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The free offer of the gospel has been a matter of significant debate within Reformed theology. However, despite this controversy, Reformed theologians such as James Durham preached a gospel offer which was a sincere and free invitation from God to all, to embrace Jesus Christ as Saviour. This gospel offer expressed Gods grace and goodness to all. Donald MacLean argues that Durhams doctrinal position is representative of the Westminster Standards and embraced by his contemporaries and evidenced by the later disputes concerning the meaning of the teaching of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Herman Speelman deals with a central question in the intellectual history of the sixteenth century: to what extent can Calvin be regarded as responsible for the tendency in Calvinism or, broader, in Reformed Protestantism, to form a church which has its own ecclesiastical organization and office bearers? So far, claiming a great deal of independence for the church has been considered an important aspect of Calvins legacy. In this line of reasoning, it is assumed that Calvin was a strong opponent of the church as a state organization that did not have its own governing body and power of excommunication.To better understand this issue, we first examine the position of the church within the city-state of Bern. Secondly, we direct our attention to the manner in which Calvin gave form to ecclesiastical life in Geneva. Next we deal with the church in France, and finally, we examine the influence of Calvin and French Calvinism on the organization of the Reformed church in The Netherlands in the 1570s.

Daniel Kalaj (d.1681) was a Polish Reformer of Hungarian background, born in Little Poland (Malopolska) and trained in Franeker, Friesland, under some of the most brilliant Reformed theologians of seventeenth-century Europe, such as Cocceius and Cloppenburgh. Kalajs ministry in the Reformed Church of Little Poland was abruptly interrupted when Catholic authorities wrongly accused him of spreading then-outlawed Arianism, calling him a Calvinoarian. Kalaj became the first Polish Protestant minister to receive a sentence of capital punishment as a result of the new anti-toleration law issued in 1658 against Arians, under the false pretext of military treason during the Second Northern War (16551660). He escaped the axe by fleeing to Lithuania (and later to Gdask), where he wrote his best-known work A Friendly Dialogue between an Evangelical Minister and a Roman Catholic Priest. The Friendly Dialogue is both: Kalajs own personal defense and a compendium to Polish Reformed doctrine, and has a strongly irenic disposition. In contrast with many Reformed thinkers of his day, Kalaj is capable of communicating Reformed doctrine in a friendly and peaceful manner. He places special emphasis on the unity of the catholic church, as expressed in his statement that the three churches Roman, and Lutheran, and Reformed are all part of one true church before God, while at the same time attempting to retain his Reformed orthodoxy.

The Lucianic text of the Historical Books is demonstrably a late, recensional text, but it has numerous curious agreements with the earliest witnesses against B and the majority of the manuscripts. Tuukka Kauhanen aims at throwing light on this proto-Lucianic problem in 1 Samuel (1 Kingdoms) by taking a comprehensive view of all the relevant witnesses. Kauhanen concludes that there are significantly less of actual proto-Lucianic readings than has often been supposed and refutes the old theory of the proto-Lucianic recension.

In Lutheran Germany of the post-Reformation era (ca. 15801750), a genre of pastoral, ethical writings arose that consisted in casuistry and in topically or thematically related theological counsels. In this first volume of the new Refo500 series Mayes shows that this casuistry literature was intended to instruct and comfort the consciences of Christians. Lutheran casuistry, related to but also distinct from Roman Catholic and Reformed counterparts, arose especially as pastors looked within Holy Scripture, the medieval tradition, and the writings of Martin Luther and other Lutheran authorities for answers to ethical problems and doctrinal disputes, and then catalogued their findings. As an extensive example from this genre Mayes examines the Thesaurus Consiliorum Et Decisionum, published in 1671 by Georg Dedekenn and Johann Ernst Gerhard. This Thesaurus was an anthology of wise advice from Lutheran theologians and jurists, published to encourage readers to avoid individualistic ethical choices and instead to engage in an "aristocratic" process of moral decision making in which one would consult the wise men of the past and present. The counsels included in the Thesaurus address inter-confessional disputes, intra-Lutheran disputes, sacraments, church government, pastoral ministry, social ethics, marriage, sexual ethics, and many other topics. The topics of divorce and remarriage, especially, show the different ways in which Lutherans reasoned about moral matters. The author shows that in the Thesaurus the Lutheran casuistry literature, which has been overlooked in most scholarship of the 20th and 21st centuries, was in bloom. It arose to meet the needs of people who had doubts, and it continued to instruct and console Christian consciences for many generations.

