From the Editors -- By: Anonymous

Journal: Puritan Reformed Journal
Volume: PRJ 03:2 (Jul 2011)
Article: From the Editors
Author: Anonymous


From the Editors

What a privilege to have the Word of God: to know that God is not silent and to know what He has spoken. In the whole realm of theology, the study of Scripture must take pride of place. As such, it is a joy to read reflections on the Word by students of the Word. In this issue of the Puritan Reformed Journal, we have five such studies: Michael Barrett on how best to interpret what God is saying through the marriage of the minor prophet Hosea; Pieter DeVries’s continuation of his study of the cross—in this article he sketches the way the biblical data about the cross has been understood by the church; Gerald Bilkes on the way in which the parables of Jesus serve His purpose of building His kingdom; Steve Lawson and Joel Beeke on the ever-important discussion of the relationship between Paul and James, especially as it relates to faith and works; and finally a study of what it means to be a child of God according to 1 John 3:1-3 by Joel Beeke.

Systematization of biblical teaching in the form of both systematic and historical theology, however, is also important. Evangelicalism went through a time in the past century when both systematic and historical theology were regarded with much suspicion, but thankfully that approach appears to be passé. There is a new generation who want to do the hard thinking about the systematic study of the Scriptures and who have a concern for what previous theologians said and taught about the Word of God. In the second and third sections of this issue, which look at systematic, historical, and experiential theology respectively, we have nine new papers to present: First are Pieter DeVries’s exploration of the nature of justification; David Wenkel’s examination of one of Calvin’s great contributions to the history of doctrine, namely, the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit; and a study of Arminius’s theology by John Skidmore—this sort of paper is so needed as it is all too easy to lapse into caricature of theologies with which one does not agree. Then follows an examination of Bunyan, whose theology is ever marked with certain unique features, particularly with regard to the classification of his theology by

Brian Najapfour; Jonathan Edwards’s exegesis of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel is discussed by Jeongmo Yoo; and Joel Beeke defends the need to read the Puritans and outlines ways in which Puritan literature is being promoted. There are two studies of the theology of Wilhemus à Brakel by Paul Smalley and Jonathan Holdt. The recent translation of this Dutch author’s theology into English is beginning to bear fruit, for which we ought to rejoice since the Dutch theologians of the Nadere Reformatie are...

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