ABSTRACT
The Term 'Reformed' as descriptive of a Christian world communion is equally puzzling to many. Whether we think in terms of doctrines espoused, attitudes to Scripture, ways of worship, church order and polity, the Reformed family as it actually exists is diverse. Confronted by incontestable facts, Reformed Christians may be inclined to grope for some such poetic phrase as 'a richly variegated tapestry'. The Romantic movement's influence, especially when coupled with post-Hegelian immanentist thought, likewise prompted significant changes in the formulation of Reformed theology. The rise of modern biblical scholarship was a further significant factor for theology at large, and for Reformed theology, with its formal elevation of the Bible as the supreme rule of faith and order, in particular. The sad truth is that the Reformed harbour a sectarian demon in their own bosom. It is supremely in the practice of the liturgy of Word and sacrament that theology is anchored for the people of God as a whole.
