Historical Dictionary of Calvinism

The historical dictionaries present essential information on a broad range of subjects, including American and world hi...

Author: Stuart D.B. Picken

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The historical dictionaries present essential information on a broad range of subjects, including American and world history, art, business, cities, countries, cultures, customs, film, global conflicts, international relations, literature, music, philosophy, religion, sports, and theater. Written by experts, all contain highly informative introductory essays of the topic and detailed chronologies that, in some cases, cover vast historical time periods but still manage to heavily feature more recent events. Brief A–Z entries describe the main people, events, politics, social issues, institutions, and policies that make the topic unique, and entries are crossreferenced for ease of browsing. Extensive bibliographies are divided into several general subject areas, providing excellent access points for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more. Additionally, maps, photographs, and appendixes of supplemental information aid high school and college students doing term papers or introductory research projects. In short, the historical dictionaries are the perfect starting point for anyone looking to research in these fields.

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HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF RELIGIONS, PHILOSOPHIES, AND MOVEMENTS Jon Woronoff, Series Editor Orthodox Church, by Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, and Michael D. Peterson, 1996 Civil Rights Movement, by Ralph E. Luker, 1997 Catholicism, by William J. Collinge, 1997 North American Environmentalism, by Edward R. Wells and Alan M. Schwartz, 1997 Taoism, by Julian F. Pas in cooperation with Man Kam Leung, 1998 Gay Liberation Movement, by Ronald J. Hunt, 1999 Islamic Fundamentalist Movements in the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey, by Ahmad S. Moussalli, 1999 Cooperative Movement, by Jack Shaffer, 1999 Kierkegaard’s Philosophy, by Julia Watkin, 2001 Slavery and Abolition, by Martin A. Klein, 2002 New Religious Movements, by George D. Chryssides, 2001 Prophets in Islam and Judaism, by Scott B. Noegel and Brannon M. Wheeler, 2002 Lesbian Liberation Movement: Still the Rage, by JoAnne Myers, 2003 Descartes and Cartesian Philosophy, by Roger Ariew, Dennis Des Chene, Douglas M. Jesseph, Tad M. Schmaltz, and Theo Verbeek, 2003 Witchcraft, by Michael D. Bailey, 2003 Unitarian Universalism, by Mark W. Harris, 2004 New Age Movements, by Michael York, 2004 Organized Labor, Second Edition, by James C. Docherty, 2004 Utopianism, by James M. Morris and Andrea L. Kross, 2004 Feminism, Second Edition, by Janet K. Boles and Diane Long Hoeveler, 2004 Jainism, by Kristi L. Wiley, 2004 Wittgenstein’s Philosophy, by Duncan Richter, 2004 Schopenhauer’s Philosophy, by David E. Cartwright, 2005 Seventh-day Adventists, by Gary Land, 2005 Methodism, Second Edition, by Charles Yrigoyen Jr. and Susan E. Warrick, 2005 Sufism, by John Renard, 2005 Sikhism, Second Edition, by W. H. McLeod, 2005 Kant and Kantianism, by Helmut Holzhey and Vilem Mudroch, 2005 Olympic Movement, Third Edition, by Bill Mallon with Ian Buchanan, 2006 Anglicanism, by Colin Buchanan, 2006 Welfare State, Second Edition, by Bent Greve, 2006

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Feminist Philosophy, by Catherine Villanueva Gardner, 2006 Logic, by Harry J. Gensler, 2006 Leibniz’s Philosophy, by Stuart Brown and Nicholas J. Fox, 2006 Non-Aligned Movement and Third World, by Guy Arnold, 2006 Salvation Army, by Major John G. Merritt, 2006 Judaism, Second Edition, by Norman Solomon, 2006 Epistemology, by Ralph Baergen, 2006 Bahá’í Faith, Second Edition, by Hugh C. Adamson, 2006 Aesthetics, by Dabney Townsend, 2006 Socialism, Second Edition, by Peter Lamb and James C. Docherty, 2007 Marxism, by David M. Walker and Daniel Gray, 2007 Nietzscheanism, Second Edition, by Carol Diethe, 2007 Medieval Philosophy and Theology, by Stephen F. Brown and Juan Carlos Flores, 2007 Shamanism, by Graham Harvey and Robert Wallis, 2007 Ancient Greek Philosophy, by Anthony Preus, 2007 Puritans, by Charles Pastoor and Galen K. Johnson, 2007 Green Movement, Second Edition, by Miranda Schreurs and Elim Papadakis, 2007 Husserl’s Philosophy, by John J. Drummond, 2008 Existentialism, by Stephen Michelman, 2008 Zionism, Second Edition, by Rafael Medoff and Chaim I. Waxman, 2008 Coptic Church, by Gawdat Gabra, 2008 Jehovah’s Witnesses, by George D. Chryssides, 2008 Hume’s Philosophy, by Kenneth R. Merrill, 2008 Shakers, by Stephen J. Paterwic, 2008 Native American Movements, by Todd Leahy and Raymond Wilson, 2008 Mormonism, Third Edition, by Davis Bitton and Thomas G. Alexander, 2008 Hegelian Philosophy, Second Edition, by John W. Burbidge, 2008 Ethics, by Harry J. Gensler and Earl W. Spurgin, 2008 Environmentalism, by Peter Dauvergne, 2009 Bertrand Russell’s Philosophy, by Rosalind Carey and John Ongley, 2009 Baptists, Second Edition, by William H. Brackney, 2009 Islam, Second Edition, by Ludwig W. Adamec, 2009 Homosexuality, by Brent L. Pickett, 2009 Buddhism, by Carl Olson, 2009 Holiness Movement, Second Edition, edited by William Kostlevy, 2009 Reformed Churches, Second Edition, by Robert Benedetto and Donald K. McKim, 2010 The Reformation and Counter-Reformation, by Michael Mullett, 2010 Heidegger’s Philosophy, Second Edition, by Frank Schalow and Alfred Denker, 2010

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Jesus, by Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., 2010 Metaphysics, by Gary Rosenkrantz and Joshua Hoffman, 2011 Shinto, Second Edition, by Stuart D. B. Picken, 2011 The Friends (Quakers), Second Edition, by Margery Post Abbott, Mary Ellen Chijioke, Pink Dandelion, and John William Oliver Jr., 2011 Lutheranism, Second Edition, by Günther Gassmann with Duanne H. Larson, and Mark W. Oldenburg, 2011 Hinduism, New Edition, by Jeffrey D. Long, 2011 Calvinism, by Stuart D. B. Picken, 2012

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Historical Dictionary of Calvinism Stuart D. B. Picken

The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2012

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Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 http://www.scarecrowpress.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2012 by Stuart D. B. Picken All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Picken, Stuart D. B. Historical dictionary of Calvinism / Stuart D.B. Picken. p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of religions, philosophies, and movements) Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN 978-0-8108-7224-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-7471-8 (ebook) 1. Calvinism—Dictionaries. I. Title. BX9406.P53 2012 284'.203—dc23 2011021540

™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America

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To the students and staff, past, present, and future of the International Christian University, Tokyo

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Contents

Editor’s Foreword

Jon Woronoff

xi

Preface

xiii

Acronyms and Abbreviations

xvii

Chronology

xix

Introduction

1

THE DICTIONARY

27

Bibliography

213

About the Author

261

ix

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Editor’s Foreword

Although they lived through the same crucial historical period and were both fathers of the Reformation, unlike Martin Luther, John Calvin did not leave behind a church named after him. But he did create and shape the other main branch of Protestantism, the Reformed Church, including the Dutch Reformed Church, the Church of Scotland, and numerous other branches with varying names in various places, including England, Switzerland, Hungary, and especially the United States (where it is often called Presbyterian). Moreover, Calvin’s legacy spread much wider, obviously first and foremost in the religious field, and it also had political, economic, and social impacts that are still with us today; indeed, more with us than ever, half a millennium after his death. In religion, there are not only Calvinists but Neo-Calvinists of different shapes and forms and, more generally, agreement that people should be free to choose their religion. And we are living in a contemporary world shaped by certain features Calvin strongly influenced, such as the right to independence, democracy and self-government; the separation of church and state; and a free enterprise economy propelled by banking, among other things. So Calvin and Calvinism are of interest to a very broad range of people around the world, although some of them are not that familiar with his name. This Historical Dictionary of Calvinism has no choice but to delve into all the aspects of this series on religions, philosophies, and movements. This is done first in a long chronology, covering first Calvin’s life and then the path taken by Calvinism in its various emanations, for a trajectory of five centuries by now. The introduction does an excellent job of putting all into context, giving us a rather detailed explanation of Calvin’s main acts and writings and also the heritage he left behind. The major section, of course, is the dictionary, with hundreds of entries on significant persons, whether working with or against Calvin, and including both contemporaries and following generations. Other entries deal with the major writings of this varied circle; their main contributions to religion, philosophy, politics, economics, and society; and an explanation of some of the key terms. Yet other entries trace the emergence and history of Reformed Christianity in its various forms. The substantial bibliography directs readers toward further studies of these same persons, topics, and issues. This Historical Dictionary of Calvinism xi

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EDITOR’S FOREWORD

was written by Stuart D. B. Picken, who has already written two other historical dictionaries, on Shinto and on Japanese business. This intriguing combination of topics can be explained by an equally intriguing career path, in that Dr. Picken initially studied philosophy and divinity at the University of Glasgow, was ordained a minister of the Church of Scotland, and held a charge, before turning to academia, which brought him to Japan for a considerable time. There he was on the faculty of the International Christian University and then Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, where he developed his know-how on Japanese business. But at the same time, he furthered his studies of religion, and more particularly, the native religion of Japan, Shinto. After retiring in 2001, he returned to Scotland, where he continued his Japan-related activities, among other things as chair of the Council of the Japan Society of Scotland, and also returned to his roots in Calvinism. This book is the result of careful study, but also long maturation, and has the advantage of coming from someone who is familiar with other horizons, can consider Calvinism from within and without, and thus can explain it better to both insiders and outsiders. Jon Woronoff Series Editor

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Preface

Calvinism as a movement lends itself to the historical dictionary format for a number of reasons. Principal among these is the simple reality that Protestant Christianity as a whole is best examined and understood within the framework of its overall historical development. Although it is possible to write a history of Presbyterianism or Anglicanism, the discussion tends to freeze the subject in a succession of modes of existence or becomes overfocused on specifics such as church government or liturgy. Historical articles of belief or confessions of faith indicate approaches to belief, but they tend to be locked into the language and thought of the eras in which they were produced. Attempts to restate them in modern terms almost invariably fail to capture the essence of what was being said and end up becoming vague and general statements that have very little apparent relevance to the contemporary situation. Rather like translations of the Bible into modern colloquial English, the process reduces semantic content by transforming dramatic incidents of human encounter with the divine into banal descriptions of what appear as semimagical stories. Mystery and symbol are replaced by the commonplace, and the existential significance of a narrative evaporates. Calvinism as a movement, in spite of the various cultures it has crossed and in which it has embedded itself, possesses unity and historical depth and manifests spiritual dynamics that are often overlooked within particular denominations that emerge even within the tradition. Though the Reformation movement itself was and remains of great importance, discussions that make it their centerpiece usually fail to see beyond its immediate effects to more enduring ones. Calvinism has inspired and continues to embrace many churches, but is not confined to any one of them. It has its own inner core that remains alive in them, but that has also transcended them and has been responsible for developments outside the traditional province of religion. Some of these influences were deliberate and part of a theological agenda. Others were the by-product of the forces that it quite unselfconsciously released on the world as it interacted with the past in the formation of a new world order. Both of these are aspects of Calvinism that call for serious and critical examination. The dictionary contains a wide range of relevant entries that provide a composite picture of Calvinism, its roots, its development, and various xiii

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PREFACE

strands of influence. However, all of this presupposes that it helped to create a family of churches that in turn grew to bear some of its characteristics, but it is not fully embodied in any one of them. This is because it has a history and a set of dynamics independent of any of these and can even run into conflict with them. Expressions such as the “Protestant ethic” as used by Max Weber or the “Protestant principle” as used by Martin Kaehler and later Paul Tillich, are manifestations of the history and dynamics referred to above, which can come to life in new forms precisely because they are constantly interacting with the changes of history that surround them. The 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin occurred in 2009, and the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation in 2010. The relationship between these dates is significant. Though Calvin and his ideas spread throughout different parts of Europe, moving out from his base in Geneva, it was not until they entered the English-speaking world that they were able to become a global force having a major impact on the development of the modern world as we know it. Calvinism was more than a set of theological doctrines or a new way of ordering the church and its affairs. Its doctrines had a wide range of influence and application because of the way in which Calvin saw the relationship between religion and daily life. It invaded realms such as civil government and created new social and economic paradigms based on reversing many of the accepted values of the age imposed by the church. The bank culture of Switzerland and the long experience of Swiss bankers would not have been possible without the influence of Calvin. The long banking tradition of Scotland, the financial houses of Edinburgh, and indeed the city of London as a center of global finance, all owe a debt to Calvin, directly or indirectly, in one form or another. Several recent biographies of Calvin have used various techniques of historiography to bring him to life against the background of his times; they show very clearly that it was the quality of his work in Geneva that attracted others to emulate him, particularly the Scot John Knox (ca. 1510–1572), who was the bridge between Calvin’s Geneva and the Protestant Reformation in England and Scotland. The manner in which the quiet aristocratic scholar, who found himself in the middle of a complex process of cultural and religious change and responded to the limits of his faith and intellect, has left indelible marks on the contemporary world, for good according to some, and for ill according to others. That the world was changed is beyond question. The evaluation of that process is less important than understanding how it helped to bring the present into being and what can still be drawn from it that may be valuable in the future. It is not, however, the task of a historical dictionary to embrace an advocate’s role. Its purpose is to help people navigate their way through the mass of history and thought

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PREFACE

• xv

that surrounds the subject, to gain a more comprehensive and balanced understanding. It is virtually impossible to enter into the psychohistory of someone as complex as Calvin, other than by attempting to develop a general picture of his ideas through his writings. But it must be recognized that though he was living in a time of change, he had his eyes firmly focused on what to him were the unchangeable and eternal verities he found in the Word of God. He was not reacting to the times. He was reflecting on his present and trying to see its nature and meaning sub specie aeternitatis. It should also be remembered that Calvin was not simply an ecclesiastic or a theologian. He practiced what he preached, and people responded to him. Those who see him as a spiritual dictator would do well to remember that he left Geneva in a disillusioned state of mind after an initial period and had to be persuaded to return. And it was not initially a willing comeback. Like others before and after him, he felt that it had been laid upon his life as a duty to accept the call, and he lived out the rest of his life trying to fulfill the vision of the ministry he believed had been committed to him. Readers who work through the entries and see the comprehensive nature of the ideas of Calvin and Calvinism may well be struck by the dialectic that confronts them of progressive thinking at times frustrated by circumstances and forced to take refuge behind stern walls of defense. That may be the fate of all great movements, and it may not always be pleasant to view. This is the point at which “focusing on eternity” becomes necessary, in the same manner in which in days gone by it was the only cure for the physically shortsighted. I would like to close on a personal note. Having been an academic for most of my life, I have not served a great number of years in parishes of the Church of Scotland. Nevertheless, many of the names listed in the dictionary are known to me, primarily from my student and later academic years, and to a number of these people, I owe a great personal debt. I first served as a parish assistant to a very senior minister, 76 years old at the time, who had studied under James Denney, the New Testament theologian. I could sense the power of Denney’s influence through him. I studied at Trinity College under William Barclay, from whom I received much encouragement to pursue an academic career, and in the Glasgow University Divinity Faculty under Ronald Gregor Smith, from whom I received enormous intellectual inspiration and stimulation. I was privileged to know Tom Torrance and learned much from lunchtime meetings at General Assemblies in Edinburgh. I also had the great honor of hosting the fascinating Fritz Buri, who was very much a kindred soul, at my residence on the campus of the International Christian University in Tokyo, where I occupied both the house and office used by Emil Brunner during his time there. I also had the privilege of teaching along with John

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PREFACE

Macquarrie, at that time dean, professor, and canon of Christ Church in Oxford. I made the acquaintance of the minister of Okubo Presbyterian Church in Tokyo, whose father was one of the great leaders of Protestant Christianity in the 19th century. Uemura-sensei was the only woman present at the Union of the Churches in Scotland in 1929, as she proudly told me. The Japanese Presbyterian Church had ordained woman as ministers long before any western Reformed Church had even debated doing so. The list could go on. I have been greatly privileged to meet so many of these stellar figures now no longer with us. Writing this book has been a trip down memory lane as much as a return to my own roots. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has made a contribution directly, or indirectly over the years, to my understanding of Calvin and Calvinism. Among those to whom special appreciation is appropriate is the series editor, Jon Woronoff, who is unfailingly supportive of his authors, and the editorial staff of the Scarecrow Press, who have been as ever consistently courteous and helpful. Last, to those professors and ministers, now part of the Communio Sanctorm, who were mentors and friends over the years, I express my gratitude for the privilege of having known them.

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Acronyms and Abbreviations

CRC FEPS Institutio IRA NHK NIV OSA OESA PRC PRC REC SBC SCM SEK UUA WARC WCC WCRC WRA

Christian Reformed Church (USA) Fédération des Eglises protestantes de Suisse Latin abbreviation of the original title of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, Institutio Christianae Religionis Irish Republican Army The Dutch Reformed Church (in Dutch: Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk) New International Version of the Bible Ordo Sancti Augustini Ordo Eremitarum Sancti Augustini People’s Republic of China Protestant Reformed Churches Reformed Ecumenical Council Southern Baptist Church (USA) Student Christian Movement Schweizerischer Evangelischer Kirchenbund Unitarian Universalist Association World Alliance of Reformed Churches World Council of Churches World Communion of Reformed Churches World Reformed Alliance

xvii

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Chronology

65 Seneca, last great Roman Stoic philosopher, tutor to Emperor Nero, and author of De Clementia, is forced to commit suicide. 405

Jerome completes his work on the Vulgate, the Latin Bible.

418 Pelagianism is condemned as a heresy at a council in Carthage under pressure from Augustine. 426 Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, completes his major work, The City of God. 1184 Peter Waldo is excommunicated for preaching without authorization by a synod held at Verona. 1328 William of Ockham, founder of the philosophical school of nominalism, is excommunicated for heresy. 1415 Jan Hus of Bohemia is burned at the stake for spreading the teachings of John Wycliffe of England. 1453 The fall of Constantinople marks the end of the eastern Roman Empire. 1455

The first Gutenberg Bible is printed.

1494

Francis I of France accedes to the throne.

1509

John Calvin is born in Noyon, Picardy, France.

1512

Martin Luther becomes professor at Wittenberg University.

1517 Luther posts the Ninety-Five Theses regarding indulgences on the cathedral door. 1519

Ulrich Zwingli becomes minister in Zurich.

1520

Calvin receives first benefice from the church.

1521

Luther translates the Bible into German.

1522

John Oecolampadius becomes leader of the Reformation in Basel. xix

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CHRONOLOGY

1523–1527

Calvin attends the University of Paris.

1527 Marguerite of Angoulême, French Protestant sympathizer, marries Henry IV of Navarre. 1528 Disputation of Bern establishes the legal status of the Reformed Church under Zwingli. 1528–1529 1529

Calvin attends the universities of Orleans and Bourges.

Marburg Colloquy between Zwingli and Luther takes place.

1531 Zwingli is killed in the battle of Kappel. Leadership of the Reformed Church in Bern passes to Johann Bullinger. 1531–1533 Calvin publishes his Commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia. Pierre Viret, the “forgotten reformer,” is ordained a Protestant minister. 1532

Nicholas Cop’s address leads to Cop and Calvin fleeing Paris.

1533 Thomas Cranmer becomes the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury. The First Helvetic Confession is published. 1534 Calvin travels to Paris, Angoulême, and Noyon; he resigns benefices. The Affair of the Placards takes place. Henry VIII of England breaks with the Vatican. Confession of Basel is issued. Johann Bullinger publishes his The One and Eternal Testament or Covenant, founding the Federal Theology concept. 1535

The Coverdale Bible, the first in English, is published.

1536 The first edition (Latin) of the Institutes (six chapters) is published. Calvin becomes minister of Geneva until expelled. John Knox, Scottish Reformer, is sent to the French galleys after French intervention following the siege of St. Andrews castle. 1538–1541 Calvin serves as minister of French refugees in Strasbourg. The second edition (Latin) of the Institutes (17 chapters) is published. 1539 Calvin publishes his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Ignatius Loyola forms the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit Order, with Vatican approval. 1541 Calvin returns as minister of Geneva. A French edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion is published. 1543

A Latin edition of the Institutes (21 chapters) is published.

1545 Sebastian Castellio, French Reformed preacher and advocate of religious toleration, is banished from Geneva after a dispute with Calvin.

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• xxi

The Council of Trent is convened, marking the beginning of the CounterReformation. 1546 Francis I of France dies, after which Protestants in France suffer brutal persecution, with deaths estimated at over 72,000. 1549

Martin Bucer, ecumenical German reformer, is exiled to England.

1551 The Bolsec Controversy occurs. Claude Goudimel commences producing four-part settings of the psalms of the Genevan Psalter for the French translation of Clément Marot. 1552

The English Book of Common Prayer (second edition) is published.

1553 Michael Servetus is condemned as a heretic by both Catholics and Protestants, executed in Geneva, and burned in effigy by the Inquisition. 1555 The Peace of Augsburg establishes the principle of “cuius regio, eius religio.” 1557 The first Protestant missionary team of 18 Huguenots is dispatched from Geneva to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Louis Bourgeois, Protestant musician, leaves Geneva after increasing the number of melodies for use in the singing of psalms. 1558

The Academy of Geneva is opened.

1559

The final Latin edition of the Institutes (80 chapters) is published.

1560 The Scottish Parliament passes an Act confirming the establishment of the Reformed Church and the status of the Scots’ Confession as the expression of a national faith. The final French edition of the Institutes is published. The Geneva Bible is published. 1561 The University of Geneva (Academy of Geneva) is founded to train Protestant ministers. The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Scots’ Confession in October and affirms the Reformation in Scotland. An English translation of Calvin’s Institutes is completed by Thomas Norton. The Belgic Confession is issued. 1562

The French wars of religion start.

1563

The Heidelberg Catechism is published.

1564 Calvin dies and is buried in an unmarked grave in the public cemetery in Geneva. The first Scottish Psalter for use in public worship is approved. 1566 The Second Helvetic Confession becomes standard in both Calvinist and Zwinglian Churches.

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CHRONOLOGY

1567 The Second Helvetic Confession is adopted by the Reformed Church in Hungary. 1570 Polish Reformed, Lutheran, and Czech Brethren unsuccessfully confront Jesuits. 1572

The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre occurs.

1581

James VI of Scotland signs the Second Confession of Faith.

1585 Stephen Kis, Hungarian reformer, publishes his Theological Common Topics. 1587

John Knox’s History of the Scottish Reformation is published.

1588 The Geneva Bible is published in French. The Spanish Armada is dispatched by King Philip II to conquer England and stamp out Protestantism. England and the Netherlands fail to be absorbed into the Spanish Empire and remain independent. 1590

Gaspar Karolyi translates the Bible into Hungarian.

1598 The Edict of Nantes brings the French wars of religion to an end through giving religious freedom and civil equality to the Huguenots. 1601 Rembrandt paints Christ Preaching in a simple etching style that becomes characteristic of much of his later works. 1606 Andrew Melville, architect of the Presbyterian system, is sent to the Tower of London and exiled in 1610. 1608

Protestants in Hungary are recognized by the government.

1611 The Authorized Version of the Bible in English, also known as the King James Bible, is published. 1618

The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) starts.

1619 Canons of Dort (Dordrecht) are agreed to by the Synod of Dordrecht, ending the Arminian controversy. 1620 The Pilgrim Fathers set sail from Plymouth in the Mayflower. They sign the Mayflower Compact and found the Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts. 1625 The Leiden Synopsis (Synopsis Purioris Theologiae) is completed affirming the Synod of Dordrecht’s condemnation of Arminianism. 1628

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Dutch colonists form the first Reformed Church on Manhattan Island.

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CHRONOLOGY

• xxiii

1630 John Winthrop leads a Puritan group to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1632

The Polish Gdansk Bible is published.

1636 Roger Williams (1603–1683) is expelled from Massachusetts and founds Providence, Rhode Island. Harvard College, the first college established in North America, is founded to train Protestant ministers. 1638 The National Covenant supporting the church’s freedom from state interference is signed in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edinburgh. 1641 An Irish rebellion against English and Scottish settlers in Ulster leads to the Ulster massacres, in which at least 12,000 Protestants, including whole families, are brutally murdered. 1642

The English Civil War begins.

1643 The Westminster Assembly of Divines is constituted and resolves to affirm the Presbyterian system of church government. It generates the Westminster Confession of Faith (the subordinate standard of the Church of Scotland), the Larger Catechism, the Shorter Catechism, the Form of Presbyterial Church Government, and the Directory of Public Worship. 1644 Samuel Rutherford, theologian, Covenanter, and defender of church rights against the monarchy, publishes his controversial Lex Rex. 1647

Calvinists are acknowledged by Lutherans as coreligionists.

1648 The Peace of Westphalia brings the Thirty Years’ War and long religious struggles to a close. 1651

Dutch Calvinists establish Cape Colony in South Africa.

1653 Oliver Cromwell establishes the Commonwealth and in 1655 bans the Anglican form of worship. 1660 The Restoration of the Stuarts (Charles II) leads to the arrest of important Covenanters, notably James Guthrie, who is hanged in Edinburgh in 1661. 1671

The House of Hapsburg aggressively persecutes Hungarian Protestants.

1675 The Helvetic Consensus Formula is created in Zurich, renowned for its claim that the Hebrew Masoretic pointing in scripture was given by divine inspiration. 1681

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Hungarian Protestants are granted toleration.

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CHRONOLOGY

1682 Around 60,000 Huguenots are forced to convert to Catholicism by the French church authorities and the government, marking the beginning of a major policy change. 1685 Louis XIV of France revokes the Edict of Nantes, which leads to more than 250,000 Huguenots leaving France for destinations including Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Prussia, and North America. 1688

The Revolution Settlement is agreed in England.

1690 The Battle of the Boyne in Northern Ireland removes the Stuart family from the thrones of England and Scotland. William, Stadtholder of the Province of Orange, and his wife Mary accede to the throne. The Protestant succession is established by law. 1701 Isaac Watts (1674–1748), the hymn writer, publishes his Hymns and Spiritual Songs, beginning the age of hymn writing that gradually displaced the psalms as principal items of worship. 1706 Francis Makemie establishes the first Presbytery (Philadelphia) in North America. 1707 The Act of Union between Scotland and England creates the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, guaranteeing by law the status of the Church of England as Episcopal and the Church of Scotland as Presbyterian in order. The global expansion of the British Empire leads to the growth of many overseas churches and eventually to the missionary activity that accompanied commercial enterprise under the British flag. 1718–1723 The Marrow Controversy among Scottish theologians begins. Ebeneezer Erskine is summoned to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for promoting the book. 1723 Count Zinzendorf founds a colony of the Moravian Church in Saxony, southeast of Berlin. 1724 Jonathan Edwards, leading Puritan theologian, stimulates revival from his church in Northampton, Massachusetts. 1727

William Tennent Sr. opens his Log College (later Princeton University).

1729 The “Adopting Act” requires American Presbyterian ministers to accept the Westminster Confession of Faith. 1731

The Archbishop of Salzburg orders all Protestants out of Austria.

1734–1750

The First Great Awakening in North America begins.

1739 Ebeneezer Erskine and his supporters are deposed from the ministry of the Church of Scotland and form the secession church.

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1754

Jonathan Edwards publishes his Inquiry into Freedom of the Will.

1766

Scottish planters form the Presbytery of British Guyana.

1776 The American Declaration of Independence is signed. Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations is published. 1780 The Sunday School movement is started by Robert Raikes, giving rise to its expansion from Scotland to North America. 1781

Austrian Emperor Joseph II issues an Act of Religious Toleration.

1787

Religious toleration is granted in France.

1789 The French Revolution leads to the separation of church and state and to complete religious liberty in France. 1791

The American Bill of Rights is passed.

1795

The London Missionary Society is founded.

1796 Scottish Missionary Societies, notably the Edinburgh Missionary Society, are founded. 1799 Friedrich Schleiermacher publishes On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers in Berlin. 1800 The Second Great Awakening in the United States begins, lasting through 1840. 1802 The Synod of Pittsburg of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., commences work among frontier whites, Native Americans, and African slaves. 1807 Slavery is banned in the British Empire. Robert Morrison of the London Missionary Society becomes the first Protestant missionary to China. 1812

Princeton Theological Seminary is founded.

1822

The Paris Evangelical Missionary Society is founded.

1825 The Bombay Missionary Society is founded in India. The Church of Scotland Overseas Mission is established in Edinburgh. 1831 John Macleod Campbell, Scottish theologian and author of The Nature of the Atonement, is deposed from the ministry. 1839 The Opium War begins, in which China rejects British demands to open its doors to commerce and missionaries; it results in the “unequal treaty” of Nanjing in 1842. 1840 David Livingstone begins missionary exploration of southern central Africa. The Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society is founded.

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1843 Disruption of the Church of Scotland is led by Thomas Chalmers over the right of congregations to elect ministers. 1851 Charles Grandison Finney, American evangelical Calvinist preacher and antislavery campaigner, becomes creator of the Oberlin theology and college president. Charles Hodge, conservative American Presbyterian and leader of Old School Calvinism, becomes president of Princeton University. 1854 The New York International Missionary Conference is led by Alexander Duff. 1858

David Livingstone traces the routes of the Zambezi and Shire Rivers.

1861

Beginning of the American Civil War, which ends in 1865.

1868

James McCosh becomes president of Princeton University.

1869

The First Vatican Council defines papal infallibility on doctrine.

1873 David Livingstone dies in Africa. Uemura Masahisa, early leader of the Japanese Presbyterian Church, is baptized a Christian in Yokohama. 1880 The Third Great Awakening begins in the United States, lasting through 1910. 1886 The first Presbyterian congregation is established in Korea, followed by a successful missionary movement. 1887 Benjamin Breckenridge (B. B.) Warfield is appointed to the Charles Hodge Chair at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he succeeds Hodge’s son, A. A. Hodge. 1900 The United Presbyterian Church and the Free Church of Scotland unite to form the United Free Church of Scotland. 1904 Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is published. 1913 Woodrow Wilson, former president of Princeton University, begins the first of two terms as president of the United States. 1917 John Oman publishes his principal work, Grace and Personality. Rudolf Otto publishes his Das Heilige. 1919

Karl Barth publishes his Commentary on Romans.

1921–1922 Kagawa Toyohiko, Japanese Christian leader, writes Shisen-okoete (Crossing the Death Line) while in prison.

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1929 A reunion of the three main Presbyterian churches in Scotland forms the modern Church of Scotland. Cornelius Van Til, the Calvin scholar, begins teaching at Princeton Seminary. 1934 The theological Declaration of Barmen is issued by German Christians. Uemurea Tamaki of the Presbyterian Church in Japan becomes the first woman ordained in the history the Reformed tradition. 1935 James Moffat, Church of Scotland minister and professor of Greek at Mansefield College, Oxford, completes his translation of the entire Bible into modern English. 1936

John Baillie’s classic A Diary of Private Prayer is published.

1939 Louis Berkhof, the Reformed and traditional Calvinist scholar, publishes his monumental Systematic Theology. 1945 German theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer is hanged at Flossenberg Castle for anti-Nazi activities. 1948 Paul Tillich, the German-born American theologian, publishes his Protestant Era. 1959

Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics is published.

1964 President Lyndon Johnson awards Reinhold Niebuhr, the NeoCalvinist theologian, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 1966 Ronald Gregor Smith, Scottish existentialist theologian, publishes his major work, Secular Christianity. 1967 The Very Reverend Lord George Felden Macleod, a controversial Church of Scotland minister and founder of the Iona Community, is elevated to the House of Lords. The United Church of Christ in Japan faces conflict over the adoption of a Confession of Responsibility during the Pacific War (World War II). 1972

Jurgen Moltmann, German theologian, publishes his Crucified God.

1973 Rousas John Rushdoony publishes his Institutes of Biblical Law, which presents an exposition of the Christian Reconstructionist movement. Korean churches produce a theological rejection of the behavior of the Korean government. 1976 Professor Otsuka Hisao publishes his famous study Max Weber on the Spirit of Capitalism. 1978

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The New International Version of the Bible is published.

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1979 Churches in China reopen after the end of the Cultural Revolution. Some members of the Dutch Reformed Church adopt a declaration against apartheid. The Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa is ejected from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches on account of apartheid. The Belhar Confession is published. Alan Boesak, South African church leader, is elected president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. 1982 Liberal Neo-Calvinist Swiss theologian Fritz Buri publishes his controversial Der Buddha-Christus als der Herr des wahren Selbst. Die Religionsphilosophie der Kyoto-Schule und das Christentum, which interfaces Christian and Buddhist thought. 1983 The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the Presbyterian Church in the United States reunite as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) after separation because of the Civil War. 1990

Apartheid ends in South Africa.

1994 The Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa and the Dutch Reformed Mission in South Africa unite. 2004 The Dutch (Netherlands) Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands unite to form the Protestant church in the Netherlands. 2008 James Innell Packer, leading conservative Neo-Calvinist evangelical theologian, separates from the Anglican Church of Canada because he viewed some of its teaching as unscriptural. 2009 Protestant churches celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, holding conferences and seminars around the world. 2010 The World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council unite. The Church of Scotland mutedly acknowledges the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation. 2011 The New International Version (NIV) of the Bible is published in the United States.

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Your Serenity will hardly believe the influence and the power which the principal minister of Geneva, by name Calvin, a Frenchman and a native of Picardy, possesses in this kingdom. He is a man of extraordinary authority, who by his mode of life, his doctrines, and his writings rises superior to all the rest. —From the Venetian ambassador to the Doge of Venice, 1561

The year 2009 saw the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth on 10 July 1509 of the great French reformer John (or Jean, in French) Calvin at Noyon in Picardy. Coming as he did a generation after Martin Luther (1483– 1546), he belonged to the period during which the Reformation required consolidation rather than charismatic inspiration. His training as a lawyer and his intellectual rigor and scholastic thoroughness were precisely what the Reformation movement needed in the early 16th century. His monumental work The Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) provided the expanding Reformed Church with a comprehensive and carefully expounded alternative to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. It was designed to expose their weaknesses and present a view of the Christian faith that was, in every sense of the term, a “reformed” version of the old faith. His theology and ecclesiology, derived from his study of the Old and New Testaments, the early Christian Fathers, and the Greek and Latin classics, provided the foundation upon which the Reformed Churches of Europe were built. While Germany and the Scandinavian countries adopted the Lutheran model of church and state, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Hungary, what is now the Czech Republic, and Scotland created Reformed Churches based, in varying ways, on the model Calvin set up in Geneva. Although England pursued the Reformation ideal in its own way, leading to the formation of the Anglican Communion, the theology of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England were heavily influenced by Calvinism. The Westminster Confession of Faith, recognized as the subordinate standard of the Church of Scotland, is very much a companion document. This fact is

1

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highly significant. As the Reformed tradition found its way into the Englishspeaking world, it provided not only a new theology, but also a socioeconomic system that exercised a powerful influence on the development of the new global economy that was coming into being. Although forms of economic activity that were the precursors of banking existed in medieval times, concepts central to modern banking were born in Geneva. Moneylending at interest became not only permitted under the new system, but also encouraged, with appropriate moral restraints in place. A new ethic inspired the idea that an individual’s daily work could be an act of religious worship. This led indirectly to the practice of saving any surplus income, which in turn enabled banks to support new projects by lending from people’s savings. From these twin ideas, the vision of global economic development came into being. The “Protestant work ethic,” as it came to be known (defined in the work of the German sociologist Max Weber) was one of Calvinism’s contributions to modern civilization. Another political by-product was the idea of checks and balances within the system of civil government, which made it difficult for absolutism to emerge and helped at least indirectly to provide one model for the development of democratic styles of government. Calvinism as a historical tradition has been the subject of much caricature as being rigid, doctrinaire, severe, somber, and hostile to the arts and music. Though austerity and discipline were central to the Calvinist view of the social order, Calvinism is far from the totally negative ideology it has been misrepresented as being. It was a creative force that had enormous influence on the development of many features of modern life often taken for granted. The number of banks in Switzerland alone is testimony to its economic influence. The important role of education and the ideal of community well-being are also central tenets of its social thought. Above all, its impact on the revival of the Christian tradition in Europe affected the entire continent. Five centuries later, when the future of the “Protestant Era” has been questioned by the German-born American theologian, Paul Tillich, discussions of the impact of postmodern thinking on Protestant Christianity continue. Though in some respects, Calvin and his age might seem to have been partly transcended in the present day, their legacy to the Christian church worldwide and to global development, past, present, and future, cannot so easily be set aside. Calvinism remains in many forms embedded in numerous characteristics of the world it helped to shape. The story begins with Calvin himself.

CALVIN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES In one sense, the life of John Calvin seems to have been calm and placid compared to the adventurous life of Martin Luther (1483–1546), who was


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brought before the Diet of Worms (1521) and told to recant, after which he was excommunicated by the pope and put under the ban of the empire. Calvin did, however, live in turbulent times, but of a different order. Most of his life was devoted to establishing a Christian society in Geneva that became a model for church life in the Reformed tradition, with its distinctive view of church–state relations. Calvin was born in the cathedral city of Noyon, where the bishop was also ruler (a prince-bishopric), and in this case, one of the Twelve Peers of France. His family was well connected to the local nobility in the person of Charles de Hangest, a factor that exerted considerable influence on Calvin’s later life. His father, Gerard, had risen from the ranks of artisans and boatmen to that of the newly emerging middle class, in 1481 becoming one of the town’s registrars, and by 1498 a full citizen. He married Jeanne Lefranc, who bore him four sons—Charles, who became a priest, but who died excommunicated in 1537; John; Antoine; and François, who died at an early age—and two daughters, Marie and another whose name is not known. In later life, Marie and Antoine followed their brother John to assist him in Geneva. His mother, respected for her piety, died when he was young. His father, a friend of the bishop, had ambitions for John, who received a chaplaincy to the altar of La Geune in the cathedral when he was 12 years old. In 1527, he became curate of St. Martin-de-Martheville, and later of Pont l’Evêque, the original home of the Calvin family. The acquisition of benefices for children was an accepted means of financing education.

EDUCATION Calvin was educated at the collège of the Capettes in Noyon and thereafter, in 1523, he was sent to Paris to continue his studies. He lodged with an uncle and was tutored by a man he later described as incompetent. He entered the Collège de la Marche, where he learned Latin from Mathurin Cordier, one of the founders of modern pedagogy. From there he moved on to the Collège du Montaigu, known for its orthodoxy and rigid discipline. The principal at the time of Calvin was a man named Tempete, known to students as horrida tempestas on account of his ferocious temperament. Calvin seems, however, to have left not only unaffected, but also with considerable stimulation from some of his mentors, principally Antonio Coronel, a Spaniard, who seems to have impressed him by his teaching of philosophy. The renowned Scottish thinker John Major (known in Latin as Joannes Majoris and Haddingtonus Scotus, 1467–1550), the exponent of nominalism, had rejoined the staff. It is highly probable that Calvin heard Major’s 1528 Lectures on the Four Gospels, which were published in 1529 in the form of


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a commentary designed to repudiate Protestant ideas. Major also lectured on the Four Books of Sentences of the theologian Peter Lombard (ca. 1100– 1160). Calvin quotes from him 100 times in the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Major was not simply a theologian, but a man ahead of his time in advocating the rights of conquered peoples, justification of rebellion against tyranny, and the belief that authority lay within the whole church, not merely with the pope. Calvin also probably acquired his deep knowledge of the early church Fathers at this time, especially Augustine (354–439), whom he quotes extensively as an authority. Calvin’s social life included associations with some of the young progressive thinkers of the day, principal among whom was Nicolas Cop, a son of Guillaume Cop, physician of King Francis I. He was well acquainted with the leading contemporary humanist thinkers. It is probably through these connections that Calvin became acquainted with the writings of Lefévre d’Etaples (ca. 1455–1536), a forerunner of the Protestant movement; Martin Luther, its leader; and Philip Melanchthon, Luther’s associate. In spite of these encounters, there was no indication whatsoever that Calvin would ever join the new movement. Indeed, as he stated in his preface to the Commentary on the Psalms, he was quite obstinately, in his own words, “addicted to the superstitions of the Papacy.” Even as late as 1530, there was no evidence to suggest that he had gone beyond a broad acceptance of some basic tenets of humanism. He was probably more concerned with a taste for good writing than he was interested in a dispute with Rome. Calvin had been intended for the priesthood, but family circumstances intervened. His father was in charge of managing the winding-up of an estate that was not settled to the satisfaction of the Cathedral Chapter. This cooled his relationship with the church, to the extent that his father recommended that he take up the study of law rather than continue his theological studies. The Faculty of Law at Orleans University was the premier school of France. His move there not only freed him from the rigid orthodoxy to which he had been subjected, but permitted him to hear the slightly more liberal views of Pierre de l’Estoile (1546–1611), the most distinguished French jurist of the time. He supplemented his study of law with the study of classical Greek under the tuition of the German scholar Melchior Wolmar (1497–1561), a supporter of the Protestant cause, who also taught Theodore Beza, Calvin’s successor in Geneva. Many of the exponents of humanism remained loyal to the Catholic Church, and although Wolmar was a public exponent of Luther’s ideas, Calvin was not sufficiently moved to join the Reformed cause. However, Florimond de Raemond (1540–1601), a Catholic historian and a contemporary of Calvin, attributed Calvin’s conversion in part to the influence of Wolmar. After Orleans, Calvin attended the University of Bourges,


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which he had to leave abruptly upon hearing of the seriousness of his father’s condition prior to his death in 1531. It is thought that around this time Calvin began to reflect seriously on the idea of church reform.

CONVERSION TO PROTESTANTISM One line of argument that has been pursued to explain Calvin’s conversion to the Protestant cause, besides the influence of Wolmar, relates to the circumstances surrounding his father’s death. He had been excommunicated in 1529 because of his dispute with the Cathedral Chapter of Noyon. Charles, his brother, had also been excommunicated while trying to have the excommunication rescinded. The death of his father and his treatment by the church, though probably not a simple direct cause of Calvin’s conversion, may have contributed to his distaste for the behavior of the church authorities and his gradual move away from Catholicism. Calvin returned to Paris and entered the new collège founded by King Francis I in imitation of the trilingual collège established in Louvain in 1518. It was highly regarded and became the forerunner of the great Collège de France. It also enabled Calvin to commence the study of Hebrew. He spent the winter of 1531 writing his commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia, published in April 1532, which established his reputation as a humanist thinker of considerable caliber. Thereafter, he appears to have returned to Orleans to complete his degree in law. It was not until at least 1533 that there was any clear sign that he was considering separating himself from the church. A significant event took place on All Saints’ Day in 1533 when Nicolas Cop, the new rector of the University of Paris, gave a lecture in which he supported Luther’s view of justification by faith. It has been argued by some that Calvin prepared the draft of the lecture. At any rate, the severe reaction that followed forced both Calvin and Cop to flee, suggesting that Calvin had now become identified with the cause of reform. By 1534, he had signed away his benefices at Noyon. On this basis, it has been suggested that Calvin became committed to reform between 1533 and 1534. In the absence of any detailed explanation by Calvin himself, the dating can only be a matter of speculation. One recent scholar, Alexander Ganoczy (professor emeritus of Würzburg University) has pointed out that the scholastic desire for dating a conversion was apparently not a concern of Calvin himself. There was no sense of suddenness or a dramatic experience in his life similar to that of Luther. “Clearly, the young Calvin was more concerned about his gradually discovered calling (vocatio) to reform the church than about a confessional change in the individual in the modern sense of the concept.”1


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The Affair of the Placards in October 1534 might be seen as another landmark incident that forced Calvin to leave the city and make for safety. He chose Basel, which was one of Europe’s chief intellectual centers, famous for its printers as well as for the presence of Erasmus, the leading classical humanist of his day. Calvin’s move to the cause of reform also meant that he had to make a break with the humanism he had so much respected. He had become aware of the gap between the philosophy of the classical age and the Christian faith. Humanism was predicated upon the greatness of human nature, which he now saw as corrupted by sin and consequently alienated from God, a view adequately supported by Augustine. Perhaps in this internal revolution, rather than in any event of religious enlightenment, is to be found the mechanism of Calvin’s “conversion.” In Basel he was able to have the first edition of the Institutes published in 1536, although the preface is dated 23 August 1535. After the proofreading and editing were completed, he resolved to visit the Duchess of Ferrara in Italy, presumably because she had opened her doors to Protestant refugees. Following a brief stay in Italy, he decided to return to Basel. He even went to Paris to meet his brother Antoine and his sister Marie, whom he persuaded to join him with the intention of going to Strasbourg. The renewal of conflict between Francis I and Emperor Charles V made the normal route unsafe. To avoid danger, he took a detour through Geneva, where he met Guillaume Farel, the central figure of the Reformed faith in Geneva that he had established along with his colleague, the “forgotten Reformer” Pierre Viret. But with a strong Catholic party persisting, the Reformed cause was not yet secure. Farel asked Calvin to join them. Calvin noted: “Circumstances had made Farel the spiritual leader of Geneva. Nothing was done there in spite of him or without him.” He was eventually persuaded to accept a call (vocatio) to work with Farel in Geneva. Geneva in Calvin’s day was very different from the present city. It was considerably smaller, in military terms geopolitically disadvantaged by location, was part of France, and did not even have a border with Switzerland. It did have a history as a relatively well-off market town, partly because of its location at the meeting of the River Rhone with Lake Geneva, which made it useful as a transportation point. It was also on the trade axis between the Netherlands and Italy. The French government, however, gradually came to favor Lyon over Geneva because of its policy toward Italy. As a consequence, Geneva had begun slipping into economic oblivion when Calvin arrived. In matters of government, it was an imperial free city under the control of a prince-bishop who was in turn a vassal of the house of Savoy. The princebishop and the canons of the cathedral had overall political and economic


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control of the city’s affairs. The citizens elected a senate that had the power to protect the rights granted to the city in the 14th century. To complicate matters, the Duke of Savoy elected to move to Geneva in the period 1523 to 1524 to take direct control over its affairs. This pleased none of the groups that hitherto had been involved in the government of Geneva. Three rival factions emerged. The smallest group supported the duke. A slightly larger group supported the prince-bishop. The majority preferred independence from France, to be followed by membership in the Swiss Confederation. The general decline of the economy, plus the unsecured borders, had made this option extremely attractive, although it took Geneva until 1815 to finally become a part of the Helvetic Confederation. The entire political and religious system collapsed when Bern decided to attack Geneva. The prince-bishop and the canons speedily departed, and in the midst of this situation, the city decided to become Protestant. Catholicism became identified with the House of Savoy and the French influence, whereas Protestantism became linked to the image of a free and sovereign Geneva. In Calvin’s time, however, Geneva was sandwiched between French power and Bern’s ambition. Consequently, it became the classic buffer state between two larger rivals, and it was to this precariously positioned city that Calvin came in 1535.

FIRST PERIOD IN GENEVA (1535–1538) Far from entering a Protestant stronghold, Calvin came to a city that was insecure and divided, but the majority of whose residents believed that the Protestant Reformation was desirable and that it would in addition serve the best interests of Genevan patriotism. Calvin did enjoy strong support, but it came from what was in practical terms simply a strong-willed minority. Scholars have generally judged that Calvin’s severity toward the Anabaptists and the remnant of Catholic power was what undermined him and Farel and led to their dismissal. Though there may be some truth in this claim, the underlying political reality of the situation made it difficult for the city to focus on anything other than survival. Bern’s support was needed to keep France at bay. But neither did Geneva wish to become an appendage of Bern in order to achieve this situation. An accommodation was reached in 1538 that acceded to all of Bern’s demands on Geneva, short of annexation itself. Changes were consequently required in state and church, and though Calvin and Farel were not overly concerned about the content of the changes, they judged the manner in which Geneva had accommodated Bern to be as


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dangerous as it was undesirable. It should also be remembered that the Reformation in Bern was the work of three Protestant ministers, Sebastian Meyer, Berthold Haller, and Francis Kolb, all of whom were influenced by Ulrich Zwingli, minister of the Grossmünster in Zurich. This was a fact of enormous significance, given Calvin’s disagreement with Zwingli and his colleagues on some basic issues, particularly over the understanding of the Lord’s Supper. Calvin was appointed initially as a reader in Holy Scripture to the Church in Geneva, which made him an academic first before becoming a minister. His stay, however, was to be brief, and by 1538 he was once again on his travels. The most likely reason that Calvin and Farel were forced to leave was less their view of the political problem than the simple reality that the civic leaders were not ready to accept Calvin’s vision for the city. His reputation was also, as yet, still in the making. His commentary on the De Clementia of Seneca, the Roman Stoic, was far removed from the serious realities confronting Geneva. The first (Latin) edition of the Institutes had come out in 1536, but had not yet made the impact that subsequent editions were to have. There was no agreement among the ministers of Geneva as to how the relationship with Bern should be handled. Calvin and Farel opposed a policy of simple appeasement. Expressing this position was considered to be interfering in matters outside their concern, and for this they were ordered to leave the city. Antoine Marcourt, who was believed to be behind the notorious Affaires des Placards (1534), which had led to government persecution of French Protestants, was one of the ministers appointed to replace Calvin and Farel. Calvin left and traveled through Switzerland to Strasbourg. Of the event, Calvin wrote later to Bullinger: “After we had been expelled, the audacity of Satan and his acolytes was seen to increase in Geneva.”

THE STRASBOURG MINISTRY TO FRENCH REFUGEES (1538–1541) After the humiliation in which he and Farel were escorted to the border of Geneva to ensure their departure, Calvin resolved to return to Basel to resume his studies and writing. Farel was called back to Neuchatel, where he remained for the rest of his life, except for a short visit to Strasbourg. Calvin was next approached by the leading ministers of Strasbourg, who included Martin Bucer (1519–1605), whom he had met at the Synod of Bern (1536), to consider becoming minister to the French Protestant refugees in the city. In a response to an old friend, Louis du Tillet, who had traveled with him on some of his journeys and who subsequently rejoined the Catholic Church, Calvin made his intentions clear: “I shall retire to Basel, waiting for what the Lord wills to do with me. It is not because of the folk of this town that I am


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not their guest. . . . I fear above all things a re-entry into the responsibilities from which I have been delivered, considering the perplexities I had when I was enmeshed therein.”2 The persistence of Martin Bucer in pressing Calvin succeeded. In a famous letter, he cited the case of the Old Testament prophet Jonah, who was commanded to preach to the people of Nineveh, but to his shame refused and ran away, only to be swallowed by a great sea creature, which threw him back onto the dry land where he had started. Calvin yielded and made his way to Strasbourg. In September 1538, he began preaching at the Church of St. Nicolasdes-Ondes and then in the Chapel of the Penitents of St. Magdalene. The French-speaking parish he formed in Strasbourg became the model for what he was later to create in Geneva. He took from the liturgies, for example, some basic themes such as the prayer of thanksgiving used at the celebration of Holy Communion and the marriage service. In time they became part of the Genevan Service Book used by John Knox. Maxwell’s edition gives the French and old English translations in parallel columns, demonstrating how heavily dependent the English language liturgies of the Reformation were upon Calvin.3 From there, the Genevan Service Book went to Scotland and to many of the Reformed and Presbyterian churches that grew from it. The use of the psalms for congregational singing was already instituted in Strasbourg, and Calvin began rendering the psalms into French. Though matters of discipline were reserved for the magistrates, he did attempt to require those attending Holy Communion to show that they were spiritually prepared, and he required all children to learn the catechism so that they would acquire the necessary religious knowledge to receive the sacrament. Calvin was also able to continue his research and teaching after he had been invited to become professor of exegesis at the new collège of Sturm. He began with the Gospel according to St. John, followed by the two Pauline letters to the Corinthians. He published his famous lectures on the Epistle to the Romans in 1539 to 1540, the first of a series of expository texts. He also published a new and expanded edition of the Institutes (August 1539), which transformed the work from being a verbose catechism into a powerful piece of dogmatic theology. The period in Strasbourg seems to have been significant in the development both of Calvin’s thought and his approach to the formation of the Reformed Church. He seemed happy to settle in Strasbourg, and indeed received citizenship on 29 July 1539. One highly significant personal event took place while Calvin was in Strasbourg. He was always deeply engrossed in his work, but by the age of 30 had come to be in need of support. He would have preferred to remain unmarried, but Bucer intervened and insisted that he should take a wife, which he agreed to do in order to devote more time to his work and less to daily duties, a view


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in keeping with the mores of the period. In 1540, he was married to Idelette de Bure, the young widow of a former Anabaptist who had been converted and at whose funeral Calvin had presided. Farel traveled to bless the wedding. Idelette had two children from her previous marriage. Surviving portraits suggest that she was elegant and sensitive, which one may presume Calvin would have considered necessary in a wife. After their removal to Geneva, sadly for Calvin, Idelette died in 1549, and their one son died in infancy. Calvin appeared to have developed a genuinely close relationship with Idelette, and her death deprived him of the best companion of his life, as he wrote of her. She was a true helper in the work of his office. The loss of his son also deeply saddened him. Meanwhile, circumstances had changed in Geneva, and though the political situation was becoming calmer, the church remained in considerable turmoil. A party known as the Guillermins was formed, using Farel’s first name, and led by those who had not voted in favor of dismissing Calvin. They were successful in persuading their opponents that the city was in danger of lapsing into pre-Reformation disorder, and that the only solution was to recall Calvin. On 24 October 1540, an official party went to Strasbourg with the duty of inviting Calvin back to Geneva. Farel wrote to encourage him to accept, to which Calvin replied: “I would prefer a hundred other deaths to that cross, on which I should have to die a thousand times a day.”4 Many things went through his mind. He did not want to be a pawn in the struggle between the Guillermins and Bern, and he preferred the intellectual company of Bucer in Strasbourg. He agreed to a short visit with his Strasbourg colleagues, but demanded as a condition that Bern agree to his return visit. On 2 September 1541, Calvin returned to Geneva, taking 11 days to make the journey. He expected to remain for a few weeks or at most for a few months. He had no sense that Geneva would be the culmination of his life’s work, to create a bastion of Reformed Christian culture that would have an influence out of all proportion to its size and far beyond its time.

THE SECOND PERIOD IN GENEVA (1541–1550) Calvin hoped to implement in Geneva some of the principles he had employed in Strasbourg. Of his hopes and their results, François Wendel writes: “The Church of Geneva as he left it at his death was in fact his personal work: that is true not only of the Genevan Church, but of all the Calvinist Churches of France, of the Low Countries, of Northern Germany and of Scotland. Rarely has it been given to one man to exercise so wide and so enduring an influence as Calvin’s has been in this domain.”5


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Calvin returned to a welcome in Geneva on 13 September 1541 and took up residence in the Rue des Chanoines in a house he occupied until his death. The principal impact he had was the consolidation of the Reformation by systematizing worship, doctrine, and order in the church. His work could be divided broadly into two main areas of activity. He had to create a system of ordered rules and regulations for the church in Geneva, and simultaneously, he had to produce the founding principles of a constitution for the republic. Both were fundamental tasks that shaped Geneva’s future. It was transformed from being a prince-bishopric into an independent republic. Between 1541 and 1546, he attacked the problem of the church in two ways. First, he recruited for Geneva an outstanding group of ministers who were well-educated and socially distinguished refugee ministers from France. He also handpicked a group of laypeople to be elders who would join the ministers on the Consistory that was created to administer the affairs of the church. Second, he designed the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of 1541 to be radical in extent, but conservative in character. He identified four orders in the church: “There are four orders of offices that our Lord instituted for the government of his Church: first the pastors, then the teachers, after them the elders, and fourthly the deacons. Therefore if we would have the Church well ordered and maintain it in its entirety we must observe that form of rule.” The ministers (pastors) were the principal office-bearers, but they had to be carefully examined before selection. The teachers, or doctors, were to be responsible for education from childhood to the theological training for the ministry. The deacons were to work in the already existing social service framework that the city had created, visiting the sick and those in prison and distributing the poor relief. Leading laymen were chosen to become elders. The implementation of these offices and the changes they involved was gradual and often difficult. The Venerable Company of Pastors met weekly to discuss routine concerns, for general discussion, and to provide a support role for the Genevan national synod. The Consistory was a formal ecclesiastical court that governed local church affairs. However, education remained under city control, a factor that delayed the setting up of the academy for higher education until 1599. Poor relief was eventually handled by the hospital, which became a model for other Calvinist societies in Europe. Calvin also succeeded in removing control of the church from the magistrates by identifying spiritual matters that he was able to claim as lying within the domain of religion. He was clear that the final determination of justice lay with the magistrates. The closing section of the Ordinances states that “the ministers have no civil jurisdiction and use none but the spiritual sword of the Word of God as St. Paul empowers them.”


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In spite of some ambiguities in the wording of the Ordinances, Calvin had managed to make a distinction between civil and ecclesiastical power that had been previously united in the prince-bishopric structure. This was the beginning of the church–state distinction that featured so widely in the 18th century. Worship and liturgy were reformed according to a 1542 text entitled Form of Ecclesiastical Prayers and Hymns, which was similar to the work of Martin Bucer and to what Calvin had himself used in Strasbourg. Calvin also took the religious education of children very seriously, and in 1542 he produced a catechism to that end. Parents were obliged to send their children to church on Sundays for religious instruction. Only after being able to explain the basic doctrines of the church could they be admitted to Holy Communion. The principal concerns that occupied Calvin’s mind during the early years after his return were the order of the church and managing its survival as well as strengthening its effectiveness. Principal among his problems was establishing the importance of the office of elder in dealing with the care of souls. The Magistracy of Geneva, however, saw the elders as potential rivals for power and circumscribed their authority in various ways. The outcome was that the eldership sat uneasily between its ecclesiastical role and its civil status as an adjunct to the judicial order. Calvin reluctantly accepted this situation. In his view, the church had complete control within the ecclesiastical realm, but looked to the Christian Magistracy for its protection. Although in detail there remained problems, the relationship between church and state was clarified theoretically by each having a well-defined domain. The year 1544 was significant because a treaty with Bern ended a long period of conflict and uncertainty, and the change of mood led to a general amnesty that permitted those in political exile to return to Geneva. From that time onward, Calvin devoted a lot of time to writing. He produced a lengthy essay that was critical of the views of Albert Pighius, a Catholic theologian, on freedom of the will. He also wrote a commentary on the Letter of Jude and worked on a new Latin edition of the Institutes. He also produced several essays against the Nicodemians, along with other polemical texts. There was, however, a gradual movement from writing confrontational essays to actual conflicts with individuals, often on minor points. Though some of his opponents did not fully understand Calvin’s position, he did demonstrate a dogmatism born of both his belief that he had been entrusted with a divine mission and of his own aristocratic temperament. A case in point was that of Sebastian Castellion (1515–1563), who had been influenced by Calvin’s work in Strasbourg. In 1543, he asked to be admitted as a minister in Geneva. Disagreement over the statement in the Apostles’ Creed that Christ had descended into hell led to Calvin rejecting him as both


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minister and teacher. In May 1544, matters came to a head when Castellion, a believer in moderation and tolerance, attacked the ministers of Geneva, as a result of which he was forced to leave the city. This was followed by the humiliation in 1546 of a member of the Council, Pierre Ameaux, who was forced to walk around Geneva wearing only his shirt and carrying a torch, to seek God’s mercy. A rural minister who voiced an objection to his treatment was deprived of his living. The 17th century was a long way from understanding the concept of toleration. Perhaps the most dramatic issue prior to the damaging controversies of 1551 to 1554 was the conflict between the Consistory and two of the most distinguished families of Geneva, the Perrins and the Favres. Both families had strongly supported Calvin’s return, but grew to have reservations about the seemingly inquisitorial style of the Consistory. When the Consistory demanded that François Favre appear before it, Ami Perrin questioned the legitimacy of the Consistory, a challenge that in turn created serious concern. While Perrin was in France on a diplomatic mission, and although the Council supported Calvin, yet another member of the old Genevan families, Jaques Gruet, generated a new crisis. He was found to have in his possession some documents deemed to be seditious. One was a draft petition to the Council against the Consistory, and with it was a letter to the king of France, requesting him to restore order in Geneva. The Magistrates judged that these were evidence of a plot and had him tortured. Nothing was revealed, and Gruet was beheaded. Neither Calvin nor the Consistory were involved in the proceedings, but it is clear that Calvin’s view of Gruet was accepted by the Council. Perrin finally returned in September 1547, now an agent of the king of France, which further complicated the situation. Though the details of the intrigues are beyond the scope of this discussion, one factor did help to redress the balance in Calvin’s favor. The intense persecution of Protestants in France led to the influx of more and more refugees. Although they were not welcomed by the old Genevans, the result was more support for Calvin. By 1549, Théodore Beza had arrived as professor of Greek, eventually becoming his successor. It was against this background that the most serious controversies involving Calvin took place in Geneva. Both affected his reputation, although they were quite different in character.

THE CONTROVERSIES OF 1551–1554 The first involved Jérome Bolsec (?–ca. 1584), an ex-Carmelite monk who had been converted to Protestantism in 1545. He had taken refuge at the court of Renée, Duchess of Ferrara, in Italy, who was sympathetic toward


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Protestantism. There he married, became a physician, and then established a practice at Veigy, near Geneva, around 1550. He was a follower of Calvin’s theology, except on one doctrine, namely predestination. In 1551, at a public conference on religious issues, a weekly event in Geneva held on Fridays, he interrupted Jean de Saint André, who was speaking on predestination, and argued that Calvin’s doctrine was quite wrong. Bolsec was arrested, and after a complicated trial, through Calvin’s influence, was banished from Geneva, although some felt a more severe penalty was merited. He was driven out of the Bernese region of Thomon in 1555, although he had gone there to retire. He went thereafter to Paris and requested admission as a minister of the Reformed Church. But his opinions were not found sufficiently orthodox and, when asked for a declaration of faith, he declined to offer one. He went next to Lausanne around 1563, but as the signing of the Confession of Bern was made a condition of his residence there, he preferred to return to France. Shortly after this, he recanted his errors and was readmitted to the Catholic Church, completing what was indeed a strange circular pilgrimage. Bolsec took revenge on Calvin, however, by spreading every imaginable and degrading rumor. The treatment Calvin received from Bolsec was thought too light by some of Calvin’s critics, but too severe by others. Consequently, the lines between Calvin’s friends and foes hardened over the matter. Following this incident and the victory in the public elections by the antiCalvinist factions, the more contentious case of Michael Servetus took place. Servetus was born in Aragon in 1511, but nothing is known of him until he appeared in Strasbourg and Basel in 1531, disputing with the Reformed leadership about the relation between the divine Word and the historical Jesus. He had questioned the right of the church or the civil government to persecute heretics and added to his problems with the authorities the publication of De Trinitatis Erroribus and Dialogi de Trinitate. In these works, he explicitly rejected the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity and advocated a view that was similar to the theology that upheld “the monarchy of God” against the Logos theology of the early church, advocated particularly by Justin Martyr (113–165), which held the Logos to be subordinate to God. He wished to argue that the early church had distorted Christianity, as did the Roman Church and the Reformed Church after it. He composed a lengthy and detailed work entitled Christianismi Restitutio, which was intended to return Christianity to its purest form. He engaged in some correspondence with Calvin, after sending some of his manuscript to Calvin at the request of his publisher, who wanted an imprimatur before printing it. Calvin returned his pages with detailed corrections, and Servetus replied by sending a copy of the Institutes filled with annotations.


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Servetus had gone to live in Vienne and, as physician to the archbishop, he wrote himself into medical history by discovering the circulation of blood in the human body. Those hostile to him charged him with heresy, and he was arrested, condemned, and sentenced to death as a heretic by the Inquisition in Vienne. He managed to escape from prison and disappeared, with the intention of asking for asylum in Naples. Unwisely, he chose a route via Geneva in 1553, where he was promptly arrested. Calvin was forced to comply with the Geneva law that required that anyone bringing an accusation against another had also to surrender to the authorities. If the charges were proved false, he would suffer an appropriate penalty. He had one of his juniors lodge the complaint and be arrested. The Council was unhappy with the attitude of Servetus, released Calvin’s colleague, and decided to prosecute Servetus in its own name. At this point, Calvin was forced to step back. The Council asked for the opinions of the other Protestant cantons. While Geneva was awaiting replies, the ecclesiastical authorities of Vienne demanded the extradition of Servetus. The Geneva Council refused and continued its prosecution. Servetus, according to some records, behaved in such an arrogant manner that he severely angered the Council. He was invited to return to Vienne and face the Inquisition there, an offer he declined. After further discussion, he was condemned, sentenced, and burned alive on 27 October 1553. The clergy asked that he be strangled before the burning, but the sentence was carried out without mercy. There was now a division of opinion between those who felt that the execution was necessary for the credibility of the Reformed city and those who had commercial links with France and wanted to distance Geneva from the heresy trials that had taken place in France.

