
The Early Creeds
The Mercersburg Theologians Appropriate the Creedal Heritage
Wipf & Stock Publishers
Published on 29. July 2020
Book
Hardback
296 pages
978-1-5326-9792-0 (ISBN)
Description
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.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Eugene
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 260 mm
Width: 183 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
759 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5326-9792-0 (9781532697920)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

John Williamson Nevin | Philip Schaff | John Williams Proudfit
The Early Creeds
The Mercersburg Theologians Appropriate the Creedal Heritage
E-Book
07/2020
Wipf and Stock Publishers
€33.99
Available for download
Persons
Sam Hamstra Jr. is the Affiliate Professor of Church History and Worship at Northern Seminary. He is the editor of several studies, most recently The Reformed Pastor: Lectures on Pastoral Theology by John Williamson Nevin, and has authored several works on worship, including What's Love Got to Do With It? How the Heart of God Shapes Worship.
John Williamson Nevin (1803-1886), was a professor successively at Western Theological Seminary, the Theological Seminary of the German Reformed Church at Mercersburg, and Franklin and Marshall College. He was a leading nineteenth-century theologian and founding editor of Mercersburg Review.