Church history is dead, long live historical theology!

Peter Houston

doi:10.4102/hts.v76i4.5835

Abstract

Church history is dead, long live historical theology! This restatement of the monarchical law of le mort saisit le vif is at once a statement of irreparable discontinuity and assumed continuity. The old monarch is no more, yet a new and different monarch ascends to fill the same vacant throne. This is the paradox of church history becoming historical theology. Reviewing the work of W.A Dreyer and J. Pillay on the re-imagining of church history as historical theology, this article explores the tension between the demise of church history as a subject in South Africa and the emerging understanding and application of historical theology, arguing that more can be made of trans-disciplinary dialogues.

Highlights

Much of Myers’ subsequent teaching and activism has been linked to issues of peace and justice, but in recent years has metamorphosed into environmental justice, especially to do with water (Houston 2019). He is a contemporary example of how theologians and their theologies evolve over a life time, something that historical theology uniquely gives space to consider
Both Dreyer and Pillay, separately and collaboratively, have offered profound reflections on historical theology as a theological discipline in its own right, stepping out of the shadow that church history has long cast in South Africa
Their argument is advanced and affirmed that, when properly structured, historical theology has a major role to play in enriching theological conversations that are important to the ongoing transformation, if not reformation, http://www.hts.org.za of the church

Summary

Introduction

Williams sees the past as a set of stories we tell in order to understand better who we are and the world we are in (Williams 2005) He likens our relationship to the past as to a foreign country and to historical characters as to strangers (Williams 2005): Good history makes us think again about the definition of things we thought we understood pretty well, because it engages not just with what is familiar but with what is strange. This paradox between the visible and invisible church throughout time, between the strangeness and foreignness of the past and between the sense of continuity and discontinuity with our present forms of Christianity create many challenges in the study of historical theology. The traditional approach to church history has been to divide history into four periods (Early Church, Medieval Period, Reformation and Modern Period), to describe the main personalities and events in each

Introduction to historical theology

Conclusion

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