Thinking with the Church: Essays in Historical Theology

Thinking with the Church offers twelve substantial essays from B. A. Gerrish, renowned historian, theologian, and Calvin scholar. In this collection, he focuses on the Calvinist tradition and the interpretation of historical theology as a critical engagement with past leaders of Christian thought and their opponents. / In the first two parts the essays focus on philosophical theology, considering questions such as What is religion? and What is revelation? Part three turns directly to historical interpretation of the Calvinist tradition, viewed in the very diverse work of three of its foremost representatives — Calvin himself, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and Charles Hodge. Finally, in the fourth and fifth sections Gerrish deals with particular Christian doctrines in which the diversity of the Calvinist tradition is apparent — the atonement, the Eucharist, and grace. Historical interpretation is the foundation throughout, but Gerrish does not exclude the critical engagement that belongs to the task of historical theology.