This useful volume harmonizes the Belgic Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort, the Second Helvetic Confession, and the Westminster Confession, and Shorter and Larger Catechisms. It is divided into subjects-theology, anthropology, Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology-and presents the texts in parallel columns. The actual harmonization is preceded by a brief but illuminating historical introduction to these documents and is followed by a carefully annotated bibliography that is designed to help both beginning and advanced students to delve more deeply into the topics these confessions address. The bibliography, divided according to the 37 articles of the Belgic Confession (e.g., “The Doctrine of God,” “The Authority of Scripture,” “The Deity of the Holy Spirit,” “Divine Providence,” “Original Sin,” “Justice and Mercy in Christ,” “Sanctification and Holiness,” “The True and the False Church Compared,” “Ministers, Elders, and Deacons,” “Church and State”), comments on the best Reformed works written from the sixteenth century onward. It covers only books available in English and suggests both where readers should begin and the order in which they can proceed. It alone warrants purchasing this book.
Mark Talbot is Associate Professor of Philosophy emeritus at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL. He is currently writing a four-volume series on Suffering and the Christian Life, with the first two volumes already published: When the Stars Disappear: Help and Hope from Stories of Suffering in Scripture and Give Me Understanding That I May Live: Situating Our Suffering within God’s Redemptive Plan.
