"Miikka Ruokanen is Professor Emeritus of Dogmatics at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and Professor of Systematic Theology at Nanjing Union Theological Seminary, China. He is also Guest Professor at the Renmin University of China, Beijing, and Advisory Professor at Fudan University, Shanghai. His publications include The Catholic Doctrine of Non-Christian Religions: According to the Second Vatican Council (Brill, 1992), Theology of Social Life in Augustine's De civitate Dei (Vandenhoeck et Ruprecht, 1993), and Christianity and Chinese Culture (co-edited with Paulos Huang; Eerdmans, 2010)"--.
"This first English translation of an important work of John Calvin is a welcome supplement to his teachings in his Institutes."--E. Earle Ellis, Southwestern Journal of Theology This volume provides Calvin's fullest treatment of the relationship between the grace of God and the free will of humans. It offers insight into Calvin's interpretations of the church fathers, especially Augustine, on the topics of grace and free will and contains Calvin's answer to Pighius's objection that preaching is unnecessary if salvation is by grace alone. This important work, edited by renowned scholar A. N. S. Lane, contains material not found elsewhere in Calvin's writings and will be required reading for students of Calvin and the Protestant Reformation.
A comprehensive look at the background and context, the content, and the impact of Martin Luther's Theology, written by an international team of theologians and historians.
This volume includes the texts of Erasmus's 1524 diatribe against Luther, De Libero Arbitrio, and Luther's violent counterattack, De Servo Arbitrio. E. Gordon Rupp and Philip Watson offer commentary on these texts as well. Long recognized for the quality of its translations, introductions, explanatory notes, and indexes, the Library of Christian Classics provides scholars and students with modern English translations of some of the most significant Christian theological texts in history. Through these works--each written prior to the end of the sixteenth century--contemporary readers are able to engage the ideas that have shaped Christian theology and the church through the centuries.
As the first comprehensive study in the twentieth century of Luther's concept of the Holy Spirit, this book should be welcomed by every serious student of Luther's theology - for although Luther's view of the Holy Spirit dominates every aspect of his vast theological output, it is not always easy to discover what he really thought. Historians and theologians have at different times come to varying conclusions, based on the same fundamental writings of Luther. Enthusiastic followers of the Reformer, in their efforts to convince others, have from time to time fallen into the temptation to oversimplify his teachings. Spiritus Creator is the answer to this confusion. Laying aside the numerous interpretations of others, Regin Prenter, a noted Danish Theologian and scholar, presents Luther's thought itself. In this study he does not ask where Luther's thoughts came from, or how they developed; he asks only what Luther thought. Questioning, for example, whether Luther's view of the Holy Spirit was really so traditional, so much colored by medieval thought patterns as has been widely assumed, Dr. Prenter shows how Luther used Augustinian terms - the vocabulary of his age - yet gave them new content, even new definitions. He demonstrates how Luther's concept of the Holy Spirit did indeed take shape in a traditional form but that it then grew into what is for all Protestants a crucial, evangelical insight. Spiritus Creator is divided into two parts: the concept of the Holy Spirit before Luther had to defend his teachings from the distortions of enthusiasts, and this same concept during his struggle with the enthusiasts. This pattern gives the author opportunity to present the basic statements of the early period without reference to the polemical situation of Luther's later life. It also demonstrates the essential continuity that gives Luther's concept of the Holy Spirit importance for the thinking of all ages - our own not excluded.
Gerhard Forde examines the nature of the "theology of the cross, noting what makes it different from other kinds of theology. His starting point is a thorough analysis of Luther's Heidelberg Disputation of 1518, the classic text of the theology of the cross.
One of the 20th-century's most reasoned explanations of the sovereignty of God and the Reformed interpretation of salvation. "Whoever really wants to know what Calvinism teaches cannot do better than to read this book from cover to cover".--United Presbyterian magazine.
There is a palpable sense of confusion—and sometimes even embarrassment—with regard to so-called limited atonement today, pointing to the need for thoughtful engagement with this controversial doctrine. Incorporating contributions from a host of respected theologians, From Heaven He Came and Sought Her stands as the first comprehensive resource on definite atonement as it examines the issue from historical, biblical, theological, and pastoral perspectives. Offering scholarly insights for those seeking a thorough and well-researched discussion, this book will encourage charitable conversations as it winsomely defends this foundational tenet of Reformed theology. *The epub edition of this title will not display correctly when viewed on Adobe Digital Editions. Hebrew characters will be inaccurately displayed in this reader.
Forty years of in-depth research on Martin Luther's theology has left Oswald Bayer uniquely qualified to present this comprehensive study. He does so with clarity and care, simply enough for nontheologians to access. This remarkable book offers the basics of Luther's understanding of theology, discussing his response to the philosophy of science tradition, the formula by which he studied theology, and the basic philosophy that informed him. Bayer then takes Luther's stance on Christian dogmatics and ethics and applies it to our own theological understanding in the modern age. With such a complete Lutheran dogmatic concept -- the first of its kind offered -- the stunning inner consistency of Luther's theology and its ease of application to contemporary studies become unmistakably clear. Martin Luther's Theology is a valuable tool for students and teachers of theology and for those looking for a guide into the mind and heart of Luther -- a theologian for today.
