cs_.--Within the sphere of
theology proper the two main constituents of Christian teaching are
Dogmatics and Ethics, or Doctrines and Morals. Though it is convenient
to regard these separately they really form a whole, and are but two
aspects of one subject. It is difficult to define their limits, and to
say where Dogmatics ends and Ethics begins. The distinction is
sometimes expressed by saying that Dogmatics is a theoretic science,
whereas Ethics is practical. It is true that Ethics stands nearer to
everyday life and deals with matters of practical conduct, while
Dogmatics is concerned with beliefs and treats of their origin and
elucidation. {25} But, on the other hand, Ethics also takes cognisance
of beliefs as well as actions, and is interested in judgments not less
than achievements. There is a practical side of doctrine and there is
a theoretic side of morals. Even the most theoretic of sciences,
Metaphysics, though, as Novalis said, it bakes no bread, is not without
its direct bearing upon life. Dogmatic theology when divorced from
practical interest is in danger of becoming mere pedantry; and ethical
inquiry, if it has no dogmatic basis, loses scientific value and sinks
into a mere enumeration of duties. Nor is the common statement, that
Dogmatics shows what we should believe and Ethics what we ought to do,
an adequate one. Moral precepts are also objects of faith, and what we
should believe involves moral requirements and pre-supposes a moral
character. Schleiermacher has been charged with ignoring the
difference between the two disciplines, but with scant justice. For,
while he regards the two subjects as but different branches of
Christian theology, and insists upon their intimate connection, he does
not neglect their distinction. There has been a growing tendency to
accentuate the difference, and recent writers such as Jacoby, Haering
and Lemme, not to mention Martensen, Dorner and Wuttke, claim for
Ethics a separate and independent treatment. The ultimate connection
between Dogmatics and Ethics cannot be ignored without loss to both.
It tends only to confusion to speak as some do of 'a creedless
morality.' On the one hand, Ethics saves Dogmatics from evaporating
into unsubstantial speculation, and by affording the test of
workableness, keeps it upon the solid foundation of fact. On the other
hand, Dogmatics supplies to Ethics its formative principles and
normative standards, and preserves the