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December 16, 2014 by kevinstilley

Spring Textbooks

These are the textbooks I am using this Spring in classes I am teaching in The College at Southwestern.

HIS 1213 : Western Civilization II

The Penguin Atlas of World History: Volume 2: From the French Revolution to the Present, by Hermann Kinder and Werner Hilgemann — ISBN. 0141012625

Church History, Volume Two: From Pre-Reformation to the Present Day: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context, by John Woodbridge and Frank James — ISBN. 0310257433

Literature and Science in the Nineteenth Century: An Anthology, by Laura Otis — ISBN. 019955465X

HIS 2203: Renaissance and Reformation History

Renaissance and Reformation, by William Estep — ISBN. 0802800505

The Protestant Reformation, by Hans Hillerbrand — ISBN. 0061148474

The Portable Renaissance Reader, by James Ross — ISBN. 0140150617

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs: Select Narratives, by John Foxe — ISBN. 0199236844

IDE 2203: Renaissance and Reformation Seminar

The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri  — ISBN. 0199535647

Institutes of the Christian Religion, by John Calvin  — ISBN. 0801025249

Three Treatises, by Martin Luther  — ISBN. 0800616391

Praise of Folly, by Erasmus –ISBN. 0140446087

On Divine Foreknowledge: Part IV of the Concordia, by Luis De Molina  — ISBN. 0801489350

Utopia, by Thomas More — ISBN. 0140449108

The Prince, by Machiavelli  — ISBN. 0199535698

The Scientific Revolution: A Brief History with Documents, by Margaret C. Jacob  — ISBN. 0312653492

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare — ISBN. 0140714545

Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare — ISBN. 0199536120

Filed Under: Blog, Books, Church History, Education, History, Reading Lists, Reading Lists Tagged With: Modern History, Reformation, Renaissance, SWBTS, textbooks, western civilization

October 31, 2014 by kevinstilley

Martin Luther – select quotes

As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.

Cursed be any love or harmony which demands for its preservation that we place the Word of God in jeopardy!
~ from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians

Even St. Augustine is obliged to confess, as he does in his De doctrina christiana, that a Christian teacher who is to expound the Scriptures must know, in addition to Latin, also Greek and Hebrew; otherwise it is impossible not to stumble constantly, nay, there is room enough for labor and toil even when one is well versed in the languages. There is a great difference, therefore, between a simple preacher of the faith and an expositor of Scripture, or as St. Paul puts it, a prophet. A simple preacher, to be sure, is in possession of so many clear passages and texts from translations that he can know and teach Christ, lead a holy life and preach to others. But to interpret Scripture, to treat it independently, and to dispute with those who cite it incorrectly, to that he is unequal; that cannot be done without languages. Yet there must always be such prophets in the Church, who are able to treat and expound the Scriptures and also to dispute; a saintly life and correct doctrine are not enough. Hence languages are absolutely necessary in the Church, just as prophets or expositors are necessary, although not every Christian or preacher need be such a prophet, as St. Paul says in I Corinthians xii and Ephesians iv.

Every institution in which means are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must be corrupt.

Grace is given to heal the spiritually sick, not to decorate spiritual heroes.

I am much afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount.

I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.

If any man ascribes anything of salvation, even the very least thing, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he has not learned Jesus Christ rightly.

Learn to know Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him, and say, ‘Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and given me what is yours. You have become what you were not so that I might become what I was not

Live as if Christ died yesterday, rose this morning and is coming back tomorrow.

Next to faith this is the highest art—to be content with the calling in which God has placed you.

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.

Peace if possible, truth at all costs.

The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.

This life therefore, is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on. This is not the end but it is the road; all does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.

When I am angry I can write, pray, and preach well, for then my whole temperament is quickened, my understanding sharpened, and all mundane vexations and temptations depart.

__________

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Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Quotes, Theology Tagged With: Blog, German Theology, Martin Luther, Quotes, Reformation, Renaissance

August 4, 2013 by kevinstilley

The Insanity of Luther : Discussion Questions

Topic: The Insanity of Luther
Speaker: R.C. Sproul
Scripture: Romans 1

Why did Pope Leo call for the Lord God to rise up and deal with a wild pig loose in His vineyard? (Ex Surge Domine)

Was Martin Luther wild / insane?  What would provoke someone to think Luther was out of his mind?

How is Martin Luther’s life story pertinent to the topic of Holiness?

What is the gospel?

Watch again the video between 28:40 and 32:16.

Do you think most people understand the gospel as it is described here?

R.C. Sproul says that justification by faith alone is the article upon which the church stands or falls. Why?

What are the practical implications of belief that our righteousness is found in Christ and nowhere else?

