The Change in the Philosophical Situation Brought about by the Reformation: Paracelsus’s New Natural Philosophy and the “No” in Jakob Böhme’s God

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittorio Hösle
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Direct Experience ◽  
New Science ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Humoral Pathology ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Philosophical Account ◽  
German Philosopher ◽  
Scientific Ideas

This chapter examines the thoughts of natural philosopher Theophrastus Bombastus of Hohenheim, called Paracelsus (1493–1541), and Jakob Böhme (1575–1624). Like most of the innovative ideas of the sixteenth century, Paracelsus's philosophical-scientific ideas belong to the time of fermentation between the collapse of Scholastic science and the emergence of the new science in the seventeenth century. The polemic against traditional medicine, especially the humoral pathology that derived from books rather than from direct experience, is conducted in a churlish manner reminiscent of Luther and with bombastic self-praise. Böhme is considered first epoch-making German philosopher of the modern period. He was a cobbler who had had experienced mystical visions and wanted to provide a deeper foundation for his traditional Lutheran piety (inspired by the Bible) through a philosophical account of the development of God, nature, and redemption through Christ.

scholarly journals Francis Bacon and the Relation between Theology and Natural Philosophy

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-123
Author(s):  
Ünsal Çimen
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
European History ◽  
Francis Bacon ◽  
Philosophy Of Nature ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Religious Influences ◽  
Ecclesiastical Authority ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Final Causes

The Reformation in European history was an attempt to remove ecclesiastical authority from political (or secular) authority and culture – a process called secularisation. During the eighteenth and especially nineteenth centuries, however, secularisation gained a different meaning, which is, briefly stated, evolving from religiousness to irreligiousness. Instead of referring to becoming free from religious tutelage, it began to refer to the total isolation of societies from religion. For those who saw secularisation as atheism, having ideas which were supportive of secularisation and having a religious basis was contradictory. For example, Francis Bacon was interpreted as non-secular due to his usage of the Bible as his reference to justify his ideas regarding the liberation of science from theology. Contrarily, in this paper, I argue that Bacon’s philosophy of nature is secular. To do this, alongside addressing Biblical references presented in his works, I will also explore how Bacon freed natural (or secular) knowledge from religious influences by removing final causes from natural philosophical inquiries.

Some Eminent Newtonians and Providential Geophysics at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century

1983 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Force
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
New Science ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Natural Philosophers ◽  
Geophysical System

At the end of the Seventeenth Century, geophysical speculations among such eminent Newtonian natural philosophers as William Whiston, Edmond Halley, and John Keill concerning the moral fabric of the post-Fall geophysical system, the earth's place in the Newtonian framework of the heavens, and what counts as evidence in geophysical theorizing reflect a definite rejection of the dominant Seventeenth Century Earth Theorist, Thomas Burnet. All three Newtonians are confident that the earth's fabric is not morally corrupt, that, like Newton's heaven, the earth is providentially designed, and that knowledge of its structure ought to be firmly rooted in empirical observation. Nevertheless, there is a major disagreement between Whiston and Keill about how to interpret the Bible. Whiston accepts revealed scripture, properly interpreted by the Newtonian exegete, as compatible with Newtonian science. Keill alone among the Newtonians is convinced that there are some aspects of the Bible which no amount of "scientific" interpreting will square with science. In such cases, for Keill, the Biblical view must always prevail. In the views of neither man, however, is there room for any sort of warfare between the new science and the old religion. Either revelation is completely accepted when an apparent dispute arises as with Keill or a complete correlation is simply assumed as with Whiston.

“he is bothyn modyr, broþyr, & syster vn-to me”

2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-315
Author(s):  
Beth Allison Barr
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Religious Texts ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
The Church

Examining recent claims that the early modern Bible served as an empowering force for women, this article draws evidence from English sermons designed for quotidinal lay instruction—such as the late medieval sermons of Festial, the sixteenth-century Tudor Homilies, and the seventeenth-century sermons of William Gouge and Benjamin Keach. As didactic religious texts written and delivered by men but also heard and read by women, sermons reveal how preachers rhetorically shaped the contours of women’s agency. Late medieval sermons include women specifically in scripture and authorize women through biblical role models as actively participating within the church. Conversely, early modern sermons were less likely to add women into scripture and more likely to use scripture to limit women by their domestic identities. Thus, through their approaches to biblical texts, medieval preachers present women as more visible and active agents whereas early modern preachers present women as less visible and more limited in their roles—thereby presenting a more complex story of how the Bible affected women across the Reformation.

Sexual Difference

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Crowther
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Sexual Difference ◽  
Sexual Differences ◽  
Medical Texts ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Historical Developments

This essay that sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europeans told many competing and conflicting stories about sexual differences and gender identities. These stories came from a wide range of sources, including the Bible, natural philosophical and medical texts, and travelers’ tales of exotic locales. Ideas about sexual difference were profoundly shaped by three interrelated historical developments: the religious upheavals of the Reformation; dramatic changes in medicine and science; and European exploration and colonization. The Protestant rejection of clerical celibacy led to new views of the differences between men and women and their respective roles in marriage and in society as a whole. Developments in science and medicine, specifically the recovery of ancient Greek medical texts, the rise of anatomical dissections, and the new importance of alchemy, as well as exploration and colonization of non-European lands and peoples, all shaped understandings of sexual differences.

