Reformed Casuistry and Moral Theology
The rise of Reformed casuistry was tied to the end of the penitential tradition in its most familiar forms, at least for Protestants. Scholars have recently argued very compellingly, however, that casuistry in fact reaches at least as far back as the New Testament writings, and some would push it further back into the Torah. Casuistry, while often a pejorative term today, is simply the pursuit of lived faithfulness. How does the Bible work ethically? In what way does the nature of Scripture determine the proper moral uses of Scripture? How is the moral application or use of natural law the same or different from the moral application or use of Torah in both narrow and general senses? How do the major lights of Reformed casuistry (Perkins, Ames, and Baxter) reflect the now displaced views of their early modern era, and how do they reflect and advance the sober, enduringly wise, and biblical principles of a God-glorifying life? This course will explore casuistry in general, in the Christian tradition, and in the Reformed tradition. Our work will be as much exegetical and dogmatic as it will be historical, and we will take steps to evaluate and not only to describe various approaches to casuistry. This course module will also feature one special lecture by Dr. Atria Larson, Greystone Fellow and scholar of the medieval penitential and canon law tradition.
The rise of Reformed casuistry was tied to the end of the penitential tradition in its most familiar forms, at least for Protestants. Scholars have recently argued very compellingly, however, that casuistry in fact reaches at least as far back as the New Testament writings, and some would push it further back into the Torah. Casuistry, while often a pejorative term today, is simply the pursuit of lived faithfulness. How does the Bible work ethically? In what way does the nature of Scripture determine the proper moral uses of Scripture? How is the moral application or use of natural law the same or different from the moral application or use of Torah in both narrow and general senses? How do the major lights of Reformed casuistry (Perkins, Ames, and Baxter) reflect the now displaced views of their early modern era, and how do they reflect and advance the sober, enduringly wise, and biblical principles of a God-glorifying life? This course will explore casuistry in general, in the Christian tradition, and in the Reformed tradition. Our work will be as much exegetical and dogmatic as it will be historical, and we will take steps to evaluate and not only to describe various approaches to casuistry. This course module will also feature one special lecture by Dr. Atria Larson, Greystone Fellow and scholar of the medieval penitential and canon law tradition.
The rise of Reformed casuistry was tied to the end of the penitential tradition in its most familiar forms, at least for Protestants. Scholars have recently argued very compellingly, however, that casuistry in fact reaches at least as far back as the New Testament writings, and some would push it further back into the Torah. Casuistry, while often a pejorative term today, is simply the pursuit of lived faithfulness. How does the Bible work ethically? In what way does the nature of Scripture determine the proper moral uses of Scripture? How is the moral application or use of natural law the same or different from the moral application or use of Torah in both narrow and general senses? How do the major lights of Reformed casuistry (Perkins, Ames, and Baxter) reflect the now displaced views of their early modern era, and how do they reflect and advance the sober, enduringly wise, and biblical principles of a God-glorifying life? This course will explore casuistry in general, in the Christian tradition, and in the Reformed tradition. Our work will be as much exegetical and dogmatic as it will be historical, and we will take steps to evaluate and not only to describe various approaches to casuistry. This course module will also feature one special lecture by Dr. Atria Larson, Greystone Fellow and scholar of the medieval penitential and canon law tradition.