Quote:
Originally Posted by KenPierce  Curious as to why any would be unimpressed with Marsden.
It seemeth to me that, to understand faith, one ought to be faithful. THe natural mind cannot understand the things of God, after all.
Marsden is a son of the OPC, and is currently CRC, if memory serves.
As a church history buff, and the beneficiary of a wonderful history education, of the dead guys among American church historians Ahlstrom reigns supreme. Marsden and Hatch are close seconds. Noll is third and fading fast :-)
Agree that Colson was an embarrassment: trying to gain credibility with a hostile audience by trashing one's forebears. Sad, and ineffective, to boot. What the crowd hates about the puritans, they would hate about Colson, too. |
Ken,
#1 - Why do you say that Miller hated the Puritans? In fact, just about everybody (including Marsden) credits Miller with changing the American stereotype of them from dour killjoys into persons of intellect and culture. Unfortunately, as Marsden also says, Miller's historiography was colored by some imaginative views that made him miss some obvious connections and trumpet others that were probably not there. If I remember correctly, Marsden was amused at Miller's wonderment at why a philosopher of the caliber of Jonathan Edwards would waste so much time on a literalistic eschatology (postmil in Edwards' case). Criticisms of Miller have ususally weighed in on him for over-intellectualizing New England colonists and for imputing elite characteristics to the population as a whole.
#2 - I just finished Marsden's course on Jonathan Edwards this week (MP3). I do not believe that your characterization of Miller accurately reflects what I remember from his spoken lectures. BTW, one reason for not being a Marsden fan would be his stammering and somewhat disjointed delivery and seeming lack of ability to answer basic questions by the students in the class in any kind of definitive manner.
#3 - As a Fuller grad, I loved his
Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism. However, it was obvious that he was way too sympathetic with the Fuller experiment to satisfy my theological views. Marsden may have obtained his seminary degree at Westminster, but it is pretty clear that the more open position at Fuller, Calvin and Notre Dame is more to his liking.
__________________
Dennis E. McFadden, Ex Mainline Baptist (in Remission)
Atherton Baptist Homes, CEO
First Baptist Church of Alhambra, Member, Transformation Ministries (CA)
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