Calvinism S First Battleground

This book sheds new light on the origin of Calvinism and the Reformed faith through a detailed history of its progress in the Pays de Vaud. A careful examination of twin conflicts – the forced conversion of a Catholic populace to Protestantism by the Bernese; and the struggle of Calvinists against the Zwinglian political and theological ideas that dominated the Swiss Confederation – helps show why the Reformation bloomed where and when it did.

"Refusing to Kiss the Slipper re-examines the Reformation in francophone Europe, presenting for the first time the perspective of John Calvin's evangelical enemies. This book brings together a cast of Calvin's opponents from various French-speaking territories to show that opposition to Calvinism was stronger and better organized than has ever before been recognized. It examines individual opponents, such as Pierre Caroli, Jerome Bolsec, Sebastian Castellio, Charles Du Moulin, and Jean Morély, but more importantly, it explores the anti-Calvinist networks that developed around such individuals. Each group had its own origins and agenda, but all agreed that Calvin's claim to absolute religious authority too closely echoed the religious sovereignty of the pope. These oft-neglected opponents refused to offer such obeisance-to kiss the papal slipper-arguing instead for open discussion of controversial doctrines. This book also shows that the challenge posed by these groups shaped the way the Calvinists themselves developed their reform strategies. The book demonstrates that the breadth and strength of the anti-Calvinist networks requires us to abandon the traditional assumption that Huguenots and other francophone Protestants were universally Calvinist"--

A description of the course of the Protestant Reformation in the city of Geneva from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

In the tumultuous period of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when ecclesiastical reform spread across Europe, the traditional role of the bishop as a public exemplar of piety, morality, and communal administration came under attack. In communities where there was tension between religious groups or between spiritual and secular governing bodies, the bishop became a lightning rod for struggles over hierarchical authority and institutional autonomy. These struggles were intensified by the ongoing negotiation of the episcopal role and by increased criticism of the cleric, especially during periods of religious war and in areas that embraced reformed churches. This volume contextualizes the diversity of episcopal experience across early modern Europe, while showing the similarity of goals and challenges among various confessional, social, and geographical communities. Until now there have been few studies that examine the spectrum of responses to contemporary challenges, the high expectations, and the continuing pressure bishops faced in their public role as living examples of Christian ideals. Contributors include: William V. Hudon, Jennifer Mara DeSilva, Raymond A. Powell, Hans Cools, Antonella Perin, John Alexander, John Christopoulos, Jill Fehleison, Linda Lierheimer, Celeste McNamara, Jean-Pascal Gay

Utilizing Erastus’s correspondence, this book offers a synthetic treatment of Erastus’s career in the Palatinate including his role in the territory’s conversion, the Heidelberg Catechism, the church discipline controversy, as well as his refutation of Paracelsus and Johann Weyer.

TWENTY-THREE. The Age of Devils -- TWENTY-FOUR. The Age of Reasonable Doubt -- TWENTY-FIVE. The Age of Outcomes -- TWENTY-SIX. The Spirit of the Age -- EPILOGUE. Assessing the Reformations -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Illustration Credits -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Z

Jordan J. Ballor takes as his point of departure the doctrine of the covenant as it appears in the theology of the prominent second-generation reformer, Wolfgang Musculus (1497–1563), who is perhaps the earliest Reformed theologian to give the topic of the covenant a separate and distinct treatment in a collection of theological commonplaces. Musculus' teaching on the covenant is characterized by the important distinction he makes between general and special covenants, and it is rooted in his exegetical work on the book of Genesis. Where Musculus' Loci communes demonstrate his antispeculative, soteriologically focused and pastorally driven approach, his exegesis provides fulsome guidance in the study of Scripture. This examination of Musculus' views on covenant and related doctrines is followed by explorations concerning causality and metaphysics. It concludes with considerations on law and social order. This book is the first full-scale study to place Musculus' theology within its broader intellectual context and to focus on Musculus' theology as found both in his Loci communes and in his extensive and voluminous exegetical work. Musculus' positions on doctrines related to covenant, causality and law reveal the eclecticism of Reformed reception of medieval traditions. The final section of this study places Musculus within the later development of Reformed orthodoxy in the 16th and 17th centuries, concluding that Wolfgang Musculus is a significant and often-overlooked figure worthy of further consideration.

The role of architecture within the French Reformed tradition has been of recent scholarly interest, seen in the work of Helene Guicharnaud, Catharine Randall, Andrew Spicer, and others. Few, however, have investigated in depth the relationship between Reformed theology and architectural forms. In The Visual Theology of the Huguenots, Randal Carter Working explores the roots of Reformed aesthetics, set against the background of late medieval church architecture. Indicating how demonstrably important the work of Serlio is in the spreading of the ideas of Vitruvius, Working explains the influence of classical Roman building on French Reformed architecture. He follows this with an examination of five important Huguenot architects: Philibert de l'Orme, Bernard Palissy, Jacques-Androuet du Cerceau, Salomon de Brosse, and Jacques Perret. The distinct language of Huguenot architecture is revealed by his comparative analysis of three churches: St Pierre in Geneva, a medieval church overhauledby the Reformers; St Gervais-St Protais, a Parisian Catholic church whose facade was completed by the French Reformed architect Salomon de Brosse; and the temple at Charenton, a structure also designed and built by de Brosse. These three buildings demonstrate how the contribution of Huguenot architecture gave expression to Reformed theological ideas and helped bring about the renewal of classicism in France.