THE FINAL PERIOD (1555–1564) The final period of Calvin’s life in Geneva was lived out against the background of the Servetus controversy and its aftermath in the city. Anti-French feelings were growing. The French refugees became the object of hostility, and rioting ensued. The year 1555 was decisive. The political situation also became complicated when the Perrinistes, who were part of the pro-Calvin Guillermin faction of 1538–1542, began advocating Geneva membership in the Swiss Confederation. The proposal was opposed by the Company of Pastors, who feared that it would lead to the influence of Zwingli in Geneva. In the next elections, the Perrinistes lost their overall majority in the Senate. They attempted a coup by means of riots and were consequently regarded as traitors. They were arrested or forced to flee, and their estates were appropriated


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by the state. Thirty percent of the ruling class had left the city, and the anger of the Swiss was considerable. However, in spite of the chaos, by 1568, Geneva had become stable, its church order clearly established, and the proposal to join the Swiss Confederation had been abandoned. By1559, the Council had agreed to use the property taken from the Perrinistes to found the Academy of Geneva, as Calvin had wished. Calvin’s vision was not completely realized, but his achievements were substantial. He had created a functioning Consistory, a well-qualified Company of Pastors, a public education system dominated by the ministers of Geneva, and an academy for training ministers. Poor relief, however, remained with the city authorities. Calvin’s health gradually began to fail because of the stress and strain of the years of struggle. Theodore Beza, expelled from Strasbourg, arrived as professor of Greek at the academy and eventually succeeded Calvin as leader. Calvin preached for the last time on 6 February 1564. In March, the Council announced public prayers for him. On 27 April, the Council members visited him, and on 28 April, he said farewell to the ministers of Geneva. Farel made a hasty journey from Neuchatel to see him. Calvin died on 27 May 1564, and after briefly lying in state, he was buried on Sunday, 28 May, in the public cemetery in an unmarked grave, as he had requested.

FROM CALVIN TO CALVINISM One of the most difficult developments to understand is the relationship between Calvin himself and the historical entity “Calvinism” to which his name has been attached. By the beginning of the 16th century, it was obvious that Lutherans, particularly Joachim Westphal (1510–1574), had disputes with Calvin that showed how far apart they were in some areas of doctrine and practice relating to the sacraments. Westphal is credited with coining the term “Calvinism” to distinguish Lutheran views from those of Calvin. However, some Reformed Church theologians had questions and reservations about aspects of Calvin’s theology. The Five Point Calvinism that resolved the Arminian Controversy at the Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619) became the norm of orthodox Calvinism in the Netherlands. The five articles were justified from the Bible and the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvinism based on Calvin had thus been theologically defined. However, the more liberal view of election held by Arminians, which stressed God’s love of humanity, survived in the Remonstrant Church of the Netherlands. The overall consequence was that orthodox views and dissident views alike became elements of the tradition that came to be referred to as “Calvinism.”


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They were not viewed as a contrast between orthodoxy and heresy, so much as a dispute within “Calvinism.” At this stage, it might be useful to outline briefly the roots from which Calvin’s thought, and de facto the Calvinism of later days, grew. By looking at these, the subsequent debates become slightly more intelligible. The first point to note is that Calvin was heavily immersed in the Greco– Roman inheritance. He began as a classical humanist, but gradually discovered a new view of the Christian faith that he also found compatible with some doctrines of Augustine, whose thought was an expression of the antinomy between classical and Christian. In bridging the medieval and modern, Calvin carried some of Augustine’s complexity, perhaps less so than Luther, but nevertheless enough to be torn between more than the two worlds Augustine knew, but in neither of which he seemed completely at home. He was certain of two things only, the sovereignty of God and the ideal of the One Holy Catholic Church. In its Roman form, it had become corrupt, but its catholicity had to be preserved. That principle became a guiding policy of all the Reformed Churches that became “Calvinist.” They all declared themselves to be part of the one universal church. The second point is that the Renaissance/Reformation era, which generated instability and uncertainty, must have exerted its unique pressures on Calvin. It was a period of unprecedented change that simultaneously saw the revival of classicism and the discovery of new continents, the challenge of new science, and a massive transformation in the human psyche from a mode of obedience to one of questioning everything in the world. These macro-level phenomena aside, Calvin, whose goal in early life was to be a scholar, found himself dealing with micro social and political realities in the city of Geneva that exhausted him with their intensity. To this may be added the fact that the future of the Reformed movement itself was still uncertain. Zwinglians and Anabaptists threatened the integrity of the movement. A union with Lutherans was beyond possibility, and the Roman Catholic Church was demonstrating both resilience and resistance in the face of change. Against such a background, it is not surprising that Calvin looked for ideas that offered certainty and assurance and that people could fall back on in their moments of anxiety. This facet of Calvin’s thought became an important distinguishing mark of all future forms of Calvinism Finally, as a result of these two elements interacting, Calvinism became an extremely complex structure, embodying theology, ecclesiology, a range of social ideals, and even political values. It is from the crucible of this mixture that the secular impact of Calvinism as a movement gradually emerged. When this was combined with the rise of middle-class commercial culture, it assisted in the process of the economic development that in turn led to


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massive social, political, and economic change. How this came about opens up the subject of how Calvinism spread historically and the kinds of influence that developed from it.

THE SPREAD AND INFLUENCE OF CALVINISM Although Calvinism was limited to a small number of regions, they became channels that released it into the wider world. Within Europe, its early spread into Poland, Hungary, and the Czech region was effectively limited by the impact of the Counter-Reformation after the Council of Trent (1545–1563). It was all but exterminated in France, and although it survived in the Swiss Confederation, it did not travel from there because Switzerland was hardly equipped to create a global empire. While Calvinism did exist in Germany, it was the Lutheran tradition of north Europe that subsequently traveled abroad. It was therefore with the seafaring and trading nations that Calvinism found its way out of Europe and into the expanding new world that was being discovered. Two principal routes made this possible. One was through the Dutch, who traveled to South Africa and to Southeast Asia. The Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa followed the pattern in Holland but also burdened itself with the doctrine of apartheid until 1990. The Dutch presence extended to Indonesia and some surrounding areas, where it eventually encountered Catholic missions dispatched as part of the program by the Vatican to replace the lost provinces of Europe with new territories in the east. The Dutch were, for a long time, the only nation permitted to trade with Japan, albeit in a very limited way. One incident that reflected the conflict in Europe occurred when the Edo period (1616–1868) government persuaded the Dutch traders in Japan to bombard Shimabara Castle in 1638 on the grounds that it was harboring a Catholic rebellion. The Dutch presence continued in other parts of Asia, notably Indonesia, and remains to the present. By far the most influential route came into being when Calvinism was translated into the English-speaking world. In this respect, Scotland was the pivotal point, and John Knox was the key figure. He rendered Calvinism into the new emerging postmedieval culture of Scotland and England. From there it made its way round the world, first across the Atlantic to the New England colonies, and then it traveled with the expansion of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the era of dominant Western expansion has now come to an end, the influence of Calvinism still lingers. The question of why Calvinism is still a controversial subject of discussion after five centuries is one obvious starting point for reflection. Generally, two types of answers have been put


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forward. The first, from theologians, is simply that Calvin himself was one of the finest religious thinkers that the Christian church has ever produced. Pope Pius XII referred to Karl Barth as the greatest living theologian since Thomas Aquinas. On the basis of his influence on Barth alone, Calvin’s rank in the hierarchy of theologians would seem assured. But there is also a nontheological answer that is based on the observation of his influence outside the province of religion. In describing Calvin’s heritage, R. Ward Holder commented: “Calvin gave practical guides to the formation of Christian communities which, even when pushed into the subconscious of the later society, exert powerful influences . . . that impact must be considered even more influential than his theology proper.”6 Though Calvin may be looked upon as a minister, a theologian, a reformer, a preacher, and an expositor whose influence gave rise to a tradition of the Christian church known as Calvinism, some of his ideas can also be seen as having exerted a powerful influence on the development of Western culture beyond the province of religion. New forces emerged that were a part of the transformation from medieval to modern civilization and beyond to many of the concepts that supported the modernization and economic development of nation-states from the 19th century onward. This could be called a secular form of Calvinism. A typical example of Holder’s thesis is found in the very clearly Calvinist motto of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Glasgow grew from being a small village on the banks of the Molendinar burn that ran past the cathedral of St. Mungo into a vast commercial and industrial city on the River Clyde, known in the 19th century as the “Second City of the Empire” (after London). Its motto was and remains, “Lord let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of thy Word and the praising of thy Name.” Calvin himself could not have improved on that formula. The theology and its moral implications led indirectly to enormous social change. Though all of it cannot be attributed simpliciter to Calvinism, there is a strong case to be made that its influence played a major part in creating many of the conditions that made these developments possible. This influence can be analyzed into three strands. First is its theological influence, already noted. Second is its socioeconomic impact, alluded to by Holder. The third influence, which brings the first two together, is its contribution to the growing process of the secularization of Western culture. The theological impact of Calvin has been real and lasting to a degree that few theological trends have been able to match. The Institutes of the Christian Religion has justifiably been called “a life’s work in progress” because of the way in which it evolved. At each stage or new edition, Calvin incorporated fresh definitions and arguments into the process of refining the Reformed position on issues as they arose in his experience. One reason his reputation


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has survived is that he consolidated the basic insights of the Reformation and transformed what was for Luther a “protest” into a theological and ecclesiastical alternative to the Roman Catholic version of Christianity. It may be said with justification that the Reformation became strongest wherever the basic insights of Calvin were securely embedded. Pre-Reformation movements such as the Hussites and the Waldensians eventually joined the mainstream of the Calvinist tradition, because it added a dimension of solidarity and fullness of thought that enhanced both their doctrinal position and their ecclesiastical standing. Many of Calvin’s theological doctrines survived historically in the numerous confessions of faith that were written at the time, notably the Scots’ Confession of 1560 and the Westminster Confession of 1643, the latter of which became a doctrinal standard for most of the Reformed and subsequently Presbyterian churches that grew up around the world. However, there is also another sense in which the theology of Calvin survived, and that was in the academic task of theology itself as a discipline that had as its objective the systematic exposition and defense of the basic articles of the Christian faith. Even in the face of a declining interest in religion, Calvinism survived. The Thirty Years’ War that ended in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia became a starting point for questioning the credibility of institutional religion. The Deist Controversy was a reaction to the kind of doctrinal disputes that were perceived to be the by-product of religion based on revelation. In keeping with the mood of the Enlightenment, a search began for religion that was consistent with the insights of reason. The theological position of Calvin obviously did not fit the preferred paradigm. Under the influence of the Enlightenment, the Calvinism that did survive was moderate and far removed from the evangelical zeal associated with Calvin and his immediate successors. By the early to mid-18th century, its appeal had waned to the extent that the mood in British society had become, according to records of the time, spiritually stagnant. In North America, by the mid-18th century the Great Awakening had started, and news of it began to reach Great Britain. The New England revival was in part due to the influence of Scots emigrants, who modeled their great outdoor gatherings on the traditional pattern of several parishes sharing communion together over a period of several days. The momentum from this movement had an enormous impact on the revival of older forms of evangelical theology that ultimately led to a revived interest in Calvin on both sides of the Atlantic. In England, a similar revival started by the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, had given birth to the Methodist movement, although its basic beliefs were close to an Arminian type of Calvinism. George Whitefield, when in Scotland, was invited to visit the district of Cambuslang on


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the fringe of Glasgow by a local minister who had an interest in the Calvinist theology of conversion. From his preaching, a famous revival blossomed. Once again, Calvin’s theology became an object of interest in both churches and universities. The academic dimension of Calvinism continued in the United States through thinkers like Jonathan Edwards and subsequent theologians, who revived the serious study of Calvin. Louis Berkhof of the Reformed Church of America, B. B. Warfield of Princeton, and Lewis Ford Battles, the translator of Calvin’s works, were the forerunners of recent scholars such as John Hesselink, John Piper, or Alister E. McGrath. In the early 20th century United States, the highly regarded Reinhold Niebuhr, who was a conservative Calvinist at heart, exerted considerable influence on the White House because of his uncompromising critique of communism, derived from his view of original sin. In continental Europe also, the ideas of Calvinism found new expressions. In the 18th century, Friedrich Schleiermacher opened a new avenue of discussion by bringing religious experience back into prominence. Albert Ritschl, although technically a Lutheran, put forth what is more like a Calvinist proposition, namely that faith is irreducible to any other set of concepts, although his overall conclusion would not have found favor with Calvin. In the early 20th century, Karl Barth developed his Theology of the Word, or dialectical theology as it became known, which was in fact a powerful type of conservative neo-orthodox Calvinism. It helped the Confessing Church of Germany to define its position during its struggle against Nazism. Though theology never regained its status as queen of the sciences, even Barth’s critics noted that he had made theology once more a credible discipline. It would be fair to say that the theological influence of Calvinism remained strong at least until the end of World War II. The second, but nontheological, line of Calvinism’s influence may be traced from the work ethic held by the early reformers and its socioeconomic consequences. A clear principle was enunciated that no one should be permitted to be idle. If to this is added the idea that work can be an act that glorifies God, then it takes on heightened significance. If there is practical recognition that times of plenty may be followed by times of need, the ideal of saving to cope with difficult times and to invest in good times, can be seen as a moral virtue. Max Weber pointed out that the virtue of saving was not a form of greed that can be found in any society at any time. It was accumulation of wealth for a purpose. This was refined into the idea of a Protestant work ethic, to which some aspects of economic development have been attributed. This in turn coincided with the rise of a new middle class of merchants and professionals in various occupations, of which Calvin’s own father was part. The


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expansion of this social and economic class and the growth of the Reformed tradition seem intimately connected. The emerging entrepreneurial spirit that saw potential in the New World led to the formation first of the Bank of England in 1694 by a Scot, William Paterson, who founded the Bank of Scotland in 1695. The Royal Bank of Scotland followed in 1727, along with numerous other banks and financial houses that assisted in financing development within the British Empire and North America after 1707. Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776) can be viewed as an exercise in explaining these developments by organizing them into a rational framework. The degree to which what the German sociologist Max Weber designated as the “Protestant work ethic” had grown powerfully in the United States is underlined by the fact that his best examples come from the advice given to a young tradesman by Benjamin Franklin. While this was visible in Europe, and to a great extent in England and Scotland, it was in North America that the widest range of Calvinism’s influence is to be seen at work. Aside from Benjamin Franklin, the impact of Calvinism in North America affected everything from its economy, to its Declaration of Independence in 1776, to the Constitution that became law after the War of Independence. It is an interesting footnote to the period that the merchants and council of the city of Glasgow in Scotland, a major center for the import of North American tea and tobacco in particular, sided with the colonists’ slogan “No taxation without representation.” The growth and influence of Calvinism seem to have enabled it to undergo transformation without losing its essential identity. Finally, there is a trend identified within Calvinism that sees it as one source of the gradual secularization of the Western world. The idea of man’s coming of age (found in Dietrich Bonhoeffer) and of the end of the Protestant Era (put forward by Paul Tillich) both refer to megatrends that have emerged and grown steadily, in Bonhoeffer’s view since the 14th century and in Tillich’s since the 15th and 16th centuries. However, they are deeply interconnected and have contributed to the growing process of the freeing of humanity from the intellectual captivity that inhibits development and, to borrow an expression from Karl Marx, alienates humanity from itself. The logic of this position is that Calvin started a process that led to the distinction between religion and faith, and that faith in God ultimately eliminates the need for religious institutions. Consequently, far from secularization being a flight from Christianity, it can be interpreted as an inevitable move that was set in motion at the Reformation. This debate is ongoing, and its contentions are well typified by Ronald Gregor Smith’s book Secular Christianity (1966), which links the two concepts.


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Tillich, however, in speaking of the Protestant Era coming to an end, means that the Protestant churches have gone into decline. He sees the critical principle at the heart of Protestantism surviving, but the institutions beginning to fail. The gradual decline of middle-class society and the corresponding decline in its status may be part of the reason. It could be argued that the Reformed tradition suited well the values and aspirations of the rising middle class, if not indeed actually fashioning them. The decline of one would not surprisingly entail the decline in the other. But Calvinism does not seem fated to vanish quite so simply, as its revival and emergence in unexpected surroundings shows.

CALVINISM IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD Time magazine published an article in August 20097 on the top ten ideas that are currently changing the world. In addition to obvious trends like the increasing role of the Internet and the global financial crisis, the New Calvinism in America came in as number three on the list. The Reformed Churches themselves are on the whole less Calvinistic than they were in the past, although vestiges remain in the Presbyterian world in worship and preaching. However, with the passing of neo-Barthian Professor Tom Torrance and the resultant decline in the influence of Edinburgh University’s New College, academic Calvinism, for the present, seems to be little more than a latent presence. Consequently, it is in non-Calvinist settings that the New Calvinism referred to seems to have appeared. One example is the interesting controversy that has arisen within the Southern Baptist Church (SBC) over the incipient presence and influence of Calvinist thought in the ranks of its younger clergy. They feel that the SBC is lacking the theological rigor they can find in the revived study of Calvin. The irony in this is best illustrated by reflecting on the fact that Calvin was extremely hostile to Baptist theology, and that the doctrine of Baptism still divides Calvinists and Baptists historically, as it always has. An article in the Economist in October 2010,8 “The New Calvins,” explained that 10 percent of all SBC clergy saw themselves as Calvinists, and that with the mood swing in SBC seminaries, that figure could rise to 30 percent or more. Richard Land of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission went so far as to claim that SBC seminary graduates keep their Calvinist beliefs “below the radar” when they are applying for a post, but once settled, disclose them. Land also contributed a chapter, “Congruent Election: Understanding Salvation an ‘Eternal Now’ Perspective,” to the book Whosoever Will: A Biblical and Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism (2010), which arose from


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a conference based on St. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes on him . . . should have eternal life.” The idea of a universal atonement and Calvin’s doctrine of election do not coexist peacefully, and yet the conflict seems to be alive with the SBC. The SBC decline in overall support has left its leadership with a pit and a pendulum dilemma. If it refuses to change, it may go into further decline. If it tries to make room for a species of neo-Calvinism, it may eventually swamp the SBC leadership. Whatever else may be true, it is clearly the case that the influence of Calvinism is far from being dead if it can find new life in a movement that it condemned five centuries before. Equally controversial in a different way, and at the opposite end of the spectrum, is the movement known as Christian Reconstructionism, associated with Rousas John Rushdoony and his vision of a reconstructed society, a theonomy, modeled on biblical lines, with civil law being based on Old Testament law. Though there is a Calvinist emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit to reform character, very little of the Reconstructionist movement’s other ideas can be traced to Calvinism in any form, although there is no doubt that the movement’s leaders are well read in Calvin’s works. It would be difficult, for example, to imagine Calvin himself welcoming the restoration of the death penalty for acts of moral laxity. But it is this type of extremist thinking that has helped to give Calvinism the severe and negative image that has tended to overshadow its positive achievements. It does, however, demonstrate the continuing power and influence of images of Calvinism both in religious and nonreligious contexts. Various, often minor, disputes continue within the surviving traditions of Neo-Calvinism, Paleo-Calvinism, and Hypo-Calvinism, although the more extreme forms such as Hyper-Calvinism are almost impossible to find. But again, these divisions are within churches that would not identify themselves with the Reformed world in general, and yet claim to adhere to a form of Calvinism. A Neo-Calvinist who carefully distinguishes his brand of Calvinism from Arminianism, Timothy George, in an article entitled “John Calvin: Comeback Kid” in Christianity Today,9 explains why Calvin is making a comeback. His words, if read in the light of the report of the Venetian ambassador at the beginning of this discussion, provide an appropriate set of contrasting and concluding remarks: Calvin’s theology was meant for trekkers, not for settlers, as historian Heiko Oberman put it. In the 16th century, Calvinist trekkers fanned out across Europe initiating political change as well as church reform from Holland to Hungary, from the Palatinate to Poland, from Lithuania to Scotland, England, and eventually to New England. In its drive and passion, in its world-transforming vision, Calvinism was an international fraternity comparable only to the Society of


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Jesus in the era of the Reformation. It is perhaps ironic that Calvin and Ignatius Loyola studied at the same time in the same school in Paris. Like the Franciscans and the Dominicans in the Middle Ages, Calvin’s followers forsook the religious ideal of stabilitas for an aggressive mobilitas. They poured into the cities, universities, and market squares of Europe as publishers, educators, entrepreneurs, and evangelists. Though he had his doubts about predestination, John Wesley once said that his theology came within a “hair’s breadth” of Calvinism. He was an heir to Calvin’s tradition when he exclaimed, “The world is my parish.”

Two questions can be justifiably asked of the new Calvinism. One is whether or not the influence of Calvinism is being romanticized or exaggerated in order to create a persuasive definition. The second is about the extent to which it can be called Calvinism if it adheres only to selected aspects of Calvin’s thought, if it advocates doctrines that were condemned by Calvin, and if it is located in churches outside the Reformed or Presbyterian tradition. Stated in simple terms: How Calvinist is the new Calvinism? It may be that its appeal lies less in Timothy George’s picture of Calvinism than in some of the enduring qualities within Calvinism that appear appropriate to certain basic human needs, one being the need for certainty. The fact that Calvinism has never really been transcended, but indeed has undergone reinvention, suggests that its inner qualities continue to have an appeal. It does not seem a coincidence that when the dissident supporters of the Scottish National Covenant of 1638 were being exiled to Canada and elsewhere, or when the highlands were being cleared of crofters to make room for sheep, the more extreme forms of Calvinism became appealing. When a mood of cultural or social uncertainty prevails, and today’s postmodernism in all its manifestations would qualify as one source of such uncertainty, it is hardly surprising that the insecure should try to grasp at the secure and eternal. Calvinism seems still able to offer access to both of these, and therein, perhaps, is one explanation of its survival. Whether it continues to satisfy such needs will be judged by the next generation of religious and social critics.

ENDNOTES 1. Alexandre Ganoczy, “Calvin’s Life,” in The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, ed. Donald K. McKim (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 10. 2. Quoted in François Wendel, Calvin (London: William Collins, 1963), 57–58. 3. William D. Maxwell, The Liturgical Portions of the Genevan Service Book (London: The Faith Press, 1965). 4. John Calvin, Opera omnia quae supersunt Corpus Reformatoren (Brunswick: OOQS, 1863–1900), 11, 30.


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5. Wendel, Calvin, 69. 6. R. Ward Holder, “Calvin’s Heritage,” in The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, ed. Donald K. McKim (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004). 7. Time, August 2009. 8. “The New Calvins,” Economist (October 2010). 9. Timothy George, “John Calvin: Comeback Kid,” Christianity Today, 7 December 2010.


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A ACADEMY OF GENEVA. The collège, created on a recommendation found in the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of Geneva (1541) that identified the second order of office in the government of the church as “doctor.” The first order was minister or pastor. The doctor was responsible for “the instruction of the faithful in true doctrine.” It was proposed that there be a lecturer in Old and in New Testament studies, teaching in Latin. The collège was intended to prepare young people for the ministry and civic duty. Seventeen years after the Ecclesiastical Ordinances became law, a new collège was built in 1558 where the old one had stood on the outskirts of the city. The institution was known initially as collège in French, and Academia in Latin. It consisted of two parts, a Schola privata, a preparatory school for boys, and a Schola publica, which was the city’s first institution of higher learning, intended to provide courses in theology. The term collège gradually came to refer to the preparatory school, while the Academia came to refer to the institution of higher learning. The collège founded in the 16th century is now the Collège Calvin and is one of three city-run schools, along with the Collège Rousseau and the Collège Voltaire. Initially, the academy had no campus or buildings of its own, with lectures being held in church properties such as the Auditoire, the former church of Marie la Nove located beside the Cathedral of St. Pierre, in the town center. It was given responsibility for the training of ministers for the Reformed Churches in the French-speaking world and elsewhere in Europe. At the core of its curriculum were Hebrew and Hellenistic Greek, necessary tools for clergy to read the Bible in the original languages. Theodore Beza was recruited as head, along with some other members of the Academy at Lausanne, who were in dispute with its administration. Through recruiting these men, Calvin consolidated the Academy of Geneva into an institution capable of not only offering a high quality of education, but also of playing a vital role in providing academic support to the ministry of the growing Reformed Church movement. This in turn provided a model for the education of Protestant clergy throughout Europe. Stress on an educated clergy and on the value of education in general became a fundamental principle of Calvinism.

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AFFAIR OF THE PLACARDS (French: Affaire des Placards), 1534. A public display of anti-Catholic posters that appeared in Paris and in four other major French cities—Blois, Rouen, Tours, and Orleans—during the night of 17 October 1534. One was found on the bedchamber door of King Francis I at Amboise, to which he reacted with great indignation. Their appearance led to the end of the policy of conciliation toward the Protestant movement. Up to that point, Francis had tried to protect them from the pressures of the Parlement de Paris, the chief judicial office of the ancien régime that came to deal with Protestant and Huguenot matters in the 16th century. The placards themselves were initially attributed to the French Protestant leader Guillaume Farel, but their authorship remained open for a time. However, evidence suggests that Antoine de Marcourt (d. ca. 1560), a pastor of Neuchâtel from Picardy, was actually the author. The theme they highlighted was the abuse in the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper by its transformation into the mass. Calvin’s view of the Eucharist was criticized, while the view of Ulrich Zwingli that the Sacrament was merely symbolic was upheld and promoted. Antoine Froment (1508–1581), a leading figure of the Reformed Church in Geneva, wrote anonymously that Marcourt was responsible. Marcourt himself, in November of the same year, confessed to being the author by stating that he had written and posted them in prominent public places to denounce the abuses of the mass. AMYRALDIANISM. A form of Calvinism associated with Moise Amyraut (Amyraldus, 1596–1664) of the Saumer School of Theology in France. While a student, he heard the views of Professor John Cameron on the universal nature of atonement, namely that God wills the salvation of all, and that Christ died for all. He put forward this view in 1534 in a Treatise on Predestination that rejected the Five Points (Articles) of Calvinism agreed at the Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619). This was in fact a species of Arminianism that found poplar acceptance in the English-speaking world though the influence of Edward Fisher’s Marrow of Modern Divinity, a book that was embraced by the evangelical wing of the Church of Scotland, although its General Assembly of 1718 roundly condemned it. The Arminian/Amyraldian synthesis became the version of the Gospel preached widely in the 18th century Great Awakening in North America and in the 19th century by figures such as Thomas Chalmers, who led the Scottish Church Disruption of 1843. Herman Hoeksema (1886–1965), a Dutch Reformed Church theologian who immigrated to the United States in 1904, started a controversy within the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) by his rejection of the Arminian/ Amyraldian theology of universal grace. He broke with what had come to be known as Hypo-Calvinism, and a new church emerged called the Prot-


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estant Reformed Church (PRC). Hoeksema and his supporters were referred to as Hyper-Calvinists because they insisted that election and damnation are “parallel” in God’s eternal plan. The consequence was that the mainstream Reformed and Presbyterian Church in the United States in reality became Arminian/Amyraldian in its theology. Because of its rejection of a limited atonement, it is also referred to as Four Point Calvinism. ANABAPTISM. The branch of the Reformation movement that favored adult over infant baptism and rebaptism or Anabaptism (ana being the Greek for “again”). The historical origins may be traced to a small group of scholars, including Conrad Grebel (ca. 1498–1526) and Felix Mantz (ca. 1498–1527), led by Ulrich Zwingli, a priest in dispute with the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in Zurich. The group members, educated in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek, were serious scholars of the New Testament. Some concluded that infant baptism was scripturally groundless, and that only adult believers who possessed a proper understanding of their faith should receive baptism. Both Grebel and Mantz wished to pursue radical lines of reform that Zwingli found too extreme. In January 1525, he challenged his former companions before the Great Council of Zurich. The Council declared in favor of Zwingli and branded Grebel and Mantz as dangerous radicals. They were joined by Georg Blaurock (1492–1529), a priest who shared their views on reform and who gradually came to accept their view of baptism. During a discussion of adult baptism, Blaurock requested from the others to be “rebaptized,” since he had been baptized only as an infant. Grebel baptized him, and Blaurock, in turn, baptized Grebel and Mantz. Anabaptism thus came into being on 21 January 1525. In addition, it should be noted that Grebel was a layperson who had never been ordained a priest, minister, or into any ecclesiastical office whatsoever. Though the majority of Anabaptists were peaceful and law-abiding, believing that their faith should be expressed in godly living, they acquired the reputation of being extremist. This reputation was not improved when an Anabaptist group led by John Beuckelson of Leyden (d. 1536) took control of the German city of Münster and created chaos in the church. The Anabaptists reduced the doctrine of justification by faith to a form of theological anarchy by permitting people to determine law according to conscience rather than by reference to a written code. They disallowed private property, class distinctions, and even permitted cases of polygamy, which led to loss of public sympathy. Quite a number were eventually condemned, tried, and executed. Nevertheless, the movement grew, creating great anxiety in the minds of other reformers. Johann Heinrich Bullinger, Zwingli’s successor in Zurich, wrote: “Anabaptism spread with such speed that there was reason to fear that the majority of the common people would unite with


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this sect” (Augsburgs Reformationsgeschichte). Zwingli himself became extremely alarmed at the sheer strength of the movement and the determination of its adherents that reevaluated his theological conflicts with Catholicism as “child’s play” by comparison (Letter of Zwingli to Vadian, 28 May 1525). ANALOGY, THEOLOGIAL AND EXEGETICAL USE. Analogy featured widely in traditional biblical exegesis and the theological arguments among the early church fathers. It is intended to point to similarities in the use of terms, while recognizing that the terms are not necessarily identical. Denotation might be close, but connotation would always be wider. In discussing human knowledge of God, Calvin points to apparent evidence of God within creation, but also makes clear that this has its limits (Institutio I: v–vi). He offers relevant quotations from Romans 1:18–32. The analogy used to draw the distinction between natural knowledge and revealed knowledge, a subject of dispute between Karl Barth and Emil Brunner, the twin pillars of modern Neo-Calvinism, was challenged by the Edinburgh University theologian John Baillie in his book Our Knowledge of God (London: Oxford University Press, 1963, 40–43). Baillie pointed out that the matter was not so simple as an either/or disjunction. The only authentic knowledge humanity has of itself comes from God, and is therefore itself a form of revelation. He argues strongly that the kind of understanding of humanity posited by humanism is impossible because, when divorced from living religion, humanism tends to “debouch into mere nihilism or into a sub-human naturalism.” He concludes that when “man ceases to be rooted in God, he relapses inevitably into the sub-human.” See also GOD, DOCTRINE OF; GOD, LAW OF; NATURAL THEOLOGY. ANGLICANISM. Collective term that refers to all church traditions that trace their origins to, and are in full communion with, the Church of England. In the United States, the term Episcopal is used to differentiate it from other branches of the Anglican tradition that accept the British monarch as their supreme governor. The worldwide fellowship of Anglicans numbers about 60 million people, located in England, the nations of the British Commonwealth, and the United States. APOLOGETICS. The branch of Christian theology concerned with the defense of Christianity and Christian ideas and values. Medieval theologians such as Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) or Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) made use of arguments such as the ontological argument for the existence of God, suggesting that the sum of all perfections must include existence. Immanuel Kant pointed out that existence was not a predicate and that God’s


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existence could not be proved by that kind of logic. The Reformed approach to apologetics gave rise to the philosophy of religion that remains an active and productive field of philosophy. Calvin was not happy with arguments for God existence, but rather stressed that belief in Holy Scripture was the only source of God’s revelation (or self-disclosure) to humanity. This line of thought has been developed by several modern theologians, notably John Baillie, who pointed out that without God, humanity becomes less than it should be. Evidence may enrich faith, but does not create it. See also ANALOGY, THEOLOGICAL AND EXEGETICAL USE. APOSTLES’ CREED. Classic itemized statement of Christian belief that evolved during the first Christian century and is considered to be an accurate account of what the apostles taught. It is thought by many scholars to have been created initially as a statement of belief for recitation by candidates for baptism. Calvin used the framework of the creed when he was planning his Institutes of the Christian Religion, a fact that indicates how highly he regarded it. A modern English-language version reads: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. The lineage of the ordination of priests and the consecration of bishops, said to have originated with Peter the Apostle. The validity or otherwise of the act of ordination is claimed by some churches to depend on this principle. Roman Catholic and Anglican theologians argue over the nature of each other’s ordination, while the Reformed Churches generally reject the entire concept as bogus, unbiblical, and historically unjustifiable. See also BAPTISM; MINISTRY. ARMINIANISM. Heretical doctrine developed by James Arminius that rejected several central tenets of Calvin’s thought and led to the founding of the Remonstrants movement in the Dutch Reformed Churches of the 17th century. Although taught by a disciple of Calvin, Arminius rejected orthodox Calvinism as it was understood at the time and “sought to modify Calvinism so that ‘God might not be considered the author of sin, nor man an automaton in the hands of God.’”


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In contrast to the views of the relationship between God and man found in St. Paul and Augustine, wherein reconciliation is necessary for sinful humanity to be accepted by God, Arminians, similar to Pelagians, begin with the unity of God and man. Creation becomes central, and redemption through the death of Christ becomes of secondary importance. Humanity is made in the image of God, and therefore restoration of that image is the objective of faith. The Five Points (Articles) of Calvinism that are rejected by Arminians are the concept of original sin and the total depravity of human nature; election (predestination) as unconditional; atonement as not universal; grace as irresistible; and the elect saints as eternally saved. In rejecting these, Arminians insisted that human beings had freedom of the will to choose or not to choose God. The sinner chooses God and not vice versa. They argued that atonement was universal, that the Holy Spirit could be resisted, that grace is prevenient, and that the elect may fall from grace because faith is a condition of salvation. The 21st-century Remonstrant movement remains unreconciled to the mainstream Reformed Church in the Netherlands. ARMINIUS, JAMES (1560–1609). Dutch Reformed Church minister and theologian who was critical of Calvin on a number of points, which resulted in his followers being expelled from the church after the Synod of Dordrecht. In the Quinquarticular Controversy, the Synod upheld the Five Points (Articles) of Calvinism. This led to the development of the Remonstrant movement, which as yet has not been reconciled with the Dutch Reformed Church. The heresy he advocated was named after him, Arminianism. ART AND ARCHITECTURE. The Reformed Churches have been accused of destroying beautiful medieval works of art and architecture in the course of reforming buildings to match their views on worship and doctrine. The reformers did indeed remove statuary that they judged idolatrous and frequently reshaped the interior furnishing of churches to reflect the theological emphasis of their doctrines. High altars were eliminated, and the pulpit was frequently moved to the center of one of the long walls, with a simple table placed in front of it for the celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. This configuration is still found in many Dutch churches. There was also a period when round churches were built, to ensure the atmosphere of the centrality of Word (preaching) and Sacrament. In numerous large older churches, particularly in Scotland, roof-high partitions were erected between the choir and the nave. This was to permit worship by two smaller congregations and was undertaken largely for acoustic reasons. In neither the great Cathedral of St. Pierre in Geneva where Calvin preached,


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nor in the Church at Wittenberg where Luther is interred, was the pulpit moved. The altars, however, were shifted forward from the back wall to become tables for the celebration of the Sacrament, and some statuary was removed. Otherwise, the traditional format of the church was maintained. With respect to interior layout, the central pulpit remains a feature of many Reformed places of worship, and churches with central pulpits were built well into the 19th century. In Victorian Britain, which saw the building of 20,000 new churches, there was a gradual move toward the restoration of the older configuration, with the pulpit being moved to one side of the chancel and the communion table alone becoming central. This was also true of new church buildings in the United States erected in the same period. Many of the large medieval parish churches in Scotland that had been partitioned into two were also restored to what resembled the older format, but of course in a simplified form. Accusations about the destruction of church buildings, a more serious charge, have been leveled particularly at the Reformed Church in Scotland. The medieval cathedral in St. Andrews, the historic town where several early martyrs of the Reformation were burned as heretics, was partly demolished by the townspeople to make a harbor. Other ruined churches that were not the work of the Reformation were the result of long periods of neglect. Indeed, the general condition of church buildings in Scotland was among the worst in Europe. Many had been left roofless and had had no mass said in them for years. The building of churches and schools thus became a major priority of the new order after 1560, and the repair and restoration of old churches, where possible, was accompanied by the building of many new churches in the late 16th century. Some of these are still in use, but many became too small, although their use as schools continued well into the late 19th century. On the subject of art in the form of paintings and statues, the early reformers took the Second Commandment with unreserved seriousness. “Graven images” as they were called were banned, and where they existed, were removed. Ulrich Zwingli and Calvin purged their churches completely of statuary, paintings, tapestry, and even stained glass that were judged offensive. The austerity of Reformed Churches had its own beauty, but gradually, stained glass came back into fashion, and depictions of biblical narratives came to be accepted. By the 20th century, more vivid colors came to be used in church decoration, and crosses that had been eliminated were restored, although not crucifixes. A parallel development took place in the evolution of Reformed Church music, from plain vocal singing to the use of orchestras and organs. See also PSALTERS, PSALMS IN THE REFORMED TRADITION.


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ASCENSION. The final departure of Jesus Christ from earth after his resurrection is described in Acts 1:9–11. The Apostles’ Creed states it as an article of belief: He (Christ) was crucified, dead, and buried. On the third day he arose from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he will come to judge the quick and the dead.

The church calculates the event as 40 days after Easter. Calvin interprets its meaning as implying that without bodily limitations, Christ is more freely available to assist believers (Institutio II: i: 14). The Ascension also anticipates the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, a gift to the church that enables it to fulfill its mission. The promise was made that the Jesus who was taken up to heaven would return to establish his kingdom and his reign forevermore. This is one of the enduring ideas of Christian eschatology. In Calvin’s thought, it is also linked to the threefold office of Christ as prophet, who teaches the truth and the way of life his disciple should follow, the priest who offers the sacrifice, which is himself, for the sins of humanity, and the king whose resurrection and ascension enable him to conquer suffering and vanquish death (Institutio II: xv). ATONEMENT. The death of Jesus Christ, following the model of the Jewish Day of Atonement, was a sacrifice offered once and for all on behalf of humanity to obtain God’s forgiving mercy. Calvin saw it as the expiation of human impurity caused by sin and as a self-sacrificial act performed by Jesus that restores the possibility of a renewed relationship between God and humanity. Few books on Calvin list the term “Atonement” in their indexes. However, the goal of the Christian life, which is to live in union with Christ, presupposes redemption and Christ’s act of atonement that makes such a relationship possible. Modern views that have challenged Calvin, such as the universalist idea of atonement found in the work of John Macleod Campbell, have been based on a less severe doctrine of human nature that is more in keeping with the idea of moral influence than spiritual justice. AUDITOIRE. The former church of Marie la Nove, located beside the great Cathedral of St. Pierre in the center of old Geneva, which was used as a lecture hall for the Academy of Geneva. It was also used as a place of worship for the resident English-speaking congregation of refugees who were fleeing from Queen Mary (r. 1553–1558), known as “Bloody Mary” for her ruth-


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less persecution of Protestants. Among those who served as minister of the congregation between 1556 and 1559 was John Knox, leader of the Scottish Reformation of 1560. The present-day Church of Scotland congregation in Geneva still worships in the Auditoire. AUGSBURG, PEACE OF (1555). Agreement between Emperor Charles V and the Schmalkaldic League of Lutheran Protestants on the principle Cuius regio, eius religio, which allowed German princes to select either Lutheranism or Catholicism as the official religion within their states, affirming their independence from central control. The rise of the nation-state was a further consequence of the Reformation movement. See also CHURCH AND STATE; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; WARS OF RELIGION. AUGUSTINE (AURELIUS AUGUSTINUS, 354–430). Church Father and convert from Manichaeism to Christianity in 386, who served as Bishop of Hippo in North Africa from 395 until his death. He was born at Thagaste in Roman North Africa, and died as the Vandals were about to invade the city of Hippo. His lifetime spanned much of what Edward Gibbon referred to as the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, but more important, it spanned the transition of the empire from Roman paganism to Christianity. His education and culture were rooted in the classical tradition. His early intellectual awakening at the age of 18 was attributed to a lost work of Cicero, the Hortensius, a fact to which he alludes in his Confessions (III: 4, 7). Living through the dramatic social and political changes that preceded and followed the fall of Rome gave him a pivotal role in the final stages of the transition from the classical age to the medieval period that followed. His vigorous defense of Christianity in his greatest work, The City of God, was a part of the process through which Christian medieval thought began to take shape within the surviving structures of the Roman Empire. This unique position made him, albeit unintentionally, instrumental in later challenging it in the 15th and 16th centuries. Martin Luther, leader of the German Reformation, was an Augustinian, and Calvin began his academic career as a classicist, as did Augustine. Calvin also became deeply immersed in the works of Augustine, although he was well aware of what separated their views on many subjects. In a rather oversimplified attempt to explain the roots of the Reformation, it has been suggested that it was the result of Augustine’s doctrine of the grace of God coming into conflict with his own doctrine of the authority of the church. His doctrine of grace, biblically based, was also informed by the humanism of the classics, while the church, for him, grew into the City of God replacing the old eternal city, Rome. Although his early instincts were to separate the church from the empire, the empire


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became more and more important in the matter of suppressing the heretical Donatist movement, a policy in which he acquiesced. Prior to his conversion, Augustine lived a complex intellectual and spiritual life as well as a difficult emotional one. His mother, Monica, was a strong but simple-minded North African Christian, while his father was a pagan. This polarity was one element in the background of his struggles alongside the growing confrontation of the classical and Christian worlds that was part of his intellectual struggle. In keeping with the times, he took a concubine, who bore him a son, Adeodatus (meaning “gift of God”). He eventually abandoned her, but kept his son, with whom he was baptized in 387. He became a teacher of rhetoric in North Africa, after which he went to Rome and Milan. He flirted with the Persian religion of Manichaeism as an alternative to his mother’s aggressive Christian beliefs, but it was not until he encountered Bishop Ambrose and the Neo-Platonic Christian thinkers who surrounded him that he found a type of Christianity to which he could relate both as an individual and as a scholar. He recounts this in his Confessions (VIII: 9, 13–14). Because of his remarkable skills in the use of the language, Augustine is often regarded as one of the last great Latin writers. His analytical skills were of the highest order, and his ability to argue with his opponents was key to his effectiveness in the various debates and controversies in which he became involved, and in the course of which he defined and clarified his position on matters of doctrine and belief. The influence of Augustine on Calvin may be seen in several ways. First was the similar sense of guilt before God that Calvin embraced, resulting in his rejection of Arminianism in the same manner that Augustine rejected Pelagianism. This was partly the result of his spiritual experience, but also came from his understanding of the Old Testament and the New Testament teaching, which came to be known as original sin, the state in which humanity finds itself because of the Fall of Adam. Adam becomes a symbol of the human race that has lost its communion with God through disobedience and self-will, symbolically set forth in the scriptural Garden of Eden narratives (Genesis 1 and 2). The consequent alienation of God and humanity results in the disorder that prevails in the world. Human nature defies the will and purpose of God, and in so doing becomes helpless to deliver itself from the self-inflicted deprivation of grace. Original sin permanently inclines human nature to pursue evil and to ignore both the judgment and the mercy of God. It is perceived as being like a tree whose branches may be trimmed, but whose roots cannot be destroyed. A second important influence on Calvin was Augustine’s conviction that human acceptance of God’s grace was possible only because human willingness to surrender to God in reality comes from God. God elects those who will choose to surrender and creates the conditions for the possibility of the


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response. Once a human being becomes part of this new relationship with God, possession by original sin ends and a state of grace is reached. Although the power of evil remains within, it is conquered by God’s love, which is irresistible and which accomplishes God’s purpose. God, in Augustine’s words, gives what he commands and commands what he wills, which must become the prayer of the penitent. Augustine’s interpretation of St. Paul’s teaching on the “elect “ leads him to postulate “reprobation” as the opposite of “election.” Hence, though some may be chosen, others are rejected. This was also the basis of Calvin’s doctrine of election. A third important aspect of Augustine that influenced Calvin was his view of the authority of the Bible. Augustine made extensive use of the writings of Paul to defend both his view of election and his doctrine of grace. Detailed biblical exposition became important in the Augustinian tradition and fundamental to Calvin. A fourth, but more ambiguous, influence on Calvin was Augustine’s understanding of the church catholic. He was emphatic about its role in human salvation, probably because of his experience of Manichaeism. It is a small move from Augustine’s position to the view that there is no salvation outside the church. Calvin implicitly accepted this, but limited its applicability by relating it to election. This implied that the elect of God were indeed within the church, but not that everyone within the fold of the church was necessarily a member of the elect. Calvin did reject portions of Augustine’s work, particularly his use of allegory in the interpretation of the scriptures, on purgatory, celibacy, and on the kind of authority the church should possess and exert. Nevertheless, Calvin’s relationship with medievalism is similar to Augustine’s relationship with classicism. Each absorbed the preceding era’s culture, but transformed it into a new version of the Christian faith. Calvin acknowledges Augustine, from whom he admits that he quotes more often than anyone, as being “the best and most faithful witness of all antiquity” (Insitutio IV: xiv: 26). See also AUGUSTINIANISM AND THE AUGUSTINIAN ORDER. AUGUSTINIANISM AND THE AUGUSTINIAN ORDER. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, exerted an enormous influence on the Christian church that has been both complex and ambiguous. Though Calvin lauds him for being the closest to the truth, others have criticized him for many errors of judgment. When some Christian nuns elected to commit suicide to avoid brutalization, Augustine condemned them for committing a greater sin in order to avoid a lesser. Over the centuries, various monastic groups grew up in the church claiming to be the spiritual descendants of Augustine. Several of these groups


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were brought under organized leadership in the 13th century and constituted as the Order of St. Augustine (Ordo Sancti Augustini, OSA, historically “Ordo Eremitarum Sancti Augustini,” OESA), generally referred to as the Augustinians. The order has done much to extend the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and to advance the cause of serious learning, not least of all concerning the Holy Scriptures. What was created by the order may be characterized as a complicated set of philosophical and theological ideas that claimed to be derived from the thought of Augustine. Some ideas were perhaps implicit in Augustine, but they were developed and expounded by the advocates of Augustine’s thought. This resulted in what was loosely described as “Augustinianism.” A significant root of the Protestant Reformation has been traced to Augustine. Martin Luther was an Augustinian friar from 1505 prior to his ordination as a priest in 1507. The Augustinian emphasis on the significance of the scriptures had a profound influence on him that can be found also in Calvin. It has been argued that Augustine’s sense of God’s grace, which he found in the scriptures, was in conflict with his more authoritarian doctrine of the church, and that it was this dialectic that helped to create the Reformation. Augustine and Augustinianism were a major resource for the Reformation, and Calvin quotes extensively from Augustine. AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE. The key to understanding God’s self-disclosure to humanity is the authority and inspiration of Holy Scripture. Since God does not communicate with humanity on a daily basis, the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are given as records of God’s acts in the world. Their authority comes from the operation of the Holy Spirit of God that affirms the reality and truth of the biblical message in the human heart. This implied that the Word of God contained in the scriptures becomes the supreme rule of faith and life, a position affirmed in the Westminster Confession of Faith and used as a declaration of the church’s faith by many Presbyterian churches at the ordination of ministers and elders. AUTHORIZED VERSION OF THE BIBLE (1611). James VI is best remembered for the famous translation of the Bible he ordered in 1604. He instructed the 47 translators to ensure that the new version would reflect the Episcopal order of the Christian church. The New Testament was translated from the Textus Receptus (Received Text) series of the Greek texts. The Old Testament was translated from the Masoretic Hebrew text, while the Apocrypha were translated from the Greek Septuagint (LXX), except for 2 Esdras, which was translated from the Latin Vulgate. Though the Authorized Version effectively replaced the earlier Bishops’ Bible as the official text for use in


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the Church of England, it was apparently (unlike the Great Bible) never actually “authorized,” although it is commonly known as the Authorized Version. It became the standard lectern Bible in parish churches in England and Scotland and was used in the Book of Common Prayer that was “authorized” by Parliament in 1662.


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B BAILLIE, JOHN (1886–1960). Church of Scotland minister, professor of divinity at New College, Edinburgh, and moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1943. Baillie studied both in Scotland and in Germany before taking up academic work. One of his main works, Our Knowledge of God (first published in 1939), is exemplary of his style. He approaches the theology of Karl Barth and Emil Brunner with the eyes of a contemporary critic, but as Ronald Gregor Smith later observed, he does so with the feeling of a classical Celtic mystic. His brother, Donald Macpherson Baillie (1887–1954), was also an outstanding theologian, who studied at Marburg and Heidelberg before eventually becoming professor of divinity at St. Andrews University. His work on the Atonement, God Was in Christ (1948), and his later Theology of the Sacraments (1957), were considered outstanding theological works. Like his brother, he was active in ecumenical circles and was highly regarded internationally as being a moderate Neo-Calvinist. BANKING AND ETHICS. The possibility of the modern banking system may be in part attributed to Calvin’s view of borrowing and lending money. The medieval church, because of its doctrinal stance, saw itself overseeing all areas of human life, including the economic sphere. The image of moneylenders, or usurers, is somewhat misrepresented by Shakespeare’s character Shylock. Indeed, they were well used by the Church, which was de facto the most powerful financial institution of the time. There were also medieval banking houses such as Bardi and Peruzzi in the 14th century and the Medici of 15th-century Florence, which operated internationally. The Roman Catholic Church formally permitted these activities only on an ad hoc basis. It was not until the operations of bankers had been approved and regulated that steady commercial and financial markets began to appear. Calvin recognized the need for loans, but from the viewpoint of ethics considered that interest rates should be restrained by regulation. This moral concern was an indirect impetus to the creation of a system of loans that could promote commerce. Nevertheless, it did not legitimize banking immediately. Strong prejudice against the banking profession remained. The 1581 general

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synod of the Dutch Reformed Church resolved that neither bankers nor their servants should be permitted to receive the Lord’s Supper. Their families could be permitted on condition that they confessed their condemnation of the banking profession. The development of modern banking took almost another century. However, the role of Switzerland as a center of international banking can be traced back to the early steps to legitimize commercial endeavors accepted by Calvin. BAPTISM. Calvin defines baptism (Institutio Book IV: xv) as the sacrament that is the sign of the New Covenant of Grace in which God in his paternal kindness receives people as his children and allies himself with them as God and Savior. It is the appointed means by which people are admitted or incorporated into the church and become part of God’s people. It is a Trinitarian covenant, because it is established and renewed by the New Covenant in the body and blood of Jesus Christ. People become grafted into Christ, the head of the new humanity, and constituted as part of his body. It is not a forensic relationship, but rather a personal union that is nurtured and nourished by the influence and power of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Covenant, circumcision was the mark of entry into the ranks of God’s chosen people, beginning with Abraham and continuing through the generations thereafter. Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant on humanity’s behalf, so he is the object of baptism. Behind this concept is that of the Atonement, which makes Christ the suffering servant. He is God because he is man, an idea developed from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, in chapter 53, the passage that speaks of the suffering servant, which enables people to share in his relation to God the Father. Baptism is the Sacrament of the Fatherhood of God on the basis of the mediation of the suffering servant who is his Son. For Calvin, there can be only one baptism. It was by baptism that Christ was solemnly introduced into his ministry and mission as the suffering servant (already referred to in Isaiah 53). Calvin further emphasizes the point by saying, “Whoever it is that baptizes, Christ alone presides” (Institutio IV: xv: 8). Every baptism administered in the church is related to the baptism of Christ in the river Jordan. Those baptized are given a share in Christ’s obedience to God the Father as a first bond of union. Each individual act of baptism thus becomes simply a sharing in the one baptism that began with Christ’s baptism at the beginning of his ministry, which makes it part of the one baptism of the body of Christ. The Trinitarian feature of baptism is that it consists of three parts, each the work respectively of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, making it a threefold act. It is an act of God the Father in receiving people, it is sealed by


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Christ the Son, and it is made effective by the Holy Spirit. It testifies to what God has done for humanity and contains a promise that is the ground of faith in it, namely of reconciliation with the Father through the Son and of renewal by the Holy Spirit. The administration of baptism cannot be undertaken by private individuals, “for it, as well as the dispensation of the Supper, is part of the ministerial office” (Institutio IV: xv: 20). He states that God appointed the same people to be preachers of the Gospel and dispensers of baptism, and that in the church, “no one should take that honor to himself,” quoting Hebrews 5:4 in support. See also ANABAPTISM; BAPTISM, INFANT. BAPTISM, INFANT. Calvin’s views on the baptism of infants (Institutio IV: xvi) argue that the Jewish practice of circumcision is the precedent upon which the promise of God’s New Covenant is for believers and their children. In the Institutio IV: xvi: 7, 17, and 31, he points to the incident when Jesus blessed children (St. Mathew 19:13, St. Mark 10:13, and St. Luke 18:15), arguing that even those who were not of age still needed God’s grace. He argues further that infant baptism was taught by the Apostle Paul, in particular in Ephesians 2:12; 5:26, I Corinthians 7:14, and Acts 2:39 and 15:32. God himself, not the dispensation of baptism, is the source of regeneration. Children are not adopted into the church on the ground of baptism, but are baptized on the ground of adoption. Baptism becomes a sign that the child is already adopted into the fellowship of the church. The efficacy of baptism is not impaired by the fact that the child is too young to understand or believe. It is grounded in the promise of God, and therefore there is no need for faith before the baptism of a child, but there is need for faith after it in order to derive the full benefit. Whether child or adult, baptism is received passively, with no action of the person required to effect it. The modern Reformed Churches generally follow Calvin closely in both the doctrine and practice of infant baptism. The promise of God’s grace is to believers and their children, who in baptism become “grafted into Christ” and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is administered once only, and children are then committed to the parents for a Christian upbringing. There is no Protestant doctrine that unbaptized children go to hell, and therefore baptism need not be administered in a hurry, nor is it necessary to baptize any child who has died. Baptism is performed by the sprinkling of water from a font and with the parents (not God-parents) taking the vows, unless one parent is not baptized, in which case a guarantor is usually required. The congregation is also asked collectively to cooperate in the upbringing of the infant. The family and corporate dimensions of baptism are thus brought together. See also ANABAPTISM.


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BARCLAY, WILLIAM (1907–1978). Minister of the Church of Scotland and professor of divinity and biblical criticism at the University of Glasgow, who was highly regarded as a New Testament scholar and had studied at Marburg under Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976). However, he was also greatly gifted in the skill of communication. His 17-volume Daily Study Bible was translated into 90 languages. He was generously liberal in his theology and far from being a traditional Calvinist, although he retained deep feelings for Reformed values and was a staunch defender of the Presbyterian order of church government. His writing, broadcasting, and lecturing reached vast audiences around the world, and he was one of the last great figures of his generation to exercise a global preaching ministry through writing and other forms of media. BARMEN DECLARATION (THEOLOGICAL DECLARATION OF BARMEN, 1934). A statement issued by the Confessing Church in Germany in opposition to the “German-Christian” church that supported Adolf Hitler’s Nazi policies of nationalism and anti-Semitism. It is based on the premise that the Christian church is the property of Jesus Christ, its King and Head, and that it exists under his direction and with his support, living always in the expectation of his appearance. The text was drafted by Karl Barth, the famous Swiss theologian who worked alongside leaders of the Confessing Church of Germany, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The objective was to establish and define a free church confession that rejected so-called German Christianity, typical among whose tenets was the claim that Jesus of Nazareth was not actually Jewish, but was the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier and therefore of Aryan stock. The traditional Lutheran and Reformed Churches subscribed to the principles of the declaration, the most Calvinistic feature of which was the rejection of the subordination of the church to the state. After the end of World War II, the Lutheran wing in Germany began to dissent, and the declaration became reduced to being simply a period piece of theology designed to meet a specific need. However, the declaration was incorporated into the constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. See also CHURCH AND STATE; CIVIL GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF. BARTH, KARL (1886–1968). Swiss-born theologian and founder of what became known as dialectical theology, described also as a form of NeoOrthodox Calvinism. Barth was born in Basel but grew up in Bern, where his father was a professor at the university. He entered the university in 1904, where he first read the famous work of Immanuel Kant, The Critique of


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Practical Reason. He later described this as the first book that really moved him as a student. He then studied in Berlin, a center of Protestant liberalism, subsequently at Tübingen, and finally at Marburg from 1908, where Johann Wilhelm Herrmann (1846–1922) exerted a great influence on him. After Marburg, Barth spent 10 years (1911–1921) as a minister in the Swiss church, an experience that had a profound impact on his later theology. His liberal views were initially undermined by his exposure to the Swiss social democratic movement. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 further disillusioned him, because most of his former teachers signed a declaration of support for the kaiser. This made him question all the assumptions upon which his thinking had been based. He became critical and suspicious of all German theological writing of the time. The turning point for him was his personal study of the Letter to the Romans in 1916, which gave rise to his famous and reputation-making commentary, published in 1919. The commentary has been described as the most Calvinist of all his writings. Barth was offered a position as Honorary Professor of Reformed Theology in Göttingen, where he taught from 1921 to 1925. He later held posts at Münster (1925–1930) and Bonn (1930–1935). During these years, he worked on his first volume of the Church Dogmatics (1927), which finally came out in 1932. His study of Anselm (1930) and his debate with Emil Brunner over natural theology became central concerns. However, his support for the German Confessing Church and the Barmen Declaration of 1934 was what defined his position as understood in the minds of later generations. He retired at the end of the winter semester of 1961–1962, after which his health began to decline, leading to his death in 1968. Though a theologian in his own right, Barth clearly owes much to the influence of Calvin, although in many respects he differs from Calvin. Principal among the features that mark him out is the rigor and comprehensiveness that characterize his four-volume Church Dogmatics, each of which contains disparate parts that make a total of 13 or 14 volumes (depending on whether the index is considered as volume 5). It has been observed that a pure “Barthian theology” is impossible, just as an “Einsteinian science” is impossible. There is a pre-Einstein science and a post-Einstein science, because the influence of Albert Einstein was so profound and fundamental that it marks an epoch of advance in the history of the subject. So, too, Barth is considered by some to be the creator of a new epoch. The analogy fails, however, because the lineage of Barth can be traced through Calvin and back to the Fathers of the early church and the historical statements of the Christian Faith such as the Apostles’ Creed. Nevertheless, his focus on the theology of the Word of God brought new light on a traditional dimension of the language of belief. H. R. Mackintosh described


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his work as the “most serious theological effort of this [his] generation” and said that he “has faced more directly than any other Christian thinker . . . the menace to Christian belief presented by Humanism” (Mackintosh, Types of Modern Theology, 1937, 317). In that regard, he and Calvin, after the latter’s abandonment of humanism, would be in close agreement. BASEL, CONFESSION OF (1534). An early Reformed document that rejected both Roman Catholicism and Anabaptist theology. It contained 12 articles and was formally read from all pulpits in Basel until 1826. Ordinands were required to subscribe to it until 1872. The second confession of Basel became known as the First Helvetic Confession. BATTLES, LEWIS FORD (1915–1979). Highly respected American theologian and authority on Calvin. He studied as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford under the famous teacher of literature and Christian apologist, C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), and eventually taught church history at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He undertook the translation of the Institutes of the Christian Religion and other works by Calvin, becoming in the process a leading expositor and authority on Calvin’s theology. BELGIC CONFESSION (1561). The oldest confession of faith of the Dutch Reformed Church, composed to persuade the Spanish government that the reformers were law-abiding people. Along with the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of the Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619), it became the doctrinal standard of the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reformed Church in Belgium, and later the Reformed Church in the United States. Calvin’s view of the sacraments and the role of civil government are central elements in its formulation. See also BERKHOF, LOUIS. BELHAR CONFESSION (1982). A statement produced by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in South Africa that had the dual effect of restating and reaffirming Calvin’s doctrine of the unity of the church and the Lordship of Christ as its sole head, along with a severe condemnation of South Africa’s racially segregated churches. It states that “the Church as the possession of God must stand where he stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged; that in following Christ the Church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others.” Following upon this, the Dutch Reformed Mission Church merged with the former black Dutch Reformed Church of Southern Africa. The Belhar


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Confession is one of its standards. Parallels have been drawn between it and the Theological Declaration of Barmen that condemned Nazism. See also CHURCH AND STATE; CIVIL GOVERNMENT. BERKHOF, LOUIS (1873–1957). Leading Dutch-born theologian of the Reformed Church in the United States and author of the famously detailed Systematic Theology (Eerdmans,1932), which was a very close exposition of Calvin’s theology. The book still receives accolades because of its opposition to any form of modernism. He became both professor of dogmatic theology and subsequently president of Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for almost four decades. BERN, DISPUTATION OF (1528). A debate that confirmed the status of the Reformed Church in Bern. One of the principal proponents was Johann Bullinger, eventually leader of the Reformed Church in Zurich after the death of Ulrich Zwingli. The disputation was based on 10 theses carefully prepared by Berthold Haller and Franz Kolb, revised by Zwingli, and approved by a majority of the clergy. The mass was abolished; the images were quietly removed from the churches; and a Reformation edict was issued that confirmed the changes as law, annulled the power of the bishops, and created new regulations to govern the clergy, public worship, church buildings, and church lands. BEZA, THEODORE (1519–1605). French theologian and leader of the Reformed Church who succeeded John Calvin as the principal minister of Geneva. He is one of the four figures commemorated on the Reformation Wall in Geneva, along with Calvin himself, William Farel, and John Knox. He was born at Vezelay in Burgundy; his father, Pierre de Bèze, royal governor of Vezelay, had two brothers: Nicholas, a member of the Parlement de Paris, the judicial body of the ancien régime, and Claude, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Froimont. Nicholas, impressed by Theodore, took him to Paris to be educated. From Paris, he was sent to Orléans in December 1528 to the famous German scholar Melchior Wolmar (1497–1561). Wolmar was invited by the duchess Margaret of Angoulême, sister of King Francis I, and Beza followed him to Bourges, which at the time was the center of the Reformation movement in France. However, when Francis I issued his edict against ecclesiastical innovations in 1534, Wolmar returned to Germany. Beza, at the behest of his father, returned to Orléans, graduating licentiate in law in 1539. He then went to Paris to practice law, with family support, but gradually his interests moved from law to theology. His conversion to the Reformed cause can be dated to this period.


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Deciding to make a break with the past, Beza went to Geneva, the French city of refuge for the Reformation movement. Calvin welcomed him, but he moved on to Tübingen to see Wolmar in the hope of finding a teaching post. On his way back to Geneva, he visited Pierre Viret, a friend of Calvin’s, who procured his appointment as professor of Greek at the Academy of Lausanne in November 1549. Beza went with William Farel to Bern, Zurich, Basel, and then Strasburg, Mömpelgard, Baden, and Göttingen, on behalf of the Waldensians of Piedmont, who were under pressure from the French government. A second journey with Farel was undertaken in the autumn of 1558 to Worms via Strasburg, hoping to win the support of the Protestant princes of the empire for the persecuted in Paris. Beza, with Philip Melanchthon and other Protestant leaders, met at the Colloquy of Worms where Beza proposed a union of all Protestant Christians. Zurich and Bern declined to join. Inaccurate information that persecution of the Huguenots in France had stopped reached the German princes, who decided not to send any request to Paris. Beza became distressed on his return to Lausanne, where with the support of many ministers and professors, Viret was trying to establish a consistory to enforce church discipline that was unacceptable to the Bern authorities. Beza then resolved to settle in Geneva, where he was appointed professor of Greek in the newly established academy. Between 1560 and 1563, there appeared to be a genuine possibility of France embracing Protestantism. King Antony of Navarre, at the request of Evangelical noblemen, agreed to give a hearing to a prominent teacher of the Church. Beza, a nobleman himself and head of the Academy of Geneva, the citadel of the French Reformed faith, was the obvious choice. He was invited to Castle Nerac, but failed to persuade the king. In 1561, Beza then represented the Evangelicals at the Colloquy of Poissy to defend the principles of the Reformed faith. While the colloquy itself achieved nothing, Beza emerged as the natural leader of the Reform movement in France. A second colloquy took place by order of the queen at St. Germain in January 1562, which ended abruptly when it became obvious, after the Massacre of Vassy on 1 March, that there was a serious plot to destroy Protestantism, if necessary by genocide. Beza hastily circulated a letter dated 25 March 1562 to all Reformed congregations in France and visited all Huguenot cities to recruit soldiers and collect money. He circulated a manifesto defending the justice of the Reformed cause. He was appointed to visit England, Germany, and Switzerland to solicit support. In Strasburg and Basel, however, he found no support. Because of Calvin’s declining health, it became necessary for Beza to return permanently to Geneva to become Calvin’s successor. Aside from Beza, there was no one who could take his place. They agreed to perform their ecclesias-


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tical duties jointly on alternate weeks, and this continued until Calvin’s death on 27 May 1564. Beza then assumed Calvin’s role, including the chair of theology at the academy. Beza became moderateur de la compagnie des pasteurs (moderator of the Company of Pastors) until 1580 and the principal figure in the academy that Calvin had founded in 1559. Higher education had high priority in his mind. For nearly 40 years, young Protestants of Geneva filled his lecture room to hear the finest exposition of Calvinist theology. He also founded the famous law school in which François Hotman, Jules Pacius, and Denys Godefroy, the most eminent jurists of the century, all lectured at some time (Charles Borgeaud, L’Académie de Calvin, Geneva, 1900). Beza’s style was conciliatory and constructive, the qualities necessary for a second-generation leader. The magistrates fully implemented the policies of Calvin. The “ministers of the word” and “the consistory” were founded on a solid basis and managed effectively, to the extent that no doctrinal controversy arose after 1564. The central issues of contention were practical, social, or ecclesiastical, such as the independence of the ministers from the magistrates, freedom in preaching, and the obligation of the city ministers to submit to the majority of the Company of Pastors. This enabled Beza to preserve the best of Calvin’s heritage in matters spiritual and temporal. He successfully mediated between the company and the magistracy, who continually asked his advice even on political matters. He maintained correspondence with all the Reformed leaders in Europe. Beza was highly regarded as the leading figure of the Calvinists of Europe of the generation after Calvin and thereafter. He was the moderator of the general synod at La Rochelle in April 1571. The synod stood firm on church discipline and refused to acknowledge the civil government as head of the Church, a position held by Jean Morel, minister in Paris. It also decided to reaffirm Calvin’s doctrine of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper against the Zwinglian position. In May 1572, he took an important part in another synod at Nîmes, where he engaged in a controversy over the German Augsburg Confession of 1530 on the doctrine of the person of Christ and the nature of the sacrament. Beza’s last debate with the Lutherans and last venture abroad was at the Colloquy of Mumpelgart in March 1586. Thereafter, his work was confined more and more to the affairs of his home. He remained in excellent health until age 65, after which the decline of his powers became visible. He ceased teaching after January 1597. He died in Geneva in 1605, but was not buried with Calvin in the public cemetery, Plain-Palais. The Savoyards had threatened to remove his body to Rome. At the direction of the magistrates, he was interred in the monastery of St. Pierre. See also BEZA, THEODORE, ACADEMIC INFLUENCE.