This volume of the new DSI series is the most comprehensive investigation of Hebrew and Greek translation equivalents in Ps 42-43 in the Psalter and in the Septuagint as a whole currently available. This detailed study does not only include the translation equivalents in the Septuagint, the semantic meanings of the Hebrew and Greek words are also discussed and parallels in the LXX as well as in the Hebrew Bible are included. A systematic investigation of the translators method must be carried out before one can use the manuscripts in a proper way. Accordingly, the extensive translation-technical emphasis and the discussion of text-critical matters make it possible to present a more accurate Old Greek text and this book may thus contribute to a new critical edition of the Greek Psalter. The book is also in some respects in itself a text-critical study, since all variants in Rahlfs edition of the Septuagint Psalms, with the addition of Papyrus Bodmer XXIV (Rahlfs 2110), as well as Hebrew variants, are referred to and studied. This includes suggestions and evaluations of the Hebrew Vorlage behind the Septuagint text. It is also a commentary on the Hebrew and the Greek texts of Ps 42-43. Like other commentaries, it describes the position of the psalm, it presents the unity and form of the psalm, its structure and its relation to the close context. As a commentary on both the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint, it gives an overall interpretation of the psalm in Hebrew and in Greek separately. The book can be read by the specialist in Septuagint studies as well as all scholars interested in translation, textual criticism, and in the book of Psalms, not least its use of metaphors and the reflection of temple theology.

Philosophy of religion, as is often demanded today, must change from a philosophy of religion to a philosophy of religions, otherwise it has no academic future in a pluralistic world. It should look at religions worldwide in all their diversity and no longer be content with a construct of religion in the tradition of Western theism. The criticism is often justified. However, the proposed alternatives do not offer a solution, but only multiply the problems. That is why this study takes a different approach. We can learn from Kant and Kierkegaard that existential problems and not questions of religion are at the center of the philosophy of religion. Philosophy of religion is not primarily concerned with knowledge about religion or religions, but with self-knowledge. Like all critical philosophy, it aims to enable self-thinking, self-assessment and self-action. This existential turn in the philosophy of religion is concretized in four central areas of existential challenges: the relationship between existence and the idea of God, between meaning, absurdity, and existence, between existence and evil, and between infinite love and finite existence. [Das Mysterium der Existenz. Religionsphilosophie und die existentielle Wende]Religionsphilosophie, so wird heute oft gefordert, muss sich von einer Religionsphilosophie zu einer Philosophie der Religionen wandeln, sonst hat sie in einer pluralistischen Welt keine akademische Zukunft. Sie sollte die Religionen weltweit in ihrer ganzen Vielfalt in den Blick nehmen und sich nicht mehr mit einem Konstrukt von Religion in der Tradition des westlichen Theismus begnugen. Die Kritik ist oft berechtigt. Die vorgeschlagenen Alternativen bieten jedoch keine Losung, sondern vervielfachen nur die Probleme. Deshalb wahlt diese Studie einen anderen Ansatz. Von Kant und Kierkegaard konnen wir lernen, dass existenzielle Probleme und nicht Fragen der Religion im Mittelpunkt der Religionsphilosophie stehen. In der Religionsphilosophie geht es nicht in erster Linie um Wissen uber Religion oder Religionen, sondern um Selbsterkenntnis. Wie jede kritische Philosophie zielt sie darauf ab, Selbstdenken, Selbstbeurteilung und Selbsthandeln zu ermoglichen. Diese existenzielle Wende in der Religionsphilosophie wird in vier zentralen Bereichen existenzieller Herausforderungen konkretisiert: dem Verhaltnis zwischen Existenz und Gottesidee, zwischen Sinn, Absurditat und Existenz, zwischen Existenz, Ubel und Bosem und zwischen unendlicher Liebe und endlicher Existenz.

In this volume, the contributions analyze diverse apocalyptic phenomena, religious and secular alike. The authors use the category of entanglements in order to demonstrate that the terms "religious" and "secular" remain ideal type abstractions, which dissolve upon a closer empirical look. They converge on the assumption that apocalypse as literature genre and lens of interpretation either leads towards emancipation or totalitarian control. The role of apocalypse in the advance of modernity is analyzed and how the once religious concept changes through secularization and adaptation by various movements on the political spectrum. The main goal is to achieve mutual appreciation by both religious and secular actors alike, who seek to enhance the common good. Both the church and secular society must humbly recognize that each needs the other. The church must recover its apocalyptic roots and the secular society admit its limitations.

