Readings include William Hordern's A Layman's Guide to Protestant Theology, Eberhard Busch's Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts, Barth's prison sermons from Basel, and Robert McAfee Brown's treatment of Reinhold Niebuhr. The bibliography offers a broad orientation to the major theologians who shaped twentieth-century Protestant thought, providing accessible entry points into the lives and ideas of figures central to the Reformed and ecumenical traditions.
Full Text
This text was reproduced automatically from the original document. For the authoritative version, please refer to the attached PDF.
38. INFLUENTIAL TWENTIETH CENTURY THEOLOGIANS
Seminar Readings
Hordern, William E. A Layman’s Guide to Protestant Theology. Revised and expanded. New York: MacMillan, 1969. Reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2002. [xx + 265 pp.] Chapters 1–3 and chapters 6 on Karl Barth, 7 on Reinhold Niebuhr, and 8 on Paul Tillich are especially helpful for this bibliography. [133 pp.]
Karl Barth (1886–1968) was perhaps the most influential and important theologian for the Reformed and Presbyterian family of churches in the twentieth century.
Busch, Eberhard. Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts. Translated by John Bowden. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1976. [xvii + 569 pp.] This is a biography of Karl Barth.
Barth, Karl. Deliverance to the Captives. Translated by Marguerite Wieser. New York: Harper, 1961. Reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2010. [1954–1959] This is a first volume of brief sermons and prayers that he delivered at the request of Martin Schwarz, the chaplain in the Prison of Basel in the Swiss university town where Barth was professor from 1935 until his death. “Saved by Grace,” Ephesians 2:5, 14 August 1955, pp. 35–42. [8 pp.] Compare Tillich’s sermon, “You Are Accepted,” listed below. “The Gospel of God,” Mark 1:14–15, 23 December 1956, pp. 67–74. [8 pp.] “The Criminals with Him!” Luke 23:33, Good Friday 1957, pp. 75–84. [10 pp.] “Death—But Life!” Romans 6:23, Easter Sunday 1959, pp. 144–151. [8 pp.]
Barth, Karl. Call for God: New Sermons from Basel Prison. Translated by A. T. Mackay. New York: Harper and Row, 1967. New edition, London: SCM, 2012. [1959–1964] This is a second volume of sermons and prayers that he delivered at the Prison of Basel. “My Time Is Secure in Your Hands,” Psalm 31:15, 31 December 1960, pp. 39–48. [10 pp.] “The Double Message of the Coming,” Luke 1:53, Christmas 1962, pp. 67–76. [10 pp.]
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) was a North American theologian, ethicist, and professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was a leading public thinker in the United States, who had wide influence in North American church and society as well as on foreign policy. He won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964.
Brown, Charles C. Niebuhr and His Age: Reinhold Niebuhr’s Prophetic Role and Legacy. New Edition. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2002. [xvii + 335 pp.] This is a biography of Reinhold Niebuhr.
Copyright © 2018 by Foundation for Reformed Theology. All rights reserved.
FOUNDATION BIBLIOGRAPHIES Page 66
Niebuhr, Reinhold. The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses. Edited and introduced by Robert McAfee Brown. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986. 3a. “The Providence of God,” Matthew 5:43–48, pp. 33–40. [8 pp.] 8. “The Christian Witness in the Social and National Order,” pp. 93–101. [9 pp.]
Niebuhr, Reinhold. Beyond Tragedy: Essays on the Christian Interpretation of History. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1937. 1. “As Deceivers, Yet True,” 2 Corinthians 6:4–10, pp. 1–24. [24 pp.] 4. “Four Hundred to One,” 2 Kings 22:2–28, pp. 69–88. [21 pp.] 6. “The Ultimate Trust,” Jeremiah 17:5–9, pp. 111–132. [22 pp.] 8. “Christianity and Tragedy,” Luke 23:27–29, pp. 153–170. [18 pp.]
Paul Tillich (1886–1965) was a German-American philosophical theologian and a Lutheran pastor, who came to this country in 1934 and taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York until 1955. He is perhaps best known for his “method of correlation” in which he seeks to show how the Christian symbols of revelation provide answers to human problems of existence, interpreted by European existentialist philosophy.
