In the words of Augustine, 3rd Century Bishop of Hippo,
I am the sort of man who writes because he has made progress, and who makes progress by writing.
Bearing this in mind and having been encouraged by Tim Challies writing on What It Means To Be Reformed as well as recent theology blogging by Dan Hames, I thought I might humbly have a go a writing down some thoughts on Reformed Theology, sometimes nicknamed Calvinism, after John Calvin. …Before I start, Phil Johnson reminded us of some advice in a recent series “Why I Am a Calvinist (Part I):”
…my advice to young Calvinists is to learn your theology from the historic mainstream Calvinist authors, not from blogs and discussion forums on the Internet.
Please learn your theology from good theologians before me! Maybe this post, as well as helping me to clarify things, might point some people to some useful resources, or introduce people to some biblical ideas. Note, that I am deliberately trying to be brief here.
I do hope this series will be humble and gracious. I know many would disagree with Reformed Theology, but I am seeking to be faithful to God’s word, and I am persuaded that at its best, Reformed Theology is good Bible-based Christianity. Please be discerning, (Acts 17:11) and please do let me know if you think anything I’m writing is unbiblical. In other words, I want to be humbly orthodox for the glory of God by being faithful to His Word. C.H. Spurgeon the 19th century Baptist preacher and evangelist said that Reformed Theology is nothing other than Biblical Christianity, (source).
Thus, as well as reading good theologians who faithfully explain the Bible, please ultimately, learn your theology from the Bible (2 Timothy 3:14-17). Over the next few posts, I’m going to suggest that Reformed Theology is Protestant, Evangelical and (distinctively) Reformed. I am indebted to many faithful Bible preachers and teachers, and I hope in due course I’ll be able to point you to helpful things they have written.
Here are my initial thoughts on where I might be going in this series:
Part One: What is Reformed Theology?
1. Introduction - you’ve just read it!
2. A Word on Words
3. Protestant
4. Evangelical
5. Reformed
6. Conclusion
Part Two: Are the Church of England’s Thirty-Nine Articles Reformed?
1. The Importance of good Confessions
2. The Thirty-Nine Articles Today
3. An Anglican Doctrinal Basis
4. The Historical Foundations of the Church of England
5. Is the Church of England Protestant, Evangelical and Reformed?
6. Conclusion: So What?
Part Three: An Annotated Appendix of Recommended Resources
Grand plans maybe? We’ll see how it goes. Any thoughts?
UPDATED: 09/05/07
