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Church History Explained

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Sidney E. Mead
Sidney E. Mead
Affiliation:
Southern California School of Theology
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Extract

History and church history are disciplines well entrenched in the schools. This means that church historians commonly have an unquestioned place in theological school faculties. Hence there is little incentive for them to become self-conscious or troubled about the reason-for-being either of the discipline or of themselves. Probably church history is always included in the curriculum more from habit than because there is an articulated rationale for it. I dare say that many church historians if asked the question “Why have church history in the curriculums” would reply in effect that its place is obvious, and if one cannot see the obvious it is hopeless to try to explain it to him.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , March 1963 , pp. 17 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1963

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References

1. Beard, Charles A., “Written History as an Act of Faith,” American Historical Review, XXXIX (01. 1934), 222.Google Scholar

2. Kerr, Clark in a letter to the editor, Saturday Review (10. 20, 1962), p. 73.Google Scholar

3. Niebuhr, H. Richard, The Kingdom of God in America (Chicago: Willett, Clark & Company. 1937), pp. 12–13.Google Scholar

4. Whitehead, Alfred North, Adventures of Ideas (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1933). p. 4.Google Scholar

5. “Theory and Practice in Historical Study: A Report of the Committee on Historiography” (New York: Social Science Research Council, Bulletin 54, 1946), p. 135.Google Scholar

6. John H. Randall, Jr., and George Haines, IV, “Controlling Assumptions in the Practice of American Historians” in Ibid., pp. 20–21.

7. Gifford, William Alva, The Story of the Faith: A Survey of Christian History for the Undogmatic (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1946), p. vii.Google Scholar