Calvin’s Kin: What They’re Facing
The third session was another session by Collin Hansen and his focus was on the challenges faced by Calvinists today, some external but much internal.
The external challenges are manifested in things like the strife in the Southern Baptist Convention over Calvinism, where it is not something minor but (I believe) threatens schism in the SBC. Much of it is overblown rhetoric, like the Ergun Caner assertion that Calvinists are worse than Muslims. More on this to come, as Tom Ascol at Founders has a very compelling blog post on this very issue.
The other side of the coin is the the internal fighting among Calvinists. Calvinists are often cannibals, eating our own. Collin brought up the "Truly Reformed" idea and the whole topic made the room uncomfortable.
The elephant in the room was infant baptism, and the tension between the old school Presbyterian Calvinists and the new, Reformed baptist Calvinists who seem to be dominating the scene. There were a few questions on this, but the issue was skirted a lot.
Collin is clearly, based on what he said and wrote, more of a Together for the Gospel guy than a White Horse Inn guy. As a Baptist who is Calvinist, perhaps his view is colored by his doctrine, but it is apparent that other than a few places, the wave of the future of Calvin's kin is in T4G, in Reformed Baptists, SBC churches pastored by Southern Seminary graduates. The next wave of Reformed leaders are almost all Baptists. The White Horse Inn guys can hide away in their "Truly Reformed" gatehouse, but the movement is passing them by.
No comments:
Post a Comment