Makers of Christian Theology in America

James Duke, Professor of the History of Christianity and the History of Christian Thought at Brite Divinity School, received his B.A. from the University of Maryland and his M.Div. and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. He has taught at the University of Montana and Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, where he was a member of the Doctoral Faculty in Historical Studies at the Graduate Theological Union. He is recipient of the TCU Deans' Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Catherine Saylor Hill Award for Faculty Excellence. His publications include translations of German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher as well as studies in the history of theology in North America, history and doctrine of the Stone-Campbell movement, and theological methodology. He has served as editor of American Academy of Religion publications and at present is on the editorial team preparing The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History. He is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (D

Not a portrait gallery so much as a sketchbook, this extensive collection of vignettes drawn by an array of authorities offers a taste of the dizzying variety of thinkers who have shaped theology in America since the earliest days of European colonization. Behind the variety, according to the contributors, lie some important patterns in the making of American Christian theology: Reformed theology looms as a major influence even in thinkers who do not associate with that tradition; a significant number of figures gathered here are not theologians so much as preachers or activists; "commonsense realism," imported from Scotland, surfaces repeatedly in pragmatic forms among both "conservatives" and "liberals"; and English-speaking traditions dominate, even where German theology or philosophy is acknowledged. As is so often the case in contemporary histories of American religion, Martin Marty, the dean of American church historians, gets the last word. Marty points out the "particularistic" character of American religion in recent times, and he demonstrates that such particularism is consistent with the local, congregational character of American churches and American theology. Marty's explication, together with the bibliographic pointers at the end of each vignette and the editors' introductions at the beginning of each section, will give readers some intriguing threads to follow as they pursue their own investigations. (Oct.)