The Calvinist International
Everyone knows that Martin Luther hated reason and thereby destroyed Europe, culture, kittens, and organic farming. After all, he once called “holy reason” a “mangy, leprous whore.” Again, “reason is the devil’s prostitute and can do nothing else but slander and dishonor what God does and says.” So, again, everyone knows that Martin Luther hated […]
Christians often talk about the transforming power of the Gospel of Christ, but for many who do not completely grasp the basic principles of human nature, the nature of this transformation may seem a complete mystery. And, when the inner struggles of faith are met with the ignorance of these basic principles – or if […]
In the past I have written favourably of Dr. Edward Feser’s philosophical work, especially as it is relevant to Reformed theologians today, so I read with interest his brief criticism of sola scriptura on his blog yesterday. I don’t plan to give an extensive reply here; I only want to give some reason to Dr. Feser […]
Perhaps it would have done Descartes some good to read Gregory of Nyssa. Perhaps not. Regardless, for Gregory, there is great mystery in the human intellect. Man lacks the ability to fully comprehend himself, though surely he comprehends what is necessary for cognition, for piety, and for the other virtues. The incomprehensibleness of the human […]
Martin Bucer admits that it is true, in some sense, that the church came before the scriptures. It is true that the church was established before the canon of the New Testament was closed. This does not mean, he insists, that the church had (or continues to have) the authority to make or change God’s word. […]
If you have ever wondered what philosophical work(s) a 16th century Reformed theologian read or would recommend to his readers or students, you will no doubt be interested in the following. Girolamo Zanchi, an exiled Italian Christian and professor of Divinity at the University of Heidelberg in the late 16th century, notes in his influential […]
The Puritan Nathaniel Culverwell (1619-1651), like many of those who graced the walls of the various colleges at Cambridge in the mid-17th century, elegantly defends the rationality of faith. He expounds upon the relationship between faith and reason in his An Elegant and Learned Discourse of the Light of Nature (1652), in which he affirms […]
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 […]
In the third theorem of his Theologia naturalis Alsted discusses the issue of non-Christian authors and commends their use even for public preaching, though with certain caveats: III. Præclara ethnicorum dicta Theologica ab eis tanquam iniustis possessoribus, in usum nostrum transferenda sunt. Hoc theorema totidem ferme verbis occurrit apud Augustinum lib. 3. de doctrina Christ. […]
Philip Cary explains Augustine’s relationship to Plotinus in terms of an “inward turn” in moral philosophy. The idea of turning inward was prevalent among Platonists of antiquity and stems from the basic distinction between material and immaterial principles. Since man is guided by an immaterial soul his happiness is not to be found in the […]