Reformed Theology - its blessings, the "good" *

 

  1. Respect, Reverence, Primacy of the scriptures, ie...the 66 canonical books. Sola Scriptura
  2. Justification by faith alone in Christ alone Sola Fide
  3. The Priesthood of all Believers (2 Peter 2)
  4. The Grace of God magnified  (Eph. 2:8-9)
  5. Depravity of man (Romans 3) insisted upon. **
  6. a healthy Reverence and Fear of God which is very lacking in many circles
  7. a thorough, healthy, historical expose' & opposition to Roman Catholic Theology.
  8. Emphasizing the importance of Doctrine.
  9. Expository preaching - a great need in a day of sermonettes, devotional, & emotional preaching
  10. Biblical based exposure of the error of the Charismatic movement is almost exclusively being done by Reformed brethren.
  11. Emphasis on Sovereignty and the will of God.  See #2 below

 

Reformed Theology - its errors, the "bad"  *

 

  1. Limited Atonement (God so loved the world...is lost) Also- 1 John 2:2 in its normal literal interpretation is denied. Christ is the propitiation not merely for the elect, but for the whole world.  Reformed theology denies this.
  2. Exalting human reason above divine revelation - primarily in the area of election and sovereignty- the elevation of human reason above divine revelation when applied to this weighty doctrine- is problematic in Reformed circles.
  3. Teaching that regeneration precedes faith. (instead of faith comes by hearing - (Rom 10:17) )
  4. The tendency toward an imbalanced Lordship salvation
  5. One naturism:  Teaching that a converted person has only one nature, and is therefore unable to account for sin in the believer's life. (Contrast Romans 6-7)
  6. Preterism: Many Reformed Theologians are preterists in some form or another. This sad and pernicious teaching, in one of its flavors anyway, says all prophecy was fulfilled in 70 AD when "Christ returned" in judgment. 
  7. Literal Historical Grammatical interpretation method is denied to prophecy, yielding a Dual hermeneutic instead of being literal in all areas....prophecy is where they allegorize. No sense of immediacy for the coming of Christ for the church.
  8. Tendency to over-exalt & point men to the Reformation as the source of truth. Exhibits a sense of spiritual & theological pride.
  9. Fails to distinguish Israel and the Church and other issues related to Covenant Theology. Creating non scriptural covenants (works/grace) that are not mentioned in scripture, thus falling into the pattern of Rome on dogma.
  10. Puts men under the law for sanctification (despite the teaching of Romans, esp. verses like Rom 7:4, and Galatians)
  11. Stops with the Reformation, and doesn't move forward in truth recovery, especially eschatology and ecclessiology.
  12. Merges "doctrines of Grace" with "doctrine of Election" instead of distinguishing the two. 

 

C. Clough has written (Biblical Framework Lesson 164) the following:   “So to sum up” the problem here, “Reformed theology, utilizing the concept of a covenant structure ‘behind’ history, not only has frozen the 16th and 17th century level of theology into permanent creeds but has also established its own unique rules of Bible interpretation.  It therefore centers upon soteriology, the doctrine that was central to the Reformation era, and a very close relationship between the state and the church.  It views with deep suspicion any further extension of the sola scriptura principle in reforming theology.”  It doesn’t want to reform theology any more, it did it all, it’s all done, it’s all over.

 

A.Woods says: "Dispensationalists took the literal hermeneutic applied by the reformers in the area of soteriology and applied it to all areas of theology, including eschatology and ecclesiology. By insisting on the application of a literal hermeneutic to all of Scripture, Dispensationalism, in essence, completed the hermeneutical revolution begun by the reformers."

 

* It is recognized that some "reformed" theologicans are dispensational, and therefore not Preterist, nor lawkeepers, who do distinguish Israel and the church.  

 

** We do not hold to the extreme position of the Reformed Theologians regarding TD that man is unable to even believe. The scripture calls man to believe the gospel. We point the extreme Calvinist to Romans 4:5 if the semi-pelagian argument comes up...as if believing is a "work."

 

One would also be wise to distinguish Covenant Theology and Reformed Theology since there are many dispensationalists who are Reformed in their thinking and most certainly not Covenental. Pardon requested for perhaps an over generalization herein, in this and other areas. The length of this blog inherently yields condensed rather than elaborated arguments.

 

 

written by WBC