Mercersburg theology
Mercersburg theology was a
History
Although the seminary existed prior to 1844, Mercersburg Theology began in earnest in that year with the hiring of
The controversy did not end with the clearing of Professor Schaff, however. Professor Nevin published The Mystical Presence, a book about the
During the 1850s the RCUS also fought over the use of a
In 1866 Samuel Miller wrote a defense of Mercersburg theology over and against Modernist theology, which he saw as a threat. He argued that Mercersburg theology assumes certain innate truths which apply to all people at all times in all places, while Modernist theology was rationalistic and depended on empirical and rationalist evidences to rest its foundational beliefs upon, which inevitably leads to infidelity.[2]
By the early 20th century, though, much of the controversy had been rendered moot by three factors. First, the rise of the strongly Protestant
The seminary continues to this day (under the name Lancaster Theological Seminary), and its theology and influence still continue today, albeit in moderation, in congregations of the United Church of Christ descended from Reformed congregations which carried out the party's platform.
Theology
John Nevin summarized the Mercersburg Theology, or Movement, by saying, "Its cardinal principle is the fact of the Incarnation." He explained that by adding, "Christ saves the world, not ultimately by what He teaches or by what He does, but by what He is in the constitution of His own person."[3] Nevin's most popular work was The Mystical Presence, a study of the doctrine of the Lord's Supper.
Another significant aspect of the Mercersburg Theology is the view of history and theology found in Philip Schaff's Principle of Protestantism. In this work, Schaff takes a
A more objective liturgy was advocated by both of these founding principles of Mercersburg Theology, and all the major adherents of the movement favored an altar-based liturgy as opposed to pulpit-centered worship, i.e., centered on a lengthy sermon. This included more formal prayers, an altar rather than a table for the Lord's Supper, and a sacramental sensibility. These changes represent a movement in the direction of Lutheranism.
The Merscersburg Society was founded in 1983 to maintain the sacramental and ecclesial approach of the theology. It publishes The New Mercersburg Review and holds an annual summer convocation. In 2012 Wipf and Stock began publishing critical, annotated editions of major works of Schaff, Nevin and their associates in The Mercersburg Theology Study Series. Seven volumes had been published by 2017.[6]
Characteristic
Most distinctive is the idealist hermeneutic which stood (and stands) in contrast to the common sense realism of Hodge and subsequent American Reformed theology, i.e. Nevin starts with the whole before the parts, and the whole is indeed greater than the sum of the parts. Within this hermeneutical context, Mercersburg also prioritizes the Incarnation as a theological lens which - as one might suppose - has vast theological implications. The result is a thoroughgoing ecclesiology and sacramentology that opposes a number of theological dualisms and heavily forensic soteriologies.[citation needed]
See also
- Philip Schaff
- John Williamson Nevin
- Franklin and Marshall College, located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
- Scottish Church Society
External links
- United Church of Christ "short course" on the German Reformed Church
- The Order of Corpus Christi
- Mercersburg Society
References
- ^ Good, J.I.: "The History of the Reformed Church in the United States in the Nineteenth Century", The James I Good Collection, 2004
- ^ Miller, Samuel (1866). A Treatise on Mercersburg Theology. Philadelphia: S. R. FISHER & Co.
- ^ Nevin, John: "Letter to Dr. Henry Harbaugh", pg. 498. Catholic and Reformed Selected Theological Writings of John Williamson Nevin, 1978
- ^ Schaff, Philip: "The Principle of Protestantism, pg. 225-226. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2004.
- ^ Joseph Henry Dubbs, The Reformed Church in Pennsylvania, Lancaster, PA: Pennsylvania German Society, 1902: 295-312.
- ^ "Mercersburg Theology Study Series". wipfandstock.com. Wipf and Stock Publishers. Retrieved 2020-07-11.