A Companion to the Mercersburg Theology

A Companion to the Mercersburg Theology

Author: William B. Evans

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-05-09

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 1498207456

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals

Theological Retrieval for Evangelicals

Author: Gavin Ortlund

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1433565293

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Restless for rootedness, many Christians are abandoning Protestantism altogether. Many evangelicals today are aching for theological rootedness often found in other Christian traditions. Modern evangelicalism is not known for drawing from church history to inform views on the Christian life, which can lead to a "me and my Bible" approach to theology. But this book aims to show how Protestantism offers the theological depth so many desire without the need for abandoning a distinctly evangelical identity. By focusing on particular doctrines and neglected theologians, this book shows how evangelicals can draw from the past to meet the challenges of the present.


The Mystical Presence

The Mystical Presence

Author: John Williamson Nevin

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2012-04-19

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 1630876380

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Tome 1

One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Tome 1

Author: John Williamson Nevin

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2017-08-24

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 1532618972

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The mid-nineteenth century is a gold mine for contemporary scholars interested in American Protestant ecclesiology. There one will find the extensive writings of John Nevin who came to the notice of the theological world with The Anxious Bench, a critique of the “quackery” of Protestant revivalism. Influenced by a critical appropriation of cutting-edge contemporary German theology, he came to believe that the church was not “invisible,” but the visible manifestation of Jesus Christ’s incarnate life. Christians were to pursue unity, not in external institutional arrangements, but as unity of spiritual life. This compilation presents his theology of the catholicity of the church prior to his masterwork, The Mystical Presence, and a multifaceted, sophisticated critique of American sectarianism. This edition carefully preserves the original texts while providing extensive introductions, annotations, and bibliography. 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.


One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Tome 2

One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Tome 2

Author: John Williamson Nevin

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2017-08-29

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1498246028

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.


The Christian Story

The Christian Story

Author: Gabriel Fackre

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9780802802767

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable. As a pastoral systematic, The Christian Story rises from, and strives to be a resource to, the life and witness of the church and its leadership. The first volume (revised edition, 1984) offered an introductory overview of the basic Christian doctrine. Now turning his attention to the individual doctrines, Gabriel Fackre here surveys a spectrum of views on authority -- from inerrantist to experientialist -- and sets forth an alternative perspective along ecumenical and narrative lines. The author's search for a full-orbed position affirms Scripture as the source, the church and its traditions as resource, the world of human experience as setting, the Gospel as substance, and Christ as the center of authority. A detailed analysis of hermeneutical issues is included in the book. The quest for evangelical catholicity leads to a restatement of the fourfold method of scriptural interpretation: common sense, critical scholarship, canonical perspective, and the contextualization process -- personal and social. An extensive exegesis of a key Christological text, John 14:6, illustrates how this method works.


The Lord's Supper in the Reformed Tradition

The Lord's Supper in the Reformed Tradition

Author: John W. Riggs

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

Published: 2015-08-24

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 1611645980

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the Reformed tradition, the Lord's Supper is a sacrament that draws on a rich and deep tradition in its theology and practice. In this new volume in the Columbia Series in Reformed Theology, John Riggs provides a comprehensive overview of the most important Reformed theologians and confessions on the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Riggs identifies the theology of true mystical union with Christ in the Supper as both a theological legacy the Reformed tradition inherited and a theological achievement that it refined. Ideal for studies in Reformed and liturgical theology, this is an important resource for investigating the eucharistic theology of the Reformed tradition.


Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States

Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States

Author: George Thomas Kurian

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2016-11-10

Total Pages: 2849

ISBN-13: 1442244321

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From the Founding Fathers through the present, Christianity has exercised powerful influence in the United States—from its role in shaping politics and social institutions to its hand in inspiring art and culture. The Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States outlines the myriad roles Christianity has played and continues to play. This masterful five-volume reference work includes biographies of major figures in the Christian church in the United States, influential religious documents and Supreme Court decisions, and information on theology and theologians, denominations, faith-based organizations, immigration, art—from decorative arts and film to music and literature—evangelism and crusades, the significant role of women, racial issues, civil religion, and more. The first volume opens with introductory essays that provide snapshots of Christianity in the U.S. from pre-colonial times to the present, as well as a statistical profile and a timeline of key dates and events. Entries are organized from A to Z. The final volume closes with essays exploring impressions of Christianity in the United States from other faiths and other parts of the world, as well as a select yet comprehensive bibliography. Appendices help readers locate entries by thematic section and author, and a comprehensive index further aids navigation.


Born of Water and the Spirit

Born of Water and the Spirit

Author: John Williamson Nevin

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2016-03-29

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 1498235492

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

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.