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date: 29 June 2022

Abstract and Keywords

Reformed theologians both promoted and opposed philosophical trends, such as Cartesianism and Christian Epicureanism, normally associated with the Enlightenment. But although Reformed theologians initially divided over response to more moderate forms of Enlightenment associated with Descartes and Locke, they remained firmly opposed to the radical Enlightenment represented by Spinoza and deism. Reformed theology was also impacted by the growing popularity of Remonstrant theology and Anglican Latitudinarianism. These new religious currents were contributing factors to a shift in Reformed sentiment about the correct use of reason in theology, the method of biblical interpretation, and the employment of traditional scholastic sources and terminology. Under the impact of a changed philosophical and religious climate, Reformed theologians began to alter various doctrinal loci, including free choice, the Trinity, and person of Christ, thereby inviting doctrinal controversy and contemporary accusations of heterodoxy.

Keywords: Reformed Orthodoxy, Enlightened Orthodoxy, Latitudinarianism, Arminianism, Dutch Cartesianism, history of biblical interpretation, historical criticism, faith and reason, theological method.

David S. Sytsma

David S. Sytsma is Associate Professor at Tokyo Christian University and research curator of the Junius Institute for Digital Reformation Research. He is the author of Richard Baxter and the Mechanical Philosophers.

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