Historical Theology 0536
Department of Theology
Tyndale Seminary
Winter 2005
Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m.
Instructor: Dr. V. Shepherd
416 226 6380 (ext. 6726)
e-mail: victor.shepherd@sympatico.ca
This course endeavours to acquaint students with the development of Christian thought from the post-apostolic period to modernity. As the course progresses students will gain familiarity with the kinds of theological thinking found in different eras; e.g., the patristic, the mediaeval, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the post-Reformation,, the Enlightenment, the modern.
The objectives of the course are
[1] to have students understand the church’s struggle to preserve “the faith once delivered to the saints” throughout the vicissitudes of history;
[2] to have students understand how theology is always written in a context (political, social, philosophical) and is always affected by the context, despite protestations to the contrary;
[3] to acquaint students majoring in church history with theological rigour, and to acquaint students majoring in theology with history’s surge and significance;
[4] to have students appreciate the multi-dimensionality of the gospel as different aspects of the faith are investigated week-by-week;
[5] to promote an appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of the differing traditions that comprise “the household and family of God”;
[6] to reassure students that Christ’s promise to his church, the community of the faithful, is a promise that he invariably keeps;
[7] to emphasise the truth that a Christian, a congregation, or a denomination that is unaware of the past is like people suffering from amnesia: they are to be pitied and feared, not because they can’t remember details but rather because they can’t be trusted.
Text for the course: Olson, Roger E.; The Story of Christian Theology (IVP, 1999) ISBN:0 8308 1505 8
Readings for the course will be supplied in a “Kinkos” volume.
Requirements for the course are
[1] one essay, approximately 3000 words long (the essay may be written in accordance with the APA style manual.)
[2] a final, end-of-semester examination.
Essay and examination will be weighted equally.
Prerequisite for the course is the successful completion of THEO 0531 and 0532 or Theo 0530
For Seminary regulations pertaining to absenteeism, late work or incomplete work, please see the student handbook.
Schedule
Jan 12 THE NATURE OF AND NEED FOR THEOLOGY
Jan 19 GABRIEL BIEL (348-360)* the nature of justification
a foil for the Reformers
Jan 26 MARTIN LUTHER (375-394) the righteousness of God
theologia crucis
Feb 2 JOHN CALVIN (408-413) a doctrine of scripture
Feb 9 COUNCIL OF TRENT (444-449) the path to the Council of Trent
the shape of tridentine theology
Feb 16 PURITANS (493-509) dispelling the myth
Jonathan Edwards on Religious Affections
Feb 23 JOHN WESLEY (510-517) the nature of Christian perfection
Mar 2 ANABAPTISTS (414-428) the protest of the Radical Reformers
Mar 9 ATHANASIUS (144-172) the cruciality of the homoousion
Mar 16 Reading Week – no class
Mar 23 ANSELM (316-3250 Cur Deus Homo?
Mar 30 AQUINAS (331-347) the refutation of Anselm’s ontological argument
the “five proofs”
analogical predication
Apr 6 SCHLEIERMACHER (538-547) the attempt at accommodating “The Cultured
Despisers of Religion”
Apr 13 KARL BARTH (572-586) the “doctor” of the 20th century church
the relation of gospel and law
Apr 20 Final Examination
* The numbers in parentheses refer to pages in Olson, The Story of Christian Theology.
Supplementary Readings :
Biel Oberman, H.; “The Process of Justification”, Part II, The
Harvest of Mediaeval Theology
Oberman, H.; “‘Iustitia Christi’ and ‘Iustitia Dei’:
Luther and the Scholastic Doctrine of
Justification”, Harvard Theological Review,
Vol. 59 No. 1, Jan. 1966
Luther Luther, M.; The Freedom of the Christian (Man)
Christian Liberty
Althaus, P. The Theology of Martin Luther
Ebeling, G.; Luther
Rupp, G.; Luther’s Progress to the Diet of Worms
Rupp, G,; The Righteousness of God
Calvin Calvin, J.; The Institutes of the Christian Religion,
Bk. IV, Chapt. I, Sects. 1-11, 22 (keys, church)
Calvin, J.; The Institutes of the Christian Religion,
Bk. III, Chapts. XXI – XXIV (predestination)
Calvin, J.; Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God.
