Beth Felker Jones
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309812
- eISBN:
- 9780199785353
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309812.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book articulates a Christian theology of the body in light of both the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and the ethical concerns of feminism. In conversation with Augustine and Calvin, ...
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This book articulates a Christian theology of the body in light of both the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and the ethical concerns of feminism. In conversation with Augustine and Calvin, the book assesses the strengths and weaknesses of their theologies of the body and shows how the Christian tradition contains resources for conceptualizing a theology of the body as it coheres with resurrection doctrine. Beginning with eschatology, rather than creation, allows the book to address the disorder of bodies under the condition of sin while offering a constructive proposal for understanding the redeemed body through Christology. The book proposes a grammar in which human psychosomatic unity becomes the conceptual basis for sanctification. Using gender as an illustration, it interrogates the difference resurrection doctrine makes for holiness. The last part of the book suggests that access to human bodies comes through the body of Jesus Christ. Because death has been overcome in his resurrected body, human embodiment can bear witness to the Triune God.Less
This book articulates a Christian theology of the body in light of both the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and the ethical concerns of feminism. In conversation with Augustine and Calvin, the book assesses the strengths and weaknesses of their theologies of the body and shows how the Christian tradition contains resources for conceptualizing a theology of the body as it coheres with resurrection doctrine. Beginning with eschatology, rather than creation, allows the book to address the disorder of bodies under the condition of sin while offering a constructive proposal for understanding the redeemed body through Christology. The book proposes a grammar in which human psychosomatic unity becomes the conceptual basis for sanctification. Using gender as an illustration, it interrogates the difference resurrection doctrine makes for holiness. The last part of the book suggests that access to human bodies comes through the body of Jesus Christ. Because death has been overcome in his resurrected body, human embodiment can bear witness to the Triune God.
Ben Brice
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199290253
- eISBN:
- 9780191710483
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199290253.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
Coleridge tended to view objects in the natural world as if they were capable of articulating truths about his own poetic psyche. He also regarded such objects as if they were capable of illustrating ...
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Coleridge tended to view objects in the natural world as if they were capable of articulating truths about his own poetic psyche. He also regarded such objects as if they were capable of illustrating and embodying truths about a transcendent spiritual realm. After 1805, he posited a series of analogical ‘likenesses’ connecting the rational principles that inform human cognition with the rational principles that he believed informed the teleological structure of the natural world. Although he intuitively felt that nature had been constructed as a ‘mirror’ of the human mind, and that both mind and nature were ‘mirrors’ of a transcendent spiritual realm, he never found an explanation of such experiences that was fully immune to his own sceptical doubts. This book examines the nature of these doubts, and offers a new explanatory account of why Coleridge was unable to affirm his religious intuitions. The book situates his work within two important intellectual traditions. The first — a tradition of epistemological ‘piety’ or ‘modesty’ — informs the work of key precursors such as Kant, Hume, Locke, Boyle, and Calvin, and relates to Protestant critiques of natural reason. The second — a tradition of theological voluntarism — emphasizes the omnipotence and transcendence of God, as well as the arbitrary relationship subsisting between God and the created world. It is argued that Coleridge's familiarity with both of these interrelated intellectual traditions undermined his confidence in his ability to read the symbolic language of God in nature.Less
Coleridge tended to view objects in the natural world as if they were capable of articulating truths about his own poetic psyche. He also regarded such objects as if they were capable of illustrating and embodying truths about a transcendent spiritual realm. After 1805, he posited a series of analogical ‘likenesses’ connecting the rational principles that inform human cognition with the rational principles that he believed informed the teleological structure of the natural world. Although he intuitively felt that nature had been constructed as a ‘mirror’ of the human mind, and that both mind and nature were ‘mirrors’ of a transcendent spiritual realm, he never found an explanation of such experiences that was fully immune to his own sceptical doubts. This book examines the nature of these doubts, and offers a new explanatory account of why Coleridge was unable to affirm his religious intuitions. The book situates his work within two important intellectual traditions. The first — a tradition of epistemological ‘piety’ or ‘modesty’ — informs the work of key precursors such as Kant, Hume, Locke, Boyle, and Calvin, and relates to Protestant critiques of natural reason. The second — a tradition of theological voluntarism — emphasizes the omnipotence and transcendence of God, as well as the arbitrary relationship subsisting between God and the created world. It is argued that Coleridge's familiarity with both of these interrelated intellectual traditions undermined his confidence in his ability to read the symbolic language of God in nature.
