Dr. Todd M. Rester, associate professor of church history at Westminster, gave the keynote address at the "Reformation and Society" symposium, a collaboration between WTS and Hillsdale College departments of English, history, philosophy, and religion.
In the lecture, titled "Daniel Tossanus and the Stages of Reformation," Dr. Rester considered the question: What is a true and necessary Reformation, and who ought to undertake such a task? One pastor and theologian from the early modern period, Daniel Tossanus Sr. (1541–1602), argued in 1597 that the Reformation of the Church was necessary and ongoing, involving various stages and aspects renewing its doctrine, its worship and rituals, its polity and governance, and the godliness of its leaders and members. After fleeing religious persecution in France and surviving intolerance in Germany, Tossanus served as a court chaplain to an imperial elector, a pastor of refugees, and a theologian in the academy. Tossanus sets forth a vision for doctrinal purity, ecclesial vitality, pastoral care, and societal reform in tumultuous times.
Dr. Rester's talk was the innaugural Bartow-Spurgeon lecture at the very first annual "Reformation and Society" event. Other presentation topics included Plato in the Reformation(s), John Milton: Poet of Reformation, and New England & Reformation in the 17th Century.
Participants included--among many others--Westminster President Peter Lillback, David Filson (President's Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology), Mark David Hall, Nathan Nocchi (managing editor of Westminster Magazine), Matt Gaetano (associate professor of history at Hillsdale) Eric Hutchinson (associate professor of classics at Hillsdale) Dr. Sarah Morgan Smith, and Patrick Timmis (assistant professor of English at Hillsdale).
A publication of the addresses titled "Reformation and Society," published by Westminster Seminary Press, will come out next year.