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Witsius was a pastor and theologian who wrote as part of the Scholastic era of Protestant orthodoxy, and more specifically during the High Orthodox years. But what does that mean for Witsius to be a scholastic? For many, “scholastic” is a pejorative term that brings to mind arid, rigid intellectualism devoid of biblical warmth and piety. Clearly, that is not the case for Witsius. Futher, if Witsius falls into the category of scholastic, doesn’t that lump him in with other theologians termed scholastics, such as Ockham, Aquinas, and even Arminius?
Understanding what Scholasticism is and is not is thus vitally important to understanding Witsius’ writing and the historical theology that seeks to understand theologians such as Witsius. Rev. Dr. John V. Fesko helps us to understand a clearer definition of scholasticism not as beliefs, but as method:
Strictly speaking, scholasticism is not a set of beliefs or doctrines but rather a theological method. Scholasticism is a method of doing theology that sets out to achieve theological precision through the exegesis of Scripture, an examination of how doctrine has been historically defined throughout church history, and how doctrine is expounded in contemporary debate. Scholastic theological works bear several identifying characteristics:
1. Presenting an issue in the form of a thesis or question.
2. Ordering the thesis or question suitably for discussion or debate, often identifying the ‘state of the question.’
3. Noting a series of objections to the assumed correct answer.
4. Offering a formulation of an answer or an elaboration of the thesis with due respect to all known sources of information and to the rules of rational discourse, followed by a full response to all objections (Muller, “Scholasticism and Orthodoxy,” 4).
So those theologians in the Scholastic method may vary on doctrinal formulations (Romish vs. Reformed vs. Lutheran vs. Arminian, etc) but are united by their method. Fesko notes, “Scholasticism is simply a way of doing theology and it does not determine theological content.”
You can read Fesko’s full article here, as a great introduction to what is Reformed Scholasticism. There are several other resources for discovering more of Reformed Scholasticism, and we’ll wade into the deep end of this discipline in a later post.
This is helpful, and I think it can be easily demonstrated by a comparison between Witsius’s “Economy of the Covenants” on the one hand, with, say, Meredith Kline’s “Kingdom Prologue” or Geerhardus Vos’s “Biblical Theology” on the other. All three authors are engaging in an historical survey of God’s covenantal revelation, but Witsius is using a multi-point style which is marked off by roman numerals, whereas Kline and Vos are using much more fluid and even narrative prose.