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Posted by on Jun 8, 2013 in Theology | 10 comments

The Reformation and the Holy Spirit

The Reformation and the Holy Spirit

I greatly enjoyed Timothy Tennent’s book on Trinitarian missiology for its attempt to root thoroughly all of missiology in the Trinity. There is much that I could write about his approach (and certain aspects have me thinking of how to apply it to future doctoral studies), but I just want to comment briefly on one aspect that I found interesting and questionable at the same time.

In discussing the Holy Spirit’s role in mission, Tennent makes the following comments:

The Reformation’s emphasis on the authority of Scripture, ecclesiology, and Christology are clearly reflected in the post-Reformation attempt to systematize the theological deposit of the Reformers. However, as was the case during the patristic period, this meant that a full development of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit was delayed and several vital aspects of the person and work of the Holy Spirit were neglected in post-Reformation Protestant theology in the West. Over time, several major theological traditions developed that either denied completely or extremely limited the active role of the Holy Spirit in miracles, divine healing, demonic deliverance, prophecy, tongues speaking, and other elements that later would become central features of the Pentecostal doctrine of the Holy Spirit. This tendency is evident in many expressions of Reformed theology, as well as the later nineteenth-century dispensationalism, although the precise lines of their argumentation against the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit today are quite different from one another.” (Kindle Locations 4719-4725)

Clearly Tennent seems to think that it’s not simply that the Reformers and their heirs did not focus enough on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but also that they were essentially wrong about the role of the Holy Spirit (and the rest of the chapter seems to indicate this as well).

I have heard from several places that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit was underdeveloped in the Reformation and the Reformed tradition (though I have never studied this out myself). As an example later in the chapter, Tennent notes that in Berkhof’s classic systematic theology (now free online), he deals with the Holy Spirit almost exclusively with regard to soteriology, and that in classic Reformed works the Holy Spirit does not usually even get his own section.

I do hope to do a little more reading on this area in particular (update to add: a helpful commenter pointed to some good resources specifically related to the WCF: The Beauty and Glory of the Holy Spirit, and the audio from the GPTS 2011 conference), but I must note two things:

(1) The Reformers, and even some of those that came after them, were not primarily concerned with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit because they were responding to so many other theological issues in light of their split from Rome. Thus it is possible that they didn’t always concentrate as much on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit as did certain other movements. But this only indicates the way  theology generally develops: in response to specific circumstances.

(2) The weight of his criticism depends on whether or not the Reformed theological evaluations of the issues he mentions are correct or not (“miracles, divine healing, demonic deliverance, prophecy, tongues speaking, and other elements that later would become central features of the Pentecostal doctrine of the Holy Spirit”). That is, he essentially criticizes the Reformers for being cessationists. Thus he assumes that continuationism is the only way to appropriately convey the role that the Holy Spirit plays in the work of the church today.

It seems that we can simultaneously affirm that the Reformed tradition has not always emphasized the full work of the Holy Spirit as it should have while yet also teaching that Scripture indicates that the manner in which the Spirit works through the church since the Apostles does not entail the ways that Pentecostalism has described that work.

Along those lines, I recently listened to Burk Parsons’ talk at TGC 2013, entitled “Recapturing a Robust Doctrine of the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.” I may post a summary and more thoughts later if time allows, but basically, while affirming cessationism, he urges toward a greater recognition of and dependence on the Holy Spirit in all of our theology and ministry.

And in case you’re wondering: there is no connection between the picture and the post. I’m just using pictures that I’ve taken through my world travels because I like them. That and I don’t have a time of time for Photoshop these days.

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Posted by on Jul 2, 2012 in Book Reviews, Theology |

Review of Killing Calvinism by Greg Dutcher

Killing Calvinism: How to Destroy a Perfectly Good Theology from the Inside by Greg Dutcher is written for all of those who embrace what we often term “the doctrines of grace.” His basic premise is that while what is commonly known as Calvinism is biblical, those who embrace it often don’t live like it, and are so killing the very theology that they profess to espouse.

