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Showing posts from June 1, 2014

Part 3 of Let's Read Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics

Hello again everyone. At the rate I am going we will have 50 posts on volume 1, something which I simply cannot do at this time. So, I'm going to pick up the pace a bit since we now have some foundational points laid down.  The Science of God  Bavinck says that the Christian dogmatician is to think God's thoughts after Him and to trace their unity. A systematizing is in order to do this, yet that can be dangerous. We cannot take a preconceived form and try to make Scripture fit into it. It is the unity of Scripture itself, its form, that we are seeking. Of course, producing such a form is a challenge, and the dogmatician is prone to error. Bavinck also stresses that only believers within the community of the church should engage in dogmatics. We need to recognize our errors, be modest, and rely on the church to help guide our dogmatics. God's Word was, after all, given to the church, and the church throughout the ages, empowered by the Spirit and with faith, has been

Part 2 of Let's Read Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics

By: Thomas F. Booher Hello again. If you haven't read the introduction to this series, I suggest you do so here . Now we will dive into Bavinck's Prolegomena. As I mentioned previously, I will be explaining to you some of his basic thoughts, and then give you large chunks of what Bavinck has said so that we can decipher it together and draw some conclusions. I am attempting to use Logos Bible Software, which I downloaded onto my computer. It takes a bit of time to boot up, but given the size of it it's understandable. Once its running though, and once you play around with things a bit, you can use it pretty well. There is also a help icon which will give you some direction if you are totally lost. I will also be using Logos on my iPad. The Science of Dogmatic Theology Bavinck engages in a long discussion on what dogmatic theology is, and what it is not. He goes back and forth throughout history to show us how it has been defined, how different dogmatic theologies

Let's Read Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics (Part 1)

By: Thomas F. Booher UPDATE: I have now completed the series of posts on Bavinck's Prolegomena. Here are links to each  succeeding part: Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 , Part 9 , Part 10 , Part 11 , Part 12 A few months ago I received an email from a man who works with Logos Bible Software. He talked to me about doing some reviews on the blog of some of their products. I decided this would be a fun venture, plus it allows me to read some great and expensive stuff for free.    The first piece I am going to be reviewing is Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics . I will be starting with volume one, Prolegomena. However, I will be doing this in a rather unusual way.  If you noticed the title of this post, and if you know anything about "Let's Plays" in video gaming, you may have wondered if I was borrowing the terminology. I am. While in video gaming a "let's play" involves watching someone (usually on YouTu