A REVIEW OF RECOVERING THE REFORMED CONFESSION
Author; R. Scott Clark (2008, P&R)
Do not read this book unless you are willing to be challenged by what you think it means to be Reformed! I am serious. If you think you have it all together, then do not read this book. You will only be frustrated. HOWEVER, if you are willing to be challenged, then definitely read this book. I will state from the very beginning that this book is not going to be a light read. This book will take some deep thought and your undivided attention for it to do its job.
The first problem that Clark tackles is what he calls QIRC, or the Quest for Illegitimate Religious Certainty. Simply put, it is a kind of rationalism that tends to to make things a test of Reformed orthodoxy that are not confessional. Clark takes on six twenty-four hour day creation, theonomy, and covenant moralism as examples of Reformed QIRC-iness. I will not even try to summarize his points, as that would be a great disservice to Dr. Clark. His historical treatment of creation is lengthy but provides great insight.
The next problem that Clark deals with is QIRE, or the Quest for Illegitimate Religious Experience. Clark provides well-needed challenges to his readers to reconsider some of the "experiential" aspects of the theology and piety of Jonathan Edwards. We are called back to knowing God through the due use of the ordinary means of grace, rather than seeking or creating a religious experience. I personally have seen the undue anguish of soul that an emphasis on the extraordinary can cause for the believer who begins to doubt their salvation or faith because they have not had some spectacular experience. Clark does not advocate against the extraordinary, only that our piety and Christian experience should be measured by it. Clark puts it this way.
Judging by confessional Reformed piety, religious subjectivism (e.g., revivalism or pietism) is illegitimate because it seeks what is by definition an extraordinary providence of God, which is not promised in Scripture. This desire for the extraordinary tends not only to devalue the ordinary providence of God but also the expressed promises of God. He is most free to work all manner of wonderful things, e.g., instances of an intense sense of the divine presence, a surprising understanding of the application of Scripture to a given situation or some other blessing; but they cannot define the Christian life, and they are no proper standard by which to measure sanctification or Christian maturity. It is a significant mistake to make the religious experience envisioned by revivalists the organizing principle for Reformed piety. (p. 120)
Fortunately Clark does not leave us stuck in a situation without a solution. Section two of the book is called "The Recovery"
Clark engages in a lengthy historical discussion of the archetypal/ectypal distinction in theology. To be honest, it was a discussion that I did not follow very well. The big point is to recover the distinction between the Creator and the creature. This means that we can never know things the way God knows them. We know things as he has revealed them to us. His conclusion I understood very well. "The Reformed understanding of things is that we do not have immediate access to God's being. We have mediated access through God the Son incarnate and through the preaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments. The goal of our theology is to think God's thoughts after him, as his image bearers, as analogues." (p. 163) To Clark this has implications in our dealing with creation debates and Federal Vision type issues.
In chapter 5, the value and use of our confessions and catechisms is discussed. Clark conducts a historical survey of confessional subscription tracing the drift from strict subscription to looser models of adoption by contemporary denominations. His conclusion is that we must return to the use of confessions as boundary markers. Secondly, that we need a confession that can be subscribed to without exception that is biblical. Clark raises an important question, is it time for a new or revision confession for the Reformed community? I think there is merit in that idea.
In chapter 6, Clark presents us with "The Joy of Being Confessional" stating five good reasons for being confessional. Without stating those points for you (Clark does that well enough), his main concern in this chapter is why many are drifting to other forms of Christianity (including back to the Roman Catholic church). Clark presents for us a solid, biblical ground for remaining (or perhaps even coming back to being) confessional.
Chapter 7 is entitled "Recovering Reformed Worship." I imagine this chapter will generate some healthy debate. Dr. Clark's intention is clear from the outset of the chapter.
"The fact that many Reformed Christians alive today have never seen or participated in a worship service that Calvin, the Heidelberg Reformers, or the Westminster Divines would recognize does not bode well for the future of Reformed theology, piety, and practice. …I argue that an essential part of recovering the Reformed confession is to recover the Reformed principle and practice of worship" (p. 241)
What Clark advocates is the return to the regulative principle of worship. He believes that even in Reformed churches today, this principle (that of only doing in worship what is required by scripture) is either being ignored or is being used differently that our Reformation forefathers. Clark gives the reader a lengthy historical tour of the developments and redevelopments regarding the regulative principle's use in the church. Clark's major theme regarding the regulative principle is how the church in large measure has abandoned "exclusive psalmody" and introduced the use of musical instruments. While I do not share Dr. Clark's conviction regarding the use of only inspired texts for singing in corporate worship, I do find his argument useful. I also find his position regarding the singing of texts from the entirety of Scripture a much more personally agreeable position than psalms only. While I have not fully come to Dr. Clark's position, this chapter has caused me be more intentional in the inclusions of Psalms and inspired texts in our congregational singing. Clark concludes the chapter with recommendations of what would be necessary to recover the regulative principle, a task he admits would not be easy. If you have not considered the why we sing what we sing, give Dr. Clark's chapter a careful read.
