scholarly journals Sixteenth-Century Philosophy and Theology after John Mair

Author(s):  
Giovanni Gellera

This chapter investigates the concept and theological use of philosophy in Scotland after John Mair. Until the 1570s, philosophy in Scotland was in the tradition of scholasticism. After the Reformation, Melville’s university reform changed the philosophical landscape. Across Europe, the first generation of the Reformers had taught that scholasticism and Aristotle were not necessary for the Christian faith, and philosophers and theologians alike had to rethink the traditional scholasticism of Catholic legacy. This intellectual change is traced here with a focus on the role, scope, and autonomy of philosophy with respect to theology. After the dismissal of Aristotelo-scholasticism, both scholasticism and Aristotelianism survived in the universities in new forms adapted to Reformation theology. Aristotle in particular, regarded as the personification of unassisted natural reason, retained his importance. The status of Aristotle is a good indicator of the prevailing concept of philosophy.

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-330
Author(s):  
SARAH MORTIMER

AbstractThe debate over counsels of perfection was a crucial aspect of the formation of political and ethical thought in the sixteenth century. It led both Protestants and Catholics to consider the status of law and to consider how far it obliged human beings, rather than simply permitting particular actions. From Luther onwards, Protestants came to see God's standards for human beings in absolute terms, rejecting any suggestion that there were good works which were merely counselled rather than commanded, and therefore not obligatory. This view of ethics underpinned the Protestant theological critique of Catholic doctrines of merit but it also shaped the distinctively Protestant account of natural law. It enabled Luther and his allies to defend magisterial control over the church, and it also formed a crucial element of Protestant resistance theory. By examining the Lutheran position on counsels, expressed in theological and political writings, and comparing it with contemporary Catholic accounts, this article offers a new perspective on Reformation theology and political thought.


2020 ◽  
pp. 11-32
Author(s):  
J. V. Fesko

This chapter surveys the Reformation views by first tracing the patristic and medieval origins of the doctrine of the covenant of works. It shows that the idea of an Adamic covenant was not an invention of the sixteenth century but has origins in inter-testamental Judaism, which Christian theologians such as St. Augustine picked up. It also originated from translations of Hosea 6:7. It also explores the doctrine’s advocates among sixteenth-century Roman Catholic theologians and then key Reformed theologians. The chapter shows that key building blocks of the doctrine were present in first generation reformers that later developed into the covenant of works. The later tradition did not, therefore, deviate from the earlier tradition but built upon ideas that were originally present.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Sposato

This chapter examines the dominance of Lutheran orthodoxy in Leipzig from the beginning of the German Reformation to the nineteenth century. Lutheran orthodoxy was an older, more Catholic form of Lutheranism that was closer to Luther’s earliest teachings. Saxony was divided between Albertine Saxony (Catholic) and Ernestine Saxony (Lutheran). Because it was an important Catholic city, Leipzig’s adoption of Lutheranism in 1539 retained all aspects of Catholic liturgy that were not in direct conflict with Reformation theology. In 1697, the conversion of Elector Friedrich August I created a situation of a Catholic monarch in Dresden ruling over the Reformation stronghold of Saxony. This paradox would influence church theology and music for centuries, including the retention of a sixteenth-century liturgy that resembled the Catholic liturgy, along with corresponding music. Pietism and rationalism were also threats to Lutheran orthodoxy. Church Superintendent Johann Georg Rosenmüller would modernize the liturgy beginning in 1785.


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Pierre Gisel

RÉSUMÉ: L’article interroge ce qu’il en est de la Réforme protestante à l’enseigne de « Qu’est-ce que réformer une religion ? ». Cela suppose qu’on en examine le déploiement dans le temps et qu’on le fasse en fonction de quelques problématiques à élaborer. Au XVIe siècle, la Réforme protestante hérite d’une antécédence et s’en démarque, comme le font aussi la Réforme radicale et la Réforme catholique, chacune diWérente, mais chacune nouvelle et chacune déterminée par la donne socio-culturelle du temps. L’article revient sur la « scène primitive » de la Réforme, sur la structuration de l’Eglise, sur ce qui s’y modiZent du type de fondement mis en avant, du statut et des formes de la transcendance, des modalités d’articulation au séculier. Sur cet arrière-plan, l’article revisite les oppositions confessionnelles usuelles, interrogeant critiquement chacun des termes alors mis en avant. Il y souligne tout particulièrement une radicalité liée à la posture protestante, avec ses forces et ses risques. Il se termine enfin avec l’évocation de questions contemporaines s’inscrivant dans la suite de cette histoire.ABSTRACT: The article questions the Protestant Reformation under the guise of «What does it mean to reform a religion?» . This implies that its’ implementation over time be examined and that this be done while taking into consideration a few under lying problems. In the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation inherited antecedents and differentiated itself from them, as did the radical Reformation and the Catholic Reformation, each different, but each new and each determined by the socio-cultural context of the time. The article returns to the «primitive scene» of the Reformation, to the structuring of the Church, to the changes that are taking place in the type of foundation being put forward and to the status and forms of transcendence, models of articulation in secularity. On this background, the article revisits the usual confessional oppositions, critically interrogating each of the ideas presented. In particular, it points out the radicalness linked to the Protestant position, with its strengths and risks. It ends by evoking contemporary questions for the continuation of this event.


Author(s):  
Koji Yamamoto

Projects began to emerge during the sixteenth century en masse by promising to relieve the poor, improve the balance of trade, raise money for the Crown, and thereby push England’s imperial ambitions abroad. Yet such promises were often too good to be true. This chapter explores how the ‘reformation of abuses’—a fateful slogan associated with England’s break from Rome—came to be used widely in economic contexts, and undermined promised public service under Elizabeth and the early Stuarts. The negative image of the projector soon emerged in response, reaching both upper and lower echelons of society. The chapter reconstructs the social circulation of distrust under Charles, and considers its repercussions. To do this it brings conceptual tools developed in social psychology and sociology to bear upon sources conventionally studied in literary and political history.


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