Systematic Theology (Volume 1 of 3)Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
Systematic Theology (Volume 1 of 3)
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Baptists -- Doctrines; Theology, Doctrinal
Some of the best British theology is Baptist. Among John Bunyan’s
works we may mention his “Gospel Truths Opened,” though his
“Pilgrim’s Progress” and “Holy War” are theological treatises in
allegorical form. Macaulay calls Milton and Bunyan the two great
creative minds of England during the latter part of the 17th
century. John Gill’s “Body of Practical Divinity” shows much
ability, although the Rabbinical learning of the author
occasionally displays itself in a curious exegesis, as when on the
word “Abba” he remarks: “You see that this word which means
’Father’ reads the same whether we read forward or backward; which
suggests that God is the same whichever way we look at him.”
Andrew Fuller’s “Letters on Systematic Divinity” is a brief
compend of theology. His treatises upon special doctrines are
marked by sound judgment and clear insight. They were the most
influential factor in rescuing the evangelical churches of England
from antinomianism. They justify the epithets which Robert Hall,
one of the greatest of Baptist preachers, gives him: “sagacious,”
“luminous,” “powerful.”
(_b_) The Puritans, John Owen (1616-1683), Richard Baxter (1615-1691),
John Howe (1630-1705), and Thomas Ridgeley (1666-1734).
Owen was the most rigid, as Baxter was the most liberal, of the
Puritans. The Encyclopædia Britannica remarks: “As a theological
thinker and writer, John Owen holds his own distinctly defined
place among those titanic intellects with which the age abounded.
Surpassed by Baxter in point and pathos, by Howe in imagination
and the higher philosophy, he is unrivaled in his power of
unfolding the rich meanings of Scripture. In his writings he was
preëminently the great theologian.” Baxter wrote a “Methodus
Theologiæ,” and a “Catholic Theology”; John Howe is chiefly known
by his “Living Temple”; Thomas Ridgeley by his “Body of Divinity.”
Charles H. Spurgeon never ceased to urge his students to become
familiar with the Puritan Adams, Ambrose, Bowden, Manton and
Sibbes.
(_c_) The Scotch Presbyterians, Thomas Boston (1676-1732), John Dick
(1764-1833), and Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847).
Of the Scotch Presbyterians, Boston is the most voluminous, Dick
the most calm and fair, Chalmers the most fervid and popular.
(_d_) The Methodists, John Wesley (1703-1791), and Richard Watson
(1781-1833).
Of the Methodists, John Wesley’s doctrine is presented in
“Christian Theology,” collected from his writings by the Rev.
Thornley Smith. The great Methodist text-book, however, is the
“Institutes” of Watson, who systematized and expounded the
Wesleyan theology. Pope, a recent English theologian, follows
Watson’s modified and improved Arminianism, while Whedon and
Raymond, recent American writers, hold rather to a radical and
extreme Arminianism.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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