This book presents a new model for analyzing Calvin's biblical interpretation, rescuing him from the quagmire of anachronistic interpretations. Concentrating upon Calvin's description of biblical interpretation, the book suggests new insights for hermeneutics, exegesis in the Reformations, and Calvin's ecclesiology.

The restoration of creation offers the perspective through which Calvin’s heritage is analyzed and made fruitful for contemporary Reformed theology. Restoration through Redemption shows that Calvin’s theology hinges on Christology, but extends to the whole creation.

Arnold Huijgen analyses und assesses the idea of divine accommodation in John Calvin's theology. He proves that Calvin's idea of accommodation was terminologically influenced by Erasmus, while its content originated in patristic theology. Though Calvin's idea of accommodation is multifaceted, Huijgen subsumes and analyzes it in the light of the two main perspectives of pedagogy and revelation. The pedagogical aspect relates to Calvin's understanding of salvation history, and the relation between the Old and the New Testament. In this perspective Christ as the mediator holds a central position. The aspect of revelation focuses on Calvin's comprehension of God's nature which for him is behind God's revelation. Calvin's understanding of accommodation implies a distinct dynamic to revelation, which is disrupted by its static, hierarchical ontology. Huijgen points out the weaknesses of Calvin's idea of accommodation on the basis of modern critiques by Karl Barth, Isaak August Dorner, and Harry M. Kuitert; he also explores the viable points for present day theology.

Scholars have long recognized that Jonathan Edwards loved the Bible. But preoccupation with his role in Western "public" life and letters has resulted in a failure to see the significance of his biblical exegesis. Douglas A. Sweeney offers the first comprehensive history of Edwards' interpretation of the Bible.

Research on French theologian John Calvin is flourishing around the world, and his quincentennial in 2009 has given such research even greater momentum. Designed to support and stimulate this research, The Calvin Handbook gathers contributions from internationally renowned scholars. Offering a comprehensive view of Calvin s life, his theology, and the history of his reception, this handbook is a uniquely helpful resource on Calvin for readers of every interest level.

Distinguished scholars discuss Calvin and his surprisingly up to date relevance addressing three central current issues: faith, ecumenism and public responsibility.

During the glory days of the French Renaissance, young John Calvin (1509-1564) experienced a profound conversion to the faith of the Reformation. For the rest of his days he lived out the implications of that transformation—as exile, inspired reformer, and ultimately the dominant figure of the Protestant Reformation. Calvin's vision of the Christian religion has inspired many volumes of analysis, but this engaging biography examines a remarkable life. Bruce Gordon presents Calvin as a human being, a man at once brilliant, arrogant, charismatic, unforgiving, generous, and shrewd. The book explores with particular insight Calvin's self-conscious view of himself as prophet and apostle for his age and his struggle to tame a sense of his own superiority, perceived by others as arrogance. Gordon looks at Calvin's character, his maturing vision of God and humanity, his personal tragedies and failures, his extensive relationships with others, and the context within which he wrote and taught. What emerges is a man who devoted himself to the Church, inspiring and transforming the lives of others, especially those who suffered persecution for their religious beliefs.

Calvin, the Bible, and History investigates Calvin's exegesis of the Bible through the lens of one of its most distinctive and distinguishing features: his historicizing approach to scripture. Barbara Pitkin here explores how historical consciousness affected Calvin's interpretation of the Bible, sometimes leading him to unusual, unprecedented, and occasionally controversial exegetical conclusions.

In this study of new atheism and religious fundamentalism, this book advances two provocative - and surprising - arguments. Liam Jerrold Fraser argues that atheism and Protestant fundamentalism in Britain and America share a common historical origin in the English Reformation, and the crisis of authority inaugurated by the Reformers. This common origin generated two presuppositions crucial for both movements: a literalist understanding of scripture, and a disruptive understanding of divine activity in nature. Through an analysis of contemporary new atheist and Protestant fundamentalist texts, Fraser shows that these presuppositions continue to structure both groups, and support a range of shared biblical, scientific, and theological beliefs. Their common historical and intellectual structure ensures that new atheism and Protestant fundamentalism - while on the surface irreconcilably opposed - share a secret sympathy with one another, yet one which leaves them unstable, inconsistent, and unsustainable.

“Scripture is a spring of life-giving, life-altering truth, but when we don’t understand how and why it came to us, we end up misusing it.” How did we get the Bible? And why does it matter? History reveals that Scripture can be used for both life-giving and destructive purposes. Discovering the Bible’s origins makes all the difference for fostering redemptive interpretation of Scripture. Bringing together both historical criticism and theology, this investigation examines ancient scribal culture through the lens of faith. What we find is a divine-human collaboration that points to the character of God and the value of human agency. In this concise presentation of a breadth of scholarship usually only found across multiple volumes, Karen Keen offers a vital introduction to the material origins of the Bible, theories of inspiration, and the history of biblical interpretation—with reflections on what this all means for us as we read Scripture today. Through the ins and outs of these important topics, and with the aid of thought-provoking questions and learning activities at the end of each chapter, Keen argues that the Bible and its origins reveal a humble God who invites us to imitate that humility—a humility that is itself the most powerful antidote to the misinterpretation and abuse of Scripture.