Semper Reformanda

The New Vineyard is a webspace that upholds and promotes biblical Christianity as found in the theology articulated (especially in the great Confessions) during the Protestant Reformation by all the Calvinistic denominations. We believe that the core truths discovered and proclaimed by the Calvinistic Reformers are as relevant and true today as they were at the very beginning of the Protestant Reformation. This relevance is summed up in the phrase "Semper Reformanda."

Semper Reformanda means “always reforming.” It was a phrase often heard during the Reformation, naturally enough. But it is not a term one hears (or sees) much these days. Granted, there are a few websites with the phrase in their names or titles but most of these sites are nothing else than presentations of more or less universally accepted reformed doctrine; the same doctrine that, during the first and second Reformations, seemed so radical and—to many—threatening. And indeed, the theological ideas and doctrines of the Reformation were radical, but not because of their newness or novelty. They were radical because of their unflinching honesty and faithfulness to scripture. This becomes obvious when we consider the five Solas of the Reformation: sola Scriptura (scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), sola fide (faith alone) and solo Deo gloria (glory to God alone). But the phrase “semper reformanda” is one that has fallen on rather hard times, especially among the more conservative congregations of the broadly Reformed or Calvinistic tradition (mostly variants of the Dutch Reformed or Presbyterian denominations).

You may say that you know of many Reformed congregations that seem to be reforming still; they have stopped exclusive Psalmody and have added modern songs along with hymns; they have started using the latest technologies to give exciting multimedia presentations to their congregations; they may even have “praise bands” who get every member in the congregation up and moving to the rhythm of the “contemporary Christian music” (CCM). You may hear sermons from the aisle instead of the pulpit. But this is not reformation, it is worldly window dressing. We are not trying to define semper reformanda as giving up everything that has gone before and embracing only the new, the unproven, and even the clearly unbiblical. No. We maintain that any teaching or practice that takes us away from such basic biblical principles as are found in the Five Solas or the Five Points of Calvinism is actually harmful to true biblical Christianity and should be avoided.

Rather, semper reformanda describes a posture or condition where no deviation from biblical truth is considered but which is an active and committed living-out of the law and the gospel in the contemporary context. It is a perspective that seeks to make the church, her confessions, her worship and her underlying purposes relevant without in any way reconciling these to the world or sin. Semper reformanda recognizes that the gospel is revolutionary and cannot be reconciled to the world. Nevertheless, the Kingdom of God can and must be made available to all. This is accomplished by following the biblical pattern in ways that remain faithful to God’s word in Spirit and truth, and yet are accessible to people in our own generation. It is an attitude of faithfulness to the spirit of the law and the gospel and not to the letter alone. This is not easy. It is risky. But then so is the gospel itself. Being a Christian is a tight-rope walk over a deep chasm, but it is also a walk in which there can be no final failure for the believer, the born-from-above.

This website is a humble attempt at semper reformanda. Let us praise God together.