Francis Turretin (also known as François Turrettini; 17 October 1623 – 28 September 1687) was a Genevan-Italian Reformed scholastic theologian.

Turretin is especially known as a zealous opponent of the moderate Calvinist theology of the Academy of Saumur (embodied by Moise Amyraut and called Amyraldianism). He was an earnest defender of the Calvinistic orthodoxy represented by the Synod of Dort, and as one of the authors of the Helvetic Consensus, which defended the formulation of predestination from the Synod of Dort and the verbal inspiration of the Bible.

Life

Francis was the son of Bénédict Turrettini,

Turretin's doctrine of freedom appears to be similar to that of Scotus in that both of them endorse Aristotelian logic: the distinction between the necessity of the consequent (necessitas consequentis) and the necessity of the consequence (necessitas consequentiae); the distinction between in sensu composito and in sensu diviso. It is not Scotus's notion of synchronic contingency but Aristotle's modal logic which is incorporated into Turretin's doctrine of freedom. Moreover, the Scotistic ideas about necessity and indifference differ greatly from those of Turretin. Turretin develops the discussion on necessity and relates it to his argument about human freedom of choice. His careful rejection of the notion of indifference in the doctrine of freedom creates a big gap between his doctrine and that of Scotus. Turretin's teaching of contingency emphasizes the sovereign act of God in the process of conversion, whereas Scotus's contingency theory blurs it. Turretin is not a Scotist, but a Reformed theologian standing in a more "generic Aristotelian tradition."

English translations

  • Institutes of Elenctic Theology. Translated by George Musgrave Giger, edited by James T. Dennison Jr.; 3 volumes (1992–1997).
  • Justification an excerpt from Turretin's Institutes (2004).
  • The Atonement of Christ. Translated by James R. Willson (1978).

Notes

Bibliography

  • This article includes content derived from the public domain 'Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1914.
  • 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 God
  • "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.