The Mercersburg Theology and the Quest for Reformed Catholicity

The Mercersburg Theology and the Quest for Reformed Catholicity PDF Author: W. Bradford Littlejohn
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1606082418
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the mid nineteenth century, Reformed churchmen John Nevin and Philip Schaff launched a fierce attack on the reigning subjectivist and rationalist Protestantism of their day, giving birth to what is known as the "Mercersburg Theology." Their attempt to recover a high doctrine of the sacraments and the visible Church, among other things, led them into bitter controversy with Charles Hodge of Princeton Seminary, as well as several other prominent contemporaries. This book examines the contours of the disagreement between Mercersburg and Hodge, focusing on four loci in particular-Christology, ecclesiology, sacramentology, and church history. W. Bradford Littlejohn argues that, despite certain weaknesses in their theological method, the Mercersburg men offered a more robust and historically grounded paradigm for the Reformed faith than did Hodge. In the second part of the book, Littlejohn explores the value of the Mercersburg Theology as a bridgehead for ecumenical dialogue, uncovering parallels between Nevin's thought and prominent themes in Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox theology, as well as recent debates within Reformed theology. This thorough study of one of the most creative movements in American theology offers an alluring vision of the quest for Reformed catholicity that is more relevant today than ever.

The Mercersburg Theology and the Quest for Reformed Catholicity

The Mercersburg Theology and the Quest for Reformed Catholicity PDF Author: W. Bradford Littlejohn
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1606082418
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the mid nineteenth century, Reformed churchmen John Nevin and Philip Schaff launched a fierce attack on the reigning subjectivist and rationalist Protestantism of their day, giving birth to what is known as the "Mercersburg Theology." Their attempt to recover a high doctrine of the sacraments and the visible Church, among other things, led them into bitter controversy with Charles Hodge of Princeton Seminary, as well as several other prominent contemporaries. This book examines the contours of the disagreement between Mercersburg and Hodge, focusing on four loci in particular-Christology, ecclesiology, sacramentology, and church history. W. Bradford Littlejohn argues that, despite certain weaknesses in their theological method, the Mercersburg men offered a more robust and historically grounded paradigm for the Reformed faith than did Hodge. In the second part of the book, Littlejohn explores the value of the Mercersburg Theology as a bridgehead for ecumenical dialogue, uncovering parallels between Nevin's thought and prominent themes in Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox theology, as well as recent debates within Reformed theology. This thorough study of one of the most creative movements in American theology offers an alluring vision of the quest for Reformed catholicity that is more relevant today than ever.

The Mystical Presence

The Mystical Presence PDF Author: John Williamson Nevin
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1630876380
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 480

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

The Reformed Church Review

The Reformed Church Review PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Theology
Languages : en
Pages : 582

Get Book Here

Book Description


The German Roots of Nineteenth-Century American Theology

The German Roots of Nineteenth-Century American Theology PDF Author: Annette G. Aubert
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199915326
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 417

Get Book Here

Book Description
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 Interior Sense of Scripture

The Interior Sense of Scripture PDF Author: William DiPuccio
Publisher: Mercer University Press
ISBN: 9780865545687
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Get Book Here

Book Description
John W. Nevin's transcendental hermeneutics is perhaps one of the most penetrating and sophisticated theological systems to emerge from American soil. Though more than a century has passed since he spoke, Nevin's polemic against materialism, religious skepticism, individualism, and sectarianism still retains its creative force and insight.

The Southern Review

The Southern Review PDF Author: Albert Taylor Bledsoe
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : American essays
Languages : en
Pages : 1016

Get Book Here

Book Description


Religion and the American Civil War

Religion and the American Civil War PDF Author: Randall M. Miller
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195121287
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 442

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The authors show that religion, understood in its broadest context as a culture and community of faith, was found wherever the war was found: in the armies and the hospitals; on the plantations and in the households; among all conditions of men and women, white and black."--Cover.

One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Tome 2

One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Tome 2 PDF Author: John Williamson Nevin
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498246028
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Get Book Here

Book Description
John Nevin's vision of the church as "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic" grew out of his critique of the revivalism and sectarianism that prevailed throughout evangelical Christianity in the nineteenth century. He deepens his perception of catholicity as an expression of Christian wholeness, his response to the parochialism that ruled American religion and life. He grounds congregational life and mission in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, ordered by the whole Christian tradition, which comes into focus in the Apostles' Creed. This edition carefully preserves the original texts while providing extensive introductions, annotations, and bibliography to both orient the reader and to facilitate further scholarship. The Mercersburg Theology Study Series presents for the first time attractive, readable, scholarly modern editions of the key writings of the nineteenth-century movement known as the Mercersburg Theology. An ambitious multi-year project, it aims to make an important contribution to the academic community and to the broader public, who can at last be properly introduced to this unique blend of American and European Reformed and Catholic theology.

Born of Water and the Spirit

Born of Water and the Spirit PDF Author: John Williamson Nevin
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498235492
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 341

Get Book Here

Book Description
Born of Water and the Spirit presents essays on the sacraments by the three major representatives of "Mercersburg Theology," John Nevin, Philip Schaff, and Emanuel Gerhart. It focuses on Mercersburg's doctrine of baptism and Christian nurture, attempts to correct putative deficiencies of the major Reformed trajectories (e.g., New England and Princeton), and vigorously critiques the anti-sacramental animus of revivalistic evangelicalism. Mercersburg understood baptism as initiating a person (adult or infant) into the sacramental life of the church. Baptism and Eucharist were objective, spiritually real actions that made (what Nevin called) the "mystical presence" of Jesus Christ present to Christians, bringing transformative power into their lives. The present critical edition carefully preserves the original texts, 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 multiyear project, it aims to make an important contribution to the scholarly community and to the broader reading public, who can at last be properly introduced to this unique blend of American and European, Reformed and Catholic theology.

John Williamson Nevin

John Williamson Nevin PDF Author: Richard E. Wentz
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195082435
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 180

Get Book Here

Book Description
This study of the life and thought of John Williamson Nevin (1803-1886) offers a revised interpretation of an important nineteenth-century religious thinker. Along with the historian, Phillip Schaff, Nevin was a leading exponent of what became known as the Mercersburg Movement, named for the college and theological seminary of the German Reformed Church located in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. The story is a neglected aspect of American studies. Richard Wentz provides a kind of post-modern perspective on Nevin, presenting him as a distinctively American thinker, rather than as a reactionary romantic. Although influenced by German philosophy, historical studies, and theology, Nevin's thought was a profound response to the American public context of his day. He was, in many respects, a public theologian, judging the prevailing development of American Christianity as a new religion that was fashioning its own disintegration and that of American culture at large. Nevin's reinterpretation of catholicity in the American context opened the way for a radical understanding of religion and of American public life.