Johnson, Terry L.
Beyond Calvin: Essays on the Diversity of the Reformed Tradition (Littlejohn & Tomes)
The Reformed tradition today often carries a reputation for narrowness and dogmatism, rather than breadth and diversity. But it was not always so. In the early modern era, the Reformed family of churches boasted not merely a host of theological luminaries of the highest rank, but a remarkable diversity of viewpoints on church polity, ethics, sacraments, and even matters like atonement theology. At their best, they charitably debated these differences within a shared confessional framework, offering examples for Protestants today of how to pursue the maxim, “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” The essays in this volume offer an introduction to the theological rigor and surprising breadth of the early Reformed tradition.
Table of Contents:
Foreword – Carl Trueman
Introduction – W. Bradford Littlejohn
1. “That No One Should Live for Himself, But for Others”: Love and the Third Mark of the Church in the Theology of Martin Bucer – Jake Meador
2. Written Monuments: Beza’s Icones as a Testament to and Program for Reformed Humanism – E. J. Hutchinson
3. A Reformed Irenic Christology: Richard Hooker’s Account of Christ’s “Personal Presence Everywhere” in 16th-century Context – W. Bradford Littlejohn
4. George Clarleton’s Reformed Doctrine of Episcopal Authority at the Synod of Dordt – Andre Gazal
5. Confessional Orthodoxy and Hypothetical Universalism: Another Look at the Westminster Confession of Faith – Michael Lynch
6. Pagan Civil Virtue in the Thought of Francis Turretin – Stephen Wolfe