calvin at the centre jan 2010

[...]... generation of the Son? Perhaps What about his Incarnation? Certainly not Nevertheless, their books acted as a kind of voice from God himself Are they a vivid instance of what Calvin later on called the sensus divinitatis? There is no record that Calvin held any opinion about the significance of the books of the Platonists for Augustine, but he could have understood them in this way, for he stresses that the sensus... that the words he read in the Platonist literature were equivalent in meaning to some of the words from the Prologue of John’s Gospel.53 Not to all of the words, however For he insists that there was nothing equivalent in that literature to the idea that the word of God was made flesh, or that it was possible for men and women to receive him Did the Platonists teach some form of the eternal generation... God we at once gain true knowledge of ourselves, and in knowing ourselves we are at once led to know God There is no choice in the matter It is not that there are two distinct subject matters, God, and ourselves, which (Calvin counsels) it is wise to bring into some kind of positive relationship Rather, the knowledge of the one inevitably leads to the knowledge of the other; the knowledge of the other... it In the crisis of the Reformation Calvin is attempting to set forth the character of the Christian religion to those who already confess Christ It is a manual for ministers and lay leaders, but one that bears the marks of the particular struggles of the Reformation So what does he tell them? He tells them that the knowledge of God and of ourselves are ‘connected together by many ties’, but that it... At the other extreme Calvin says that there are those who artificially constrain God’s mercy, and so receive no consolation in believing The idea they entertain is, that this mercy is great and abundant, is shed upon many, is offered and ready to be bestowed upon all; but that it is uncertain whether it will reach to them individually, or rather whether they can reach to it.’30 True faith renders the. .. have become the dominant philosophy of the Reformed Churches as they developed after Calvin? What was there about Cartesianism to prevent this? KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM When Calvin says, at the head of the Institutes, that almost all the true and solid wisdom that we possess consists in the knowledge of God and of ourselves, it is well to note certain features of what he states, as well as what he is not... point obvious to Calvin from his own intellectual environment, a bit of theological common sense, in an era that was after all much more theologically charged than is ours? If the answer to either or both of these questions were to be proved affirmative, then each is compatible with the thesis that the influence could have been Aquinas, but was not, and strengthens the more general claim that Calvin is not... that owes more to philosophy than theology, but they are relatively independent of each other I hope nevertheless that the series of chapters may succeed in presenting a cumulative case for thinking that there is a significant intellectual centre which John Calvin occupies As in the earlier book I have done my best to articulate Calvin s ideas, and those of his conversation partners By this I mean that,... thought that the ‘light’ occurring in the Prologue to John’s Gospel referred to the same thing, though with the added bonus, never to be derived from the Platonists, of the revelation of the Incarnation of the Logos and the self-offering of this mediator.66 Menn treats Confessions VII as a case of faith seeking understanding, but I think that this needs careful thinking about For it is striking that the. .. prominent the interrelationship of the knowledge of God and of ourselves is in it Then we will consider two further elements in the picture: the influence of the ‘books of the Platonists’ on Augustine and how he learned from them to ‘ascend’ (in his mind) to God; and what Augustine believed this ascent to be We need to look no further than the opening pages of the work to be confronted with our theme, the . which (Calvin counsels) it is wise to bring into some kind of positive relationship. Rather, the knowledge of the one inevitably leads to the knowledge of the other; the knowledge of the other. Grace 64 4. The Visibility of God 98 5. Prov idence and Predestination 132 6. The Atonement 163 7. Duplex Gratia 196 8. Calvin the Compatibilist 227 9. Intermediate States 273 10. Pure Nature and. in the sense that it is indirectly an apologia for the Reformation, nor is it a textbook of theology, even though Calvin occasionally uses that word of it. In the crisis of the Reformation Calvin