John, that
this new monster was the especial work of the devil, but full of
meaning in regard to the questions at issue between the Reformers
and the older Church.
The other main branch of the Reformed Church appeared for a time to
establish a better system. Calvin's strong logic seemed at one
period likely to tear his adherents away from the older method; but
the evolution of scholasticism continued, and the influence of the
German reformers prevailed. At every theological centre came an
amazing development of interpretation. Eminent Lutheran divines in
the seventeenth century, like Gerhard, Calovius, Coccerus, and
multitudes of others, wrote scores of quartos to further this
system, and the other branch of the Protestant Church emulated
their example. The pregnant dictum of St. Augustine--"Greater is
the authority of Scripture than all human capacity"--was steadily
insisted upon, and, toward the close of the seventeenth century,
Voetius, the renowned professor at Utrecht, declared, "Not a word
is contained in the Holy Scriptures which is not in the strictest
sense inspired, the very punctuation not excepted"; and this
declaration was echoed back from multitudes of pulpits, theological
chairs, synods, and councils.
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