What Is Reformed Theology? by R C Sproul

[Tom]

i've got about 20 or so pages left to read of this book. before reading it i had no idea just how beautiful and Biblical classical Reformed theology was.

i also had no idea just how Reformed I was either. now i realize that sounds like a weird thing to say. by this i mean that even though i knew i believed in predestination (largely because of Romans chapter 9 and Ephesians) i didn't realize how much else i had in common with RT.

this may be one of the most powerful extra-Biblical books i have ever read. right up there with Mere Christianity.

God's mercy and providence are so clearly shown through Scripture in this book that it truly made me cry tears of thankfulness that God would love a punk like me. really.

is it a fun read? not in your typical definition, no it isn't. it was actually a little tough to get into. and i went into reading it with more skepticism than you might be inclined to think. however, about 10 pages in or so, it became one of the most wonderful explanations of Biblical faith that i have ever experienced.

the Biblical exegesis is not overwrought, but it is very convincing. and it is downright humbling in many places.

anybody else here given this book a read? if so, what did you think?

[Josh]

I love RC Sproul.

I love Reformed Theology-- or, as I like to call it, Truth.

So I should probably read this book.  =)  

[BennieM]

I'm curious how 'Reformed Theology' is defined in the book. Are there mentions of Anglicanism (or the Church of England)? Or do its theological children just appear beside Calvinism and Lutheranism? These things always interest me, because my history isn't too good.

[Tom]

I'm curious how 'Reformed Theology' is defined in the book. Are there mentions of Anglicanism (or the Church of England)? Or do its theological children just appear beside Calvinism and Lutheranism? These things always interest me, because my history isn't too good.

hmmm. i'd say that even though Luther and Calvin are mentioned quite a bit, the main focus of the book is about being God-centered and Bible-centered above all traditions of men. while we can and do glean much from great men of the faith, primacy is always given to Scripture over and above what any of our 'heros' said.

other people (including people for and against RT) mentioned in the book, (but this is by no means complete)
John Owen
Augustine
Karl Barth
Origen
Pelagius
Martin Bucer
Thomas Aquinas
Plato
Aristotle

as to how it (Reformed Theology) is defined in this book. it would take a whole book to tell you. basically, and i do mean basically, Sproul defines RT as a theocentric system of belief, that is: God centered. he treats everything as ultimately coming from God, even the "negative" stuff, but that isn't to say that God causes anyone to sin. we are only as free as our nature permits. he says that God has an ultimate purpose behind everything. some of those purposes are revealed, some of those purposes remain hidden. a great deal of time is given to the Solas*: sola scriptura (Scripture alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola Christos (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone) and why those things are important, and how the Roman Catholic tradition may use these terms but mean different things by them.

*note
BennieM: i'm listing the definitions for other folks reading this post who may not know what they mean, i'm pretty sure you already knew all this.

[BennieM]

as to how it (Reformed Theology) is defined in this book. it would take a whole book to tell you.

I suppose that was why it was written.

Thanks! =)

[Josh]

Seeing Karl Barth mentioned in a thread about reformed theology just about makes me want to throw up.    

[Josh]

Hey Tom, I picked up a great Sproul book a few days back that I'm sure you'd enjoy, unless you've already read it. It's called Now, That's a Good Question, and it's essentially R.C. offering brief answers to 300+ theological questions that people have submitted to him. He covers everything from Christology and soteriology to civil government, marriage, money, and career issues, and his answers are always logically and biblically sound, concise and clearly stated. An excellent resource for anybody, but especially delightful for Sproul fans!

[Josh]

Picked up this book today, Tom, and am enjoying it so far. More thoughts to come as I delve deeper into it.

[Tom]

glad you picked it up. you know, i recently discovered that this book was previously called "Grace Unknown" in the hard-cover edition, but it is the exact same book.

weird huh?

[Josh]

I learned this weekend that my pastor actually had Sproul for a teacher at one point, and actually didn't care for him as a professor. Nothing against him personally or theologically-- he just didn't care for the guy's teaching style, for whatever reason. He's written some things for Sproul's TableTalk magazine since then, so I assume they're on friendly terms.  =)  

[Celldweller7]

CS Lewis & Reformed Theology mentioned together? Didn't Lewis refer to Calvinism as making God into the Cosmic Sadist?

[Josh]

CS Lewis & Reformed Theology mentioned together? Didn't Lewis refer to Calvinism as making God into the Cosmic Sadist?

Wouldn't surprise me-- Lewis was never a very good theologian. Great apologist, poor theologian. In fact, he was an inclusivist. Eww.

[Celldweller7]

Wouldn't surprise me-- Lewis was never a very good theologian. Great apologist, poor theologian. In fact, he was an inclusivist. Eww.

Lewis' master, George MacDonald was a sort of universialist (from what I understand of MacDonald's beliefs his view of possible universialism is rather different from any I had previously heard), so he was making an improvement.

[Josh]

Lewis' master, George MacDonald was a sort of universialist (from what I understand of MacDonald's beliefs his view of possible universialism is rather different from any I had previously heard), so he was making an improvement.

Eh, maybe. Really I think he was just masking it in biblical language...