The Calvinist International
In this our seventh installment on Johann Heinrich Alsted’s Theologia naturalis we see Alsted utilize the metaphor of a “ladder” of truth to describe the relationship between nature and grace, and he argues that God intends for man to study the truths of nature in order to make grace sweeter: IV. Natura & Gratia non pugnant […]
As I mentioned in this post last week, the idea of “preparations” for grace or justification was not completely rejected by the Reformers. Rather, they insisted that God uses certain preparations as his instruments to bring the unbeliever to self-knowledge, particularly the condemnation of the Law – this causes one to reflect on one’s own […]
The works of Johann Heinrich Alsted (1588-1638) have recently been the subject of research into the nature of theology and philosophy in the Early Modern period, specifically regarding the reception of Ramist and Lullist logic (cf. Howard Hotson’s work for example). Descartes read Alsted’s Encyclopaedia and, though he thought it was a rather curious work, commended the […]