Further, I am sincerely heartened by Fred’s optimism. I hope he is right. The best-selling evangelical textbook on systematic theology now includes a clear affirmation of the eternal generation of the Son and has removed the appendix that cast doubt on it. I am still concerned with the narrow, proof-texting method that led Grudem to change his mind: it came down to a translation of one word in the Greek New Testament. As Matt and I have tried to demonstrate, one of major problems that led so many evangelicals to affirm EFS for so many years is a narrow biblicism: doing theology by collating verses of Scripture rather than attending to canonical patterns, doctrinal parameters, and the history of interpretation. Even if we alter some of the conclusions, if the hermeneutical and methodological problems remain, then we unintentionally leave ourselves open to heterodoxy. But maybe I should be more hopeful; maybe this influential author affirming the eternal relations of origin–these crucial, biblically-warranted synthetic doctrines–will tend to crowd out the more problematic holdovers from his previous work. Read more»
Luke Stamps, “Grudem and Eternal Generation: Did I Bury the Lede?” (December 15, 2020).
Resources
- How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia
- Augustine Contra Biblicism
- More Conference Audio: Biblicism Versus Sola Scriptura
- One Way To Escape Biblicism
- How To Avoid Biblicism
- Biblicism: A Trojan Horse Full Of Rationalism
- The Difference Between Sola Scriptura And Biblicism
- Paul Helm on Owen Contra Biblicism
- Bavinck Contra Biblicism
- Trueman: Might You Be A Socinian And Not Know It?
- Recovering the Reformed Confession
- How to support the Heidelblog: clink on the donate link below every post
R. Scott Clark
R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.
More by R. Scott Clark ›