Teaching from a Reformed stance
What would your go to Reformed books/resources be if you had one or two choices?
If you were asked to teach a large class of mature believers a semi-seminary type curriculum that included the following topics/classes what would you suggest?
This will be a two year course.
- OT & NT Theology
- Systematic & Biblical
- OT & NT Introduction or survey
- Reformation history
- Bible backgrounds
- Hermeneutics
- Worship
- personal & corporate.
mm.
Comments
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Just one or two? That would be very difficult. I have found many authors to speak best on certain subjects. One may be better on innerrancy (Warfield) and another work that may be the best about Definite Atonement (From Heaven He Came...)
But to answer your question, I would probably start with Calvin's institutes (2 volumes). I think one of the best things about the Reformed Theology is the plethora of very good authors and scholars who have written so extensively.
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One or two? It doesn't really matter. The more answers/suggestions that are available then the better for me to chose.
Everett Headley said:Just one or two? That would be very difficult. I have found many authors to speak best on certain subjects. One may be better on innerrancy (Warfield) and another work that may be the best about Definite Atonement (From Heaven He Came...)
But to answer your question, I would probably start with Calvin's institutes (2 volumes). I think one of the best things about the Reformed Theology is the plethora of very good authors and scholars who have written so extensively.
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I might use Calvin as a structure/base. Institutes would be the primary text, and then when you get to specific topics, perhaps bring in selections from these other authors and encourage those interested to pick up those resources.
Calvin's Institutes can be very weighty when reading, but worth the effort to mine through it. You could also look to Bavnick, AA Hodge, Boyce, or Berkhofs systematics and then add to each one of those.
Sprinkle in Ownes, Piper, Edwards, Warfield, Carson, Ferguson, Sproul, etc. and you will have a very indepth class.
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(NB: I'm not reformed): For systematics, my consistent go-to resource is L. Berkhof's Systematic Theology. Whenever I have a question about where to start on a topic or want a refresher on a particular view or point, I'm rarely disappointed starting with Berkhof. I've yet to find a systematics text under a 1,000 pages that I'm completely satisfied with, but this one is definitely one of the best. (Bavinck is better but less accessible; Berkhof follows Bavinck to a large extent.)
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Wayne Grudem for systematic theology would be good. It's the best selling systematic theology on Amazon, and also reformed (I think he's reformed baptist). He goes deep while using regular language and breaks down complicated theological controversies without sacrificing depth. I highly recommend him. He also has a podcast of him teaching his systematic theology that goes into more detail. I found it helpful while going through the book in a small group.
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Frame is good, reformed, and in Logos.
https://www.logos.com/product/20867/the-collected-works-of-john-m-frame-vol-1-theologyL2 lvl4 (...) WORDsearch, all the way through L10,
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For keeping a modern look at a classic system, I definitely second the Frame/Grudem recommendations. (fun fact...Grudem was Frame's student).
but Frame insists that his readers read Cornelius Van Til, John Murray, Herman Bavinck, Jonathan Edwards, Francis Turretin and John Calvin to better understand Reformed Theology.
And secondly, IMO any reformed teaching should probably cover the Westminster Confession.
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Here's Frame's annotated bibliography on Reformed Theology...
Systematic Theology and Theological Method
In this bibliography I have included both complete systems of Reformed theology and writings about theology and theological method. You will find that many of the systematic theologies begin with discussions of theology and theological method. I have not included here references to liberal theologians or to non-Reformed evangelicals, though in the course of studying theology you ought to become familiar with those movements as well.
Bavinck, Herman. Our Reasonable Faith. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1956. This is his brief, 568-page (!) summary of his four-volume Reformed Dogmatics.
. Reformed Dogmatics: Prolegomena. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003. At last, Bavinck's four-volume Dogmatics is being translated into English. This is the first volume, dealing with theological method and Scripture.
Berkhof, Louis. Introduction to Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979. Deals with theological method and the doctrine of revelationScripture.
Systematic Theology. London: Banner of Truth, 1939. A standard one-volume Reformed work offering a traditional orthodox Reformed approach. A good summary of systematics, based primarily on Hodge and Bavinck.
Boice, James M. Foundations of the Christian Faith. 2nd edition. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1986-. A popular summary of Reformed doctrine.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T. McNeill. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960. A wonderful work-scriptural, devotional, powerful, practicalthe seedbed of all Reformed theology. Drink deeply from it.
