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Dogma and History in Victorian Scotland

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Dogma and History in Victorian Scotland Dogma and History in Victorian Scotland Todd Regan Statham Faculty of Religious Studies McGill University Montreal, Quebec February 2011 A Thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Todd Regan Statham Table of Contents Abstract v Résumé vii Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations x Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Scottish Presbyterian Church ‘in’ History 18 1.1. Introduction 18 1.2. Church, Scripture, and Tradition 19 1.2.1. Scripture and Tradition in Roman Catholicism 20 1.2.2. Scripture and Tradition in Protestantism 22 1.2.3. A Development of Dogma? 24 1.3. Church, Doctrine, and History 27 1.3.1. Historical Criticism of Doctrine in the Reformation 29 1.3.2. Historical Criticism of Doctrine in the Enlightenment 32 1.3.3. Historical Criticism of Doctrine in Romanticism and Idealism 35 1.4. Church: Scottish and Reformed 42 1.4.1. The Scottish Church and the Continent 42 1.4.2. Westminster Calvinism 44 1.4.3. The Evangelical Revival 48 1.4.4. Enlightened Legacies 53 1.4.5. Romantic Legacies 56 1.4.6. The Free Church and the United Presbyterians in Victorian Scotland 61 1.5. Conclusion 65 Chapter 2: William Cunningham, John Henry Newman, and the Development of Doctrine 67 2.1. Introduction 67 2.2. William Cunningham 69 2.3. An Essay on the Development of Doctrine 72 2.3.1. Against “Bible Religion” and the Church Invisible 74 2.3.2. Cunningham on Scripture and Church 78 2.3.3. The Theory of Development 82 ii 2.3.4. Cunningham’s Response 87 2.3.5. Newman and Cunningham on Revelation 89 2.3.6. Summary 93 2.4. Cunningham’s Historical Theology 94 2.5. Cunningham on ‘Calvin and Calvinism’ 100 2.6. Conclusion 104 Chapter 3: Oxford—Erlangen—Edinburgh: Robert Rainy on the Historicity of Church and Doctrine 109 3.1. Introduction 109 3.2. Robert Rainy 112 3.3. Delivery and Development of Christian Doctrine 115 3.3.1. Church, Doctrine, and the History of Doctrine 116 3.3.2. Doctrine in the Old Testament 118 3.3.3. Hofmann and Heilsgeschichte 120 3.3.4. Doctrine in the New Testament 125 3.3.5. The Formation of Doctrine 129 3.3.6. The Development of Doctrine 135 3.3.7. Confessing Doctrine 139 3.4. Conclusion 143 Chapter 4: A. B. Bruce and the Ritschlian Critique of Doctrine 155 4.1. Introduction 155 4.2. A. B. Bruce 159 4.3. Ritschlianism and Scottish Theology 162 4.3.1. Ritschlian Keynotes 162 4.3.2. Ritschlianism in Scotland 168 4.4. Jesus of Nazareth and the Christ of Chalcedon 170 4.4.1. The Humiliation of the Christ 170 4.4.2. ‘Back to Christ’—Revelation and History 174 4.4.3. Doctrine and Confession 182 4.5. Conclusion 195 Chapter 5: James Orr: the Logic of the History of Dogma 201 5.1. Introduction 201 5.2. James Orr 204 5.3. “Hegeling” and Dogmengeschichte: Three German Examples 206 5.3.1. Kliefoth 206 5.3.2. Thomasius 209 5.3.3. Dorner 210 5.3.4. Conclusion 212 5.4. The Progress of Dogma 214 5.4.1. History and Dogma 214 5.4.2. Religious Foundations 220 iii 5.4.3. Orr’s Response to Harnack’s Theory of the Rise of Catholicism 221 5.4.4. God 225 5.4.5. Humanity 229 5.4.6. Christ 230 5.4.7. Soteriology I 232 5.4.8. Soteriology II 234 5.4.9. Confessionalization 235 5.4.10. Eschatalogy 237 5.5. Conclusion 242 Conclusion 251 1. Introduction 251 2. Scripture and Tradition 253 3. Jesus Christ 260 4. Church 263 5. Confessing the Faith 268 5.1. Foundations 268 5.2. Fundamentals 271 Bibliography 275 iv Abstract That the study of the history of Christian doctrine and dogma had its heyday in nineteenth-century German Protestantism is well known. What is not well known is that theologians in two Presbyterian denominations in Victorian Scotland, the Free Church and the United Presbyterians, made the most concerted attempts in an English-speaking Protestant tradition to account historically for the genesis and progress of doctrine. This dissertation recovers this half-century of Reformed theological labour and neglected chapter in Victorian church history through close analysis of how prominent theologians in these evangelical bodies wrestled with the new, disconcerting idea that doctrine develops in history. The story that emerges tells of Scottish Presbyterian theology in the period c. 1845-c. 1900 coming to recognize that church doctrine was not simply the repetition of biblical teaching. Doctrine was the church’s confession of God’s truth—and the church was in history. Nonetheless, because the historical spirit was far from monolithic in the nineteenth century, the manner in which theologians from this tradition negotiated their Reformed and evangelical doctrinal inheritance with the claims of history was markedly diverse. William Cunningham (1805-61) rejected John Henry Newman’s groundbreaking An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845) by reiterating the