Those who arrive at the end of the journey are not those who began.
T. S. Elliot
∵
With the completion of this study, a long journey comes to an end. In many ways, it was an unexpected journey. It led me up to lofty mountaintops of joyful study, as well as down into shady valleys of despair. Throughout this journey, I received indispensable support from various companions: colleagues, friends, and family. Here, I want to take the opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all of them, acknowledging that I would not have been able to complete this project without their help.
Looking back at the very beginning of this journey, I am especially thankful for the friendly encouragement I received from Prof. Dr. Willem van Asselt (1946–2014) who served as the advisor for my master’s thesis and who had a formative influence on the initial shape of this research project. I deeply regret that he did not live to see its completion. From the very beginning, I also received much support from my promoter, Prof. Dr. Andreas J. Beck. I am deeply grateful for his feedback on the text of this dissertation but also for the warm collegiality at ETF Leuven. Of great value were also the comments I thankfully received from my co-promoter Prof. Dr. Aza Goudriaan. Moreover, I want to express my gratitude to other colleagues at ETF Leuven who provided advice and encouragement along the way, especially Dr. Maria Verhoeff and Dr. Philip J. Fisk.
Thanks to the generous support of various institutions, I was able to travel abroad to set aside other tasks and focus on my research, access important literature, and interact with other scholars. In particular, I thank the Theologische Universiteit Utrecht (Netherlands) for providing me with an “Advanced Theological Studies Fellowship” in the summer of 2014, the H. Henry Meeter Center (Grand Rapids, MI, USA) for the student fellowship in 2016, and the Institut d’histoire de la Réformation (Geneva, Switzerland) for the “Regard Fellowship” in 2017. Next to these stays abroad, the present research project benefited significantly from the interaction with other members in the two research groups I was privileged to join, namely the “John Duns Scotus Research Group” and the “Classic Reformed Theology Research Group” (OGTh).
On a more personal note, I want to express my deepest gratitude to family and friends who have been supportive in so many ways over the years. Among my friends in Belgium, I would like to thank especially Ruben Audiffret, Ann Schmid, Luc Schmid, and Nelly Van Damme for their most generous hospitality that went a long way in making me feel at home in a foreign country. My deepest gratitude goes to my mother for all her love, patience, and support through all these years, and especially for providing us with a new home during these past months. Finally, I want to acknowledge the unwavering love and support I have received from my wife, Annelies. Words cannot express what I owe to her. This book is dedicated to her and to our two children, Josia and Anna-Sophia.
Matthias Mangold