Cambridge University Press

978-1-107-02722-0 - The Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology

Edited by Paul T. Nimmo and David A. S. Fergusson
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The Cambridge Companion to

REFORMED THEOLOGY

This Companion offers an introduction to Reformed theology, one of

the most historically important, ecumenically active, and currently
generative traditions of doctrinal inquiry, by way of reflecting on
its origins, its development, and its significance. Part I, Theological
Topics, indicates the distinct array of doctrinal concerns which gives
coherence over time to the identity of this tradition in all its diver-
sity. Part II, Theological Figures, explores the life and work of a small
number of theologians who not only have worked within this tradi-
tion but also have constructively shaped and inspired it in vital ways.
The fi nal part, Theological Contexts, considers the ways in which
the resultant Reformed sensibilities in theology have had a marked
impact both on theological and ecclesiastical landscapes in different
places and on the wider societal landscapes of history. The result is a
fascinating and compelling guide to this dynamic and vibrant theo-
logical tradition.

Paul T. Nimmo holds the Chair in Systematic Theology at the

University of Aberdeen. He received a Templeton Award for Theological
Promise for his book Being in Action in 2009, and is an editor of the
International Journal of Systematic Theology. He has been a Fellow of
the Center for Barth Studies since 2009, and has served on the AAR
Reformed Theology and History Group Steering Committee and as
Treasurer of the Society of the Study of Theology. He delivered the
Kerr Lectures in Glasgow in 2008.

David A. S. Fergusson is Professor of Divinity and Principal of New

College at the University of Edinburgh. He has delivered the Bampton
Lectures in Oxford (2001), the Gifford Lectures in Glasgow (2008), and
the Warfield Lectures in Princeton (2009). He was elected a Fellow of
the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2004 and a Fellow of the British
Academy in 2013. His publications include several monographs and
edited collections, including Faith and Its Critics (2009) and Creation
(2014).

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-02722-0 - The Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology
Edited by Paul T. Nimmo and David A. S. Fergusson
Frontmatter
More information

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-02722-0 - The Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology
Edited by Paul T. Nimmo and David A. S. Fergusson
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Cambridge Companions to Religion

This is a series of companions to major topics and key figures in theology and
religious studies. Each volume contains specially commissioned chapters by
international scholars, which provide an accessible and stimulating introduc-
tion to the subject for new readers and nonspecialists.

Other Titles in the Series

AMERICAN ISLAM Edited by Juliane Hammer and Omid Safi
AMERICAN JUDAISM Edited by Dana Evan Kaplan
AMERICAN METHODISM Edited by Jason E. Vickers
ANCIENT MEDITERR ANEAN RELIGIONS Edited by Barbette Stanley Spaeth
K ARL BARTH Edited by John Webster
THE BIBLE , 2nd edition Edited by Bruce Chilton
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION Edited by John Barton
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER Edited by John de Gruchy
JOHN CALVIN Edited by Donald K. McKim
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE Edited by Colin Gunton
CHRISTIAN ETHICS Edited by Robin Gill
CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM Edited by Amy Hollywood and Patricia Z. Beckman
CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGY Edited by Charles Taliaferro
and Chad V. Meister
CLASSICAL ISLAMIC THEOLOGY Edited by Tim Winter
JONATHAN EDWARDS Edited by Stephen J. Stein
FEMINIST THEOLOGY Edited by Susan Frank Parsons
THE JESUITS Edited by Thomas Worcester
JESUS Edited by Markus Bockmuehl
C. S. LEWIS Edited by Robert MacSwain and Michael Ward
LIBER ATION THEOLOGY Edited by Chris Rowland
MARTIN LUTHER Edited by Donald K. McKim
MEDIEVAL JEWISH PHILOSOPHY Edited by Daniel H. Frank and Oliver Leaman
MODERN JEWISH PHILOSOPHY Edited by Michael L. Morgan and Peter Eli Gordon
MOHAMMED Edited by Jonathan E. Brockup
PENTECOSTALISM Edited by Cecil M. Robeck, Jr and Amos Yong
POLITICAL THEOLOGY Edited by Craig Hovey and Elizabeth Phillips
POSTMODERN THEOLOGY Edited by Kevin J. Vanhoozer
PURITANISM Edited by John Coffey and Paul C. H. Lim
THE QUR’AN Edited by Jane Dammen McAuliffe
K ARL R AHNER Edited by Declan Marmion and Mary E. Hines
RELIGIOUS STUDIES Edited by Robert A. Orsi
FREIDRICK SCHLEIERMACHER Edited by Jacqueline Mariña
SCIENCE AND RELIGION Edited by Peter Harrison
ST. PAUL Edited by James D. G. Dunn
SUFISM Edited by Lloyd Ridgeon
THE TALMUD AND R ABBINIC LITER ATURE Edited by Charlotte E. Fonrobert
and Martin S. Jaffee
HANS URS VON BALTHASAR Edited by Edward T. Oakes and David Moss
JOHN WESLEY Edited by Randy L. Maddox and Jason E. Vickers

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Edited by Paul T. Nimmo and David A. S. Fergusson
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© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-02722-0 - The Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology
Edited by Paul T. Nimmo and David A. S. Fergusson
Frontmatter
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The Cambridge Companion to

