What is the difference between reformed theology and calvinism

Even many theologians strongly embedded in the Reformed tradition have scoffed at the idea that being Calvinist in soteriology is enough to make one historically-theologically Reformed.

The two are related but distinct. And, in fact, many Protestants are Calvinist but not Reformed and many others are Reformed but not Calvinist. Although the World Communion of Reformed Churches includes Presbyterians, many very strict Reformed theologians consider Presbyterians not truly Reformed.

However, this does not hold true in Europe where many Reformed Protestants do not hold to the Canons of the Synod of Dort. But all of them would affirm the Heidelberg Confession and Catechism.

But many European Reformed Protestants and at least some in America especially those of the Dutch tradition have shrugged off soteriological Calvinism or so revised it that it is no longer recognizable compared with the TULIP scheme. Bloesch, and James Daane.

A case can even be made, and has been made, that Jacob Arminius and the early Remonstrants were Reformed but not Calvinist and that many non-Wesleyan Arminians since the seventeenth century belong to the wider Reformed category—historically and theologically.

I could go on and on about this distinction viz. But unless you believe in infant baptism as the New Covenant equivalent of Old Covenant circumcision you are almost certainly not Reformed in the classical sense. In any case, know that there is no guarantee that your question or comment will be posted by the moderator or answered by the writer.

Keep any comment including questions to minimal length; do not post essays, sermons or testimonies here. Do not post links to internet sites here. Get newsletters and updates Close. We are safe, as Baptists, in calling it Communion. But surely it is a participation in the Body of Christ.

It is a participation in Christ. Paul said that those who eat this meat that had been sacrificed to idols are they not participating with demons?

Preaching can never be diminished. Preach the Word anyway. Paul talks about preaching the message, that simple proclamation of the Gospel being a foolish message and perhaps, arguably a foolish activity too many people. The Spirit has promised to accompany the preached Word. It is a powerful thing. Perhaps, again, the problem is not with the preaching. So reformed, then, place a great deal of emphasis on preaching. Preaching is priority.

We are most familiar with the Roman Catholic Church. And when he came to the Scriptures, the Word of God, he confronted them that they had replaced the Word with other authorities. They believed that the Word of God was authoritative but they also had the magisterium, the teaching body of the church. It was considered infallible.

The Pope was infallible in addition to the Word being infallible. And he Luther recognized that the Word almost always took a back seat to these other authorities.

Then there was another group Luther had to contend with and they were the Anabaptists. Nevertheless this group also had another authority, the Spirit.

And the spirit, somehow, was separate from the Word and so they were always receiving Devine direction and guidance and Devine revelations and mysteries and so forth from the Spirit. So without realizing it they had a competitor to the Word. They had the Holy Spirit who was competing with the authority of the Scripture. And we know from observation today, in groups similar to this, that when you have that, the Word always takes a back seat to the experience of the Spirit. Does it not?

In fact, this so infuriated Martin Luther that he accused one of the Anabaptist leaders of swallowing the Holy Ghost feathers and all. It just tore him out of the frame. Because they both in the Roman Catholic sense and the Anabaptist sense they were taking away from the authority of the Scriptures.

And so both Luther and Calvin and all the reformers insisted that the Spirits work is to use the Word. As the Spirit convicts us, how does he convict us? By the Word. As the Spirit leads us in life how does he do that? The Spirit is not in competition with the Word. He is, instead, in cooperation with the Word. And so as the Pastor stands to preach, the Word is proclaimed and the Spirit is at work with that Word, accompanying that Word, making that Word live and be active and sharper than a two edged sword, piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit.

You know, surely you know all the ramifications with groups that separate the Spirit from the Word. They invariably go off on all kinds of tangents, down heretical trails. Baptists these days are fond of looking for God to give them guidance in life apart from the Scripture. The Bible, you see, in their estimation is not sufficient. You see it all keeps coming back to the sufficiency of Scripture.

It was one of his later ones. He used as an example parents with children and I have two teenagers. And teenagers, as you know, can be a challenge.

Sometimes I think Mark Twain had it right when he said you keep your kids in an oak barrel with a knothole. Then you feed them through the knothole. Then, when they turn 16, plug up the knothole. Are they not? It has some good things to say about it and some important things to say about it.

