Reforming authority, reforming obedience

Abstract

Past commentators have remarked on the apparent similarities in the theological methods and the attitudes toward God and the world that are to be found in the writings of Ignatius of Loyola and John Calvin, whose careers overlapped briefly at the Colle`ge de Montaigu in the University of Paris. This essay places them in dialogue, as it were, both with one another and within a common spiritual heritage, the late-medieval Devotio moderna or the Modern-day Devout. First, it argues that the influence of the Devout, especially as mediated through the personnel and institutional structures of Montaigu, can help explain the religious formation and mindset of both men. Second, the essay considers how ideas that bear the stamp of the Devout may have shaped Ignatius's and Calvin's views on specific theological topics such as ecclesiastical authority and religious obedience