(ttnurttroiu m4rningtrul flnntlJly Continuing LEHRE UNO WEHRE MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LUTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLy-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol.xvm April, 1947 No.4 CONTENTS Pqe Why Should Our Pastors, Teachers, and Professors Subscribe Unconditionally to the Symbolical Wr itings of OUl' Church? C. F. W. Walther _ ------------ ------- -- --- _ _ 241 Natural Theology in David Hollaz . .Jarosiav Pelikan, Jr. ___ __________ _ W Timelog of Jesus' Last Days. W. Geo i __ . __ .. ___ .. .... __ ... _ __ Z63 Outlines on the Nitzsch Gospel Selections .. __ __ ____ .. _ 277 l!88 MisceUanea __ . ___ .. __ _ Theological Observer . ___ . _____ ._ .. .. __ ._ .. _ 2M Book Review _ .._ .. __ _ .... __ . __ . .. __ - . __ _______ ... ..._. . _ __ 314 ElD Predlger mUll nleht alleIn wei- clew. al80 class er die Scha1e unter- welae. wte sie rechte Chrlsten aollen ae1n. .andern auch daneben den Woel- ten eDell-ren. daII llie die Schafe nlcht anarelfen und mit fal5cher Lehre ver- fuebren und I:rrtum eintuehren. Luth~ PubUsh Zs iBt lteJn DIn£ du die IAate mehr bei der K1rche behae1t clenn d ie gute Predigt. - AJlOIoQie. At't. If It the trumpet give an UIlcvtain aound, who Ihall prepare hlIuelf t. the battle? - i erw. 14:8 by tile Ev. Lnth. S1D-od of MIssouri, Ohio, aud Other States CONCORDIA PUBLISHING BOUSE, St. Louis 18, Mo. 111 11. 5 • •• NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ 253 undermined, and planted the banner of reason and "common sense" on its ruins. If our Church, which is now [1858] lying in the dust shall rise again and not gradually degenerate into a body which is Lutheran in name only, without any char- acteristics of the Church of the Reformation, then all the fine words about ecclesiastical propriety, about the re-introduchon of ancient rites and ceremonies, all attempts to invest the office of the ministry with special glory and authority, all this will be utterly in vain. The only help for resurrecting our Church lies in a renewed acceptance of its old orthodox confessions and in a renewed unconditional subscription to its Symbols. * ••• Natural Theology in David Hollaz By JAROSLAV PELIKAN, Jr. Christianity is a religion of supernatural revelation: to this "give all the Prophets witness." It is an assertion of the fact that the true meaning of God lies beyond the ken of the unaided human mind. Indeed, the Christian faith is so bold as to assert that "he that loveth not - and only a Chris- tian is capable of &.ycbt'Y], true love - knoweth not God, for God is Love" (1 John 4: 8). As a result it may seem incongruous for Christian think- ers, dealing as they do with supernatural revelation, to con- cern themselves with natural reason. And yet that is what they have always done. In fact, the past century in the his- tory of Protestant theology has seen a heightening of the concern with "natural theology." Ever since Immanuel Kant proved to his own satisfaction and to that of many others that "all attempts to establish a theology by the aid of specu- lation alone are fruitless, that the principles of reason as applied to nature do not conduct to any theological truths, and, consequently, that a rational theology can have no ex- * That our Synod in its Centennial year still holds high the banner of God's Word and Luther's doctrine pure is due to Walther's in- defatigable efforts in the classroom, at pastoral conferences and synod- ical conventions, and through the printed word to exalt the priceless treasure contained in our Symbolical Books. One way in which we, the heirs of God's grace, can show our gratitude is a renewed study of the Book of Concord. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE 254 NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ istence," 1 Christian theologians and semi-Christian philos- ophers have debated the possibility of a natural or rational theology. An attempt by Emil Brunner of ZUrich to settle that de- bate has recently been translated into English and published in America.2 In this latest stage on the controversy with Karl Barth on natural theology and natural Law,3 Brunner's book seeks to present a Christian view of the relation be- tween revelation and reason - the reversal of the traditional order is significant - in arriving at transcendent truth. And while his attempt is certainly subject to serious qualifications (which would be the subject of a review, but lie beyond the scope of this essay), Brunner does show that the question is by no means an academic one. To become aware of its relevance, one need but remind himself of the fact that it has engaged the attention not only of the Reformed theo- logians Barth and Brunner, but of Blaise Pascal, the quasi- Catholic philosopher,4 of Christian Ernst Luthardt, the cele- brated Lutheran theologian of the nineteenth century,5 of Charles Hartshorne, a prominent American disciple of Alfred North Whitehead,6 and of the thoroughly unclassifiable Soren Kierkegaard 7 - to name only a few. In addressing himself to the questions of natural theology, David Friedrich Hollaz was in a tradition of almost two cen- turies of Lutheran dogmatic history. His Examen Theologiae Acroamaticae, which first appeared in 1707,8 has been called 1 Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, translated by J. M. D. Miklejohn (New York, 1901), p. 473; refutation of the proofs for the existence of God, pp. 438-76. 