Was the Covenant of Works Gracious?

It is widely held in the modern period that it was. To deny that strikes many today as absurd, as impossible. The 16th and 17th century Reformed writers were not so troubled by that idea since they had much less difficulty than . . . Continue reading →

Rollock: Of Works Done By Strength And Nature

Man, after the fall, abides under the covenant of works; and to this day, life is promised him under condition of works done by strength and nature. But if he will not do so well, death and the everlasting curse of God . . . Continue reading →

Calvin: Adam Was In A Trial Of Obedience

We must, therefore, look deeper than sensual intemperance. The prohibition to touch the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil was a trial of obedience (obedientiae examen), that Adam, by observing it, might prove his willing submission to the command of God. . . . Continue reading →

Reconsidering The Covenant Of Works

If one learned Reformed theology, in the English-speaking world, before 2005 the probabilities are that the version learned did not include either the covenant of works between God and Adam before the fall or the eternal covenant between the Father and the Son . . . Continue reading →

Turretin On The Covenant Of Nature (1)

First Question What was the liberty of Adam in his state of innocence? I. Since man can be viewed in a fourfold state—the instituted (instituto) of nature, the destitute (destituto) of sin, the restored (restituto) of grace and the appointed (praestituto) of . . . Continue reading →

Turretin On The Covenant Of Nature (2)

II. By the state of innocence, we mean the first condition of man created after the image of God in internal goodness and external happiness. As it abounded in all goods (of the body as well as of the soul) necessary for . . . Continue reading →

New HB Resource: Articles, Books, Podcasts And More On The Covenant Of Works

We might say that the Reformed doctrine of the covenant of works, or better, adherence to the doctrine, is recovering from an illness. The doctrine itself is fine. It is what it has long been but from the early 20th century until . . . Continue reading →