The Davenant Institute Reformed Theology Collection (9 vols.)

by Bradford Littlejohn; Peter Escalante; Andrew A. Fulford; Joseph Minich

and

4 more

Publishers:

The Davenant Institute; The Davenant Trust

, 2016–2018

Overview

The Davenant Institute supports the renewal of Christian wisdom for the contemporary church. It seeks to sponsor historical scholarship at the intersection of the church and academy, build networks of friendship and collaboration within the Reformed and evangelical world, and equip the saints with time-tested resources for faithful public.

This collection brings together studies in Reformed history, practice, and theology. Prominent topics include natrual law, ecclesiology, politics, and creation. These volumes range from introductions to collected essays, and address meaningful topics relevant to scholars, students, and pastors today.

Key Features

• Explores topics crucial to the history and future of Reformed theology
• Addresses the unique challenges of today’s era and context
• Displays the vibrant and compelling world of the Protestant tradition

Product Details

• Title: The Davenant Institute Reformed Theology Collection (9 vols.)
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Volumes: 9
• Pages: 2,188
• Christian Group: Reformed

Enduring Divine Absence: The Challenge of Modern Atheism

• Author: Joseph Minich
• Series: Davenant Engagements
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 112

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Today, millions of people in the modern West identify as atheists. And even for believers, the intellectual and spiritual temptations to deny the existence of God seem greater than ever. Too often we respond to this pressure by seeking more and more rational proofs of God’s existence, but what if a lack of reason to believe is not our main problem? In this volume, Joseph Minich argues that our real challenge is existential and imaginative—a felt absence of God that is more visceral in our modern world than for most generations past, and the sense that if God cannot be sensed, He cannot be there. Why are we so haunted and disoriented today by this sense of God’s absence? And how can we learn to sustain and strengthen our faith in the face of it? In these pages, Minich charts a way back to a renewal of our hearts and imaginations that can enable us to embrace the challenge of finding and being found by the hidden God.

Most people today become atheists less because of persuasive arguments than because of the social realities of our secular age. There are plenty of good apologetics books out there. But few target the ‘gut’—that is, the pre-understandings and social practices that make belief in God more difficult today than in previous generations. This is a must-read.

—Michael Horton

Joseph Minich lives in Texas with his wife and four children. He is a graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. and is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas. Some of his writing can be found at The Calvinist International and Mere Orthodoxy.

For Law and For Liberty

• Editor: Bradford Littlejohn
• Series: Convivium Irenicum
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Publication Date: 2016
• Pages: 192

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

There are few areas where the church today falls so far short of our Protestant forefathers as the field of political thought.

For the Reformers, their 17th-century successors, and indeed thoughtful Protestants right up through the last century, the vocations of minister and magistrate may have been strictly separate, but the accomplished theologian was usually a master of jurisprudence and political philosophy as well. Many wrote classic treatments in both the fields of theology and law, with a keen sense of both the distinctions of these disciplines and their unity. Today’s Protestants are rarely so fortunate, with most evangelical engagements with political theology betraying a painful naiveté and a profound historical myopia.

Together, the essays in this volume challenge us to recognize the breadth and depth of our heritage of Protestant political wisdom, and the complexity and contingency of civic life to which its principles must be artfully applied, which rules out any attempt to inscribe any particular instance of Christian politics as a model for all time. May they also provoke renewed reflection on how to faithfully apply our Protestant principles to the challenges facing our polities today.

Bradford Littlejohn (Ph.D, University of Edinburgh) is a scholar and writer in the fields of political theology, Christian ethics, and Reformation history. He is the author and editor of several books in these fields, most recently The Peril and Promise of Christian Liberty: Richard Hooker, the Puritans, and Protestant Political Theology (Eerdmans, 2017).

For the Healing of the Nations

• Editors: Bradford Littlejohn and Peter Escalante
• Series: Convivium Irenicum
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 298

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The doctrine of creation is obviously one of the first things, but it is also one of the last things since the world to come is also, by definition, creation. The simple truth that it is so is incontestable since neither the world to come nor those whose dwelling it is built to be are God. But the way in which this is so is the subject of a long, long debate in Christendom, with the question of whether and in what degree the life to come is continuous with this one. How common is the “thing” in “first thing” and “last thing”?

