Works about Adolf Harnack |
Harnack, Adolf (1851-1930) -- from Wikipedia Article
Works by Adolf Harnack |
Description: Harnack considered creeds such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed superfluous
to Christian practice. For him, the creeds represented theological systems (particularly
those colored by ancient Greek philosophy) wholly irrelevant to living out a life of faith.
Harnack’s book examines the Apostles’ Creed historically—its composition, how it
entered into church practice, who used it, when people used it, etc. Harnack’s perspective
and research has remained influential both in academic theology and in the practices of
many Protestant churches.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Language: German
Description: The Times of Ignatius and the Chronology of the Antioch Bishops up to Tyrannus According to Julius Africanus and the Later Historians. Together with an Investigation Regarding the Spread of the Passion of S. Polycarp in the East.
Description: As Harnack saw it, the church of his day had become mired in unnecessary and even
damaging creeds, dogmas, and theological systems. In his major works, he sought
to return Christianity to its roots by tempering theology and tradition with historical
criticism. Instead of ideas and ideological systems, Harnack focused on actions. He
believed Christianity, rather than a list of beliefs to check off, was a way of life. In his
Essays on the Social Gospel, he encourages Christians not only to care for the
poor and the oppressed, but also to incorporate love and charity into every action.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Description: Harnack’s multi-volume work is considered a monument of liberal Christian
historiography. For Harnack, applying the methods of historical criticism to the Bible
signified a return to true Christianity, which had become mired in unnecessary and even
damaging creeds and dogmas. Seeking out what “actually happened,” for him, was one
way to strip away all but the foundations of the faith. With the History of Dogma series,
Harnack sets out on this project, tracing the accumulation of Christianity’s doctrinal
systems and assumptions, particularly those inherited from Hellenistic thought. As
Harnack explains, only since the Protestant Reformation have Christians begun to cast
off this corrupting inheritance, which must be entirely cast off if Christianity is to remain
credible and relevant to people’s lives. Rather controversially, the historian rejects the
Gospel of John as authoritative on the basis of its Greek influences.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Description: Harnack’s multi-volume work is considered a monument of liberal Christian
historiography. For Harnack, applying the methods of historical criticism to the Bible
signified a return to true Christianity, which had become mired in unnecessary and even
damaging creeds and dogmas. Seeking out what “actually happened,” for him, was one
way to strip away all but the foundations of the faith. With the History of Dogma series,
Harnack sets out on this project, tracing the accumulation of Christianity’s doctrinal
systems and assumptions, particularly those inherited from Hellenistic thought. As
Harnack explains, only since the Protestant Reformation have Christians begun to cast
off this corrupting inheritance, which must be entirely cast off if Christianity is to remain
credible and relevant to people’s lives. Rather controversially, the historian rejects the
Gospel of John as authoritative on the basis of its Greek influences.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Description: Harnack’s multi-volume work is considered a monument of liberal Christian
historiography. For Harnack, applying the methods of historical criticism to the Bible
signified a return to true Christianity, which had become mired in unnecessary and even
damaging creeds and dogmas. Seeking out what “actually happened,” for him, was one
way to strip away all but the foundations of the faith. With the History of Dogma series,
Harnack sets out on this project, tracing the accumulation of Christianity’s doctrinal
systems and assumptions, particularly those inherited from Hellenistic thought. As
Harnack explains, only since the Protestant Reformation have Christians begun to cast
off this corrupting inheritance, which must be entirely cast off if Christianity is to remain
credible and relevant to people’s lives. Rather controversially, the historian rejects the
Gospel of John as authoritative on the basis of its Greek influences.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Description: Harnack’s multi-volume work is considered a monument of liberal Christian
historiography. For Harnack, applying the methods of historical criticism to the Bible
signified a return to true Christianity, which had become mired in unnecessary and even
damaging creeds and dogmas. Seeking out what “actually happened,” for him, was one
way to strip away all but the foundations of the faith. With the History of Dogma series,
Harnack sets out on this project, tracing the accumulation of Christianity’s doctrinal
systems and assumptions, particularly those inherited from Hellenistic thought. As
Harnack explains, only since the Protestant Reformation have Christians begun to cast
off this corrupting inheritance, which must be entirely cast off if Christianity is to remain
credible and relevant to people’s lives. Rather controversially, the historian rejects the
