Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 13:3 (Summer 2004)
Article: Postmodern Reformed Dogmatics Scripture, Culture, and the Local Character of Theology
Author: John R. Franke

RAR 13:3 (Summer 2004) p. 109

Postmodern Reformed Dogmatics Scripture, Culture, and the Local Character of Theology

John R. Franke

In the first two articles in this series we examined the character of Reformed dogmatics as a reforming enterprise; suggested that aspects of postmodern thought could be fruitfully appropriated in the task of Reformed dogmatics; and sketched an approach to divine self-revelation that affirms the contingencies and limitations of the human situation suggested by the linguistic and nonfoundationalist turns in postmodern thought. In this article and the next, we will turn our attention to the articulation of this postmodern, nonfoundationalist approach to dogmatics as it might be situated in the context of Reformed concerns. This will be facilitated through the examination of three formal characteristics of theology in the Reformed tradition that enter into constructive conversation in the task of dogmatics: Reformed theology is canonical theology; Reformed theology is contextual theology; and Reformed theology is confessional theology. The role of each of these will be formulated in keeping with a commitment to a nonfoundationalist and contextual approach to theology in keeping with the reforming principle of the tradition. In this article we will focus on the canonical and contextual aspects of Reformed theology and its local character while the next article will consider the relationship between Scripture and tradition and its confessional character.

RAR 13:3 (Summer 2004) p. 110

Reformed Theology Is Canonical Theology

The Reformed tradition has always been concerned to do theology that is faithful to the witness of canonical Scripture and shares this ecumenical commitment with the whole church. While this commitment is shared, much debate has been engendered in the church as to the proper construal of Scripture as a source for theology. It is to this question that we now turn our attention. The Christian tradition has been characterized by its commitment to the authority of the Bible. Christian communal identity is bound up with a set of literary texts that together form canonical Scripture. According to David Kelsey, acknowledging the Bible as Scripture lies at the heart of participating in the community of Christ and the decision to adopt the texts of Christian Scripture as “canon” is not “a separate decision over and above a decision to become a Christian.”1 To be Christian is to participate in a community that acknowledges the authority of Scripture for life and thought. The question that arises is how this authority ought to be construed. This question leads us to consider how the Bible ought to function in theology by pursuing the traditional assertion that Scripture is theology’s “no...