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BEZA, THEODORE, ACADEMIC INFLUENCE. Theodore Beza, though not a scholar of Calvin’s stature, was nevertheless a prolific writer and bequeathed numerous important works to the Reformed Church. In 1548, he published a collection of Latin poetry, Juvenilia, which led to his being ranked as one of the finest writers of Latin poetry of the time and lifted him to a prominent position in Parisian literary circles. Although a graduate in law, he preferred to read the classics, particularly Ovid, Catullus, and Tibullus. Beza wrote a successful biblical drama, Abraham Sacrifiant, to define the contrast between Catholicism and Protestantism as he perceived it. In June 1551, he added several psalms in French to the collection by Clément Marot, the famous poet who rendered the Old Testament psalms into verse form for congregational singing. This exercise was also very successful. He became embroiled in controversy by publishing a work of satire entitled Passavantius, targeted at Pierre Lizet (1482–1544), a former president of the Parlement de Paris, principal originator of the “fiery chamber” (chambre ardente), and abbot of St. Victor near Paris (1551). After becoming a member of the Academy in Geneva, his first task was to complete the revision of Pierre Olivetan’s translation of the New Testament. Beza left other valuable writings in the fields of humanism, history, and theology, including the famous Histoire ecclésiastique des Eglises réformée au Royaume de France (1580) and a biography of Calvin that is still a principal source of information about him, along with an edition of Calvin’s Epistolae et responsa (1575). His greatest theological work (contained in Tractationes theologicae) showed him to be both a disciple and interpreter of Calvin. He takes a determinist view of life based on his recognition that the necessity governing all temporal existence is an effect of the absolute, eternal, and immutable will of God. Even the fall of the human race appears to him essential to the divine plan for the world. He also elucidates his views about creation and the fall that came to be called supralapsarianism in his Summa totius Christianismi. Beza’s greatest contribution to biblical studies was his Greek New Testament, published in 1565, which included the text of the Vulgate and a translation of his own (already published as early as 1556) in parallel columns. It is generally thought that he used the Codex Bezae or Cantabrigensis, which was later presented by him to the University of Cambridge, and the Codex Claromontanus, which he had found in Clermont and is now in the National Library at Paris. Most important of all his writings is the statement of his own faith, intended for his father in defense of his views and subsequently revised and published to promote general understanding of the Reformed position. It appeared in Latin in 1560, with a dedication to Melchior Wolmar. English editions (published in London) followed in 1563, 1572, and 1585. Transla-


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tions subsequently appeared in German, Dutch, and Italian. His final work was De jure magistratuum (Rights of Magistrates, 1574), an essay against religious and political tyranny that declared the right of those oppressed to engage, if necessary, in military resistance. See also CHURCH AND STATE; CIVIL GOVERNMENT; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF. BIBLE. General term used to refer to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as read, studied, and preached from in Reformed Churches. The term comes from the Greek term biblos, meaning book. The Bible, as accepted by Protestants, contains 66 books, 39 originally in Hebrew and 27 written in Hellenistic Greek. It does not include the Apocrypha. The Jewish synagogues of the first century, upon whose services early Christian worship was modeled, referred to their sacred texts as the scriptures, the writings. This term continued in the Christian tradition, whose use of both Hebrew texts and the Christian era writings became the sacred texts collectively referred to in English as the Bible. BOESAK, ALAN AUBREY (1946– ). Black South African minister of the Nederduitse Gereforeerde Sendingker, the South African Dutch Reformed Church, and author of several books including Black and Reformed (1984). He served as president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches from 1982 to 1991. His career was marred by scandals that included fraud and embezzlement, for which he served a prison term from 1999 to 2001. Following a pardon from President Thabo Mbeki, he returned to church work and social projects. See also HOLY SCRIPTURES. BOHATEC, JOSEPH (1876–1954). Distinguished Czech-born professor at the University of Vienna from 1913 and scholar of the works of Calvin. His wide-ranging knowledge as a historian of thought earned him the reputation of being one of the greatest authorities on Calvin in his time. His Calvins Lehre von Staat und Kirche mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Organismusgedankens, translated as Calvin’s Teaching on State and Church (1934), is considered his magnum opus. But he also offered a serious critique of the discussion by Ernst Troeltsch of the social teachings of Calvin and other reformers in his Die Soziallehren der christlichen Kirchen und Gruppen (1912), translated as The Social Teachings of the Christian Church (1931). Bohatec also published two works on jurisprudence that showed a profound grasp of the complexities of law in Calvin’s time, namely Calvin und das Recht (1934) and “Calvin et la procédure civile à Genève,” Revue historique de droit français étranger (1938). Bohatec’s central concern was the relationship between evangelism and humanism in the development of


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modern Western thought, which he pursued in two major works. In “Calvin et l’humanisme,” which appeared in the Revue Historique, (1938–1939), he raised the subject, and in his last major work, Budé und Calvin (1950), he developed it more fully. He approached humanism with openness of spirit, but without eliminating or weakening the great antithesis of principles that exists between it and Christianity. The main question the book examines is the nature and extent of the influence on Calvin of the humanism of his day. Although the question was not new, Bohatec added new perspectives on the interpretation of Calvin. He traces Calvin’s idea of an inner connection between the knowledge of God and of the self to influence from Guillame Budé (1468–1540), the French humanist. This led him to the view that Budé rather than Erasmus of Rotterdam was the stronger influence on Calvin. Bohatec’s approach to philosophy was, however, largely through his own field of intellectual history. An example of this is his study of the philosophy of religion of Immanuel Kant in his last book, Die Religionsphilosophie Kants in der Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft (Religion within the Limits of Pure Reason). He threw new light on the development of Kant’s thought and alludes to Calvin several times, as well as to similar features of their thought. BOHEMIAN AND MORAVIAN BRETHREN. Going back to Jan Hus, the Bohemian Brethren were pre-Reformation dissidents (in what is now the Czech Republic) who eventually found a home within the Protestant churches. The church grew up in both Bohemia and Moravia, and after various phases of persecution, its members found refuge on the estate of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760). The brethren became the Moravian Church, which was eventually influential in central and eastern Europe. BONHOEFFER, DIETRICH (1906–1945). German theologian and leader of the German Confessing Church that opposed the state church approved by the Nazi Party. He returned in 1931 from the United States to Germany to join the resistance to Adolf Hitler and was arrested and hanged in Flossenberg Castle a few days before the end of World War II in Europe. He left a number of significant writings, including The Cost of Discipleship and a collection of Letters and Papers from Prison, in which he sketched some thought-provoking ideas about man’s coming of age. BOOKS OF DISCIPLINE. The first was produced in 1560 and the second in 1578, as guides to the practice and procedure of the Reformed Church of Scotland under the leadership of John Knox, who had been a disciple of Calvin in Geneva while minister to the English-speaking congregation there.


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The church was formed into congregations, ruled by Kirk Sessions, above which were synods. They defined the basis of modern Presbyterian Church government as a hierarchy of church courts. BOURGEOIS, LOUIS (1510–1561). Protestant musician who arrived in Geneva about 1541, when Calvin was minister. He provided melodies for the metrical psalms then in use. The Genevan Psalter had only 30 tunes at the time, but under his successor, Guillaume LeFrenc, who assumed the position of chief musician in 1551, the number increased to 85. Bourgeois was prohibited by Calvin from introducing part-singing and was briefly imprisoned for altering a well-known psalm tune. He finally left Geneva in 1557, with the church still having a limited range of music. Until the 18th century, for example, the Church of Scotland used less than a dozen tunes either in Common Meter or Long Meter, with one or two tunes that fitted the irregular meter of some of translations of the psalms, illustrating how poor the quality of early post-Reformation music was. See also MUSIC IN WORSHIP; PSALTERS, PSALMS IN THE REFORMED TRADITION. BRAZIL MISSION (1557). Calvin dispatched missionaries to Brazil to challenge Roman Catholic power and to form a Reformed Church. Dutch Calvinists started work in 1630 and were initially successful. However, by the mid-1650s, they had departed because of lack of support and Catholic pressure. BRUNNER, HEINRICH EMIL (1889–1966). Swiss Protestant theologian and leading figure in the movement referred to as dialectical theology. His principal academic post was professor of theology at Zurich University from 1924 to 1953. He went to post–World War II Japan and taught at the International Christian University in Mitaka City, Tokyo, from 1953 to 1955. Though initially close to Karl Barth, he disagreed with him over the concept of revelation. He also fell under the influence of Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), the Danish existentialist philosopher and theologian, and Martin Buber (1878–1965), the professor of philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His interest in existentialism and in Buber led him to formulate a much broader doctrine than that of Barth, believing that revelation could be discussed outside Holy Scripture. Barth’s more orthodox Calvinist position found this unacceptable. Brunner raised the question of Christianity and the non-Christian religions in a way that Barth himself could not have appreciated, but which requires a serious response from any tradition of Calvinism that wishes to make meaningful statements to the modern world. See also BURI, FRITZ.


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BUCER, MARTIN (1491–1561). Leader of the Protestant Reformation in Strasbourg and friend of John Calvin. In addition to arranging and blessing Calvin’s marriage to Idelette de Bure, he exercised a strong influence on Calvin, although the nature and extent of that influence remains disputed. Bucer was a contemporary of Martin Luther rather than of Calvin, because he was a first-generation reformer, although his influence extended over Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican theology, the latter because of his exile in England from 1549 until his death. Originally a Dominican monk, he was influenced by Luther after a meeting in 1518, left the order, and joined the Reformation cause. After attempting to reform the church in Wissembourg, he was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church and escaped to Strasbourg, where he became part of a famous team of reformers that included Matthew Zell (1477–1548), minister of the Cathedral; Wolfgang Capito (1478–1541); and Caspar Hedio (1494–1552). He tried unsuccessfully to mediate between the two great reformers of the day, Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, who differed on the doctrine of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Bucer was also convinced that the Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire could be persuaded to join the Reformation to create a German national church separate from Rome. Through a series of conferences organized by Charles V, he tried unsuccessfully to unite Protestants and Catholics. In 1549, he was exiled to England, where he worked with Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556), Archbishop of Canterbury, and had some influence on the second version of the Book of Common Prayer. Because of his ecumenical outlook, several Protestant churches claimed him as an early leader. He died in Cambridge, England, at the age of 59. BULLINGER, JOHANN HEINRICH (1504–1575). Swiss-born reformer who, after being initially influenced by Martin Luther, became a loyal supporter of Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich. He took part in the Bern Disputation of 1528 that established the Reformation in the city. After Zwingli’s death at the Battle of Kappel, Bullinger became leader of the church in Bern, where he worked assiduously in presiding over the Synod of Zurich and was instrumental in the improvement of education and in city government. His was the mind behind the Second Helvetic Confession (1556). He coauthored the Consensus Tigurinus, the Agreement of Zurich (1549) with Calvin on the nature of the Lord’s Supper, a document that helped to maintain unity between the French and German Reformed Churches. His most influential work was probably The One and Eternal Testament or Covenant, published in 1534, which became the basis of what came to be known as Federal (Covenant) Theology.


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BURI, FRITZ (1907–1995). Swiss-born academic who was senior minister at the Basel Münster of the Reformed Church in Switzerland and professor of theology at the University of Basel, known for his radical liberal views. He argued that the New Testament scholar and theologian Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) stopped short of pursuing the insight that grace and truth may be found in non-Christian contexts. While he had a sense of the transcendent as found in Calvin, he tried to take Calvinism beyond its limited historical and cultural framework to the realization of its insights in non-Christian environments. His final book, The Buddha-Christ as the Lord of the True Self: The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School and Christianity (1997), is an attempt to bring together two diverse systems of thought using concepts derived from Buri’s existential background. Buri’s work suggests that there are liberal post-Neo-Calvinists who can retain their basic ideas but find a place for them in a wider cultural synthesis. It might also be suggested that Buri takes the liberal thought of Albert Schweitzer to a new theological level.


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C CALL, CALLING. Technical term used in many Reformed Churches to refer to a document signed by church members or by parishioners, addressed to a particular minister as an invitation to become the incumbent of that congregation or parish. It is also used interchangeably with the term vocation to refer to various activities in the church, such as elder, Sunday-school teacher, or choir member, where individuals are called to exercise specific skills to the glory of God. In a more general sense, following New Testament usage, it may refer to the sense of calling that belongs to all believers, as St. Paul states in I Corinthians 1:26, or to the ministry as in II Timothy 1:9. There is also the use in Ephesians 1:3–14, which includes the idea of the predestination of the faithful who are called by God into his service. CAMPBELL, JOHN MACLEOD (1800–1872). Minister of the Church of Scotland parish of Rhu in Dunbartonshire and outstanding theologian, whose famous work on The Nature of the Atonement (1856) stirred up a controversy over his advocacy of a universal atonement. The General Assembly of 1831 found him guilty of heresy and deposed him from office. Ironically, as time passed, his views appeared less and less extreme, and his insights came to be accepted by many 20th-century mainstream theologians, not least of all the Neo-Orthodox Calvinist Karl Barth. See also AMYRALDIANISM; ARMINIANISM; NEO-CALVINISM. CANONS OF DORT. See SYNOD OF DORDRECHT. CAPITALISM AND CALVINISM. Calvinism and capitalism happily coexisted and indeed encouraged each other in their different objectives in a complex relationship that was not a simple process of cause and effect. The rising merchant classes found the Calvinist view of life and work congenial to their enterprises. Indeed, it could be argued that Calvinism is, in its essence, a middle-class movement, or alternatively a religious movement that reflected the aspirations of the rising middle classes of the postmedieval period.

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Capitalism may be characterized as a socioeconomic system within which the flow of goods and services is controlled exclusively by market needs. The system was first identified by Adam Smith in his pioneering work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). One theme raised in it was the role of labor in defining ownership. The first major study that identified a link between Protestant values and capitalism was the work of Max Weber, the German sociologist, in his famous book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904). He opened up a debate on the relationship between religion and economic activity in general, and on Calvinism and capitalism in particular. With regard to the duty to work, Calvin himself wrote: “No member [of society] has its function for itself.” In a similar vein, John Knox, his disciple, in the First Book of Discipline drawn up to guide the conduct of believers at the time of the Scottish Reformation (1560), affirmed that, “no man may be permitted to live idle, or as themselves list.” R. H. Tawney, who analyzed various aspects of Weber’s thought, stated the point in this way: “Its [Calvinism’s] ideal is a society which seeks wealth with the sober gravity of men who are conscious at once of disciplining their own characters by patient labor, and of devoting themselves to a service acceptable to God” (Religion and the Rise of Capitalism 1925, 105). The link between Calvin’s view of society and his view of labor is his vision of work as an act that glorifies God. This concept had many influences, including wealth creation during the early years of the British Empire, which drew its moral justification from it. However, the exploitation and suppression of the overseas and domestic labor force resulted in anticapitalist forces growing principally in the critical work of Karl Marx, whose Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts (1844) stressed the alienated state of exploited labor. This gave rise to the socialist movement in the West and to the radical disgruntlement of many Calvinist clergy about social and economic injustice. This may be one instance of the complex dialectic within Calvinism, that on the one hand it promoted the virtue of work, but on the other stressed that society under God should have wholeness and integrity. See also BANKING AND ETHICS; OTSUKA HISAO ON MAX WEBER; PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC. CATECHISMS. Instruction manuals developed in the first-century church and later, especially in the Reformed Churches, to educate members and children in the basic tenets of the Christian faith. The term comes from the Greek kataechein, meaning “to instruct.” Those who learned them were called catechumens, a term still used in some churches to refer to those about to make public profession of faith and be admitted to the Lord’s Supper.


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The format involved questions and answers that the catechumens learned by heart. The 107 question-and-answer format Shorter Catechism of 1648 became the best known in English, covering all aspects of belief contained in the Westminster Confession. Although long out of use, many can still recite Question 1 and its answer: Question 1: What is man’s chief end? Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Ministers and catechists visited homes in the parish or community and led question-and-answer sessions to test knowledge of the faith. CHALMERS, THOMAS (1780–1847). Minister of the Church of Scotland at Kilmany in Fife who was converted from the contemporary moderate Calvinism of his day to a more evangelical view of Christianity. The issue of lay patronage, the presentation of a minister to a parish without a popular vote, became a focal point of discontent among the general membership of the church. The result was the great Disruption of 1843, wherein one-third of the ministers and half of the membership left to form the Free Church of Scotland, of whose first General Assembly Chalmers was moderator. CHINA, CALVINISM IN. While information about the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is uncertain, there are Reformed Churches in Hong Kong, and there is a Presbyterian Church of Taiwan that dates to the 19th century. Church of Scotland ministers and Canadian Presbyterians supported and controlled these churches until, as in many other former missionary institutions, the leadership became local, and the relationship became one of partnership rather than direction. Although statistics are uncertain, there is an estimated 800,000-strong Protestant church in the PRC and there are some 400,000 Protestants in Taiwan. CHRISTOLOGY. The theological interpretation of the meaning of Jesus Christ’s life and work. Calvin accepted the views enshrined in the ancient creeds as a valid understanding of Christ’s person and history. He is emphatic in his view of the two natures, of Christ’s humanity and divinity. He affirms his divinity (Institutio I: xiii) and argues for the reality of the divine present in the human Jesus. The themes are united in the description of Christ as prophet, priest, and king (Institutio II: xv) alluded to in the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews. The divinity of Christ may be laid alongside the “humanity of God” as a parallel metaphor that brings the two themes together. Christology may commence with a discussion of the divinity of Christ that can lead to the discussion of his humanity, which is the traditional


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Reformed approach derived from Calvin and found in the theology of Karl Barth. Jürgen Moltmann, a more recent influential theologian, speaks of a “crucified God,” creating an alternative metaphor that explains the work of Christ. Moltmann created this formula in the process of moving beyond the framework of Barth’s thinking. One area that has troubled numerous theologians of the 20th century is the eschatology found in the teaching of Jesus. The most radical response was that of Albert Schweitzer in his famous book, Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906). The outcome was that he abandoned theology for medicine and opened a clinic in Lambérené in what is now Gabon. Because of its wide implications, Christology remains a core activity at the heart of Christian theology. CHURCH AND STATE. The experience of the French Huguenots and the struggles of the Scottish reformers against what John Knox referred to as the “monstrous regiment of women” (Mary Queen of Scots, Mary of Guise, and “bloody” Mary Tudor) brought the issue of church and state into sharp relief. It was this same issue that later forced the Pilgrim Fathers to leave England and led to the eventual separation of church and state in the United States Constitution. Numerous patterns of church–state relations remain. The Church of England is still a legally established state church, with support from the state and the monarch as its supreme governor. Matters such as revisions in the prayer book require the approval of parliament. The state-supported Lutheran churches in Scandinavia are similar. Germans pay a church tax, but they choose to which church it will be paid. The Church of Scotland, reflecting the Calvinist principle of the separation of the spiritual and political jurisdictions, remains the national church, recognized in law but not controlled by the state, and is financially self-supporting. The monarch annually affirms the rights and privileges of the church at its General Assembly. Although the throne gallery stands over the assembly hall, it is technically not part of the assembly hall, symbolizing the independence of the church from the state in matters spiritual. See also CIVIL GOVERNMENT; DOCTRINE OF THE TWO KINGDOMS; ERASTIANISM; MELVILLE, ANDREW. CHURCH GOVERNMENT. Traditional Protestant churches can normally be classified under three forms of government: Episcopal (Church of England and Lutheran), which is under the control and guidance of bishops and archbishops; Presbyterian, meaning groups of congregations under the direction of a presbytery or other higher court; and congregationalist, which means that the church members meeting as a body make decisions about the situation of their own congregation without any form of higher supervision.


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The Presbyterian form of church government, though not a democracy, has some democratic features in the form of presbyteries being composed of parish representatives clerical and lay, in equal numbers, to which ministers and congregations are answerable for their activities. The Presbyterian system has also been described as “aristocratic,” because its lay leadership has often come from the leading families of the community. This is very likely the indirect influence of Calvin himself and his colleagues, who were all from similar backgrounds, but perhaps also because the church drew much of its strength from the rapidly emerging middle classes of European society, particularly lawyers, merchants, and later, bankers. See also APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION; PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC. CHURCH OF ENGLAND. The state-supported church in England that stands in continuity with the ancient church founded by Augustine of Canterbury, the sixth-century Benedictine monk who became the first archbishop of Canterbury. Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547) engineered its independence from the Vatican by becoming its supreme governor, initially to permit him to divorce Catherine of Aragon, but eventually to permit confiscation of church property and to make it an instrument of government policy. Its confession of faith is contained in its Thirty-Nine Articles. Their earliest form, dating to 1552 and composed by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, contained strong Calvinist influence. The final 1563 version eliminated some of the more extreme elements of Calvinism, although its general content bears a resemblance to the Westminster Confession of Faith of the Church of Scotland, which was a Calvinist-inspired document. The Church of England is divided into two provinces, one led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other, in the north, by the Archbishop of York, and is governed through its General Synod, which deals with legislation and policy that affect the entire church. The church has 16,000 buildings served by 19,000 clergy. Over three million attend special services such as Christmas and Easter, and 40 percent of the population identify with the church. CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. The national church recognized in the 1707 Treaty of Union between Scotland and England. The church traces its roots to the Irish missionary monk, Columba, who settled on the island of Iona in the sixth century. The Kirk (as it is referred to in old Scots) became Protestant in 1560 by an act of the Scottish Parliament that ushered in the Scottish Reformation led by John Knox, the disciple of Calvin in Geneva. Knox implemented many of Calvin’s Reformed principles and established the vision of a church and school in every parish of the country. In spite of attempts by successive monarchs to impose an Episcopal order on the church, the


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presbyterian form of church government evolved based on the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of Geneva (1541). The church acknowledges only Jesus Christ as its supreme head, making the monarch simply a member. Ministers and elders in equal numbers sit in the higher church courts, the presbyteries, which meet several times a year, and the General Assembly, which meets once a year in Edinburgh in May. When the monarch is unable to be present in person, he or she is represented at the assembly by a specially appointed Lord High Commissioner. Moderators of presbyteries and of the General Assembly are elected and hold office for one year only. As in the case of the Church of England, the Church of Scotland provides chaplains for the monarch’s Ecclesiastical Household in Scotland, 10 ministers identified by their scarlet cassocks. The highly ranked offices of Dean of the Chapel Royal and Dean of the Order of the Thistle in Scotland are normally held by ministers of the church. The Articles Declaratory, affirmed at the reunion of the three main Presbyterian churches in 1929, commit the church to a territorial ministry throughout the country. It has over 900 parishes, served by almost 1,000 ministers, and has an adult communicant membership of over half a million. Some 55 percent of the population identifies with the church, and the majority of funerals and weddings are still conducted by ministers of the church. See also BAILLIE, JOHN; BARCLAY, WILLIAM; CAMPBELL, JOHN MACLEOD; DISRUPTION OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND; ERSKINE, EBENEEZER; GUTHRIE, JAMES; MACKINTOSH, HUGH ROSS; MACLEOD, GEORGE FIELDEN; MARROW CONTROVERSY; McCOSH, JAMES; MELVILLE, ANDREW; MOFFAT, JAMES; NATIONAL COVENANT; OMAN, JOHN WOOD; SECESSION, ORIGINAL; TORRANCE, THOMAS. CIVIL GOVERNMENT. Civil government is a “divinely established order” (Institutio IV: xx: 1). It is part of God’s providence that is intended to limit human sin and effect basic positive relations between human beings, who otherwise would be in Thomas Hobbes’s sense “in a state of natural war” as defined in his Leviathan. Unless the wicked are restrained and the innocent protected, chaos would reign. Government thus becomes a necessity, as he states it, “like bread, water, sun, and air” (Institutio IV: xx: 3). However, the kind of authority and the province of civil government are quite different from that of the church. Civil government should keep the peace and protect the church in its work, and according to Calvin, Holy Scripture provides some indications of its purpose and its limitations. Calvin saw the church and state issue in terms of a division of labor. The state was to see to the well-being of society through upholding the principles of justice, fairness, and peace. The church was to be dominant in matters


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spiritual and responsible for care of the poor and needy. According to Calvin (Institutio IV: xx), civil government should uphold the law, both civil and ecclesiastical, because it is ordained as a servant of God for the common good (Institutio IV: xx: 17). The perpetual rule of love must lie at the heart of all good government (xx: 15). The government also has the right to impose its authority, declare war, and collect taxes when necessary. COMMENTARY ON SENECA’S DE CLEMENTIA (1532). Calvin’s first book that expounded his early humanist thought and established his reputation as a scholar of standing. In the view of many scholars, its principal objective was to commend the idea of clemency toward Protestants in the same spirit that Seneca appealed to Emperor Nero of Rome to be more generous to his subjects. This was supported also by references to basic humanistic values found in Stoicism, which were used to counter the hedonistic tendencies of Epicureanism. Calvin, like Immanuel Kant in a later day, admired the Stoic love of truth and scientific thinking, the basis of the rationality that expressed itself in the Protestant work ethic. François Wendel makes the point (Calvin, 1963, 27) that, though most scholars make reference to it as a precursor of Calvin’s future spiritual direction, the text is worth study on its own merits, not only because of its erudition and style, but also because of the method employed, which had been developed by Guillaume Budé (1467–1540), the French scholar responsible for the revived study of classical Greek. It is clear through the manner of exposition that Calvin preferred the work and methodology of Budé to that of Erasmus of Rotterdam, the most influential humanist thinker of the time. COMMON ORDER, BOOK OF (1564). The directory for the conduct of public worship in the Church of Scotland, drawn up by John Knox. It was intended merely as a guide for the clergy, not a set liturgy, and was eventually replaced by the Westminster Directory of 1645. Thereafter, as a result of the revival of worship in the 19th century, the 1940 Book of Common Order was produced, which was followed by other editions, none of which, however, matched the rich language of the older versions. COMPANY OF PASTORS. Part of the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of Geneva (1541) responsible for the preaching and spiritual work of the churches in the city. Created by William Farel sometime after 1530, it became the governing body of the church in Geneva. The city ministers met weekly to decide on policy matters, study the Holy Scriptures, examine candidates for the ministry, make appointments to parishes, and keep records of all decisions made. Calvin himself was moderator until his death in 1564.


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CONFESSING CHURCH OF GERMANY. See GERMAN CONFESSING CHURCH. CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. Sometimes lengthy documents that set out the articles of belief of a church or a religious group, dating mostly to the 16th and 17th centuries. They normally included arguments on behalf of the doctrines presented, along with extensive biblical justification in support. At the time, these appeared quite easy to compose, since the issues involved were much more clearly defined than they are in contemporary culture. CONSISTORY OF GENEVA. A body of clergy and laity appointed to oversee the moral and spiritual conduct of the people of Geneva. Two of the four offices of the church defined by Calvin in the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of Geneva, the pastor and the elder, were members. The eldership, an office that remains a central component of the Presbyterian form of church government, was charged with the duty of overseeing the life and conduct of the people and administering admonitions where individuals were behaving in a disorderly or inappropriate manner. The Ordinances specified that errors to be condemned included being critical of the doctrines of the church, absence from public worship, disobedience to the Ten Commandments, attending a Roman Mass, or any acts considered idolatrous by the clergy that called for reprimand and disciplinary action. This system became the core of Calvin’s theory and practice of discipline. Twelve elders were appointed from the members of the city councils. They met weekly on Thursday mornings with the ministers and had the power to summon, question, and admonish anyone judged guilty of wrongdoing. This assembly came be known as the Consistory. Individuals called before the Consistory were either witnesses to other people’s wrongdoings or were themselves guilty of misdemeanors. Replacing the Roman Catholic confessional, individuals summoned were invited to confess and permitted to repent. Disobedience to judgments passed was punishable by being refused permission to sit at the Lord’s Supper. This was, in effect, short-term excommunication. One absence normally resulted in contrition. The stated objective of these procedures was to bring sinners to the Lord. People who committed serious crimes were handed over to the city council, which had the power to administer various degrees of punishment, up to banishment and death. People were summoned to the Consistory for offenses either proven or alleged. While breaking any of the Ten Commandments was the basic standard, other forms of improper behavior included gambling; dancing; drunkenness; laziness; not working; blasphemy; criticizing the ministers, deacons, or the


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magistrates of Geneva, and lapsing into Roman church practices. Neglecting children’s education was taken seriously, as was not bringing them up properly. Adultery, fornication, wife beating, or being in a state of contention with a spouse or indeed a neighbor were all taken seriously. Reconciliation was required and was often effected at the Consistory. Inability to repeat the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostles’ Creed in French was remedied by compulsory attendance at weekly catechism classes. The most positive aspect of the Consistory was its ministry of reconciliation and its emphasis upon improving qualities in lifestyle and human relations. COUNTER-REFORMATION. The name given to the movement instigated by the Roman Catholic Church from the time of Pius IV in 1560 to the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. It was not called the Counter-Reformation in Catholic history books until modern times. Sixteen meetings took place, starting in 1537, that came to be known as the Council of Trent. Among the by-products of the Counter-Reformation was the formation of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), founded by Ignatius Loyola. He led his spiritual storm troopers in an attack not only on Protestant strongholds in Europe, but into East Asia under another founding Jesuit, Francis Xavier (1506–1552), where the Jesuit work in Japan still survives in the form of Sophia University in Tokyo. In 1552, the College for the Propagation of the faith was formed. Formally titled the “Sacra Congregatio Christiano Nomini Propagando,” but also know as the Inquisition, it still deals with the spread of Catholicism and the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs in non-Catholic countries. COVENANTERS. Signatories of the National Covenant (1638) that protested the attempt by King Charles I (1600–1649) to impose Episcopacy on the Church of Scotland. Many covenanters were punished and exiled, but the church triumphed through maintaining its independence. The modern Reformed Presbyterian Church groups in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Australia, and the United States claim to be the true heirs of the tradition. See also CIVIL GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF; RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL. COVENANT THEOLOGY. Referring to Eternal God’s gracious will that takes his people into communion with him, the idea of the Covenant lies behind Calvin’s interpretation of the two sacraments of the church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion). The covenant describes the sphere of God’s revealing and redeeming action throughout human history, from the call of Abraham to leave the city of Ur (Genesis 12:1–3) to the sacrificial death of Jesus, symbolized on the night before when he instituted the


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sacrament through the sharing of bread and wine. There is only one Covenant, which means that the essential elements of the old covenant correspond to those in the new. Jesus Christ is the substance of both, promised in the old and fulfilled in the new. This position is close to that of Augustine. Considered from the viewpoint of the church, the covenant should be understood as corporate, meaning that it is for the whole church (Institutes IV: xiii) as a group of people constituted by God into the Body of Christ. The sacraments are therefore public acts and should not be performed in private. This left the legacy in many Reformed Churches of infrequent celebration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Further, the unity of Word and Sacrament, part Calvin’s theology of the sacraments, required preaching of the Word along with the sacrament. Consequently, private celebrations or individual participation at the altar ceased to be possible. The Episcopal tradition retained the Roman practice that the sacrament could be celebrated either individually or collectively. The Reformed tradition, in its act of celebration, employed the symbolism of one common cup, passed from member to member, as a reminder of the corporate nature of the sacrament and that God had covenanted with the church, not merely with individuals. The sacraments are seals of the New Covenant made through the blood of Christ and as such effect union between Christ and the church, which had become his body (Institutes IV: xvii: 19). CREATION AND PROVIDENCE. Calvin’s “passion for the Majesty of God,” as John Piper calls it in his book of that title, pervades all his work. It is the basis of his view of both creation and providence. He deals with both themes at considerable length (Institutio I: xiv–xvii) and brings them together in his discussion of the order of creation: “In the very order of events, we ought diligently to ponder on the paternal goodness of God towards the human race, in not creating Adam until he had liberally enriched the earth with all good things. Had he placed him on an earth barren and unfurnished; had he given life before light, he might have seemed to pay little regard to his interest” (Institutio I: xiv: 2). Of providence he says: “Let the reader remember that the providence we mean is not one by which the Deity, sitting idly in heaven, looks on at what is taking place in the world, but one by which he, as it were, holds the helm, and overrules all events” (Institutio I: xvi: 4). Calvin’s speculative reflections enabled a new view of creation to emerge that permitted inquiry into its meaning and significance. Protestant thought was never hostile to natural science or legitimate investigation into the natural order. Indeed, it promoted the belief that the discovery of scientific truth was in keeping with the human approach to God as creator and would help to elucidate the nature of creation.


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CREEDS. Short statements of the Christian faith (in contrast to verbose confessions of faith) in the form of simple propositions, the earliest of which date to the first century, such as the Apostles’ Creed. They were used for teaching purposes or for candidates for baptism to recite. The last generally accepted creed that is still in use is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, also known as the Nicene Creed, which dates to the Council of Nicaea in the fourth century. CZECH BRETHREN, CHURCH OF THE. The roots of the Protestant churches of the Czech Republic are pre-Reformation, going back to Jan Hus of Bohemia. Both Lutheran and Reformed traditions existed. In 1918, they united to form the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren, which elected to follow the Presbyterian form of church government, becoming Reformed rather than Lutheran in form. The church took as its standard the Second Helvetic Confession of 1566 in addition to the earlier Lutheran Augsburg Confession of 1530. The church was a member of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), which became the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) in 2010. Its headquarters are in Prague, and it has around 120,000 members in 39 churches.


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D DEACONS, DIACONATE. The office of deacon may be traced to the good works done by the biblical figure Dorcas, who was raised from the dead by the Apostle Peter (Acts 9:40). The office of deacon was created by the ordination of people whose work was to care for the poor and needy. Many Reformed Churches, in addition to a Kirk Session, also had a Deacon’s Court that handled temporal affairs. The Order of the Diaconate now exists as a full-time form of ministry in many churches, including the Roman Catholic communion. Deacons may be used where regularly ordained clergy are not available, or for visitation of the sick, and the provision of help for people in need. The office of deaconess also existed in many churches before men were admitted. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. Calvin’s legacy may lie in the continued existence of the Reformed Churches around the world, but it is not confined to religious institutions alone. It has been pointed out that part of its great influence may be seen in the results of the Mayflower arriving in the New World. The principle of freedom of worship may not be entirely Calvinist, but the environment that the New England colonies created allowed for the development of the political and social thought of Calvinism in ways that would never have been possible in Europe. While Calvinism per se cannot be regarded as the cause, its influence on the Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the framing of the Constitution is clear. The rights of resistance and secession, and the rejection of unjust government, all became idealistic forces in the struggle for independence. The system of checks and balances enshrined in the United States Constitution was a mechanism of political philosophy designed to uphold these rights. It has been argued by Alister E. McGrath that the greatest impact of Calvinism was not within the churches of Europe and beyond, but in the indirect contribution it made to the secular constitutional democracy that was the logical outcome of Calvin’s thought. He sees American civil religion as a secularized form of belief in providence and election of the United States to

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divinely favored status. The idea of secession certainly influenced numerous statesmen, not least of all Jefferson Davis, who led the Confederacy to secede from the Union, and Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the secession, but redefined American democracy in his famous Gettysburg address. The idea of the United States having a unique role in the world was a strong conviction held by President Woodrow Wilson and John Foster Dulles (1888–1959), secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Both were sons of influential Presbyterian ministers at times in American history when traditional views of sin influenced attitudes to social issues as well as foreign relations. See also CHURCH AND STATE; NIEBUHR, REINHOLD. DECREE OF GOD. A term used in the context of discussing God’s control over all creation. In Calvin, the eternal decree refers to election or the predestination of some to glory and others to perdition. The Westminster Confession of Faith oversimplifies the issue by its affirmation that “God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass” (Section III). This left the church with a philosophically deterministic universe and the inability to deal with the same complex questions raised by Calvin’s doctrine of election. Some churches avoid the problem by the loophole of discretion. In the preamble to ordination, the declaration that the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the supreme rule of faith and life is followed by a further statement that the Westminster Confession of Faith is its subordinate standard. However, the latter statement is qualified by the words “with liberty to differ upon such points as do not enter into the substance of the faith.” The points themselves, however, remain undefined. DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE (1618). Defenestration, meaning “throwing someone or something out of a window,” is derived from the Latin fenestra, a window. Prior to the famous event of 1618, there was an earlier defenestration in 1419, when supporters of Jan Hus, the reformer priest, threw seven members of the Czech City Council from a window of the New Town Hall of Prague. Their bodies were caught and impaled by soldiers holding halberds. The Second Defenestration took place in 1618, when two vice-regents of the Hapsburgs and several governors of the Czech territories were thrown out of a tower window at Prague Castle. They landed on horse manure and survived, an event later attributed to the intervention of angels. The incident became one of the events considered to be a partial cause of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), the last of the long wars of religion. Although 200 years apart, the events were centered on claims about the spiritual


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independence of Czech territory that led ultimately to the conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestants in what is now the Czech Republic. DENNEY, JAMES (1856–1917). Paisley (near Glasgow) born theologian of the Free Church of Scotland that was formed at the Disruption of 1843 led by Thomas Chalmers. He was a minister of the Free Church in Broughty Ferry (near Edinburgh) from 1886, but was active in New Testament studies. He eventually became professor of systematic and pastoral theology from 1897 to 1900, professor of the New Testament from 1900 to 1917, and finally principal of the Free Church College in Edinburgh from 1915 to 1917. Denney was a powerful influence among ministers of his generation and the students he taught, giving them insights that challenged the pseudosophisticated liberalism of the day. He was an evangelical thinker whose work left an indelible mark on the religious culture of the Presbyterian tradition as a whole. His Christ-centered thinking was close to the growing movement known as dialectical theology, started by Karl Barth. Among his memorable summaries of both his theology and his guidance to young ministers was his famous saying, which might well have come from Calvin himself: “No man can show himself to be clever, and at the same time that Christ is mighty to save.” DIALECTICAL THEOLOGY. The name given to a current form of theology that rejected the liberalism of the early 20th century and tried to return to and recapture some of the basic insights of the 16th-century reformers into the nature of the world, humanity, and God’s relationship to both. The development of what came to be known as the theology of the Word of God was the work of continental Europeans, primarily Karl Barth and Emil Brunner in Switzerland, but it spread to the United States through the influence of Reinhold Niebuhr in particular. One of the earliest expositions in English of the movement appeared in the Croall Lectures at Edinburgh University, delivered in 1933 by H. R. Mackintosh, professor of dogmatics at New College, Edinburgh, and published posthumously under the title Types of Modern Theology (1937). Mackintosh himself was strongly influenced by the movement that was providing the only serious theological resistance to Nazism during the 1930s. The Theological Declaration of Barmen (1934) was the product of this movement and was firmly grounded in the Calvinist view of the absolute nature of God over the relativity of the human. God’s relationship with humanity is complex and “dialectical,” being both judge and savior at the same time. The influence of Barth and those associated with the movement continued long after its exponents had died and remains the cornerstone for much


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modern evangelical thinking. Its challenge now is not Nazism, but the various forms of cultural erosion being caused by humanism and postmodernism. DISCIPLINE, BOOKS OF. See BOOKS OF DISCIPLINE. DISIPLINE, ECCLESIASTICAL. Formal oversight of the life and doctrine of church members, to which different approaches have been taken at different times. Ulrich Zwingli and Johann Bullinger took the view that the civil magistrate was responsible for church order. Calvin advocated the separation of the powers of the church and the magistrate and that church discipline should be in the hands of the courts of the church, with judgments being made by presbyters. The French Reformed Church in 1562 moved toward what is now known as congregationalism, the right of individual congregations to discipline their own members. In the absence of bishops, these remain the principal alternatives. See also CHURCH AND STATE. DISRUPTION OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND (1843). The breakup of the Church of Scotland that took place at the General Assembly of 1843, when one-third of the ministers and half of the communicant membership left under the leadership of Thomas Chalmers. The Free Church of Scotland that came into being gave the right to individual congregations to elect and call their own minister. Ministers in parish churches until then were appointed and “presented” by the local laird, the head of the parish heritors, whose task it was to provide churches and manses for ministers. “Lay patronage,” as it was called, was rejected, and its complete abolition became a precondition of the reunion of the church in 1929. It is one example of the tendency within Calvinism to lead to fragmentation over matters of theology or ecclesiology. See also MARROW CONTROVERSY; SECESSION, THEORY OF. DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS. The belief that absolute authority given by God resides with the monarch, who is consequently answerable to no one on earth for his actions. Sacral kingship existed from Old Testament times and was advocated in Europe especially by the Tudors and the Stuarts in England, and notably by Louis XIV of France. The doctrine of the Sovereignty of God in Calvinism became a serious challenge to the idea of divine right, as did Protestant culture in general to all forms of absolutism. This was one shift in human self-understanding that can be attributed to the Reformation and that helps to distinguish the medieval from the modern world. See also CHURCH AND STATE; CIVIL GOVERNMENT; MELVILLE, ANDREW; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF; SECESSION, THEORY OF.


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DOCTRINE OF CHRIST. See CHRISTOLOGY. DOCTRINE OF THE TWO KINGDOMS. A distinction drawn by Andrew Melville between the church and state in terms of the king being head of state, but so far as the kingdom of Jesus Christ (an implicit reference to the church) is concerned, being only a member with no special privileges. It was a direct challenge to the idea of the divine right to rule both church and state, which the Royal House of Stuart espoused, but which was viewed by its leaders as a threat to the church’s independence. It was the forerunner of many expression of the same idea, from the Theological Declaration of Barmen (1934) to the South African Belhar Confession of 1982. See also CIVIL GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF. DOGMATICS. The systematic exposition of the central dogmas of the Christian church. How the province is determined depends upon individual conceptions of Christian doctrine and its status within the church. In eras when there was stability in the life of the church and when Christianity was not being challenged, the task of dogmatics became that of showing the correctness of what the church taught by verifying it in Holy Scripture, in tradition, and through reason. Classical among such undertakings was the Institutes of the Christian Religion of John Calvin, which organized the doctrines of the Reformed faith with conceptual thoroughness and academic precision into a fully developed systematic theology of incomparable comprehensiveness. This was dependent upon a philosophical foundation, invariably Aristotelian, because that was the medieval theologians’ tool for system building. By the time of the Enlightenment in Europe, when questions were being asked about the truth and validity of Christian belief, dogmatics became transformed into apologetics. Friedrich Schleiermacher, chaplain to a charity hospital in Berlin, composed a series of addresses aimed at the critics of the Christian faith, On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers (1799). It attacked traditional dogmatics, Deism and “natural religion,” and the type of rationalism found in the religious philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Interestingly, the English translation of Schleiermacher was produced by John Oman, a Church of Scotland minister who became principal of Westminster College, Cambridge. His own best-known work, Grace and Personality (1919), follows Schleiermacher in declaring that God is personal and always treats human beings as persons, and that everyone has an awareness of God that prompts faith. The introduction was written by Rudolf Otto (1869–1937), whose own work, Das Heilige (1917), translated as The Idea of the Holy, speaks also of a sense of mystery within people that is in effect a


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sense of God. The three together might be viewed as a school of apologetics that left behind an eloquent defense of religious experience and spirituality as the basis of a personal relationship with God. In the period following Schleiermacher, Albrecht Ritschl (1822–1889) contributed to the debate with a major argument that dogmatics could be based on the Bible and be Christ-centered without becoming entangled in arguments about orthodoxy. The Reformed theologian Charles Hodge (1797– 1878) tried to create a dogmatic system for the churches in North America and was succeeded later by the Neo-Calvinist theologian Louis Berkhof. The 20th-century leaders of the movement known as dialectical theology, Karl Barth and Emil Brunner, both made major contributions to the field, notably Barth’s massive five-volume Church Dogmatics. Paul Tillich undertook a similar project in his Systematic Theology (1951), using existentialist philosophy as his underlying framework. Generally speaking, and irrespective of how they commence the undertaking, there appear to be three pieces of common ground that each covers. There is the background of the Bible and the witness of the early church to the events recorded in the birth of the Christian church. There is the historical account of how that early witness became enshrined in dogma. Finally, there is the philosophical dimension in the form a critique of culture on how these events may be defined and understood. DORDRECHT, SYNOD OF (1618–1619). See SYNOD OF DORDRECHT. DRAMATIC ARTS. Drama has long been in use to portray the life of Jesus Christ or many of the great events recorded in the Bible. Best known perhaps is the Passion Play performed at Oberammergau in Bavaria, south Germany. In addition to the Stations of the Cross, found painted in many churches, there were also many medieval miracle plays performed in English cathedrals. Some scholars of English literature see these as precursors of the works of William Shakespeare. These artistic and dramatic forms fell out of favor at the Reformation and were not replaced. However, since the end of World War II, the large spaces in medieval cathedrals, now the home of the Reformation churches, have been readapted for drama, orchestral performances, art exhibitions, and even experimental types of worship that moved into new forms of instrumental music intended to reflect contemporary culture. While not finding universal favor, such experiments may lead, it is thought, to new, tested, and worthwhile innovations that will parallel some of the great and highly original music of the past.


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DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. The history of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands goes back to the first synod of 23 church leaders, convened in 1571 in the German city of Edmen, which led to the founding of the Dutch Reformed Church (in Dutch: Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk or NHK). The first synod within the Dutch Republic was held in Dordrecht in 1578. Early on, the church displayed the Calvinist tendency to dispute and fragment over matters of church doctrine. Its second Synod of Dordecht led to the expulsion of the Arminians and the affirmation of the Canons of Dordecht, which defined orthodox Calvinism. Subsequent conflicts and splits in the church were brought about by disagreement over the meaning and interpretation of these theological statements. The government had been a party to the rejection of Arminianism and maintained a controlling interest over the church until the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, when complete control was established. Nomination of Synod members was the right of the king until 1852. The church was, however, split again by a schism in 1834 and by another under Abraham Kuyper in 1886. After World War II, the church became more open to change and ecumenical cooperation. In 2004, there was a union of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands that created the Protestant church in the Netherlands. At that time, it had 2 million members organized into over 1,300 congregations. As would be expected, a minority chose not to unite, organizing themselves into the Restored Reformed Church. See also AMYRALDIANISM; ARMINIANISM; BERKHOF, LOUIS; FIVE POINTS (ARTICLES) OF CALVINISM; FOUR POINT CALVINISM; KUYPER, ABRAHAM; REMBRANDT HARMEENSZOON VAN RIJIN; REMONSTRANTS; RUSHDOONY, ROUSAS JOHN.


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E ECCLESIASTICAL ORDINANCES OF GENEVA. The set of regulations produced by Calvin on his return to Geneva in 1541 to define the organization and structure of the four offices of the church: pastor, teacher, elder, and deacon. The pastors or ministers were formed into the Venerable Company of Pastors, who were the men selected for office as clergy. There was no formal service of ordination as was practiced by the church in Strasbourg. They simply took a solemn oath before the city council. They were concerned with pastoral matters and met to evaluate each other’s conduct four times a year. They also met weekly for discussion of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Rural ministers were required to attend these discussions at least once a month. This improved quality and strengthened their solidarity. The teachers, or doctors, of the church were responsible principally for the training of candidates for the pastoral ministry. Out of concern for this being undertaken adequately, there emerged the Academy of Geneva. This was the first step in broadening the basis of education and placing it into a wider curricular context. The moral life of the community was in the hands of the elders or presbyters. Twelve office-holders were chosen and elected by the council. Along with the pastors, they formed the Consistory of Geneva, which met every Thursday to examine cases of discipline and impose appropriate penalties. The office of deacon was intended to be responsible for the management of community resources as well as care for the sick, the poor, and the aged. The deacons represented the origins of modern social concern for the needy. The revival of the ancient office of deacon into a modern active diaconate was a progressive step in social as well as ecclesiastical development. Many Reformed Churches are still very active in this area. Critical questions have been raised about the powers that such a system produced, particularly where the line between ecclesiastical and political authority was not clearly drawn. By modern standards, the abuse of power is unacceptable, although it continues to exist. Given the circumstances of the age, it was probably a lot less severe than the kind of brutality meted out by Emperor Charles V to dissidents in his domains. It is doubtful that there

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will ever be a resolution of comparative questions involving past and present ways of defining and dealing with what is perceived as deviant behavior. One response has been the inscription on the Michael Servetus monument of 1903, which includes these words: “As dutiful and grateful followers of Calvin our great Reformer, yet condemning an error which was that of his age, and strongly attached to liberty of conscience, according to the true principles of the Reformation and of the Gospel, we have erected this expiatory monument. October 27th, 1903.” ECONOMIC THEORY. The theory of Max Weber that linked the Protestant work ethic with the spirit of capitalism, while remaining indicative of some form of causal relationship between the two, has undergone varying degrees of critical refinement. One modern observation that stresses the way in which the world has been transformed by economic thinking, suggests that economic activity differed from Calvinism only in that it was celebrating as rational what Calvinists considered sinful. Their connection lies in the simple fact that both were bids for personal freedom against the interference of earthly authority in human activity. While there is some indicative value in that idea, the concept of a simple cause and effect theory is questioned in an important study by James S. Coleman, Foundations of Social Theory (1990). Coleman develops an elaborate argument based on the internal analysis of systems behavior. He focuses on analyzing how the structure of positions constituting an organization comes into being. For this purpose, he argues that cultural psychology as a causal factor is of itself inadequate. Therefore, he criticizes the simple logic entailed in Max Weber as methodologically unsatisfactory. He points out, for example, that a systematic comparison is needed between the economic organization of those societies that became Protestant and those that did not. In terms of the criteria he uses, he claims that Karl Marx’s account of the evolution of capitalism from feudalism becomes more credible than the Weber thesis. Discussions of Weber’s thesis have the tendency to move his basic observation into contexts where analytical tools are used that have little relevance, because their complexity far exceeds the simple insight that Weber was trying to offer. It could be argued, more fundamentally, that Weber had recognized rationality as a key factor in economic development. Consequently, the rise of Protestantism as an attempt to inject rationalization into Christianity led to an attempt at rationalizing political, social, and economic life at the same time, and this is certainly true of what happened in Geneva. Rather than being the basis for a general theory, it may perhaps be better looked upon as identifying a unique moment in the movement of human civilization that released forces still at work in the modern world, and that in the process created a class of


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people who embraced its benefits and molded societies on its values. See also BANKING AND ETHICS. ECUMENISM. Belief in the one holy catholic (or universal) church was a central tenet of Calvin’s thought that was never abandoned by the Reformed Churches. The impetus for the development of ecumenism in the 20th century was the famous Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910. Over 1,200 delegates representing most Protestant denominations and 160 missionary societies worldwide met for 10 days to look critically at what was being accomplished by Christian mission around the world. It was decided that the momentum generated should be allowed to continue through the creation of an organization to facilitate it. The event is usually considered the starting point of the modern ecumenical movement, which has continued into the present structure of interchurch relations. Although some progress has been made in bringing like-minded churches together, it has often been as much for economic reasons as for ideals of unity. Notable by its absence from all these discussions has been the Roman Catholic Church. See also WORLD ALLIANCE OF REFORMED CHURCHES. EDICT OF NANTES (1598). See NANTES, EDICT OF. EDUCATION. The Reformed tradition from its inception stressed the importance of education. This was reflected in John Knox proposing the policy of a church and school in every parish. A well-educated ministry was also a long-standing principle of early Calvinism. The Academy of Geneva was the first institution of its kind created for that purpose. The education of the population at large was also considered central to the church’s mission. Universities became more open to new forms of learning and were supplemented by new colleges with new faculties, covering not simply the traditional disciplines such as law, medicine, and theology, but also science, and later engineering. This policy extended to all missionary expansion in the 19th century. Reformed Churches often built more schools overseas than churches. Women in India, for example, benefited enormously from the improved status that education gave them. The creation of colleges and seminaries in North America produced some of the finest in the world, some of whose names are internationally renowned, such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. EDWARDS, JONATHAN (1703–1765). Although a Congregationalist minister and a Puritan, neither of which were viewpoints countenanced by Calvinists, Edwards became a leading figure in North American religion through his preaching during the spiritual revivals known as Great


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Awakenings of 1734–1735 and 1740–1741. He was theologically an orthodox Calvinist and strongly opposed to Arminianism. His last work was on the theology of original sin, in which he followed Calvin’s teaching very closely. He was the greatest theologian of his day and is still viewed by some as America’s finest religious thinker. His influence survived in the development of what became known as New England Theology. See also UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ELDER, OFFICE OF. An office found in most Reformed Churches, modeled on Calvin’s ideas, but developed in the Church of Scotland under John Knox and later Andrew Melville, the architect of the Presbyterian form of church government. The ruling elders of a congregation or parish assist the minister in the administration of its affairs, deal with matters of discipline, and provide for the poor. Elders normally visited homes, distributing invitations to attend the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to those deemed worthy to attend. Communicants were given a metal token bearing the name of the parish church to which they belonged. Initially the office was open only to men, but since the mid-20th century, women have gradually been admitted. Elders also serve in the higher courts of the church in equal numbers with the ministers, together forming the presbytery, and above this, either a provincial synod or the General Assembly. ELECTION, DOCTRINE OF. One of the most controversial and complex doctrines advocated by Calvin. God’s election is an “eternal decree” by which some are elected to salvation and others condemned to damnation (Institutio III: xxi). According to Calvin, God initiates salvation by grace on behalf of those who are the elect. Election is part of God’s eternal purposes, determined before the foundation of the world (Institutio III: xxii: 2), cited in Ephesians 1:4 and quoted by Calvin (Institutio III: xxii: 2). Faith is the result of election, but election does not depend upon faith (Institutio III: xxiv: 3). While Calvin’s argument is coherently presented, it never satisfied those who took literally those texts found in the Bible that clearly state that all who called upon the name of the Lord would be saved. Karl Barth rejected Calvin’s understanding of predestination in favor of the view that all human beings could be the elect in Christ. One further objection to the doctrine is that it leaves humanity in a deterministic universe, a position that appears to nullify the meaning of human existence if everything in the world is predetermined. It also challenges other biblical affirmations about freedom that are found in the writings of St. Paul, notably in his affirmation of Christian freedom in Galatians 5:1. Calvin used the doctrine strategically as much as theologically, to curb human pride and increase hu-


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man dependency on God, and to be a source of encouragement and fortitude to those facing difficult circumstances. The doctrine of election remains one of the most difficult areas of Calvin’s theology to understand. It should be separated from how Calvin speaks of the foreknowledge of God. See also AMYRALDIANISM; ARMINIANISM; KUYPERIANISM; SUPRALAPSARIANISM. ENGLISH REFORMATION. The English Reformation was engineered by King Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547) to resolve a dispute with the pope over his proposed divorce from Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536). In 1529, he summoned what became known as the Reformation Parliament to approve the annulment of his marriage. He had himself appointed under the Supremacy Act of 1534 “sole protector and Supreme Head of the Church and clergy of England,” by virtue of which he could have the annulment approved. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, developed the basic ideas of Henry into a coherent position. Henry was married to Ann Boleyn in 1553, after which the pope excommunicated both Henry and Cranmer from the Church in 1533. Parliament then passed the Treasons Act of 1534 (replaced by the Treason Act of 1537), which made it an act of high treason punishable by death to deny royal supremacy, the legislation under which Thomas More (1478–1535) was executed. Finally, in 1536, Parliament passed an act rejecting the pope’s authority, which finally established the independence of both church and nation. The order of the Church of England, as it came to be known, remained Episcopalian and is under parliamentary control. In the process of change, Henry acquired vast amounts of land and wealth from the monasteries. While this aspect of the break with Rome was one dimension of the English Reformation, the underlying theology goes back to people such as John Wycliffe (1324–1384), the Bible translator. Even John Knox, the reformed leader of Scotland, was for a period a preacher in England. One legacy of the Reformation struggle is the Act of Settlement (1703), which debars Roman Catholics from the British throne. While leaders in the Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain claim that it is discriminatory, and there has been mild lobbying to repeal the law, the complexity of unraveling the legislation, combined with a long history of suspicion about the Vatican view of church and state relations on the part of many people in Britain, make any further serious discussion unlikely in the foreseeable future. ENLIGHTENMENT. The 18th-century period of philosophical and scientific awakening in Europe that was the largest intellectual movement since the Renaissance. Also known in German as the Aufklärung, it was comprehensive


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in its content and carried the effects of the Renaissance into the realms of new ideas that helped to form new paradigms in many fields of learning. The critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant remains an outstanding symbol of its intellectual achievements, while the concept of the social contract (1762) in Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), which developed the ideas of John Locke (1632–1704) and Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), led to a change in approach to political philosophy. Two by-products of this were the United States Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the French Revolution of 1789. The origins of economic theory may be traced to the work of Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations (1776), and of modern psychology to David Hume’s (1711–1776) Treatise of Human Nature (1739–1740). Though these are the most outstanding examples, it may be said that much of the framework upon which modern thought depends was developed during the Enlightenment period. The influence of Calvin’s view of church and state relations and of the right of resistance against perceived injustice could be viewed as a precursor of the Enlightenment that helped to make certain aspects of it possible. EPISCOPAL ORDER OF THE CHURCH. The system of church government that maintains the rank of bishop as the central office of the ministry. The office is found in the Roman Catholic communion; the Orthodox churches; those affiliated to the Anglican Communion, principal of which is the Church of England; some branches of the Reformed Church, for example Hungary; and some of the Unitarian tradition, such as Transylvania. The argument for apostolic succession is that the consecration of bishops began with the laying of the hands of Peter the Apostle on ordinands, who, according to the Roman tradition, was the first bishop of Rome. Thereafter, all consecration and ordination became valid only if performed in the succession of Peter and those he ordained as priests and consecrated as bishops. Calvin rejects the concept of “bishop” as a separate or higher rank on the grounds that the term is synonymous in the New Testament with the term “presbyter” (Greek: presbuteros), which functions in the same way. He states his argument (Institutio IV: iii: 8) in these terms: “In giving the name of bishops, presbyters and pastors, indiscriminately to those who govern churches, I have done it on the authority of Scripture, which uses the words as synonymous.” Later apologists have argued that the term “presbyter” referred to the administrative dimension of the minister’s work, whereas “bishop” identified a more specifically spiritual role. ERASMUS, DESIDERIUS ROTERDAMUS (1466–1536). Known also as Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, he was a Dutch Renaissance human-


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ist, Catholic priest, and theologian. His name Desiderius comes from the Latin desiderium, the root of the word “desire,” which was also a proper name. Erasmus comes from the Greek erásmios, referring to what is “desired.” Roterodamus is the Latin form of Rotterdam. Erasmus was a classical scholar who was judged to have written in the classical style of Augustine and other great writers. He was given the accolade of being the greatest of the humanists of his day. He devised his own techniques for working on texts and produced new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament. These translations raised questions that became central to the Protestant Reformation and in the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation movement. His most important writings include The Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, and Julius Exclusus. Living as he did through the Reformation, he attacked false doctrines, but with regard to clerical abuses he was committed to reforming the Church from within. His compromising approach disappointed Catholics and displeased Protestants. He died in Basel in 1536 and was buried in what had been the Catholic cathedral but was at the time a Reformed Church. Although Calvin respected Erasmus, he clearly preferred the work of Guillaume Budé (1467–1540) as a classical scholar, finding his approach to textual analysis more suited to his own way of thinking. ERASTIANISM. Movement traced to a Swiss thinker, Thomas Erastus (1524–1583), whose theology argued that in any state where there is but one religion professed, the civil government should have control over belief and practice. The church and state issue in this case was resolved in favor of the state, a view embraced in England by the Anglican priest and theologian Richard Hooker (1554–1600) in his Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1594), but not shared in its entirety with Calvinists, who maintained reservations on matters such as the right of resistance against injustice. See also CHURCH OF ENGLAND; ENGLISH REFORMATION. ERSKINE, EBENEEZER (1680–1754). Leader of the first Secession from the Church of Scotland, who was deposed from office in 1740 along with seven other ministers who, like him, supported the right of congregations to choose and elect their own ministers. The movement, known as the Original Secession, gradually grew in size, and from being first the “Associate Presbytery,” it eventually became the United Presbyterian Church, which united in 1900 with the Free Church of Scotland, formed after the Disruption of 1843 that came about over the same issue. They became the United Free Church of Scotland and eventually reunited with the established church


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in 1929. The controversy underlying both the Secession and the Disruption is an illustration of the tendency within Calvinism to be contentious and to fragment over sensitive issues, as in the case of the Marrow Controversy. ESCHATOLOGY. Eschatology is theological reflection on the future and on the end of time that links judgment and hope. Eschaton in Greek refers to the future, over which human beings have no control. One line of theology about the end things that Calvin discouraged was speculation on the idea of the millennium, a thousand-year period after which Jesus Christ would return to judge the world, referred to in the book of Revelation. The view gradually emerged that when Christ returns, the dead would rise and judgment would follow. From Calvin’s day to the early 20th century, eschatology was centered on the individual’s eternal destiny. Karl Barth and other Reformed thinkers such as Jürgen Moltmann began to talk about eschatology in a broader sense, dealing with hope for an improved world, authentic social justice, and the potential of the future. These ideas are derived from the idea of the power of Christ’s Resurrection. EUCHARIST. Greek name for the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion, usually taken to refer to its character as a celebration. Its use is predominantly in the Eastern Orthodox Church, although it is also used in Western churches with the same meaning. EXTRA-CALVINISTICUM. The theological view that Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God, remains active and present beyond the flesh (etiam extra carnem). The implication is that the humanity of Christ remained transcendent even in the incarnation. Calvin, aware of this view, maintained that the whole of Christ, but not everything that is his, is present in the Lord’s Supper. This enabled him to maintain a doctrine of the real presence in the sacrament without falling into what he perceived as the errors of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.


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F FAITH. Belief in the reality of God and trust in the mercy of God, taught in the Holy Scriptures and revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Calvin’s definition is that faith “is a firm and sure knowledge of the divine favour toward us, founded on the truth of a free promise in Christ, and revealed to our minds, and sealed on our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Institutio III: ii: 7). This definition is reflected in the Second Helvetic Confession of 1566. Faith is also considered to be a gift of God to believers that leads to newness of life and living. See also APOLOGETICS; CALL, CALLING; DOGMATICS; ELECTION. FAREL, WILLIAM (GUILLAUME, 1489–1565). French reformer, born of a noble family near Gap in Dauphiné, who became the Reformed Church leader in Neuchâtel and briefly worked with Calvin in Geneva. After studying at the University of Paris, he joined the Reformation cause under the guidance of his mentor, Faber Stapulensis (1455–1536), the French humanist whose theology was a precursor of the Protestant movement in France. In 1521, Farel went to Meaux to expound the Reformation, where he found the initial support of Bishop Guillaume Briçonnet. However, Farel was so direct and abrasive in his manner that the bishop stopped him preaching in 1523. As was observed at the time, he was a man with a great capacity for confrontation but small in discretion, which resulted in trouble wherever he went. After visiting Paris and Gap, Farel went to Basel, where John Oecolampadius, a German reformer, welcomed him; they took part together in the “thirteen articles” debate of 1524. Again, Farel’s extremism, shown in severe attacks on the faulty theology of his opponents, led to his expulsion in 1526. He traveled to southern Germany and Switzerland, preaching to and working with French-speaking people, but risking his life almost everywhere he went. He arrived in Geneva in October 1532 and persuaded the authorities to accept the Reformation. This was put into effect by an edict proclaimed on 10 August 1535.

