Few would doubt that the last twenty years has seen a remarkable surge of interest in Reformed Theology. So much so, that many younger evangelicals, as opposed to prior generations, would now be comfortable identifying themselves as reformed (in some way).

Indeed, this has been wonderfully documented in Collin Hansen’s fascinating book, Young, Restless, Reformed (Crossway, 2008).

But, there is still the question about what it exactly means to be “reformed.” Does it just mean one embraces some form of Calvinism?  Or it is bigger than that?

As you might imagine, here at Reformed Theological Seminary we get that question a lot. After all, “Reformed” is in our name!

While we are always happy to have more Calvinists around, we are also quick to emphasize that being reformed has historically meant more than that. It’s not just an issue of soteriology (as important as that is), it is also an issue of ecclesiology.  What is the church? And how does it relate to the nation of Israel?

In other words, part of being reformed is embracing an overarching view of the Bible known as covenant theology.

And if you are interested in diving deeper into covenant theology, let me point out two wonderful new resources that have just been released. [Read more…]