Hi, A friend of mine has been pondering about the relationship between covenant theology and Anglican formularies: 1) If there is any influence of covenant theology (or proto-covenant theology from John Calvin) in Anglican formularies ? If there is, what is the extent of the influence? 2) Are there any classical Anglican works where foundational concepts of covenant theology can be found? 3) How should Anglicans view New Covenant Theology and Progressive Covenantalism as a whole? Thank you.
In general, covenant theology is avoided among the divines, as a new (and therefore definitionally lacking) concept. In the 16th century it is completely missing in all of our theologians: Jewel, Cranmer, Nowell, etc. Oddly you find a use of it in the 1580s work of Lancelot Andrewes, but as he matures in theology he abandons use of it in all his later works. It is obviously missing in Hooker, Bilson, etc. As you get into 17th century, a few theologians do engage with it, such as John Davenant, and Jeremy Taylor, although it's still missing from the majority of our divines. But after the mid-17th century it seems to be gone from our theologians again, not to be seen again.