2 Emil Brunner, Revelation and Reason (Philadelphia, 1946). 3 Cf. ibid., pp.77-80, and Index sub "Barth." 4 Blaise Pascal, Pensees, Modern Library Edition (New York, 1941), Par. 252, p.89; Par. 542, p.172; and passim. 5 C. E. Luthardt, Apologetische Vortriige iiber die Grundwahr- heiten des Christentums (12-14th ed.; Leipzig, 1897), pp.20-57. 6 Prof. Hartshorne's Man's Vision of God and the Logic of Theism (Chicago, 1941) is an attempt to restate the ontological argument in terms of Whitehead's philosophy. 7 Among other places, see his Concluding Unscientific Postscript, translated by David F. Swenson and edited by Walter Lowrie (Prince- ton, 1941), p. 485 Gn "the disparaging air with which one would prove God's existence." 8 I have used the edition of Rostock and Leipzig, 1722, edited by Hollaz' son, with Krakevitz' preface; all references in the text of this study are to this edition of the Examen. NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ 255 the "last of the great textbooks of Lutheran orthodoxy." 9 A comparison of the dates of his life (1648-1713) with those of Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705) shows HolIaz' unique position in the history of Lutheran systematic theology. His place in that history may be indicated by the ratio - Hollaz' Examen : Calov's Systema:: Bengel's Gnomon: Calov's Biblia Illustrata. And although the significance of natural theology for the beginnings and the fruition of Lutheran dogmatics has been ably presented by the twenty-six-year old Troltsch,l° a thorough treatment of its place in the whole development,ll and especially in the period from Gerhard to Pietism, has not yet appearedP Such a study would perhaps be useful for an understanding of Kant, as well as of Pietism and of our own Lutheran forebears. I What right has a Biblical theologian to discuss the prob- lematics of natural theology? This question, to which Troltsch makes passing reference on pp. 28-35 of his aforementioned monograph without coming to grips with it anywhere directly, is the first to claim our attention. One of the moments in Hollaz' theology which seems to have influenced his answer to this question is his view of the perspicuity of Scripture. Revelation in the stricter sense means "a manifestation of matters which are secret and which 9 The Concordia Cyclopedia, p. 334. Ivar Holm believes that a study of Hollaz may help much toward an understanding of the development of Lutheran orthodoxy: Dogmhistoriska Studier till HoZlazius, I, Trost- ankarna i riittfiirdiggorrelseliiran (Lund, 1907), 6-9. As far as I have been able to determine, Holm's work, with its strong soteriological em- phasis, has never been completed. 10 Ernst TraUsch, Vernunft und Ofjenbarung bei Johann Gerhard und Melanchthon (Gottingen, 1891). 11 Werner Elert has a brief but excellent summary in his Morpho- logie des Luthertums, I, (Munich, 1931),44---52. Hans Emil Weber, Re- formation, Orthodoxie und Rationalismus, I, Von der Reformation zur Orthodoxie (Giitersloh, 1937), 174---77, presents an interesting critique of Troltsch's interpretation of Melanchthon; Volume II would have treated Gerhard, where, it seems to me, Troltsch's thesis is even more vulnerable. 12 This essay is the first fruit of a study which hopes to treat, among others, Calov's Theologia naturalis et revelata (1646); Musaeus' De US1~ principiorum rationis et philosophiae in controversiis theologicis (1665); the same author's Luminis naturae insufjicientia; Hundeshagen's Theologia naturalis (1671); and Hebenstreit's Theologia naturalis Ar- minianis imprimis opposita (1696). All these and many more are avail- able in the Pritzlaff Memorial Library in St. Louis. 