We're hoping to get a theology reading group going at my home church. The best way I have of communicating with the group when I need something longer than a Facebook post is through this blog. However, even if you can't (or don't want to) be a part of the group, yo can benefit from reading the works we'll be reading and discussing.
For our first meeting, I think it would be good to get a lay of the theological landscape. I'm suggesting that we all read several of the classic Protestant confessions to familiarize ourselves with the topics of theology and with both the commonalities and differences between the Protestant denominations. (We're a Protestant group, so we're trying to get a handle on our own theological tradition.)
I think the following confessions will give us a fairly broad spectrum of classic evangelical Protestant faith:
The Augsburg Confession, Lutheran, 1530
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, Anglican (Episcopal), 1571
The Westminster Confession, Reformed/Presbyterian, 1647
The Methodist Articles of Religion, Methodist, 1784
The New Hampshire Confession, Baptist, 1833
I'd suggest getting a copy of John Leith's "Creeds of the Churches," 3rd edition. You can get it cheap used through Amazon or Barnes and Noble. It's a lot more convenient for reading and reference purposes. (I can get copies for members of the group, if you don't do online ordering.)
Alternatively, you can access these confessions online in Philip Schaff's "Creeds of Christendom" at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. They might be hard to read, since many of the confessions are printed in two columns, Latin and English translation. But CCEL is a terrific resource; you should become familiar with it. I have links to the specific confessions we'll be reading below. (If you already have Schaff on your shelf, good for you! Go with that.)
The Augsburg Confession (Lutheran): http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds3.iii.ii.html
The Westminster Confession (Reformed/Presbyterian): http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds3.iv.xvii.ii.html
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (Anglican): http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds3.iv.xi.html
The Methodist Articles of Religion (Methodist): http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds3.v.vi.html
The New Hampshire Confession (Baptist): http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds3.v.ii.ii.html
If you have any comments or questions, just let me know. If you're going to be in the group, you know how to find me.
