Theology of P.T. Forsyth – John H. Rodgers

John H. Rodgers, The Theology of P.T. Forsyth. The Cross of Christ and the Revelation of God

Emil Brunner and J.K. Mozley have affirmed  that P.T. Forsyth is the greatest dogmatic theologian Great Britain has given to the Church in modern times. What is it that lifts Forsyth into that select company of theologians who remain contemporay despite the passing of the years? Why does Forsyth continue to speak in a fresh stirring manner?

These questions are asked and answered by Professor John H. Rodgers in this brilliant and very readable work which is likely to become the standard and definitive exposition of Forsyth’s theology. Hitehrtoo Forysth has lacked a sympathetic expositot to do for him what for all his brilliance and peiecing insight he could not do for himself: present his theology as a systematic whole. Now, in Professor John Rodgers, a young American tehologian who studied under Karl barth at Basle, we have such an expositor. His work, in which the major themes of P.T. Forsyth are expounded and related to one another, will serve as an introduction to Forsyth’s theology as a whole.

From the dustjacket

This title is in copyright and is reproduced here by kind permission of the United Reformed Church. Itr can be freely downloaded and copied for free educational purposes. It may not be sold for profit without the written permission of the copyright holder.

John H. Rodgers, The Theology of P.T. Forsyth. The Cross of Christ and the Revelation of God. London: Independent Press, 1965. Hbk. pp.324. [Click to visit the download page]

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  • Introduction
  1. The Cross as the Fulfillment of God’s Redemptive-Revealing Action in History
  2. The Cross as the Word of Revelation
  3. Personal Participation in the Fact of the Cross
  4. A Critical Appreciation
  • Appendix
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • The Author
  • Index

Doctrines of the Christian Faith by Sydney Cave

Sydney Cave, The Doctrines of the Christian FaithThis book had its origin in lectures given by Sydney Cave at Cheshunt College, Cambridge. In its present form it is intended as a comprehensive statement of the Christian message aimed at teachers and preachers. This book is still in copyright. Permission to reproduce it on-line has been granted by the United Reformed Church. It can be used for educational purposes, but not sold for profit without permission from the copyright holder.

Sydney Cave, The Doctrines of the Christian Faith. London: Independent Press Ltd., 1951. Hbk. pp.307. [Click to visit the download page]

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  1. Introduction
  2. The Christian Conception of God
  3. Salvation Through Christ
  4. Life in the Spirit
  5. Faith, Son and Spirit
  6. The Christian Hope
  • Index

Preface

It is not easy in these days to write on the Doctrines of the Christian Faith. The old infallibilities are gone, and Biblical Scholarship seems to many to have made insecure the foundations on which in the past theology has been built. Yet so long as there is Christian preaching there must be Christian theology, for theology has for its task the exploration of that message which it is the preacher’s privilege to proclaim.

The Christian message precepts many problems. Yet it is not primarily an addition to our problems. It is Good News of God, a revelation of the character of God-in which is to be found the answer to those questions which are every man’s concern. It is this· conviction which has led to the writing of this book. It has been written in the hope that it may help some to a conception of Christianity less vulnerable than many of its older presentations, and yet as truly a gospel to be preached….

E.C. Blackman’s The Faith We Preach

Edwin Cyril Blackman, The Faith We PreachThis brief outline of the Christianity was Intended to aid lay preachers in conveying the wholeness of the Christian faith and thought.

This book is still in copyright. Permission to reproduce it on-line has been granted by E.C. Blackman’s family and the United Reformed Church. It can be used for educational purposes, but not sold for profit without permission from the copyright holders.

Edwin Cyril Blackman, The Faith We Preach. London: Independent Press Ltd., 1952. Hbk. pp.159. [Click to visit the download page for this book]

Table of Contents

  • Foreword
  • Introduction
  1. God and His Sovereignty
  2. Man and His Need
  3. Christ and His Succour
  4. Christ and His Society
  5. Christ and His Book

Foreword

This little book is an attempt to set forth a rough outline of the Christian faith. It has in view the needs of Lay Preachers, and therefore does not presume that its readers will be trained in theology. It does, however, invite serious thought, and does not suggest that all is simple and capable of popular exposition. In spite of many omissions it is hoped that some idea is conveyed of the wholeness of Christian faith and thought; of Christianity, that is, not as a series of beliefs about this or that, plus a mainly negative ethic, but as an articulated system of belief, which contains within itself the motives of moral endeavour. We are here concerned with what Professor Farmer, in his book God and Men, calls “the unity and consistency” of the Christian view of life….

