This excellent volume provides a comprehensive introduction to Christian theological literature in western Europe through two important and yeasty centuries. It was a time of development for an increasingly technical vocabulary in post-Reformation Protestantism; counters by Roman Catholic theologians; the rise of Spiritual theologies—Protestant, Catholic, Quietist; and the impact of key philosophies from Descartes to Kant which influenced theology or were influenced by theology. This is the first volume to provide a single scholarly resource for studying these emerging ideas and the significant figures who shaped early modern theology from 1600–1800.
Three divisions mark the book. Part One provides essays on “Theology—Context and Form.” Part Two surveys “Theological Topics” with pieces on “Catholic Theologies,” “Reformed Theologies,” “Lutheran Theologies,” and “Other Christian Theologies and Awakening Movements.” Part Three presents “Theology and the Others” through pieces on “Western Christian Theologies and Other Religions or Churches” and “Western Christian Theologies and Philosophies.” The forty-two essays in the collection are written by experts, clearly structured, and well honed to present significant dimensions of the topics in accurate and focused ways. In short, this is a splendid collaborative effort that introduces wide and complex perspectives that will make this a standard guide and reference work for years to come.
The “Theological Topics” essays are especially useful for providing an overview of major theological movements coming out of the Reformation period. They developed main themes that were features of sixteenth-century theology. Since scripture was so central, the volume includes Marius Reiser's “The History of Catholic Exegesis, 1600–1800.” Reiser highlights the work of Richard Simon (1638–1712), and quotes William McKane's description of Simon as combining “critical boldness with Catholic conservatism” (79). Simon laid down the basics of biblical research—especially in regard to introductory questions for biblical studies. Reiser says Simon “already knew what a twentieth-century hermeneutic would later elaborate upon: exegesis without presuppositions or background beliefs, and thereby absolutely objective exegesis, is impossible” (82). Importantly, Reiser comments that “a real reception of Simon has never occurred, but would be fruitful for the future of Catholic scholarship” (82).
Relatedly, Carl R. Trueman's “Scripture and Exegesis in Early Modern Reformed Theology” examines the importance and developing contours of the doctrine of scripture—and its interpretation—in the Reformed Orthodoxy of the seventeenth century. Trueman writes that “Reformed Protestantism was thus marked by a basic commitment to the authority, sufficiency, and perspicuity of scripture not only as a central part of its polemic against the Roman Catholic Church but also as essential to its understanding of the nature of the pastoral task and the Christian life” (179). As the Reformed Orthodox developed detailed theological positions on doctrines of God, predestination, sin and grace, and eschatology—all the subjects of essays in this segment of the book—Trueman's statement about the place of scripture is foundational and central to theological activities of the Reformed.
A parallel development can be seen in Lutheranism. Benjamin T. G. Mayes presents “Scripture and Exegesis in Early Modern Lutheranism” where he provides a helpful corrective to views of Lutheran orthodoxy as “dead” and “sterile” and views that it used the Bible only as a source for proof texts to buttress complex theological positions. Mayes counters that with some exceptions, “Lutherans approached scripture as a whole and only then derived doctrine from it. Moreover, Lutherans used many other genres of commentary and uses of scripture besides just dogmatic exegesis” (286). This helps put Lutheran (and also Reformed) orthodoxy into a clearer and more accurate view.
The six essays in the “Other Christian Theologies and Awakening Movements” of Part Two provide clear introductions to early modern Socinianism and Unitarianism, Anabaptist Theologies, Arminianism, Pietism, Jansenism, and Moravianism. These are important pieces since they tell wider stories of robust developing views in this period, beyond Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Reformed theologies. These so-called “radical groups” mark a contrast from prevailing “confessional historiography” toward the opening of new paths of thought, approaches to scripture, and relationships to developing rational philosophies.
A further widening of emerging early modern theology is shown in the thirteen essays in the “Theology and the Others” part of the book. Topics here include the relation of Western theologies to Judaism and to Islam and the relation of the churches of the East to the Enlightenment. One of the important findings of this section comes in A. G. Roeber's “Orthodox Influences on Early Modern Western Theologies” where he comments that “in the areas of ecclesiology, liturgical and nonliturgical piety, and in the fascination in the West for the importance of contemplative prayer and mysticism, Orthodox Christianity never completely disappeared from the consciousness of Western early modern theology” (517–518).
It is hard to overestimate the impact of philosophies that radically altered the substance and focus of early modern theology, in preparation for further shifts in the nineteenth century. The major figures are studied here: Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Kant, and others. Two other forces are studied: early modern theology and science, and the rise of natural law.
Eric Carlsson's “Eighteenth-Century Neology” caps this volume by examining neology as a term from eighteenth-century literary criticism being applied to “a movement among German Protestants to revise Christian theology in keeping with modern, enlightened norms” (642). This is captured in Gottfried Less's comment in 1780 on efforts to set forth “a teaching of Christianity that meets the needs of our time” (644). Neologians sought to revise doctrines, beginning with Christology where Jesus Christ, a “unique, divinely inspired and enlightening teacher,” became the “Socrates of Galilee” (645). This revived a moral-influence theory of the atonement. Neologians wanted “to sever the link between theology and religious experience” so there became space “wherein scholars were permitted to engage critically with the tradition.” This led to Schleiermacher and “liberal theology,” which was developing “a well-established concept” (646).
This comprehensive volume brings together many strands woven in the fabric of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century theological thought. Their influences continue today, both in continuities and in evolving directions reflecting the context of our times.
