Studies In Reformed Theology And History

Table of Contents: BIBLICAL STUDIES 1. The Age of the Spirit and Revival 2. Trust in the Incarnate Word 3. Our Glorious Adoption: Trinitarian-Based and Transformed Relationships 4. Paul and James: Are We Justified by Faith or by Faith and Works? 5. Gethsemane’s King-Lamb: A Sermon on John 18:7–8, 12–13a 6. The Man of Sin: 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 7. Delighting in God: A Guide to Sabbath-Keeping SYSTEMATIC AND HISTORICAL THEOLOGY 8. God-Centered Theology in the Ministry of the Word 9. Calvin on Sovereignty, Providence, and Predestination 10. Reading the Puritans 11. Godefridus Udemans: Life, Influence, and Writings 12. John Bunyan on Justification 13. Reformed Orthodoxy in North America 14. The Perspicuity of Scripture 15. Laurence Chaderton: His Life and Ecclesiology 16. Natural Theology: Some Historical Perspective EXPERIENTIAL THEOLOGY 17. Calvin as an Experiential Preacher 18. The Puritans on Conscience and Casuistry 19. Assurance of Salvation: The Insights of Anthony Burgess 20. Wilhelmus à Brakel’s Biblical Ethics of Spirituality 21. Images of Union and Communion with Christ PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 22. Puritans on the Family: Recent Publications 23. Consider Christ in Affliction: An Open Letter to True Believers 24. Learning from the Puritans on Being Salt and Light 25. Puritans on Marital Love PASTORAL THEOLOGY AND MISSIONS 26. God-Centered Adult Education 27. Plain Preaching Demonstrating the Spirit and His Power 28. How to Evaluate Your Sermons 29. Practical Application in Preaching 30. Authentic Ministry: Servanthood, Tears, and Temptations 31. Children in the Church 32. The Minister’s Helpmeet 33. Unprofessional Puritans and Professional Pastors: What the Puritans Would Say to Modern Pastors 34. Catechism Preaching 35. A Life in the Word 36. Why You and Your Family Should Go to Church: Biblical Answers to “Churchless Christianity” CONTEMPORARY AND CULTURAL ISSUES 37. Interview with Joel Beeke about Reformed Churches and Seminaries 38. Handling Error in the Church: Martin Downes Interviewing Joel R. Beeke 39. Practical Lessons for Today from the Life of Idelette Calvin 40. Rediscovering the Laity: The Reformation in the Pew and in the Classroom 41. In Commemoration of the Heidelberg Catechism’s 450th Anniversary: The Catechism as a Confession of Faith 42. How to Battle Hostility and Secularism 43. Busy but Fruitful: How to Manage Time 44. Nurturing Intimate Communication with Your Spouse

This Introduction to Reformed Scholasticism surveys the topic and provides a guide for further study in early modern Reformed thought. --from publisher description

Having grown out of a 2004 consultation sponsored by the John Knox International Reformed Center, the University of Geneva, and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the essays inJohn Calvin Rediscoveredrevive the social and economic thought of John Calvin, first exploring Calvin in his own time and then turning to Calvin's global influence.

Richard Muller, a world-class scholar of the Reformation era, examines the relationship of Calvin's theology to the Reformed tradition, indicating Calvin's place in the tradition as one of several significant second-generation formulators. Muller argues that the Reformed tradition is a diverse and variegated movement not suitably described either as founded solely on the thought of John Calvin or as a reaction to or deviation from Calvin, thereby setting aside the old "Calvin and the Calvinists" approach in favor of a more integral and representative perspective. Muller offers historical corrective and nuance on topics of current interest in Reformed theology, such as limited atonement/universalism, union with Christ, and the order of salvation.

In Calvin's Company of Pastors, Scott Manetsch examines the pastoral theology and practical ministry activities of Geneva's reformed ministers from the time of Calvin's arrival in Geneva until the beginning of the seventeenth century. During these seven decades, more than 130 men were enrolled in Geneva's Venerable Company of Pastors (as it was called), including notable reformed leaders such as Pierre Viret, Theodore Beza, Simon Goulart, Lambert Daneau, and Jean Diodati. Aside from these better-known epigones, Geneva's pastors from this period remain hidden from view, cloaked in Calvin's long shadow, even though they played a strategic role in preserving and reshaping Calvin's pastoral legacy. Making extensive use of archival materials, published sermons, catechisms, prayer books, personal correspondence, and theological writings, Manetsch offers an engaging and vivid portrait of pastoral life in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Geneva, exploring the manner in which Geneva's ministers conceived of their pastoral office and performed their daily responsibilities of preaching, public worship, moral discipline, catechesis, administering the sacraments, and pastoral care. Manetsch demonstrates that Calvin and his colleagues were much more than ivory tower theologians or "quasi-agents of the state," concerned primarily with dispensing theological information to their congregations or enforcing magisterial authority. Rather, they saw themselves as spiritual shepherds of Christ's Church, and this self-understanding shaped to a significant degree their daily work as pastors and preachers.

Covenant: A Vital Element of Reformed Theology provides a multi-disciplinary reflection on the theme of the covenant, from historical, biblical-theological and systematic-theological perspectives. The interaction between exegesis and dogmatics in the volume reveals the potential and relevance of this biblical motif. It proves to be vital in building bridges between God’s revelation in the past and the actual question of how to live with him today.