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Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley continue to roll out the installments of their projected four-volume Reformed Systematic Theology, and this review series has interacted with each section of this multi-volume endeavor. So far, each book has fallen nicely into two parts, easily facilitating a post devoted to each major section of the first two volumes. In the third volume of Reformed Systematic Theology, subtitled Spirit and Salvation, the whole book is in reality devoted to the Holy Spirit’s work in the application of salvation, from both perspectives of redemptive history and the ordo salutis. This unity of discussion means that this volume is harder to divide than the previous installments, so this post interacts with it as a whole.
Beeke and Smalley outline this volume into the history of salvation (historia salutis), the order of salvation (ordo salutis), and the experience of salvation (experiential salutis), which does give this treatment of pneumatology and soteriology a wider scope that most systematic theologies do. One of this installment’s major strengths is how it locates the whole discussion of the doctrines of salvation within the scope of our understanding of the Holy Spirit. Reformed theology has always had a real place for the Holy Spirit, despite the claims of some who understand the experiential aspects of our faith in a very different way. The difference is that Reformed theology has typically discussed the work of the Holy Spirit under the application of salvation and in the preservation and prospering of the church in her work, rather than more narrowly in particular emotion surges during public worship.
This treatment of the Spirit and salvation goes a long way in balancing these concerns by maintaining prolonged emphasis on salvation in those categories of historia, ordo, and experientia. The historia salutis section provides a solid framework for what it means to live as the church in the age of inaugurated eschatology. The age-to-come has broken into history through the work of Christ, manifesting itself through the work of the Spirit, who acts upon and through the church. The church itself and her activities for this age cannot be disconnected from the Holy Spirit. The ordo salutissection then outlines a defends the traditional Reformed categories for the aspects of salvation that we receive from Christ by faith. Even though the objective ground for all these benefits is in Christ and his work, they fit well in this volume’s scope of the Spirit’s work because he applies them from Christ to us by working faith in our hearts and uniting us to Christ as the source of those benefits. The experiential salutis section then takes a deep dive into the fruits and evidences of having our share in Christ and his benefits by faith, but we will circle back to discuss this section in more detail shortly.
There are several noteworthy features of this volume that mark its usefulness. As with each installment in Reformed Systematic Theology, Beeke and Smalley write with a calm style, focusing on building an understanding of each doctrine from the ground up. Almost every topic receives multiple chapters to unpack its biblical foundations, historical development, contemporary controversies, and uses for application. The wide stance toward the Reformed tradition that they take increases these volumes’ usefulness in that they address differences within the Reformed tradition without swallowing the whole discussion into intramural debates. Although the authors take a position on all these issues, opposing views are presented graciously enough to allow readers to see their rationale and adopt them if they so choose.
Moreover, the stress upon theology for application distinguishes this volume in particular from many more theoretically focused works on systematic theology. In times gone by, books on systematic theology were written as textbooks for classroom use, meaning that the tersely stated style was not rooted in a cold, academic detachment but rose from a context where the written work would be further explained and applied in discussion. Today, more people are using systematic theologies for personal use apart from any connection to classroom or community discussion. Beeke and Smalley’s approach to spelling out the implications and personal applications help mark their publishing project as aware of the modern context and how people use these sorts of works today.
More can be said about this practical orientation. To get one negative remark out of the way, the practice of having lists of applications for each doctrine sometimes overwhelms and sometimes seems repetitive. A better approach may have been to tie fewer applications to each doctrine and spend more time connecting the dots between the doctrine and its use. The frequently appearing format for applying a doctrine of asking a question such as “Do you know the work of the Holy Spirit?” at times short circuits deeper reflection for application. The answer to this sort of question is “yes” or “no,” which rarely leads someone into more pensive digestion of doctrine for use in life.
On the other hand, the treatment of the experience of salvation throughout this book’s last major section is outstanding. The major strength in this regard is the four chapters on the Ten Commandments. Reformed theology has long affirmed that the Decalogue summarizes God’s moral law that still binds and guides believers in the new covenant as to how to live a life pleasing to God. Beeke and Smalley have, in this reviewer’s estimation, provided the best modern treatment of the Ten Commandments and how to apply them today. They not only exegetically ground each command’s abiding validity but also tie our use of them to the tradition’s historical viewpoint about what each one requires and forbids. These chapters provide an excellent treatment of how to take traditional Reformed viewpoints about the moral law and update them well in light of questions about contemporary life that have developed since our confessions were written. The views here are confessional and traditional all the while recognizing how modern society does add some complexity to navigating our application of our confessed understandings of the Decalogue’s obligations.
This book is the only systematic theology of which I know that discusses the more subjective fruits and evidences that arise from receiving salvation in Christ. The chapters on the beatitudes, the fear of the Lord, and prayerfulness and hope are fascinating additions to the ethical dimensions of out theological systems. As systematicians are increasingly realizing, our doctrinal premises must connect to ethical outworkings. Beeke and Smalley have expressed this principle in an accessible but thorough manner.
Despite this volume’s great strengths, a few aspects also reveal some weakness. The first to note is its discussion of the relationship between repentance and faith. In itself, this treatment has a conceptual integrity. Nonetheless, it fails to deal with some of the real debated points about this issue from the Reformed tradition. The Marrow Controversy, which occurred in Scotland during the eighteenth century, nearly centered on this question about the order of faith and repentance. The “Marrow men,” who included the likes of Thomas Boston and the Erskine brothers, argued that repentance follows faith, denying that we must repent of our sins in order to come to Christ. I am not sure that Beeke and Smalley fully took account of that debate and its significance in the history of the Reformed tradition for their discussion about how repentance and faith relate.
Additionally, again as always Beeke and Smalley make use of an astounding array of sources. The sheer volume of literature cited in these books is impressive. They have done an incredibly amount of work synthesizing a huge amount of primary and secondary sources into a coherent argument. That strength, however, may have its accompanying downsides. Although it is good and right to cite any and all sources that we use in writing, we do not need to quote from them all. Sometimes the quoting is excessive enough to distract from the argument. On the other hand, sometimes an important argument, such as the claim that the Council of Trent caricatured the Reformation doctrine of justification, is missing a quote. The sources quoted are arguably a bit too eclectic too. Some sources cited are at least arguably not on the same page as Beeke and Smalley, even in the points on which they are cited. Quoting a small snippet that apparently agrees potentially papers over deeper agreement and may mislead readers who want to explore a topic more into reading something that might confuse them. Beeke and Smalley have certainly done their due diligence in research. Showing that is good. A more careful way of implementing that research may streamline the main text of their discussion and help avoid some mixed signals sent by an overabundance of quotes.
This project of Reformed Systematic Theology continues to build a reliable, useful, and intriguing contribution to the recent resurging interest in systematic theology. Although sweeping in its scope, readers will find much food for thought whether reading straight through these volumes or using them as a reference tool.
