This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. The metanarrative that seems most appropriate as the general approach to the history of Christianity is that of development. An approach seeking authentic developments—those which retain the first principles of a tradition throughout their entire development—appearsContinue reading “MHT: Assessing Historical Metanarratives (Part II)”
Tag Archives: Future
MHT: Assessing Historical Metanarratives (Part I)
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. At long last, I turn to the second part of this series, which itself will contain two sections: first, a general discussion of which historical metanarratives seem best suited to the work of contemporary historical theology;Continue reading “MHT: Assessing Historical Metanarratives (Part I)”
MHT: Historiography and Christian History
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. At this juncture, I must reiterate that the application of categories such as pre-Modern, Modern, Postmodern, and developmental are neither strictly chronological nor are they entirely encompassing. There are contemporary examples of historiographical perspective representing eachContinue reading “MHT: Historiography and Christian History”
MHT: Developmental Perspectives on History
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. Postmodernism has not been the only reaction to the rise of Modern historiography: well documented is the rise of various “fundamental” forms of religion, which often retreat into pre-Modern conceptions of history and reality without takingContinue reading “MHT: Developmental Perspectives on History”
MHT: Theological Critiques of Modern History
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. A number of theologically active Postmodern critiques have arisen in recent decades as well, most notably Liberation, Feminist, and Postcolonial Theologies. Founded by Gustavo Gutierrez, Liberation Theology places an emphasis on salvation, God’s work in history,Continue reading “MHT: Theological Critiques of Modern History”
MHT: Postmodern Critiques of Modern History
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. Postmodernism, while notoriously difficult to define and existing in a variety of forms, essentially involves an attempt to move beyond Modernism and the questioning of metanarratives and truth claims due to the constructed nature of humanContinue reading “MHT: Postmodern Critiques of Modern History”
MHT: Modern Critiques of Modern History
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. The Modernist perspective on history is not without its critics. Herbert Butterfield noted the importance of engaging the complexities of the past on their own terms and of not presuming the assumptions of the present whereContinue reading “MHT: Modern Critiques of Modern History”
MHT: The Rise of Modern History
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. This was first great Modern shift in historical thinking, coming to recognize that human existence exists within changing space and time.[11] While this fact was first the product of Biblical and Humanistic scholarship, Enlightenment thinking soonContinue reading “MHT: The Rise of Modern History”
MHT: Medieval and Reformation History
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. In the medieval period, conceptions of the changelessness of the Church solidified through the works of Bernard of Clairvaux, the Venerable Bede, Dante, and Otto of Freising.[6] Rome—which was generally not thought of as “fallen” untilContinue reading “MHT: Medieval and Reformation History”
MHT: Pre-Modern Historical Consciousness
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. While labels are always problematic in some sense, for the sake of this analysis perspectives on history are designated as broadly pre-Modern, Modern, or Postmodern.[2] Admittedly, this schema privileges somewhat the Modern narrative of superiority overContinue reading “MHT: Pre-Modern Historical Consciousness”
Pursuing Veritas 