Jesus’ parables sometimes send mixed messages about the timing of the coming kingdom. He speaks the parable of the wedding banquet in response to a fellow dinner guest’s pious-sounding beatitude that seemed to envision a distant future age, “Blessed is everyone who . . . Continue reading →
Systematic Theology
Johnson: We Need Both Biblical And Systematic Theology
Both systematic theology and biblical theology are essential to our study of Scripture for preaching. One contribution of systematic theology, including the historic creeds and confessions of the church, is to safeguard our interpretation of a particular text, lest we misread (and . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof: Systematic Theology Is Not A Corruption Of The Truth
Man is endowed with reason, and the human reason cannot rest satisfied with a mere collection of separate truths, but wants to see them in their mutual relationship, in order that it may have a clearer understanding of them… There seems to . . . Continue reading →
Allen: Systematic Theology Helps Us To Keep Our Eyes On God
Scholastic and systematic theology has been much maligned in recent decades, often for putting God in a box and distorting the dramatic character of more occasional or narratival modes of thought. Yet the best historical studies of scholastic theology in its medieval . . . Continue reading →
Berkhof: If We Lose This, It Is All Over
Justification takes place once for all. It is not repeated, neither is it a process; it is complete at once and for all time. There is no more or less in justification; man is either fully justified, or he is not justified . . . Continue reading →
Should I Buy It? A Book Review
Frequently I receive the question in my inbox: “Should I buy this book?” What I would like to say is, “Yes, buy every book but don’t buy every book you buy.” I think it is a good idea to own and read . . . Continue reading →
Does God Change?
Introduction In Reformed theology, the doctrine of God is at the headwaters. What we say about God touches every locus of theology. It shapes our theology, piety, and practice. When we say that humans are created in the image of God, we . . . Continue reading →
The Importance of Being More Than Earnest
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING MORE THAN EARNESTOriginally published in Modern Reformation (Sep/Oct 1996) Doctrine. Theology. For many evangelicals these words are as pleasant as the phrase, “impacted tooth!” That theology is irrelevant to Christian life has essentially become a received dogma. Nevertheless, . . . Continue reading →
Substance and Accidents
[This essay was published in the Christian Renewal, April 30, 2001] One of the great needs of the hour in our churches is that we should learn to set theological priorities, to recover an old and very useful distinction between what is . . . Continue reading →
Theses Theologicæ (Theological Propositions)
Introduction Since the medieval period, theologians have stated theology in the form of brief, sometimes provocative, propositions to be discussed. 1. Prolegomena Theology requires proper distinctions. The Protestant scholastics distinguished properly between archetypal (theology as God knows it in himself) and ectypal . . . Continue reading →
Warfield’s Brief and Untechnical Statement of the Reformed Faith
By B. B. Warfield 1. I believe that God, since the creation of His world, has plainly revealed through the things He has made His eternal power and divine nature, and the requirements of His law, so that there is no excuse . . . Continue reading →
Theses Theologicae (Theological Propositions)
Introduction Since the medieval period, theologians have stated theology in the form of brief, sometimes provocative, propositions to be discussed. 1. Prolegomena Theology requires proper distinctions. The Protestant scholastics distinguished properly between archetypal (theology as God knows it in himself) and ectypal . . . Continue reading →
The Splendor of the Three-in-One God: The Necessity and Mystery of the Trinity
©1999 Modern Reformation All Rights Reserved. For permission to reprint or re-post contact Modern Reformation “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one!” In contrast to the polytheistic religions of her neighbors, Israel was made deeply conscious of the . . . Continue reading →
The Importance of Being More Than Earnest
Originally published in Modern Reformation (Sep/Oct 1996) Doctrine. Theology. For many evangelicals these words are as pleasant as the phrase, “impacted tooth!” That theology is irrelevant to Christian life has essentially become a received dogma. Nevertheless, as much as indifference about Christian . . . Continue reading →