Reformed Natural Theology – Part 3 (Pictet)

Part 1 and Part 2 Our discussion of Reformed natural theology concludes with an analysis of the work of Benedict Pictet (1655-1724). Pictet was Francis Turretin’s nephew and studied theology and philosophy under him. He was also Turretin’s assistant in the theology department of the Academy of Geneva. He later replaced Turretin as the chair …

A Reformed Perspective on Natural Beauty

The universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God. ~ Belgic Confession of Faith Swiss Alps The Protestant Reformers spoke often of the beauty of creation. Indeed, natural beauty[1] plays an important role in some …

Review of The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders (1)

In the next few weeks or months, I plan to review the book The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders: Reason, Revelation, and Revolution, chapter-by-chapter.[1] It is written by Gregg Frazer, a Master’s College professor of history and political science. The book has caused a stir among those who have an interest in the United States …

Reformation era background to the discussion of archetypal and ectypal theology

The discussion of “archetypal” and “ectypal” theology seems to follow from an understanding of Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law…” Muller moves from a discussion of …

Warfield on Calvin: General and Special Revelation

In John’s recent posts (here, here, and here), I’ve expressed some concern over Richard Muller’s characterization of Calvin’s view of the relationship of special revelation (scripture) to general revelation (or natural revelation). I cited Benjamin Warfield as support. Some of my concerns, I admit, were due to a misreading of Muller, my phobia of nominalism …

Aquinas gets this wrong, and much confusion follows

There are a lot of moving parts in this discussion, I admit. Here we have a discussion about a concept, in which the discussion moves from Aristotle to Aquinas to Scotus to Luther to Calvin to Turretin and Warfield. In my recent blog post, Luther’s Theology of the Cross and Metaphysics, I cited Muller as …