The book lays out eight ways that we can “kill” Calvinism:

  1. By loving Calvinism as an end in itself
  2. By becoming a theologian instead of a disciple
  3. By loving God’s sovereignty more than God himself
  4. By losing an urgency in evangelism
  5. By learning only from other Calvinists
  6. By tidying up the Bible’s “loose ends”
  7. By being an arrogant know-it-all
  8. By scoffing at the hang-ups others have with Calvinism

Dutcher writes from the perspective of one who slowly came to embrace Calvinism, and then began to beat people over the head with it. As one who has embraced Calvinism my whole life, and yet also struggled with the desire to provide a 16th century theological walloping to those who didn’t embrace it, his concern in this book resonated quite strongly. No, seriously, the reason that this book is so important is because there does seem to be a high percentage of self-professing Calvinists who struggle with all of these things.

And what Dutcher points out very carefully in the book is what Calvinists must hear repeatedly: the very truths that the doctrines of grace seek to articulate ought to drive us to fight against these Calvinism-killing issues in our lives. The reality of our total depravity and dependence on God’s electing, redemptive, regenerating, glorifying grace ought to drive us to our knees in prayer, to our neighbors in evangelism, and ultimately to Christ as our Savior. That is the beauty of this book: a stirring reminder to live what we say we believe.

This is not to say this a perfect book. I’m sure that people can find some things to quibble with. My main quibble would be the way that “Calvinism” is used. Now, everybody uses it this way (even me, to be consistent with the book here). Dutcher uses it to narrowly refer to the doctrines of grace usually encompassed by the favorite Reformed flower, TULIP. He also uses “Reformed theology” as a term for this too. While I know that this is how the words are commonly used today, I find that a bit unfortunate. That is, Calvin would certainly have not accepted the limitation of his important views to those on soteriology. “Reformed theology” certainly doesn’t just refer to views on soteriology. Both encompass views on worship, ecclesiology, the sacraments, and more.

But his point still stands. If we do believe in the teachings summarized in TULIP, regardless of the name we give them, we ought to be disciples, not just theologians, evangelists, not just thinkers, and people of humility, regardless of how much insight the Holy Spirit may have seen fit to give us.

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Posted by on May 13, 2012 in Book Reviews |

Review of Welcome to a Reformed Church by Danny Hyde

Welcome to a Reformed Church: A Guide for Pilgrims by Danny Hyde is intended as an introduction to Reformed churches for those who may come from other backgrounds. I read it recently as I had heard of the book from several places, and I was interested to see how he might going about explaining the basics of not just Calvinism, but the Reformed approach to all of theology and the work and worship of the church. What follows is not meant to be an extensive review, as the book is pretty straightforward in presenting what Reformed churches stand for, with very little that I found to be controversial or surprising. Below is the table of contents.

On the positive side, the book lays out helpfully for those who are unfamiliar with–or perhaps newly attending–Reformed churches what distinguishes them from other churches. The contents (see above) move systematically through the key doctrinal and practical beliefs of Reformed churches. The first chapter also lays out the historical context regarding where Reformed churches came from. While perhaps a newcomer to a Reformed church might find this a bit dry, it is also quite helpful in laying the groundwork for why a distinctive set of churches exists in the first place. Additionally, Hyde quotes from Reformed confessions and catechisms extensively, which helps along the way to give readers a sense of the historical nature of the beliefs he discusses.

One main thing struck as being a downside to the book: though I just noted that I appreciated the regular citations of the Reformed confessions and catechisms, I found it to be a bit excessive. That is, since the purpose of the book is to orient newcomers to the Reformed faith to this new group of churches they find themselves in, it might be a bit overwhelming to have so many citations and mentions of those documents. It would be better at times just to explain the ideas in simple terms without putting things like WLC #24, WSC #98, BC Art. 3, CD Art. 1 in parentheses all the time.

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Posted by on Jul 24, 2011 in Reformed Theology |

Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Reformed Theology

My thesis advisor, Dr. James Anderson, highlighted a very helpful paper by Paul Manata on his blog. Here’s what he says about it:

There’s considerable confusion today, even among Reformed Christians, about the implications of Reformed theology for human free will and moral responsibility. A large part of the problem is that often those who are well read in historical Reformed theology are not so well read in contemporary philosophy, and vice versa. Paul Manata is an exception and he has done us all a service by writing an excellent primer on the relationship between confessional Reformed theology and contemporary theories of human freedom and responsibility.