256 NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ are hidden under a sort of veil" (I, 67); "for by the force of the origin of the word, 'to reveal,' un:oXUi,{JJtLELV, is to uncover and manifest things which are secret and which are hidden under a sort of veil" (I, 93). On the basis of 1 Cor. 4: 6; Heb. 1: 1, and similar passages, he concludes that "after the com- pletion of the canon of Scripture there is no new and im- mediate revelation," that the Bible is "a suitable and adequate principle of saving knowledge ... also for the present state of the Church" (1,70). This conception of revelation, which bears verbal affinity to Luther's controversy with the enthusiasts, had neverthe- less undergone considerable revision by Hollaz' day, prin- cipally through the controversy with Rathmann,13 Thus the clarity of Scriptural doctrine necessary for salvation, defended by Luther against Erasmus in 1525,14 was now formulated in the words: "Scripture is said to be clear not with respect to things, but with respect to words, for unseen things can be expressed in clear and perspicuous words" (I, 167) . If Scripture is completely clear, and if this is a clarity with respect to words, could not anyone at all, Christian or not, determine the meaning of the Bible by a simple his- torical interpretation? This question was bothering Lutheran theologians in Hollaz' time.1G For him, a theologian, in the broader sense, was "one who properly [rite] performs the task of a theologian, explaining, confirming, and defending theological truths, even though he lacks a sincere holiness of will," whether he had never been a Christian or had fallen away (I, 14). Consequently, "a tractable unregenerate man, prepared by the illuminating grace of the Holy Spirit, can attain to an external and literal knowledge of Sacred Scrip- ture" (1,174), though he might never be converted; for to 13 On the meaning of the controversy with the enthusiasts, C£. the brilliant essay by Karl Holl, "Luther und die Schwarmer," Gesammelte Aufsiitze, I, Luther (6th ed.; Tiibingen, 1932), 425 ft. On Rathmann and the entire seventeenth century development, cf. R. H. Griitzmacher, Wort 11,00 Geist. Eine Untersuchung zum Gnadenmittel des Wortes (Leipzig, 1901), and the revision of Griitzmacher's views in Otto Ritschl, Dogmen- geschichte des Protestantismus, IV (Gottingen, 1927), 157-72. 14 "De servo arbitrio," St. Louis Edition, XYIII, 1680-84. 15 Cf. J. G. Walch, Historische 11,00 Theologische Einleitung in die Religions-Streitigkeiten der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (Jena, 17-), II, 76-91, 537-42; V,159-62. NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ 257 the perspicuity of Scripture must be added its efficacy (1,203) .16 On the one hand, then, Hollaz dealt with the problem of a non-Christian's use of the Christian writings. We gain further insight when we observe how he dealt with the problem of a Christian's use of non-Christian writings. This had shaped the views of natural theology during most of the orthodox period 17 and was receiving much attention at the beginning of the eighteenth century.1S Reason, unaided, cannot attain to the knowledge of the Gospel. But there is a distinction "between reason left to itself and reason illumined by the light of the divine Word. The mysteries of the faith exceed the grasp of reason left to itself; illumined reason, however, receives them as instru- ment and subject, though it is not the judge or norm of the articles of faith" (II, 662). Paul's use of logic in 1 Cor. 15: 13 ff. shows that "logical process does not produce fides humana,19 which is uncertain and inconstant, but a firm and certain assent" (I, 127) . This set of facts makes it permissible for the Christian theologian to employ both the "organic prin- ciples, which have to do with the instrumental disciplines, grammar, rhetoric, and logic," and the "philosophical prin- ciples." Indeed, "without the use of reason we can neither perceive, confirm, nor defend theological dogmas against the attacks of the opponents." He does admit, however, that it is not necessary "always and everywhere to turn a theo- logical demonstration into a categorically and fully expressed syllogism"; for this form of expression, if used too much, tends to become "almost tedious" (1,75-77). 16 See the brief note on Hollaz and the "theologia irregenitorum" in Franz Pieper, Christliche Dogmatik, I (St. Louis, 1924), 175-76, Note 584. 17 Cf. Troltsch, op. cit., pp.8-14, 41-54, 70-86, 173-90; there is much material in Peter Petersen, Geschichte der aristotelischen Philo- sophie in protestantischem Deutschland (Leipzig, 1921), and in the same scholar's study, "Aristotelisches in del' Theologie Melanchthons," Zeit- schrift filr Philosophie und philosophische Kritik, CLXIV (1917), 149-58. But I have received most stimulation from a thorough treatment of these trends in Reformed theology: Paul Althaus, Die Prinzipien der deut- schen reformierten Dogmatik im Zeitalter der aristotelischen Scholastik (Leipzig, 1914). 18 An example in Walch, op. cit., V, 162-65. 19 On fides hum ana, which became almost a technical term in Lu- theran dogmatics, see John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics (St. Louis, 1934), p.70. 