classical Protestant doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. Although subsequent theologians also held this belief, their understanding of revelation was being historicized. Robert Rainy (1826-1906) drew upon a concept of “salvation history” then current among conservative German theologians to argue that doctrine was not deposited in Scripture as Cunningham assumed; rather, it formed as the church interpreted God’s acts in history. Rainy’s tacit admission that doctrine, being historically conditioned, was also historically conditional was radicalized by A. B. Bruce (1831-1899). In concert with the influential Ritschlian critique of dogma, Bruce urged v evangelical theology to tear down the “scholastic” dogmas of yesteryear to rebuild anew on the witness of the historical Jesus. In firm opposition, James Orr (1844-1913) creatively deployed philosophical idealism to show how orthodox dogma had developed over centuries as the rational unfolding of Spirit in history. Accordingly, the system of doctrine maintained in evangelical Protestantism was largely inviolable. Along with summarizing some themes common in the diverse handling of the problem of history and dogma by Free Church and United Presbyterian divines, the concluding chapter tentatively suggests where their labours intersect contemporary ecumenical interest in the issue of the historical development of doctrine. vi Résumé Il est bien connu que l'histoire du dogme et de la doctrine chétienne a connu son apogée au sein du protestantisme allemand du dix-neuvième siècle. Ce qui est moins connu c'est que des théologiens de deux dénomination presbytériennes de l'écosse victorienne, la Free Church et les Presbytériens Unis, ont fait le plus d'efforts concertés, au sein d'une tradition protestante anglophone, de rendre compte historiquement de la genèse et du progrès de la doctrine. Cette dissertation couvre ce demi-siècle de travail théologique réformé, un chapitre négligé de l'histoire de l'église, particulièrement par une analyse attentive de la manière dont d'éminents théologiens des deux corps évangéliques sus-mentionnés ont lutté avec cette idée que la doctrine connaît des développements dans l'histoire. Le récit qui en émerge rend compte de la théologie presbytérienne écossaise dans la période débutant dans les environs de 1845 à 1900 venant à reconnaître que la doctrine ne se cantonnait pas seulement à rèpéter les enseignements bibliques. La doctrine était la confession de l'Église Par rapport la vérité de Dieu – une église située dans l'histoire. Mais parce que l'esprit historique du temps était loin d'être monolithique, la manière dont les théologiens ont composé tant avec leur héritage doctrinal réformé et évangélique que les revendications de l'histoire fut marqué par la diversité. William Cunningham (1805-61) a rejeté le document innovateur de John Henry Newman, An essay on the ChristianDoctrine (1845) en rehitérant la position protestante classique sur la suffisance de l'Écriture. Par contre, même s'ils partageaient cette position, des théologiens ultérieurs avaient une compréhension plus historique de la révélation. Robert Rainy (1826-1906) utilisa le concept « d'histoire du salut » alors en usage chez les théologiens conservateurs allemands pour faire valoir que la doctrine n'était pas contenue, proprement dit, dans l'écriture comme le suggérait Cunningham, mais plutôt elle prit fome à mesure que l'Église a interprété l'inetervention de Dieu dans l'histoire. Cette admission tacite de Rainy, à savoir que la doctrine étant vii historiquement conditionnée était aussi historiquement conditionnelle, fut radicalisée par A.B.Bruce (1831-1899). De concert avec l'influente critique Ritschlienne du dogme, Bruce a poussé la théologie évangélique à mettre en pièces les dogmes « scholastiques » d'hier afin de reconstruire à neuf sur le témoignage du Jésus historique. Complètement à l'opposé, James Orr (1844- 1913) a, de manière créative, déployé un idéalisme philosophique afin de démontrer comment le dogme orthodoxe a pris forme à travers les siècles comme le dévoilement rationnel graduel de l'Esprit dans l'histoire. Par conséquent, le système de doctrine maintenu dans le protestantisme évangélique était en grande partie inviolable. Tout en résumant certain thèmes communs dans le maniement du problème de l'histoire et du dogme par les théologiens de la Free Church et de l'Église Presbytérienne Unie, le chapître final suggère prudemment les lieux où leurs travaux croisent l'intérêt oecuménique contemporain dans la problématique du développent historique de la doctrine. viii Acknowledgements It is remarkable how many people had a part in a work that bears my name alone on the title page! With pleasure I acknowledge the considerable debt to the family members, friends, colleagues, and institutions that have helped me out in diverse ways over the course of my doctoral studies.
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