Matthias Gockel
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203222
- eISBN:
- 9780191707711
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203222.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The chapter shows to what extent Schleiermacher's essay on election agrees with Augustine and Calvin that the ground of election and reprobation is not found in human beings but in God. Those who are ...
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The chapter shows to what extent Schleiermacher's essay on election agrees with Augustine and Calvin that the ground of election and reprobation is not found in human beings but in God. Those who are captured by the power of God's Word are the elect, those who are not captured by it are the reprobate. Reprobation does not entail damnation; nobody ever loses the possibility of being spiritually revived. The exclusion from the community of believers is not the result of a divine foreordination but an expression of the historical development of God's kingdom. Schleiermacher rejects not only the idea of a positive divine decree of reprobation, as Lutheran theologians did in their quarrel with the Reformed side, but he refutes altogether the idea of particular decrees for individuals or for two different groups of persons. Election and reprobation are rooted in a single divine decree.Less
The chapter shows to what extent Schleiermacher's essay on election agrees with Augustine and Calvin that the ground of election and reprobation is not found in human beings but in God. Those who are captured by the power of God's Word are the elect, those who are not captured by it are the reprobate. Reprobation does not entail damnation; nobody ever loses the possibility of being spiritually revived. The exclusion from the community of believers is not the result of a divine foreordination but an expression of the historical development of God's kingdom. Schleiermacher rejects not only the idea of a positive divine decree of reprobation, as Lutheran theologians did in their quarrel with the Reformed side, but he refutes altogether the idea of particular decrees for individuals or for two different groups of persons. Election and reprobation are rooted in a single divine decree.
Beth Felker Jones
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195309812
- eISBN:
- 9780199785353
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309812.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Calvin's theology of the resurrection of the body represents a conceptual hinge between traditional doctrines of the resurrection and modern denigration of the body. Calvin's experience with the ...
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Calvin's theology of the resurrection of the body represents a conceptual hinge between traditional doctrines of the resurrection and modern denigration of the body. Calvin's experience with the dying body poignantly draws attention to death and brokenness as the enemies to be overcome in the resurrection. Yet Calvin also exposes possible pitfalls for a constructive theology of the body — the dangers of allowing a normative dualism to determine theological anthropology and of failing to recognize that the body of death does not tell the full story of the body.Less
Calvin's theology of the resurrection of the body represents a conceptual hinge between traditional doctrines of the resurrection and modern denigration of the body. Calvin's experience with the dying body poignantly draws attention to death and brokenness as the enemies to be overcome in the resurrection. Yet Calvin also exposes possible pitfalls for a constructive theology of the body — the dangers of allowing a normative dualism to determine theological anthropology and of failing to recognize that the body of death does not tell the full story of the body.
Brannon Ellis
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199652402
- eISBN:
- 9780191742002
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199652402.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Church History
For much of his career as a Reformer, John Calvin was involved in trinitarian controversy. Not only did these controversies span his career, but his opponents ranged across the spectrum of ...
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For much of his career as a Reformer, John Calvin was involved in trinitarian controversy. Not only did these controversies span his career, but his opponents ranged across the spectrum of theological approaches — from staunch traditionalists to radical antitrinitarians. Remarkably, the heart of Calvin's argument, and the heart of others' criticism, remained the same throughout: Calvin claimed that the only-begotten Son of the Father is also, as the one true God, ‘of himself’. This book investigates the various Reformation and post-Reformation responses to Calvin's affirmation of the Son's aseity (or essential self-existence), a significant episode in the history of theology that is often ignored or misunderstood. Calvin neither rejected eternal generation, nor merely toed the line of classical exposition. As such, these debates turned on the crucial pivot between simple unity and ordered plurality — the relationship between the processions and consubstantiality — at the heart of the doctrine of the Trinity. This book's aim is to explain the historical significance and explore the theological implications of Calvin's complex solidarity with the classical tradition in his approach to thinking and speaking of the Triune God. It contends that Calvin's approach, rather than an alternative to classical trinitarianism, is actually more consistent with this tradition's fundamental commitments regarding the ineffable generation of God from God than its own received exposition.Less
For much of his career as a Reformer, John Calvin was involved in trinitarian controversy. Not only did these controversies span his career, but his opponents ranged across the spectrum of theological approaches — from staunch traditionalists to radical antitrinitarians. Remarkably, the heart of Calvin's argument, and the heart of others' criticism, remained the same throughout: Calvin claimed that the only-begotten Son of the Father is also, as the one true God, ‘of himself’. This book investigates the various Reformation and post-Reformation responses to Calvin's affirmation of the Son's aseity (or essential self-existence), a significant episode in the history of theology that is often ignored or misunderstood. Calvin neither rejected eternal generation, nor merely toed the line of classical exposition. As such, these debates turned on the crucial pivot between simple unity and ordered plurality — the relationship between the processions and consubstantiality — at the heart of the doctrine of the Trinity. This book's aim is to explain the historical significance and explore the theological implications of Calvin's complex solidarity with the classical tradition in his approach to thinking and speaking of the Triune God. It contends that Calvin's approach, rather than an alternative to classical trinitarianism, is actually more consistent with this tradition's fundamental commitments regarding the ineffable generation of God from God than its own received exposition.
