Calvin and Winthrop Between the Ages: Theological Aesthetics and the Affirmation of Ordinary Life (Part 3 of 4)

The Sick Bed by Edward Prentis (1836) This is part 3 of a four-part series (see Part 1 and Part 2). In this post I discuss Calvinist theological aesthetics. It relates to my posts on natural beauty and the Art of Being Calvinist. Calvin’s Ephemeral Aesthetics To a certain extent, the theological shift in the …

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 …

Natural Theology 3: Vermigli on the Natural Knowledge of God

Richard Muller rounds out the Reformers’s view of “natural theology” with a section on Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562). Vermigli was a “Thomist-trained” Italian who, “of all the early Reformed codifiers of doctrine, produced the most extended treatment of the problem of the natural knowledge of God in relation to theology.” It is telling that “in …

Natural Theology 2: Calvin’s Conception of the Knowledge of God

Jacob Aitken writes, “Any discussion of the imago-dei (“Image of God” in man) is better served, not by speculating on essences and accidents, but on man’s role as priest-king-prophet in creation and New Creation”. Down below, you’ll see much the same conclusion from Muller regarding Calvin’s understanding of the imago dei: it must be informed …

Groundwork for a Reformed Theology of Public Aesthetics

The Apostle Paul said that “the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:14). How one goes about loving one’s neighbor is the subject of much discussion and controversy in Christianity. Among Reformed Christians, the debate on Christian public engagement between the Two-Kingdom advocates, the Kuyperians, the …

Fudging Aristotle: A Digression (Part 2): “’Not Informed by God’s Revelation”

Ever since Tertullian famously asked “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” the relationship between theology and philosophy has been full of ups and downs. And while Christianity emerged from Old Testament Judaism, in Palestine, Christianity itself entered a world that was largely Greek-speaking and “Hellenistic” – that is, one that was shaped by Greek …