PT730 Studies In Distintives And Issues In The United Reformed Churches In North America (URCNA)

A directed study intended to supplement the existing preparation of URCNA students studying for the pastoral ministry and to focus their preparation for classical examinations.

Prerequisite (may be taken simultaneously): HT/ST615 Reformed Confessions.

1 credit (without a term paper) or 2 Credits (with a term paper)

The academic goal of the course is to expose the student to specific issues in systematic, historical, and pastoral theology related to the URCNAs.

The pastoral goal of the course is to give the student a structured, guided opportunity to excel in his classical exams.

The outcome of the course will be measured by classical examinations and, where possible, by feedback from the classes and examiners.

Requirements:

  1. Read and outline the Three Forms of Unity
  2. Memorize those questions and answers in the Heidelberg Catechism not memorized in HT/ST 615.
  3. Read and outline the Church Order of the URNCAs.
  4. Read Van Dellen and Monsma’s Commentary on the Church Order and submit a one 1-page reaction paper.
  5. Required attendance to and 1-page written reports on all URCNA lunchtime seminars.
  6. Mock oral exam
  7. [Term Paper, limit 2500 words]. See the Essay on the Writing of Essays

Assigned Readings

  1. Godfrey, W. R. Saving the Reformation: The Pastoral Theology of the Canons of Dort. Orlando: Reformation Trust, 2019. chapters 1-2.
  2. Preface to the Canons of Dort
  3. The Church Order of the Synod of Dort (1619)
  4. Dutch Reformed Church
  5. P. Y. DeJong, “The Rise of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands” in P. Y. DeJong, ed. Crisis in the Reformed Churches: Essays in Commemoration of the Great Synod of Dort, 1618-1919 (Grand Rapids: Reformed Fellowship, 1968)
  6. Cornelis P. Venema, “Integration, Disintegration, and Reintegration: A Preliminary History of the United Reformed Churches in North America” in Always Reformed: Essays in Honor of W. Robert Godfrey
  7. Women in Office
  8. URCNA Justification Committee Report
  9. URCNA Nine Points
  10. Commentary on the Nine Points
  11. Van Dellen and Monsma’s Commentary on the Church Order
  12. URCNA Form of Subscription
  13. URCNA Report on Deacons in the Churches
  14. URCNA-OPC Report
  15. URCNA Synod Escondido 2001 on Creation

Recommended Reading

  1. Godfrey, W. R. “Tensions within International Calvinism: The Debate on the Atonement at the Synod of Dordt 1618-1619.” Ph.D. diss. Stanford University, 1974. ch.1 Background to the Synod of Dort
  2. Godfrey, W. Robert. “Popular and Catholic: The The Modus Docendi of the Canons of Dort,” in Aza Goudriaan and fred van Lieburg, eds. Revisiting the Synod of Dort (1618–1619). Series in Church History, vol. 49 (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 243–60
  3. Godfrey, W. Robert. “John Hales’ Good-Night to John Calvin,” in Carl R. Trueman and R. Scott Clark, eds. Protestant Scholasticism: Essays in Reassessment (Carlisle, UK: Paternoster, 1999), 165–80.
  4. Clark, R. Scott. Redeemed From Every People, Tribe, Tongue, And Nation: A Commentary On The Canons Of Dort (2019).
  5. Clark. R. Scott. “The Synod of Dort: Keeping Venom From the Lips,” in Ordained Servant 28 (October, 2019), 9–29.
  6. Clark, R. Scott. “Seriously and Promiscuously: The Synod of Dort on the Free Offer of the Gospel” in Joel R. Beeke and Martin I. Klauber, ed. The Synod of Dort: Historical, Theological, and Experiential Perspectives. Göttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 2020, 89–104.
  7. Resources On the Federal Vision
  8. James D. Bratt, Dutch Calvinism in Modern America: A History of a Conservative Subculture
  9. ——Abraham Kuyper (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014)
  10. Arie Baars, The Secession of 1834
  11. Hendrik Bouma, Secession, Doleantie, and Union 1834–1892
  12. Michael Brown, ed., Called to Serve: Essays for Elders and Deacons
  13. Boekestein, William and Steven Swets, ed. Faithful and Fruitful: Essays for Elders and Deacons. Grand Rapids: Reformed Fellowship Inc., 2019.
  14. Abraham Kuyper, Centennial Reader
  15. Ron Gleason, Herman Bavinck: Pastor, Churchman, Statesman, and Theologian
  16. Peter S. Heslam, Creating a Christian Worldview: Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism
  17. CRC Position Paper on Women in Office
  18. Dorothy Sayers, Creed Or Chaos.

Assertion of Intellectual Property Rights

The instructor holds the copyright to all course lectures and original course materials. This copyright extends to student notes and summaries that substantially reflect the lectures or original course materials. Course lectures and materials are made available for the personal use of students only and may not be recorded or otherwise distributed (including the publication of student notes or summaries on social media) in any way for commercial or non-commercial purposes without the express written permission of the instructor.

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