Theological and Philosophical Biography and Dictionary

THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL
BIOGRAPHY AND GLOSSARY

Mabie, H. C.:

(1847-1918) Southern Baptist preacher.

MacAlpine, John:

(1505-1577) Scottish Dominican; influenced by Luther; became Lutheran pastor in Denmark.

MacArthur, Robert S.:

(1841-1923) Canadian Baptist pastor in one church in NY for 41 years.

Macartney, Clarence E.:

(1879-1957) US Presbyterian great topical and biographical preacher; a conservative leader in fundamentalist-modernist controversy. Wrote The Greatest Texts of the Bible.

MacBean, Angus:

(1656-1688) Scottish pastor; imprisoned for opposition to state church.

Macdonald, George:

(1824-1905) Scottish theologian; wrote fantasy stories.

Mach, Ernst:

(1838-1916) Science professor at Graz, Prague, Vienna; wrote Popular Scientific Lectures; Positivist; Naturalist

Machen, J. Gresham:

(1881-1937) Conservative US Presbyterian theologian; taught at Princeton; left with Van Til, Allis, and Wilson to form Westminster; defrocked for insubordination; leading founder of Orthodox Presbyterian Church; effectively destroyed liberalism with Christianity and Liberalism. Wrote a Greek textbook used in most Bible colleges and seminaries. Also wrote 1. The Virgin Birth, 2. The Origin of Paul's Religion, 3. The Christian View of Man, God Transcendent, 4. New Testament Introduction, and What is Faith?.

MACHINE:

See Ghost in the machine

Machiavelli, Niccolo:

(1469-1527)

Mackenzie, Lachlan:

(1754-1819) Scottish Presbyterian preacher.

Mackintosh, Hugh Ross:

(1870-1936) Scottish theologian; taught at New College, University of Edinburgh; moderate liberal; introduced German scholarship to England; held a kenotic theory of incarnation; against penal-substitution theory of atonement.

Maclaren, Alexander:

(1826-1910) British Baptist pastor; first President of Baptist World Alliance. Wrote After the Resurrection.

MacLaren, Ian:

pseud. of John Watson.

MacLaurin, John:

(1693-1754) Scottish preacher; friend of Jonathan Edwards.

Maclean, John Jr.:

President of Princeton from 1854-68

MacLennan, David A.:

(1903-____) US Presbyterian taught homiletics.

Macleod, Norman:

(1812-1872) Church of Scottish preacher; pastored in Glasgow for his last 21 years.

Macquarrie, John:

wrote contemporary theology book: 20th Century Religious Thought: The Frontiers of Philosophy and Theology, 1900-1970.

MacRae, Allan:

(1902-1997) professor at Westminster; pres at Faith Theological Seminary and Biblical Theological Seminary; involved in Presbyterian schisms; an editor of New Scofield Reference Bible; helped translate NIV; wrote The Gospel of Isaiah.

Magee, William C.:

(1821-1891) Irish protestant preacher

Magnus:

See Albertus Magnus

Maier, Walter A.:

(1893-1950) US Lutheran; radio preacher on "The Lutheran Hour"; spent one hour for every minute of his sermon; taught Hebrew and OT at Concordia Seminary

Maimonides, Moses:

(1135-1204) Jewish philosopher

Malebranche, Nicholas:

(1638-1715)

Malinowski, Bronislaw:

(1884-1942) Cultural anthropologist

Mani:

(c 216-277) Persian philosopher; combined Persian, Christian, and Buddhist ideas to form Manichaeism a dualistic view

MANICHAEISM:

Manning, Henry Edward:

(1808-1892) British Roman Catholic cardinal

Manson, Thomas Walter:

(1893-1958) British; taught at University of Manchester; emphasized on life and teachings of Jesus

Manz, Felix:

Marcel, Gabriel:

(1889-1973) French Christian existentialist philosopher; wrote Homo Viator.

Marcion:

(c 110-c 160) Defined canon of Scripture; heretic; God of the OT is different from God of the NT; followers called Marcionites

MARCIONITE:

Those who hold that the God of the New Testament is different from the God of the Old Testament.

