Just In!

Calvin for the 21st Century is an edited compilation of the stimulating addresses given at the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary’s annual conference in August 2009, at Grand Rapids, Michigan. The book contains a wealth of information and practical applications about how to use Calvin’s thought in our challenging day. Topics include Calvin on preaching Christ from the Old Testament, missions, the church, Scripture, the Spirit’s work, redemption, ethics, believers’ benefits, the early church, reprobation, marriage, and reforming the church. A highlight is Ligon Duncan’s chapter on “The Resurgence of Calvinism in America.” The book concludes with a summary chapter by the editor, Joel Beeke, who expounds twelve reasons Calvin is important for us today. Additional writers include Jerry Bilkes, Michael Haykin, Nelson Kloosterman, David Murray, Joseph Pipa, Neil Pronk, Donald Sinnema, Derek Thomas, and Cornel Venema. If you can afford only one of the books published on Calvin that commemorated the 500th anniversary of his birth, this is the one to get! Written at laypeople’s level, and retaining a flavor of the spoken style, it is informative, stimulating, and practical.

David Hall writes,

“This superb anthology of essays exploring the relevance of John Calvin for our times is exactly what we are coming to expect from the faithful, burgeoning Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and their faculty—a strong blend of mature scholarship from hearts promptly and sincerely offered to God. These essays, from one of the most successful North American conferences during the 2009 Calvin Quincentenary cycle, also comprise one of the finest literary offerings on the subject. Readers are given an expert introduction to Calvin as exegete, reformer, preacher, theologian, leader, missionary, ethicist, and to his enduring influence. It is a pleasure to read, it contains fine research, and it depicts the practical side of Calvin wonderfully. I am pleased to commend it heartily to a reading public, who assuredly will discover more about Calvin in future years from essays of this quality. Volumes, conferences, and leaders like these will advance that much needed recovery. Moreover, it presents a Calvin who is much harder to hate or ignore—perhaps making this book and its thought as dangerous and influential as Calvin’s.”