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Systematic Theology

Robert Dabney 1878
Dabney's comprehensive systematic theology presents Reformed doctrine with philosophical sophistication, addressing God, creation, redemption, and eschatology.

St. Louis: Presbyterian Publishing Company of St. Louis, 1878

From the text

The opening of the work as printed, in the spelling of this edition.

W8M if • J UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. J SYLLABUS AND NOTES THE COUKSE OF mm w rami wm TAUGHT LN Inwra C|eoIflgkaI Ibrattarg, Wix$m E. L. DABNEY, D. D. PUBLISHED BY TIBCE STUDENTS. EICHMOND: Shepperson & Graves, Printers. 1871. • 3T15- Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1871, by E. L. DABNEY, D. D., in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. < CONTENTS PART I. Natural Theology. Lecture I, II. Prefatory, and Existence of God ,. 5 III, IV. Divine Attributes 21 V. Immortality of Souls and Future Rewards. 34 VI. The Sources of our Thinking 42 VII. VIII. Ethical Theories 56 IX. Free Agency and the Will -- - 11 X. Responsibility and Province of Reason in Religion 78 Lecture Lecture Revealed Theology. XI, XII, XTTT. God and His Attributes 85 XIV. The Trinity 109 XV. Divinity of Christ 116 XVI. Divinity of the Holy Ghost, and of the Son -- 125 XVII.

Revealed Theology. XI, XII, XTTT. God and His Attributes 85 XIV. The Trinity 109 XV. Divinity of Christ 116 XVI. Divinity of the Holy Ghost, and of the Son -- 125 XVII. Personal Distinctions in the Trinity. 131 XVIII. Decree of God. 139 XIX. XX. Predestination - 148 XXI. Creation 166 XXH. Angels 179 XXHI. Providence 189 XXIV. Man's Estate of Innocence and the Covenant of Works 200 XXVH. The Fall, and Original Sin. 209 XXV, xxvni— xxxhi. The Law. 239 PART n. Lecture XXXIV— XXXVI. The Covenant of Grace . . XXXVII, X XXVffl. The Mediator of the Cove- nant of Grace " XXXIX. Mediatorial Offices 23 35 CONTENTS. XL, XLI. XLII. XLIII. XLIV, XLV. XLVI, XLVIL XLVIII. XLIX. L— LII. LIIL LIV, LV. LVI. LVII. LVIII. LIX, LX. LXI, LXII. LXIII, LXIV. LXV, LXVI. LXVIL LXVIII. LXIX. LXX. LXXI. LXXII. Nature of the Atonement.

XLIV, XLV. XLVI, XLVIL XLVIII. XLIX. L— LII. LIIL LIV, LV. LVI. LVII. LVIII. LIX, LX. LXI, LXII. LXIII, LXIV. LXV, LXVI. LXVIL LXVIII. LXIX. LXX. LXXI. LXXII. Nature of the Atonement. 43 Purgatory 65 Christ's Humiliation and Exaltation 73 Effectual Calling 79 Armenian Theory of Re- demption 91 Faith 106 Union to Christ 115 Justification 119 Repentance 144 Salification and Good Works 152 Perseverance of Saints 169 Assurance of Hope 177 Prayer 186 The Sacraments 196 Baptism--. 212 Subjects of Baptism 227 The Lord's Supper 247 Death of Believers 262 The Resurrection 270 The General Judgment, and Etern al Life 280 Nature and Duration of Hell Torments 289 The Civil Magistrate 299 Religious Liberty 309 TABLE OF ERRATA. Note. — Owing to the circumstances under which these lectures were printed, it has been impossible to prevent a number of mistakes from appearing in the text, some of which are quite serious.

the circumstances under which these lectures were printed, it has been impossible to prevent a number of mistakes from appearing in the text, some of which are quite serious. An attempt (necessarily a hurried one) has been made to collect most of them in the table given below. Many, however, which are purely typographical, and some others which can be readily corrected by the reader, are not included. It is possible that some have been omitted which should have been inserted, but it is hoped that these will not occasion serious inconvenience to the reader : Page 18, 10th line from bottom, for divine, read diverse.

i, read Ps. xcvii. bottom, for cxlv: 16, read cxlv : 17. bottom, for Ps. lxliv, read xciv. top, for His, read of His. top, for katisma katismatos, read htisma ktismatos. bottom, for rain-, read mine. top, place comma after Logos. bottom, for xix, read xviii. bottom, for sanies, read names. bottom, for Acrians, read Arians. top, for incita, read insita. bottom, insert 2. before It. 164, 1st line, for prospon, read prosapon. 176, 14th line from bottom, for summers, read centuries. 180, 13th " bottom, for " is the death," read is not the death. ERRATA. " 186,18th «« top, for "sinful head," read sinful men. " 187, 6th " bottom, for Theleniadzoinenoi, read Se- leniadzomenoi. " 189, 8th " top, for reasons, read seasons. " 190, 12th " top, for prodesis, read p?'0thesis. " 195, 22d " top, for complimentary, read complementary. " 199, 25th " top, for " ox yux," read efflux.

