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Thoughtful Christianity

其他書名	Alvah Hovey and the Problem of Authority Within the Context of Nineteenth-century Northern Baptists
出版	ProQuest, 2019
ISBN	16879109879781687910981
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=MqmezQEACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api

註釋This dissertation explores the ways in which Alvah Hovey understood biblical and theological authority within his nineteenth-century Baptist context. Even though Hovey was influenced by his antebellum theological education, with its democratized methods and its urge to be reasonable, which he used to confront the complex postbellum theological scene, he both insisted that the Bible was the inspired and inerrant Word of God and he resisted the tendencies toward democratization and "orthodox rationalism." Hovey0́9s intellectual, theological, and personal background along with his extensive published and unpublished writings and personal engagements provide the source material. Hovey0́9s theological context is explored first in order to understand the major resources at his disposal as he engaged the theological exercise. His views of theological education and theological method along with his interactions with biblical criticism provide the central substance of the dissertation0́9s arguments. Finally, several test cases are given which provide a window into the ways in which Hovey employed his theological understanding into practical situations. In contrast to charges to democratization and rationalism, he (1) advocated heavily for theological and exegetical education that would be the backbone of biblical and theological work. As a Baptist he (2) had theological as opposed to merely philosophical/rational reasons for trusting human intellect and allowing individual decision making, yet he was quick to guard against individualism. He (3) regularly looked to authorities outside of the individual0́9s reasoning ability. And Hovey (4) limited human rational ability, as evidenced in his epistemology, his understanding of the Creator-creature distinction, and his consistent requirement that the exegete and theologian understand and evidence the spiritual requirements of those disciplines. Alvah Hovey desired to produce a theology that was based on the supreme authority of God0́9s revelation in Scripture, that was based on thorough training, that would appeal to human reasoning yet was restrained in its claims for human reasoning and was restrained in its conclusions, that interacted with the best scholarship of the day and of the church0́9s history, and that served the ultimate purpose of seeking the face of God. This is what he understood as thoughtful Christianity.