The Calvinist International
In the recent polemical engagement between John Frame, James Dolezal, and various other commentators, the role of history in theology has been a major talking point. Should we stick to the historic tradition or should be free to be unapologetically “biblical”? To what extent can we criticize past theologians? Should we view constructive theology with […]
In the 1950 encyclical Humani Generis, Pius XII, relying on Pius IX, makes a rather startling claim about the duty of theologians in the church: It is also true that theologians must always return to the sources of divine revelation: for it belongs to them to point out how the doctrine of the living Teaching […]
In the midst of a discussion about the connection between common grace and particular, or special, grace, Kuyper sets out to make clear that Christ is the telos of all things. He does so by distinguishing between Christ himself, and then his ‘body’, the Church. Both are important for Kuyper, but Christ is the ultimate aim of universal […]
The question of “Why history?” and “Why the look to the past?” is one historians constantly have to answer. There have been many answers given. Cary J. Nederman offers a good one in his Lineages of European Political Thought. In the introductory chapter Nederman discusses the utility and importance of investigating medieval political ideas, writing: Indeed, the […]
One of the aims of the The Calvinist International is the ‘renewal of Christian wisdom’ to re-invigorate the Church. The method for this renewal is a principled retrieval of classical Protestant Christianity. The retrieval is not a bigoted one, which pushes aside ideas and sources not directly stemming from magisterial Reformation. Far from it. The […]
What is the historian supposed to do? How does his task relate to that of other kinds of writer? This is a question that exercised ancient historians and others who theorized about history in antiquity. Cicero was one of those who did the latter, and in On the Laws 1.4-5 he gives a brief summary […]
Dr. J. Todd Billings summarizes the future possibilities for Protestant resourcement, and includes some reflections on the significance of this task for theology: Rediscover the Centrality of Biblical Exegesis—The loci communes approach to theology models a compelling way to make scriptural exegesis a central task for the theologian. In addition, the Reformation and Post-Reformation theologians […]
Dr. Noel Weeks reflects on historical scholarship at the beginning of Admonition and Curse: In the history of scholarship focus changes from decade to decade. Topics become popular; topics fade from popularity. The reasons for such changes are complex and outside of the main interests of this work. What is significant is that they may […]
In the first chapter of his De Christiana Religione, Ficino uses various arguments to prove that the worship of God is what sets man apart from the other animals. Worth noting here, again, is the fact that Ficino does not appeal to any Medieval authorities to make his claims. Also interesting is Ficino’s appeal to […]
Victoria Kahn’s Rhetoric, Prudence, and Skepticism in the Renaissance is well worth the read for anyone interested in the topic of political theology, virtue ethics, or the Renaissance and Reformation more broadly. She describes the nature of Renaissance concepts of prudence and rhetoric and its importance for the debate between Erasmus and Luther on the freedom […]