Irenaeus, Calvin and Calvinist Orthodoxy: The Patristic Manual of Abraham Scultetus (1598)

Abstract

As has been shown in a recent study, Irenaeus's Aduersus haereses constituted an integral part of the 'patristic arsenal' of Roman Catholic controversialists from as early as 1522. The doctrinal issues on which the Roman Church appealed to Irenaeus, once established, were to remain unaltered for some time. Thus, unwritten tradition, Peter's primacy, apostolic succession, sacrifice of the mass and real presence were still being defended with the aid of quotations from Irenaeus by Bellarmine in his Controuersiae of 1596-97. What has not hitherto received any attention is the question of the reception of Irenaeus by Calvin in relation to the Orthodox Calvinists. Partly in order to remedy this lacuna, I should like to analyse here one representative example, the patristic manual of the Orthodox Calvinist Abraham Scultetus (a contemporary of Bellarmine's) and to show something of the way it presents the key doctrines of the bishop of Lyons. What can be said about Calvin's own view of Irenaeus? It seems that the bishop of Lyons played a relatively minor part in Calvin's theology,