Turretin's Sources

[Prufrock]

The following information may not have interest to any other than me, but I thought I would share anyway. The following are disconnected thoughts that I found interesting while going through the bibliography at the end of Turretin's Institutes, regarding his sources.

Of the scholastics, Thomas Aquinas is quoted the most by far: in fact, more so than Biel, Scotus, Durandus, Suarez and Vasquez combined. He never quotes Ockam or Gregory of Rimini. Bernard is quoted frequently. Lombard is still quoted extensively.

By far, the most quotations still come from Augustine; I find it impressive that as far as Turretin after the Reformation began, Augustine is still the authority in theological dispute. He is quoted (by rough count) four times as frequently as any other author, excepting Bellarmine, Chrysostom and Jerome. After Augustine, Bellarmine is quoted the most by far. The Council of Trent, of course, is also quoted extensively.

The fathers and medieval authors are quoted far more than the Reformers and early orthodox.

The orthodox Protestant theologian most quoted is John Calvin by far. A distant second will find Beza, Luther, Vermigli and the Canons of Dort. Perhaps surprisingly, it appears Rivet is next in line. For all his influence, I find it surprising that Melanchthon is not referenced once.

Perhaps tied with Calvin, the "Protestant" theologian secondly most quoted is Socinus; next is the Anabaptist Smaltzius.

It appears he knew English, but rarely quoted English/Scottish authors, even those written in Latin. Those quoted which I picked out were King James I, Robert Ballie, William Twisse and John Jewell; but I think this was it. Perkins, Ames, Cartwright -- none of these are quoted. Ussher is also quoted.

All told, apart from the large amount of quotations from Calvin, Turretin really does not seem to set forth a private system or his own interpretation, but the diversity of his references reinforce the idea that his work truly represents the mainstream consensus of the Reformed orthodoxy of his day, over and against (mostly) the Roman Catholics, Socinians, Arminians and Anabaptists.

Aristotle is quoted 3 times as much as Plato.

Also, Turretin had a fairly extensive knowledge of Hebraic scholarship, both of the Protestant Hebraists and also of the Jewish doctors themselves.

Biblically, Matthew, John and Romans are his most quoted books; followed by Genesis, Psalms, Luke and 1 Corinthians.

 

[py3ak]

It would be interesting to see the proportion of Turretin's quotations from commentaries and other works of direct Biblical study vs. from works of a more theological nature. It would also be interesting to see how many quotes from Calvin are in the natures of an appeal to an authority, vs. a vindication from misrepresentation.

 

[Prufrock]

Ruben, a quick check of randomly selected quotations does show a high statistical percentage of quotes vindicating Calvin in his teaching against the cavils of opponents; also, there appear to be several that are designed, not so much to free Calvin from misrepresentation, but mostly to (seemingly arbitrarily) say, "Neither does Calvin differ from the received opinion." Perhaps this is largely to do with Turretin being at the academy in Geneva, and an innate desire to establish his school as teaching orthodoxy.

 

[DTK]

The following information may not have interest to any other than me, but I thought I would share anyway. The following are disconnected thoughts that I found interesting while going through the bibliography at the end of Turretin's Institutes, regarding his sources.

By far, the most quotations still come from Augustine; I find it impressive that as far as Turretin after the Reformation began, Augustine is still the authority in theological dispute. He is quoted (by rough count) four times as frequently as any other author, excepting Bellarmine, Chrysostom and Jerome.....

Yes, but it's probably good to bear in mind that among patristic authors, Augustine was undoubtedly the most prolific, followed by Chrysostom and then Jerome.

It appears he knew English, but rarely quoted English/Scottish authors, even those written in Latin. Those quoted which I picked out were King James I, Robert Ballie, William Twisse and John Jewell; but I think this was it. Perkins, Ames, Cartwright -- none of these are quoted. Ussher is also quoted.

This is true, although he was very much aware of William Whitaker's work, to whom he made a number of references without ever actually citing him. The index of proper names will compliment the bibliography as to others of whose work he was aware, including William of Occam to whom you made reference.

DTK

 

[Prufrock]

Good information, Pastor King. I am looking through that index at the moment. I notice, however, that Voetius is referred to in 2:95 in the text, but his name is mentioned neither in the bibliography nor the Index of Proper names. I wonder how many others were missed.

The Index certainly rounds out a lot of references that I was expecting to find. Thanks for drawing attention to it.

 

[CharlieJ]

Since he wrote it for polemic purposes, it's quite useful to see where his opponents were drawing their information. Thanks.

 

[DTK]

The Index certainly rounds out a lot of references that I was expecting to find. Thanks for drawing attention to it.

You bet, we share similar interests, and I'm always grateful for your observations.

DTK

 

[ExGentibus]

Of the scholastics, Thomas Aquinas is quoted the most by far: in fact, more so than Biel, Scotus, Durandus, Suarez and Vasquez combined.

That is very interesting. In what light and context does he quote Aquinas? That is, merely as a historical source, or in support of a reformed doctrine - I know for instance that the Summa defends double predestination - or truly in an elenctic way?

 

[charliejunfan]

Turretin looked really smart too!

 

[py3ak]

Ruben, a quick check of randomly selected quotations does show a high statistical percentage of quotes vindicating Calvin in his teaching against the cavils of opponents; also, there appear to be several that are designed, not so much to free Calvin from misrepresentation, but mostly to (seemingly arbitrarily) say, "Neither does Calvin differ from the received opinion." Perhaps this is largely to do with Turretin being at the academy in Geneva, and an innate desire to establish his school as teaching orthodoxy.

That was my impression as well.