Reconstruction In Theology

Reconstruction in Theology is a work by Henry Churchill King, the American Congregational minister, philosophical theologian, and Oberlin College president who lived from 1858 to 1934. The book was originally published in 1901 and belongs to the substantial body of early twentieth century American liberal Protestant theology that was attempting to reformulate Christian doctrine in light of the major developments in modern thought across the previous several decades.

The reconstruction of the title refers to the project of fundamentally rethinking the traditional Christian theological categories in response to the various intellectual developments that had transformed the broader cultural landscape since the early nineteenth century. These developments included the historical and critical study of the Bible, which had substantially complicated the older positions about biblical authority and biblical inspiration. They included the development of evolutionary biology, which had transformed the older assumptions about the relationship between humanity and the rest of nature. They included the development of modern psychology, which had given new accounts of religious experience and religious motivation. And they included the developments in philosophy, particularly the various forms of post Kantian idealism that dominated the late nineteenth century German philosophical scene where King had received much of his training.

King’s position is broadly within the liberal Protestant theological tradition of the period. He accepts the major findings of modern criticism and modern science as essentially correct and as requiring substantial revision of traditional theological positions. At the same time he believes that the central content of Christian faith can be preserved and indeed deepened through such revision rather than being undermined by it. The book works through the various major theological topics including God, Christ, salvation, the Bible, and the church, and proposes for each a reconstructed account that he believes is more defensible than the traditional positions while still being recognizably Christian.

The book had substantial influence in the American Congregational and broader liberal Protestant world during the early twentieth century and was used in various seminaries and colleges as a textbook or supplementary reading in modern theology. The position King takes was widely shared among the leading liberal Protestant theologians of the period, although the various writers in this tradition differed substantially among themselves on particular questions.

The book runs about three hundred pages and is best read in chapter sized pieces. For readers interested in early twentieth century American liberal Protestant theology, this is one of the more substantial works. It pairs naturally with King’s other writings and with the work of his contemporaries.