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Farel persuaded Calvin, while he was passing through Geneva, to give up his recluse life of study to join him in furthering the Reformation work after a famous encounter in 1536. Again, trouble ensued, and both were expelled from the city in 1538. Calvin returned to Geneva in 1541, but Farel went to Neuchâtel and thereafter to Metz and nearby Gorse. In 1543, Gorse was attacked by the troops of the Cardinal of Lorraine, and Farel was fortunate to escape with his life. He went to Strasburg but soon after returned to Neuchâtel and for the remainder of his life made it the center of his work. FATHERS OF THE CHURCH. Calvin quotes extensively from the early Fathers of the church, especially from the era of those known as the Apostolic Fathers. They stood in line as confirmation of the message taught by the Apostles themselves to the later generation, whose thought molded the early church, including Iranaeus of Lyon (2nd century), Clement of Rome (ca. 93–), Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150–216), Athanasius of Alexandria (ca. 293–373), Origen of Alexandria (ca. 185–254), John Chrysotom (ca. 347– 407), and Ambrose of Milan (338–397). Most frequently cited in Calvin’s work is Augustine of Hippo. While he differed with the Fathers on various points, and even with Augustine, Calvin was much closer to him than to any other thinkers of the early church. FEDERAL (COVENANT) THEOLOGY. A 17th-century doctrine that places emphasis on the covenant between God and humanity, typified by the promise made after the flood that “while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not fail” (Genesis 8:22). The blood of Jesus Christ is referred to as the blood of the New Covenant. Reformation theologians, in particular Ulrich Zwingli, Calvin, and Johann Heinrich Bullinger, made extensive use of the idea. The same notion of contract was secularized to become the basis of civil government, a contract between people and government to respect each other. FINNEY, THOMAS GRANDISON (1792–1875). Evangelical Presbyterian preacher who led revivals in the United States and Great Britain and served as the second president of Oberlin College from 1851 to 1856. His liberal brand of Neo-Calvinism became known as the Oberlin Theology. FIVE POINTS (ARTICLES) OF CALVINISM. These emerged from the Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619) and were responses to the five points of the Arminians. While there were points of agreement, the differences proved irreconcilable. The Five Points were in fact statements of faith, and at the Synod were defined as follows:


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1. Total depravity of human nature: Arminians accepted the doctrine of original sin. The contrasts arise in the understanding of God’s response to the human condition. 2. Unconditional election: Calvin’s doctrine of unconditional election holds that salvation cannot be earned or achieved and is therefore not conditional upon any human effort. Faith is not a condition of salvation, but the divinely appointed means to it. Arminians believed that they owed their election to their faith. Calvin believed that faith was possible only because of election. Calvin also thought that God’s grace to enable salvation is given only to the elect. 3. Limited atonement: Arminians agreed with Calvinists on the substitutionary nature of Christ’s Atonement for sin, and that its effect is limited only to the elect. As a footnote, classical Arminians were in agreement with Calvinists that the substitution was for all of the elect. 4. Irresistible grace: God’s saving grace is applied to those whom he has elected to save. It overcomes any resistance to obeying the call of the gospel and brings them to a saving faith. Whoever God sovereignly elects to be saved will be saved. 5. Perseverance of the saints: This idea affirms that because God chose some for salvation and actually paid for their particular sins, he keeps them from apostasy, and those who do apostatize were never truly regenerated or saved. By the mid-18th century, the Arminian position was redefined in England in the Methodist movement begun by John (1703–1791) and Charles Wesley (1707–1788), after which it spread to the United States, where it is now represented in the United Methodist Church, although some evangelical churches with Calvinist roots implicitly subscribe to it without having made any formal statement to that effect. FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD. Calvin speaks of God’s eternal foreknowledge of past, present, and future as one dimension of the sovereignty of God (Institutio I: xvii: 1), namely God’s omniscience. It does not limit freedom, nor should it lead to fatalism. It is also dependent on the concept that “divine understanding” and human knowledge are qualitatively and quantitatively different from each other. However, when set alongside Calvin’s arguments for election, paradoxes arise over the issues of human freedom and moral responsibility. FOUR POINT CALVINISM. Name given to those groups who rejected the idea of a limited atonement as stated in orthodox or Five Points of


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Calvinism, defined at the Synod of Dordrecht. It is associated with Arminianism and Amyraldianism, both of which supported the idea of a hypothetical universal atonement. FRANCE AND SCOTLAND: THE AULD ALLIANCE. Dating to 1295, the Auld Alliance was built upon Scotland and France’s common fear of England’s aggressive ambitions. John Balliol, king of Scotland (r. 1292–1296), and Philip IV of France (r. 1285–1314) drew up a military and diplomatic alliance that benefited Scotland through the introduction of French culture. Scots could serve in the French army, and drinks such as French wine could be easily sourced. It was therefore also a commercial alliance that lasted about 500 years. The victory of Henry V (r. 1413–1422) over France at Agincourt in 1415 was one of England’s greatest military achievements, which led almost to the destruction of France as a nation. In desperation, the French dauphin turned to the Scots, England’s traditional enemy, for support. In 1314, Robert Bruce, king of the Scots (r. 1306–1329), had defeated the English at Bannockburn, near Stirling in central Scotland, preventing England from making Scotland an English fiefdom. In response to the appeal, more than 12,000 Scots sailed to France to challenge the English. In 1421, at the Battle of Bauge, they defeated the English army, killing the Duke of Clarence. The Scottish army was well rewarded by its French allies with honors, titles, and, as history has shown, what always eventually undid them, vast amounts of food and drink. Consequently, at Vernuil in 1424, a Scots army totaling 4,000 men was completely wiped out. However, their intervention saved France from English domination. Some Scots remained in France and supported Joan of Arc (1412–1431). Others joined the Garde Écossais, the bodyguard of the French kings. As permitted by terms of the alliance, many of the mercenaries eventually settled in France. The approval of the Scots’ Confession by the Scottish Parliament in 1560 confirmed the status of the Reformation led by John Knox. Knox had already been welcomed in England, where the English Reformation was proceeding steadily, albeit in a different manner from Scotland, a fact that had serious consequences for the Auld Alliance. By that time, Mary Queen of Scots (1542–1587), a staunch Roman Catholic married to the Dauphin of France, tried to halt the process of change. After court intrigues, including the murder of her second husband, she found herself in a minority. Her last military stand was at Langside in Glasgow, where she was defeated and forced to flee. She was arrested and ended up in the Tower of London. By agreement with her cousin Elizabeth I (Elizabeth Tudor, r. 1558–1603), Mary’s son James VI (r. 1567–1625 in Scotland and 1603–1625 in England) was to succeed her as


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monarch of both kingdoms. Mary was executed, Elizabeth died in 1603, and James VI became James I of England in a Union of the Crowns. Scotland had thus moved from a 300-year-old alliance with France to a new relationship with England. Not all trade ended, and Scots continued to be involved in the import of claret and other French products. The continued existence of a Scots Kirk in Paris, as in Geneva, remains a testimony to the continuation of trade and finance after the Reformation. As a historical footnote, the original terms of the alliance granted dual citizenship to Scots, a privilege that was revoked by the French government in 1903. This act finally brought the 600-year relationship to an end. FRANCIS I of FRANCE (1494–1547; r, 1515–1547). Considered the first Renaissance king of France, in 1530, he declared French to be the national language of the kingdom, replacing Latin. On the advice of the humanist Guillaume Budé, (1467–1540) he opened the Collège des trois langues, or Collège Royal, in 1530, which included in its curriculum Greek, Hebrew, and Chaldean, and from 1539 Arabic under Guillaume Postel. In 1539, at his castle in Villers-Cotterêts, Francis sealed an important edict known as the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts, which made French the administrative language of the kingdom. It required priests to register births, marriages, and deaths and to establish a registry office in every parish. This established the first recording of population statistics in Europe. The Protestant Reformation movement started during Francis’s reign and spread through much of Europe, including France. Under the influence of his sister Marguerite de Navarre, he was relatively open-minded toward the new movement. Because it led to many German princes turning against his enemy, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500–1558), he felt quite well disposed toward it. However, this changed following the Affair of the Placards on 17 October 1534, in which notices appeared on the streets of Paris and other major cities denouncing the mass. A notice was even posted on the door to the king’s room, and, it is said, on the box in which he kept his handkerchief. William Farel was initially thought to have been responsible, but it was in fact the work of a Protestant pastor called Antoine Marcourt. Francis came to view the movement as a plot against him. He moved from attempting to protect the Protestants to persecuting them. Protestants were jailed and executed. In some areas, whole villages were destroyed. Printing was censored, and leading Protestants like John Calvin were forced into exile. The persecutions soon led to tens of thousands of homeless people roaming the country. The active persecution of Protestants in France was made law by the Edict of Fontainebleau. issued in 1540. Calvin wrote a lengthy address to the king as a preface to the Institutes of the Christian Religion, but to no


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avail. The French Reformation was dealt a fatal blow when Henry IV of Navarre, leader of the Protestant movement, agreed to accept the throne on the condition that he would renounce Protestantism, which he did with the rather cynical comment that Paris was “worth a mass.” FREEDOM, POLITICAL. See CHURCH AND STATE; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF; SECESSION, THEORY OF. FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. The independent church formed by a breakaway group of ministers at the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843. See CHALMERS, THOMAS; SECESSION, RIGHT OF. FRENCH CONFESSION (1559). Statement of belief adopted in Paris at the first National Synod of the French Reformed Church. It consisted of 35 articles, drafted by Calvin and following his catechism and the Geneva Catechism. A 40-article confession resulted in a wider view of revelation, namely that God was revealed in nature as well as in grace through the Word of God. The Belgic Confession of 1561 and the Westminster Confession followed this line of thought. The document is also referred to as the Confession of La Rochelle and as the Gallican Confession. FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION. Between 1562 and 1598, eight wars were fought over a complex mixture of religious and civil rights issues. The first was from 1562 to 1563, the second from 1567 to 1568, the third from 1568 to 1570, the fourth from 1572 to 1573, the fifth from 1574 to 1576, the sixth from 1576 to 1577, the seventh from 1579 to 1580, and the eighth from 1585 to 1598. Each was occasioned by contemporary developments that affected France. They were finally ended by Henry IV of Navarre through the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed basic freedoms to Protestants. It remained in force until it was repealed by Louis XIV (r. 1643–1715) in the 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau.


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G GALLICAN CONFESSION (1559). See FRENCH CONFESSION. GENERAL ASSEMBLY. The highest court of the church within the Presbyterian order of church government, composed of representatives of provincial synods or presbyteries. An assembly generally consists of an equal number of ministers and elders, usually referred to as commissioners. Each assembly is presided over by a moderator chosen from its ranks, who holds office normally for one year. All decisions dealing with temporal matters (budgets, finance, buildings, stipends, and staffing) and spiritual matters (doctrine, church polity, and discipline) are made by the General Assembly, usually on the recommendation of committees set up for the purpose of discussing and reporting on these matters. GENEVA BIBLE (1560). Famous and widely used version of the Bible in English produced by exiles from England during the persecution of Protestants by Mary Tudor (r. 1553–1558). It is also referred to as the Breeches Bible because of the amusingly eccentric translation of Genesis 3:7. In the King James Authorized Version (1611), Adam and Eve, on realizing they were naked, “sewed aprons of fig leaves.” The Geneva Bible has it: “They made themselves breeches.” It became the most widely used version of the Bible in English. It was read by Nonconformist groups in England, was used in worship in the Church of Scotland, and was the version that the Pilgrim Fathers took to the New World in 1620. The Geneva Bible was eventually replaced by the King James Bible, although it continued to be used for a time. It was unable to compete, especially on economic terms, with the new popular version, the beauty of whose language and the degree of whose scholarship was outstanding. GENEVA CATECHISMS. Two catechisms prepared by Calvin to teach the basic beliefs of the Reformed tradition. The first (1537) was based on a short catechism written in 1536 in French. A Latin version followed in 1538. Neither followed the question-and-answer format, but were in fact statements

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of doctrine based on the Institutes of the Christian Religion comprising 58 parts, followed by a statement of faith made up of 21 separate articles. A simplified version was published in 1541 in French, which was again followed by a Latin version in 1545. The catechism was used in fulfilling the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of Geneva that children should learn the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the catechism. GENEVA COMPANY OF PASTORS. See COMPANY OF PASTORS. GENEVA CONSISTORY. See CONSISTORY OF GENEVA GERMAN CONFESSING CHURCH. The name given to the large section of church leadership and membership in Germany that refused to be part of the officially state-sanctioned German church approved by the Nazi leadership under Adolf Hitler. Its position was stated in the Barmen Declaration (Theological Declaration of Barmen, 1934), which rejected Hitler’s claims to exercise authority over the church. See also BARTH, KARL; BONHOEFFER, DIETRICH; CHURCH AND STATE; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF. GOD, DOCTRINE OF. The understanding of God in theology and in the case of Calvin, the central theme of his work. Though always an important subject in Reformed thought, the 1980s “death of God” theology debate inspired by Thomas Alitzer in his Radical Theology and the Death of God (1968), had the effect of bringing into sharp focus the fact that atheism was a peculiarly Western concept premised on the idea that a “God” in the JudeoChristian sense either does or does not exist. The question of God became better understood as an issue within monotheistic religious traditions. Various theological groups emerged from the debate united in the tendency to view speaking of God as unfashionable, or in the view of some, unintelligible. Books appeared on the theme of “God Language” that discussed either its possibility or impossibility. Numerous of these were offshoots of the earlier movement in philosophy known as Logical Positivism, which grew out of the Vienna Circle, a group of philosophers who met in a coffee shop in Vienna from 1920 to study the ideas of Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) in his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922). This movement was introduced into the English-speaking world by A. J. Ayer (1910–1989) in his book Language, Truth, and Logic (1946). His version of positivism took the position that only the propositions of science had meaning, because only they could be verified, since the meaning of a word was the method of its verification. This extreme form of empiricism dealt a severe blow to the idea of speaking about God and was warmly em-


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braced by critics of religion. Ironically, Ayer himself came from a Swiss Calvinistic background on his father’s side, although he was born in London. The positivist movement was for a lengthy period the dominant epistemological outlook of contemporary Western philosophy until the somewhat later recognition of existentialism challenged its dominance. H. R. Mackintosh was the first to introduce alternative traditions of European thought to the English-speaking world. Notable was the work of the Danish philosopher/ theologian Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), considered by many to be at least the precursor of the existentialist movement, if not its creator. It was a systematic theology professor, Ronald Gregor Smith—taught by both Mackintosh and the Neo-Calvinist academic influenced by Karl Barth (1886–1968), John Baillie—who first tried to bring the doctrine of God back to the center of theological discussion. Gregor Smith’s last book, The Doctrine of God (published posthumously in 1970), in part reopened the discussion that has been taken up by others since, including John Macquarrie, whose 1982–1983 Gifford Lectures in natural theology were published as In Search of Deity: An Essay in Dialectical Theism, (1984). See also GOD, KNOWLEDGE OF; GOD, LAW OF. GOD, KINGDOM OF. The present and coming rule of God in the world as taught by the historical person Jesus of Nazareth and received by the early church into its eschatology. Calvin (Institutio III: ixx: 15) adapted the distinction found in Augustine between the city of God and the city of man to speak of a spiritual kingdom and a political one. This bears a resemblance to the doctrine of the two kingdoms expounded by Andrew Melville. The various kingdoms that have risen and fallen within the course of history are relative to the rule of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ, whose kingdom does not fade. According to Calvin, the church therefore should not identify with movements on Earth, however progressive or successful, nor show any sign of despair when trends become adverse to its interests. This theme is also sounded in Martin Luther, whose famous Reformation hymn “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott,” ends with the line that declares while earthly things vanish, “The city of God remains.” GOD, KNOWLEDGE OF. Calvin (Institutio I: i: 1) states simply and clearly that “the entire sum of our wisdom, of that which deserves to be called true and certain wisdom, may be said to consist of two parts: namely the knowledge of God, and of ourselves.” The term knowledge in this sense is not a category of epistemology. Indeed, Calvin states that the essence of God is beyond any kind of human knowledge. “His essence is so incomprehensible that his majesty is hidden, remote from all our senses” (Institutio I: v: 1). He states that


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any attempts to create images of God do not add to knowledge. Instances of theophany such as those found in the Old Testament, for example, when Israel was led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night, Calvin claims are intended to remind human beings of the incomprehensibility of the divine essence (Institutio II: viii: 17). The knowledge of God that concerns him is the knowledge of what God is in relation to human beings. It is in the words of the Holy Scriptures that people can find what they ought to and can know about God. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets as well as being the essence of the Gospel, and thereby becomes the one and only mediator through whom God makes his reality known to humanity. The understanding of God comes to human beings in the experience of nature and through God’s own self-revelation in history. The Institutio I and II deal with human knowledge of God the Creator and God the Redeemer. While knowledge of God is sown in the human mind and indeed within the fabric of the universe (Institutio I: Iff), the effect of sin, through the Fall of Adam, makes it impossible for this knowledge to be realized to the point that a relationship with God can be established. Therefore, the Word of God in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and the power of the Holy Spirit make possible both faith and salvation as gifts from God. See also GOD, DOCTRINE OF; GOD, KINGDOM OF; GOD, LAW OF. GOD, LAW OF. Calvin speaks of the law of God from three points of view (Insitiutio II: vii: 7). The law is to make people aware of their own sin and their need for grace. The law is also there to remind people that there is punishment and that therefore they should restrain themselves. Finally, the law is intended to guide believers into an understanding of the will of God. This point is very much in keeping with the teachings of St. Paul in Romans 3:19–23, Romans 5:1–21, and Romans 6:20–23, wherein it is stressed that grace is the gift of God. See also GOD, DOCTRINE OF; GOD, KINGDOM OF; GOD, KNOWLEDGE OF. GOUDIMEL, CLAUDE (ca. 1510–1572). Musician who joined the Reformed tradition in 1565 and had an interest in metrical psalms and the tunes that were used by Calvin in Geneva. He published a psalter of all 150 psalms in four-part arrangements for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. His version and a later musically more complete version found favor throughout Europe. He died at Lyons, a victim of the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. See also MUSIC IN WORSHIP. GRACE. The undeserved love of God for fallen and sinful humanity that provides for daily needs as well as for the nurture of the soul in godly ways.


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Grace sustains the natural order of the universe in accordance with the promise to Noah (Genesis 3:27) that while Earth remains, seedtime and harvest would not fail, and provides for social order through the work of civil government. The special grace of God in Jesus Christ offers forgiveness and mercy through the work of the Holy Spirit. The atonement for human sin was effected by the death of Christ, and this makes both justification and sanctification possible (Institutio III: ii: 28–29). The nature and extent of God’s grace was the subject of a debate between followers of Calvin and the Arminians. The Synod of Dordrecht defined and defended the orthodox Calvinist position. GREAT AWAKENINGS, THE. Name given to a series of religious revivals from the 18th to the 20th centuries in North America, all of which were the result of the efforts of Protestant evangelical ministers, principally Presbyterian and Congregationalist. Religious fervor was stimulated, and church attendance and membership grew, although theological divisions multiplied. While complete agreement among historians does not exist, three awakenings are generally recognized. The first dates from 1725 to around 1750, and was led by preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield (1714–1770), who stressed that religion should also be a matter of feeling as well as intellect. Its influence was enormous, reaching Great Britain, stimulating a famous revival in Cambuslang near Glasgow. Joseph Tracy (1793–1874), in a book entitled The Great Awakening (1842), argued that it had two side effects. One was in helping to define the democratic concepts that lay in the background of the Declaration of Independence. The other related to the separation of church and state. The Second Great Awakening, dating roughly from 1800 to 1840, started in Kentucky and covered the Western states. It spawned several new denominations such as the Church of Christ, the Seventh-day Adventists, and the Mormon movement. Its social impact has been linked to the abolitionist movement and eventually to the Civil War. The Third Great Awakening, dated from 1880 to 1910, led to more new denominations based on doctrinal disputes and to the theology of the Social Gospel movement. Whether or not a fourth can be identified is more debatable. Those arguing for it date it from 1960 to the late 1970s. Mainstream churches such as the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches suffered decline, while the conservative Southern Baptist Church (SBC) and the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church grew in numbers and influence. Mass evangelists such as Billy Graham also emerged. The growth of independent churches, megachurches run like private businesses; television ministries; and charismatic groups is considered evidence along with growth of the religious Right, seen in


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movements such as Christian Reconstructionism. Recent discussions of emerging trends have suggested that various forms of Calvinism and NeoCalvinism are responsible. SBC leaders have expressed alarm at the number of Neo-Calvinists training as ministers, while a 2009 article in Time argued that forms of Neo-Calvinism have become one of the top ten forces in American society. The Great Awakenings provide unquestionable evidence of the ability of Calvinism to argue, fragment, and then reinvent itself in unlikely forms. See also UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. GUTHRIE, JAMES (ca. 1612–1661). Leading martyr in the struggles against royal jurisdiction over the Church of Scotland that led to the signing of the National Covenant at Greyfriars Churchyard in Edinburgh in 1638. Guthrie was a representative of the church as a member of the group dispatched to negotiate with King Charles I (r. 1625–1649) on church–state relations. He was minister of the town church in Stirling (the Church of the Holy Rude) from 1649 to 1661. He published a book in 1663 entitled Causes of the Lord’s Wrath against Scotland, which challenged the authority of the monarch over the church. After the Restoration in 1660 that brought Charles II (r. 1649–1685) back to the throne, Guthrie demanded that the king respect his covenant obligation to the church and the people. For this act of defiance, Charles had him arrested for treason and hanged in Edinburgh. See also RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF.


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H HEIDELBERG CATECHISM (1563). A statement of the Reformed faith written in part by Zacharias Ursinus (1534–1583), along with other prominent theologians. It helped to unite the variety of Protestant views concerning the Lord’s Supper and in so doing became the most widely accepted statement of Reformed doctrine at the time. It rejected the idea that the elements of bread and wine are “transubstantiated” into the actual body and blood of Christ, but left room for alternative explanations that stop short of the Roman Catholic view. The catechism concentrates very much on the themes of the Epistle to the Romans, concerning sin, redemption, and disciplined living as an expression of thankfulness to God and obedience to his law. HELL AND DAMNATION. Although very literal views of hell existed in Calvin’s day, he preferred to think of hell as separation from God, not necessarily in the physical sense, but extremely wretched because it meant rejection and isolation. He thought that the very idea that God’s sovereign power could be opposed to anyone would create in that soul a mood of total hopelessness (Institutio III: xv: 12). The theological enigma remains of how this can be reconciled with his views on election. HELVETIC CONFESSIONS (1536, 1566). Two statements of faith intended to unite the Lutheran and Reformed Churches. The first (in Latin, Confessio Helvetica Prior) is also known as the Second Confession of Basel; it united the Swiss cantons in a common doctrinal position. Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito (1478–1541) were the main architects of the 27 articles, whose final form was overseen by Johann Bullinger. The Zurich delegates objected to its Lutheran phraseology. A German translation by Leo Jud (1482–1542) was accepted and finally both versions were agreed to and adopted on 26 February 1536. The Second Helvetic Confession (in Latin, Confessio Helvetica Posterio) was written by Bullinger in 1562, initially as a personal statement of faith, and was revised in 1564. The Elector of the Palatinate, Frederick III (1515–1576), had it translated into German in the hope it would achieve

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theological convergence. It was warmly received by the Swiss churches, who had found the First Confession lacking detail and excessively Lutheran. It was adopted by the Reformed Church not only in Switzerland but also in Scotland (1566), Hungary (1567), France (1571), and Poland (1578). Next to the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563, it became the most widely recognized Confession of Faith of the Reformed tradition. Its doctrines of worship, the ministry, and marriage influenced the Reformed tradition for the succeeding 500 years. Among its influential statements is the opening declaration that the preaching of the Word of God is itself the Word of God. It also softened Calvin’s doctrine of election. Based on St. Paul’s account of faith in the New Testament, it stated that believers who are in Christ are the elect. HELVETIC CONSENSUS FORMULA (1675). A document (in Latin, Formula Consensus Ecclesiarum Helveticarum) that was the last doctrinal Confession of the Reformed Church of Switzerland, closing out the era of Calvinistic creeds. It has been described as a “symbolical after-birth.” It was composed in 1675 (Calvin died in 1565) by Professor John Henry Heidegger (1633–1698) of Zurich at the request and with the cooperation of Lucas Gernler, minister in Basel (d. 1675), and Professor Francis Turretin of Geneva (1623–1687). It is a defense of the scholastic Calvinism of the Synod of Dordrecht against the theology of the Saumur School and especially against the doctrines of Moses Amyraldus. The most memorably eccentric part of the document relates to the Masoretic pointing in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. It declares that either the vowel pointing or the “power of the pointing” was inspired by God and handed on from the Hebrew tradition to the Christian church. It was very much a product of the post-Confessional era of the Reformed Church, which was intended to define the truths of the faith in simple and logical terms. Though its authority never extended beyond Switzerland, it remains a significant document in the history of Protestant theology. HENRY IV OF NAVARRE (1553–1610). Leader of the French Huguenots who rejoined the Roman Catholic Church in order to become king of France in 1589. He was also responsible for the Edict of Nantes in 1598, which guaranteed toleration and religious freedom to the Huguenots and ended the French wars of religion. HERMENEUTICS. The Greek hermeneuin (to interpret) has given its name to a modern philosophical theory of interpretation. Martin Heidegger (1889– 1976) defined philosophy in existential terms as a “universal phenomenological ontology derived from the hermeneutics of human existence.” Calvin used


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the term to refer to the interpretation of Holy Scripture that stressed historical or literal understanding over the older methods of interpretation based on allegory or analogy. Scripture has both a human and a divine dimension, and therefore the study of the scriptures in their original languages, with the help of the Holy Spirit, is central to understanding the message of the Word of God. One basic underlying principle asserted by Calvin is that scripture is scripture’s best interpreter. HODGE, CHARLES (1797–1878). Leading American religious thinker and exponent of traditional Calvinist theology in the 19th-century United States. Born in Philadelphia, he became a Presbyterian minister and eventually president of Princeton Theological Seminary. He was conservative by nature and stood by the doctrinal position of the Westminster Confession. He is recorded as having said that Princeton had never produced new ideas, implying that it was primarily the defender of traditional Calvinism in contrast to the modified Calvinism typified by the theology of Nathaniel Taylor, president of Harvard University. HOLY COMMUNION. Older term for the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, used both in the pre-Reformation church and the Reformed tradition. HOLY SCRIPTURES. Traditional way of referring to the Judeo-Christian writings within the Christian church. In full it becomes the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, abbreviated to the term Bible. Public reading of the Bible in Reformed Churches was commonly prefaced by saying “Hear the Word of God as it is contained in,” after which the cited book and chapter was read. HOLY SPIRIT. Among its numerous functions, it certifies the words contained in the Holy Scriptures, but does not add any new revelation to them. Calvin rejected the idea that the scriptures may become obsolete and that the Spirit continues to create fresh revelations outside the sacred writings. Neither can the Holy Spirit be equated with the Word of God. The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit remain distinct according to Calvin’s understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. HOPE, CHRISTIAN. See ESCHATOLOGY. HUGUENOTS. Although the origin of the name is uncertain, it came to be used of 16th-century Protestants in France by those who opposed their ideas on church reform. The influence of Calvinism had come to permeate all levels


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of society, and in particular the growing middle class of literate craftsmen in the towns. It had its appeal to the nobility, who saw it as a means of limiting royal power. Between 1562 and 1598, France fought eight civil wars essentially on these issues, known as the French wars of religion. The French Protestant leader Henri de Bourbon, king of Navarre (Henry IV of Navarre), inherited the French throne in 1589 after the deaths of his three Valois cousins, all sons of Catherine De Medici. He converted to Roman Catholicism but ended the civil wars in 1598 when he issued the Edict of Nantes, giving the Huguenots extensive privileges, including religious liberty. Over time, they became loyal subjects of the crown. These freedoms were revoked by the grandson of Henri IV, Louis XIV (r. 1654–1715), who came to think that the existence of such a sizeable religious minority was a threat to his divine right to rule. Huguenot privileges were gradually reduced, and in the 1680s a policy was put into effect whereby Protestants in certain parts of France were deliberately terrorized by the billeting of unruly troops in their homes known as the Dragonnades. Finally, in 1685 Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes and exiled all Protestant pastors, but forbade the laity to leave France. To the considerable surprise of the government, many did leave, often at great risk to themselves. Men who were caught, if not executed, were sent as galley slaves on the French fleet in the Mediterranean. Women were imprisoned and their children sent to convents. Altogether, around 200,000 Huguenots left France, settling in non-Catholic parts of Europe such as the Netherlands; Germany, especially Prussia; Scotland; Switzerland; Scandinavia; and even as far away as Russia, where Huguenot craftsmen could find customers at the court of the czar. The Dutch East India Company hired a few hundred, who were dispatched to the Cape area to develop the vineyards in southern Africa. About 50,000 went to England, and about 10,000 moved to Ireland. England was suspicious of the objectives of Louis XIV and generally welcomed the Huguenots. For at least half a century, the Huguenots remained a visible minority, making their presence felt in banking, commerce, industry, the book trade, the arts, the army, and education. Many in England retained their Calvinist organization and worship and were treated more generously by the government than native nonconformists. By the late 18th century, they had become completely integrated into local society. A charter issued by Edward VI (1547–1553) enabled the first French Protestant church to be set up in England, of which the present one in London’s Soho Square is a direct descendant. HUMANISM. A development that emerged from the Italian Renaissance, created by the revived study of the Latin and especially Greek classics made


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possible by the discovery of ancient manuscripts. It was very much a desire to rediscover the cultural roots of Western civilization that had been obscured by the medieval system of thought and culture centered on the church. “Humanity,” as the name of a university department, came to refer to the study of the Latin language. Because of its wider cultural implications and associations, humanism as a movement tried also to place the human in a more important position for the understanding of society and the world than it had occupied hitherto. The two great exponents of Renaissance humanism were Erasmus and Guillaume Budé (1467–1540), whose scholarship in the Greek language was renowned. Budé’s approach to interpreting the classics was favored by Calvin over that of Erasmus. Contemporary 21st-century “humanism,” although making use of the title, bears little resemblance to classical humanism. It is linked to secularist thinking and has a hostile bias against religion in any form. It has no authentic roots in either the Western classics or Renaissance or Enlightenment thinking. HUNGARY, CALVINISM IN. The principal influence on the Reformation in Hungary came from Zurich and Johann Bullinger, and the Second Helvetic Confession was accepted as a doctrinal basis. The church was given legal recognition during the early 17th century by the princes of Transylvania. Albert Molnar translated Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion and edited a second translation of the Bible into Magyar. The church struggled between threats from the Ottoman Turkish Empire that faced it across the Danube (the river that served as a de facto border between Europe and the Near East) and the persecutions of the Hapsburgs, particularly during 1671 and 1681. Emperor Joseph II (r. 1765–1790) issued an Edict of Toleration in 1781 that permitted the Protestant church to become active again. Following the World War I (1914–1918) peace settlement, the Treaty of Trianon (1919) resulted in the church being divided into five regions according to the redrawn national borders. These were respectively Croatia, Slovenia and the country that was formerly Yugoslavia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, and Romania. The Hungarian Reformed Church has 2.1 million adult communicants and 1,250 parishes. It is the largest branch of the Reformed Church in Europe. Its government is presbyterian in form, although there are bishops within the presbyteries. Associated with Budapest and the church in Hungary is Jain Haining of Glasgow (1897–1944), who was a Church of Scotland educational worker with the Hungarian Reformed Church and ran a school for 400 mostly Jewish orphans in Budapest. For defying an order to leave, she was arrested in 1944 and died in Auschwitz, the only Scot known to have died in a concentration camp. The links reaching back to the past continue in the


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modern Scottish congregation in Budapest. See also JUHASZ, PETER SOMOGYI; KAROLYI, GASPAR; KIS, STEPHEN. HUS, JAN (ca. 1369–1415). Leader and martyr of a pre-Reformation movement that started in Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Like Martin Luther, he lived by singing and performing humble duties in the Church, and became attracted by what he perceived as the peaceful life of the clergy. He studied at the University of Prague without particular distinction. The learned quotations in his writings were mostly taken from the works of Bible translator John Wycliffe (1328–1384). Hus graduated with a bachelor of arts in 1393, a bachelor of theology in 1394, and a master of arts in 1396. He was ordained as a priest in 1400, and in 1401 he became dean of the faculty of philosophy and rector in 1402. He also became preacher at the Bethlehem Church in Prague, where he used the Czech language. He was, however, a man of tempestuous character and consequently his sermons could often be inflammatory, a fact that contributed to his notoriety. He was actively engaged in various disputes in theology as an academic, but under the influence of Wycliffe’s thinking, he insisted that the Holy Scriptures should be the only canon of judgment. This was used against him, and he was arrested for heresy. He was judged and sentenced on 6 July 1415 in Prague Cathedral. After high mass, some statements from Hus and Wycliffe, followed by a report of his trial, were read. His direct appeal to Christ was rejected as heresy, and he was burned at the stake. Hus became a national symbol of martyrdom and left behind a generation that had grown up on his fiery sermon. The depth of his sincerity seemed to be what made him so attractive to the masses. His close friend and disciple, Jerome of Prague (1379–1416), shared a similar fate about a year after Hus. Out of this, the Hussite movement grew and eventually joined the mainstream of the Reformation. HUSSITES. Movement inspired by the martyrdom of Jan Hus of Bohemia. The Hussites began organizing between 1414 and 1419. Two groups emerged, moderates known as moderate Hussites, the Prague party, but also Calixtines (Latin, calix chalice) or Utraquists (Latin, utraque, both, referring to communion in both kinds) and whose emblem was the chalice. They wanted reform, but had no desire to interfere with the hierarchical order of the Church and its liturgy. Their manifesto was contained in the four articles of Prague, which were made public in July 1420, and published in Latin, Czech, and German. Their principal concerns were simple: freedom to preach the Word of God; celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in both


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kinds (bread and wine being given to priests and laity alike), no secular power for the clergy, and punishment of mortal sins. The more radical party identified aggressively with the doctrines of Wycliffe and his desire to return the Church to its imagined pure condition during the age of the apostles. This required the removal of the existing hierarchy and the appropriation of ecclesiastical possessions. The radicals worked on the principle of “sufficientia legis Christi,” namely that the law of God was sufficient in both church and state. They rejected the idea of transubstantiation. King Wenceslaus died in 1419, and the resultant chaos permitted the seizure of Church lands and property. Pope Martin V (r. 1417–1431) called upon loyal Catholics to take up arms against the Hussites. Thus started the 12-yearlong Hussite Wars. On 23 March 1430, Joan of Arc sent a letter threatening to lead a crusading army against the Hussites unless they returned to the Roman Catholic faith, but her capture by English and Burgundian troops prevented her from taking any action. Realizing that they could not defeat the whole nation, the enemies of the Hussites invited Bohemian representatives to appear at a Council convened in Basel. From January 1432, they debated the four articles of Prague. After repeated negotiations between the Basel Council and Bohemia, a Bohemian–Moravian state assembly in Prague accepted the “Compacta” of Prague on 30 November 1433. Communion in both kinds was approved with the understanding that Christ was entirely present in each. Free preaching was approved, the Church hierarchy retained power over the priests, and the power of the bishop was to be respected. After various disputes within the Hussite movement and alignment and realignment of factions, the extremists were finally defeated both in the home country and outside. Under Emperor Maximilian II, the Bohemian state assembly formulated the “Confessio Bohemica,” which was accepted by Lutherans, Reformed, and Bohemian Brethren. After the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620, the Roman Catholic faith was reestablished in Bohemia and Moravia. Hussites were either forced to go underground or to disperse across northwestern Europe. The largest remaining communities of the Brethren in Lissa (Leszno) in Poland fled to western Europe, mainly the Low Countries. A settlement of Hussites in Herrnhut, Germany, in 1727 gave birth to the Moravian Church. The Czechoslovak Hussite Church, which separated from the Roman Catholic Church after World War I, claims to be the true successor of the Hussite tradition. It is now located mainly in the Czech Republic and claims to stand apart from Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism under the leadership of its patriarch, although it engages in ecumenical relationships with other churches. It numbers just over 180,000 members.


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HYPER-CALVINISM. A negative term used to refer to an extreme form of Calvinism that has been severely criticized by even some orthodox Calvinists, who regard it as a confused mixture of narrow-minded old English Baptist thinking and minority Dutch American Reformed groups, dating to the 18th century. It is guilty of exalting the honor and glory of God and minimizing the moral and spiritual responsibility of the individual by emphasizing irresistible grace, to the extent that there appears to be no purpose in evangelizing, since Christ may be offered only to the elect. Hyper-Calvinist churches tend to be cold and rather fatalistic in outlook, and actually transform God’s sovereignty into an impersonal reality that elects for salvation and selects for damnation. The leading figure was John Gill, whose book A Doctrinal Body of Divinity (1767) sets out its tenets. See also ARMINIANISM; HYPO-CALVINISM; LAPSARIANISM; NEO-CALVINISM; SUPRALAPSARIANISM. HYPO-CALVINISM. An alternative name for a form of Calvinism that is universalistic and evangelical, but according to its critics, denies the biblical basis of authentic Calvinism. It is quite different from Hyper-Calvinism, but close to Neo-Calvinism in its thinking. The Marrow Controversy was over the nature and extent of God’s love for humanity and for the elect, and though similar to Arminianism nevertheless has significant disagreements with it.


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I IDOLATRY. The understanding of idolatry in Calvin relates to the worship of false gods in the knowledge that they are false. The transcendent nature of God should be respected, to the point that any physical entity that would divert human attention from the divine in the church or in society should be branded as idolatrous. He discusses (Institutio I: x–xii) various types of idolatry and cites arguments from Tertullian’s De Idolatria in support of his position. INCARNATION. The coming into physical flesh and blood of the eternal Word of God in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was in fact the Christ, the promised one of God. The second person of the Trinity took upon him the nature of humanity, but was untouched by its sinfulness. Calvin emphasized the distinction between the two natures, the human and the divine united in Jesus Christ, linking it to his threefold office as prophet, priest, and king. Calvin also made the point that the eternal Word of God operates outside the life and work of the historical Jesus of Nazareth. This is a necessary implication of Calvin’s view that no finite entity can contain the infinite within itself. INDULGENCES. A spiritual/religious instrument designed not only to raise money for the Church, but also to benefit people seeking forgiveness through the use of the treasury of merits. Such merits are accumulated by priests and religious orders judged to have goodness surplus to their needs that could be used to assist others. The medieval Roman Catholic Church was the only source of help for the poor and needy. From the 12th century, churchaffiliated charities dispatched proctors to ask for alms and gifts for the poor. By the 13th century, as money came to be the tool of exchange, the idea grew that indulgences could provide cash in the process of the repayment of sin. The Vatican accepted the logic that the purchase of indulgences compensated for temporal punishment that the individual believer had accumulated in the previous year by providing good works bought from “holier” people. The indulgence was a piece of paper that functioned as the equivalent of a pre-paid fine in the court of heaven.

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Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses as a protest, not against the principle, but against the practice of selling indulgences, which in his view had become corrupt. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400), the English poet, diplomat, and traveler, mocked the system in his account (in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales) of the Pardoner, the seller of indulgences, who was offering fake holy relics, with the comment “and in a glass, he had pigs’ bones.” What for Luther was merely a set of academic questions, intended for university debate, started the German Reformation that changed the world. INFRALAPSARIANISM. A post-Calvin view of election concerning the decree of God that all humanity after the fall of Adam deserved reprobation. Only some will be elected to salvation. The entire human race is therefore under the judgment of the decree of predestination. Though this view was approved by the Synod of Dordrecht and the Westminster Assembly and was adopted by the majority of the Reformed Churches, it is still by no means universally agreed. See also ELECTION; SUPRALAPSARIANISM. INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. Calvin’s greatest work in theology, and ultimately the most important statement of the faith of the Reformed Church ever formulated. The writing of the Institutes was not merely the compilation of a manual on doctrine. It was an ongoing work that ran parallel to the developments in Calvin’s life. His many other writings, biblical commentaries, catechisms, dogmatic and moral writings, and papers prepared for disputes and discussions belong in a separate category. The Institutes became an organically evolving symbol of his entire life and work because of the way in which it grew and developed, incorporating new issues as they arose, making its exposition fuller, its arguments more detailed, and its focus clearer. The full title is The Institutes of the Christian Religion: The Basic Teaching of the Christian Religion comprising almost the whole sum of godliness and whatever it is necessary to know on the doctrine of salvation. A newly published work very well worth reading by all who are studious of godliness. A preface to the most Christian King of France, offering him this book as a confession of faith by the author, Jean Calvin of Noyon. There were two purposes behind the work. It was to offer an exposition of Christian teaching and doctrine that would enable believers to attain salvation by faith in the pursuit of godliness, its dogmatic role. It was also intended as a defense of the Protestant understanding of the faith and was therefore also an exercise in apologetics. It contained a prefatory address, “His most Christian Majesty, Francis, King of the French,” for whom Calvin prays for peace and salvation in Christ. Calvin felt the need to clarify the position of the


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Reformed Churches because of the persecution of 1534–1535 that arose out of the Affair of the Placards. The Reformed movement in France was more complex than that of Germany, mainly because it was filled with pockets of Anabaptists who were disruptive both theologically and politically. When Calvin discusses the “Christian Religion,” he is referring to the common ancestor of both the Roman Catholic and the Reformed Churches. It was important for him to prove that his theology was of the church catholic (with a small “c”) and not merely the teaching of a sect. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed was the common ancestor to which he was appealing, whose meaning he was seeking to elucidate correctly on the basis of the Holy Scriptures. In this simple piece of logic, Calvin was simultaneously condemning the Roman Catholic tradition as having strayed from the true creedal position, and at the same time offering an alternative understanding that would take the Church back to that earlier statement of faith. He was in fact claiming that the Reformed Church was the true heir of the early Christian tradition and that it was the one holy, catholic, and apostolic church that was established by law in France. Displacing the Catholic Church and replacing it with the Reformed Church established by law was a basic strategy of the Reformed Church when it followed Calvin closely. The Scottish Reformation, led by Calvin’s colleague in Geneva. John Knox, was established by an act of the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh in 1560. The Act of Settlement of 1701, which guaranteed the Church of England, also ensured the rights of the Church of Scotland, which are reaffirmed by the sovereign each year at its General Assembly. This was part of the mechanism of Calvinism that made it appear a revolutionary force that would change the religious culture of those societies in which it took root. The Institutes was an indispensable tool for the accomplishment of that purpose. This also explains why Calvin spent so much time refining and expanding it over the years, and why so many editions appeared. In 1535, the first edition in Latin appeared, containing six chapters. Between 1538 and 1541, the second edition, also in Latin, containing 17 chapters was published. It went through five Latin editions in all (1536, 1539, 1543, 1550, and 1559) and four French editions (1541, 1545, 1551, and 1560). The final form, which contains 80 chapters in four volumes, deals with the Trinity, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the church. The sources from which Calvin drew are worth a brief footnote. Since he was a generation younger than Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Philip Melanchthon, or Martin Bucer, he had them as background references in reflecting on the development of Protestant thought. Which elements of his thought may have originated from each of these sources is a matter for textual scholars to debate. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were


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his primary source of faith and doctrine, but both as source and justification of his position, he made extensive appeals to the early Fathers of the church, principally Augustine, whose works he cites more often than anyone else from the Christian tradition. He was clearly influenced by Augustine, but at the same time, this added weight to his argument about being the true heir to the early church’s faith. François Wendel has pointed out that Calvin quotes a great deal from Roman law, which is hardly surprising because of his legal background. In this regard, he is continuing the idea that juridical concepts should be apparent in doctrinal and ecclesiastical matters. However, the concept of majesty in Roman jurisprudence may also have given him a model for his understanding of the majesty of God. The concept that God is above the law may be a theological version of the princeps legibus solutus, although there is an equally strong case for arguing that it is derived in part from medieval sources. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), the reforming Cistercian monk, for example, is quoted 21 times in the 1559 edition. Calvin’s background may have been complex, but the superordinate goals of the Institutes always overrode any specific questions. Calvin clearly saw the Institutes as a document that complemented his exegetical studies, making a coherent biblical and theological totality. That, apart from other considerations, lies in the background of its influence throughout the Reformed Churches and in theological seminaries even into the 21st century. ITALY, REFORMATION IN. See WALDENSIANS; WALDO, PETER.


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J JAMES VI (1566–1625) AND THE AUTHORIZED VERSION OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE (1611). James VI was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, the older sister of Henry VIII. The fates of the Stuarts and the Tudors were thus closely linked, a fact that had significant ramifications for the establishment of the Reformation in both Scotland and England. The care of James was entrusted to the Earl and Countess of Mar, “to be conserved, nursed, and upbrought” in the security of Stirling Castle. James was crowned king of Scots at the age of 13 months at the Church of the Holy Rude, Stirling, by Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney, on 29 July 1567. John Knox, the leader of the Reformation movement in Scotland, preached the sermon at the coronation service. James was brought up as a member of the Reformed Church. The Privy Council selected George Buchanan, (1506– 1582), a scholar highly regarded in Europe, as James’s senior tutor. Buchanan attempted to turn James into a God-fearing, Protestant king who accepted the limitations of monarchy, which Buchanan had argued in his innovative work De Jure Regni apud Scotos. While James retained much of the high-handedness and arrogance associated with the Stuarts, Buchanan instilled into him a greater sense of political reality than had existed in his mother. In 1568, Mary escaped from prison, leading to a brief period of violence. The Earl of Moray defeated Mary’s troops at the Battle of Langside in Glasgow. She escaped to England but was imprisoned in the Tower of London by Elizabeth until James had consented to his mother’s death. James married Anne of Denmark at the Bishop’s Palace in Oslo and took his wife to Scotland in May 1590. They had three surviving children: Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, who died in 1612, aged 18; Elizabeth, later Queen of Bohemia; and the son who became Charles I. From 1601, in the last years of Elizabeth’s life, her chief minister, Sir Robert Cecil, maintained a correspondence with James to effect a smooth union of the crowns. Elizabeth died in the early hours of 24 March 1603, and James was proclaimed king in London on the same day.

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JAPAN, CALVINISM IN. Though the postwar Christian church scenario in Japan is quite diverse, more than one-half of the Christian population is affiliated to the United Church of Christ in Japan, which is part of the Reformed tradition and the World Reformed Alliance (WRA). In the West, the best known name in 20th-century Japanese Protestant Christianity was Kagawa Toyohiko, who was internationally respected but never received the same level of recognition in Japan. The development of the church in Japan explains in part why he was a controversial figure even in his homeland. During the Meiji period (1868–1912), Protestant missions from North America and Scotland laid the foundations of what became the Nippon Choroha Kyokai (the Japanese name for the Presbyterian Church, the church of the “elders”). No significant indigenous theology ever emerged, because the mainstream of the Japanese church was from its inception (and remains) committed to missionary-influenced Neo-Calvinist orthodoxy. Uemura Masahisa (1858–1925), the first great leader, was followed by his daughter Uemura Tamaki (1890–1982), who studied theology at the University of Edinburgh. She was also the only woman present at the service of re-union of the Scottish churches in 1929. She was ordained in 1934 and was active in the leadership of the church throughout her life. Dr. Ohki Hideo, a former president of Tokyo Union Theological College and chancellor of Seigakuin University, was the principal postwar exponent of Neo-Calvinist theology through his attachment to the theology of Karl Barth. More recently, in criticizing what he called the “German captivity” of postwar Japanese theology, Ohki became influenced by Reinhold Niebuhr and the fact that he lays more stress on ethics than pure theology. Nevertheless, Niebuhr remains firmly in the neoconservative camp. A different question about Japan and Calvinism relates to the fact that the Japanese work ethic appears to owe nothing to the influence of the “Protestant work ethic.” This has been used as a counterargument to Max Weber’s thesis. However, economic development research conducted by the Japanese scholar Otsuka Hisao has offered an innovative study, based on Weber’s ideas, of how attitudes to the habit of saving can work for or against economic growth. JESUIT ORDER. See COUNTER-REFORMATION; LOYOLA, IGNATIUS. JESUS CHRIST. Biblical and early church identification of the historical Jesus of Nazareth when referring to his Messianic role as the “Christ,” the Greek term used for Messiah. The expression became embedded in the early creeds and later in the confessions of faith of the church through the ages. See also CHRISTOLOGY; THEOLOGY.


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JUDGMENT. The eschatology affirmed in the Reformed Church confessions of faith of the 16th and 17th centuries refers to the end of time judgment, according to which all who have ever lived will be required to give an account of themselves before the tribunal of Jesus Christ to receive their just deserts, depending upon how they have lived, whether for good or for evil. Those who have received election may thank God for the mercy shown in Jesus Christ. The reprobate will be eternally separated from God. See also HELL AND DAMNATION. JUHASZ, PETER SOMOGYI (1536–1572). Also known as Melius, he was a leading figure of the Reformed Church in Hungary and also bishop of Debrecen. He was educated at Wittenberg University from 1556 to 1558 and, as bishop of Debrecen, he was able to contain the spread of Unitarianism. The city was a prosperous merchant center as well as being the focal point of the Hungarian Reformation. He organized the Reformed Church and formulated the principles of its worship in a 1563 service book. The church, led by him, adopted the Second Helvetic Confession of 1567. He also introduced a hymnal and the Heidelberg Catechism of 1567 and produced the Debrecen confession of 1561. These were the first Protestant publications in Magyar. The college he founded along the lines of the Academy of Geneva in due course became the University of Debrecen. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. A central tenet of the Protestant tradition first brought to the forefront of theological debate by Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk and a priest and professor at Wittenberg University. Derived from his reading of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, the doctrine stands in contrast to the medieval idea that salvation could be earned by good works, by other means such as acts of devotion, or by the purchase of indulgences. Luther became critical of the church’s doctrine, and following the teaching of the Apostle Paul, particularly in his New Testament Letter to the Romans, began to affirm that salvation was the result of faith, and that it was a gift of God. The Protestant church in Germany and beyond, and the Reformed Churches under the influence of Calvin, were united in the article of belief that salvation came through faith. The words used by St. Paul come from Romans 5:1: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” See also ATONEMENT.


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K KAGAWA TOYOHIKO (1888–1960). Japanese Protestant leader who was a vigorous social activist, especially in the city of Kobe, the plight of whose slum residents he wrote about in a book entitled Shi-sen o koete (Crossing the Line of Death, 1922). It led to the modern industrial world’s first major project in slum clearance and, in the case of Japan, to the prevention of similar areas being created in other major cities. Kagawa remained controversial in Japan, having founded both the conservative farmers’ cooperatives, and the more radical labor union movement. He was better known internationally than in Japan, where he was overshadowed by more academic figures in the Protestant churches such as the Uemuras, father and daughter. His other great book, The Religion of Jesus (1931), became an international best seller along with many of his other writings that made an impact in the West, even in translation. See JAPAN, CALVINISM IN. KANT, IMMANUEL (1724–1804), AND CALVIN. Leading German Enlightenment defender of religious belief based on reason, who stated that the three central questions of philosophy were: What can I know? What ought I to do? For what may I hope? From these he narrowed the fundamental problems of philosophy to God, freedom, and immortality. While there may seem little to connect the 16th-century reformer with the 18th-century Prussian philosopher, a conceptual connection was made by Joseph Bohatec in his various works on Calvin. He also wrote a study of the philosophy of religion of Immanuel Kant contained in Kant’s last great work, Die Religionsphilosophie Kants in der Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft (Kant’s Philosophy of Religion in His Religion within the Limits of Pure Reason, 1773). He threw new light on the development of the thought of both Kant and Calvin, alluding to Calvin several times. Karl Barth recorded that he found Kant’s idea of a categorical moral imperative a powerful influence on him, as did the liberal Swiss theologian Albert Schweitzer, whose sense of the moral imperative, as he said, took him to Africa. It should also be remembered that Kant’s grandfather immigrated to East Prussia from Scotland, and that Kant was brought up in an austere religious atmosphere, doubtless heavily tinged by the moral aspects of Calvinism. 113


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KAROLYI, GASPAR (ca. 1520–1591). Leader of the Reformed Church in Hungary, who translated the Bible into Magyar, using Hebrew, Greek, and Latin textual sources. The completed work appeared in 1590. He studied in Wittenberg under Philip Melanchthon, in Strasbourg, and in Switzerland. On returning to Hungary, an invasion from the Ottoman Turkish Empire forced him to take refuge in Goncz in the northeast of the country. He became minister and church leader and called a Council at Tarcal to approve the Reformed doctrine of the church in Hungary. His leadership was invaluable at the early stage in the development of the Reformed tradition. KING JAMES BIBLE. See AUTHORIZED VERSION OF THE BIBLE; JAMES VI AND THE AUTHORIZED VERSION OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE. KIS, STEPHEN SZEGDI (1505–1572). Minister of the Reformed Church in Hungary, who studied at Vienna and Cracow, at that time important centers of Protestantism. He went in 1543 to study with Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon at Wittenberg. After being forced to take flight from both Hapsburg oppression and Ottoman Turkish occupation, he was appointed a Protestant bishop of the Hungarian church. He became the principal theologian of the Hungarian Reformed tradition. His important Theological Common Topics, published in 1585, dealt not only with theological questions, but also with church order, ethics, and other matters relevant to the development of the Reformed tradition in Hungary. In spite of the early German influence, he remained in close contact with Theodore Beza and took a position on the sacraments that was very close to that of Calvin, particularly with regard to the Lord’s Supper. See also JUHASZ, PETER SOMOGYI; KAROLYI, GASPAR. KNOX, JOHN (1513–1572). Leader of the Scottish Reformation established by the Scottish Parliament in 1560. He was born in Haddington, a town in East Lothian, and educated at St. Andrews University. He was ordained by the bishop of Dunblane in 1536 and served in various offices until his conversion to Protestantism. He served as preacher at St. Andrews Castle, the cardinal’s palace. Dramatic events followed the murder of Cardinal David Beaton (1494–1546) as revenge for the burning of the Protestant martyr, George Wishart. French troops sent by Mary of Guise (1515–1560) crushed the local insurrection, and Knox with others was sentenced to slavery on a French ship. He was released after 19 months and made his way to England, but his critique of the mass brought him into conflict with Mary Tudor (1496–1533), and he found himself exiled from early 1554. In Europe, he


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made the acquaintance of Calvin and Johann Bullinger and was minister to the English-speaking congregations in Frankfurt and Geneva. His Genevan Service Book became a model for Reformed worship in Geneva and beyond. Knox returned to Scotland in 1559 and found himself opposing Mary Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542–1587), a devout Roman Catholic who tried unsuccessfully to suppress the Reformation movement. She was forced to abdicate, and Knox preached the sermon at the coronation of her son James VI in 1567. He helped to draft the Scots’ Confession and the Book of Discipline, both of which appeared in 1560. He was profoundly influenced by Calvin’s idea of a Christian commonwealth in which both church and civil authorities united to promote the true religion along with social order. Knox laid the foundations of the modern Church of Scotland, which later became the mother church of the Presbyterian world. Knox, like Calvin, took education seriously. The medieval church in Scotland was among the worst managed in Europe, and Knox presented the vision of a church and a school in every parish, a pattern of life that is still physically visible in most rural parts of Scotland. In the early days of the Reformation, churches were often used as schools on weekdays, but gradually schools began to appear, not infrequently adjacent to or across the road from the parish church. See also CHURCH AND STATE; CIVIL GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF. KUYPER, ABRAHAM (1837–1920). Dutch Reformed Church minister, theologian, writer, and politician who served as prime minister of the Netherlands (1901–1905). His pastoral work led him to Neo-Orthodox Calvinism, and he became a member of the association of Neo-Calvinists, founding the Free University of Amsterdam in 1879 as a Calvinist institution, free from both church and state in its administration. His major works include Principles of Sacred Theology (1898) and The Work of the Holy Spirit (1900). In his efforts at trying to apply a Calvinist perspective on culture and public life, the question has arisen of how much of his thinking came from Calvin and how much from himself. This question is leveled at all Neo-Calvinists by Paleo-Calvinists. KUYPERIANISM. Name given to the Neo-Calvinist theories and teaching of Abraham Kuyper, a Dutch theologian whose opposition to late 19th-century liberal inclinations within the Dutch Reformed Church led to the formation of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands. Associated with Kuyperianism is the idea that God continually re-creates the universe through acts of grace. God’s acts are necessary to ensure the continued existence of creation. Without his direct activity, creation would cease to exist.


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L LAPSARIANISM. See INFRALAPSARIANISM; SUPRALAPSARIANISM. LASKI, JOHN (1499–1560). Polish Reformed leader who studied at Wittenberg and Bologna. He studied under Erasmus at his home (1524–1525) and was influenced also by Ulrich Zwingli and John Oecolampadius as well as other Reformation leaders. He became bishop of Vesprim in 1529 and archdeacon of Warsaw in 1538. After becoming a Protestant, he moved to the Netherlands in 1542, where he became a minister and superintendent of the churches in Frisia at the behest of Countess Anna of Oldenburg. Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556) invited him to be the minister of the European Protestants who lived in London. The rise of Mary Tudor (1496–1553) forced him to move on. He produced the Emden Catechism in 1554, which was subsequently used by the writers of the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563. He finally returned to Poland as superintendent of the Reformed Churches in the southern part of the country, where he spent the rest of his life. LAUSANNE ACADEMY. The theological college at Lausanne, from which Theodore Beza was recruited to join Calvin in Geneva. The teaching staff was in dispute with the magistrates of Bern, who were their employers. Faculty members consequently began to leave, with the Academy of Geneva as the principal beneficiary. LEIDEN SYNOPSIS (1625). A statement of orthodox Reformed Church doctrine that emerged from the Synod of Dordrecht, convened to settle the Arminian question. The formal title of the 800-plus-page document was the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae; it was produced by four strongly conservative Calvinist professors from Leiden University: Johannes Polyander (1568–1646), André Rivet (1572–1641), Antonius Thysius (1565–1640), and Antonius Waleus (1589–1639). It goes far beyond the issues raised by James Arminius and deals with earlier classical heresies and doctrines such

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as Manichaeism, Pelagianism, and Epicureanism in addition to Anabaptism, Lutheranism, and Roman Catholicism. It became a classic work of Dutch Reformed theology and was cited by Karl Barth in his Church Dogmatics. LITURGY IN THE REFORMED TRADITION. Worship in Reformed Churches was much less elaborate than in the medieval church, although the Church of England maintained a great deal of the splendor of the earlier age. The order of service reflected the same principles as the Jewish synagogue services of the first century, with obvious additions and modifications. Prayers reflect thanksgiving for God’s grace and the confession of sin, the request for forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and prayers for the church and the world, as deemed appropriate. The public reading of the Word of God and the exposition of its meaning through preaching were the basis of weekly worship. Celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper became less frequent, although it remained a central act of congregational life. LIVINGSTONE, DAVID (1813–1873). Scottish-born medical missionary to Africa, who studied medicine at the Anderson Medical School in Glasgow and was recruited by the London Missionary Society. His medical work aside, Livingstone was an intrepid explorer and uncompromising critic of the slave trade. He discovered the Victoria Falls (which he named after Queen Victoria) and explored the Zambezi River. Fearing he had been lost, the New York Herald sent Henry M. Stanley to find him, which he did in 1871. Along with Mary Slessor (1845–1915), who went to Nigeria, Livingstone came to represent a commitment to Africa by the Church of Scotland, creating links that have never been broken. LORD’S SUPPER (HOLY COMMUNION). The central act of Reformed worship; together with baptism it is one of only two sacraments acknowledged by the Reformed tradition. It is interpreted by Calvin as the expression of a covenant between God and humanity in the blood of Jesus Christ, analogous to the Old Covenant sealed by the blood of a lamb placed on the lintels of the Hebrew doorways at the time when the Israelites were leaving Egypt. The celebration of the sacrament requires the reading of the words of institution, a prayer of thanksgiving, and the consecration of the elements of bread and wine being set apart from all common use to the holy use and mystery of the sacrament. Calvin declares that the promise of salvation is sealed in the lives of believers (Institutio IV: xvii ff). He expounds the purpose of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (Institutio IV: xviii) for those beyond infancy who have received baptism as the means of grace by which the soul is nourished. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper must always follow the


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preaching of the Word of God. It is a spiritual feast (Institutio IV: xvii: 1) by which believers are preserved in the life into which God has brought them by his Word. It has a threefold aim. First, it is intended to confirm faith; second, it is intended to be a public confession of faith; and third, it is intended to be an exhortation to love. In contrast to Ulrich Zwingli, who maintained that the bread and wine are at most symbols of the commemoration of the Last Supper, Calvin insisted that they should not be separated from the mystery contained within the celebration of the sacrament. Following ancient tradition, where he draws from Augustine and Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), the reform-minded leader of the Cistercian Order of the medieval church, he recognized that there were two things contained in the mystery, namely “the corporeal signs, which, presented to the eye, represent invisible things in a manner adapted to our weak capacity, and the spiritual truth, which it at once figured and exhibited by the signs” (Institutio IV: xvii: 11). The elements of bread and wine signify three important matters. These are, first, the thing meant, the spiritual truth contained in the promises of God. Second, there is the matter that depends on it, and that is set forth in Christ’s death and Resurrection. Finally, there is the virtue or effect following from and dependent upon both of these. The effects are redemption, justification, sanctification, and eternal life. However, Calvin stresses that there is a special sense in which Christ is present in the sacrament. When he declares that Christ is conceived by faith, he means more than saying that he is conceived by intellect and imagination. He further insists that in the symbols of bread and wine, Christ’s body and blood are exhibited to the communicants that they might become one body with him, and further that they are made partakers of his substance. They should consequently feel the result in their participation in his blessings to his people (Insitutio IV: xvii: 32–33). Calvin identifies the secret operation of the Holy Spirit that unites Christ with his people. The reality of Christ’s presence in the sacrament is beyond doubt, but nevertheless incomprehensible from a human point of view. The sacrament is medicine to the sick and sinful soul, but how this works depends upon the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. The manner of its celebration in Reformed Churches remains remarkably uniform. The congregation is seated and the elements, after consecration by prayer, are distributed to the people by the elders, bread first and then wine. In the Anglican tradition, the people come to the altar rail, as in the case of the Roman Catholic mass. Some Reformed Churches created extended communion tables that ran from one end of the church to the other. As a symbolic link between the principal table and the pews, it was customary in some churches to cover all the pews with white cloths to match the Holy


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Table beneath the pulpit, which was covered by a simple white cloth. The minister, who is the celebrant, stands behind the table and not in front as the priest traditionally stood before the altar. Areas where differences of opinion exist relate to the frequency of celebration. In some Scottish parishes, it was celebrated only once a year, and in others twice only. Large churches or cathedral churches may have a regular monthly celebration in a side chapel, but maintain the parish communion less frequently. Of more recent origin are two further questions. Some churches use fermented port wine on traditional grounds, and others use unfermented wine on allegedly moral grounds. There is also the question of the use of the common cup that was traditionally passed round the entire congregation (to express the corporate character of the sacrament) versus the provision of individual glasses on grounds of oral hygiene. These, while affecting the cosmetic image of the sacrament, have not become grounds for dispute or secession. LOVE, CHRISTIAN. A frequently misunderstood term, even in the early days of the New Testament church. Two Hellenistic Greek words are usually translated as love: eros, which refers to physical love, and agape, which refers to a state of mind in which there is concern and compassion for others. The term agape was used in the early church to describe the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as a “love feast.” Brotherly love among Christians was the meaning of agape. This mood of mutual concern marked out Christians in the community as people who cared for each other. Calvin quotes St. Paul in Romans 8:9, where Paul in turn quotes the book of Deuteronomy: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” It is of note that Calvin links the idea of love to obedience to the law of God written in the Ten Commandments. LOYOLA, IGNATIUS (1491–1556). Founder of the Jesuit Order and leading figure of what came to be called the Counter-Reformation in Europe. He was born into the Basque nobility and began his career as a professional soldier. After being seriously wounded at the Battle of Pamplona in 1521, he underwent a profound spiritual experience during convalescence. He felt challenged while reading De Vita Christi by the medieval theologian Ludolph of Saxony (1300–1378). He abandoned his military career and decided to lead a religious life of prayer and contemplation. On a visit to the shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat in 1522, he had a vision of the Virgin Mary and the infant Christ. He went into solitude at Manresa and commenced the discipline of praying for seven hours a day in a cave. All this contributed to the formulation of the Spiritual Exercises, which became basic to the order he was to found. He was ordained a priest in 1531 while studying theology from 1524 to 1537 in Spain and Paris.


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His arrival in Paris in 1534 coincided with a period of anti-Protestant turmoil that forced John Calvin to flee France. Loyola, along with some friends, including Francis Xavier (1506–1552), took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In 1539, they formed the Society of Jesus, which was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540. Loyola died in July 1556 and was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. The Jesuit order became active in promoting the church beyond the borders of Europe. Francis Xavier worked in India and later China and Japan in order to gain for the church new territories to replace what it had lost in Europe. The Society of Jesus continues its work around the world today, particularly in education. Among its universities and colleges, it runs 55 business schools that place a strong emphasis on corporate ethics. Loyola became the first superior general of a powerful movement that has, nevertheless, not been without controversy in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, having been twice suppressed and then reprieved. LUTHER, MARTIN (1483–1546). Priest and professor who became leader of the German Reformation. While professor of theology at Wittenberg University, he posted Ninety-Five Theses on the cathedral door relating to the abuse of indulgences for the purpose of academic debate, the custom of scholars at the time. The debate ignited a controversy that split the church and led to the Protestant Reformation. The controversy started by Luther, though initially academic, had farreaching consequences. As the debate proceeded, it touched on many sensitive issues that led to a series of unexpected results. These finally brought the medieval order to an end. Though Luther was attacking the abuse of indulgences rather than the idea of indulgences itself, the impact of the attack went far beyond the simple issue of indulgences. The debate followed an earlier wave of protests against corruption in the church by figures such as Jan Hus of Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic, or John Wycliffe (ca. 1320–1384) in England, who produced the first translation of the Bible into English. Luther’s translation of the Bible into German remains a classic and became for German what the King James Bible of 1611 was for the English language. Luther was voted the greatest German of all time by a public opinion poll taken in 2007. The heart of Luther’s theology lay in the concept of justification by faith as expounded by the Apostle Paul, especially in his Letter to the Romans, a key text of the New Testament and of Pauline theology. This affirmation shattered the Church’s control of the means of grace and the hope of salvation. See also LUTHER AND CALVIN.


