About

Why another blog about the reformed tradition?  Several reasons:

1)      There is something about the “truth” of this tradition that still speaks to the fundamental human condition:

a.       We are broken

b.      We are incapable of making the right decisions at times (total depravity)

c.       We lift up idols

d.      We are not in control of the world – God is absolutely sovereign

e.      We are, nevertheless, called to be agents of change

f.        Every occupation has the potential to be a vocation if done in the right spirit

 

2)      There are many official organizations that have resources on line and that can explain the reformed tradition in more polished and theologically acceptable terms.  They lack the capacity to explain the tradition through the lens of an individual experience, however.  They are impersonal and thus hypothetical.  My experiences may not always line up exactly with the official party line definition of the Reformed Tradition, but it is an attempt to live a Reformed life and valuable in as much.

 

3)      I want this to be an educational tool for others, be they congregants or friends or people I talk to on an airplane.  My goal is to keep the language non-technical, the entries topical and relevant, and to continually add new resources and act as a clearing house to all looking to learn more about their faith.

The best place to begin is with a few definitions.  According to the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms (McKim 234):     

Protestant Reformation:  The movement that sought initially to reform the Roman Catholic Church but that led to the establishment of separate branches of Christianity collectively called Protestantism.

Reformed:  A term for churches and the theological tradition that emerged from the work of John Calvin and other reformers such as Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger, in contrast to                the Lutheran Reformation and to Anabaptism.

According to The Westminster Handbook to Reformed Theology:

Reformed Theology: is distinguished by certain ways of doing theology (McKim, 221-222):

1)      It is always subordinate to the authority of the Bible as the Word of God written. 

2)      Reformed theology has always sought to illuminate experience and the concreteness of the situation…Reformed theology is not an explication of Christian experience, but it never takes place apart from it and the demands of the concrete situation.  It is not speculative.

3)      Theology is  a practical, not a theoretical , science.  The purpose…is to glorify God, to save human souls, to transform human life and society.

4)      Reformed Theology is characterized by simplicity…it rejects the pompous, the artificial, the contrived.