Marcus Aurelius:

(121-180)

Marett, Robert Ranulph:

(1866-1943) anthropology professor at Oxford; wrote The Threshold of Religion; origin of religion not naturalistic or metaphysical; concentrated on a psychological analysis of religion; Mana

Maritain, Jacques:

(1882-1973) French philosopher; led neo-Thomists; wrote 1. The Degrees of Knowledge and 2. La Philosophie bergsonienne.

Marshall, Daniel:

(1706-1784) missionary to Indians; brother-in-law of Stearns; helped organize Georgia Baptist Association.

Marshall, Peter:

(1902-1949) US Scottish Presbyterian manuscript preacher

Marshall, Stephen:

(c1594-1655) British Presbyterian Puritan preacher

Martin of Tours:

(c 335-400) founded Gallican church; defended Nicene Creed

Martin, Samuel:

(1817-1878) British Congregational pastor; built Westminster Chapel which he pastored for 37 years

Martineau, James:

(1805-1900) British Unitarian preacher

Marty, Martin:

Lutheran edited A Handbook of Christian Theologians with Dean Peerman

Martyr, Justin:

(c 100-165) Christian apologist; Christianity is highest concept of Greek philosophy; martyred in Rome (thus his name)

Marx, Karl:

(1818-1883) German social philosopher; wrote Das Kapital; used Hegel's dialectical view of history to create dialectical materialism; father of communism.

MARXISM:

Mason, John Mitchell:

(1770-1829) US Presbyterian and Reformed preacher.

MASS:

See Mass-energy

MASS-ENERGY:

Massillon, Jean Baptiste:

(1663-1742) French Roman Catholic preacher.

MATERIALISM:

says religion is a purely psychological phenomenon. It is "the childlike condition of humanity." Consciousness of God is "self-consciousness, and knowledge of God is self-knowledge" (Feuerbach). Also see New materialism; and Dialectical materialism

MATHEMATICAL LOGIC:

See Symbolic (mathematical) logic

MATHEMATICS:

See Symbolic (mathematical) logic

Mather, Cotton:

(1663-1728) US Congregational; Puritan; graduated from Harvard at age 15; preached (in Boston) on social, political, and personal issues; oldest son of Increase; opposed decline of Puritan Theocracy; advocated Salem witch trials; wrote 1. Magnalia Christi Americana and 2. Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions.

Mather, Increase:

(1639-1723) US Congregational; son of Richard; President of Harvard; preached 62 years in Boston; memorized his sermons; studied 16 hrs. a day; advocated Half-Way Covenant; wrote 1. A Brief History of the Wars With the Indians and 2. An Essay for the Recording of Illustrious Providences.

Mather, Richard:

(1596-1669) Congregational pastor; father of Cotton Mather; ousted by Archbishop Laud; pastor in Dorchester, Mass.; advocated Half-Way Covenant; wrote Bay Psalm Book.

Matheson, George:

(1842-1906) Church of Scotland; blind preacher; wrote "O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go."

Mathews, Shailer:

(1863-1941) Baptist theologian; taught at University of Chicago and turned it liberal; Christianity was a religious social movement; wrote 1. Contributions of Science to Religion, 2. The Faith of a Modernist, 3. The Growth of the Idea of God, and 4. The Social Teaching of Jesus.

MATTER:

Matthew, Edward:

(1813-1892) Welsh Calvinistic Methodist preacher.

Matthew, Theobald:

(1790-1856) Irish Roman Catholic preacher.

Matthews, Mark A.:

(1867-1940) US Presbyterian preacher; fundamentalist leader; promoted moral issues

Maurice, John Frederick Denison:

(1805-1872) Anglican theologian; taught at King's College, London; denied doctrine of everlasting punishment; forerunner of ecumenical movement; friend of the workingman who began Christian Socialism in 1848.

M'cheyne:

See McCheyne, Robert Murray

McCheyne, Robert Murray:

(1813-1843) Scottish Presbyterian pastor; emphasized personal piety, prayer, compassion, and evangelism.

