Journal: Reformed Baptist Theological Review
Volume: RBTR 04:1 (Jan 2007)
Article: Editorial
Author: Richard C. Barcellos

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Editorial

Richard C. Barcellos

RBTR Managing Editor

This issue of RBTR is the seventh to date. You will notice a slight change in the cover format as well as the addition of a table of contents. We thought it better to include a full table of contents so readers could have easier access to the book reviews.

The first article is my review (Part I) of the book The Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament by Thomas Dehany Bernard. Bernard was a nineteenth-century Anglican. The book is comprised of eight lectures delivered before the University of Oxford in 1865. These lectures were part of the Bampton Lecture series. I first came across Bernard’s name while reading Geerhardus Vos. Vos referenced Bernard’s work. I remembered that I had that very book in my library but had never read it. Intrigued by Vos’s reference to Bernard, I found the book and began to read it. As you will see, I enjoyed it very much and commend it highly.

Our second article comes from Italy via Andrea Ferrari. It is a biographical sketch of John Diodati. Diodati served as pastor of the Italian church in Geneva and professor at Calvin’s Academy. He also participated in the Synod of Dort. Diodati was responsible for translating the Bible into Italian, which became the standard version of the Scriptures for Italian Protestants. This article appears as chapter one in Pastor Ferrari’s John Diodati’s Doctrine of Holy Scripture. RBTR thanks Dr. Joel R. Beeke of Reformation Heritage Books for permission to print this piece.

James M. Renihan offers another very helpful piece dealing with interpreting our Confession of faith. Dr. Renihan discusses some very helpful and necessary tools to help interpret the Confession in its historical/theological context. This is a very much-needed reminder in our day of reader-response interpretive methodologies. Does the Confession mean now what it meant then? Or are we at liberty to impose our definitions of terms upon it? How can we be sure we are understanding the Confession the way it was intended to be understood? Dr. Renihan goes a long way in helping us find the tools necessary to interpret the Confession in a manner that respects its seventeenth-century context.

Robert P. Martin has submitted an article on chapter one of the 2^nd LCF. The doctrine of Scripture is the first chapter in the Confession and its importance never escapes practical necessity. Many contemporary issues are addressed by this old symbolic statement that has passed the

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test of time over and over again. You will find, as always, Dr. Martin’s writing clearly articulated and judiciously informed.

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