The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3: Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches

by Philip Schaff

Publisher:

Harper & Brothers

, 1882

Overview

In The Creeds of Christendom, Philip Schaff offers a critical analysis of the most important and fully developed expressions of faith. Through the words of the creeds, Schaff explains that honest controversy can produce lasting union, and that the theological controversies of the historic church have made the present church stronger. Schaff writes these volumes for a church divided, and begs a multitude of denominations to explore their common origins and common beliefs.

The third and final volume of The Creeds of Christendom discusses the creeds and confessions of the Lutheran Churches and Reformed Churches in the years following the Reformation. He also outlines the emerging confessions of various denominations in North America, such as the Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church, and the Congregational Confessions. In this volume, Schaff also outlines the history of the Augsburg Confession, the Helvetic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dordt, the Scottish Confession, and dozens of other Protestant confessions.

With Logos, this important work by Philip Schaff is easier to read than ever before! The Scripture texts link to your Greek and Hebrew texts and English translations. And your digital library gives you the ease and flexibility to read Schaff alongside the primary texts of the key figures in church history, such as Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and the Church Fathers.

Key Features

• Discussion of the creeds and confessions of the Lutheran Churches and Reformed Churches
• Outlines the history of various confessions

Praise for the Print Edition

In the development of the discipline of church history in the United States, few scholars played a more important role than the Swiss-born, German-educated immigrant Philip Schaff. His model of careful, accurate, comprehensive, and irenic scholarship . . . remains worthy of admiration and emulation.

—R. Graham, professor of American church history, North Park Theological Seminary

No scholar of his generation has interested me so much. He was broad, powerful, a man of great genius.

—William G. T. Shedd

Philip Schaff wanted to be remembered as a Christian scholar, and he pursued this scholarship in the context of his grand and optimistic ecumenical vision . . . Schaff was, in his own words, an inveterate hoper.

—George Shriver

Product Details

• Title: The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3: Creeds of the Evangelical Protestant Churches
• Author: Philip Schaff
• Publisher: Harper & Brothers
• Publication Date: 1878
• Pages: 966

About Philip Schaff

Philip Schaff (1819–1893) was born in Chur, Switzerland. He was educated in Germany at Tübingen, Halle, and Berlin, where he studied under August Neander. In 1843, he moved to America and became a professor of church history and biblical literature at the German Reformed Theological Seminary in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.

During that time, he edited a hymnal, worked on the liturgy in the German Reformed Church, and edited a translation of the Heidelberg Catechism. The English translation of his History of the Apostolic Church appeared in 1853. Schaff remained at Mercersburg until 1863, when the Civil War forced the seminary to close.

In 1870, Schaff became a professor at Union Theological Seminary. During his tenure there, he held the chair of theological encyclopedia and Christian symbolism, the chair of Hebrew and cognate languages, the chair of sacred literature, and the chair of church history. He also served on the committee that translated the American Standard Version.

Schaff also authored or edited the History of the Christian Church, Early Church Fathers, and the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. He is remembered as one of America’s foremost church historians of the nineteenth century.

Contents

Top Highlights

“That some receive the gift of faith from God, and others do not receive it, proceeds from God’s eternal decree.” (Page 582)

“The death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin; is of infinite worth and value, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world.” (Page 586)

“Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is preached, and received of the faithful; and that neither any other Word of God is to be feigned, nor to be expected from heaven: and that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; who, although he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God abides true and good.” (Page 832)

	“we reject all that is taught repugnant to this concerning the free will of man,” (Page 400)

“With respect to those who make an external profession of faith and live regular lives, we are bound, after the example of the Apostle, to judge and speak of them in the most favorable manner; for the secret recesses of the heart are unknown to us. And as to others, who have not yet been called, it is our duty to pray for them to God, who calleth those things which be not as though they were. But we are in no wise to conduct ourselves towards them with haughtiness, as if we had made ourselves to differ.” (Page 591)

Product Details

• Title: The Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical Notes, Volume III: The Evangelical Protestant Creeds, with Translations
• Author: Philip Schaff
• Series: The Creeds of Christendom
• Publisher: Harper & Brothers
• Print Publication Date: 1882
• Logos Release Date: 2011
• Era: era:modern
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Church history; Creeds
• Resource ID: LLS:CREEDSCHR3
• Resource Type: text.monograph.confessional-document
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-09-24T16:21:11Z

About Philip Schaff

Philip Schaff (1819–1893) was one of the most distinguished church historians who ever lived. He was educated at Tübingen, Halle, and Berlin, and was professor of church history and biblical literature at German Reformed Theological Seminary. When the Civil War forced the seminary to close, Schaff moved to Union Theological Seminary. Schaff had an enormous influence on German Reformed churches in America, and he wrote History of the Christian Church, Creeds of Christendom, and The Principle of Protestantism.