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Ursinus: the dangers and opportunities of latent theologies resident within established congregations

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Stillman, Matthew H. Ursinus: the Dangers and Opportunities of Latent Theologies Resident Within Established Congregations. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/191131b5-ff84-4be1-b543-b38be77576c9.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

S. M. H. Ursinus: the dangers and opportunities of latent theologies resident within established congregations. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/191131b5-ff84-4be1-b543-b38be77576c9

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Stillman, Matthew H. Ursinus: the Dangers and Opportunities of Latent Theologies Resident Within Established Congregations. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/191131b5-ff84-4be1-b543-b38be77576c9.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

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Abstract
  • The German Reformed churches almost came to blows over the Romanizing influences of John Williamson Nevin and Philip Scaff who were the denomination’s seminary professors at Mercersburg, PA. John Bomberger and later James I. Goode had theological objections to the Evangelical Catholic reforms, so Bomberger and others opened a competing seminary called Ursinus (now Urinus College) to prepare low church clergy for the ministry in competition with Mercersburg (which later moved to Lancaster and became Lancaster Theological Seminary). My interest lies in the distinctive features of the Ursinus movement in order to determine how it had an impact on one congregation, Wolf’s Church. I hope to uncover the ways in which its theological principles encouraged certain ecclesial practices that lingered long after the controversy with the Mercersburg movement had faded from the congregation’s memory. My work answers the question, “What were the theological convictions and ecclesiastical practices of the Ursinus Movement as a response to the Mercersburg theology in its 19th century German Reformed Church context, including key figures, casual factors, salient features, features of the “Ursinus” piety/theology as distinct from Mercersburg, etc. Having identified the salient and distinctive characteristics of the Ursinus tradition, I then will explore the ways in which this heritage may have informed the ecclesial practices of Wolf’s Church and kept that legacy alive even when the congregants could not articulate the characteristics of the Ursinus tradition or even identify the theology embedded in their exposure in their corporate life as being in the Ursinus mold.
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Last modified
  • 12/18/2025

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