The Scriptural Doctrine of the Love of God (English Edition)

"The love of God occupies a more prominent place than any other divine attribute in present-day Christian consciousness. Obviously the causes of this prominence must not be sought in the sphere of doctrinal thinking, but in certain practical tendencies of our modern religious life. Not for the sake of its theological significance as a constituent factor in the divine character, but for the sake of its bearing upon human conduct and destiny has the love of God been exalted to this position of supremacy among its sister attributes. It were idle to pretend that the scientific theology of today is more successful than the theology of previous ages in deducing from the one principle of love everything that Scripture and experience teach concerning God’s method of dealing with His creatures. On the contrary, to the thinking mind the impossibility of doing this has perhaps never stood out more clearly than it stands out at present, in the light of what biblical research has shown to be the truth of revelation, and of what modern science has shown to be the reality of life. And yet, in the very face of this impossibility, there has developed a widespread demand that God’s love, and nothing but His love, shall be made the keynote of every message Christianity has to bring to the world."