Our answer to this question conditions our answer to many others: the relationship of philosophy to theology, of the church to the saeculum, of the kingdom of Christ to the visible church. This volume brings together the careful investigations of established and emerging historians and theologians, exploring how these questions have been addressed at different points in Christian history, and what they mean for us today.

Includes contributions from James Bratt, E.J. Hutchinson, Matthew Tuininga, Andrew Fulford, Laurence O’Donnell, Benjamin Miller, Brian Auten, and Joseph Minich.

For the Healing of the Nations contains excellent scholarship and persuasive reasoning on issues confronting the Christian community. I’m particularly pleased that the authors seek to avoid encouraging factionalism. I hope that this volume attracts many readers and sound practical applications in church and society, for the glory of Jesus throughout the world.

—Prof. John M. Frame, J. D. Trimble Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando

Bradford Littlejohn (Ph.D, University of Edinburgh) is a scholar and writer in the fields of political theology, Christian ethics, and Reformation history. He is the author and editor of several books in these fields, most recently The Peril and Promise of Christian Liberty: Richard Hooker, the Puritans, and Protestant Political Theology (Eerdmans, 2017).

Peter Escalante holds an M.A. in Philosophy and serves as Editor of The Calvinist International and previous Vice-President of the Davenant Institute.

God of Our Fathers: Classical Theism for the Contemporary Church

• Editor: Bradford Littlejohn
• Series: Convivium Irenicum
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 262

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Protestantism today has an idolatry problem. Not merely in the sense of worshipping false gods—of pleasure, wealth, or politics—but in the sense of worshipping the Triune God of Scripture according to images and ideas of our own devising. Whether it’s a God who suffers and changes alongside his creatures, or a “Trinitarian circle dance” of divine personalities, or a hierarchically-arranged Trinity that serves as a blueprint for gender relations, modern evangelical theology has strayed far from historic Christian orthodoxy. Needing a God that can be put on a greeting card or in a praise song, our idolatrous hearts shrink the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob down to size, and make him more like us.

Amidst this scramble to make God more relevant, we seem to have forgotten that the only God truly capable of saving us is a God who is radically other and transcendent, far above our imaginings. This incomprehensible God is not the God of the philosophers, as modern revisionists frequently charge, but the God of the Bible. The essays in this volume, written by scholars and pastors deeply concerned for the life of the church, seek to retrieve and defend the tradition of classical theism as the historic Protestant faith, rooted in Scripture, philosophically coherent, and still relevant to the needs of the church today.

Bradford Littlejohn (Ph.D, University of Edinburgh) is a scholar and writer in the fields of political theology, Christian ethics, and Reformation history. He is the author and editor of several books in these fields, most recently The Peril and Promise of Christian Liberty: Richard Hooker, the Puritans, and Protestant Political Theology (Eerdmans, 2017).

Jesus and Pacifism: An Exegetical and Historical Investigation

• Author: Andrew A. Fulford
• Series: Davenant Guides
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Publication Date: 2016
• Pages: 126

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In recent decades, the ideal of pacifism has gone from the margins to the mainstream, first among liberal Protestantism and more recently among evangelicals as well. Frustrated with the misguided militarism of the Christian Right, many young Christians have turned to the works of Stanley Hauerwas, and John Howard Yoder, seeking a more authentic way to walk in the way of Jesus. In this book, Andrew Fulford shows that these arguments, while well-intentioned, fail to take seriously the whole biblical witness and even the teaching of Jesus, and recommends that contemporary Christians troubled by the scourge of violence look instead to the magisterial Protestant just war tradition.

In this concise little book, the author does more than merely refute the case for Christian pacifism. He also shows that special revelation coheres with general revelation and that natural law (which results from God’s creative work) coheres with the Bible (which is inspired by the Creator). He deals extensively with the key biblical texts and shows the unity of Scripture, thus removing the need for the “canon-within-the-canon” approach that defenders of Christian pacifism are forced to adopt. This little work is highly recommended for anyone who is struggling with this issue.

