Posted on 03/23/2009 11:32:12 AM PDT by topcat54
“Calvinism is back,” so says David Van Biema in the March 22, 2009 issue of Time magazine. Calvinism is listed as one of “10 ideas changing the world Right now.” It’s third on the list. When most people hear the word “Calvinism,” they bite down only on the gristle of predestination and then spit out the whole piece of meat. There is much more to Calvinism that is obscured by the misapplied aversion to particular redemption. As a student at Reformed Theological Seminary in the 1970s, I was taught that certain cultural applications flowed from a consistent application of Calvinism. Calvinism is synonymous with a comprehensive biblical world-and-life view. Simply put, I was told that the Bible applies to every area of life. To be a Calvinist is to make biblical application to issues beyond personal salvation (Heb. 5:11–14).
(Excerpt) Read more at americanvision.org ...
"If the New Calvinism is going to have any staying power, it will have to abandon its pietistic streak, its amillennial eschatology and in some cases its dispensationalism (e.g., John MacArthur), its aversion to the law of God, and its common-ground apologetic methodology."
The only “ism” I care about is biblicism. Beyond that, any of man’s constructs is dung.
If I find it in Scripture, I believe it.
bump for later reading. Thanks topcat54!
INDEED.
Amen!
I agree. My brother is now a Presbyterian and he has little knowledge if any of Calvin or his teachings.
I feel the same way. Any theology that has a man’s name attached to it must be considered suspect right from the gate. No single man can possibly have a handle on the whole counsel of God. Plus, I’ve noticed a kind of arrogance on the part of Calvinists, who seem to believe that the TULIP acrostic explains it all, and if you don’t ascribe to that, then the whiff of brimestone is about you.
I’m a Lutheran but I live in a small town with no Lutheran Church. I attend a Presbyterian Church. Once every three years or so the pastor gives a sermon affirming Calvinism. The rest of the time the people of the congregation live as if they’re mainstream evangelicals. I like it that way because they are warm and loving. My personal experiences with hard line Calvinists have been uniformly negative. I can only speak from what I have seen and experienced myself, but from that perspective the Calvinists I have met and interacted with have come across as cold, aggressive people. [Watch me get attacked just for relating a little piece of personal history.] Fwiw.
I think you are confusing Calvinism with a comparison between Covanent and Dispensational theology.
Basically, Calvinism is compared to Arminianism.
BiblicismWhich one best describes your view?The term "biblicism" is usually derogatory. It is commonly applied to (1) someone who has no appreciation for the importance of extrabiblical truth in theology, who denies the value of general or natural revelation, (2) those suspected of believing that Scripture is a "textbook" of science, or philosophy, politics, ethics, economics, aesthetics, church government, etc., (3) those who have no respect for confessions, creeds, and past theologians, who insist on ignoring these and going back to the Bible to build up their doctrinal formulations from scratch, (4) those who employ a "proof texting" method, rather than trying to see Scripture texts in their historical, cultural, logical, and literary contexts. (Poythress)
The one that topcat has not been given the right to define.
What exactly do youmean by your response?
What I mean is that I said what I mean. Topcat is a known antagonist, and I will not give him/her the right to define what I mean. Read my initial response. It says what I mean by the term biblicism.
I agree with the author. Calvin is essential reading for Charismatics, Evangelicals, Apostolics and Baptists. Dismissing him out of hand merely demonstrates that he has not been studied. His Biblicism is central to a conservative theology. Calvin stands opposite Schleiermacher who is the most influential theologian in the liberal Christian establishment.
I see blogger, thanks
Well. What an interesting development this is. Are you an old Calvinist or a new Calvinist?
There is a spectrum within the Reformed camp. We have amil-style crypto-Lutherans in the Reformed churches, making much ado about two kingdoms and pluralism. We also have rock-ribbed, postmil, Puritan-style Calvinists, who are not opposed to applying the abiding principles of the Mosaic Law to all areas of modern life, including family and government. It seems everyone manages to quote Calvin to their advantage while making their case.
On the other hand, I appreciate someone in the Reformed tradition today that actually cares about what Calvin wrote. At least there is some basis for disagreement and discussion. My experience with the Reformed churches today is that classical Calvinism is dead. Its more like a blend of Baptist and Pentecostals. At this point, just about anything would be an improvement.
Some of us try to do more than just talk about it. If it is not a life-affecting worldview, then it is not genuine Calvinism.
“[Calvinism] is not merely the hope of true religion in the world: it is true religion in the world — as far as true religion is in the world at all.” — B.B. Warfield
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