Jordan Ballor

About Jordan Ballor

Jordan Ballor (Dr. theol., University of Zurich; Ph.D., Calvin Theological Seminary) is associate director of the Junius Institute for Digital Reformation Research of Calvin Theological Seminary. He also serves as senior research fellow and director of publishing at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty.

Muller and Helm on Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards.jpg

“Jonathan Edwards”. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

One of the reasons the Junius Institute exists is to help disseminate scholarship on the Reformation and post-Reformation eras, and so when some of our scholars and associates publish items, we’re happy to take note.

To wit, JI senior fellow Richard Muller has had an ongoing discussion with Paul Helm on the place of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) in relationship to the Reformed tradition. The most recent issue of Jonathan Edwards Studies, a notable online journal of scholarship relating to the “greatest American theologian,” has the latest installments.

Here’s a list of the essays in order so you can catch up on the state of the question:

To access the articles, all you need to do is register on the JES site and you can download these and other offerings for free. Jonathan Edwards Studies is a publication of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University, which offers a wealth of other resources as well.

Matching Funds for Digitization Project

A generous benefactor has put up $1,000 of matching funds for donations raised through the end of this calendar year. Please help us to maximize our ability to digitize early modern texts in theology by contributing to our fundraising campaign. The opportunity to double your donation ends on December 31, so please don’t delay!

For more about our digitization efforts, check out the video below:

And peruse some of the first fruits here.

Colloquium: Early Modern Hypothetical Universalism

Earlier this year Michael Lynch, a PhD student at Calvin Theological Seminary, presented at a Junius Institute Colloquium on the topic, “Early Modern Hypothetical Universalism: Reflections on the Status Quaestionis and Modern Scholarship.” We’re happy to be able to make the audio of this event available.

Lynch also recently presented at the Evangelical Theological Society’s annual meeting on related topics, and the audio of these talks are available for purchase.

Upcoming Colloquium on Junius’ Legacy

Francis JuniusWe are now midway through the Fall 2014 Colloquium series, and next up is a panel on the institute’s namesake, “Franciscus Junius and the Development of the Reformed Tradition.”

The panel will feature comments from David C. Noe, the translator of a new publication from Reformation Heritage Books, A Treatise on True Theology, as well as JI senior fellow Richard A. Muller, who contributed a foreword to the volume. JI director Todd Rester, who is working on a translation of Junius’ On the Observation of the Mosaic Polity, will also speak, as will JI research curator David Sytsma, who will introduce a new digital companion tool developed in conjunction with the RHB publication. Calvin Seminary president emeritus James A. DeJong will serve as a moderator for the panel discussion and presentations.

Join us in the auditorium at Calvin Seminary if you are in the area on Tuesday, November 11, from 6:30pm to 8:00pm for this event, marking the publication of a major new translation of one of the most formative theological texts of the early modern period.

Announcing Fall 2014 Colloquium Lineup

actasynodination00syno_0485We’re happy to announce the Fall 2014 Junius Institute Colloquium series produced in collaboration with the doctoral program at Calvin Theological Seminary.

First up is Michael Lynch, a doctoral student at Calvin Theological Seminary, who will be presenting on “Early Modern Hypothetical Universalism: Reflections on the Status Quaestionis and Modern Scholarship.” The colloquium will be held in the Covenant Room at Calvin Theological Seminary on Friday, September 12, 2014, from 1pm-3pm.

Other topics in this Fall’s series include the institute’s namesake, Franciscus Junius, as well as the Puritan Thomas Goodwin and John Milton.