Dr. Bob Cara, Provost and Chief Academic Officer and Professor of New Testament, explains what it truly means to be Reformed. He points to a faith shaped by the Reformation that holds a high view of the triune God, a deep trust in Scripture as God’s infallible word, and a commitment to let the Bible guide every part of life, grounded in the historic confessions of the church.
The following is a transcript of the video above.
What does it mean to be Reformed?
What does it mean to be “Reformed”? Or more specifically, “what is Reformed theology and practice”? Well, I could give a joke answer. Whatever RTS teaches, we are Reformed Theological Seminary, so whatever we teach by definition is Reformed. Okay, that was the joke answer. A more serious answer is that it’s the theology and practice of the Reformers, hence the word ‘Reformed’ in the Reformation of the 1500s. Okay, that’s a kind of historical answer.
Now, before I give the answer I really want to give, let me give a little caveat. Sometimes, “when you say what is X like?” you can answer it, “oh, X is different than Y, and you give the differences between X and Y. That’s not totally saying what X is, it’s saying how it’s different than Y.” And sometimes, when you answer what is Reformed? We emphasize how it’s different from Roman Catholicism, different from Lutheranism in minor ways, and then different among the various Bible-believing Protestant groups. Another way to say what is Reformed theology? A little short answer is that it is the belief in a high view of the triune God, and he has created the world, and he has redeemed sinners, and he has revealed Himself, especially in an infallible and inerrant way in the Bible. High view of God, High view of the Bible, and let the Bible be the guide for all of life. High view of God, high view of the Bible, the Bible is the guide for all of life. That’s the short answer.
Now, let me give a much longer answer for the purposes of this video. Take the confessions, take one of the longer confessions and just read through it. That’s what Reformed theology and practice is. Examples of this include the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the Canons of Dort, the Belgic Confession, and the Heidelberg Catechism. You want to know what Reformed theology is? Read through one of those. And let me briefly say something about, for instance, the Westminster Confession of Faith, and then compare and contrast it with some other Christian groups.
The confession starts off with Scripture. All Bible-believing Protestants are going to believe the Scripture section. It does not include the Apocrypha. So, Roman Catholics may not like that. Then, in the second chapter, it turns to the Triune God and says that all historic Christians believe in the Trinity – God is one substance, three persons. Then it moves on to God’s eternal decrees and predestination. Well, some of our Bible-believing friends won’t believe the predestination sections, but that’s meant to emphasize God’s grace upon us. It’s going to have a Providence section, a creation section. It’ll go to the covenants section, which addresses the relationship between God’s grace in the Old and New Testaments. Some of our dispensational friends may disagree here and What is Reformed theology? What is the best summary of it? It’s a high view of God and the Bible, and that affects all of life. You want a good summary of it? Get one of the Confessions and read through.there. It’s going to go to Christ our Mediator – He’s truly God and truly man. All historic Christian groups are going to agree to that. Then it’ll move on to various angles on the creation of humans and original sin. And in Reformed theology, we’re going to have a very serious view of man’s sin and then the great grace of God, and to change us. Other parts of the confession will include our justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. All of these are by grace and with a detail or two. Most other Protestant groups will agree to those sections. There’s going to be a wonderful section on marriage. Most will agree to that. There’ll be a section on the church. They won’t agree on all angles of the church, but there’s a nice, well-defined section on the church. That’ll be a section on sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Some of our Bible-believing friends aren’t going to agree with the infant Baptism statement that’s in there, but they’ll agree to other parts. Then there’s the Lord’s Supper. Some details about what we would call the spiritual presence of Christ. They may not agree to all of those parts, but they’ll agree to most of them. There’s a discussion of church government. In the Reformed world. It’s going to be what we would call Presbyterian. Okay, not everybody’s going to agree to that. Then it will talk about what happens when you die. The soul goes to heaven and then eventually the resurrection. Bible-believing Christians are going to agree to that.
What is Reformed theology? What is the best summary of it? It’s a high view of God and the Bible, and that affects all of life. You want a good summary of it? Get one of the Confessions and read through.
