# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Januar 1859_S12
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

12 The History of the Doctrine of the Ministry, etc.

..."; if the former is the case, then there is no real distinction
between the persons; if the latter is the case, then God must be a
composite being." Here it is better to refer the opponent to the
pronouncements of Scripture, which instruct us fully and clearly
concerning this mystery, than to investigate at length whether the
personal property is really, or formally, or relationally distinct from
the essence of the Father; for whatever one may say, the stubborn
opponent will always find something further from reason to object. The
simplest and surest answer is that philosophical axioms are not to be
applied outside their sphere to the highest mysteries, incomprehensible
to human reason, that are revealed in Scripture — namely, in such a way
that these mysteries are disputed on the basis of those axioms."

"Let this, then, be said concerning the use and abuse of philosophy in
theology. The sum of all this comes to this: that to philosophy in
theology is to be ascribed not mastery but service — which Philo
explains in the book On the Cherubim with this illustration: "Theology,
as it were, is to be the Sarah in the house of the Lord; philosophy is
to be admitted as a handmaid, and to fill the office of Hagar in
Abraham's house." Luther used to compare philosophy to the donkey, and
theology to Christ, who sits upon the donkey. The donkey, he says, is
not to be set upon Christ, but Christ upon the donkey."

(To be continued.)

The History
of the
Doctrine of the Ministry
on the Basis of the
History of the Doctrine of Justification
by
Wilhelm Preger,
Professor of Protestant Religious Instruction and of History at the
Royal Gymnasium in Munich.
Nördlingen: Beck. 1857. Octavo. iv, 238 pp.

We have long intended to give a detailed review of this work addressing
its content. Lack of time has hitherto prevented us from doing so. And
even now we must content ourselves with communicating to our readers
only the table of contents and one main section from it, reserving for
ourselves the right to return later to the theory developed therein.

The contents are as follows: I. The Task. II. The Apostolic Doctrine of
Justification. III. The Apostles' Doctrine of the Office of Christ. 1)
What the Office of Christ Is. 2) On the Preliminary Stages of the
Office of Christ. 3) The Manifold Character of the Office of Christ.
4) The Visible and Invisible Church. 5) On the Fellow-