Gospel of John as authoritative on the basis of its Greek influences.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Description: Harnack’s multi-volume work is considered a monument of liberal Christian
historiography. For Harnack, applying the methods of historical criticism to the Bible
signified a return to true Christianity, which had become mired in unnecessary and even
damaging creeds and dogmas. Seeking out what “actually happened,” for him, was one
way to strip away all but the foundations of the faith. With the History of Dogma series,
Harnack sets out on this project, tracing the accumulation of Christianity’s doctrinal
systems and assumptions, particularly those inherited from Hellenistic thought. As
Harnack explains, only since the Protestant Reformation have Christians begun to cast
off this corrupting inheritance, which must be entirely cast off if Christianity is to remain
credible and relevant to people’s lives. Rather controversially, the historian rejects the
Gospel of John as authoritative on the basis of its Greek influences.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Description: Harnack’s multi-volume work is considered a monument of liberal Christian
historiography. For Harnack, applying the methods of historical criticism to the Bible
signified a return to true Christianity, which had become mired in unnecessary and even
damaging creeds and dogmas. Seeking out what “actually happened,” for him, was one
way to strip away all but the foundations of the faith. With the History of Dogma series,
Harnack sets out on this project, tracing the accumulation of Christianity’s doctrinal
systems and assumptions, particularly those inherited from Hellenistic thought. As
Harnack explains, only since the Protestant Reformation have Christians begun to cast
off this corrupting inheritance, which must be entirely cast off if Christianity is to remain
credible and relevant to people’s lives. Rather controversially, the historian rejects the
Gospel of John as authoritative on the basis of its Greek influences.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries
Description: History remembers Harnack as one who refused to limit literary and historical study
of the Bible. This work traces the history of the church from the time of the apostles to
the time of the first church councils. In particular, he sought out the influence of Greek
philosophy upon early Christian writings, including its creeds. Ultimately, he would
come to see said Greek influence as a thing that corrupted the gospel message. Because
of this, he rejected the Gospel of John as an accurate portrayal of the historical Jesus in
favor of the three Synoptic Gospels.
Kathleen O'Bannon
CCEL Staff
Monasticism: Its Ideals and History and The Confessions of St Augustine
Description: As well as authoring hundreds of pages on church history, Harnack gave several
relatively well-known lectures. Provided here are two of his most famous talks,
Monasticism: Its Ideals and History and The Confessions of St. Augustine. Concerning
monasticism, Harnack addressed questions about what it meant to live a monastic life and
what sort of ideals monastic communities held. As such a prominent force in early and
medieval Christianity, the historian explores how wider Christian culture has imbibed
monastic principles. Similarly, when Harnack speaks about St. Augustine and his almost
legendary Confessions, he seeks out the illustrious saint’s stamp upon all theology and
Church practice following him. Harnack was known to be a charismatic orator, and his
lectures are consequently interesting, informative, and accessible all at the same time.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Description: For Harnack, applying the methods of historical criticism to the Bible signified a return
to true Christianity, which had become mired in unnecessary and even damaging creeds
and dogmas. Seeking out what “actually happened,” for him, was one way to strip away
all but the foundations of the faith. In The Origin of the New Testament, Harnack
explores the early history of the biblical canon—how it came to be what it is, and why. In
particular, he explores the ideologies driving people to accept some texts as biblical
cannon and not others. Controversially, Harnack finds some of these ideologies anything
but Christian, and he hints that a re-evaluation of what the church considers canonical is
necessary.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
Language: German
Description: Socrates and the Old Church: A Speech on Taking Office in the Rectorate, held in the Auditorium of the Royal Frederick-William University on the 15th of October 1900.
Description: Harnack’s lectures sought to answer the question, “What is Christianity?” in a purely
historical way. In the centuries before, scholars, clergy, and laypersons turned to their
Bibles or their church’s creeds for the answer. For Harnack, examining Christianity with
the tools of historical criticism signified a return to true Christianity, which had become
mired in unnecessary and even damaging creeds and dogmas. Learning the raw historical
facts, for him, was one way to strip away all but the foundations of the faith. In his
lectures, then, Harnack spoke in terms of facts rather than tradition. Instead of looking to
evangelize his audience, he looks to build up their understanding of the Christian religion
as an historical force, moving through and shaping the times.
Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff
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