The Calvinist International
In the first chapter of their confession of faith, on Holy Scripture, the Westminster Divines say (among other things): VI. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from […]
It almost goes without saying that the state of play in the study of the fourth century Arian controversy has undergone a sea change over the course of the last century. This might lead one to conclude that the older writers are no longer worth reading. But that conclusion would be a mistake. To draw a […]
Gregory’s twenty-first Oration, again. Last time we saw that Athanasius’ fluency in the Word was, in Gregory’s view, his chief characteristic. The importance of the Word for the Arian conflict returns again later in the oration. The Council of Nicaea spoke against, but did not end, the Arian problem, and so Athanasius saw much conflict in […]
I’ve written before about G.M. Giger’s translation of Francis Turretin’s Institutes of Elenctic Theology, here, here, and here. Here is another one. At issue in this present foray is a passage on Scripture from Institutes 2.4.6: Scriptura seipsam Divinam probat, non modo authoritative et per modum argumenti inartificialis seu Testimonii, quando se θεόπνεῦστον vocat; quod […]
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 […]
This was supposed to be an update to the post on Luther, Cicero, and Vergil shared yesterday, but for some reason the software will not let me change the post, so I have to do it here. A colleague has pointed out to me, correctly, that Luther’s reference to the “divine Aeneid” is a reference to […]
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 […]
We continue on our merry way tracing a common thread in the early Apologists. Justin Martyr, before his conversion to Christianity, tried a number of philosophical schools, landing finally among the Platonists (they required less math than the Pythagoreans). But he still hadn’t found what he was looking for, until he met an old man […]
Recently having had occasion to revisit a passage in Rufinus of Aquileia’s Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, which I discussed briefly here, I was struck by the principles he sets out when dealing with the validity of confessing Christ’s descent into hell. 18. They who have handed down the Creed to us have with much forethought […]
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.” […]