Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy; Volume 1: Prolegomena to Theology
Overview
Volume One, Prolegomena to Theology, introduces the study of Protestant scholasticism. Muller defines theology and religion and discusses several aspects of theology as they were understood in the post-Reformation era, including its divisions, object and genus, and fundamental principles. This second edition includes second and third level subheadings, a more exhaustive list of secondary literature, and a more finely focused thesis which complements the other three volumes in this collection.
Top Highlights
“Where the Reformers painted with a broad brush, their orthodox and scholastic successors strove to fill in the details of the picture. Whereas the Reformers were intent upon distancing themselves and their theology from problematic elements in medieval thought and, at the same time, remaining catholic in the broadest sense of that term, the Protestant orthodox were intent upon establishing systematically the normative, catholic character of institutionalized Protestantism, at times through the explicit use of those elements in patristic and medieval theology not at odds with the teachings of the Reformation.” (Page 37)
“In short, there was no monolithic orthodoxy—there were, instead, various trajectories in confessional Reformed theology, all of which belonged to the orthodoxy of the era, within which there were varieties of doctrinal or systematic formulation and within which there were controversies, deep, angry controversies concerning the proper formulation of the orthodoxy.” (Page 41)
“The term ‘scholasticism,’ when applied to these efforts indicates primarily, therefore, a method and not a particular content: the method could be (and was) applied to a wide variety of theological contents and it could be (and was) applied to other academic disciplines as well.” (Page 35)
“We can affirm four forces contributing to the rise and development of Protestant orthodoxy, (polemics, pedagogical needs, the working out of systematic issues, and the striving for philosophical breadth and coherence) and rule out a fifth (concentration on a metaphysical principle or central dogma).” (Page 65)
- Title: Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy; Volume 1: Prolegomena to Theology
- Author: Richard Muller
- Edition: 2nd ed.
- Series: Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics
- Publisher: Baker Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2003
- Logos Release Date: 2009
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Reformed Church › Doctrines--History--16th century; Reformed Church › Doctrines--History--17th century; Reformed Church › Doctrines--History--18th century; Protestant scholasticism
- ISBNs: 9781441255327, 9780801026171, 144125532X, 0801026172
- Resource ID: LLS:PSTRFMREFDG01
- Resource Type: Systematic Theology
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:29:53Z
Richard A. Muller is the P.J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.