Constructive Calvinism

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Introducing constructive Calvinism

The term constructive Calvinism (and its correlatives revisionist Calvinism and orthodox Calvinism) was coined amid the doctoral research into the doctrine of adoption. It arose from the evidence of the doctrine in the history of the Reformed tradition. The evidence points in two directions:

• To a theological continuity. This continuity runs contra the view which pits Calvin against the Calvinists. This view, a revisionist-Calvinist perspective, sees in the Reformed tradition a seismic rupture. Constructive Calvinism argues by contrast that there is an overwhelming theological continuity within the Reformed tradition.
• To a methodological discontinuity. This discontinuity runs contra the virtual equation of Calvin and the Calvinists. This equation, an orthodox-Calvinist perspective, is a conservative reaction to the neo-orthodox pitting of Calvin against the Calvinists. Constructive Calvinism argues, by contrast, that the view places too much reliance on Calvin as the source of Reformed theology and assumes too much of a uniformity of theological method and content with the tradition.

As a conservative mediating perspective, constructive Calvinism offers a more realistic view of the Reformed tradition and a more effective defense of it. By rightly conceding the methodological discontinuities within our Reformed heritage, we are better able to speak up for its theology and theological continuities.

Learning more of constructive Calvinism

• For the origin of the term: See Tim J. R. Trumper, “An Historical Study of the Doctrine of Adoption in the Calvinistic Tradition” (Ph.D. Diss.: University of Edinburgh, 2001).
• For the twentieth-century development of constructive Calvinism: See Tim J. R. Trumper, “John Frame’s Methodology: A Case Study in Constructive Calvinism,” in Speaking the Truth in Love: The Theology of John M. Frame, edited by John J. Hughes (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2009), 145–172.
• For the socio-theological dynamics of the Reformed tradition (revisionist, constructive, and orthodox Calvinism).
• For the application of constructive Calvinism to recent or ongoing discussions: See Tim J. R. Trumper, “Covenant Theology and Constructive Calvinism,” Westminster Theological Journal 64 (2002), 387–404, updated in 2024 as “Covenant Theology in Constructive-Reformed Perspective”; Tim J. R. Trumper, When History Teaches Us Nothing: The Recent Reformed Sonship Debate in Context (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2008).

For a broader and more popular introduction to constructive Calvinism, read this introduction (PDF).