In the study of Christian eschatological thought, virtually no attention has been given to past interpretations of the biblical phrase the new heavens and earth. John Duff uncovers the interpretations of this phrase that were extant in seventeenth-century England. These interpretations fall into two basic campsthose that understood the phrase metaphorically and those that understood the phrase literally.Some English divines believed the new heavens and earth referred to the new age of the gospel that commenced in the first century CE. At that time, God flung open the doors of salvation to Gentiles while at the same time bringing judgment to the Jewish nation for its failure to recognize and embrace Jesus as Messiah. This epic transition was fittingly described as a new heavens and earth.A second group of English interpreters believed the phrase stood for a yet future time when the political and religious circumstances of the world would change for the betterment of the church for one thousand years. The new heavens and earth stood for a future millennium in which Christ would establish his reign over the world prior to the day of resurrection and final judgment. Theologians who accepted a literal understanding believed the new heavens and earth described the renovation of the physical creation at the final judgment. Among this group, differences of opinion existed with respect to how much of the world would need cleansing, what creatures would be restored and of what use would a renovated world serve. The idea that the earth, and not heaven, would be the final abode of the saints emerged among a few obscure writers.

The Bible is the foundational text for the Byzantine Empire. The papers of this volume explore its reception through appropriation, adaptation and interpretation as articulated in all aspects of Byzantine society. Several sessions at the ISBL held in Vienna, 6 to 10 July 2014 on The Reception of the Bible in Greco-Roman Tradition,The Bible between Jews and Christians in Byzantium,Biblical Scholarship in Byzantium, and Biblical Foundations of Byzantine Identity and Culture built the basis of this volume.Various angles shed light on the Byzantine experience of the Bible. The wide range of source materials that inform the contributions to this volumefrom manuscripts and military handbooks to lead seals and pilgrim guides allows insights into a vivid liturgical tradition, which shapes Orthodox Christianity up today. As a thoroughly Christianized society, the Bible had sunk deep into the cultural DNA of Byzantium. The volume shows the multitude of strategies for the engagement with the Biblical text and the manifold ways in which the Bible message was experienced, articulated and brought to life on a daily basis.

Personal renewal or sanctification belongs to the heart of the Christian life and is becoming more important in our present-day culture. Listening to Scripture and in conversation with a variety of theologians from the protestant tradition, the author presents an up-to-date concept for a theology of personal renewal.In this concept the spiritual union with Christ (unio mystica cum Christo) is taken as the starting point in order to consider the way in which renewal obtains form in relation to God, our neighbour, ourselves and the world. To place this concept into a historical perspective, van Vlastuin begins his study with an investigation of Luther and Calvins theology concerning the relationship between the union with Christ and personal renewal. The concept is developed within the current theological debate, with particular reference to the eschatological character of the Christian life.An important issue concerns the measure of renewal, especially in relation to the sinful heart of the believer. In this context the author also deals with the question of sanctification as a position or a process, and the relation between the two.In addition the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the human soul in the process of renewal is discussed. Another important issue concerns the abiding significance of the law and the way in which it functions in the Christian life. The exploration of several theological positions leads to a modern concept by which to understand law.The study concludes with an investigation of the relationship between the eschatological Christian life in this present life and the complete revelation of the eschaton.

After Ernst Jennis three well known basic volumes dealing with the Hebrew prepositions Beth, Kaph and Lamed a further study of the third most common preposition in Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic was a scholarly desideratum.This study of the preposition Min is presented here. The aim is to advance linguistic research on the Old Testament and to help to clarify a number of linguistic and semantic doubts and translation problems. Some new paths are being taken: The polysemous network that forms Min is systematically presented, the system of Hebrew prepositions is expanded to include an overall theory and the question of the logical subject in passive sentences is answered in a new way.This means that around 80% of all references to prepositions in the Old Testament have now been recorded and analysed.

