Introducing the PRTS Spring 2026 Journal

The faculty of the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary announce the publication of their Spring 2026 journal. This latest issue is again packed with instructional and edifying content--from articles on Reformed doctrine and practice (justification and forgiveness, common grace) to articles on Reformed church confessions and government from a new Reformed denomination in Germany--and from book reviews on Luther's sola teachings to reviews on NT studies and a Reformed scholar's contributions on the Synod of Dordt.

Prof. D. Kuiper, editor of the periodical, provides this summary of the contents in his "editor's notes":

"The April 2026 issue of the Protestant Reformed Theological Journal will make for good reading.

"Do not overlook the last two main articles, Peter Vander Schaaf’s translation of two German documents produced by theologians of the Confederation of Confessing Evangelical Reformed Congregations (BBERG) of Giessen and Osnabruck, Germany. These articles are a fine defense of the necessity and function of confessions and church orders in the twenty-first century. A fuller explanation of these articles appears in another set of editor’s notes on page 66. Read these articles first, if you want!

"Then read the three articles that open this issue, articles that were originally presented as speeches at a recent officebearers’ conference. On September 23, 2025, the Council of Crete Protestant Reformed Church (Crete, IL) hosted an officebearers’ conference on the doctrine of justification. The seminary faculty and students attended as a body, and the faculty agreed that the speeches would be profitably reproduced in our Journal. The article titles—“The Relationship Between Once-for-All Justification and Daily Forgiveness” (by Joshua Engelsma), “Repentance and Remission of Sins Through Faith in Jesus Christ” (by Richard Smit), and “The Necessity of Admonitions in the Preaching” (by Daniel Kleyn)—accurately summarize the articles and whet the readers’ appetite.

"Now passed is the centennial of the Christian Reformed Church’s adoption of its doctrine of common grace in 1924. Readers will remember that John Bolt, emeritus professor of theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, commemorated this centennial by writing a two-part series entitled “The Christian Reformed Synod of 1924: Unfinished Business on Common Grace,” that this series was first published in the Calvin Theological Journal, and that it was then reprinted in our journal. The series was critical of the doctrine of common grace that the CRC developed, especially in its first point, as well as of the method by which the CRC Synod adopted the doctrine. The fourth article in this issue features David Engelsma’s response to Bolt’s articles.

"Six books are reviewed. One is doctrinal and apologetic, aiming Protestant Reformed Theological Journal “to prove the theological and philosophical superiority of the triune God of Christianity over against the absolute unity of the god of Islam” (p.115). Another is doctrinal and historical, examining the doctrines of Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone in Luther’s writings. We thank Marco Barone for his willingness to read and review them.

"Two others regard New Testament studies. One surveys the teachings of Jesus and Paul regarding divorce and remarriage, and the other demonstrates that the four canonical gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) present Jesus as Christ in a qualitatively different way than do the apocryphal gospel accounts.

"The other two are church-historical. Donald Sinnema’s collected writings regarding the Synod of Dordt, and the second edition of a book that introduces the reader to many Puritan writers and their writings, make for good reading.

"As winter has transitioned into spring, you will likely not read next to a fireplace any time soon. So read on the deck, after supper! And as you read, may your knowledge be increased, your faith strengthened, and your hope and godliness revived."