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According to its Mission Statement, ������ý is an institution committed to “the Reformed Christian perspective.” Personally, I have been a member of the Christian Reformed Church in North America all my life. Many “In All Things” readers will, no doubt, associate with the Reformed branch of Christianity. Many Christians use the term “Reformed” frequently and consistently, but what does it actually mean to be Reformed? That is a question too broad to answer here, so, for now, we might begin our consideration of the question with two important observations—one a matter of historical fact and the second a theological pondering. First, the Reformed tradition has never been, historically or theologically, one unified whole. Rather, it has always been a diverse, multifaceted tradition within Christianity with many different historical embodiments and theological perspectives. Second, while the denominational splits and infighting may be cause for lament, the variety within the Reformed tradition casts a beautiful vision of the Christ’s body, the church, and the expansiveness of the kingdom of God.

My own research focuses on the Dutch Reformed tradition during the 1500-1600s. Within the field of Reformation studies, scholars have long noted the theological diversity within the “Calvinist” tradition.[1] Though many more could be selected, two examples can suffice to show how fluid the theological and confessional boundaries were in the Reformed tradition. What emerges is a Reformed tradition that was not monolithic but, rather, diverse from its earliest years.

First, we can look at Calvin himself. Despite some contemporary portrayals of Calvin as a rigid theologian unwilling and unable to work with others, Calvin maintained relationships with numerous other Protestant theologians. For example, Calvin had great respect for the Lutheran theologian Philip Melanchthon, with whom he was in frequent contact. Calvin’s ecumenical efforts included theological bridge-building with Lutherans. Most notably, Calvin signed a version of the Lutheran Augsburg Confession, an indication of his willingness to work with Lutherans like Melanchthon to come to a common understanding regarding the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. In the same way, Calvin worked to bridge the divide between himself and Zwinglians (followers of the early Protestant Ulrich Zwingli) regarding the Lord’s Supper by working with Zwingli’s successor Heinrich Bullinger to write a document called the Consensus Tigurinus. Calvin himself, then, did not see Reformed understandings of the Lord’s Supper as fundamentally opposed to other Protestants’ articulations of the Lord’s Supper and worked to find unity within their diversity of theological viewpoints.

A second example comes in the events and theological views associated with the 1618-1619 Synod of Dordt. At first glance, the produced Canons of Dordt might service as evidence of theological unity. However, research into the proceedings of the debates as well as the theologians who attended the Synod have shown that opinions on a number of theological issues were much more varied. For example, on the theologically dense topic of hypothetical universalism (related to the Canons articulation of Limited Atonement), a Reformed theologian such as John Davenant argued at and after the Synod for a differently nuanced understanding. The Reformed delegates at Dordt were far from one mind about all the theological issues discussed at the Synod, including those who signed on to the Canons despite their differences of opinion.

The Synod of Dordt also produced a Church Order that regulated the life of Dutch Reformed churches. Again, the Synod might appear to have brought about a unified vision of what the Reformed Church would be like in the Dutch Republic. However, even here the presence of numerous perspectives within the tradition is clear. While some Dutch provinces, such as Gelderland, Utrecht, and Overijssel, accepted the Dortian Church Order, other Dutch provinces, including Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland, did not accept the Church Order. Notably, these disputes about church order had real impact on how churches conducted themselves but did not lead to immediate splits within the overall Dutch Reformed Church in the Dutch Republic.

Of course, since the 1600s the splits within Reformed traditions have continued, both in theological understandings and denominational structures. One might well wonder, then, if speaking of “the Reformed tradition” in the singular is even accurate or helpful. Perhaps we would be better served to speak of aligning with or being a part of “Reformed traditions.”

For many Christians, Reformed Christians, and non-Christians alike, the diversity within the Christian tradition and, more specifically, within the Reformed tradition(s) can be cause for unease, evidence of the Church’s impurity or even a polemical tool used by skeptics to disprove the truth of Christianity. Certainly, theological disputes and denominational splits have caused a great deal of heartache and are reason for lament. There is also the legitimate concern that the wide array of theological opinions, be it in Christianity as a whole or within the Reformed tradition(s), leads to theological imprecision or even error. Diversity of practices and theological viewpoints within Reformed churches undoubtedly present challenges.

Nonetheless, Reformed theology itself, given its understanding of God’s inscrutability and human finitude and sin, recognizes that our understandings of God will always remain incomplete. The multitude of ways of understanding the finer details of theology and of practicing the Christian faith within a Christian tradition are not always, then, reasons for suspicion or despair. Instead, given the expansiveness and depths of God’s creation, including the diversity of how human beings encounter God and God’s revelation, Reformed Christians may rightly celebrate the plurality of Christian traditions and the various strands of Christian theology. Celebrating the wide array of Christian expressions can help us cultivate theological humility, recognizing we may be seeing things only dimly as in a mirror, and foster a spirit of curiosity and hospitality as we seek to learn from the strengths and insights of other Christian traditions. In John 17 Christ prays for His Church to be one, as He and the Father are one. Even within the unity of our Triune God there are three persons—an ineffable sort of diversity in unity. A diversity of Christian traditions within the unity of the Christian faith, including within the Reformed tradition itself, can open us up to the depths of the Christian faith and lead us to love more deeply God and one another.

Most scholars prefer the term “Reformed” because “Calvinists” theologians frequently do not align or go beyond Calvin’s own theology, which circles back to the point of the theological diversity of the Reformed tradition.