Calvin and the Reformed Tradition

by Muller, Richard A.

• ISBN13: 9780801048708
• ISBN10: 0801048702
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-11-15
• Publisher: Baker Academic

Summary

Richard Muller, a world-class scholar of the Reformation era, examines the relationship of Calvin's theology to the Reformed tradition, indicating Calvin's place in the tradition as one of several significant second-generational formulators. Muller argues that the Reformed tradition is a diverse and variegated movement not suitably described either as founded solely on the thought of John Calvin or as a reaction to or deviation from Calvin, thereby setting aside the old "Calvin and the Calvinists" approach in favor of a more integral and representative perspective. Muller offers historical corrective and nuance on topics of current interest in Reformed theology, such as limited atonement/universalism, union with Christ, and the order of salvation.

Author Biography

Richard A. Muller (PhD, Duke University) is P. J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary and the author of numerous books.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 9
From Reformation to Orthodoxy: The Reformed Tradition in the Early Modern Era	p. 13
Approaching Reformation and Orthodoxy
Deconstructing the Master Narratives
Method and Content-Once Again
Toward a Contextualized Intellectual History of Reformed Protestantism
An Overview of the Study
Was Calvin a Calvinist?	p. 51
Defining the Question: Varied Understandings of "Calvinism"
"Calvinism" as Calvin's own position
"Calvinism" as the approach of Calvin's "followers"
"Calvinism" as a name for the Reformed tradition
Theological Considerations: Calvin in Relation to the Later Reformed
The problem of TULIP
The problem of predestination, christocentrism, and central dogmas
The humanist-scholastic dichotomies
Calvin, Calvinism, and covenant theology
Conclusions
Calvin on Christ's Satisfaction and Its Efficacy: The Issue of "Limited Atonement"	p. 70
"Atonement" and "Limited Atonement": A Problem of Terminology
Universality of Offer and Limitation of Salvation: The Exegetical Issue
Calvin and the Traditional Scholastic Distinction: Infinite Sufficiency and Limited Efficiency
Manducatio indignorum and the Limitation of Sacramental Efficacy
Limited Salvific Intention, Limited Intercession, and Limited Union: Correlative Aspects of Christ's Priestly Office
Conclusions
A Tale of Two Wills? Calvin, Amyraut, and Du Moulin on Ezekiel 18:23	p. 107
Amyraut, Calvin, and Exegesis: The Issue of Ezekiel 18:23
Reading Calvin's Exegesis: Amyraut on the Interpretation of Ezekiel 18:23
Calvin's Interpretation of Ezekiel 18:23
Response to Amyraut: Du Moulin on Citation of Calvin and the Interpretation of Ezekiel 18
Conclusions
Davenant and Du Moulin: Variant Approaches to Hypothetical Universalism	p. 126
John Davenant and the Gallican Controversy over Hypothetical Universalism
Davenant, Dort, and dating the debate
Davenant, the British delegation, and the Synod of Dort
Davenant's response to the Gallican controversy
Pierre Du Moulin on the Extent and Efficacy of Christ's Satisfaction
Du Moulin and the debate over hypothetical universalism
Du Moulin against the Arminians
From Arminius to Cameron to Amyraut: Du Moulin's perceptions in 1637
The efficacy of Christ's death and universal grace: Du Moulin against Amyraut
Conclusions
The "Golden Chain" and the Causality of Salvation: Beginings of the Reformed Ordo Salutis	p. 161
Ordo Salutis: The Term and Its Origins
Reformation-Era Backgrounds and Foundations
Reformation-era exegesis of the "golden chain"
Reformers on the causality of salvation
Zacharias Ursinus on the Causality of Salvation
Faith and its causes in the theology of Zacharias Ursinus
Ursinus on the causality of justification and conversion
Predestination, Christ, and the order of salvation
Early Orthodox Developments
Reformed commentators of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
Formalizing the chain: Rennecherus, Perkins, Bucanus, and Maxey on the sequence of causes of salvation
Conclusions
Union with Christ and the Ordo Salutis: Reflections on Developments in Early Modern Reformed Thought	p. 202
Foundational Formulations of the Unio cum Christo
Calvin on union with Christ and the application of salvation
Other influences on the early orthodox Reformed development: Viret, Vermigli, and Musculus
Unio cum Christo in Developments Leading to Early Reformed Orthodoxy
Zanchi on union with Christ
Theodore Beza and the unio
Caspar Olevianus-exegesis and the unio cum Christo
Reformed Orthodoxy and Unio cum Christo: From Exegesis to Doctrinal Formulation
Union with Christ in early orthodox exegesis of Romans 8
Perkins, Polanus, and Ames-the application of salvation and union with Christ in early orthodoxy
After Perkins, Polanus, and Ames-union with Christ in later Reformed orthodoxy
Conclusions
Calvin, Beza, and the Later Reformed on Assurance of Salvation and the "Practical Syllogism"	p. 244
The Problem of the Practical Syllogism
The practical syllogism and the early modern quest for certainity
Calvin and the syllogismus practicus in contemporary scholarship
Some definition: what is a "practical syllogism"?
Calvin and the problem of assurance
Assurance and the Practical Syllogism after Calvin
Theodore Beza and the syllogismus practicus
After Beza: the syllogism in some later Reformed writers
Conclusions
Conclusions	p. 277
Index	p. 285
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