Because of this emphasis on mentalités, Le Goff preferred to speak of birth and genesis rather than origins, decline, or decadence. Hence he wrote The Birth of Purgatory (1981) and The Birth of Europe (2003) (the French title posed a question: L’Europe . . . Continue reading →
Church History
The Babylonian Captivity Of The Papacy
On February 28, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI abdicated the papacy. Six days later, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit priest and archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected by the College of Cardinals and installed as Pope Francis I, bringing to a conclusion a remarkable series . . . Continue reading →
The Cadaver Synod
“…this see of St. Peter always remains unblemished by any error”—Vatican I, Session 4 (July, 1870), cap. IV.6. …A man of exceptional intelligence, exemplary life, and strict asceticism (the only fault alleged against him was ambition), Formosus had bitter and relentless foes . . . Continue reading →
John Owen: Two Short Catechisms
(minor style revisions by R. Scott Clark, March 2006) Wherein the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ, are unfolded and explained. To my Loving Neighbors and Christian Friends. Brethren, My heart’s desire and request unto God for you is, that you may . . . Continue reading →
Resources On The Double Procession And Filioque
Double Procession of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of the W. Church acc. to which the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Support for it is found in several NT passages, notably Jn. 16:13–15, where Christ says of the . . . Continue reading →
Lent: Of Good Intentions, Spiritual Disciplines, and Christian Freedom
Carter Lindberg tells the story of how the Reformation began to break out in Zürich in 1522: During Lent of 1522, Zwingli was at the house of Christoph Froschauer, a printer, who was laboring over the preparation of the a new edition . . . Continue reading →
Did the Reformation Spawn A Million Churches?
Or Who's The Modernist Here?
Note: This post first appeared 5 years ago. The links to the original posts at Emergent Village and Daily Scroll are gone. I searched for the original post on the EV sub-site on Patheos.com but did not find it. What I did . . . Continue reading →
PT730 Studies In Distintives And Issues In The United Reformed Churches In North America (URCNA)
A directed study intended to supplement the existing preparation of URCNA students studying for the pastoral ministry and to focus their preparation for classical examinations. Prerequisite (may be taken simultaneously): HT/ST615 Reformed Confessions. 1 credit (without a term paper) or 2 Credits . . . Continue reading →
Select Bibliography Of The Reformation
(rev. January 2006) © R. Scott Clark, 2006. All Rights Reserved. 1. References Bagchi, David and David C. Steinmetz, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004). Bauman, M., M. Klauber, ed., Historians of the Christian Tradition (Nashville, 1995). Brady, T. A., . . . Continue reading →
A Brief Glossary Of The Medieval And Reformation Church
Revised 2007, 2011. This is a study guide for my students that began life in the mid-1990s as a handout revised from a glossary by Alister McGrath for Blackwells. § A Abelard, Peter (1079-1142). Author of Sic et Non, an influential scholastic collection of . . . Continue reading →
CH602 Medieval And Reformation Church
Course Description The first half of the course will study the development of medieval theology, doctrinal controversies, the development of the church, monasticism, mysticism, and the forerunners of the Reformation. The second half will study the theology and practices of the Protestant . . . Continue reading →
HT611 Reformed Scholasticism
Course Description A study of the theology and methods of Reformed orthodoxy from 1561–1725. Special attention will be given to soteriology. Fall. 2 Credits. Course Goals — Academic Goal: To enable the student to understand and discuss intelligently the development of Reformed academic . . . Continue reading →
HT566 History Of Covenant Theology
Course Description An introduction to Reformed federal or covenant theology. The course surveys the historical-theological development of covenant theology, its exegetical foundations, and systematic-theological consequences. Fall Semester. 2 Credits. Course Goals —Academic Goal: To enable the student to understand and discuss intelligently the . . . Continue reading →
HT602 Patristics Seminar
Course Description Readings in and discussion of primary sources in the development of Patristic theology. Fall semester. 2 credits. —Academic Goals: To enable the student to read well, i.e., thoughtfully, carefully, and accurately primary texts in patristic theology and to intereact intelligently with . . . Continue reading →
CH601 Ancient Church
Course Description A study of the developing theology, ecclesiology, piety, and worship of the Christian church from the close of the apostolic age to 450 A.D. Special attention will be given to primary sources. Fall semester. 2 credits. Course Goals —Academic Goals: . . . Continue reading →
Roman Emperors In Early Christianity AD 69–211
Location Caesar Reign Notable Rome Galba/Otho/Vitellius 69 murdered/suicide/murdered Rome Vespasian 69–79 ___ Rome Titus 79–81 Destroyed Jerusalem 70 Rome Domitian 81–96 Persecuted the Ap John et al Rome Nerva 96–98 ___ Rome Trajan 98–117 corr. w/Pliny Rome Hadrian 117–38 ___ Rome Anton. . . . Continue reading →
The Church’s Closed Canon By The Latter Half Of The Second Century
This is enough to show that it is quite wrong to contend that there was no concern for marking out or keeping inviolate the contents of the new covenant Scriptures in the second century, or to claim that there was no generally . . . Continue reading →
A Bibliography of Historical Theology and Historiography
Note: This bibliography is intended to alert HT students to the existence of some important and/or useful works for students of historical theology. I have omitted standard and older works in church history (e.g., Schaff) and reference works, since they are available . . . Continue reading →
Chronology Of The Medieval And Reformation Church
Drafted c. 1995. Last revision, 2024. § 1100 c. b. Peter Lombard (1160). Magister Sententiae). 1155–58 Lombard publishes Sententiarum libri quatuor (Sentences in Four Books), which will be mandated in at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) as the standard textbook for the . . . Continue reading →
The Avignon Papacy
Avignon Rome Pisa 1305 Clement V 1316 John XXII 1328 Nicholas V* [1328–30] 1334 Benedict XII 1342 Clement VI 1352 Innocent VI 1362 Urban V 1370 Gregory . . . Continue reading →