Christocentric Reformed Theology in Nineteenth-Century America

Christocentric Reformed Theology in Nineteenth-Century America
Author: Emanuel V. Gerhart
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2021-07-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1725250861

Knowledge of the ideas of the theologian Emanuel V. Gerhart is essential for understanding nineteenth-century American theology. Gerhart was one of the first to introduce a complete systematic Christocentric theological system to Americans. His Institutes of the Christian Religion developed the ideas of European theologians and promoted the effort to systematize Mercersburg theology. Gerhart embraced German idealism rather than Scottish philosophy in his scholarship. As a mediating theologian, he attempted to reconcile historical Christianity with modern culture. His lectures, essays, and texts addressed the religious challenges and intellectual issues of his day from a Christocentric perspective. Together they were a major contribution to the Mercersburg Movement in particular and American theology in general from the antebellum period to the progressive era. His publications were devoted to a range of disciplines that included education, philosophy, and theology. This volume portrays Gerhart’s core theological ideas as found in his main texts and offers introductory commentaries and gives the historical background for his intellectual contributions.

The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth-Century Theology

The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth-Century Theology
Author: David Fergusson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 552
Release: 2010-03-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781444319989

Bringing together a collection of essays by prominentscholars, The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth CenturyTheology presents a comprehensive account of the mostsignificant theological figures, movements, and developments ofthought that emerged in Europe and America during the nineteenthcentury. Representing the most up-to-date theological research, thisnew reference work offers an engaging and illuminating overview ofa period whose forceful ideas continue to live on in contemporarytheology A new reference work providing a comprehensive account of themost significant theological figures and developments of thoughtthat emerged in Europe and America during the nineteenthcentury Brings together newly-commissioned research from prominentinternational Biblical scholars, historians, and theologians,covering the key thinkers, confessional traditions, and majorreligious movements of the period Ensures a balanced, ecumenical viewpoint, with essays coveringCatholic, Russian, and Protestant theologies Includes analysis of such prominent thinkers as Kant andKierkegaard, the influence and authority of Darwin and the naturalsciences on theology, and debates the role and enduring influenceof the nineteenth century “anti-theologians”

John Williamson Nevin

John Williamson Nevin
Author: Linden J. DeBie
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2023-09-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1725269554

John Williamson Nevin’s life has never been given the full attention that it deserves. That may be due in part to the controversial nature of his thinking. Yet in many respects, his enormous contribution to American religious history is acknowledged by those who have read him. He stood out as the great advocate of evangelical catholicism, and his call for a thorough examination of the place of the church in nineteenth-century theology was revolutionary. It was Nevin who first saw the threat to the church in the erosion of faith in the church as a divine institution sacramentally entrusted by God with the reclamation of the whole world—an erosion that occurred well before the Civil War in the hypersubjectivity of Protestant America.

The German Roots of Nineteenth-Century American Theology

The German Roots of Nineteenth-Century American Theology
Author: Annette G. Aubert
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2013-10-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199915326

This book explores the influences of German theology on Emanuel Gerhart and Charles Hodge, two Reformed theologians who addressed questions concerning method and atonement theology in light of modernism and new scientific theories.

The Mystical Presence

The Mystical Presence
Author: John Williamson Nevin
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2012-04-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1630876380

The Mystical Presence (1846), John Williamson Nevin's magnum opus, was an attempt to combat the sectarianism and subjectivism of nineteenth-century American religion by recovering the robust sacramental and incarnational theology of the Protestant Reformation, enriched with the categories of German idealism. In it, he makes the historical case for the spiritual real presence as the authentic Reformed doctrine of the Eucharist, and explains the theological and philosophical context that render the doctrine intelligible. The 1850 article "The Doctrine of the Reformed Church on the Lord's Supper" represents his response to his arch critic, Charles Hodge of Princeton Seminary, providing what is still considered a definitive historical treatment of Reformed eucharistic theology. Both texts demonstrate Nevin's immense erudition and theological creativity, contributing to our understanding not only of Reformed theology, but also of the unique milieu of nineteenth-century American religion. The present critical edition carefully preserves the original text, while providing extensive introductions, annotations, and bibliography to orient the modern reader and facilitate further scholarship. The Mercersburg Theology Study Series is an attempt to make available for the first time--in attractive, readable, and scholarly modern editions--the key writings of the nineteenth-century movement known as the Mercersburg Theology. An ambitious multi-year project, this aims to make an important contribution to the academic community and to the broader reading public, who may at last be properly introduced to this unique blend of American and European, Reformed and Catholic theology.

