What Is Reformed Theology?

What does it mean to be reformed? There are many churches, denominations, and individuals who bear this title, but what does it mean? What separates them from the masses?  Some equate being reformed with the doctrine of predestination or perhaps the five points of Calvinism. Others pair it with some form of covenant theology, worship, or even a particular view of the millennial kingdom.

As we set out to answer this question, we will see that being reformed is much more comprehensive than any one of these things—in fact, it encompasses them all. But first, where on earth did this word come from?

A Brief History of Reformed Theology

In order to be called reformed, it implies that something was first deformed. It has been said that the early church sought to be conformed to Christ, the Catholic church for many years was deformed from that image, and the protestant reformation reformed the church back to Christ. We must be careful here not to think that 800 years of medieval church history were all bad, however, for there were many wonderful people in those years who held to the true gospel. By and large, though, this generalization works.

The Protestant Reformation, kicked off in large part by Martin Luther in 1517 in Germany, sought to do just what it sounds like—protest the false teachings of the institutional church and re-form the church back to Scripture. In this sense, the idea of "sola scriptura" (scripture alone) is central to being reformed. The years following brought many faithful men of God who held out these truths and fought for the gospel.

The idea of sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) is central to being reformed.

In the next 200 years, however, God was gracious to give the church a group of men who sought to be wholly faithful in piety and thoroughly sound in doctrine. They are known today as the Puritans of England. Other folks are often made a part of the same category, such as the Scottish, Dutch, and German theologians of the same vein and time period. Significant names from this period would be John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, Thomas Boston, and others.

These men developed in its fullest form what we now call reformed theology. Out of this period came some of the richest and most treasured literature in the history of the church. In addition to that, these men produced for us various confessions of faith and catechisms that thoroughly and succinctly summed up what it meant to be reformed. Many were written, but a few of the best are still used today: the Westminster Confession (Presbyterian), the 2nd London Confession (or the “1689,” Baptist), and the Belgic Confession (Dutch Reformed). They each have accompanying catechisms, documents that go over the details of Christianity in question and answer format.

The Westminster confession, the Second London confession, and the Belgic confession are among the best representations of reformed theology with us today.

What Does This Mean for Today?

Being “reformed” today has taken on a much broader meaning to many than the writers of these documents had in mind. When they formulated the confessions, they worked with the utmost theological precision and fidelity to Scripture. The reformed confessions encompass the whole scope of Christianity—from what the Bible is all the way to the nuts and bolts of different doctrines. In other words, being reformed is about a lot more than just one or two things.

Today, the term “reformed” has become almost a buzzword or something popular among those who are interested in theology. Anyone who likes part of John Calvin takes it as their badge. Many also use it who deviate from much of what these confessional documents have to say.

So, what qualifies as reformed? If we were to break down the doctrine in these confessions into broad categories that distinguish reformed folks from others, they might be as follows: Soteriology, Worship, Covenant Theology, and Eschatology. Anyone who holds to a reformed view of these four things could call themselves “reformed” in a general sense. The most fully reformed folks would agree in more totality with one of the confessions listed above. What are these doctrines specifically, and what is the reformed view of them? We will unpack this in detail throughout the series, so stay tuned!

This Blog Series

For this series, we will be following the Westminster Confession of Faith. Why this document as opposed to a different one? The Westminster is held to by reformed churches across the world and is widely accepted as one of the clearest and best expressions of reformed theology. The 2nd London confession, used by our Baptist brothers, overlaps with the Westminster word for word by about 80% or more. The Belgic confession is excellent also, but is not quite as widely used and is not as succinct as the other two.

Sticking with the confessions helps us in several ways. Importantly, it keeps us accurate in answering the question, “what does it mean to be reformed?” Additionally, it helps us understand the differences we can hold with reformed brothers while still being reformed. Variation within views of church leadership, baptism, the covenants, and even some in worship are all still within the “reformed” camp. It will keep us irenic—understanding and humble before those with differences from ours.

Irenic humility is key when dealing with theology. Understanding those with differences and remaining full of humility is what the reformed would desire.

Where differences are found, particularly with the Baptist confession, they will be brought in and both views will be presented. Otherwise, we will stick to the Westminster confession. To read a PDF copy of it, see this link. For an excellent but accessible commentary on it by Dr. Chad van Dixhoorn, see this link.

With that said, let’s jump into the first post of the series! We will start with the Doctrine of Scripture >>>