Theologizing Blind

This was fantastic. It is probably the Davnenant Institute’s breakthrough book. Written with both pastoral wisdom and scholarly rigor, this is a book I can recommend to almost any relatively well-read Reformed layman. It also demolishes the sort of New Calvinist pretensions that hold up John Piper and R.C. Sproul as the best representatives of Reformed theology, in an irenic albeit firm tone. The book opens with a great historical introduction that introduces the context and major players of dort. The introduction is interesting, but can probably be skipped or at least skimmed if one does not find it helpful. The book then walks through each of the canons of Dort in order, covering the affirmations and denials on predestination, regeneration, Christ’s satisfaction, and the perseverance of the saints. In doing so, Hyde shows both how ecumenical the canons were and are—as good a summary of Reformed soteriology as there is—and just how much room they allow for differences in artic...

This book is very difficult to review for two reasons. One, it is truly massive—over 1,100 pages, much of it extremely detailed and dry about the Presbyterian conflict. It is, on the other hand, fairly easy to read. It is also remarkably prescient because, given the fact that it was written in the 1990s, it maps out almost perfectly the kind of capitulations that are occurring in Evangelicalism at large. The charged writing is both the books greatest strength and its greatest weakness. It is written by Gary North, after all, who has an agenda. Far from a neutral or impartial account of the history, North is clearly on the side of Machen and his allies—though thinks Machen ultimately failed in his primary goals. On the other hand, North tends to belabor his points over and over and over again, to the point where I thought the book could probably have been several hundred pages shorter. North’s appendix on immunizing Presbyterianism, while containing some truly odd suggestions, al...