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Seeberg: Text-Book of the History of Doctrines, Vol. 2

Reinhold Seeberg · translated by Charles E. Hay · translation 1905

The history of doctrine in the Middle Ages and the Reformation, to the Lutheran and Reformed confessions.

Edition: Internet Archive · archive.org

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From the opening: Introduction. Theology of Gregory the Great

Century

Chapter I

Introduction. Theology of Gregory the Great

§ 35. Characteristics of this Period.

1. Viewed historically, this period is characterized chiefly by the disintegration of the ancient world. New nations and new governments appear upon the scene. Yet the life of antiquity is perpetuated among the barbarians by the church. Theology becomes the bearer, not of doctrine alone, but of philosophy and culture as well. For this task it was well fitted by the intimate connection of the fixed doctrines of the church with the ancient modes of thought, and by the universal spirit of Augustine. Wisdom belonged to the past. “ The first precept of safety is to guard the rule of right faith and to deviate in nowise from the ordinances of the fathers” (Vol. I., p. 387) — such is the motto of the doctrinal history of the period. The only man who indulged in independent speculations, the philosopher Scotus Erigena, was misunderstood by his age. With Augustine, he recognized two sources of knowledge, sound reason ( recta ratio ) and proper authority ( vera auctoritas') . He endeavored from a combination of the two to construct a speculative system. But the speculative-pantheistic tendency prevailed, and the Scriptures were subordinated by means of allegorical exegesis. His speculations had no influence worthy of mention upon the History of Doctrines (cf. Christlieb, Leben und Lehre des Joh. Scotus Erigena, i860).

2. The German nations received Christianity from the church in fixed forms and as a fixed formula. For them Christianity became simply dogma, and faith the acceptance of tradition.1

1 The only “dogmas,” in the full sense of the term, in the Middle Ages as for the preceding period, were those of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ. Cf. stib. under Gregory the Great and also, e. g., Agobard, de fid. verit. 3 (Mi. 104, 269), and the Poenitentiale of Theodore of Canterbury (i. v. 6, p. 189, in Wasserschleben, Penances): “ from a heretic who should not

O5)

This, no less than the course of political events, served to confirm the hierarchical idea and the papal power. Rome planted herself firmly in the new provinces of the Western church (cf. the Christianizing of the Anglo-Saxons, her relations with the Franks, Boniface), and, despite many rebuffs, secured power and maintained it.

3. Upon German territory Christianity was, it is true, conceived and publicly presented in a popular form (vid. the poetry of Cynewolf,…

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Contents (93 sections)

  1. Opening
  2. Title page
  3. Introduction. Theology of Gregory the Great
  4. Chapters I–III
  5. Chapters I–III (continued)
  6. The Further Development and (Provisional) Completion of
  7. Completion of Doctrinal Construction in the Roman
  8. Introduction. Theology of Gregory the Great
  9. Chapter II
  10. Eastern Church and the Worship of Images
  11. Controversy upon Predestination
  12. Parturition of the Virgin Mary
  13. Chapter III
  14. Papacy and Hierarchy
  15. Chapter I
  16. The Church and the World
  17. Christianity of St. Bernard
  18. From Anselm to Peter the Lombard
  19. Christology of Abelard and the Lombard
  20. Doctrine of Atonement
  21. Doctrine of Atonement (continued)
  22. Doctrine of Atonement (continued)
  23. Doctrine of Lord’s Supper
  24. Doctrine of Lord's Supper
  25. Definition of Sacraments
  26. Definition of Sacraments (continued)
  27. Definition of Sacraments (continued)
  28. Conception of the Church
  29. Aims of the Church
  30. Period of Scholasticism
  31. Theology of the Thirteenth Century
  32. Doctrine of God and Christology
  33. Doctrine of God and Christology (continued)
  34. The Work of Christ
  35. The Work of Christ (continued)
  36. Original State and Sin
  37. Original State and Sin (continued)
  38. Grace and Human Freedom
  39. Grace and Human Freedom (continued)
  40. Grace and Human Freedom (continued)
  41. Sacraments and Church
  42. Sacraments and Church (continued)
  43. Chapter III
  44. Chapter III (continued)
  45. Hierarchical Conception of the Church
  46. Hierarchical Conception of the Church (continued)
  47. Hierarchical Conception of the Church (continued)
  48. Hierarchical Conception of the Church (continued)
  49. Church Life and Religious Agitations
  50. Theology in Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries
  51. Separate Doctrines in Later Middle Ages
  52. Separate Doctrines in Later Middle Ages (continued)
  53. Renaissance and Humanism
  54. Renaissance and Humanism (continued)
  55. Renaissance and Humanism (continued)
  56. Chapter I
  57. Early Views of Luther
  58. Early Views of Luther (continued)
  59. Early Views of Luther (continued)
  60. Early Views of Luther (continued)
  61. Repentance, Faith, Sin, Grace, Atonement
  62. Repentance, Faith, Sin, Grace, Atonement (continued)
  63. Repentance, Faith, Sin, Grace, Atonement (continued)
  64. Evangelical Ideal of Life
  65. Evangelical Ideal of Life (continued)
  66. Evangelical Ideal of Life (continued)
  67. Evangelical Ideal of Life (continued)
  68. Luther and Traditional Doctrine
  69. Chapter II
  70. Chapter II (continued)
  71. Chapter III
  72. Chapter I
  73. Theology of Melanchthon
  74. Theology of Melanchthon (continued)
  75. Controversies in the Lutheran Church
  76. Controversies in the Lutheran Church (continued)
  77. Chapter II
  78. Theology of Calvin
  79. Theology of Calvin (continued)
  80. Later Confessions of the Reformed Church
  81. Triumph of Doctrine of Predestination
  82. Triumph of Doctrine of Predestination (continued)
  83. Triumph of Doctrine of Predestination (continued)
  84. Completion of Doctrinal Construction in the Roman
  85. Medieval Theology at Council of Trent
  86. Medieval Theology at Council of Trent (continued)
  87. Revival of Augustinian Doctrine of Grace
  88. Revival of Augustinian Doctrine of Grace (continued)
  89. Revival of Augustinian Doctrine of Grace (continued)
  90. Revival of Augustinian Doctrine of Grace (continued)
  91. Revival of Augustinian Doctrine of Grace (continued)
  92. Revival of Augustinian Doctrine of Grace (continued)
  93. Revival of Augustinian Doctrine of Grace (continued)

How to cite it

Chicago
Reinhold Seeberg. Seeberg: Text-Book of the History of Doctrines, Vol. 2. Translated by Charles E. Hay. Internet Archive, translation 1905. https://archive.org/details/textbookofhistor02seeb
MLA
Reinhold Seeberg. Seeberg: Text-Book of the History of Doctrines, Vol. 2. Translated by Charles E. Hay, Internet Archive, translation 1905. https://archive.org/details/textbookofhistor02seeb
APA
Reinhold Seeberg (translation 1905). Seeberg: Text-Book of the History of Doctrines, Vol. 2 (Charles E. Hay, Trans.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/textbookofhistor02seeb

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