What is Reformed theology?

Last week I posted THIS invitation to dialogue on "Reformed charismatics". I received a good number of comments from a variety of readers--thank you all so much for taking the time--and was asked by one reader to define a few terms. In this post I'd like to focus on "Reformed theology". I'll devote a post to the other terms in the coming days. :-)

What is Reformed theology?

"Reformed Particulars: Presupposes God's Word alone as our ultimate authority. It stresses the sovereignty of God, that is, His reign over all things, meticulously determining (Eph 1:11) all that comes to pass(i.e. God is never taken by surprise). Emphasizes a Christ-Centered proclamation of the gospel, that salvation is wholly of God, by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone as revealed in the Scripture alone to the Glory of God alone; RT views the Bible as a redemptive-historical organic unfolding of revelation which is structured by three covenants (redemption, works and grace). It goes without saying that those in the Reformed Tradition hold to the doctrines of grace (the five points of Calvinism), man's helpless condition apart from Christ, the necessity of evangelism and the work of the Holy Spirit who (monergistically) quickens the dead to life through the preaching of the word as God turning their heart of stone to flesh, and opening their eyes to the excellencies of the gospel (uniting them to Christ). In other words, RT stresses the way the objective, written Word together with the inner, supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit work together. For the Word without the illumination of the Holy Spirit remains a closed book. We (the church) cast forth the seed of the gospel and the Holy Spirit germinates it, so to speak, with the blood of Christ bringing forth life in people from every nation, tribe, language, and people (Rev 14:6) . RT traces its historical and theological lineage back to the theology of Christ, Paul, Augustine and to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century."

"Reformation Theology should be primarily considered around a biblical zeal to reform the church. To be Reformed is to continually look to aligning one’s self or the church at large to the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Reforming does not mean, however, that we discard the fundamental doctrines of the “Reformed Faith” in order to continue “reforming” our theology. It refers to defining theology more clearly in the process of understanding the will of God. The opposite of this would be to remove doctrines that sit as foundational to the Reformed perspective in order to make new strides in understanding revelation...We would not throw away the doctrine of Christology to make room for a new “Jesus Ethic.” Rather, we would further define what always exists in the basic formulae of Reformed Theology in this manner. As a result, our Christology would become more precise, not new. This is semper reformanda. Departing from Reformed orthodoxy is moving into a new teaching or doctrine not aligned with the classic Reformed Tradition."

For additional reading check out these links:

Reformation Theology

Tim Challis posted THIS on his blog

Monergism.com offers links to THESE articles under the topic of "Reformed Theology"

Wikipedia offers THIS,

A few who teach Reformed theology today are; R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur and Al Mohler.