COVENANT THEOLOGY

also called federal theology type of Reformed (Calvinistic) theology emphasizing the biblical covenants of works made by God with Adamthe first created man, according to the book of Genesisand the covenant of grace made between God and man through the grace of Christ. In Reformed theology, Christ was viewed as the second Adam, as he was described in the letters of the Apostle Paul. English Puritans of the 17th century incorporated the concept of the two covenants (law and grace) into what has been called a natural and a supernatural covenant. In the development of this theological movement, the 16th17th-century English Puritan theologian William Ames's book Medulla Theologiae (Marrow of Sacred Divinity) influenced Reformed theology for nearly a century. The covenantal concept spread among Reformed groups in England, Germany, Scotland, the Netherlands, and the New England colonies, where it was especially influential.