Spiritual Theology in Bruce, Howie, Johnston, Boyd, and Leighton

2019 ◽  
pp. 210-224
Author(s):  
Mark W. Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Theological Method ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Spiritual Theology ◽  
Firm Knowledge

This chapter concerns itself with how Scottish Reformed theology could go in a different direction from that of the polemical and the systematic. The five theologians considered, namely Robert Bruce (1554–1631), Robert Howie (1565–1641), John Johnston (1565–1611), Robert Boyd (1578–1627), and Robert Leighton (1611–84), all evidence a firm knowledge of the latter and should not be seen as reacting against the theological mainstream, but rather as bringing Reformed theology into dialogue with principles and practices of the Christian life as well as biblical exegesis. Often writing and thinking in a way that shows ‘humanist’ training, they arrive at something that can best be called ‘Spiritual Theology’. In the course charted here, this grows from being located somewhere in the ‘background’ theological method to being foregrounded in the content. There are clear signs of strong continental influence, to a varying degree.

Teilhard De Chardin's Spirituality of the Cross

Horizons ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Robert Faricy
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Spiritual Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin ◽  
The Cross

AbstractThis article studies the spiritual theology of the cross in the writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. In Teilhard's books and articles the accent falls on the cross as a symbol of progress. The cross stands for Jesus' positive act of saving the world through his death; it represents, too, Christian life as a sharing in the cross of Jesus through the labor and pain of human progress. In his spiritual notes, however, Teilhard takes a different perspective. His own meditations on the cross center not on the cross as a positive symbol of personal and collective progress through struggle, but rather on death as the ultimate fragmentation, and as an apparent dead end that is the final passage to Jesus Christ.

Reading and Revelation in Hans Frei and David Tracy

2013 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-465
Author(s):  
Marsaura Shukla
Keyword(s):  
Theological Method ◽  
Reading Practice ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Full Participation ◽  
Hans Frei ◽  
Full Sense ◽  
Contemporary Situation

AbstractMost maps of theology in the twentieth century, particularly theology in North America, would include the delineation of revisionist theology and postliberal theology as mutually exclusive, opposed options in theological method. This article begins to challenge the contours of this received map through a comparison of David Tracy and Hans Frei, pre-eminent figures in revisionist and postliberal theology, respectively. I show that, for all their differences, both Tracy and Frei posit the reader–text relationship as the site and even in some sense the source of revelation. Their turn to reading is motivated by the perception of a certain loss or estrangement characterising contemporary religiosity. Though the scope and details of their description of the problem differ, there is a similarity in the vision of Christian life which stands in contrast to the contemporary situation. For both, their visions of Christian life can be articulated through the notion of orthodoxy, understood in its full sense as referring to a coherent, vibrant and all-encompassing immersion in Christian doctrine and practice. Engagement in proper reading practice becomes for each the entrance into and sign of full participation in religious life, analogous to the role of belief in traditional notions of orthodoxy. I suggest that Tracy and Frei represent two forms of ‘theology of ortholexis’ or ‘right reading’. The turn to reading is most obvious in Frei, who explicitly links the modern difficulty in attaining a sense of the coherence of Christian history, doctrine and lived life to a misconstrual of the nature of the biblical text which leads to a misguided reading practice. Yet Tracy also places the model of reading as conversation at the centre of his revisionist account of the possibility of a contemporary experience of the authority of the Bible and the power of the Christian tradition more generally. In these ‘theologies of ortholexis’, a constellation of modern anxieties concerning the limits and possibilities of our knowledge and experience of the divine are addressed through positing the reader–text relationship forged through proper reading practice as the place of and way to authentic revelation.

scholarly journals Katholiek zicht op wedergeboorte. Dordts spreken over wedergeboorte in een breder theologie-historisch kader

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.H.Th. Moehn
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Classical View

This article analyzes how sixteenth century Reformed theology explored the theme of regeneration. In line with the traditional catholic treatment of regeneration, a reading of Luther, Calvin, Beza and De Brès suggests that regeneration is closely related to the sacrament of Baptism and the renewal of the Christian life. The Canons of Dordt reflects on the ‘seed of regeneration’, thereby shifting the focus to the beginnings of Gods saving work and reducing the interest in the classical connection of regeneration and Baptism. This essay argues for a renewed reflection on the classical view of regeneration linked to the sacrament of Baptism.

Divine Action in Symeon the New Theologian

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Divine Action ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Spiritual Theology ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Divine Forgiveness ◽  
The Church

This chapter examines the spiritual theology of Symeon the New Theologian. It examines Symeon’s thought on the role of human agents in providing forgiveness of sins in the life of the church, ordination in priesthood, divine equipping of the laity to speak on God’s behalf to those seeking salvation, and the deeper questions these questions raise about divine action in salvation. The questions about the mediation of divine forgiveness among the laity inevitably raise questions about the nature of the action of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life, whether one can know that God is present in the personal life of the believer, and how these claims can be defended epistemologically.

