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Perichoresis Volume 1 Volume 1 Issue 2 Issue 2003 2003 PERICHORESIS This issue was This issue was published by published by The Theological Journal The Seminar The Centre for published by Theological Research Reformation Studies Emanuel University of Oradea and CONTENTS The Centre for Reformation Studies Romanian Reformation Research CORNELIU C. SIMUł Peter Martyr in Bucer’s Strasbourg: The Early Formulation of His Doctrine of Justification FRANK A. JAMES III Justification by Faith – A Neglected Rediscovery? TIM GRASS The Cross, Suffering, and Assurance: Fundamental Insights from the Reformation CARL R. TRUEMAN The Reformation Roots of the Baptist Tradition TIMOTHY GEORGE Calvin and Servetus in Dispute over Irenaeus DAVID F. WRIGHT A Survey of the History of Christianity in Romania from the Beginning of the Protestant Reformation until the End of the 19 t h Century PAUL NEGRUł The Development of the Doctrine of Justification in the Theology of Philip Melanchthon: A Brief Historical Survey CORNELIU C. SIMUł Les Métaphores Oculaires dans la Mystique de Maître Eckhart DANIEL FĂRCAŞ Copyright © 2003 Emanuel University of Oradea Emanuel University of Oradea Str. Nufărului nr. 87, 410597 Oradea, Bihor, Romania Tel.: (+40) 259-122.598 Fax: (+40) 259-426.692 E-mail: [email protected] Designer: Iulian G. Necea ISSN: 1224-984X Printed at SC SCILPRINT SRL, Aleşd, Bihor, Romania ROMANIAN REFORMATION RESEARCH Corneliu C. SimuŃ The Centre for Reformation Studies within Emanuel University of Oradea. The Centre for Reformation Studies was founded in 1996 as a research department within Emanuel University of Oradea. Its primary objective is to present the theology and history of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century to the Romania people in their native tongue for the enlargement of God’s kingdom and to the benefit of Romanian Christianity. The theological ideas of the Reformation were introduced in Romanian lands shortly after Luther’s initiation of reform in Germany. The German and Hungarian communities in Transylvania embraced the Lutheran and Reformed understandings of Christian theology. Because both communities had been established within the realm of Eastern Christianity, Reformation theology tended to be restricted to their own churches. Thus, in Transylvania and, to a lesser degree in the whole of Romania, the existence of Reformation ideas is thoroughly conditioned by ethnic boundaries. The Romanian majority shares the theology of Eastern Orthodoxy, while the Germans are Lutheran, and the Hugarians are Reformed. Ethnic boundaries have discouraged the establishment of Romanian Lutheran or Reformed churches. The linguistic barrier also hindered Reformation theology from entering Romanian Orthodox communities. The preference of Lutheran Germans and Reformed Hungarians to speak their native tongues made the reception of Protestant theology by Romanian speakers almost impossible. The situation has remained unchanged until now. Within this particular religious context, the work of the Centre for Reformation Studies becomes relevant as we intend to present all aspects of the Reformation to Romanians in the Romanian language. The Centre is not occupied solely with theology, but also includes the history, politics, economics, philosophy and sociology of the Reformation. 3 4 Perichoresis The Centre for Reformation Studies has five main research concerns: 1. Translation of primary sources. We plan to translate the most important works of the main Reformers because fewof their writings have ever been available in Romanian. 2. Translation of relevant contemporary studies. We have already published two books in Romanian: Timothy George’s Theology of the Reformers and James Montgomery Boice’s Foundations of Christian Faith . 3. The establishment of solid research in viewof the development of the Centre for Reformation Studies into a department which shall confer MTh, MPhil and DPhil diplomas in historical theology. 4. Publication of research articles. Emanuel University of Oradea publishes Perichoresis , the theological journal of the Faculty of Theology. The Centre for Reformation Studies will periodically publish an entire issue on the Reformation (or anything else connected to the Reformation, including the theology of the Middle Ages), with the support of contributors from abroad and from Romania. 5. The establishment of a Reformation Library to include both primary sources and secondary material. Books on the Reformation are almost totally lacking in Romania; thus the Centre for Reformation Studies is very interested in the acquisition of any books on the Reformation (the works of the Reformers and any other book on Protestant theology, history, etc.). 