2 of 5

Both of these introductions to theology strictly avoid the speculation and overly systematic style that characterize so much scholastic theology. For Sell, "It is a cardinal principle of good theology that it should build upon what God has seen fit to make known to us, and not upon what he has not." His theology seeks to be firmly grounded in historical sources so that it does not fly off into speculation: "My anchor is God's revelation in Christ, and my compass is the testimony of Scripture and of Christian experience ancient and modern." Reason does not seem to play a significant role in Sell's theology, although he can hardly be accused of irrationality.

Echoing Barth, Jinkins says that the value of theology must be "determined by how faithfully it bears witness to the voice and the character of its subject: God." Like Sell, he identifies Scripture, tradition, and experience as his sources and norms. He strives to avoid any role of reason in theology that is independent of revelation and faith. Both theologians express significant dissatisfaction with post-Calvin Reformed thinking that goes beyond what Scripture and early Christian tradition had to say about God's sovereignty. Sell believes that some Reformed theologians picture God as an oriental despot, and he avers that "there is no New Testament justification for the view that God from eternity predestined some to damnation." Both authors are quite comfortable with mystery and paradox as they trace the implications of God's self-revelation in Jesus.

A notable common feature of the authors' theologies is their Christocentric focus and methodology. For Jinkins, Christian theology must begin with Jesus Christ and our relationship with him. Sell echoes this Christocentric approach in the first volume of Doctrine and Devotion: "The very plan of this book assumes that if we do not begin from the holy love of God made known to us in Christ, we shall find ourselves in difficulties when we come to fill out our understanding of God."

Both of these Reformed theologians apply the Christocentric approach even to the doctrine of God's nature, attributes, and character. God's glory, Sell argues, must be understood in relation to his character as revealed in Christ: "If ever the thought of bare, sovereign, inscrutable will usurps that of grace, we have the most serious distortion of the gospel, whose first word [because of Christ] is always holy love." Jinkins writes, "God's power is most visible in the helpless and broken figure of Jesus of Nazareth hanging and dying on the cross."

These volumes present a Reformed theological perspective that is not objectionable to Arminians and other believers in self-limited divine sovereignty and situated human free will. They are not aggressively Calvinistic; indeed, they are hardly Calvinistic at all. (I use Calvinistic as shorthand for belief in the so-called "five points of Calvinism"—total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.) Or, perhaps they are more Calvinist than many conservative Reformed theologians (Calvinist here refers to a broader approach rooted in Calvin's thought but using the Reformation principle reformata et semper reformanda—reformed and always to be reformed).

next page... |  2 of 5

share this page

April 22 2002, Vol. 46, No. 5