A noble tradition

Holmes ( God of Grace and God of Glory: An Account of the Theology of Jonathan Edwards , x)) considers the Reformed tradition a “noble” tradition. But in his view it is not so in contemporary England where “the title ‘Reformed’ too often refers to a theology and church praxis that apparently lacks confidence, relevance, and intellectual rigor” and is obsessed with a “desperate attempt to hold to a mythical golden age of theology and polity.”

Reformed theology is “at its noblest when, as with Edwards or Barth, it is confident enough to welcome what is new, test it by the one canon of the gospel, and accept and hold on to whatever may be found useful or interesting . . . . If a Reformed church must always be being reformed, as the noble slogan insists, then a Reformed theology must also always be open to what correction the Lord, in His mercy, may bring.”