232, for 241-248. Page 246, 28th line from bottom, for edoulensate, read edouleusate. " 256, top line, for expicit, read explicit. " 290, 1st line, for xxxi, read xxxii. " 296, 18th line from bottom, for line read hire. 297, middle of page, for xxxii, read xxxiii. it PART II. The first Lecture should be No. XXXIV, and all the following changed accordingly. Page 1, 17th line from top, for "Dick Lect. 49," read Dick Led. 48. " 3, 25th " bottom, for kames, read kaine. " 9, 6th " top, for Racorian, read Racovian. " 9, 21st " top, for Knaap, read Knapp.

" 10, last word of second line, for "of," read no. " 10, 7th line from top, for modum, read nodum. " 15,14th " bottom, for « to," read is, that. " 17, 24th " bottom, for liberal, read literal. " 23,28th " bottom, for resumed, read assumed. " 26, 3d " top, for MoDuestia, read Mopsuestia. " 26, 7th " top, for Theodoret, read Theodore. " 26, 2d and 25th lines from bottom, for Enosis, read henosis. " 32, 3d line from top, for Decrteum, read decretum. " 32,18th " for second, read first. " 34, 11th line from bottom, for reasons, read seaso?is. " 36, 25th " top, for notus, read nodus. " 36,16th " bottom, after " Socinians," insert tho parenthe- sis just preceding. " 36, 16th " bottom, for Eph. read Pel. " 4C, 25th " top, for primitive, read punitive.

Ad Lectorem. — Our preceptor in Theology having given to the classes the course of lectures which he had delivered to previous ones, to be used by us in any manner we found most convenient for our assistance in this study, we have printed them in this form for private circulation among ourselves, our predecessors and successors in the Seminary. Our reasons for doing so are the following : We found these lectures useful, so far as we had pro- ceeded, in assisting our comprehension of the text-books. As Dr. Dabney announced a change in the method of his instruction, in which he would cease to deliver the lectures orally, from his chair ; and placed them in MS- at the disposal of the students, we desired to continue to avail ourselves of their assistance. To provide ourselves with copies, and to extend their use to subsequent fellow-students, the most convenient and obvious mode was to print them.

