Reformed Theology

This lesson is a continuation of the discussion about theological method. This time, our focus is the place of reason in theology. The materials covered in this lesson are taken from Cornelius Van Til’s Introduction to Systematic Theology (1974) and Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics: Prolegomena (2003) . There are four relevant subjects taken from Van Til's material, which include preliminary distinction, tendencies among orthodox theologians, epistemological qualifications to resolve the perceived conflict between faith and reason, and an appreciation and critique of Bavinck’s position. The second part in this lesson presents Herman Bavinck’s explanation of the relationship between faith and reason and the role of reason in theology.  Cornelius Van Til  Preliminary Distinction Van Til claims that since theological method is properly understood as part of Christian theistic method in general, the place of reason in theology must also be understood as part of Chr...

The subject under study is crucial for the contemporary time has lost any sense of certainty especially the religious and theological kind. Our age is rightly qualified as an age of uncertainty. No one is really sure about something. Any claim to certainty is nothing but an illusion. In presenting the material gleaned from Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics, I would like to present the subject under five sub headings: the difficulty of the question about the certainty of knowledge, the existence of theological certainty and its relationship to other kinds of certainty, the objective and the subjective aspects of theological certainty, an assessment of the three proposed sources for theological certainty focusing primarily on the critical evaluation of religious consciousness and the need for revelation to attain absolute religious certainty, The Difficulty of the Question About the Certainty of Knowledge The question concerning the certainty of knowledge, including theologi...

The Location of Religion in Man  The discussion concerning the location of religion in man evolves around three aspects of man: the intellect, the will, and the emotion. Those who locate religion in the intellect perceive religion as primarily a quest for knowledge. In ancient church history, we find the proponents of this idea among the Gnostics. Bavinck claims that in modern philosophy, we see the emergence of Gnosticism and it has its influential defenders in the persons of Spinoza and Hegel (254-255). Others would locate religion in the will and think of religion as chiefly a matter of morality. Bavinck classifies Pelagianism, Deism and Immanuel Kant as popular examples of this school (258-260). Still the third group would locate religion in human emotion and consider religion as a matter of feeling. Mysticism and Pietism are two powerful forces that exemplify this persuasion. In terms of individual thinkers, we have Schleiermacher and Rousseau as influential figures, w...

This study is a selective summary and reflection of the ideas of Herman Bavinck concerning the religious foundations of theology. The material is found in Reformed Dogmatics: Prolegomena Volume 1. The topic covers three areas:  the essence of religion, the location of religion in man, and  the origin of religion The Essence of Religion  In ascertaining the essence of religion by way of tracing the etymology of the word, Bavinck claims that among the many possible derivations, the word used by Lactantius is the one that made an impact to the English world (236-237). This word is religare . This word denotes religion as “the bond that unites human beings to God” (ibid.). However, Bavinck asserts that even this word fails to consider the two foundational aspects of religion, which are the objective and the subjective sides. The objective side of religion is the revelation from God where in the Old Testament assumes various expressions such as commandments, pre...