Ethan H. Shagan
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691174747
- eISBN:
- 9780691184944
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691174747.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This book traces the history of belief in the Christian West from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, revealing for the first time how a distinctively modern category of belief came into being. The ...
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This book traces the history of belief in the Christian West from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, revealing for the first time how a distinctively modern category of belief came into being. The book focuses not on what people believed, which is the normal concern of Reformation history, but on the more fundamental question of what people took belief to be. It shows how religious belief enjoyed a special prestige in medieval Europe, one that set it apart from judgment, opinion, and the evidence of the senses. But with the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation, the question of just what kind of knowledge religious belief was—and how it related to more mundane ways of knowing—was forced into the open. As the warring churches fought over the answer, each claimed belief as their exclusive possession, insisting that their rivals were unbelievers. The book challenges the common notion that modern belief was a gift of the Reformation, showing how it was as much a reaction against Luther and Calvin as it was against the Council of Trent. It describes how dissidents on both sides came to regard religious belief as something that needed to be justified by individual judgment, evidence, and argument. The book demonstrates how belief came to occupy such an ambivalent place in the modern world, becoming the essential category by which we express our judgments about science, society, and the sacred, but at the expense of the unique status religion once enjoyed.Less
This book traces the history of belief in the Christian West from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, revealing for the first time how a distinctively modern category of belief came into being. The book focuses not on what people believed, which is the normal concern of Reformation history, but on the more fundamental question of what people took belief to be. It shows how religious belief enjoyed a special prestige in medieval Europe, one that set it apart from judgment, opinion, and the evidence of the senses. But with the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation, the question of just what kind of knowledge religious belief was—and how it related to more mundane ways of knowing—was forced into the open. As the warring churches fought over the answer, each claimed belief as their exclusive possession, insisting that their rivals were unbelievers. The book challenges the common notion that modern belief was a gift of the Reformation, showing how it was as much a reaction against Luther and Calvin as it was against the Council of Trent. It describes how dissidents on both sides came to regard religious belief as something that needed to be justified by individual judgment, evidence, and argument. The book demonstrates how belief came to occupy such an ambivalent place in the modern world, becoming the essential category by which we express our judgments about science, society, and the sacred, but at the expense of the unique status religion once enjoyed.
Thomas Davis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390971
- eISBN:
- 9780199777099
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390971.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Church History
The point of this book is that, despite all the changes and challenges, and despite Calvinism’s ultimate failure to hold the American consciousness, and despite an especially fervent effort to ...
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The point of this book is that, despite all the changes and challenges, and despite Calvinism’s ultimate failure to hold the American consciousness, and despite an especially fervent effort to dismiss the Calvinist outlook from American culture by sermon (Channing, and, after him, by the new religious movements that numerically overwhelmed the old Puritan faith, such as Methodism) or by the art of letters and the novel (Sedgwick and others, yes, but also those deep within the tradition of Calvinism who brought their most anguished complaints against it to the light of day through their written work—one thinks of the Beecher children) or by the sardonic newspaper column (H. L. Mencken), the fact remained and remains that Calvinism in America has had an impact on American society and culture in every century of American life, even if at times it goes unrecognized. And behind Calvinism stands Calvin. This book examines the influence of John Calvin and his various (and, at times, competing) heirs on American life. It explores Calvin’s influence—whether direct or mediated—from the beginnings of the United States until the present day, analyzing it in relation to such areas as society (including economics, government, and democracy), theology, and letters. The essays span the history of the United States, from the arrival of Puritans in the seventeenth century up to works of fiction published in the twentieth-first century. Thus, the book is unique in terms of its examination of the breadth and depth of Calvin’s influence on American life.Less
The point of this book is that, despite all the changes and challenges, and despite Calvinism’s ultimate failure to hold the American consciousness, and despite an especially fervent effort to dismiss the Calvinist outlook from American culture by sermon (Channing, and, after him, by the new religious movements that numerically overwhelmed the old Puritan faith, such as Methodism) or by the art of letters and the novel (Sedgwick and others, yes, but also those deep within the tradition of Calvinism who brought their most anguished complaints against it to the light of day through their written work—one thinks of the Beecher children) or by the sardonic newspaper column (H. L. Mencken), the fact remained and remains that Calvinism in America has had an impact on American society and culture in every century of American life, even if at times it goes unrecognized. And behind Calvinism stands Calvin. This book examines the influence of John Calvin and his various (and, at times, competing) heirs on American life. It explores Calvin’s influence—whether direct or mediated—from the beginnings of the United States until the present day, analyzing it in relation to such areas as society (including economics, government, and democracy), theology, and letters. The essays span the history of the United States, from the arrival of Puritans in the seventeenth century up to works of fiction published in the twentieth-first century. Thus, the book is unique in terms of its examination of the breadth and depth of Calvin’s influence on American life.
