Gisbertus Voetius (1589–1676) on God, Freedom, and Contingency

Gisbertus Voetius (1589–1676) on God, Freedom, and Contingency
Author: Andreas J. Beck
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 632
Release: 2021-12-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004504397

Focusing on Gisbertus Voetius’s views on God, freedom, and contingency, Andreas J. Beck offers the first monograph in English that is entirely devoted to the theology of this leading figure of early modern Reformed scholasticism.

Spiritual Desertion

Spiritual Desertion
Author: Gisbertus Voetius
Publisher: Reformation Heritage Books
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2012-01-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781601781895

First published in 1646, Spiritual Desertion offers comfort and consolation to believers whose circumstances cause them to wonder if God has abandoned them. Reformation leaders Gisbertus Voetius and Johannes Hoornbeeck demonstrate that the anxiety of doubting believers is proof that God has not abandoned them; rather, it is evidence of the work of the Spirit in their hearts.

Yesteryear's Faith Seeking Understanding

Yesteryear's Faith Seeking Understanding
Author: Philip John Fisk
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2022-06-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666734055

The voices of yesteryear’s scholastics are silenced. Scholastic distinctions discarded. Faith seeking understanding cancelled. This book turns to university professors who brought classical, medieval, Reformation, and Renaissance thought to bear on the teaching of the doctrine of providence at the early New England Colleges. Their ultimate purpose was to exonerate God from the charge that he was the author, even actor, of evil. Their scholastic method drew from a long and surprisingly ecumenical and philosophical enterprise in the history of the church. This book’s aim is to let the scholastic approaches to the mystery of divine providence speak for themselves. Part One introduces the reader to the art of disputation and provides a guided historical-theological tour of scholastic distinctions that were used by doctors of the church to explain issues related to the doctrine of divine providence. Part Two invites the reader to follow the author on his journeys to Harvard, Yale, the College of New Jersey, and the College of Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations’ commencement-day disputations as he engages in Platonic-like dialogues with presidents, rectors, and students of the New England Colleges. While the dialogues are imagined, the characters, times, locations, and quoted texts are real.

The Orders of Nature and Grace

The Orders of Nature and Grace
Author: Seung-Joo Lee
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2024-03-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9004540318

This extended study of Thomistic concepts in the work of Franciscus Junius (1545–1602) is the first English monograph on Junius’s theology in more than 40 years, and the first analysis of his use of Thomistic moral concepts. On a broad level, this project investigates the reception of Thomistic ideas in the early modern Reformed tradition. On a narrow level, this study contributes to an examination of Junius’s moral theology itself.

Ramism and the Reformation of Method

Ramism and the Reformation of Method
Author: Simon J. G. Burton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2024
Genre: History
ISBN: 0197516351

Ramism and the Reformation of Method explores the popular early modern movement of Ramism and its ambitious attempt to transform Church and society. It considers the relation of Ramism to Reformed Christianity and its development as a divine logic attuned to understanding both Scripture and the world. In doing so, it reveals how Ramists rejected the notion of a philosophy or worldview independent of God and sought to encompass everything under an overarching Christian philosophy indebted to Franciscan ideals. The supreme goal of the Ramists was the remaking of the world in the image of the Triune God.

The Ground, Method, and Goal of Amandus Polanus' (1561–1610) Doctrine of God

The Ground, Method, and Goal of Amandus Polanus' (1561–1610) Doctrine of God
Author: Stephen B. Tipton
Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2022-07-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3647501875

Amandus Polanus (1561–1610) has often been described as a highly significant theologian, but also a neglected one. Part of Polanus' significance comes from his inclusion of ethics and practical application in his discussion of theology and the way in which his theology mixes Ramist dichotomies and the scholastic distinctions common in Christian Aristotelianism. Stephen B. Tipton shows how Polanus' understanding of God's essence and attributes is built upon the ground of scripture, arranged with the aid of logical arguments and reasoning, and aimed at the worship and glory of the Triune God. Tipton defends this conclusion against previous research which suggests that Polanus' theology is grounded in rationalism and subordinates the Trinity beneath an Aristotelian notion of God's perfect unity. This research not only corrects these previous notions about Polanus, but it also provides greater insight into the early Reformed Orthodox period and the theology that arose from that time.

Francis Cheynell

Francis Cheynell
Author: Sergiej Saverio Slavinski
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2024-07-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004688013

Sergiej S. Slavinski presents the first major study of Francis Cheynell's 1650 treatise on the doctrine of the Trinity. Situating Cheynell in his historical context, Slavinski examines Cheynell's role in the Trinitarian controversies of the Civil War and Interregnum England. The book demonstrates the interplay between polemic and piety in a work of Reformed scholasticism, showcasing how Cheynell’s eclectic theological method in reading Scripture reinforced his conviction of the Trinitarian persons as one true God. Slavinski argues that Cheynell’s polemical-practical Trinitarianism has the idea of Trinitarian oneness as infinite simplicity at its core.

Beyond Dordt and De Auxiliis

Beyond Dordt and De Auxiliis
Author: Jordan Ballor
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2019-09-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004409300

Beyond Dordt and ‘De Auxiliis’ explores post-Reformation inter-confessional theological exchange on soteriological topics including predestination, grace, and free choice. These doctrines remained controversial within confessional traditions after the Reformation, as Dominicans and Jesuits and later Calvinists and Arminians argued about these critical issues in the Augustinian theological heritage. Some of those involved in condemning Arminianism at the Synod of Dordt (1618-1619) were inspired by Dominican followers of Thomas Aquinas in Spain who had recently opposed the vigorous defense of free choice by Jesuit Molinists in the Congregatio de auxiliis (1598-1607). This volume, appearing on the 400th anniversary of the closing of the Synod of Dordt, brings together a group of scholars working in fields that only rarely speak to one another to address these theological debates that cross geographical and confessional boundaries.

Theology, Piety, and Mission

Theology, Piety, and Mission
Author: Ronaldo Lidorio
Publisher: Reformation Heritage Books
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2023-10-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

In Theology, Piety, and Mission, cross-cultural missionary Ronaldo Lidório reflects on the life and influence of GisbertusVoetius, the first Protestant missiologist and one of the most influential Reformed theologians in seventeenth-century Holland. Drawing on Voetius’s theology of missions and church planting, Lidório lays out principles for us to consider for these activities today. Throughout this book, Lidório reflects on the powerful combination of theology and piety that drove Voetius’s efforts to fulfill the Great Commission.

A Reformed View of Freedom

A Reformed View of Freedom
Author: Michael Patrick Preciado
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2019-06-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532658923

Reformed Christians do not believe in free will. This is a common assertion today and it is completely false. The Reformed tradition does advocate free will, just not libertarian free will. A Reformed View of Freedom: The Compatibility of Guidance Control and Reformed Theology explains how the Reformed tradition articulated its view of human freedom and moral responsibility in terms of rational spontaneity. It shows how the Reformed view of rational spontaneity is compatible with contemporary compatibilist and semi-compatibilist views, especially that of guidance control. This work addresses a number of pressing issues in the current academic climate. Is Reformed theology theological determinism? Is it compatibilism? Did Jonathan Edwards part ways with the Reformed tradition? What is the relationship between Reformed theology and contemporary compatibilist and semi-compatibilist positions in analytic philosophy? This book addresses these questions by exegeting the classic Reformed confessions, catechisms, and Reformed scholastics. It sets them in relation to contemporary analytic philosophy. It is an exercise in analytic theology. The reader will come away with a better understanding of how the Reformed viewed free will and moral responsibility in light of contemporary analytic philosophy.