Works of Systematic Theology
Developments in Theological Literature
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century led to significant developments in theological literature, reflecting the high profile of theological issues at the time. One of the most interesting aspects of the Protestant Reformation was its awareness of the need to communicate and defend its ideas. This led to several important genres of theological literature assuming a significant role at this time.
In view of their importance within the history of Christian theology, we shall consider each of these genres of theological literature in what follows.
Catechisms
Although what would now be agreed to be catechisms can be found in the medieval church, the extensive use of catechisms is especially associated with the Reformation. A visitation of Lutheran churches in Saxony over the period 1528–1529 showed that most pastors and just about every layperson were ignorant of basic Christian teachings. Luther was shocked by his findings and decided to put in place measures to increase public knowledge of basic Christian teachings.
The first result of Luther’s new concern in this area made its appearance in April 1529. Although Luther himself termed it a “German Catechism,” it is now more generally known as the “Greater Catechism.” The work provides a detailed analysis of the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ creed and the Lord’s Prayer. These sections were followed by discussions of the two sacraments of the church – baptism and the “sacrament of the altar” (or Communion service). The work does not show Luther at his best. It draws upon earlier sermonical material and was not written specifically for the purpose of catechising. As a result, it failed to meet up to its goals.
This was followed in May 1529 by what is now known as the “Lesser Catechism.” This work was written specifically for this purpose and shows a lightness of touch, an ease of communication, and a general simplicity of expression, which ensured that it was widely used and appreciated. The work was a remarkable success and was widely adopted within Lutheran institutions. Its question-and-answer format was ideally suited to learning by rote and the work was widely adopted within the schools of the region. It is important to note that both Luther’s 1529 catechisms were written in German, the language of the people. Luther avoided the use of Latin for this purpose, recognizing the severe limitations that the use of this scholarly language would have on the appeal and readership of the works.
The Reformed churches were not slow to appreciate the importance of this literary genre and the educational advantages that it so clearly offered. After some experimentation, Calvin finally produced the “Geneva Catechism” in French (1542) and Latin (1545). This catechism was widely used within the Reformed constituency until 1563. It was at this point that the “Heidelberg Catechism” made its appearance. The origins of this major work lie in the growth of the Reformed church within Germany, particularly within the Palatinate. Elector Frederick III commissioned two Reformed theologians (Kaspar Olevianus and Zacharias Ursinus) to produce a catechism suitable for use in his churches. The result was a German-language catechism of 129 questions, which could be arranged in 52 blocks of material to permit regular teaching throughout the year.
The extensive Protestant use of catechisms and the significant results that they achieved, led their Catholic opponents to develop the format. Earlier Catholic catechisms tended to avoid the question-and-answer format and offered extensive discussions of points of theological importance. An excellent example of this may be found in Johann Dietenberger’s 1537 catechism, which takes the form of a discussion of the Apostles’ creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the “Hail Mary,” and the seven sacraments. However, the superiority of the question-and-answer approach became obvious and was incorporated into Peter Canisius’ three catechisms, published over the period 1554–1558. This work was published in Latin, as was the more substantial Tridentine Catechism of 1566. While its cumbersome format ensured that it was hardly ever used, the work’s appearance in the aftermath of the Council of Trent may be regarded as an important recognition of the significance of the genre.
Confessions of Faith
We have already noted how the Reformation placed considerable emphasis upon the authority of Scripture. Yet the Bible needed to be interpreted. As the controversy between the magisterial and radical reformers made clear, there were issues of interpretation that were both divisive and elusive. There was clearly a need for some form of “official” means of setting out the ideas of the Reformation, to avoid confusion. This role was played by the “Confessions of Faith.” In view of the importance of these documents, we may consider their place within the thought of the Reformation.
The magisterial Reformation, while placing considerable emphasis upon the authority of Scripture, also recognized a role for the Christian consensus of the past – an idea usually referred to as “Tradition 1” (see p. 160). In general terms, Protestant theologians can be thought of as recognizing three levels or strata of authority.
The basic pattern within the Reformation was thus to acknowledge Scripture as possessing primary and universal authority; the creeds as secondary and universal authority; and the Confessions as tertiary and local authority (in that such Confessions were only regarded as binding by a denomination or church in a specific region). The development of the Reformed wing of the Reformation was complex, with the result that a number of Confessions – each linked with a specific region – came to be influential. The following are of particular importance.
