Early Orthodoxy Research Articles

The Moral Status of Self-Love in Early Reformed Ethics

Abstract Reformed moral philosophers in the period of early orthodoxy (ca. 1550–ca. 1650) continue a medieval tradition of engaging moral questions in conversation with Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, and they often address the moral status of self-love in connection with the virtue of friendship. There is broad agreement among these authors that self-love is not only not necessarily sinful, but that some kinds of self-love are morally good and that self-love is the source and rule for love of one’s neighbor. Lambert Daneau’s Ethices Christianae, however, stands in a more complex relationship to this consensus.

The Flesh of the Word: The extra Calvinisticum from Zwingli to Early Orthodoxy , by K.J. Drake

The Flesh of the Word: The extra Calvinisticum from Zwingli to Early Orthodoxy , by K.J. Drake

Особенности существования православной церкви в Китае в первой половине 1950-х гг. по документам Государственного архива Российской Федерации

The article describes the peculiarities of the existence of the Orthodox Church in China during a difficult period, when the main carriers of the Orthodox faith – emigrants, immigrants from the territory of the former Russian Empire left the country. The research was based on archival sources, as well as some available publications. The author shows that in the early 1950s Orthodoxy in China began to decline. The idea of creating an independent Chinese Orthodox Church, which will be implemented in the future, also dates back to this time. This period remains the least studied in Chinese Orthodox history.

THE RENAISSANCE OF ENGLISH LEGAL HISTORY

AbstractJohn Baker's “English Law and the Renaissance” is perhaps the most significant paper in English legal history to appear in the Cambridge Law Journal. In many ways it was a response to, and development from, F. W. Maitland's Rede Lecture with the same title, published some 80 years previously. Baker's paper marks a punctuation in his study of English law under the early Tudors, a subject which he has made his own, culminating in his magisterial sixth volume of The Oxford History of the Laws of England. In addition, it marked a major break with the earlier orthodoxy that English law in this period was fundamentally distinct from the law which was developing on the European continent. The present paper explores both of these themes.

The Library of Lausanne Academy in the 16th Century: The Theological Corpus, from the Reformation to Early Orthodoxy

In 1537, the first theology courses in Lausanne were dispensed in order to form what would become the Lausanne Academy in the 1540s. That same year, books started to be acquired in order to form an academic library, constituting a tool for the professorial and ministerial personnel in Lausanne. At the end of the sixteenth century, all the books in the library of the Academy received ex-libris. Preserved at the Bibliothèque Cantonale Universitaire de Lausanne, these books were classified in a catalogue of 578 titles. Thus, this reconstituted the sixteenth century academic library. Its study—here focusing on the theological titles in particular—sheds light on the diachronic intellectual climate surrounding the Lausanne Academy, such as confessionalization, the shift of the emphasis from humanism to scholasticism, and the consequences of intra and extra-Protestant polemics.

A History of the Jewish Community of Tállya and of Their Synagogue

AbstractIn the study I tried to reconstruct the history of the Jewish community of Tállya and their synagogue, for up to now neither the community, nor the art historically important Torah ark has received due attention. After the Holocaust very few survivors came back to Tállya – a settlement in Tokaj-Hegyalja, a region of north-eastern Hungary – and not a single member of the former Orthodox congregation lives there today. The community built their third place of worship in the mid-nineteenth century, pulled down in 1964. The reasons why I found it important to map the socio-cultural and religious environment in more detail are commemorative and research methodological. The Israelite community enjoyed autonomy in choosing their rabbi and arranging all other domestic matters, and consequently, their taste, religious orientation, acculturation influenced the shaping of their synagogue building, the style of its furnishing and ritual objects. For lack of congregational documents, many kinds of sources (e.g. newspaper articles, recollections, biographies of rabbis, municipal documents) had to be interpreted within the context offered by the historical elaborations of the age. It was indispensable to shed light on the system of relations between Hasidism of growing influence from the early nineteenth century and traditional Orthodoxy, particularly because the tendencies of secession also appeared in the Tállya community, and the iconography of the Torah ark of their synagogue is most closely related to the carved Torah arks of East European Hasidic communities (in Poland, Galicia, Moldavia, etc.). According to archival sources the community leaders of Tállya could assert their wish to have the woodcarver create symbolic motifs on the ark despite the rabbi’s disapproval. As the direct antecedent to the composition I identified the masonry Torah ark of Mád, but the inventive, singular style of the carvings bears no kinship with the mentioned prototypes or the altars in churches in the vicinity. At the end of the paper I sum up the events that led to the demolition of the synagogue and the perishing of its interior furniture, relying on documents in the Hungarian Jewish Museum and the Monument Documentation Centre.

