Enlightened Zeal

Enlightened Zeal examines the fascinating history of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s involvement in scientific networks during the company’s two-hundred year chartered monopoly. Working from the company’s voluminous records, Ted Binnema demonstrates the significance of science in the company’s corporate strategies. Initially highly secretive about all of its activities, the HBC was by 1870 an exceptionally generous patron of science. Aware of the ways that a commitment to scientific research could burnish its corporate reputation, the company participated in intricate symbiotic networks that linked the HBC as a corporation with individuals and scientific organizations in England, Scotland, and the United States. The pursuit of scientific knowledge could bring wealth and influence, along with tribute, fame, and renown, but science also brought less tangible benefits: adventure, health, happiness, male companionship, self-improvement, or a sense of meaning. The first study of scientific research in any chartered company over the entire course of its monopoly, Enlightened Zeal expands our understanding of social networks in science, establishes the vast scope of the HBC’s contribution to public knowledge, and will inspire new research into the history of science in other chartered monopolies.

Initially highly secretive about all of its activities, the HBC was by 1870 an exceptionally generous patron of science. Aware of the ways that a commitment to scientific research could burnish its corporate reputation, the company participated in intricate symbiotic networks that linked the HBC as a corporation with individuals and scientific organizations in England, Scotland, and the United States. The pursuit of scientific knowledge could bring wealth and influence, along with tribute, fame, and renown, but science also brought less tangible benefits: adventure, health, happiness, male companionship, self-improvement, or a sense of meaning.

Writing to the early Christians in Rome, the apostle Paul said, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom 12:2 ESV). Perhaps more than any other New Testament epistle, Paul's letter to the Romans has been the focus of Christian reflection throughout the church's history, transforming the minds and convicting the hearts of believers. Sixteenth-century reformer Martin Luther reflected the church's longstanding emphasis on this portion of the canon: "Let the Epistle to the Romans be the door and the key to holy Scripture for you; otherwise you will never enter into a proper understanding and comprehension of the Bible." In this volume of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Philip Krey and Peter Krey guide readers with care through a diversity of Reformation-era commentary on the second half of Paul's letter to the Roman church. Among the difficult issues addressed by Paul and commented on by early modern exegetes were the predestination of God's elect, the destiny of Israel, the role of Gentiles in salvation history, the ethical demands of the Christian life, and the Christian's relationship to the state. Here, readers will encounter familiar voices and discover lesser-known figures from a variety of theological traditions, including Lutherans, Reformed, Radicals, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics. The volume draws on a variety of resources, including commentaries, sermons, treatises, and confessions, much of which appears here for the first time in English. Gathering together these Reformation-era reflections, it provides resources for contemporary preachers, enables scholars to better understand the depth and breadth of Reformation biblical commentary and aids the ongoing transformation of the minds—and lives—of people today.