© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, DOI: 10.1163/187124111X557755
CHRC .– () –
Church History
and
Religious Culture
www.brill.nl/chrc
Independent Yet Harmonious:
Some Remarks on the Relationship between
the Teology of Peter Martyr Vermigli
(–) and John Calvin
Luca Baschera
Abstract
Te essay deals with the relationship between the theology of Peter Martyr Vermigli and
John Calvin. Comparing their doctrine of predestination and justification, there emerge
both points of contact and divergences. Whereas their teaching coincided in content,
their method and terminology could differ even significantly, not least because Vermigli—
more often than Calvin—integrated into his theological works concepts and distinctions
characteristic of the Aristotelian and scholastic traditions. Tus, while remaining a loyal
and esteemed ally of Calvin during his entire career as a Reformed theologian, Vermigli
always retained his own theological profile.
Keywords
Peter Martyr Vermigli; John Calvin; Reformed Orthodoxy; scholasticism; predestination;
justification; inherent righteousness
. Introduction
Just like John Calvin, Peter Martyr Vermigli belongs to the group of the so-
called “second generation Reformers.” For years (–) Vermigli was
tirelessly active as a Reformed theologian, professor, and polemist in Stras-
bourg, Oxford, and Zurich. He and Calvin—as well as, for example, Wolf-
gang Musculus and Heinrich Bullinger—contributed significantly to what can
be called “the first codification of Reformed theology,”
1
i.e. to the early shap-
ing of Reformed theological identity. It is therefore not at all surprising that
1)
Richard A. Muller, Christ and the Decree. Christology and Predestination in Reformed
Teology from Calvin to Perkins (Durham, ), p. .