6. The presentation of Reformation theology to Romanian pastors and ministers. We intend to organize conferences so that Romanian pastors and ministers regain a fresh approach to their Protestant roots. The Centre for Reformation Studies welcomes any suggestion and support. Submission of articles and reviews for the periodical issue on Reformation Studies hosted by Perichoresis are most welcome. For more information, please write to: Corneliu C. SimuŃ The Faculty of Theology Emanuel University Email: [email protected] PETER MARTYR IN BUCER’S STRASBOURG: THE EARLY FORMULATION OF HIS DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION Frank A. James III Introduction Fleeing the Roman Inquisition in late summer of 1542, Peter Martyr Vermigli journeyed over the Alps to Protestantism and an uncertain future. Shortly after his arrival in Strasbourg, Martin Bucer wrote to Calvin on 28 October, 1542: “A man has arrived from Italy who is quite learned in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and well-skilled in the Scriptures; he is about forty-four years old, of serious demeanor and keen intelligence. His name is Peter Martyr.”1 The learned Italian was no theological novice when he arrived in Strasbourg, 2 but a mature theologian with considerable ecclesiastical experience. 3 Even while in Italy, he had the audacity “to teach and teach publicly, that man is justified by faith in the person and finished work of Jesus.”4 Indeed, it was “the linchpin of his Gospel, “quel benedetto articulo della giustificatione” (that blessed article of justification).”5 Justification was a fundamental principle of the Italian reform movement among the Valdesians and those in close association with Contarini. The key question we will consider is to what degree was Vermigli’s first expression of doctrine of 1 Ioannis Calvini Opera quae supersunt omnia (CO), ed. C. Baum, E. Cunitz and E. Reiss (Brunswick/Berlin: Schwetschke, 1863-1900), 11: 450: “Advenit ex Italia vir quidam graece, hebraice, et latine admodum doctus, et in scripturis feliciter versatus, annos quadraginta quattuor, gravis moribus et iudicio acri, Petro Martyri nomen est .” 2 Vermigli arrived in Strasbourg shortly before the end of October 1542. Bucer's letter to Calvin on 28 October 1542 indicates that Vermigli had just arrived. Calvini opera, 39: 450. 3 Klaus Sturm, Die Theologie Peter Martyr Vermiglis währendseines ersten Aufenthalts in Strassburg 1542-1547 (Neukirchen: Neukirchener Verlag, 1971), 39: “Als Martyr in der zweiten Hälfte des Oktober 1542 in Strassburg anlangte, war er gerade dreiundvierzig Jahre alt geworden. Im Dienst seiner Kirche hatte er bereits beachtliche Erfahrungen gewonnen und verantwortungsvolle und ehrenhafte Ämter innergehabt. Er war kein Neuling mehr in der Theologie.” 4 McNair, Peter Martyr in Italy: An Anatomy of Apostasy (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967), 229. 5 McNair, Peter Martyr in Italy , 226. 5 6 Perichoresis justification dependent on his Italian theological formation. Virtually all the research of the last twenty-five years, despite differences of interpretation, have reached unanimity on one question, namely, that Vermigli's theology was fundamentally formed before he apostatized from Italy. He had already acquired a Protestant doctrine of the Eucharist. 6 Indeed, Simler informs us that he celebrated the Lord's Supper in a Protestant manner in Pisa during his flight from Italy. 7 His viewof the authority of Scripture paralleled the Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura ,8 and Augustine had long served as his theological guiding light in understanding those Scriptures. 9 Moreover, as I have argued elsewhere, his doctrine of double predestination was well formed before his flight from Italy. 10 There has been also a general consensus that, ever since Naples, he had embraced a Protestant-inspired doctrine of justification by faith alone. 11 Even Klaus Sturm sees in Vermigli’s early doctrine of justification some Protestant distinctives. 12 It seems clear that Vermigli had abandoned not only his homeland but also Roman theology. The true nature of his theological convictions became visible in the clear light of Strasbourg. 6 Scholars concur that Vermigli had absorbed Protestant eucharistic doctrine before leaving Italy. Joseph C. McLelland, The Visible Words of God: An Exposition of the Sacramental Theology of Peter Martyr Vermigli A. D. 1500-1562 (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1957), 271, writes: “the 1544 Catechism alone proves that Martyr left Italy with a consistently Reformed doctrine of the sacraments.” See also McNair, Peter Martyr in Italy, 153, and Salvatore Corda, Veritas Sacramenti: A Study in Vermigli’s Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper, Zürcher Beiträge zur Reformationsgeschichte 6 (Zurich: Theologischer Verlag Zurich, 1975), 25-26. 7 Josiah Simler, Oratio de vita et obitu viri optimi praestantissimi Theologi D. Peteri Martyris Vermilii,
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