# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_September 1857_S281
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

"On the History of the Newest Theology."   281

back to the fundamental character of religious life, in order from that point to decide the questions concerning the constitution of the church; he contents himself with the most utterly superficial grounds of expediency and of common party interest. He sets forth with remarkable naïveté how much better the orthodox party fares under the territorial prince's rule over the church and under the consistorial government, and how the latter would never proceed to lay hands upon the confessional writings or even to abolish them" (as to the sense of the last, enigmatic-sounding assertion Bunsen has given us the necessary clarification); "how, on the other hand, one might expect everything, even the worst, from a synodical government, and most of all from a synod consisting wholly of clergymen, since then "'the rationalistic clergy would coil themselves like a giant serpent about the body of the church.'" Such fears belong, to be sure, to a time long past; but in recent years, since 1848, the fear of the lay element has become all the stronger, so that the fight for consistorial government and princely episcopate has been carried on with still greater passion. These grounds of external expediency in the deepest questions, this little faith with regard to the victorious power of the truth, and this reliance upon the supporting power of the state, is a very significant mark of the whole party. Much as it speaks of the reproach of Christ, it neither knows nor loves martyrdom. Greatly as it makes a display of principles, ends stand higher than principles, and expediency higher than inward truth! To the theory of the state church there corresponds then very exactly the theory of the state; of the jus divinum of the prince and of unconditional obedience toward the governing authority. In this question too Hengstenberg has remained true to himself, from the July Revolution and the articles directed against it (Year 1831, Nos. 18ff., 30ff., 81ff.) down to the Stuttgart Kirchentag; on this side also he presents the finished theologian of the state. And here he could at least with some show appeal to Scripture (Romans 13:1), though only to isolated passages, against which the words "You ought to obey God rather than men" and "Do not become the servants of men" come forward with victorious power. How greatly the unconditional subjection to a finite being contradicts the principles of Christianity and belongs properly to heathenism and to heathen Caesarism; how much higher stands the voice of God revealing itself in the conscience, the holding fast to right and law, than the arbitrary will of the man in power; how under circumstances resistance to arbitrary power and martyrdom are a Christian's duty — of this Dorner and Claus Harms have spoken earnest words, which, however, have passed without effect by the heads of Berlin Christianity, Hengstenberg and Stahl." By way of a note to what has been said thus far Schwarz adds the following. "How the Union is quite properly the Achilles' heel of the Hengstenbergian orthodoxy, how high expediency stands above the truth