In his excellent book Reformed Theology in America, David F. Wells distinguishes five groups that might be said in some sense to follow Reformed theology. He lists them as “The Princeton Theology,” “The Westminster School,” “The Dutch Schools,” “The Southern Tradition,” and “Neoorthodoxy.”
There are many other Reformed groups however that could be distinguished. Some of these more closely follow John Calvin while others are further afield.
To make sense of the scene, I’ve listed the following groups of Reformed (or Reformed-ish) Theology in chronological order by their approximate founding and have listed who I think are the top five authors in each tradition. As I am not particularly knowledgeable on some of the groups, I welcome suggestions for improvement.
My own influences come from the Clarkians, Calvinist Reformers, Princetonians, PRCA, and L’Abri authors in that order. I have not read any 1689 Federalists or Dooyeweerdians. And I am seriously opposed to much of the Neoorthodox and Federal Vision literature.
Calvinst Reformers
John Calvin (1509-1564)
John Knox (1513-1572)
Jerome Zanchius (1516-1590)
Theodore Beza (1519-1605)
Francis Turretin (1623-1687)
Puritans
William Perkins (1558-1602)
Thomas Goodwin (1600-1679)
John Owen (1616-1683)
John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
1689 Federalists
Benjamin Keach (1640-1704)
James Haldane (1768-1851)
Richard Barcellos
Pascal Denault
Samuel Renihan
Common-Sense Realists
Thomas Reid (1710-1796)
Adam Ferguson (1723-1816)
James Beattie (1735-1803)
Dugald Stewart (1753-1828)
James McCosh (1881-1894)
Princetonians
Charles Hodge (1797-1878)
A. A. Hodge (1823-1886)
B. B. Warfield (1851-1921)
J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)
Southern Presbyterians
James Henley Thornwell (1812-1862)
Benjamin Palmer (1818-1902)
Robert Lewis Dabney (1820-1898)
John Girardeau (1825-1898)
Morton Smith (1923-2017)
Reformed Baptists
Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Carl F. H. Henry (1913-2003)
Neo-Calvinists
Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920)
Herman Bavinck (1854-1921)
Auguste Lecerf (1872-1943)
Louis Berkhof (1873-1957)
PRCA
Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965)
Herman Hanko
David Engelsma
Neo-Orthodox
Karl Barth (1886-1968)
Emil Brunner (1889-1966)
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
Van Tillians
Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987)
John Frame (1939-)
Lane Tipton
Clarkians
Gordon Clark (1902-1985)
Robert Reymond (1932-2013)
John Robbins (1948-2008)
Cal Beisner
Sean Gerety
Bible Presbyterians
J. Oliver Buswell (1895-1977)
Allan MacRae (1902-1997)
Carl McIntire (1906-2002)
R. Laird Harris (1911-2008)
Dooyeweerdians
Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977)
H. Evan Runner (1916-2002)
Al Wolters (1942-)
Roy Clouser
Danie Strauss
L’Abri
Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984)
Chuck Colson (1931-2012)
Os Guiness (1941-)
Jerram Barrs (1945-)
Nancy Pearcey (1952-)
Theonomists
Rousas J. Rushdoony (1916-2001)
Gary North (1942-)
Joe Morecraft (1944-)
Greg Bahnsen (1948-1995)
Reformed Epistemologists
William Alston (1921-2009)
Alvin Plantinga (1932-)
Nicholas Wolterstorff (1932-)
Kelly James Clark (1956-)
Ligonier
R. C. Sproul (1939-2017)
John Gerstner (1914-1996)
Steven Lawson
Steven Nichols
Keith Mathison
Federal Visionists
Norman Shepherd
Douglas Wilson
Peter Leithart
James Jordan
Rich Lusk
Two-Kingdom Theology
D. G. Hart
Michael Horton
David VanDrunen
Carl Trueman
6 thoughts on “Reformed Author Groups”
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I see you like your spaghetti with angel hair pasta Doug! 🙂
Thought provoking post! Some comments:
Starting with my Baptist brothers, I would see James Haldane as a progenitor of the Evangelical Baptists more so than the Strict Confessionalists (see the excellent study “The Search for a Common Identity: The Origins of the Baptist Union of Scotland 1800-1870” by Brian Talbot for the three (Calvinist) strains of Baptist Theology). This brings me to your categories of “1689 Federalists” and “Reformed Baptists”. I would probably call them London Baptists- Sam Renihan, Keach, Barcellos, Reformed Baptist- Sam Waldron, James White and Evangelical Baptists- Spurgeon, Al Mohler, Mark Dever.
What do you consider the difference between Common Sense Realists, Princetonians and Ligonier? R.C. Sproul told me in personal conversation that he considered himself a Scottish Realist and considered Warfield in that tradition.
Where would you place Van Til’s (other) arch foe J. Oliver Buswell Jr.?
I would like to see a Zwinglian (Lord’s Supper) Reformed category.
Where would you put Scott Clark? Van Tillian or Two Kingdom?
I was glad to see you put Robert Reymond in the Clarkian category despite your hesitations!
I know very little about the Baptists, so I appreciate your comment. I’ll try to edit this sometime later.
I think you are right to see a lot of continuity between the Common Sense Realists, Princeton, and Ligonier. Delineating their differences would take some work.
I could just probably create a Bible Presbyterian group that Buswell would fit well in.
I’m not sure where R. Scott Clark fits better.
Nice job. Thanks for sharing.
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Geerhardus Vos? Princeton?
Yes, mostly I think. He also has Dutch influences I believe.
For baptist your missing John Gill… I believe Clark drew a fair amount from him 🙂