Customer Reviews

Reformed Confessions Harmonized

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The Scottish Presbyterian leader Sinclair Ferguson and Joel Beeke, an American seminary Professor, have both edited and compiled a wonderful and resourceful reference book for the Reformed Christian. This book offers a well-organized presentation of the major Reformed catechisms or confessional creeds side-by-side with the creeds reorganized to cover the various doctrines. The book cover doctrines such as: theology (the doctrine of God); anthropology (the doctrine of man); christology (the doctrine of Christ); soteriology (the doctrine of salvation); ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church); and eschatology (the doctrine of last things.) It features seven confessional creeds: the Belgic Confession of Faith (1561); the Heidelberg Catechism (1563); Second Helvetic Confession (1566); Canons of Dort (1618-19); and the various Westminster confessions (1647-48). The doctrines are annotated with footnotes and an extremely helpful bibliography of theology resources is included.

Thanks Joel Beeke & Sinclair Ferguson for giving us such a wonderful tool. With the growing interest in reformed theology, there could not be a more helpful tool then this harmony of the great reformational creeds and bibliography by doctrine of great reformed books.

In the harmony section the reformed creeds/confessions used are the Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Second Helvetic Confession, Canons of Dort, Westminster Confession, Westminster Shorter Catechism, and Westminster Larger Catechism. Doctrine by doctrine each of these creed/confessions is laid out side-by-side so the reader can eaily compare how each of these documents handled the great doctrines of the Bible. Instead of having 5-7 different books in front of you, now you can all these reformed statements of faith before you.

The bibliography section also goes doctrine by doctrine. Beeke and Ferguson give a list of important reformed authors covering the doctrines found in the creeds/confessions. They at times will make brief comments as to the strenght or weakness of the books listed.

This is a great tool for anyone teaching doctrine or wanting to learn it. Makes a great gift for your pastor, seminary student, or anyone who likes to really dig deep into the historic creed faith of Christianity. You won't be dissappointed!

This is an well organized harmony of the (according to the authors) most important Reformed Confessions. The best feature in my opinion, however, is the wonderful annotated bibliography which accompanies it. Each theme of the confessions is aligned with the best Reformed books on each topic. Standard Reformation era and Puritan works are recommended along with the latest contributions to each field, with suggestions for begining and advanced study. A major resource that I'd love to see expanded and put into a book by itself. Note: Since I originally wrote this review, the Bibliography HAS been reissued under another seperate cover. It is not, However, expanded. Hopefully another edition will do that.

I love using this handy-dandy reference work. Included are seven historic reformed confessions--the Belgic Confession of Faith (1561), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), and the Canons of Dort (1618-19), the Second Helvetic Confession (1566), the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646-47) and the Larger and Shorter Westminster Catechisms (1647)--side by side in seven column format, arranged by subject matter.

And there's more! Also included are an introduction explaining the historical background of each of the seven confessions and an annotated bibliography. The bibliography is organized by subject, and points us to the best English works up through the twentieth century on the various topics of the confession, giving a short summary of each work. On the doctrine of God, for instance, there are twelve recommended works, from Charnock's classic, Discourses on the Existence and Attributes of God, to the more recent classic, J. I. Packer's Knowing God.

This is a large book--8 1/2 x 11 and 288 pages--which helps make the seven columns easy to read for old fogies like me who have difficulty with fine print. It's paperback, but with the sort of heavy cover and pages that text books are made of, so I expect it to stand up to repeated use better than most paperback books.

I love charts and comparing things, and that means I love this book for the format alone. I also love history and theology--and historic confessions, especially. You can't imagine how much I've enjoyed comparing the different confessions, seeing where they differ and where they all agree. This kind of book is not for everyone, I know, but I'm pretty sure there are at least a few others who love things like this as much as I do.

This book provides an excellent way to study the evolution of Reformed thought from the Belgic Confession of 1561 through the Westminster Larger Catechism of 1648. In doing so, one can see how distinctive Reformed/Presbyterian ideas were understood around the Reformed world, and how they evolved over time. The editors chose representative confessions from three broad families within the Reformed movement: Swiss, Scottish-English and Dutch-German. Further, the entries are arranged in a manner consistent with the study of systematic theology. It was interesting to be reminded that my favorite among the confessions chosen, the Heidelberg Catechism, is 84 years older than the Westminster Confession of Faith. And, while one confession might emphasize a particular doctrine, another might not address the same doctrine at all. In spite of differences that exist among the various confessions, "harmony" is certainly evident as well. This book is a good resource to use to follow the growth of Reformed thought between Calvin's Institutes and the Reformed theologians of the 19th and 20th centuries. Further, this text will help me better present Reformed thought to the congregation I serve as pastor.

I know of no other resource which juxtaposes the greatest reformed confessions. Pastors, officers, and laypeople would greatly benefit from this tool. Every reformed Christian should have this on shelves. It is a bit difficult to use if you're trying to study only one of these confessions alone; but if you're trying to compare them, this is the best tool you could get.