Reformed, Not Calvinist: Recovering Reformed Distinctions and Identity
Why have professional historians of the Reformation and post-Reformation era of Reformed theology and confessionalization argued that "Calvinism" is not only a misleading term but--somewhat provocatively, perhaps--practically useless? And how do distinctions help us not only to separate truth from error, but also enrich our grasp of the truth and aid us in Christian love?
Calvinism is popular today in certain evangelical circles, but it is arguably not the Calvin or Calvinism of history. The disconnect, and the resulting confusion attaching to the term, is evidenced by the fact that many who identify themselves as Calvinists today would not welcome the historical Calvin to their eucharistic table or allow his teaching on baptism and other topics in their communions. It is also unfortunate that, for a generation or so, many ministers in Reformed church contexts received not only their first introduction to so-called Calvinism and Reformed theology, but also the principal part of their ministerial training, from the influential conference circuit of the 1980s and 1990s which provided a great service to formerly non-Reformed believers but also provided a skewed portrait of what “Reformed” means (and meant) historically). As a result, some Reformed Christians, even ministers and teachers, are startled to learn later in life that there are in fact not five points of Calvinism in the ordinary sense of that expression, that predestination and election are not distinctives of the Reformed tradition, and that the Christian tradition is in fact a source of authority in Reformed churches, though not the norming norm.
It is worth asking, therefore, when we say “Calvinist,” what we mean by the term. There are some misunderstandings about Reformed theology that need to be corrected. To discuss this topic, Dr. Mark A. Garcia sat down with Dr. Mark Jones, Greystone Fellow in Theology and History, who recently delivered a series of 8 lectures for Greystone under the title, “We Distinguish: Scholastic Distinctions in Reformed Theology and Ministry," which is available for individual and group study at Greystone Connect.
