By Schubert Ogden
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Der Glaube kommt auch heute aus der Predigt und hat, wo er gewagt wird, seine Gewißheit in sich selbst und nirgendwo anders.
-- Willi Marxsen
Clearly, this statement is made over against the assumption – -- that Marxsen calls "the error of liberal theology" – -- that faith can somehow be secured or justified by historical inquiry back behind the preaching that calls for it - -- whether this be inquiry into the historical Jesus or into the suprahistorical event of his resurrection from the dead. But one can unhesitatingly join – -- as I do – -- in rejecting this assumption, and, in this sense, agree with his statement, without inferring further -- as he does -– that neither faith nor the assertions of faith can be justified in any way, because they lie beyond the scope of rational discussion.
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