Great Theologians: Francis Turretin
“Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.” Here referencing the city of Geneva in his opening dedication to his Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Francis Turretin (1623-87) references Psalm 87:3 to describe the wonderful workings of God in the history of this city, his home. Tasked by the Geneva Senate to compose a summative work of theology to be used for theological education within the city, Turretin published his most famous work, the Institutes of Elenctic Theology (or Theologiae Elencticae as it was originally composed in Latin). While a large, 3-volume theology may not be standard fare for the Christian, perhaps this brief introduction will pique enough interest in this work and this man that you may be tempted to find a copy for yourself and have your mind stretched and soul refreshed by it. Much could be said about Turretin and about this particular work of theology. His influence on the history of Reformed Theology and the church at large is likely hard to overstate. His catechetical style, while not unique, makes deep theology accessible to most any Christian interested in growing in the knowledge of God. The polemical nature of his work in dealing with specific theological controversies of his day is also noteworthy. But what seems most worthy to highlight about Turretin for this particular essay, and the character that stood out the most to this author, is Turretin as a humble man who firmly understood that he stood on the shoulders of giants.
There should be little debate about the intellectual prowess of Francis Turretin, but his humility is striking. The combination of intellectual prowess and humility is striking because they are characteristics that form a rare pairing. Oftentimes smart people know they are smart, which offers a challenge to creating humble posture toward others. While self-deprecation is not itself a virtue, Turretin seems to have a genuine posture of humility, almost a confusion as to why the Senate would place the burden of creating such a work of theology on him. It immediately shows itself in his absolute deference and honor shown to those in leadership of Geneva. A simple reading of his Dedication makes a plain case, a deference and honor which seems never performative and always a genuine concern of his. Consider as well this line from the Dedication: “From the time that God wished me by your remarkable favor to be elevated to the honorable position which I have occupied for about thirty years (although I always felt myself far unequal to such a burden, and the consciousness of my own feebleness easily persuaded me how inferior I was to those great men who preceded us here)….”1 He later admits a tinge of fear in facing the task of composing a work of theology and refers to it as “poor” and a “slight gift.” He also takes no ownership of the great work, saying of the Institutes, “They were already yours by right, since they sprang up and were cultivated on your soil.”
Perhaps this humility comes from his understanding of the past. As quoted above, Turretin understood his place in Genevan history, a history which included the likes of John Calvin. He understood how God’s grace had been abundantly poured out in Geneva, both through the work of eminent theologians and pastors such as Calvin, William Farel, and Peter Viret, but also through the Senate’s continued resistance to erroneous theology in the likes of the Anabaptists, Peter Caroli, Sebastian Castellio, Gruet, Jerome Bolsec, Michael Servetus, Valentine Gentilis, and Paul Alciatus. Turretin was well-acquainted with history, and he knowingly saw himself as simply next in the line of men that God might be pleased to use to continue the proclamation of truth and resistance of error. Reading Turretin in many ways feels like reading an extension of Calvin, so steeped was Turretin in the theology and ministry of his predecessors.
But beyond just the history of Geneva, Turretin firmly understood that his theology must come from a faithful grasp of the truth from the very beginning of the church. He was suspicious of anything novel or new in the development of the church, again, consistent with the Reformers who saw themselves aligned with the church fathers and calling Rome back to the ancient faith. He says, “For since each of the oldest things is most true, no description of better stamp can be given especially in sacred argument than that something has less novelty. Old is best here and that which goes back to earliest antiquity. It was discovered through much sad experience that they always dangerously go astray who spurn the well-known and well-worn paths in order to cut new ones which lead off as much as possible into the pathless heights and precipices.” Later he says, “Let other books, then, be commended by their novelty. I do not want this statement to justify mine. I avoided it most diligently lest it should contain anything new, a stranger from the word of God and from the public forms received in our churches, and nothing is built up there that is not confirmed by the vote of our most proven theologians of highest reputation.”
It is truly a shame that in only a generation, these convictions would fall by the wayside in Geneva, as his own son, Jean-Alphonse, would play a pivotal role in the loosing of standards and the drift away from orthodox Reformed faith in Geneva. Yet Francis Turretin serves as not only a helpful guide through the waters of deep theology, he is an example of how every Christian should be a humble student of history in shaping how we live and act in the present. We would all do well to spend more time with this eminent theologian.
Keith Kauffman attended University of Maryland (B.S.) and Capital Bible Seminary(M.Div.). Keith currently works at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, working in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases studying the immune response to Tuberculosis. Keith serves as an elder at Greenbelt Baptist Church.
- Francis Turretin. Institutes of Elenctic Theology. James T Dennison (Ed). P&R, 1992. All quotes taken from either Turretin’s Dedication or his Preface to the Reader. ↩︎
