Reformation Readings of the Apocalypse: Geneva, Zurich, and Wittenberg (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology)

203 Pages·2000·11.5 MB·English

by  Irena Backus

REFORMATION READINGS OF THE APOCALYPSE
OXFORD STUDIES IN HISTORICAL THEOLOGY
SERIES EDITOR
David C. Steinmetz, Duke University
EDITORIAL BOARD
Irena Backus, Université de Genéve
Robert C. Gregg, Stanford University
George M. Marsden, University of Notre Dame
Wayne A. Meeks, Yale University
Heiko A. Oberman, University of Arizona
Gerhard Sauter, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn
Susan E. Schreiner, University of Chicago
John Van Engen, University of Notre Dame
Geoffrey Wainwright, Duke University
Robert L. Wilken, University of Virginia
IMAGES AND RELICS THE UNACCOMMODATED CALVIN
Theological Perceptions and Visual Images Studies in the Foundation of a Theological
in Sixteenth-Century Europe Tradition
John Dillenberger Richard A. Muller
THE BODY BROKEN WHAT PURE EYES COULD SEE
The Calvinist Doctrine of the Eucharist Calvin's Doctrine of Faith in Its Exegetical
and the Symbolization of Power in Context
Sixteenth-Century France Barbara Pitkin
Christopher Elwood
THE CONFESSIONAHZATION OF
CASSIAN THE MONK HUMANISM IN REFORMATION
Columba Stewart GERMANY
Erika Rummell
HUMAN FREEDOM, CHRISTIAN
RIGHTEOUSNESS THE PLEASURE OF DISCERNMENT
Philip Melanchthon 's Exegetical Dispute Gender, Genre, and Allegorical
with Erasmus of Rotterdam Rhetoric in Marguerite de Navarre's
Timothy J. Wengert Heptameron
Carol Thysell
PRIMITIVISM, RADICALISM, AND THE
LAMB'S WAR REFORMATION READINGS OF THE
The Baptist-Quaker Conflict in APOCALYPSE
Seventeenth-Century England Geneva, Zurich, and Wittenberg
T. L. Underwood Irena Backus
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN IN THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY
The Johannine Exegesis of Wolfgang
Musculus
Craig S. Farmer
REFORMATION
READINGS ®F +HE
APOCALYPSE
GENEVA, ZURICH,
AND WITTENBERG
Irena Backus
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
2OOO
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Oxford New York
Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta
Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul
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and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
Copyright © 2000 by Irena Backus
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Backus, Irena Dorota, 1950—
Reformation readings of the Apocalypse : Geneva, Zurich,
and Wittenberg / Irena Backus.
p. cm—(Oxford studies in historical theology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-513885-6
1. Bible. N.T. Revelation—Criticism, interpretation, etc—
History—i6th century. 2. Bible—Criticism, interpretation, etc.—
History—i6th century. 3. Reformation. I. Title. II. Series.
BS2825.z.B34 2000
228',o6'o94O903i—den 00-026356
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 42
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I should like to thank all the people who made this book possible: first and
foremost, Cristina Pitassi, Enrico Norelli, Olivier Fatio, and Guy Backus,
all of whom have, over the years, encouraged my interest in the Apocalypse
and whose critical remarks have often acted as a spur. I should also like to
thank David Steinmetz, who encouraged me to completely transform a short
pamphlet I wrote in 1996, Les sept visions et la fin des temps, into a compre-
hensive monograph, and Marlène Jaouich, who provided extremely valuable
technical assistance, as always. My thanks also go to the Lutheran Brother-
hood Foundation Library in Minnesota, without whose help I could not have
gained access to Selnecker's commentary.
Geneva, Switzerland I. B.
April 2000
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CONTENTS
Abbreviations ix
Introduction xi
1. The Problem of Canonicity 3
2. Antoine du Pinet and His Models 37
3. Augustin Marlorat and Nicolas Colladon 61
4. The Apocalypse and the Zurich Reformers 87
5. The Lutheran Counterpoint: David Chytraeus
and Nikolaus Selnecker 113
Conclusion 135
Notes 139
Bibliography 169
Index 175
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ABBREVIATIONS
Apc The Apocalypse of John.
ASD Desiderius Erasmus. Opera omnia. Amsterdam,
1969.
CCL Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina.
CPG Clavis patrum graecorum.
LB Desiderius Erasmus. Opera omnia emendatiora
et auctiora, ad optimas editiones, praecipue quas
ipse Erasmus postremo curauit, summa fide
exacta doctorumque virorum notis illustrata.
Leiden, 1705.
PG Jacques-Paul Migne, ed. Patrologiae cursus
completus. Series graeca.
PL Jacques-Paul Migne, ed. Patrologiae cursus
completus. Series Latina.
WA D. Martin Luthers Werke.
Z Ulrich Zwingli. Huldreich Zwinglis sämtliche
Werke.
ix