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Theology of the ReformersTimothy George’s Theology of the Reformers (Broadman and Holman, 1988) has become a standard textbook for students interested in the theology of the Reformation. If you are interested in Reformation theology, but don’t have time to look through the primary source material, George’s book is where you should turn.

The book begins with a chapter that describes life in the Middle Ages – an appropriate place to begin if one is to understand the historical and sociological factors that led up to Luther’s break with Rome. George surveys the theological landscape of the period, as well as the mindset of “death” and “rebirth” prevalent in Europe at the time. The corruption of the Roman Catholic Church of the era is also described.

After setting the Reformation in historical context, George analyzes the life and theology of three magisterial Reformers and one Radical Reformer – Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Simons. Each chapter includes biographical information, quotes and excerpts from the Reformers’ works and debates, as well as an overview of the high points of each one’s theology. George does a fine job of hitting the highlights without entering into excessive detail.

My only point of contention was that sometimes George makes generalizations and doesn’t provide support. (An example is his declaration that Calvin affirmed the later Calvinist concept of “particular redemption.”)

One might wonder why George chose Menno Simons as the fourth Reformer to be analyzed in the book. It seems that other Reformers had more immediate impact than Simons, men such as Thomas Cranmer, Philip Melanchthon, or even Theodore Beza. Perhaps Simons is included as a representation of the Anabaptist strand of theology, which eventually led to an alternative view of church and state, as well as peaceful disagreement between different theological movements.

Theology of the Reformers is the place to start one’s study of the theology that drove the Reformation.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog

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