The Calvinist International
“Natura abhorret a vacuo” Nature abhors a vacuum, and so every people constituted as a political body is going to have a schedule of sacred observances, of holy days–days marked out as special in some way, whether because of their perceived relation to a polity’s foundation or to its preservation. This calendar never has been, […]
Today is the anniversary of Constantine’s birth. I’ve mentioned the anniversary of his accession here before and the anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, as well as the esteem in which he was held by the magisterial Reformers; Peter Martyr Vermigli, for instance, praises him along with David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, and Charlemagne, […]
It is well known (though not as well known–or at least accounted for–as it should be, especially in some conservative Protestant circles) that Augustine had high praise for the Christian emperors Constantine and Theodosius at the end of Book 5 of City of God, which indicates that “political Augustinianism”–whatever that is–does not imply or logically lead […]
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that there is another day, so close to Reformation Day, All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, of importance in the history of Christendom. And that day is today. Today marks the 1703rd anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, at which […]
In the comments to a recent post about arguments from silence, some important issues were raised, and I’d like to deal with some of them because they deserve consideration. “Augustinianism” and the City of God The first has to do with the legacy of “Augustinianism” in relation to disestablishmentarianism and the like. There is a […]
My post entitled “The Myth of the Ecumenical Early Church” was actually taken from a paraphrase of a paper I wrote while in seminary in 2007. As a part of the assignment, my paper had to present a “problem” in church history and leave the resolution open-ended. This was not intended to question the resolution […]
One of the most enduring misconceptions of the pre-Nicene and Nicene church (what sometimes goes by the nomenclature “the early church”) is that it was more or less united, both doctrinally and politically. One can see this assumption at work in the use of the definitive article as well as the title of “ecumenical councils.” […]