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LUTHERANISM AND CALVINISM. Martin Luther did not speak French, and Calvin did not speak German, as a result of which, no direct communication is recorded between them. They were also a generation apart: Luther died in 1546, and Calvin died in 1564. Luther belonged to the early revolutionary mood of the Reformation, whereas Calvin belonged to the second generation, whose task was to consolidate and preserve its life, work, and influence. Though they did not share identical views on everything, there was a basic consensus on doctrines such as justification by faith and on their rejection of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, the error of the mass, and the authority of the pope. In terms of dress and liturgy, the Lutheran tradition retained much more symbolism and statuary than the Reformed Churches, which preferred austerity and simplicity in both worship and the decor of their buildings. The music of the Reformed Church showed contrasts that paralleled the theological differences between the traditions. The Lutheran tradition made use of hymns written by Luther himself and other members of the communion. Luther’s own famous “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” (usually translated as “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”) became the battle hymn of the German Reformation. The Genevan Psalter of 1543, a collection of translations of the Psalms of David rendered in a form suitable for congregational singing, was simple compared to the powerful, dramatic musical hymnody of Germany. See also LUTHERANISM AND CALVINISM; PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS. LUTHERANISM AND CALVINISM. In spite of several attempts to unite all Protestants into one church, the goal of a united movement was never achieved. There are several reasons for this. Most obvious is the fact that Lutheranism spread north into the Scandinavian countries, principally Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, while Calvinism, after suffering severe persecution in France, remained in central Europe, particularly the Swiss cantons. Lutheranism also depended heavily on royal patronage and benefited from the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the principle of “cuius regio, eius religio.” Sociologically, Calvinism was more suitable for the burgeoning middle class of the merchant cities that was steadily emerging. The commercial city-state environment is where it took deepest root and where its influence on government and economic life was most strongly felt. It is interesting to observe that both Geneva and Edinburgh became homes of banking and finance, while a merchant city such as Glasgow provided Adam Smith with a working model of the market system. The city motto of Glasgow, “Let Glasgow Flourish by the Preaching of God’s Word and the Praising of God’s Name,” is as definitive of Calvinism itself as it is of the commercial culture that grew out of it.


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The other significant difference between the two traditions is that the German Reformation remained very much a European movement until German-speaking Protestants began immigrating to the United States in the 19th century. The translation of the Reformation into English had two great consequences. One was its early spread to North America and those countries where Scottish and English immigrants had settled. The Presbytery of Philadelphia and the first Presbyterian Church date to 1698, only 138 years after the establishment of the Reformation in Scotland. Calvinism also lent numerous ideas to the Founding Fathers of the United States when they framed both the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The Church of England grew into an international communion for similar reasons, but primarily with the expansion of the British Empire in the 18th and early 19th centuries and through the various missionary societies that were formed at that time.


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M MACKINTOSH, HUGH ROSS (1870–1936). Minister of the Church of Scotland; professor of divinity at New College, Edinburgh, from 1904 to 1936; and moderator of the General Assembly in 1932. He was educated at Edinburgh University and later studied also at Freiburg, Halle, and Marburg. He was a major influence in introducing European theology to the Englishspeaking world. He translated the thought of Albert Ritschl and Friedrich Schleiermacher and eventually Karl Barth in his posthumously published Types of Modern Theology (1937). His own principal theological emphasis was on forgiveness as the heart of the Gospel message. His major work on this subject was The Christian Experience of Forgiveness (1927). MACLEOD, GEORGE FIELDEN (1895–1991). Minister of the Church of Scotland, born into a distinguished lineage of clergy that produced, including himself, five moderators of the General Assembly of the church. He was educated at Winchester College and Oxford University, but interrupted his studies to serve in the army during World War I, in which he was awarded the Military Cross and the French Croix de Guerre for bravery. He was briefly minister of St. Cuthbert’s Parish in Edinburgh, but moved in 1930 to Govan Old Parish Church in Glasgow, one of the city’s most deprived areas, as minister from 1930 to 1938. Having become a pacifist after World War I, his experience at Govan transformed him into a socialist. He was strongly of the opinion that Scottish Christianity should go back to its roots to show its independence from Rome, Canterbury, and Calvinist Geneva. In 1938, he had a vision of rebuilding the Abbey at Iona from where St. Columba (521–597) had started his mission to Scotland. The concept of the Iona Community grew out of this, and its influence spread widely in Scotland and beyond. Macleod’s pioneering work and his passion for ecumenism led to his recognition as a leading religious thinker and activist, and he received numerous international awards, such as the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion and the Niwano Prize (established by Niwano Nikkyo, founder of the Buddhist lay movement Rissho Koseikai) for work in the service of human need. He was visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and

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in 1967, he was elevated to the British House of Lords as the Very Reverend, the Lord Macleod of Fuinary. MACQUARRIE, JOHN (1919–2007). Existentialist theologian with Calvinist roots who was ordained in the Church of Scotland, but ended his career as an Anglican, canon at Christchurch, and Lady Margaret professor of divinity at Oxford, the oldest chair of theology in the English-speaking world. A Sunday Times obituary (1 June 2007) referred to him as a leading postwar theologian who tried to find a basis for commending the Christian faith in an unbelieving world, which he did with clarity of mind and simplicity of exposition. In his first major work An Existentialist Theology, he criticized the famous German Lutheran New Testament theologian Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976), who responded respectfully in his foreword by saying, “I have seldom found so unprejudiced and penetrating an understanding of my intentions and my work.” Macquarrie’s reputation grew from there. Over the years, he applied the basic theological understanding he had developed to the concept of peace, the nature of humanity, the sacraments, and Christian spirituality. He belonged to the conservative wing of the Church of England on many issues. His total output of more than 30 books covered a wide range of theological concerns, but his profound commitment to the theological task remained a deep-seated part of the Calvinism that still resided within him. His later concern for spirituality and mysticism was a clear attribute of his Celtic roots. The ideas and perspectives with which he worked, from theology to ecclesiology, bequeathed a valuable legacy to the church catholic. MAGISTRATES AND COUNCIL OF GENEVA. The Council was the smallest of the various governing bodies, but carried the highest authority. It wielded extensive judicial power, including the right to confiscate property, order corporal punishment, administer judicial torture to extort confessions, banish offenders, and authorize executions. The relationship between Calvin and the Council was complex, especially after the Consistory had been brought into being. The Consistory had power to fence the Lord’s Table to prevent the unrepentant from receiving the Lord’s Supper. More serious crimes were referred to the city council. Calvin’s view of civil government acknowledged a division of responsibilities. However, the Consistory itself had considerable spiritual and moral leverage on the people for typical offenses such as drunkenness, dancing, indolence, being absent from public worship, criticizing the ministers, fornication, and adultery. The council also regulated the economic life of the city, its commercial activities, and banking interest rates. Ministers who lent money at high rates of interest were


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removed from office. The Ecclesiastical Ordinances of Geneva contained provisions to implement such discipline. See also CHURCH AND STATE; CIVIL GOVERNMENT. MAKEMIE, FRANCIS (ca. 1658–1708). Founding figure of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. He was born in Donnegal, Ireland, and studied at the University of Glasgow from 1676 to 1680. He was ordained and went to North Carolina as a traveling evangelist. He organized the Presbytery of Philadelphia, the first presbytery in America, and was elected its first moderator. The English governor of New York tried to suppress him with the argument that he did not have a proper license to preach. Makemie defended himself on the grounds of freedom of speech being an inalienable right and was successfully acquitted. The freedom of religion that had brought the Pilgrim Fathers to the new world was being threatened because the Crown and the state Church of England wished to impose their authority. The cause of freedom of belief and conscience was championed by the efforts of Makemie and those who came after him. See also CHURCH AND STATE; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF; UNITED STATES DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND CONSTITUTION. MANICHAEISM. A religion and rival to Christianity that for a time included Augustine, later bishop of Hippo, in its ranks. It traced its roots to a Persian prophet, Mani (ca. 216–276), and was based on an elaborate cosmology about light and darkness. Augustine was initially attracted to it, but gave it up in order to become a Christian. It spread beyond Persia and even the Roman Empire and as far away as China. It survived in various regions until the 14th century, after which it seems to have disappeared. It has been viewed by some historians as having been a sufficiently serious threat to Christianity that Emperor Theodosius formally outlawed it in 391. Augustine’s conversion from it therefore takes on heightened significance in the definition of Christian orthodoxy, although it has been argued that there are more than a few traces of Manichaeism in his thought, particularly with reference to good and evil and matters relating to human sexuality. This remains in dispute, but even Calvin found it necessary to deal with some Manichaean arguments in his writings. MAN’S COMING OF AGE. A concept introduced into 20th-century theology by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his famous Letters and Papers from Prison. Unfortunately, his untimely death prevented him from expanding on the idea, but it refers to developments that are associated with changes in human thinking that date to, in his own words, “a movement beginning about the


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thirteenth century (I am not going to get involved in any arguments about the exact date) towards the autonomy of men (under which head I place the discovery of the laws by which the world lives and manages in science, social and political affairs, art, ethics and religion) has in our time reached a certain completion” (June 8, 1944, Letters and Papers from Prison, 1959, 106). The collapse of the medieval worldview and its replacement by the wider thinking of the Renaissance is one way of interpreting Bonhoeffer’s ideas. There were signs in many aspects of society that it was outgrowing the framework that the medieval world had imposed on its self-understanding. In the early evolution of modern English literature, for example, Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343–1400) was beginning to express individual personality in his writing by describing people with an identity of their own based on, among other features, physical attributes, accent, and dress, rather than as symbols of a social or religious order of the world as in medieval miracle plays. In his Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, he mocks a prioress for speaking French with a Stratford accent and sarcastically praises a monk with his hunting dogs as being “a manly man to be an abbot able.” The voyages of discovery from Europe that identified the new world beyond the ocean and the growth of science all posed serious questions that had to be answered by the established order. The invention of the printing press and the gradual appearance of new technologies made possible developments hitherto inconceivable. By 1500, the number of books in the world had risen from less than 10,000 to 8 million in a decade. In addition to these symptoms of change, there were several currents of ideas beginning to gain a foothold within the Church and the universities that were slowly redefining the province of learning. The Reformation cannot be attributed to these alone, but without them, the impetus to reform would have been less effective. Three in particular are relevant in understanding the background of Calvin and Calvinism. First was the growth of the philosophy of nominalism, which strongly resisted the creation of unnecessarily elaborate systems of thought. It was an early form of empiricism that focused on the seen rather than the unseen and tried to simplify the objects of belief. The leading exponent was William of Ockham (ca. 1287–1347), whose principles gave rise to the term “Ockham’s razor.” While nominalism invaded the inner life of medieval culture, the growing sense of Renaissance was refashioning the institutions of its outer life. The medieval church was committed to learning through the formation of universities in the great centers of culture, but its concern for the classical tradition was neither deep nor profound. The study of these was confined mostly to either universities or monasteries. The 15th-century city-states of north Italy


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became fascinated by Greek and Roman literature and art. The famous “Renaissance popes,” for example, provided a model for patrons of the arts elsewhere. The Sistine Chapel was the vision of Sixtus IV (r. 1471–1484). Julius II (r. 1503–1513) patronized the artistic geniuses Raphael and Michelangelo. The collapse of Constantinople in 1453 signaled the end of the remaining outward vestiges of Greek culture. By that time, many priceless manuscripts had gradually found their way to the West, providing new materials for the study of classical Greek. The steady breakdown of feudalism and the rise of a merchant middle class produced a sector of society that was unrelated to the Church’s life. Even the crusades had begun to open up corridors of trade and commerce, a distinct objective quite separate from their purpose of taking back the Holy Places from Islam. The impact on the human imagination of the discovery of new continents led to further expansion of international commercial activity. While Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) was circumnavigating the globe (1509–1522), Martin Luther was in contention with the Church. In addition, Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) proposed that the sun and not the earth was the center of the planetary system. Galileo (1564–1642), who supported the Copernican thesis, was denounced to the Inquisition, which confiscated his telescope and placed him under house arrest for the remainder of his life. The fact that all these developments were happening simultaneously added to the confusion and complexity of the period. The Church was simply unable to hold back the forces of change that were at work. The third major force that the Church had peacefully lived with since early times was mysticism. Christian mystics believed that God could be experienced directly by the human soul, though in his essence he remained incomprehensible. The principles of preparation and discipline, common to most ascetic traditions, made possible a union with the divine. The Church, though formally stating that God could be known only though the mediation of the sacraments, never perceived mysticism as a threat. Indeed, a place was found for it in the medieval system that permitted mystics to pursue their own agenda in the monastic setting or in isolation. They were never judged a threat to the institutional order of the Church. However, once communities of mystics began to emerge and grow, the hierarchy of the Church became uneasy. The overall impact of these movements was to challenge the excessive formalism of the Church in the hope of reforming it. The ultimate and ironic effect was that they contributed indirectly to destroying it. The interaction of these forces, plus the other changes that were occurring, led to the idea that humanity had reached a point where the kind of controls that the Church exerted were neither necessary nor desirable. The Church found itself questioned on many fronts. From the end of the classical age


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symbolized by the life and work of Augustine, the Church had brought order into a vacuum by seizing both spiritual and temporal power in order to create a Christian culture in which church and state were coextensive. But these ideas were being challenged. The Church failed to deal either constructively or resolutely with them, and the loss of estates in Italy, for example, forced the papacy to move to Avignon in France during the 14th century in return for financial support. This situation stood in stark contrast to the dictatorial papacy of Innocent III (r. 1198–1216), who had dominated Europe and its monarchs. The age of the church dominating the state was over. The role of the Church itself was in need of redefinition as a result of the trends that were in evidence. Unfortunately, it was ill-prepared to deal with them due to its general declining financial state, combined with a matching decline in spiritual quality. These two weaknesses converged in the complex issue of indulgences, which sparked off the Reformation movement in Germany. The Reformation was a clear historical landmark in the “coming of age” process that continued beyond the 16th century, through the Enlightenment and into the modern period. Calvinism was part of the process of defining the “new man,” as Ronald Gregor Smith described the development, in The New Man: Christianity and Man’s Coming of Age (1956), a concept that echoes the thought of Bonhoeffer. These ideas fed into the Enlightenment movement that was the next major development after the Reformation. These lines of influence can be traced to the present. See also PROTESTANT ERA AND THE PROTESTANT PRINCIPLE. MARBURG COLLOQUY (1529). A meeting of Protestant reformers held at Marburg in Germany, with the purpose of trying to overcome theological differences and find common ground. Martin Luther led one delegation, which included Philip Melanchthon and other leading German thinkers. Ulrich Zwingli led the other delegation, which included Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito. Landgrave Philip of Hesse was the organizer. Fifteen articles were agreed upon, but the interpretation of Jesus Christ’s words in the institution of the Lord’s Supper divided them, as it later did Calvin and Zwingli. Lutherans and Reformed Protestants thus remained divided over that issue. See also LUTHERANISM AND CALVINISM. MARGARET OF ANGOULÊME (1492–1549). Sister of King Francis I of France and Queen of Navarre, she was a strong supporter and patron of the Reformed Church in France. After the death of her first husband, she married Henry IV of Navarre in 1527 and gathered an influential group of thinkers around her that included William Farel and Clement Marot. Although she never actually left the Roman Catholic Church, she nevertheless stood


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by Reformed principles such as justification by faith; only two sacraments; and rejection of the confessional, indulgences, and prayers to saints. After she had lost all influence on Francis I, she continued the work of reform in her territory. MAROT, CLEMENT (ca. 1497–1554). Leading French humanist and theologian who was part of the circle of reformers assembled by Margaret of Angoulême. He was frequently in trouble with authority, and in 1534 he was implicated in the Affair of the Placards, in which the mass was condemned, resulting in him fleeing to Ferrara, where the duchess (sister-in-law to Margaret) protected him. Pope Paul III offered a truce to all who would renounce their mistaken beliefs. This enabled Marot to return to Paris in 1537, where he began the task of translating the Old Testament Psalms of David. The results of his work were rejected by the authorities, and he fled again, this time to Geneva. He published a French version of 49 psalms that were accepted by Theodore Beza. Calvin himself encouraged Marot to continue his work. With the remaining psalms translated, the Genevan Psalter was completed by 1562. Marot eventually died in Turin, leaving behind the ambiguous identity of a man who lived between two religious worlds, satisfied by neither. MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. The Reformed view of marriage might be summarized thus: it is an institution ordained by God for quite specific purposes. It was blessed by the presence of Jesus Christ at the wedding in Cana of Galilee and is referred to in the New Testament as an analogy of the relationship between Christ and his church. Its purposes include the lifelong companionship of husband and wife and the nurturing and upbringing of children who are seen as gifts from God. The honoring of the marriage bond was considered a cornerstone of social well-being that assisted in keeping society strong and healthy. God’s covenant with his people is another analogy of the marriage covenant. People who covenant together in marriage are expected to take their vows as in the presence of God and seek grace throughout their lives to live up to divine expectations. Recent developments relating to same-sex civil partnerships being registered in law, and the possibility of same-sex couples registering a marriage, or adopting children, have raised enormous questions for the Christian churches as a whole. Churches under Calvinist influence are divided into liberals, who think that the church should “engage with popular culture” and go along with social change, and conservatives, who see the centrality of marriage as a foundation principle of the social order that God intended. Divorce was a disputed area. Calvin did not approve, but where it seemed unavoidable, he argued that divorced persons should not remarry. Ulrich


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Zwingli was more liberal, basing his case on the fact that the Old Testament contained provisions for divorce. Divorce and the remarriage of divorced persons in church are now recognized in most Protestant churches, with the notable exception of the Church of England. MARROW CONTROVERSY (1718–1723). A debate among Calvinists within the Church of Scotland in the 18th century that led to a major secession from the church. A book by Edward Fisher (1627–1655), The Marrow of Modern Divinity, published in 1645, was praised by the Revered Thomas Boston (1677–1732), a well-known preacher of the period. It was a classic statement of Federal (Covenant) Theology as advocated by Calvin. The principal of St. Mary’s College, which housed the faculty of divinity in the University of St. Andrews, argued that the emphasis on grace carried the implication of universal salvation. The General Assembly of 1720 declared the book heretical and banned ministers from recommending it to anyone. Twelve ministers, subsequently known as the “Marrow Men,” signed a document supporting the book because they claimed it contained the heart of the evangelical truth. The 1722 General Assembly admonished them, and they became leaders of the Secession Church, which formed the Associate Presbytery. Its leaders included Thomas Boston; Ralph Erskine (1685–1752); and Ebeneezer Erskine, who was then minister at Stirling. See also AMYRALDIANISM; ARMINIANISM; HYPER-CALVINISM; NEO-CALVINISM; SUPRALAPSARIANISM. MARTYRS, EARLY PROTESTANT. The earliest of the martyrs who suffered for their beliefs predate the 16th-century Reformation itself. Jan Hus of Bohemia is one of the first recorded. Girlamo Savonarola (1452–1498) of Florence was not part of the Reformation, but was executed because of his reforming ideas. In England, Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556), Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned as a heretic by Mary Tudor (1496–1533), a staunch Roman Catholic who resented Cranmer’s influence on the church. His death was preceded by the martyrdom at Oxford in 1555 of Nicholas Ridley (1500–1555), Bishop of London, and Hugh Latimer (ca. 1490–1555), formerly Bishop of Worcester. The martyrdoms in England continued into 1557, with six dying at Canterbury, five at Smithfield, three at Southwark, seven at Maidstone, seven at Cambridge, ten at Lewes, and ten at Colchester. Only her death in 1558 and the accession of Elizabeth I (1533–1603) brought to an end the era of “Bloody Mary,” as she was known. John Foxe (1517–1587) documented a list of all the English martyrs of the time. It was published under the title History of the Christian Martyrs in 1684. A modern version was abridged by W. St. Clair Taylor in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (1946).


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In Scotland, Patrick Hamilton (1504–1528) was executed in St. Andrews for expounding Lutheran ideas. He was followed by Cambridge University– educated George Wishart (1513–1546), who advocated Calvinist doctrines. During the French wars of religion (1562–1598), atrocities and massacres added to the numbers of victims and martyrs, the bloodiest event being the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572. In spite of various treaties and agreements, it took the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 to bring religious conflicts and persecutions to an end. The nation-state principle began to emerge, and a growing sense of toleration replaced the doctrinal extremes of the previous era. MARXISM AND CALVINISM. Though there may seem no obvious link between Calvinism and Marxism, numerous ethical concepts from Karl Marx, especially from his general writings on economic theory and philosophy, gradually found their way into theological discourse. Concepts such as alienation and exploitation, along with the implications of property ownership in the class struggle, were understood by the Neo-Calvinist theologians Karl Barth and Jürgen Moltmann as relevant to the contemporary understanding of global society. MAYFLOWER COMPACT (1601). The charter upon which the civil and religious life of New England was founded, drawn up aboard the Mayflower as it lay anchored at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was signed by 41 people, who agreed to form a colony with religious and civil laws based on a Calvinist view of society. The compact itself ceased to be effective after 1691, when the Plymouth colony became part of Massachusetts, but the outlook of Calvinism continued to influence belief and behavior in New England. See also UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. McCOSH, JAMES (1811–1894). Minister of the Church of Scotland, born into a Covenanting family in Ayrshire; he studied at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and moved to the United States. He was ordained in 1834 at Arbroath and later served at Brechin. He left the church at the Disruption of 1843 and became minister of the Free Church in Bechin. He became professor of logic and metaphysics at Queen’s College, Belfast, in 1850, following the tradition of Thomas Reid (1710–1796), the Scottish philosopher of common sense. In 1868, he became president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) until 1888, after which he taught philosophy until his death. McCosh Hall and a cross-campus walkway are named in his honor. He was also an acquaintance of Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), the Dunfermline-born Scottish industrialist and philanthropist


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who made donations to the university among his other charitable work in the United States. MELANCHTHON, PHILIP (1497–1560). Associate of Martin Luther and leading figure of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. He was very largely responsible, with Luther, for the creation of the Lutheran church in Germany and was its first major theologian. He is normally ranked alongside Luther and Calvin as one of the three great reformers. MELIUS. See HUNGARY, CALVINISM IN; JUHASZ, PETER SOMOGYI. MELVILLE, ANDREW (1545–1622). Early leader of the Scottish Reformation who studied at St. Andrews University, where he excelled in Greek and philosophy. In 1564, when the Reformation was still in its infancy, he went to study Middle Eastern languages, including Syriac, at the University of Paris, where he was influenced by Petrus Ramus (1515–1572), whose philosophy of education Melville introduced into the Scottish universities. The Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572) forced many Protestants to leave Paris, including Melville, who moved to Geneva, where he was recruited by Theodore Beza as professor of humanity (Latin) in the Academy of Geneva. After two years in Geneva, where his mind was clarified on the basic issues of church and state relations, Melville returned to Scotland and became principal of the University of Glasgow. He set about reforming education and established new chairs in science, philosophy, divinity, and foreign languages. The university charter confirmed these in 1577. His ideas had already been employed in the redevelopment of the University of Aberdeen in 1575, and in 1580 he became principal of St. Mary’s College in St. Andrews, where he also taught theology, Chaldee, Syriac, and rabbinical languages. He also encouraged the promotion of the study of Greek. Melville was elected moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1582 and worked to establish the Presbyterian order of church government. The royal court, under the direction of King James VI, tried to enforce episcopacy on Scotland. Bishops were appointed by the king, which consequently facilitated royal control of the church. Melville took the offensive against one of the Tulchan (nominal) bishops, Robert Montgomery (d. 1609). He was summoned before the Privy Council in February 1564, but to avoid the charge of treason, he took refuge in England. He returned to Scotland in November 1585 and resumed his academic duties in the spring of 1586. He became a stalwart defender of the rights and freedoms of the church


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against the intrusion of government. He advocated the Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms, which not only defined the Calvinist view of the church, but also made the contrast clear with the Lutheran tradition that accepted the subservience of the church to the state. While he justifiably appealed to the laws that protected these rights and freedoms, Melville was accused of not showing due respect to the monarch. In 1599, he was deprived of office at St. Andrews, although he remained dean of the faculty of divinity. King James moved to London after the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and used his power there to try to impose his will on the Scottish church. In 1606, he summoned Melville to London in the company of seven other ministers of the Church of Scotland, in order “that His Majesty might treat with them of such things as would tend to settle the peace of the Church.” Melville and his colleagues insisted that the only way to have peace in the church was through a general assembly that was free of external restraint. Melville, as ever, was particularly outspoken, as a result of which he was sent to the Tower of London, where he was imprisoned for four years. His release was conditional upon never returning to Scotland. He was invited to hold a professorship in the University of Sedan in France, where he remained until his death. Melville’s influence and impact were enormous. The battle lines between Presbyterianism and episcopacy had been drawn, and a struggle ensued that ended only in a constitutional settlement between church and state, built into the Act of Union (of the Scottish and English parliaments) passed in 1707. Though far in the past, the process remains an outstanding example of the influence of Calvinism, which liberated not only the church, but also other areas of life from government pressure, promoting economic activity and education that would serve the needs of a modern nation. See also CIVIL GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF. MINISTER, OFFICE OF. The office is defined and guarded by Calvin, because God uses human ministers to remind people to be humble. However, the minister as preacher is the bearer of the Word of God, and the word preached is not distinguished from the word of the prophet (Institutio IV: i: 5; IV: iii: 2; IV: xiv: 26). When the Word is preached, God is present and wishes to be heard in the voice of his appointed ministers. They were the primary part of the four orders of the church according to the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of Geneva. They were formed into the Company of Pastors, which was concerned also with the expansion as well as the management of the Reformed Church. The meeting records are not simply a historical resource, but a set of documents that are still studied to offer guidance to the contemporary church.


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MODERATE CALVINISM. The name given to a group of Scottish divines (the Moderates) of the 18th century who were willing to accept the authority of both church and state in the administration of all ecclesiastical affairs. In accepting the 1688 Revolution Settlement that placed William III, Prince of Orange, on the united throne of England and Scotland, they also accepted lay patronage, the appointment of the local parish minister by the patron or laird of the parish. Several secessions from the church took place between 1733 and 1761 because the moderates promoted liberal scholarship and supported the Scottish Enlightenment, which included figures such as David Hume (1711–1776) and the father of economics, Adam Smith. Religious fervor was discouraged, the Westminster Confession was downplayed, and morality was given precedence over belief. Though the intention was noble, it led to the stagnation of authentic spirituality among the people and a growing sense of discontent that erupted over the patronage issue and led to the Disruption of 1843 under the leadership of Thomas Chalmers, who became the first moderator of the General Assembly of the newly formed Free Church of Scotland. See also CHURCH AND STATE; MELVILLE, ANDREW; NEW HAVEN THEOLOGY; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF. MODERATOR. The office of chairperson in a Presbyterian church court: Kirk Session, Presbytery, Provincial Synod, or General Assembly. Moderators, who normally hold office for one year only, have a casting vote in the event of a stalemate, but no deliberative vote. The term has been appropriated in media and elsewhere to replace the terms chairman or chairwoman of a debate. MOFFAT, JAMES (1870–1944). Ordained minister of the Church of Scotland who became a famous translator of the Bible and professor of Greek and the New Testament at Mansfield College, Oxford. He eventually became a professor of church history at Union Theological Seminary in New York, from 1927 to 1939. He was executive secretary of the translation committee of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. MOLNAR, ALBERT SZENCI (1574–1634). Leading scholar of the early Reformed Church in Hungary. He studied at the Reformed College in Debrecen and thereafter at Wittenberg, Heidelberg, and Strasbourg. He worked on a Latin–Hungarian dictionary, compiled a Hungarian Psalter in 1607, revised the Magyar Bible in 1608, and translated Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1624. This enabled Calvinism to have an influence on the next generation of Hungarian clergy.


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MOLTMANN, JÜRGEN (1926– ). Although not initially intending a career in theology, at age 17, Moltmann became a prisoner of war in England from 1945 to 1947. Thereafter he went to study at Gottingen from 1948 and came under the influence of Karl Barth, but developed his own ideas centered on eschatology. He became a professor at Tübingen, where he developed his “theology of hope.” He was clearly under the influence of Calvin with regard to his view of providence and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. His most famous works, in addition to the Theology of Hope (1967), are The Crucified God (1974) and The Church in the Power of the Spirit (1977). MORAVIANS. Members of a church that grew up in Moravia and Bohemia, now within the modern Czech Republic. Although they originally converted to Christianity under the influence of the Greek Orthodox tradition, Rome gradually assumed control of the region. The dramatic reforming figure of Jan Hus, a professor and preacher in Prague, became the inspiration for a movement that preceded the Lutheran Reformation by almost a century. The Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where Hus preached, became a rallying place for the Czech reformation. Gaining support from students and the common people, he led a protest movement against many practices of the Roman Catholic clergy and hierarchy. Hus was accused of heresy, underwent a long trial at the Council of Constance, and was burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. After he had been made a martyr for his heretical beliefs, his followers remained loyal, and by 1467 the Moravian Church had established its own ministerial order of deacon, presbyter, and bishop. It had already given itself the name Unitas Fratrum (United Brotherhood) in 1457. By 1517, the church had at least 200,000 communicants in more than 400 parishes. It produced a hymnal and catechism of its own and promoted the reading of the Holy Scriptures through its two printing presses, making the Bible available to the people of Bohemia and Moravia in their own language. The church suffered various persecutions that forced it to spread, but was successfully held together by Bishop John Amos Comenius (1592–1670), one of the earliest champions of Hus, whose ideas were advocated in his work Didactica Magna. The Moravian Church was greatly helped by the patronage of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760), a believing and tolerant nobleman of Saxony. Some Moravian families escaping from Bohemia and Moravia found refuge on Zinzendorf’s estate in 1722, where they built the community of Herrnhut. Count Zinzendorf encouraged them to keep the discipline of the Unitas Fratrum, and he gave them the vision to become missionaries of the Gospel. In 1732, the first missionaries were sent to the West Indies, and from


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then on, the Moravian Church has claimed it has more missionaries abroad than members at home. MUSIC IN WORSHIP. Calvin’s views, set out in the preface to the Genevan Psalter (1543), make clear his understanding of the nature of the music to be used in public worship. He states that members of the congregation should understand what is said and done in church so that they can draw edification from it. “Our Lord has not instituted the order which we are to observe, when we meet in his name, to amuse the world as a spectacle—but rather has desired, that everything should redound to the profit of all his people, as St. Paul witnesseth, commanding that everything that is done in church should have regard to the common edification of all” (translation by Colin Brown, lecturer in music in the Andersonian University, Glasgow, 1868, cited in the preface to J. Paisley and R. Parlane, The New Scottish Psalter [1869], approved by the Church of Scotland and appointed for use in worship). Calvin speaks of two kinds of prayers, those expressed in words and those in song. “It should always be seen that the song should not be light and frivolous, but that it have weight and majesty, as saith Saint Augustine; and also that there is a great difference between the music that is employed for the enjoyment of men at table, and in their houses, and the psalms which they sing in church in the presence of God and his angels.” Music should draw people away from the allurements of the flesh and the world and be subservient to all good morals. Calvin refers to Plato in support of the thesis that music has power to confuse the manners of the people. He refers to the ancient doctors of the church, who pointed out the addiction that people could have to morally poor-quality music and “immodest songs.” These, they claimed, corrupted the world. What should be sung, Calvin declares, must be pure and holy. Augustine is cited in evidence of the proposition that “none can sing things worthy of God but he who has received the power from Himself,” a position derived from Calvin’s doctrine of predestination. The choice he restricts to the Psalms of David, inspired by God, because when people sing them, they are singing what God has willed them to sign because he composed them. John Chrysotom (349–407), a father of the ancient Greek Church, encourages men, women, and children to know them as a means of associating with the company of saints and angels. Augustine is yet again cited to expound the differences between the song of man and the song of birds. Human beings sing with understanding. Birds do not. Therefore, people must understand the significance of what they are singing. He argued that the words of songs that are vain and frivolous, even hurtful, should be replaced by the Psalms of


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David. The music to which the psalms should be sung should be simple, but also have weight and majesty suitable to the subject. From this grew the creation of the metrical psalter. The early Scottish Psalter, the first in English, was composed of translations from the French and used Genevan Psalter tunes. The psalms remained the only words sung in worship until various passages of the Bible were paraphrased, the oldest of these being the Scottish Paraphrases of 1781. England produced hymn writers of the caliber of Isaac Watts (1674–1748) and later Charles Wesley (1707–1788) and his elder brother, the founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley (1703–1791). Martin Luther composed and used hymns, and even Calvin himself composed one poetic form that is now used as a hymn, but the more strict Calvinist churches retained only the Psalms of David. A further point of controversy arose over the use of the organ for leading worship. It had been common in Europe for over 300 years, and many famous organs had been built over the centuries for Europe’s greatest churches. Many Calvinist churches preferred unaccompanied singing led by a conductor or precentor, equipped only with a tuning fork. This gradually gave way to the use of the organ and the harmonium around the late 19th to the early 20th centuries. In more recent times, alternative instruments have been introduced, including guitars with synthesizers, drums, flutes, and keyboards either to supplement or replace the organ. This has coincided with the remodeling of many church interiors by replacing pews with individual chairs for flexibility of arrangement. This phenomenon is linked by some to the disputed fourth of the Great Awakenings. MYSTICISM. An approach to the divine that is based on the idea of direct access through experience that cannot be explained in merely rational terms. The medieval church, and indeed Roman Catholicism in general, has taken a generous view of Christian mystics, and provided they did not make heretical pronouncements, considered them among the faithful. Calvin did not countenance mysticism as such, but recognized that there were mystical dimensions within the Christian faith that were beyond rational explanation. The union of Christ with his church and his presence in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper were beyond simple rational comprehension, but that was not a mark of approval for mystical trances or utterances that defied logic. Mysticism was never a concern for the church until influential mystics emerged. Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260–1328), Johannes Tauler (ca. 1300–1361) in Strasbourg, Thomas à Kempis (ca. 1379–1471), Ruysbroek (1293–1381) in the Netherlands, and the famous woman mystic Julian of Norwich (1342– ca. 1416) in England were major figures who commanded considerable


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followings. Though they did not organize movements, they attracted kindred spirits, who banded into groups such as the Brethren of the Common Life in the Netherlands and the Friends of God in the Rhine Valley. The Theologia Germanica, an anonymous work on mysticism, of which at one stage Martin Luther expressed approval, became an inspirational text of the time. The influence of mysticism contributed not only to man’s coming of age, but also to the Renaissance, and eventually the Reformation.


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N NANTES, EDICT OF (1598). A decree issued by King Henry IV of France that brought the French wars of religion to an end. Although Roman Catholicism was confirmed as the principal religion of the country, the Huguenots were guaranteed freedom of religion and the control of approximately 159 cities and towns, principal among them Rochelle and Montpellier. It remained in force until revoked by Louis XIV (r. 1643–1715) in 1685. NATIONAL COVENANT (1638). A public document of protest signed in Edinburgh when King Charles I (r. 1625–1649) of England and Scotland, son of James VI, tried to impose the episcopal system on Scotland with the objective of retaining the power to appoint bishops. Laud’s Liturgy, the English Prayer Book, was imposed on the Church of Scotland, but when it was first read by Dean Hannay in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, a famous incident occurred. A worshipper, Jenny Geddes, picked up her “creepie” (the folding stools that people took to church to sit on) and threw it at the dean with the famous words, “Wha daur say mass in ma lug?” (Old Scots for “Who dares to say mass in my hearing?”). This helped to generate a national movement, and the resulting covenant was signed in Greyfriars churchyard in Edinburgh. The King’s Confession of 1581 was cited, in which Roman Catholic errors were listed, the action of the Scottish Parliament of 1560 in establishing the Reformation was restated, and the principle that the king was pledged to defend the Reformed faith was reaffirmed. The king’s innovations in worship were suspended until the General Assembly had made a judgment. The people swore to support the king, but only in defense of the true religion and the liberties of the people. The National Covenant was not put under pressure until the restoration of King Charles II (1630–1685), when extreme measures were taken against the Covenanters, many of whom were transported to the colonies. The struggles of the Covenanters did succeed in restoring the church–state balance that has remained in force ever since. See also CIVIL GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF.

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NATURAL THEOLOGY. The theological position that takes the view that knowledge of God can be found within the natural order. Calvin was not opposed to the idea that there could be a revelation of God in nature, but pointed out that human sin made it difficult for people to perceive the nature and reality of God. Consequently, no saving knowledge of God can be derived from revelation in nature (Institutio I: i–viii and II: i–iv.) NEO-CALVINISM. Neo-Calvinism is a set of doctrines attributed to Calvin that are seriously disputed by Paleo-Calvinists, who take themselves to be the true lineage of Calvin. Typical of Neo-Calvinism is the work of Henry R. Van Til, whose Calvinistic Concept of Culture (1959, new ed. 2001) sets out an account of Calvinism that attributes almost every positive virtue of Western civilization to Calvin. As a result of this, human beings are empowered not only to change the world, but to help in saving it, because Christ symbolizes God’s redemptive power to save all creation. Other thinkers who are considered to represent this position are Francis Schaeffer (1912–1984), Presbyterian pastor, an inspiration to the Christian Right, and student of Cornelius Van Til, a former professor of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. See also HYPER-CALVINISM; HYPO-CALVINISM; KUYPER, ABRAHAM; KUYPERIANISM; RECONSTRUCTIONISM, CHRISTIAN. NEO-ORTHODOX THEOLOGY. Name usually given to the theological movement associated with Karl Barth, which had a powerful influence in Europe and the Reformed Churches during the first half of the 20th century. It was introduced to the English-speaking world by H. R. Mackintosh, and from Edinburgh, its influence spread widely in theological circles in North America, which can be seen especially in the neo-conservative thought of Reinhold Niebuhr. See also THEOLOGY. NETHERLANDS, REFORMED CHURCH. See DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH. Home of the faculty of divinity of the University of Edinburgh, but built originally for the Free Church of Scotland. The merger of the college and the faculty took place in 1961, with the Church of Scotland, the owner since the Union of the Scottish churches in 1929, handing over the property to the university. At its peak, it was one of the world’s principal centers of Reformed theology and scholarship, numbering among its illustrious staff James Denney, H. R. Mackintosh, John Baillie, T. F. Torrance, and John McIntyre (1916–2006). It is connected to Rainy


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Hall (named after the Very Rev. Robert Rainy [1826–1906], a past principal) and to the hall in which the General Assembly of the church meets annually. Toward the end of the 20th century, its links with the church and the Reformed tradition of theology became tenuous, with a very small percentage of the faculty members being connected to the Church of Scotland or the Reformed tradition. When the Very Rev. Tom Torrance was professor of theology, as many as a hundred or more graduate students enrolled annually from the United States and other parts of the world. Sadly for the faculty and the university, these glory days are past, and sad too for the Scottish church is the fact that some of its few remaining locally educated and talented thinkers have left for the more creative environment of North America. An old saying about theology sums up the past: “Theology was created in Germany, corrupted in America, but corrected in Scotland.” It has no currency whatsoever in modern times. NEW HAVEN THEOLOGY. A version of moderate Calvinism associated with Nathaniel W. Taylor of Yale Divinity School that emerged during the first half of the 19th century. The doctrine of original sin was rejected in favor of belief in the freedom of the human will to oppose the performance of sinful actions. The doctrine, in reality, was a species of Arminianism that became a powerful influence in 19th-century American theology. It was very much in keeping with a mood of liberalism that arose as a reaction to extreme New England dogmatism. Taylor was orthodox in his view of the Trinity and was an opponent of the Unitarian movement that was growing in New England at the time, traces of which can still be seen in the Unitarian Universalist movement, which bears only a distant resemblance to its European ancestor. See also EDWARDS, JONATHAN. NICENE-CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED. The original version was approved in 325, and the fuller one in 381 at the Council of Nicaea. It is the last product of the age of writing creeds, and was acknowledged by Calvin as an authoritative statement of Christian belief. It reads: We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father; And He


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shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets; And we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. We look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the Life of the world to come. Amen.

The age of Reformation, by contrast, produced lengthy confessions of faith and many teaching catechisms. NICODEMISM. A term used by Calvin to refer to those who embraced the Reformation, but did not do so openly because they lived in regions controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. They were afraid that they might be punished for their beliefs. The name comes from an incident recorded in St. John 3 that narrates the story of a member of the Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, who came to speak to Jesus Christ by night for fear that he might be identified with him. Calvin condemned people who behaved like Nicodemus as dishonoring God and insisted that they had to be prepared to face exile or worse in order to stand up for the truth that had been revealed to them. NIEBUHR, KARL PAUL REINHOLD (1892–1971). American theologian and advocate of Christian realism that was conservative in its roots like the dialectical theology of Karl Barth, but had a strong ethical rather than a purely theological dimension. He was also an outspoken commentator on public affairs. He was close to the Social Gospel movement of the 1920s, but transferred his loyalty to the new Neo-Orthodox Theology in the 1930s. He began to take original sin seriously, arguing that the sin of pride created evil in the world. He considered utopian thinking as useless for dealing with reality, writing in The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness (1944): “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” After 1945, Niebuhr strongly supported United States efforts to confront Soviet communism around the world. He was a powerful speaker and lucid author, and perhaps the most influential Protestant minister of the 1940s and 1950s in public affairs. Niebuhr rejected religious liberalism because of its naïve views of sin, but he equally rejected the optimism of the Social Gospel. He accused religious conservatives of holding a naïve view of Holy Scripture and an excessively narrow definition of “true religion.” Secular liberal thinkers found his theological foundation unacceptable, and conservative theologians rejected his view of the Bible. As has been said of him: “He


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was too secular for many of the religious and too religious for the secular.” He took the view that humanity’s greatest problem was its own self-understanding. Niebuhr’s legacy was an attempt to relate Christian faith to “realism” rather than idealism in matters of foreign policy, which became a modern version of the “just war.” His influence on many liberals led them to support a “realist” foreign policy. His influence has been acknowledged by such recent leaders of U.S. foreign policy as Jimmy Carter, Madeleine Albright, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain. He was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. The Nature and Destiny of Man (1941, 1943) was a two-volume work that expressed most of his principal insights. See also CHURCH AND STATE; CIVIL GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. NOMINALISM. A philosophical position that can take a variety of forms, but which fundamentally denies the existence of universals, or in Platonic terms, ideas or forms that are replicated in reality by similar entities. It is a reductionist mode of thinking that eliminates all unproven or unnecessary concepts or entities from its worldview. Nominalism in the universities is associated with William of Ockham (ca. 1287–1347), the English scholar whose thought is symbolized by the term “Ockham’s razor,” a device intended to remove from the universe of thought all meaningless and useless ideas. Nominalism rejected the idea that all concepts should express universal entities, and that names, concepts, or generalizations were merely labels that could and should be used to discuss individual entities. Individual people were not therefore representatives of a class of entities, but beings who existed in their own right as discrete entities. The concept of “man” thus no longer referred to someone belonging to a class of beings; it referred to human self-consciousness as part of an individual identity. In the same way, the understanding of God began to change. God, it was argued, could not be described by means of the rational structures that were basic to the medieval worldview. The will of God should not be understood anymore as an expression of his being. The idea grew in nominalism that God was pure will that was free of any possible human understanding of his reality. Since man was perceived as unique and God’s nature was now uncertain, the church and society also came under similar scrutiny. The corporate image of an organic unity that constituted the church and society became replaced by the idea of a contract among members of each. Almost anticipating JeanJacques Rousseau’s (1712–1778) definition of society as a social contract, nominalists spoke of society and the church as existing through being an


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aggregate of individuals. The strange spin-off, not anticipated by the proponents of nominalism, was that the church became more powerful because it alone became the guarantor of God’s revelation, hitherto a consequence of the weakening of the close integration of reason with revelation arising from the relationship between philosophy and theology. However, irrespective of this consequence, the overall impact of nominalism was to break the stranglehold that the medieval church had on both people and society. See also LUTHER, MARTIN; MAN’S COMING OF AGE.


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O OBERLIN THEOLOGY. A conservative evangelical type of Calvinism that rejected predestination and promoted spiritual holiness, associated with Charles G. Finney, president of Oberlin College from 1851 to 1868. OECOLAMPADIUS, JOHN (1482–1531). German minister and Swiss church reformer who was born at Weinsberg and educated at Heidelberg University. He tutored the sons of the Elector of the Palatinate and was also court preacher at Weinsberg from 1510 to 1513. He went to Tübingen to study Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, after which he moved to Basel, where he was assistant to the great humanist scholar Erasmus. He worked on the text of Erasmus’ Greek New Testament and translated patristic texts such as the works of Gregory of Nazianzus (329–ca. 389), for which he received a doctorate. He left Basel for five years, but returned in 1523 as a professor at the university, preacher at St. Martin’s Church, and leader of the Reformation in the city. He was involved in various debates, including the Marburg Colloquy of 1529, wherein he opposed Martin Luther by supporting the position of Ulrich Zwingli. In reality his view of the Lord’s Supper was probably closer to that of Calvin in his recognition of the fact that there was an element of mystery in the sacrament. OMAN, JOHN WOOD (1860–1939). Orkney-born minister of the Church of Scotland who studied at the universities of Edinburgh and Heidelberg. He became professor of theology at Westminster College, Cambridge, from 1907 and in addition served as principal from 1925 until he retired in 1935. He was profoundly influenced by Friedrich Schleiermacher, who pioneered a new approach to the understanding and interpretation of religious experience. Schleiermacher also influenced Rudolf Otto, whose book The Idea of the Holy was introduced into the English-speaking world in 1923 by John Oman. ORDINATION. The setting apart of an individual to the service of Jesus Christ and his church, in the case of a minister by the laying on of hands on the head of the ordinand by those members of the presbytery to whom

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the right belongs, namely those already ordained. In the Reformed tradition, this is an act of the presbytery or a higher governing court than the local Kirk Session. A minister has the power to ordain elders or deacons. The public ordination to the Ministerial Office of Word and Sacrament must be performed by a presbytery after due notice has been given. Calvin explains the meaning of ordination by stating that an ordained individual no longer acts independently, but is part of the church and engaged in its service (Institutio IV: iii: 16). ORIGINAL SIN. Originating in the Fall of Adam (Genesis 3), the human race permitted sin to enter God’s creation. While theologians have failed to explain the origin of sin, they have rejected the two extremes, namely that God is in some way responsible or that human nature itself is inherently evil. Neither squares with biblical insights. St. Paul (Romans 5:18 ff) speaks of sin having entered the world by one man, but that through one man also, Jesus Christ, justification is possible. Calvin speaks (Institutio I: i-ii) of the Fall and of how man, now deprived of freedom of the will, became enslaved to sin (Institutio II: ii), and that everything that comes from the corrupt nature of man is damnable (Institutio II: iii). God created the world and saw that it was good, and therefore sin does not represent the true nature of humanity. Only grace can overcome sin. See also BARTH, KARL; NEO-ORTHODOX THEOLOGY; NIEBUHR, REINHOLD. ORTHODOX (GREEK) CHURCH. The Greek Orthodox Church was the culturally encapsulated church of the eastern half of the Roman Empire after the empire was divided upon the death of Emperor Theodosius (379–395). The western church retained the use of Latin and became a greater political influence in the empire than the eastern church, which remained under state control. After serious disagreement, the pope of Rome and the patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other in 1054. Consequently, the significance of the Protestant Reformation was not really understood by the eastern church, and therefore there are no direct historical links between Calvinism and the eastern church. Nevertheless, one incident is recorded that falls into the category of at least “intriguing.” Cyril of Alexandria, patriarch from 1621, became aware that the church needed reforming. He drew up a Confession of Faith that by coincidence resembled those being drawn up by the 16th-century reformers in Europe. Article xiii, for example, is a statement of justification by faith. He also declared that the authority of the Holy Scriptures was greater than that of the church.


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In June 1627, a monk called Nicodemus Mentaxa, who had visited England, arrived in Constantinople with a printing press and Greek type. In spite of attempted Jesuit pressure, Mentaxa began printing Cyril’s Confession of Faith. Cyril sent the document to Geneva and had it printed in Latin. Europe, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, was stunned by the idea that a Greek patriarch could have issued a Confession of Faith that contained identifiably Calvinistic elements. Controversy erupted in the Orthodox Communion, and Cyril was banished and eventually assassinated in 1638. His successor convened a synod in 1642 that condemned both Cyril’s Confession and the doctrines of Calvinism. The next encounter between Orthodoxy and Calvinism did not occur until Peter the Great of Russia (1672–1725) worked in the Dutch shipyards and acquired a fascination for the Dutch Reformed Church, which at one point he apparently considered introducing into Russia. OSTERVALD, JEAN FREDERIC (1663–1747). Swiss-born Reformed churchman who studied at Zurich, Orléans, and Geneva. He received ordination in Neuchâtel in 1683 and remained there for most of his life. He was a major influence in improving Reformed Church liturgy by combining materials from Calvin with elements of the English Prayer Book. He also translated many hymns and produced a French Protestant prayer book that was used by Huguenots until the 20th century. OTSUKA HISAO (1907–1996) ON MAX WEBER. Professor of economic history at the University of Tokyo and later at the International Christian University in Tokyo, famous for his comparative work on Max Weber. He looked at Japanese economic history and developed a theory in terms of the productive power and religious ethos of the industrial middle class between the world wars. He argued for the role of values and attitudes in the formation and development of economic life following Weber’s idea of a Protestant work ethic. The virtue of work and the encouragement it provides to save surpluses he applied to Japanese economic history in an original way, in an attempt to demonstrate the general applicability of Weber’s thesis. A dimension to his theory that further supports the overall thesis was the observation that economic development can be impeded where saving is not perceived as a virtue. In such economies, where a satisfactory, albeit poor standard of living among workers can be attained by a certain level of income, increases in wages can actually lead to less productivity. If a worker in an undeveloped economy can live satisfactorily, for example, on US $12 for a six-day week, an increase in the daily rate to $2.50 per day would mean that he or she could


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earn the necessary $12 in five days. So fewer workdays become necessary to maintain current living standards. Rather than providing an incentive to work harder and save, the economy might actually suffer because the concept of saving is not understood. This has been the fate of many economies that grew out of the Spanish colonial model in South America. Otsuka was a devout Christian, a member of the Japanese mu-kyokai (nochurch) movement, and an economic historian with impeccable credentials, and as a Japanese, he appreciated the value of savings in economic development. It was a combination of his research on the work ethic in Protestantism and his empirical observation of the economic growth of Japan that led him to see the principle of saving as central to economic development. Otsuka also developed a theory about the evolution of communities to society based on economic growth, slightly reminiscent of Plato’s theory of the origin of the state. It is of note also that the first Asian nation to modernize successfully and create a world-class economy produced a thinker with Otsuka’s level of awareness in this field. OTTO, RUDOLF (1869–1937). Otto was a Lutheran theologian who was professor at Marburg from 1917 until he retired in 1929 and also had an interest in comparative religion. He was influenced by Immanuel Kant and his views on religion being understood within a rational framework, and he created a new expression in religious studies, the numinous, being derived from the Latin numen (a term that refers to a deity). This Otto described as the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, referring to the mystery of God that is both terrifying and fascinating at the same time. The religious experience of the nature of God cannot be reduced to any simpler components. He published this argument in 1917 as Das Heilige: Über das Irrationale in der Idee des Göttlilchen und sein Verhältnis zum Rationalen (The Idea of the Holy: On the Irrational in the Idea of the Divine and Its Relation to the Rational). This text has never gone out of print and can still be found in at least 20 languages. Otto’s influence was widespread, and though some of his ideas have been traced to Friedrich Schleiermacher, his influence extended widely to thinkers as far apart as Paul Tillich, Mircea Eliade (1907–1986), Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900–2002), Max Scheler (1874–1928), Joseph Needham (1900–1995), and C. S. Lewis (1898–1963). The Scottish-born theologian John Oman first introduced him to the English-speaking world in 1923. The mystery of God in Otto found a natural meeting point with Calvin’s sense of the majesty of God.


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P PACKER, JAMES INNELL (1926– ). British-born evangelical theologian educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who serves as a professor at Regent College in Vancouver and is executive editor of the magazine Christianity Today, which has a readership of 340,000. Although an Anglican, he is closer to Calvin and the Neo-Orthodox position. He belongs to the strongly conservative wing of the Reformed tradition, for example, in rejecting the ordination of women. His influence extends throughout the world of evangelical theologians and clergy, and he is quite uncompromising about the authority of the Bible in maters of faith and life. Packer has published a large number of books, among which his best known is Knowing God (1973). There are at least seven foreign-language editions in print. Alister E. McGrath undertook the work of editing The J. I. Packer Collection, a four-volume set of his shorter writings. PALEO-CALVINISM. One of many varieties of conservative postCalvinist thought. Although there are numerous models of Paleo-Calvinism, generally they see no need for a vision of God that is personal and involved with people in a passionate or reciprocal manner. Emphasis is placed on the immutability of the eternal God. There is no perceived need for a balance to be struck between the nature of divine transcendence and God’s involvement in human history. Present-day exponents include Darryl G. Hart, a former professor of church history at Westminster Seminary California and Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and Cornelius Van Til. Hart was influenced by J. Gresham Machen (1881–1937), a conservative Calvinist leader who helped to create Westminster Theological Seminary as an alternative to the liberal Princeton Seminary. The more controversial forms of Paleo-Calvinism come close to Christian Reconstructionism, although Van Til, for one, rejects such an association. See also NEO-CALVINISM. PARLEMENT DE PARIS. The chief judicial body under the system of the ancien régime. The parlement consisted of a number of separate chambers:

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the central pleading chamber, called the Grande-Chambre; the Chambre des Requêtes (to deal with petitions) and the Chambre des Enquêtes (to handle inquests); the Chambre de la Tournelle (to settle criminal cases); and finally the Chambre de l’Édit (to process Huguenot affairs), which was active only in the 16th and 17th centuries. PASTOR. Term interchangeable with minister. Pastor relates to the shepherding role, while minister refers to the serving role of the clergy. PEACE OF WESTPHALIA (1648). A set of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster that ended the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic. The treaties involved the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand III of the House of Habsburg; the kingdoms of Spain, France, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic; the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, and sovereigns of the free imperial cities, which made this Europe’s first major diplomatic event. These agreements concluded Europe’s last major war of religion, following the principle “cuius regio, eius religio” (whose state, his religion), a formula first enunciated at the Peace of Augsburg, (1555), a treaty between Charles V and the Schmalkaldic League of Lutheran princes in the time of Martin Luther. PELAGIANISM. Fifth-century Christian heresy condemned at a council in Carthage around 418. Augustine was particularly instrumental in attacking Pelagius (ca. 354–420), a Celtic monk from the British Isles who was accused of advocating salvation by good works. Nathaniel W. Taylor, leader of the New Haven Theology school, was accused of Pelagianism by Charles Hodge of Princeton University. PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. A reference to those who benefit from election to salvation that stresses God’s perseverance in the process rather than human faith. This was the last of the Five Points (Articles) of Calvinism affirmed by the Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619). Although the elect may occasionally fall from grace into sin, they continue to be under the mercy of God, because the Holy Spirit is still active in their lives. Deliberate acts of transgression imply the absence of faith and are in a separate category. See also ATONEMENT; JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH; ORIGINAL SIN. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. Although Calvin followed the biblical principle that civil government should command respect and obedience provided it ensures justice, he also took the view that the power of the mag-


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istrate may be resisted if it disobeys the will or stated law of God. He wrote of people who were appointed to resist as “lesser magistrates” and quotes, as an example, the ephors of Sparta from the classical tradition (Institutio IV: xx: 31). The principle of resisting government that was judged to be behaving unlawfully was invoked frequently in Scottish history by figures such as John Knox, leader of the Scottish Reformation; Andrew Melville, the architect of the Presbyterian system of church government; and Samuel Rutherford, the charismatic personality among the Covenanters of the 17th century. While the right to direct resistance has not been exercised for a long time, the principle that civil government stands under the judgment of God has never been revoked. POSTMODERNISM. Postmodernism is not easily defined, but recognizes discontinuity, cultural relativism, and pluralism as the nature of human existence. Concepts such as certainty, the absolute, or even truth are rejected. Meaning becomes existentially subjective, implying that the study of any ancient texts, classical or biblical, becomes “deconstructed.” A highly anthropocentric humanism that bears no relation to its classical ancestor and a cynical form of secularism are two of its distinctive by-products. While the affirmations of Calvinism about God and society may seem dated and to some totally irrelevant, the degree of liberalism that has been generated may create either a conservative countermovement or a conservative swing to redress the balance in instances where social order appears to have been threatened or even destroyed. While to some people, the culture of drugs, for example, may represent social freedom, to others it may symbolize social decadence. Action and reaction can be equal and opposite, and postmodernism may yet be held responsible for some of the excesses that are perceived to have arisen from it, guilty or not. PRAYER, PRACTICE OF. The Christian discipline and practice of relating to and communicating with the God of Biblical revelation. The power of the Holy Spirit makes true prayer possible and was considered by Calvin to be the “chief activity of faith” (Institutio III: xx). How public prayer should be approached is dealt with in the Genevan Service Books. Private prayer along with reading of the Bible was to be practiced as well. PREACHING IN THE REFORMED TRADITION. The core of Sunday worship in Reformed Churches is the sermon, in which the preacher is the bearer of the Word of God to the people. Sermons were traditionally long, an hour or more. Calvin himself preached more than 7,000 sermons, including on Sundays and midweek. He preached systematically through books of the


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Bible, and it is reported that when he arrived for his second period in Geneva, he simply took up at the point where he had left off. Modern preaching has generally returned to the observation of the main seasons of the Christian year, principally Advent (Christmas) and Lent (Easter). Modern sermons are also considerably shorter, although some distinguished popular preachers may not confine themselves to the average 15 or 20 minutes. Preaching has declined in importance, partly because of inadequate ministerial education, but also as part of a more general decline in classical education and general literacy in Western culture. PREDESTINATION. The theological doctrine was developed on the two foundations of the Old Testament understanding of the Jewish people as a chosen (elect) people and on the New Testament (Pauline and Johannine) writings that speak of God continuing to redeem and save His people by choosing (electing) individuals to receive the gift of faith in Christ. Predestination in Augustine is presented in a double form that acknowledges a number would be saved while the rest would be damned. Calvin follows the position of Augustine, but differs only in that he places greater stress on divine grace and a greater rejection of the idea of good works leading to salvation. Consequently, Calvin appears to see predestination as a doctrine whose purpose is to promote gratitude to God, humility before God, and hope in God’s mercy through Jesus Christ. As he wrote, Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which he has determined himself, what he would have to become of every individual of mankind. For they are not all created with a similar destiny; but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or other of those ends, is, we say, predestined either to life or to death. This God has not only testified in particular persons, but has given a particular specimen of it in the whole posterity of Abraham. (Institutio III: xxi: 5)

Some branches of the Reformed tradition took predestination very seriously. In the 17th century and into the 18th century, election to salvation was understood as matched by election to damnation. One remarkable account of the literal understanding of this doctrine concerns an 18th-century Scottish minister who advised his people to keep their teeth when they fell out. Should they be part of the elect, the teeth would rise with them to glory. If they were damned, they would need them because among the rejected there would be “wailing and gnashing of teeth.” This eternal decree of God was ultimate and unquestionable, as is stated in the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 3.


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Modern interpretations of predestination in thinkers such as Karl Barth take up Calvin’s theme of the power of grace, which makes the idea of election and reprobation converge in the divine election and rejection of Jesus Christ, in whom none who repents is finally rejected (Dogmatik II, 2). See also PROVIDENCE OF GOD. PRESBYTERIANISM. A system of church government and order developed in Scotland by Andrew Melville, a second-generation reformer in the Scottish tradition under the influence of the Continental reformers. It offered an alternative understanding of the nature, function, and administration of the Roman Catholic Church. The terminology was created from the Greek presbuteros, referring to the ruling elders of the church in the New Testament. Some Reformed Churches refer to it as a colloquy or a classis. However, the constitution, function, and administration are similar. One key distinction that is uniquely Presbyterian is the parity of elders and ministers. Apart from the local Kirk session, all courts must have an equal number of ministers and elders. Presbyteries are responsible for the ordination and induction of ministers to churches or parishes, and they have oversight over Kirk Sessions within their bounds. Ministers are responsible to the presbytery of which they are members, and therefore are not answerable to the Kirk Session of which they are only the moderator. Presbyteries also conduct visitations to local churches on a regular basis, usually within a five-year period. Reports are submitted, and if there are problems, these are discussed within the presbytery. Normally, records of session meetings, financial and property records, and registers of baptisms and other important documents are submitted for annual inspection. An elaborate set of arguments based on the Greek New Testament justifies the system. However, King James VI, in his instructions to the translators commissioned with the task of producing a translation of the Bible, included the requirement to ensure that the episcopal order was defended. The reason was that if the king retained the right to appoint bishops, he could in effect control the church. This objective was achieved by translating the Greek term episkopos as bishop and presbuteros as presbyter. However, detailed scholastic argument has shown that the offices were the same in practice, but that the administrative role, and not the spiritual role of the presbyter, was sometimes referred to by the term episkopos. In the Reformed Church view, the separate role of bishop was considered unnecessary. The anomalous fact that the Reformed Church in Hungary retains the office of bishop is due to history rather than ecclesiology, which might also be said of the interesting survival of the office of bishop in the Unitarian Church of Transylvania.


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Presbyteries may be grouped in provincial synods, above which is the general assembly, the supreme court of the church. Presbyterianism is not a form of representative government, nor is it in essence, or intended to be, democratic. It does have democratic features, but the authority of church courts remains its basic principle of order. Presbytery members are not delegates in the sense of people elected to attend a party congress. They are not bound to any local manifesto. They vote in their own right and on the basis of their own consciences, as members of a judicial court would vote. In these respects, the presbyterian system tries to avoid what it perceives as both the anarchy of congregationalism and the hierarchy of episcopacy. PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS. A Reformation doctrine strongly advocated and emphasized by Martin Luther, but acknowledged also by Calvin, albeit in a different way (Institutio III: xv: 6), wherein he declares that “as soon as you are engrafted into Christ by faith, you are made a son of God, an heir of heaven, a partaker of righteousness, a possessor of life.” The implication is that an intermediary priest between individual believers and God is no longer necessary, since Jesus Christ became the true mediator between the human and the divine. The biblical roots of the doctrine upon which Luther based his position are in I Peter 2:1–10, which refers to God’s people as a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession.” One underlying principle of the Reformation was that the claim of the medieval priesthood to hold and control the distribution of grace was rejected. Every believer was a priest who in reality had equal rights and equal responsibility to serve God in whatever capacity he or she could do so. “Every shoemaker” said Luther “can be a priest of God, and stick to his own last while he does it.” While Calvin stresses that Christ has made possible direct access to God, it is a question of exegesis whether or not his views totally coincided with those of Luther. One area on which Calvin and Luther would have been in complete agreement was the fact that pulpit and pew were governed and judged by the same standards. God’s expectations and demands are the same for all. This principle also applied to knowledge and learning. If there is no distinction between priest and people, then the need for knowledge of the truth and the study of the Bible is the same for all. This was Calvin’s particular emphasis, which was seen to apply not simply to the ministers of Geneva, but to the entire people of God in the church. However, the priesthood of all believers that rejected the need for a priestly confessional system did not preempt the distinctive office of the ministry of Word and Sacrament, to be performed by those called by God to do so. See also LUTHER AND CALVIN.