There is no more confidence in the sufficiency of the Scriptures. Baptists are regularly listening for words from God apart from the Word of God. In other words they have separated the work of the Spirit from the work of the Scriptures. Furthermore, church discipline is something that reformed congregations insist on.

My first church out of seminary was founded about years ago. This church practiced church discipline when it was founded. And it seems that there was some gentleman who obviously had a problem with drink and just about every other month he was being put out of the congregation for public drunkenness. Well, about two months after he had been found to be drunk in public and had repented and come back to the fellowship of the church it seems that some woman in the church had been accused of adultery.

And so the church got a group of men together to go investigate the matter. He was among the group of men sent to investigate the matter. But at least they recognized the importance of it and they practiced it.

Perhaps because of some of the abuses of past experiences, some churches got away from practicing it. This particular church had not seen a case of it in well over 75 years. Clearly the church minutes would indicate that no church discipline had been exercised since World War II.

Well, you can speculate as to the reasons but none of them would be adequate. Most churches today do not practice church discipline. And these three things tend to find their way into most of the reformed confessions of faith. The marks are these.

A true church properly administers the Sacraments. By the way, you know that that one statement which is found among our Presbyterian brethren forced them, in many cases to conclude that Reform Baptists are a sect, not a church.

Are you aware of that? Were you aware of that? There are not many. Because, by and large, most churches do not practice church discipline. And reformed congregations value Christ so much and value the souls of men so much that they insist on it and on its importance.

How many times have you told your child, when you are administering discipline, I love you. Elder rule. We are a body. As I mentioned above, the reformed tradition is about holding on to our theology with a loose grip. One of the most revolutionary ideas to me in reformed theology is semper reformanda — always reforming. We are to be a discerning people, a people of the Holy Spirit, a community of believers moving along with the continuing movement of God. This is a crash course on a few of the differences between 5-point Calvinism and Reformed theology.

There are other differences such as views on atonement that perhaps will be better addressed in a separate piece. For my readers that identify as Reformed but not 5-point Calvinist, feel free to share some of your favorite resources in the comments. I do not endorse or agree with everything in any of these books, but they are good starting points. For a more nuanced look at my particular denomination, check out some of the links below. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.

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It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Hit enter to search or ESC to close. Close Search. These words cannot be used interchangeably.

They do not always mean the same things. The word r eformed does not mean 5-point Calvinist, legalist, exclusivist, or elitist. Reformed Theology Begins with God Whereas some theological traditions begin with an understanding of human sin and human choices, reformed theology begins with God.

Reformed worship centers on Word and Sacrament Even though the reformed tradition believes the articles of the Apostles Creed and also has confessions that are seen as helpful tools in understanding Scripture, the Bible is our rule.

John Hesselink, On Being Reformed, , p. The charges leveled against Reformed theology, of which hyper-Calvinism is actually guilty, received a definitive response at the international Synod of Dort — , along with the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. Sin and evil have their origin not in God or creation, but in the personal will and action of creatures.

We catch a glimpse of these two guardrails at once in several passages, most notably in Genesis 45 and Acts 2. In the former, Joseph recognizes that while the intention of his brothers in selling him into slavery was evil, God meant it for good, so that many people could be saved during this famine vv.

We know from Scripture that both are true, but not how. Perhaps the most succinct statement of this point is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith chap. The same point is made in the Belgic Confession of Faith Article 13 , adding that whatever God has left to His own secret judgment is not for us to probe any further. Here once again we are faced with mystery — and the two guardrails that keep us from careening off the cliff in speculation.

God loves the world and calls everyone in the world to Christ outwardly through the Gospel, and yet God loves the elect with a saving purpose and calls them by His Spirit inwardly through the same Gospel John —64; —5, 11, 14—18, 25—30; Acts ; Rom. Both Arminians and hyper-Calvinists ignore crucial passages of Scripture, resolving the mystery in favor of the either-or: either election or the free offer of the Gospel.

Does God love everybody, or is His kindness simply a cloak for His wrath — fattening the wicked for the slaughter, as some hyper-Calvinists have argued? Christians are supposed to imitate this divine attitude.