Schism, syncretism and politics: Derived and implied social model in the self-definition of early Christian orthodoxy

The first 400 years of Christianity posed an intricate scenario of social dynamics. The interplay of these social dynamics or catalysts analogous to time perceivably conceived the political-religious establishment that then forged orthodoxy. The resultant continuum that was consequent of the imperial religious-political merger upon the following eras further established a formative impact of these catalysts. As a revisionist analysis of the era leading up to the Constantinian turn, and a parallel comparison between preceding and following eras, this research proposes an alternate construction to the narrative of Early Christianity orthodoxy. The preceding position derives from the attempt at the development of a modular theory through which Christianity can be analysed. Through document analysis, a literature review was accomplished. The development of early Christianity from inception to 400 CE when deduced against enculturating influences implies a sociological study. From the three perceived phases that Christianity went through, Jewish-Christian schism, Hellenism and then imperial interventional politics, implications can be made upon latter eras and derivations can be deduced from earlier eras. Significantly, there seems to have been a resurgent theme in the person of religious-political institutions that consolidated their positions. The synergy and inevitability of the process that preceded the first ecumenical council are confirmed in both a positive and negative substantiation of the proposed model. The emergent episcopal leadership in Christianity and its consolidation averse to the political dynamics of imperial Rome implied a composite significance of all factors. Similarly, the intransigent nature of certain African Christian elements argues for the inevitability of cultural enculturation as precedent to political definition in the formation of a universal orthodoxy.

Czy Arminiusz był reformowanym teologiem? O stosunku Arminiusza do własnej tradycji teologicznej

Jacob Arminius is a figure historically associated with the Reformed tradition. His theology was in a large measure a reflection of this tradition. However, in some important points Arminius’ views were in open contradiction to post-Reformation Calvinism. This article is an attempt to find an answer to the question about the theological identity of the Dutch reformer. The author proposes to address this problem in reference to four theological themes characteristic of Reformed Protestantism, that is: God’s sovereignty and glory, covenant theology, monergistic soteriology, and predestination. The analysis indicates that Leiden’s professor strongly emphasized God’s sovereignty over creation and affirmed that the ultimate end of divine actions, including salvific acts, is His glory. But he never forgot to add that, by His external activity, the Creator communicates His goodness. Arminian covenant theology also fits into Reformed thought. Its shape does not differ from the widely accepted interpretation of this issue in the era of “early orthodoxy.” The most important differences occur in the context of soteriology. Arminius’ understanding of the relationship between grace and free will differed from the radical monergistic Calvinism. Due to the doctrine of prevenient grace, one can speak about limited synergism in his case. His perspective on the issue of predestination is the same. According to the Dutch reformer, God elects to salvation on the basis of His foreknowledge concerning the free acceptance of grace by man. He reprobates those who stubbornly remain in their sins and, in spite of the grace, refuse to convert. Therefore, ultimately, Arminius should be considered as a “critical” Reformed theologian.

Czy Arminiusz był reformowanym teologiem? O stosunku Arminiusza do własnej tradycji teologicznej

Jacob Arminius is a figure historically associated with the Reformed tradition. His theology was in a large measure reflection of this tradition. However in some important points Arminius’ views were in open contradiction to the post-reformation Calvinism. This article attempts to find an answer for the question about theological identity of the Dutch reformer. The author proposes to struggle with this problem in reference to four theological themes, characteristic for Reformed Protestantism, that is: God’s sovereignty and glory, covenant theology, monergistic soteriology and predestination. The analysis, which has been made, indicates that Leiden’s professor strongly emphasized God’s sovereignty over the creation and affirmed the opinion that an ultimate end of divine actions, including salvific acts, is His glory. But lie never forget to add that the Creator by His external activity communicate His goodness. The Arminian covenant theology also fits into the stream of Reformed thought. Its shape docs not differ from the widely accepted interpretation of this issue in the era of “early orthodoxy.” The most important differences occur in the context of soteriology. Arminius’ understanding of the relation grace-free will differed from the radical monergistic Calvinism. Due to the doctrine of prevenient grace one can speak about limited synergism in his ease. So it is in the matter of predestination. God, according to the Dutch reformer, elects to salvation according to His foreknowledge concerning the free acceptance of the grace by man. He reprobates those who stubbornly remain in their sins and, in spite of the grace, do not want to convert. Ultimately, Arminius should be considered as a “critical” Reformed theologian.