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. Dallas: Dallas Theological Seminary Press, 1947. This seven-volume work is the standard statement of "original dispensationalism." I have disagreed with dispensationalism in chapter 23 of my book.
Conn, Harvie. Contemporary World Theology. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1973. A handy guidebook concerning some major theological schools of thought.. Eternal Word and Changing Worlds. 1984. Reprint, Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1992. Concerned with contextualization, the process of translating Scripture into the thought-forms of various cultures.
Davis, John Jefferson. Foundations of Evangelical Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984.
Elwell, Walter, ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984. Some useful articles here.
Erickson, Millard. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1983. Representative of broadly evangelical theology.
Ferguson, Sinclair, and David F. Wright, eds. New Dictionary of Theology. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1988. Useful articles.
Frame, John. Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1995. Chapters 4-14 deal in various ways with Van Til's concept of theology.
. Doctrine of the Knowledge of God. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1987. This is my main work on theological method.
Grenz, Stanley. Theology for the Community of God. Nashville: Broadman, 1994. Generally evangelical.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994. The best one-volume systematic theology written in recent years. I have used it extensively in preparing the present volume. It is Reformed on the whole, though it differs from the Reformed consensus on the charismatic gifts, baptism, and the millennium.
Hodge, A. A. Outlines of Theology. 1879. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Zonder- van, 1972. A one-volume work by the son of Charles Hodge.
Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, n.d.. A threevolume work representing Old Princeton Presbyterian theology circa 1870. Still a standard work of American Reformed theology.
Jewett, Paul K. God, Creation, and Revelation: A Neo-Evangelical Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991. "Neo-evangelical" these days tends to mean limited inerrancy and feminism, both of which Jewett endorses.
Kuyper, Abraham. Principles of Sacred Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965. Part of his Encyclopedia of Sacred Theology (1894). Deals with the nature of theology and revelation. See especially pages 228-340, 565-636. Kuyper was a genius who mastered many fields, bringing the Scriptures to bear on many areas of life.McKim, Donald K. Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith. Louisville: Westminster Press, 1992. A broad range of theological positions are represented here.
Mueller, J. Theodore. Christian Dogmatics. St. Louis: Concordia, 1934. A standard one-volume conservative Lutheran theology.
Muller, Richard. Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987-. A multivolume survey of post-Reformation theologians on the topics of systematic theology.
Murray, John. Collected Writings ofJohn Murray. 4 vols. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1976-82. Murray taught for many years at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. His formulations of Reformed theology are altogether the best available. The exegesis is thorough and cogent. Volume 2 contains his basic seminary lectures in systematic theology. See also his articles in volume 4, part 1, "Studies in Theology." Murray was conservative in many ways, noticeably in his advocacy of the exclusive use of Psalms in worship. His lectures were not, for the most part, reviews of Reformed traditions but almost entirely exegetical; and in his accounts of theological method, he emphasizes independence from tradition. I turn to him more than to any other theological writer.
Pieper, Francis. Christian Dogmatics. St. Louis: Concordia, 1950-57. A threevolume orthodox Lutheran theology. Mueller (above) summarizes this.
Poythress, Vern S. Symphonic Theology: The Validity of Multiple Perspectives in Theology. 1987. Reprint, Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2001. Poythress and I agree on most everything. This is his exposition of a multipleperspective approach.
Shedd, W. G. T. Dogmatic Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1969. Another nineteenth-century classic of American Presbyterianism.
Turretin, Francis. Institutes of Elenctic Theology. Edited by James Dennison. 3 vols. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1992-97. This seventeenth-century work was the basic textbook at Princeton Seminary before the completion of Hodge's systematics. A brilliant and comprehensive work.
Van Til, Cornelius. Introduction to Systematic Theology. N.p.: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1973. Van Til's thoughts on the nature and method of theology, revelation, Scripture, and the doctrine of God. In my judgment, Van Til is the most important Reformed thinker since Calvin.
Warfield, B. B. "The Idea of Systematic Theology." Chapter 3 in Studies in Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981.Introduction To The Reformed Faith
Boettner, Lorraine. The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination. N.p.: P&R, 1972. A good standard work.
