Institute of Post-Reformation Studies
The Institute of Post-Reformation Studies (IPRS) seeks to stimulate academic studies of the Early Modern Period following the first stages of the Reformation (±1550 up to ±1800), thereby helping ETF to fulfill its mission to deepen and strengthen the international Evangelical movement.
Post-Reformation studies are especially relevant for this mission since in the designated period classical theological lines of thought encountered the Enlightenment. Whereas the Enlightenment has been the subject of much research, the study of Protestant Orthodoxy has generally been neglected. This is partly due to the fact that in its academic discourse, the early modern university still followed the scholastic method as developed since the foundation of the university in the Middle Ages (±1200). This discourse, which was international and interconfessional, followed the lines of the Augustinian-Franciscan tradition and the Reformation in its discussion with the Enlightenment. Post-Reformation studies are indispensable for understanding the particular historical roots of the international Evangelical movement.
The Institute emphasizes research (Master projects, PhD projects, publications) without neglecting research-based teaching on the Master’s level (the courses “History of Christian Doctrine”; “Medieval and Post-Reformation Scholasticism”) and services to a broader academic public (e.g. conferences).
Fields of Research
Movements
- Protestant Orthodoxy (seen against its historical background in the Patristic Period, Middle Ages, and Reformation)
- English and American Puritanism, Dutch Further Reformation, German Pietism
- Revival movements such as Wesleyanism and the First Great Awakening (Jonathan Edwards)
- (Roots of) the Evangelical Movement
Research questions (broad examples)
- Continuity and discontinuity between Protestant Orthodoxy and its background in the theology of the Patristic Period, Middle Ages and Reformation (the ‘catholicity’ of Protestant Orthodoxy)
- The complex relationship between Protestant Orthodoxy and the Catholic (Counter-) Reformation (unity and diversity)
- The complex relationship between classical theological lines of thoughts with the Enlightenment (unity of faith and thinking versus autonomy of thinking)
- The complex relationship between tradition and renewal
- Developments within the Evangelical Movement
Senior Researchers
| Prof. Dr. Andreas J. Beck (Director) | Late Medieval and Early Modern Theology and Philosophy; Jonathan Edwards (cf. Jonathan Edwards Center Benelux) |
| Dr. Michaël Bauwens | Late Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy |
| Dr. Philip Fisk | Reformed Scholasticism, Early Modern Thought, Jonathan Edwards (cf. Jonathan Edwards Center Benelux) |
| Prof. Dr. Aza Goudriaan | Patristic and Medieval Backgrounds; Early Modern Theology and Philosophy |
| Dr. Matthias Mangold | Early Modern Reformed Theology and Philosophy, esp. Salomon van Til |
| Dr. Robert Sturdy | Early Modern Reformed Theology, esp. Samuel Rutherford |
| Dr. Stephen Tipton | Early Modern Reformed Theology, esp. Amandus Polanus |
Junior Researchers (PhD Students)
| Ben Adamo | Christology and the Application of Redemption in the Theoretico-Practica Theologia of Petrus van Mastricht (Joint PhD Project with TU Kampen | Utrecht) |
| Ralph Elliott | The Historical-Theological Development and Analysis of Jonathan Edwards’s Doctrine of Justification and Union with Christ (cf. Jonathan Edwards Center Benelux) (tentative) |
| Matthew Johnston | The Suffering of Christ’s Soul in Seventeenth Century Roman Catholic and Reformed Theology |
| Min Kang | Johannes a Lasco and the Dutch Refugee Congregations in Emden and London |
| Song Kim | Jonathan Edwards’s Spirituality in his Perspective on Communion with Christ (cf. Jonathan Edwards Center Benelux) (Leave of Absence in 2023-2024) |
| Johan Lorein | Johannes Duns Scotus and Voluntarism |
| Todd Malone | Jonathan Edwards’s View of Conscience |
| Hendra Thamrindinata | The Christology of Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676) (Joint PhD Project with TU Utrecht) |
| Rostislav Tkachenko | God’s Interior Mystery: God’s Knowledge and God’s Will according to Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas, especially as Presented in Their Scripta (Leave of Absence in 2023-2024) |
| Wim van den Dool | Anselmus’ Doctrine of Reconciliation in the Second Part of Cur Deus Homo. (PhD project at Tilburg University; promoters: Paul J.J. van Geest, Tilburg University); Andreas J. Beck, ETF Leuven) |
| Christian Westerink | The Concept of Divine Ideas in Protestant Orthodoxy (Joint PhD Project with PThU) |
| Peter Wijnberger | The Distinction of Archetypal and Ectypal Theology and its Impact on Theology: Franciscus Junius (1545-1602), Petrus van Mastricht (1630-1706), and Bernhardinus de Moor (1709-1780) (Joint PhD Project with PThU) |
Significant Publications (Books)
- Mangold, Matthias. Towards a Reformed Enlightenment: Salomon van Til (1643–1713) and the Cartesio-Cocceian Debates in the Early Modern Dutch Republic. Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 352. Leiden: Brill, forthcoming 30 May 2024.
