A New
Systematic Theology
of
The Christian Faith
Robert L. Reymond
SECOND EDITION—REVISED AND UPDATED
Thomas Nelson Publishers ®
Nashville
A Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
www.ThomasNelson.com
Copyright © 1998, Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Scripture quotations as noted are from the following sources:
The New International Version of the Bible (NIV), copyright © 1983 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
The King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reymond, Robert L.
A new systematic theology of the Christian faith / Robert Reymond.
p. cm.
Lectures delivered at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Mo.
and Knox Theological Seminary, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-8499-1317-9 (hardcover)
1. Theology, Doctrinal. 2. Reformed Church—Doctrines. I. Title.
bt75.2.r49 1997
230’.51—dc21
97-12939
A Special Dedication
To
Shirley, my life’s companion,
who daily brings the joy and order of music
to my life
Contents
The Justification of Theology as an Intellectual Discipline
Christ’s Own Theological Method
The Church’s Mandate to Disciple the Nations
The Activity of the New Testament Church
The Divine Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scripture
General Aspects of the Theological Task
Specific Aspects of the Reformed Theological Task
Part One—A Word from Another World
1 The Fact of Divine Revelation
Language Philosophy’s Objection
2 The Inspired Nature of Holy Scripture
The Bible Message’s “Revealedness”
Christ’s Authentication of Scripture
The New Testament Writers’ Identification of Scripture with God’s Word
3 The Attributes of Holy Scripture
The Formation and Close of the Church’s Canon
The Bible’s Self-Authentication
4 The Nature of Biblical Truth
The Nature of the Bible’s Assertions about God and our Resultant Knowledge of God
Paradox as a Hermeneutical Category
5 The Bible as the Ποῦ Στῶ for Knowledge and Personal Significance
The Justification of Knowledge
The Justification of Man’s Personal Significance
6 Introduction to the Doctrine of God
Why I Believe in the God of the Bible
The Significant Titles and Names of God
The Relation Between God’s Nature and God Himself
Classifications of the Attributes
Analysis of the Shorter Catechism Definition
Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Being
Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Wisdom
Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Power
Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Holiness
Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Justice
Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Goodness
Infinite, Eternal, and Unchangeable in His Truth
The Doctrine’s Revelational Ground
The Historical Nature of Its Revelation
Old Testament Predictions of a Divine Messiah
Jesus’ Self-Testimony to His Deity
The Unity of the Son and the Father
The Son’s Eternal Preexistence
The Non-Pauline New Testament Witness
Old Testament Yahweh Passages Applied to Jesus
A Summary of θεός, Theos, as a Christological Title
The Deity and Personal Subsistence of the Holy Spirit
Analysis of the Nicene Creed and Its Christology
The Relation of the Three to the One
The Father’s Eternal Generation of the Son
Analysis of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed’s Pneumatology
The Debate over Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom
A Faulty Norm for Theological Construction
Why God is Not the Author or Chargeable Cause of Sin
A Critique of Pinnock’s Specific Errors
11 God’s Works of Creation and Providence
The Historical Integrity of Genesis 1–11
The Purpose of the Created Universe
His Ordinary Works of Providence
His Special Works of Providence
The Covenant of Grace and Heilsgeschichte
The Revelatory Process and Miracles
Man as Covenant Creature of God
The Constituent Elements of Human Nature
The Biblical Data and Their Syntactical Significance
The Exegetical Basis for the Presence of a Covenant in Genesis 2
The Nature of the Genesis 2 Covenant
The Representative Feature of the Covenant of Works
The Covenant’s Continuing Normativeness
The Natural State of Fallen Man
Part Three—Our “So Great Salvation”
13 God’s Eternal Plan of Salvation
The Fact and Central Elements of God’s Eternal Plan
Christ’s Cross Work in the Plan
God’s Foreknowledge and Predestination of the Elect in the Plan
The Election of Men in the Plan
The Nature of God’s Eternal Plan
In Whom Does God Do His Saving Work?
For Whom Did Christ Do His Cross Work?
