Office Hours: Where Are They Now? Dan Borvan

by R. Scott Clark on May 28, 2018 | 2 Comments

Office Hours 2016 full sizeDan Borvan was not always Reformed. He has run the gamut of American evangelical theology, piety, and practice before finding the Reformed confession. The story of his journey to Geneva, as it were, is worth hearing. He is a 2011 graduate of Westminster Seminary California and he is completing his DPhil in Oxford University. He also studied in the University of Geneva. He is licensed to preach in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and is presently serving as a pastoral intern in Merrimack Valley OPC in North Andover, MA. He is married and has one child.

Here is the the episode.

Here are the episodes in the “Where Are They Now?” series.

Here are all the Office Hours episodes.

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2 comments

  1. What is your Theology position on Reformed or Radical 2 Kingdom (R2K) Theology?

    • Jesse,

      As a minister in the United Reformed Churches in North America subscribe the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and the Canons of Dort. That’s my theology. I also subscribe the Westminster Standards. Here are some of the Reformed confessions.

      On this particular question I like Calvin’s phrase, “twofold government” (duplex regimen) from Institutes 3.19.15.

      Therefore, in order that none of us may stumble on that stone, let us first consider that there is a twofold government in man (duplex esse in homine regimen): one aspect is spiritual, whereby the conscience is instructed in piety and in reverencing God; the second is political, whereby man is educated for the duties of humanity and citizenship that must be maintained among men. These are usually called the “spiritual” and the “temporal” jurisdiction (not improper terms) by which is meant that the former sort of government pertains to the life of the soul, while the latter has to do with the concerns of the present life—not only with food and clothing but with laying down laws whereby a man may live his life among other men holily, honorably, and temperately. For the former resides in the inner mind, while the latter regulates only outward behavior. The one we may call the spiritual kingdom, the other, the political kingdom. Now these two, as we have divided them, must always be examined separately; and while one is being considered, we must call away and turn aside the mind from thinking about the other. There are in man, so to speak, two worlds, over which different kings and different laws have authority.

      In short, Christ is Lord over all things but he administers his kingship in two distinct spheres and in distinct ways. I understand some of the implications of this distinction differently than Calvin did. On this you might see this series:

      The USA Is Not OT Israel (the next two are linked in the 1st). The pre-18th century Reformed tradition tended not make this distinction consistently, hence their support for a state-church and state-enforced religious orthodoxy.

      The expression “radical 2K” is an attempt, usually by theocrats (those who want the state to impose religious orthodoxy), to dismiss any distinction between the 2 spheres of God’s providential government of all things.

      Here is a library of posts on this topic.

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