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Francis Turretin (October 17, 1623 - September 28, 1687) was a Reformed theologian. He was the son of Benedict Turrettini and was born at Geneva. Educated at Geneva, Leiden, Utrecht, Paris, Saumur, Montauban, and Nimes, Turretin returned to his native city and was made pastor of the Italian church (1648) and professor of theology (1653).
Turretin is especially known as a zealous opponent of the theology of Saumur (embodied by Moses Amyraut, and called Amyraldism), as 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 double predestination from the Synod of Dort and the verbal inspiration of the Bible. Among his writings, which are chiefly dogmatic in character, special mention should be made of his Institutio Thelogiae Elencticae (3 parts, Geneva, 1679-1685), which is a dogmatic theology written in a polemic fashion and which became a standard text in Reformed Christian circles until it was replaced by Charles Hodge's Systematic Theology in the late 19th century.
Turretin greatly influenced the Puritans, but today, he is a mostly forgotten Protestant scholastic from the annals of church history, though the rough English translation of his Institutes of Elenctic Theology is still read by students of theology. John Gerstner called Turretin "the most precise theologian in the Calvinistic tradition."
- This article includes content from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1914. (public domain)
Selected works
- Institutes of Elenctic Theology. 3 vols. Translated by George Musgrave Giger, edited by James T. Dennison, Jr.; P&R, 1997. ISBN 9780875524566
- Justification. Translated by George Musgrave Giger,edited by James T. Dennison, Jr.; P&R, 2004. ISBN 0875527051
- The Atonement of Christ. Translated by James R. Wilson. Baker Books, 1978; Wipf & Stock, 1999. ISBN 0801088429
External links
- Excerpts from Turretin's Institutes of Elenctic Theology:
- "The Holy Scriptures" - on the Bible.
- "Forensic Justification" - on how one is made right with God according to the Bible.
- "On Predestination of the Elect of God" - on predestination in the Bible.
- "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, that is available for purchase.