The Italian humanist Niccolo Perotti was one of the most influential Latinists of the Renaissance era for his editions of classical texts as well as the grammatical commentary. Even into the modern era, his work is greatly appreciated among scholars of the period for its insight into humanist neo-Latin grammar. For any serious scholar of the era, I would encourage you to find a copy (however, be warned - one of the volumes of the 3rd edition Aldus printing - the Cornucopia - is priced at roughly $13k US in a rare book store).

Also, for those interested here is a 1608 Perotti edition of the text of Polybius with no less than Wolfgang Musculus’ interpretation included.

Although not a complete set, Google books has the following and the Bayerische StaatsBibliothek has others:

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This is just a brief quote that I have appreciated more and more in editing through Mastricht’s comments on Scripture in his praecognitiones of theology (I.i.62) and as I have had numerous opportunities to preach over the past several months. I thought I would pass it along (the italics are Mastricht’s):

“Therefore the second practice concerns everyone whose heart is to live for God; so that namely they may love and magnify his unique rule (Ps. 119:127, 2 Thess. 2:10). This consists in love for the divine word (a) in bowing our disposition to Scripture to such a degree that we receive Scripture as God speaking to us, as it were, with His own mouth, with such great submission of course to whatever has been commanded; with such great care and aversion to whatever has been forbidden; with such great delight and desire for whatever has been promised; and finally with such great fear and anxiety of whatever has been threatened; and, as it were, we have God speaking such great things in our presence (1 Thess. 2:13).”

Recently, Wes Bredenhof reviewed volume one of the new series Classic Reformed Theology, published by Reformation Heritage Books, “A Sketch of the Christian’s Catechism,” translated by yours truly and available with Ames’ Marrow of Theology here.

I ran across this a while back and thought it would be good food for thought as a reminder to the broader Christian community to always “worry” over continuously improving their translations and versions of Scripture. As a supply preacher frequently invited to preach across the spectrum of Reformed denominations, I am often asked what the “best” version or translation of Scripture is. (Should we use the NIV, the KJV, the NASB, the ESV, the RSV, the TNIV, the NKJV, etc?) This is the sort of question after a service in a narthex over a cup of coffee that draws a crowd rather quickly. More often than not it is a well-intentioned question by believers seeking to mine the scriptures further after they have just heard a sermon using the breadth of both the Old and New Testament to focus upon a passage. I always want to handle these sorts of questions with care so that one’s confidence in the word of God is augmented while at the same time such confidence is not identified with a sectarian allegiance to a particular translation. And in these cases it is a joy and pleasure to be of assistance. 

In some cases, however, it seems that (more…)

The 17th century is one of the interesting historical periods for theologians and philosophers in regard to the tectonic shifts that occured on such topics as causality, virtue, the human will, and the knowledge of God. This post is not so much interested in the changes that would come via Descartes, Bacon, Wolff, and others, but rather in suggesting a baseline by which one should measure the changes and differences that would occur in the 17th century. Since this is a modest post, I certainly recognize the volumes that need to be written on these issues as well as the depth of the secondary literature among philosophers of science and historians of science. Theologians as well need to be involved in these conversations, and many are. That being said,forgive the general introduction.

Indeed it is difficult to analyze the period properly given the contemporary naturalistic and generally deterministic assumptions regarding efficient causality in the physical and moral realm. Thus, it is often the case that 17th c. Reformed theology is viewed, both by some of its contemporary proponents and critics, as contrary to true human freedom. Please understand that

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As you can probably tell from the various sites that I am visiting, today I have been working on footnotes for parts of the translation of Petrus van Mastricht Theoretico-Practica Theologia (for those of you interested I am about 90 pages into the piece). Mastricht has been interacting with Jesuits, Arminian/Remonstrants, English Puritans, Cameronians (think Amyraut et al), and more recently medieval and renaissance rabbis. I am happy to say that I have found almost all of the texts in some digital library or another. There are a few texts I might have to travel a little in order to check, but over all it was a good day.

One of several medieval rabbis that Mastricht cites favorably at points is Moses Maimonides (1138-1204), who was studied during the medieval period by Albertus Magnus, Aquinas, Meister Eckhart, and Andrew of St. Victor among others. In the renaissance and reformation period he was studied for his emphasis upon the literal sense of scripture and a philosophical defense of God and the authority of Scripture. His work was originally written in Arabic, translated into Hebrew, and then translated again into Latin. The edition that was popular among 17th c. philosophers, humanists, and exegetes was probably the rare and coveted 1629 Buxtorf edition that was translated from the Arabic directly into Latin. (If you find a pdf copy let me know!!)

So today, poking around a bit I was pleased to find a Latin 1520 edition of the Moreh Navukhim by R. Moses Maimonides for free based off of the Hebrew translation from the Arabic as well as several Hebrew editions. Granted it’s not the 1479 Hebrew translation from the Arabic that went for $44k on Christies’ auction block recently (183 pages at  roughly $240/pg!) , and it is not in my favorite pdf format (DJVU … ?), but there is a wonderful digital collection of early printed 15th c. to 19th c. editions of various famous works of Judaica at the Jewish National University and Library Book Repository which I highly recommend. The JNUL (which recently changed its name to the National Library of Israel) is located in Jerusalem and has roughly 5 million books. Their mission is to have copies of everything (regardless of language) which touches upon Judaism, Hebraica, or Israel. Needless to say, their digital library isn’t quite up to their holdings, but there are fine specimens of printed Hebrew and Latin translations from the early renaissance to the early 20th century. (I even found a Latin copy of Nicolas of Lyra …). You can also check out their other online resources here.

