The Problem of a History of Nineteenth-Century Theology: Welch Reconsidered
| Autor: | Claude Welch |
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| Rok vydání: | 1990 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | The Journal of Religion. 70:606-617 |
| ISSN: | 1549-6538 0022-4189 |
| Popis: | Almost two decades ago I published in the Journal of Religion a manifesto on the problem of writing a history of theology in the nineteenthcentury, a statement that was reshaped as the first chapter of volume 1 of my Protestant Thought in the Nineteenth Century.' There I spelled out what I took to be serious defects in most of the preceding general works and described what would be a more adequate way of writing a history of nineteenth-century theology. Now, after some years of further reflection, the publication of the second volume,2 and extensive response to the work in reviews and public discussion, it may be appropriate to return to the general question in a kind of review of my own work. This is especially tempting in these days when we no longer have that opportunity of almost continuous published exchange with critics and colleagues which was afforded to nineteenthcentury scholars (notably in Germany) by the journals and by the speedy appearance of new editions and new prefaces. (After all, a writer probably knows the subject matter better than most reviewers and is [or should be] acutely aware of the weak spots in the argument and the places where the limits of competence and information are being stretched or where the research is weak or overly dependent on secondary sources.) Let me be clear that this is in no sense a wish to complain of the way I have been treated in the forty or fifty reviews I have seen or in the several public discussions. On the contrary, when respected colleagues use language like "magisterial," "pioneering," "standard," and "classic," or speak of "impeccable scholarship" or "incomparable service" or "immensely learned"--and when little complaint has been registered against the treatment of particular figures-I can only respond that I have had enough strokes to last quite a while. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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