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The Doctrine of the Person and Tfork of Christ in Horace Bushnell's Theology

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The Doctrine of the Person and Tfork of Christ in Horace Bushnell's Theology The Doctrine of the Person and Tfork of Christ in Horace Bushnell's Theology Donald Neil I.'acFillan A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Edinburgh, June, 1935. PREFACE "No full and connected account of Dr. Bushnell*s work as a theologian has yet been made" writes Theodore T. hunger in the preface to his book, T Horace Bushnell Preach­ er and Theologian 1 . Bearing in mind the great variety of themes discussed under that title, it may be respectfully claimed that even in Dr. Hunger T s book 'no full and connect­ ed account of Bushnell's doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ has yet been made'. This thesis is an attempt to give such an account. The doctrine of the person and work of Christ is" at the heart of Bushnell T s theology. No doubt, this sub­ ject is central in the work of most theologians; but espec­ ially is this true in the case of Horace Bushnell. The theme attracted him early in lire; his interest in it never waned; and at all times it claimed his best thought. The material in Bushnell's writings bearing on the subject of the work of Christ is more extensive and more important than that on the person of Christ; accordingly in this treatise the space given to the treatment of the former is considerably greater. although his treatment of the person and of the 7,-ork of Christ have been dealt with in separate sections, these have been related, wherever this has been found feasible, Tor in Bushnell's thought these subjects are very closely connected. Ill In expounding Bushnell's teaching, stress has been laid, as far as possible, on the development of his views. On all subjects connected with the person and work of Christ his writings reveal a gradual change in his point of view. Especially is this true in his treatment of the Trinity and of the Atonement. This is an aspect of Bushnell's thought which has not received the attention it deserves from students of his theology; this study, moreover, is all the more profitable in view of the fact that the opportunity seldom occurs of studying the gradual development of an author's theological ideas on such an extensive scale, and yet within such a prescrib­ ed limit. An attempt has been made to give systematic form to Bushnell's teaching, but too much need not be expected, for Bushnell himself preferred that his work should be more suggestive than systematic. VJhile the purpose of this thesis is mainly expository, criticism, both favourable and unfavourable, has been brought to bear at many points; but this too, of necessity, has been more suggestive than systematic. D. N. !<:'. CONTENTS Preface ....... ii-iii Contents. ...... iv-vi PART I BIOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER I THE LIFE OF BUSKNELL. .... 1-20 Birth and early environment, 1. College years, 4. Early years in the ministry,?. Search for health, 10. Early publica­ tions and heresy charge, 12. Retirement from the active ministry, 15. Last years, 18. CHA^T :;,< II FORMATIVE INFLUENCES ON HIS THEOLOGY . 21-49 Theological environment, 21. Personal religious experiences, 26. Influence of other writers, 52. Theory of language, 38. His vocation as a preacher, 43. PART II THE PERSON OF CHRIST CHAPTER III H-.TRODUCTION TO BUSEK^LL'S DOCTRINE OF THE P.JK30N OF CHRIST . 50-61 Introductory, 50. Influences on his Christology, 52. Guiding principles in his Christology, 56. Minor problems,59. CHAPTER IV THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST .... 62-80 God in Christ - 1849, 62. Nature and the Supernatural - 1858, 72. 'The Vicarious Sacrifice* and 'Forgiveness and Law 1 , 78. V CHAPTER V THE EUItfALiriY OF Ciia] ST .... 81-98 Introductory, 81. Review of the passages bearing on this question, 83. Conclusion formed from this review, 87. Explanation of his inadequate treatment of the theme, 89. T/ays in which he enriched the idea of Christ's humanity, 92. CHAPTER VI THE CHRISTIAN TRINITY. .... 99-120 Introductory, 99. His introduction to the problem, 100. His method of approach, 102. The argument of 'God in Christ 1 1849, 102. Christ in Theology - 1851, 106. Letter to Dr. Hawes - 1854, 110. Article: The Christ­ ian Trinity a Practical Truth - 1854, 111. References to the Trinity in his later books, 113. Estimate and criticism, 115. PART III THE WORK 0? CHRIST CHAPTER VII FIRST STAGoi! - EARLY '.LVIACUIITG ON Till; ^ORH OF CHRIST 121-143 Justification for a chapter on this subject, 121. His introduction to the subject, 124. His review of the New England theories, 126. His subjective objective theory, 128. Mat­ erial from his correspondence with Dr. Hawes, 139. Criticism of his early teaching, 140. CHAPTER VIII SECOND STAG-3 - THE VICARIOUS SACRIFICE. 