354 - Probing the Reformed Tradition: Historical Studies in Honor of Edward A. Dowey, Jr.

Probing the Reformed Tradition: Historical Studies in Honor of Edward A. Dowey, Jr.
By Elsie Anne McKee and Brian G. Armstrong, eds.
Louisville, Westminister/John Knox, 1989. 461 pp. $27.95.

As a person nurtured in the Reformed tradition and a teacher of Reformation studies, I welcome this collection of essays by respected scholars from around the world. Twenty-one studies, ranging from the twelfth to the nineteenth century, explore themes and persons related to the Reformed tradition. The expected doctrines (grace, the church) and persons (six essays on Calvin, two on Zwingli) are covered. But Capito, Hungarian reformers, John Wilkins, and James Thornwell also appear; relationships among the Reformers are highlighted; and hermeneutics forms the largest concentration of essays (five). A biographical note and a bibliography of Dowey's works form an Appendix. The Ganoczy, McKee, Kingdon, Deason, and Gerrish essays are excellent. Only one essay is written by a woman (McKee) and not one of the essays even mentions women in relation to the Reformed tradition. These essays expand our awareness of the scope of the Reformed tradition and clarify some of its key points, but most do not probe the tradition critically, that is, they do not raise questions about its identity, distinctiveness, peculiar problems, or continuity.

Mary Potter Engel
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
New Brighton, Minn.