John William Baier's _Compendium of Positive Theology_ Edited by C. F. W. Walther Published by: St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1877 [Translator's Preface. These are the major loci or topics of John William Baier's _Compendium of Positive Theology_ as edited by Dr. C. F. W. Walther. These should be seen as the broad outline of Baier-Walther's dogmatics, but please don't assume that this is all. Each locus usually includes copious explanatory notes and citations from patristics and other Lutheran dogmaticians.] Part One Chapter One On God. 1. We commonly understand by the name "God" a being, most excellent of all things, than whom no one is actually able to consider better; or rather the first thing, that by him also he is the cause of all beings of other things, and he preserves and governs all things. 2. Among the names of God, of which many occur in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, the name of YHWH stands out as essential and unspeakable. 3. Similarly the Greek name "God" [theos], understood in a proper sense, not as if it were simply a name of dignity, is also the name of the divine nature. 4. It is possible for the existence of God to be shown; (1) from a consideration of this universe, (2) from the testimony of the conscience and (3) from the consensus of people's testimonies, both Gentiles and Christians. 5. However, that it might be rightly understood what God is, and who he is, that which applies to the divine essence and attributes, and that which applies to the divine persons, ought to be distinctly seen and proved from Scripture. 6. The essence of God is able to be described thus: God is a spiritual being subsisting by himself; or more briefly: God is an independent spirit. 7. The divine attributes are divided into negative and positive. The negative attributes are: unity, simplicity, immutability, infinity, immensity, eternity. The following pertain to the class of positive attributes: life, knowledge, wisdom, holiness, justice, truthfulness, power, goodness, perfection. 8. The unity of God, when spoken of absolutely says that the essence of God is undivided, when spoken of exclusively says that we recognize God to be the only god, besides whom there is no other. 9. The simplicity of God, spoken of absolutely, is that through which God is truly and really free from all composition. 10. The immutability of God consists in this, that God is subject to no change neither according to being, nor according to accidents, nor according to place, nor according to will or purpose. 11. The infinity of God's essence indicates this, that the essence of God is contained by no limits. 12. The immensity of God consists in this, that the divine essence is not able to be measured or encompassed by any limit. 13. The eternity of God, speaking absolutely, indicates the permanent existence or duration of God, without beginning and end and without any succession or change. 14. The life of God, seen in the first act, indicates about the essence or nature of God, that he himself moves by a certain mode, or he is able to be received as a principal of vital or immanent operation; in the second act, it indicates that immanent operation that proceeds from the divine nature. 15. The knowledge of God consists in this, that God by one single act knows himself and other things that are distinct from him, which are, and which are possible to be, everything according to his own proper being which it may have in itself outside of God, knowing immediately through himself, without an intelligible species or discourse; on the contrary he knows not only those things which exist in truth or are visible, or from the necessity of nature, or contingently, through the free determination of the human will, but he also exactly understands those things which will be, if a condition is satisfied ins some way, which are however not future in acts, because the condition is not yet fulfilled. 16. The wisdom of God indicates the most careful counsel of God, by which he changes all causes and effects distinctly in an admirable way to arrange and set them in order according to his goal. 17. Before we move forward to a consideration of the other attributes, something should be said about the will of God, or, in so far as the divine essence has itself through a mode of appetitive power, the ability by a recognition of the intellect to tend toward good, so that it wills it, and a knowledge of the bad, so that it avoids it. 18. The causes which formally cause the acts of the divine will are not given, however virtually they are given as these causes: efficient, impulsive both internal and external, and also final. 19. The will of God is distinguished as being natural and free. God is said to will the natural will, in those things he is not able not to will. He is said to will the free will, in those things that is he also able not to will, or to will the opposite. The former he is said to will by reason of himself, the later by reason of the created thing. 20. The free will of God is distinguished (1) as efficient and inefficient. The efficient free will is said to be that by which God wills something to be done, the inefficient free will is that, by which something is pleasing to God in himself, but which he does not intend to effect. The efficient free will of God further is divided into absolute by which God wills something without condition, and conditional, by which he wills something under conditions. (2) The free will of God is also divided into the absolute, by which God wills something to be effected by his absolute power, or not being bound to secondary causes; and the ordered, by which God wills something to be effected, bound by his order, or by the secondary causes and a certain order of means instituted by him. (3) The free will of God is also distinguished as primary, or antecedent free will, by which he wills something from himself alone, or precisely from his natural inclination, and not by the ordinary reason of circumstances; and the secondary, or consequent free will, by which he wishes something by a consideration of the circumstances, or in view of other causes and conditions on the part of visible creatures, to whom he wills something. 21. In a peculiar sense a decree of God may be said to be absolute, when it excludes any consideration of an impulsive cause apart from God, to which is opposed non-absolute decrees, which are decrees when the external impulsive cause comes from outside of God and is the virtual cause of the decree. 