ALWAYS REFORMING
Explorations in Systematic Theology
Ed. A.T.B. McGowan. . Apollos. 366 pages. £19.99
ISBN 1 84474 130 3
‘The Reformed Church is always reforming’ (ecclesia reformata est semper reformanda). This saying has been found easier to repeat than to carry into practice.
The idea is that due to our finitude and sin, and to the authoritative richness of the sufficient word of God, the Lord has (in another phrase) ‘yet more light and truth to break forth from his holy word’. Both sayings can be used as a pretext for indulging in the latest fad, underestimating the difficulty of the problem of relating the changing word of God to our changing circumstances. (With some understatement, Charles Hodge once said that systematic theology is ‘not an easy task’.) This difficulty of engaging seriously in the task of semper reformanda is made even more difficult for those of us with conservative convictions. For some it is not easy to release their tight grip on the apron strings of those confessional formulations which have their authority largely by an accident of history. (Why did theological development largely ‘freeze’ in 1647, or 1689?) Though even firm adherence to these confessions can become a ritualistic thing. (When were the Reformed Confessions last given thorough attention, and their biblical basis appreciated and evaluated? When did congregations last study them? Did they ever?)
