evidenced in the writings of the church fathers and their
reversion to legalism. The ensuing creedalizing of a
Christian belief-system has been referred to as "the Latin
heresy," 1 but we are herewith using the broader designation
of "the epistemological heresy."
As the institutional church proceeded into the Medieval
period the preservation of doctrinal orthodoxy was
regarded as paramount. Inquisitions were conducted to
combat error and heretical opinions, with every means
employed to ostracize, excommunicate and murder those
who disagreed.
The Protestant Reformation was but a re-forming of
theological and ethical reasoning. John Calvin's theological
systematizing in his Institutes of the Christian Religion
relied heavily on Augustinian determinism and the closed-
system of epistemic thought Augustine employed. Calvin's
ethics were likewise devoid of ontic understanding.
The history of Protestantism is but a melee of doctrinal
argumentation as the denominationalized systematic
theologians contend for their interpretations. The so-called
Enlightenment only exacerbated the epistemic warfare with
its emphasis on rationalism and the determination of truth
by deductive logic and propositional conclusions.
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