Concepts of predestination and reprobation were central issues in the Protestant Reformation, especially within Calvinist churches, and thus have often been studied primarily in the historical context of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In Versions of Election: From Langland and Aquinas to Calvin and Milton, David Aers takes a longer view of these key issues in Christian theology. With meticulous attention to the texts of medieval and early modern theologians, poets, and popular writers, this book argues that we can understand the full complexity of the history of various teachings on the doctrine of election only through a detailed diachronic study that takes account of multiple periods and disciplines. Throughout this wide-ranging study, Aers examines how various versions of predestination and reprobation emerge and re-emerge in Christian tradition from the Middle Ages through the seventeenth century. Starting with incisive readings of medieval works by figures such as William Langland, Thomas Aquinas, and Robert Holcot, and continuing on to a nuanced consideration of texts by Protestant thinkers and writers, including John Calvin, Arthur Dent, William Twisse, and John Milton (among others), Aers traces the twisting and unpredictable history of prominent versions of predestination and reprobation across the divide of the Reformation and through a wide variety of genres. In so doing, Aers offers not only a detailed study of election but also important insights into how Christian tradition is made, unmade, and remade. Versions of Election is an original, cross-disciplinary study that touches upon the fields of literature, theology, ethics, and politics, and makes important contributions to the study of both medieval and early modern intellectual and literary history. It will appeal to academics in these fields, as well as clergy and other educated readers from a wide variety of denominations.
Les mer
“This is a marvelous and original monograph, both deeply learned and eloquently written. I have no doubt that Versions of Election will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and students of religious history and thought, both in the medieval and early modern periods.” —Nicolette Zeeman, author of The Arts of Disruption
Les mer

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780268108663
Publisert
2020-11-30
Utgiver
Vendor
University of Notre Dame Press
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Dybde
19 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Forfatter

Biographical note

David Aers is James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of English and Historical Theology with appointments in both the English Department and in the Divinity School at Duke University. His many publications include Salvation and Sin: Augustine, Langland, and Fourteenth-Century Theology (2009) and Beyond Reformation?: An Essay on William Langland’s Piers Plowman and the End of Constantinian Christianity (2015), both published by the University of Notre Dame Press.