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.

Ninth and finally, there is an emphasis upon simplicity. "Calvin . . . opposed all redundancy. He was the enemy of the ostentatious, the pompous, the contrived, the needlessly complicated. His style was plain and direct. He opposed needless spending and consumption, but he also opposed other forms of waste. Simplicity is closely related to Calvin's emphasis on authenticity and sincerity. Every activity or device that covers up reality must be rejected" (p. 87).

"Simplicity if very close to sincerity. It clears away the ornaments, the ostentations, the contrivances, and pretenses that obscure the real" (p. 88).

How can we best embody this 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.