Postmodern Reformed Dogmatics: Scripture, Tradition, and the Confessional Character of Theology -- By: John R. Franke

Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 13:4 (Fall 2004)
Article: Postmodern Reformed Dogmatics: Scripture, Tradition, and the Confessional Character of Theology
Author: John R. Franke


Postmodern Reformed Dogmatics:
Scripture, Tradition, and the
Confessional Character of Theology

John R. Franke

In the previous article we suggested that Scripture is authoritative because it is the vehicle through which the Spirit speaks and the instrumentality of the Spirit in the process of world creation. Further, we have maintained that the Spirit’s speaking through Scripture is always a contextual speaking that is addressed to particular social contexts and historical situations. Hence, Scripture, which functions as theology’s norming norm, is always in conversation with culture, which functions as theology’s embedding context. In this way the Spirit continually speaks to the believing community in its present situation through the witness of Scripture to the paradigmatic events of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ as a means of providing ongoing guidance for the church as it grapples with constantly changing circumstances. This raises implicitly the question of the role of the Christian tradition, as the historical witness to the speaking of the Spirit, in the task of contemporary theological construction. We also maintained that a nonfoundationalist account of the relationship between Scripture and culture serves to secure the reforming principle of the Reformed tradition while affirming the Reformed commitment to theology that is biblically normed and culturally contextual. But what does this mean for the profile of Reformed theology? Does not such an approach run the risk

of sacrificing the distinctive material content of dogmatics from the Reformed perspective in the name of contextuality, innovation, and the formal concern to preserve the reforming principle? These questions bring us to a discussion of the relationship between Scripture and tradition and an articulation of the confessional character of Reformed theology.

Scripture And Tradition

Addressing this question leads us to the centuries old debate between Roman Catholics and Protestants concerning the relationship between Scripture and tradition. While recent conversations between Catholics and Protestants about the relationship between Scripture and tradition have started to close the breach of the sixteenth century, significant differences still remain.1 At the heart of the discussion lies the question of primacy, which has priority, Scripture or the church and its tradition? This fundamental difference still animates contemporary dialogues between Catholics and Protestants. However, posing the question in this manner is ultimately unhelpful in that it rests on foundationalist understandings of the derivation of knowledge. Shifting to a nonfoundationalist concept...

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