the prison to a palace, or at least render the confinement more endurable. The frame of mind which longs after the forbidden fruit of knowledge in subjects placed beyond the reach of the human faculties, as it is surely indicative of a noble temperament, may also, under peculiar circumstances, conduce to the happiness of the individual. But if too much indulged, there is danger lest it waste its energies in mystic and unprofitable dreams, and despondency result from frequent failures, till at last, disappointment darkens into despair.

In offering these suggestions, we trust not to have appeared as arguing against a generous confidence in the power of the human intellect, and in the progress and efficacy of truth. There is a wide field still open for the exertion of mind, though we cease to agitate questions which have baffled the acuteness, ingenuity, and skill of the philosophers of all time. arrogance and self-sufficiency are no less absurd in philosophy, than criminal in morals; and we cannot but think, that these qualities are displayed by men who censure indiscriminately the objects which the wise and good have endeavoured to attain, and the means which they have employed in the pursuit. A fair and catholic spirit will ever incline to eclecticism in its inquiries and systems; while it is the mark of a narrow mind to consider novelty as a mark of truth, or to look upon the difficulties of a question as evincing the importance of its solution. To regard. Franklin as a greater name than that of Plato, might be unjust, were not the comparison itself fanciful and improper; but we may safely assert, that there are few, very few, who would not do better to look at the American rather than the Grecian sage, as their model of the philosophical character.

THE following article, which we have translated for the Examiner, is a selection from two articles, entitled "Theological Aphorisms," in a late volume of the "Theologische Studien und Kritiken," one of the most valuable journals now published in Germany, devoted to theological literature and science. It is from the pen of Professor Ullman, of the University of Halle, VOL. XXI. 3D S. VOL. III. NO. III.

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a writer still young, but enjoying an enviable reputation for his soundness of mind and thorough and profound attainments. We present it to our readers as a specimen of the mode of thought which distinguishes a large and increasing school of modern German theologians. Its sobriety of discussion, its freedom from traditional prejudices, its calm and unpretending good sense, and its spirit of fervent piety, will recommend it, we think, to those who are interested in the improvement of theology, whether at home or abroad. It will be read with satisfaction, also, as a proof that the progress of inquiry in Germany has led only to a more hearty faith in the Christian revelation, while it has relieved it of many difficulties that have hitherto retarded its universal prevalence. The direction which is indicated in these "Aphorisms" of Professor Ullman, it will be perceived, is equally removed from the lifeless Supernaturalism of a past age, and from the shallow Rationalism with which later theologians have endeavoured to supplant it. It is essentially the same movement with that which was commenced by Herder, continued by Schleiermacher and De Wette, and which is now sustained by a powerful host of the most active intellects among the scholars of Germany, and which will terminate, we cannot doubt, in the production of a higher life, of more consummate beauty, and of more divine energy, in religion, theology, and society.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE TO A

THEOLOGIAN.

IT has indeed been said by eminent teachers of the church in every age, in the greatest variety of forms, but it needs always to be repeated, because notwithstanding its simpleness, it is always forgotten,-that the science of divine things essentially depends on the disposition; that the true theologian comes only from the motherly bosom of a sound and genuine piety. We must indeed know what is divine, in order to love it; but it is quite as certain also, that we must love it, in order truly to know it. One is the condition of the other. They both go hand in hand. He who is incapable of enthusiasm for the Pure and the Lofty, whose heart cannot be filled with the Greatest, great as it may be, he may, perhaps, possess the most excellent gifts for other departments of life and science, but, it is clear, that he was not born for a theologian. The

theologian, unless he remains in the outworks of his science, has to do with the most sublime objects; and how can a degraded soul, dead to impressions from the Elevated and the Eternal, be happy in the contemplation of divine things? In like manner, we need to be reminded, and, at the present day, every thing points us to the fact, that the establishment of a correct relation between science and life is a paramount want of the times. Theology is studied far too much from books, and far too little from life. Books, certainly, are not to be held in light esteem; and we are not speaking to those who are too fond of their ease to use them; but we must needs look through books into life, and into the depths of our own soul. Our science essentially consists in going to the bottom of the great religious manifestations of past ages as well as the present, and of the facts of our own consciousness, with a free, open, and penetrating spirit; it is a thoughtful observation of the developement of religious life, a science of experience. Men may quarrel with the word experience as they will; it has a good foundation in theology, and will always retain its pleasant tone. The ablest theologians of all ages, our Luther, with his oratio, tentatio, meditatio, especially included, - have never lost sight of the need of an inward, vital experience of religious and moral truths. He who has never felt the influence of religion on the heart, how is it possible that he should know or say any thing correctly with regard to it? All the truths pertaining to piety and to life may be laid down in the Bible, and in a thousand other books; they may be exhibited in the most impressive facts; but they will exist in vain for us, unless they have been transformed into living convictions and inward realities. Only what is present in the spiritual life, can become a complete conception, a full and living idea, a true inward possession; all the rest is dead abstraction, external notices, and foreign good. It is true, indeed, that enormous mischief may be occasioned by that which we call experience; and many strange and wild notions have been brought forward under this name; but what wise man'will refrain from the true use of any thing, on account of its possible abuse? Have not men made a wrong use even of Reason, and of the appeal to its decisions? But if experience be united with a sound, legitimate, and thorough-going reflection, if it be not embraced merely in isolated and personal relations, but is always combined with the universal developement of the religious life in history, with the experience of the

