Reformed theology and the humanities

Abstract

The Reformed tradition has been influential in many cultures, in Europe and also in Asia and the Americas. Over the centuries it has absorbed various influences and it has engaged in criticisms of its own traditions, emphasizing some doctrines associated with it and muting or abandoning others, as religious traditions tend to do as they adapt to time and setting. This chapter will look at one place and period, the Reformation and Renaissance in England, when Reformed influence was new, its aesthetic, theological, and intellectual impact was clear, and its sources, notably the Geneva Bible and the writings of John Calvin, were available and widely read. In so doing, this chapter also fixes on ways in which assessments of the humanities and the Puritans are and are not helpful.