The Existential Dimension of Reformed Catholicity

I’m grateful for Allen’s and Swain’s fine book, Reformed Catholicity. I don’t have much to quibble with. My own life and ministry has been dedicated to promoting the “authority of apostolic Scripture . . . within the context of the apostolic church.” (1) With Allen and Swain, I agree, wholeheartedly, that “tradition is the church’s stance of abiding in and with apostolic teaching through time;” indeed, that “Church dogmas provide instead a divinely authorized interpretive key for unlocking the treasures of God’s Word, a blessed hermeneutical pathway into Holy Scripture” (34, 113). In terms of the book, the chapter that I found (and continue to find) most helpful is chapter 5, “In Defense of Proof Texting.” May we recognize afresh Scripture’s “own use” of itself and thus promote every attempt to see “theology and exegesis working hand in hand and side by side” (128, 137).

Some ten years after Reformed Catholicity’s publication, I think it’s worth reflecting on (1) broader trends relating to the book’s vision and (2) a constructive suggestion for amplifying its vision. Regarding broader trends, my sense is that the contemporary landscape is so fragmented that it’s difficult to map where opposition to such an approach might be. I long ago gave up trying to map (in my mind, anyhow) the field of contemporary systematic theology, namely because I don’t know what it would mean to speak of a field. What I do know, and am encouraged by, is the work of individual theologians who continue to promote in quite distinct ways Allen’s and Swain’s vision. On the Roman Catholic side, I am always edified by Matthew Levering’s work, and on the Protestant side, Steven Duby’s work, among others, stands out. But broader trends are extremely difficult to describe, and so I’m content to say that a significant number of living theologians go on, in quite different ways, doing what Allen and Swain commend.

My one constructive suggestion, having recently re-read the book, is that its vision for reform is something of an intellectual one. While I concur that the way to renewal is through retrieval—the riches of catholic doctrine as received through the Reformed heritage—I couldn’t help but think that the place of “thick practices of catholic traditioning” is a bit underdeveloped (83). Reformed catholicity is as much indicative of a method as it is a way of life. The reformed catholic embraces “a theological sensibility” to be sure, but that sensibility is anchored explicitly in meditative prayer and prayerful hearing of the written Word within the context of the proclaimed Word and Sacrament (121). “Wise reading and faithful living” don’t simply anchor reformed catholicity but are its very wellspring, food, and drink (67). Piety, in other words, is not simply a byproduct or corollary but what gives rise to the sensibility in the first place. I long to recite the Nicene Creed not simply because it unlocks God’s Word for me (and countless others) but because it also presents the faith in relationship to which I seek to die daily. The way to renewal is retrieval, but retrieval assumes that I’m ready to be taught by God’s Word and listen to those whom God has blessed with exemplary ears to hear that same Word.

If the church is to demonstrate “the transparency of its idiom to the teaching of the sacred writings,” then the sacred writings must be our food and drink (107). Given that the sacred writings are foreign territory to most church goers (and a fair number of church leaders), what is “needed” more than ever is loving immersion in Scripture, especially Old Testament Scripture as that which God authors and through which God speaks words of promise. “The Bible’s own use of the Bible” is a great place to begin teaching the Scriptures with a view to serving and loving the God who is their source and telos (128).

Last, but not least, a vision of reformed catholicity that is frontloaded by piety will give rise to works of theology wherein there is little, if any, attention as to whether it is a work of theology or exegesis. Theology must not only take exegetical form but itself constitute our exegetical labors. Exegesis is how theology is done. Even more systematic (that is, ordered) treatments one step removed from Scripture ought to assume a shape that is constrained on every side by sacred Scripture. In this time of deep scriptural ignorance and apathy, theology ought to work, prayerfully, with the Scriptures and therewith those doctors of the church catholic whose most eminent contributions are, generally, commentarial in nature. Theology is not simply commenting on the sacred page but also the means of entering into the riches of the page itself.

I hope and pray that the gifts that Allen and Swain have been blessed with continue to encourage mortification and vivification in the Gospel as it is presented to us in sacred Scripture. Reformed catholicity is a gift to the church, a reminder to give thanks to God for the catholic and Reformed heritage with which he has so blessed us. Reformed catholicity is also a call to pray, and to sit before our Lord’s feet, learning the Scriptures with him, until they become our precious food and drink, world with end. Amen.