* * *

This is the fourth lecture in the Ligonier teaching series The Holiness of God.

The Ligonier website describes the series as follow,

“The Holiness of God examines the meaning of holiness and why people are both fascinated and terrified by a holy God. This series closely explores God’s character, leading to new insights on sin, justice, and grace. The result is a new awareness of our dependence upon God’s mercy and a discovery of the awesomeness of His majestic holiness. Dr. R.C. Sproul says, “The holiness of God affects every aspect of our lives — economics, politics, athletics, romance — everything with which we are involved.”

Discussion questions and video for the rest of the series can be found at the following links:

  1. The Importance of Holiness
  2. The Trauma of Holiness
  3. Holiness and Justice
  4. The Insanity of Luther
  5. The Meaning of Holiness
  6. The Holiness of Christ

__________

Get “The Holiness of God” DVD Collection

Check out the Ligonier website for additional resources.

__________

Related

Holiness – Select Quotes

__________

Book Cover | Book Cover | Book Cover | Book Cover | Book Cover

Filed Under: Blog, Church History, History, Theology Proper Tagged With: Church History, erasmus, fear, holiness, justice, Justification, Martin Luther, Reformation, Righteousness

July 28, 2013 by kevinstilley

Reformation Studies – Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

The following books and articles are some of those appearing on the Comprehensive Reading List for PhD Students in Reformation Studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

1. General Works

  • The Hebrew Old Testament
  • The Greek New Testament
  • Cross, F.L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
  • George, Timothy. Theology of the Reformers
  • McGrath, Alister. Reformation Thought: An Introduction, 3rd ed.

2. Premature Reformations

Primary Sources

  • Colet, John. “Sermon to Convocation”
  • Erasmus, Desiderius. On the Freedom of the Will
  • _______. Enchiridion Militis Christiani
  • _______. Paraclesis
  • Gerson, Jean. “Ambulate”
  • More, Thomas. Utopia
  • Wyclif, John. De Simonia

Secondary Sources

  • Leff, Gordon. Heresy in the Later Middle Ages
  • Oakley, Francis. The Conciliarist Tradition

3. The Lutheran Reformation

Primary Sources

  • Luther, Martin. Commentary on Galatians
  • _______. On the Bondage of the Will
  • _______. On Temporal Authority
  • _______. Three Treatises
  • _______. The Marburg Colloquy
  • The Book of Concord

Secondary Sources

  • Althaus, Paul. The Theology of Martin Luther.
  • Lohse, Bernard. Martin Luther: An Introduction to His Life and Work.

4. The Reformed Tradition

Primary Sources

  • Bucer, Martin. De Regno Christi
  • Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion
  • _______. Commentaries
  • _______. Theological Treatises
  • Cochrane, Arthur C., ed., Reformed Confessions of the Sixteenth Century
  • Zwingli, Huldrych. On the Certainty and Clarity of the Word of God

Secondary Sources

  • Barth, Karl. The Theology of the Reformed Confessions
  • McNeill, John T. The History and Character of Calvinism
  • Wendel, François. Calvin: Sources et Évolution de sa Pensée Religieuse.
  • Articles on Calvin’s Exegesis
  • Gerrish, B.A. “Biblical Authority and the Continental Reformation.” Scottish Journal of Theology 10 (1950): 337–60.
  • Kraus, Hans-Joachim. “Calvin’s Exegetical Principles.” Interpretation 31 (January 1977): 8–18. A Translation of “Calvins Exegetical Prinzipien,” Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 79 (1968): 329–41.
  • Muller, Richard. “The Hermeneutic of Promise and Fulfillment in Calvin’s Exegesis of the Old Testament Prophecies of the Kingdom,” in The Bible in the Sixteenth Century, (Durham: Duke University Press, 1990): 68–82.

4. The Radical Reformation

Primary Sources

  • Bender, Harold, ed. The Complete Writings of Menno Simons
  • Estep, William R., ed. Anabaptist Beginnings, 1523 1533
  • Hubmaier, Balthasar. Theologian of Anabaptism
  • Klassen and Klaassen, eds. The Writings of Pilgrim Marpeck
  • Williams, G.H., and A.M. Mergal, eds. Spiritual and Anabaptist Writers

Secondary Sources

  • Estep, William. The Anabaptist Story, 2nd ed.
  • Littell, Franklin. The Anabaptist View of the Church
  • Williams, G.H. The Radical Reformation, 3rd ed.