REFORMED THEOLOGY

Edited by

Paul T. Nimmo
University of Aberdeen

David A. S. Fergusson
University of Edinburgh

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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-02722-0 - The Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology
Edited by Paul T. Nimmo and David A. S. Fergusson
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Names: Nimmo, Paul T. (Paul Thomson), editor. | Fergusson, David A. S., editor.
Title: The Cambridge companion to Reformed theology / edited by
Paul T. Nimmo, David A. S. Fergusson.
Description: New York : Cambridge University Press, 2016. |
Series: Cambridge companions to religion |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015040743| ISBN 9781107027220 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781107690547 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Reformed Church – Theology.
Classification: LCC BX9406.C36 2016 | DDC 230/.42–dc23
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Contents

List of Contributors page ix

Acknowledgements xi

1 Introduction 1
Paul T. Nimmo and David A. S. Fergusson

Part I Theological topics

2 Scripture 11
J. Todd Billings
3 Confessions 28
Michael Allen
4 Election 44
Rinse H. Reeling Brouwer
5 Christology 60
Bruce L. McCormack
6 Sacraments 79
Paul T. Nimmo
7 The Christian life 96
Cynthia L. Rigby

Part II Theological figures

8 Huldrych Zwingli 117
Peter Opitz
9 John Calvin 132
Randall C. Zachman
10 Jonathan Edwards 148
Oliver D. Crisp
11 Friedrich Schleiermacher 163
Kevin W. Hector
12 Karl Barth 179
Michael Beintker

vii

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viii Contents

Part III Theological contexts

13 Reformed theology and puritanism 199
Susan Hardman Moore
14 Reformed theology and scholasticism 215
Dolf te Velde
15 Reformed theology in continental Europe 230
Eberhard Busch
16 Reformed theology in the British Isles 248
David A. S. Fergusson
17 Reformed theology in North America 269
James D. Bratt
18 Reformed theology in Africa 285
Isabel Apawo Phiri
19 Reformed theology in Asia and Oceania 296
Sung Bihn Yim, Yasuhiro Sekikawa,
Alexander Chow and Geoff Thompson
20 Reformed theology, mission, and ecumenism 319
Darrell L. Guder

Index 335

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978-1-107-02722-0 - The Cambridge Companion to Reformed Theology
Edited by Paul T. Nimmo and David A. S. Fergusson
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Contributors

Michael Allen is Associate Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at

Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.
Michael Beintker is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology and was
Director of the Seminar for Reformed Theology at the Westfälische Wilhelms-
Universität, Münster.
J. Todd Billings is Gordon H. Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology at
Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.
James D. Bratt is Professor of History at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Eberhard Busch is Emeritus Professor in Reformed Theology at the
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
Alexander Chow is Chancellor’s Fellow in World Christianity at the University
of Edinburgh.
Oliver D. Crisp is Professor of Systematic Theology in the School of Theology,
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.
David A. S. Fergusson is Professor of Divinity and Principal of New College at
the University of Edinburgh.
Darrell L. Guder is Henry Winters Luce Professor of Missional and Ecumenical
Theology Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Susan Hardman Moore is Professor of Early Modern Religion at the University
of Edinburgh.
Kevin W. Hector is Associate Professor of Theology and of the Philosophy of
Religions at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Bruce L. McCormack is Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at
Princeton Theological Seminary.
Paul T. Nimmo is Professor in Systematic Theology at the University of
Aberdeen.
Peter Opitz is Professor of Church History and Historical Theology and Director
of the Institute for Swiss Reformation Studies at the University of Zürich.

ix

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x Contributors

Isabel Apawo Phiri is Associate General Secretary for Public Witness and
Diakonia of the World Council of Churches, Geneva, and Honorary Professor of
African Theology at the University of KwaZulu Natal.
Rinse H. Reeling Brouwer is the Miskotte/Breukelman Professor at the
Protestant Theological University, Amsterdam and Groningen.
Cynthia L. Rigby is the W. C. Brown Professor of Theology at Austin Presbyterian
Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas.
Yasuhiro Sekikawa is Professor of Historical Theology at Tokyo Union
Theological Seminary.
Geoff Thompson is Co-ordinator of Studies in Systematic Theology at Pilgrim
Theological College, in the University of Divinity, Melbourne.
Dolf (R. T.) te Velde is Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at the
Theological University of Kampen.
Sung Bihn Yim is Professor and Former Dean of the Presbyterian University and
Theological Seminary in Seoul.
Randall C. Zachman is Professor of Reformation Studies at the University of
Notre Dame.

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Acknowledgements

The Editors would like to express their gratitude to Michael Bräutigam

for his translation work and to David Robinson for his editorial labours.
They would also like to thank their editors at Cambridge University
Press, Kate Brett, Laura Morris, Alexandra Poreda, and Isabella Vitti, and
their copy editor, Theresa Kornak.
Paul Nimmo would like to express his sincere appreciation for the
ongoing collegiality and the profound friendship of Jason Fout, Tom
Greggs, Stephen Manders, Mark Russell, Don Wood, Simeon Zahl, and
Phil Ziegler. He would also like to acknowledge his enduring gratitude
to those who have taught him of the Reformed tradition, in particular to
his dear friend Ernest Marvin. Finally, he would like to acknowledge his
loving indebtedness to his family, who continue to inspire and sustain
him, and above all to Jill, Samuel, Daniel, and Rebekah.
David Fergusson wishes to acknowledge his gratitude to those con-
gregations and ministers who have supported him over many years,
especially at Holburn West Church in Aberdeen and Greenbank Church
in Edinburgh. They have taught him more about the Reformed tradi-
tion than they may realise. And to Margot, Mark and Calum, he would
like to express his appreciation for their constant support and cheerful
companionship.

xi

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