17 258 NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ II Hollaz could justify his interest in natural theology from the "theology of the unregenerate" as well as from the formal or organic use of the principles laid down by pagan philos- ophers. But did not the depravity of man forbid his having any knowledge of God? The problematics of this issue had forced Flacius into a denial of the notitia Dei innata.2IO This does not seem to have bothered Hollaz at all. His references to Flacius (1,504,513 ff.) refute his errors on the image of God, treating him quite sympathetically; but there is apparently no mention of Flacius' denial of natural knowl- edge. For Hollaz there was no conflict between the depravity of man and the natural knowledge of God, first of all, it seems, because of his view of the Fall.21 "Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt menschlich Natur und Wesen" - these words of the great Lazarus Spengler were known to Hollaz (1,574). But the latter worked out his view of the Fall in greater detail. For example, he felt that "Eve sinned first, being not more simple of intellect, but more inclined with respect to will" (I, 551); and again that "it is false to say that Adam was not deceived by Eve's persuasion, but blinded by her love" (I, 555) . To this view of the Fall must be added his view of its effect, namely, that "the rem- nants of the divine image are natural" (I, 519), a statement that he proves by elaborate demonstration (1,528 ff.). If there are remnants in the intellectual or rational sphere of life, even the sinner must be a rational creature, since "only a rational creature can receive the divine law" (I, 540) . Hollaz points out that the divine image did not consist chiefly in dominion over the creatures (I, 518), and that it was "not to brutes, but to men who used their sound reason that God revealed the wisdom of eternal salvation in His Word" (I, 76). Man's body "in itself seems a brute thing, hardly capable of sin" (1,159), while "the beasts, unreceptive to either divine law or holiness, are expertes of sin" (1,541). Because original sin "formally consists in the lack of the 20 See the summary and interpretation in Wilhelm Preger, Mat- thias Flacius nIyricus und seine Zeit, II (Erlangen, 1861), 212-14; for an interesting side light on Luther's coming to grips with the problem in connection with the timelessness of God, cf. Johann Haar, Initium Crea- turae Dei (Giitersloh, 1939), pp.22-27. 21 On Hollaz' doctrine of sin in connection with his doctrine of the Atonement, see Holm, op. cit., pp. 28-30. NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ 259 original righteousness which should be in a man" (I, 569) , there are certain "insights which are today innate in the minds of men; these are remnants of the lost divine image, testifying of the pristine wisdom much as ruins testify of a splendid collapsed house" (I, 512) . These are the articuli mixti, "the parts of Christian doctrine about those divine things which are partly known from the light of nature as well as being believed from the supernatural light of divine revelation" (1,48). And this in spite of the fact that 1 Cor. 2: 14 means "by original sin darkness was put over the human intellect so that unless it is divinely illumined, it can neither comprehend purely spiritual matters nor correctly transmit them to the will, which is in itself a blind potentia" (1,575). Most prominent among these articuli mixti is the ex- istence of God: as Luther said, God's "quod est" and "quid est." On the basis of Rom. 1: 19, Luther emphasized that man can know "quod est Deus," but not "quid est Deus." Re- futing the theory that "nihil est in intellectu, quin prius fuerit in sensu," Hollaz maintained that "after the Fall there have remained remnants of the divine image which are not dependent upon the senses" (I, 214) . This is part of Hollaz' long treatment of the natural knowledge of God (I, 208-46) , in which he maintains a position almost identical with that of Gerhard, except for his refutation of the inner light (220-31) . His view is well summarized thus: "The natural knowledge of God is that by which a man partially recog- nizes the existence, essence, attributes, and actions of God from principles known by nature; it is divided into the in- nate and the acquired. The innate natural knowledge of God is the perfection with which a man is born, similar to a habitus; with its assistance the human intellect under- stands the truth of evident propositions about God without pondering them, having grasped their results, and grants them undoubting assent. The acquired natural knowledge of God is that which is gained through pondering, on the basis of the testimony of others, as well as of an observation of creation" (1,209) .22 22 There is a great need for an extensive discussion of the psycho- logical terminology of orthodox Lutheranism and Calvinism. Scattered references in Petersen's Geschichte, referred to in note 17, do not suffice to explain the use of words like "intellectus," "voluntas," ''habitus,'' "per- cipere," "apprehendere," "assentire," etc. I have rendered "intellectus," for instanee, with "intellect," knowing that the words connote two dif- ferent things. 