“The Chief Task is to Assess the Protestant Adjustment of Traditional Scholastic Categories in the Light of The Reformation”

A Clearer Understanding of the Meaning of the Reformation Itself This entry concludes the section of Richard Muller’s work under the heading, “Doctrine and Method in the Era of Early Orthodoxy (ca. 1565-1618-1640)”. What’s been most notable for me, in publishing selections from Muller, is to notice the continuities of thought through the Reformation period. …

Trajectories in Aristotelianism and Rationalism in Early Reformed Orthodoxy

I am often asked, “at a time when there is a flood of people leaving Roman Catholicism, why does it seem that so many intellectuals seem to be moving in the opposite direction?” There are a number of reasons for this – some Anglicans are converting because of the rampant liberalism and decline in morality …

Philosophies that didn’t help: Philosophical Issues and Developments in the Post-Reformation Era 2

Man is created for worship. And if he will not worship the one true God, he will find something else to worship. “Atheists”, “deists”, “practical atheists”, even followers of ancient Hermes all found something to hold onto with the resurgence of the various “reappropriations” of classical philosophies. In some respects, it was the second century …

The Rise of Post-Reformation Systematics

I’ve been working through Richard Muller’s “Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics”. Some time ago, Muller was discussing the rise of “a revised scholasticism”, “as a result, not of doctrinal change, but of the participation of [Protestant] theological faculties in the academic culture of the age”, and as “a more suitable systematic vehicle in and through which to …

Method and System in Early Reformed Orthodoxy

Much of what follows is merely background material, but I find it fascinating to understand what things needed to be emphasized by the early Orthodox writers. Here (as with other entries from this series), I’ve added both paragraph breaks and bold emphasis for easier reading and digestion: Early orthodoxy is also the period of Ramism. …

The Reformation and the Formation of an Orthodoxy

The title here is Muller’s section title. He posits that “the Reformation” and “the formation of an Orthodoxy” are two related, but separate events or eras. A final element of the thesis or the approach to Reformed orthodoxy found both in this and in the subsequent volumes concerns the nature of a Protestant “orthodoxy” itself. …