What irritates me, is not that there's these type of books but that it's called Reformed!
https://www.logos.com/product/42134/eliminating-satan-and-hell
Given this:
"Takes a firm stance on the validity of hell and satan"
I'm not sure what has upset you. But then I'm not re-formed, I'm re-born[;)]
Given this: "Takes a firm stance on the validity of hell and satan" I'm not sure what has upset you. But then I'm not re-formed, I'm re-born
I'm not sure what has upset you. But then I'm not re-formed, I'm re-born
The author seems to draw the conclusion that Satan and Hell does not exist. Like the approach he takes to the topic, so I put in an order.
This volume should add to the discussion. http://www.atsjats.org/transaction_detail.php?id=94
I'm not sure what Adventist believe. But there was a time when the label Reformed meant something. When I ask for a fork I expect a fork, not a Spork.
but that it's called Reformed!
Well, he's been a Presbyterian pastor for 22 years, so he's probably generally in the Reformed camp theologically. There is room for differing views on Hell within the fold of traditional Reformed evangelicalism. With all the books cropping up on the topic lately, Logos should do a collection on Hell, including books on both ends of the spectrum and in between:
And I often wish there could be collections that spanned across Logos and Vyrso. Here are some Vyrso titles I'd throw into the collection, just for the he-- of it (sorry, couldn't hellp myself).
Jonathan Edwards On Heaven & Hell
The Most Encouraging Book on Hell Ever
Hell Is Real (But I Hate to Admit It)
All You Want to Know About Hell: Three Christian Views of God’s Final Solution to the Problem of Sin
Who Goes There: A Cultural History of Heaven and Hell
And here are a couple books on hell not (yet) available in Logos or Vyrso that I'd like to see them get:
EDIT: one more important one:
Good work Rosie. A collection with Dynamic pricing sounds like a good idea.
[Y]
... there was a time when the label Reformed meant something.
If I might borrow adapt from the Apostle's epistle to the Romans:
For they are not all Reformed who claim to be Reformed.
there was a time when the label Reformed meant something.
As with most labels it can mean different things in different contexts and to different people.
Reformed is the name of a denomination, or rather a series of denominations that split off from each other (RCA, CRC being the largest), so it could mean that branch of Protestant Christianity taken as a whole or just one flavor of them, depending on who you are talking to; some RCA's might say the CRC's aren't worthy of the name "Reformed" for example, or vice versa).
Reformed as in ecclesia reformata semper reformanda ("the reformed church always reforming"); i.e., any church tradition that has its heritage in the Reformation; often taken by Presbyterians to be their own motto, it's really broader than that.
Reformed as a theological viewpoint; who knows where there is a definitive statement of what this is? There's this one on Theopedia ("Reformed theology is generally considered synonymous with Calvinism and most often, in the U.S. and the UK, is specifically associated with the theology of the historic church confessions such as the Westminster Confession of Faith or the Three Forms of Unity"), this one by R.C. Sproul ("Simply put, it is the theology of the Protestant Reformers and the heart of historical evangelicalism. As C.H. Spurgeon once said, Reformed theology is nothing other than biblical Christianity."), this one ("Generally, Reformed theology holds to the authority of Scripture, the sovereignty of God, salvation by grace through Christ, and the necessity of evangelism. It is sometimes called Covenant theology because of its emphases on the covenant God made with Adam and the new covenant which came through Jesus Christ."), this one by James Montgomery Boice ("What, then, is distinctive about reformed theology? 1. The Doctrine of Scripture....2. The Sovereignty of God....3. The Doctrines of Grace....best known by the acronym TULIP....4. The Cultural Mandate.) or this one from Westminster Theological Seminary ("The best English expression of the Reformed faith is arguably contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the doctrinal standards of Westminster Theological Seminary. This statement, penned at Westminster Abbey in London in the mid-seventeenth century, has stood the test of time as a summary expression of the teaching of the Bible."). There is nothing in any of them about the nature of hell, btw.
Reformed Theological Seminary - describes themselves as "non-denominational, evangelical Protestant"; in their statement of belief, we find "the essence of Reformed theology is a willingness constantly to conform all of life to the Word of God. Our primary distinctives are a commitment to historic Reformed theology and the Bible as God’s inerrant Word.
"The seminary recognizes that there are evangelical and Reformed brothers and sisters in Christ within various denominations and Christian organizations who hold views concerning doctrine, missions, and evangelism different from its own distinctives. While committed to fulfilling its purpose and distinctives in these areas, the seminary resolves to maintain openness to and appreciation for Christians in differing denominations and organizations in a loving and winsome spirit, thus contributing to the purity and the unity of the Christian community and witness." (my italics)
So the label "Reformed" is about as slippery to define as "Evangelical". While that can be challenging in a multi-denominational venue like the Logos user forums, it just means we need to be clear about which meaning of it we are using when we bring it up in conversation. Logos perhaps isn't consistent about which meaning of it they're using when they label products as "Reformed." Or maybe they are consistent but they haven't let you know what their definition is, so it appears incongruous to you that this book should be lumped in with "Reformed."
What irritates me, is not that there's these type of books but that it's called Reformed! https://www.logos.com/product/42134/eliminating-satan-and-hell
It seems that Frederick William Farrar held that there would be a "universal reconciliation" which would thus imply that any hell would be bereft of any human inhabitants. I have yet to read what he wrote on this subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_William_Farrar
