e of bringing to a new form the old, which, in its contracted
sphere--that of mere understanding--it had profanely demolished. By this
means a freer activity and fuller development were secured, and that
want which lies at the root of all Rationalism, was supplied; namely,
that religious truth shall not be confronted with the subjective spirit
in the form of mere outward authority, but, in an inward way, become
fully reconciled to it in the form of conviction and certainty."[283]

The Rationalists at one time deemed the criticism of the Scriptures
their strongest fortress. This is evident from their numerous works on
the authenticity of the Biblical books, and on the text itself. They
perused the Church Fathers for corroborative opinions, applied
themselves to the oriental languages with a zeal worthy of a better
purpose, traveled through countries mentioned in the Bible in order to
study local customs and popular traditions, and searched the testimony
of both ancient and modern writers with an enthusiasm seldom surpassed.
Their purpose was, to maintain the human character of the Bible. Now
what do we behold? Those researches have been employed by evangelical
critics for a higher end, and are powerful auxiliaries in the defense of
the divine authority of the Scriptures. The Hebrew learning of Gesenius,
for example, is the most available instrument in the hands of the
orthodox theologian in his study of the Old Testament. The most critical
and accurate of the Rationalists have, in almost every case, told us
some truth which the professed friends of revelation had not possessed,
and which the Church might have been compelled to seek for centuries
without success.

Church history was crude and ill-written before the Rationalists
expended their toil and learning upon it. They investigated the
fountains; made the storm-beaten monuments, old coins, and medals
disclose their long-kept secrets; and threaded the labyrinths of secular
history, written in almost every European language, in order that
nothing serviceable to their cause might be lost. As an illustration of
the impetus imparted to this sphere of theological science, we may state
that between the years 1839 and 1841, there were published in Germany
over five hundred works on church history alone.[284] "Almost every
theologian of any name," says Schaff, "has devoted a portion at least of
his strength to some department of church history. Besides this,
however, it is f