What is your theology?

John Beeke and Paul Smalley, who are the authors of the four-volume Reformed Systematic Theology, are affiliated with the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, which is ultimately affiliated with the Netherlands Reformed Congregations.

Their theology is Calvinist – as that of my favourite theologians, John Piper and Timothy Keller.

What does it mean to be Calvinist? Across three chapters (Chapters 4 to 6), Beeke and Smalley methodically explains the different layers of theology – from the broadest definition of theology to Calvinist theology.

For clarity, I will refer to “Calvinist theology” as “our theology” in this article.

Our theology is Christian

Firstly, at the highest level, our theology is Christian as summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
 
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

The Christian theology is rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. From 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, the authors highlights seven points about the gospel:

• It is an authoritative message from God
• It presents the unique person of Jesus Christ
• It proclaims the atoning death of Christ
• It likewise proclaims the bodily resurrection of Christ
• It asserts the historical reality of these events
• It teaches the plan of God for human history
• It teaches the necessity of faith in the biblical gospel

Our theology is catholic – based upon the ecumenical creeds

Secondly, our theology is catholic (not Roman Catholic per se) by the affirmation of three creeds (the “ecumenical creeds“) that are accepted by mainstream Protestant and Roman Catholic branches.

A creed is a summary or statement of what a person believes.

The Apostles’ Creed is the best known of the ecumenical creeds for the simple, brief, and yet full expression of the “catholic and undoubted Christian faith“:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
       creator of heaven and earth.

 I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
       who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
       and born of the virgin Mary.
       He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
       was crucified, died, and was buried;
       he descended to hell.
       The third day he rose again from the dead.
       He ascended to heaven
       and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
       From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

 I believe in the Holy Spirit,
       the holy catholic* church,
       the communion of saints,
       the forgiveness of sins,
       the resurrection of the body,
       and the life everlasting. Amen.

 *that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places

The two other ecumenical creeds include the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.

In addition to the ecumenical creeds, the Creed of Chalcedon is also widely accepted by mainstream Protestant and Roman Catholic branches.

Beeke and Smalley explain that these creeds “declare the foundational truths of … Christianity … [and] while such creeds are not the inspired Word of God, to deviate from these standards is to enter into territory declared heretical by the church through the ages”.

Our theology is evangelical and Reformed – based upon the Reformation confessions and five solas

Thirdly, our theology is evangelical and Reformed by the doctrines of the Reformation, which requires us to “contend against the errors of Roman Catholicism”.

The historical Reformation confessions are the reasons for the separation of Protestants from the Roman Catholics. The theological differences can best be summarized by the five solae:

In Chapter 5, the authors highlight the key Reformation confessions in opposition to the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church:

• Papal abuses in theology and practice, including immoral conduct by church leaders and commercialized religion through a system of penance, by which the church claim to dispense grace, offered for sale as indulgences
• Captivity of the Word by the Roman Catholic Church withholding access to the Bible in the common language from laypeople, subjecting its interpretation to the authority of bishops, adding to its contents with the Jewish Apocrypha, and displacing its preaching with formalism
• Usurped mediation ascribed to Mary and the saints, and the automatic transfusion of grace in the sacraments
• Reliance upon good works as the means to obtain and merit God’s grace
• Papal pretentiousness in the claims of the bishop of Rome to apostolic or messianic authority
• Elevation of monasticism with its vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience as a higher religious life, instead of the biblical spirituality of ordinary vocations and the priesthood of believers

Our theology asserts the sovereignty of God’s saving grace

Lastly, the Reformation movement was later divided into three main branches: Calvinist (or Reformed), Lutheran and Anabaptist. Together, the three main branches are considered to be “broadly Reformed”.

These three “broadly Reformed” branches are different in their views of salvation. The Calvinist (or Reformed) view can be summarized by the five points of Calvinism, which is also known as the “doctrines of grace” or by the TULIP acronym:

• Total depravity
• Unconditional election
• Limited atonement
• Irresistible grace
• Perseverance of the saints

John Piper, Timothy Keller and the authors are Calvinist. Within Calvinism, John Piper is Baptist, and Timothy Keller and the authors are Presbyterian.

It is important to note that all of the three “broadly Reformed” branches are fully aligned on the Reformation doctrines. Their doctrinal differences would not be reasonably perceived as primary. In fact, these three “broadly Reformed” branches collaborate as demonstrated by their creation of The Gospel Coalition.

This article is part of a series on systematic theology, based upon the first of four volumes of Reformed Systematic Theology by Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley.