“It is part of the calling of the ἐκκλησία to learn to know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge and also to make known . . . “the manifold wisdom of God” in order that the final end of theology, as of all things, may be that the name of the Lord is glorified. Theology and dogmatics, too, exist for the Lord’s sake” (Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 1, 46).
Modest Dogmatician
“The task of dogmatics is precisely to rationally reproduce the content of revelation that relates to the knowledge of God. Naturally, in this reproduction of the content of revelation, a danger exists on many levels of making mistakes and falling into error. This fact should predispose the dogmatician, like every practitioner of science, to modesty” (Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 1, 45).
Tenacious Ideas
“The ideas that conquer the race most rapidly and arouse the wildest enthusiasm and are held most tenaciously are precisely the ideas that are most insane” (H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy, 7).
Comfort and Confidence
“Much comfort and great confidence must this administer to all that have assurance that they are of this body [i.e., Body of Christ]; for having so mighty, so wise, so merciful a head, a head so sufficient every way, who can instruct, direct, guide, govern, protect, and help them in all their needs whatsoever, what need they fear? When we are assaulted by Satan, or any way set upon by any of his instruments, or are in any distress or need, let us lift up the eyes of our faith higher than we can the eyes of our body, and in heaven behold this our head, who is invisible, and we cannot but receive from thence much comfort and encouragement” (William Gouge, Building a Godly Home, Vol. 1, 38).
Corporate Benefit of Baptism
“[A]s I argue throughout my book, baptism is not merely for the person who “gets wet,” but is for the corporate body of Christ. Every time a minster preaches the visible word through baptism, the whole congregation benefits from the sacrament, not merely the solitary recipient of the water” (Rejoinder by J. V. Fesko of Book Review: Word, Water, and Spirit: A Reformed Perspective on Baptism, reviewed by Ryan M. McGraw in The Confessional Presbyterian, Vol. 9, 197).
Duty Learned, Duties Performed
“Let this duty of submission be first well learned, and then all other duties will be better performed” (William Gouge, Building a Godly Home, Vol. 1, 7).
Task of Dogmatics
“There can be no objection to our attempts, in dogmatics as in any other science, at achieving a system that is not imposed on the truths of faith but rationally inferred from them. And the objection against this is even less weighty since dogmatics is not a kind of biblical theology that stops at the words of Scripture. Rather, according to Scripture itself, dogmatics has the right to rationally absorb its content and, guided by Scripture, to rationally process it and also to acknowledge as truth that which can be deduced from it by lawful inference. . . . The task of dogmatics is precisely to rationally reproduce the content of revelation that relates to the knowledge of God” (Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 1, 45).
Learning Submission for the Good of Others
“The reason why all are bound to submit themselves one to another is because everyone is set in his place by God, not for himself, as for the good of others. The apostle exhorts, “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth” (1 Cor. 10:24). Even governors are put in places of dignity and authority for the good of their subjects rather than for their own honor. Their callings are, in truth, offices of service, even burdens under which they must willingly put their shoulders. Being called of God, to whom they will give an account concerning the good which they have done to others, it is needful that they submit themselves” (William Gouge, Building a Godly Home, Vol. 1, 6).
Systematic Theology’s Necessary Speculative Dimension
“A number of sections are particularly noteworthy. The section on the covenant of redemption is excellent. What is clear from the study of seventeenth century Reformed Orthodoxy is that systematic theology must have a speculative dimension. It is not simply biblical exegesis but rather stands within the wider tradition of theological reflection going back through the Middle Ages to the patristic era. It is biblical exegesis in dialogue with prior dogmatic formulations and contemporary challenges which drive further dogmatic formulations. Like the Chalcedonian Formula, the covenant of redemption does not simply fall off the pages of scripture; it is the result of the careful co-ordination of Trinitarian and Christological concerns with the overall schema of Reformed soteriology” (Book Review by Carl R. Trueman of Joel R. Beeke and Mark Jones, A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, in The Confessional Presbyterian, Vol. 10).
Embarrassment of Riches
“In terms of extant manuscripts, the New Testament textual critic is confronted with an embarrassment of riches. If we have doubts about what the autographic New Testament said, those doubts would have to be multiplied at least a hundred-fold for the average classical author. And when we compare the New Testament manuscripts to the very best that the classical world has to offer, it still stands head and shoulders above the rest. The New Testament is far and away the best-attested work of Greek or Latin literature from the ancient world. Precisely because we have hundreds of thousands of variants and hundreds of early manuscripts, we are in an excellent position for recovering the wording of the original. Further, if the radical skeptics applied their principles to the rest of Greco-Roman literature, they would thrust us right back into the Dark Ages, where ignorance was anything but bliss. Their arguments only sound impressive in a vacuum” (Daniel B. Wallace, “Has the New Testament Text Been Hopelessly Corrupted?” in In Defense of the Bible, eds. Steven B. Cowan and Terry L. Wilder, 151-152).