John Calvin as ‘public theologian’ in view of his ‘Commentary on Seneca’s de Clementia’

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dc.contributor.author Dreyer, Willem Akkerhuys (Wim)
dc.date.accessioned 2018-09-21T05:21:52Z
dc.date.available 2018-09-21T05:21:52Z
dc.date.issued 2018-06-25
dc.description.abstract During the 16th century, Europe underwent fundamental sociopolitical changes, which challenged theologians and the church to respond theologically. In light of the celebration of the Reformation (1517–2017) and the theme of this conference, this contribution presents Calvin as a ‘public theologian’. To this purpose it is necessary to define ‘public theology’, describe the sociopolitical changes which challenged theologians during the 16th century, and lastly to focus on Calvin’s contribution to the discourse. Because of the vast amount of material that is available, this contribution is limited to Calvin’s first publication, his ‘Commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia’. Calvin’s fundamental understanding of law and justice, as well as his theological engagement with sociopolitical issues, made him a public theologian par excellence. Calvin’s legal training surfaced whenever he addressed the authorities, for instance, when pleading the case of persecuted Protestants. He had a fundamental understanding of issues such as justice and freedom. The rights, responsibilities and obligations of government and people should always remain in balance. Sociopolitical transformation, as experienced in South Africa during the last three decades, requires of theologians to engage theologically with relevant issues. In this, Calvin set a remarkable example. en_ZA
dc.description.department Church History and Church Policy en_ZA
dc.description.librarian am2018 en_ZA
dc.description.uri http://www.hts.org.za en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Dreyer, W.A., 2018, ‘John Calvin as ‘public theologian’ in view of his “Commentary on Seneca’s de Clementia”’, HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies 74(4), a4928. https://DOI.org/10.4102/hts.v74i4.4928. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 0259-9422 (print)
dc.identifier.issn 2072-8050 (online)
dc.identifier.other 10.4102/hts.v74i4.4928
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66612
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher AOSIS Open Journals en_ZA
dc.rights © 2018. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. en_ZA
dc.subject John Calvin (1509–1564) en_ZA
dc.subject Public theologian en_ZA
dc.subject Justice en_ZA
dc.subject Freedom en_ZA
dc.subject Sociopolitical transformation en_ZA
dc.subject Law en_ZA
dc.title John Calvin as ‘public theologian’ in view of his ‘Commentary on Seneca’s de Clementia’ en_ZA
dc.type Article en_ZA


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