Ancient Discipline and Pristine Doctrine: Appeals to Antiquity in the Developing Reformation

This thesis in Church History examines the changing attitudes of Protestants toward Church History. The primary evidence surveyed is statements within major Protestant confessions, as well as the views of selected Reformers. By focusing on how Protestant confessions either quote the church fathers, or affirm the ancient creeds of the Church, the thesis presents a general overview of how Protestants have related to Church History. This thesis takes advantage of many recent studies on the use of church fathers by the reformers, and new critical study of creeds and confessions. A study of selected reformers and Protestant confessions demonstrates that an important part of the Reformation program was the claim to continuity with the early church, as opposed to the perceived innovations of Rome. A brief survey of reformation attitudes towards history also shows that appeals to church history were largely determined by the historical and polemical context of the times. Calvin and Bucer, for instance, make stronger or weaker appeals to church history depending in which polemical context they found themselves. As a result of the hardening of confessional lines, a more critical attitude towards church history developed, especially in Anabaptism and English Puritanism. Whereas th