Kristine Kalanges
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199859467
- eISBN:
- 9780199933518
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199859467.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Comparative Law
This chapter discusses the early modern origins of freedom of religion in the Protestant Reformation (including the contributions of Martin Luther and John Calvin), the genesis of the “American ...
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This chapter discusses the early modern origins of freedom of religion in the Protestant Reformation (including the contributions of Martin Luther and John Calvin), the genesis of the “American constitutional experiment in religious liberty” (noting, especially, the influence of Roger Williams, John Locke, and James Madison), and the formulation of religious freedom in and subsequent jurisprudence of the First Amendment (e.g., the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses).Less
This chapter discusses the early modern origins of freedom of religion in the Protestant Reformation (including the contributions of Martin Luther and John Calvin), the genesis of the “American constitutional experiment in religious liberty” (noting, especially, the influence of Roger Williams, John Locke, and James Madison), and the formulation of religious freedom in and subsequent jurisprudence of the First Amendment (e.g., the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses).
J. Todd Billings
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199211876
- eISBN:
- 9780191706004
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199211876.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Is the God of Calvin a fountain of blessing, or a forceful tyrant? Is Calvin's view of God coercive, leaving no place for the human qua human in redemption? These are perennial questions about ...
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Is the God of Calvin a fountain of blessing, or a forceful tyrant? Is Calvin's view of God coercive, leaving no place for the human qua human in redemption? These are perennial questions about Calvin's theology which have been given new life by Gift theologians such as John Milbank, Graham Ward, and Stephen Webb. This book addresses these questions by exploring Calvin's theology of ‘participation in Christ’. It argues that Calvin's theology of ‘participation’ gives a positive place to the human, such that grace fulfils rather than destroys nature, affirming a differentiated union of God and humanity in creation and redemption. Calvin's Trinitarian theology of participation extends to his view of prayer, sacraments, the law, and the ecclesial and civil orders. In light of Calvin's doctrine of participation, the book reframes the critiques of Calvin in the Gift discussion and opens up new possibilities for contemporary theology, ecumenical theology, and Calvin scholarship as well.Less
Is the God of Calvin a fountain of blessing, or a forceful tyrant? Is Calvin's view of God coercive, leaving no place for the human qua human in redemption? These are perennial questions about Calvin's theology which have been given new life by Gift theologians such as John Milbank, Graham Ward, and Stephen Webb. This book addresses these questions by exploring Calvin's theology of ‘participation in Christ’. It argues that Calvin's theology of ‘participation’ gives a positive place to the human, such that grace fulfils rather than destroys nature, affirming a differentiated union of God and humanity in creation and redemption. Calvin's Trinitarian theology of participation extends to his view of prayer, sacraments, the law, and the ecclesial and civil orders. In light of Calvin's doctrine of participation, the book reframes the critiques of Calvin in the Gift discussion and opens up new possibilities for contemporary theology, ecumenical theology, and Calvin scholarship as well.
Joe B. Fulton
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390971
- eISBN:
- 9780199777099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390971.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Church History
Mark Twain grappled seriously with theologians from the Calvinist tradition. While many of his comments seem dismissive (and funny), it is clear that Calvinism charged his writing with what one might ...
