“One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”
Ps. 145:4
“…the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
1 Tim. 3:15
“…The truth of the Lord endureth for ever.”
Ps. 117:2
.
.
Subsections
Historical Theologies
Early & Medieval Theology
Lutheran Theology
Aquinas through Church History
.
.
Order of Contents
Intro & Definition
Article
History
Dictionaries
Special Studies
By Period
. Protestantism
. Post-Reformation
. New England
By Tradition
. Anglican
.
Intro & Definition
Historical theology is Scriptural theology organized and viewed through the way it has been recognized and developed through the history of the Church.
Why is historical theology dearly precious? Because nearly every aspect of Scriptural teaching has been hammered out in more profound earnestness and depth by the godly giants of the past, and their personal stories, than we can comprehend.
.
Article
2000’s
Beeke, Joel & Michael A.G. Haykin – ‘History Acquaints Us with the Wisdom of other Christians’ in Why Should I Be Interested in Church History? in Cultivating Biblical Godliness Series (RHB)
“It is exhilarating to stand on the east coast of North America and watch the Atlantic surf… But this experience is of no benefit for sailing across the Atlantic to England. For that a map based on the accumulated experience of thousands of voyagers is needed…
As Spurgeon noted, ‘It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others.’ And ponder these wise words of J. I. Packer:
‘Tradition…is the fruit of the Spirit’s teaching activity from the ages as God’s people have sought understanding of Scripture. It is not infallible, but neither is it negligible, and we impoverish ourselves if we disregard it…. If we all dialogued with Christian tradition more we should all end up wiser than we are.'”
.
The History of Historical Theology
Hodgson, Peter C. – The Formation of Historical Theology; a Study of Ferdinand Christian Baur (Harper & Row, 1966) 315 pp. ToC
Baur was a liberal.
.
Dictionaries
1800’s
Blunt, John Henry – Dictionary of Doctrinal & Historical Theology (Rivingtons, 1870) 835 pp. Tabular Guide Index
.
2000’s
ed. Hart, Trevor – Dictionary of Historical Theology Buy (Paternoster / Eerdmans, 2000) 625 pp. Index Abr Contributors
.
Special Studies
Briggs, Charles A. – History of the Study of Theology, vol. 1, 2 (1916)
Briggs was an American, liberal scholar. This work encompasses the whole of church history and gives background to the methods that historical theologians employed in studying.
.
.
Historical Theology by Historical Period
Being constructed
.
The Early Church
.
.
The Medieval Church
.
Protestantism
Dorner, Isaac, A. – History of Protestant Theology, Particularly in Germany, vol. 1, 2 (1871)
Dorner (1809–1884) was a German liberal.
Hurst, John Fletcher – History of Rationalism: Embracing a Survey of the Present State of Protestant Theology rev. & enlarged (London, 1867) This edition includes ch. 4 on Spinoza in the 1600’s that other editions don’t have.
Hurst (1834–1903) was an American bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church and the first Chancellor of the American University in Washington, D.C.
.
In the Post-Reformation
Under Construction
See also, ‘Post-Reformation’s Reception of Aquinas’.
.
Books
1800’s
Cunningham, William – The Reformers & the Theology of the Reformation Buy (1862) 608 pp.
Here Cunningham is at his best, church history and the principles of the Reformation being his life’s work.
.
2000’s
ed. Lindberg, Carter – The Reformation Theologians: an Introduction to Theology in the Early Modern Period (Blackwell, 2002) 390 pp. ToC
eds. Bagchi, David & David C. Steinmetz – The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology (Cambrdige Univ. Press, 2004) 300 pp. ToC
.
New England
New England theology has generally been a downhill slide
ever since the death of Jonathan Edwards.
.
Articles
Dwight, William, T. – ‘Characteristics of New England Theology, a Discourse’ (Congregational Board of Publication, 1855) 30 pp.
Foster, Frank Hugh – ‘The History of the Original Puritan Theology of New England, 1620-1720’ The American Journal of Theology, vol. 1 (1897), pp. 700-27
Beeke, Joel – ‘Preface’ 5 pp. to Timothy Dweight, Theology Explained & Defended, 4 vols. Buy (d. 1817; RHB, 2005)
.
Books
1800’s
Pond, Enoch – Sketches of the Theological History of New England 1880 105 pp. ToC
Pond, an American congregationalist, defends the New England theology.
Boardman, George Nye – A History of New England Theology (1899) 310 pp. ToC
Boardman was a professor in (the liberal) Chicago Theological Seminary.
.
1900’s
Foster, Frank Hugh – A Genetic History of the New England Theology (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1907) 575 pp. ToC
Holifield, E. Brooks – The Covenant Sealed: the Development of Puritan Sacramental Theology in Old & New England, 1570-1720 (Yale University Press, 1974) 255 pp. ToC
.
2000’s
eds. Jones, Mark & Michael Haykin – A New Divinity: Transatlantic Reformed Evangelical Debates during the Long Eighteenth Century Pre (V&R, 2018) 300 pp. ToC
.
Historical Theology by Tradition
.
Anglican
Hall, Francis – Dogmatic Theology, 10 vols. (1907)
Hall was a professor of dogmatic theology at the Episcopal Church’s General Theological Seminary in the early 20th century. He was an American heir of the Tractarians and tended towards the Anglo-Catholic side of doctrine (which is highly not recommended).
.
.
.
Related Pages