I am proud to be able to announce the recent publication of a volume that I have gotten to oversee from start to finish, For the Healing of the Nations: Essays on Creation, Redemption, and Neo-Calvinism. Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to work with such a great team of contributors, turning in such high-quality essays, that on the basic editorial end of things, there wasn’t too much work to do. These essays came out of the Convivium Irenicum conference in SC this June, the second annual event by that name, which is organized by the foundation I’m part of, the Davenant Trust. Headlined by the eminent Prof. James Bratt of Calvin College, who gave us an in-depth orientation to the life and political thought of Abraham Kuyper, the conference featured a range of fine papers on topics ranging from the early Church’s confrontation with the pagan classics, through John Calvin’s political thought, to the variety of ways that contemporary “Calvinists” have sought to engage with the natural order and secular culture. Read More
Fall 2014 Richard Hooker Digest
One of the things that I think is very important for scholars to do, whatever the field of study, is to collate the important research that is being done and make it easily accessible to people who are new to the field, or even veterans who may find it tough to keep up with the rapid flow of new research. This is particularly important in the field of Richard Hooker research, which lies at the intersection of scholars working in a number of different disciplines and subfields.
Accordingly, beginning this year, I have been compiling recent and forthcoming scholarship of relevance to Richard Hooker studies into a Digest. I have just completed the Fall issue, Richard Hooker Digest I.2, which you can download if desired. It contains a listing of a couple dozen recently-published articles and book chapters on Richard Hooker, as well as forthcoming conferences, recent and forthcoming books, and recent book reviews. If you know of other material that should be included, email me at w.b.littlejohn@gmail.com and I will try to include it in the Spring 2015 issue.
Who’s Who in the English Reformation
After giving a lecture on Peter Martyr Vermigli for Trinity Reformed Church in preparation for Reformation Day, I used the next Sunday’s slot to give a crash course in the long English Reformation. It occurred to me that this, which I used as a handout, might be of interest to others.
Henry VIII (1491-1547, r. 1509-1547): Tudor King of England who broke with Rome, initially in order to obtain a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Generally hostile to Protestant doctrine.
Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540): Lord Chamberlain to Henry VIII who masterminded the break with Rome; sympathetic to Lutheran reform. Fell out of favor with Henry and was executed, 1540.
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556, bishop 1532-55): Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII and Edward VI. A Lutheran sympathizer early on, he helped accomplish Henry’s break with Rome. Later, under Edward VI, adopted Reformed doctrine and established Reformed faith as the doctrine and practice of Church of England. Martyred 1556 by “Bloody” Mary. Read More
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