Timothy George is founding dean and professor at Beeson Divinity School. He has also been a pastor and editor of numerous Christian magazines. Currently he is executive editor of Christianity Today.
It was a refreshing change to read Theology of the Reformers. George comes to the subject as a Christian. He does not fudge difficulties presented to believers, but, as we shall see, seeks to assist in our growing in faith and knowledge of God through the reformers.
George moves from the familiar to the unfamiliar in that most theological students have read biographies of Luther, Zwingli and Calvin, but probably not Menno Simons. The chapter on Menno Simons, then, is couched in a familiar setting which presented me with some quite new and challenging material.
The basic aim of this book is to bring out the emphases in the theologies of these four reformers. In being faithful to this aim, George has assisted in breaking down a number of myths commonly held about the reformers. For example, rather than Calvin being a melancholic and unemotional theologian, he is shown as a pastor who (page 212) “…was frequently called on to counsel those Protestants who had been imprisoned for their faith and who often faced imminent martyrdom.” A quick scan of the footnotes between pages 238 and 246 will show that Calvin greatly drew on the Pastoral Epistles to shape his theology.
The key phrase used in the four main biographical chapter headings are something that won’t easily be forgotten by most readers: “Yearning for Grace: Martin Luther”; “Something Bold for God: Huldrych Zwingli”; “Glory unto God: John Calvin”; and “No Other Foundation: Menno Simons”. These chapter headings are tied in with major threads of each of the respective reformer’s theologies, and could be used as mnemonics for subsequent reflection.
All four reformers are presented in a sympathetic light. However, George doesn’t shirk from showing the reformers belligerently holding on to their divisive approaches to the sacraments, when compromise (or at least temporary concession) may have been better for the church at large. Whilst not misrepresenting the unique perspectives of each reformer’s viewpoint nor espousing a “facile ecumenism” (page 316) George proposes a way forward of sorts in his final chapter The Abiding Validity of Reformation Theology namely, to hold to the essentials but continue to promote the importance of the sacraments.
Regarding this final chapter, Baker (Baker, J.W. (1991) Theology of the Reformers (Book Review). Church History 60, 387-389.) asserts that George “…may have exceeded the reach of his study”. I do not agree with this statement for the following reasons: first, given the overall fine quality of the book and George’s extensive experience in the pulpit, lecture hall and editor’s desk, he is qualified to provide guidance in applying the knowledge he has gleaned from the reformers discussed; second, given the importance of the topic (i.e. the way forward for unity among Christians) it is warranted that George contributes to resolving the schisms that past doctrinal differences have caused.
George’s description of the disagreement between Luther and Zwingli (along with a number of associates) at Marburg was quite moving. He brings home to me the lasting importance of unity within the Christian church and the need for flexibility in the face of military backlash (cf Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).
Should this book have been aimed at theological students, it seems odd that German, Swiss, Dutch and Latin phrases are documented so precisely whilst New Testament Greek (a language of considerable usage by three out of four of the reformers studied) is only touched on thrice (pages 241, 293 and 257), and then only as transliterations. On page 70 George points to a “Greek verb”, but fails to mention which verb he is referring to. On the other hand, a sound knowledge of Latin seemed to be assumed by the author throughout. In many theological colleges, such as BCV (Australia), Latin is not taught, but Biblical Greek is. For this reason it seems hard to justify “ordo salutis”, for example, not being mentioned in the glossary, nor explained in the passage (page 270). It would be helpful to have a copy of Muller’s Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms handy when reading a book such as this (Muller, R.A. (1985) Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms: Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Books).
Further to the level the book is pitched at, note that in Baker’s review of this book he says (in connection with his usage of the book for an undergraduate Reformation history class) “…it was clearly a challenging text for some of them”. So, if it is pitched at a high level, why all these other European languages and so little Greek?
Perhaps a good introduction to the subject would be to read McGrath’s Reformation Thought first (McGrath, A.E. (1988) Reformation Thought: An Introduction. Oxford: Basil Blackwell). Similarly sized, it takes a more thematic/topical approach than George’s, which is more biographical. McGrath has a similar sized glossary, but it includes less non-English words. It is interesting that McGrath only mentions Menno Simons twice in his book. This is not to say that George could be criticised for placing the obscure Menno Simons next to the renowned Luther, Zwingli and Calvin. As I noted previously, there is value in moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar. As is the case with reformation studies, and doubtlessly so many other historical subjects, the amount of repetition in what is published is enormous. The chapter on Menno Simons is a welcome addition.
There is a need for this book in that short biographies are used to explain reformation theology, which may otherwise be quite dry to the new reader. George certainly achieves his aims in this book. The lives and theologies of the four reformers are well elucidated. It is well written, easy reading, yet deep enough and applicable to modern thought and practice (I say this in connection with the discussion on the Marburg Colloquy above).