- Tipton, Stephen B. The Ground, Method, and Goal of Amandus Polanus’ (1561–1610) Doctrine of God: A Historical and Contextual Analysis. Reformed Historical Theology 73. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2022, 351 pp.
- Fisk, Philip J. Yesteryear’s Faith Seeking Understanding: New England Disputations on Providence; With a Historical-Theological Introduction. Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2022, 278 pp.
- Beck, Andreas J. Gisbertus Voetius (1589–1676) on God, Freedom, and Contingency: An Early Modern Reformed Voice. Brill’s Series in Church History and Religious Culture 84. Leiden: Brill, 2022, xvi + 616 pp.
- Fisk, Philip J. A Book of Faith Seeking Understanding: Fifty-Two Lord’s Day Readings. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2021, 152 pp.
- Sturdy, Robert C. Freedom from Fatalism: Samuel Rutherford’s (1600–1661) Doctrine of Divine Providence. Reformed Historical Theology 68. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2021, 357 pp.
- Goudriaan, Aza. Beyond Demonstration: Historical Observations on Principles of Theology. Inaugural lecture. Leuven: Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, 2020, 42 pp.
- Goris, Harm, Andreas J. Beck, William den Boer, and Riemer Faber, eds. Synopsis purioris theologiae = Synopsis of a purer theology. Latin Text and English Translation: Volume 3, Disputations 43-52. Studies in medieval and Reformation traditions 222/9. Leiden: Brill, 2020, 716 pp.
- Vos, Antonie. John Duns Scotus: A Life. Studies in the History of Church and Theology 2. Kampen: Summum Academic, 2018, 253 pp.
- Vos, Antonie. The Theology of John Duns Scotus. Studies in Reformed Theology 34. Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2018, xii + 455 pp.
- Beck, Andreas J., ed. Melanchthon und die Reformierte Tradition. Refo500 Academic Studies 6. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016, 250 pp.
- Belt, Henk, van den, Andreas J. Beck, William den Boer, and Riemer Faber, eds. Synopsis purioris theologiae = Synopsis of a purer theology. Latin Text and English Translation: Volume 2, Disputations 24-42. Studies in medieval and Reformation traditions 204/6. Leiden: Brill, 2016, 738 pp.
- Fisk, Philip J. Jonathan Edwards’s Turn from the Classic-Reformed Tradition of Freedom of the Will. New Directions in Jonathan Edwards Studies 2. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2016, 441 pp.
- Velde, Dolf te, William J. van Asselt, William den Boer, and Riemer Faber, eds. Synopsis Purioris Theologiae / Synopsis of a Purer Theology. Latin Text and English Translation: Volume 1, Disputations 1-23. Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions, 187; Text and Sources, 5. Brill: Leiden, 2014, 659 pp.
- Peter J. Tomson, Andreas J. Beck e.a., eds. The Belgic Confession at 450. Analecta Bruxellensia, 15. Maastricht: Shaker Media, 2012, 223 pp.
- Beck, Andreas J. and William den Boer, eds. The Reception of John Calvin and His Theology in Reformed Orthodoxy. Church History and Religious Culture, 91.1-2 (special issue). Leiden: Brill, 2011, 312 pp. = CHRC 91.1-2 (2011).
