Systematic Theology (Volume 1 of 3)

In contemplating the words and acts of God, as in contemplating the words and acts of individual men, we are compelled to assign uniform and permanent effects to uniform and per...

THE GENUINENESS OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCUMENTS, or proof that the books of the Old and New Testaments were written at the age to which they are assigned and by the men or class of m...

In the nature of the one God there are three eternal distinctions which are represented to us under the figure of persons, and these three are equal. This tripersonality of the...

Inspiration is that influence of the Spirit of God upon the minds of the Scripture writers which made their writings the record of a progressive divine revelation, sufficient, w...

1. _Needs of man’s nature._ Man’s intellectual and moral nature requires, in order to preserve it from constant deterioration, and to ensure its moral growth and progress, an au...

Though the word “theology” is sometimes employed in dogmatic writings to designate that single department of the science which treats of the divine nature and attributes, prevai...

Any correct explanation of the universe must postulate an intuitive knowledge of the existence of the external world, of self, and of God. The desire for scientific unity, howev...

Although the knowledge of God’s existence is intuitive, it may be explicated and confirmed by arguments drawn from the actual universe and from the abstract ideas of the human m...

By the decrees of God we mean that eternal plan by which God has rendered certain all the events of the universe, past, present, and future. Notice in explanation that:

On the definition of the term God, see Hodge, Syst. Theol., 1:366. Other definitions are those of Calovius: “Essentia spiritualis infinite”; Ebrard: “The eternal source of all t...

God himself, in the last analysis, must be the only source of knowledge with regard to his own being and relations. Theology is therefore a summary and explanation of the conten...

(_a_) _A disciplined mind._ Only such a mind can patiently collect the facts, hold in its grasp many facts at once, educe by continuous reflection their connecting principles, s...

I. Definition of Decrees. II. Proof of the Doctrine of Decrees. 1. From Scripture. 2. From Reason. A. From the Divine Foreknowledge. B. From the Divine Wisdom. C. From the Divin...

sought to express in his Æolian Harp: “And what if all of animated Nature Be but organic harps diversely framed, That tremble into thought, as o’er them sweeps, Plastic and vast...

I. In Scriptures there are Three who are recognized as God. 1. Proofs from the New Testament. A. The Father is recognized as God. B. Jesus Christ is recognized as God. C. The Ho...

I. Definition of the term Attributes. II. Relation of the divine Attributes to the divine Essence. III. Methods of determining the divine Attributes. IV. Classification of the A...

I. Definition of Inspiration. II. Proof of Inspiration. III. Theories of Inspiration. 1. The Intuition-theory. 2. The Illumination Theory. 3. The Dictation-theory. 4. The Dynami...

Revelation. I. Genuineness of the Christian Documents. 1. Genuineness of the Books of the New Testament. 1st. The Myth-theory of Strauss (1808-1874). 2nd. The Tendency-theory of...

I. Reasons _a priori_ for expecting a Revelation from God. II. Marks of the Revelation man may expect. III. Miracles, as attesting a Divine Revelation. 1. Definition of Miracle....

I. Definition of Theology. II. Aim of Theology. III. Possibility of Theology. 1. The existence of a God. 2. Man’s capacity for the knowledge of God 3. God’s revelation of himsel...

I. The Cosmological Argument, or Argument from Change in Nature. II. The Teleological Argument, or Argument from Order and Useful Collocation in Nature. III. The Anthropological...

I. First Truths in General. II. The Existence of God a first truth. 1. Its universality. 2. Its necessity. 3. Its logical independence and priority. III. Other Supposed Sources...

I. Sources of Theology. 1. Scripture and Nature. 2. Scripture and Rationalism. 3. Scripture and Mysticism. 4. Scripture and Romanism. II. Limitations of Theology. III. Relations...