John Williamson Nevin (1803-1886)

If you're ever near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, it's worth taking a few minutes to drive through the charming little village of Mercersburg. The area is best known for its associations with James Buchanan who was born nearby, but for the German Reformed, it was a center of both secular and spiritual education in the 19th century.

Redemptive-Historical Theology Part 3: Christocentric Thinking and Ethics

There are some who will insist that Systematics and Biblical Theology are complimentary and admittedly some Systematic theologians are better than others. And yet ultimately we return to basic questions - What is the Bible? What is the nature of revelation? How do we judge and interact with it? How did the Fall affect our intellect? And how do we faithfully understand and communicate what God has spoken? Is it our task to reflect Scriptural teaching even if it results in unresolved tensions and we are forced to limit some of our concepts - leaving loose ends and unanswered inquiries? Or is it the task of the theologian as Charles Hodge (1797-1878) argued - to treat the Scripture as something like data or a 'storehouse of facts' to be organized? The theologian's task consequently becomes something like a scientific discipline with the primary requirement being philosophical training.

Redemptive-Historical Theology Part 2: Logic and Salvation History

Redemptive-History focuses on the development of doctrine as it is revealed throughout the history of salvation. This is the history of God working to save a people for Himself, to defeat death and break the effects of the Genesis 3 curse, all culminating in the Kingdom of Heaven. The central character as well as the plot are all centered on the person of Christ. As such Redemptive-Historical Theology (or Biblical Theology as some would have it) focuses on development and context in relation to Christ as opposed to logical structure and ordering.

Redemptive-Historical Theology Part 1: A Christ-Centered Reading of the Bible

In 2nd Timothy 3:16, the Apostle Paul refers to the Scriptures as 'God-Breathed'. It is the very Word of God and as such it reveals a great many truths about the way the world is, why it is this way, the true nature of reality, as well as what is to come. It explains how and why the world is broken and how mankind can be reconciled to God through the Person of Jesus Christ. 

Soli Deo Gloria - To God Alone Be The Glory

For Protestants wishing to return to Biblical Christianity, the Five Solas became something like a battle cry. Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) is the foundational authority for doctrine and the Christian life. And this points to a gospel of Sola Gratia (Grace Alone) effected through Sola Fide (Faith Alone) and by means of Solus Christus (Christ Alone). This brings us to the final element - Soli Deo Gloria, to God alone be the glory. 

Sola Scriptura - Scripture Alone

 After considering the Solas regarding Grace, Faith, and Christ, we come to the heart of the dispute between the Reformers and Rome, the question of authority. How do we know what we know in terms of God and His doctrine? For the Reformers, the very gospel was at stake in how this question is answered.

Solus Christus - Christ Alone

After working through Sola Gratia (By Grace Alone) and Sola Fide (By Faith Alone), we come to Solus Christus - Christ Alone.

Sola Fide - By Faith Alone

Continuing with the Solas of the Reformation, we come to Sola Fide or Justification by Faith Alone. Martin Luther argued this was the article upon which the Church stands or falls. The New Testament speaks of salvation in multiple ways. For example we encounter terms like adoption, justification, sanctification, election, and union and they all touch on the question of salvation and our relationship with God. Luther and the other Reformers tended to put justification at the front of the line, making its 'legal declaration of righteousness' the central and most critical aspect of our standing with God. The righteousness in question is that of Christ - His righteousness is applied to us. We are justified. How is this accomplished? Through various works? No, by faith alone.

Sola Gratia - By Grace Alone

Over the next couple of weeks I will be publishing short articles which were written for a church newsletter..... This is the first in the Sola series. Unlike most of what I produce, these articles are brief and simple. In some cases I would say a great deal more and may in fact differ (to some extent) with what I've written. 

But the purpose was not to make an argument but rather to touch on the issues of historical theology and (at most) raise a few points of consideration.

--------     

During the centuries we call the Middle Ages, the gospel was obscured, if not buried under a mountain of tradition and theology driven more by philosophy, than a faithful reflection of Scriptural teaching. While the New Testament teaches baptism and the Early Church clearly placed a great deal of stock in the Lord's Supper, over time these simple rites were transformed into complex rituals, and many more were added to the list. Repentance became confused with penances and to this was added pilgrimages, the veneration of relics, the cult of saints, and so much more. By the time we reach the Middle Ages, the gospel of grace taught in the New Testament was all but lost. The average Catholic believed that through the ministrations of the priests, the various rituals, and after a season of suffering in purgatory, they would at last be granted access to heaven and the Divine Presence. The gospel was no longer one of grace but of man-made works and the traditions of men.