Post a reply to each of the following of 275 words each. Week. Each reply must incorporate 2 scholarly citation(s) in Turabian format (note-bibliography or author-date). Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years.
Post 1 TM
Combine the strengths of the intellectual vigor of Protestant Scholasticism with the deeply emotional devotion of Pietism, what would that model look like?
Since entire papers could be written on this topic, provide a summary without being too lengthy.
An obvious temptation is an either/or mindset, which feels one side must be emphasized to the detriment of the other. This tension to pull to one side or the other is reflected in the pendulum diagram of Chart 3
[1] A better model can be built by recognizing these two movements not as competing factions, but as two necessary sides of the same faith coin.I will try to define my model using five basic (and general) principles. Misguided zeal and activity can be dangerous, so it must be founded on solid immutable precepts. But from the time of Athanasius, there has been also a zeal to get the theology right rather than almost right, hence his insistence on homoousios and not homoiousios at the Council of Nicea.
[2] So principle one is a solid foundation of Scripture to support all theology and belief. As Calvin notes, it is Scripture that “gives us a clear view of the true God.”
[3] Coupled with this belief in sola Scriptura is principle two, which is the concept of the priesthood of the believer. Therefore, Scripture and its interpretation must it be available to the people. Language used must be plain, and the interpretations of Scripture plain and understandable to the people, not requiring a special caste to interpret Scripture.
[4]However, model faith is not mere assent or even devotion to precepts and creedal affirmations. No amount of effort or activity can make up for a lack of relationship with God. John Wesley learned that at his Aldersgate experience, where he felt God’s grace personally.
[5] So principle three is the necessity of a vibrant personal relationship with God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. This personal experience of God was then lived out in two ways. First inward, in a life of personal piety and holiness, allowing God to transform oneself through spiritual disciplines including Bible study, meditation, and prayer. The Holy Spirit needs to do this work within the person as they experience God’s love.
[6] Second, this inward transformation becomes the catalyst for principle four, which is to impact the larger world through preaching the Gospel and ministering to those in need. The existing church may have been theologically accurate, but was not reaching out. Wesley began preaching outside the churches to reach all people.
[7]The pietists in Europe set up orphanages and other means to help those in need.
[8] As part of living out faith, believers are encouraged to meet together for study and encouragement, a discipleship model that continues to this day. This is principle five, the need for Christian community of believers. Spener’s six proposals for reform became the model used in Europe and England.
[9] While their successors may have veered off too far towards the pietist side of the pendulum, the original concepts put forth by Spener and Wesley were fairly close to the ideal center.
Of course, Christ gave the best way to combine the strengths of the intellectual vigor of Protestant Scholasticism with the deeply emotional devotion of Pietism when He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39).[10] He then stated the means for the church to accomplish this when he told the apostles “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:7).
“Christian faith is, then, not only an assent to the whole gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance on the blood of Christ, a trust in the merits of his life, death, and resurrection; a recumbency upon him as our atonement and our life, as given for us, and living in us.”[11] Neither intellectual vigor nor emotional devotion can be neglected in the Christian life. However, most of us will tend towards one side or the other. Therefore, we need to continually examine ourselves to maintain the proper balance to which God has called us.
[1] Walton, Chronological and Background Charts of Church History, Revised and Expanded Edition. 3.
[2] Noll, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, 49.
[3] Weaver and Roldan-Figueroa, Exploring Christian Heritage: A Reader in History and Theology, 113.
[4] Poole, “Theology, Plain and Simple: Biblical Hermeneutics, Language Philosophy, and Trinitarianism in the Seventeenth Century”, 124-126.
[5] Noll, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, 219.
[6] Knight, Henry H. “God’s Love Through the Spirit: The Holy Spirit in Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley, by Kenneth M. Loyer.”, 240.
[7] Noll, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, 219.
[8] Ibid., 226.
[9] Ibid., 223.
[10] All Bible references, unless otherwise noted, are in the English Standard Version (ESV).
[11] Noll, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, 220.
Knight, Henry H. “God’s Love Through the Spirit: The Holy Spirit in Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley, by Kenneth M. Loyer.” Pneuma : the journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. 40, no. 1-2 (2018): 240–242.
Noll, Mark A. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012. ISBN: 9780801039966.
Poole, Kristen. “Theology, Plain and Simple: Biblical Hermeneutics, Language Philosophy, and Trinitarianism in the Seventeenth Century.” Reformation, 24:2, 122-137, DOI: 10.1080/13574175.2019.1665276.
Walton, Robert. Chronological and Background Charts of Church History, Revised and Expanded Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. ISBN: 9780310258131.
Weaver, C. Douglas, and Roldan-Figueroa, Rady. Exploring Christian Heritage: A Reader in History and Theology, second edition. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2017.
Post 2 TF
Combine the strengths of the intellectual rigor of Protestant Scholasticism with the deeply emotional devotion of Pietism, what would that model look like?
Shortly after Oliver Cromwell became the Lord of England, some such as Puritans, Separatist and Presbyterians “had a great deal of liberty.”
[1] Because of this, Protestant Scholasticism was established and it formed the foundation based of off the Arminianism. Furthermore, this movement “reformed and Lutheran Orthodoxy were established in confessional statements that tended to harden into a concept where simply affirming these doctoral statements were taken as evidence of saving faith.”
[2] The Protestant Scholasticism honored the notion that “God by His grace restored free will to lost humanity.”
[3] Also the “believers could lose their salvation by deliberate, unrepentant sinning.”
[4] Few contemplated these ideas as dead and thus Pietism was created. Pietism gave an emotional devotion on why there should be “a more extensive use of the Word of God among us,”
[5] Furthermore, Pietism “opposed sectarian divisions in Germany”
[6] and assisted personal religion which raised it to an all-time high. The “intellectual aspects of the faith were minimized and personal Bible study was promoted.”
[7]If we were to combine the strengths of the intellectual rigor or Protestant Scholasticism with an intensely emotional devotion of Pietism, I believe this could be both beneficial and have negative connotations. Beneficial because it would show that the believers will confirm they have faith which in turn could convince others to believe, but in return the church would show that they have faith through confession. Thus this model would be quite unhinged because the Protestant Scholasticism continue to push affirmation of faith through confessional.
Pietism will minimize the intellectual aspect that would have members of the church study the bible, but still won’t have a connection with God. Generally, we can find ourselves in this imaginary model because everyone holds their own rights and wrongs. They also have their dos and don’ts when it comes to what we have faith in and how we express that faith. In the end, as long as Christ is being preached, souls are being saved, and disciples are being made then it really does not matter what you believe. The most important thing is that you continue to allow Christ to be your foundation.
1 Smith, Almer, Protestantism from 1600-1900 Lecture. Lynchburg VA, October 20, 2021
2 Smith, Almer Protestantism from 1600-1900 Lecture. Lynchburg VA, October 20, 2021
3 Noll, Mark A. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, 2018. 218
4 Noll, Mark A. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, 2018. 218
5 Noll, Mark A. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, 2018. 224
6 Smith, Almer, Protestantism from 1600-1900 Lecture. Lynchburg VA, October 20, 2021
7 Smith, Almer, Protestantism form 1600-1900 Lecture. Lynchburg VA, October 20, 2021
