Reformed Thought on Freedom: The Concept of Free Choice in Early Modern Reformed Theology (Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Thought)
Reformed Thought on Freedommakes a major contribution to historical scholarship on the problem of free choice and to contemporary debates over determinism and divine foreknowledge of future events. It fills a significant gap in Reformed knowledge by presenting sources in translation and commentary on works of major importance to the Protestant tradition that have been neglected for centuries."The issue of human freedom and agency was a vexed topic in Christian thought from the time of Augustine and Boethius in the early church, and debates continued apace throughout the Middle Ages. This excellent volume demonstrates how the Reformed Orthodox of the seventeenth century were part of this ongoing debate and how they appropriated the insights of the past as tools in the present. An excellent contribution to the current remapping of the relationship of early modern Protestantism to late medieval theology."--Carl R. Trueman, Westminster Theological Seminary"The Reformed tradition is alleged, even by some Reformed scholars, not to have a place for genuine human freedom. This group of fine scholars from the University of Utrecht sets the record straight. Refusing to adopt the posture of the Reformed tradition's critics--Jesuits, Remonstrants, and Socinians--the authors use thorough historical scholarship and clear analysis of key texts by Zanchi, Junius, Voetius, Turretin, and de Moor to develop a persuasive case against the dominant stream of conventional scholarly wisdom. Since the implications are enormous for Reformed philosophical anthropology and the doctrines of predestination, total depravity, unconditional election, irresistible grace, and the preservation of the saints, the academy and the church alike owe the authors a large debt."--John Bolt, Calvin Theological Seminary