5. The English Reformation

Primary Sources

  • Cranmer, Thomas. A Defense of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Our Savior Christ
  • Bray, Gerald, ed. Documents of the English Reformation.
  • Latimer, Hugh. Sermons
  • Tyndale, William. On the Obedience of a Christian Man

Secondary Sources

  • Dickens, A.G. The English Reformation
  • Duffy, Eamon. The Stripping of the Altars
  • MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Thomas Cranmer: A Life
  • Articles on English Reformation Historiography
  • Dickens, A.G. “The Early Expansion of Protestantism in England 1520-1558,” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 78 (1987): 187-221
  • _____. “The Shape of Anti-clericalism and the English Reformation,” in E.I. Kouri and Tom Scott, eds. Politics and Society in Reformation Europe: Essays for Geoffrey Elton on his Sixty-fifth Birthday (London: Macmillan, 1987), 379-410
  • Haigh, Christopher. “Anticlericalism and the English Reformation” History 68 (1983): 391-407
  • _____. “Revisionism, the Reformation and the History of English Catholicism,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 36 (1985): 394-405
  • _____. “The Recent Historiography of the English Reformation,” Historical Journal 25 (1982): 995-1007

6. The Catholic Reformation

Primary Sources

  • Loyola, Ignatius. The Spiritual Exercises and Selected Works
  • Pole, Reginald. Defense of Unity of the Church
  • The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent

Secondary Sources

  • Chemnitz, Martin. Examination of the Council of Trent
  • Fenlon, Dermot. Heresy and Obedience in Tridentine Italy: Cardinal Pole and the Counter Reformation

7. The Long Reformation

Primary Sources

  • An Admonition to Parliament
  • Ames, William. The Marrow of Theology
  • Browne, Robert. A Treatise of Reformation Without Tarrying for Any
  • Articuli Arminiani sive Remonstrantia and Canones Synodi Dordrechtanae
  • Ursinus, Zacharias. Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism

Secondary Sources

  • Collinson, Patrick. The Elizabethan Puritan Movement
  • Kendall, R.T. Calvin and English Calvinism to 1649
  • White, B.R. The English Separatist Tradition

Filed Under: Blog, Books, Church History, History Tagged With: bibliography, Book Recommendation, Church History, reading list, Reformation, Renaissance, SWBTS

June 10, 2012 by kevinstilley

Desiderius Gerhard Erasmus – select quotes

desiderius-erasmus

.

In the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed man is king. [In regione caecorum rex est luscus.]
~ in Adagia

Luther was guilty of two crimes–he struck the Pope in his crown, and the monks in their belly.
~ in Colloquies

For what is life but a play in which everyone acts a part until the curtain comes down?
~ in The Praise of Folly

This type of man who is devoted to the study of wisdom is always most unlucky in everything, and particularly when it comes to procreating children; I imagine this is because Nature wants to ensure that the evils of wisdom shall not spread further throughout mankind.
~ in The Praise of Folly

A nail is driven out by another nail, habit is overcome by habit. [Clavus clavo pellitur, consuetudo consuetudine vincitur.]
~ in Diluculum

It is the worst of madness to learn what has to be unlearnt. [Extremae est dementiae discere dediscenda.]
~ in De ratione studii

Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.
~ in a letter to Christian Northoff

Indeed, a constant element of enjoyment must be mingled with our studies, so that we think of learning as a game rather than a form of drudgery.
~ in a letter to Christian Northoff

I have no patience with those who say that sexual excitement is shameful and that venereal stimuli have their origin not in nature, but in sin. Nothing is so far from the truth. As if marriage, whose function cannot be fulfilled without these incitements, did not rise above blame. In other living creatures, where do these incitements come from? From nature or from sin? From nature, of course. It must borne in mind that in the apetites of the body there is very little difference between man and other living creatures. Finally, we defile by our imagination what of its own nature is fair and holy. If we were willing to evaluate things not according to the opinion of the crowd, but according to nature itself, how is it less repulsive to eat, chew, digest, evacuate, and sleep after the fashion of dumb animals, than to enjoy lawful and permitted carnal relations?
~ in De Conscribendis Epistolas

When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes. My luggage is my library. My home is where my books are.

The desire to write grows with writing.

Fortune favors the audacious.

A good portion of speaking will consist in knowing how to lie.

Apothegms are, in history, the same as the pearls in the sand, or the gold in the mine.

As a looking-glass, if it is a true one, faithfully represents the face of him that looks in it, so a wife ought to fashion herself to the affection of her husband, not to be cheerful when he is sad, nor sad when he is cheerful.

By a Carpenter mankind was made, and only by that Carpenter can mankind be remade.

By burning Luther’s books you may rid your bookshelves of him, but you will not rid men’s minds of him.

Charity resembleth fire, which inflameth all things it toucheth.

Concealed talent brings no reputation.

Don’t give your advice before you are called upon.