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Mark Twain grappled seriously with theologians from the Calvinist tradition. While many of his comments seem dismissive (and funny), it is clear that Calvinism charged his writing with what one might call an insistent humorousness of purpose. Reflecting on free will, election, and predestination, Twain read especially Jonathan Edwards; not just as one of whom to make fun but as one with whom he had much in common. Edwards provided more than just a whipping boy for Twain’s philosophical comedy—they shared a theological vocabulary, metaphysical assumptions, and a view of God as sovereign. Their disagreements were substantial, but Mark Twain and the Calvinists were partners in the same enterprise. Thus, one can argue that Twain’s growth as a writer came, not, as some have argued, only insofar as he could distance himself from his Calvinist upbringing and influences, but rather as he fully engaged and wrestled with that tradition.Less
Mark Twain grappled seriously with theologians from the Calvinist tradition. While many of his comments seem dismissive (and funny), it is clear that Calvinism charged his writing with what one might call an insistent humorousness of purpose. Reflecting on free will, election, and predestination, Twain read especially Jonathan Edwards; not just as one of whom to make fun but as one with whom he had much in common. Edwards provided more than just a whipping boy for Twain’s philosophical comedy—they shared a theological vocabulary, metaphysical assumptions, and a view of God as sovereign. Their disagreements were substantial, but Mark Twain and the Calvinists were partners in the same enterprise. Thus, one can argue that Twain’s growth as a writer came, not, as some have argued, only insofar as he could distance himself from his Calvinist upbringing and influences, but rather as he fully engaged and wrestled with that tradition.
Kyle A. Pasewark
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390971
- eISBN:
- 9780199777099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390971.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Church History
Among the signal achievements of the mainline reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther was to reinvigorate the semantics of paradox, especially as relates to the concepts of freedom and election. ...
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Among the signal achievements of the mainline reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther was to reinvigorate the semantics of paradox, especially as relates to the concepts of freedom and election. Paradox was hardly unknown in Christian thought (or other religious thought) but the reformers soaked their thought in paradox. The American novelist and essayist John Updike, through the media of Kierkegaard, Karl Barth, and others, is a Protestant thinker in this sense, a thinker of paradox in a country (at best) unacquainted with it, perhaps especially in its reigning form of Protestantism. In Updike’s novels, the hot promises of simple, unparadoxical fulfillment in freedom, sex and religion prove—again and again—to be cold comfort to their practitioners. As this chapter shows, what Updike’s characters most fervently seek—what may be called the Calvinistic qualities of grace, true freedom, the good—generally is lost.Less
Among the signal achievements of the mainline reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther was to reinvigorate the semantics of paradox, especially as relates to the concepts of freedom and election. Paradox was hardly unknown in Christian thought (or other religious thought) but the reformers soaked their thought in paradox. The American novelist and essayist John Updike, through the media of Kierkegaard, Karl Barth, and others, is a Protestant thinker in this sense, a thinker of paradox in a country (at best) unacquainted with it, perhaps especially in its reigning form of Protestantism. In Updike’s novels, the hot promises of simple, unparadoxical fulfillment in freedom, sex and religion prove—again and again—to be cold comfort to their practitioners. As this chapter shows, what Updike’s characters most fervently seek—what may be called the Calvinistic qualities of grace, true freedom, the good—generally is lost.
Thomas J. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390971
- eISBN:
- 9780199777099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390971.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Church History
This conclusion focuses on the published writings of Pulitzer-Prize winner Marilynne Robinson, who, in her works of nonfiction and fiction, has engaged the negative stereotypes that are often ...
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This conclusion focuses on the published writings of Pulitzer-Prize winner Marilynne Robinson, who, in her works of nonfiction and fiction, has engaged the negative stereotypes that are often associated with John Calvin and his heirs. In some of her nonfiction work, she argues that historical reputation matters, and that John Calvin has been unfairly maligned. Especially in The Death of Adam, Robinson presents a case for why it is important to reckon fairly with the legacy of Calvin. In works of fiction—Gilead and Home—Robinson gives the Calvinist tradition an embodied existence, where it can be examined and (through the imagination) experienced in such a way that the complexity and vigor of the tradition may be appreciated. In this way, the conclusion argues, she may be creating a "home" for Calvin in American culture that moves beyond the caricatured and stereotyped textbook image.Less
This conclusion focuses on the published writings of Pulitzer-Prize winner Marilynne Robinson, who, in her works of nonfiction and fiction, has engaged the negative stereotypes that are often associated with John Calvin and his heirs. In some of her nonfiction work, she argues that historical reputation matters, and that John Calvin has been unfairly maligned. Especially in The Death of Adam, Robinson presents a case for why it is important to reckon fairly with the legacy of Calvin. In works of fiction—Gilead and Home—Robinson gives the Calvinist tradition an embodied existence, where it can be examined and (through the imagination) experienced in such a way that the complexity and vigor of the tradition may be appreciated. In this way, the conclusion argues, she may be creating a "home" for Calvin in American culture that moves beyond the caricatured and stereotyped textbook image.
