Calvinism is back, and not just musically. John Calvin's 16th century reply
to medieval Catholicism's buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is
Evangelicalism's latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and
micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination's logical
consequence, predestination: the belief that before time's dawn, God decided
whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or
decision.
I know Time isn't really a religious news juggernaut, and I appreciate that they are covering religious ideas because they are indeed the most powerful of all, but I have two thoughts.
1) If Calvinism is back, where did it come from? Many Presbyterians, Reformed, Baptists, and others might be surprised to learn it was ever gone.
2) What is decidedly new about this form of Calvinism? Even as Time described it, this isn't a new form of something so much as a maintainence of orthodox doctrine while others are going adrift doctrinally.
Like the Calvinists, more moderate Evangelicals are exploring cures for the
movement's doctrinal drift, but can't offer the same blanket assurance.
So it's not new, it's old and that's why it's sticking around. To give Time a break, they aren't the first to term it "New Calvinism." I'm not sure who did, but Christianity Today did a story on it a few years ago. There's really nothing new under the sun in human enterprise anyhow (see Ecclesiastes). Great songs truly affirm this about the Gospel: "I heard an old, old story....."
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2 comments:
I'm glad that Yahweh is not a a "micromanaging deity" because in my opinion that would not be a deity worthy of worship. Even in compatibilism (as I think you hold to) God is not "micromanaging" or in Boydian terms "meticulous control".
On a side note, what are your thoughts on the idea that modern Calvinism is quite different from what Calvin himself wanted to do? My understanding of modern Calvinism (and specifically hyper-calvinism) was not what Calvin was going for but was drawn up by guys like Theodore Beza.
D-Money,
I totally get what you are saying. I think they might be speaking to the new movement growing among younger evangelicals described in the following book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581349408/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=304485901&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0310310210&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=
Check it out!
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