The Neo-Orthodox Theology of W.W. Bryden

An analysis of the theology of an influential Canadian Presbyterian theologian and his role in bringing neo-orthodox ideas into the North American mainstream. Walter W. Bryden was Principal of Knox College, Toronto, after the Second World War, and one of the leading Presbyterian theologians of the period from the 1920s to the 1950s. In The Neo-Orthodox Theology of W.W. Bryden, John Vissers makes an important contribution by analysing Bryden’s thought, placing it in the context of contemporary European and American theology. Vissers emphasises in particular Bryden’s role in introducing and popularising the ideas of Karl Barth in North America prior to the translation of Barth’s Commentary on Romans into English, and his Neo-Orthodox theology owed much to Barthian ideas. In his most important work, The Christian’s Knowledge of God, Bryden challenged the modernist emphasis on the rational, arguing for a Christocentric doctrine of Revelation. Vissers brings a wealth of scholarship and research to his subject, revealing Bryden’s pivotal role in the development of neo-orthodoxy within the Protestant tradition in North America, a role that previous studies have often failed to explore.