Clark's final chapter is entitled "Whatever Happened to the Evening Service?" In this chapter, Clark believes that in order for us to recover the Reformed practice of the second service we need to recover a Biblical view Sabbath and the means of grace. If you already have a high view of the Sabbath, you may find some of the Biblical background a bit unnecessary. Clark also provides historical background on Sunday Sabbath keeping which I found interesting. Clark also includes an interesting section of comparison and consensus of the Reformed confession on the Sabbath. In the section on the means of grace, Clark says, "It is the contention of this book that the antidote for the QIRE is to restore the means of grace to their proper place." (p. 340) As Clark wraps up this chapter, he makes the following statement which sums up his argument regarding the second service and his whole reason for writing this book.
As our churches realized in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, so too we must again realize that the Reformed theology, piety, and practice must be intentionally, conscientiously, patiently, and thoroughly taught to our congregations, to families, to children, to singles, to newcomers, and to those who have been Reformed for generations, or our theology, piety, and practice will be quickly lost and assimilated into the American mainstream religious admixture of pietism and fundamentalism. (p. 352)
In summary, this is not a book about recovering the Reformed doctrine of predestination or election. This is a book intended for the those who call themselves Reformed. It is a call to re-examine what it really means to be Reformed and whether we are really following the Reformed confession we claim to hold as standards. You may not agree with everything Clark has to say, but do not miss his call to examine our faith and practice in the light of the Reformation standards. Take the time and effort to challenge yourself with this book.
6 comments:
I couldn't agree more on the importance of the Lord's Day as a means of grace and, in fact, covenant sign of faithfulness to this part of the continuing standard of God's law for the believer.
LDG
"This means that we can never know things the way God knows them. We know things as he has revealed them to us."
Except for where God reveals to us that he created in 6 24 hour days?
"this has implications in our dealing with creation debates"
Would you be willing to provide more detail on how Dr. Clark explains these implications?
Thanks
I would be hard for me to explain much in the confines of a blog response. Clark does not hold to a 6 24 hours day view of creation.
He believes that to make that a reformed standard goes against the confessions. Your best bet is wait for the book. Here is a further quote that might help.
The Reformed understanding of things is that we do not have immediate access to God’s being. We have mediated access through God the Son incarnate and through the preaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments. The goal of our theology is to think God’s thoughts after him,
as his image bearers, as analogues. The categorical distinction also
subverts the QIRC by putting us creatures in our place. It relocates our center of gravity, as it were, away from biblicism or our private understanding and application of Scripture, back toward the church. It changes the questions. Rather than asking how we can apply the Mosaic civil penalties, determine the length of the creation days or how we can
re-engineer Reformed doctrine to create a better product, we can now ask how the Reformed churches understand the Scriptures. What questions do the Reformed churches think are important and why? Put negatively, if the Reformed churches have not confessed or taught the application of
the Mosaic civil law to post-Mosaic societies, or if they have not confessed the nature of the creation days in detail, perhaps it is because Scripture does not teach these things. If Scripture does not teach them, then perhaps the theology of the cross (ectypal theology) and our status as image bearers constrains us from teaching and confessing it too. (p. 160-161)
Thanks for the response Pastor Sloan. I realize you were only providing a review, but the extended quote was helpful.
“if the Reformed churches have not confessed or taught the application of
the Mosaic civil law to post-Mosaic societies, or if they have not confessed the nature of the creation days in detail, perhaps it is because Scripture does not teach these things.”
I guess I would disagree with Dr. Clark here. Perhaps the reason is that scripture teaching on the nature of the days of creation is clear enough. I think there are a lot of truths in scripture that we do not confess in detail because the confessions are intended to be summaries of the Bible's teaching
Plus it seems the the WCF is pretty clear.
WCF Chapter 4
1. It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days; and all
very good.
I think I will check out the book. Its always good to take the time and effort to challenge yourself with a book.
Definitely read the book. He makes the arguments in a much more complete fashion. I didn't agree with everything in the book. Dr. Clark knows that. His unifying theme is that being Reformed is more than just holding to the 5 Points.
WCF 4 is one statement of what the Westminster Divines. The TFU and other Reformed documents did not state that God created in 6 24 hour days.
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