I began this series of posts on Monday by quoting a portion of a letter that a conservative Reformed minister wrote to a friend who had recently joined the Orthodox Church. In that letter this minister told his friend that he had left the Christian faith by becoming Orthodox. I said this response was ludicrous and harmful to both Christians and the well-being of the church. I then turned to the Reformed tradition to show how this type of thinking has impacted churches and denominations and why this approach is not consistent with the better parts of the Reformed tradition. I have particularly looked at John Calvin’s thoughts about unity since he is universally agreed to be the first great theologian of the Reformed faith.

In 1552 John Calvin wrote to Thomas Cranmer in England. Cranmer had invited Calvin, Melanchthon, Bullinger and others to a meeting at Lambeth Palace for the purpose of writing a creed that would be suitable to all the Reformed […]

I began this series of posts by sharing a portion of a letter written by a conservative Reformed minister who told a friend that he had left the Christian faith by joining the Orthodox Church. I believe that this response is not only preposterous but it is fostered by the sin of pride and reflects a divisive spirit that is condemned by the Scripture itself.

I noted that John Calvin distinguishes between essential and non-essential matters of faith. This distinction has been made by teachers and theologians since the early church. Calvin is simply following the long tradition of the faith in making such a point. He says, “A difference of opinion should in nowise be the basis of schism among Christians.” He says, in The Institutes (IV.1.12) that the characteristic core doctrines that are essential are these: “God is one; Christ is God and the Son of God; our salvation rests on God’s mercy and the like.” He adds, in his commentary on […]

A charge often leveled at Reformed Christianity is that it is inherently schismatic and fiercely anti-ecumenical. This is simply not true. A superficial reading of recent Reformed history may seem to support this idea but the facts are far more interesting. A proper understanding of the term "Reformed" calls for a much deeper understanding of this term than that employed by modern Calvinists who define their use of this term by a TULIP or some similar form of reductionism.

The Reformed Church in the Netherlands, as well as the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, both experienced serious dissensions that led to formal schism in the nineteenth century. In fact the Church of Scotland had already experienced two divisions in the eighteenth century. Some of these splits led to a wave of new immigration to America. These American churches were later plagued by further splits. But this is not the whole story. There have been reunions as well. Sadly, this part of the story is much less talked about.

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There is a deep ambivalence in Presbyterian and Reformed history with regard to the unity of the church. In the sixteenth century there was a strong desire for unity, one that was stretched by the division with Rome and then impacted by division with other Protestants, especially with Lutherans. (Sadly, all of the magisterial Reform movements rejected the hated Anabaptists, thus joining with the Catholics in their assault on these simple believers.) In the twentieth century Reformed churches and ministers became some of the most prominent leaders in the rise of the modern ecumenical movement. But you would not know this if you listened to many of the popular Reformed teachers of our day.

This fact is indeed clear: many conservative Presbyterian and Reformed Christians are known for some of the fiercest doctrinal debates imaginable. Numerous splits between these churches have been the sad result of several hundred years of theological warfare. In America these fires have been stoked by deep fears within a number of denominations and groups. The […]