Nothing really new to post. I am re-reading, trying to, R. T. Kendall’s book: Calvin And English Calvinism To 1649 for some research that I’m doing. Here is a quote from Kendall that would be consonant with what Evangelical Calvinism is also claiming — or wanting to reassess:
It has been generally assumed that William Perkins and his followers of the Genevan reformer John Calvin and thatΒ theology embraced in the Westminster Confession of Faith was true Calvinism, or, at least, the logical extension of his thought. B. B. Warfield claims that there is nothing in the Westminster Confession ‘which is not to be found expressly set forth in the writings of John Calvin. This assumption has been accepted rather uncritically by most theologians and historians generally and the rank and file of Presbyterians and Baptists particularly. . . . (R. T. Kendall, “Calvin and English Calvinism to 1649,” 1-2)
There is no doubt that certain concepts articulated by the later “Calvinists” can be found in the writings of John Calvin; but, that is not to say that the Westminsters captured all, or even the core of Calvin’s theology. Evangelical Calvinism’s contention is that another thread of Calvinism, developed in Scotland, better understood and developed the emphases of Calvin’s theology. It is here where EC and Kendall agree. There is more to Calvinism, and even Calvin, than Westminster’s articulation captures.