I’m about halfway through it, and I would definitely recommend reading it. Manata’s purpose is not a biblical defense of Reformed theology in the areas of divine decree, man’s will, and moral responsibility. Rather, he is exploring the philosophical ways of understanding freedom and responsibility. This is particularly helpful to people like me, who believe Scripture to be clear on the basic doctrines, but who are not well-versed, as Dr. Anderson notes above, in contemporary philosophy.

Download the Paper

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Posted by on Feb 5, 2011 in Reformed Theology |

5 Things the Non-Reformed Can Learn from the Reformed (2)

To see how this series began, read 5 Things the Reformed can Learn from the non-Reformed, 5 More Things Reformed People can Learn from non-Reformed People, and 5 Things the Non-Reformed Can Learn from the Reformed (1). My purpose is to explain highlight a few ways in which the Reformed tradition offers something unique and helpful to the non-Reformed, while acknowledging that the Reformed can still learn from others. The last post highlighted two helpful things from the Reformed tradition: (1) A long history of biblical reflection grounded in sola Scriptura, and (2) a robust ecclesiology. I’ll discuss three more in this last post in the series.

#3: A Strong View of the Means of Grace

Why should I go to church? Why can’t I just read my Bible instead of hearing a sermon? Why don’t I just study on my own and forget about the institutional church?

Many of us have asked those types of questions regularly, and while most Protestant traditions, I believe that the Reformed tradition has more to offer on this account than some others. It offers a strong view of the means of grace–that is, it tells us that God has ordained certain ways for his people to come to know him better. He has provided certain means for our spiritual growth. And those means are to be found in the ministry of the local church.

The reading and preaching of the word, the observance of the Sacraments, prayer and praise, and fellowship with God’s people are all God-given ways for his people to grow in their faith and love. And the Reformed tradition–whether or not it has perfectly practiced these–rightly emphasizes these, as opposed to various other “means of grace” that are not given by God (i.e., meditation/breathing classes).

#4: A Guiding Principle of Worship

Closely related to #3 is that the Reformed tradition has held to an important guiding principle regarding worship–the regulative principle of worship–which says that what we do in worship must be mandated by Scripture. That is, whatever is not commanded for worship is forbidden, as we are to worship God only in the way that he has prescribed.

If one attends a variety of evangelical worship services, he can easily see that there are some very different ideas about what would be helpful in such a context. How then can we determine what we ought to do in worship? The Reformed regulative principle says that we only do what God has commanded–thus the emphasis on the Word, the sacraments, and prayer noted in #3.

This is not to say that if we accept this basic principle that all questions of application are easily resolved. There are still various cultures, languages, styles, and so on that may be considered “circumstances” of worship that are to be guided by wisdom (that is, meeting at 4am might be less wise than 10am due to what is considered a normal schedule). But if we do not have a basic principle–that worship is guarded by sola Scriptura–then we open the door to forgetting what God actually intends worship to be.

#5: A God-centered View of Salvation

What the Reformed tradition may be most known for is what is commonly termed Calvinism or the doctrines of grace, a set of beliefs that basically argue one point: salvation is, from beginning to end, a work of God’s unmerited grace. Man is so sinful and corrupt that he cannot save himself, and so God must choose not only to definitely to save men, but also to send Christ to actually accomplish their salvation, as well as send the Holy Spirit to apply Christ’s work to their lives so that they will respond in faith to the gospel. This is an essential part of Reformed theology, and this radically God-centered vision of salvation is liberating to us because it tells us that we cannot boast in ourselves at all, but must rely completely on God’s grace.

Much more could be said about the benefits of a Reformed understanding of Scripture, but these five areas are representative at least of some of the beauties of the Reformed tradition, though certainly, as I indicated in the first two posts, the Reformed can learn much from our non-Reformed brothers and sisters as well.

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