The Texts of O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon

Beyond the Horizon appeared in two editions within four and a half years. The first, published March 1920, printed a text that O’Neill probably completed in 1918 but may have tweaked for publication. It has not been reprinted since 1922, has never been edited, and was only recently reissued online.1 The second edition incorporated collaborative cuts made during a boozy span in mid-January 1920, prior to the play’s February 3 premiere. That edition debuted in O’Neill’s 1924 Complete Works and has been the basis of all subsequent editions. These are different texts, written at different times and representing different assumptions about authorship. Both are essential to our understanding of O’Neill. But I am aware of no study of the play or of O’Neill that engages the first-edition text. My purpose is threefold. First, I will consolidate and clarify the textual history of Beyond the Horizon. Second, I will enumerate significant differences between the two editions, with special attention to the generosity that O’Neill initially accorded to Ruth Mayo, the depressive wife of the poet manque Robert Mayo. Finally, I will argue that in the first edition O’Neill ponders the challenge of melding art and marriage in a gender-savvy manner reflective of his relationship with Agnes Boulton and characteristic of his fellow Provincetown playwrights Neith Boyce and Rita Wellman. The argument attempts to restore to Ruth a measure of dignity that O’Neill briefly allowed her, then withdrew. Judith E. Barlow discerns in the 1924 text “the venerable myth that domesticity, even when freely chosen, kills the male of the species” and “annihilat[es]” his “artistic soul.”2 But the first edition Ruth Mayo, agnes Boulton,

Public sector management and the changing nature of the developmental state in Korea and Malaysia

AbstractThis article traces the role of the state in developmental theory and practice, paying particular attention to public sector management. The early orthodoxy of modernisation theory put the state at the centre of development, giving it prime responsibility for generating development. Realisations of the shortcomings of modernisation theory and disappointment with its results led to the rise of neoliberal approaches in development thinking and action, with a focus on the shrinking state. However, in turn, the efficacy of neoliberalism has been questioned, and its human toll has been critiqued. Coupled with evidence of the success of the East Asian developmental states, the result has been a rethinking of the state and a new acknowledgment of its central role in development. Strong institutions and efficient, effective and responsive public sector management have been identified as key ingredients of capable states that made development happen. In outlining this trajectory, the article introduces the case studies that comprise this symposium.

Early English Orthodoxies: Reading the English Reformations

The past two decades have seen a series of studies of late medieval and Early Modern heresy, reform, and orthodoxy, many of which challenge long-held narratives of cultural and religious change and supersession. At the vanguard of these reassessments, Eamon Duffy’s 1992 revisionist history of reformation England, The Stripping of the Altars, argued that because the late medieval English church “had about it no particular marks of exhaustion or decay,” the Reformation came as a “violent disruption” of the period’s robust religion.1 But many scholars found Duffy to insist rather too strongly on a narrative of cultural rupture and change, noting his scant consideration of late medieval religious controversy and dissent. In a lengthy review of Duffy’s book, David Aers argued that Duffy’s emphasis on the vitality of “traditional religion” in late medieval England obscured the reality of heterodox sects in the century before the Reformation.2 Subsequent considerations of early English religious cultures have continued to echo many of the same themes. More recently James Simpson and others have sought to recover a sense of the vibrantly “reformist” sensibilities and aesthetics of late medieval England, lamenting the destruction resulting from “revolutionary” tendencies, while also decrying scholarly tendencies to find a heretic under every late medieval bush.3 Still others

Thinking about Belonging in Early Rabbinic Literature: Proselytes, Apostates, and “Children of Israel,” or: Does It Make Sense to Speak of Early Rabbinic Orthodoxy?

Abstract This paper offers a modest contribution to the discussion of the rabbinic construction of Jewish identity in Tannaitic times, by showing that in the few occasions in which early rabbinic texts relate to the question of belonging in the Jewish community they do not consider belief as a relevant category for the discussion. This, I suggest, indicates that for Palestinian rabbis of the first, second, and early third century, Jewish identity was not a matter of belief and doctrine. Rather, it was either a matter of birth and descent, or a matter of loyalty to the covenant.

Scholastic Continuities in the Reproduction of Classical Sources in the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae

This article seeks to contribute to the current re-evaluation of the relationship between the Protestant Reformation and the first period of Reformed orthodoxy by examining the ways in which the authors of the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae appropriated the literatures of classical antiquity and employed them in the context of their scholastic discourses. The derivative manner in which the many references to ancient Greek and Latin writings are employed is evidenced by the demonstrable influence of three major intermediaries: medieval lexicons and anthologies, the tradition of biblical exegesis, and the writings of John Calvin. With special attention to the classical texts that are quoted in the fundamental introductory theses of several disputations, as well as in the “polemical” ones refuting non-Reformed teaching, it is argued that the Synopsis is constructed on a complexity of intertexts that extends beyond the traditionally identified patristic and medieval sources. Thus a better understanding is gained into the nature of the (dis)continuities from medieval Scholasticism to the Reformation and early Reformed orthodoxy.

