Francis Turretin
Encyclopedia
Turretin is especially known as a zealous opponent of the theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
of the Academy of Saumur
Academy of Saumur
The Academy of Saumur was a Huguenot university at Saumur in western France. It existed from 1593, when it was founded by Philippe de Mornay, until shortly after 1683, when Louis XIV decided on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, ending the limited toleration of Protestantism in...
(embodied by Moise Amyraut and called Amyraldianism), as an earnest defender of the Calvinistic
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
orthodoxy
Orthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
represented by the Synod of Dort
Synod of Dort
The Synod of Dort was a National Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618-1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy initiated by the rise of Arminianism. The first meeting was on November 13, 1618, and the final meeting, the 154th, was on May 9, 1619...
, and as one of the authors of the Helvetic Consensus
Helvetic Consensus
The Helvetic Consensus is a Swiss Reformed symbol drawn up in 1675 to guard against doctrines taught at the French Academy of Saumur, especially Amyraldism.-Origin:...
, which defended the formulation of double predestination
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
from the Synod of Dort and the verbal inspiration
Biblical inspiration
Biblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology that the authors and editors of the Bible were led or influenced by God with the result that their writings many be designated in some sense the word of God.- Etymology :...
of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
Life
He was the grandson of Francesco Turrettini, who left his native LuccaLucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
in 1574 and settled in Geneva in 1592. Francis was born to Benoit Turretin
Benoit Turretin
Benoit Turretin , the son of Francesco Turretini, a native of Lucca, who settled in Geneva in 1579, was born at Zurich in November 1588...
at Geneva on October 17, 1623 and died there on September 28, 1687. He was educated at Geneva, Leiden, Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, Paris, Saumur
Saumur
Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.The historic town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc...
, Montauban
Montauban
Montauban is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse....
, and Nîmes
Nîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
. Returning to his native city, he was made pastor of the Italian church there in 1648, and professor of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
in 1653. He is the father of Jean Alphonse Turretin
Jean Alphonse Turretin
Jean Alphonse Turretin , son of Francis Turretin, was born at Geneva in August 1671. He studied theology at Geneva under Louis Tronchin, and after travelling in Holland, England and France was received into the "Venerable Compagnie des Pasteurs" of Geneva in 1693...
.
Works
Among his writings, which are chiefly dogmaDogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
tic in character, special mention should be made of his Institutio Theologiae Elencticae (3 parts, Geneva, 1679–1685), which is dogmatic theology written in a polemic
Polemic
A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...
or argumentative fashion and which became a standard text in Reformed Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
circles. At Princeton Seminary it was only replaced as a textbook by Charles Hodge
Charles Hodge
Charles Hodge was the principal of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878. A Presbyterian theologian, he was a leading exponent of historical Calvinism in America during the 19th century. He was deeply rooted in the Scottish philosophy of Common Sense Realism...
's Systematic Theology in the late 19th century.
Turretin greatly influenced the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
s, but until recently, he was a mostly forgotten Protestant scholastic
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
from the annals of church history
History of Christianity
The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, its followers and the Church with its various denominations, from the first century to the present. Christianity was founded in the 1st century by the followers of Jesus of Nazareth who they believed to be the Christ or chosen one of God...
, though the English translation of his Institutes of Elenctic Theology is increasingly read by students of theology. John Gerstner
John Gerstner
John H. Gerstner was a Professor of Church History at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary and an authority on the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards....
called Turretin "the most precise theologian in the Calvinistic
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
tradition."
This article includes content derived from the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1914.
External links
- Brief Biography of Turretin - a brief biography of Francis Turretin based on an oral address given by his nephew, and translated into English
- Excerpts from Turretin's Institutes in English:
- "The Holy Scriptures" - on the Bible
- "Forensic Justification" - on how one is made right with GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
- "On Predestination of the Elect of God"
- Article on the Turretin family and the Institutes from the Princeton Review (July 1848)
- "Covenant Concepts in Francis Turretin's Institutes of Elenctic Theology" by C. Matthew McMahon
- "Turretin on Justification" an audio series by John Gerstner, long-time professor of church history.