George, T.; Calvin and the Church
Milner, B.; Calvin’s Doctrine of the Church
Parker, T.; Calvin (biography)
Wendel, F.; Calvin
Radical Reformers
Williams, G.; The Radical Reformation
Steinmetz, D.; Reformers in the Wings
Council of Trent
Janelle, P.; The Council of Trent
Jedin, E., History of the Council of Trent
Dickens, A.G.; The Counter-Reformation
Puritans
Daniels, B.; Puritans at Play
Packer, J.; A Quest for Godliness
Wesley The Works of John Wesley (Albert Outler, ed., Abingdon)
Vol 1: “Salvation By Faith”
“Scriptural Christianity”
“The Witness of the Spirit” – I
“The Witness of the Spirit” – II
“The Witness of our own Spirit”
Vol. 2: “Christian Perfection”
“Catholic Spirit”
Vol. 3: “The Danger of Riches”
Lindstrom, H.; Wesley and Sanctification
Maddox, R.; Responsible Grace
Williams, C.; John Wesley’s Theology Today
Athanasius Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word of God
Norris, R. (ed.;) Christology of the Later Fathers
(Library of Christian Classics)
Kelly, J.; Early Christian Doctrine
Anselm Anselm, Cur Deus Homo?
Deane, S.; Saint Anselm, Basic Writings
Hopkins, J.; A Companion to the Study of St. Anselm
Aquinas Gilby, T.; St. Thomas Aquinas, Theological Texts
Chesterton, G.; St. Thomas Aquinas
Copleston, F.; Aquinas
Kenny, A.; Thomas Aquinas
Schleiermacher Schleiermacher, G.; The Christian Faith
Schleiermacher, G.; Lectures
Mackintosh, H.; Types of Modern Theology, Chapts. II & III
Barth, K.; Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century, Chapt. 11
Barth Barth, K.; Dogmatics in Outline
Barth, K.; Evangelical Theology
Barth, K.; The Humanity of God
Bloesch, D.; Jesus is Victor!
Bromiley, G.; An Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth
Torrance , T.; Karl Barth
Liberation Theology
Bonino, M.; Doing Theology in a Revolutionary Situation
Brown, R.; Unexpected News: Reading the Bible with
Third World Eyes
Gonzalez, C. and G.; Liberation Preaching: The Pulpit
and the Oppressed
Armerding, C. (ed.); Evangelicals and Liberation
Essay Topics
- Justification According to the Council of Trent and the Magisterial Reformation. (You may select
one reformer)
- Luther’s Ecclesiology.
- Luther’s Notion of the Two Kingdoms.
- Luther’s Understanding of the Ordained Ministry.
- The Christology of the Radical Reformers. (You may select one reformer)
- Anabaptists, Zwingli and Calvin on the Lord’s Supper.
- Menno Simons’ Understanding of Baptism.
- Menno Simons and Ignatius Loyola: Divergence and Convergence in their Understanding of the
Christian Life.
- Calvin on the Three Uses of the Law.
10. Calvin’s Understanding of Scripture.
11. A Puritan Understanding of the Believer’s Holiness.
12. A Puritan Theologian on Sanctification.
13. A Comparison with respect to Substance and Mood of Luther’s Small Catechism, Calvin’s Geneva
Catechism, The Heidelberg Catechism, and The Westminster Shorter Catechism.
14. Wesley’s Puritan Inheritance.
15. Wesley’s Understanding of Christian Perfection.
16. The Place of the Doctrine of Prevenient Grace in Wesley’s Theology.
17. Wesley’s Understanding of Regeneration and Assurance.
18. The Doctrine of…(Atonement, for instance) in the Hymns of
Charles Wesley.
19. A Comment on Critique of Selected Doctrine(s) in the Thought of Schleiermacher.
20. Barth’s Assessment of Natural Theology.
21. Barth’s Doctrine of the Word of God.
22. Barth’s Appreciation of the Blumhardts.
23. An Exposition and Critique of Athanasius’s Notion of Recapitulation.
24. Thomas Aquinas on Predestination (or Grace, Faith, etc.).
25. The Scriptural Adequacy of Anselm’s Understanding of the Atonement.
26. Roman Catholicism: A Comparison of the Council of Trent and
Vatican II.
- (Any topic approved by the instructor.)