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fully to the Johannine mode of apprehending the Master's glory, even as there are others who will prefer the simpler and more practical teaching of St. James. But certainly none of the interpretations of the Christ that we owe to apostolic insight has been so influential as St. Paul's, at least on the religious life of the West. In any reconstruction of theology his thought must find a leading place; and any explanation of the secret of Christ's power in human lives will be entirely inadequate that overlooks those elements in the conception of Him that we owe to the genius of the great apostle to the Gentiles.

It is impossible to treat the Christology of St. Paul without reference to doctrines of the Christian faith that have received elaborate expression in the theology of the Church; and my references to them must appear very insufficient, considering the complexity of the problems that are involved. Notwithstanding, I have thought it well to touch, however lightly, on the various points that come up, so as to present a general survey of the field, though quite aware that details ought often to have been added in defence of positions laid down and in illustration of statements made.

In the Appendix I have given a few supplementary notes on matters that could not be discussed in the text without interfering with the continuity of thought which it seems desirable to preserve in a lecture. I had intended to include in these notes a translation, already prepared, of that portion of Rothe's Ethik in which the author works out, in his own speculative way, the conception of Christ as the Second Adam, but I found it would have added too much to the bulk of the volume. For the same reason, I have

abandoned my purpose to deal with each of the Epistles separately, with the view of bringing out the contribution supplied by each to the systematic account of the apostle's thought. Those who wish to see this done at length are referred to Gess's work on the Person and Work of Christ, the first part of the second division of which is occupied with an examination of the passages in the Epistles that bear upon this subject. It has been done also more briefly, but very interestingly, by Schenkel, in his Christus-Bild der Apostel; and still more briefly by Principal Fairbairn, in his Christ in Modern Theology.

I have made large use of the results of the labours of those who in recent years have laboured with so much success in the field of New Testament Theology; but as regards the understanding of the mind of Paul on my subject, I do not know that there is one name more than another of which I ought to make grateful mention for help received, unless, indeed, it be that of R. Schmidt, whose Die Paulinische Christologie, which I read twenty years ago, first interested me in the subject, and set me on the lines of thought I have here followed. His little book, indeed, is almost entirely an exegetical treatment of leading passages. It is by no means easy reading, and some of his positions are, I think, untenable. But the thoroughness and originality of his handling of the whole subject is memorable, and subsequent writers have by no means acknowledged their full indebtedness to

him.

But apart from authors whom I have consulted with advantage, I feel that I am under special obligations to Albrecht Ritschl, by whose theological method I am con

scious of having been largely influenced in my treatment of the subject. It is deeply to be regretted, I think, that this great theologian has been for the most part introduced to this country in a way that hinders the appreciation of his real work in theology, and that his name has been made familiar to students chiefly in connection with errors he is supposed to have taught. His system may be assailable in many of its parts, and deserving of the criticism that has been directed. against it; but the real value of his work lies not so much in his system as in his method and the principles by which he was guided. As one of his own disciples has said, "the principle is fuller and richer far than the system." His rigorous exclusion of all ideas in the interpretation of Scripture that are due to outside sources; his insistence on the Person of Christ as the centre of religious thinking, the source of Divine revelation, and the measure of all knowledge on religious subjects; the importance he attaches, for the understanding of the significance of Christ's Person, to the confession of the Christian Church as recorded in the New Testament; the emphasis he places on the ethical understanding of religious truth, and on the practical character of all vital theological thought, these principles lead to a singularly fresh treatment of theology, and account for the remarkable impulse he has given both to theological activity and to religious life itself in his own land. Were his real work better known amongst us, one might hope to see a revival of interest in that department of study which has fallen into such deplorable neglect in the Churches of our country-I mean the study of Systematic Theology.

I have, in conclusion, to thank many friends — in

particular, the Rev. George Steven, M.A., Edinburgh-for advice and assistance in the preparation of these Lectures; as well as the Rev. William Aitken, M.A., Glasgow, for his kindness in revising the proof-sheets.

I am sorry I have had to add a list of errata. An old author, in a prefatory note to his work, entreats his readers "to correct with their pens these errata, because they pervert the sense, and some of them turn it directly contrary to some of the greatest truths which I am defending." The errata which I have corrected are not of so serious a nature. I regret, all the same, that they were not discovered at an earlier stage of revision.

DAVID SOMERVILLE.

EDINBURGH, September 1897.

CONTENTS

The absence of detail in St. Paul's Epistles regarding the earthly
history of Christ

The Exalted Jesus the true Messiah of St. Paul

Wherein St. Paul's faith was that of the primitive Church

Wherein it went beyond the latter

The individuality of his faith and experience

The significance of the Resurrection of Christ in St. Paul's
thought of Him

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LECTURE II

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