Something for the Unreformed: The Abridged Edition of Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics

The English translation of Bavinck’s 4 volume Reformed Dogmatics (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003-2008) has seen quite a return for its efforts. Already there have been a small handful of conferences with more on the way, a growing number of papers and articles, even a Bavinck Society. And there’s more. John Bolt has edited an abridged version that has already received praise as a highly accessible introduction to Bavinck’s theology. And for those just outside of the ‘upper-case’ Reformed movement this volume is especially recommended for two reasons: grace and maturity.

Of so many quality volumes in systematic theology, few have tackled the problems between certainty of faith and modern cynicism with more force and maturity. For mid-career pastor’s wrestling with purpose and vision or tend to it weekly in the lives of those under their ministries, temptation to apathy runs high. Bavinck’s solution? God has spoken and it is the great work of the church to examine her confessions of faith with scripture. Bavinck never offers pat or simple answers to hard questions –although Bolt has smoothed out some of the rigor– or hides in the conclusions of a long line of scholars. “To live and die in the comfort and blessing of salvation,” writes Bavinck, “we need a word from God.” In order for the church and her ministers to move from knowledge to understanding: “faith and reason belong together.” In other words a fresh, organic approach to scripture begins with knowing that God has spoken and that ministry proceeds (or should proceed) as an expression of thankfulness and worship.

The abridgement is tidy and well managed, although sometimes it feels too polished. Dr. Bolt’s summary outlines in the larger work, which guide each section like a fine overture, have been cut and may have been equally valuable here. The abridged Reformed Dogmatics is a perfect step up from the popular Our Reasonable Faith (1956), and a step back from the four volume work; All the more reason to move forward with this excellent theology in hand.

Herman Bavinck Conference at Calvin Seminary, Oct. 12-14, 2011

Calvin College is hosting the Bavinck Society's international conference this year and it should be a good one. The theme for the Bavinck conference is Reformed Theology and the Church's Global Mission Today. For more information on the conference click here, and for more info on the Bavinck Society click here.

This Reformed Life: Finding Joy in the American Religious Climate (Part 3)

Making the ‘great leap’ to the reformed faith has been great for our family. But it hasn’t made things easy. In fact things are more complicated. In our search for the perfect church we’re bewildered with the numerous distinctives that flavor the reformed expression of the faith. (R. Scott Clark’s RRC is highly recommended by this blog for dealing with all that). But in this post we take a look at a small step back. This week we joined some friends at a community oriented non-denominational mega church. While it’s tempting to write this as a comedy piece – from the jaded perspective of two pastor’s kids – all we offer is the record of a single isolated experience.

My friend “Chuck” sat on the end row arms crossed in a defensive posture. The music minister invited the 1000 member congregation to raise their hearts to worship from Psalm 136 (vss 1-9) standing behind a humongous keyboard. “Chuck” is a Free Presbyterian pastor with a PhD in early English Reformed history. All the worse for “Chuck” it was his in-laws that nudged me and pointed out his sulking demeanor. The worship team opened with 3 soft rock renditions of actual Psalms. I passed a note to “Chuck” that read: see, they’re exclusive psalmists. He grimaced.

Stepping back into a contemporary worship service after months of hymns can be explained several ways, like the shock of a small towner going to the big city or going from mono to surround sound. The difficulty for us was the call to prayer and scripture reading with the constant music accompaniment. Neither of us could actually concentrate on prayer, leaving us with a vague feeling of manipulation. The sermon, however, was very good.

The message was on the problem of resisting temptation from 1 Cor. 10:13. Given the first half, or 2/3rds of the service, “Chuck” was surprised to hear an expository sermon with a pertinent exhortation to trust scripture in a very thoughtful conclusion. I was picky. I told “Chuck” it felt that ‘God’ was appealed to so frequently that the word was practically a term in the neuter. “Chuck” shrugged. Yeah, “Chuck,” but the general sway of the message for avoiding temptation became a message of personal strength and perseverance to make it through the day to day; the drama of sanctification is significantly weakened because ‘God’s’ grace and faithfulness are confined to providence. There’s no mention of the Holy Spirit’s work of inward renewal. All is not lost. “Chuck” reminded me that you can’t put everything into one sermon and that the pastor did defend all his major points with key New Testament passages rather than resort to headlines and bubble gum.