Introduction to Historical Theology by John Stoughton

John Stoughton [1807-1897], An Introduction to Historical Theology Being a Sketch of Doctrinal Progress From the Apostolic Era to the Reformation.John Stoughton’s Historical Theology covers the development of Christian doctrine from the early church to 1560. This title is in the public domain.

John Stoughton [1807-1897], An Introduction to Historical Theology Being a Sketch of Doctrinal Progress From the Apostolic Era to the Reformation. London: The Religious Tract Society, n.d. Hbk. pp.464. [Click to download complete book in PDF]

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Part I. From the Apostolic to the Nicene Period. A.D. 100-325.
    1. Distinguished Church Teachers
    2. Heretical Dogmas
    3. Lines of Generally Acknowledged Christian Doctrine
  • Part II. From the Council of Nicaea to the Development of Systematoic Theology. A.D. 325-730.
    1. Formative Influences
    2. Theological Results
    3. Theological Results (continued)
  • Part III. From the Development of Systematic Theology to the Full Development of Scholasticism. A.D. 730-1600.
    1. Eastern Divines
    2. Western Divines
  • Part IV. From the Full Development of Scholasticism to the Reformation. A.D. 1060-1518.
    1. Scholastic Divinity. 1060-1224.
    2. Scholastic Divinity (continued). 1060-1224.
    3. Scholastic Divinity (continued). 1060-1224.
    4. Scholastic Divinity (continued). 1224-1436.
    5. Popular Theology. 600-1500.
    6. Mysticism. 1097-1500.
    7. Preparation for Reform. 1350-1500.
    8. General Review. 200-1500.
  • Part V. From the Commencement of the Reformation in Germany under Luther to the Conclusion of it imn England under the Reign of Elizabeth. A.D. 1518-1560.
    1. Reformed Theology in Germany
    2. Reformed Theology in Switzerland
    3. Reformed Theology in France and Scotland
    4. Reformed Theology in Italy
    5. Reformed Theology in England
  • Conclusion

Introduction

In the present volume an attempt is made to trace the development of Dogmatic Theology.

Let me state what is meant by Dogmatic Theology. I distinguish it from Revelation on the one hand, and from Religion on the other. This distinction is of prime importance.

Theology is drawn from Revelation, and the human mind is a factor in the process. That from which a science is derived cannot be identical with the science itself; and, as it will appear that the process of forming theological conclusions is complicated, we shall find that the possibilities and probabilities of mistake are numerous. Even were the logical manipulation faultless, a distinction ought to be recognized between the Divine material and the result of its human handling; but the logical manipulation never has been faultless, and never will be. [Continue reading]

Girdlestone’s Old Testament Theology

Robert Baker Girdlestone [1836-1923], Old Testament Theology and Modern IdeasRobert Baker Girdlestone [1836-1923] sets out in this volume to provide a brief survey of Old Testament Theology and apply this to questions of his day. This title is in the public domain.

Robert Baker Girdlestone [1836-1923], Old Testament Theology and Modern Ideas. London: Longman, Green & Co., 1909. Hbk. pp.129. [Click to download complete book in PDF]

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction: Method of Treatment
  2. Revelation and Inspiration
  3. Theology in the Prophetic Writings
  4. Theology in the Psalms
  5. Theology in the Historical Books
  6. Theology in the Mosaic Books (Exodus to Deuteronomy)
  7. Theology in Genesis
  8. Names and Titles of God in the Old Testament
  9. Theistic Monism the Basis of Old Testament Theology
  10. Man the Link Between God and the World
  11. Primary Attributes of God
  12. Moral Attributes of God
  13. God’s Righteous Administration
  14. God and Evil
  15. God’s Counsel Not to Be Frustrated
  16. Providence and Chance
  17. Providence and Prayer

Method of Treatment [page 8]

