but it has traditionally been attributed to Simeon ben Jochai, a second century Rabbi and mystic.

[9] 2 Timothy 3:5:  “Having a form of godliness (μόρφωσιν εὐσεβείας), but denying the power (δύναμιν) thereof:  from such turn away.”