The Covenant of Works

Reviews / Votes

Fesko has produced an instructive survey of the covenant of works within the Reformed tradition that reveals not only the exegetical moorings of the doctrine for early modern theologians but also the nexus of theological realities that are bound up with it...I hope Fesko's work aids in disabusing long held and wrongheaded tropes about Reformed orthodoxy and, in turn, renders a now 'strange' doctrine once again familiar to the Reformed consciousness. * Phillip Hussey, Covenant Theological Seminary, Saint Louis, MO, USA, Journal of Reformed Theology * this book offers a clear and compelling argument, covers a remarkable range of historical ground, and treats an important theological topic in a surprisingly accessible way. Its impressive scope not only introduces the reader to some significant but less well-known Reformed theologians but qualifies it as a handy, if topically focused, primer to the historyof Reformed thought as a whole. * Stephen Hampton, Church History * Dr. Fesko gives us in a learned and accessible style an insightful overview of the sources and the history of the covenant as the central theme in biblical and reformed theology. This book will for long be the standard work on this fascinating doctrine. * Herman Selderhuis, Director Refo500 at Theological University of Apeldoorn * By drawing together an array of exegetical and confessional sources, Dr. Fesko traces the historical development in federal theology in various stages and points throughout the early modern period, demonstrating its foundational importance for subsequent doctrinal formulations among Reformed and Presbyterian theologians. This insightful work illustrates not only the integral position of the covenant of works in Reformed thought but also how its function in Reformed theology shaped generations of theologians and theological debates into the present day. * Dr. Todd Rester, Associate Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary * Despite appearing in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the doctrine of the covenant of works is both less studied and more criticized than many other doctrines. In this important book, Fesko sympathetically traces the fortunes of the covenant of works from the sixteenth-century to the present. Fesko makes a compelling case that the doctrine has roots in both early modern exegesis and doctrinal elements prior to the Reformation. * David Sytsma, author of Richard Baxter and the Mechanical Philosophers *