Notes on PRRD I.30-37

In PRRD I.30-37 Muller provides what has become a standard three-fold division of the P-r period and supplies essential definitions of 'orthodoxy' and 'scholasticism.'

The eras and phases of Protestant orthodoxy (pp. 30-32)

1) Early Orthodoxy (ca. 1565-1618-1640):

A. ca. 1565-1618 - During this period many second generation Reformers died(Calvin, Musculus, Vermigli, Hyperius, Bullinger), the promulgation of national confessions of the Reformed churches climaxing with the Synod of Dort, and the outbreak of the Thirty Years War.

B. ca. 1619-1640 - The close of the war and the death of the early orthodoxy leaders of the early seventeenth century (Ursinus, Olevianus, Beza, Perkins, etc.)

2) High Orthodoxy (ca. 1640-1685-1725)

A. ca. 1640-1685 - Debates over Amyraldianism, Socinianism, and Cocceian federal theology and deaths of Cocceius, Turretin, Owen, Charnock, etc.

B. ca. 1685-1725 - A highly transitional phase, especially with the emergence of the Enlightenment; key figures include à Brakel, Witsius, Boston, etc.

3) Late Orthodoxy (after ca. 1725)

Can be identified as a period of "deconfessionalization" (32); key figures include John Gill, Alexander Comrie, John Brown of Haddington, etc.

Orthodoxy and Scholasticism: Toward Definition (pp. 33-37)

1. Orthodoxy

In its simplest form, orthodoxy means "right teaching." In this sense, the early Reformers (e.g. Luther, Zwingli, Bucer) were concerned with orthodoxy. However, they did not seek to provide comprehensive systems of doctrine but sought to address certain abuses in Christian life and teaching (e.g. grace, faith, justification, sacraments, etc.). But when Christendom divided and the Lutheran and Reformed branches were established, the boundaries of orthodoxy needed to be (re)established. Compared to earlier confessions (e.g. Augsburg) which dealt with specific doctrinal points, later confessions of the 16th century (e.g. First and Second Helvetic confessions) addressed a wider spectrum of doctrines to encompass all the basic articles of orthodoxy. At this point, orthodoxy and institutionalization (both confessionally and academically) are two parts of the same process. We should be careful not to see this development of P-o in isolation but in the wider context of the Western theological-philosophical tradition.

2. Scholasticism

The term "scholasticism" is narrower than "orthodoxy." Muller explains, "It well describes the technical and academic side of this process of institutionalization and professionalization of Protestant doctrine in the universities of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries" (34). This is an important point that needs to be understood. Scholasticism technically refers to a method of academic discourse and NOT to a specific theology or philosophy. In other words, scholasticism provides an intellectual framework by which theological investigation can operate. It is only one genre of theological discourse (cf. catechism, exegetical, didactic, ecclesial, etc.). Though this method has roots in theologians like Thomas Aquinas, the scholasticism of the P-r period is not identical to the scholasticism of the medieval period. Its roots also lie in the Renaissance humanism. Therefore, the scholasticism of P-o is theological and philosophically broad but methodologically narrow.