—Dr. Craig A. Carter, Professor of Theology, Tyndale University College, Toronto, Ontario

Andrew A. Fulford is a Ph.D candidate in Historical Theology at McGill University. He has published articles on political theory and the doctrine of Scripture in the Protestant Reformation, and is a columnist at the web journal The Calvinist International.

Natural Law: A Brief Introduction and Biblical Defense

• Authors: David Haines and Andrew Fulford
• Series: Davenant Guides
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Publication Date: 2017
• Pages: 142

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As Christians, we affirm that Scripture is our supreme guide to truth and righteousness. Some wish to go further and assert that it is our only guide. But how then can we account for the remarkable insight and moral integrity that many unbelievers seem to display? Indeed, how to account for the myriad ways in which believers themselves navigate the world based on knowledge and intuition not always derived from Scripture?

Enter the doctrine of natural law. Frequently misrepresented as an assertion of the autonomous power of human reason or as a uniquely Roman Catholic doctrine, natural law has actually been an integral part of orthodox Christian theology since the beginning, and is even clearly asserted in Scripture itself.

In this brief guide, David Haines and Andrew Fulford explain the philosophical foundations of natural law, clear up common misunderstandings about the term, and demonstrate the robust biblical basis for natural law reasoning.

Natural Law: A Brief Introduction and Biblical Defense could not have come at a better time. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to see that the increasing secularization of Western culture has lead to ethical, theological and behavioral chaos and relativism. Christians must speak clearly and convincingly about the messy issues of our day, but they, especially Protestants, are ill-prepared to engage the world of ideas without citing the Bible. Among other things, this implies that Christians should be laboring for a theocracy, but this is not what is needed and the state must have some sort of guidance to carry out its mission of punishing wrongdoing in Romans 13 without the scriptures. The existence, nature and knowability of natural moral law is what meets these needs. Fulford and Haines have provided an outstanding work that must get a wide readership if Christians are to re-engage the public square thoughtfully and appropriately. They follow a carefully developed order of presentation in this book. Before giving what may be the best recent biblical defense of natural law theory, they rightly are concerned to make very clear exactly what natural law is. Refreshingly, they ground natural law in solid metaphysical treatments of God’s relation to the natural law and in the metaphysics of the creation within which natural law makes sense. This is followed by unpacking the claim that natural moral law is knowable by human beings. Given this treasure-trove of background, the biblical defense of natural moral law is clarified. I am excited about this book! And I thank God for Fulford and Haines who took great effort and much time to serve the church with this resource.

—J.P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

David Haines holds a BTh. from CTS, an M.A. in philosophy from Southern Evangelical Seminary, and a PhD. in philosophy from Université Laval. He and his wife live in Québec with their 4 children. David is the associate professor of philosophy and religion at VIU, the associate professor of ethics at SEMBEQ, and has taught History of Christian Apologetics at FTE-Acadia. He is also the founding president of Association Axiome, an association of French Evangelical scholars; and the Christian Philosophy and Apologetics Center. He has published a number of articles on Natural Theology, as well as a co-authored book on Natural Law. His academic research focuses on Ancient and Medieval metaphysics, C. S. Lewis, Thomism, and natural theology.

Andrew A. Fulford is a Ph.D candidate in Historical Theology at McGill University. He has published articles on political theory and the doctrine of Scripture in the Protestant Reformation, and is a columnist at the web journal The Calvinist International.

People of the Promise: A Mere Protestant Ecclesiology

• Editors: Joseph Minich and Bradford Littlejohn
• Series: Davenant Retrievals
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Publication Date: 2017
• Pages: 212

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The doctrine of the church is often perceived as the weakest link in Protestant theology. These essays argue, on the contrary, that the Reformers’ radical re-thinking of the definition of the church is one of the Reformation’s greatest treasures. Not only is “mere Protestant” ecclesiology firmly in concert with the multifaceted biblical witness, but it is also manifestly in accord with natural reason and the lived experience of Christians throughout the ages. As we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, this volume seeks to honor the Protestant heritage by remembering, reclaiming, and critically reflecting upon the relationship between the gospel promise and the community which it calls into being.