The Mechanism of Redemption and the Nature of Christ

ABSTRACTAlthough redemption is a central Christian confessional statement, the mechanism of redemption gets little attention in the New Testament as well as in the early creeds. The hot debate of early Christianity was the debate on the nature of Christ. In this article it is argued, however, that there is a strong correlation between the mechanism of redemption and the nature of Christ. This is demonstrated by making use of the conception of “Christus Victor” as put to the fore by Gustav Aulen in his 1930 book. With this conception in mind Irenaeus of Lyon's The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching and the hymn in Philippians are subsequently examined on this correlation. In this way it is explained how in early orthodoxy the confession that Jesus Christ is true God was at the same time a confession on the question of redemption.

Early Orthodoxy:The Scriptures in Clement of Alexandria

This article establishes the role and view of Scripture in Clement of Alexandria's literary legacy. It argues that his writings reflect a belief in the verbal divine inspiration of Holy Writ that extended to words and even syllables. In Clement's view the Scriptures served as an educational tool in the hand of God to teach people his ways. The Holy Spirit is considered the author of Scripture, who wrote the Bible for this purpose and continues to apply its truths to the hearts and minds of men and women. Clement refers to most of the books of the later canon of the Bible as authoritative or specifically as Scripture.

Jews and Jesuits in a Confessional Age: Heinrich Heshusius and the Boundaries of Community in Hildesheim

The early age of orthodoxy in German Lutheranism was a crucial period of transi-tion and solidification between the conciliatory Formula of Concord in 1577 and the work of early seventeenth-century dogmaticians such as Johann Gerhard (1582– 1637). During this “confessional age” Lutheran theologians struggled to protect the “pure teachings of Luther” while consolidating religious reforms and engaging in polemical battles with Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Anabaptists, and Jews. This article sheds new light on early orthodoxy by examining the career of Heinrich Heshusius (1556–97), a Lutheran superintendent in the north German city of Hildesheim. Together with the town council, mayor, and a network of Lutheran pastors, Heshusius fought what he saw as the dangerous inroads of local Jews and Jesuits, using a variety of political and polemical tactics. This article explores the confessional literature related to the controversy, explains attempts at conversion as well as expulsion, and contributes to ongoing discussions about how clergymen shaped and controlled community in urban, parish, and academic settings.

Unity and Distinction: The Nature of God in the Theology of Lucas Trelcatius, Jr

The theology of Lucas Trelcatius, Jr belongs to both the broader trajectory of developing Reformed, academic formulation in the era of early orthodoxy and the carefully defined program of the Leiden University. Its way of arguing the ‘locus' on God provides an index to the nature and character of these formulations and, specifically, to issues of sources and method as well as to the still-debated questions of degree of metaphysical interest and the status of the doctrine of the Trinity. The present essay finds claims of excessive metaphysical ‘speculation’ and of de-emphasis on the doctrine of the Trinity unfounded.

Richard Hooker and the Principle of Sola Scriptura

The traditional view that Richard Hooker argued for the religious authority of Scripture, reason, and tradition, in that order, has come under sustained criticism in recent years, especially from those scholars who assert that Hooker was in fact an orthodox Reformed theologian. Although Hooker placed a distinctively high value on the role of reason in authenticating Holy Scripture, it is claimed that this is fully compatible with the Protestant principle of sola Scriptura, and reflects wider developments in the Reformed tradition on the role of reason in proving that Scripture is divine revelation. This article seeks to refute these claims by examining Reformed thought on the religious authority of Scripture and reason in matters of Christian doctrine, looking at representatives from the Reformers, early orthodoxy, and high orthodoxy. This is then compared with Hooker's work, where, it is argued, the Reformed doctrine that Scripture is the principium cognoscendi theologiae, with reason merely an ancillary ‘handmaid’, is replaced by the radical position that Scripture and demonstrative reasoning are both principial authorities in matters of Christian doctrine. In propounding his triple-source theory of religious authority, therefore, Hooker is concluded to have broken fundamentally with the principle of sola Scriptura.

"Admitted to the Heavenly School": Consolation, Instruction, and Admonition in Aegidius Hunnius's Academic Funeral Sermons

The funeral sermons Aegidius Hunnius (1550–1603) preached for members of the academic community in Wittenberg reveal both a learned and a warmly emotional piety. A leading figure in early Lutheran orthodoxy, Hunnius participated in the formulation of Lutheran confessional theology and in its defense against Calvinists, “papists,” and Anabaptists. During his tenure as professor and pastor in Wittenberg, he also contributed to the rise in popularity of the printed funeral sermon. Hunnius’s funeral sermons are evidence that he was a talented preacher and pastor, able to address both the minds and hearts of his parishioners. Even as he instructed them in Lutheran doctrine, teaching that they were justified by faith, that there was meaning in suffering, and that a Christian life lived in service of one’s neighbor was the best preparation for death, he put to use his skills in classical rhetoric to speak to their emotions, encouraging transformed feelings, attitudes, and behavior.