By the way, make sure you have the DjVU plugin installed for your web-browser and also for downloading the images (read the system specs carefully!) as well as any necessary Hebrew fonts, as the catalog does list the works in a Western or Hebrew alphabet depending on the titles and language of publication.

I had a little time today to read in and translate from Wollebius’ Compendium Christianae Theologiae. I found it encouraging and thought I would pass along the fruits of my daily translation warm-up. Wollebius (1586-1629) was a student of Amandus Polanus von Polansdorf, who in turn was a Lutheran and later came to Reformed persuasions under Beza. By the way, notice the scholastic method in full swing (causes, form, matter, effects, etc. as well as the typical “confirm, deny, or distinguish”). Notice also in Canon X the voluntarist shot (sorry, couldn’t help the pun!) at Thomas Aquinas’ intellectualist account of faith (interesting that he doesn’t acknowledge the RC medieval voluntarists or some of the Protestant intellectualists … ah well, it *is* a compendium after all). Canon X is a very brief glimpse at philosophy and theology interacting on the question of the relationship between the intellect, will, and appetites as well as how that relationship impinges on the understanding of regeneration, faith, salvation, and obedience. It is fair to say that there are a high number of voluntarists in the Reformed Protestant tradition by the mid-17th c. and also some intellectualists in the camp as well, but irregardless, all of the Reformed go after the implicit faith issue with Rome. Voetius (a Reformed, voluntarist contemporary of Wollebius, 1589-1676) is more even-handed in his treatments of voluntarism/intellectualism in his Select. Disputationum than this relatively shorter Compendium, but then again Voetius’ is 5 phonebook-size volumes.  A note on the translation, I kept the author’s polemical tone by translating Pontifici and Pontani as papists.

Google Books used to have the Compendium available here (but recently this link isn’t working so … hmm … Google did promise to have it up “soon” - perhaps in the Panenbergian sense of the eschaton? who knows … ) For a recent, but out of print translation, see John W. Beardslee, III. Reformed Dogmatics: J. Wollebius, G. Voetius, F. Turretin (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977) ISBN#: 080100540. There is also an older 1965 edition via Oxford University Press. So stay tuned to Google Books for the Latin or to purchase your own English copy surf your favorite online book dealer. By the way, for all those Yale grads who are curious about Wollebius’ theology and its impact on their college seal, see here for its origin and, of course, a closing riff on Harvard.

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I recently ran across Andreas Wengerscius’ Libri Quattuor Slavoniae Reformatae and must say I wish I knew a group of Latinists that would translate this into the languages of Eastern Europe. (This would also be a valuable work to have in English on one’s shelf right next to D’Aubigne). This work was introduced and endorsed by Voetius and chronicles the ecclesiastical histories of Poland, Bohemia, Russia, Prussia, and Moravia, from the time of the apostles’ through the Reformation. The fact that this work remains untranslated is not a gap in the scholarship but a tremendous chasm in Reformed Protestant Church history: Secondly, it would also give modern missions efforts in Eastern Europe a good back story prior to the modern period of the controversies and various unification efforts that occurred as well as the many persecutions that faced Protestants in largely Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox lands. Thirdly, as a result, on a doctrinal level this also narrates some of the engagements of the Reformed Orthodox with the Eastern Orthodox churches. Also, in the fourth book, some sections read like a roster or missions report of the names, locations, and status of the pastors, churches, and cities in Eastern Europe. It is virtually a Reformed “who’s who” of Eastern Europe chronicling who was where and when and doing what in the mid-17th century. Lastly, there is also a fascinating transcript of the questions, arguments, and responses at the Colloquy of Roznov (in modern day Czech Republic) in 1660. This was a dispute between the “Arians/Socinians” or as they called themselves the Christian Unitarians and the Roman Catholics on a variety of topics but especially the Trinity.

By the way the table of contents is here

For all of you Voetians out there, I ran across 4 of the 5 of Gisbertus Voetius’ Selectarum Disputationum in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. And yes, it is entirely in Latin. The set is five volumes of 17th c. theological disputations by Voetius and is cited heavily by Kuyper and Bavinck among others. 

Volume 1   Volume 2   Volume 3   Volume 4

FYI: If you aren’t familiar with French internet lingo and the French requirement for specifically, French-originated terms, then when you want to download, click on “télécharger.” On the next screen, the default setting is to download the whole work under three fields: 1) “1ère page,” 2) “Jusqu’à la fin de l’ouvrage” and 3) PDF. Finally click ok. On the last screen “click here” is a highlighted “en cliquant ici”

Once upon a time, Poland occupied at least a third if not half of the European continent. At that point in its history it was one of the largest Christian nations in the history of Europe. During the 16th and 17th century this land was a receptive and furtile ground for Reformed theology.  However, over time due to a variety of causes such as wars and persecutions, the Reformed presence in this country began to fade. 

Dariusz Brycko is another colleague in the historical theology doctoral program at Calvin Theological Seminary. His dissertation and research center upon the all too-little known Polish Reformer Daniel Kałaj. Currently he is also the executive director of the Tolle Lege Institute, a translation society seeking to translate classic works in Reformed Theology as well as helpful secondary literature into the Polish language. There is also a vast amount of Reformed literature that has not been translated into English. His most recent project is to translate into Polish the helpful guide to the Puritans from RHB “Meet the Puritans.” Please take a moment and check out his site - and if his work interests you, take a moment to contact him here.  He would be glad to hear from you