Historically, Presbyterian and Reformed Churches have embodied a distinctive way of being the Christian community. Dr. John H. Leith, professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, identified nine motifs or themes of this ethos.

Fifth, there is an emphasis upon the life of the mind as the service of God. If our ministers do not study the Scriptures, the gospel, and the Christian faith, they cannot possibly preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and build up the church of Jesus Christ. They may do other things, but they cannot do these.

"From the beginning the Reformed sponsored learning as Christian duty. They placed value upon the skills of language, reading, writing, and speaking. They also prized clarity, logic, and precision in mental procedure. They valued the ability to analyze a problem and to formulate an answer. The sermon was an intellectual exercise and a mental discipline that had a significant cultural impact" (p. 81).

Without this, we cannot be Reformed. And this is not merely an eccentricity of being Reformed. Indeed, without this, we can hardly be Christian. Without this, we cannot fight for a good and true understanding and interpretation of the nature, authority, and content of the Scriptures as the word of the living God.

How can we best embody this emphasis in the lives of the churches we serve today?

To read more, see John H. Leith, An Introduction to the Reformed Tradition: A Way of Being the Christian Community, revised edition (Atlanta: John Knox, 1981), Chapter 3, "The Ethos of the Reformed Tradition," pp. 70-88.

For more information, click on this link to Westminster John Knox Press:

An Introduction to the Reformed Tradition.

To learn more about Dr. Leith, click on this link to the Foundation website, including a memorial, a selected bibliography, and a link to audio recordings of thirty-seven of his sermons and lectures:

John Haddon Leith.