Pauck, Wilhelm and Marion. Paul Tillich: His Life and Thought. Volume 1: Life. New York: Harper and Row, 1976. [xii + 340 pp.] This is a biography of Paul Tillich.
Tillich, Paul. The Courage to Be. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1952. [197 pp.] In addition to his technical academic works, he wrote this for a general audience.
Tillich, Paul. Dynamics of Faith. New York: Harper and Row, 1957. [ix + 136 pp.] In addition to his technical academic works, he wrote this for a general audience.
Tillich, Paul. The Shaking of the Foundations. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948. Reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2012. He preached these sermons in the chapel of Union Theological Seminary. 12. “The Meaning of Providence,” Romans 8:38–39, pp. 104–107. [4 pp.] 19. “You Are Accepted,” Romans 5:20, pp. 153–163. [11 pp.] Compare Barth’s sermon, “Saved by Grace,” listed above.
Tillich, Paul. The New Being. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1955. 16. “Is There Any Word from the Lord?” Jeremiah 23:21–31, 37:17, pp. 114–124. [11 pp.] 20. “Our Ultimate Concern,” Luke 10:38–42, pp. 152–160. [9 pp.]
Tillich, Paul. The Eternal Now. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1963. 11. “The Eternal Now,” pp. 122–134. [13 pp.]
John Leith was a pastor in Southern Presbyterian Churches in Georgia, Tennessee, and Auburn, Alabama. In 1957 he became Pemberton Professor of Historical Theology at Union Theological
Copyright © 2018 by Foundation for Reformed Theology. All rights reserved.
FOUNDATION BIBLIOGRAPHIES Page 67
Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and established the Foundation for Reformed Theology to encourage groups of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ministers to gather yearly in friendship and to read Reformed and historical theologians helpful for pastors to become more effective in preaching, teaching, and pastoral care. The following are some of the writings that form the basis of the Foundation and that articulate the Reformed tradition that he entrusted to us to promote and to help perpetuate.
Leith, John H. An Introduction to the Reformed Tradition: A Way of Being the Christian Community, revised edition. Atlanta: John Knox, 1981. “The Development of Reformed Theology,” pp. 112–127. An important brief section of a history chapter that will offer a guide to the selections from his writings below. [16 pp.]
Leith, John H. Pilgrimage of a Presbyterian: Collected Shorter Writings. Edited by Charles E. Raynal. Louisville, KY: Geneva, 2001. “Preface,” pp. xiii–xvii. [5 pp.] This includes a brief biography of John H. Leith. “Christ and Human Differences,” pp. 20–25. [6 pp.] “The Church as the People of God,” pp. 81–88. [8 pp.] “The City of God and the Nations of Earth,” pp. 89–96. [8 pp.] “Remembering the Protestant Reformation,” pp. 97–102. [6 pp.] “The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life,” pp. 115–119. [5 pp.] “Theological Reflections on the Death Penalty,” pp. 229–239. [11 pp.] “Theological Perspectives on Economics,” pp. 240–244. [5 pp.] “The Message of Christian Faith on the Occasion of the Burial of the Dead,” pp. 256–262. [7 pp.]
Supplementary Readings
Williams, Daniel Day. What Present-Day Theologians are Thinking, revised edition. New York: Harper & Row, 1959. [190 pp.] Examines topics in theology to 1960 as it addresses (1) authority and the Bible, (2) the basis of Christian ethics, (3) the meaning of Jesus Christ, and (4) the church.
Ford, David F. and Rachel Muers, editors. The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology Since 1918, third edition. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005. [842 pp.] An encyclopedia in one volume with articles by experts on theologians.
Ford, David F. and Mike Higton, editors. The Modern Theologians Reader. Malden, MA: Wiley- Blackwell, 2011. [472 pp.] Key writings from the major theologians in the previous volume.
Revised March 14, 2018
Copyright © 2018 by Foundation for Reformed Theology. All rights reserved.