Posted in Ancient Philosophers, Anthropology, Aristotle, Bible, Epistemology, Hamartiology, John Calvin, Nature/Supernatural, Philosophy, Philosophy/Theology, Reason/Revelation, Reformation, Theology, tagged habit, nature, original righteousness, original sin on March 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Calvin says, as Aristotle and numerous others before him, that all men have a natural desire to know the truth that continues to function in some manner after the fall. Passages such as these are crucial in understanding Calvin’s theology of original sin. Man’s natural gifts remain after the fall but they are wounded by [...]
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The Bayerische StaatsBiblioteche is an excellent source of digitized books from all periods. They are up to 39,137 titles and adding more facsimile editions daily. The great thing about this site is you can download entire books in pdf. I’ve provided links to a couple of works that the Reformed community could greatly profit from. Martyr’s [...]
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Posted in Ancient Philosophers, Anthropology, Aristotle, Ethics, History, Linguistics, Medieval Authors, Nature/Supernatural, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Philosophy/Theology, Reformed Scholastics, Thomas Aquinas, tagged humanism, Italy, johannes argyropoulos, leonardo bruni, moral theology, renaissance, via antiqua on March 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
During the time of the Renaissance there was a debate between humanist moral theologians and those who followed the via antiqua. The former thought moral theology could not be properly utilized by the laity and should therefore be confined to the universities. The latter considered the practical science apt for the virtuous rhetor to use in [...]
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Posted in Aesthetics, Calvinism, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Philosophy, Reformed Scholastics, Religious Images, Theology, tagged Da Vinci, Donatello, iconoclasm, images of christ, senses on March 20, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Peter Martyr’s philosophy of images in worship is a portrayal of the typical Reformed view. He cites Epiphanious and Jerome as church fathers who agree with his position, that images should not be used in worship because men are already inclined toward idolatry. Images provoke the senses, and because of that they are less profitable than those [...]
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Augustine’s words quoted in the gloss mean, not that God is unable to do otherwise than nature does, since his works are often contrary to the wonted course of nature; but that whatever he does in things is not contrary to nature, but is nature in them, forasmuch as he is the author and controller [...]
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Posted in 20th Cent. Theologians, Ancient Philosophers, Aristotle, Augustine, Church Fathers, Contemp Theologians, Frederick Copleston, Henri de Lubac, Medieval Authors, Nature/Supernatural, Neo-Platonism, P.J. FitzPatrick, Philosophy, Philosophy/Theology, Thomas Aquinas, tagged nature, Aristotelieanism, reification, cajetan on March 15, 2009 | 3 Comments »
After reading de Lubac and some of his critics I still think the best interpretation of Thomas’s “natural desire” for the beatific vision comes from Frederick Copleston. The issue is a confusing one, primarily because we just don’t think in Aristotelian terms anymore. ”Nature” doesn’t mean the same thing for a modern scientist as it did [...]
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Posted in Augustine, Bible, Church Fathers, Hermeneutics, History, Law/Gospel, Medieval Authors, Soteriology, Theology, Theosis, Thomas Aquinas, tagged covenant theology, ephesians, new perspective, redemptive history on March 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Many theologians don’t want to interpret Paul’s statement in Eph. 2:14, 15 about Christ breaking down the “wall of hostility” as referring to an actual abolishing of the Old Law. Some are also afraid of viewing the passage in terms of Jew/Gentile relations because those within the New Perspective on Paul camp interpret similar passages [...]
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Posted in Anthropology, Ethics, Hamartiology, Natural Law, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Philosophy/Theology, Reformed Scholastics, Theology, tagged imago dei, original righteousness, original sin, Pighius, reason on March 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Vermigli affirms that the natural law accuses man because of the corruption resulting from the loss of original righteousness. He affirms against Pighius that there are three laws that bind our nature, thus rendering the lack of original righteousness a sin: (1) The institution of man as the imago Dei (image of God), which consists [...]
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