The course which will be adopted in this manual is, first, to take a brief general survey of the theology of the Books, beginning with the Prophets and Psalms and working back gradually to the dawn of sacred history; secondly, to examine the names, titles and attributes of God as presented in the volume as a whole; thirdly, to investigate the teaching of the Old Testament in what may perhaps be called a scientific method, bringing it as far as possible into touch with the questions of the day. For this last purpose all parts of the Hebrew Scriptures will be freely quoted without reference to speculative questions as to authorship and composition, the unity of the Scriptures being recognised throughout, and the Books being taken on their own profession as bona-fide and authoritative documents received by the Jewish Church and accepted by the Christian. [Continue reading]

F.F. Bruce Copyright International: Guest Post by Larry Stone

Professor FF Bruce
Professor F.F. Bruce [12 October 1910 – 11 September 1990]
When Robert Hicks, a British book publisher, realized that many of the works of F.F. Bruce were not readily available, he wanted to correct that situation. He believed in the importance of Bruce’s excellent content and in Bruce’s example as a leading evangelical scholar. Of the nearly 60 books and hundreds of magazine articles written by the “Dean of Evangelical Scholarship,” Robert felt many of those that were not in print could be presented in a visually appealing way for the modern reader.

F.F. Bruce let the Bible speak freely and did not make it fit a particular system of theology. He was humble and gentle, and he respected those with whom he disagreed. He was a superb scholar, and his scholarship had the purpose of helping people encounter Jesus Christ. J.I. Packer said, “No Christian was ever more free of narrow bigotry, prejudice and eccentricity. . . . No man did more to demonstrate how evangelical faith and total academic integrity may walk hand in hand.”

Robert has a history of keeping the best of older Christian works in front of today’s Bible students. In the 1990s he brought Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (which F.F. Bruce had edited) back into copyright for the benefit of W.E. Vine’s daughters and he encouraged the promotion of the book.

After receiving the support of F.F. Bruce’s daughter, Sheila Lukabyo, Robert enlisted the help of Larry Stone, former editorial vice president of Thomas Nelson Publishers in the U.S. and co-founder of Rutledge Hill Press. They formed a new company, F.F. Bruce Copyright International, and they contacted nearly twenty of F.F. Bruce’s publishers. They will now make many of Bruce’s works available in 2017.

First, a few will be reformatted into printed booklets suitable for evangelism and Bible study in universities and in church groups. Second, about 20 of Professor Bruce’s books and collections of articles will be published as reasonably-priced ebooks, which can be easily distributed around the world to places such as Zambia, Australia, and India – places where it is expensive and time consuming to ship printed books.

Third will be a promotion of all of F.F. Bruce’s books – including those now in print and those already available as ebooks. Professor Bruce’s works can help young students and scholars understand the truths of the faith and the techniques of handling Scripture. As Tim Grass said in his biography of F.F. Bruce, “The issues which, for Bruce, were non-negotiable may be summarized as the reliability of the New Testament, the person and work of Christ, the Christian life as one of forgiveness and liberty as befits those who are being led by the Spirit, and the right and duty of every believer to use whatever gifts God has given them.”

Larry Stone
November 2016

An on-line bibliography of F.F. Bruce’s books and articles is available here.

Essays on Evangelical Social Ethics on-line

Thanks to the kind permission of Paternoster Publishing, the following collection of essays is now available for free download.

David F. Wright, ed., Essays in Evangelical Social Ethics. Wilton, CN: Morehouse-Barlow Co., Inc., 1983. Pbk. ISBN: 0819213268. pp.192.

Essays in Evangelical Social Ethics, David F. Wright, editorDuring recent years Christians have done a great deal of radical thinking about society. Some of it has indeed been not so much radical as anti-supernaturalist. Consequently, Christians are now being urged to abandon their concern for social justice and concentrate on ‘spiritual’ matters.

But social involvement is basic to Christian commitment. Rather than abandon it, Christians should learn to think more biblically about the subject. The conference at which these lectures were delivered was convened with a view to building a biblical approach to ethics which would take account both of the realities of society and of the historic faith.

Beginning with methodology, the lectures covered the pluralist nature of modern society, the critique of Marxism, human rights, political structures and the procedures involved in using revelation to build an ethical system for today.

