The Calvinist International
“The Church of God…would probably have existed among men even without revelation, and been preserved and spread by pious and holy men. Its purpose is eternal happiness. And it is no wonder that I call it a natural society, since there is a natural religion and a desire for immortality planted in us. This society […]
John of Damascus opens his Exposition of the Orthodox Faith with a citation of John 1.18, and thereby also with a programmatic statement of God’s ineffability and the corresponding need for revelation if any creature is to know him. No one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of […]
I’ve written a bit before about Irenaeus and some of his comments about tradition in Against Heresies. We return to him again–this time in The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching. In Demonstration 3, Irenaeus writes: Now, that we may not suffer ought of this kind, we must needs hold the rule of the faith without deviation, and do […]
In his sermon Christus unus omnium magister (“Christ Alone the Teacher of All”), Bonaventure treats knowledge as triplex, as threefold. There is a knowledge that belongs to faith, a knowledge that belongs to reason, and a knowledge that belongs to contemplation. These three correspond to Christ’s affirmation of himself as “the way, the truth, and the life.” […]
Dr. Feser has written a reply to the first part of my rejoinder, and he says this will be his last. I think that the second part of my rejoinder addresses several of his concerns, but like him, I am happy to move on to other subjects. However, I want to make a few brief […]
This is part 2 of a two-part reply. The first part is here. In my previous post I indicated that it would be helpful to provide a model for how the Jews could know the OT canon without an infallible magisterium, and in the following I will suggest how this process occurred. Any explanation for how […]
This is part 1 of a two-part reply. The second part is here. Dr. Feser has written two posts in reply to my earlier one, and I am grateful for him for the opportunity to further clarify my points. In the following, I will hazard potential confusion by reversing the order of the original Jesuit […]
(This post can be read together as part of a sort of series with others such as this, this, this, this, this, and this.) The 39th Festal Letter of Athanasius, written for 367, is, together with items such as the Muratorian fragment, one of the most famous documents in the discussion of the history of […]
Below is the next question in Chytraeus’ primus locus, or first topic, on God. (It’s been a while; the previous installment is here.) The reason that only three persons are to be recognized in the Godhead is because that is what God has revealed in Scripture. Chytraeus again asserts his foundational Scripture-principle: that our knowledge of […]
I came across this passage from Augustine in my studies this morning. He is writing to Jerome and discussing his view of the Holy Scriptures: For I confess to your Charity that I have learned to yield this respect and honour only to the canonical books of Scripture: of these alone do I most firmly […]