In this book, I’ve tried to condense a number of thoughts and insights that I’ve been struggling with as a minister in a society that is both Post-Modern and ‘Post-Christian’. Serving an historic denomination has turned out to be a great vehicle for innovation as it allowed me to offer the church a broader way of doing theology that I believe makes sense in our contemporary life. After all, our Calvinistic roots provide a clarion call for theological innovation. The cry, Reformed and always being reformed has been the motto for Reformed Christians for over five centuries. I’ve used the late Ben Lacy Rose’s very good contemporary view of T.U.L.I.P as a baseline for the series. His insights are priceless. Brian McLaren’s brief mention of a kinder, gentler Calvinism in his book A Generous Orthodoxy serves as the outline for much of the content of the five newer ways to view T.U.L.I.P. He makes it easy to build on his brief musings. In fact, McLaren offers a challenge to denominations to take up his suggestions to update their theology for the 21st Century. I guess this is what I’m trying to do in this book.

My hope is that these brief chapters will catch your attention and pique your curiosity. By revisiting the old acrostic T.U.L.I.P. in our day, you and the church will appreciate not only our historic viewpoints but also be challenged to consider our faith and beliefs in new ways for a new day. Theology really does matter for believers. I hope this brief work can help the larger church find this to be so.

Rev. Dr. Keith Curran, 2021