on the fact that
one again posits the thing (after stripping it of certain marks as
accidental, or worthless, or ostensibly foreign to it) in order to
express its value in this form, and hold fast the permanent in the
change of the phenomena.]

[Footnote 135: See Tzschirn. i.d. Ztschr. f. K.-Gesch. XII. p. 215 ff.
"The genesis of the Romish Church in the second century." What he
presents is no doubt partly incomplete, partly overdone and not proved:
yet much of what he states is useful.]

[Footnote 136: What is meant here is the imminent danger of taking the
several constituent parts of the canon, even for historical
investigation, as constituent parts, that is, of explaining one writing
by the standard of another and so creating an artificial unity. The
contents of any of Paul's epistles, for example, will be presented very
differently if it is considered by itself and in the circumstances in
which it was written, or if attention is fixed on it as part of a
collection whose unity is presupposed.]

[Footnote 137: See Bigg, The Christian Platonist of Alexandria, pp. 53,
283 ff.]

[Footnote 138: Reuter (August. Studien, p. 492) has drawn a valuable
parallel between Marcion and Augustine with regard to Paul.]

[Footnote 139: Marcion of course wished to raise it to the exclusive
basis, but he entirely misunderstood it.]

DIVISION I.

THE GENESIS OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL DOGMA, OR THE GENESIS OF THE CATHOLIC
APOSTOLIC DOGMATIC THEOLOGY, AND THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC ECCLESIASTICAL
SYSTEM OF DOCTRINE.

BOOK I.

THE PREPARATION.

[Greek: Ean murious paidagogous echete en christoi all' ou pollous
pateras.]

1 Cor IV. 15.

Eine jede Idee tritt als ein fremder Gast in die Erscheinung, und wie
sie sich zu realisiren beginnt, ist sie kaum von Phantasie und
Phantasterei zu unterscheiden.

GOETHE, Sprueche in Prosa, 566

BOOK I

_THE PREPARATION_

CHAPTER I

HISTORICAL SURVEY

The first century of the existence of Gentile Christian communities is
particularly characterised by the following features:

I. The rapid disappearance of Jewish Christianity.[140]

II. The enthusiastic character of the religious temper; the Charismatic
teachers and the appeal to the Spirit.[141]

III. The strength of the hopes for the future, Chiliasm.[142]

IV. The rigorous endeavour to fulfil the moral precepts of Christ, and
truly represent the holy and heavenly community of God in abstinence
from everything unclean,