This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. The fourth important factor in the study of historical theology involves a wide investigation of contexts. While Berkofer somewhat problematizes a context furnished by “thick description,”[50] the type of context sought here does not involve theContinue reading “MHT: Principle of Context”
Tag Archives: Theological Studies
MHT: Principle of Order
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. The third methodological foundation for historical theology incorporates aspects of an ordered approach to the study of the past. This is the great legacy of the Modern era on the study of history: a scientific approachContinue reading “MHT: Principle of Order”
MHT: Perspectivism
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. To satisfy both the postmodern critique and need for epistemological clarity, I suggest epistemological and methodological perspectivism. Perspectivism acknowledges the limits of the historian and their information, the selectivity of historical presentations, and the variability ofContinue reading “MHT: Perspectivism”
MHT: Principle of Clarity
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. Epistemological clarity constitutes the second vital component for historical theological work. This necessity arises out of awareness of the postmodern critique of knowledge. As noted above, the postmodern challenge argues that historians can only engage theContinue reading “MHT: Principle of Clarity”
MHT: Principle of Awareness
This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on the appropriate approach to and method for historical theology. With a metanarrative of developmentalism in a hand, I must now turn to some explicit methodological principles for undertaking the project of historical theology. First, methodological awareness forms the foundation for all solid historical theological work.Continue reading “MHT: Principle of Awareness”
MHT: Assessing Historical Metanarratives (Part II)
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)”
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”
Pursuing Veritas 