260 NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ We have seen that Hollaz found a place for philosophy in his system; it was "a sort of culture for the soul, liber- ating it from its inborn boorishness and preparing it to grasp subtler matters and to defend true doctrines against the attacks of the adversaries" (1,30). Therefore the Trinity can neither be proved nor disproved by reason, though "with- out reason as the receiving subject and comprehending organ we cannot understand the mystery of the Trinity" (I, 375) . The adversaries attack the doctrine of the Trinity with the philosophical axiom: "Quot sunt personae, tot sunt essen- tiae" (1,78); but what they fail to see is that "philosophy neither opposes nor contradicts revealed theology," since "philosophy is the science of truth, and as the true does not contradict the true, so philosophical truth does not oppose the theological." 23 All that philosophy teaches is that "quot sunt personae finitae, tot sunt essentiae" (I, 31; italics my own). But why, then, are there atheists in the world? The heathen who did not know God in Christ were in a sense atheists - "not speculatively, but practically" (1,216, where, interestingly enough, he refers to the "Brasiliani in novo orbe"); for the natural knowledge of God cannot be eradi- cated.24 Anyone who would deny the existence of God would do so because he does not want to believe that "there exists a God who is the omnipresent, omniscient, and most just Punisher of trespasses" (1,66). On the basis of John 5: 23; 1 John 2: 23, and the Athanasian Creed, Hollaz con- cludes that "he who does not honor the Triune God is an atheist" (I, 379) . It is one thing to know that God exists, quite another that He exists for me; and though Hollaz did not know the distinction in terminology between the ontological and the existential knowledge of God, he did recognize that the un- regenerate "cannot understand the way a sinner is recon- ciled with a God offended by sin from the principles of reason" (1,129). Nevertheless, "God willed that after the 23 On the "oneness of truth" cf. Brunner, op. cit., pp.362-74 and passim; also Karl Heim's "Zur Geschichte des Satzes von der doppelten Wahrheit," referred to ibid., pp.204--05, and reprinted in Heim's col- lected essays. 24 Commenting on this passage, Prof. Pieper states that "wir wer- den Hollaz recht geben miissen," op. cit., I, 447, Note 1,203. NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ 261 Fall there should exist in the human intellect some common and practical concepts . . . so that all men might from them acknowledge, worship, and praise God for His . . . benefac- tions to all creatures" (II, 460). Suffice it to say that to other men, like Tennyson in Canto LVI of In Memoriam, the face of nature has looked different. In common with the tradition in which he stood, Hollaz felt that a regressus infinitus was inconceivable, that there- fore "creation out of nothing . . . is to be known from the light of nature" (1,388-89, where, for some reason, he omits the usual Is. 40: 26). Another problem which Hollaz takes up in the same connection is interesting because it had been treated extensively by the medieval doctors: 25 the eternity of the world, an eternal question to Christian Aristotelians. Two pages of close reasoning bring Hollaz to the conclusion that "the created world is in time not pre-existentially, but co-existentially" (I, 391-93). The same human reason which, unaided, could determine that there was a God who had created the world could also say: "He who could estab- lish the heavens, the earth, and all that is in them out of nothing can also create again and reunite with their souls the bodies of men, dead and turned to ashes" (II, 721). Just in passing, he attacks Copernicanism by referring to the im- measurability of the movements of the heavenly bodies (1,403-04) . Ever since Paul, Christian thinkers have closely linked the natural knowledge of God with the natural knowledge of the Law. In post-Apostolic times the influence of Stoi- cism made for the expansion of this concept; but, like Paul, most Christians used it to prove the universality of sin. "Sin is an aberration from the divine law" (I, 531) - this was simple enough, and it had 1 John 3: 4 behind it. But how does sin come about? It happens because "in choosing one object in preference to another the will often does not follow the ultimate judgment of practical reason, but