Ramism and the Reformation of Method: The Franciscan Legacy in Early Modernity (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology)

Ramism and the Reformation of Method offers a fresh exploration of the philosophical and theological presuppositions of the early modern movement of Ramism. It shows how Ramism was grounded in medieval Augustinian and Franciscan thought and charts its reception within the wider movement of Reformed scholasticism. It thereby challenges a widespread narrative associating Reformed Protestantism with disenchantment and the onset of secularism. Tracing a broad arc from Ramus to Comenius, it examines the nature and formation of Ramism and its subsequent development and transformation, revealing that Ramism was at the epicentre of a methodological revolution which came to profoundly impact every sphere of early modern thought. For its devotees, Ramism became the hallmark of a truly Christian philosophy and theology, the divine pattern of all reality, and the key to restoring a unified Christendom. Fundamental to Ramism was a dynamic convergence of ontology, epistemology, and theology resonating with Franciscan reform. In particular, Ramism was profoundly indebted to an eclectic Neo-Platonist and Scotist approach to reality and developed as a supernatural logic of faith patterned on Scripture. It was also expressed according to a wider mathematization and systematization of knowledge grounded in Cusan and Fabrist ideals. Ramism and the Reformation of Method exposes the deep roots of the early modern encyclopaedia in medieval and Renaissance thought and shows how Ramism was realized in an important Edenic paradigm, issuing in a Trinitarian and eschatological drive for the universal reform of Church and society. Cover 1 Series 3 Ramism and the Reformation of Method 6 Copyright 7 Dedication 8 Contents 10 Acknowledgements 14 Abbreviations 20 Introduction: The Franciscan Reformation of Method 22 I.1. Augustinian and Franciscan Platonism 27 I.2. Lullism 38 I.3. Christian Humanism 43 I.4. Reformed Scholasticism 52 I.5. Ramist Itinerary 63 1. Divine Dialectic: Ramus, Method, and the Ascent to God 65 1.1. Evangelical and Mystical Milieu 69 1.2. Fabrist Formation 74 1.3. Natural and Cusan Dialectic 75 1.4. Mathematics, Dialectic, and the Mystical Ascent to God 79 1.5. Rhetorical and Metaphysical Turn 83 1.6. The Emerging Shape of Ramist Dialectic 85 2. Return to the Golden Age: Ramus and the Reform of Church and Society 100 2.1. Reforming the University 102 2.2. Mathematical and Evangelical Reform 108 2.3. Return to the Golden Age 112 2.4. Transforming Theological Method 116 3. Logics of Faith: Piscator, Herborn Ramism, and the Confessionalization of Method 126 3.1. Ramism, Philippism, and Neo-​Platonism 127 3.2. The Ambiguities of Philippo-​Ramism 131 3.3. Olevian’s Ramism 133 3.4. Olevian and the Birth of Federal Theology 137 3.5. Olevian and the Founding of the Herborn Academy 140 3.6. Piscator’s Ramist Conversion 143 3.7. Piscator and the Reform of Ramism 146 3.8. Logic, Exegesis, and Theology 149 3.9. Herborn Ramism 153 4. Archetypal Reform: Richardson, Ames, and the Reduction of the Arts 158 4.1. The Character of Cambridge Ramism 161 4.2. Perkins’ Ramism 165 4.3. Richardsonian Ramism 167 4.4. Exemplarism and Encyclopaedism 180 4.5. Archetype, Ectype, and the Logic of Scripture 186 4.6. Counter-​Logic and Metaphysics 190 4.7. Towards the Logic of Faith 192 4.8. Living to God 195 5. Catholic Symphony: Scaliger, Polanus, and the Reconfiguring of Ramism 202 5.1. Scaliger’s Franciscan Logic and Metaphysics 205 5.2. Goclenius and Reformed Metaphysics 209 5.3. Polanus’ Symphonic Method of Theology 214 5.4. Szegedinus’ Trinitarian Method of Theology 226 5.5. Trinitarian and Transcendental Turn 232 6. Christian Philosophy: Keckermann, Encyclopaedism, and the Return to Eden 234 6.1. Keckermann and German Ramism 236 6.2. Methodical Peripateticism 242 6.3. Christian Philosophy 247 6.4. Encyclopaedism and Eden 252 6.5. Towards a Trinitarian Philosophy 255 6.6. Therapeutic Theology and Architectonic Politics 257 7. Philosophical Panacea: Alsted, Lullism, and Trinitarian Encyclopaedism 263 7.1. Between Ramism and Lullism 266 7.2. The Quest for a Lullist Key 272 7.3. Harmonic Philosophy and Mathesis Universalis 278 7.4. Towards a Triune Universal Method 282 7.5. Biblical Encyclopaedism 287 7.6. Scriptural and Scotist Metaphysics 289 7.7. Trinitarian and Apocalyptic Encyclopaedism 293 8. Universal Harmony: Bisterfeld, Immeation, and Mystical Transformation 301 8.1. Bisterfeld’s Formation 303 8.2. Trinitarian, Encyclopaedic, and Apocalyptic Reform 307 8.3. Trinitarian and Transcendental Metaphysics 312 8.4. Neo-​Platonic and Mathematical Logic 317 8.5. Encyclopaedism, Meditation, and Ascent 320 8.6. Scriptural Method and the Ars Concionandi 324 8.7. Theological Logic 329 8.8. Trinity, Symbiotics, and Society 333 9. Pansophia: Comenius and the Quest for Human Omniscience 340 9.1. Ramist and Lullist Formation 342 9.2. Baconian and Campanellan Influence 346 9.3. Millennialism and the Rosicrucian Furore 351 9.4. Augustinian and Franciscan Encyclopaedism 357 9.5. Pansophia, Anti-​Socinianism, and the Coincidence of Opposites 364 9.6. Mathesis Universalis 369 9.7. Consultatio Catholica 375 Bibliography 384 Index 424