YOUNG, RESTLESS, REFORMED Who are the New Calvinists and should we be worried by them? A. Introduction 1. At the end of 2003 I discovered Calvinism. It was in a church history lecture that Garry Williams gave at Oak Hill Theological College, and what I heard blew me away. I had never encountered anything like it. But I was convinced. It turns out on the other side of the Atlantic, others of my age were discovering it too. This isn t to say that there weren t any Calvinists in the UK or the USA, but what was noticeable was that this growing resurgence seemed to be taking place especially among those born in the 1970s and 1980s. 2. This phenomenon was observed by a journalist for Christianity Today Magazine called Collin Hansen who after travelling to different parts of the U.S. to investigate this trend, reported what he saw in his 2006 article called Young, Restless, Reformed. 1 This article was later expanded into a book with the same title. 2 But what the article and book didn t address was what factors sparked this interest in Reformed Theology among these younger American evangelicals. 3. In 2007, in a series of blog posts on the 9Marks website (later updated in a hour long lecture delivered at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC), 3 Mark Dever asked a very important question: Where did all these Calvinists come from? He proposed that 12 factors were responsible: i) Charles Spurgeon ii) Martyn Lloyd-Jones iii) The Banner of Truth Trust iv) Evangelism Explosion v) The inerrancy controversy vi) Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) vii) J. I. Packer viii) John MacArthur and RC Sproul ix) John Piper x) Reformed Rap xi) Influential parachurch ministries (e.g. Grace to You, Ligonier, Desiring God, Together for the Gospel, Sovereign Grace, Acts 29, 9Marks) xii) The rise of secularism and decline of Christian nominalism Other have suggested that to this list should be added the success of Wayne Grudem s Systematic Theology, the growth in seminaries, and Crossway books (which would become the leading publisher of books from New Calvinist authors). 4 4. But Calvinism is just one feature that defines this new movement that emerged. Maybe the best way to describe and think about New Calvinism is to adapt an illustration used by Michael Horton to describe evangelicalism. 1 http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/september/42.32.html 2 Collin Hanson, Young, Restless, Reformed 3 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/where-did-all-these-calvinists-come-from 4 https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2012/08/27/whered-all-these-new-calvinists-come-from-a-serious-top-10-list-frommark-dever/
He said: Evangelicalism is like a village green, where people, leaving their homes and stores, come to mix and mingle. 5 In this analogy, the houses that surround the green are local churches. Now on a village green you will find a mix of people from different backgrounds interacting with each other. Some of these people are always on the green. Some are there from time to time. But you also get some people who don t like the green and stay off it or others who are banned from coming onto the green. New Calvinism is like a village green in this respect. Christians when they are not gathered in their local churches, may interact with other Christians from different churches and backgrounds either face to face or through books and other kinds of media. What unites them is the village green. It is fair to say that over the last 10 or so years I have spent a lot of time on the New Calvinist Village Green. But it s not the only village green I ve spent time on. I ve also interacted with others on the FIEC Village Green, the UK Conservative Evangelicalism Village Green (e.g. Gospel Partnerships; Proclamation Trust; FIEC; London Men s Convention), and the UK Reformed Baptists (those who hold to the 1689 London Baptist Confession) Village Green (e.g. Metropolitan Tabernacle), with some overlap between them. But what is the New Calvinist Village Green like? 5. Some have tried to define it, but there are problems with each definition. ES Williams says it is, a growing perspective within conservative evangelicalism that embraces the fundamentals of 16 th century Calvinism while also trying to be relevant in the present-day world. 6 But this is too general and could be used to describe other movements too. Josh Buice says it is, an eclectic and at times edgy group of multi-ethnic, multi-denominational, and age-diverse Reformed people from all parts of the world who are hungry for a big sovereign God. These people are Christ-exalting, Spirit-driven, missions-motivated, and Bible-believing Christians who are seeking to know God, worship God, serve God, and bring glory to God. 7 But I m not sure that it includes people from all parts of the world. Certainly it influences people from all over the world, but I think that it is an American movement. C. Michael Patton says it is, simply a designation given for the 21st century resurgence of Calvinism among Evangelicals and conservative Christians. 