DESCRIPTION: This doctoral seminar is open to a limited number of advanced master's students (TH522) by instructor's permission. The seminar will focus on the doctrine of Scripture, and especially Scripture's relationship to ecclesiology, ecclesiastical tradition(s), and questions of authority. Subtopics of special interest will include the role and authority of the church fathers; the role and identity of the rule of faith; and the implications for the practice of exegesis and the formation of Christian doctrine. The seminar will focus on selected Reformed writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as a strategic selection of crucial dialogue partners. The course should be of interest to students in history, theology, and exegesis, insofar as we will be considering both systematic and exegetical works.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: Protestants have typically invoked the Reformation motto of sola scriptura as if the phrase were self-explanatory, despite the clear disagreements among the many sixteenth-century advocates for a return to Holy Scripture as the only reliable authority in matters of faith and religion. Indeed, the Reformation manifested both continuity and discontinuity with patristic and medieval theology, and it left its own legacy of concord and discord among its descendants. This seminar examines a key theological theme as it emerged from the Reformation context and how it developed in the later, divided Christian church. For those who seek to serve the diverse church and pluralistic culture of the twenty-first century, it is crucial to grasp the continuities and discontinuities between the ideals and legacy of the Reformation and the task of the interpreter and expositor today.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will gain an increased knowledge of Reformed theology and greater competence in interpreting the Reformation and its legacy in the context of the larger Christian church, including greater facility in handling historical texts and evaluating theological issues, and a critical and sympathetic appreciation for the breadth, unity and diversity of the Christian church.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar, 3 hours weekly to discuss readings and issues, with a 1/2-hour Latin tutorial.

REQUIRED READING, PRINT SOURCES:

Muller, Richard A. Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 2: Holy Scripture. 2nd ed. Baker Academic, 2003. 544 pp., ISBN 0801026164, $59.99. [502 pp. assigned]

Turretin, Francis. Institutes of Elenctic Theology. Vol. 1. ed. James T. Dennison Jr. P & R Publishing, 1992. 727 pp., ISBN 0875524516, $39.99. [108 pp. assigned]

Williams, D. H. Tradition, Scripture, and Interpretation: A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church. Baker Academic, 2006. 192 pp., ISBN 0801031648, $22.00. [169 pp. assigned]

REQUIRED READING, DIGITAL SOURCES: Access texts below via library databases (e.g., EEBO / Early English Books Online, DLCPT / Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts), or at the Internet Archive (archive.org), Google Books, or Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Oberman and Chemnitz are e-reserves.

Bullinger, Heinrich. Decades. STC 4056 (English 1577); 4076 (Latin).

Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion (CCEL).

Chemnitz, Martin. Examination of the Council of Trent, Part I (Concordia, 1971), 712 pp., ISBN 0570032725, $49.99. (978-0570032137). [89 pp. assigned]

Luther, Martin. On the Councils and the Churches (1539), tr. Charles M. Jacobs, in Works of Martin Luther (Philadelphia, 1931), 5:131-300. [170 pp. assigned]

Musculus, Wolfgang. Common places of Christian religion. London, 1578. STC 18309.

Oberman, Heiko A. The Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel Biel and Late Medieval Nominalism (1963; Baker Academic, 2001), 512 pp., ISBN 0801020379, $40.00. [68 pp. assigned]

Vermigli, Peter Martyr. The Common Places. London, 1583. STC 24666 (English); 24668 (Latin).

Other assorted articles and essays available as e-reserves.