neg- lects it, especially if it is torn in the opposite direction by emotions" (1,623; cf. 1,551 on Eve, quoted above). Again, 25 So, for a classic instance, St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica, Q.46. The Basic Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas (New York, 1945), I, 447-57. Cf. the comments by Richard McKeon, "Aristo- telianism in Western Christianity" in Environmental Factors in Chris- tian History (Chicago, 1939), p. 220 fT. 262 NATURAL THEOLOGY IN DAVID HOLLAZ "the natural law commands those things which are in them- selves honest and forbids those things which are in them- selves immoral. Those things which are in themselves im- moral are unbefitting a rational creature" (I, 542) . Among the "things which are in themselves honest" and commanded by the natural Law are "certain things concerning the wor- ship of God and the love of the neighbor. . .. The manner of this worship, however, cannot be known in this state of sin" (1,219). Hollaz' separate discussion of the natural Law is con- ventional but brief. One statement bears quoting: The natural Law "cannot be changed by God Himself; for God can do nothing against His own justice, of which the law of nature is an express and infallible image" (II, 461) ! What, then, is the relation between the revealed Law and the natural Law? In addition to the usual discussion of the re- lation between Law and Gospel (II, 502-06), there is an interesting passage which claims that "from the beginning of the world to the flood, then from Noah to Moses, God declared the natural Law to the patriarchs. . .. The law of Sinai is a sort of epitome of the natural Law" (I, 542) . Hollaz stands at the close of the classic period of orthodox Lutheran dogmatics. His approach to these two problems- the clarity of the Biblical revelation and the capacity of human reason - is all the more significant for that reason. For Glespite variations and occasional extravagances, the theolo- gians of that period held fast to the clarity of the Biblical reve- lation because it was the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and maintained that men's reason has a ce1"tain capacity because thereby "they are without excuse" (Rom 1: 20): man is a sinner because he is capable of knowing God and still rejects Him. But during Hollaz' lifetime forces were being set in mo- tion which eventually beclouded that insight. Opposing the tendency of classical orthodoxy to identify the believing man with the thinking man, Pietism came to identify the believing man with the feeling man. Inevitably the rational criteria set up by orthodoxy became suspect, with the result that Pietism posited the theory that the Biblical revelation is clear in terms not of the intellect, but of the emotions. Even more dissatisfied with orthodoxy, but unable to TIMELOG OF JESUS' LAST DAYS 263 accept Pietism as a substitute, early German rationalists re- jected the primacy of the Biblical revelation and ultimately proposed that "natural religion" replace it. In Pietism and rationalism, then, the tension between revelation and reason was eliminated. As Hans Emil Weber has shown, rationalism could claim a certain continuity with orthodoxy through their common interest in natural theology. But it is equally clear - and here Albrecht Ritschl's Geschichte des Pietism'US needs con- siderable revision - that Pietism, too, could claim a certain continuity with orthodoxy through their common emphasis upon the supremacy of revelation, despite their divergent views on the psychological agency through which that reve- lation is mediated. For an evaluation of that continuity and of the stand of Lutheran orthodoxy on the eve of the controversial eighteenth century, David Friedrich Hollaz is indispensable; and nowhere does his critical position in the entire development stand out more sharply than in his view of natural theology. Valparaiso, Ind. • •• Timelog of Jesus' Last Days By w. GEORGI The last period in the Life of Christ comprises eight days, passed in or near Jerusalem, from Friday to Friday, Nisan 8-15, 30 A. D. In order of events Jesus came to Bethany "six days be- fore the Passover" (John 12: 1).1 The Passover was observed Nisan 15-21 (Num. 28: 17-25; Ex. 12: 8-19). That year Ni- san 15 fell on Friday (John 19: 31), after the preparation of the Passover meal on the day before, Nisan 14 (John 13: 2; Mark 14: 12; Luke 22: 7; Ex. 12:6). Counting back six days from Nisan 14, that is from Thursday back to Saturday, Nisan 14-9 (extremes included) and considering, according to the accurate translation of Joh.12: 1, that Jesus came to Bethany before the six days that immediately preceded the Passover, we hold Friday, Nisan 8, of the foregoing week to be the day on which Jesus came to Bethany. At Bethphage He had left 1 See Addition No. I.