The Calvinist International
Mark Jones has a recent post on a subject long of interest on this site, viz. the use of Greek and Roman sources by Protestant theologians. As a case study that confirms Dr. Jones’ point, one might look at the way in which John Calvin makes use of Plato in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. […]
For Reformed Catholics, appreciation extends well beyond our Reformed heritage. It has to. For our appreciation of the Christian tradition to cease to move beyond our Reformed borders is in fact to cease to be Reformed. But just how far can appreciation extend? Even to pagan sources? Yes, indeed. After Calvin, in the time of […]
One more update on the topic Pastor Wedgeworth and I have recently posted on, the end of Christ’s priestly mediation between the Father and the faithful in the eschaton. The annotator of Augustine’s On the Trinity, which I discussed in the first post, in the NPNF series was the Presbyterian theologian W.G.T. Shedd. In addition to giving Scripture […]
As we have noted in the past, Calvin allowed for the suppression of heretics for political reasons, but he did not believe that the faith could be coerced. One reason that it can not be coerced is that, for Calvin, worship must be offered willing. A worship give out of fear or force is of […]
After some delay, we continue with Calvin on Galatians 3.26-7. In the first installment, we saw the central importance to Calvin of union in the consideration of what it means to be sons of God. But Paul seems to say that this comes about by baptism. So: is it the case that “being baptized” is […]
In Galatians 3.26-7, Paul makes what seems prima facie to be a startling transition: “[F]or in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (ESV). Note that second connective “for”: Paul is talking about faith, and then, all of a […]
(Continuing a recent line of inquiry.) It is well known that Calvin assented to or subscribed the Augsburg Confession, whether as a formal act or in some other way. Lest there be any doubt, Calvin himself says so in a letter of March 1557 to Schallingius. There is much in the letter of interest, and […]
Here in the South we always bless our food before we eat. Heck, we don’t just bless food, we bless everything. We bless you when you sneeze. We bless your day when we see you, and we even hang up kitschy signs in our homes to “bless this mess.” So, it’s part of our cultural […]
Look, I don’t know why David Bentley Hart keeps writing about Calvin, or why the editors at First Things keep letting him. It’s pretty obvious that he hasn’t read him. To be clear, that is not meant to be some kind of schoolyard taunt (though the thought of schoolchildren arguing about Calvin on the playground–as they were predestined to do, […]
Colossians 1.18-20 raises some interpretive difficulties: 18 καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώματος τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων, 19 ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι 20 καὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα εἰς αὐτόν, εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ, [δι’ αὐτοῦ] εἴτε τὰ […]