The Principle Governing the Order of the Decrees
Infralapsarianism: the Historical Principle
Supralapsarianism: the Teleological Principle
The Primacy of the Particularizing Principle
Two Exegetical Objections Considered
The Purposing Principle Governing the Rational Mind
Four Theological Objections Considered
14 The Unity of the Covenant of Grace
Five Arguments for the Unity of the Covenant of Grace
The Salvific Definitiveness of the Abrahamic Covenant
The Salvific Principles Exhibited in the Exodus
The Prophecies of Moses and the Prophets Concerning the New Testament Age
The Church of Jesus Christ as the Present-Day Expression of the One People of God
Identical Requisite Conditions of Salvation in Both Testaments
Critique of the Dispensationalists’ Scriptural Rationale
Ephesians 3:2–6, 9; Colossians 1:25–27
15 The Supernatural Christ of History
The Historicity of Jesus’ Virginal Conception
The Purpose of the Virginal Conception
The Historicity of Jesus’ Miracles
The Historicity of Jesus’ Transfiguration
The Historicity of Jesus’ Resurrection
The First Strand of Evidence: The Empty Tomb
The Second Strand of Evidence: Jesus’ Postcrucifixion Appearances
The Historicity of Jesus’ Ascension
16 The Christ of the Early Councils
The Arian Controversy and the Council of Nicaea
Appollinariansim and the Council of Constantinople
Nestorianism and the Council of Ephesus
Eutychianism and the Council of Chalcedon
Analysis of the Definition of Chalcedon and Its Christology
Departures from the Definition
17 The Character of the Cross Work of Christ
Christ’s Entire Life Work “One Righteous Act” of Obedience
The Character of His Obedience
Christ’s Cross Work an Obedient Work of Sacrifice
The Significance of His Death as a Sacrifice
Christ’s Obedient Cross Work of Propitiation
The Godward Reference in Propitiation
Christ’s Obedient Cross Work of Reconciliation
Christ’s Obedient Cross Work of Redemption
Deliverance by Power or Redemption by Price?
The Author of Hebrews’ Testimony
Redemption’s Godward Reference
Redemption’s Manward References
Christ’s Obedient Cross Work of Destruction
Power-Aspects of the Kingdom of Darkness
Christ’s Triumphant Kingdom Activity over Satan
A Summary of the Scriptural Categories of Christ’s Cross Work
The Absolute Necessity of Christ’s Cross Work
The Perfection of Christ’s Cross Work
18 The Divine Design Behind the Cross Work of Christ
Ten Lines of Evidence for the Doctrine of Particular Redemption
The Particularistic Vocabulary of Scripture
God’s Redemptive Love Not Inclusive of Fallen Angels
The Irreversible Condition of Lost Men Already in Hell When Christ Died
The Limited Number of People, by Divine Arrangement, Who Actually Hear the Gospel
Christ’s High-Priestly Work Restricted to the Elect
The Father’s Particularistic Salvific Will and Work
The Death to Sin and Resurrection to Newness of Life of All Those for Whom Christ Died
The Implication in the Particularity of the Gift of Faith
The Intrinsic Efficacy of Christ’s Cross Work Necessarily Exclusivistic
An Atonement of High Value Necessarily Exclusive of an Atonement of Universal Extension
Exposition of the Allegedly Universalistic Passages
The “Christians Can Perish” Passages
19 The Application of the Benefits of the Cross Work of Christ
Scriptural Warrant For the Aspects and the Order of Application
The Position of Repentance Unto Life in the Skeletal Framework
The Position of Faith in Jesus Christ in the Skeletal Framework
The Positions of Adoption and Regeneration in the Skeletal Framework
The Position of Definitive Sanctification in the Skeletal Framework
The Positions of Progressive Sanctification and Perseverance in Holiness in the Skeletal Framework
The Completed Order of Application
The Specific Acts and Processes in the Order of Application
Two Divine-Human Activities (Conversion)
Adoption and the Sealing of the Spirit
A Final Divine Act - Glorification
20 The Nature and Foundation of the Church
The “Assembly” in the Old Testament
The “Assembly” in the New Testament
The Ekklēsia in Paul’s Letters
The Ekklēsia in Peter’s Letters
The Ekklēsia in John’s Letters
The Ekklēsia in John’s Apocalypse
21 The Attributes and Marks of the Church
The Attributes of the True Church
The Papal Interpretation of the Attributes
The Protestant “Marks” of the True Church
The True Proclamation of the Word of God
The Right Administration of the Sacraments
The Faithful Exercise of Church Discipline
Confessional Witness to the Marks of the True Church
22 The Authority and Duties of the Church
The Duty to Worship and to Serve God
The Duty to Bear Witness to Divine Truth
The Duty to Evangelize and to Grow the Church
The Duty to Administer the Sacraments
The Duty to Minister to the Saints
The Duty to Govern Its Affairs
Authority to Enforce the Laws of Christ
Authority to Draw Up Constitutions and Manuals of Church Order
Authority to Discipline the Unruly and Reprobate
Authority to Separate Itself from Error and Unbelief
The Duty to Perform Deeds of Benevolence and Mercy
23 The Government of the Church
Qualifications of the Eldership
The Significance of Presbyterian Church Government
24 The Church’s Means of Grace
The Word of God as a Means of Grace
The Sacraments as Means of Grace
Apostolic Baptisms in the New Testament
Exposition of the Pauline References to Baptism
The Relation of Christ’s Presence to the Elements
Significant Discourses on Prayer in Church History
John the Baptist’s Eschatology
His Kingdom of Heaven Parables
Did Jesus Miscalculate the Time of His Parousia?