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PROTESTANT ERA AND PROTESTANT PRINCIPLE. Concepts developed by Paul Tillich, a German-born theologian who has also been described as a Christian existentialist philosopher. In a 1948 work entitled The Protestant Era, Tillich announced the end of the Protestant era and indeed the end of Protestantism, as it had been known institutionally, on the grounds that it had simply run out of cultural energy. He pointed to the work of an earlier theologian, Martin Kaehler (1835–1912), his professor at Halle University. One line of argument contended that the Reformation was, in a sense, incomplete, because it placed faith, and not love, at the center of Protestant thought. This was due to the nature of the battle that the reformers had to fight against what Tillich called a “partly magical, partly moralistic, partly relativistic distortion of the idea of love in later Catholicism” (The Protestant Era, 1948, xxi). The result he declares was “Puritanism without love in Calvinistic countries and romanticism without justice in the Lutheran countries.” Though this is a depiction of history painted with a very wide brushstroke, anyone familiar with the basic differences between Calvinism and Lutheranism will recognize some indicative merit in Tillich’s judgment. Of greater significance is his characterization of the Protestant principle, as he calls it, which he claims distinguishes the Protestant churches that have embodied it since the Reformation. He calls it the “guardian against the attempts of the finite and conditional to usurp the place of the unconditional in thinking and acting. It is the prophetic judgment against religious pride, ecclesiastical arrogance, and secular self-sufficiency and their destructive consequences.” See also LUTHERANISM AND CALVINISM; MAN’S COMING OF AGE. PROTESTANT THOUGHT AND NATURAL SCIENCE. One liberating aspect of the Reformation was the release of science from the restrictions of having to conform to theologically based cosmology. Both Copernicus (1473–1543) and Galileo (1564–1642) fell foul of the Roman Catholic Church, which rejected empirical science or indeed any propositions that challenged the accepted wisdom of the day. John Dillinger, whose book Protestant Thought & Natural Science: A Historical Study (1961) analytically traces the relations between natural science and Protestant theology since the Reformation, draws attention to the impact of Charles Darwin (1809–1882) in the 19th century as similar to the development of Newton’s physics of an earlier period. The questions posed by Darwin are still not answered for many. Hence the teaching in American schools of evolution versus creationism or design remains a serious and divisive issue. Dillinger notes two latter-day Calvinists who resolved the problem in different ways. Henry Drummond (1851–1897), an evangelical theologian born in Stirling, Scotland, was appointed to teach natural science at the Free


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Church of Scotland College in Glasgow after the Disruption of 1843. His controversial Natural Law in the Spiritual World (1883), and subsequently Natural Law and the Ascent of Man (1894), were attempts to reconcile Darwinism and Christian faith. James McCosh of Princeton University ingeniously argued that Calvin’s view of human nature was similar to the idea of struggle in Darwinism. Dillinger pointed out that the relationship between science and religion is more complex, and that there is an inherent danger in trying to accommodate theological doctrine to a current scientific model that may become obsolete. The challenge Albert Einstein posed for Euclidean geometry and Newtonian physics, whose role in the human perception of the physical world Immanuel Kant had explained in the Transcendental Aesthetic of his Kritik der reinen Vernunft (Critique of Pure Reason, 1781), was seismic. Because of this, Dillinger argued that Karl Barth and his form of Neo-Orthodox Calvinism had effectively made theology a viable discipline once again, because the nature of any scientific revolution is more complex than a simple perspective that either affirms or denies the claims of theology. A relevant modern discussion of the problem is Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC. The basic concept used by Max Weber to describe the attitude to work generated in Protestant culture, Calvinism in particular, that produced the ethos necessary for capitalism to develop. In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905), Weber put forward the thesis that Calvinist ethics and ideals influenced the development of capitalism. In this work, he relied on a great deal of macro-level information from the era that indicated the predominance of Protestants among the wealthy, industrial, and technical classes relative to Catholics. He noted the shift of Europe’s economic center after the Reformation away from Catholic countries such as France, Spain, and Italy, toward Protestant countries such as the Netherlands, England, Scotland, and Germany. With that in mind, he observed Protestant minorities who were debarred from government, civil service, and the army becoming captains of industry, but noted no such tendency among Catholics where they were the minority. According to Weber, one of the universal tendencies that Christians had historically resisted was the desire to profit. But he suggested that there were many reasons to look for the origins of modern capitalism in the religious ideas of the Reformation. Observers such as William Petty (1623–1687), the philosopher and economist who worked under Oliver Cromwell; Baron Montesquieu (1689–1755), the great French intellectual; and Henry Thomas Buckle (18127–1867), the English historian, had all commented on the affinity between Protestantism and the development of the commercial spirit. In


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stating his version of the theory, Weber was careful to point out that modern Western capitalism is not mere acquisitiveness and greed, which can be found in all ages and in all cultures. To define the spirit of modern capitalism, he quoted from Benjamin Franklin’s Advice to a Young Tradesman and Necessary Hints to Those Who Would Be Rich: “Remember, that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labor, and goes abroad, or sits idle, one half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides.” Weber recognized that neither Martin Luther nor Calvin had any interest in commercial enterprises, although Calvin was sensitive to interest rates charged by Geneva moneylenders, but this was rather a by-product that encouraged planning and self-denial in the pursuit of economic gain. The Reformation view, that all the spheres of life were sacred when dedicated to God and His purposes of nurturing faith and enriching life, shaped the view of work. This he thought came about because of the closure of the monasteries that turned the ascetics into the world and provided the kind of mentality needed for the new order. Weber also observed that Calvinism’s doctrine of election had the effect of producing a resolute and confident believer. Denied all priestly confession and absolution, the Calvinist had to build up a unified, ordered, and sanctified life, a level of disciplined spiritual achievement that would also make it easy to build a business career. The phrase “work ethic,” now in common use, has become an abbreviation of the “Protestant work ethic” principle developed by Weber. In general, he was making the case that religion was one of the nonexclusive reasons for the different ways in which the cultures of the West and the East developed. He stressed how the particular characteristics of ascetic Protestantism influenced the development of capitalism, bureaucracy, and the rational-legal state in the West. However, questions have been raised about the applicability of the theory in non-Western settings. The observation has been put forward that the key is not necessarily Calvin’s theology, but “this worldly ascetic” and rational view of work, which may be of equal importance. See also OTSUKA HISAO; TAWNEY, RICHARD HENRY. PROVIDENCE OF GOD. The creation and preservation of the world by God within the framework of his ultimate and eternal purposes. Predestination is a dimension of the wider doctrine of the totality of providence. Predestination deals with the fate of the elect or reprobate, whereas providence speaks of God’s relationship with the whole of creation. Belief in providence, however, in Calvin’s view, does not mitigate the reality of human wicked-


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ness. Although a special providence watches over the safety of believers (Institutio III: xvii: 6), this doctrine cannot be used to excuse willful evil that ought to be punished (xvii: 5). The doctrine should assure believers that the world is not subject to blind fate, mere chance, or divine arbitrariness. PSALMS. See PSALTERS, PSALMS IN THE REFORMED TRADITION. PSALTERS, PSALMS IN THE REFORMED TRADITION. The music of the Reformed Churches differed from that of the Lutheran tradition, which made use of hymns written by Martin Luther and other members of the Lutheran communion. Luther’s famous “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” (usually translated as “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”) became the battle hymn of the German Reformation. The Genevan Psalter of 1543 stood in sharp contrast to the dramatic musical hymnody of Germany. It was a simple collection of translations of the Psalms of David, rendered in a form suitable for congregational singing. Perhaps the closest to a universally recognized symbol of the Reformed tradition was the 100th Psalm, sung to the tune “The Old 100th,” which appeared in the French Psalter of 1551. In some instances, Reformed and Presbyterian churches resisted the introduction of hymns until the late 19th century or even later, while some have continued to reject the use of hymns altogether. PURITANISM. Although in New England there appeared to be an identification of Calvinism with Puritanism, in ecclesiology and theology there always have been serious conflicts. Puritanism was a Neo-Calvinist attempt to reform the Church of England along Reformed Church lines. The Puritans were inclined toward congregationalism, which is one reason why the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for North America in 1620. The Holy Commonwealth ideal was not achieved, although the influence of the ideals survived through religious leaders such as Jonathan Edwards, a Yale University-educated Congregationalist who was a leading figure in creating what was later described as New England theology. See also UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.


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Q QUINQUARTICULAR CONTROVERSY. See FIVE POINTS (ARTICLES) OF CALVINISM.

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R RECONSTRUCTIONISM, CHRISTIAN. An extreme type of Neo-Calvinism that calls for the remodeling of Western and United States society along Christian lines, but on the basis of laws approved of in the Bible. Although not formally a denomination, the principles of Reconstructionism are associated with extreme right-wing political groups. Larry Pratt, head of Gun Owners of America and an opponent of bilingual education, was campaign co-chair of evangelical leader Pat Buchanan’s campaign for the presidency in 1996. Severe critics of the movement, known under various names such as Kingdom Now Theology, Theonomy, and Dominion Theology, point to its tacit acceptance of genocide, slavery, and anti-Semitism as marks of a neoNazi way of thinking. See RUSHDOONY, ROUSAS JOHN. REFORMED CHURCHES. The oldest name for the movement that broke with the Roman Catholic Church was Protestant, so named because of the protest made by Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms (1521). On refusing to recant, he declared: “Here I stand. I can do no other.” This was his final act of defiance and separation from the Catholic Church, and the act that created the Protestant tradition, initially a term used widely to refer to anyone who had broken with the Roman communion. It was embraced by the heads of state of the principalities of Germany who joined in support of Luther. Even the Scots’ Confession of 1560 was stated to be the work of “Protestants in Scotland.” The term, however, began to narrow in its reference. The Church of England, for example, after the English Reformation, became an independent church that was not linked to the German Protestant tradition. It was reformed, but not in a technical sense “Protestant.” Consequently, it was the churches of the Lutheran tradition in North Europe that became the Protestant churches of Europe. There was also the Anabaptist movement, which was the predecessor of the modern Baptist churches, with which Calvin was in deep disagreement. Once Calvin had established his new vision of church order in Geneva, the system spread into the Netherlands, other central European countries, and the English-speaking world, through the work of John Knox. This led

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in turn to the formation in Scotland of the Presbyterian form of church government, which in time began to travel the world. However, prior to that, the term “Calvinism” had appeared in Europe. Joachim Westphal (1510–1574) of Hamburg, a Lutheran, introduced the term to refer to the theology of the sacraments in the thought of Calvin in order to discredit “Calvinism” as an alien influence in German Protestantism. Although the Swiss Reformation is associated with the name of Ulrich Zwingli, Calvin’s influence soon outweighed that of Zwingli. The Dutch Synod of Dordrecht (1619) defined orthodox Calvinism in terms of its Five Points (Articles) in the process of rejecting Arminianism. As the influence of Calvin’s theology spread, many local variations appeared in other parts of Europe, such as Hungary and Bohemia, where the term Protestant was gradually replaced by “Reformed Church.” Although Calvin’s name subsequently appears little as a theological “brand name,” the influence of his theology and his vision of the church was perpetuated. Two main types of Reformed Church grew out of his views. One was the Presbyterian system, and the other was congregationalism. Although differing in numerous respects, they joined forces to form the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) in 2010, comprising over 100 churches worldwide, with a membership of over 80 million communicants. See also HUGUENOTS; WALDENSIANS. REMBRANDT HARMENSZOON VAN RIJN (1606–1660). Dutch artist, representative of art through the simplicity of his depiction of biblical themes. The idea of grace, for example, is embodied in the mood of the Return of the Prodigal Son. He drew both John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth preaching, implicitly conveying the centrality of preaching the Word of God in the Reformed Churches. Clearly he was well versed in the principal narratives of the Bible, and given the harshness of his own life and the intellectual history of the period, it is hardly surprising that he embodied the austere side of 17th-century Dutch Calvinist spirituality. See also DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. REMONSTRANTS. A branch of the Dutch Reformed Church that followed the ideas of James Arminius in rejecting the Five Points (Articles) of Calvinism. The debate became known as the Quinquarticular Controversy and refers to the doctrinal Calvinist–Arminian disagreement that was debated at the Synod of Dordrecht. It discussed the points of contention raised by the Arminian party in its five articles of remonstrance in 1610. At the Synod, Jan Uytenbogaert (1557–1644), the famous Arminian preacher painted by Rembrandt in 1635, presented the Arminian position. It was formally rejected in the Canons of Dordrecht, and the Five Points of Calvinism were upheld.


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Forty-one ministers led by Simon Episcopius (1583–1643) were expelled from the church, which then drew up 93 canonical rules and confirmed the authority of the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. The synod’s judgment was enforced by the deposition and banishment of Remonstrant ministers. Another Calvinist group, the Gomarists, under the leadership of Franciscus Gomarius (1563–1641), an academic colleague of Arminius, challenged them with a counter-remonstrance and became known as the Counter-Remonstrants. Although the government issued an edict tolerating both parties and forbidding further dispute, the conflict continued. The Remonstrants were attacked, particularly by the political power of Maurice, prince of Orange (1567–1625), who executed several leaders for allegedly holding republican views. However, once the government took the view that the Remonstrants did not constitute a threat to the state, from 1630 onward they were permitted to live anywhere in Holland and to build churches and schools. In 1621, they had received liberty to settle in Schleswig, where they built the town of Friedrichstadt, and where a congregation still exists. The doctrine of the Remonstrants was embodied in 1621 in a Confession of Faith written by Episcopius, their principal theologian, while Jan Uytenbogaert wrote a catechism and created a system of church order. The Remonstrants’ church in time became less important as a church than as a source of ideas. Its seminary in Amsterdam, where its largest congregation is located, became an influential source of liberal theology that had an impact on the state church as well as on other Christian groups. The Remonstrants finally received state recognition in 1795. The 17th-century controversy, however, remains, and continued adherence to the position taken by the Synod of Dordrecht still prevents close cooperation between Remonstrants and the Dutch Reformed Church. See ARMINIANISM. RENAISSANCE. The rebirth of Europe through the rediscovery of its classical roots. The final collapse of the eastern Roman Empire in 1453 was preceded by a steady movement of scholars and manuscripts from Constantinople to the west, which made Greek texts available for the first time since the classical age. The rise of a new humanism, symbolized by the work of Erasmus, led to an interest in the Greek New Testament and to a critique of the Vulgate, the Latin version of the Bible that had been in use for centuries. Classical Hebrew texts also became available. The study of these led to new and more accurate translation of the biblical texts. The new wave of scholarship was part of the process that made possible more accurate translations of texts and translations into the vernacular. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg (1398–1468) in turn led to the printing of the


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Gutenberg Bible in 1455. When these developments are set alongside other epoch-making events such as the discovery of North America and the new discoveries of science, the world as it had been known was in process of changing out of all recognition, and a new age was dawning. See also ENLIGHTENMENT; MAN’S COMING OF AGE. REPENTANCE. Calvin, referring to expressions in both Greek and Hebrew, defines it as a change of mind or purpose leading to the turning of human life to God. “Repentance may not inappropriately be defined thus: A real conversion of our life unto God, proceeding from sincere and serious fear of God; and consisting in the mortification of our flesh and the old man, and the quickening of the Spirit” (Institutio III: iii: 5). It is not a once and for all act, but rather should lead to a disposition that makes it “an end at which they (believers) must aim” (III: iii: 20). Repentance is also described as “a special gift of God” that “depends on the Spirit of regeneration” and makes believers “God’s workmanship created in Jesus Christ unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (III: iii: 21). The New Testament text quoted by Calvin is Ephesians 2:10. REPROBATION. See ELECTION; PREDESTINATION. RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF. The doctrine that argues the right to resist any government whose behavior does not conform to the will and Word of God. Numerous instances can be found in the history of Calvinist-influenced cultures, from the struggles of John Knox, Andrew Melville, and Samuel Rutherford in Scotland to the great flourishing of the ideal embodied in the United States Declaration of Independence. See also CHURCH AND STATE; CIVIL GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; SECESSION, THEORY OF. RESURRECTION. Two uses of the term are found in Calvin, both from biblical origins. First there is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after the crucifixion, as stated in the Apostles’ Creed. This is the completion of the divine work of breaking the power of sin and redeeming a lost humanity. There is also the sense of a general resurrection from the dead that becomes the eschatological consummation of history when the dead rise to either glory or a final judgment. REVELATION. The self-disclosure by God of himself, first to the people of Israel, and then to the Apostles and the followers of Jesus Christ baptized into the church. Natural theology and natural religion argue that the reality


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of God may be seen within the world’s natural order. However, Calvin is emphatic that the Holy Scriptures are the only true and complete source for the knowledge and understanding of God. The Holy Spirit is the power that makes the Word of God both in the scriptures and in the message of the Gospel comprehensible to humanity. See also BARTH, KARL; BURI, FRITZ; GOD, DOCTRINE OF; THEOLOGY. RITSCHL, ALBERT (1822–1889). German Protestant professor of theology at Bonn (1851–1864) and Gottingen (1864–1889). He was critical of mystical or pietistic individualist religious belief and argued that faith could not be reduced to other experiences, beyond the scope of reason. His criticisms were traced to “absolutists” from the early church Fathers onward, whose claims for the eternal, preexistent nature of Jesus could be traced back to the philosophical hellenization of the original gospel of the historical Jesus. Though God had been present in history, there was no empirical evidence for this, which in effect reduced all propositions of theology into merely value judgments. Jesus Christ’s divinity was thus best understood as expressing the “revelational-value” for the community that trusts him as God, namely the church, which becomes the vehicle of salvation. Ritschl’s thinking had considerable influence on liberal theologians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including Ernst Troeltsch. His stress on morality can be seen expressed in the decision of Albert Schweitzer to pursue medicine as an expression of belief. ROMAN CATHOLICISM. The Western tradition of the Christian church that is headquartered at the Vatican in Rome, in contrast to the Eastern Greek Orthodox Church based in Constantinople. The Greek Church uses “orthodox” (correct teaching), in its title, while Rome uses the term “catholic” (universal) to identify itself, claiming to be the one true church. It derives its authority from the commission of Jesus Christ to the Apostle Peter, who it is said became the first bishop of Rome, and whose lineage of successors have been referred to as popes. The Roman Catholic Church has elaborate liturgies and rituals, a complex doctrine of saints and angels, and a huge number of monastic and non-monastic orders that support it, and it is governed through a structure of diocese and archdiocese. The College of Cardinals is its supreme legislative body, charged with the task of electing a new pope after a reigning pope dies. When the pope speaks ex cathedra on matters of doctrine, he is considered infallible. The church was seriously fractured by the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, which started with Martin Luther protesting the abuse of the practice of indulgences. This led to the emergence of the Lutheran church.


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A second-generation version of the Reformation movement in France and Switzerland, guided by John Calvin, led to the formation of the distinctive Reformed Churches and the movement normally referred to as Calvinism. The Roman Catholic Church remains the largest of all Christian churches, claiming a billion adherents. In the minds of many Protestant groups, anxieties about its ultimate motives remain. It has shown true greatness of soul in many aspects of its social work, but has also shown itself capable of intolerance and even brutality through bodies such as the Spanish Inquisition of 1478–1834, which replaced the medieval Inquisition that was under papal control. Although these activities were in the past, and largely political in their motivation, Jews and Protestants suffered in large numbers. Regrettably, the controversial communication between the Vatican and Adolf Hitler before and during World War II, when the Holocaust was taking place, has never been explained to the satisfaction of critical historians of any persuasion. The Vatican has also displayed a darker side in more recent times. Following police raids ordered by the Bank of Italy in 1981, it became embroiled in serious scandals over the collapse of the Banco Abrosioano (founded as a Catholic charities bank in 1896) under a debt of $2 billion. Bank chairman Roberto Calvi, nicknamed “God’s banker,” was found hanged from Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982. The Vatican paid a large amount of money in relation to the bank’s losses, but accepted no liability. These dramatic events inspired several books and movies, particularly after Pope John Paul I died after only 33 days in office. Of greater public concern worldwide, however, were unanswered questions about the way in which senior figures of the church covered up the pedophile behavior of priests and nuns for decades until revelations began to emerge in the late 20th century. Since that time, the Church has been fighting a rearguard action, resisting the momentum that followed the reforms instituted after the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) under Pope John XXIII. Groups within the Church are demanding permission for the clergy to marry, ordination for women, and other changes, all of which are unacceptable to the conservative wing of the Church. Combined with this is the wave of Liberation Theology that has grown up in Latin America in particular and that has on its agenda birth control, AIDS prevention, and issues generated by the absence of basic social and economic justice. With the spirit of rebellion among younger priests in these areas growing, and the appearance of a theologian of the stature of Hans Küng (1928– ), it could be argued that what Paul Tillich called the Protestant principle has emerged, not outside the Church to challenge it, but from within to invite it to question itself. Calvinism was considered the major threat to Catholicism because it was both a critique of the Church and an exposition of a complete program of


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reform. The complex relationship among Calvin himself, Calvinism, and Catholicism has been reviewed in a 2008 work edited by Randall C. Zachman, John Calvin and Roman Catholicism: Critique and Engagement, Then and Now. See also COUNTER-REFORMATION; INDULGENCES; LOYOLA, IGNATIUS; LUTHER, MARTIN. RUSHDOONY, ROUASAS JOHN (1916–2001). Controversial founding figure of Christian Reconstructionism. He was ordained in the mainstream Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1944, but after serving as a missionary to Native Americans in Nevada, began to move toward the thought of Cornelius van Til, but in an extreme form that Van Til did not share. Rushdoony’s main work was the creation of an extremist religious movement that claimed to draw insights from Calvin, but could hardly be called Calvinist in any normal use of the term. He also inspired the Christian homeschool idea. His writings include Foundations of Social Order: Studies in the Creeds and Councils of the Early Church (1968), The Biblical Philosophy of History (2000), The Nature of the American System (2002), and The Roots of Reconstruction (2003). RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL (1600–1661). Minister of the Church of Scotland at the parish of Anwoth and leading figure among the 17thcentury Covenanters. He became professor of divinity at the University of St. Andrews in 1638, the year in which the National Covenant was signed. Among his writings was a book entitled Lex Rex, which appeared in 1644 and challenged the authority of the king over the rights of the people, providing another example of the Calvinist principle of the right of resistance. When the monarchy was restored in 1661 after the death of Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) and the simultaneous ending of the Commonwealth, Charles II (1630–1685) attacked Rutherford, had his book burned, and had Rutherford removed from all public offices. Rutherford was summoned before Parliament on the charge of treason, but died before action could be taken. See also POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.


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S SABBATH DAY AND SABBATARIANISM. The fourth of the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic law, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8–11), was taken with unreserved seriousness in all cultures or societies influenced by Calvinism. While modern psychology suggests that a day of rest is necessary for the human constitution to relax and refresh itself, the cult of Sabbatarianism that grew up in Scotland in particular was more like Pharisaic legalism. People were fined for nonattendance at church, and work was strictly prohibited. Farmers were not allowed to sow or reap on a Sunday, and most routine work was banned. Public sporting events were prohibited, and fines were imposed on those who broke the law. Many of these rules were, however, suspended in practice when need arose, such as at harvest time. With the advance of secular society, observance of the Sabbath became more difficult. Professional soccer started in Great Britain on Sundays during the 1970s, and gradually every kind of public event began to take place on the Sabbath. In the Western Isles of Scotland, however, many people objected to ferry boats bringing tourists on Sundays. Generally speaking, the people of these islands, whose ancestors endured the brutality of the Highland Clearances, when thousands of small crofters were forced off the land and many deported to the colonies, protest strongly at desecrating the Sabbath. Incomers not familiar with local history or tradition fail to understand the complex background to the objections they raise. The underlying modern motive for strict Sabbath observance is probably a defensive response to invading alien secular culture. The Westminster Confession, Chapter XXI, defines clearly the nature of Sabbath observance. The same rules applied in New England until, as elsewhere, social change and immigration led to cultural transformation. However, the respect shown for the Amish communities in the United States should be a model for other societies of how past and present should be able to coexist through recognizing that when communities prefer to live a traditional Calvinist lifestyle, their preference should be respected.

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SACRAMENTS. See BAPTISM; LORD’S SUPPER. SAINT BARTHOLOMEW’S DAY MASSACRE (24 August 1572). Known in French as Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy, it was an attempt to eliminate all Protestants in France by means of what would now be classified as an act of genocide. The famous London clergyman, C. H. Spurgeon (1834–1892), described it as follows: Charles IX gave the first signal by firing a gun from the window of his palace. Coligny [the Protestant leader] with his household was murdered, and his body thrown out to the mob. Everywhere the cry was heard, “Kill every man of them! Kill the Huguenots!” The streets were reeking with the blood of men, women, and children. Not an individual suspected of a leaning towards the Reformed religion was suffered to escape. While this scene was going on, the Protestants of Lyons, Rouen, and other cities, fell victims to the savage fury of the Catholics. The massacre was carefully planned so as to break out at the same hour in various cities and in their suburbs. By some it is supposed that at least 100,000 persons suffered death. The estimate given by Sully at 70,000, has, however, been adopted. It is pretty certain that at least 10,000 were destroyed in Paris alone, and this estimate does not include the 500 who belonged to the higher orders. It is said that “the roads were rendered almost impassable, from the corpses of men, women, and children, a new and appalling barricade.” The monstrous deed received the high approval of the Pope and his Cardinals, and thanks were impiously made to Heaven for the distinguished favor that had been rendered to the Church. (The Sword and Trowel, April 1866)

Records of the time confirm this account. The rivers of France were so filled with corpses that for many months no fish were eaten. In the valley of the Loire, wolves came down from the hills to feed upon the decaying bodies of the Huguenots. A medal was struck by Pope Gregory XIII (1572–1585) to commemorate the slaughter. Many Huguenots escaped to Protestant regions of Europe, including England and Scotland. It was an atrocity that shocked Europe and physically destroyed the Protestant culture of France. SALVATION. The state of being delivered from the power of sin through the death of Jesus Christ and the corresponding hope of eternal life, as promised in the New Testament. The idea of newness of life implied arises from forgiveness of sin and from being relieved of the demands of the Old Testament law. The next step in the process is sanctification through the work of the Holy Spirit in human life (Institutio III: 2: i). SANCTIFICATION. The process of becoming holy through the gift of faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. Moral improvement and spiritual growth


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take place together, hence justification and sanctification are deeply linked, both dependent upon the grace of God, but also requiring human obedience to God’s will in order that the process might develop (Institutio III: 16: i). SCHLEIERMACHER, FRIEDRICH DANIEL ERNST (1768–1834). German philosopher and theologian who was born in Silesia, the son of a Prussian army chaplain, and educated initially in a Moravian school. He became a student at Halle and specialized in the Old Testament and Semitic languages. He also began reading Immanuel Kant, whose work had a profound influence on him. In 1799, he published his famous work Reden über die Religion (On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers), which appeared in English in 1893. He put forward the idea that religion was based on a feeling rather than an idea. In 1804, he became a professor at Halle and then professor of theology at the University of Berlin in 1810. He became secretary to the Prussian Academy of Sciences and exerted a great deal of influence as both professor and preacher. He was a strong advocate of the union of Lutheran and Reformed Churches, and his work led to the Prussian Union of Churches in 1817. Although his church and his lectures were well attended, his liberalism and his insistence that the state should not dictate to the church, a Calvinist rather than Lutheran principle, aroused both suspicion and hostility. The death of his only son in 1829 seriously affected his health, although he continued to fight for his convictions until his death in 1834. His work long survived his death, and his influence remains alive within Reformed theology and preaching. See also CHURCH AND STATE; OMAN, JOHN; OTTO, RUDOLF. SCOTLAND, CALVINISM IN. Calvin’s doctrine as stated in the 1559 edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion was reflected in the Scots’ Confession of 1560, a brief but well-crafted statement produced by John Knox and other leading figures of the Scottish Reformation. Professor G. D. Henderson, the eminent church historian who was Master of Christ’s College in Aberdeen and moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1947, described its ideas as “true to life to an eager people suffering from spiritual famine” (Claims of the Church of Scotland, 1951, 40). The Scots of the 16th century were serious people who took Calvinism very seriously, although perhaps, again to quote Henderson, “prosaically, literally, scholastically, unimaginatively.” God was looked upon with respect and fear. The power of providence was dominant in human life. Satan was real, and life itself was short, unhappy, and insecure for most people. Infant mortality was high, housing poor, sickness common, and in a country of long, dark winters, life was understandably perceived as a brief period of testing before the beginning of the life to come hereafter.


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Sermons and theological tracts of the 18th century took death as a major theme. Inscriptions on gravestones in the cemetery next to Glasgow Cathedral demonstrate that, even in the more economically developed 19th century, infant deaths were still common. The gravitas of life remained, but sadness was never the automatic consequence of seriousness. However, the infamous deportations of the Scottish Covenanters, followed by the notorious Highland Clearances of the 18th century, which drove people off their land to make way for sheep, created a Calvinist mentality that was rigid, defensive, and extremely conservative. As a later scholar observed, when the world that God created for anyone appears to be disintegrating, it is instinctive to grasp eternity as one would grasp a rod of iron. The Western Isles of Scotland still embrace a stern Calvinism and Sabbatarianism as a defense, and yield only with great reluctance to any attacks on their heritage. But these were reactions and not the norm. Scottish humor was real, and ministers were traditionally famous for their lightheartedness at weddings and social events, for playing the fiddle and dancing, activities that would not have been countenanced by Calvin in Geneva. One significant dimension of the impact of Calvinism on Scotland less related to social psychology was its link to the development of economic thinking. It is no accident that Adam Smith, the founder of economics as a discipline, probably developed his ideas from empirical observation of the merchant city center markets of Glasgow in the late 18th century. He observed fluctuations in commodity prices, and through attempting to rationalize the variables, tried to make sense of the economic processes at work. The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, was the culmination of this study. Smith’s Calvinism is controversially identified by some in his reference to an “invisible hand” (IV: ii: ix), the mechanism by which God or fate directs a universe in which human happiness is maximized even by those who trade for personal profit. The modern banking industry, however, does have its roots in Edinburgh, which until the recession that began in 2008 remained a global financial center. Among other things, facts such as these provided evidence for Max Weber’s thesis about the relationship between the Protestant work ethic and the spirit of capitalism and the subsequent work of R. H. Tawney on the relationship between capitalism and religion. Another characteristic of Scotland’s Calvinist heritage is the emphasis on education, which was part of John Knox’s vision of a church and a school in every parish. This was the first time that Calvin’s vision for society, the holy commonwealth, had been articulated at a national level and made the basis of a program of reform. That there was a need for church and school building arose from the fact that a large percentage of Scotland’s churches were in ruins because of decades of neglect. The Reformers, after removing


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unwanted artifacts, continued to use those buildings that were in good repair. A considerable number of medieval town churches and city cathedrals were preserved and remain in use to the present. This early 16th-century vision was initially difficult to implement. Taxation was imposed by acts of the Scottish Parliament in 1616, 1633, 1646, and 1696 on local landowners and the wealthier classes to provide basic support for education. However, the situation improved during the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, when basic literacy was considered a right of all children. The church played an active role in promoting this idea, initially to enable people to understand sermons and read the Bible. However, it is within the field of higher education that the fruits of literacy were best seen. The central theme of the Scottish Enlightenment, the understanding of human nature and human conduct evolved into the modern disciplines of economics, sociology, and social and cultural anthropology. This arose out of Calvinism’s concern with human morality and the human relationship with God. It is therefore hardly surprising that the leadership in these fields came from men such as William Robertson (1721–1793), Adam Ferguson (1672–1754), and Thomas Reid (1710–1796), who were ministers of the Church of Scotland, or Francis Hutcheson (1694–1746), a minister’s son. Social welfare was not ignored, and the offerings collected on Sundays were kept for the poor and indigent of the parish. The heritors and landlords had the duty of providing the church and paying the stipend of the minister. In contrast to education and welfare, civil liberty was not a major concern of Calvinism, although it produced a mood that was conducive to nationalism and independence struggles. The liberation of Holland from Spanish rule, for example, was not a religious struggle, although Calvinist influences made people sensitive to the need for more political liberty than existed at the time. The Scottish interpretation of Calvin’s theocratic social philosophy led to a natural opposition to civil absolutism. It worked effectively with constitutional monarchy, but showed no leanings toward the republican ideas associated with Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658). If a label were to be attached to Scottish Calvinism, it would be, as Henderson suggested, “aristocratic,” perhaps like Calvin himself. There were democratic features within the system. The elders, who formed the Kirk Session of each parish throughout the land, had in their ranks nobility as well as tenant farmers and merchants. Ministers were elected by a vote of the people. Denial of this basic right led to more than one secession of dissident groups from the national church. The reunion of the three major Presbyterian groups in 1929 was possible only when all sides agreed to this right of the people. As one writer of the 18th century noted, ministers exercised considerable authority


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and consulted with “heads of families,” but never with women or members of the poor mob. One area where the church was rigid was its intolerance of deviant behavior, social and spiritual. Toleration only became a virtue in the 17th century, but Calvinism in Scotland was cautious in embracing it. This should not necessarily be viewed as bigotry, but rather as one means used by the church and the state to protect social unity and consensus. It would be an exaggeration to say that Calvinism single-handedly created the Enlightenment in Scotland, but in the absence of many of the themes it raised, it is unlikely that such a movement would ever have started. In describing this period of Scottish history, the great historian of modern England, Sir George Norman Clark (1890–1979), referred to the Scots of the time as “the most enlightened peasantry in the world,” perhaps a strange kind of compliment, but one that reflects the image of a nation that took life and education seriously. See also CAPITALISM AND CALVINISM; CHURCH OF SCOTLAND; FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND; POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY; RESISTANCE, RIGHT OF; SCOTS’ CONFESSION; SCOTTISH REFORMATION SCOTS’ CONFESSION (1560). An early statement in the English language (the Broad Scots form) of the principal doctrines of the Protestant Reformation, approved by the Scottish Parliament in August 1560. It was drafted by John Knox, leader of the movement and former colleague of John Calvin in Geneva, where he ministered to the English-speaking congregation of merchants and others concerned with commerce between Scotland and France. The text consists of 21 chapters, was produced in four days, and is a compendium of the Reformed doctrine of both church and society that still has relevance and attracts attention among scholars because of the clarity and brevity in the presentation of its basic doctrines. SCOTTISH REFORMATION. The Scottish Parliament passed three acts in 1560 that legally established the Reformed Church and displaced the Roman Catholic Church from its position of privilege. The parliament was made up of 14 earls, 6 bishops, 19 lords, 21 abbots, 22 burgh commissioners, and over a hundred local lairds (landowners). It resolved to condemn transubstantiation, justification by works, indulgences, and purgatory, and to repudiate papal jurisdiction. Only baptism and the Lord’s Supper were recognized as sacraments, and these were to be performed exclusively by educated and qualified reformed ministers. Celebration of the mass became illegal. The Scots’ Confession was approved on 17 August 1560, and with that, the Reformation had been established. A key issue in the political background was a leadership policy shift from the France and Scotland


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Auld Alliance to a new alliance with England, which had become Protestant under Henry VIII when he made himself supreme governor of the Church of England. The final conflict between the Roman Catholic authorities and the emerging Protestant reformers had been sparked off by the deaths of two prominent young martyrs, Patrick Hamilton (1504–1528) and George Wishart (1513–1546), both of whom were burned at the stake in St. Andrews in front of the university. Wishart, who may have visited Geneva, had translated the First Helvetic Confession into the Scots language, and he was certainly familiar with Calvin’s theology. His death occasioned the struggle and led to the seizure of St. Andrews castle, the palace of Cardinal David Beaton (1494–1546), head of the Catholic Church, by the Protestant leaders. The cardinal was murdered and his body hung out of a window. The ensuing rebellion resulted in Mary of Guise sending French troops to quell it. In spite of stout resistance, the siege of the castle was ended in 1547, and the leaders, including John Knox, were captured. Knox was sentenced to slavery on a French galley, but was released after 19 months. He then moved to England, but the climate there was hostile because of the anti-Protestant policy of “Bloody Mary” Tudor (r. 1553–1558), and he found himself exiled from early 1554. In Europe, he made the acquaintance of Calvin and Johann Bullinger and became minister to the Englishspeaking congregations in Frankfurt and later in Geneva, where he studied Calvin’s church. Knox returned to Scotland with the objective of implementing the reforms he had seen in Geneva, but ran into conflict with Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (r. 1542–1587). The movement for reform was gathering momentum, when the Lords of the Congregation, a group of leading figures in society, began advocating change. John Hamilton, the last Archbishop of St. Andrews, had attempted reform in 1548 by banning priests from having concubines and forbidding clerical pluralism, clerical trading, and nonresidence of clergy, all parts of a policy to prohibit unqualified people from holding church benefices. But it was too little too late, and with the return of Knox to Scotland, dramatic changes seemed inevitable. The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587, and the coronation of her son as James VI, who was brought up in the Reformed Church, enabled royal assent to be given to the Acts of 1560. Out of the changes, the modern Church of Scotland came into being; its form, however, was not finally determined until the Presbyterian order of church government had been developed in the early years of the 17th century under the influence of Andrew Melville. St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, where Knox had been minister, eventually came to be recognized as the mother church of the Presbyterian world.


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SCHWEITZER, ALBERT (1875–1965). Alsace-born theologian, musician, and subsequently medical doctor who worked in Africa. Schweitzer studied Reformed theology at the Kaiser Wilhelm Universität of Strasbourg from 1893. He also received instruction in piano and counterpoint from professor Gustav Jacobsthal (1845–1912) and associated closely with Ernest Munch (1876–1946), organist of St. William’s Church, who was also a passionate admirer of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music. Perhaps a romantic at heart, in 1896, while a student, Schweitzer saved enough money to visit Bayreuth to see Richard Wagner’s Der Ring der Nibelungen and Parsifal, which he said had deeply moved him. In 1898, Schweitzer returned to Paris to write his doctoral dissertation, “The Religious Philosophy of Immanuel Kant,” at the Sorbonne. He also studied piano at that time with Marie Jaëll (1846–1925), the renowned French musician. He completed his theology degree in 1899 and published his thesis at the University of Tübingen in 1899. Intellectually dissatisfied with studies and interpretations of the historical Jesus, Schweitzer abandoned theology as an activity and embraced the principle of reverence for life as his guiding ideal. He elected go to Africa as a doctor rather than as a minister. After completing his medical studies and receiving his M.D. degree, he founded and ran his hospital at Lambaréné, in what is now Gabon, in 1913. He spent the years from 1918 to 1924 preaching in St. Nicholas Church in Strasbourg, giving lectures and concerts, and writing several books, On the Edge of the Primeval Forest, The Decay and Restoration of Civilization, and Civilization and Ethics being the three most famous. He returned to Lambaréné in 1924, and until his death in 1965, apart from short periods of travel, he remained there. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. He was perhaps the first theologian to follow the idea of a secular Christianity, which envisioned as its goal the physical and moral transformation of the world in a new way. SECESSION, ORIGINAL. The first major rift within the Church of Scotland over the right to appoint a minister by free popular election of the people rather than by choice of the local landowner. A 1720 act of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland had condemned a book by Edward Fisher entitled The Marrow of Modern Divinity as heretical; this was the subject of the Marrow Controversy. The act was forced through the assembly in spite of the disapproval of a large majority of presbyteries. An Act of 1730 removed the right of complaint, and a further Act of 1731 affirmed the right of the local “laird” or landowner to present a minister to the local church. As a consequence of this, in October, Ebenezer Erskine, minister at Stirling, preached a sermon referring to the act as unscriptural and unconstitutional. Members of his provincial synod objected, and he was censured. He ap-


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pealed, but the censure was upheld by the assembly of May 1733. Erskine refused to recant and was joined in his protest by William Wilson (1690–1741), minister at Perth; Alexander Moncrieff (1695–1761), minister at Abernethy; and James Fisher (1697–1775), minister at Kinclaven. They were judged as being in contempt and were suspended from office. They elected to secede. In December 1733, they constituted themselves into the Associate Presbytery and published a statement of the grounds of their secession. In 1736, they began to exercise the judicial powers of a church court and started to assemble seceding congregations in various parts of the country. They were joined by other ministers, including Ralph Erskine (1685–1752), and they appointed Wilson as their professor of divinity. The establishment of the church bitterly resented this, and proceedings were again instituted against them in the general assembly of 1740. They were all deposed from office, and it was declared unlawful for them to perform the functions of ministers. They also were ejected from their churches and manses. By 1745, there were 45 congregations reconstituted into an “Associate Synod.” The United Associate Synod of the Secession Church was founded in 1820 by a union of the various churches that had seceded, which in 1847 united with other secession groups known as the Relief Church to form the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The established church was again fragmented by the Disruption of 1843, when the Free Church of Scotland came into being. The numerous divisions within the church are often attributed to the contentious character of the Scots. Though this may be true in part, they were more fundamentally the result of the tendency within Calvinism itself to fragment, as it did early on in the debate over Arminianism at the Synod of Dordrecht. It also provided historical examples in practice of secession, which has had massive political consequences worldwide ever since. SECESSION, THEORY OF. Theories of secession developed in response to a fundamental question of political philosophy relating to the legitimacy and moral basis of state authority irrespective of whether it is based on the “Divine will,” the consent of the people, the morality of its goals, or its usefulness in obtaining specified desired ends. Though the question was first tested in the context of a dispute within a church that stood in the Calvinist tradition, the implications spread far beyond the initial parameters. The issue of the right to secession was a contributory cause of the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln had won the 1860 presidential election without any votes from the cotton-based economy of the South. This fueled concern in those who had issues with the North. Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), the third president of the United States (1801–1809), was cited: “If any state in the Union will declare that it prefers separation . . . to a continuance in union . . . I


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have no hesitation in saying, ‘let us separate’.” Whether or not this can be attributed simpliciter to Calvinism is by no means clear and straightforward. What is clear is that the Constitution of the United States was drafted with the separation of powers and a check and balance system behind its conception in order to prevent excesses of power belonging to any one part of government. Jefferson himself believed strongly in church–state separation. Numerous scholars have attributed these safeguards to the later development of Calvinism that made use of the principle of the right to resistance, and under certain circumstances, the right to secession. The issue of secession was largely overlooked in political philosophy until the 1990s, when a wave of secessions took place in Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent breakup of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. The overall result was that parts of the map of Europe came to resemble the divisions that preceded World War I. Different countries on different continents have responded in contrasting ways to internal secession movements. Some have come to terms with the past, such as the United States, while others continue to live in a state of tension, such as Canada with its English and French regions or Spain with the Basque separatists. The Taiwanese parliament considered forming a new Republic of China in opposition to Beijing, although at the Third Session of the Tenth National People’s Congress (14 March 2005), the Chinese government succeeded in establishing the Anti-Secession Law of the People’s Republic of China. That fact is in itself highly significant. All of this becomes more complicated when the stakes are raised by terrorist acts of various kinds trying to precipitate crises, from Basque separatists in Spain to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Northern Ireland. For good or ill, the precedent set by Calvinist churches of the past has become secularized into a philosophical and political conundrum to which there is no simple solution. See also DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. SECULAR CHRISTIANITY. The name given to a theological movement that claimed its ancestry from Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his idea of man’s coming of age. The first work that tried to generate a theory of a relationship between sacred and secular was Harvey Cox’s Secular City (1965). Ronald Gregor Smith, in his book Secular Christianity (1966), tried to carry the idea further by suggesting that the religious roots of modern secularism arose from Christianity and could be viewed as a mode of religious expression. The meaning of the concept clearly changed over the years, and the idea of secularism having its roots in Reformed theology has been largely overlooked. Postmodernism, and the idea of the new “emerging church” as a response to it, have pushed it from the center of theological debate. However, since nei-


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ther of these other concepts has been defined clearly, the term “secular” can still be found in theological discourse and may be due to make a comeback along with new forms of Neo-Calvinism. SENECA, LUCIUS ANNAEUS (ca. 3 BCE–65 CE). Known also as Seneca the younger, he was a Roman philosopher, statesman, writer, and tutor to the Emperor Nero. Nero ordered his death for alleged complicity in a plot to assassinate him. Seneca was highly regarded in the early church as a classical model of the ideal of humanism, particularly by Tertullian (160–220). Calvin quotes one of his sayings that “everything we see is God, and everything we do not see is God” (Praef. Lib 1 Quaest, Nat.). Of interest also is the fact that the Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant shared the same respectful opinion of Stoicism. Certainly both Calvin and Kant admired the moral rectitude and the rationality of lifestyle exhibited in Stoicism. It should not be forgotten that Calvin’s first work was Commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia. SERVETUS, MICHAEL (1511–1553). Heretic condemned both by the Roman Catholic Church and the Consistory of Geneva. He was born in Spain and was influenced by both medieval Jewish thought and Islamic/Arabic philosophy. This led him to reject the doctrine of Trinitarian Theology and to suggest that Christianity should rid itself not only of its medieval Catholic heritage, but also of the Greek influence of the first century. He presented his views in his 1531 book, De Trinitatis erroribus (On the Errors in the Trinity). He argued that the Trinity is not specifically referred to in the Bible and that the Son was not eternally existent, that Jesus was not divine, and that the Spirit may be a power, but is not a person. Servetus went to Lyons around 1535 under the assumed name Michel de Villeneuve. Foolishly, he breached his own anonymity by writing a response to Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. The Inquisition seized him, tried him, and sentenced him to death. He escaped from prison and on his way to Italy, stopped over in Geneva, where he was inevitably arrested. He again received the death penalty for heresy. After refusing to recant, the sentence was carried out at Champel in October 1553. He was subsequently burned at the stake once again, but in effigy, at Lyon, by the Inquisition. The whole affair created a controversy that has never subsided. That public burning was a method of execution is not in question. The Inquisition employed it regularly, but events such as the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572 underline how bloodthirsty the era was. The question most frequently asked is whether or not Calvin should be condemned for what happened. In hindsight, it is always easier to say what should have happened. Undoubtedly it was a cruel act, but the question of motivation should also be


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considered, along with the fact that the Inquisition had already condemned him to death. Modern ideas of toleration did not appear until the 18th century, and Calvin and the Consistory clearly felt that leading people into heresy merited punishment. In that respect, they were children of their age, although that fact does not make the act less reprehensible. SIN. See ORIGINAL SIN. SMITH, ADAM (1723–1790). Professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and founder of the discipline of political economy. He is regarded as one of the principal thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment. His two most famous works were The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, usually shortened to The Wealth of Nations (1776). He studied moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and went on a Snell Foundation “exhibition,” as it was known, to Oxford, where he spent six years at Balliol College. Under the patronage of Lord Kames, he delivered a series of successful public lectures in Edinburgh during 1748, where he formed an association with David Hume (1711–1776). Smith became the professor of logic and rhetoric at the University of Glasgow in 1751 and the professor of moral philosophy in 1752. In 1763, he resigned his professorship and became tutor to the Duke of Buccleugh’s son, whom he took on the Grand Tour of Europe, an educational trip favored by the wealthy of the time. This enabled him to make the acquaintance of François Quesnai (1694–1774), the famous Anne-RobertJacques Turgot (1727–1781), and other members of the French group known as the “Économistes” or “Physiocrates.” From 1766, he retired to Kircaldy, and during that time he wrote The Wealth of Nations, which has gone through many editions since its first publication. Smith was a methodological empiricist at a time when philosophical theories that began with experience were very much in vogue and part of the British tradition. See also BANKING AND ETHICS; CAPITALISM AND CALVINISM; OTSUKA HISAO; PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC; SCOTLAND, CALVINISM IN; TAWNEY, RICHARD HENRY, ON RELIGION AND THE RISE OF CAPITALISM; WEBER, MAX. SMITH, RONALD GREGOR (1913–1968). Professor of divinity at the University of Glasgow and author of numerous influential books that carried forward the ideas of Dietrich Bonhoeffer about history, human culture, and religion. He also served as a parish minister in Scotland and was editor of the Student Christian Movement (SCM) Press for a number of years. He studied


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in Germany and Edinburgh and, after World War II, became education control officer at Marburg University under the Allied Occupation. Gregor Smith’s principal works, The New Man: Christianity and Man’s Coming of Age (1956), Secular Christianity (1966), The Free Man: Studies in Christian Anthropology (1969), and the posthumously published The Doctrine of God (1970), all focused on aspects of the complex relationship between traditional Christian faith and modern secular civilization. SOTERIOLOGY. The field comprises doctrines that deal with salvation, the soul, and the question of life after death. For Calvin, this centers on the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, whose sacrificial death makes salvation possible. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, God calls on people to repent, and those who respond to the call in faith receive salvation as a gift from God. See also ESCHATOLOGY; JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. SOUTH AFRICA, CALVINISM IN. Although British and other Presbyterian churches are found in South Africa, the church that exerted the longest and strongest influence on the character of South Africa came from the Netherlands. The Dutch Reformed Church (Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk) established a presence in the city of Cape Town when the Dutch East India Company set up its trading factory in 1652. It became the most influential single religious body in the life of the nation. In 1836, the church appointed its first missionaries to advance Christianity among the African people. The Great Trek of 1836 to 1844, which resulted in the creation of Natal, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal, expanded the church, with the churches in these areas becoming independent in 1862. In 1853, the church in the Transvaal opposed mission work among the indigenous people and was hostile to any British influence. The Reformed Church in South Africa split off in 1859, while the Dutch Reformed Church remained as it was. All three, however, remained orthodox Calvinists as defined by the Five Points (Articles) of Calvinism at the Synod of Dordrecht. Finally, a century later they reunited with the Dutch Reformed Church. Mission churches among the African people continued to develop in all three regions and by 1974 were demonstrating opposition to the post-1945 apartheid policy of racial segregation instituted by the South African government. The Dutch Reformed Mission Church, a mixed-race church, issued a statement in 1982, the Belhar Confession. It focused on the fact that apartheid was a serious theological problem for the church. Calvin’s emphasis on the unity of the church and the Lordship of Jesus Christ became a central issue in determining the church’s judgment that apartheid was theologically


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and morally flawed. The crisis in the church finally ended with the collapse of apartheid and the dismantling of the mechanism of segregation in 1990. About 80 percent of the population of South Africa is Christian, of whom almost 4 million are members of the Reformed Church. See also BOESAK, ALAN AUBREY. SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. Central doctrine of Calvin and Calvinism that stresses the absolute power and glory of God, whose purpose is expressed in creation and in redemption. John Piper’s John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God (2009) is a valuable exposition of the way in which God’s sovereign power and majesty dominated his thinking. A particular example of what he believed came in a reply to Cardinal Sadolet’s 1538 letter to the leaders of the Reformation in Geneva, which was intended to persuade them to return to Rome. He said of the Cardinal’s zeal for eternal life that it is “a zeal that keeps a man entirely devoted to himself, and does not, even by one expression, arouse him to sanctify the name of God.” Introspective pietism does not place the majesty of God at the center. Such an awareness of the sovereignty of God is a precondition for reflection on all other themes such as providence or predestination. See also ELECTION; GOD, DOCTRINE OF; GOD, KNOWLEDGE OF; GOD, LAW OF; WORD OF GOD. STOICISM. A Greco–Roman hellenistic philosophy whose goal was to make the personal and political lives of human beings as orderly as the cosmos itself through the cultivation of rationality. The Stoics took ethics seriously and were committed to the principle that the ideal conditions in life and society could be achieved only through the exercise of rationality and self-discipline, two values that were a part of Calvinism. These may in part be traced to this source and became components of the Protestant work ethic. Respect for the rational side of Stoicism is to be found also in Immanuel Kant, whose thought in this regard is close to that of Calvin. See also COMMENTARY ON SENECA’S DE CLEMENTIA. SUPRALAPSARIANISM. Also known as Antelapsarianism, it is a theological position about the fall of man defined by Theodore Beza, according to which the decrees of election and reprobation logically preceded the fall in the Garden of Eden, as described in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 3. This, however, could be taken to imply that God either anticipated the fall or even engineered it, which was one argument used in opposing it. This view stands in opposition to infralapsarianism, also called postlapsarianism or sublapsarianism, which affirmed that the eternal decrees of salvation and damnation came after the fall. Some Calvinists are unhappy with both, be-


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cause if God’s decrees are eternal, they cannot be dependent upon historical circumstances. Arminians reject all lapsarian positions, because they see no justification for placing the decrees in any particular order, which to them, in reality, becomes pure speculation. SWITZERLAND, CALVINISM IN. The modern Protestant churches in Switzerland are canton-based churches, distinct and independent from each other in order and government. In German-speaking Switzerland, the Schweizerischer Evangelischer Kirchenbund (SEK) churches are Zwinglian, while the Fédération des Eglises protestantes de Suisse (FEPS) are Frenchspeaking Calvinist in their tradition. The principal common faith is Johann Bullinger’s Helvetic Confession (1566), which is affirmed by most churches. In 1858, a conference of Swiss churches established relations between the churches in all the cantons that led to the eventual foundation of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Switzerland in 1920, whose constitution was expanded and revised in 1950. The canton churches have varied legal status. Some are state churches, some are independent, and one group has a concordat relationship with the state. In spite of diversity in constitutions, liturgy, and other matters, the local congregational council is the basic unit of administration. The legislative body in most cantons is the synod. Major projects such as theological education and media communication are managed nationally by the Federation of Churches, as are social issues such as immigration, human rights, and religious liberty. It has a total membership of almost 2.5 million in 985 churches, served by 1,560 ministers. See also BEZA, THEODORE; BULLINGER, JOHANN HEINRICH; BERN, DISPUTATION OF; BOURGEOIS, LOUIS; FAREL, WILLIAM (GUILLAUME); HELVETIC CONSENSUS FORMULA; PSALTERS, PSALMS IN THE REFORMED TRADITION; VIRET, PIERRE; WOLLEB, JOHANNES. SYNODS. Title given to large gatherings of church leaders since early times. The term is used in at least two ways. Principally, it refers in historical context to special synods convened for ad hoc purposes, such as the Synod of Dordrecht in the Netherlands, convened to deal with the Arminian question. It can also refer to statutory bodies, such as the general synod of the Church of England, which meets on a regular basis to deal with matters of doctrine and policy. SYNOD OF DORDRECHT (1618–1619). Also referred to colloquially as the Synod of Dort, it was a national synod held in Dordrecht in the Netherlands by the Dutch Reformed Church, in order to settle a serious


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controversy that had arisen because of the doctrines of a Reformed theologian, Jacobus Arminius. The first meeting was on 13 November 1618, and the final meeting, the 154th, on 9 May 1619. Voting representatives from the Reformed Churches in eight foreign countries were also invited. The synod affirmed the Five Points (Articles) of Calvinism and rejected Arminianism, as Arminius’s theology came to be known. This led to the formation of the Remonstrants movement in the Netherlands.


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T TAWNEY, RICHARD HENRY (1880–1962), ON RELIGION AND THE RISE OF CAPITALISM. Tawney was an influential economic historian whose Religion & the Rise of Capitalism (1926) explored the relationship between Protestantism and economic development in the 16th and 17th centuries. He was born in Calcutta, India, and educated at Rugby School (arriving on the same day as William Temple, the future Archbishop of Canterbury) and at Balliol College, Oxford. Two factors helped to shape his thought. One was the college’s strong ethic of social service combined with Tawney’s own deep religious thinking. This helped shape his sense of social responsibility. He came to realize that charity was insufficient without major structural change to bring about social justice for the poor. For three years from January 1908, he taught the first Workers’ Educational Association tutorial classes at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, and in Rochdale, until he moved to Manchester after marrying Jeanette Beveridge. The other factor was the carnage of World War I (1914–1918); he served in the 22nd Manchester Regiment. It profoundly affected him, as it did other thinkers, such as the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889–1976). While its implications drove Heidegger into an existential analysis of the meaning of life, they forced Tawney to grapple with the nature of original sin. “The goodness we have reached is a house built on piles driven into black slime and always slipping down into it unless we are building night and day” (Graham Dale, God’s Politicians: The Christian Contribution to 100 Years of Labour. New York: Harper and Colllins, 2000, 93). The experience also heightened his sense of urgency about meaningful social, economic, and political change. In 1918, he was the principal contributor to Christianity and Industrial Problems, the fifth report (the other four were on more ecclesiastical matters) issued by a Church of England committee. Notable for its socialist flavor, the report set the tone for most Anglican postwar social thinking. Though Tawney remained an Anglican, he was aware of the class nature of the church and realized that social change had to be effected by other means. It was written of him later that while “intermittent opposition from the Churches to the new idolatry of wealth surfaced from time

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to time . . . no individual critics have arisen with a combination of political wisdom, historical insight and moral force to match that of R. H. Tawney, the prophet who denounced acquisitiveness.” These factors fed into his perception of the relationship between religion and capitalism. Tawney’s theory arose out of his criticism of society. Two books in particular expressed his views: The Acquisitive Society, which criticized the selfish individualism of modern society (1921), and Equality (1931). He condemned capitalism because it encourages people to become acquisitive, which eventually corrupts everyone. In the book for which he is perhaps best remembered, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (The Holland Memorial Lectures of 1922, delivered at King’s College London, and published in 1925), he became critical of “the division between commerce and social morality brought about by the Reformation, leading as it did to the subordination of Christian teaching to the pursuit of material wealth.” In its concluding pages, he quoted John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) on the way in which capitalism had developed: “Modern capitalism is absolutely irreligious, without internal union, without much public spirit, often, though not always, a mere congeries of possessors and pursuers” (Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, 1925, 286). Though he paid tribute in the introduction to Ernst Troeltsch and Max Weber, his own work was as much a socioeconomic critique of capitalism as it was the exposition of a theory. TAYLOR, NATHANIEL WILLIAM (1786–1858). Born in New Milford, Connecticut, president of Yale University and theologian, he founded the tradition known as New Haven Theology, a form of moderate Calvinism that he developed to match the mood of the Second Great Awakening (1800–1840). He was opposed by Old Calvinists, led by theologians like Charles Hodge of Princeton University, who accused him of pre-medieval Pelagianism rather than of simple Arminianism. TETRAPOLITAN CONFESSION (CONFESSIO TETRAPOLITANA). The oldest Protestant confession of faith. Tetrapolitan is derived from the Greek tetra (four), and polis (city), the four cities of Strasbourg, Constance, Memmingen, and Lindau. It was composed mostly by Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito (1489–1541) in 1530 (during the Diet of Augsburg). It was intended to create a common identity of belief among followers of Ulrich Zwingli. It consists of 23 chapters, the first of which states that nothing should be taught except what is explicitly stated in the Holy Scriptures. Its popularity was limited to the four cities, and it was eventually replaced by Calvinist confessions, because they were more rigorous and precise in their language.


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THEOLOGY. Traditional academic discipline practiced in universities from medieval to modern times with the intention of debating and expounding the being and nature of God. Traditional theology made extensive use of classical forms of argument, the most famous of which was the ontological argument for the existence of God, advanced by Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109). Theological debates in the medieval period often descended into trivia, but were a characteristic of Western Christianity because its terminology was rooted in Roman judicial concepts. The Eastern (Orthodox) Church, by contrast, was mystical and monastic, and produced comparatively little theological discussion, relying on liturgy and ritual as a basis for coherence rather than argument and dogmas. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) is considered the greatest of the medieval theologians, while John Calvin is considered the greatest Reformation theologian. Calvinism, more than any other Protestant tradition, took theology with unreserved seriousness, and consequently could splinter over even minor theological points. The Dutch Reformed Church and the Church of Scotland provide ample evidence of that tendency. See also APOLOGETICS; CHRISTOLOGY; DIALECTICAL THEOLOGY; DOGMATICS; GOD, DOCTRINE OF; HYPER-CALVINISM; NATURAL THEOLOGY; NEO-CALVINISM; NEW HAVEN THEOLOGY; OBERLIN THEOLOGY; PALEO-CALVINISM; REVELATION; TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY. TILLICH, PAUL (1886–1965). German-born American theologian strongly influenced by existentialist philosophy. He was born in the province of Brandenburg in eastern Germany, where his father was a pastor of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia. At age 12, he was sent to Königsberg to begin gymnasium, where living alone led him to read the Bible. He attended the University of Berlin from 1904, the University of Tübingen in 1905, and the University of Halle in 1905–1907. He received his doctor of philosophy degree at the University of Breslau in 1911 and his licentiate of theology degree at the University of Halle in 1912. Also in 1912, he was ordained a Lutheran minister in the province of Brandenburg. He started his academic career as a privatdozent of theology at the University of Berlin, from 1919 to 1924. From 1924 to 1925, Tillich taught at the University of Marburg, where he began to develop his own systematic theology. From 1925 until 1929, he was professor at the University of Dresden and then the University of Leipzig, moving to the University of Frankfurt from 1929 to 1933. He gave a series of public lectures and speeches throughout Germany that brought him into conflict with the Nazi party, with the result that when Adolf Hitler became chancellor in 1933, he was dismissed from his position. Reinhold Niebuhr visited Germany in the summer of 1933 and persuaded Tillich to join the


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faculty of Union Theological Seminary in New York. From 1933 until 1955, he taught at Union, where he began as a visiting professor of philosophy of religion, receiving tenure in 1937. In 1940, he was promoted to professor of philosophical theology and also became an American citizen. Tillich’s growing reputation was based on his particular synthesis of Protestant theology and existentialist philosophy: On the Boundary (1936), The Protestant Era (1948), and The Shaking of the Foundations (1948). His collections of sermons gave him a broader audience than he had yet experienced. Volume I of his Systematic Theology appeared in 1951, which led to his being invited to give the Gifford Lectures in natural theology at the University of Aberdeen in 1953 and 1954. Recognition of his work led to an appointment at the Harvard Divinity School in 1955, where he completed the second volume of his Systematic Theology, published in 1962. In 1962, he moved to the University of Chicago, where he remained until his death in Chicago in 1965. The third volume of his Systematic Theology was published in 1963. Tillich developed his own particular vocabulary and “method of correlation,” which in essence connects insights from Christian revelation with questions raised by existential philosophical analysis. In the introduction to the Systematic Theology he states: “Philosophy formulates the questions implied in human existence, and theology formulates the answers implied in divine self-manifestation under the guidance of the questions implied in human existence.” These answers are found in the revelatory events on which Christianity is based: “Their content cannot be derived from questions that would come from an analysis of human existence. They are ‘spoken’ to human existence from beyond it, in a sense. Otherwise, they would not be answers, for the question is human existence itself.” No formulation of the question can contradict the theological answer. This is because the Christian message claims, a priori, that the logos “who became flesh” is also the universal logos of the Greeks. Though not strictly Calvinist in his theology, the influence of the entire Reformed tradition is present in his writings, and his concept of the Protestant principle reflects a Calvinist rather than a Lutheran view of society and the state. His significant work from that point of view lies in his understanding of the Protestant Era. See also MAN’S COMING OF AGE. TORRANCE, THOMAS FORSYTH (1913–2007). Church of Scotland minister and professor at the University of Edinburgh. Torance was born in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in China, where his parents worked as missionaries. He studied classics at Edinburgh and Oxford and received his doctorate from the University of Basel in 1946. From 1938 to 1939, he served as a professor of theology at Auburn Theological Seminary, New York. He


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served as minister in the Scottish parishes of Alyth (1940–1947) and Beechgrove, Aberdeen (1947–1950) in addition to serving as a military chaplain. In 1950, he became professor of church history at New College, Edinburgh, and professor of dogmatics in 1952; he retired in 1979. His studies at Basel under Karl Barth left a profound impression on him, and he undertook the task of editing the English-language edition of Barth’s Die Kirkliche Dogmatik (the 13-volume study of his Church Dogmatics). His own work concentrated on theology and science, where he saw parallels in method and perspective. He was an authority on both Barth and Calvin, whose New Testament Commentaries he also edited. As a churchman, Torrance was elected moderator of the General Assembly in 1976, and as a theologian he was considered one of the most influential Reformed thinkers of his day. He received many honors, including the Templeton Prize in religion, along with numerous honorary doctorates. He was one of the last great Scottish theologians of the 20th century and with his departure, systematic theology as a discipline in the Reformed tradition has gone into steady decline. Simultaneously, the standing of New College as a world-renowned center of theology has also gone down compared to the era when scholars such as James Denney, John Baillie, H. R. Macintosh, John McIntyre, and Torrance himself were active in the field. TRANSUBSTANTIATION. The medieval doctrine of the pre-Reformation Roman Catholic Church, still taught, that in the mass, the celebrant is empowered to transform the bread and wine into the actual physical body and blood of Christ, a viewpoint that the Reformed tradition rejected in favor of the idea that the elements were primarily symbols of the body and blood of Christ. Ulrich Zwingli insisted that they were only symbolic and no more, whereas in the Lord’s Supper, in Calvin’s view, Jesus Christ was thought to be present in the sacrament in a mystical sense. TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY. One of the oldest formulations of the core doctrine of Christian belief originating with Tertullian, a leading Father of the early church, which affirms the being of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, una substantia et tres personae (three persons in one substance), a definition based on Roman philosophical and legal terminology. It has been argued that it is not formally taught in the Holy Scriptures, although there are suggestive references to be found in St. Matthew 28:10 to the end, and in II Corinthians 13:14, as well as implicit references to it, as for example, when Jesus speaks of His Father and of the sending of the Spirit reflected, in I John 5:1–1. The great Council of Nicaea (325) first affirmed it, and the second in Constantinople (381) did so to combat the heresy of Arianism. Calvin was


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quite clear about it, and reflects this in the framework of his Institutes of the Christian Religion. The doctrine was not considered as central to the faith, especially among evangelical Protestants in the 19th century. Twentieth-century discussions were concerned with the purpose and implications of the doctrine and consequently were more philosophical in their focus. God confronts man in Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word, who is also Son of the Eternal Father “sent” to the world. God is also in the Spirit that calls and inspires people to follow the Son. But it is impossible to speak of God without referring to the Creator, who is self-giving in Christ and who enlightens the human heart by the Spirit. The doctrine thus has two purposes. One is to summarize the message of the Gospel, and the other is to prevent a definition of God (as in Judaism and Islam) that is monistic and has little sense of the relationship between the transcendence and immanence of the divine. Various analogies have been used to expound the doctrine, such as seeing the three persons as “modes of being,” but none of them is adequate, and they fail to capture the significance of the incomprehensibility of God in the universe. Although accused early on of tendencies to what later became known as Arminianism in his views, Calvin’s understanding of the doctrine is very close to that of Augustine, adding nothing new or original other than the effective manner in which he expounded and defended it. Calvin writes: “To the Father, the commencement of every action; to the Son, the wisdom, the counsel and the order in which all things are disposed; and to the Holy Spirit, the virtue and efficacy of all action” (Institutio I: xiii: 18). The three persons may be distinguished, but the unity of the divine essence is stressed so that they cannot be conceived of as divided. “We must conclude, then, that the essence of God is common to the Son and the Spirit in its entirety. But if that be true one cannot, in regard to the same, distinguish the Father from the Son, seeing that they are not one” (Institutio I: xiii: 23). See also THEOLOGY. TROELTSCH, ERNST (1865–1923). German Protestant theologian who became a professor at Heidelberg in 1894 and at the University of Berlin in 1915. His principal work was The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches (1931). Troeltsch drew clear distinctions among churches, sects, and mystical culture as primary forms of religious life. The church, because it is more inclusive, engages in greater accommodation to human culture and worldly institutions, because it has itself become a social institution. The state churches of Europe are examples of this. By way of contrast, the sect demands a very high degree of personal commitment from its members, is more idealistic in its objectives, and tend toward perfectionism by holding a critical view of the current social order. Mysticism is in effect an individualistic type of spiritual-


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ity. Troeltsch was strongly attracted to the merits of mysticism, which he saw as especially linked to sect organizations, making its appeal quite diffuse in modern culture. These concepts have since become central to the sociological study of religious culture and are confirmed by the 20th century’s tendency to move away from discussions of confessions of religious faith to more vague concepts such as “spirituality.” Despite much agreement with Max Weber, Troeltsch’s methodology and his sense of how historical periods were formed differ quite distinctly. His thinking makes use of dialectic in his exposition of history. He argues that sects and forms of mysticism arise when there is conflict within church structures over reappropriation of the religious traditions of a civilization. He uses this model to explain how the early and medieval churches, Martin Luther, Calvin and Protestant sects, and later developments arose from this dialectic. His famous Protestantism and Progress (1912) examines the relationship of Protestant theology to the entire range of modern culture, which includes political and economic life, social class, and popular culture. He saw the birth of the modern world, not as Dietrich Bonhoeffer did, from the 14th century as man’s coming of age, but in the 18th-century Enlightenment. Unlike Weber also, he considered the ideas of both Luther and Calvin as being still very much medieval, along the lines that it has been argued that Augustine was very much classical, but was the thinker who carried that era into the medieval period. See also RITSCHL, ALBERT.