All to say that after having attended the reformed church, going back to a non-denominational was not a lapse in sanctification or a lost weekend. The reformed expression of faith is in many respects more rigorous, demanding, and sometimes loses its ‘umph’ when explaining details. But so far we’ve found that there is something more satisfying in staying with it. We’ll explain how in our next post.

Happy Reformation Day

Nailed it!

This Reformed Life: Finding Joy in the American Religious Climate (Part 2)

Last week we ended on the hang-up about infant baptism. Calvin shrugged. Baxter sighed. The Reformed do not see infant baptism as the automatic guarantee of salvation; it ‘simply’ means inclusion into the Covenant of Grace made possible by the application of Christ’s person and work by the Spirit through faith, and so on. Many evangelicals are hesitant to sign on with Reformed distinctive and traditions, I know; it took us forever to figure this stuff out and we’re still working on it. R. Scott Clark’s awesome book Recovering the Reformed Confession has a very helpful analogy when it comes to ‘traditional’ forms of worship and all around Christianity: Marriage. We go into marriage, says Clark, knowing full well the other person isn’t perfect in every way. Sin and snoring are not exactly the grounds for divorce or never marrying, but what would Clark say to those that don’t want a marriage that looks like their parents?

One thing I’ve been struck by most about a more confessional approach to Christian life in general is that it’s handy around the house. Our kids are at the question asking stage which is very joyful for parents and at times highly annoying. In the few moments I’m able to hide from the family I find reading the confessions provides needed material for rapid-fire questions from bright young minds. I’d even dare say the secret to reading and relating to confessional is the parent-child relationship. The confessions (and catechisms as well) seem rigid but we have to remember, it’s less about form and more about content when conveying the concepts of creation, fall, redemption, faith, hope, and love, to the most important people in our lives.

It’s all a recipe for trust. I wouldn’t burden you with this question if I didn’t consider it myself, but, does the North American church really trust itself? Can evangelicals (nationally) do any real amount of self-reflection and critical-spiritual evaluation and come away with real certainty and assurance of faith? I’m sure it can. But for all my prior religious industry I’ve come to confessional theology with a strange kind of deficiency. Not because I feel inferior or less smart, or envy their vintage horn-rimmed glasses. In terms of ecclesiology, coming to confessional theology feels like some deeply rooted dyslexia has been mended. No scolding, no guilt-trips, no inferiority complexes to address, just a settled unity between church life and home life. It’s really good stuff.

This Reformed Life: Finding Joy in the American Religious Climate (part 1)

I grew up a pastor’s kid. I’ve remained a committed Christian despite the fact. And having spent the better part of the last fifteen years looking for the perfect church I’ve finally committed to the reformed expression, jumping in with both feet. In this four part series I hope to sketch out some of the highlights of this long arduous process, anticipating a full article in the forthcoming e-journal Figtree Theological Quarterly, a free 1 year subscription available by signing up here.

Having grown up Conservative Baptist and worshiping in non-denominational churches I’ve had a fairly nonchalant attitude toward the creed and confessions as a guiding principle of Sunday service. This is not my fault; formal statements can’t claim the same allegiance as scripture, says Spurgeon and the creeds hinder the creative, dynamic energy of worship, says Barth. But two things happened to change my mind about the importance of a confessional form of worship: kids.

Most non-denominational churches offer a myriad of social programs and group activities with a religious component somewhere in the mix. I’ve always had fun at these things but after a while the social component takes the place of the theological component and spiritual growth usually seems to wane. Worship service often struggled for quality content. After a while experimentation takes the place of edification. As a church-goer I constantly felt like I was being experimented on: ‘What programs do you like?’ ‘What message do you need to hear?’ ‘What’s going to make you adhere to our ministry?’ What seemed like an endless freedom for the substitution of the creeds was turning into a Sartre-like nightmare of boundless freedom.

The two theoretical strongholds keeping me from being totally Reformed were the creeds and infant baptism. These two items make the church seem like a crusty old institutional wife instead of the young, bright, sexy co-ed image that the emerging church likes to project. When taken to task on infant-baptism as a sign of Church ‘institution’ (as opposed to the vibrant, organic, pilgrim church) Calvin simply shrugged (Milner). Richard Baxter thought ‘what am I saying if I don’t baptize children?’ (Packer). So the giants have it. I’m cool with it.

Next time we pick up with the kids, confessionalism, and why becoming Reformed is so chill.

McKnight Interviews Brian McLaren

Denny Burk has a post on a recent interview with Brian McLaren on 'generous orthodoxy' and questions of belief. Check it out here.