56. There is a sense in which the first, historical phase of systematic theology . . .

There is a sense in which the first, historical phase of systematic theology is related to its second, hermeneutical phase analogously to the same circular way in which, in Marxsen's view, "introduction" (die Einleitungswissenschaft) is related to "exegesis" (die Exegese).

1 June 1990; rev. 12 December 2004