The Republic of Venice was the only Catholic territory in which an Anabaptist community formed in the 16th century. The history of Venetian Anabaptism, hitherto little known in Reformation Studies, is the focus of this book. Using a large quantity of archival material and rare printed sources Riccarda Suitner reconstructs the lives of the Republics Anabaptists and the inquisitorial repression they suffered, and analyses the doctrinal specificities of the Radical Reformation in this area. This story represents a fundamental stage in the relations between German, central-European and Italian culture in the early modern period. Events in Venice are presented within a broader comparative framework, paying particular attention to the German states, Switzerland, the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, Transylvania, Moravia, Tyrol, and the Kingdom of Naples. It will emerge that its Venetian history cannot be ignored if we are to gain a true understanding of the European Reformation.

Though undertreated by modern scholars, Martin Luthers lectures on Deuteronomy are critical to understanding his theological development as an exegete and also the course of the Reformation in the wake of Luthers return from the Wartburg in 1522. In these lectures, Luther engages deeply with Moses, whom he sees as an author, prophet, and ruler. These three ways of regarding Moses allow Luther to forge a new approach to the Mosaic law, shaping his response to what he perceives as the evangelical legalism of Andreas Karlstadt and Thomas Muntzer. By shedding light on these exegetical principles and connecting these lectures to surrounding events, Miles Hopgood brings new clarity as to why Luther broke with Karlstadt and the nature of his dispute with Muntzer, demonstrates the importance of the Hebrew Bible in shaping Luthers mature exegesis, and opens the door for fresh perspectives not only on the events of 1521-1525 but Luthers entire career as interpreter of scripture.

The 17th and 18th centuries have been regarded as one of the most exciting periods in the history of Hungary and Transylvania. The wars of liberation to terminate the Ottoman occupation, the integration of the Transylvanian Principality into the Habsburg Empire after 150-years relative independence, the colonisation of the uncultivated lands during the Ottoman rule, the re-organisation of daily life and Prince Francis (Ferenc) Rakoczis independence war (17031711) indicated serious challenges for the Habsburg Court in Vienna. This period (16861711) felled serious duties to the Hungarian Catholic Church, too. Prior to these duties, the process of Counter-Reformation in Hungarys eastern and northern regions was getting increasingly under way: Orthodox Ruthenians and Romanians in Transylvania united with the Roman Catholic Church. The bishops, who were highly supported by the missionaries delegated from Rome in order to re-organise the Hungarian Catholic Churchs religious life, re-appeared at the seats of the abandoned dioceses after the 150-years Ottoman occupation and nearly 110-years pressure from the strong Protestantism supported by the Princes of Transylvania. The Armenians church-union in Transylvania must be, in fact, analysed in this church-historical context. The history of Armenians in Transylvania, escaping from Moldavia and Podolia between 1668 and 1672, should be regarded practically as an undiscovered area from both the Hungarian and international church-historical point of view. The church-union of the Armenians in Transylvania is primarily associated with Bishop Oxendio Virzirescos (16541715), an Armenian Uniate cleric educated at Collegium Urbanum in Rome, missionary efforts. In this work, I have tried to look for evident responses to these afore-mentioned problems, resting on the partly discovered and undiscovered sources as well as analysing critically a few of secondary literature.

In her work Rebekah Earnshaw provides an analysis of Creator and creation according to Calvin on Genesis. This offers a new theological reading of Calvins Genesis commentary and sermons, with an eye to systematic interests.This analysis is presented in four chapters: The Creator, The Agent and Act of Creation, Creatures, and Providence. Calvin on Genesis gives unique insights into each of these. First, the Creator has priority in Calvins thought. The Creator is lEternal, who is infinitely distinct and abundantly for creatures in his virtues. Second, the agent of creation is triune and the act of creation is "from nothing" as well as in and with time. This is a purposeful beginning. Third, Calvin affirms creaturely goodness and order. The relation of humans and animals illustrates Calvins holistic view of creation as well as the impact of corruption and disorder. Providential sustenance and concursus are closely tied to the nature of creatures and the initial word. Fourth, fatherly governance for the church is presented separately and demonstrated by Calvins treatment of Abraham and Joseph.Earlier presentations of Calvin on Creator and creation are incomplete, because of the lack of sustained attention to Calvin on Genesis. This analysis supplements works that concentrated on the Institutes and Calvin on Job, by bringing new material to bear. Further, throughout this analysis lies the implicit example of a biblical theologian, who pursues what is useful from scripture for the sake of piety in the church.Insights from Calvins thought on Genesis provide a foundation for systematic work that reflects on this locus and the integrated practice of theology.

