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Davis, Thomas (2018) The Scholastic of the Free Church? An examination of the extent to which it is appropriate to describe William Cunningham (1805- 1861) as a ‘scholastic’ theologian. MTh(R) thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/41025/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] The Scholastic of the Free Church? An examination of the extent to which it is appropriate to describe William Cunningham (1805-1861) as a ‘scholastic’ theologian. By Thomas Davis A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Master of Theology at the University of Glasgow in partnership with Edinburgh Theological Seminary 2018 1 Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 4 General Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 6 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Literature Survey ................................................................................................................................... 10 1. Primary Sources ............................................................................................................................ 10 1.1 Cunningham’s Works ........................................................................................................ 10 1.2 Scholastic Works ............................................................................................................... 12 2. Secondary Sources ........................................................................................................................ 14 2.1 Works Engaging with Cunningham ................................................................................... 14 2.2 Works Engaging with Scholasticism .................................................................................. 17 2.3 Works Engaging with Cunningham’s Scholasticism .......................................................... 18 Chapter 1. Defining Scholasticism......................................................................................................... 20 1.1 The Development of Greek Philosophy ................................................................................ 21 1.1.1 Plato .............................................................................................................................. 21 1.1.2 Aristotle ......................................................................................................................... 23 1.1.3 Epicureans, Stoics and Middle Platonism ..................................................................... 25 1.1.3 Neoplatonism ................................................................................................................ 26 1.2 The Emergence of Christian Theology .................................................................................. 27 1.3 Philosophy and Theology: Interaction Begins ....................................................................... 28 1.4 Augustine .............................................................................................................................. 32 1.5 Theology and Philosophy in the Middle Ages: The Rise of Scholasticism ............................ 35 1.5.1 Anselm .......................................................................................................................... 36 1.5.2 Realism and Nominalism ............................................................................................... 38 1.5.3 Questions, Sentences and Translations ........................................................................ 39 1.5.4 The Medieval Scholastics: Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus & William of Occam . 40 1.6 Beyond the Middle Ages: Has Scholasticism Continued? .................................................... 47 1.7 Scholasticism: A Working Definition .................................................................................... 53 1.8 Cunningham and Scholasticism: A Framework for Analysis ................................................ 60 Chapter 2. Chronological Context: Cunningham and the Middle Ages ............................................... 61 2.1 Post-Medieval Scholasticism ................................................................................................. 61 2.1.1 Post-Medieval Scholasticism: Continuity ...................................................................... 62 2.1.2 Post-Medieval Scholasticism: Change ........................................................................... 63 2.2 Cunningham and the Middle Ages ........................................................................................ 65 2.2.1 Cunningham’s Analysis Of Medieval Scholasticism ...................................................... 65 2 2.2.2 Perspectives on Cunningham and the Middle Ages ..................................................... 70 2.3 Chronological Context: Was Cunningham a scholastic? ....................................................... 73 Chapter 3. Educational Context: Cunningham and the School ............................................................ 75 3.1 Cunningham and Contemporary Scholars ............................................................................ 76 3.1.1 Cunningham and other Free Church Scholars .............................................................. 77 3.1.2 Cunningham and the wider Theological Educational Context of the 19th Century ...... 82 3.2 Cunningham and Contemporary Influences ......................................................................... 86 3.3 Educational Context: Was Cunningham a scholastic? .......................................................... 90 Chapter 4. Methodological Context: Cunningham and the Scholastic Method. ................................. 92 4.1 Evaluating the Evaluations of Cunningham’s Scholastic Method ......................................... 92 4.2 Cunningham and Scholastic Pedagogical Method ................................................................ 95 4.2.1 Pedagogical Features of Scholastic Method ................................................................. 96 4.2.3 Features of Cunningham’s Pedagogical Style ............................................................... 99 4.2.4 Pedagogical Approach: Was Cunningham a Scholastic? ............................................. 107 4.3 Case Study Comparing William Cunningham and Francis Turretin .................................... 108 4.3.1 Turretin on the Fall ..................................................................................................... 111 4.3.2 Cunningham on the Fall .............................................................................................. 121 4.3.3 Comparing Turretin and Cunningham on the Fall....................................................... 130 4.4 Methodological Context: Was Cunningham a Scholastic? ................................................. 133 Chapter 5. Meta-Narrative Context: Cunningham and the Relationship between Theology and Philosophy ........................................................................................................................................... 137 5.1 Post Reformation Developments: The Enlightenment ....................................................... 137 5.2 Hume, Kant and Hegel ........................................................................................................ 138 5.3 Scottish Common Sense Realism ........................................................................................ 141 5.4 Cunningham and Philosophy: Calvinism and the Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity ..... 144 5.4.1 Theology and Philosophy are Distinct ......................................................................... 147 5.4.2 Theology is not bound to Philosophy.......................................................................... 148 5.4.3 Theology is not dependent upon Philosophy ............................................................. 150 5.4.4 Scripture is Primary ..................................................................................................... 151 5.5 Cunningham and the Theology/Philosophy Meta-narrative .............................................. 152 5.5.1 Cunningham and Scottish Common Sense Realism .................................................... 152 5.5.2 Cunningham’s Epistemological Foundation ................................................................ 153 5.5.3 Cunningham’s Place in Theological and Philosophical History ................................... 156 5.6 Meta-Narrative Context:
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