by Matthew Gaetano Previous posts, especially those by Joshua Shaw, have touched on the major first-century Jewish thinker, Philo of Alexandria (here, here, here, and here). As we deal here with the long Augustinian tradition, it is fitting that we remember Augustine’s debts not only to Platonism, but also to those who, centuries before Augustine,… Read More Philo and the Good Shepherd
by Joshua Shaw BF Westcott, whom we have introduced in a previous post, compared himself on more than one occasion to a Quaker (see here); the likeness might have died on the surface, as it were, of the comparison (at least for all of us), if he had not written a short essay on the… Read More “By the Spirit Let Us Walk”: Westcott on George Fox and the Quakers
by Matthew Gaetano In an earlier post, I discussed George Keith (d. 1716), a learned Quaker in colonial America, and his discussion of Platonism and religious experience. His 1693 Exhortation and Caution about any Quakers keeping or buying slaves, particularly those of African descent, was an unusually bold statement of opposition to slavery, even among… Read More “Liberty both inward and outward”: George Keith and Opposition to Slavery
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
by Andrew Kuiper This is the third installment of Kuiper’s review: part 1 and part 2. For somewhat understandable reasons, the French Revolution has acquired a reputation for inaugurating an era of aggressive, and aggressively secular, revolutionary politics. Many religious conservatives, particularly Roman Catholics fond of Donoso Cortes, Joseph de Maistre, and the counter-revolutionary tradition… Read More Review of Dan Edelstein’s On the Spirit of Rights: Of Rights and Rites
by Andrew Kuiper Editorial Note: In the following series, Andrew Kuiper continues his own reflection on the roots of concepts like religious liberty that we generally associate with the modern world. This series also develops some earlier posts at the Regensburg Forum on how careful interconfessional inquiry about early modern theology and about the Augustinian… Read More Review of Dan Edelstein’s On the Spirit of Rights: Introduction
by Matthew Gaetano Even though I went to a school whose mascot is a Quaker and grew up near some early American Quaker meeting houses, I have to admit that I didn’t know much about Quakers. I learned about how they used the informal “thee” and “thou” and refused to tip their hats to social… Read More Quakers, Platonism, and Religious Experience
by Andrew Kuiper We are continuing Andrew Kuiper’s series on religious freedom and religious dialogue. For the previous posts, see here and here. 1.Introduction In a previous installment of this series, I suggested that Wilken’s account of the Christian origins of religious liberty becomes rather thin when treating the medieval period. Most noticeably absent are… Read More Nicholas Cusanus and Religious Peace
by Garrett Robinson “Heureux l’Empire / Qui suit ses lois!”[1] So goes one of the lines from one of Jean-Baptiste Lully’s lyrical tragedies exulting, in an only slightly indirect manner, the power of Louis XIV and his state. A later work echoes the same sentiment: “Chantons, chantons, la douceur de ses lois / Chantons, chantons, ses gloreiux… Read More The Early Modern State, Religion, and Political Life
by Garrett Robinson For previous entries in this series, see here and here. Throughout the latter Middle Ages, the city of Lyon would receive a visit from the king every year. During this visit, the citizens of Lyon would fête their king and bestow upon him gifts. In turn, the king, whether or not he needed or desired the gifts, recognized the privileges of the city.… Read More The Birth of the State and the Decline of the Common Good