22. There is also a distinction in the will of God between the signed and the well-pleased. The signed will of God is said to be when the name of will is ascribed to the effect or the object of the divine will, as by a sign of some will in God. The well-pleased will of God indicates the act of the divine will itself, by which God wills something. From there, it also extends to the fact that the distinction is analogical. However being prepared, indeed the signed will is of such a kind as you might imagine, to which the well-pleased will is opposed, as a sign out of the institution ought to signify. 23. Among the attributes of the will of come first comes justice, by which God partly is just in himself, as we call him by the special word sanctity, and it introduces the correctness of the divine will, by which all things which are right and good, he wills conformably to his eternal laws; partly in order to others, that is that he prescribes to creatures the appropriate laws and he arranges them and he governs, also he keeps and fulfills the promises made to humans, and then the good are rewarded and the bad punished. 24. The truthfulness of God follows, through which God is unchanging in speaking truly and in keeping promises. 25. The power of God follows, through which the divine essence is effective in working and producing something outside himself, and indeed everything, whatever is possible in any way is made by his power, and for the part of his operations it does not lead to imperfection. 26. The power of God is usually distinguished as ordered and absolute. The ordered power of God is said to be that power which God by decree or law determines something to be worked in a certain way. The absolute power of God is called that which is agreeable to itself, and is not determined by some previous decree or law. The ordered will of God one is able to resist, the absolute will of God one is not able to resist. 27. The goodness of God agrees both absolutely and in itself, which is itself his perfection, or the essence of God, in so far as he contains all perfections in himself, or formally, or eminently; and respectively, or in relation to creatures, to whom God is good, in so far as efficiently he produces all created goodness; and this created goodness is according to his perfection, which is an idea or an example for created perfection; also he entices or moves love and desire in his own, as something of the highest good. 28. Because it pertains to the divine persons, most simply it is held, because the essence and all the perfections of the divine being are common without division or multiplication, yet with these there are three distinct persons, which Scripture calls Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 29. To a more full declaration of this mystery it is observed: (I) the Father from the Son, the Son from the Father, and the Holy Spirit from both are really different, so that truly one is the Father, another the Son, and another is the Holy Spirit. 30. Then (II) it is observed: Not only the Father, but also the Son and the Holy Spirit are true and eternal God. 31. Then (III) it is observed: that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three Gods, but one God. 32. In regard to this mystery so that the sophistries of the heretics could more distinctly be shut out and excluded, the old Christians said it in this way - the westerners or Latins that there were three persons in one essence [tres personas in una essentia), and the easterners or Greeks that there were three hypostases and one ousia (treis upostaseis kai mian ousian); in what manner the fathers of Nicea especially spoke about the Son, they said that he was or ought to be recognized as homoousion [omoousion] to the Father, that is coessential or consubstantial. 33. By the word essence or ousia is understood that divine nature, such as is in God absolutely, which one divine nature is with the attributes most simply one and only, and thus also when speaking of the three persons it is nothing unless one divine nature. 34. By the word person or hypostasis is understood that some underlying intelligence is understood, thus in this topic is indicated that are three subsistences or personalities in one divine essence, and so there are three underlying intelligences in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 35. However, although Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not expressed in Scripture as three hypostases, persons, or three substrates, however the thing itself, indicated by these words, is certainly included in Scripture. 36. However truly in this life we are not able to understand or explain in what way one most simple essence is three persons, for what reason they are able to be from itself one essence, yet among itself they are really three distinct persons: however because it is revealed we believe both. 37. Otherwise the divine persons are distinguished by personal acts, by the personal properties, and conceptions. 38. The personal acts are two, generation and spiration. 39. The generation is an act inside of God, by which God the Father from his substance from eternity produces the Son. 40. The spiration is an act inside of God, by which God the Father and the Son at the same time from out of his substance from eternity produce the Holy Spirit. 41. That there is a difference between the generation of the Son and the spiration of the Holy Spirit is certain; however the way in which they are different we are not able to define more fully. 42. The personal properties are three: Paternity, filiation and procession (thus strictly speaking), or a passive spiration. 43. The conceptions specially thus said are two: the act of being generated, and an active spiration. 44. The Father is the first person of the Divinity, not begotten, not proceeding, but from eternity from his substance begetting the Son, and with the Son from eternity breathing the Holy Spirit. 45. The Son is the second person of the Divinity, from eternity begotten by the Father, from whom and with the person of the Father proceeds from eternity the Holy Spirit. 46. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Divinity, not begotten, but proceeding from eternity from the Father and the Son. 47. God by reason of the essence and persons seen at the same time is able to be described as follows: that he is a spiritual being, by himself, subsisting in Father, son, and Holy Spirit. -------------------------------------------------------------- This text was translated by Rev. Theodore Mayes and is copy- righted material, (c)1996, but it is free for non-commercial use or distribution, and especially for use on Project Wittenberg. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary. E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu Surface Mail: 66000 N. Clinton St., Ft. 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