Ben Chidester

This 5th century bishop was the leading theologian of the grammatical-historical Antiochene school. He is largely forgotten among both Protestants and Catholics in our time, but his writings were highly influential upon the magisterial Reformers (notably, Peter Martyr), particularly on their doctrine of the Lord’s Supper. He is a significant case study in the polemics of the Reformation over the historicity of doctrine.

In the early polemics of the Reformation, the fundamental Protestant doctrines of the clarity and sufficiency of Scripture were attacked by their Roman Catholic rivals as unstable, leading to all matter of doctrinal chaos and heresy. How could Protestants counter this argument, when Lutherans, Anabaptists, Reformed, and Anglican were so varied on their doctrinal confessions? This paper looks at the prayers of Peter Martyr Vermigli, one of the most influential of the early Reformers, to understand his view of the doctrine of Scripture and revelation from a spiritual perspective. That he wrote these prayers amidst the tumult of and threat of religious war gives them a particularly compelling character.

During the height of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s leadership of the English Reformation, Cranmer laid designs for an ecumenical council of the Reformed across Europe that would solidify their movement and bolster it against the counter reformation of the Roman Catholic Church. Switzerland was concurrently pursuing a similar aim within its own cantons on the particularly divisive issue of the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper. This paper investigates the detrimental effect of internal strife within Reformed camps on the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper and the simple practical reality of overburdened churchmen and the effects of these realities on ecumenical dialogue at the time.

Is there any proper sense in which we can say that Christ died in a saving way for those who ultimately would not believe in him? This was the question that upset much of the Reformed church in the years after the Synod of Dort in an era known as High Orthodoxy. This paper investigates the extent to which “hypothetical universalism” — a view among some Reformed that answered the leading question affirmatively — had a hold within England and how the foremost advocates for and against, namely, John Davenant and John Owen, respectively, argued their positions.

It is in vogue these days to describe one’s approach to doctrine as “Christ-centered,” but is your Christ-centered approach appropriately balanced with a robust, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity? John Owen’s writings on union and communion with God present the uniqueness of the role of the Son in relating to human beings, as his special creation, within a robust Trinitarian framework. This paper explores the implications of his Christological thought from Adam’s communion with God in the Garden to the believer’s consummated communion with God in heaven.

What underlying, positive principles ought to guide Christians in worship? This paper argues that Scripture has set forth a principle of simplicity that should characterize our worship, why such a principle is wise, and how such a principle can in itself redound to the beauty of Christ. It also argues how following such a principle could tend toward unity of worship among Protestants and Reformed especially, even among traditions that differ on their understanding of God’s prescribed forms of worship.

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