Auctoritas Patrum?: The Reception of the Church Fathers in Puritanism (Mainzer Studien zur Amerikanistik)

La 4e de couv. indique : This study focuses on how Puritans in England and especially New England used the church fathers when reading the Bible and defending Congregationalism. The analysis of a variety of textual genres and largely unedited sources written between 1592 and 1728 shows that patristic sources are often cited. Contrary to the widespread assumption that they embraced a fundamentalist Biblicism, Puritans prove to be fully engaged in the rich traditional theological discourse and display a remarkable knowledge of the church fathers. Their authority was that of close witnesses of the primitive age rather than conclusive evidence that would compromise the sola scriptura principle. The church fathers were an integral part of the professional training of Puritan ministers, who relied on them as interpretive aids in exegesis and as model homilists. The findings also suggest that Puritans perceived of New England in terms of typological continuity, with early Christians as models to be imitated regarding church membership, baptism, church office and discipline as well as endurance in times of persecution and dissent Acknowledgments Table of Contents List of Abbreviations 1 Introduction 2 A Case Against Claiming the Fathers?William Perkins’s Probleme of the Forged Catholicisme, or Universalitie of the Romish Religion (1631; 1604) 2.1 Falsifying the Roman Catholic Claim of Church Tradition 2.2 Perkins’s Concept of the Fathers 2.2.1 Terminological and Chronological Concept 2.2.2 Pseudepigraphy and the Historical Conditionality of Patristic Literature 2.3 The Primacy of the Scriptures and the Authority of the Fathers 3 The Appeal to the Fathers and PatristicLearning 3.1 Claiming Tradition: The Church Fathers and the Concept of Auctoritas Patrum from the Early Church to the Eve of the Reformation 3.2 Between ad fontes and sola scriptura: The Use of Patristic Sources by the Reformers and the Church of England 3.2.1 Luther and Calvin 3.2.2 The Church of England: English Reformers and Puritan Nonconformists 3.3 Accessing the Fathers: Institutions of and Resources for Puritan Learning 3.3.1 Puritan Education and Ministerial Training at Trinity, Emmanuel and Harvard College 3.3.2 Library Resources 3.3.3 Patristic Evidence in Commonplace Books 4 Exegesis in Theory and Practice 4.1 Instruments of Exegesis 4.1.1 Principles of Puritan Hermeneutics 4.1.2 The Biblical Commentary: Cotton Mather’s”Biblia Americana” (1693-1728) 4.1.3 The Saturday Lecture at Harvard College: John Leverett’s “Expositions of Scripture” (1708-1724) 4.2 Homiletics and Preaching 4.2.1 The Puritan Plain Style Ideal 4.2.2 Puritan Homiletics: William Perkins’s The Arte of Prophesying (1592; 1606) 4.2.3 Puritan Preaching 5 Ecclesiology 5.1 Initiation into the “Visible Church”: Baptism and Church Membership 5.1.1 Claiming the Fathers against “Donatists, Anabaptists, Brownists, Schismaticks” 5.1.2 “Antiquity for Infant-Baptism”? William Perkins, John Smyth and Richard Baxter on a Practice Unwarranted by the Scriptures 5.1.3 New England Congregationalism and the Half Way Covenant 5.2 The Constitution, Institutional Structur 5.2.1 Congregational Church Polity 5.2.2 Church Office and the Calling to the Ministry 5.2.3 Church Discipline 6 Conclusion Bibliography Primary Works Secondary Works General Index 1. Introduction -- 2. A Case Against Claiming The Fathers? -- William Perkins's Probleme Of The Forged Catholicisme, Or Universitalitie Of The Romish Religion (1604; 1631) -- 3. The Appeal To The Fathers And Patristic Learning -- 4. Exegesis In Theory And Practice -- 5. Ecclesiology -- 6. Conclusion. Ann-stephane Schäfer. Originally Published As Author's Thesis (dr. Phil.)--johannes-gutenberg-university Mainz, 2010. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 405-442) And Index.