Date
Title
Geographical region
1559
Gallic Confession
France
1560
Scottish Confession
Scotland
1561
Belgic Confession
The Lowlands
1563
Thirty-Nine Articles
England
1566
Second Helvetic Confession
Western Switzerland
Works of Systematic Theology
The need for a systematic presentation of the theology of the Reformation was obvious from an early stage. The first work to fill this gap had its origins within the Lutheran Reformation. Philip Melanchthon established the definitive pattern for Lutheran works of systematic theology in 1521, through the publication of his Loci communes (Latin for “Common Places”). In its first edition this work simply treated a number of subjects of obvious relevance to the Lutheran Reformation, including the important theme of justification by faith.
Gradually, however, polemical and educational considerations obliged Melanchthon to expand the work considerably. New issues needed to be addressed and additional material had to be included to meet the growing demands of its readers. Melanchthon met this challenge simply by adding more material, regardless of the impression of lack of a unified structure this created. It soon became evident that this way of handling material was clumsy and disorganized, incapable of achieving the systematic analysis needed for the theological debates of the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The greatest and last work of this kind is Loci communes theologici (Latin: “Theological Common Places”) by the Lutheran theologian Johann Gerard, professor at Jena, published in nine volumes (1610–1622). It is for this reason that Melanchthon’s approach to systematic theology ultimately lost out to the much more organized system of John Calvin, to which we now turn.
Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion had its origins within the Reformed wing of the Protestant Reformation. The first edition, published in March 1536, was modeled on Luther’s “Lesser Catechism” (see p. 152) of 1529. Both its structure and substance indicate the extent to which Calvin has drawn upon this major educational work of the early German Reformation. Its 516 small-format pages comprise six chapters, the first four of which are modeled on Luther’s catechism. The second edition of the Institutes dates from Calvin’s Strasbourg period and was published in Latin in 1539. The most obvious and important difference in the volume is that of size: the new work is about three times as long as the first edition of 1536, with seventeen chapters instead of six. Two opening chapters now dealt with the knowledge of God and the knowledge of human nature. Additional material was added on the doctrine of the Trinity, the relation of the Old and New Testaments, penitence, justification by faith, the nature and relation of providence and predestination, and the nature of the Christian life. Although the work retained much material drawn from the earlier edition, it is evident that its character and status have changed. It is no longer a catechism; it is well on the way to being a definitive statement of the nature of the Christian faith, inviting comparison with the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas.
The work underwent expansion and revision in later editions. The final edition of 1559 had 80 chapters – a vast expansion from the original six chapters of 1536. The material was now distributed among four “books,” arranged as follows:
So why did Calvin adopt this fourfold structure of the edition of 1543? One intriguing suggestion is that Clavin adapted the fourfold division of material in the Four Books of the Sentences of Peter Lombard, a seminal medieval theologian to whom Calvin often refers. Is Calvin setting himself up as the Protestant successor to Peter Lombard, and his Institutes as the successor to his great theological textbook? We shall never know. What we do know is that the Institutes were now firmly established as the most influential theological work of the Protestant Reformation, eclipsing in importance the rival works of Luther, Melanchthon, and Zwingli.
Part of the process of theological consolidation and renewal within Catholicism after the Council of Trent was the production of numerous works of systematic theology. These took a wide variety of forms. The form of “loci” or theological topics, originally introduced by the Protestant writer Philip Melanchthon, proved attractive to many Catholic writers. The Spanish Dominican theologian Melchior Cano (1509?–1560) made use of this format, noting its advantages both as a convenient way of presenting Catholic ideas and also for combating their Protestant alternatives. Cano’s Loci theologici was first published in 1563, three years after the author’s death, and went into 26 editions: eight in Spain, nine in Italy, seven in Germany, and two in France. Numerous writers during the following century produced works using more or less the same format, such as Seraphimus Ractius (Razzi) (died 1613) and Petrus de Lorca (died 1606).
Most observers regard Catholic theology as being primarily concerned to refute Protestantism at this time, and single out Roberto Bellarmine for developing controversial theology to the point at which it virtually became a form of art. His most famous work is Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei adversus hujus temporis hereticos (“Disputations concerning the controversies of the Christian faith against the heretics of this age”), first published in 1586.