144-169 Introductory, 144. Vicarious sacrifice de­ fined and illustrated, 146. The vicarious sacrifice applied to Christ, 150. The re­ lation of the work of Christ to God's law and justice, 159. Sacrificial symbols and their uses, 166. VI CHAPTER IX CRITICIS-: OF T TLE VICARIOUS SACRIFICE' . 170-199 A - favourable Review of points to be commended, 170. B - unfavourable His own lack of confidence in the theory, 179. No adequate explanation of the death of Christ, 181. The theory makes the v/ork of Christ too commonplace, 167. The theory fails to do justice to certain ideas, 192. The reliability of his Scrip­ ture exegesis, 196. CHAPTER X THIRD STAGE - FORaiV'N^SS AND LAW. 200-230 Circumstances in which it was written, 200. The importance of the book, 204. The ar­ gument, 207. The "originality" of Hush- nell's new idea of the atonement, 215. Fav­ ourable criticism, 219. Unfavourable crit­ icism, 222. PART IV INFLUENCE AND CONCLUSION CHAPTER XI THE INFLUHNCH OF BUSHIvttLL ..... 231-253 The difficulty of estimating his influence, 2ol. Influence in preparing the way for a transition, 233. General influence upon theology, 234. Influence upon preaching, 236. Influence on Christology, 2o9. In­ fluence on development of doctrine of atone­ ment, 241. Influence on his won communion, 248. Influence on individual men, 248. CHAPTER XII SUII-.ARY AND CONCLUSION. ..... 254-259 BIBLIOGRAPHY. ....... 260-265 CHAPTER I THE LIFE OF BUSHNELL The life of Bushnell has already been ably written from two different points of view. The more complete volume by his daughter - 'Life and Letters of Horace Bushnell' - describes him as he was most intimately known to his own family. The other, by T. T. Munger, describes him as the theologian and religious leader. This chapter is not written with the intention of adding anything to the biographical material in these books; it is only meant to be a summary of that material in order that some idea may be had of the man whose theology is being considered, Bushnell f s preaching is one of the best examples of "truth through personality", and his theology, to a degree greater than that of most theologians, must be understood against the background of his own attractive personality. In this chapter, prominence will be given to those things in Bushnell*s life which throw light on his teaching on the subject of the doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ. (a) Birth and early environment Horace Bushnell, the eldest child of Ensign Bushnell and Dotha Bishop, was born on April 14th, 1802, near Litch- field, Connecticut. To have been born there, was in itself 2. a good omen, for the state, in its brief history, had already given a number of theologians to the world. * On both sides, his family was of good New England stock. The Bushnells were among the first settlers of his native district. It is difficult to trace the lineage in England but the family was probably of Hugenot descent. Certainly, the best traditions of that blood were maintained by success­ ive generations of the family in New England. Ensign Bushnell, the father of Horace, inherited an interest in a wool-carding and cloth dressing business; and when Horace was three years old, he and his parents moved to New Preston, a few miles from his birth place. That industrious habits were also inherited is evident from the fact that farming was added to the occupation of the shop. From his earliest years, the eldest son helped in these occupations and no doubt both contributed much to his devel­ opment, the one bringing him in touch with the lives of his fellow men, and the other keeping him in touch with the rugged but lovely scenery of New England. In the home, "religion was no occasional and no nominal thing, no irksome restraint nor unwelcome visitor, but a constant atmosphere, a commanding but genial presence", (p.8) The springs of this religion were many and varied; 1. See his own reference in his address 'Historical Estimate of Connecticut' in 'Work and Play'- p.215 (American edition) 2. The numbers in brackets following quotations in this chap­ ter refer to the page in the 'Life and Letters' volume. 3. hence, his early religious influences showed that "vein of comprehensiveness" which was to mark his later life. The father belonged to the Methodist Church and the mother to the Episcopal Church. On their removal to New Preston, both became members of the Congregational Church - the only church in the district - and thus the son came under the sway of Calvinism. This variety of religious influence tended to take the edge off the hyper-Calvinism of his day. He was taught the Westminster Catechism but his teachers did not forget that it was never meant to be considered as a standard ecual to the Scriptures.
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