mgpcpastor's blog

The reformed/presbyterian/calvinist websphere breaks in half again today as Carl Trueman pens an essay that reflects on some distinctives which relate to the renewed expressions of reformed theology afoot in the church today. The article seeks to engage with the distinctives of the calvinism identified by Collin Hansen in his book ‘Young, Reformed and Restless’.
First, read Trueman’s essay here.
Tim Challies offers some comment on his blog. He concurs with Trueman’s evaluations, and as an outsider to US culture, also observes the US fascination with individuals. At this point in its life it is not possible to know how clearly its adherents are attached to the theology or the people who proclaim it.

Much of the value of Trueman’s evaluation is that it need not be isolated to reformed Christians in the US. Trueman himself compares the UK situation post Martin Lloyd-Jones. US Christianity does have many evidences of personality prominance. (As I point out in my comments below, that’s not always a negative) US culture evidences the same thing. You don’t have to do much more than consider the last three US Presidents (including the incumbent) who, despite whatever positive qualities they possessed really had quite slender records by which the populace could justify electing them. Really, the US people seemed to like them better than their opponents. (When was the last time the more charismatic candidate lost?)
But this is not just a US phenomenom. The Christian personality cult is alive and well all over world, fuelled by publishing, the internet and even Christian music. (Singers and songwriters have a higher profile now that almost at any time in Church history.)
The Christian leader/preacher as personality/commodity/brand is a reflection of Western cultural values that needs to be treated with absolute caution. To take a gifted individual and try to commodify their gifting as being able to be imparted to others with an implicit guarantee of similar fruit to that which the gifted individual has enjoyed is fraught with danger and has a dubious track record.

In addition, I offered the following comment to Challies’ post:

I read this article at Reformation 21 yesterday.
It is insightful. The idea of a movement of people who are ‘reformed’ needs to be examined thoughtfully, and without a using labels in order to marginalise or stigmatise. That being said, my opinion is that much of the modern ‘reformed’ movement is actually more strictly calvinist or modified calvinist (amyraldian, rejecting a ‘limited’ or ‘definite’ atonement) Bible teaching ministry.
The general tenets of ‘reformed’ theology (confessionalism, regulative principle of worship, church leadership by elders, even mutually accountable congregations, though less so for reformed Baptists) are absent in many cases.
What is usually present is a strong preaching ministry with a calvinist perspective on Scripture. Observed from afar, US citizens do tend to gravitate toward individual personalities. In a lot of cases this is a strength because the support of the entreprenuerial spirit has seen faithful ministries grow. Of course, on the odd occasion, everyone ends up drinking the cool-aid, so to speak.
Whether the loyalty is to a Scriptural understanding or to particular individual’s personal style of proclamation can only be judged over time.
I’d like to think that moving into that time that the more complete aspects of reformed theology will be examined and incorporated into the ‘YRR’ movement. Neo-pentecostal, revivalist and arminian forms of worship and church-life cannot nourish reformed preaching, but reformed preaching will lead to reform of these ecclesiastical features.

BTW, Trueman’s comment on Barthianism was worth the whole article on its own!