The Power of the Church: The Mercersburg Theologians Appropriate the Creedal Heritage
Jul 2020 · Mercersburg Theology Study Series Book 8 · Wipf and Stock Publishers
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About this ebook
This volume is a collection of essays on the early creeds by John Nevin and Philip Schaff, the two principal representatives of the Mercersburg Theology that was birthed in nineteenth-century Pennsylvania. It also contains a critical response by John Proudfit, a more traditionally scholastic Calvinist. In these essays Nevin and Schaff argued that the early creeds provide an indispensable lens through which the Bible should be interpreted and an essential bond to preserve the unity of the church through the centuries. According to these Mercersburg theologians the liturgical and confessional use of the early creeds is crucial for shaping the identity of Christians and mediating the life of Christ to believers. Nevin and Schaff’s enthusiasm for the creeds was a function of their understanding of Christianity as an evolving tradition, the Christian life as growth in Christ-likeness, the church as the nurturing body of Christ, and the sacraments as conduits of Christ’s vivifying personhood. These convictions stood in sharp contrast to the a-creedal sensibilities of most nineteenth-century American Protestants who emphasized the sufficiency of Scripture alone, the church as a gathered community of like-minded individuals, dramatic conversion experiences, and the direct presence of Christ to the individual soul.
About the author
Authors: John Williamson Nevin (1803-1886) was an innovative and controversial American theologian. Although reared in Presbyterianism, Nevin became the premier exponent of the "Mercersburg Theology" of the German Reformed Church. He promoted a view of Christianity as evolving, focused on the Incarnation, and centered in the sacraments. Philip Schaff (1819-1893) was a German emigre who taught theology and church history at Mercersburg Seminary and Union Theological Seminary, New York. In the United States he pioneered the study of the history of Christianity and was a progenitor of the ecumenical movement. John Williams Proudfit (1803-1870) was a classicist and ecclesial historian who taught at New York University and New Brunswick Seminary. His more bibiliocentric Reformed theology motivated him to passionately and caustically critique Nevin's work. Editors: Charles Yrigoyen Jr., a prominent pastor, teacher, and scholar, has written numerous books and articles on the history of Methodism and on the Mercersburg Theology. He has coedited two volumes of the highlights of the Mercersburg Theology: Catholic and Reformed: Selected Theological Writings of John Williamson Nevin, and Reformed and Catholic: Selected Theological Writings of Philip Schaff. Lee C. Barrett is a professor of theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He has authored several books and articles interpreting the writings of Soren Kierkegaard and is a coeditor of the Mercersburg Theology Study Series.
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