Alex Richey

Most of you probably wonder who this Geesink guy is I post about. Wonder no more! I translated the recent biographical sketch on the @VUhistoricus site, & they have graciously posted it. I hope you enjoy reading about the neo-Calvinist ethicist! geheugenvandevu.nl/blog/grave-wil…

Aragorn affirming a universal & immutable moral law in Middle-earth: “Good & ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves & Dwarves & another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.” - TT, Ch. 2

I’m thankful for the work of @BerithPress, especially for translating/publishing Bavinck’s dissertation!

"Even as Melanchthon, nightingale of our Germany, to the point says, 'Ethical studies are the schoolmaster or escort, leading us to Christ'" - Alsted, Encyclodepia, Book 21, Ethics

@MichaelCarlino I love it as well! It’s the one I read daily.

All I want for Christmas this year is the Westminster Reference Bible but in NKJV. If you know who can make this happen, please pass this request along. I would be much obliged. It really is the perfect layout with outstanding reference design/accessibility.

@DanielRHyde Looking forward to it. Thanks for the heads up on it, dominee!

@RicheyAlex It’s still not up at Brill, but several of the addresses at this past conference are being published … I have a chapter on how Ames’ definition of theology as “the doctrine of living to God” gets expressed in his practically-focused eschatology.

William Ames' 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 and 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 "would make [a man] (supposing him versed in the Scriptures) a good divine, though he had no more books in the world." - Thomas Hooker You should be Amesius maxxing. He's a seminal figure in Reformed moral theology.

@DanielRHyde Are you able to give any details?!

@RicheyAlex Major book coming out on him in the near future 😎

@BerithPress Didn’t you have an article explaining the differences between the three volumes? I was looking for it but couldn’t find it.

We published our logic series because in modern theology discourse, there is often more heat than light. Many of us learned to run (read theological treatises implying the reader understood logic) before we could walk (understanding logic itself).

@BerithPress Great, thanks! Looking forward to it!

@RicheyAlex @postnuance It is in there, yes, it's been translated and is in the book.

📣 📖 New Release: In The Ethics of Ulrich Zwingli, Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) examines the ethics by one of the most neglected yet important early Reformers, Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531). Newly available in English thanks to @postnuance, Bavinck evaluates some of the most insightful, controversial, and pastoral aspects of Zwingli’s thought, grounding it in the Swiss Reformer’s historical and theological context. $20, Paperback, 5x8, 204 pages.

Bestiality is not only a sin against God, but against human nature. It harms both body and soul, and society at large. From Bavinck, RE 2. But every other Reformed moral theologian before the twenty-first century concurs.

Randomly came across this mistranslation in Bavinck's The Christian Family. Heerschappij means authority/rule/dominion, not glory [which is heerlijkheid]. Heerlijkheid is in the same sentence, so it seems it was just an oversight.

A long time coming: Cameron Clausing's and my English translation of Herman Bavinck's 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝐷𝑒𝑖 is now available for pre-order. Really glad this one is finally making its way into the world. hendricksonpublishers.com/p/magnalia-dei…

2: They never mention the word sin, even in connection with unquestionable sinful practices such as surrogacy. They only "raise concerns," "discourage," "recommend against," or "warn against." Part of ethics is determining what actions are sins and what are not.

I appreciate the ERLC warning against ART, but 2 things stood out: 1: If IVF "bypasses God's good design," how is that not sin? As Bavinck said, sin is "turning away from the existing order" & "the establishing of another order." Acting against God's order for procreation is sin.

@jonathanramont Agreed! That’s a better way of putting it!

@RicheyAlex Quite likely, except I would just say he's in continuity with patristic and medieval consensus rather than with the Roman Catholics.

Baker also omitted Calvin’s commentary on Genesis 38 (Onan). I wonder what the editor’s intent was behind it. Calvin’s note demonstrates that the Reformed tradition’s sexual ethic was in continuity with the Roman Catholic Church up until the 20th C.

@jonathanramont @BerithPress I know they've begun digitizing them (berithpress.com/annotations), but not sure if they're looking to print them. The Dutch Annotations also need to be reprinted!

@BerithPress interested?

Are there any projects to get the Westminster Annotations back into print? Seems like a severely overlooked gem