The Dissemination of Scottish Theology: T&T Clark

Abstract

This chapter outlines the history of the Scottish family firm of publishers T&T Clark, which for nearly 200 years made a significant contribution to the development of an historical and critical approach to theological study. This was chiefly effected through a series of publications of mostly German-speaking works of theology and biblical studies. It is suggested that these were principally of a mediating kind, seeking to achieve a complementarity between forms of confessional Protestant belief and theology on the one hand and historical and philosophical studies on the other. This reached a climax in the early twentieth century with the publication of major works by Ritschl and Schleiermacher. Thereafter the firm’s publishing programme became more influenced by confessional forms of theology, particularly through its translation of Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. Its legacy, however, remains not only in the form of Barth but of Schleiermacher and historical critical studies of the Bible.