This is not a closed thread, correct. You are correct in your assessment. There is a strong “eternal subordination of the Son” that has entered into Reformed theology in some circles and it is also connected to woman being subordinate to Men even in heaven, which is close to Mormon Trinitarian doctrine. I was wondering when this was going to make it to FR protestant discussion.
Much of the Protestant discussion here centers on soteriology, how God saves and trying to define that. To me the more important issue is the theology on who God is, That is who Christ is (Divine Person with a full Divine and human nature) and that Christ with respect to his Divinity is “not subordinate” to the Father. No early Creedal formula in the early Church (Nicene, Apostles or Athanasian, which most explicity deals with The Trinity and Incarnation of Christ in very dogmatic terms).
Kudos to you to speaking to this and while I am not a Calvinist, you are correct that Calvin nor Luther would agree with this “eternal subordination of the Son” doctrine making its way in much of Reformed circles. Lots of FR Reformed guys cite this guy named Piper, who seems to be among the leaders in Reformed circles in the U.S, quite a bit, so I went to check this guy out and it seems he is a proponent of this heretical doctrine.
I like your screen name, and I was raised Lutheran, lol. Calvinism always seemed a little foreign to me but people who consider them staunch Calvinists should know that the “eternal subordination of the Son” is something Calvin would not have supported, nor Luther, and not for that matter the Catholic or Orthodox churches, for for that matter, traditional Baptists. This seems like something that was borrowed a bit from Arianism.
John (Pied) Piper is bad news. He teaches out of both sides of his mouth. P.S. Piper actually plays second fiddle to Wayne Grudem’s tunes on Eternal Subordination. Grudem is the “brains” of the bunch and Piper spouts the poetry.
I suspect the SBC is seeing declining baptisms and membership because:
“... The wind blows where it likes, you can hear the sound of it but you have no idea where it comes from and where it goes. Nor can you tell how a man is born by the wind of the Spirit.”
I believe God is abandoning America because America (on the whole) has renounced and rejected Him. I don’t see any sign my fellow Baptists are becoming more liberal, either politically or ethically. But if God is withdrawing His Spirit from America, then no Bible-based church will stem the tide!
On the Calvinist vs Arminian angle, I did leave a Calvinist SBC church after asking if it would be heresy to wear a T-shirt saying “Jesus loves you!” when, theologically, they were saying Jesus did NOT love most of the people. I suggested the church buy some T-shirts saying, “God probably doesn’t love you, but just in case he does...”