The Zurich Origins Of Reformed Covenant Theology

This book explores the origins and development of one of the most significant doctrines of Reformation theology. The innovative ways in which the Zurich reformer Huldrych Zwingli and his successor Heinrich Bullinger thought about the relationship between the Old and New Testaments left an indelible mark on the Reformed tradition in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Distinctively, Zwingli and Bullinger emphasized the continuity of both testaments and spoke of a single covenant between God and humanity. This would become one of the defining teachings of Reformed Christianity. This book follows the development of their "covenant theology" in the Reformation and argues for its adoption by John Calvin in Geneva and the German theologians of the post-Reformation era.

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.

"The book surveys the origins of the doctrine of the covenant of works. The doctrine originates in the patristic era and fully flowers in the sixteenth century among Reformed theologians. The doctrine develops from a web of biblical texts and becomes codified in confessions of the seventeenth century. But in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, support for the doctrine began to wane until Reformed theologians in the twentieth century outright rejected it. There were, however, theologians who continued to promote the doctrine because they continued to use the same interpretive methods as earlier proponents of the doctrine"--

A Comprehensive Exploration of the Biblical Covenants This book forms an overview of the biblical teaching on covenant as well as the practical significance of covenant for the Christian life. A host of 26 scholars shows how covenant is not only clearly taught from Scripture, but also that it lays the foundation for other key doctrines of salvation. The contributors, who engage variously in biblical, systematic, and historical theology, present covenant theology not as a theological abstract imposed on the Bible but as a doctrine that is organically presented throughout the biblical narrative. As students, pastors, and church leaders come to see the centrality of covenant to the Christian faith, the more the church will be strengthened with faith in the covenant-keeping God and encouraged in their understanding of the joy of covenant life.

This study presents the religious factor in the development of a separatistic group identity among the forebears of the Afrikaners during the Dutch colonial period of South African history. The dominant strain of Dutch Reformed covenantal thought conveyed to South Africa treated the entire community as redeemed and called to be separate. This covenantal theory and its corresponding baptism helped to shape the emerging group identity.