The Reception of Descartes in the Seventeenth-Century Scottish Universities: Metaphysics and Natural Philosophy (1650–1680)

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Gellera
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy

In 1685, during the heyday of Scottish Cartesianism (1670–90), regent Robert Lidderdale from Edinburgh University declared Cartesianism the best philosophy in support of the Reformed faith. It is commonplace that Descartes was ostracised by the Reformed, and his role in pre-Enlightenment Scottish philosophy is not yet fully acknowledged. This paper offers an introduction to Scottish Cartesianism, and argues that the philosophers of the Scottish universities warmed up to Cartesianism because they saw it as a newer, better version of their own traditional Reformed scholasticism, chiefly in metaphysics and natural philosophy.

Witches and Forgers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Mandelbrote
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Republic Of Letters ◽  
The Bible ◽  
God's Word ◽  
1 Samuel ◽  
The Witch

Scepticism and loyalty represent the poles of van Dale’s career. Two contexts have been mentioned as relevant here: the seventeenth-century attack on magic and superstition, and the circles of friendship that created a contemporary Republic of Letters. This chapter evaluates both contexts, as well as others that may throw light on his relatively neglected attitude to the text of the Bible. It brings into focus two important intellectual episodes: his treatment of the account of the Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:3–25), and his engagement with Hellenistic sources relating to the text of the Old Testament, especially to the miraculous composition of the Septuagint. These issues brought van Dale to ask questions about God’s Word. The chapter explores the limits of his scepticism, the extent of his scholarship, and the role of friendship and isolation in his development. Finally, it draws attention to his place in contemporary Mennonite debates.

Afterword

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Brownlee
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
Popular Entertainment ◽  
Departure Point ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Relationship

The recent upturn in biblically based films in Anglophone cinema is the departure point for this Afterword reflecting on the Bible’s impact on popular entertainment and literature in early modern England. Providing a survey of the book’s themes, and drawing together the central arguments, the discussion reminds that literary writers not only read and used the Bible in different ways to different ends, but also imbibed and scrutinized dominant interpretative principles and practices in their work. With this in mind, the Afterword outlines the need for further research into the relationship between biblical readings and literary writings in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe.

Black Books and Brownies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Milbank
Keyword(s):  
Historical Change ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Black Book ◽  
James Hogg ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The Future

Scottish fiction about the Reformation is concerned with the mechanics of historical change, which are rendered through a series of enchanted books and people discussed in Chapter 8. In the novel, The Monastery, describing the Dissolution and Reformation, Scott gothicizes the Bible as a magic book and the White Lady as its guardian to dramatize the mysterious nature of religious change, the dependence of the future on a Gothic past, and the need for interpretation. In Old Mortality, Scott’s protagonist escapes the frozen dualities of Covenanter and Claverhouse, revealing historical change itself as problematic in Humean terms and requiring a leap of faith. James Hogg contests this presentation of the Covenanters by re-enchanting them as supposed brownies, as mediators of history and nature, and in his Three Perils of Man reprises Scott’s wizard Michael Scott pitted against Roger Bacon and his ‘black book’ the Bible to present the Reformation as an eternal reality.

Presbyterian Preaching

2019 ◽  
pp. 506-523
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Long
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
New School ◽  
Intellectual Content ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Korean Presbyterian ◽  
Early Expression ◽  
History Of ◽  
School Conflict

Presbyterian preaching grew from roots in the Reformation, particularly the Calvinist wing. The fullest early expression of the character of Presbyterian preaching is in the Westminster Standards, documents produced in England by an assembly of Calvinist clergy and laymen in the mid-seventeenth century. These documents described the key qualities of Reformed, and thus Presbyterian, preaching: sermons grounded in the Bible, containing significant doctrinal content, and aimed at teaching and edifying congregants.The authors of the Westminster Standards prescribed preaching that was substantive and lively, filled with biblical and doctrinal content, and touched the hearts of hearers. Throughout the history of Presbyterian preaching, however, these twin goals were often difficult to attain. This tension between intellectual, content-centered preaching and more emotional, experience-centered preaching among Presbyterian is evident in such events as the Old Side–New Side controversy in the mid-1700s and the Old School–New School conflict from 1837 to 1869 (both in America), in Scottish Presbyterian preaching in the early nineteenth century, and in Korean Presbyterian preaching during the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twentieth century.Today as many Presbyterian preachers use digital media and conversational-style sermons, a strong desire continues for preaching that is clear, deeply theological and biblical, impassioned, and relevant.

The Seventeenth Century and the Westminster Assembly

2019 ◽  
pp. 28-49
Author(s):  
Chad van Dixhoorn
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
High Point ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
Church Polity ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Westminster Assembly

The seventeenth century marked a high point in the Presbyterian experiment. A variety of models were tested internationally, and apologists for its polity offered a rigorous defense against Episcopalians, Congregationalists, and Erastians. The Westminster Assembly offered Presbyterians the first opportunity since the Reformation to model a fully Reformed church in England, and the gathering looked closely not only at the teachings of Scripture on ecclesial governance, but also at historical and contemporary models of connectional, nonhierarchical government to guide their formulations on church polity. The century also saw some of the worst persecution of Presbyterians, especially in France and Scotland, but also in England and central Europe. During their seasons of suffering, some Presbyterians found subtle ways to articulate their polity or identify essential elements of Presbyterianism. Others fought or fled hostile authorities, supplying a legacy of martyr narratives and missionary impulses for later Presbyterians.

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