McConnell, Francis John:

(1871-1953) US Methodist.

McCosh, James:

President of Princeton from 1868-88

McCracken, Robert James:

(1904-1973) Scottish pastor in Canada; later succeeded Fosdick in NY; professor of theologian and philosopher at McMaster (Ontario).

McDowell, Benjamin:

(1739-1824) Irish Presbyterian pastor.

McDowell, William Fraser:

(1858-1937) US Methodist.

McGavran, Donald:

Founder of the concept of Church Growth.

McGiffert, Arthur Cushman:

(1861-1933) Church historian at Union (NY); promoted liberalism; scientific history which excludes the supernatural is more objective than one which allows for divine involvement; advocated social gospel.

McIntire, Carl:

(1906-2002) founded Faith Theological Seminary and Shelton College; involved in Presbyterian schisms; founded American Council of Christian Churches to oppose National Council of Churches and the International Council of Christian Churches to oppose World Council of Churches; supported Vietnam War.

McNeill, John:

(1854-1933) Scottish Presbyterian preacher

McPherson, Aimee Semple:

(1890-1944) Pentecostal woman preacher; founded International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.

McTaggart, John McTaggart Ellis:

(1866-1925) taught at Trinity College, Cambridge; wrote 1. Some Dogmas of Religion and 2. The Nature of Existence; pluralistic Personal Idealist; emphasized individual minds, not one great mind; like G. Howison.

Meade, William:

(1789-1862) US Episc. founded Virginia Theological Seminary.

MEANING:

See Behavioral theory of linguistic meaning; Cognitive meaning; Linguistic meaning; Meaning, linguistic theory; Emotivism; and Use theory of linguistic meaning

MEANING, LINGUISTIC THEORY:

MECHANISM:

Evolution is the product of continuous physico-chemical action. A living organism is defined as a complex system of physico-chemical mechanisms.

Meinong:

(1853-1920)Austrian philosopher who worked at the University of Graz. He was a pupil of Franz Brentano and is most famous for his belief in nonexistent objects

Melanchthon, Philipp:

(1497-1560) German reformer; influenced by Erasmus; followed Luther; systematized and defended Luther's theology; wrote first protestant systematic theology Loci Communes; tried reconciliation with Reformed and Catholics turned Lutheranism from "Calvinism" to "Arminian"

MELIORISM:

Whatever the state of the world, it may be improved. Associated with Pragmatism.

Melville, Andrew:

(1545-1622) Successor to John Knox

Melville, Henry:

(1798-1871) Anglican pastor who wrote his sermons out several times before preaching them.

MENNONITES:

a radical Reformation group started by Menno Simons. See the Anabaptists with whom they share some distinctive characteristics.

Merleau-Ponty:

(1908-1961)

METAETHICAL RELATIVISM:

When there is moral disagreement, both views may be correct. Also see Ethical relativism

METAETHICS:

An attempt to analyze or describe the ways in which moral judgments are actually used. May be distinguished as cognitivist ethics or non-cognitivist ethics. See Metaethical relativism

METALANGUAGE:

METAPHYSICAL:

See Hard Determinism

METAPHYSICAL DETERMINISM:

see Hard Determinism.

METAPHYSICAL NECESSITY:

See Necessity, logical or metaphysical

METAPHYSICS:

See Descriptive metaphysics; and Revisionary metaphysics

METAPHYSICIANS:

METAPHYSICS:

The theory of first principles or, as synonymous with ontology, the theory of being as such.

METHOD:

METHODOLOGICAL:

See Methodological relativism and Methodological skepticism

METHODOLOGICAL RELATIVISM:

There are no rational ways of settling moral disputes. Nothing can be proved in ethics.

METHODOLOGICAL SKEPTICISM:

A systematic but tentative doubt is a prelude to genuine knowledge.

