2009 - 2010 Academic Catalog - Westminster Theological Seminary

{Course Descriptions}
Church History
2009–2010
Th.M. and Ph.D. level
CH 723 Readings in the History of
American Evangelicalism
Purpose:
• To understand the major philosophical and theological
currents that shaped American Evangelicalism
• To examine the writings of American Evangelicals
within the historical contexts of the eighteenth
through twenty-first centuries
• To highlight ways in which the history of
American Evangelicalism influences the
development of global Christianity
Topics covered include post-puritanism, revivalism, fundamentalism,
the battle for the Bible, missions, prophecy movement,
Pentecostalism, and neo-Evangelicalism.
Spring semester. Mr. Jue.
CH 732 English Puritan Thought
Purpose:
• To introduce students to reading English
Puritan texts in historical context
• To give students an understanding of how English
Puritan thought connected both to previous
medieval and patristic discussions, and also to
the theology of the European Reformation
• To facilitate critical discussion of the historical events
(political, cultural, intellectual) which helped to shape
and inform the thought of the English Puritans
Topics covered include the impact of William Perkins; issues in
Puritan ecclesiology and pastoral theory; the growing radicalism
of the 1640s; the relationship between Reformed Orthodoxy and
Puritan thought; and the impact of the Great Ejection of 1662 on
English Reformed theology.
Winter term. (Not given in 2009-2010.) Mr. Trueman.
CH 783 God and Scripture in the Era of Reformed
Orthodoxy (ca. 1560-ca. 1680)
Purpose:
• To familiarize students with debates concerning
the doctrine of God and the doctrine of Scripture
in the era of Reformed Orthodoxy
• To encourage students to explore the relationship between
God, revelation, and Scripture within an historical context
• To facilitate critical discussion of significant issues
in the relevant primary and secondary sources
Topics covered include the medieval background; the essence and
attributes of God; Trinitarianism in the seventeenth century; the
formalization of the Scripture principle; the attributes of Scripture;
principles of interpretation; and the crisis in biblical authority in the
late seventeenth century.
Spring semester. (Not given in 2009-2010.) Mr. Trueman.
CH 831 The Doctrine of the Church
in Reformed Theology
Purpose:
• To familiarize students with ecclesiology (the doctrine of
the church) in the Reformed tradition through readings
in historical, biblical, and systematic theology
• To acquaint students with the theological
foundations, principles, and practices that support,
guide, and embody Reformed ecclesiology
• To provide students with resources to answer the ancient
and modern challenges of sacramental, ecumenical,
consumeristic, and post-modern views of the church
• To train students to articulate and defend more
thoughtfully and winsomely the conviction that the
church is “the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ”
Topics covered include the relationship between ecclesiology and
biblical and systematic theology, church power, church and state,
church and the Kingdom of God, as well as readings in James
Bannerman, John Calvin, William Cunningham, Herman Bavinck,
G.C. Berkouwer, Charles Hodge, John Murray, Thomas Peck, John
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