06 Mar 2020 
Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
In today’s selection, Melanchthon affirms both that the church has never ceased to exist, from its establishment in the time of Genesis all the way up to the present, and that it nevertheless has often been quite small. This he proves from, for example, the case of Noah. Still, God does not let the church...
Read more → 05 Mar 2020 Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
In today’s post, Melanchthon cites one more patristic source (Origen) as an example of how the church’s authority is rightly deployed. He then proceeds to sketch his understanding of the relation of the church to the Word and to give his definitions of what the church (1) is not, and (2) is. The church...
Read more → 04 Mar 2020 Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
In today’s post, Melanchthon begins to marshal patristic support for his understanding of the relative weight of various authorities in theology. Melanchthon’s high view of both Scripture and patristic antiquity are clear in what follows from his use of Tertullian, Irenaeus, and Basil. On the Church...
Read more → 03 Mar 2020 Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
This is just a short one for today. In this passage, Melanchthon sketches how one ought to affirm the supreme authority of Scripture without going overboard. His concern for antiquity echoes Zanchi’s wonderful statement that “I, certainly, do not depart from antiquity unless I have been compelled.” Of...
Read more → 02 Mar 2020 Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
A new week; time for a new series. This one, which will last for a while, will be on Melanchthon’s treatise De ecclesia et autoritate verbi dei (“On the Church and the Authority of the Word of God”), first published in 1539. My translation, which will be the first into English (I think? I could...
Read more → 01 Mar 2020 Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
I missed last week (sorry!) but here is the Collect for this week (Invocavit Sunday) from the Order of Worship for the Reformed Church in the United States, to accompany the Gospel reading from Matthew 6.1-11 and 2 Corinthians 6.1-10. Invocavit Sunday THE COLLECT WE beseech Thee, O Lord, by the mystery...
Read more → 28 Feb 2020 Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
This post wraps up the series on Hemmingsen on the Sabbath and Christian festivals. In these four assertiones, he concludes with some remarks on change, continuity, and authority. Of special significance is the hard distinction he makes between “worship” (cultus) and “ceremonies” (ceremoniae)...
Read more → 27 Feb 2020 Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
In today’s theses, Hemmingsen discusses the very important topic of adiaphora, or things indifferent, for that is what undergirds his comments on “ceremonies.” What Zanchi does in the case of festivals, Hemmingsen does in the case of ceremonies, distinguishing between two types, viz. those instituted...
Read more → 26 Feb 2020 Posted by E.J. Hutchinson
In today’s post, consisting of assertiones 27 and 28, Hemmingsen distinguishes his view of Christian festivals from what he considers both gentile and Romanist perversions. Here, one can clearly see how he separates his advocacy for the edifying effect of the “memorials of the saints” from the “invocation...
Read more → 25 Feb 2020 Posted by E.J. Hutchinson Herewith the next three assertiones, on the major festivals of redemption and the memorials of saints. One notices the pedagogical and practical purposes Hemmingsen sees for such observances, and the way in which he distinguishes these purposes from the abuse of festivals remarked upon in assertio 26. In other...
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