Reforming the Christian Faith

Mark W. Karlberg (Th.D., Westminster Theological Seminary) has published widely on Reformed covenant theology in the pages of Calvin Theological Journal, Evangelical Quarterly, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Trinity Journal, and Westminster Theological Journal. His other publications with Wipf and Stock are Covenant Theology in Reformed Perspective (2000) and Gospel Grace: The Modern-day Controversy (2003).

Central to the mission of the church with each passing generation is the elucidation of the gospel of Christ, which is the heart of the Christian message. Witness to God's saving word in Scripture comes in response to discussions and debates arising over the course of church history. Our study highlights some of the unity and disunity found within the Reformed tradition, Reformation and modern. Beginning with the subject of the development of doctrine over the course of church history, we take up the foundational issue of biblical hermeneutics (the question of how we are to interpret the Bible). The year 2017 marks the Protestant Church's 500th anniversary (October 31). We consider, secondly, Protestantism's two leading theological principles--the formal (the doctrine of Scripture) and the material (the doctrine of justification by faith alone). In the final section, we critique departures from the teaching of historic federalism found within contemporary Reformed orthodoxy, which strikes at the very heart of what it means to be "Reformed" in theology. Crucial in this long-standing and ongoing dispute is the interpretation of the Mosaic Covenant as in some sense a "republication" of the original Covenant of Works with Adam at creation. Covenant and justification are the focal doctrines under study.