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U UEMURA MASAHISA (1858–1925). See JAPAN, CALVINISM IN. UEMURA TAMAKI (1890–1982). See JAPAN, CALVINISM IN. UNION WITH CHRIST. The theological doctrine of a “mystical relationship” between Jesus Christ and individual believers, generated by the bond of faith and confirmed by the Holy Spirit. Baptism is in Calvin’s words the “sign and seal” of the election that confers this relationship. The Lord’s Supper is intended to nourish the souls of the membership of the church in this union. Assurances of salvation and of the grace of God are conferred by it on believers. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The presence and influence of Calvinism in the United States goes back to the arrival of the Mayflower. The English Puritans followed a type of Calvinism that preferred a congregational rather than a Presbyterian order, although Presbyterianism also rooted itself in North America under the leadership of Francis Makemie. As various immigrant groups arrived, Presbyterian churches began to appear in New Jersey, the Shenandoah Valley to the south, and the New York area, and eventually groups of German and Hungarian Reformed Church believers appeared in the 19th century. Of greater importance and long before that phase, the Presbyterian Church itself split into two at the time of the Civil War (1861–1865) and took almost a century to reunite. The growth of the religious culture of the United States reflected the presence of the mainstream Protestant traditions, namely Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Baptist. The Southern Baptist Church (SBC) remains strong in the South in what has come to be called the Bible Belt. With the entry of south European immigrants from Italy, for example, Roman Catholicism began to make its presence felt. Late 19th-century Presbyterian critics referred to the Democrat Party as being characterized by “Rum, Rome, and Ruin.” Thanks to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, the relationship between Protestants and Catholics did not become as confrontational

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as it had been in Europe. This was also due in part to the social mobility that was possible in the United States, where any hard-working immigrant could aspire to middle-class status or even become a millionaire, like Andrew Carnegie. It has been noted that though John F. Kennedy was of Irish immigrant extraction and the first Roman Catholic to become a U.S. president, his religion may have been Catholic, but his social status and lifestyle looked more like those of a rich middle-class Protestant. This is a tribute to the equality of opportunity that the United States made possible. Alongside the Presbyterian churches that grew in the United States and the indigenous theologians such as Jonathan Edwards, leader of the New Haven Theology, the universities and seminaries that sprang up began to attract top class minds from Europe. James McCosh of Princeton University was an early example, followed briefly by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and later by Paul Tillich and others. Immigrant families of Reformed background began to produce native theologians such as Reinhold Niebuhr and his brother Richard. As elsewhere, Calvinism showed its tendency to fragment, and many types of churches broke away from the mainstream. A new wave of Neo-Calvinism has been identified within popular culture that does not necessarily belong to Calvinist churches. Leading thinkers in the SBC have warned about the growing influence of incipient Calvinism in their seminaries, while the new Calvinism was listed in Time magazine as the third great influence at work in contemporary U.S. society. More extreme forms exist, such as the movement known as Christian Reconstuctionism, which advocates a reordering of U.S. society along extreme Puritan lines that would in turn involve a serious clash with the principles of American democracy and social freedom. See also DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES; RUSHDOONY, ROUASAS JOHN; VAN TIL, CORNELIUS. UNIVERSALISM IN CHRISTIANITY. The doctrine that salvation after death can be granted to all through the universal nature of the Atonement because Jesus Christ’s death was for all human beings. There is the universalism of principle, that all who call on the name of Jesus Christ will be saved. This view rejects the idea of election and opens the gates of heaven to all who believe. The idea of the church catholic with the small “c” as potentially embracing all, belongs to this framework. Some of the early Fathers of the church, such as Clement of Alexandria (ca. 155–220), Origen (ca. 185–254) of Alexandria, and Gregory of Nyssa (330–395), were advocates of universalism. Augustine rejected this universalism, as did Calvin, and the Reformed and Lutheran church consensus was that judgment was necessary in the process of saving those called to faith.


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A revived universalism was the position of John Macleod Campbell in his book The Nature of the Atonement (1856). The opinions expressed in it had led to his deposition from office as a minister of the Church of Scotland in 1831. Karl Barth, the leader of the neo-conservative dialectical theology, latterly showed leanings in that direction, although he never formally stated his support for it. It remains an issue within Calvinist theology that has never been, and still seems unlikely ever to be, resolved. There is also a view of universalism that is more radical and that appeared in Europe and North America, arguing that a God of love would never create people who would later need to be destroyed. This group in North America, known as the Universalist Church of America, forged links with Unitarians in Europe and in the United States, and in 1961, became the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). It retains links with many supporters of universalism around the world. The Remonstrants in the Netherlands retain an association with the UUA, with whom they perceive themselves to have a number of beliefs in common. Although these remain Protestant denominations, they are far removed from any recognized form of Calvinism.


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V VAN TIL, CORNELIUS (1895–1987). A minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of the United States from 1936 until his death. Van Til was also instrumental in the founding of Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian Academy, serving as the president of the board. His influence was felt among exponents of Neo-Calvinism and on Rousas John Rushdoony, the leading exponent of Christian Reconstructionism, although Van Til chose to distance himself from the movement. His main publications include The New Modernism (1946), The Defense of the Faith (1955), and Christianity and Barthianism (1962). He was also joint editor of Philosophia Reformata, a quarterly devoted to Calvinist philosophy. VERMIGLI, PETER MARTYR (1500–1562). Florence-born Italian reformer who began his career (like Martin Luther) as an Augustinian in 1514 and thereafter studied at the University of Padua (1518 to 1526). His views began to favor the Reformation, as a result of which he was forced to flee from the Inquisition. Martin Bucer invited him to Strasbourg, where he served as a professor of theology from 1542 to 1547. Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556), the reforming Archbishop of Canterbury, invited him to Oxford, where he became professor of divinity and canon of Christchurch. His views on the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper were close to those of Calvin and Bucer. After the accession of Mary Tudor (r. 1553–1558), he was briefly imprisoned before returning to Strasbourg. Further controversy forced him to Zurich, where he became a professor of Hebrew. He is best remembered for his contributions to eucharistic theology. VIRET, PIERRE (1511–1571). Although born into a prominent Roman Catholic household near Lausanne, he became a leading Protestant reformer in Switzerland’s French-speaking region. After studying at the University of Paris from 1518 to 1531, he became converted to the Protestant movement. To avoid persecution, he returned to Orbe where he was born, and was ordained as a minister by William Farel in 1531. When he began preaching in public at the age of 20, his sermons were extremely powerful, and many

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people, including his own family, joined the Reformed faith. He worked with Farel in the furtherance of the Reformation in the Canton of Vaud and thereafter in Geneva. He survived an attempt on his life by poison in a bowl of soup, an experience that left him permanently weakened in health, and moved to Lausanne, where he became the leader of the Reformed Church from 1537 to 1559. He also established a Reformed Academy, which was forced to relocate to Geneva in 1559 and became the foundation of Calvin’s Academy of Geneva. Viret worked with Calvin until 1561, becoming a close confidant and sometimes a moderating influence. He published more than 50 books, among which his principal writing was Instruction Chrétienne en la doctrine de la foy et de l’Évangile, a three-volume work published in 1564 that expounded Calvin’s theology in the form of a dialogue. Viret did not entirely subscribe to all of Calvin’s ideas about church and state, which he thought should be separated. He also believed in the principle of toleration, toward which many reformers were unsympathetic. But like Calvin, he believed strongly in lay involvement in the church. He was banished from France in 1565 and moved to Bearn in Navarre, where he remained until he died. He is often referred to as the “Forgotten Reformer” because his name never features as prominently as do other great figures of the time. VOCATION. Calvin used the term vocatio, translated as calling, meaning the act of God that calls people to faith and service in different ways. In popular parlance, it has been reduced to referring simply to any work or profession. The Holy Scriptures understand vocation as a call to someone to become engaged in discipleship and to work for the kingdom and the glory of God. The concept of “saint” as used in the writings of St. Paul refers to all Christians who stand in a new relationship with the world, set apart and distinct to be obedient to God’s command. Work is part of the divine order. It was not intended as a punishment, but because of the Fall (Genesis 1:28 and 2:15) it became blighted. The Christian sense of vocation entails the call to repentance and faith, work for the well-being of others. This brings a new freedom to serve and glorify God through it, whatever its content may be, religious or secular. See also PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC; WEBER, MAX.


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W WALDENSIANS. A branch of the Reformed movement that traces its origins to Peter Waldo, founder of one of the most historically interesting underground movements of the pre-Reformation period. They were not evangelical in doctrine, particularly in their soteriology, but they had important connections to later reform movements. A Bull of Excommunication issued by Pope Lucius III at Verona in 1184 declared them heretics. Specifically, they earned the ire of the Roman Catholic Church because they translated the Bible into the vernacular of their day and allowed laypeople to read it and preach it. Thereafter, the church began to persecute the Waldensians, who responded by forming house churches all over Europe in spite of bitter attacks, including even genocidal military campaigns against them. Many were tried and sentenced to death in various European countries between the 12th and 14th centuries. However, they survived by forming concealed communities in the Alps. Several centuries after Waldo’s death, the Waldensians elected to follow the Genevan tradition and became part of the Calvinist branch of the Reformation movement. The modern Waldensian church is headquartered in Rome and is often perceived, incorrectly, as an Italian branch of the Reformation. Though de facto it may have become that, it should be remembered that Waldo himself was French. WALDO, PETER (VALDES DE LYONS, 1140–ca. 1218). Born in Lyon, he became the leader of a pre-Reformation movement that started with a religious experience around 1170. It was occasioned by a series of events, including the music of an itinerant minstrel and a sermon on the life of St. Alexius. Public denial of transubstantiation had become a capital offense at the time, and this declaration was followed by the unexpected death of a friend during an evening dinner. These events combined to make Waldo reflect on the meaning of life. Although a rich merchant, he renounced his wealth and began to preach and teach a doctrine of voluntary poverty not dissimilar to some of the monastic orders that already existed. Pope Alexander III affirmed his vow of poverty in 1179, but he was forbidden to engage

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in preaching because of his lay status. At a synod held in Verona in 1184, Waldo and his followers (the Poor Men of Lyon or Waldensians, as they are still known) were formally excommunicated from the Church for violating the ban on preaching and were consequently banished from any public activities. Waldo is commemorated by a statue in the Germany city of Worms that links him with the German Reformation, although in fact he was French, and the church survived by concealing itself in the Swiss Alps. WARFIELD, B. B. (BENJAMIN BRECKENBRIDGE, 1851–1921). Warfield, an American Presbyterian minister, was a respected theologian and scholar of Augustine and Calvin. He was born near Lexington, Kentucky, and was a graduate of Princeton University (1871) and Princeton Theological Seminary. He became a New Testament professor at Western Theological Seminary (now Pittsburgh Theological Seminary) from 1878 to 1887. It was during that period that he and a Princeton professor, A. A. Hodge, published an article on the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures that upheld the fundamentalist principle of the verbal inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, which appeared in the Presbyterian Review of April 1881. Warfield succeeded Hodge at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1887, remaining there until his death in 1921. He stood firmly by the classic doctrinal position of the Westminster Confession of Faith, resisting any attempts to modify its status. Warfield’s conservative theology was widely respected by scholars and clergy. Many nevertheless harbored doubts about his fundamentalist principles with respect to the Bible. His influence is still to be found where his works are read and studied. He wrote of Calvin: “No man ever had a profounder sense of God than he.” This was for him the key to understanding Calvin’s life and theology. See also UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. WARS OF RELIGION. The political and military struggles that took place in Europe from the late 16th into the 17th centuries. These started with the German Peasants’ War (1524–1525), followed by War of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Protestant princes in Germany who opposed the Holy Roman Emperor. That conflict ended with the Peace of Augsburg (1555), which permitted heads of state to decide the religious persuasion of their region. The Cologne War (1582–1583) arose when the prince-archbishop became a Calvinist. The famous Defenestration of Prague in 1618 was a major contributory cause of the longest and most destructive of all the wars, the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), which was ended by the settlement known as the Peace of Westphalia. The destruction of Germany resulted, with the loss of about one-third of its population, while politically it was fragmented into dozens of small semi-independent states. The Holy Roman Empire was


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forced to retreat to Austria and the Habsburg territories. The Netherlands and Switzerland had their independence guaranteed. The peace confirmed the religious division of Germany into Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist regions, with people either converting or moving to areas controlled by rulers who shared their faith. While religion and religious freedom may have been the starting point of conflict, these issues gradually became occasions rather than causes. It could equally be argued that the real causal factors were money, power, and the control of territories. Religious and political peace was generally established throughout an exhausted Europe as the idea of toleration slowly began to emerge. WEBER, MAX (MAXIMILIAN CARL EMIL, 1864–1920). German sociologist and political economist, considered the greatest social theorist of the early 20th century. He is ranked by many scholars alongside Karl Marx (1818–1883) and Emil Durkheim (1858–1917). Weber held academic posts as professor of economics at Freiburg (from 1894), Heidelberg (from 1896), Vienna (in 1918), and finally Munich from 1919. After World War I, he was an adviser to the German Armistice Commission at the conference that drew up the Treaty of Versailles. He was also part of the commission that drafted the constitution of the Weimar Republic. His writings were vast and ranged over a great number of subjects that focused on the rationalization and the “disenchantment“ he associated with the rise of capitalism and modern culture. He rejected the use of statistics and other empirical data in the study of social action, preferring to look at qualitative factors rather than quantitative information. Sociology, for him, was therefore a nonempirical field to be researched through case studies, attitudes, and values more than through simple statistics. His most influential study was of the relationship between Calvinism and capitalism and the idea of the Protestant work ethic. WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY OF DIVINES (1643–1648). A conference attended by 121 English clergy and a number of commissioners from the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland that took place in Westminster Abbey with the purpose of producing a set of standards relating to doctrine and church order. The English Civil War was taking place, and the guidance from the Puritan-dominated Long Parliament was to make the Church of England more agreeable to the Word of God. The principal product was the Westminster Confession of Faith, which was written by 1647 and approved by Parliament in 1648. WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH (1647). It is stated in its title to be The Confession of Faith agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines at


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Westminster with the Assistance of Commissioners from the Church of Scotland as a part of the Covenanted Uniformity in Religion betwixt the Churches of Christ in the Kingdom of Scotland, England and Ireland. The title page continues: It was approved by the General Assembly 1647, and ratified by Acts of Parliament 1649 and 1690 as the public and avowed Confession of the Church of Scotland. It consists of 33 chapters that are essentially Calvinist in their substance and include sections on God’s Eternal Decree (Chapter III) and Effectual Calling (Chapter X). It remains the subordinate standard of the Church of Scotland and of other English-speaking Presbyterian churches, and was adopted by American Presbyterian churches from their inception. Though not satisfactory in many points, it has been found difficult to replace. The writing of such confessions seemed easier in the 16th and 17th centuries, perhaps because the issues were much clearer at that time. See also WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY OF DIVINES. WESTMINSTER STANDARDS. Along with the Westminster Confession of Faith, other documents were approved for use in 17th-century Protestant churches, namely the Longer and Shorter Catechisms, the Directory for Public Worship, and the Form of Church Government. The catechisms were in use until the early 20th century and were taught in many schools in Great Britain, for example, until the church handed over the schools to the state, after which the religious dimension in education became incrementally weakened. Some churches, however, still make use of the catechisms for religious education. WILLIAM III, PRINCE OF ORANGE (1650–1702). (Dutch: Willem III van Oranje). Stadtholder of the sovereign House of Orange-Nassau by birth from 1672 over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689, he reigned as William III of England and Ireland and as William II of Scotland. He is popularly referred to among Protestants in Northern Ireland and Scotland as “King Billy.” William won the English, Scottish, and Irish crowns following the Glorious Revolution, in which he defeated his uncle and father-in-law, James II (1633–1701), at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. William ruled jointly in England and Scotland with his wife, Mary II, until her death on 28 December 1694. Popular histories usually refer to the joint reign as that of “William and Mary.” He was a devout Protestant of the Reformed tradition who fought against Louis XIV (1638–1715), the dictatorial king of France. Because of his reputation, William was celebrated as the defender of the faith. His defense of religious freedom and constitutional


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government is celebrated by the Orange Order in Northern Ireland and in the west of Scotland, where parades are held in his honor every year. His reign marked the beginning of the transition from Stuart claims about the divine right of kings to the Parliament-centered rule of his successors, the House of Hanover. WILSON, THOMAS WOODROW (1856–1924). Twenty-eighth president of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. He was the son of a Presbyterian minister who served as clerk to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States for almost 40 years. Wilson trained as a lawyer, but after earning a doctorate, he taught at Bryn Mawr College, at Wesleyan, and at Princeton University, becoming president of Princeton in 1902. He gave up teaching and moved into politics and was elected governor of New Jersey in 1910. From there he stood successfully for election as president in the 1912 election. Wilson’s domestic program, known as the New Freedom, was intended to extend opportunity to all and to weaken the influence of entrenched interest groups. His first two years in office have been judged as the most effective two years of any president in the 20th century. The Federal Reserve Bank was set up, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act was passed, and the Revenue Act of 1913 established the first federal progressive income tax system. He tried to avoid involvement in World War I, a promise of his 1916 reelection campaign. However, when Germany proposed an alliance with Mexico and began an unrestricted U-boat campaign against American shipping, Wilson felt he had no choice but to ask Congress to declare war in April 1917. In 1919, Wilson went to Europe, where he helped to draft the Treaty of Versailles and create the League of Nations. He received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. The stroke that debilitated him in 1919 prevented him from winning his fight against the Republican-controlled Senate, which refused to approve the United States joining the League of Nations. The vision he left was nevertheless realized when the United States took a leading role in the United Nations after World War II. Wilson’s Calvinism was deeply rooted. It is reported that when the chair of the Democratic Party asked for a post in return for helping him to become president, Wilson informed him that it was God who decreed that he should be president. His belief in the providence of God influenced his understanding of the concept of the manifest destiny of the U.S. mission in the world and helped to shape his geopolitical thinking. His idealism, referred to as “Wilsonianism,” called on the United States to be active in the world on behalf of democracy.


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WOLLEB, JOHANNES (1589–1629). Basel-born Swiss theologian who lived and died in the city of his birth. He was ordained in 1606 and became minister of St. Elizabeth’s Church in 1611. In 1618, he became preacher at the cathedral and professor of Old Testament theology at the University of Basel. His Compendium theologiae Christianae was a clear and effective exposition of Calvin’s thought that remained influential throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. See also SWITZERLAND, CALVINISM IN. WOMEN IN THE CHURCH. Following Tertullian (ca. 160–ca. 220 CE), who declared that permitting women to perform the sacrament of baptism was mockery, Calvin took the view that the role of women should be strictly limited. Taking Augustine as his marker, he noted that up to his time, women were not permitted to speak in the church and certainly not to administer the sacraments. Not even the holy mother of Christ was permitted such a privilege. In his discussion of baptism, he quotes (Institutio IV: xv: 22) the incident in which Zipporah circumcises her son (Exodus 4:25), which he states to be irrelevant to the discussion. The restrictions remained in force until the 20th century, when pressures from feminist groups led to the ordination of women in many Protestant churches. This began in Europe after World War II with the appointment of women as elders, followed by ordination as ministers from the 1960s. Of interest is the fact that the incumbent moderator of the Synod of Geneva at the time of the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birth was a woman minister. Although in the Reformed Churches, the recognition of the role of women took until the 20th century to be developed, women have always occupied an important role in the life of the church in a variety of different ways. The biblical image of Dorcas (Acts 9:36), who was famous for her good deeds, led to the formation of a Dorcas Society in the Isle of Man in 1834 to provide blankets and other needs during an outbreak of cholera. There are now Dorcas Societies worldwide. This indirectly influenced the creation in some Reformed Churches of the Order of Deaconesses, who were charged with visiting the poor, sick, and needy. The minister’s wife is another long institutionalized figure. Idelette de Bure, the wife of John Calvin, was the first of a long line of women who worked tirelessly with their husbands in supporting the life and work of the church. Anecdotes about them abound. The Church of Scotland, mother church of the Presbyterian world, elected its first woman and layperson as moderator, Dr. Allison Elliot, in 2005. Nevertheless, branches of the Reformed tradition remain in which the position of women is still restricted on theological grounds. See also MARGARET OF ANGOULÊME.


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WORD AND SACRAMENT. The Latin term sacramentum, which was used to translate the New Testament term musterion (mystery), as in Ephesians 1:9, Colossians 1:26, and I Timothy 3:16, referred to the mystery fulfilled in the Incarnation. (Institutes IV: xvi: 2). Therefore, it is above what Jesus Christ did in his death and beyond what believers can do. Calvin defines a sacrament from this perspective as: “An external sign by which the Lord seals on our consciences His promises of good will towards us to sustain our faith in its weakness” (Institutio IV: xiv: 1). He criticizes Augustine, not for his definition of a sacrament, with which he is in agreement, but for its brevity, which makes misunderstanding too easy. Consequently, he expands on it by clarifying its meaning. The preaching of the Word of God must always precede any sacramental act to make a sacrament a sacrament (Institutes IV: xiv: 1, 2) and to guarantee its authenticity. Since it is a divine institution, it forms a unity with the Word. Consequently, God teaches the church by the Word and trains it by the sacraments. The sacraments cannot be celebrated or be beneficially experienced without faith in what they can achieve, Calvin’s understanding of faith contains several elements. First, faith is understood as more than intellectual assent to a set of propositions. Union of the whole person with Christ is involved, because it is the appropriate human response to God’s unique gift of grace in Christ. The union with Christ that comes from faith has two sides. The objective side consists in the supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit. The subjective side is human faith and reliance on the Word and Sacrament as the means of receiving God’s grace. To the believer, it is then given to share in Christ and all that he did. There is also the idea of implicit faith in something dependent upon the Word above and beyond itself. Word and Sacrament build it up, but so long as the believers are still pilgrims in the world, it is still implicit. Baptism therefore is merely a sign and a seal that reaches throughout life but finds its consummation only in the resurrection from the dead. Calvin clashes with the older Roman Catholic view in its language of opus operatum, with reference to what happens and is completed in the sacraments. The older view is that the sacraments are effectual by virtue of being sacraments. Calvin maintains that they point beyond themselves to Christ, and that the doctrine of Christ offers the true understanding of sacraments and of the relationship between the sign and the thing signified. Sacramental union therefore is a mystery that reposes in the mystery of Christ himself. WORD OF GOD. The most general use of the expression refers to God’s act of self-revelation in Jesus Christ. It can, however, also refer to the word


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spoken in creation, and to the words of the Old Testament prophets, who frequently used it as a preface to their preaching when they demanded attention by saying, “Thus says the Lord” (Amos 1:3, 2:1; Micah 1:1) or “The word of the Lord came to . . . ” (Jeremiah 1:4; Isaiah 1:1). The Hebrew word dabar was translated in the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Septuagint, by the Greek term logos, which appears in the epilogue to St. John’s Gospel (1:1–14). It is used to state the essence of Christian faith that the word became flesh and lived in the historical form of Jesus of Nazareth. This inspired the later Christmas hymn of the church, “Adeste Fideles,” the last line of which reads, “Patris aeterni verbum caro factum,” “the word of the eternal Father appears in human flesh.” These two streams of thought coalesced in Calvin’s view of the word as it is expressed in preaching. Ministers preach the word, but the preaching itself also becomes the word of God. This happens by the action of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. The word spoken in creation and incarnation is also present in the preaching of the church’s message. That is the principal reason why preaching is considered central in Reformed Church worship and why, because it has been restricted to an educated clergy, it has retained a high status over the centuries. See also BIBLE; HOLY SCRIPTURES; WORD AND SACRAMENT. WORK, ETHICS OF. Calvinism took a strict view of the importance of work as part of the structured activity of life. In the First Book of Discipline (1621) it is stated: “No man may be permitted to live idle, or as themselves list.” The principle enunciated in the New Testament by St. Paul, “Do everything for the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31), led to the view that work became a way of bringing the glory of God into the world. This led to the development of the idea that the purpose of work is to express gratitude to God for his grace in the service of others. The principles that guide life are understood as coming from the Word of God and from God’s presence in the world. The relationship that was termed a social contract by Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and other naturalistic thinkers, Calvin viewed as a covenant. Calvin’s emphasis on individuals and communities behaving in a manner that is faithful to God flowed into the demand for godliness on the part of institutions and their members. The sense of social and economic responsibility that underlies the Protestant work ethic is derived from this source. See also CAPITALISM AND CALVINISM; OTSUKA HISAO; VOCATION; WEBER, MAX. WORLD ALLIANCE OF REFORMED CHURCHES (WARC). The World Alliance of Reformed Churches was the oldest and the largest asso-


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ciation of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches. It was founded in 1875 as the “Alliance of Reformed Churches throughout the World Holding the Presbyterian System,” with its head office in Edinburgh until 1948, after which it moved to Geneva, Switzerland. In 1970, some Congregational churches joined, to create the WARC. Its governing body was a general council that met at intervals of five to seven years. It was an extremely diverse body in spite of a common Calvinist heritage. There were more than 60 different Confessions of Faith, with corresponding contrasts in practice and order. Its role was primarily advisory, dealing with theological issues, inter-religious dialogue, and charitable activities. It maintained dialogues with the Anglican, Lutheran, and Orthodox traditions. In 2007, WARC agreed to a plan and basis of union with the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC), a smaller group of more conservative Calvinist churches, to come together at a joint meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2010. The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) came into being, with headquarters in Geneva. It has around 200 member churches in over 100 countries worldwide, supported by more than 80 million communicant members. The WCRC should not be confused with the World Council of Churches (WCC), which is made up of over 300 churches, including Anglican, Reformed, Orthodox, and various Protestant groups, and has held seven assemblies of representatives since 1948.


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Z ZWINGLI, ULRICH (HULDRYCH, 1484–1531). Independent-minded Swiss reformer who studied at Bern and Vienna before entering the Roman Catholic priesthood in 1506. After being appointed preacher at the Münster in Zurich, he moved toward the Reformed Church and started the Zurich Reformation in 1519, when he began a series of sermons based on the Gospel according to St. Matthew. He became leader of the Reformation movement in Switzerland and defined its character in his own unique way. He was hostile to the Anabaptist movement and disagreed with Martin Luther over the understanding of the Lord’s Supper, insisting that the bread and wine were no more than symbols in an act of commemoration. In this he came into conflict also with Calvin, who opposed the doctrine of transubstantiation but believed that the real presence of Christ in a mystical sense could be found in the sacrament. Zwingli was influenced by Erasmus and by the ideas of Origen of Alexandria. Like Calvin, he was attracted to Augustine. He united the various strands into his own theology, which laid great stress on the sovereignty of God and eternal election. On church and state relations, he stressed the necessity of their unity and opposed the idea of their separation. In this he was also close to Calvin. Zwingli’s view of church–state relations is perfectly characterized in his statue by the Wasserkirche in Zurich, which has a Bible in one hand and a sword in the other. For him, the church and state are one unity under the sovereign rule of God. The end of his life came in 1531, when Zwingli’s alliance forces attempted an unsuccessful food blockade of the Catholic cantons. The cantons dispatched a Roman Catholic force of 8,000. Zwingli joined a Protestant army of 1,500 men, who were hastily assembled and inadequately prepared. The defeat at the second battle of Kappel was decisive, and one-third of the Protestants died. The Reformation was unable to spread further into Germanspeaking territory, because Zwingli himself was killed. Johann Heinrich Bullinger succeeded him as leader of the Reformation in Zurich. See also ZWINGLI, CALVIN’S VIEW OF; ZWINGLIANISM AND ZWINGLIAN CHURCHES.

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ZWINGLI, CALVIN’S VIEW OF. The divide between Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli prevented the unification of the Reformation cause. Calvin, with certain reservations, could relate in spiritual comradeship with Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. He shared no such affinity with Zwingli, leader of the Reformed Church in Zurich. He quotes critically from Zwingli’s De vera et falsa religione in the Institutes of the Christian Religion. He considered Zwingli a second-class theologian. “I am a Swiss and I confess Christ among the Swiss” was Zwingli’s great boast. This local patriotism was obnoxious to Calvin’s wider urbane awareness of the world. The basic issue, however, was over the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, which Zwingli took to be merely a symbolic commemoration of the event. Some scholars argue that Calvin was the successor to Zwingli in the development of doctrines relating to predestination and the sacraments. This view seems questionable, given the differences between them. The contrast is interestingly stated by Béla Von Soos, in Zwingliana 6, no. 6 (1936): 315: “For Zwingli, God is the first cause, and thus a philosophical concept influences his theodicy, giving an a priori character to his theology, while for Calvin, God is the object of religious adoration, and as such, the basis of a system that is a posteriori.” ZWINGLIANISM AND ZWINGLIAN CHURCHES. While Calvin spread the Reformation in the French-speaking regions of what became Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli worked in the German-speaking areas, leading the Reformed Church in Zurich. He focused on the proclamation of the Word of God and believed strongly in austerity and the removal of all visual artifacts, from stained glass windows to statues and paintings. Singing was to be unaccompanied by any instruments, and the sermon was to be the core of worship. Zwinglianism was also intimately connected to the cause of Swiss nationalism. As Zwingli himself said, “I am Swiss and I confess Christ among the Swiss.” Two important defining features of the Zwinglian tradition were, first, that it identified with the growing concept of the nation-state and national identity. Second, it reinforced the idea of the simplicity of worship and the austerity that was at the heart of Calvinism. While Calvinism spread globally, Zwinglianism remained in a geographically restricted world, although traces of its influence filtered into many churches of the Reformed tradition, particularly where austerity and simplicity in buildings and worship became a matter of principle. In Switzerland, some church buildings are still shared for services by Calvinists and Zwinglians. See also ART AND ARCHITECTURE; MUSIC IN WORSHIP.


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Bibliography

Introduction 1. European History Early Fathers of the Church Cyprian Origen Tertullian Augustine Chrysotom Medieval Thomas Aquinas John Major (Mair) William of Ockham Bernard of Clairvaux 2. Renaissance and Reformation History Renaissance Studies General Studies Erasmus Guillaume Budé Reformation Studies General Studies Peter Waldo and the Waldensians Jan Hus and the Hussites Martin Luther and Lutheranism Ulrich Zwingli and the Zwinglians Martin Bucer Theodore Béza John Knox William (Guillaume) Farel Anabaptism Arminius and Armnianism Amyraldianism 3. Wars of Religion and the Counter-Reformation General Studies Counter-Reformation Loyola and the Jesuit Order

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4. Calvin Biography and History Bibliographical Resources Writings, Editions, and Translations Calvin: Theology and Doctrine Comparative and Other Studies Calvin and Calvinism: Social, Economic, and Political Influences Church Architecture, Art, Liturgy, and Music in Calvin and Calvinism The Books of Discipline of the Church of Scotland 5. Post-Calvinist Thought Friedrich Schleiermacher Ernst Troeltsch Albert Ritschl Rudolf Otto John Oman Jonathan Edwards James McCosh B. B . Warfield Louis Berkhof Hoeksema, Herman 6. 20th-Century Neo-Calvinist Theology John Baillie Karl Barth Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics in English Translation Discussions of Barth Emil Brunner Fritz Buri Reinhold Niebuhr Discussions of Niebuhr Helmut Thielicke Paul Tillich Thomas Torrance Japanese Theology 7. The “New Calvinists” Magazine Articles 8. Christian Reconstructionism

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INTRODUCTION The literature on Calvin himself and his writings is massive. Materials on the influence of Calvin and the development of Calvinism are also substantial, but works on the subject of Neo-Calvinism and the “New Calvins” is relatively small as yet. With respect to Calvin himself, in reviewing recent publications, there is a clear mood of reflection on the understanding of him and his place in history as distinct from earlier


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studies of his thought and theology, which focused on the innovativeness and comprehensiveness of the theologian and reformer. There seems to be, for example, a growing consensus that Calvin might be viewed as a late medieval theologian who initially wanted no more than to see the church reformed rather than become the founder of a new form of the church, which is what he was forced to become. Luther underwent a dramatic conversion. Calvin found himself gradually becoming alienated from a system that he finally considered in need of complete reform, and indeed ultimately of replacement. But this process was gradual and painstaking. Hence, the selected references to the early fathers of the church may not, at first sight, seem relevant to a discussion of Calvinism. However, it is an inescapable fact that Calvin saw himself as inheriting elements of that tradition. Indeed, his view of the church catholic embraces everything that could be considered in some sense a resource that he could draw on. The early fathers listed are all quoted in the Institutes, the most frequently cited being Augustine. His indebtedness to Augustine and its meaning for his thinking have not been acknowledged as much as they should have been by most Protestant commentators. Augustine may have marked the end of the classical age and the beginning of the medieval one, but he remained classical at heart, for example in his skill in Latin. Calvin might be characterized as marking the end of the medieval age and the beginning of the modern, but because of Augustine, his outlook remained simultaneously part classical and part medieval. It is very easy for modern observers to parcel periods of history as though they were self-contained. The process of change is much more lengthy and complex than is prima facie apparent. In retrospect, changes in culture may appear to be real and even absolute. But closer inspection reveals the less visible manner in which old and new can coexist and interrelate for long periods of time before the new order comes fully into being. The texts relating to the early fathers cover a selection of themes. Those on Augustine are more substantial. Etienne Gilson, though a Thomist scholar, provides a good historical perspective on Augustine, as does Frederick Copleston, who is an outstanding historian of philosophy. Brown’s biography is very detailed but interesting, and Bonner’s work covers Augustine’s main controversies quite thoroughly. Most other works specialize in aspects of his psychology, theology, or ethics. The bibliography on William of Ockham is lengthy because the role of nominalism in the transition from medieval to modern is of central importance and because of the discussion of the famous “Ockham’s Razor.” The works on Bernard of Clairvaux complete the picture of of mysticism in the medieval background. Of particular note is Anthony Lane’s discussion of Calvin and Bernard of Clairvaux in relation to his own research on Catholic–Protestant dialogue. The section on Renaissance and Reformation history contains a general selection of important writings, each of which has merits of its own that help to fill out the background of the period. Although history suggests that Calvin was more influenced by Guillaume Budé than by Erasmus, the literature on Erasmus is extensive, whereas that on Budé is extremely limited, particularly in English. Reformation studies abound, raising the perennial problem of what to omit. Alister McGrath’s study of the intellectual origins of the Reformation is a helpful companion reading to his later study


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of Calvin’s life. He is both a scholar and theologian, and his work is very readable. Greaves’s work on the theology and revolutionary aspects of the Reformation in Scotland also points to other works about how the Reformation actually created a new identity for a nation. Lewis W. Spitz connects the Renaissance and Reformation, illustrating how difficult it is to separate them as historical movements. The brief list of materials on Waldo and Hus points to the early genesis of Reformation ideas prior to the Renaissance, but within Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s time frame for man’s coming of age. No bibliography dealing with the Reformation would be complete without a selection on Martin Luther, which is included. So also are publications on Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Theodore Beza, John Knox, William Farel, Jacob Arminius, Amyraldianism, and Anabaptism. These complete the resources for the study of what preceded and followed Calvin. The sections on the wars of religion, the Counter-Reformation, and the Jesuits provide a general introduction to the Catholic Church’s response to the Reformation. Any of the biographies of Loyola are a good starting point for study. On Calvin himself, his life and thought, the library is vast. Theodore Béza’s biography is the principal historical resource for the study of Calvin’s life, but many others have followed. T. H. L. Parker’s Portrait of Calvin and McGrath, already mentioned, are useful accounts of Calvin’s life. Of special note also is François Wendel’s study. The Cambridge companion to Calvin provides a selection of first-rate essays by leading scholars. Editions of Calvin’s writings and publications are legion, and the reader has little choice but to experiment and select according to interest. On theology and doctrine, the well-known names of Karl Barth, Lewis Ford Battles, John Hesselink, J. L. Packer, Tom Torrance, and B. B. Warfield are among the most influential. Central among this dictionary’s concerns is the socioeconomic impact of Calvinism on the development of various aspects of life in the modern world. For a broadranging but very readable survey of Calvin’s influence, David Hall’s Legacy of Calvin is an ideal start. Holder’s discussion of Calvin’s heritage is helpful. Here also the works of Max Weber and R. H. Tawney remain important contributions to the debate but at a more specialized level. The section on liturgy, architecture, and music should provide some background to the manner in which Reformed Churches came to reflect the principles of the tradition in the layout of places of worship and the music considered acceptable for singing. Andrew Drummond’s study of Protestant church architecture is an excellent starting point. The text is clear and the illustrations of church interiors are extremely helpful. On the subject of science and Calvinism, the general subject of Protestant thought and natural science is well discussed in Dillinberger’s 1961 book. It provides an excellent introduction to the debate that can be traced from the late medieval conflict through Renaissance and Reformation changes in worldview, showing that there was no enmity between the two after the Reformation. His coauthored work with Claude Welch, Protestant Christianity, explaining the development of Protestant thought, is illuminating, but covers only the first half of the 20th century. Langdon Gilkey’s work on religion and science brings the debate in the third quarter of the 20th century. The question of science versus religion remains a long-standing issue, with proponents on both sides arguing for and against atheism or belief. However, it had no direct bearing on Calvinism until Darwin’s theory of evolution was presented, and


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questions surrounding it became part of the curricular studies in theology in Edinburgh and at Princeton University, where James McCosh wrote his Religious Aspects of Evolution in 1888. The bibliographical resources on post-Calvinist thought provide a list of thinkers who were either directly influenced by Calvin or responded or reacted to Calvin as well as those who became advocates of Calvin’s thought, such as B. B. Warfield and Louis Berkhof. For a straightforward compendium of Reformed doctrines that presents the basic theological teachings of Calvin, Berkhof’s Systematic Theology is long but rewarding. His Summary of Christian Doctrines is a shorter version, and his Manual of Christian Doctrine is shorter still, having been intended as an instructional text. Schleiermacher’s Addresses is still widely read and remains influential. Otto’s Idea of the Holy is still in print in many languages. These books deal in different ways with the nature of religious experience. Jonathan Edwards, considered the most influential theologian in North American history, is still key to understanding many of the trends within modern theology in the United States. Twentieth-century Neo-Calvinism is separated out: the works published all appeared within the 20th century and were written by theologians who worked within the Reformed Churches or were influenced by aspects of Calvinism, although they may not have belonged to a church within that tradition. It could be argued that Paul Tillich was not a Neo-Calvinist, and yet his years in the United States led to his exposition of the Protestant principle in his Protestant Era in a very Calvinist manner. Helmut Thielicke could be placed under the heading “evangelical preacher,” but at the same time, he made use in his writings and sermons of many of Calvin’s views in depicting the human condition. One undisputed member of the ranks of NeoCalvinism is Reinhold Niebuhr, who exerted enormous influence among clergy and political leaders in the United States. Children of Light and Children of Darkness is a clear account of ethics and the problem of sin from a Calvinist perspective. Along with Emil Brunner, Karl Barth towers above all of the Neo-Calvinists. His Church Dogmatics remains a classic, but for a shorter text and summary, a volume of selections by Helmut Gollwitzer is extremely useful as a starting point. John Baillie’s Diary of Private Prayer and Our Knowledge of God touch on the basic themes of spirituality and understanding of God. Tom Torrance is much more difficult reading. Fritz Buri’s discussion of the Kyoto School of Buddhism is the first attempt to look at other faiths by an influential theologian from the liberal wing of Neo-Calvinism. The section closes with a sample of Japanese Neo-Calvinism. The new Calvinists section lists writers who have reacted to their Reformed background by either redefining it or rejecting it and those who have tried to bring out its inherent relevance. The more radical of the reactions is the work of Thomas Alitzer in theology and Brian McLaren, who transposed these ideas into the emerging church theme, a conceptually unclear program of reform that involves liturgy and some theology, as the lengthy title of his 2004 book suggests. Ronald Gregor Smith’s Secular Christianity provides a more solid background to the place of secularity in the development of Reformed thought. However, his last book on the Doctrine of God signaled a clear intent to look again at the concept of transcendence. Francis Schaeffer worked both sides of the tracks, while Cornelius Van Til and David Hall offer excellent accounts of the significance of Calvin’s influence for the modern world. Many


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more books could have been added to this section, but a slightly limited selection of key thinkers seemed the most useful form of presentation. The magazine articles that speak of the “New Calvins” are also listed. These should be distinguished from the last group listed. The final section is by far the most controversial because it presents the writings of a group of self-styled modern Calvinists who are simultaneously inclined to extreme right-wing political views. The movement that some of them represent, Christian Reconstructionism, also known as Dominion Theology or Theonomy, can be traced to its principal exponent, Rousas John Rushdoony. His main works, The Messianic Character of American Education, The Institutes of Biblical Law, and Christianity and the State, outline the basics of his program to remodel American society along biblical lines. Other writers cited deal with similar or closely related topics, and their books’ titles indicate their contents.

1. EUROPEAN HISTORY Early Fathers of the Church Cyprian Brent, Allen, ed. and trans. St Cyprian of Carthage: Selected Letters. New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007. ———. St Cyprian of Carthage: Selected Treatises. New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007. Daniel, Robin. This Holy Seed: Faith, Hope and Love in the Early Churches of North Africa. Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Cyprian Texts, 2010. This is an online library at www.ccel.org. Tebes, J. M. “Cyprian of Carthage: Christianity and Social World in the 3rd Century.” Cuadernos de Teología 19 (2000). Origen Bostock, Gerald. “Origen: The Alternative to Augustine?” The Expository Times 114, no. 10 (2003): 327. Crouzel, Henri. Origen. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989. Trigg, Joseph Wilson. Origen. New York: Routledge, 1988. ———. Origen: The Bible and Philosophy in the Third-Century Church. London: SCM Press, 1985. Tertullian “Tertullian.” The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Philip Schaff. Christian Classics Ethereal Library.


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Barnes, T. D. Tertullian: A Literary and Historical Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971; reprinted with appendix of revisions, 1985. Danie, Robin. This Holy Seed: Faith, Hope and Love in the Early Churches of North Africa. Chester: Tamarisk Publications, 2010. Ekonomou, Andrew J. Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern Influences on Rome and the Papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752. Idaho Falls, ID: Lexington Books, 2007. Augustine Bonner, Gerald. St. Augustine of Hippo: Life and Controversies. London: SCM Press, 1963. Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969. Cary, Phillip. Augustine’s Invention of the Inner Self. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Cayré, F. “Augustinisme (développement de l’).” Note complémentaire, “Tables générales,” Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, Vol. 2, cols. 317–324. Paris, 1953. ———. Congrès international augustinien. Augustinus Magister. 3 vols. Paris, 1954. Copleston, F. History of Philosophy. Vols. 2 and 3. London: Burns, Oates, and Washbourne, 1950; Eerdmans, 1999. Gilson, Etienne. History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages. New York: Random House, 1955. Kirwan, Christopher. Augustine. London: Routledge, 1989. Marrou, Henri. St. Augustine and His Influence through the Ages. New York: Open Books, 1958. Matthews, Gareth B. Augustine. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. ———. Thought’s Ego in Augustine and Descartes. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992. ———, ed. The Augustinian Tradition. Berkeley: California Press, 1999. Menn, Stephen. Descartes and Augustine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Miscellanea agostiniana: testi e studii. Rome, 1930. O’Daly, Gerard. Augustine’s Philosophy of Mind. London: Duckworth, 1987. Portalié, E. A Guide to the Thought of St. Augustine. Chicago: Regnery, 1960. Rist, John M. Augustine: Ancient Thought Baptized. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Rondet, H. Saint Augustine parmi nous. Paris, 1954. Rottmanner, O. Der Augustinismus. Munich, 1892. Stump, Eleonore, and Norman Kretzmann, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Augustine. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Warfield, Benjamin B. Calvin and Augustine. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1971. Wetzel, James. Augustine and the Limits of Virtue. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1992.


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Chrysotom Allen, Pauline, and Wendy Mayer. John Chrysostom. London: Routledge, 2000. Attwater, Donald. St. John Chrysostom: Pastor and Preacher. London: Catholic Book Club, 1960. Carter, Robert. “The Chronology of St. John Chrysostom’s Early Life.” Tradition 18 (1962): 357–64. Chrysostom, John. Discourses against Judaizing Christians. Translated by Paul W. Harkins. The Fathers of the Church, vol. 68. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1979. Hartney, Aideen. John Chrysostom and the Transformation of the City. London: Duckworth, 2004. Kelly, John Norman Davidson. Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom—Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995. Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. Barbarians and Bishops: Army, Church and State in the Age of Arcadius and Chrysostom. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. Meeks, Wayne A., and Robert L. Wilken. Jews and Christians in Antioch in the First Four Centuries of the Common Era. The Society of Biblical Literature, no. 13. Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1978. Palladius, Bishop of Aspuna. Palladius on the Life and Times of St. John Chrysostom. Translated and edited by Robert T. Meyer. New York: Newman Press, 1985. Parkes, James. Prelude to Dialogue. New York: Schocken Books, 1969. Parry, David, and David Melling, eds. The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. Schaff, Philip, and Henry Wace, eds. Socrates, Sozomenus: Church Histories. A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, vol. II. New York: Christian Literature Company, 1890. Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997. Stephens, W. R. W. Saint John Chrysostom, His Life and Times. London: John Murray, 1883. Wilken, Robert Louis. John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late Fourth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983. Willey, John H. Chrysostom: The Orator. Cincinnati, OH: Jennings and Graham, 1906.

Medieval Maurer, Armand A. Medieval Philosophy. New York: Random House, 1962. Spade, Paul Vincent. “The Logic of the Categorical: The Medieval Theory of Descent and Ascent.” In Meaning and Inference in Medieval Philosophy, edited by Norman Kretzmann. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1988.


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Thomas Aquinas Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologiae. Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. Westminster, MD: Christian Classics, 1981. Originally published 1267–1273.

John Major (Mair) Brodie, A. The Circle of John Mair: Logic and Logicians in Pre-Reformation Scotland. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985. ———. The Tradition of Scottish Philosophy. Edinburgh: Polygon, 1990. Durkan, J. New Light on John Mair. Innes Review Vol. IV, Edinburgh, 1954. Mair, John. A History of Greater Britain, as Well England as Scotland, Translated from the Original Latin and Edited with Notes by Archibald Constable, to Which Is Prefixed a Life of the Author by Aeneas J.G. Mackay. Edinburgh: University Press for the Scottish History Society, 1892. Renaudet, Augustin. Préréforme et Humanisme à Paris pendant les premières guerres d’Italie (1494–1516). Bibliothèque de l’Institut Français de Florence; Université de Grenobles 1st series, vol. VI. Paris: Édouard Champion, 1916. Thomas, H. Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2003.

William of Ockham Adams, Marilyn McCord. “Ockham on Will, Nature, and Morality.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 11, 245–72. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ———. “The Structure of Ockham’s Moral Theory.” Franciscan Studies 29 (1986):1– 35. ———. William of Ockham. 2 vols. 2nd rev. ed. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1989. Beckmann, Jan P. Ockham—Bibliographie: 1900–1990. Hamburg: Felix Meiner, 1992. Boehner, Philotheus. “The Realistic Conceptualism of William Ockham.” Traditio 4 (1946): 307–35. Brampton, C. Kenneth. “Nominalism and the Law of Parsimony.” The Modern Schoolman 41 (1964): 273–81. Brown, Stephen F. “Walter Burleigh’s Treatise De suppositionibus and Its Influence on William of Ockham.” Franciscan Studies 32 (1972): 15–64. Chalmers, David, 1999. “Is There Synonymy in Ockham’s Mental Language?” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 4, 76–99. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.


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Courtenay, William J., 1999. “The Academic and Intellectual Worlds of Ockham.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 1, 17–30. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Freppert, Lucan, 1988. The Basis of Morality According to William Ockham. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1988. Gál, Gedeon. “William of Ockham Died Impenitent in April 1347.” Franciscan Studies 42 (1982): 90–95. Goddu, André. “Ockham’s Philosophy of Nature.” In Spade (1999) Chap. 7:143–167. ———. The Physics of William of Ockham. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1984. Hirvonen, Vesa. Passions in William Ockham’s Philosophical Psychology. Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2004. Karger, Elizabeth. A Study of William of Ockham’s Modal Logic. Ph.D. dissertation: 1976, University of California. ———, “Ockham’s Misunderstood Theory of Intuitive and Abstractive Cognition.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 9, 204–26. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Kilcullen, John. “The Political Writings.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 13, 302–25. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. King, Peter, 1999. “Ockham’s Ethical Theory.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 10, 227–44. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Leppin, Volker. “Method in Ockham’s Nominalism.” The Monist 61 (1978): 426–43. ———. “Ockham’s Razor and Chatton’s Anti-Razor.” Mediaeval Studies 46 (1984): 463–75. ———. The Philosophy of William of Ockham in the Light of Its Principles. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1999. ———. Wilhelm von Ockham: Gelehrter, Streiter, Bettelmönch. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2003. McGrade, A. S. “Natural Law and Moral Omnipotence.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 12, 273–301. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ———. The Political Thought of William of Ockham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Michon, Cyrille. Nominalisme: La théorie de la signification d’Occam. Paris: J. Vrin, 1994. Mollat, G. The Popes in Avignon 1307–1378. London: Thomas Nelson, 2003. Normore, Calvin G. “The Logic of Time and Modality in the Later Middle Ages: The Contribution of William of Ockham.” PhD diss., University of Toronto, 1975. ———. “Some Aspects of Ockham’s Logic.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 2, 31–52. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Panaccio, Claude. “Connotative Terms in Ockham’s Mental Language.” Cahiers d’épistémologie, no. 9016. Montreal: Université du Quebec à Montréal, 1990.


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———. ”Debates on Mental Language in the Early Fourteenth Century.” In Aristotle’s Peri Hermeneias in the Latin Middle Ages, edited by H. A. G. Braakhuis and C. H. Kneepkens, 85–101. Groningen, Netherlands: Ingenium, 2003. ———. Ockham on Concepts. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2004. Reilly, James P. “Ockham Bibliography, 1950–1967.” Franciscan Studies 28 (1968): 197–214. Spade, Paul Vincent. “Ockham, Adams and Connotation: A Critical Notice of Marilyn Adams, William Ockham.” The Philosophical Review 99 (1990): 593–612. ———. “Ockham on Self-Reference.” Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 15 (1974): 298–300. ———. “Ockham’s Distinctions between Absolute and Connotative Terms.” Vivarium 13 (1975): 55–76. ———. “Ockham’s Nominalist Metaphysics: Some Main Themes.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 5, 100–117. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ———. “Some Epistemological Implications of the Burley-Ockham Dispute.” Franciscan Studies 35 (1975): 212–22. ———. “Synonymy and Equivocation in Ockham’s Mental Language.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 18 (1980): 9–22. ———. “Three Versions of Ockham’s Reductionist Program.” Franciscan Studies 56 (1998): 335–46. ———, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Ockham. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Stump, Eleonore. “The Mechanisms of Cognition: Ockham on Mediating Species.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 8, 168–203. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Tauchau, Katherine H. Vision and Certitude in the Age of Ockham: Optics, Epistemology and the Foundations of Semantics, 1250–1345. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988. Trentman, John. “Ockham on Mental.” Mind 79 (1970): 586–90. Tweedale, Martin M. “Ockham’s Supposed Elimination of Connotative Terms and His Ontological Parsimony.” Dialogue 31 (1992): 431–44. Wood, Rega. “Ockham’s Repudiation of Pelagianism.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ockham, edited by Paul Vincent Spade, ch. 15, 350–73. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Bernard of Clairvaux “Bernard, Saint.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 11th ed. 1911. Botterill, Steven. Dante and the Mystical Tradition: Bernard of Clairvaux in the “Commedia.” Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Bunson, Matthew, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson. Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints. Huntington, WV: Our Sunday Visitor, 1998. Cantor, Norman. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. New York: Harper Perennial, 1994. Evans, Gillian R. Bernard of Clairvaux. Great Medieval Thinkers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.


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Gildas, M. “St. Bernard of Clairvaux.” Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1913. Lane, Anthony. Calvin and Bernard of Clairvaux. Studies in Reformed Theology and History, new series I. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Theological Seminary, 1996. McManners, John. The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.

2. RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION HISTORY Renaissance Studies General Studies Boyd, William. The History of Western Education. Revised by Edmund J. King. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1974. Dickens, A. G. Reformation and Society in Sixteenth Century Europe. London: Thames & Hudson, 1966. Elton, G. R. Reformation Europe 1517–1559. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. Estepp, William R. Renaissance and Reformation. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans, 1986. Green, V. H. H. Renaissance and Reformation: A Survey of European History between 1450 and 1660. London: Arnold, 1964. Grimm, H. J. The Reformation Era (1550–1650). New York: Macmillan, 1973. Hay, Denys. Europe: The Emergence of an Idea. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1957. Hilderbrand, H. J. Christendom Divided: The Protestant Reformation. London: Hutchinson, 1971. Keller, Adolf. Religion and the European Mind. London: Lutterworth Press, 1934. Kristeller, Paul Oskar. Renaissance Thought: The Classic, Scholastic and Humanistic Strains. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1961. Rashdall, Hastings. The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages. Edited by F. M. Powicke and E. B. Emden. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1936. The Renaissance Philosophy of Man. Edited by Ernst Cassirer, Paul Oskar Kristeller, and John Herman Randall Jr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948. Sichel, Edith. The Renaissance. London: Williams and Norgate, 1914. Erasmus Augustin, Cornelius. Erasmus: His Life, Works, and Influence. Translated by G. C. Grayson. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996. Collected Works of Erasmus. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974. Furey, Constance M. Erasmus, Contarini, and the Religious Republic of Letters. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.


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Huizinga, Johan. Autumn of the Middle Ages. Translated by Rodney J. Payton. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997 (original 1919). ———. Erasmus and the Age of Reformation. Translated by F. Hopman and Barbara Flower. New York: Harper & Row, 1924. Hunter, Ian John, Christian Laursen, and Cary J. Nederman, eds. Heresy in Transition: Transforming Ideas of Heresy in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Catholic Christendom, 1300–1700. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005. Oakley, Francis. The Western Church in the Later Middle Ages. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1979. Oberman, Heiko A., and Charles Trinkhaus, eds. The Pursuit of Holiness in Late Medieval and Reformation Religion. Leiden: Brill, 1974. Ozment, Steven. The Age of Reform, 1250–1550: An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1980. Quinones, Ricardo J. Erasmus and Voltaire: Why They Still Matter. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010. Rummel, Erika. The Confessionalization of Humanism in Reformation Germany. Oxford Studies in Historical Theology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. ———. Erasmus: The Humanist-Scholastic Debate in the Renaissance and Reformation. Harvard Historical Studies, 120. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. ———. Outstanding Christian Thinkers. New York: Continuum, 2004. Smith, Preserved. Erasmus: A Study of His Life Ideals and Place in History. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1928. Winters, Adam. Erasmus’ Doctrine of Free Will. Jackson, TN: Union University Press, 2005. Guillaume Budé McNeill, David O. Guillaume Budé and Humanism in the Reign of Francis I. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1975.

Reformation Studies General Studies Bagchi, David, and David C. Steinmetz, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology, 2004. Bainton, Roland. The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. Boston: The Beacon Press, 1952. Benedetto, Robert, and Donald K. McKim, eds. Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches. Lanham: MD: Scarecrow Press, 2010. Braaten, Carl E., and Robert W. Jenson. The Catholicity of the Reformation. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996. Cameron, Euan. The European Reformation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.


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Cambridge Modern History. Vol. 2, The Reformation, 1903. England, Cambridge University Press. Estep, William R. Renaissance & Reformation. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986. Gerrish, A. “From Calvin to Schleiermacher: The Theme and the Shape of Christian Dogmatics” (1985). Reprinted in Continuing Reformation: Essays on Modern Religious Thought, 178–95. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. ———. “John Calvin on Luther.” Reprinted as “The Pathfinder: Calvin’s Image of Luther.” In The Old Protestantism and the New: Essays on the Reformation Heritage, edited by A. Gerrish, 27–48. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1982. Gonzales, Justo. The Story of Christianity. Vol. 2, The Reformation to the Present Day. San Francisco: Harper, 1985. Greaves, R. L. Theology and Revolution in the Scottish Reformation. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1980. Hendrix, Scott H. Recultivating the Vineyard: The Reformation Agendas of Christianization. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004. Hillerbrand, Hans J. Historical Dictionary of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2000. ———. The Protestant Reformation. New York: Harper Perennial, 2009. Kirsch, J. P. “The Reformation.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1911. Kolb, Robert. Confessing the Faith: Reformers Define the Church, 1530–1580. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1991. Léonard, Émile G. A History of Protestantism. Volume 1, The Reformation. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1968. Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ———. The European Reformations Sourcebook. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000. MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation: A History. New York: Viking Adult, 2004. McGrath, Alistair E. The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation. Oxford: Blackwell. 1987. Oberman, Heiko A. Dawn of the Reformation: Essays in Late Medieval and Early Reformation Thought. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992. ———. The Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel Biel and Late Medieval Nominalism. New York: Baker Book House, 2001. ———. The Reformation: Roots and Ramifications. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994. Old, Hughes Oliphant. Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church. Vol. 4, The Age of the Reformation. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1992. Pelikan, Jaroslav. Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300–1700). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. Reid, Harry. Reformation: The Dangerous Birth of the Modern World. Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 2009. Smith, Preserved. The Age of Reformation, 1920. Now ebook only (Gutenberg Project).


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Spitz, Lewis W. The Protestant Reformation: Major Documents. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1997. ———. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements. Volume I, The Renaissance. Rev. ed. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1987. ———. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements. Volume II, The Reformation. Rev. ed. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1987. ———. The Rise of Modern Europe. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. Zophy, Jonathan W. A Short History of Renaissance and Reformation Europe. NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Peter Waldo and the Waldensians Aston, M. Faith and Fire: Popular and Unpopular Religion, 1350–1600. London: Hambledon Continuum, 1993. Audisio, Gabriel. The Waldensian Dissent: Persecution and Survival, c. 1170–c. 1570. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Jones, William. History of the Waldenses. London: J. Haddon, 1816. Perrin, Jean Paul. History of the Old Waldenses Anterior to the Reformation. New York: Monson & Co., 1884. Wylie, J. A. History of the Waldenses. London: Macon & Co., 1848. Jan Hus and the Hussites Friedenthal, Richard. Jan Hus. Der Ketzer und das Jahrhundert der Revolutionskriege. 2. ed. München: Piper, 1987. Fudge, Thomas A. The Magnificent Ride: The First Reformation in Hussite Bohemia. St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2008. Lützow. Count . Life & Times of Master John Hus. London: E.P. Dutton, 1909. Macek, Josef. The Hussite Movement in Bohemia. Prague: Orbis, 1958. Schaff, David Schley. John Huss: His Life, Teachings and Death, after Five Hundred Years. London: Charles Scribner & Sons, 1915. Spinka, Matthew. John Hus: A Biography. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1968. ———. John Hus at the Council of Constance. New York: Columbia University Press, 1965. ———. John Hus’ Concept of the Church. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1966. ———. The Letters of John Hus. Totowa, NJ: Manchester University Press, 1972. Martin Luther and Lutheranism Bainton, Roland Herbert. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995.


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Boehmer, Heinrich. Luther: Road to Reformation 1483–1521. New York: Meridian, 1960. Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther: His Road to Reformation 1483–1521. Translated by James L. Schaaf. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1993. ———. Martin Luther: Shaping and Defining the Reformation 1521–1532. Philadelphia: Fortress Publications, 1994. ———. Martin Luther: The Preservation of the Church, 1532–1546. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999. Dillenberger, J., ed. Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1961. Grimm, Harold J., ed. Christian Liberty by Martin Luther. Translated by W. A. Lambert Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1943. Lehmann, Helmut T., and Theodore G. Tappert, eds. Luther’s Works Table Talk. Luther’s Works. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967. Lull, Timothy F, ed. Martin Luther: Basic Theological Writings. Minneapolis, MI: Fortress Press, 1989. Luther, M. The Bondage of the Will. Edited by J. I. Packer and O. R. Johnson. Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1957. Luther’s Works. 55 vols. Edited by H. T. Lehman and J. Pelikan. St Louis, MO: 1955–1986. Marius, Richard. Martin Luther: The Christian between God and Death. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1999. Mueller, J. Theodore, trans. Commentary on Galatians by Martin Luther. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Fleming H. Revell, 1998. ———. Commentary on Romans by Martin Luther. Chester, England: Kregel Publications, 1982. Packer, J. L., and O. R. Johnston, trans. The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell Books, 1990. Rupp, Ernest Gordon. Luther’s Progress to the Diet of Worms. Chicago: Wilcox and Follett, 1951. Ulrich Zwingli and the Zwinglians Farner, O. Zwingli. The Reformer: His Life and Work. Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1968. Jackson, S. M. Huldreich Zwingli: The Reformer of German Switzerland. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1901. Lang, A. Zwingli und Calvin. Bielefeld/Leipzig: Velhagen & Klasing, 1913. Lindsay, T. M. A History of the Reformation. Vol. 2. Edinburgh, 1907. Potter, G. R. Zwingli. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1976. Simpson, S. Life of Elrich Zwingli. New York: Baker & Taylor, 1908. Stephens, W. P. The Theology of Huldrych Zwingli. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1985.


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———. Zwingli: An Introduction to His Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Walton, R. C. Zwingli’s Theocracy. Toronto: Toronto University Press, 1967. Martin Bucer Bucer, Martin. The Commonplaces of Martin Bucer. Translated and edited by David F. Wright. Berkshire, England: Sutton Courtenay Press, 1972. ———. De Regno Christi. In Melanchthon and Bucer, edited by William Pauck. Library of Christian Classics 19. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969. Eells, H. Martin Bucer. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1931. Greschat, Martin. Martin Bucer: A Reformer and His Times. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004. Krieger, Christian, and Marc Lienhard, eds. Martin Bucer and Sixteenth Century Europe: Acts du colloque de Strasbourg (28–31). 2 vols. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1993. Stephens, W. P. The Holy Spirit in the Theology of Martin Bucer. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1970. Wright, David. F., ed. Martin Bucer: Reforming Church and Community. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Theodore Béza Béza, Theodore de. Du Droit Magistrats. Edited by Ribert M. Kingdon. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1970. ———. On Double Predestination,1575. The Treasure of Trueth. London, 1576. See also Philip Benedict, Christ’s Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calivinism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Bray, John S. Theodore Beza’s Doctrine of Predestination. Nieuwkoop, Netherlands: B. De Graf, 1975. Geisendorf, P. F. Théodore de Béza. 1949. Reprint. Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1971. Maruyama, T. The Ecclesiology of Theodore Beza: The Reform of the True Church. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1978. Raitt, Jill. The Eucharistic Theology of Theodore Beza: Development of the Reformed Doctrine. Chambersburg, PA: American Academy of Religion, 1972.

John Knox Greaves, R. L. Theology and Revolution in the Scottish Reformation. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1980. Hazlett, Iain. “A Working Biliography of Writings of John Knox.” In Calviana: Ideas and Influence of John Calvin. Edited by Robert V. Schnucker. Kirksville, MO: Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, 1988. Knox, John. Collected Works. 6 vols. Edited by David Lang. New York: AMS Press, 1854, 1966.


