But it
commenced without a platform, and worked long without one. The
systematic theology of Bretschneider would by no means be accepted by
the entire class of Rationalistic divines. To get a fair conception of
what has been the aggregate sentiment of the whole class, one must
wander through hundreds of volumes of exegesis, history, philosophy, and
romance; and these covering a space of many years. Even when you hold up
your treasure, and cry "Eureka!" your shrewd opponent will coolly say
that you have given a false interpretation, and have drawn wrong
conclusions,--that his masters never claimed such an absurdity.
Rationalism looked upon Revelation as a tottering edifice, and set
itself busily at work to destroy the entire superstructure. But
sometimes it is the surrounding vines and trees that shake in the autumn
storm, and not the building itself; and often beneath the worm-eaten
bark there is a great oaken heart, which no arm is strong enough and no
axe sufficiently keen to cleave.
Rationalism has been striving to destroy a house which was built upon a
rock; and if it fell not, the fault lay not in the absence of ingenuity
and strength of attack, but in the undecayed material and
deeply-grounded solidity of the structure.
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