Now a seriously loaded question … what do you think of Calvinism?
I am not plumbing for a treatise here … just ‘top of mindshare’ kind of stuff … once you are done grading exams. 🙂
I’ve been doing some reading on Calvinism and the Reformed tradition lately — working through Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism, and I picked up Van Til’s The Calvinistic Concept of Culture as well as Berkhof’s Systematic Theology; also, I picked up The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views (one of IVP’s “Four Views” series) to better understand the Amillennial position. (I also recently bought a bunch of books on natural law, utilitarianism, and consequentialism, as well as some Augustine and some other stuff — I’ve spent way, way, way too much on books lately, as my wife reminds me — but I’m determined to read through this stuff!)
As with my first real exposure to the Calvinist tradition in college, I’m finding it deep and rich. I particularly like how the understanding of common grace has developed to address the relationship between Christians and the world, and the Reformed understanding of the covenants and of eschatology seems in some ways more consistent with the arc of scripture than the dispensational view. I’m still a bit troubled, though, by the implications of limited atonement and double predestination. Also, though I find Reformed eschatology compelling in many ways, I’m still not sure about the way it spiritualizes God’s promises to Israel. I might lean more towards “progressive dispensationalism” on this front.
My own church background makes this study particularly interesting. I was brought up in a Darbyist Bretheren church, and then in a Dallas Seminary-influenced dispensational church, which I still attend. But, the area where I grew up and live has a strong Dutch Calvinist tradition. The interesting thing is that my current church was started 75 years ago partly, I think, in reaction to what was seen as indifference in some of the local Dutch Reformed congregations to personal evangelism and personal piety. Some of the founding members of the congregation were nominal Christians who had conversion experiences when Billy Sunday crusaded through the New York area. It was often implied, and sometimes expressed, that the Dutch Calvinists should be lumped together with Catholics as “religious” people who are improperly relying on their baptism as infants and probably aren’t really “saved.” In fact, 75 years ago my church wasn’t much more than an evangelistic tent meeting — literally under a tent — with a heavy emphasis on the altar call.
Although my home church has become more mainstream evangelical, some of that isolationist streak remains. We still heavily emphasis the individual conversion decision and still sometimes criticize the Reformed tradition for its apparent formalism. So, it’s an interesting thing for me to work through.
May I make a humble request?
Please take us with you on your journey as you explore the doctrines of grace and a covenantal framework. Blog about what you are learning … don’t worry about polishing your thoughts … work-in-progress thoughts are in play 😉
By the way, I was reared in a Dallas Seminary-influenced dispensational church too. My father was headed to Dallas Seminary before God detoured him to Fuller, btw.
David,
Not to add any pressure(haha) but I’d be interested in your exploration as well. I’ve been similarly interested in the Reform tradition but it sounds like your study is a bit more serious than mine. The latest book I’ve been looking at is “Discourse on Free Will” – which is a written debate between Luther and Erasmus.
What I really appreciate in the Reform tradition is the way it integrates the spiritual and the physical – the materal and the non-material. It’s refreshing in light of the almost superstitious-like suspicion of anything “secular”(read “anything not labeled Christian”) in much of evangelicalism today.
I grew up in the South in a Church-of-Christ – which is as close to Pelagianism as I think you can get. From there I took a brief detour into a heavily Charismatic church and finally ended up in a small non-denom where I’m still at today. I like to describe it as Baptist without the committees and EE classes.
If I ever did take a leap into the Reformed end of the pool, I still don’t think I could accept Covenant Theology. Right now, I lean towards New Covenant Theology(see http://www.ids.org), which I think is more accurate in harmonizing the Old and New Covenants than CT or Dispensationalism.
6 replies on “Calvinist Romance”
Funny comic!
Now a seriously loaded question … what do you think of Calvinism?
I am not plumbing for a treatise here … just ‘top of mindshare’ kind of stuff … once you are done grading exams. 🙂
I’ve been doing some reading on Calvinism and the Reformed tradition lately — working through Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism, and I picked up Van Til’s The Calvinistic Concept of Culture as well as Berkhof’s Systematic Theology; also, I picked up The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views (one of IVP’s “Four Views” series) to better understand the Amillennial position. (I also recently bought a bunch of books on natural law, utilitarianism, and consequentialism, as well as some Augustine and some other stuff — I’ve spent way, way, way too much on books lately, as my wife reminds me — but I’m determined to read through this stuff!)
As with my first real exposure to the Calvinist tradition in college, I’m finding it deep and rich. I particularly like how the understanding of common grace has developed to address the relationship between Christians and the world, and the Reformed understanding of the covenants and of eschatology seems in some ways more consistent with the arc of scripture than the dispensational view. I’m still a bit troubled, though, by the implications of limited atonement and double predestination. Also, though I find Reformed eschatology compelling in many ways, I’m still not sure about the way it spiritualizes God’s promises to Israel. I might lean more towards “progressive dispensationalism” on this front.
My own church background makes this study particularly interesting. I was brought up in a Darbyist Bretheren church, and then in a Dallas Seminary-influenced dispensational church, which I still attend. But, the area where I grew up and live has a strong Dutch Calvinist tradition. The interesting thing is that my current church was started 75 years ago partly, I think, in reaction to what was seen as indifference in some of the local Dutch Reformed congregations to personal evangelism and personal piety. Some of the founding members of the congregation were nominal Christians who had conversion experiences when Billy Sunday crusaded through the New York area. It was often implied, and sometimes expressed, that the Dutch Calvinists should be lumped together with Catholics as “religious” people who are improperly relying on their baptism as infants and probably aren’t really “saved.” In fact, 75 years ago my church wasn’t much more than an evangelistic tent meeting — literally under a tent — with a heavy emphasis on the altar call.
Although my home church has become more mainstream evangelical, some of that isolationist streak remains. We still heavily emphasis the individual conversion decision and still sometimes criticize the Reformed tradition for its apparent formalism. So, it’s an interesting thing for me to work through.
May I make a humble request?
Please take us with you on your journey as you explore the doctrines of grace and a covenantal framework. Blog about what you are learning … don’t worry about polishing your thoughts … work-in-progress thoughts are in play 😉
By the way, I was reared in a Dallas Seminary-influenced dispensational church too. My father was headed to Dallas Seminary before God detoured him to Fuller, btw.
David,
Not to add any pressure(haha) but I’d be interested in your exploration as well. I’ve been similarly interested in the Reform tradition but it sounds like your study is a bit more serious than mine. The latest book I’ve been looking at is “Discourse on Free Will” – which is a written debate between Luther and Erasmus.
What I really appreciate in the Reform tradition is the way it integrates the spiritual and the physical – the materal and the non-material. It’s refreshing in light of the almost superstitious-like suspicion of anything “secular”(read “anything not labeled Christian”) in much of evangelicalism today.
I grew up in the South in a Church-of-Christ – which is as close to Pelagianism as I think you can get. From there I took a brief detour into a heavily Charismatic church and finally ended up in a small non-denom where I’m still at today. I like to describe it as Baptist without the committees and EE classes.
If I ever did take a leap into the Reformed end of the pool, I still don’t think I could accept Covenant Theology. Right now, I lean towards New Covenant Theology(see http://www.ids.org), which I think is more accurate in harmonizing the Old and New Covenants than CT or Dispensationalism.
Looking forward to what else you decide to write.
Indeed, I will blog through it.