A Companion to the Mercersburg Theology

A Companion to the Mercersburg Theology
Author: William B. Evans
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2019-05-09
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498207456

This volume tells the story of a mid-nineteenth-century theological movement emanating from the small German Reformed Seminary in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, where John Williamson Nevin and Philip Schaff taught. There they explored themes--such as the centrality of the incarnation for theology, the importance of the church as the body of Christ and the sphere of salvation, liturgical and sacramental worship, and the organic historical development of the church and its doctrines--that continue to resonate today with many who seek a deeper and more historically informed expression of the Christian faith that is both evangelical and catholic.

John Calvin's American Legacy

John Calvin's American Legacy
Author: Thomas Davis
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2010-03-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199741727

Though his influence on American society has often been forgotten or misunderstood, John Calvin played a formative role in the traditions of almost every sector of American life. This wide-ranging study, comprising twelve essays, shows for the first time the extraordinary extent to which Calvinist thoughts and practices are woven into the fabric of American society, theology, and letters, from the colonial period to the twenty-first century. John Calvin's American Legacy examines the economics of the Colonial period, Calvin's effect on American identity, and the evidence for Calvin's influence on American democracy. The book next addresses Calvin's critical role in American theology, inspecting the relationship between Jonathan Edwards's and Calvin's church practices, the diverse views on the Calvinist theological tradition in the nineteenth century, the ways in which Calvin was understood in the historiography of Williston Walker and Perry Miller, and Calvin's influence on twentieth-century theologies. Finally, the book explores Calvinism's influence on American literature, examining the work of such writers as Samson Occom, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Max Weber, Mark Twain, John Updike, and Marilynne Robinson. This important book is the first to introduces readers to the breadth and depth of Calvin's influence along the spectrum of American thought and society, from the 18th century to modern times.

Testimony and Tradition

Testimony and Tradition
Author: Alan P.F. Sell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2017-11-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1351148109

Internationally recognised for his scholarship in the philosophy of religion and Christian Doctrine, and for his ecclesiastical connections as former Theological Secretary of the Geneva-based World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Reformed theologian Alan Sell has an established reputation amongst theologians, church and intellectual historians, ecumenists, and ministers of religion. This collection of Alan Sell's work on the Reformed and Dissenting traditions - which includes the Presbyterian, Congregational and United Reformed Church - spans key doctrinal, philosophical, ethical, historical and ecumenical topics. The author illuminates central themes within the history and thought of the Reformed and Dissenting traditions including: the catholicity of the Church and danger of sectarianism, the importance of church meeting, the centrality of the Cross in Christian thought, the need for a viable Christian apologetic. Alan Sell also includes the only modern study of Henry Grove and papers on Andrew Fuller and P. T. Forsyth, in whose work there is currently a revival of interest. With growing interest world wide in the Reformed family, which is the third largest Christian world communion, this book offers an invaluable resource.

History of New Testament Research, Vol. 2

History of New Testament Research, Vol. 2
Author: William Baird
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 606
Release: 2002-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781451420180

Stressing the historical and theological significance of pivotal figures and movements, William Baird guides the reader through intriguing developments and critical interpretation of the New Testament from its beginnings in Deism through the watershed of the Tubingen school. Familiar figures appear in a new light, and important, previously forgotten stages of the journey emerge. Baird gives attention to the biographical and cultural setting of persons and approaches, affording both beginning student and seasoned scholar an authoritative account that is useful for orientation as well as research.

The Lost Soul of American Protestantism

The Lost Soul of American Protestantism
Author: D. G. Hart
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2004-08-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 1461644674

In The Lost Soul of American Protestantism, D. G. Hart examines the historical origins of the idea that faith must be socially useful in order to be valuable. Through specific episodes in Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Reformed history, Hart presents a neglected form of Protestantism—confessionalism—as an alternative to prevailing religious theory. He explains that, unlike evangelical and mainline Protestants who emphasize faith's role in solving social and personal problems, confessional Protestants locate Christianity's significance in the creeds, ministry, and rituals of the church. Although critics have accused confessionalism of encouraging social apathy, Hart deftly argues that this form of Protestantism has much to contribute to current discussions on the role of religion in American public life, since confessionalism refuses to confuse the well-being of the nation with that of the church. The history of confessional Protestantism suggests that contrary to the legacy of revivalism, faith may be most vital and influential when less directly relevant to everyday problems, whether personal or social. Clear and engaging, D. G. Hart's groundbreaking study is essential reading for everyone exploring the intersection of religion and daily life.