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CALVIN and the REFORMED TRADITION On the Work of Christ and the Order of Salvation Richard A. Muller K Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2012. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) MMuller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indduller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indd 1 88/27/12/27/12 33:43:43 PMPM © 2012 by Richard A. Muller Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516–6287 www.bakeracademic.com Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Muller, Richard A. (Richard Alfred), 1948– Calvin and the Reformed Tradition : on the work of Christ and the order of salvation / Richard A. Muller p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8010-4870-8 (pbk.) 1. Reformed Church—Doctrines—History. 2. Jesus Christ—History of doctrines. 3. Jesus Christ—Person and offices. 4. Salvation—Christianity—History of doctrines. 5. Calvin, Jean, 1509–1564. 6. Calvinism. 7. Protestant Scholasticism. I. Title. BX9422.3.M845 2012 232—dc23 2012028060 The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2012. Used by permission. MMuller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indduller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indd 2 88/27/12/27/12 33:43:43 PMPM To David C. Steinmetz Teacher, Mentor, Colleague, Friend with Gratitude Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2012. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) MMuller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indduller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indd 3 88/27/12/27/12 33:43:43 PMPM Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2012. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) MMuller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indduller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indd 4 88/27/12/27/12 33:43:43 PMPM Contents Preface ...............................................................9 1. From Reformation to Orthodoxy: The Reformed Tradition in the Early Modern Era ........................13 Approaching Reformation and Orthodoxy Deconstructing the Master Narratives Method and Content—Once Again Toward a Contextualized Intellectual History of Reformed Protestantism An Overview of the Study 2. Was Calvin a Calvinist? ..............................................51 Defining the Question: Varied Understandings of “Calvinism” “Calvinism” as Calvin’s own position “Calvinism” as the approach of Calvin’s “followers” “Calvinism” as a name for the Reformed tradition Theological Considerations: Calvin in Relation to the Later Reformed The problem of TULIP The problem of predestination, christocentrism, and central dogmas The humanist-scholastic dichotomies Calvin, Calvinism, and covenant theology Conclusions 3. Calvin on Christ’s Satisfaction and Its Efficacy: The Issue of “Limited Atonement” ....................................70 “Atonement” and “Limited Atonement”: A Problem of Terminology Universality of Offer and Limitation of Salvation: The Exegetical Issue Calvin and the Traditional Scholastic Distinction: Infinite Sufficiency and Limited Efficiency Manducatio indignorum and the Limitation of Sacramental Efficacy Limited Salvific Intention, Limited Intercession, and Limited Union: Correlative Aspects of Christ’s Priestly Office Conclusions 4. A Tale of Two Wills? Calvin, Amyraut, and Du Moulin on Ezekiel 18:23 ....107 Amyraut, Calvin, and Exegesis: The Issue of Ezekiel 18:23 Reading Calvin’s Exegesis: Amyraut on the Interpretation of Ezekiel 18:23 Calvin’s Interpretation of Ezekiel 18:23 5 Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2012. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) MMuller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indduller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indd 5 88/27/12/27/12 33:43:43 PMPM 6 Contents Response to Amyraut: Du Moulin on Citation of Calvin and the Interpretation of Ezekiel 18 Conclusions 5. Davenant and Du Moulin: Variant Approaches to Hypothetical Universalism .......................126 John Davenant and the Gallican Controversy over Hypothetical Universalism Davenant, Dort, and dating the debate Davenant, the British delegation, and the Synod of Dort Davenant’s response to the Gallican controversy Pierre Du Moulin on the Extent and Efficacy of Christ’s Satisfaction Du Moulin and the debate over hypothetical universalism Du Moulin against the Arminians From Arminius to Cameron to Amyraut: Du Moulin’s perceptions in 1637 The efficacy of Christ’s death and universal grace: Du Moulin against Amyraut Conclusions 6. The “Golden Chain” and the Causality of Salvation: Beginnings of the Reformed Ordo Salutis ..............................161 Ordo Salutis: The Term and Its Origins Reformation-Era Backgrounds and Foundations Reformation-era exegesisexegesis ofof thethe “golden“golden chain.” chain” Reformers on the causality of salvation Zacharias Ursinus on the Causality of Salvation Faith and its causes in the theology of Zacharias Ursinus Ursinus on the causality of justification and conversion Predestination, Christ, and the order of salvation Early Orthodox Developments Reformed commentators of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Formalizing the chain: Rennecherus, Perkins, Bucanus, and Maxey on the sequence of causes of salvation Conclusions 7. Union with Christ and the Ordo Salutis: Reflections on Developments in Early Modern Reformed Thought ..................................202 Foundational Formulations of the Unio cum Christo Calvin on union with Christ and the application of salvation Other influences on the early orthodox Reformed development: Viret, Vermigli, and Musculus Unio cum Christo in Developments Leading to Early Reformed Orthodoxy Zanchi on union with Christ Theodore Beza and the unio Caspar Olevianus—exegesis and the unio cum Christo Reformed Orthodoxy and Unio cum Christo: From Exegesis to Doctrinal Formulation Union with Christ in early orthodox exegesis of Romans 8 Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2012. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) MMuller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indduller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indd 6 88/27/12/27/12 33:43:43 PMPM Contents 7 Perkins, Polanus, and Ames—the application of salvation and union with Christ in early orthodoxy After Perkins, Polanus, and Ames—union with Christ in later Reformed orthodoxy Conclusions 8. Calvin, Beza, and the Later Reformed on Assurance of Salvation and the “Practical Syllogism” .................244 The Problem of the Practical Syllogism The practical syllogism and the early modern quest for certainty Calvin and the syllogismus practicus in contemporary scholarship Some definition: what is a “practical syllogism”? Calvin and the problem of assurance Assurance and the Practical Syllogism after Calvin Theodore Beza and the syllogismus practicus After Beza: the syllogism in some later Reformed writers Conclusions 9. Conclusions ......................................................277 Index . .285 Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2012. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) MMuller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indduller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indd 7 88/27/12/27/12 33:43:43 PMPM Richard A. Muller, Calvin and the Reformed Tradition Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, © 2012. Used by permission. (Unpublished manuscript—copyright protected Baker Publishing Group) MMuller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indduller_CalvinRefTradit_BKB_djm.indd 8 88/27/12/27/12 33:43:43 PMPM Preface The essays in the present volume belong to the work of several decades and represent a series of related studies in the development of the Reformed tradition from the time of Calvin into the era of orthodoxy. At its most general level and approach, the book continues the basic argument posed in my other studies of the era, albeit in relation to different topics—namely, that the Reformed tradition is a diverse and variegated movement not suitably described as founded solely on the thought of John Calvin or as either a derivation or a deviation from Calvin (as if his theology were the norm for the whole tradition). The present essays press the methodological point further by raising foundational issues concerning the nature of a tradition and the problems inherent in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century master-narratives concerning the changes that took place in the early modern era. As is also the case with my previous studies of Reformation and orthodox-era Reformed thought, this work is an exercise in intellectual
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