“The Holy Ghost needs no ‘Movements'”: Karl Barth in and on the Third Reich

by Joshua Shaw Karl Barth (1886 – 1968) is a controversial and, as seems these days all too common, a polarizing figure; for some he was an outgrowth of the 19th century’s decadent theology, for others the greatest of modern theologians. This fact alone (his polarizing character and the subsequent polarized characterisations) suggests to me… Read More “The Holy Ghost needs no ‘Movements'”: Karl Barth in and on the Third Reich

Vernacular Scripture in the Reformation Era: Re-examining the Narrative

by Trevor Anderson  I. The ‘Protestant Paradigm’ In this post I examine what historian Andrew Gow calls the “Protestant Paradigm” (PP) – a narrative regarding the status of popular piety and vernacular Scripture in the pre-Reformation era. Andrew Gow studied Reformation history under Heiko Oberman and is currently a professor of religious studies at the University… Read More Vernacular Scripture in the Reformation Era: Re-examining the Narrative

Dangerous Aquinas: A Response to Dewey Roberts

by Trevor Anderson Pastor Dewey Roberts has written a piece for The Aquila Report titled “Aquinas Is Not Safe Guide for Protestants.” Roberts writes to advise Protestants that Thomas Aquinas is not as great an aid to careful Christian thinking as is often supposed by some Reformed and evangelical authors (e.g. posts like this, or this). He lists six significant… Read More Dangerous Aquinas: A Response to Dewey Roberts

Jansenism: A Rough Sketch of a Complex Phenomenon

by Shaun Blanchard In different times and places and to different people (people with various polemical purposes!), “Jansenism” has meant various things. Originally the appellation was clear: it meant someone with an attachment to the strict predestinarian theology of Cornelius Jansen, as expounded in his posthumously published book Augustinus (1640). But even aside from issues… Read More Jansenism: A Rough Sketch of a Complex Phenomenon

Ranking “Errors” and the Assurance of Salvation

by Matthew Gaetano The Jesuit theologian, Robert Bellarmine (d. 1621), has appeared quite a few times in the early days of The Regensburg Forum. His Controversies offered one of the most thoroughgoing challenges to Protestant theology. And Bellarmine’s Controversies came in for extensive criticism from hundreds of Reformed and Lutheran theologians–at times quite harsh. For our effort to… Read More Ranking “Errors” and the Assurance of Salvation

How Many Churches? A Critique of Benoît-Dominique de la Soujeole

by Eric J. Demeuse In an important work recently translated into English,[1] the French Dominican Benoît-Dominique de la Soujeole presents a bold and largely successful “introduction to the mystery of the Church.” This 628 page “textbook,” as he calls it, is anything but what that arid term suggests. Offering both an historical examination of sources… Read More How Many Churches? A Critique of Benoît-Dominique de la Soujeole

Roman Catholic Lutherans?

A review of Franz Posset’s Unser Martin: Martin Luther aus der Sicht katholischer Sympathisanten (Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2015). by Eric J. Demeuse Historians of the Reformation understandably and perhaps necessarily delineate figures into confessional camps, even before those camps were themselves delineated. As early as 1519, John Eck is a Catholic (because he opposed Luther),… Read More Roman Catholic Lutherans?

Justification after Trent – and the (largely forgotten) Augustinian Gianlorenzo Berti

by Matthew Gaetano A. N. S. Lane, a scholar whose work should be of great relevance to future conversation, states the following in his book on justification: The Tridentine Decree on Justification is one of the most impressive achievements of the council. The leaders of the council had reported to Rome that ‘the significance of the Council… Read More Justification after Trent – and the (largely forgotten) Augustinian Gianlorenzo Berti

The Ecclesiology of the Catechism of Trent: Some Observations

by Eric J. Demeuse In a rich and now classic work, Models of the Church 1 Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., outlines six conceptual tools or ‘models’ prevalent today which serve to explain and explore the mystery of the Church—the Church as institution, mystical communion, sacrament, herald, servant, and community of disciples. None are sufficient in… Read More The Ecclesiology of the Catechism of Trent: Some Observations