Christian world as a whole; then, surely, it ought not to be rejected; then, it is not merely great and excellent in itself, but the only true and living ground on which all genuine theology rests. History and life from without, but, at the same time, the depths of our own heart and spirit from within, — and the former only when they are reflected with brightness and purity in the latter, are the exhaustless and enduring fountains of the theologian; and, "Ere thou goest further," may we call to every one, with the poet, "go back into thyself."

CRITICISM.

CRITICISM is an element which no science can dispense with, and certainly not theology; but two things, however, are requisite for criticism to assume its appropriate place in this department. It must be exercised in the right sense, and it must not be merely negative in its character. The same freedom, acuteness, and impartiality which are demanded in the critical treatment of other writings, should be applied to the historical investigation of the sacred records, and to the judgment of their contents; but the critic should never forget this one fact, which is indeed involved in the very nature of the case, that they are holy writings with which he is here employed. He who is not and cannot be possessed with the feeling that he here enters into a sanctuary, into the halls of a solemn temple, is as little fitted to be a judge of such subjects, as that man is to pronounce an opinion in matters of architecture, who can enter one of the sublime cathedrals of a past age, with no impression on his soul of the Extraordinary, the Vast, the Holy. The understanding, at such a moment, can retain its most transparent clearness, can assert all its valid rights; and it ought to do so. Was Göthe's understanding injured, because he was transported with the Minster of Strassburg? Or Herder's, because he was excited. and enraptured by the Great and Beautiful in every form? But he who confines himself merely to the operations of the understanding, and has no sense for any thing higher, in the investigation and judgment of such memorials, will always lose something essential, of which the ground and kernel are the most elevated thoughts and truths. Connected with this, is the demand that criticism, in every department of theology, should not be merely negative, but, in accordance with its nature, should also tend to recognise, to build up, and to sustain. To discover a chasm, a defect, a spot, is not difficult; a minute, analytic, fault-finding

criticism can be carried on with small understanding and very superficial knowledge; we find such critics in every walk of life, who, in the most beautiful exhibitions, the most profound and expressive works of art, seize upon the imperfection of some petty detail, and thus deprive themselves of the enjoyment of the whole; the same judges are to be met with also in the theological sciences, in exegesis, in ecclesiastical history, in the judgment of systems and modes of thought. They pursue a task as pitiable as it is unsatisfactory. The true business of the critic is to pass a judgment, no less profound than comprehensive, upon the subject of his examination; to proceed in this with an art, that has become practical skill, and, as it were, converted into flesh and blood; above all, he is called upon to understand a living, spiritual work, in its whole significance, with respect to its essence and form, and to bring it forth from its central point, to clear and perfect intuition by himself and others; and in order to comprehend any subject in all its compass and depth, there is needed a mind of a kindred nature and one capable of self-abandonment; he may then attempt to pass his own independent judgment, to estimate the object of inquiry from his own point of view; he may place his own reflection in the true relation, for comparison, with that which he is to judge; and this becomes still more difficult, because it is necessary, relatively at least, to pass beyond the object which is given. But in all respects, it is evident, that a genuine criticism, a criticism not merely censorious, skeptical, and inclined to minute analysis, but that which is truly observant, creative, and reconciling, is one of the most important tasks in which a theologian can engage.

THE IDEA OF REVELATION.

THE idea of revelation is most intimately connected with the essence of religion. Religion wishes to be not merely an hypothesis concerning God, but a certainty of God; but this it can be only when it is also a certainty from God, when we do not merely form thoughts and opinions for ourselves concerning God, but God gives himself to be known by us. We can only know that Spirit, which comes forth from itself, which communicates, reveals itself; and it lies also in the essence of Spirit, as of a living being, actually to manifest, to impart itself, so that it can be known. But Spirit can be revealed in works, words, and acts, for we distinguish acts as the imme