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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Calvinist, Reformed & Presbyterian Churches > General
The Reformer John Calvin has influenced America in a formative way.
Calvin remains respected as a theologian to whose work
intellectuals on both the right and left appeal. In the
nineteen-nineties, Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) formed
a politically influential ecumenical coalition to oppose abortion
and change the culture. Its ecumenism of the trenches influenced
the administration of George W. Bush and continues to influence
religious elements in the Tea Party. Evangelicals in the coalition
presume to speak for Calvin. This book provides a counter argument.
Calvin rejects the ethics advocated by ECT, an ethics of individual
virtue, conscience and natural right. Instead, he affirms an ethics
of obedience to the authority of secular government as an
institution with a divinely ordained mandate. This work considers
the following themes in Calvin: *Calvin on Faith. Modern and
postmodern philosophical approaches, including Reformed
epistemology, do not explain how Calvin understood faith. Faith is
divine activity. Belief is human activity. Faith is not a belief
system or worldview on which to base a political theology. The
author provides four Augustinian theses about Calvin on faith
*Calvin on Sanctification. Calvin rejected virtue ethics or an
ethics of individual conscience. His ethics require self-denial and
service. An important requirement of his ethics is obedience to
government. The author provides three theses about Calvin on
sanctification, as a critique of attempts to revive virtue ethics.
*Calvin on Natural Law. Calvin's doctrine of natural law is one of
the most vexed issues in Calvin studies. The author provides five
theses to clarify Calvin's doctrine of natural law. For Calvin,
secular government transcends the authority of conscience, and
Christians in conscience are required to obey it. In conclusion,
the author discusses Karl Barth's interpretation of Calvin and its
relevance for the church struggle against the Third Reich. Based on
his analysis of Calvin, he provides a defense of gay marriage and
the right to terminate a pregnancy, as well as an analysis of
religious freedom. Calvin would reject ECT's theology of virtue,
conscience and natural law. But he would affirm its ecumenism as a
possible path out of culture war.
Recent decades have witnessed much scholarly reassessment of
late-sixteenth through eighteenth-century Reformed theology. It was
common to view the theology of this period-typically labelled
'orthodoxy'-as sterile, speculative, and rationalistic, and to
represent it as significantly discontinuous with the more
humanistic, practical, and biblical thought of the early reformers.
Recent scholars have taken a more balanced approach, examining
orthodoxy on its own terms and subsequently highlighting points of
continuity between orthodoxy and both Reformation and
pre-Reformation theologies, in terms of form as well as content.
Until now Scottish theology and theologians have figured relatively
minimally in works reassessing orthodoxy, and thus many of the
older stereotypes concerning post-Reformation Reformed theology in
a Scottish context persist. This collection of essays aims to
redress that failure by purposely examining post-Reformation
Scottish theology/theologians through a lens provided by the gains
made in recent scholarly evaluations of Reformed orthodoxy, and by
highlighting, in that process, the significant contribution which
Scottish divines of the orthodox era made to Reformed theology as
an international intellectual phenomenon.
In Active Spirituality, Brian Hedges allows us to read someone
else's mail. In a series of warm pastoral letters, written to a
young Christian, the letter's recipient dives into the paradox of
grace and effort in the life of faith.
Is my Christian life about trying or trusting? Would I describe
my relationship to God as running or resting? Is my life more
characterized by grace or effort? The wisdom in the letters makes
clear that it is both: trying and trusting, running and resting,
dependence on grace and exerting disciplined effort. This balance
is not about getting my doctrine right, but is key to living a
healthy Christian life.
So, pull up a chair, settle in, and read over the shoulder of
Chris, a struggling young adult trying to find a church, overcome
discouragement, live a chaste life, and develop a plan for
spiritual growth, all while learning to rest in the finished work
of Jesus.
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