Exploring Protestant Traditions - by W David Buschart (Paperback)

About the Book

W. David Buschart presents this richly informative field guide to eight prominent Protestant traditions. Clearly and evenhandedly, he traces the histories of each tradition, explains their interpretive approaches to Scripture and identifies their salient beliefs. As a result, you will gain a sense of what it's like to believe and worship in each tradition.

Book Synopsis

Protestant is shorthand for a spreading family tree of church and theological traditions. Each tradition embodies a historically shaped perspective on the beliefs, practices and priorities that make up a Christian community.Whether you are an insider to one tradition, a hybrid of two or three, or--as many Christians today--an outsider to all, Exploring Protestant Traditions is a richly informative field guide to eight prominent Protestant theological traditions: Lutheran, Anabaptist, Reformed, Anglican, Baptist, Wesleyan, Dispensational and Pentecostal. Clearly and evenhandedly, W. David Buschart traces the histories of each tradition, explains their interpretive approaches to Scripture and identifies their salient beliefs. As a result, you will gain a sense of what it is to believe and worship as a Reformed or Pentecostal Christian, who the traditions' heroes are and where the "theological accents" are placed. Charts displaying the denominational representatives of each tradition and bibliographies mapping the path for further explorations add to the value of this guide.This is a book that seeks to receive rather than evaluate, to listen and understand rather than judge or correct. His is a model of theological hospitality that encourages you to open your doors to the varied ways in which Protestantism has taken root in history and human society.Some things take time, like coming to know a religious tradition. But Exploring Protestant Traditions is an excellent place to start.

Review Quotes

. . .a "one-stop-shop" for an overview of various strains of Protestantism.

--Chuck Bumgardner, Orchard Keeper, January 1, 2008

"Buschart offers a book that delves neatly into both theology and church history without becoming a work on the history of doctrine. . . . Hopes that deeper understanding will encourage theological 'hospitality.' This is not watered-down ecumenism but a challenge to see one another in the best possible and charitable light."

--D. M. Whitford, United Theological Seminary, CHOICE, May 2007, Vol. 44, No. 09

"David Buschart's book Exploring Protestant Traditions lives up to its subtitle: An Invitation to Theological Hospitality. Well researched, objective and accurate, it is warmly sympathetic to each of the eight traditions it covers, letting each tradition speak for itself through its own theologians and historians. This book will break down many old stereotypes and be an important tool for understanding what our Christian neighbors believe."

--Vinson Synan, author of The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition and dean of Regent University School of Divinity

"Respecting the deep, sometimes contradictory convictions of believers in various streams of the Reformation heritage, David Buschart offers an irenic overview of eight major Protestant communities. Hospitality is just the right word to describe this approach--a method marked by sympathy, generosity and insight. A good primer for evangelicals (and other Christians) who want a solid introduction to these living traditions."

--Timothy George, dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, and executive editor, Christianity Today

"This book is a wonderful contribution to historical and ecumenical theology. Exploring Protestant Traditions: An Invitation to Theological Hospitality judiciously surveys eight ecclesio-theological traditions of Protestant theology: Lutheran, Anabaptist, Reformed, Anglican, Baptist, Wesleyan, Dispensational and Pentecostal. This gracious work is a call to ecumenical hospitality that responds to God's hospitality and recognizes diversity in belief and theology among the particular traditions and communities incarnate in the church. I will use this text as a textbook in my introductions to the history of Christianity courses, and I would recommend it for courses in ecumenism. It is rich with personal stories, encounters in these traditions, and comprehensive descriptions of the theology, hermeneutics and methods of each tradition presented. This well-written and hospitable treatment fills a need for a survey of these important Protestant traditions."

--Philip D. W. Krey, President and Ministerium of New York Professor of Church History, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and coauthor of Luther's Spirituality (forthcoming)

"Those looking for information on the theologies of the various Protestant traditions will like this book for its compactness and its short bibliographies."

--Br. Benet Exton, O.S.B., on Curled Up with a Good Book (curledup.com)

About the Author

W. David Buschart (Ph.D., Drew University) is professor of theology and historical studies at Denver Seminary. He is also the founder of Credo Consulting, a theological consulting firm.