Pre-Reformation Literature

[Supersillymanable]

Hey guys!

A friend of mine was asking recently on facebook about any recommendations of pre reformation literature (Christian books, not anything at all). I pointed him towards Augustine and Athanasius (with slight cautions), but realised, I don't know of many other authors, writers, theologians etc between the patristic period, and the reformation who are in essence reformed in their view of the atonement, the doctrines of grace and justification. I know of people like William of Ockham, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas etc, but as I understand, none of them were reformed really (except maybe Anselm?).

Would you kindly point me towards some good theologians between those periods? I understand John Wycliffe was one am I correct? Are there many, or any, others? I understand the point of the reformation was to reform the church and the errors of the Catholic church, but I cannot believe no one understood God's word in some general correct way (if that be the way to phrase it...).

Thanks .

 

[Rufus]

You won't see the Doctrines of Grace systematically lined out before the Reformation, not even clearly until the Canons of Dort. However, you can find monergism in the Council of Orange and the works of Augustine. You can find Limited Atonement in Aquinas. Double Predestination in Gottschalk. Justification by faith alone in Jerome, Chrysostom, Augustine, as well as Waldo, Wcyliffe, and Hus.

 

[arapahoepark]

Ask Dr. Clark, surely he'll know!

 

[Rufus]

Thomas G. Oden, a Methodist, has done a lot of work on this.

 

[Philip]

I know of people like William of Ockham, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas etc, but as I understand, none of them were reformed really

It would be anachronistic to call them so, given that the Reformation hadn't happened yet.

It's hard really to answer your question because while all of the pieces necessary for the Reformation were there beforehand, they hadn't been put together. You aren't going to find any good theologians if by that you mean one who is right on all points of his soteriology---a point which I would say holds true in any era.

Now, as for recommendations:

Anselm is probably the best of those you mention just because he is the most readable and has the most concise corpus of work. He's the theologian that both Protestants and RCs try to claim because he is so clear, so readable and so clearly orthodox. His Cur Deus Homo is still the best work on the atonement that I've read (though he goes places and uses analogies that a modern reader will consider odd).

Thomas Aquinas is a tricky one just because it's hard to read him without the Roman Catholic interpretation of Thomism seeping in. However, he is arguably as great an influence on Reformational theology as anyone else, particularly in his approach as a systematic theologian.

Occam (or Ockham) isn't one I would recommend just because he's more of a philosopher than a theologian (the same would go for Johannes Duns Scotus). He's very interesting from a philosophical perspective, but is not known for his theological works.

If we go back to the Patristic Period, there are also the Cappadocian Fathers, particularly Gregory of Nazianzus, who is one of the greatest Trinitarian theologians in Church history.

 

[Supersillymanable]

Yes, I did indeed think it would be funny to refer to people before the reformation as reformed, but I didn't really know how to phrase it! I couldn't quite find the words... Though, I was quite tired when posting...

Indeed, it's not surprising that there aren't many with clear understanding of things like the atonement, etc as that seemed to be a major point of the reformation, along with justification.

I do wonder, as we saw Doctrines such as the Trinity, the Deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit, the Doctrines of Grace, being sorted out in the patristic period (the doctrines of Grace again in the reformation), and then justification, the atonement and other such things sorted out in the reformation (i.e definied and showed clearly to be orthodox), I wonder if other things still being debated now will become cleared up in another era (just a side thought).

Are there any others anyone would recommend?

 

[Zach]

K. Scott Oliphant has a great blog post on Aquinas and the need to be careful reading his work over at the Gospel Coalition.

 

[hammondjones]

Cur Deus Homo

+1

 

[Supersillymanable]

K. Scott Oliphant has a great blog post on Aquinas and the need to be careful reading his work over at the Gospel Coalition.

Thoroughly agree with this. Didn't know Oliphint was blogging for the Gospel Coalition...

 

[Zach]

K. Scott Oliphant has a great blog post on Aquinas and the need to be careful reading his work over at the Gospel Coalition.

Thoroughly agree with this. Didn't know Oliphint was blogging for the Gospel Coalition...

I've noticed one or two more Confessional guys blogging for them. Kevin DeYoung appears to be pretty solidly confessional and I've also seen posts from people like Michael Horton. I'm sure there are others that I don't know about too.

 

[Jake]

I've worked through a few books of the Bible from this commentary set and have found them very beneficial: Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture - InterVarsity Press

It's a lot different than immersing one's self in the works of a particular author, but I have found reading them very beneficial. It is heavy on quotes from the likes of Augustine, but it has a good variety of quotes from the first few centuries of Christendom.