A year of time-tested theology: the Bavinck reading plan

The new year is nearly upon us. With all the different ways to invest our time, few are as valuable for us as reading works of time-tested theology. One of those works at the top of my list? Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics.

Several years ago, thanks to the tools in Logos Bible Software, I put together reading plans for each volume of Bavinck’s magnum opus. These plans allow readers to complete each volume over about five weeks, give or take. They are dated, but if you’re starting at a different time of year, you can ignore those (and maybe I’ll update them eventually).

What does the first volume look like?

Here’s what the plan for volume one, Prolegomena, looks like:

• January 1: Editor’s Introduction (optional)
• January 2: Editor’s Introduction (optional) – Dogma, Dogmatics, and Theology
• January 5: The Content of Theology – Apostles, Bishops, and the Return to Scripture
• January 6: The Turn to the Subject – The Impact of Philosophy
• January 7: The Foundation and Task of Prolegomena – Christian Theology and/ or Philosophy: Two Ways
• January 8: Dogma and Theology in the East – Chapter 5: Lutheran Dogmatics
• January 9: The Beginning of Lutheran Theology – The Beginnings of Reformed Theology
• January 12: Reformed Scholasticism – Theological Prolegomena
• January 13: Foundations of Thought – Objective and Subjective Religion
• January 14: Piety and Worship – The Whole Person
• January 15: The Origin of Religion – Nineteenth- Century “Recovery” of Revelation
• January 16: Mediating Theology – Chapter 11: Special Revelation
• January 19: Modes of Revelation – To Fallen Humanity
• January 20: As Triune God – The Reformational View
• January 21: Rationalistic Naturalism – The Witness of the New Testament
• January 22: The Testimony of the Church – Differing Views of Inspiration
• January 23: Organic Inspiration – Descriptive and Prescriptive Authority
• January 26: Moral Authority Only? – The Conflict with Rome
• January 27: Tradition and Papal Infallibility – Religion is Always Concrete
• January 28: Theology’s Distinct Method – The Speculative Method
• January 29: Triumph of Reason: Hegel – Albrecht Ritschl and Moral Religion
• January 30: The Search for the Unity of Believing and Knowing – Two Kinds of Faith
• February 2: Faith as Intellectual Assent – Scripture is Self-Authenticating
• February 3: Divine and Human Logos – Faith’s Knowledge
• February 4: Dogma and Greek Philosophy – end of volume one

A couple of things you might be wondering:

Why no weekends? I intentionally limited this to weekdays only for a couple of reasons. First, I want to make sure everyone who participates has time to adequately process what they’re reading each week. I don’t want anyone to just consume Reformed Dogmatics, I was to think about it. Second, I felt it important to build in some buffer. I don’t want anyone to get caught in is the “desperate catch up” trap if we get behind in our reading (which shouldn’t be an issue, but you never know).

Where are the page numbers? Each entry shows the section heads where we’ll be starting, rather than a page number as this is built using the editions available through Logos Bible Software. If you’re following along with a hard copy edition, it works out to reading roughly 30-ish pages a day.

How long will it take to read all four volumes? The way the plan is structured, we’ll have completed the four volumes by May 19th. This is a fairly comfortable pace.

How can I get a copy of these plans? Copies of the plans for each volume are available in PDF format. You can download the PDF versions here.

Enjoy!