Restoration Through Redemption John Calvin Revisited

Restoration through Redemption offers examples of three ways in which John Calvin’s theology can be revisited: by analysis, assessment, and reception. This volume contains analyses of Calvin’s position on the trinity and on politics, as well as assessments of his theology for evolutionary biology and comparative ecclesiology. It also discusses the reception of his heritage, for instance, in North America and South Africa. The central theme in this volume is Calvin’s approach to the renewal of creation that hinges on Christ the Redeemer. One of the golden threads is Calvin’s emphasis upon the meditatio on the future life, the turning of the believer towards the eschatological perspective. Contributors include: J. Todd Billings, Johan Buitendag, Jaeseung Cha, Ernst M. Conradie, Roger Haight, I. John Hesselink, Rinse Reeling Brouwer, Philippe Theron, Henk van den Belt, Gijsbert van den Brink, Cornelis van der Kooi, J.H. (Amie) van Wyk, J.M. (Koos) Vorster, Nico Vorster, Robert Vosloo, and Paul Wells.

Reformation Letters is a detailed look at John Calvin’s letters, which were mostly of a pastoral nature. These were letters that define the Reformation and demonstrate Calvin’s concerns, his strengths, and his weaknesses, against the background of his own time and contemporaries. Here we find Calvin on his own calling and exile from Geneva; Calvin on marriage—his own and others’; Calvin’s prefatory letter to Francis I of France; Calvin’s letter to Sadoleto on the nature of the Reformation; Calvin on Servetus and the reasons for his trial and execution for heresy; and Calvin’s letters to those facing death and persecution.

Morality after Calvin' examines the development of ethical thought in the Reformed tradition immediately following the death of Calvin. The book explores a previously unstudied work of Theodore Beza, the Cato Censorius Christianus (1591). When read in conjunction with the works and correspondence of Beza and his colleagues (Simon Goulart, Lambert Daneau, Peter Martyr Vermigli, among others), the poems of the Cato reveal the theoretical underpinnings of the disciplinary activity during the period. Kirk M. Summers shows how the moral fervor of the latter half of the sixteenth century had its genesis in a well-formulated theology that viewed a Christian's sanctification as a process of restoration to an original order created by God. 00.

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

Although we should acknowledge the fragility of memory, we should nevertheless affirm the remarkable ability of memory to reform and transform our identity. Our memories and ways of remembering are, however, often marked by trauma and violence. Memory, therefore, not merely reforms; it too is in need of reformation, redemption and transformation. With this emphasis in mind, Reforming Memory grapples with the question what a responsible engagement with the past entails, also for Christians and churches associated with the Reformed tradition. The history of Reformed churches in South Africa is, one can argue, a deeply divided and ambivalent one. The same figures are heroes to some and villains to others; historic events are deeply ambiguous and conflicting views surround different discourses. Yet the histories, and perhaps futures, of these churches and traditions are inextricably interwoven. Reforming Memory fundamentally combines an interest in the notion of ?memory? with an interest in (South African) Reformed theology and history. Central is the question: how should we remember and represent the past responsibly? The essays collected in this book engage in different ways with this question, attending in the process to some episodes in the history of the Dutch Reformed Church, some influential Reformed theologians, and some important Reformed practices and confessional documents.

The Oxford Handbook of Calvin and Calvinism offers a comprehensive assessment of John Calvin and the tradition of Calvinism as it evolved from the sixteenth century to today. Featuring contributions from scholars who present the latest research on a pluriform religious movement that became a global faith. The volume focuses on key aspects of Calvin's thought and its diverse reception in Europe, the transatlantic world, Africa, South America, and Asia. Calvin's theology was from the beginning open to a wide range of interpretations and was never a static body of ideas and practices. Over the course of his life his thought evolved and deepened while retaining unresolved tensions and questions that created a legacy that was constantly evolving in different cultural contexts. Calvinism itself is an elusive term, bringing together Christian communities that claim a shared heritage but often possess radically distinct characters. The Handbook reveals fascinating patterns of continuity and change to demonstrate how the movement claimed the name of the Genevan reformer but was moulded by an extraordinary range of religious, intellectual and historical influences, from the Enlightenment and Darwinism to indigenous African beliefs and postmodernism. In its global contexts, Calvinism has been continuously reimagined and reinterpreted. This collection throws new light on the highly dynamic and fluid nature of a deeply influential form of Christianity.

This volume contains the plenary papers and a selection of shortpapers from the Seventh Annual RefoRC conference, which was held May 10–12th 2017 in Wittenberg. The contributions concentrate on the effects of Luther ́s new theology and draw the lines from Luther ́s contemporaries into the early seventeenth century. Developments in art, catholic responses and Calvinistic reception are only some of the topics. The volume reflects the interdisciplinarity and interconfessionality that characterizes present research on the 16th century reformations and underlines the fact that this research has not come to a conclusion in 2017. The papers in this conference volume point to lacunae and will certainly stimulate further research. Contributors: Wim François, Antonio Gerace, Siegrid Westphal, Edit Szegedi, Maria Lucia Weigel, Graeme Chatfield, Jane Schatkin Hettrick, Marta Quatrale, Aurelio A. García, Jeannette Kreijkes, Csilla Gábor, Gábor Ittzés, Balázs Dávid Magyar, Tomoji Odori, Gregory Soderberg, Herman A. Speelman, Izabela Winiarska-Górska, Erik A. de Boer, Donald Sinnema, Dolf te Velde.

This book examines the contentious relationship between oath-taking, confessional subscription, and the binding of the conscience in reforms led by John Calvin. Calvin and his closest Reformed colleagues routinely distinguished what they believed were impious rules and constitutions in the Roman Church--human traditions claiming to bind the consciences of the faithful by putting them in fear of losing their salvation--and legitimate church observances, such as oaths and formal subscription to Reformed confessional standards. Doctrinal and moral reform in the cities became difficult, however, when friends and foes alike accused Calvin and his partners of burdening consciences with extra-Scriptural statements of faith composed by human authorities--a claim that, if true, would necessarily shape our assessment of the integrity of Calvin's Reformation. In light of these conflicts, author Timothy R. Scheuers offers a close reading of the texts and controversies surrounding Calvin's struggle for reform. In particular, he shows how they reveal the unique challenges Calvin and his colleagues encountered as they attempted to employ oath-swearing and formal confession of faith in order to consolidate the reformation of church and society. This book demonstrates how oaths and vows were used to shape confessional identity, secure social order, forge community, and promote faithfulness in public and private contracts. It also illustrates the complex and difficult task of protecting the individual conscience as Calvin sought to bring his new take on Christian freedom into Reformed communities.