Reformed Theology and the Church: An Interview With Dr. Timothy George. It's an informative interview and I'd recommend it.
The Dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. George has written books titled "Theology of the Reformers" and "John Calvin and the Church: A Prism of Reform". The interview dates from May of 2000, and is written by Wyman Richardson, founder of Walking Together Ministries.
I thought that Dr. George offers helpful clarifications on what is meant by terms like "Reformed theology" or "Calvinistic", showing that these terms are not always understood very precisely.
Most of all I appreciated very much the answer Dr. George provides to the question, "What are the major pitfalls that must be avoided in order for reformed theology to continue to gain influence and popularity in the American church?"
Well, first of all I want to say that I don't think gaining influence and popularity in the American church is necessarily a goal to be sought or an end to be desired. Once we begin to talk like that, we're not talking like reformed theologians, we're talking like people that put pragmatism above truth. So I reject the premise of the question.
But having said that, I would say a couple of things. One is just to repeat what I said a moment ago about missions and evangelism being the heart of the Christian movement. And I would say two other things also. One would be an ability to work with other Christians across lines - denominational lines, ideological lines - that do not compromise the gospel. There is a kind of ecumenism of accommodation that says, "Let's find the least common denominator and settle on that and just be happy and together and forget about other matters." I'm against that kind of ecumenism. But I believe in an ecumenism of conviction which takes seriously those irreducible, evangelical essentials that we cannot compromise, but, having affirmed those, are willing to reach across some other boundaries and work with other believers in Jesus Christ in a common cause. I think reformed theologians should be in the forefront of an ecumenism of conviction. I've tried to do that and others as well. So that was one thing I would say. Don't become a sectarian movement. Don't isolate yourself from the wider body of Christ.
And then the third point is the attitude that we bring to it. There's no room for pride, for arrogance, for hubris among anyone who is truly reformed, because we recognize that we're saved by the grace of God and that it is only by the grace of God that we even understand one-millionth of the meaning of any of the doctrines of grace. And if you really believe that, then 1 Corinthians 4:7 becomes a very important verse in your life. That verse contains three questions. It says, "Who made you different than anybody else?", "What do you have that you did not receive?", and "If you received it, why do you boast as though you did not receive it?" And I think that's a marvelous verse, a life verse, for every reformed theologian. We have nothing that we did not receive. If you have that attitude, then I think your life and your approach to others is going to be characterized by humility and a graciousness and not by, "I've got the truth and you'd better duck or I'll hit you in the face with my theological pie." That's the way it sometimes comes across. There's no place in the body of Christ for graceless debates about the doctrines of grace. Too often that's been the case in the past. I think that's changing. I think that's changing for the good.
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