Susan C. Karant-Nunn
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195399738
- eISBN:
- 9780199777198
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195399738.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Religion and Society
This chapter focuses on Calvinism and the mood of Calvin's preaching. Calvin is not typical of those of his followers who ministered within the Holy Roman Empire and who most assuredly agreed with ...
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This chapter focuses on Calvinism and the mood of Calvin's preaching. Calvin is not typical of those of his followers who ministered within the Holy Roman Empire and who most assuredly agreed with him on the core doctrines of predestination and the atonement. Calvin is in fact more dour than most and as disciplinary as any, a man of determination to impress upon his listeners their utter worthlessness. Calvin and his fellow Reformers leave intact, however, the miracle of the sweating of blood because it is useful to them in underscoring the external evidence of the inner tumult of the Lord as he faced the prospect of degrading execution. Otherwise, they depart drastically from Catholic practice, and indeed from some of their Lutheran counterparts. They render the Passion of Christ mainly psychological even though the Bible testifies to Jesus's horrific physical ordeal.Less
This chapter focuses on Calvinism and the mood of Calvin's preaching. Calvin is not typical of those of his followers who ministered within the Holy Roman Empire and who most assuredly agreed with him on the core doctrines of predestination and the atonement. Calvin is in fact more dour than most and as disciplinary as any, a man of determination to impress upon his listeners their utter worthlessness. Calvin and his fellow Reformers leave intact, however, the miracle of the sweating of blood because it is useful to them in underscoring the external evidence of the inner tumult of the Lord as he faced the prospect of degrading execution. Otherwise, they depart drastically from Catholic practice, and indeed from some of their Lutheran counterparts. They render the Passion of Christ mainly psychological even though the Bible testifies to Jesus's horrific physical ordeal.
Susan C. Karant-Nunn
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195399738
- eISBN:
- 9780199777198
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195399738.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Religion and Society
This chapter focuses on anti-Jewish messages in Passion sermons. It shows that conventions of anti-Semitic utterance in preaching on the Crucifixion did not soften with the coming of the Reformation. ...
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This chapter focuses on anti-Jewish messages in Passion sermons. It shows that conventions of anti-Semitic utterance in preaching on the Crucifixion did not soften with the coming of the Reformation. Post-Reformation Catholic preachers continued to tap them with full enthusiasm, and Lutheran and Reformed clergy all drew upon them. However, in the basic dimension of the derogation of the Jews, differences are evident among the three leading denominations. Catholic divines treated the Jews rhetorically as the perpetrators of the most ferocious torture upon Jesus. Lutheran pastors retained the conviction that the Jews were indeed the authors of the gravest offenses against Christ. These remain most assuredly physical, even though the tendency within the evangelical movement is to damp down not just the length of Passion preaching—which itself would curtail elaboration—but also the sensual horror of the Crucifixion. John Calvin and his Reformed followers rendered the Jews' culpability yet more abstract. They adhered to it faithfully, but they turned the figure of the treacherous Jewish mob into a metaphor for their verminously sinful human charges, including themselves.Less
This chapter focuses on anti-Jewish messages in Passion sermons. It shows that conventions of anti-Semitic utterance in preaching on the Crucifixion did not soften with the coming of the Reformation. Post-Reformation Catholic preachers continued to tap them with full enthusiasm, and Lutheran and Reformed clergy all drew upon them. However, in the basic dimension of the derogation of the Jews, differences are evident among the three leading denominations. Catholic divines treated the Jews rhetorically as the perpetrators of the most ferocious torture upon Jesus. Lutheran pastors retained the conviction that the Jews were indeed the authors of the gravest offenses against Christ. These remain most assuredly physical, even though the tendency within the evangelical movement is to damp down not just the length of Passion preaching—which itself would curtail elaboration—but also the sensual horror of the Crucifixion. John Calvin and his Reformed followers rendered the Jews' culpability yet more abstract. They adhered to it faithfully, but they turned the figure of the treacherous Jewish mob into a metaphor for their verminously sinful human charges, including themselves.
John Bishop
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199205547
- eISBN:
- 9780191709432
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199205547.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter sets out a model of (theistic) faith as doxastic venture — understood, not as believing ‘at will’, but rather as taking a proposition to be true in one's practical reasoning while ...