The Eschatology of John’s Apocalypse
26 Downgrade Trends in Contemporary Evangelical Eschatology
The Denial of a Literal Return of Christ
Eternal Punishment Construed as Annihilation
The Non-Necessity of Conscious Faith in Jesus Christ for Final Salvation
Appendices
B The New Testament Antilegomena
C The Historicity of Paul’s Conversion
D Anselm’s Satisfaction View of the Atonement
G Selected General Theological Bibliography
The Divine Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scripture
As we will argue in part one, the Bible is the revealed Word of God. Christ, the Lord of the church, regarded the Old Testament as such, and he gave the church ample reason to regard the New Testament in the same way. This means that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—indeed, the Triune God—“is really there and he has spoken.” If he is there, then he must be someone people should know. And if he has spoken to us in and by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, then that fact alone is sufficient warrant to study the Scriptures. Stated another way, if God has revealed truth about himself, about us, and about the relationship between himself and us in Holy Scripture, then we should study Holy Scripture. It is as simple as that. Indeed, if we take seriously the biblical truth that only in the light of God’s Word will we understand anything as we should (Ps. 36:9), we must study Holy Scripture, or what amounts to the same thing, we must engage our minds in the pursuit of theological truth. Not to be interested in the study of Holy Scripture, if the one living and true God has revealed himself therein, is the height of spiritual folly.
For these five reasons the church must remain committed to the theological task. And it can do so with the full assurance that its labors will not be a waste of time and energy. For no intellectual pursuit will prove to be more rewarding ultimately than the acquisition of a knowledge of God and of his ways and works. Indeed, so clear is the scriptural mandate for the theological enterprise that the church’s primary question should not be whether it should engage itself in theology or not—the Lord of the church and his apostles leave it no option here. The church must be engaged in theology if it is to be faithful to him. Rather, what should be of greater concern to the church is whether, in its engagement in theology, it is listening as intently and submissively as it should to its Lord’s voice speaking to his church in Holy Scripture. In sum, the church’s primary concern should be, not whether to engage in theology, but is its theology correct? Is it orthodox? Or perhaps better: Is it biblical?
General Aspects of the Theological Task
With Louis Berkhof, I believe that the theological task in general is both a constructive and a demonstrative one, both a critical and a defensive one—
1. Constructive in that the theologian, dealing primarily with the dogmas embodied in the confession of his church, seeks to combine them into a systematic whole—not always an easy task since the connecting links between many truths that are merely stated in a general way must be discovered, supplied, and formulated in such a way that the organic connection of the several dogmas becomes clear, with new lines of development being suggested which are in harmony with the theological structure of the past;
2. Demonstrative in that the theologian must not by his systematizing of dogmas merely describe what his church urges others to believe but also must demonstrate the truth of it by showing exegetically that every part of it is rooted deeply in the subsoil of Scripture, offering biblical proof for the separate dogmas, for their connecting links, and for any new elements which he may suggest;
3. Critical in that the theologian must allow for the possibility of a departure from the truth at some point or other in his church’s dogmas and in the systematic system which he himself proposes, meaning, first, that if he detects errors anywhere, he must seek to remedy them in the proper way, and second, if he discovers lacunae, he must endeavor to supply what is lacking (for Reformed theologians this aspect of the theological task is captured in the motto ecclesia reformata semper reformanda—“a Reformed church is always reforming”); and
4. Defensive in that the theologian, concerned as he is with the search for absolute truth, must not only take account of previous historical departures from the truth in order to avoid them himself, but he must also ward off all current heretical attacks on the true dogmas embodied in his church’s system.11
With regard to the task of systematic theology in particular, I concur with Gabriel Fackre that it should be (1) comprehensive, that is, cover all of the standard teachings of the Scriptures, (2) coherent, that is, demonstrate the interrelationships of the several topics, (3) contextual, that is, interpret, whenever and wherever possible, the sweep of doctrine in terms of current issues and idioms, and (4) conversational, that is, engage historical and contemporary points of view.12
And with Klaus Bockmuehl, I believe that the systematic theologian himself (1) “must encourage … and exercise the ministry of teaching in the church” and “reactivate [the] catechetical function in order to confirm both churches and individual believers so that they are not being driven around by alien doctrines and finally destroyed”; (2) must alter his form of expression, whenever and wherever possible, away from that of Greek metaphysical concepts of thought and language to that of the biblical dynamism that was concerned with the history of God’s deeds of mercy; and (3) against the philosophy of the lordship of man, “must call for the reversal of [modern society’s] decision of secularism [i.e., godlessness]” and again “publicly assert and encourage to assert the lordship of God … [and] announce God truly as God to a generation forgetful of this fundamental fact.”13
Specific Aspects of the Reformed Theological Task
With these general aspects of the theological task guiding him, the Reformed systematic theologian is specifically responsible to provide his readers with (1) organized cognitive information that is radically biblical (this is simply what it means to be “Reformed”) and (2) to do so in such a way that such information will encourage growth both in ministerial skills and in specific heart attitudes toward the things of the Spirit.