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———. Genevan Service Book, 1556. Edited by W. C. Maxwell. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1931. ———. History of the Reformation in Scotland. Edited by W. C. Dickinson. New York: Philosophical Library, 1950. Kyle, Richard G. The Mind of John Knox. Lawrence, KS: Coronado Press, 1984. McEwen, James S. The Faith of John Knox. Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1961. Murray, Iain. John Knox. London: Evangelical Library, 1973. Percy, Eustace. John Knox. London: Hodder & Stoughton. 1937. Reid, W. S. Trumpeter of God: A Biography of John Knox. New York: Scribner, 1973. Ridley, Jasper. John Knox. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968. Sefton, Henry R. John Knox: An Account of the Development of His Spirituality. Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1993. William (Guillaume) Farel “Guillaume Farel, la vie de, par F. Bevan.” French site with four-part account of Farel’s life. “William Farel. (1489–1565): A Short Appreciation by Herman Hanko.” On the William Farel Society site. Anabaptism Calvin, John. Treatises against the Anabaptists and against the Libertines. Edited and translated by Benjamin Wirt Farley. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1982. Fontaine, Piet F. M. The Light and the Dark: A Cultural History of Dualism. Vol. 13, Post-Lutheran Reformation. Chapter I, “Radical Reformation—Dutch Sacramentists.” Utrecht: Gopher Publishers, 2006. Little, Franklin H. The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism. New York: Beacons, 1964. Oyer, John S. Lutheran Reformers against Anabaptists. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1964. Smithson, J. R. J. The Anabaptists. London, 1935. Stayer, James M., Werner O. Packull, and Klaus Deppermann. “From Monogenesis to Polygenesis: The Historical Discussion of Anabaptist Origins.” Mennonite Quarterly Review 49, no. 2 (1975): 83–121. Williams, George. The Radical Reformation. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962. Arminius and Arminianism Forlines, Leroy F. The Quest for Truth: Answering Life’s Inescapable Questions. Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications, 2001. Forster, Roger. God’s Strategy in Human History. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2000. Klein, William W. The New Chosen People: A Corporate View of Election. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990. Mcgonigle, Herbert. Sufficient Saving Grace. Carlisle, PA: Paternoster, 2001.


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Olson, Roger. Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press Academic, 2006. Pawson, David. Once Saved, Always Saved? A Study in Perseverance and Inheritance. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1996. Picirilli, Robert. Grace, Faith, Free Will: Contrasting Views of Salvation. Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications, 2002. Pinson, J. Matthew. “Will the Real Arminius Please Stand Up? A Study of the Theology of Jacobus Arminius in Light of His Interpreters.” Integrity: A Journal of Christian Thought 2 (2003): 121–39. ———, ed. Four Views on Eternal Security. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002. Satama, Mikko. “Aspects of Arminian Soteriology in Methodist-Lutheran Ecumenical Dialogues in 20th and 21st Century.” Master’s thesis, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Theology, 2009. Shank, Robert. Elect in the Son. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1989. Walls, Jerry L., and Joseph R. Dongell. Why I Am Not a Calvinist. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004. Witski, Steve. “Free Grace or Forced Grace?” The Arminian Magazine (Spring 2001): 1–10. Amyraldianism Amyraut, Moise. Brief Treatise on Predestination and Its Dependent Principles. Translated by Richard Lum. N.p.,1985. Clifford, A. C. Atonement and Justification: English Evangelical Theology 1640– 1790: An Evaluation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. ———. Calvinus: Authentic Calvinism, a Clarification. Grandville, MI: Charenton Reformed Publishing, 1996. ———. Sons of Calvin: Three Huguenot Pastors. Grandville, MI: Charenton Reformed Publishing, 1999. Nicole, Roger. “The Controversy over the Theology of Saumur, 1635–1650: Disrupting Debates among the Huguenots in Complicated Circumstances.” Westminster Theological Journal 54, no. 2 (Fall 1992). Thomas, G. M. The Extent of the Atonement: A Dilemma for Reformed Theology from Calvin to the Consensus. Carlisle, PA: Paternoster Press, 1997.

3. WARS OF RELIGION AND THE COUNTER-REFORMATION General Studies Acton, Lord John. “The Huguenots and the League.” In Lectures on Modern History. London: Macmillan, 1906. Baird, H. M. History of the Rise of the Huguenots of France. Vol. 1, 1889. New ed. 2 vols. New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1879. ———. The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1879.


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Benedict, Philip. “Un roi, une loi, deux fois: Parameters for the History of CatholicProtestant Co-existence in France, 1555–1685.” In Tolerance and Intolerance in the European Reformation, edited by O. Grell and B. Scribner. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Davis, Natalie Zemon. Society and Culture in Early Modern France. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1975. Diefendorf, Barbara B. Beneath the Cross: Catholics and Huguenots in SixteenthCentury Paris. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Greengrass, Mark. The European Reformation. London: Longman, 1998. ———. France in the Age of Henry IV. London: Longman, 1995. ———. Governing Passions: Peace and Reform in the French Kingdom, 1576–1585. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Holt, Mack P. The French Wars of Religion, 1562–1629. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Hulme, E. M. The Renaissance, the Protestant Revolution, and the Catholic Reaction in Continental Europe. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1914. Jouanna Arlette, Jacqueline Boucher, Dominique Biloghi, and Guy Thiec. Histoire et dictionnaire des Guerres de religion. Collection: Bouquins. Paris: Laffont, 1998. Knecht, Robert J. The French Civil Wars. Harlow, England: Longman, 2000. ———.The French Wars of Religion 1559–1598. Seminar Studies in History. Harlow, England: Longman, 2010. ———. The Rise and Fall of Renaissance France 1483–1610. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Lindsay, T. M. A History of the Reformation. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1906. ———. A History of the Reformation. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1907. Salmon, J. H. M. Society in Crisis: France in the Sixteenth Century. London: Methuen, 1975. Sutherland, N. M. “Calvinism and the Conspiracy of Amboise.” History 47 (1962): 111–38. Thompson, J. W. The Wars of Religion in France, 1559–1576. Chicago, 1909. Tilley, Arthur Augustus. The French Wars of Religion. London: S.P.C.K., 1919.

Counter-Reformation “Counter Reformation.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1935. Online since 2001, www.encyclopedia.com. “Counter Reformation.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Online. www.britannica.com. Davey, Henry. “Giovanni Pierluigi, da Palestrina.” Proceedings of the Musical Association, 25th sess. (1898–1899). Fellerer, K. G., and Moses Hadas. “Church Music and the Council of Trent.” The Musical Quarterly 39, no. 4 (1953). Leichtentritt, Hugo. “The Reform of Trent and Its Effect on Music.” The Musical Quarterly 30, no. 3 (1944). Lockwood, Lewis H.. “Vincenzo Ruffo and Musical Reform after the Council of Trent.” The Musical Quarterly 43, no. 3 (1957). Manzetti, Leo P. “Palestrina.” The Musical Quarterly 14, no. 3 (1928).


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Monson, Craig A. “The Council of Trent Revisited.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 55, no. 1 (2002). Smith, Carleton Sprague, and William Dinneen. “Recent Work on Music in the Renaissance.” Modern Philology 42, no. 1 (1944). Soergel, Philip M. Wondrous in His Saints: Counter Reformation Propaganda in Bavaria. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.

Loyola and the Jesuit Order Bartoli, Daniello. History of the Life and Institute of St. Ignatius de Loyola: Founder of the Society of Jesus. New York: Edward Dunigan and Brother, 1855. Brodrick, James. The Origin of the Jesuits. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1986. Caraman, Philip. Ignatius Loyola: A Biography of the Founder of the Jesuits. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990. de Dalmases, Candido, S. J. Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Jesuits. St. Louis, MO: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1985. Foss, Michael. The Founding of the Jesuits, 1540. Turning Points in History Series. London: Hamilton, 1969. García Villoslada, Ricardo. San Ignacio de Loyola: Nueva biografía. La Editorial Católica, 1986. Loyola, Ignatius. The Autobiography of St. Ignatius. Edited by Joseph O’Conner. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1900. ———. The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola, with Related Documents. Edited by John Olin. New York: Fordham University Press, 1992. ———. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Edited by Anthony Mottola. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday, 1964. Meissner, William. Ignatius of Loyola: The Psychology of a Saint. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992. O’Malley, John W. The First Jesuits. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993. Picken, Stuart D. B. Christianity and Japan: Meeting-Conflict-Hope. Chapters 3–5. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1984. Rahner, Hugo, S. J., and Leonard von Matt. St. Ignatius of Loyola. Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1956. Ravier, Andre S. J. Ignatius Loyola and the Founding of the Society of Jesus. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987.

4. CALVIN Biography and History Beates, Michael, The Burning of Servetus: The Scarring of Calvin. N.p: n.d. Béza, Theodore. The Life of John Calvin. (Based on the 1844 Edinburgh Calvin Translation Society, 21). Milwaukee, WI: Back Home Industries, 1996.


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Bouwsma, William James. John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Cottret, Bernard. Calvin: A Biography. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000. Translated from Calvin: Biographie. Paris: Editions Jean-Claude Lattès, 1995. De Greef, Wulfert. The Writings of John Calvin: An Introductory Guide. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. Detmers, Achim. “Calvin, the Jews, and Judaism.” In Jews, Judaism, and the Reformation in Sixteenth-Century Germany, edited by Dean Phillip Bell and Stephen G. Burnett. Leiden: Brill, 2006. Elwood, Christopher. The Body Broken: The Calvinist Doctrine of the Eucharist and the Symbolization of Power in Sixteenth Century France. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Ganoczy, Alexandre. “Calvin’s Life.” In The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, edited by Donald K. McKim. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ———. The Young Calvin. Translated by David L. Foxgrover and Wade Provo. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1987. Gilman, Jean-François. John Calvin and the Printed Book. Translated by Karin Maag. Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2005. Hazlett, Ian. “Some History and Histories of Calvin in the Context of the Reformation.” Theology in Scotland XVI, no. 2 (2009): 23–54. Helm, Paul. John Calvin’s Ideas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Henderson, Henry F. Calvin in His letters. London: J. M. Dent, 1909. Hughes, Philip E., ed. The Register of the Company of Pastors in Geneva in the Time of Calvin. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1966. Kingdom, Robert M. Geneva and the Coming Wars of Religion in France, 1555– 1563. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1956. ———. ed. Registers of the Consistory of Geneva in the Time of Calvin. Volume I: 1542–1544. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2000. McGrath, Alister E. A Life of John Calvin. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990. Monter, E. William. Calvin’s Geneva. New York: Krieger, 1975. ———. Studies in Genevan Government. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1964. Old, Hughes Oliphant. The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church. Vol. 4, The Age of the Reformation. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2002. ———. The Shaping of the Reformed Baptismal Rite in the Sixteenth Century. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1992. Parker, T. H. L. John Calvin: A Biography. London: J. M. Dent, 1977. ———. Portrait of Calvin. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954. Potter, G. R., and M. Greengrass. John Calvin, London: Edward Arnold, 1983. Steinmetz, David C. “Calvin as Biblical Interpreter among the Ancient Philosophers.” Interpretation 63 (2009): 142–53. ———. Calvin in Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Van’t Spijker, Willem. Calvin: A Brief Guide to His Life and Thought. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.


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Wallace, Ronald S. Calvin Geneva and the Reformation. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1988. Wendel, François. Calvin: Origins and Development of His Religious Thought. London: William Collins, 1963. Woodbridge, John. Calvin’s Damascus. N.p: n.d.

Bibliographical Resources Bouorilly, E., et al., eds. “Bibliographie Calvinienne abrégée.” In Calvin et la Réforme en France. 2nd ed, 137–64. Aix-en-Provence: Librairie Dragen, 1959. De Klerk, Peter. “Calvin Bibliographies, 1971–.” Calvin Theological Journal (1972–2007). Dowey, Edward A., Jr. “Studies in Calvin and Calvinism since 1948.” Church History 24 (1955): 360–67. ———. “Studies in Calvin and Calvinism since 1955.” Church History 29 (1960): 360–67. Erichson, Alfred, ed. Bibliographia Calviniana. Catalogus Chronologicus Operum Calviani. Nieukoop. Netherlands: B. de Graf, 1960. H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies. Calvinism Resources Databases. www. calvin.edu/meeter/. Kempff, Dionysius. A Bibliography of Calviniana 1959–1974. Medieval and Reformation Thought 15. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1975. McNeill, John T. “Thirty Years of Calvin Study.” Church History 17 (1948): 207–40. Neisel, Wilhelm. Calvin Bibliographie, 1901–1959. Munich: Chr. Maiser, 1961. Rodolphe, Oeter, and Jean-Francois Gilmont. Bibliotheca Calviniana: Les oeuvres de Jean Calvin publiées au xvii siécle. I. Écrits théologiques, lit´raires et juridiques, 1532–1554. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1994. ———. Bibliotheca Calviniana. Vol. 2. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1994. ———. Bibliotheca Calviniana. Vol. 3. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 2000. Tylenda, Joseph N. “Calvin Bibliography, (1960–1970).” Calvin Theological Journal 6 (1971): 156–93.

Writings, Editions, and Translations Battles, Ford Lewis. An Analysis of the Institutes of the Christian Religion of John Calvin. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2001. Calvin, John. Writings on Personal Piety. Translated by Elsie McKee. New York: Paulist Press, 2001. Calvin: Commentaries. Edited by Joseph Haroutunian. Library of Christian Classics 23. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958. Calvin: Theological Treatises. Edited by J. K. S. Reid. Library of Christian Classics 22. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1964.


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Calvin’s Commentaries. 47 vols. Edinburgh ed. (various editors and translators). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1948–1950. Calvin’s Commentaries. 22 Vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker House Book, 1979. Reprint of 1844–1845 Calvin Translation Society Edition. Calvin’s Commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia. Edited and translated by Ford Lewis Battles and Andre Malan Hugo. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1969. Calvin’s Ecclesiastical Advice. Translated by Mary Beaty and Benjamin W. Farley. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1991. Calvin’s First Catechism. Edited by I. John Hesselink. Lousville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997. Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries. 12 vols. Edited by David W. Torrance and Thomas T. Torrance (various translators). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1959–1972. Calvin’s Theological Treatises. Translated with introduction by J. K. S. Reid. Library of Christian Classics vol. XXII. London: SCM Press, 1954. Calvin’s Wisdom. Edited by Graham Miller. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1992. Commentaries of John Calvin. 22 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1979. Original by Calvin Translation Society, 1844–1855. Concerning Scandals. Translated by John W. Fraser. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1978. Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God. Translated by J. K. S. Reid. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997. Daniel: Chapters 1–6. Translated by T. H. L. Parker. Calvin’s Old Testament Commentaries. The Rutherford House Translation. Edited by D. F. Wright. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1993. De Greef, Wulfert. “Calvin’s Writings.” In The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, edited by Donald K. McKim. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ———. The Writings of John Calvin: An Introductory Guide. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 2008. Edit critique, with notes and variants. Paris: J. D. Benoit, 1957. Ezekiel I: Chapters 1–12. Translated by David Foxgrover and Donald Martin. The Rutherford House Translation. Edited by D. F. Wright. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1994. Higman, Francis. The Style of John Calvin in His French Polemical Treatises. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1957. Institutes of the Christian Religion. English-language editions: CD-ROM. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. Edited by John T. McNeill. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Library of Christian Classics, Vols. XX and XXI. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960. Translated by Henry Beveridge. London: James Clarke, 1962. Institutes of the Christian Religion: 1541 French Edition. Translated by Elsie McKee. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2009. Institution de la Religion chrestienne. Paris, 1859.


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Instruction in Christianity by John Calvin. Abbreviated modern English translation by J. Pitts Wiles. Redhill: Sovereign Grace Union, 1966. Instruction in Faith (1537). Edited and translated by Paul T. Fuhrrmann. Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992. Ioannis Calvini Opera quae supersunt omnia. 59 vols. Ediderunt G. Baum, E. Cuniotz, and E. Reuss. Brunswick and Berlin, 1863–1900 (Corpus Reformatorum edition). John Calvin: Selections from His Writings. Edited by John Dillenberger. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1975. John Calvin’s Sermons on the Ten Commandments. Edited and translated by Benjamin W. Farley. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1980. John Calvin’s Tracts and Treatises. 3 vols. Translated by Henry Beveridge. (Reprint). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1958. Lane, Anthony N. S. “Calvin’s Institutes.” In A Reader’s Guide. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2009. Letters of John Calvin. 4 vols. 1858. Edited by Jules Bonnet Reprint, New York: Burt and Franklin, 1972–1973. Parker, T. H. L. Calvin’s New Testament Commentarie. London: SCM Press, 1971. 2nd ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999. A Reformation Debate: Sadoleto’s Letter to the Genevans and Calvin’s Reply. Edited by John C. Olin. New York, 1966; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1976. Schreiner, Susan E. Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? Calvin’s Exegesis of Job from Medieval to Modern Perspectives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Seldehuis H. J. Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007. Selected Works of John Calvin: Tracts and Letters. 7 Vols. Edited by Henry Beveridge and Jules Bonnet. Translated by Henry Beveridge, David Constable, and M. R. Gilchrist, 1849. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1983. Sermons on Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Death and Passion of Christ. Translated by T. H. L. Parker. London: Clarke, 1956. Sermons on the Book of Micah. Edited and translated by Benjamin W. Farley. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2003. Treatises against the Anabaptists and against the Libertines. Edited and translated by Benjamin Wirt Farley. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1982. Truth for All Time: A Brief Outline of the Christian Faith. Translated by Stuart Olyottt. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1998.

Calvin: Theology and Doctrine Balserak, Jon. Divinity Compromised: A Study of Divine Accommodation in the Thought of John Calvin. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer, 2006. Barth, Karl. The Theology of John Calvin. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1995. Battles, Ford Lewis. Interpreting John Calvin. Edited by Roberty Benedetto. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1996.


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Bohatec, Joseph. Bude und Calvin. Studien zur Gedankenwelt des franzosichen Fruhumanismus. Graz: Bohlaus, 1950. ———. “Calvin et la procédure civile in Genève.” Paris: Revue historique de droit francais étranger, 1938. ———. “Calvin et l’humanisme.” Paris: Revue Historique, 1938–1939. ———. Calvin und das Recht. Feudingen, 1934. ———. Calvin’s Lehre von Staat und Kirche. Breslau: Marcus Verlag, 1937. ———. “Calvin’s Vorsehunslehre.” Calvinstudien. Leipzig: Rudolf Haupt, 1909. ———. “Die Entbundenheit des Herrschers vom Gesetz in der Staatslehre Calvins.” In Zwingliana, 134–72. Zurich: Zürcher & Furrer, 1935. ———. “Die Souveranitet Gottes under Staat nach der auffasung Calvin’s.” International Congress van Gereformeerden, 1934. Breen, Q. John Calvin: A Study in French Humanism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1931. Butin, Philip. Revelation, Redemption, and Response. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Canlis, Julie. “What Does It Mean to Be Human? John Calvin’s Surprising Answer.” Theology in Scotland XVI, no. 2 (2009): 93–106. Coleman, Keith. “Calvin and Missions.” WRS Journal 16, no. 1 (February 2009): 28–33. De Greef, Wulfert. The Writings of John Calvin: An Introductory Guide. Expanded ed. Translated by Lyle D. Bierna. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. de Pever, E. “Calvin’s Doctrine of Providence.” London: The Evangelical Quarterly, 1938. Dowey, Edward A. The Knowledge of God in Calvin’s Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1994. Duffield, G. E., ed. John Calvin. Courtenay Studies in Reformation Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1966. Gerrish, B. A. Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2002. ———. “The Place of Calvin in Christian Theology.” In The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, edited by Donald K. McKim. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Gilman, Jean-François. John Calvin and the Printed Book. Translated by Karin Maag. Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2005. Hesselink, I. Calvin’s Concept of the Law. Allison Park, PA: Pickwick Publications, 1992. ———. “John Calvin’s Theology.” In The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, edited by Donald K. McKim. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Holder, R. Ward. John Calvin and the Grounding Interpretation: Calvin’s First Commentaries. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2006. Holmes, Stephen R. John Calvin: Intellectual History and Theology. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate, 2008.


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Hunter, A. M. The Teaching of Calvin. Edinburgh: T & T Clarke, 1950. Jensen, J. F. Calvin’s Doctrine of the Work of Christ. London: James Clark, 1956. Lane, A. N. S. John Calvin: Student of the Church Fathers. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999. Leith, John H. John Calvin’s Doctrine of the Christian Life. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995. McKim, Donald K., ed. Calvin and the Bible. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. ———, ed. Cambridge Companion to John Calvin. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004. McKinnon, J. Calvin and the Reformation. London: Longmans Green, 1936. Muller, Richard A. The Unaccommodated Calvin: Studies in the Foundation of a Theological Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Niesel, William. The Theology of John Calvin (Die Theologie Calvins). Munich, n/a 1938. Translated by Harold Knight. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1956. Packer, J. I. “Calvin the Theologian.” In Honouring the People of God: Collected Shorter Writings of J. I. Packer. Vol. 4. Carlisle, England: Paternoster, 1999. Parker, T. H. L. Calvin: An Introduction to His Thought. London: T & T Clark, 1995. ———. Calvin’s Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1952. ———. Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries. London: T & T Clark, 1993. ———. Calvin’s Old Testament Commentaries. London: T & T Clark, 1986. ———. Calvin’s Preaching. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992. ———. John Calvin: A Biography London: J. M. Dent, 1977. ———. The Oracles of God: An Introduction to the Preaching of John Calvin. London: Lutterworth, 1947. ———. A Portrait of John Calvin. London: SCM Press, 1954. ———. Sermons on Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Death and Passion of Christ. London: Clarke, 1936. Partee, Charles. Calvin and Classical Philosophy. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. Piper, John. John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God. Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2009. Reyburn, H. Y. John Calvin, His Life, Letters and Work. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1914. Richard, Lucien J. The Spirituality of John Calvin. Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1974. Tavard, George H. The Starting Point of Calvin’s Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2000. Torrance, Thomas F. Calvin’s Doctrine of Man. London: Lutterworth Press, 1949. ———. The Hermeneutics of John Calvin. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1988. Van Buren, Paul. Christ in Our Place: The Substitutionary Character of Calvin’s Doctrine of Reconciliation. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1957. Van Neste, Ray. “John Calvin on Evangelism and Missions.” Founders Journal Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1963.


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Wallace, Ronald S. Calvin’s Doctrine of the Christian Life. Edinburgh: Olive & Boyd, 1959. ———. Calvin’s Doctrine of the Word and Sacrament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1953. Warfield, Benjamin B. Calvin and Calvinism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1931. ———. The Theology of John Calvin. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Board of Education, 1909. Wendel, François. Calvin: The Origins and Development of His Religious Thought. Translated by Philip Mairet. London: William Collins, 1963; Baker House Books, 1996. Willis, E. David. Calvin’s Catholic Christology. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1966. Wilterdink, Garret. A. Tyrant or Father? A Study of Calvin’s Doctrine of God. Bristol, IN: Wyndam Hall, 1985.

Comparative and Other Studies Breen, Quirinius. John Calvin: A Study in French Humanism. New York: Anchor Books, 1968. Breuekelman, Frans H. Structure of Sacred Doctrine in Calvin’s Theology. Edited by Rinse H. Reeling. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdemans, 2008. Calvin Studies Society. Colloquium, “Calvin: Myth and Reality.” Meeter Center for Calvin Studies at Calvin College and Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI, April 16–18, 2009. ———. Colloquium, “Calvin, Beza and Later Calvinism.” Meeter Center for Calvin Studies at Calvin College and Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI, 2005. ———. Colloquium, “John Calvin and Roman Catholicism.” University of Notre Dame, April 12–14, 2007. Codling, James L. Calvin: Ethics, Eschatology and Education. New ed. Cambridge, England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010. Davis, Thomas. The Clearest Promises of God: The Development of Calvin’s Eucharistic Teachings. New York: AMC Press, 1995. De Clerk, Peter, ed. Calvin as Exegete. Grand Rapids, MI: CRC Publications, 1955. De Vries, Dawn. “Calvin’s Preaching.” In The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, edited by Donald K. McKim. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ———. Jesus Christ in the Preaching of Calvin and Schleiermacher. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996. Duffield, G. E., ed. John Calvin. Courtenay Studies in Reformation Theology I. Appleford, England: Sutton Courtenay Press, 1966. Engel, Mary Potter. John Calvin’s Perspectival Anthropology. Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1988. Gamble, Richard C. “Calvin’s Controversies.” In The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, edited by Donald K. McKim. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004.


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Gleason, Randall C. John Calvin and John Owen on Mortification: A Comparative Study in Reformed Spirituality. New York: Peter Lang, 1995. Helm, Paul John Calvin’s Ideas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Heinrich Quistorp. Calvin’s Doctrine of Last Things. Translated by Harold Knight. London: Lutterworth Press, 1955, 106. Holwerda, David E. “Eschatology and History: A Look at Calvin’s Eschatological Vision.” In Readings in Calvin’s Theology, edited by Donald K. McKim. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1984. Jones, Serene. Calvin and the Rhetoric of Piety. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995. McDonnell, Kilian. John Calvin, the Church, and the Eucharist. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967. McKee, Elsie Anne, and Brian G. Armstrong, eds. Probing the Reformed Tradition: Historical Studies in Honor of Edward A. Downey, Jr. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1989. McKim, Donald K., ed. Readings in Calvin’s Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1984. Parker, T. H. L. Calvin: An Introduction to His Thought. London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1995. ———. Calvin’s Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1969. ———. John Calvin. Tring, Hertfordshire, England: Lion Publishing, 1975. ———. John Calvin: A Biography. Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2006. Piper, John. The Divine Majesty of the Word—John Calvin: The Man and His Preaching. Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2009. ———. John Calvin and His Passion for the Majesty of God. Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2009. Pitkin, Barbara. What Pure Eyes Could See: Calvin’s Doctrine of Faith in Its Exegetical Context. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Potter, G. R., and M. Greengrass. John Calvin. London: Edward Arnold, 1983. Puckett, D. L. John Calvin’s Exegesis of the Old Testament. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995. Schreiner, Susan E. The Theater of His Glory: Nature and the Natural Order in the Thought of John Calvin. Durham, NC: Labyrinth Press, 1991. Steinmetz, David C. “Calvin as Biblical Interpreter among the Ancient Philosophers.” Interpretation 63 (2009): 142–53. ———. Calvin in Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Tamburello, Dennis E. Union with Christ: John Calvin and the Mysticism of St. Bernard. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994. Thompson, John L. John Calvin and the Daughters of Sarah: Women in Regular and Exceptional Roles in the Exegesis of Calvin, His Predecessors, and His Contemporaries. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1992. Zachman, Randall C. The Assurance of Faith: Conscience in the Theology of Martin Luther and Jon Calvin. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. ———. John Calvin as Teacher, Pastor, and Theologian: The Shape of His Writings and Thought. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.


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———. Image and Word in the Theology of John Calvin. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007. ———, ed. John Calvin and Roman Catholicism: Critique and Engagement, Then and Now. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Calvin and Calvinism: Social, Economic, and Political Influences Biéler, A. Calvin’s Economic and Social Thought. Geneva: World Alliance of Reformed Churches, 2005. ———. The Social Humanism of Calvin. Translated by Paul T. Fuhrmann. Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1964. Boettner, Loraine. Calvinism in History. 1932. Dawson, Jane. “Scotland and the Example of Geneva.” Theology in Scotland XVI, no. 2 (2009): 55–74. Dommen, Edward, and James D. Bratt, eds. John Calvin Rediscovered: The Impact of His Social and Economic Thought. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007. Douglas, Jane Dempsey. Women, Freedom, and Calvin. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1985. Duke, Alistair, Gillian Lewis, and Andrew Pettegree, eds. Calvinism in Europe 1540–1610: A Collection of Documents. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992. Forrester, Duncan. “Martin Luther and John Calvin.” In History of Political Philosophy, 3rd ed., edited by Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey, 318–65. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. Gerrish, Brian A. The Old Protestantism and the New: Essays on the Reformation Heritage. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982. Graham, W. Fred. The Constructive Revolutionary: John Calvin and His SocioEconomic Impact, Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1971. Green, Robert, ed. Problems in European Civilization, Protestantism and Capitalism: The Weber Thesis and Its Critics. Boston: Heath, 1959. Hall, David W. Genevan Reformation and the American Founding. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005. ———. The Legacy of John Calvin: His Influence on the Modern World. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008. Hancock, Ralph Cornel. Calvin and the Foundations of Modern Politics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1987. Harkness, Georgia E. John Calvin: The Man and His Ethics. New York: Henry Holt, 1931. Hass, Guenther H. The Concept of Equity in Calvin’s Ethics. Waterloo, ON: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 1997. Helm, Paul. John Calvin’s Ideas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Hexam, Irving. “Calvinism and Culture: A Historical Perspective.” Crux XV, no. 4 (December 1979): 14–19. Holder, R. Ward. “Calvin’s Heritage.” In The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, edited by Donald K. McKim. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004.


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Innes, William C. Social Concern in Calvin’s Ethics. Allison Park, PA: Pickwick Press, 1983. Jones, David W. Reforming the Morality of Usury: A Study of Differences That Separated the Protestant Reformers. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2004. Kelly, Douglas F. The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World: The Influence of Calvin on Five Governments from the 16th through 18th Centuries. Philipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 1992. Kingdon, Robert M. Adultery and Divorce in Calvin’s Geneva. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Kingdon, Robert M., and Robert D. Linder, eds. Calvin and Calvinism: Sources of Democracy? Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath, 1970. Macleod, Donald. “The Influence of Calvin on Politics.” Theology in Scotland XVI, no. 2 (2009): 5–22. McNeill, John T. The History and Character of Calvinism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1954. Olson, Jeanine. “Calvin and Social-Ethical Issues.” In The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, edited by Donald K. McKim. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ———. Calvin and Social Welfare: Deacons and the Bourse Française. Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna University Press, 1989. Partee, Charles. Calvin and Classical Philosophy. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005. Pattison, Bonnie. Poverty in the Theology of John Calvin. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2006. Pettigree, Andrew. “The Spread of Calvin’s Thought.” In The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin, edited by Donald K. McKim. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Sauer, James B. Faithful Ethics according to John Calvin: The Teachability of the Heart. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellenpress, 1997. Schulze, Ludolf F. Calvin and “Social Ethics”: His Views on Property, Interest and Usury. Pretoria, South Africa: Kital, 1985. Stevenson, William, Jr. Sovereign Grace: The Place and Significance of Christian Freedom in John Calvin’s Political Thought. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Tawney, R. H. Religion and the Rise of Capitalism: A Historical Study. Holland Memorial Lectures, 1922. London: John Murray, 1926. Weber, (Maximilian Carl) Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. 1st German ed., 1905. English: New York: Scribner’s Press, 1958. Most recent: Translated by Talcott Parsons. Introduction by A. Giddens. London: Routledge, 1992. Van Til, Henry R. Calvinistic Concept of Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 1959; new ed. 2001.

Church Architecture, Art, Liturgy, and Music in Calvin and Calvinism Dawson, Jane E. A. “Discipline and the Making of Protestant Scotland.” In Worship and Liturgy in Context; Studies and Case Studies in Theology and Practice, edited by Duncan B. Forrester and Doug Gay. London: SCM Press, 2009.


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Drummond, Andrew Landale. The Church Architecture of Protestantism: An Historical and Constructive Study. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1934. Garside, Charles, Jr. The Origins of Calvin’s Theology of Music: 1537–1543. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1979. George, Timothy. ed. John Calvin and the Church: A Prism of Reform. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1990. Hopfl, Harro. The Christian Polity of John Calvin. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Joby, Christopher R. Hichard. Calvinism and the Arts: A Re-assessment. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 2007. Kinnear, Jack. John Calvin’s Use of the Sursum Corda, http://www.eldrbarry.net/ heidel/calvrsc.htm McKee, Elsie Anne. John Calvin on the Diaconate and Liturgical Almsgiving. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1984. Milner, Benjamin, Jr. Calvin’s Doctrine of the Church. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1970. Moore, Susan Hardman. “Calvinism and the Arts.” Theology in Scotland XVI, no. 2 (2009):75–93. Spelman, Lesli P. “Calvin and the Arts.” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 6 (1947–1948): 246–52. Wencelius, Léon. Calvin et Rembrandt. Paris: Sociéte d’Edition “Ls Belles Lettres,” 1937. ———. L’esthétique de Calvin. Paris: Sociéte d’Edition “Ls Belles Lettres,” 1937.

The Books of Discipline of the Church of Scotland The text of the First Book of Discipline is found in the Works of John Knox, edited by David Laing, vol. 2, 183–260. Edinburgh: James Thin, 1895. The text of the Second Book of Discipline is found in David Calderwood, History of the Kirk of Scotland, edited by Thomas Thomson, vol. 3, 529–55. Edinburgh: Woodrow Society, 1843. David Calderwood’s preface was first published anonymously in his edition of The First and Second Book of Discipline. Amsterdam, 1621. Kirk, James. The Second Book of Discipline. Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1980.

5. POST-CALVINIST THOUGHT Friedrich Schleiermacher Barth, Karl. The Theology of Schleiermacher. Translated by Geoffrey Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982. Brandt, R. B. The Philosophy of Schleiermacher: The Development of His Theory of Scientific and Religious Knowledge. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1968.


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Crouter, Richard. Friedrich Schleiermacher: Between Enlightenment and Romanticism. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press: 2008. Marina, Jacqueline, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Schleiermacher. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Niehbuhr, Richard R. Schleiermacher on Christ and Religion: A New Introduction. New York: Scribner, 1964. Schleiermacher, Friedrich. The Christian Faith (1821). Translated by H. R. Mackintosh and J. S. Stewart. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1948. ———. On the Glaubenslehre (1821–1822). Translated by James Duke and Francis Fiorenza. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1981.

Ernst Troeltsch Troeltsch, Ernst. The Absoluteness of Christianity and the History of Religions. London: SCM Press, 1972. ———. Religion in History. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Publishing, 1991. Drescher, H. Ernst Troeltsch. London: SCM Press, 1992. ———. The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches. London: Macmillan, 1931.

Albert Ritschl Deggan, Daniel L. “The Ritschlian School, the Essence of Christianity and Karl Barth.” Scottish Journal of Theology 16 (1963): 390. Graby, James K. “The Problem of Ritschel’s Relationship to Schleiermacher.” Scottish Journal of Theology 19 (1966): 257. Mueller, David L. An Introduction to the Theology of Albert Ritschl. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969. Richmond, James. Ritschl: A Reappraisal; A Study in Systematic Theology. London: Collins, 1978. Ritschl, Albrecht. The Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1966. ———. A Critical History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation. Translated by J. S. Black. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1872. ———. Three Essays. Translated by Philip Hefner. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972.

Rudolf Otto Almond, Philip C. Rudolf Otto: An Introduction to his Philosophical Theology. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984. Gooch, Todd A. The Numinous and Modernity: An Interpretation of Rudolf Otto’s Philosophy of Religion. Preface by Otto Kaiser and Wolfgang Drechsler. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2001. Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1923.


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———. The Life and Ministry of Jesus, According to the Critical Method. Chicago: Open Court, 1908.

John Oman Healey, F. G. Religion and Reality, the Theology of John Oman. London: Oliver and Boyd, 1965. Oman, John. Grace and Personality. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1919. ———. Natural and Supernatural. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1931.

Jonathan Edwards Complete Works online at Yale University, Jonathan Edwards Center. Delattre, Roland Andre. Beauty and Sensibility in the Thought of Jonathan Edwards: An Essay in Aesthetics and Theological Ethics. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989. Fiering, Norman. Jonathan Edwards’s Moral Thought and Its British Context. Chapel Hill, NC, 1981. Gerstner, John H. The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards, in Three Volumes. Powhatan, VA: Berea Publications, 1991–1993. Hatch, Nathan, and Harry O. Stout, eds. Jonathan Edwards and the American Experience. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Holmes, Stephen R. God of Grace, God of Glory: The Theology of Jonathan Edwards. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2000. Kimnach, Wilson, Caleb J. D. Maskell, and Kenneth P. Minkema, eds. Jonathan Edwards’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”: A Casebook. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009. Lee, Sang Hyun. The Philosophical Theology of Jonathan Edwards. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988. ———, ed. The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. Marsden, George M. Jonathan Edwards: A Life. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003. McDermott, Gerald Robert. One Holy and Happy Society: The Public Theology of Jonathan Edwards. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992. Murray, Iain H. Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1987. Parkes, Henry Bamford. Jonathan Edwards, the Fiery Puritan. New York: Minton, Balch & Company, 1930. Piper, John. A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards. New York: Crossway Books, 2004. ———. God’s Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards. New York: Crossway Books, 1988.


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Zakai, Avihu. Jonathan Edwards’s Philosophy of History: The Reenchantment of the World in the Age of Enlightenment. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003.

James McCosh Gundlach, Bradley J. “McCosh and Hodge on Evolution: A Combined Legacy.” Journal of Presbyterian History 75, no. 2 (1997): 85–102. Hoeveler, J. David, Jr. James McCosh and the Scottish Intellectual Tradition: From Glasgow to Princeton. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981. McCosh, James. Intuitions of the Mind Inductively Investigated. London and New York, 1860; 3rd rev. ed., 1872. ———. Method of Divine Government, Physical and Moral. Edinburgh, 1850. 5th ed., 1856. Frequently republished in New York. ———. Religious Aspects of Evolution. New York, 1888. 2nd ed., 1890. ———. The Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation. Edinburgh, 1855; new eds., New York, 1871–1880.

B. B. Warfield Biblical and Theological Studies. Edited by Samuel G. Craig. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1952. Calvin and Calvinism. New York; London: Oxford University Press, 1931. Counterfeit Miracles. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1918. (The Thomas Smyth lectures for 1917–1918, delivered at the Columbia Theological Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina, October 4–10, 1917). The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Edited by by Samuel G. Craig. With an introduction by Cornelius Van Til. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1948. The Lord of Glory: A Study of the Designations of Our Lord in the New Testament with Especial Reference to His Deity. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1907. Perfectionism. Articles reprinted from periodicals, etc., edited by Ethelbert Dudley Warfield, William Park Armstrong, and Caspar Wistar Hodge. New York: Oxford University Press, 1931.

Louis Berkhof Berkhof, Louis. History of Christian Doctrines. London: Banner of Truth Trust, revised 1996. ———. Manual of Christian Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1939. ———. Summary of Christian Doctrine. London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1960; Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996. ———. Systematic Theology. London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1958. Reprinted, Grand Rapids, MI.


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Berkhof, Louis, with Cornelius Van Til. Foundations of Christian Education. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1990.

Herman Hoeksema Reformed Dogmatics. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 1973.

6. 20TH-CENTURY NEO-CALVINIST THEOLOGY John Baillie Baillie, John. A Diary of Private Prayer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1937. ———. A Reasoned Faith. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963. ———. And the Life Everlasting. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933. ———. The Belief in Progress. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1950. ———. Christian Devotion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962. ———. The Idea of Revelation in Recent Thought. New York: Columbia University Press, 1956. ———. The Interpretation of Religion. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1928. ———. Invitation to Pilgrimage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1942. ———. Natural Science and the Spiritual Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951. ———. Our Knowledge of God. London: Oxford University Press, 1939. ———. The Place of Jesus Christ in Modern Christianity. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1929. ———. The Sense of the Presence of God. New York: Charles Scribner, 1962. ———. What Is Christian Civilization? New York: Charles Scribner, 1945. Klinefelter, Donald S. “The Theology of John Baillie: A Biographical Introduction.” Scottish Journal of Theology (December 1969). MacKay, John A. “John Baillie: A Lyrical Tribute and Appraisal.” Scottish Journal of Theology (Summer 1956).

Karl Barth The Christian Life. Posthumous lecture fragments from The Word in This World: Two Sermons by Karl Barth. Edited by Kurt I. Johanson. Vancouver, BC: Regent Publishing Canada, 2007. Credo. Translated by Robert McAfee Brown. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1962. The Faith of the Church. Translated by Gabriel Vahanian. London: Collins, 1960. Fides Quaerens Intellectum: Anselm’s Proof of the Existence of God in the Context of His Theological Scheme. Translated by Ian W. Robertson. London: SCM Press, 1960.


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The Göttingen Dogmatics: Instruction in the Christian Religion. Vol. 1: Text of Barth’s Lectures in Göttingen. The Humanity of God. Translated by John Newton Thomas and Thomas Weiser. Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1960. “No Angels of Darkness and Light.” The Christian Century, 20 January 1960. Reprinted in Contemporary Moral Issues, Second Edition, edited by Harry K. Girvetz. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1968. Prayer and Preaching. Translated by B. E. Hooke. London: SCM Press, 1964. Shorter Commentary on Romans. Translated by D. H. van Daalen. London: SCM Press Ltd., 1959. (A shortened version of The Epistle to the Romans, Barth’s first major work written in 1918 and 1921). The Teaching of the Church Regarding Baptism. Translated by Ernest A. Payne. London: SCM Press, 1948. The Word of God and the Word of Man. Translated by Douglas Horton. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1928. Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics in English Translation Translated from the German Die Kirchliche Dogmatik. Series eds. Thomas F. Torrance and Geoffrey Bromiley. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2008 (most recent edition). Volume I, Part 1: Doctrine of the Word of God: Prolegomena to Church Dogmatics. Volume I, Part 2: Doctrine of the Word of God. Volume II, Part 1: The Doctrine of God: The Knowledge of God; The Reality of God. Volume II, Part 2: The Doctrine of God: The Election of God; The Command of God. Volume III, Part 1: The Doctrine of Creation: The Work of Creation. Volume III, Part 2: The Doctrine of Creation: The Creature. Volume III, Part 3: The Doctrine of Creation: The Creator and His Creature. Volume III, Part 4: The Doctrine of Creation: The Command of God the Creator. Volume IV, Part 1: The Doctrine of Reconciliation. Volume IV, Part 2: Doctrine of Reconciliation: Jesus Christ the Servant as Lord. Volume IV, Part 3, 1st half: Doctrine of Reconciliation: Jesus Christ the True Witness. Volume IV, Part 3, 2nd half: Doctrine of Reconciliation: Jesus Christ the True Witness. Volume IV, Part 4 (unfinished): Doctrine of Reconciliation: The Foundation of the Christian Life (Baptism). Volume V: Church Dogmatics: Contents and Indexes, Church Dogmatics. 14 vols. Church Dogmatics: A Selection. With an introduction by H. Gollwitzer. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1961.


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Dogmatics in Outline. Translated by G. T. Thomson. London: SCM Press, 1949. On Religion. Edited and translated by Garrett Green. London: T & T Clark, 2006.

Discussions of Barth Bradshaw, Timothy. Trinity and Ontology: a Comparative Study of the Theologies of Karl Barth and Wolfhart Pannenberg. Edinburgh: Rutherford House Books, 1988. Reprint ed. Lewiston; Lampeter Edwin Mellen Press for Rutherford House, Edinburgh, 1992. Bromiley, Geoffrey William. An Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1979. Busch, Eberhard. The Great Passion: An Introduction to Karl Barth’s Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2004. ———. Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976. Chung, Paul S. Karl Barth: God’s Word in Action. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke, 2008. Fiddes, Paul. “The Status of Women in the Thought of Karl Barth.” In After Eve, edited by Janet Martin Soskice. London: Marshall Pickering, 1990. Alternative title After Eve: Women, Theology and the Christian Tradition. Gorringe, Timothy. Karl Barth: Against Hegemony. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Hunsinger, George. How to Read Karl Barth: The Shape of His Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Jae Jin Kim. Die Universalitaet der Versoehnung im Gottesbund. Zur biblischen Begruendung der Bundestheologie in der kirchlichen Dogmatik Karl Barths. Munster: Lit Verlag, 1992. McCormack, Bruce. Karl Barth’s Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology: Its Genesis and Development, 1909–1936. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. McKenny, Gerald. The Analogy of Grace: Karl Barth’s Moral Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Mangina, Joseph L. Karl Barth: Theologian of Christian Witness. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2004. Webster, John, ed. Barth. 2nd ed. Continuum, 2004. ———. The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. “Witness to an Ancient Truth.” Time, 20 April 1962.

Emil Brunner Christianity and Civilisation (1949). Cambridge, England: James Clarke, 2009. Christianity and Civilization (Gifford Lectures Delivered at the University of St Andrews). Cambridge, England: James Clarke, 2009.


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The Divine Imperative. 1st German ed. 1932; English translation 1937 and 1941. Cambridge, England: Luttherworth Press, 2003. Dogmatics. Volume I: The Christian Doctrine of God. Cambridge, England: James Clarke, 2003. Dogmatics. Volume II: The Christian Doctrine of Creation and Redemption. Cambridge, England: James Clarke, 2003. Dogmatics. Volume III: The Christian Doctrine of the Church, Faith and the Consummation. Cambridge, England: James Clarke, 2003. The Great Invitation Zurich Sermons. Cambridge, England: Lutterworth, 2003. I Believe in the Living God: Sermons on the Apostles’ Creed. Cambridge, England: Lutterworth Press, 2004. Justice and Social Order. Cambridge, England: Lutterworth Press, 2004. The Letter to the Romans. Cambridge, England: Lutterworth Press, 2003 Man in Revolt: A Christian Anthropology. 1st German ed. 1937; English translation 1939 and 1941. Cambridge, England: Lutterworth Press, 2003. The Mediator. Cambridge, England: Lutterworth Press, 2003. The Misunderstanding of the Church. Cambridge, England: Lutterworth Press, 2003. Revelation and Reason: The Christian Doctrine of Faith and Knowledge. 1st German ed. 1941; English translation Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1946.

Fritz Buri Buri, Fritz. The Buddha-Christ as the Lord of the True Self: The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School and Christianity. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1997. ———. How Can We Still Speak Sensibly of God? Translated by Charley D. Hardwick. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968. ———. “The Self and Nothing.” The Journal of Religion 52, no. 3 (July 1972). 187–204 ———. “The Significance of the Problem of Being and Meaning for Cross-Cultural Religious Understanding.” Privately circulated paper dated 22 July 1979. ———. “Theological Ethics and Ethical Theology.” The IIiff Review 40, no. 1 (1983): 25–35. ———. Thinking Faith: Steps on the Way to a Philosophical Theology. Translated by Harold H. Oliver. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968. ———. “Trinity and Personality.” The IIiff Review 40, no. 1 (1983): 15–24. ———. “The Void and the True Self in the Light of the Problems of Being and Meaning.” Scottish Journal of Religious Studies (1980): 132–37. Oliver, Harold H. “Fritz Buri and His Theologizing.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 34, no. 4 (1966): 346–57.

Reinhold Niebuhr Beyond Tragedy: Essays on the Christian Interpretation of Tragedy. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1937.


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The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1944; New York: Prentice Hall, 1974; New York: Macmillan, 1985. Christian Realism and Political Problems. New York: Charles Scribner, 1953. The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses. Edited by Robert McAffee Brown. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986. Interpretation of Christian Ethics. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1935. The Irony of American History. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1952; New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985; with a new introduction by Andrew J. Bacevich, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic. Richard R. Smith, 1930; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1991. Love and Justice: Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr. Edited by D. B. Robertson. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1957. Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study of Ethics and Politics. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons,1932; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. A Nation So Conceived: Reflections on the History of America from Its Early Visions to Its Present Power. With Alan Heimert. New York: Charles Scribner, 1963. The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation. The Gifford Lectures,1941. Vol. 1: Human Nature; Vol. 2: Human Destiny. New York: Prentice Hall, 1980; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996. Pious and Secular America. New York: Charles Scribner, 1958. Reinhold Niebuhr on Politics: His Political Philosophy and Its Application to Our Age as Expressed in His Writings. Edited by Harry R. Davis and Robert C. Good. New York: Scribner, 1960. Remembering Reinhold Niebuhr: Letters of Reinhold & Ursula M. Niebuhr. Edited by Ursula Niebuhr. New York: Harper & Row, 1991. The Self and the Dramas of History. New York: Charles Scribner, 1955. The Structure of Nations and Empires. New York: Augusts M. Kelley, 1959.

Discussions of Niebuhr Beckley, Harlan. Passion for Justice: Retrieving the Legacies of Walter Rauschenbusch, John A. Ryan, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992. Bingham, June. Courage to Change: An Introduction to the Life and Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1993. Brooks, David. “A Man on a Gray Horse: The Mid-Century Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr May Have Gotten a Lot of Things Wrong—But We Could Use a Thinker Like Him Today.” The Atlantic Monthly 290 (September 2002). Brown, Charles C. Niebuhr and His Age: Reinhold Niebuhr’s Prophetic Role in the Twentieth Century. Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1992. Chambers, Whittaker. “Faith for a Lenten Age.” Time, 8 March 1948. Craig, Campbell. “The New Meaning of Modern War in the Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr.” Journal of the History of Ideas 53, no. 4 (1992): 687–702.


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Davies, David Richard. Reinhold Niebuhr: Prophet from America . 1945. 94 pages; full text online. Doenecke, Justus D. “Reinhold Niebuhr and his Critics: The Interventionist Controversy in World War II.” Anglican and Episcopal History 64, no. 4 (1995): 459–81. Fox, Richard Wightman. “Niebuhr, Reinhold.” In American National Biography Online. February 2000. ———. Reinhold Niebuhr: A Biography. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985. Harland, Gordon. The Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr. Online edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1960. Harries, Richard, and Stephen Platten, eds. Reinhold Niebuhr and Contemporary Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Hofmann, Hans. The Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr. New York: Charles Scribner, 1956. Kegley, Charles W., and Robert W. Bretall, eds. Reinhold Niebuhr: His Religious, Social, and Political Thought. 20 essays by scholars and reply by Niebuhr. New York: Macmillan 1956. Lovin, Robin. “Reinhold Niebuhr in Contemporary Scholarship: A Review Essay.” Journal of Religious Ethics 31 (Winter 2003): 489–505. McCann, Dennis. Christian Realism and Liberation Theology: Practical Theologies in Creative Conflict. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1981. Merkley, Paul. Reinhold Niebuhr: A Political Account. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1975. Meyer, Donald B. The Protestant Search for Political Realism, 1919–1941. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1960. Novak, Michael. “Father of Neoconservatives: Nowadays, the Truest Disciples of the Liberal Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr Are Conservatives.” National Review 44 (May 11, 1992). Patton, Howard G. Reinhold Niebuhr. 1977. http://www.religion-online.org/show book.asp?title=3279. Rice, Daniel F. Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey: An American Odyssey. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. ———. ed. Reinhold Niebuhr Revisited: Engagements with an American Original. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009. Rosenthal, Joel H. Righteous Realists: Political Realism, Responsible Power, and American Culture in the Nuclear Age. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1991. Warren, Heather A. Theologians of a New World Order: Reinhold Niebuhr and the Christian Realists, 1920–1948. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Helmut Thielicke Being Human—Becoming Human: An Essay in Christian Anthropology. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984. Between God and Satan. Translated by C. C. Barber. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1958. Republished: Farmington Hills, MI: Oil Lamp Books, 2010.


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The Ethics of Sex. Translated by John W. Doberstein. New York: Harper & Row, 1964. The Evangelical Faith. Translated and edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. 3 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974–77. The Freedom of the Christian Man: A Christian Confrontation with the Secular Gods. Translated by John W. Doberstein. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. The Hidden Question of God. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977. How Modern Should Theology Be? Translated by H. George Anderson. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969. How the World Began: Man in the First Chapters of the Bible. Translated, with an introduction by John W. Doberstein. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1961. How to Believe Again. Translated by H. George Anderson. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972. I Believe: The Christian’s Creed. Translated by John W. Doberstein and H. George Anderson. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968. Life Can Begin Again: Sermons on the Sermon on the Mount. Translated by John W. Doberstein. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1963. Living with Death. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1983. Modern Faith and Thought. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990. Nihilism: Its Origin and Nature; With a Christian Answer. Translated by John W. Doberstein. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1961. Our Heavenly Father: Sermons on the Lord’s Prayer. Translated by John W. Doberstein. New York: Harper & Row, 1960. The Silence of God. Translated with an introduction by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962. Republished, Farmington Hills, MI: Oil Lamp Books, 2010. Theological Ethics. Translated by William H. Lazareth. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966–1969. The Waiting Father: Sermons on the Parables of Jesus. Translated by John W. Doberstein. New York: Harper & Row, 1959.

Paul Tillich Biblical Religion and the Search for Ultimate Reality. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1955. The Courage to Be. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1952. Dynamics of Faith. New York: Harper & Row, 1957. Eternal Now. New York: Charles Scribner, 1963. The Interpretation of History. Online edition, 1936. http://www.religion-online.org/ showbook.asp?title=377. Love, Power, and Justice: Ontological Analysis and Ethical Applications. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1954.


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Morality and Beyond. New York: Harper & Row, 1963. My Search for Absolutes (1967, posthumous). Edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984 reprint (online edition available). The New Being. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1955. On the Boundary. New York: Charles Scribner, 1966. The Protestant Era. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948 (online edition available). The Religious Situation. Die religiose Lage der Gegenwart. New York: Holt, 1932; Meridian Press, 1956 (online edition available). The Shaking of the Foundations. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948 (online edition available). Systematic Theology. 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951–1963. Vol. 1: 1951. Vol. 2: Existence and the Christ, 1957. Vol. 3: Life and the Spirit: History and the Kingdom of God, 1963. Theology of Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1959.

Thomas Torrance The Apocalypse Today. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1959. The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1996. Christian Theology and Scientific Culture. Belfast: Christian Journals, 1980. Divine Meaning. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1995. The Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1948. A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field. James Clerk Maxwell (author). Edited by Thomas Torrance. Scottish Academic Press, February 1983. The Ecumenical World of Orthodox Civilization: Russia and Orthodoxy. Vol. 3. Essays in Honor of Georges Florovsky. Edited by Andrew Blane. Paris: Mouton, 1974. God and Rationality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971. The Ground and Grammar of Theology. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1981. The Hermeneutics of John Calvin. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1988. “Justification: Its Radical Nature and Place in Reformed Doctrine and Life.” SJT 13 (1960): 240. Karl Barth: An Introduction to His Early Theology, 1910–1931. New York: Harper, 1962. “Karl Barth and Patristic Theology.” In Theology Beyond Christendom: Essays on the Centenary of the Birth of Karl Barth May 10, 1986, edited by John Thompson, 215–39. Allison Park, PA: Pickwick, 1986. “My Interactions with Karl Barth.” In How Karl Barth Changed My Mind, edited by Donald McKim. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986. Reality and Evangelical Theology. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1982. Reality and Scientific Theology. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1986.


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“The Relation of the Incarnation to Space in Nicene Theology.” In The Royal Priesthood. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1955/1993. Space, Time and Incarnation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969. Space, Time and Resurrection. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976. Theological and Natural Science. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2002. Theological Dialogue between Orthodox and Reformed Churches. 2 vols. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1985–1993. “Theological Realism.” In The Philosophical Frontiers of Christian Theology: Essays Presented to D. M. MacKinnon, 169–96. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Theological Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969. Theology and Reconciliation: Essays towards Evangelical and Catholic Unity in East and West. London: Chapman, 1975. Theology in Reconstruction. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965. “Toward Ecumenical Consensus on the Trinity.” Theologische Zeitschrift 31 (1975): 337–50. Transformation & Convergence in the Frame of Knowledge. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1984. The Trinitarian Faith: The Evangelical Theology of the Ancient Catholic Church. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1988. Trinitarian Perspectives: Toward Doctrinal Agreement. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1994. “The Uniqueness of Divine Revelation and the Authority of the Scriptures: The Creed Association’s Statement.” Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 13 (Autumn 1995): 97–101.

Japanese Theology Atsuyoshi Fujiwara, ed. Church and State in Japan since World War II. “A Theology of Japan” Monograph Series Vol. 2. Saitama: Seigakuin University Press, 2006. Ohki, Hideo, et al. A Theology of Japan: Origin and Task in the Age of Globalization. “A Theology of Japan” Monograph Series Vol. 1. Saitama: Seigakuin University Press, 2005.

7. THE “NEW CALVINISTS” Altizer, T. The Contemporary Jesus. London: SCM Press, 1998. ———. The Gospel of Christian Atheism. London: Collins, 1967. ———. Radical Theology and the Death of God. London: Pelican, 1968. Godfrey, W. Robert. John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2009. Hall, David W. The Legacy of John Calvin: His Influence on the Modern World. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2008


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Harrisville, Roy A., and Walter Sundberg. The Bible in Modern Culture: Theology and Historical-Critical Method from Spinoza to Kasemann. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995. Hermann, Wilhelm. The Communion of the Christian with God (1892). Edited by Robert T. Voelkel. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971. Heron, A. A Century of Protestant Thought. London: Butler & Tanner, 1980. Kee, A. The Way of Transcendence. London: SCM Press, 1985. McKnight, S. “Five Streams of the Emerging Church.” Christianity Today 51, no. 2 (2007). McLaren, Brian. Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices. New York: Thomas Nelson, 2008. ———. A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Green, Incarnational, Depressed-yet-Hopeful, Emergent, Unfinished Christian. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004. ———. A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith. New York: Harper, 2010. Meeter, H. Henry. The Basic Ideas of Calvinism. 5th rev. ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1939 and 1956. A 6th edition appeared in 1990 with three chapters added by Paul A. Marshall. Mobsby, Ian. Emerging & Fresh Expressions of Church. London: Moot Community Publishing, 2007. Reardon, B. Religious Thought in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1966. Schaeffer, Francis. A Christian Manifesto, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1981. ———. Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back. New York: Carol & Graf Publishers, 2007. ———. “A Step Forward.” The Presbyterian Journal, 6 March 1974. Smith, Ronald Gregor. The Doctrine of God. London: Collins, 1970. ———. The Free Man: Studies in Christian Anthropology. London: Collins, 1969. ———. The New Man: Christianity and Man’s Coming of Age. London: SCM Press, 1956. ———. Secular Christianity. London: Collins, 1966. Van Til, Henry R. Calvinistic Concept of Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 1959; new ed., 2001. Webber, Robert, John Burke, Dan Kimball, Doug Pagitt, Karen M. Ward, and Mark Driscoll. Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches: Five Perspectives. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007.

Magazine Articles Biema, David Van. “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now: The New Calvinism.” Time, 12 March 2009.


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George, Timothy. “John Calvin: Comeback Kid.” Christianity Today, 7 December 2010. “The New Calvins.” Economist, 9 October 2010.

8. CHRISTIAN RECONSTRUCTIONISM Bahnsen, Greg. By This Standard: The Authority of God’s Law Today. Christian Liberty Press, 1991. ———. Five Views on Law and Gospel. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996. ———. Homosexuality: A Biblical View. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1978. ———. Theonomy in Christian Ethics. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 1984. Carey, John J., ed. Theonomy and Autonomy. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1984. Chiltern, David. The Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation. Forth Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987. ———. The Great Tribulation. Forth Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987. ———. Paradise Restored: An Eschatology of Dominion. Tyler, TX: Reconstruction Press, 1985. ———. Power in the Blood: A Christian Response to AIDS. Brentwood, TN: Wolgemouth & Hyatt Publishers, 1988. ———. Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators. 3rd ed. Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1985. Crenshaw, Curtis L., and Grober E. Gunn. Dispensationalism Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow. Memphis, TN: Footstool Publications, 1989. DeMar, Gary. God and Government. 3 vols. Atlanta, GA: American Vision Press, 1982–1986. ———. Ruler of the Nations: Biblical Blueprints for Government. Biblical Blueprints Series, Vol. 2. Forth Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987. ———, with Peter Leithart. The Reduction of Christianity: Dave Hunt’s Theology of Cultural Surrender. Forth Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1988. Elniff, Terrill Irwin. The Guise of Every Graceless Heart: Human Anatomy in Puritan Thought and Experience. Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1981. Gentry, Kenneth L. God’s Law in the Modern World: The Continuing Relevance of Old Testament Law. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 1993. Grant, George. Bringing in the Sheaves: Transforming Poverty into Productivity. Atlanta, GA: American Vision Press, 1985. ———. The Changing of the Guard: Biblical Principles for Political Action. Biblical Blueprints Series, Vol. 8. Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1987. Now subtitled The Vital Role Christians Must Play in America’s Unfolding Political and Cultural Drama. Broadman & Holman, 1995. ———. In the Shadow of Plenty: Biblical Principles of Welfare and Poverty. Biblical Blueprints Series, Vol. 4. Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Publishers, 1986.


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Jordan, James B. The Law of the Covenant: An Exposition of Exodus 21–23. Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1984. ———. Sabbath Breaking and the Death Penalty: A Theological Investigation. Tyler, TX: Geneva Ministries, 1986. ———. The Sociology of the Church: Essays in Reconstruction. Tyler, TX: Geneva Ministries, 1986. Reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Sock, 1999. North, Gary. Backward Christian Soldiers? An Action Manual for Christian Reconstruction. Tyler, TX: The Institute for Christian Economics, 1984, 1988. ———. Conspiracy: A Biblical View. Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1986. ———. Dominion and Common Grace: The Biblical Basis of Progress. Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1987. ———. Government by Emergency. Fort Worth, TX: American Bureau of Economic Research, 1983. ———. Honest Money: Biblical Principles of Money and Banking. Biblical Blueprints Series, Vol. 5. Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Press 1986. ———. Unholy Spirits: Occultism and New Age Humanism. Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1986. ———. Wealth and Poverty. Edited by Robert G. Clouse. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1974. Rushdoony, R. J. The Biblical Philosophy of History. Phillipsburg, N.J:. Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 1969. ———. Christianity and the State. Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1986. ———. Foundations of Social Order: A Study in the Creeds and Councils of the Early Church. Tyler, TX: Thoburn Press, 1968. ———. The Institutes of Biblical Law. Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1973. ———. Law and Liberty. Tyler, TX: Thoburn Press, 1971. ———. The Messianic Character of American Education: Studies in the History of the Philosophy of Education. Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1963. ———. The Myth of Over-Population. University Series: Historical Studies. Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1969. ———. The Mythology of Science. Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 2001. ———. The One and the Many: Studies in the Philosophy of Order and Ultimacy. Tyler, TX: Thoburn Press, 1971. ———. The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum. Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1981. ———. Politics of Guilt and Pity. Tyler, TX: Thoburn Press, 1970. ———. Thy Kingdom Come: Studies in Daniel and Revelation. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 1971. Schlossberg, Herbert. Idols for Destruction: Christian Faith and Its Confrontation with American Society. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983. ———. with Marvin Olasky. Turning Point: A Christian Worldview Declaration. Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1987. Sutton, Ray R. That You May Prosper: Dominion by Covenant. Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1987.


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———. Who Owns the Family? God or the State? Biblical Blueprints Series, Vol. 3. Fort Worth, TX: Dominion Press, 1986. Thoburn, Robert L. The Christian and Politics. Tyler, TX: Thoburn Press, 1984. ———. The Death of` Meaning. Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 2001. ———. The Flight from Humanity: A Study of the Effect of Neoplatonism on Christianity. Tyler, TX: Thoburn Press, 1973. ———. God’s Plan for Victory: The Meaning of Postmillennialism. Tyler, TX: Thoburn Press, 1977. ———. Revolt against Maturity: A Biblical Psychology of Man. Tyler, TX: Thoburn Press, 1977. ———. Salvation and Godly Rule. Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1983.


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About the Author

Stuart D. B. Picken was educated at Allan Glen’s School Glasgow and the University of Glasgow, where he majored in philosophy and divinity. He was ordained as a minister of the Church of Scotland and briefly held a charge, serving also as a presbytery moderator before embarking on an academic career. He served on the faculty of the International Christian University for 25 years prior to moving to Nagoya University of Commerce and Business as founding dean of an undergraduate faculty of Foreign Languages and Asian Studies (2002) and a Graduate School of Global Business Communication (2008). His books include Shinto: Japan’s Spiritual Roots (1979), The Essentials of Shinto (1994), Historical Dictionary of Shinto (Scarecrow Press, 2001), and Historical Dictionary of Japanese Business (Scarecrow Press, 2007). He is also the author of more than 200 academic papers and articles. From 1986 to 1988, he served as director of the Centre of Japanese Studies at the University of Stirling and was instrumental in founding the Japan Society of Scotland. In Japan, he served as council member of the Japan-British Society from 1981 to 2001. He has been actively involved in interreligious dialogue at many levels and in promoting the better understanding of Shinto and Japanese culture in Asia and the West. He served as special adviser to the president of the International Association for Religious Freedom between 1997 and 2000. He also maintains loose connections with the Japan Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Science in Beijing. Outside academia, he has functioned as a consultant to various major Japanese corporations. He retired early in 2001 and now lives in Perthshire in Scotland, where he devotes time to research and writing and is currently chair of the Council of the Japan Society of Scotland and chair of the advisory board of the International Academic Forum (iafor), which is based in Osaka and Hong Kong. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the emperor of Japan in 2007.

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Historical Dictionary of Calvinism

Historical Dictionary of Marxism

Historical Dictionary of Pakistan

Historical Dictionary of Byzantium

Historical Dictionary of Terrorism

Historical Dictionary of Mozambique

Historical Dictionary of Togo

Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria

Historical Dictionary of Tanzania

Historical dictionary of Rwanda

Historical dictionary of Kenya

Historical dictionary of Gabon

Historical dictionary of Benin

Historical Dictionary of Eritrea

Historical Dictionary of Tunisia

Historical dictionary of Paraguay

Historical Dictionary of Kyrgyzstan

Historical dictionary of Mauritania

Historical dictionary of Mali

Historical dictionary of Ghana

Historical dictionary of Malawi

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Historical dictionary of Madagascar

Historical Dictionary of Hinduism

Historical Dictionary of Lebanon

Historical dictionary of Algeria

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Historical dictionary of Botswana

Historical Dictionary of Uganda

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Historical Dictionary of Zambia

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Historical dictionary of Mauritania

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Historical dictionary of Ghana

Historical dictionary of Malawi

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Historical Dictionary of Hinduism

Historical Dictionary of Lebanon

Historical dictionary of Algeria

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Historical dictionary of Botswana

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