Sarah, you made a wonderful choice in buying them. Turretin sets out the mainstream of Reformed Orthodoxy in opposition to Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Socinians, and some other errorists. As such, if you can have only one reference to find out what the Protestant Scholastics thought, Turretin is probably the best of what is available in English for that purpose.
The language is dense and elliptical, so you have to watch the context closely, because many times you will have to supply a phrase from a sentence or two back in order for the sentence you are reading to be complete. But once you are aware of that and watching for it, it becomes a great pleasure to read. On every question that is raised he will either affirm, deny, or distinguish. Then he will clarify what the question and answer involve, and will answer objections. Therefore the text does require a good bit of attention, but will richly repay it in solid instruction.
I wish that on topic 3, question 18 he would have affirmed instead of distinguishing, and Dr. Mark Jones believes that on topic 20, question 8 he could have made the explanation more Christocentric, and of course he takes up an infralapsarian position; but these few defects do not make the work anything less than one of the most valuable theological systems ever put together.
Anyone here have these books? Did I make a good choice in buying them?
