Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Two excellent doctoral dissertations contrasting Catholicism with the Reformed tradition


As my research continues for an upcoming post concerning a defense of the Johannine authorship and historical integrity of the Gospel of John, I sometimes get a bit side-tracked by works that I discover online. The two following doctoral dissertations are the most recent examples.

The first is Leonardo De Chirico's, Evangelical theological perspectives on post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism (LINK). From the abstract we read:

The Second Vatican Council and subsequent ecumenical developments within the Church of Rome have forced Evangelical theology to rethink its own perception and analysis of Roman Catholicism. Against this background, many Evangelical theologians of varying tendencies and with different degrees of depth and insight have attempted to grapple with the new Roman Catholic outlook and the ecumenical challenges it brings. After describing the theological contours of Evangelicalism, the present thesis critically surveys the works on Roman Catholicism by Gerrit Berkouwer, Cornelius Van Til, David Wells, Donald Bloesch, Herbert Carson, and John Stott.

The second contribution is Sarah Timmer's, Receptive Ecumenism And Justification: Roman Catholic and Reformed Doctrine In Contemporary Context (LINK).

This dissertation is an excellent exploration into the doctrine of justification—common elements and differences—as expounded by the Catholic and Reformed traditions. It also includes some reflections on the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification document published by Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Lutheran World Federation in 1999.

Anyway, felt compelled to bring these contributions to the attention of my readers. Back to work on my upcoming apologia on the Gospel of John...


Grace and peace,

David

2 comments:

Ken said...

I am looking forward to your defense of the gospel of John.

How can you do that without having to sift through tons of liberal scholarship (like the ones that Paul Williams puts up on his Muslim blog, using E. P. Sanders, James D. G. Dunn, etc. against the Gospel of John) ?

That is going to be an amazing task, and I don't expect you to put anything up for a while (but I hope I am wrong; I would like to see your results before I die. smile)

You are amazing in your reading of church history and historical theology. I wish I could do the same with understanding and comprehension.

Did you see Perry Robinson's articles on Hank Hanegraaff and his conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy? (at eternal processions) they are also linked to at Triablogue.

David Waltz said...

Hi Ken,

Busy weekend, with no time for the internet, so I just moments ago read your post. You wrote:

==I am looking forward to your defense of the gospel of John.

How can you do that without having to sift through tons of liberal scholarship (like the ones that Paul Williams puts up on his Muslim blog, using E. P. Sanders, James D. G. Dunn, etc. against the Gospel of John) ?==

The Gospel of John has been a focus of mine for decades now. I have already read most of what Sanders and Dunn have written, along with a number of other liberal scholars (e.g. Baur, Brown, Renan, Robinson, Sanday, Strauss, et al.). Rather than deal with what seems to be an endless and evolving set of variant theories, my upcoming post will emphasize works that have defended Johannine authorship and the historical integrity of John's Gospel—works that have been virtually ignored by the liberal camp and Muslim apologists. Paul Williams seems to think that solid defenses of John's Gospel are non-existent, he is in for big surprise...

As for, "Hank Hanegraaff and his conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy", I am aware of it, but have not spent much time looking into to it. I was not aware that Perry has weighed in, so thank much for the 'heads-up'; will check it out later today.


Grace and peace,

David