Protestant Contributions to Theology

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Randy_Carson

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Can you name anything that Protestants have contributed to the study of theology that Catholics (or the Orthodox) have embraced?

<chirp, chirp, chirp>

Seriously, anyone got something?

šŸæ
 
I canā€™t think of any theology, but I know there are at least a few disciplines, or rather small ā€˜tā€™ traditions, such as the advent wreath.
 
Perhaps their ā€œgreatestā€ contribution is that they forced the Catholic Church to sharply define our core faith and doctrines.
No core dogma was changed as the result of the reformation but they were better explained or defined.
Yes I know itā€™s an indirect contribution but letā€™s be charitable šŸ™‚

Peace šŸ‘
 
I remember when studying theology as a preparation for the diaconate we spent a far bit of time on German Lutheran theological and scriptural study developments in the 19th century.
 
JerryZ said:
Perhaps their ā€œgreatestā€ contribution is that they forced the Catholic Church to sharply define our core faith and doctrines.
No core dogma was changed as the result of the reformation but they were better explained or defined.
Yes I know itā€™s an indirect contribution but letā€™s be charitable šŸ™‚

Peace šŸ‘
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Every blade needs to be kept sharp.

If you think about it, all heretical groups have forced the Church to more sharply define what ā€œsaith Godā€.

So, in that sense it might be said theyā€™ve made theological contributions to the Church by way of negative contribution.
 
Letā€™s seeā€¦
Sola Scripturaā€¦
Sola Fideā€¦
OSAS/Eternal Security of the believerā€¦
Communion as symbolicā€¦
Baptism as and by profession only and limited to those at age of reason

:hmmm: Do theological errors count?
 
Semangelof said:
Did you need to make another threadā€¦
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=416436
Click to expand...
or was your hate not satisfied in the first one?Get off itā€¦Randy doesnā€™t hate anybody, but itā€™s a valid question. Besides that other thread was 3 years agoā€¦

If you have anything to offer that would show that there have been good theological contributions from Protestantism, then by all means have at it, but donā€™t blame us if we question this issue.

God knows many n-Cs/a-Cs are way less kind in what they often offer about our most holy Catholic faith, and weā€™re nowhere near like that.
 
JerryZ said:
Perhaps their ā€œgreatestā€ contribution is that they forced the Catholic Church to sharply define our core faith and doctrines.
No core dogma was changed as the result of the reformation but they were better explained or defined.
Yes I know itā€™s an indirect contribution but letā€™s be charitable šŸ™‚

Peace šŸ‘
Click to expand...
This most certainly is true!~
Mary.
 
Church_Militant said:
Get off itā€¦Randy doesnā€™t hate anybody, but itā€™s a valid question. Besides that other thread was 3 years agoā€¦

God knows many n-Cs/a-Cs are way less kind in what they often offer about our most holy Catholic faith, and weā€™re nowhere near like that.
Click to expand...
You defend Randys actions by telling me Protestants do it too? Is your spirit any different than his right now? Do two wrongs make it right?

This is a troll thread, plain and simple.
 
Semangelof said:
You defend Randys actions by telling me Protestants do it too? Is your spirit any different than his right now? Do two wrongs make it right?

This is a troll thread, plain and simple.
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Yeah, sure. Thatā€™s totally untrue.

In fact, donā€™t misrepresent what I actually said. I said that our discussion here is far more charitable than the vast majority of such discussion by a-Cs.

This is not trolling at all. If you have anything that you can offer where Protestants have offered original and valid theology then by all means provide it. So far as we are concerned we are unaware of such, so if you have documentation of some, then contribute.

To say that Randy and I share a spiritā€¦thanks for the compliment! šŸ˜›

Two wrongs? I havenā€™t seen the first wrong yetā€¦aside maybe from your own :crying::crying::crying:
 
Semangelof said:
Did you need to make another threadā€¦
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=416436

or was your hate not satisfied in the first one?
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Dude, that thread was posted three years old.

There are new members here now, and Iā€™m still intrigued by the question.

Hate? Really?

Iā€™m a former Protestant. My family is all Protestant. My friends and I ask ourselves almost every day what God did and is doing in the Protestant churches (and why).

So, no hate. Genuine puzzlement.
 
I am ashamed to admit that in my trust over a Christian forum, I forgot the first lesson in online posting. ā€œDonā€™t feed the trollsā€.

Bye.
 
I believe itā€™s kind of ironic in a way. The original protestant reformers, those that broke off from the Catholic church, Luther, Calvin, etc, pretty much didnā€™t contribute anything. It was only later on, many generations removed, when a lot of intelligent protestant theologians came on the scene that have been acknowledged by many to have contributed a lot. People like Karl Baarth, Paul Tillich, John Stott, Meredith Kline, Dietrich Bonhoffer, George McDonald are said by many to have contributed a lot.

But, for me, three protestant theologians that are very good are these:

N.T. Wright, very thoughtful bishop of the Church of England. Broke with traditional protestant views on Justification. His work on it is not exactly Catholic, but his real expertise is his study of the historicity of the Gospels and Jesus Resurrection from the dead. His knowledge of that is superb.

C.S. Lewis, a man who is loved by Christianā€™s of all denominations. he was a great defender of the faith that explained the teachings of Christianity almost better than anybody. He also had a lot of Catholic type beliefs. He was a ā€œhigh churchā€ Anglican.

William Lain Craig, not exactly theology, he is more like Philosophy and apologetics. None the less, Dr. Craig, a Baptist, is perhaps the best defender of Christianity today. He has revived the cosmological argument, and argues very well on multiple levels for the existence of God. His books are well worth a read.

Not to mention, Martin Luther King jr was a protestant also.
 
John Milbankā€™s ā€œRadical Orthodoxyā€ may also prove to be an influential movement.
 
Randy_Carson said:
Can you name anything that Protestants have contributed to the study of theology that Catholics (or the Orthodox) have embraced?
Click to expand...
I think the bolded is what you are getting at, and thatā€™s a fair question.
When I was a Protestant, there was a book called, I think, ā€œThe Case for Christā€. And it gave a very good apologetic and legal case for the existance of Christ and the historicity of the Gospels and miracles. You donnā€™t have to be Protestant to appreciate the research.
Depending on the denomination, I would say the results are mixed. What particular part of theology are you looking at? Its easy to dismiss fundamentalist contributions, I would too. But non-fundamentalist Protestant works I imagine would be more difficult.
 
JustaServant said:
I think the bolded is what you are getting at, and thatā€™s a fair question.
When I was a Protestant, there was a book called, I think, ā€œThe Case for Christā€. And it gave a very good apologetic and legal case for the existance of Christ and the historicity of the Gospels and miracles. You donnā€™t have to be Protestant to appreciate the research.
Depending on the denomination, I would say the results are mixed. What particular part of theology are you looking at? Its easy to dismiss fundamentalist contributions, I would too. But non-fundamentalist Protestant works I imagine would be more difficult.
Click to expand...
In general, the Protestants have produced rather excellent works in defense of the historical existence of Jesus, because it is within Protestantism that historical critical readings of the Scriptures first went completely off the rails (scholars denying the resurrection, the virgin birth, even the existence of Jesus of Nazareth), and it is also (somewhat appropriately) within Protestantism that the first strongest defenses of Christian orthodoxy using historical criticism came about.
 
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