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This chapter sets out a model of (theistic) faith as doxastic venture — understood, not as believing ‘at will’, but rather as taking a proposition to be true in one's practical reasoning while recognizing its lack of adequate evidential support. This doxastic venture model is contrasted with alternative models of specifically Christian faith (such as those of Calvin and Aquinas) that locate the venture of faith elsewhere. The conceptual and psychological possibility of doxastic venture is defended by appeal to William James's notion of ‘passional’ causes for belief in The Will to Believe. The possibility, raised by Richard Swinburne amongst others, that faith may involve only sub-doxastic venture (acting on the assumption that God exists without actual belief) is also acknowledged.Less
This chapter sets out a model of (theistic) faith as doxastic venture — understood, not as believing ‘at will’, but rather as taking a proposition to be true in one's practical reasoning while recognizing its lack of adequate evidential support. This doxastic venture model is contrasted with alternative models of specifically Christian faith (such as those of Calvin and Aquinas) that locate the venture of faith elsewhere. The conceptual and psychological possibility of doxastic venture is defended by appeal to William James's notion of ‘passional’ causes for belief in The Will to Believe. The possibility, raised by Richard Swinburne amongst others, that faith may involve only sub-doxastic venture (acting on the assumption that God exists without actual belief) is also acknowledged.
Stephen Hampton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199533367
- eISBN:
- 9780191714764
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199533367.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Church History
This chapter examines the origins of Samuel Clarke's Arianism. It argues that Clarke was merely setting out the logical consequences of the highly subordinationist strain in christology that had ...
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This chapter examines the origins of Samuel Clarke's Arianism. It argues that Clarke was merely setting out the logical consequences of the highly subordinationist strain in christology that had become increasingly influential within the Church of England during the later 17th century. That strain can be traced back to Episcopius's rejection of Calvins's assertion that that Son can properly be described as autotheos in relation to his divine nature, and was exemplified in Bull's celebrated defence of the Nicene creed. The chapter argues that the Anglican Reformed refused to adopt this subordinationist approach, and continued to contend for the medieval catholic consensus on the matter, which was itself rooted in the decress of the Fourth Lateran Council.Less
This chapter examines the origins of Samuel Clarke's Arianism. It argues that Clarke was merely setting out the logical consequences of the highly subordinationist strain in christology that had become increasingly influential within the Church of England during the later 17th century. That strain can be traced back to Episcopius's rejection of Calvins's assertion that that Son can properly be described as autotheos in relation to his divine nature, and was exemplified in Bull's celebrated defence of the Nicene creed. The chapter argues that the Anglican Reformed refused to adopt this subordinationist approach, and continued to contend for the medieval catholic consensus on the matter, which was itself rooted in the decress of the Fourth Lateran Council.
Timothy Fitzgerald
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195300093
- eISBN:
- 9780199868636
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300093.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
This chapter is the first of several which attempt to locate the typical usages of words in historical documents, in this case the Formularies of Faith of Henry VIII. Whatever differences did or did ...
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This chapter is the first of several which attempt to locate the typical usages of words in historical documents, in this case the Formularies of Faith of Henry VIII. Whatever differences did or did not exist between Luther, Calvin, the Catholic Church, Henry VIII, or his Bishops on the correct understanding of the relation between Church and State, none of them thought in terms of a modern separation between religion and a neutral, nonreligious polity. Religion as encompassing Christian Truth does not suddenly disappear with the Reformation challenge to the Catholic Church State but is fundamental to the thinking of both Luther and Calvin, albeit formulated in significantly different ways. Though the stress on interiority and ethical intention, and the rejection of “outward” rituals and merely “external” shows of faith, was a crucial ingredient in the development of the later essentializations of “religion” and “the secular,” a close examination of Protestant texts shows that we can only retrospectively claim to find possible glimmerings of these later distinctions.Less
This chapter is the first of several which attempt to locate the typical usages of words in historical documents, in this case the Formularies of Faith of Henry VIII. Whatever differences did or did not exist between Luther, Calvin, the Catholic Church, Henry VIII, or his Bishops on the correct understanding of the relation between Church and State, none of them thought in terms of a modern separation between religion and a neutral, nonreligious polity. Religion as encompassing Christian Truth does not suddenly disappear with the Reformation challenge to the Catholic Church State but is fundamental to the thinking of both Luther and Calvin, albeit formulated in significantly different ways. Though the stress on interiority and ethical intention, and the rejection of “outward” rituals and merely “external” shows of faith, was a crucial ingredient in the development of the later essentializations of “religion” and “the secular,” a close examination of Protestant texts shows that we can only retrospectively claim to find possible glimmerings of these later distinctions.
Thomas J. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390971
- eISBN:
- 9780199777099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390971.003.0000
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Church History
This chapter presents a brief overview of John Calvin’s life and the stereotypes that surround many assessments of that life. The usefulness of such stereotypes is questioned, for they can not only ...
