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
by Garrett Robinson This essay continues a line of inquiry and reflection begun here. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, while riding with the lawyers Bulgarus and Martinus, asked them whether he was “lord of the world.” Bulgarus replied that he was not lord over private property; Martinus simply told him: “You are lord.” Martinus was rewarded with a horse, and Bulgarus with nothing. Variations of the… Read More Medieval Kingship
by Garrett Robinson Editorial Note: The Regensburg Forum seeks to be an actual forum where one can find different perspectives and ways of approaching topics within the long Augustinian tradition or within the history of Western Christianity. Garrett Robinson’s series of essays will be based upon his reflections on topics in political theology and philosophy… Read More The Common Good before the Modern State
Aaron Riches’s book Ecce Homo brought to my attention fascinating connections between soteriology and Christology in the fourth and fifth centuries. I’m not really surprised that the Christological debates of this period were connected with the Western controversy over Pelagian “works righteousness,” a major concern of the Regensburg Forum (here, here, etc.). Besides the integrated character of… Read More Anti-Nestorianism and Anti-Pelagianism
by Matthew Gaetano In a previous post, we discussed Suarez’s view of the Church’s visibility. He offered a “Counter-Reformation” ecclesiology that put faith and the way in which faith united us to Christ’s mystical body (and thus the Church) at the center of his reflections. This position raised some concerns for other Roman Catholics who wanted an… Read More Lutheran Orthodoxy and the Visibility of the Church
Some later Catholic theologians saw Francisco Suarez’s way of defining the members of the Church as those with true faith rather than those who merely professed to have faith as compromising the visibility of the Church. If true faith was the only “qualification” for membership in the Church, then secret heretics were not members and… Read More Suarez on the Visibility of the Church
by Matthew T. Gaetano Abraham Calov (1612-1686) is arguably the most important Lutheran theologian of the second half of the seventeenth century. He received his doctorate at Rostock in 1637, then taught and was a pastor in Königsberg before becoming a rector of the Danzig gymnasium in 1643. He apparently hoped to study with the great… Read More The Holiness of the Church in Abraham Calov
Holiness It should go without saying that this post won’t even approach a comprehensive take on this topic. Nevertheless, I think that Francisco Suarez’s (d. 1617) views on this topic are of interest because they indicate that the “goalposts” are not being moved as we address recent events and commentary about the Roman Catholic Church. … Read More The Holiness and Authority of the Church in Francisco Suarez, S.J.
My friend, Darryl Hart, has raised an important concern about Ratzinger’s statement regarding the holiness of the Church in a comment on the previous post. I’m hoping to develop this line of inquiry further over the next several weeks, but I thought that I’d take this opportunity to give further support to my reply. (Forgive… Read More The Holiness of the Church (part 2)