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Contents

  1. Owing to the circumstances under which these lectures were
  2. The first Lecture should be No. XXXIV, and all the following
  3. Our preceptor in Theology having given to the classes
  4. The distribution of Theology into didactic, polemic,
  5. Some old divines were wont to deny that.there was
  6. Clarke. The student may find a very distinct statement of it in the
  7. Now, instead of say-
  8. The truth here is : that we cannot conceive of finite substance or
  9. What needed to complete it 1— This argument is in all parts well
  10. Can the Platonic Doctrine of the Eternity of all Substances
  11. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. ll
  12. The supporters of the metaphysical divines depreciate Paley, as lead-
  13. EXISTENCE OP GOD* (continued.)
  14. The adaptations of one department
  15. God, thus : The truth is abstract ; its belief would not have been
  16. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 15
  17. Can the Present Universe be the result of an Infinite Series
  18. The true answers to the atheistic hypothesis are
  19. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 17
  20. Darwin) is utterly repudiated by even the better irreligious philoso-
  21. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 19
  22. Mgo, self-consciousness; but that you have implied it. Hence, if we
  23. (6.) And this because, next, pantheism is a scheme of
  24. Iain's privacy, the orgies of crime and cruelty hidden beneath the
  25. Traditionary Knowledge not to be separated from rational^
  26. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 23
  27. Others argue again : We must ascribe to God every conceivable per-
  28. The
  29. But may not God be like us, matter and spirit in one person 1 I
  30. He is uncompounded, that His substance is ineffably homogeneous, that
  31. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 27
  32. Turrettin, Que. 20. Dr. Clarke, Ubi supra. Charnock, Discourse xii,
  33. But between these limits we believe Gfod is omnipotent : That is,
  34. Let us see whether, in all these directions, God's knowledge is not
  35. The ends which are subserved show as much knowledge and wisdom as
  36. He a moral being? Is His will regulated by right? Reason answers,
  37. But a most powerful
  38. Now, when our senses and understanding are legitimately used, their
  39. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 33
  40. He could have produced the same quantum of good by other means,
  41. To sustain that presumption against the impugner, we have only to
  42. But there are two kinds of materialists: those who believe thinking,
  43. Materialists have objected that material af-
  44. Here again,
  45. But, objects the
  46. Natural Theology tells us of no rational creatures, save men. Should
  47. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 39
  48. Does man surfeit himself? Nature offers a healing medicine, and
  49. His moral attributes. But man needs more than this for his soul's
  50. His word. But practically it is not so. Men are but too ready to
  51. A Revelation may be expected. Finally, if Revelation is abso-
  52. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 43
  53. My purpose is to give by no means a complete synopsis, even, of
  54. To show the student how shal-
  55. Hume, against the certainty of all human knowledge. Let us also
  56. Once more I argue on this head, that axioms cannot be experimentally
  57. Guinea are generally black, of Erigland generally white ?" Yet the
  58. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 49
  59. Having thus rebutted
  60. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 51
  61. Take another case : A. school boy, utterly ignorant of the explosive
  62. The subtile, and yet simple reasoning, by which
  63. B in the second. Then A was the true cause all the time. Why?
  64. SOURCES OF OUR THINKING. (Continued.)
  65. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 55
  66. But to this view many sound philosophers,
  67. The Selfish System, presenting itself in many
  68. Where, now, is that free agency which, we intuitively feel, is rudi-
  69. Englahd divines and philosophers,
  70. Hobbes himself; and the same absurd psychology is assumed, which
  71. Daniel most in our eyes : the heroism which refused to bow his con-
  72. Paley insinuates (none of his
  73. Paley also borrows the common argument of ob-
  74. Paley, having succeeded to his
  75. Once more. On Paley's scheme, there could be no morality, nor moral
  76. ETHICAL THEORIES. (Concluded.)
  77. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 65
  78. Does it apprehend it by its reason; or by a distinct moral faculty?
  79. His theory is: 1. That in the merely ani-
  80. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 67
  81. Objection. 1st. Soul always sees, in order to feel. 2d. No
  82. Thus, he betrays the whole basis of morals and truth, to a sweeping
  83. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 69
  84. The most important
  85. The solution of this seeming paradox is in this fact •'
  86. OF LECTURES IN" THEOLOGY. 71
  87. Now, in answer to all this, it would be enough
  88. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. YS-
  89. U SYLLABUS AND NOTES
  90. Now, the objections
  91. Remember, there is already a subjective motive in the general, to
  92. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 11
  93. Most important
  94. Inducement receives its influence from the subjectite dispo-
  95. Wide difference of opinion
  96. SO SYLLABUS AND NOTES
  97. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 81
  98. All the different forms of rationalism, which
  99. To the
  100. The Scriptures always address us as rational creatures, and presup-
  101. Bible, that some inference he had drawn from its words were irrecon-
  102. Prelatists and pa-
  103. LECTUEE XL
  104. Jehovah, with its abbreviation Jah., (most frequently
  105. New Testament in its Greek version Pantokrator. (Rev. i: 18.) Ely on
  106. Socinians and orthodox, but even Mohammedans ; affecting, as it. does,
  107. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 89
  108. The objects are so exceedingly numerous, that unless general classes
  109. Him a righteous being ; and consummate being those perfections which
  110. Old. We may add, also, all those passages which declare God, al-
  111. That God's Being has neither beginning nor end, is stated in re-
  112. God's immutability, as thus defined, is abundantly asserted in Scrip-
  113. The difference between know-
  114. God also knows, and has always known, all that shall ever occur in
  115. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 95
  116. Last : God's predictions of such free acts of His creatures, and His
  117. But in a metaphysical point of
  118. Several of our axioms are truths of relation. Yet, it by no means
  119. We should apprehend no real distinction between God's will and His
  120. Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzor. A parallel answer may be made to the
  121. By God's decretive will, we mean that part of His will by which He
  122. Seeing, then, that He could not give them His whole immense design
  123. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. no
  124. Yet our doctrine does not represent God as under external moral
  125. God's providence has established by which virtue usually promotes in-
  126. Now Calvinists hold that God is immutably
  127. d.) The death of Christ, a sinless being who
  128. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 105
  129. The evidence is this very connexion between holiness and happiness,
  130. The great standing difficulty concerning the divine goodness has been
  131. The evidences of God's truth and
  132. This idea is also prominent, when God's priests^prophets/.and professed
  133. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 109
  134. The word Person, prosopon, persona, (sometimes hupostasis, in the
  135. Noetus, an obscure clergyman, (if a clergyman) of
  136. Subordinationist. All attempts to devise some other path, have merged
  137. The refutation of the former class
  138. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 113
  139. I pray the student to bear in mind, that I am not here attempting
  140. This attempted explanation appears, with new com-
  141. God's purpose to create, when His chosen time should have come, was
  142. The argument from the baptism of Christ seems to me possessed of
  143. Messiah as divine. Note the contrast between their descriptions of
  144. But we find a more direct testimony for His pre-existence contained
  145. Jew misunderstood it. He was to be the Son of David according to
  146. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 119
  147. Person, who, though everywhere present, rarely makes Himself cogni-
  148. OF LECTURES IN THEOLOGY. 121
  149. Mai. iii: 1-3. For there the "Angel of the Covenant" is, in the
  150. The following proof-texts will be found justly applicable :

and 610 more sections

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