8 But this definition is too simplistic as Calvinism is only one aspect of the movement. Jeremy Walker says it is, the label applied to the resurgence of certain central aspects of Calvinistic doctrine within conservative evangelicalism, though it is usually associated with other convictions and actions that do not or may not immediately derive from the teaching and example of John Calvin and others of similar faith and life. 9 Whilst a good definition it fails to highlight the breadth of those involved in the movement. 6. Why is New Calvinism so hard to define? Because it is not a clearly organised movement. There are no clear boundaries to it although occasionally the movement does make clear who is not part of it (such as the response to Rob Bell s book Love Wins or TD Jakes involvement in the Elephant Room 2 conference). It is not easy to identify who the leaders are although there are personalities who are clearly prominent within it. Rather than defining what New Calvinism is, it is easier to describe its character. B. What are the characteristics of the New Calvinists? 5 http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var2=980 6 ES Williams, The New Calvinists: Changing the Gospel 7 http://www.deliveredbygrace.com/what-is-the-new-calvinism/ 8 http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2010/04/what-is-the-new-calvinism-and-are-you-a-part-of-it/ 9 Jeremy Walker, The New Calvinism Considered: A Personal and Pastoral Assessment
1. It Together for (in terms of beliefs) the following. The Gospel. The 5 Solas of the Reformation. Reformed soteriology (the biblical truths behind the five points of Calvinism) although some associated with the movement are Amyraldians (4/4.5 point Calvinists). As Jeremy Walker puts it Young, Restless, Reformed is more accurately, Young, Restless, and mainly Calvinistic apart from those of us who are basically Amyraldian. 10 Complementarianism. 2. It is not Together for (in terms of beliefs) the following. Church polity it is made up of Baptists, Independents, Presbyterians. Baptism it is made up of those who are Paedobaptists and Credobaptists. Spiritual Gifts it is made up of Cessationists and Continuists. And other disputable matters such creation and end times. 3. It is a movement that formed around: Personalities John Piper, Mark Dever, CJ Mahaney, Al Mohler, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, Kevin DeYoung, Ligon Duncan, Tim Keller, Don Carson, Wayne Grudem, David Platt, Paul Tripp. There are other figures who are not necessarily part of the movement but who have influenced it via blogs, books, and conferences, like John MacArthur, RC Sproul, Doug Wilson, Carl Trueman, Joel Beeke. Bloggers Tim Challies, Justin Taylor. Conferences Together for the Gospel, The Gospel Coalition. Groups 9Marks, Desiring God, Acts 29, Sovereign Grace, Redeemer City to City. C. Should we be concerned by the rise of the New Calvinists? 1. The two most outspoken critics of New Calvinism are Peter Masters (in an article in Sword and the Trowel) 11 and ES Williams (through his website, www.newcalvinist.com and book of the same title) 12. Whilst vocalising concerns can be useful in helping the movement to reform and mature, in their criticism at times they are too simplistic and narrow in their assessment, and intentionally or unintentionally they imply that people within the movement are false teachers and not even followers of Jesus. 2. What concerns do they have? New Calvinists are weak on holiness they particularly have a low view of the Lord s Day. New Calvinists have compromised with the culture they highlight as evidence casual dress, worldly music, relaxed services, use of edgy language, an obsession with beer, cigars, sex, and entertainment of the world. New Calvinists have embraced charismatic gifts. New Calvinists use of contemporary music, with services like concerts with bands. 10 Jeremy Walker, The New Calvinism Considered: A Personal and Pastoral Assessment 11 Peter Masters, The Merger of Calvinism with Worldliness 12 ES Williams, The New Calvinists: Changing the Gospel
