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One of the things we in the Reformed tradition are very good at is writing doctrinal theology!

Oliver D. Crisp

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Oliver D. Crisp
Age: 52
Born: 1972
Born: January 1
Author
Theologian
Things
Doctrinal
Reformed
Theology
Tradition
Writing
Good

More quotes by Oliver D. Crisp

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[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
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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
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We are still living with the consequences of that today in popular Reformed thinking from the likes of John Piper, R. C. Sproul, and Tim Keller.
Oliver D. Crisp
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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
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Reformed theology belongs to this confessional tradition, and Reformed theologians and churches continue to write confessions even today.
Oliver D. Crisp
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There is no such thing as a stationary tradition. Traditions are always developing, living things.
Oliver D. Crisp
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Jonathan Edwards developed a Calvinistic strand of the doctrine.
Oliver D. Crisp
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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
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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
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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
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For instance, there are many mainstream Reformed theologians that deny the doctrine of limited atonement (the L in TULIP, the acrostic for the Five Points of Calvinism). These are not thinkers on the margins or troublemakers. They are leaders at the center of Reformed thinking like Bishop John Davenant.
Oliver D. Crisp
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God shows us in Christ what he would have to do if he were to punish us for our sins.
Oliver D. Crisp
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[I'm often called a Deviant Calvinist] but that only goes to underline the point I'm trying to make about the need to broaden our account of the tradition!
Oliver D. Crisp
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[ 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
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I do think that I have been fortunate to make friendships with other scholars, and form reading groups where ideas are exchanged and papers are read. That is a real boon, and it is something I think every scholar or writer can benefit from.
Oliver D. Crisp
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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
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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
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[ Jonathan] Edwards is one of my heroes. I've learned much from him over the years.
Oliver D. Crisp
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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
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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