Reformed churches have always been interested in the covenant idea, first the covenant of grace in Christ, but also a covenant with Adam before sin, commonly called the covenant of works. But what the covenant of works really meant in the 17th century, when it became standard orthodoxy, is often very poorly understood today. That ignorance has contributed to modifications which are not always for the better.

"Perkins is an expert in his field and very much a pastor. ... You will not be disappointed." —From the foreword by Ligon Duncan See Christ and his work more clearly. Learn the biblical basis for the Reformed confessions. Understand the role of grace and works in your salvation. Covenant shapes our life with God. In Reformed Covenant Theology: A Systematic Introduction, Harrison Perkins shows how Christ and his work are the heart of that covenant relationship. Since God lives in covenant with his redeemed people, covenant theology provides a framework for Christians to grow in their life with God, to read the Bible, and to love the church.

J. Mark Beach untersucht die Bundestheologie Francis Turretins und entdeckt dabei einen Strang in der reformatorischen Theologie des 16. Jahrhunderts, der sich grundlegend von seiner Ausprägung im 17. Jahrhundert unterscheidet. Die jeweilige Interpretation lässt bedeutende Rückschlüsse auf die Bundestheologie zu.

This study explores the Shepherd Controversy (1975-1982) and the contemporary debate on covenant and justification by faith from the perspectives of historical, systematic, and biblical theology. The distinctive contribution lies in the identification that the Shepherd Controversy as a logical outcome of rejecting the distinction between Law and Gospel at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. The larger problem is that Norman Shepherd and other associated theologians reject the distinction between Law and Gospel, injecting their monocovenantalism into the theologies of Calvin, the Westminster Standards, and Murray. The result has been hermeneutical and theological confusion among some of the followers of the Union with Christ School scholars. Reformed theonomists (led by Greg Bahnsen), Auburn Avenue theologians, and pastors are also monocovenantalists and have been influenced by the Union with Christ School scholars directly and indirectly. Their common denominator is the rejection of the distinction between Law and Gospel in their analysis and understanding of covenant and justification by faith. Having been influenced by the Union with Christ School scholars at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, some scholars began to adopt the hermeneutics and theology of the New Perspective on Paul, which is anti-Reformational and anti-Pauline. The adaptation of the New Perspective on Paul among some of the followers of the Union with Christ School is a logical step because both of them reject the distinction between Law and Gospel, which was a key hermeneutical and theological tool during the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation against the background of the medieval legalistic religion.

The Reformed Two-Kingdom project has generated a great deal of literature. However, this literature is often characterized by inflamed rhetoric. Further, though it is standard fare to assume that Kline was the architect of the project, in reality, there has been very little scholarly examination of this point. In response, Kline’s system is analyzed through the means of a dialectical discourse with three differing models within the Reformed tradition—the Theonomist, Perspectivalist, and Dooyeweerdian schools. Through this means, the study keeps away from surface-level polemics and instead directs readers to the critically important substructural level of current discussions. While clarifying some of the key differences between Kline and his interlocutors, often-overlooked points of nuance are also highlighted. These points are shown to be important in that they present the potential to lessen frustration and impasse in the ongoing dialogue.

Over the past several centuries, John Owen's writings on scripture have captured the attention of numerous interpreters across a relatively diverse range of disciplines. His own distinctive contribution to this doctrine was forged with a genuine fear for the on-going pre-eminence of scriptural authority in the English church firmly in view. In the face of various rival perspectives, Owen insists every Christian believer ought to be clear on the reason they believe scripture to be the word of God. Focussing on the treatise Reason of Faith (1677) in conversation with his wider theological corpus, Andrew M. Leslie studies Owen's approach to scriptural authority and Christian faith. He argues that Owen creatively drew upon an ecumenical dogmatic and metaphysical heritage to restate and refine the traditional Reformed position on scripture's divine authority, sensitive to developments in his own late seventeenth-century context. In particular, Leslie explores how Owen shares a growing concern to ground Christian faith in objective evidence, all-the-while ensuring that its ultimate foundation lies in the irresistible authority and truthfulness of God, mediated "in and by" the inspired text of scripture. Leslie also draws out the broader significance Owen ascribes to scripture in shaping a believer's relationship with the Triune God, especially its vital role in their gradual transformation into the likeness or image of Christ.

As a theologian in the Reformed tradition, covenant theology was for Jonathan Edwards the internal scaffolding that gave shape to the biblical story of redemption. The establishment of the eternal rule of righteousness as the basis of the believer’s communion with God and eternal happiness is a central theme beginning with the Covenant of Works, grounded in the eternal Covenant of Redemption, and culminating in the Covenant of Grace. It is the basis for the law-gospel distinction in Edwards and the early architects of federal theology. For the “God intoxicated” New England Puritan preacher, this was no dry academic exercise. Rather, it was a joyous and affectionate discovery and embrace of what God had ordained in eternity, what Christ accomplished in history on the cross, and what the Holy Spirit is doing and will complete in the church. This study grew out of current discussions in Reformed scholarship questioning aspects of traditional covenant theology. As a key transitional figure in the history of Reformed theology, Edwards’s thinking is still relevant. The richness and depth of Edwards’s vision of redemptive history provides a clear and comprehensive understanding of his Reformed soteriology and the role of evangelical obedience in justification.

How do the Old and New Testaments relate to each other? What is the relationship among the biblical covenants? In this volume in IVP Academic's Spectrum series, readers will find four contributors who explore these complex questions, each making a case for their own view and responding to the others' views to offer an animated yet irenic discussion on the continuity of Scripture.