New Calvinists undermine the importance of evangelism by overemphasising social and mercy ministries. 3. Responding to their concerns. Some New Calvinists are undoubtedly weak on holiness, but not all, as shown by Kevin DeYoung s excellent book The Hole in our Holiness. Some New Calvinists have compromised with the culture, but not all who are associated with the movement. Some New Calvinists have embraced charismatic gifts, such as those who are associated with Sovereign Grace and Acts 29, but there are cessationists too. Some New Calvinist churches have services that are like concerts, but there are plenty that don t. In fact, the Together for the Gospel conference sings lots of hymns accompanied by only a grand piano. Some New Calvinists do give emphasis to social and mercy ministries, like Tim Keller, but his church is active in evangelism too. Also DeYoung and Gilbert s What is the mission of the church? makes the distinction between the mission of individual Christians and the mandate given to the church of disciple making. 4. The big problem with the critique of the movement by Masters and Williams is that it is not nuanced enough. They tarnish everyone with the same broad brushstrokes. Most of their criticism is targeted at 3 men Mark Driscoll, John Piper and Tim Keller, 13 but they aren t the only influential people within the movement. They also have failed to see how over 10 years the movement has matured. The other problem is that a lot of their criticisms about the worldliness of the New Calvinist movement is to quote Doug Wilson, is based on a definition of worldliness [that] is more indebted to the residue of Victorianism in certain parts of the church than it is to exegesis. 14 Or as another has observed, [Master s] case is always that fifties church culture plus reformed doctrine is the Biblical ideal for the rest of time. 15 5. Yet there are some real concerns with aspects of the movement that shouldn t be dismissed. 16 It has fuelled a celebrity pastor mentality. It has implied that bigger is better. It has at times lacked discernment. It has allowed a culture of pragmatism to develop such as multisite services and unhealthy leadership structures. D. Why should we thank God for the New Calvinists? 1. Whilst there are some concerns with the New Calvinist movement that we are right to take seriously, there are a number of things about it for which we can be grateful to God for. Carl Trueman writes, the more people reading the Bible, the better, as far as I am concerned; the more people going to church and hearing the gospel preached, the more we should all be rejoicing; and the more people studying the writings of Calvin, Owen and company, the happier we should all be. Only the modern day equivalents of the Scottish Moderates of the eighteenth and nineteenth 13 See www.newcalvinist.com 14 https://dougwils.com/books/doilies-on-the-davenport.html 15 http://gracepreacher.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/peter-masters-firing-blanks-theres-lot.html 16 Adapted from Jeremy Walker, The New Calvinism Considered: A Personal and Pastoral Assessment
centuries would grumble and complain that more people are spending more time hearing more sermons, reading more scripture and studying more classic Christian literature. 17 2. What are some of the things we can thank God for? Their commitment to the Gospel. Their commitment to Scripture. Their commitment to reaching the lost and making disciples. Their commitment to penal substitutionary atonement. Their commitment to expository preaching. Their commitment to complementarianism. Their commitment to reading good books. Their commitment to encouraging pastors to keep going and keep growing. Their commitment to church planting. Their commitment to training up the next generation of gospel workers. Their commitment to using technology for the glory of God. E. Conclusion 1. I am not a New Calvinist, for the simple fact, that I am not American and did not become a Calvinist in the same context as many of the so-called Young, Restless, Reformed in the U.S. did. That being said, I have spent a lot of time on the village green of New Calvinism and I accept that I have been taught by and shaped by (the best of) this movement. 18 But this isn t the only village green I ve been taught by and shaped by. 2. As Elders our responsibility is not to worry about everything that is said and done on each of the village greens, we or members of the church, spend time on. Our role is to decide what influence we allow the village green to have on the home (this local church). To quote Andrew Wilson, As a local church elder, it is not my job to protect the boundaries of the village green. But it is my job to protect the boundaries of the home, with clubs and staffs if necessary. 19 We are to decide as to whether what we hear said or see done on the various village greens should be said or done in this local church. 3. How should we respond to the New Calvinist movement? Our response should be to exercise discernment. To embrace and learn from what is right and true, and to dismiss what is wrong and error on the basis of what God s Word says. 17 http://www.reformation21.org/articles/the-nameless-one.php 18 In recent years some of the personalities of the New Calvinist movement have spoken at a number of conferences such as the Evangelical Ministry Assembly that I have attended 19 http://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/evangelicalism_and_the_village_green