Every definition is dangerous.

Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.

Great abundance of riches cannot be gathered and kept by any man without sin.

Great eagerness in the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, or honor, cannot exist without sin.

He who allows oppression shares the crime.

Heaven grant that the burden you carry may have as easy an exit as it had an entrance.
~ Prayer for a pregnant woman]

I am a lover of liberty. I cannot and will not serve parties.

I consider as lovers of books not those who keep their books hidden in their store-chests and never handle them, but those who, by nightly as well as daily use thumb them, batter them, wear them out, who fill out all the margins with annotations of many kinds, and who prefer the marks of a fault they have erased to a neat copy full of faults.

I doubt if a single individual could be found from the whole of mankind free from some form of insanity. The only difference is one of degree. A man who sees a gourd and takes it for his wife is called insane because this happens to very few people.

I have no patience with the stupidity of the average teacher of grammar who wastes precious years in hammering rules into children’s heads. For it is not by learning rules that we acquire the powers of speaking a language, but by daily intercourse with those accustomed to express themselves with exactness and refinement and by copious reading of the best authors.

It is an unscrupulous intellect that does not pay to antiquity its due reverence.

It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.

It is the friendship of books that has made me perfectly happy.

It’s the generally accepted privilege of theologians to stretch the heavens, that is the Scriptures, like tanners with a hide.

Man is to man either a god or a wolf.

Man’s mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth.

Nature, more of a stepmother than a mother in several ways, has sown a seed of evil in the hearts of mortals, especially in the more thoughtful men, which makes them dissatisfied with their own lot and envious of anothers.

Nothing is as peevish and pedantic as men’s judgments of one another.

Now I believe I can hear the philosophers protesting that it can only be misery to live in folly, illusion, deception and ignorance, but it isn’t -it’s human.

Nowadays the rage for possession has got to such a pitch that there is nothing in the realm of nature, whether sacred or profane, out of which profit cannot be squeezed.

Of two evils choose the least. [E duobus malis minimum eligendum.]

Prevention is better than cure.

Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance; but revelry is the same flower, when rank and running to seed.

The entire world is my temple, and a very fine one too, if I’m not mistaken, and I’ll never lack priests to serve it as long as there are men.

The more ignorant, reckless and thoughtless a doctor is, the higher his reputation soars even amongst powerful princes.

The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.

The nearer people approach old age the closer they return to a semblance of childhood, until the time comes for them to depart this life, again like children, neither tired of living nor aware of death.

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.

There is nothing I congratulate myself on more heartily than on never having joined a sect.

Time takes away the grief of men.

To know nothing is the happiest life.

What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.

Whether a party can have much success without a woman present I must ask others to decide, but one thing is certain, no party is any fun unless seasoned with folly.

Your library is your paradise.

__________

Book Cover

__________

Related

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  • Books & Reading – Select Quotes
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__________

Filed Under: Blog, Front Page, Philosophy, Quotes, Theology, Worldview Tagged With: erasmus, humanism, Reformation, Renaissance

October 22, 2009 by kevinstilley

John Hus – select quotes

Seek the truth
Listen to the truth
Teach the truth
Love the truth
Abide by the truth
And defend the truth
Unto death.

__________

RELATED CONTENT

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__________

Book Cover

Filed Under: Blog, Church History, Quotes Tagged With: Church History, John Hus, martyr, Quotes, Reformation

July 18, 2008 by kevinstilley

Martin Luther Texts Recommended By Gordon Isaac

Dr. Gordon Isaac taught a course on the life and writings of the great German reformer, Martin Luther at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts.

The following textbooks were used in the class:

Luther: Man Between God and the Devil
, Heiko Oberman
Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, Timothy Lull, ed.
Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther, J. I. Packer & O. R. Johnston, trans.
Martin Luther’s Theology: Its Historical and Systematic Development, Bernhard Lohse

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Church History, Reformation

July 13, 2008 by kevinstilley

Legacy of John Calvin, by David W. Hall

Legacy of John Calvin

by David W. Hall
Published by P and R
128 pages, paperback

“Read Legacy of John Calvin and you will understand why half a millennium after his birth, Calvin remains a vital spiritual leader for the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
-Dr. Peter A. Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary

“David W. Hall makes many bold claims about the influence of John Calvin and then provides the evidence to back up those claims. As a pastor who has read widely and deeply on his subject, Dr. Hall provides a positive appreciation of Calvin’s life and influence for those celebrating the 500th anniversary of his birth.”
-William S. Barker, Professor of Church History Emeritus, Westminster Theological Seminary

Purchase The Legacy of John Calvin

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: John Calvin, Reformation, Reformed Theology

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