“I believe in the church.” You might think this is the easiest article in the Creed to affirm because we see and experience it, but you would be mistaken. It is precisely because we are familiar with the phenomenon that its reality eludes us. The fact that there are so many theories as to what church is and what church is for only complicates the matter. I therefore welcome this first installment of the Davenant Retrievals for its fresh and often illuminating presentation of the magisterial Protestant position to these questions, particularly their insistence that the church is a people assembled by God’s Word and Spirit. The authors use exegesis, church history, and systematic theology to make a compelling case that the church is the people who trust the promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the fellowship of all who, through the Spirit, live out their “in Christ” reality together.

—Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Joseph Minich lives in Texas with his wife and four children. He is a graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. and is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas. Some of his writing can be found at The Calvinist International and Mere Orthodoxy.

Bradford Littlejohn (Ph.D, University of Edinburgh) is a scholar and writer in the fields of political theology, Christian ethics, and Reformation history. He is the author and editor of several books in these fields, most recently The Peril and Promise of Christian Liberty: Richard Hooker, the Puritans, and Protestant Political Theology (Eerdmans, 2017).

Reformation Theology: A Reader of Primary Sources with Introductions

• Editors: Bradford Littlejohn and Jonathan Roberts.
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 754

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Few episodes in Western history have so shaped our world as the Protestant Reformation and the counter-Reformations which accompanied it. The Reformation tore the seamless garment of Western Christendom in two, pitting king and pope, laity and clergy, Protestant and Catholic against one another. But it was also a firestorm tearing through an old, stagnant, and dying forest, sowing the seeds for a burst of new and newly diverse life.

To understand why the Reformation unfolded as it did, we must understand the ideas that were so forcefully articulated, opposed, and debated by Protestants and Catholics. For Protestant or Catholic believers in our own forgetful age, the need to understand these disputed doctrines, and the logic and coherence that linked them together, is all the more imperative. This is what this volume seeks to offer for the first time: a primary source reader focused squarely on the theological questions that drove the Reformation.

Beginning with the first rumblings of conflict in the late medieval period and continuing until the solidification of Protestant confessions in the early 17th century, this collection of thirty-two texts brings the modern reader face-to-face with the key men whose convictions helped shape the course of history. Concise historical introductions accompanying each text bring these writings to life by recounting the stories and conflicts that gave birth to these texts, and highlighting the enduring themes that we can glean from them.

Bradford Littlejohn (Ph.D, University of Edinburgh) is a scholar and writer in the fields of political theology, Christian ethics, and Reformation history. He is the author and editor of several books in these fields, most recently The Peril and Promise of Christian Liberty: Richard Hooker, the Puritans, and Protestant Political Theology (Eerdmans, 2017).

Jonathan Roberts (M.A., University of Missouri at St. Louis) hails from Aguascalientes, Mexico, and currently works as a Latin instructor for the Davenant Latin Institute and New Saint Andrews College, and pursues editing and translation projects from the Reformation era in his spare time.

The Two Kingdoms: A Guide for the Perplexed

• Author: Bradford Littlejohn
• Series: Davenant Guides
• Publisher: The Davenant Institute
• Publication Date: 2017
• Pages: 118

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

What does it mean to live as citizens of this world and of the world-to-come? How can we render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s? In recent years, fresh controversy has erupted over these age-old questions, and especially over the meaning and relevance of the Reformation’s “two-kingdoms” doctrine. At stake in such debates is not simply the shape of Christian politics, but the meaning of the church, the nature of human and divine authority, and the scope of Christian discipleship.

In this concise guide, Reformation scholar and Christian ethicist Bradford Littlejohn first sketches the history of the doctrine and clears away common misunderstandings. He then shows that the two-kingdoms doctrine can offer a valuable framework for thinking about pastoring, politics, and even financial stewardship.

Bradford Littlejohn (Ph.D, University of Edinburgh) is a scholar and writer in the fields of political theology, Christian ethics, and Reformation history. He is the author and editor of several books in these fields, most recently The Peril and Promise of Christian Liberty: Richard Hooker, the Puritans, and Protestant Political Theology (Eerdmans, 2017).