Protestant Reformation Studies

Chapters include Martyr's views on the scope of theology, the study of theology, the authority of scripture, human nature, human happiness, the knowledge of God, the person of Christ, justification and faith, the Lord's Supper, views on music and songs, predestination, free will, providence, moral virtue, civil magistrates, and prayer.The authors are the general editors of the Peter Martyr Library series.

The great Florentine Protestant reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562) made a unique contribution to the scriptural hermeneutics of the Renaissance and Reformation, where classical theories of interpretation derived from Patristic and Scholastic sources engaged with new methods drawn from Humanism and Hebraism. Vermigli was one of the pioneers of the sixteenth century in acknowledging and harnessing the biblical scholarship of the medieval Rabbis. His eminence in the Catholic Church in Italy (until 1542) was followed by an equally distinguished career as theologian and exegete in Protestant Europe where he was professor successively in Strasbourg, Oxford, and finally in Zurich. The Companion consists of 24 essays divided among five themes addressing Vermigli's international career, hermeneutical method, biblical commentaries, major theological topics, and his later influence. Contributors include: Scott Amos, Michael Baumann, Jon Balserak, Luca Baschera, Maurice Boutin, Emidio Campi, John Patrick Donnelly SJ, Max Engammare, Gerald Hobbs, Frank James III, Gary Jenkins, Robert Kingdon, Torrance Kirby, William Klempa, Joseph McLelland, Charlotte Methuen, Christian Moser, David Neelands, Peter Opitz, Herman Selderhuis, Daniel Shute, David Wright, and Jason Zuidema.

Many people today are struggling with the problem of the church. Can the present structures be reformed within, or should they simply be abandoned as barriers to the recovery of community? Peter Martyr Vermigli faced this issue in the 16th century. He made a major contribution to the progress of the Reformation through his lectures, letters, and publications from teaching posts at Oxford, Strasbourg, and Zurich. This book is an intimate account of this theologian's life and work. Includes illustrations.

Renaissance and Reformationâpartners or enemies? The popular image of these two historical phenomena is one of opposition and contradiction: the Renaissance was a cultural revival influenced by classical philosophy; the Reformation was a radical religious movement which rejected traditional authority. But in the life and work of Peter Martyr Vermigli, a "Calvinist Thomist" and the leading sixteenth-century Italian Reformer, scholasticism and Protestantism converge. An international conference, sponsored by the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University, reflects the recent renewed interest in Italian reform. Entitled "The Cultural Impact of Italian Reformers," its aim was to gather Vermigli scholars along with Renaissance and Reformation scholars. Half the essays (by Paul Grendler, Cesare Vasoli, Rita Belladonna, Anthony Santosuosso, and Antonio D'Andrea) deal with the general question of Renaissance and Reformation interaction: How are humanism and scholasticism related? Marvin Anderson, Philip McNair, J. Patrick Donnelly, Robert Kingdon, and Joseph C. McLelland focus on the thought and activity of Vermigli himself. Students of theology, history, and philosophy, and specifically of the Renaissance and the Reformation, will welcome this book.

This study is in its broadest sense an inquiry into the intellectual origins of the Reformed branch of Protestantism generally, but inaccurately, designated Calvinism. More specifically, it concerns one of the early theologians who gave formative shape to Reformed theology, Peter MartyrVermigli (1499-1562), and focuses on his adoption of the soteriological doctrine of gemina praedestinatio, double predestination: divine election and divine reprobation. One of the most erudite men of his age, Vermigli was also one of the most remarkable, for his religious career spanned the ecclesiastical horizon from prominence as a Roman Catholic theologian to one of the formative theologians of sixteenth century Reformed Protestantism. No other theologian ofthe early sixteenth century was so distinguished in both camps. James argues that Vermigli derived the doctrine of gemina praedestinatio from the writings of Gregory of Rimini and that it was fully formed before he allied himself with the Protestant cause, thus illustrating an important aspect ofsoteriological continuity between late medieval and reformation thought.

Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499-1562) was one of the early members of the abortive Italian reform movement as well as one of the formative shapers of Reformed Protestantism. Through its focus on Vermigli, these essays illuminate new dimensions to the various Reformations in sixteenth-century Europe, both Catholic and Protestant. Vermigli's work is considered under three rubrics: his relationship to other Reformers, an analysis of his more provocative theological ideas and his contributions to church reform. Particularly notable is the breadth of his interests, which ranged from his view of women, prophecy and papal power, to the early church fathers and his revision of ecclesiastical laws in the Church of England. Each of these depicts a vital aspect of Vermigli's contribution to the European Reformations. Contributors are: Scott Amos, Emidio Campi, John Patrick Donnelly, John Farthing, Don Fuller, Richard Gamble, John F. Jackson, Gary Jenkins, Torrance Kirby, Norman Klassen, Peter A. Lillback, Joseph C. McLelland, Douglas H. Shantz, Dan Shute, and John Thompson.

From Rome to Zurich - Between Ignatius and Vermigli? brings notable scholars from the fields of Reformation and Early Modern studies to honor their friend, mentor, and colleague, J. Patrick Donnelly with essays commensurate with his own broad interests and scholarship. Touching Protestant scholasticism, reformation era life writing, Reformation polemics? both Protestant and Catholic, and with several on theology proper, inter alia, the essays collected here by a group of international scholars break new ground in reformation history, thought, and theology, providing fresh insights into current scholarship in both Reformation and Catholic Reformation studies. The essays take in the broad scope of the 16th century, from Thomas More to Martin Bucer, and from Thomas Stapleton to Peter Martyr Vermigli.