Unity and Continuity in Covenantal Thought: a Study in the Reformed Tradition to the Westminster Assembly

by Andrew A. Woolsey

Over the years, some scholars have argued for competing streams of covenantal thought within the reformed tradition. For instance, some have pitted Calvin against the Calvinists, some have tried to detect unilateral and bilateral approaches to the covenant, and still others have set federalism against predestinarianism. In this landmark survey of covenant theology, Andrew A. Woolsey assesses the reformed tradition and finds that the development of diverse formulas actually maintained substantial agreement on the basic contours of covenantal thought. Unity and Continuity in Covenantal Thought examines the historiographical problems related to the interpretation of the Westminster Standards, delving into the issue of covenantal thought in the Westminster Standards, followed by an exhaustive analysis of nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholarship on covenant. After surveying patristic and medieval backgrounds, Woolsey's study looks in detail at a representative list of writers who contributed to the early development of federal thought (Luther, Oecolampadius, Zwingli, Bullinger, Calvin, and Beza). The final part of his study explores the early orthodox approach to covenant and the rise of emphasis on the covenants of works and grace in the thought of Heidelberg theologians (Ursinus and Olevianus), the English Puritans (Cartwright, Fenner, and Perkins), and Scottish divines (Knox, Rollock, and Howie). Here is a substantial contribution to the study of reformed thought on covenant from its reformation origins to the more detailed formulations of the early to mid-seventeenth century. Table of
Part Setting the Scene
1. Historical Background to the Westminster Assembly
2. Sources and Covenant Doctrine of the Westminster Standards
3. Historiography of Covenantal The Nineteenth Century
4. Historiography of Covenantal The Twentieth Century
Part Forerunners
5. The Covenant in the Church Fathers
6. The Covenant in Medieval Thought
7. The Covenant in the Early Reformers
Part The Genevan Influence
8. John Calvin on the Unity of the Covenant
9. John Calvin on Covenant, Law and Grace
10. John Calvin on Covenantal Conditions
11. John Calvin on Covenant and Predestination
12. John Conclusion
13. Theodore Beza and the Covenant
Part Post-Reformation Development
14. The Heidelberg Zacharius Ursinus
15. The Heidelberg Caspar Olevianus
16. The Puritan Thomas Cartwright and Dudley Fenner
17. The Puritan William Perkins
18. The Scottish John Knox
19. The Scottish Robert Rollock and Robert Howie
20. Conclusion

Genres: Theology

672 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2012

Reviews

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a dissertation. It reads like a dissertation. But it's a well argued and useful resource. Covenant theology is present from the beginning of the Reformed tradition, and fairly uniform. The old stories about Calvin not holding to it, or about the Puritans inventing it to reintroduce legalism, etc. are nonsense.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "Unity and Continuity in Covenantal Thought," Andrew Woolsey aimed to prove that Westminster Covenant Theology was historically grounded and not novel to the formation of the Westminster Confession. Not only did he seek to prove this by looking backward (pre-Westminster) but also forward (post-Westminster).

Part of the difficulty in assessing this work is that the printing was delayed (due to reasons explained in the Foreword). Originally made in 1988 and printed in 2012. Unfortunately, that means some of the scholarly work is outdated from its printing. Which is apparent on his chapter overviewing the 20th century.

This doesn't mean that Woolsey's work is not academic. Every chapter has over 100 citations, and a critical analysis of each chapter is given. This is an impressive feat considering the time at which this work was accomplished—before software conveniences.

Woolsey accomplished his task impressively, citing early church fathers as clearly being covenant theologians—albeit underdeveloped. Woolsey indicated Zwingli's Covenant theology as being (seemingly) foundational to Covenant theology. Then Woolsey gave an exhaustive treatment to John Calvin to prove that his covenantal thought was embedded within all of his theology. Then Woolsey finished the rest of his work by showing that those who followed the "stream" of Calvin did the same—from Beza to early Puritans.

The weaknesses of Woolsey's "U&C" are twofold. First, the sequencing of chapters could have been improved for better coherence and readability. Woolsey's decision to start with the Assembly of Westminister, aiming to provide context for his thesis with developments post-18th century, might have been more aptly positioned towards the end of this volume. Such a rearrangement would have better complemented his thesis, which sought to underscore the foundational role of Covenant Theology in the Westminister tradition. Secondly, a few of the chapters did not help his thesis. Particularly, Woolsey seemed to have known this when observing Medieval Thought and John Knox. He concluded, in both of these chapters, that (for different reasons) it was difficult to build his case. While I appreciate the intellectual honesty, instead of doing historical revisionism, he could have condensed these chapters into a couple of paragraph in the introduction and provided footnotes to guide the reader to further resources.

Now that this work is in publication, I look forward to reading those who will engage with Woolsey and develop upon (or debate against) his ideas. To those who are looking for "proof" that Covenant Theology is historical and are willing to read a 500-page treatment on the subject, one needs to look no further than Woolsey's "Unity and Continuity in Covenantal Thought."

[Ethan McCarter · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most thorough and in-depth books on the historiography of the doctrine of the covenants for the time period. Woolsey seeks to disprove the idea that there are two strains of covenant theology; one arising from Calvin and Geneva with the other coming from Heidelberg to the British context stemming from Melanchthonian categories and legal emphases. Woolsey traces the covenant doctrine through numerous Reformers and historic figures pre-Westminster including Calvin, Bullinger, Zwingli, Oecolampadius, Olevianus, Beza, Ursinus, Perkins, Knox, and Rollock among others. The work is a tome by every standard definition with a bibliography that's longer than most academic papers. My main quibble with the work is that at this point, 2023, it's a bit antiquated when it comes to historical arguments regarding this debate; I'm mainly getting at the former 20th century debate of Calvin vs. the Calvinists and viewing Barth and Torrance as the main carriers of Calvin's thought into modernity. Since Muller and Post-Reformation Dogmatics, along with many other works done on Post-Reformation theology, this debate has become rather redundant and heavily disproven. In part, this is due to work such as Woolsey's which did disprove much work in the 1940s-60s from Barthian and post-liberal scholars. A thick read, a long read, but well worth the effort for anyone who would think to posit a major dividing line between covenantal theologians simply because they use different terms.