The Reformed systematician should provide his readers with cognitive information concerning
1. the major loci and cardinal doctrines of Christian theology as set forth in Holy Scripture (what he gives his readers should be, with no change in basic content, preachable and teachable material);
2. the historic faith of the early church and the manner in which the church articulated and expressed its faith in such creeds and symbols as the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Definition of Chalcedon, and the so-called Athanasian Creed;
3. the distinctive nature, richness, and beauty of the Reformed faith as the teaching of Holy Scripture, and as interpreted, expounded, and exhibited in John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion and the great national Reformed confessions, particularly the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Assembly’s Catechisms, Larger and Shorter;
4. Reformed orthodoxy and its validity as the most viable contemporary expression of scriptural orthodoxy;
5. dominant motifs of contemporary theology from the posture of Reformed biblicism and confessionalism;
6. philosophical, ideological, and religious themes of contemporary thought where they affect the content of the Christian gospel construed as including both Christian proclamation and Christian teaching.
The Reformed systematician is also responsible to impart this cognitive information in a way that will encourage his readers to grow in certain specific religious affections, specifically in their
1. reverence for the Holy Scriptures as God’s Word to us and as the final instructional source and norm for faith and life;
2. constant readiness to see God’s kingdom and the unity of the biblical covenants as the hermeneutical key to the understanding of Holy Scripture;
3. appreciation for the Reformed theological heritage;
4. perseverance in their effort to grow as systematic theologians;
5. respect for the work of others who have addressed themselves to the systematic task, e.g., Origen, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, William Ames, Francis Turretin, Jonathan Edwards, Heinrich Heppe, Charles and A. A. Hodge, William G. T. Shedd, James Henley Thornwell, Robert Lewis Dabney, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, Augustus Hopkins Strong, Benjamin B. Warfield, Francis Pieper, Louis Berkhof, J. Oliver Buswell Jr., Gerrit C. Berkouwer, John Murray, John H. Gerstner, and Wayne Grudem;14
6. awe as those who have been granted the great privilege to study the “mind of Christ” as revealed in Holy Scripture;
7. soberness as those who have been called to spread God’s word of judgment to the peoples of the world;
8. joy as those who have been called to proclaim God’s word of grace to the same people;
9. meekness as those who recognize that they too must live by and under that same Word which they study and apply to the lives of others;
10. boldness to apply the doctrinal insights they gain winsomely and practically to Christian living and to a world in great need;
11. sincere concern for a biblically faithful evangelization of a lost world and for the juridical subjugation of the nations under the “general equity” of Christ’s current messianic rule (Westminster Confession of Faith, XIX/iv); and
12. humble, prayerful reliance upon God for all of these things, with the perpetual prayer that the “favor of the Lord will rest upon them and establish the work of their hands” (Ps. 90:17).
With this perception of the task of theology—and of a Reformed systematic theology in particular—governing our thinking, we will now begin our journey into the fascinating and dazzlingly rich world of theology as an intellectual discipline. Since all true theology must have an appropriate ground, we will begin with a propaedeutic treatment of Holy Scripture as the only legitimate ground for authoritative theological predications. Then we will address in turn the classical theological loci, namely, the doctrines of God (or theology proper), man as covenant creature and covenant breaker, the nature of Christ’s incarnation, his salvation in both its accomplished and applied aspects, the church and its attributes and marks, its authority and duties, its government, and its sacraments, and finally, the marvelous but perplexing intricacies of “last things.”
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