Godfrey that is. But actually, it’s also about Aimee and Updike. It in this case is Always Reformed: Essays in Honor of W. Robert Godfrey, the festschrift to honor Westminster California’s lovely and talented president (just released and available at the WSC bookstore). As readers may wonder after perusing the table of contents, when was the last time that a festschrift included chapters not only on Aimee Semple McPherson and pneumatology, but also on Reformed dogmatics and the Lord’s Supper? This is a book sure to appeal to Wesleyans and Reformed.
See what’s inside:
Preface: Our Man Godfrey—R. Scott Clark
I. Historical
1. Christology and Pneumatology: John Calvin, the Theologian of the Holy Spirit—Sinclair B. Ferguson
2. Make War No More? The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of J. Gresham Machen’s Warrior Children—D. G. Hart
3. God as Absolute and Relative, Necessary, Free, and Contingent: the d Intra-Ad Extra Movement of Seventeenth-Century Reformed Language About God—Richard A. Muller
4. “Magic and Noise:†Reformed Christianity in Sister’s America—R. Scott Clark
5. Karl Barth and Modern Protestantism: The Radical Impulse—Ryan Glomsrud
II. Theological
6. Reformed and Always Reforming—Michael S. Horton
7. Calvin, Kuyper, and “Christian Culture”—David VanDrunen
8. History and Exegesis: The Interpretation of Romans 7:14–25 from Erasmus to Arminius—Joel E. Kim
9. John Updike’s Christian America—John R. Muether
III. Ecclesiastical
10. The Reformation, Luther, and the Modern Struggle for the Gospel—R. C. Sproul
11. The Reformation of the Supper—Kim Riddlebarger
12. Preaching the Doctrine of Regeneration in a Christian Congregation— Hywel R. Jones
13. Integration, Disintegration, and Reintegration: A Preliminary History of the United Reformed Churches in North America—Cornelis P. Venema
14. Epilogue: The Whole Counsel of God: Courageous Calvinism for a New Century—W. Robert Godfrey
Old Life 
I’ll have to read this – there are some cryptic titles here that sound intriguing, not the least of which is “John Updike’s Christian America.” Having made the transformation from Penn. German/Lutheran to liberal social-gospel evangelicalism, Updike is hardly a poster child for confessionalism, so there must hidden meaning behind the title. In fact, his writings tend to mock traditional Protestants.
And from what I’ve read (and heard) of Godfrey, he is very deserving of honor. May his great work continue for many more years.
LikeLike
Hmm, I’d rather order a copy from WTS (east) bookstore. After all, all three Presidents of WSC (all 3 named Bob), started out at WTS/East. I have good memories and high regard for all three of them. Well, California here I come, right back where I started from!
LikeLike