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This chapter presents a brief overview of John Calvin’s life and the stereotypes that surround many assessments of that life. The usefulness of such stereotypes is questioned, for they can not only impede the study of Calvin the man but they also can cloud one’s understanding of Calvin’s influence in American culture, one that can be traced not only through the positive appropriations of the Calvinist tradition but also through the ways in which even people who reject that tradition end up wrestling with the fruits of Calvin’s influence. There then follows a short narrative tracing the movement of Calvinism from Europe to the New World. Finally, there is a brief introduction to the contents of the book through a brief summary of each of the chapters.Less
This chapter presents a brief overview of John Calvin’s life and the stereotypes that surround many assessments of that life. The usefulness of such stereotypes is questioned, for they can not only impede the study of Calvin the man but they also can cloud one’s understanding of Calvin’s influence in American culture, one that can be traced not only through the positive appropriations of the Calvinist tradition but also through the ways in which even people who reject that tradition end up wrestling with the fruits of Calvin’s influence. There then follows a short narrative tracing the movement of Calvinism from Europe to the New World. Finally, there is a brief introduction to the contents of the book through a brief summary of each of the chapters.
Mark Valeri
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390971
- eISBN:
- 9780199777099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390971.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Church History
This chapter explores the mixed history of Calvin’s influence on economic mores and practices in early America. It retraces Calvin’s ideal for economic discipline over the emergent market in Geneva. ...
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This chapter explores the mixed history of Calvin’s influence on economic mores and practices in early America. It retraces Calvin’s ideal for economic discipline over the emergent market in Geneva. It shows how three different communities in colonial America transposed Calvinist ideals: Puritans in Boston, with their localized conceptions of social order; Dutch Reformed leaders in New York, with their urbane mercantile associations; and Huguenots in Charleston, with their dispersed social networks. Calvin promulgated a flexible and pragmatic approach to scripture that allowed his adherents to adapt economic instruction to the needs of their religious communities. Early American Calvinists followed this method when they transformed their teaching about commerce and the nascent market economy in the context of colonization. Throughout, this chapter challenges how the Weber thesis has been misapplied to the American context.Less
This chapter explores the mixed history of Calvin’s influence on economic mores and practices in early America. It retraces Calvin’s ideal for economic discipline over the emergent market in Geneva. It shows how three different communities in colonial America transposed Calvinist ideals: Puritans in Boston, with their localized conceptions of social order; Dutch Reformed leaders in New York, with their urbane mercantile associations; and Huguenots in Charleston, with their dispersed social networks. Calvin promulgated a flexible and pragmatic approach to scripture that allowed his adherents to adapt economic instruction to the needs of their religious communities. Early American Calvinists followed this method when they transformed their teaching about commerce and the nascent market economy in the context of colonization. Throughout, this chapter challenges how the Weber thesis has been misapplied to the American context.
David Little
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195390971
- eISBN:
- 9780199777099
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195390971.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Church History
Samuel P. Huntington argued that American national identity was and still is profoundly influenced by what he called Anglo-Protestant culture. He attributed the major part of that influence to ...
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Samuel P. Huntington argued that American national identity was and still is profoundly influenced by what he called Anglo-Protestant culture. He attributed the major part of that influence to Calvin’s heirs, the New England Puritans. In particular, Huntington drew a connection between the Puritans and what is known as the American creed, which is a collection of legal and political ideals associated with American constitutionalism. Huntington concluded that America was from the start and still is a Christian nation. John Witte’s work, however, shows that, while some Puritans (John Winthrop and John Cotton, for example) were close to Huntington’s point of view, others (Roger Williams, for example) were not. This chapter argues that the deep division over religion and national identity did not originate with the New England Puritans. Rather, that ambivalence is at the root of the Calvinist tradition, going back to John Calvin.Less
Samuel P. Huntington argued that American national identity was and still is profoundly influenced by what he called Anglo-Protestant culture. He attributed the major part of that influence to Calvin’s heirs, the New England Puritans. In particular, Huntington drew a connection between the Puritans and what is known as the American creed, which is a collection of legal and political ideals associated with American constitutionalism. Huntington concluded that America was from the start and still is a Christian nation. John Witte’s work, however, shows that, while some Puritans (John Winthrop and John Cotton, for example) were close to Huntington’s point of view, others (Roger Williams, for example) were not. This chapter argues that the deep division over religion and national identity did not originate with the New England Puritans. Rather, that ambivalence is at the root of the Calvinist tradition, going back to John Calvin.
