The June 2010 issue of Tabletalk looks at the New Calvinism sweeping across America and offer to its readers guidance and encouragement through a friendly analysis of it. Contributors include R.C. Sproul along with Tim Challies, Paul Helm, Albert Mohler, Burk Parsons, Richard Pratt, Ed Stetzer, and Eric Watkins. Tabletalk features articles about topics central to the Christian faith and daily, in-depth Bible studies with featured columns by contributors such as Ken Jones and Iain Campbell.
The 2010 Bible studies engage in a thematic and biblical-theological study of the Old Testament, looking at various characters, events, practices, and other elements of old covenant religion that are fulfilled in the new covenant.
“Covenant theology, however, distinguishes the Reformed view of Scripture from other Protestant outlooks by emphasizing that divine covenants unify the teachings of the entire Bible.” (Page 14)
“Calvinists new and old, around the world, have been convinced biblically of this one crucial tenet of historic, confessional Calvinism: God’s sovereignty over all—life, death, pain, disasters, relationships, salvation, condemnation, the good things, the bad things, the big things, the little things, the in-between things, and all the things we don’t even know about or can’t even see—over all. Simply put, we believe that God is God.” (Page 21)
“‘In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity.’” (Page 2)
“Yet it would be wise to not identify Calvinism exhaustively with those five points. Rather, the five points function as a pathway or a bridge to the entire structure of Reformed theology. Charles Spurgeon himself argued that Calvinism is merely a nickname for biblical theology. He and many other titans of the past understood that the essence of Reformed theology cannot be reduced to five particular points that arose centuries ago in Holland in response to controversy with the Arminians, who objected to five specific points of the system of doctrine found in historic Calvinism.” (Page 6)
“From first (foreknowing) to last (glorifying), Paul says the work is God’s work, and the chain from the first to the last is unbreakable (note the repeated use of ‘also’), holding the people of God steady and secure in God’s grace from first to last. Is there a test of being ‘Reformed,’ of being ‘Calvinistic’ in the muddled and confusing Christian world of 2010? I say that if we feel the need of one, there is. It’s the unqualified recognition of Paul’s golden chain of Romans 8.” (Page 13)
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