Reformation Journal exists because theology was never meant to belong to a clerical class.
From its earliest days, Protestant Christianity rejected the notion that doctrinal understanding should be restricted to a learned elite. The Reformers did not labor merely to correct Rome’s errors; they labored to place the Word of God—and the right handling of it—back into the life of the ordinary churchman.
Scripture was translated. Catechisms were written. Confessions were published not for scholars alone, but for pastors, fathers, and congregations. Theological seriousness was not viewed as the enemy of accessibility. It was understood to be the necessary condition for a healthy church.
In our own time, that conviction has eroded.
Theological discourse has increasingly retreated into institutional silos—seminaries, academic journals, denominational bureaucracies—often insulated from the churches they are meant to serve. Credentials have multiplied while clarity has diminished. Professional theology has become, at times, disconnected from the life of the local church, and in many cases compromised by institutional pressures, ideological capture, or reputational self-protection.
The result has not been greater unity or maturity, but confusion.
In recent years, the credibility of much of the modern theological establishment has been significantly weakened. Public controversies, exposed abuses, and repeated failures of accountability—many documented by independent outlets such as Protestia—have revealed that formal credentials alone are no guarantee of faithfulness, courage, or doctrinal clarity.
Yet the answer is not anti-intellectualism.
The solution to corrupted scholarship is not less theology, but better theology—recovered theology—rooted in Scripture, accountable to the church, and accessible to those for whom it was always intended.
Reformation Journal was founded to serve that end.
This journal seeks to bring serious theological discussion back into the hands of pastors, elders, and informed laymen—without sacrificing rigor, and without surrendering the conversation to academic gatekeeping. We aim to publish work that engages Scripture carefully, interacts honestly with the tradition, and addresses contemporary questions with precision rather than slogans.
Our commitment is not to novelty, nor to institutional respectability, but to truth.
We do not reject scholarship. We reject scholarship detached from the church.
We do not oppose learning. We oppose learning that shields itself from scrutiny by appeals to status rather than substance.
The Protestant Reformation did not produce a priesthood of scholars replacing a priesthood of priests. It produced a church in which doctrine was once again the responsibility of the whole body—taught by qualified men, tested by Scripture, confessed publicly, and understood by the people.
Reformation Journal exists to recover that vision.
We publish theology meant to be read, challenged, debated, and applied—not hidden behind paywalls or confined to professional guilds. Our goal is not to imitate the institutions of the past century, but to reclaim the spirit that animated the sixteenth.
If the church is to be reformed again, it will not be through silence, credentialism, or institutional preservation. It will be through the patient work of truth made plain.
That work belongs not to an elite few, but to the church itself.
