Quotes from John B. Webster

Theology is not free speech but holy speech. It is set apart for and bound to its object - that is, the gospel - and to the fellowship of the saints in which the gospel is heard as divine judgement and consolation-that is, the Church.

Revelation is purposive. Its end is not simply divine self-display, but the overcoming of human opposition, alienation and pride, and their replacement by knowledge, love and fear of God. In short: revelation is reconciliation.

Revelation is not to be thought of as the communication of hidden truths, as if in revelation God were lifting the veil on something other than his own self and indicating it to us. Revelation is divine self-presentation; its content is identical with God. To speak of revelation is simply to point to God's speaking of his own most holy name.

The particular task of theology is to attest the truth of the gospel in the wake of Christ's own self-attestation. Theology edifies by testifying to the gospel as promise and claim.

dogmatics is that delightful activity in which the Church praises God by ordering its thinking towards the gospel of Christ.

The Church is holy; but it is holy, not by virtue of some ontological participation in the divine holiness, but by virtue of its calling by God, its reception of the divine benefits, and its obedience of faith.

Praise is the great act of rebellion against sin, the great repudiation of our wicked refusal to acknowledge God to be the Lord.

If the holiness of God is not perceived and understood, then the entire work and conduct of God are not grasped.'29

The origin of the Church's holiness, as we have seen, is entirely outside itself; the consequences of this are that, first, it is manifest as a hearing of the gospel's promise and command, and, second, that its sign is penance, not perfection.

what is required is not more effective defence of the viability of Christian talk about revelation before the tribunal of impartial reason: the common doctrinal slenderness of such defences nearly always serves to inflame rather than reduce the dogmatic difficulties.

revelation is the self-presentation of the triune God, the free work of sovereign mercy in which God wills, establishes and perfects saving fellowship with himself in which humankind comes to know, love and fear him above all things.