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Tradition Under Scripture: The Patristic Theology Of Luther And Calvin, Russell Carter Beisswanger

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The term "Protestant" indicates "protest," suggesting that Protestant self-identity is driven by schismatic attitudes. On the contrary, this thesis resituates Martin Luther and John Calvin, the two most famous Protestant Reformers, within their theological identity as continuous with the early church. To do so, this project examines the treatment of the church fathers in Luther's and Calvin's writings. Both have a great respect for church tradition and invoke the fathers polemically to criticize what they saw as the excesses of late medieval scholasticism in the Catholic Church. In addition, Luther and Calvin hold the fathers in high regard while strictly …