
Leibniz
Protestant Theologian
Irena Backus(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 11. September 2014
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-19-989184-9 (ISBN)
Description
Irena Backus offers the first study in over four hundred years that characterizes Leibniz as both scholar and theologian. She explores his treatment of the key theological issues of his timepredestination, sacred history, the Eucharist, efforts for a union between Lutherans and members of other Christian traditionsilluminating his unique integration of theology into philosophy.
Drawing on a wide range of Leibniz's writings, Backus carefully examines the philosophical points and counterpoints of his positions. She shows how Leibniz's Lutheran theology was reconciled with his philosophy, and demonstrates that the solutions he sought to the problems of confessional division were more philosophical than theological. Despite his attempts to merge the two fields, Backus reveals, many of Leibniz's ideas were met with resistance by both theologians and philosophers of his
time.
Using a wealth of previously unexplored material, Backus also includes the first-ever English translation of the Unvorgreiffliches Bedencken. This study will be an important contribution to the history of ideas, and to understanding Leibniz's place in the mainstream Protestant theology of his time.
Drawing on a wide range of Leibniz's writings, Backus carefully examines the philosophical points and counterpoints of his positions. She shows how Leibniz's Lutheran theology was reconciled with his philosophy, and demonstrates that the solutions he sought to the problems of confessional division were more philosophical than theological. Despite his attempts to merge the two fields, Backus reveals, many of Leibniz's ideas were met with resistance by both theologians and philosophers of his
time.
Using a wealth of previously unexplored material, Backus also includes the first-ever English translation of the Unvorgreiffliches Bedencken. This study will be an important contribution to the history of ideas, and to understanding Leibniz's place in the mainstream Protestant theology of his time.
Reviews / Votes
will provide invaluable source material for scholars who wish to get a thorough view of this seventeenth-century philosophical theologian * Keith Ward, Theology * Irena Backus's book fills a major gap in Leibniz literature. A systematic study of Leibniz's theology fully grounded in the wealth of sources which have become available over the past century has long been awaited. Backus's superb command of the nuances of early modern Protestant theology in their historical contexts leads the reader to the discovery of key but neglected aspects of Leibniz's thought. This contribution will have a lasting impact. * Maria Rosa Antognazza, Head of the Department of Philosophy, King's College London * This groundbreaking book focuses on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical peculiarities of both Lutheranism and Calvinism, convincingly showing that Leibniz's efforts in view of the confessional union between the Lutherans of Hannover and the Calvinists of Brandenburg were based on his personal convictions and at the same time on his own philosophical doctrines, especially those relating to the problem of substance and to the question of freedom, necessity, and theodicy.This book fills in a serious gap in the Leibniz scholarship and, considering the far reaching influence of Leibniz's thought in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, will provide a precious reference for readers and researchers interested not only in the early modern theology, but also
philosophy. * Gianni Paganini, Professor of History of Philosophy, University of Eastern Piedmont * Irena Backuss much-anticipated study of Leibniz as a philosopher-theologian examines significant trajectories of his ecumenical endeavors, in published essays, manuscripts and correspondence, on the Eucharist, predestination, and sacred history. Her work is noteworthy both for its approach as intellectual history and for its detailed examination of the history of Leibnizs efforts toward church union. The result is a significant contribution to our knowledge of late
seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century religious, theological, and philosophical debate. * Richard A. Muller, P. J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology, Calvin Theological Seminary *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
666 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-989184-9 (9780199891849)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
Irena Backus is Professor of Reformation History and Ecclesiastical Latin at the Institute of Reformation History at the University of Geneva.
Author
Professor of Reformation History and Ecclesiastical LatinProfessor of Reformation History and Ecclesiastical Latin, Institute of Reformation History, University of Geneva, Geneva
Content
Abbreviations ; Introduction ; Part I. Eucharist and Substance ; 1. Transubstantiation and the Problem of Real Presence ; 2. Negotiations with the Reformed and the problem of real presence ; Appendix to Chapter 2: A selection of texts on the negotiations ; Part II. Predestination and Necessity ; 3. Predestination ; 4. Necessity ; 5. Leibniz and Augustine ; Part III. Leibniz the Historian of the Sacred ; 6. Leibniz's Concept of Historia Sacra ; 7. History, Apocalyptic Prophecy, Early Heresies: Leibniz, Newton, Grotius ; 8. Concluding Remarks ; Notes ; Index