Pál Ács discusses various aspects of the cultural and literary history of Hungary during the hundred years that followed the Battle of Mohács (1526) and the onset of the Reformation. The author focuses on the special Ottoman context of the Hungarian Reformation movements including the Protestant and Catholic Reformation and the spiritual reform of Erasmian intellectuals. The author argues that the Ottoman presence in Hungary could mean the co-existence of Ottoman bureaucrats and soldiers with the indigenous population. He explores the culture of occupied areas, the fascinating ways Christians came to terms with Muslim authorities, and the co-existence of Muslims and Christians.Acs treats not only the culture of the Reformation in an Ottoman context but also vice versa the Ottomans in a Protestant framework. As the studies show, the culture of the early modern Hungarian Reformation is extremely manifold and multi-layered. Historical documents such as theological, political and literary works and pieces of art formed an interpretive, unified whole in the self-representation of the era. Two interlinked and unifying ideas define this diversity: on the one hand the idea of European-ness, i.e. the idea of strong ties to a Christian Europe, and on the other the concept of Reformation itself. Despite its constant ideological fragmentation, the Reformation sought universalism in all its branches. As Acs shows, it was re-formatio in the original sense of the word, i.e. restoration, an attempt to restore a bygone perfection imagined to be ideal.

Kyle J. Dieleman focuses on the doctrinal and practical importance of Sunday observance in the early modern Reformed communities in the Low Countries. My project investigates the theological import of the Sabbath and its practical applications. The first step is to focus on how Dutch Reformed theologians conceived of the Sabbath. The theology of the Sabbath, I argue, moves over time from an emphasis on spiritual rest to participating in the ministries of the church to a strict rest from all work and recreation. The next step is to explore congregants actual Sunday practices. By attending to church governance records at the national, regional, and local levels the importance of proper Sabbath observance quickly becomes clear. The provincial synod records, classes records, and consistory records indicate that church authorities were adamant that church members faithfully attend sermon and catechism services, refrain from sinful practices, and abstain from recreational activities. Equally as telling as the observance demanded of church members is how church authorities responded. The church records portray these authorities as fretting over the disordered and unregulated nature of improper Sabbath observance. Having established the importance of the Sabbath in Dutch Reformed theology and lived piety, I argue the emphasis on Sunday observance is best understood as resulting from two main factors. First, the emphasis on proper Sunday observance is a result of the Reformed church authorities attempting to maintain the pious reputation of the Reformed faith and establish the identity of the Reformed Church amid multiple other confessional identities. Second, proper observance of the Sabbath was important because it ensured order within the church and society more broadly.

Carmichael argues that Johannes Cocceiuss theology of the Sabbath serves as a window through which one can view more clearly his federal theology or covenant theology. Covenant theology was the most distinctive feature of his theology. Moreover, Cocceius spent a notable portion of his life engaging in the Leiden Sabbath Controversies from 1655 to 1659, which played a key role in the split of the Reformed Dutch Republic into two socio-political blocsCocceians and Voetians. So far scholars have tended to overlook this critical phase in Cocceiuss theological development. Carmichael sheds light on it by looking at the theological texts that Cocceius wrote that absorbed his attention during this significant period. Casey Carmichael examines first the evolution of the problem of the Sabbath in Cocceiuss theological traditionReformed Orthodoxyin Chapters 24 and second the development of Cocceiuss doctrine of the Sabbath, structured around the Leiden Sabbath Controversies, in Chapters 58.

The book honours the Rev. Dr. Robert A Kolb, retired Director of the Institute for Mission Studies and Missions Professor in systematic theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and perhaps the leading authority on the development of "Wittenberg Theology" in the English-speaking world. At the same time, his teaching and writing, which continues without flagging, has emphasized the importance of translating and retranslating the historic Lutheran faith in terms that address contemporary issues and contemporary people. In this volume, colleagues and co-workers address and push forward Kolb insights into the history of the Reformation era and on the impact of those Reformation issues (and quarrels) on the life of the church in the world today.With contributions by Charles Arand, Lubomir Batka, Amy Nelson Burnett, Irene Dingel, Mary Jane Haemig, Scott Hendrix, Erik Herrmann, Werner Klan, David Lumpp, Mark Mattes, Daniel Mattson, Richard Muller, Paul Robinson, Robert Rosin, and Timothy Wengert.