Subject: The right Bible for you? |
Bible Note: Dear Justme, Reformed theology is the orthodox Biblical teaching known as the Five Solas; Faith alone, Scripture alone, Grace alone, Christ alone, and Glory to God alone. These doctrines were primarily articulated by Martin Luther in the 16th century. The Roman Church did a very thorough explanation and denial of them in the Canons of the Council of Trent over a . The Solas are the superset of Biblical Christian teaching; sometimes it is even called the Five Pillars of Christianity. http://www.alliancenet.org/cambridge-declaration Calvinism is a subset of Biblical teaching. Not all who are Reformed are Calvinists (e.g., Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopalian, Methodism, and the majority of other denominations (independent or otherwise), particularly those which originated here in America.) Calvinism is often called the Doctrines of Grace (something that John Calvin would have much preferred). These Biblical teachings are a subset of Reformed theology; indeed, one cannot be a Calvinist if they are not also Reformed. An analogy would be: No horse can be an animal that is not a mammal. (If you meet anyone who claims to be a Calvinist but not Reformed, they simply do not understand the categories properly.) The doctrines of Grace were most clearly documented in the Netherlands in the Council of Dort (1619); although they are also articulated in John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, written a century before; and by Augustine of Hippo in the 4th century; however Calvinists are persuaded that they were originally expressed in the greatest systematic theology by Paul in his epistle to the Romans. These doctrines are remembered with the acronym TULIP, although there are far more to them than just that mnemonic. https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/gracelist.html Replacement theology is also known as supersessionism; it is something that does not necessarily fall into Reformed thinking. Basically, it asserts that Biblical Judaism falls short of God's eternal purpose, which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ; thus the Old Covenant is replaced by the New Covenant. That is the traditional Christian perspective, all the way back to the earliest times of the church. There are many variations that now form a spectrum from one extreme to another. On one side, there are those who assert that Jews have no place at all in God's redemptive plan; that they are not part of His plan at all. On the other side, people maintain that the Jews will be saved in addition to Christians without the necessity to find that salvation in Christ. I hope that these brief paragraphs will be helpful to you. There is a book that is very short and easy to read, written by Rev. Daniel R. Hyde, that is entitled "Welcome to a Reformed Church." The book is very inexpensive. However, you can read it free here: http://www.wtsbooks.com/common/pdf_links/9781567692037.pdf In Him, Doc |