“Liberty both inward and outward”: George Keith and Opposition to Slavery

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

“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

Voices Crying in the Wilderness – Moirans, Jaca, and Silva

by Matthew Gaetano Recent events have brought to mind the stories of the injustices and violence of the original encounters of Christians with native Americans in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Dominicans Antonio de Montesinos (d. 1540) and Bartolomé de las Casas (d. 1566) spoke out against the unjust enslavement of these peoples, while… Read More Voices Crying in the Wilderness – Moirans, Jaca, and Silva

Nicholas Cusanus and Religious Peace

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

Review: Robert Louis Wilken’s Liberty in the Things of God

by Andrew Kuiper Editor’s Note: This is the first post in a series on religious freedom. See Kuiper’s previous post at TRF on a related topic here. Robert Louis Wilken’s most recent work Liberty in the Things of God sketches an outline of the origin and development of religious freedom in Christian thought. Though Wilken… Read More Review: Robert Louis Wilken’s Liberty in the Things of God

The Early Modern State, Religion, and Political Life

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

The Beautiful Madness of Vladimir Soloviev: Russian Wisdom and Dignitatis Humanae

by Andrew Kuiper ‘Bella idea, ma fuor d’un miracolo, é cosa impossible’ (a beautiful idea but, short of a miracle, impossible to carry out).  This was the response of Pope Leo XIII to Vladimir Soloviev’s (1853-1900) program for ecclesial-political unity between East and West. It is certainly an understandable skepticism given the sprawling scope of… Read More The Beautiful Madness of Vladimir Soloviev: Russian Wisdom and Dignitatis Humanae