Theology in America
Covering nearly 300 years of American religious writing, this anthology compiles selections from thirteen notable thinkers—including Thomas Hooker, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Josiah Royce, William James and H. Richard Niebuhr—to reveal the vital and creative history of Protestant theology in America.
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A reprint of the 1967 Bobbs-Merrill edition.
Covering nearly 300 years of American religious writing, this anthology compiles selections from thirteen notable thinkers—including Thomas Hooker, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Josiah Royce, William James and H. Richard Niebuhr—to reveal the vital and creative history of Protestant theology in America.
In his substantial Introduction, Sydney Ahlstrom relates the history of American theology in broad and accessible terms, tackling his subject with characteristic clarity, passion, and intellectual rectitude.
Contents:
Introduction. Select Bibliography.
I. Thomas Hooker (1586-1647), Puritan Pastor and Preacher
The Activity of Faith: or, Abraham’s Imitators (1651)
II. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), Apostle to the Age of Reason
The Circle of Edwards’ Thought: Excerpts from His Published and Unpublished Writings (ca. 1720-1757)
III. William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), Unitarian Patriarch
The Essence of the Christian Religion (1831)
IV. Nathaniel William Taylor (1786-1858), Theologian of New School Protestantism
Concio ad Clerum: A Sermon (1828) on Human Nature, Sin, and Freedom
V. Charles Hodge (1797-1878), Architect of Princeton Orthodoxy
Systematic Theology (1872): On Theological Method; The Protestant Rule of Faith
VI. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Transcendentalist Prophet
The Divinity School Address (1838)
VII. Horace Bushnell (1802-1876), Father of Progressive Orthodoxy
Preliminary Dissertation on the Nature of Language as Related to Thought and Spirit (1849)
VIII. John Williamson Nevin (1803-1886), Romantic Church Reformer
The Mystical Presence (1846): The Reformed or Calvinistic Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper; The Modern Puritan Theory; Biblical Argument
IX. Charles Porterfield Krauth (1823-1883), Lutheran Confessionalist
The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology (1871): Preface; The Reformation: its Occasion and Cause; The Primary Confession: The Confession of Augsburg; The Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper
X. Josiah Royce (1855-1916), Idealist Philosopher of Religion
The Sources of Religious Insight (1912): The Unity of the Spirit and the Invisible Church
XI. William James (1842-1910), Philosopher of Religious Experience
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902): The Reality of the Unseen; Conclusions
XII. Walter Rauschenbush (1861-1918), Champion of the Social Gospel
Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907): Introduction; The Social Aims of Jesus
A Theology for the Social Gospel (1917): The Super-Personal Forces of Evil
XIII. H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962), Neo-Orthodox Theologian
The Church Against the World (1935): The Question of the Church; Toward the Independence of the Church
Index.
About the Author:
Sydney E. Ahlstrom was Professor of American Studies and History and Professor of Religious Studies, Yale University.
