Reformed And Always Reforming

A collection of essays mines the whole terrain of systematic theology to refresh, renew, and reform the church for its next season, featuring contributions from senior theologians like Gerald Bray, Henri Blocher, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, and Stephen Williams among others. Original.

The community of evangelicals sometimes seems so broad as to defy definition, but theological conservatism has been one consistent marker. Now, says theologian Roger Olson, postconservatism is moving beyond conventional battles against liberalism and heresy to posit a dynamic and realistic approach. While conservatives strive to preserve tradition and protect orthodoxy, postconservatives urge openness to doctrinal reform without abandoning orthodoxy. Where differences exist between doctrine and Scripture, doctrine must be brought into conformity with the Word. Postconservatives want to free evangelical theology from its paradoxical captivity to rationalism and its obsession with "facts" so that it may recognize truth in experience and personal knowledge. Theologians, pastors, seminarians, and serious thinkers will find many depths to plumb in this exhaustive survey of critics, advocates, and fellow travelers on the evangelical journey.

The Necessity of Reforming the Church is a seminal work of Protestant theology, written by Jean Calvin in the 16th century. The book argues for a radical reform of the Catholic Church, emphasizing the importance of Biblical authority and individual conscience. This edition also includes a paternal admonition by Pope Paul III to the Emperor Charles V, and remarks on the paternal admonition. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Challenging the dominant Van Tillian approach in Reformed apologetics, this book by a leading expert in contemporary Reformed theology sets forth the principles that undergird a classic Reformed approach. J. V. Fesko's detailed exegetical, theological, and historical argument takes as its starting point the classical Reformed understanding of the "two books" of God's revelation: nature and Scripture. Believers should always rest on the authority of Scripture but also can and should appeal to the book of nature in the apologetic task.

"In the early decades of the seventeenth century, the direction of the Reformed faith hung in the balance. A group called the Remonstrants, followers of Jacobus Arminius, presented a petition that argued for a version of the faith that watered down many of the distinctive theological positions inherited from John Calvin and from Augustine before him. The petition caused controversy in the Dutch Reformed Church, and it demanded a response. In 1618, the church convened a synod in the port town of Dordrecht. There, the document known as the Canons of Dort was crafted. This remarkable document sets forth clearly and forcefully the Reformed understanding of salvation, which preserved the theology of the Reformation and provided the world with an elegant and powerful defense of the biblical gospel. In Saving the Reformation: The Pastoral Theology of the Canons of Dort, Dr. W. Robert Godfrey examines the background and activity of the Synod of Dort, providing crucial historical context. He then provides a fresh translation of the Canons of Dort from the Dutch and a new, pastoral commentary, allowing a new generation of readers to understand and appreciate this important text for themselves"--

From places like John Piper's den, Al Mohler's office, and Jonathan Edwards's college, Christianity Today journalist Collin Hansen investigates what makes today's young Calvinists tick. Church-growth strategies and charismatic worship have fueled the bulk of evangelical growth in America for decades. While baby boomers have flocked to churches that did not look or sound like church, it seems these churches do not so broadly capture the passions of today's twenty-something evangelicals. In fact, a desire for transcendence and tradition among young evangelicals has contributed to a Reformed resurgence. For nearly two years, Christianity Today journalist Collin Hansen visited the chief schools, churches, and conferences of this growing movement. He sought to describe its members and ask its leading pastors and theologians about the causes and implications of the Calvinist resurgence. The result, Young, Restless, Reformed, shows common threads in their diverse testimonies and suggests what tomorrow's church might look like when these young evangelicals become pastors or professors.

People tend to place the Reformers on a pedestal and act like they completed the revolution, but they did not. Why was the Protestant Reformation only a partial restoration? It was because they used the literal method of interpreting the Bible selectively. Ever Reforming will guide the reader to understand all that needed to be reformed, how the Reformers started the process, and the way in which that led to Dispensational Theology and the full recovery of the literal method of interpreting God's Word.

Well-known theologian Roger Olson defines and traces the history of postconservative evangelical theology.