Always Being Reformed [Hardcover]

One of the most persistent slogans of Reformed theology is that it is reformed and always being reformed. But what does this slogan mean? This volume gathers thirteen essays written by a younger generation of Reformed theologians who teach and write on five different continents, who together offer this work in Christian systematic theology. Unlike many other works of Reformed theology, however, this book is framed by pressing contextual issues and questions (instead of traditional loci). Each chapter engages classical doctrine, but does so through the lens of contemporary, lived experience in particular contexts. The result is not a theology where doctrines are applied to contexts, but an approach where doctrine and context mutually shape one another. The contributors take seriously the notion that theology is always being reformed and is always partial, ever on the way--hence it requires conversation partners beyond the Reformed family of faith. The result is a study in Reformed theology that is thoroughly ecumenical. No one who reads and ponders this collection of probing and engaging essays will be able to doubt the continuing vitality and real importance of Reformed theology in our time. Jensen is to be commended for bringing together some daring and cutting-edge theological minds whose creative work embodies the spirit of a classical tradition that requires of its adherents the willingness to be reformed ever anew. --Paul E. Capetz, Associate Dean and Professor of Historical Theology, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities Variety is one of the greatest, yet sometimes more contested, even lamented, gifts of the Reformed branch of the Protestant Reformation. The diversity of confessional perspectives within the Reformed movement has led to struggles over its identity while this same movement has produced some of the greatest theologians and biblical scholars in the church's history. Indeed, as Always Being Reformed demonstrates, there ilsè