Heinrich Bullinger’s Decades

2020 ◽  
pp. 217-235
Author(s):  
Bruce Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Early Church ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Reformed Churches

Heinrich Bullinger’s Decades, presented as a set of sermons on the major points of Christian doctrine, was one of the first comprehensive statements of Reformed theology. The 50 sermons provide a robust defence of the orthodoxy of the Zurich church by demonstrating its adherence to the historical teachings of the early church. Bullinger wrote the work both to instruct and edify, and the tone of the Decades is deeply pastoral, offering a guide to the Christian life. Translated into numerous languages, including Dutch and English, the Decades became a key text of the growing Reformed churches of the Reformation period, making Bullinger the first major international leader of the movement.

Francis Turretin’s Institutes of Elenctic Theology

2020 ◽  
pp. 279-294
Author(s):  
J. Mark Beach
Keyword(s):  
Theological Method ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Publication History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Salient Features

As among the most prominent works in the history of Reformed theology, Francis Turretin’s Institutes of Elenctic Theology merits attention and recognition as representative of Reformed orthodoxy and the scholastic method that contended for that orthodoxy. This we seek to do—first, exploring (only briefly) the theological background of Turretin’s scholastic theology; second, the origin and occasion of this work; next, and third, we treat the genre or type of theological writing that best describes his Institutes. This is followed with an analysis of Turretin’s theological method and a simple illustration of it. We then offer an analysis of some salient features of Turretin’s elenctic theology; and we conclude with a succinct account of the English publication history of this work.

Scripture and Exegesis in Early Modern Reformed Theology

2015 ◽  
pp. 178-194
Author(s):  
Carl R. Trueman
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Great Emphasis ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Philosophical Foundations

The theology of the Protestant Reformation placed great emphasis upon the Word of God, which led both to a reorientation of worship around the Word read and preached, and a focus upon the text of Scripture. This fueled the rise of linguistic studies and development of highly sophisticated approaches to biblical exegesis. In addition, polemical engagement with an increasingly sophisticated Catholicism led to further elaboration and refinement of the doctrine of scripture, particularly in relation to its perspicuity and sufficiency. Ironically, the overriding Protestant concern for scripture as the Word of God therefore put in place the technical tools and scholarly disciplines that served to undermine the classic Protestant position; and as the philosophical foundations of Reformed orthodoxy came under vigorous attack, the unity of its approach essentially collapsed towards the end of the seventeenth century, condemning the tradition as a whole to the intellectual margins in the eighteenth century.

Reformed Theology in Gaelic Women’s Poetry and Song

2019 ◽  
pp. 99-111
Author(s):  
Anne Macleod Hill
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Domestic Life ◽  
Women's Poetry ◽  
Biblical Teaching

Gaelic women’s poetry and song track the reception of Reformed theology in Gaelic communities both geographically and diachronically. They also allow insights into the spiritual, ethical, and societal concerns of those whose voices are otherwise unheard. Whether ostensibly secular or explicitly spiritual, Gaelic women’s songs carry a record of the religious, cultural, and domestic life of Highland Scotland in many individual voices. The earliest Gaelic evangelical songs belonged to the oral tradition, and were specifically directed towards making biblical teaching and Reformed doctrine accessible within non-literate Gaelic-speaking communities. Women’s spiritual songs quickly became a forum for personal and communal religious expression, public exhortation, and discussions on faith and doctrine. They show women, both literate and non-literate, acting as spiritual mentors, actively engaging in biblical exegesis, relating scriptural teaching to contemporary issues, and demanding that Christian ethics be applied in both personal and public life.

scholarly journals On Christian Engagement with Digital Technologies: A Reformed Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Jean Francesco A. L. Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Common Life ◽  
Ordinary Life ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Use Of Technology

This essay proposes that the Reformed theology of ordinary life has promising principles that can be applied to the recent challenges of the digital age. It first examines how contemporary scholars have grappled with the challenges posed by virtual life, highlighting their Advantages and disadvantages. Then, it suggests that the Reformed attitude for sanctifying ordinary life leads Christians inevitably to embrace discipline in their use of technology. The author recommends digital resistance and digital intentionality as judicious parameters for Christian engagement in a digital age. KEYWORDS: Theology of common life, Christian vocation, technology, digital technologies, Christian life, Reformed worldview

Beyond a Godless Understanding of Youth: Why Exegesis Matters to Youth Ministry

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Becker
Keyword(s):  
Practical Theology ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Worked Examples ◽  
Theological Method ◽  
Biblical Exegesis ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Academic Study

This article considers the discipline of Biblical exegesis and its potential as a tool for both the academic study and practical outworking of youth ministry. I argue that theological method within youth ministry does not incorporate an effective use of biblical exegesis and this is of determinant to the overalLproject of studying the context and content of youth ministry. The article presents a pattern of reading a/Young Testament' (narratives that inform a rich biblical account of the experience of youth and the part youths play in the overarching story of God). The author provides two worked examples of how biblical exegesis can provide both rigor and resources to complement data and theory drawn from the insights of practical theology. The piece ends with some reflections on the potential of exegetical work in relation to the authors own experience of practice.

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