This book is not for the faint of heart! It is over 800 pages of 19th century Lutheran and Reformed theology. There is historical background, but the "meat" of the book is the struggles to remain "orthodox" to the Reformation theology of Martin Luther, and how that was or was not accomplished in the 1800s. I do not recommend this book for just anyone. Whoever reads this must be prepared to encounter rhetoric, changing theological terms, changing theological ideas, outright untruths, the truth based on scripture - often over and over, and over again! I must confess that I read until the last 50 or so pages and couldn't take it anymore; normally that is about when I can't put a book down; in this case I couldn't force myself to pick it up! This book by Charles Porterfield Krauth is, I think, a good example of Christians trying to come to grips with the changing culture and still remain biblically faithful. This is brought to bear in simply reading the Contents: one section is titles, "History and Doctrines of the Conservative Reformation; Mistakes Corrected." It should not be surprising that some of the controversies that this book discusses are: The Lord's Supper, Baptism, The Person of Christ, and Original Sin - all topics still debated today. What is conferred in this Supper? Is it the same for the believer and the unbeliever? What is conferred in Baptism? Who is Jesus? Are we born poor, miserable sinners incapable of saving ourselves, or can we work with God on our salvation? Like I stated at the beginning, this book is not for the faint of heart, those who do not know what they believe and why. It is a deeper study of the issues facing the Church in the 19th Century and how the theologians engaged them. I probably should have read it slower, and then I might have fully finished reading the book, but my mind and heart were no longer engaged near the end - too much repetition, I think, is responsible for my lack of completion. Let me know if anyone has finished this book and what you thought of it.
"Choose a book as you would choose a friend." Sir Christopher Wren
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Conservative Reformation and Its Theology
This book is not for the faint of heart! It is over 800 pages of 19th century Lutheran and Reformed theology. There is historical background, but the "meat" of the book is the struggles to remain "orthodox" to the Reformation theology of Martin Luther, and how that was or was not accomplished in the 1800s. I do not recommend this book for just anyone. Whoever reads this must be prepared to encounter rhetoric, changing theological terms, changing theological ideas, outright untruths, the truth based on scripture - often over and over, and over again! I must confess that I read until the last 50 or so pages and couldn't take it anymore; normally that is about when I can't put a book down; in this case I couldn't force myself to pick it up! This book by Charles Porterfield Krauth is, I think, a good example of Christians trying to come to grips with the changing culture and still remain biblically faithful. This is brought to bear in simply reading the Contents: one section is titles, "History and Doctrines of the Conservative Reformation; Mistakes Corrected." It should not be surprising that some of the controversies that this book discusses are: The Lord's Supper, Baptism, The Person of Christ, and Original Sin - all topics still debated today. What is conferred in this Supper? Is it the same for the believer and the unbeliever? What is conferred in Baptism? Who is Jesus? Are we born poor, miserable sinners incapable of saving ourselves, or can we work with God on our salvation? Like I stated at the beginning, this book is not for the faint of heart, those who do not know what they believe and why. It is a deeper study of the issues facing the Church in the 19th Century and how the theologians engaged them. I probably should have read it slower, and then I might have fully finished reading the book, but my mind and heart were no longer engaged near the end - too much repetition, I think, is responsible for my lack of completion. Let me know if anyone has finished this book and what you thought of it.
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Yet how many times have you referred me to Philippians 3:1?
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