Why I Am Not “Reformed”

Please note the quotation marks. By “reformed,” I do not herein refer to the Continental Reformed tradition of protestantism, marked by confessional adherence to the Three Forms of Unity (that is, the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dordt). I have a few minor disagreements with the brethren (primarily having to do with the nature of the Church beyond the local congregation and a frank belief the Westminster Standards are an improvement upon the Three Forms of Unity), but I sincerely believe we presbyterians have much to learn from their faith and practice and think I could cheerfully serve within one of their communions.

No, by “reformed” I have in mind the way that term has come to be used on the vast wide webernet. Out there, “reformed” seems to be no more than belief in a set of doctrinal propositions somewhat smaller than those contained in the Westminster Standards, chiefly:
•God is sovereign, which probably implies predestination; and
•the five points of Calvinism.

I am not “reformed” in this sense because a more proper way to label belief in these propositions is “barely literate.” That is, if you have read your Bible and don’t believe these things, you need to go back and read it again. And again. And for however long it takes to shake off your unconscionable objections to the obvious meaning of the text and realize why it is these propositions, until the very recent past, were universally considered essential to Christian faith.

Moreover, I am not “reformed” because the Christian life is not assent to a set of propositions. Granted, one cannot be a Christian without assent to certain propositions. However, “the Christian life” implies a series of actions and choices. Those choices ought, of course, to be informed by belief, and a moment of reflection will make evident the inadequacy of the limited number of beliefs held to by the “reformed” to guide and govern all one’s actions. Something has to fill in the rest of one’s life, and as “the rest” in this instance covers nearly all of one’s life, that something will tend to predominate.

In other words, “reformed Baptists” are distinguishable from “Baptists” only by the very occasional sermon. “Reformed evangelicals” are distinguishable from “evangelicals” by the fact the sermon might be based on a text of Scripture. But their Churches’ worship and government will be very much like the mainstream of their Baptist or evangelical tradition, and so their people will likewise live very similarly to their non-“reformed” brethren.

Hence, I am not “reformed,” but presbyterian. Presbyterianism is marked not only by a much more comprehensive set of doctrines, but also by a firm belief that God requires us to govern our Church life and worship according to definite Biblical principles. Presbyterianism also commends to its people a historic set of practices (what John Williamson Nevin called “the catechism”) by which to work out Biblical beliefs in one’s life and pass them on to one’s children. By Biblical conviction and from lived experience, I believe presbyterianism is how one ought to live the Christian life. From my observation, those who call themselves “reformed” are a long way away from presbyterianism.

I am not “reformed,” but I am a presbyterian.

And, on a redundant note, a curmudgeonly one.