Quote

What I am trying to argue here [Save Calvinism] and in other works before this one is that the Reformed tradition as I have characterized it is much broader and richer than many of us today imagine. It is not just about Five Points, and it was never just about [John ] Calvin's thought.

Oliver D. Crisp

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Oliver D. Crisp
Age: 52
Born: 1972
Born: January 1
Author
Theologian
Today
Arguing
Calvinism
Many
John
Reformed
Trying
Save
Characterized
Much
Tradition
Calvin
Never
Works
Broader
Imagine
Richer
Five
Argue
Thought
Points

More quotes by Oliver D. Crisp

Image
[John Calvin] writes clearly, directly, without artifice, and gets straight to the practical heart of the matter.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
Here is the interesting twist:[McLeod] Campbell came to his views through reading Jonathan Edwards who suggested at one point in his ruminations on the atonement that Christ could have offered up a perfect act of penitence instead of punishment, and that this would have been an acceptable offering suitable to remit our sinfulness.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
These days I'm often called a Deviant Calvinist, but I don't really think my views do deviate from the Reformed tradition, though in some respects they may represent views that are not as popular now as they once were, or that may represent a minority report in the tradition.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
For instance, the notion of non-penal substitution. This idea, found in the work of the nineteenth century Scottish Reformed theologian John McLeod Campbell and based upon his reading of the letter to the Hebrews in particular, is that Christ offers up his life and death as a penitential act on our behalf, rather than as a punishment in our stead.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
The best Reformed theology isn't just about careful arguments for theologically sophisticated conclusions. It is about how to live the Christian life.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
Now, don't get me wrong: I'm not rubbishing penal substitution. But there are other options that have been advocated by Reformed thinkers of the past.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
[John] Calvin is often identified with his account of predestination. Yet that appears in the third book of his Institutes, not the first.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
[John] Calvin is revered as a thinker of immense importance in Reformed thought, Jonathan Edwards could say in his preface to his treatise on Freedom of the Will that he had derived none of his views from the work of Calvin, though he was willing to be called a Calvinist for the sake of convention.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
I recommend Doug Sweeney's recent book [Jonathan] Edwards the Exegete (Oxford University Press, 2015), which is a terrific treatment of the way in which Edwards was steeped in the Bible, so that it shaped the whole of his thinking.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
In the chapter on the nature of the atonement [in the book saving Calvinism] I argue that it is a mistake to think that penal substitution is the only option on the doctrine of atonement.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
One of the things we in the Reformed tradition are very good at is writing doctrinal theology!
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
[ Jonathan] Edwards is one of my heroes. I've learned much from him over the years.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
The atonement chapter [from the book Saving Calvinism] shows how there are real riches in Reformed theology that most Christians today have no idea about.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
We may think that our tradition is exactly the same as it has always been, but that is an illusion.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
There is no such thing as a stationary tradition. Traditions are always developing, living things.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
The confessions don't speak with one voice. They are more like a cluster of closely-related but distinct voices - a kind of choir, if you like.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
[ Jonathan] Edwards is the person who really made theological determinism a serious option for Reformed thinkers, and the influence his views had in nineteenth century Reformed thought, in the USA and the UK in particular, is enormous.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
For those who have only ever read about [John] Calvin, reading the man himself is an invigorating experience.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
God shows us in Christ what he would have to do if he were to punish us for our sins.
Oliver D. Crisp
Image
Reformed theology belongs to this confessional tradition, and Reformed theologians and churches continue to write confessions even today.
Oliver D. Crisp