Bratt, John, ed. The Heritage ofJohn Calvin. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973. Essays on Calvin and his influence. Note comparisons between Calvin and Thomas Aquinas (Breen) and between Calvin and Arminius (Bangs).
Calvin, John. "Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God." In Calvin's Calvinism. Translated by Henry Cole (1856). Grand Rapids: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 1987.
Coppes, Leonard J. Are Five Points Enough? Ten Points of Calvinism. Manassas, VA: Reformation Educational Foundation, 1980.
Edgar, William. Truth in All Its Glory: Commending the Reformed Faith. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2004.
Elwell, Walter, ed. Handbook of Evangelical Theologians. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993. Biographies and emphases of various thinkers, including Warfield, Berkhof, Machen, Van Til, Murray, Clark, Berkouwer, Schaeffer, Henry, Hoekema, Carnell, Packer, and McGrath.
Hagopian, David G., ed. Back to Basics: Rediscovering the Richness of the Reformed Faith. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1996.
Helm, Paul. Calvin and the Calvinists. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1998.
Kline, Meredith G. The Structure of Biblical Authority. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972. The most important contribution to this subject since Warfield.
Klooster, Fred. Calvin's Doctrine of Predestination. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977.
Kuyper, Abraham. Lectures on Calvinism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961. A "must read." Kuyper was a genius: philosopher, founder of a university, newspaper editor, preacher, founder of a new denomination, devotional writer. These lectures seek to apply Calvinism to all areas of life, thus expressing the major thrust of his thought and of the Reformed faith.
Luther, Martin. The Bondage of the Will. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1931. Luther had great affection for this volume, but his Lutheran successors didn't follow its teaching. It shows how important the doctrine of predestination was to the early Reformation.Machen, J. Gresham. The Christian Faith in the Modern World. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1947. Radio addresses expounding the basics of the Reformed faith, written in a vivid, compelling style.
The Christian View of Man. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1947. Similarly vivid and compelling radio addresses on the basics of the Reformed faith.
. Christianity and Liberalism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1923. Still the best book in contrasting Reformed Christianity with its "liberal" counterfeit.
McKim, Donald K., ed. Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith. Louisville: Westminster Press, 1992. Some contributors are liberal and/or limited in- errantist, but on the whole this is a valuable reference work.
Murray, John. Calvin on Scripture and the Sovereignty of God. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1960. These articles are also found in volume 4 of Murray's Collected Writings (above).
Palmer, Edwin. The Five Points of Calvinism. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1972. Accurate, straightforward.
Pinnock, Clark, ed. The Grace of God and the Will of Man. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989. Essays against Calvinism and in favor of Arminianism.
Schreiner, Thomas R., and Bruce A. Ware. The Grace of God and the Bondage of the Will. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995. Articles on many issues in dispute between Calvinists and Arminians, taking the Calvinist side. A high quality of thought and scholarship.
Sproul, R. C. Author of many popular books and tapes on Reformed doctrines, available through the Ligonier Valley Study Center in Orlando, Florida, Sproul is the best popular communicator of Reformed doctrine. Ligonier also sells tapes and booklets by the late John H. Gerstner, Sproul's mentor. These should not be missed.
Steele, David, Curtis Thomas, and S. Lance Quinn. The Five Points of Calvinism: Defined, Defended, and Documented. 2nd edition. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2004. Not much argument here but good summary statements, proof texts, historical surveys, analytical bibliographies.
Van Til, Cornelius. Christian Apologetics. 2nd edition. Edited by William Edgar. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2003. See pages 17-54, Van Til's summary of the Reformed faith.
Warfield, B. B. Calvin and Calvinism. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981.
John M. Frame (B.D.,WestminsterTheological Seminary; A.M. and M.Phil.,Yale University; D.D., Belhaven College) is professor of systematic theology and philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando campus. He previously taught theology and apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia) and at Westminster Seminary California.
Frame's published works include The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God and The Doctrine of God in the Theology of Lordship series, as well as Apologetics to the Glory of God, No Other God:A Response to Open Theism, Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought, and Worship in Spirit and Trut
Frame, J. M. (2006). Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology. P&R Publishing.Logos 10 | Dell Inspiron 7373 | Windows 11 Pro 64, i7, 16GB, SSD | iPhone 13 Pro Max
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