Customer Reviews

Covenant Theology

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This book was originally the author's doctoral dissertation. That explains why it is a bit technical and dense. It was obviously intended for a theologically-trained reader, not the believer in the pew. For that person, I would recommend Gospel Covenant Or The Covenant of Grace Opened instead. But that awareness left me with one question: the book makes the repeated error of printing "council" where "counsel" was plainly intended, even in quotations, e.g., Zechariah 6:13 ("counsel of peace"). I wondered how that error made it past, not just the author, but his seminary reviewer and the editors of the publishing company, as well.

The book is a very thorough review of the development of covenant theology, also called federal theology, especially during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, with a concentration on Calvin and his associates in the first, and the Puritans in the second. but he also includes sources in the modern era, such as John Murray. I especially appreciated the section where he reviewed the controversy over the consistency, or lack thereof, between Calvin's views and those of his Puritan successors. Golding defends a classical orthodox Westminster view of the covenants.

In addition to the "council" problem, I disliked the placing of all the notes in an appendix, instead of as either footnotes or endnotes. That choice makes the notes difficult to access as I read through the respective chapters. On the other hand, in addition to the meaty, concise, but thorough presentation, I love the exhaustive bibliography. It gives an extensive listing of both modern and historical works on the Covenant, plenty of material for further study.