Defining “Reformed”

Office Hours: On Being Reformed

by on October 1, 2018
Office Hours Video

By the early 17th century, at the Synod of Dort in 1618–19, when the Reformed churches sent delegates from the British Isles, the German Palatinate, and the Dutch provinces to consider and respond to the challenges to Reformed theology, piety, and practice . . . Continue reading →

Pre-Order Now—On Being Reformed: Debates Over A Theological Identity

by on July 31, 2018 | 9 Comments

On Being Reformed marshals the exceptional historical and ecclesiastical expertise of its various contributors to address the much debated identity of the Reformed tradition. Informed in their use of sources, forthright in their arguments, and irenic in tone, these essays will serve readers well by helping them discern where the fault lines between Baptist and Reformed churches truly lie and also where the bonds of unity in faith and practice may be found. Both are necessary services for those of us who inhabit a living Reformed tradition and wish to see it flourish in days ahead.”

Scott R. Swain, James Woodrow Hassell Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary, USA. Continue reading →

Canons Of Dort Day 2018: Their Churchly Context

by on May 9, 2018 | 15 Comments

The “New Calvinists” and the self-described Young, Restless, and Reformed movement has brought new interest in Reformed theology, piety, and practice. In the last 15 years Mark Driscoll and John Piper have been the gateway for many to find and join Reformed . . . Continue reading →

Did Calvin’s Theology, Piety, and Practice Need To Be Rounded Out With Müntzer’s?

by on April 14, 2018 | 4 Comments

Thomas Müntzer (c. 1489–1525) was a university-trained pastor and theologian. Martin Luther recommended him to be the pastor of St Catharine’s Church in Zwickau (117 km south of Leipzig). There he came into contact with three fiery souls, Nicholas Storch (c. 1500–25), Thomas . . . Continue reading →

Engaging With 1689

by on February 6, 2018 | 55 Comments

Recently I had opportunity to engage in a friendly dialogue with some Baptist academics over the merits of the project proposed in Recovering the Reformed Confession. That project is, as they say, wending through the publication process. Because of space limitations I was unable to do a couple of things, namely, to engage more fully with some of the texts and approaches to Baptist covenant theology (as distinct from Reformed covenant theology). Continue reading →

Wake Up And Smell The Coffee

by on December 1, 2017 | 15 Comments

…in this book Dolezal argues that a number of contemporary evangelical and Reformed theologians, whether wittingly or unwittingly, have rejected and/or wrongly redefined elements of classical Christian theism. In other words, they have rejected and/or wrongly redefined elements of the Christian doctrine . . . Continue reading →

If You Want To Know What P&R Christians Believe, Read The Confessions

by on July 22, 2017 | 2 Comments

Readers of this space frequently ask, “What do Reformed Christians believe about x?” It really does not matter what x is. It might be predestination (it frequently is) or it might be baptism (it is frequently is) or it might be about . . . Continue reading →

Are The Remonstrants Heretics?

by on May 23, 2017 | 5 Comments

This question comes over the transom regularly. I think most confessional Reformed pastors would probably say that, though they disagree strongly with Arminianism, it is not heresy. Somewhere I read (or heard) that William Ames (1576–1633),   who served as an advisor . . . Continue reading →

A Wonderful Illustration Of The Necessity Of An Objective Definition Of Reformed

by on February 9, 2017 | 13 Comments
Recovering the Reformed Confession

Trevin Wax and David Fitch have been in a dialogue in which each of them has published a post expressing appreciation for the other’s tradition. Wax identifies as Reformed and Fitch as Anabaptist. The reader can draw his own conclusions as to . . . Continue reading →

What Is Your Line In The Sand? (Updated)

by on December 7, 2016 | 14 Comments

I am not certain what it means but pastors resort to military analogies with surprising frequency. One of them is the metaphor of “dying on a hill.” The image is that of a marine charging up a hill or fighting to hold . . . Continue reading →

Why Love Is Not A Mark Of The True Church

by on June 1, 2016 | 20 Comments

I was listening to a podcast recently in which someone remarked that Reformed churches can be “cold.” In my first pastorate I had an elder who used to joke that, in the days before refrigeration, “they used to build the Reformed church . . . Continue reading →

What The Spirit Is Doing Or What We Are Saying? Distinguishing Reformed And Pentecostal Piety

by on April 24, 2016 | 7 Comments

What happens is that contemporary evangelical and charismatic folk describe ordinary phenomena in extraordinary, apostolic terms. They identify non-apostolic phenomena as apostolic. That is cheating but it is rhetorically powerful and persuasive. Many evangelicals do not want to live in the post-canonical, in between time. It is a drag. People want a power religion. Judged against the neo-Pentecostal and charismatic claims, Reformed Christianity seems decidedly weak and powerless (see all of 2 Corinthians). Continue reading →

What The Spirit Is Doing Or What We Are Saying? Distinguishing Reformed And Pentecostal Piety

by on January 12, 2016

Introduction Since the early 19th century American Christianity has been largely dominated by a revival of the original Anabaptist theology, piety, and practice. One can transpose much of what took place in the 19th century over the first generation Anabaptists (1520s) and . . . Continue reading →

Review of J. I. Packer, Puritan Portraits

by on November 24, 2015 | 16 Comments

J. I. Packer is a significant figure in a variety of circles. He is one of the last voices representing that generation of British evangelicalism that had roots in the Reformation, that was articulate, warm, and evangelical in the best sense of . . . Continue reading →