The syposium will thus be of interest to all Christians who are determined to live responsibly with the ‘market-place’ of society without abandoning the foundations of the historic faith.

[From the back cover]

Table of Contents

Introduction, David F. Wright 
1 The Natural Ethic, Oliver O’Donovan 
2 Using the Bible in Ethics, I. Howard Marshall 
3 From Christendom to Pluralism, John Briggs 
4 Towards a Theology of the State, Haddon Wilmer 
5 The Challenge of Marxism, David Lyon View in PDF format
6 Man in Society, E. David Cook 
7 Human Rights 
Epilogue: Tasks Which Await Us, John Stott 
Indexes 
Download complete book here [2.3 MB]

14 Years of Theology on the Web!

14 Years of Theology on the Web
14 Years of Theology on the Web!

Theology on the Web was launched 14 years ago this month. It is exciting to note that this anniversary coincides with three other major milestones in the development of the ministry.

  • There are now over 25,000 free-to-download theological articles hosted on Theology on the Web.
  • 2.3 terabytes of data was downloaded worldwide over the last 12 months. If, like me, you have no idea what that means, it is the data equivalent of downloading 2,300 sets of the Encyclopaedia Britannica!
  • Theology on the Web has now moved to its own Virtual Webserver with greatly increasing speed and capacity as the visitor numbers climb to around 2 million in 2015.

To mark these events, I have prepared a Press Release which I am sending to Christian News services in the UK and posting online. Please feel free to download and share this document as widely as possible.

Finally, thank you all for making this possible by your ongoing support and encouragement!

Apologetics Journal online

Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics
Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics

I am pleased to announce that the Journal of the International Society of Christian Apologetics is now available on-line for free download here. It has articles by Norman Geisler, Gary Habermas, Robert M. Bowman Jr, Ron Rhodes, Douglas Groothius and John Warwick Montgomery to name but a few.

My thanks to Dr Donald Williams and Dr Winfried Corduan for making this possible.

Klaas Runia on the Importance of Creeds

I Believe in God... Klaas Runia - A study of the importance of creeds

Thanks to the kind permission of the copyright holder, Dr. David T. Runia, the following monograph on the importance of creeds is now available on-line in PDF.

Klaas Runia, I Believe in God…, 2nd edn. London: The Tyndale Press, 1968. Pbk. pp.71.

Table of Contents

I. Creeds and Confessions Compared
II. The Origin of the Creeds
III. The Faith of the Creeds
IV. The Trinitarian Framework
V. The Creeds and the Reformation
VI. Deism, Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy
VII. The New Liberalism
Epilogue: the Relevance of the Creeds Today

Introduction

This book had its origin in a series of lectures given to a group of university students. During question time one of them asked: Isn’t it rather silly for Christians to recite the Creeds so often in their worship services? Are Church people really so stupid that they need such repetitions every week? And if there is a God, must He not get sick of all these mechanical recitations?
These questions reveal something of the depths of misunderstanding that surround the Church in our day. Many people clearly find it almost impossible to enter into the spiritual atmosphere of the Church. When they hear the word ‘ Creed ‘,they immediately think of intellectual narrowness of closed minds, of lack of scientific liberty, etc. That a Creed may have quite a different function, that it may be a confession of love on the side of the Church, a song of praise and dedication offered to God, simply does not enter into their mind. And yet such it is. In the Creeds Christian believers openly confess that they love God, because of what He is in Himself and because of what He has done in His works of creation and redemption.
On the other hand there are those within the Church who, although they may accept the Creeds as venerable documents, reserve for themselves the right to reinterpret them. Such will still maintain that they can subscribe quite sincerely to the Creeds and Confessions of their own denomination. But the theology which underlies their writing and their preaching seems far removed from what has come to be regarded as Christian orthodoxy. They read back into the old formulas their own mid twentieth-century theological ideas.
All this suggests that some brief study of the history and faith of the Creeds is called for, together with some assessment of recent theological trends. In attempting this latter task special attention has been paid to what has been called the New Liberalism represented by the writings of Rudolf Bultmann and Paul Tillich and by those, such as J. A. T. Robinson, who have done much to popularize their views.

Click here to continue reading.