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svsmith21's review
4.0
An informative book about a subject who, though hardly recognized by the majority of American Christians and failed to leave much of a substantial legacy, has important lessons to teach the Church today.
Thrust into prominence in a small German Reformed denomination, he was one of the most powerful voices to speak against revivalistic techniques and expose them as psychologically manipulative and wholly inadequate to form genuine, pious disciples. Drawing from the catechetical Presbyterian formation of his youth, he believed that one of the chief failures of the revivalistic Christianity of the 19th century was its inordinate focus on the individual and the subjective nature of the faith rather than recognizing the importance of the church as the organic medium for the strengthening of its members. This led him to devote much of his theological energy to developing a sacramental theology, even extending it to the Church herself.
Hart does an excellent job tracing his thought and the experiences which provide basis for Nevin's efforts as the leader of the so-called Mercersburg theology. I was particularly interested in Nevin's studies of church history to develop a more catholic, high church theology, and was not surprised to read of how Schaff and Nevin both influenced each other in this endeavor. It is unfortunate that there are very few materials to give us any indication of how he kept from crossing the Tiber into Roman Catholicism, because it seems like he was on the precipice of doing so.
For myself, I am not persuaded by Nevin's conclusions, but I appreciate a lot of his emphases and am challenged to think more deeply about the incarnation and how that should inform our doctrine of the church and our understanding of the sacraments, especially in their relation to the formation of disciples.
There's a lot of inside baseball relating the politics of the German Reformed denomination which could be a little dry at times, but this is a book well worth reading if only to expose yourself to one of the leading voices of high church Reformed Protestantism.
Thrust into prominence in a small German Reformed denomination, he was one of the most powerful voices to speak against revivalistic techniques and expose them as psychologically manipulative and wholly inadequate to form genuine, pious disciples. Drawing from the catechetical Presbyterian formation of his youth, he believed that one of the chief failures of the revivalistic Christianity of the 19th century was its inordinate focus on the individual and the subjective nature of the faith rather than recognizing the importance of the church as the organic medium for the strengthening of its members. This led him to devote much of his theological energy to developing a sacramental theology, even extending it to the Church herself.
Hart does an excellent job tracing his thought and the experiences which provide basis for Nevin's efforts as the leader of the so-called Mercersburg theology. I was particularly interested in Nevin's studies of church history to develop a more catholic, high church theology, and was not surprised to read of how Schaff and Nevin both influenced each other in this endeavor. It is unfortunate that there are very few materials to give us any indication of how he kept from crossing the Tiber into Roman Catholicism, because it seems like he was on the precipice of doing so.
For myself, I am not persuaded by Nevin's conclusions, but I appreciate a lot of his emphases and am challenged to think more deeply about the incarnation and how that should inform our doctrine of the church and our understanding of the sacraments, especially in their relation to the formation of disciples.
There's a lot of inside baseball relating the politics of the German Reformed denomination which could be a little dry at times, but this is a book well worth reading if only to expose yourself to one of the leading voices of high church Reformed Protestantism.