Meyer, Frederick Brotherton:

(1847-1929) British Baptist preacher; crusaded against public vices; wrote 70 books

MIDDLE:

See Excluded middle, law of

Milic, John (Jan of Kromeriz):

(d 1374) Moravian reformer

Mill, James:

(1773-1836)

Mill, John Stuart:

(1806-1873) philosopher; utilitarian ethics; greatest good for the greatest number. Wrote Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy. Ideas such as matter and causality are admitted if interpreted phenomenalistically, as, e.g., "possibilities of sensation." Knowledge of God is possible as an inference from knowledge of the world (from sense data). The uniformity of nature makes possible knowledge of a world as cause of sense data. "Matter is the permanent possibility of sensation." Reality is not an independent mental or material substance but a complex of actual and possible sensations. Material and mental entities are constructed from sense data. Sense data belong to a subjective mind (as in idealism) and the objective world (as in realism). Realism is ordered by an invariable principle of causality (determinism).

MILL'S INDUCTIVE METHODS:

Miller, William:

(1782-1849) Baptist pastor in NY; began Seventh-day Adventism; said the Lord would return in 1844.

Milton, John:

(1608-1674) British Congregational Puritan; wrote 1. Areopagitica and 2. Paradise Lost; in government service under Cromwell; but forced to retire by Restoration.

MIND:

See Double-aspect theory of mind; Idols of the mind; Identity theory of mind; World Spirit or World Mind; and Parallelism as a theory of mind

MISTAKE:

See Category mistake

MODEL OF EXPLANATION:

See Covering-law model of explanation

MODERNISM:

See Liberalism; Catholic modernism; and Protestant liberalism

Mohammed:

(c 570-632) The founder of Islam. He was born in Mecca, where he lived as a merchant, married Khadija, a rich widow, and had a daughter, Fatima. At the age of 40, he had a vision and began to preach as a prophet, exhorting the people to repentance, prayer, belief in the one god Allah, and alms-giving. In 622 to escape assassination he fled to Medina, where he set up a theocratic state. In 630 he conquered Mecca. He died in Medina, having established his authority throughout S. W. Arabia. Islam (meaning "submission") is the third and last of the world's 3 great monotheistic religions; teaches that Jesus is only a prophet, not the Savior or a Person of the Trinity; his revelation written in Koran; claims to be final prophet from God; followers called Muslims or Moslems.

Mohammad II:

(c1430-81), Ottoman sultan of Turkey (1451-81). His capture of Constantinople (1453) marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. He conquered much of the Balkans, until checked by Hunyadi and by Scanderbeg.

Moltmann, Jürgen:

(1926-____) theologian at University of Tübingen; wrote Theology of Hope; emphasized theology of hope; the present is to be interpreted in terms of the future; eschatology is key to understanding theology

MONAD:

A unit of metaphysical reality (spiritual for Leibniz) capable of entering into relations that comprise the world.

MONADS:

* (Leibniz)

MONISM:

All things are forms of one substance. Thales said that Water is the material cause of all things. Anaximander said that the Boundless or Infinite is the essence of all things. Anaximenes said that all things arise from a condensation or rarefaction of air. Parmenides said that Being is the one homogeneous and continuous substance. Heraclitus said that Fire is the universal flux or becoming of all things and the first principle of reality. See Epistemological monism

Monod, Adolphe Theodore:

(1802-1886) French evangelical leader; formed Reformed church in France. Wrote A Dying Man's Regrets.

MONOTHEISM:

The belief that there is only one God

Montaigne:

(1533-1592)

Moody, Dwight Lyman:

(1837-1899) US evangelist; founded Northfield Seminary (school for girls); Mt. Hermon School (school for boys); and Chicago Evangelization Society later called Moody Bible Institute.

Moon, Sun Myung:

(1920-____) Korean; head of Unification Church

Moore, George Edward:

(1873-1958) British philosopher; professor at Cambridge; New Realist; rejected any concept of God; emphasized analytic philosophy. Wrote 1. Principia Ethica and 2. Philosophical Studies. As sensibles (i.e., complexes of sense data), reality exists independent of perception, though perception renders the complexes as physical objects.

Moorehead, William Gallogly: