Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition

by Kelly M. Kapic, Wesley Vander Lugt

Overview

Beginning to study Reformed theology is like stepping into a family conversation that has been going on for five hundred years. How do you find your bearings and figure out how to take part in this conversation without embarrassing yourself?

The Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition takes on this rich, boisterous and varied tradition in its broad contours, filling you in on its common affirmations as well as its family tensions. Here you will find succinct and reliable entries on

• Latin terms, such as ad fontes and sola fide
• Theologians, from Calvin to Torrance
• Confessions, such as the Belgic and Westminster
• Doctrines, such as atonement and sanctification
• Apologists, such as Francis Schaeffer and Cornelius Van Til

And much more.

The Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition is ready to assist you over the rough parts of readings, lectures, conversations and blogs. It will also be a companionable and concise introduction to one of the great Christian traditions.

Designed for students and pastors alike, the short and accessible volumes in the IVP Pocket Reference Series will help you tackle the study of biblical languages, church history, apologetics, world religions, Christian spirituality, ethics, theology, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830884438
Publisher:	IVP Academic
Publication date:	05/02/2013
Series:	The IVP Pocket Reference Series
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	140
File size:	954 KB

About the Author

Kelly M. Kapic (PhD, King's College London) is professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He is the author or editor of numerous books including A Little Book for New Theologians, God So Loved He Gave, Communion with God, Mapping Modern Theology, Sanctification, and Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition.

Wesley Vander Lugt (Ph.D., St. Andrews University) is lead pastor of Warehouse 242 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He earned an M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary, a B.A. in history from Covenant College, and has been actively involved in Christian ministry for eight years in Scotland, Mexico and the United States.

Kelly M. Kapic (Ph.D., King's College, University of London) is professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Wesley Vander Lugt (Ph.D., University of St Andrews) is lead pastor of Warehouse 242 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Table of Contents

Preface
Listings
Chronology

What People are Saying About This

"Kapic and Vander Lugt are to be commended for this fantastic resource to advance the learning of individuals and the awareness of the entire Reformed church regarding its foundations. The concise entries provide laypeople, as well as advanced scholars, with quick reference and remarkable insight regarding key aspects of our history and thought that easily escape memory or get lost in general impression."

Bryan Chapell

"Kapic and Vander Lugt are to be commended for this fantastic resource to advance the learning of individuals and the awareness of the entire Reformed church regarding its foundations. The concise entries provide laypeople, as well as advanced scholars, with quick reference and remarkable insight regarding key aspects of our history and thought that easily escape memory or get lost in general impression."

Kevin J. Vanhoozer

"For students of theology who have no home in a confessional tradition, this book will prove a valuable resource. Like the best travel guides, it orients newcomers to a strange new land (e.g., Calvinism, covenant theology), its leading lights (e.g., William Ames, Herman Bavinck, Karl Barth), their beliefs (e.g., common grace, infralapsarianism, sola scriptura) and customs (e.g., mortification, paedobaptism, worship), thereby enabling readers to understand and speak the language of its Reformed inhabitants. It may even prompt strangers to the tradition to become sojourners. And even when it does not, readers will find the book's value to be disproportionate to its small size."

Michael Horton

"Only well-informed teachers can summarize large topics in a way that is both accurate and accessible. That is precisely what the authors of this pocket dictionary have achieved."

Editorial Reviews

"For students of theology who have no home in a confessional tradition, this book will prove a valuable resource. Like the best travel guides, it orients newcomers to a strange new land (e.g., Calvinism, covenant theology), its leading lights (e.g., William Ames, Herman Bavinck, Karl Barth), their beliefs (e.g., common grace, infralapsarianism, sola scriptura) and customs (e.g., mortification, paedobaptism, worship), thereby enabling readers to understand and speak the language of its Reformed inhabitants. It may even prompt strangers to the tradition to become sojourners. And even when it does not, readers will find the book's value to be disproportionate to its small size."

Kevin J. Vanhoozer

"The 'pocket' dictionaries are quite handy. Pick them up and keep them near your desk. I use them regularly in preparing myself to talk with others about religious matters and they don't take up much shelf space."

Chris Reeves

"In other words, every young 'Reformed' theologian and any theological student will benefit from this kind of accessible book. It will prove especially helpful for students who need quick information on major names and ideas."

Scot McKnight

"Kapic and Vander Lugt are to be commended for this fantastic resource to advance the learning of individuals and the awareness of the entire Reformed church regarding its foundations. The concise entries provide laypeople, as well as advanced scholars, with quick reference and remarkable insight regarding key aspects of our history and thought that easily escape memory or get lost in general impression."

"I have found it enjoyable as a learned, accurate, and readable review of things that matter to me, and I could see it as a resource for a pre-seminary course on the Reformed tradition."

Stuart R. Jones

"Recommended as an affordable, quality resource for theology and history students."

Marianne Orme

"Only well-informed teachers can summarize large topics in a way that is both accurate and accessible. That is precisely what the authors of this pocket dictionary have achieved."

Michael Horton

"Kapic and Vander Lugt are to be commended for this fantastic resource to advance the learning of individuals and the awareness of the entire Reformed church regarding its foundations. The concise entries provide laypeople, as well as advanced scholars, with quick reference and remarkable insight regarding key aspects of our history and thought that easily escape memory or get lost in general impression."

Bryan Chapell

These approximately 300 entries by Kapic (theology, Covenant Coll.) and Vander Lugt offer brief (75–150 words) biographical sketches and definitions of theological terms. Institutions, such as church associations and schools, are not covered, as they are in Robert Benedetto and Donald K. McKim's much more lengthy Historical Dictionary of Reformed Churches. Asterisks placed at the start of words direct the reader to the abundant cross references that take the place of an index and are clearly the result of careful editing. Readers may feel overwhelmed by an entry that includes as many as 14 such references, but they are valuable. For example, students who remember the acronym TULIP to summarize John Calvin's ideas can use the TULIP entry as a guide to each of the topics mentioned. Likewise, there is not complete overlap between the biographies included here and those in other books. Herman Ridderbos, for example, is not profiled in Hart and Noll's Dictionary of the Presbyterian and Reformed Traditions. Kapic and Vander Lugt's five-page bibliography features most notably a chronologically organized list of classic works from the Reformed tradition, allowing the reader to trace the history from Calvin and Zwingli down through the centuries. VERDICT Recommended as an affordable, quality resource for theology and history students.—Marianne Orme, Des Plaines P.L., IL

Library Journal