Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

pt. 1 Classical roots: developing understandings of the foundation, form, and function of Scripture -- Common theological foundations in the early church and the Middle Ages -- Concentration on the Bible's saving function during the Reformation -- Concern for literary form in the post-Reformation period -- Shifts from concentration on function to the concern for form in Great Britain -- pt. 2 Contemporary response: Reformed scholasticism in America and the recovery of alternatives in the Reformation tradition -- The development of Reformed scholasticism in America -- The defense of Reformed scholasticism in America -- Evangelical reactions to Reformed scholasticism -- Recent efforts to recover the Reformed tradition -- Conclusions: recovering the foundations of the central Christian tradition.