Christian faith: Calvinism is back

[Tonks]

Hello SR

I read this today in the Christian Science Monitor...pretty fascinating article about a church in my (adopted) hometown...

The lede is basically:

America's Christian faith is experiencing a comeback of Calvinism and its God-first immersion in Scripture...In America's Christian faith, a surprising comeback of rock-ribbed Calvinism is challenging the Jesus-is-your-buddy gospel of modern evangelism.


Christian faith: Calvinism is back / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

 

[JM]

Thank you.

 

[reformed ttL]

awesome

 

[McWilliams]

Thanks for sharing that! I have the greatest respect for Mark Dever and am so thankful for his uncompromising preaching of sound, biblical doctrine!

I have his books Promises Made and also, Promises Kept from his sermons covering each book of the bible! Just great explanations of each book!

Calvinism is sound biblical doctrine, spoken and lived out in life! It glorified God, not man!!

 

[AMR]

Providentially, my response to this item in another forum was my 1517th post:

It is good to see God working to move people away from their narcissism. I think the message that God is sovereignly in charge of the world and all that happens in it is resonating with more and more who are trying to make sense of the current world.

Some noted the coincidental alignment with the date, 1517 (think Luther and Wittenburg).

It was ordained that I should have made that post.

AMR

 

[LiturgyInDMinor]

Good stuff.

 

[JustAsIam77]

An uplifting and informative article, thanks.

 

[JM]

Quotes:

Five centuries ago, John Calvin's teachings reconceived Christianity; midwifed Western ideas about capitalism, democracy, and religious liberty; and nursed the Puritan values that later cast the character of America.

Here at CHBC, the pews and even rooms in the basement are filled each Sunday, mostly with young professionals. Since senior pastor Mark Dever brought Calvinist preaching here 16 years ago, the church has grown sevenfold. Today it is bursting at the stained-glass windows.

When people today hear the name John Calvin, they think mainly of predestination....

What people often forget is that the 16th-century French theologian transformed Western thought both by what he taught and how he taught it. His 700-page "Institutes of the Christian Religion" became the reference manual for Protestant faith. And his detailed and explanatory style of preaching – he spent five years expounding on the book of Acts, verse by verse – became an example for generations of clergy.

In a separate report, Barna found that more than 6 in 10 born-again Christians say they are customizing their faith, not following any one church's theology.

​

More broadly, the Calvinist revival reflects an effort to recast the foundation of faith itself. From conservative evangelical churches to liberal new-age groups, the message of much modern teaching is man's need for betterment. Not New Calvinism; its star is God's need for glory. And the gravity of His will is great: It can be denied, but not defied.

After the service, churchgoers linger for an hour, hugging and sharing heartfelt conversation. "I've come to believe and understand that God is not fundamentally about me; He's much bigger than that," says Dan Wenger, a government employee. "The teaching at this church has helped me to see that in context of the whole story of the Bible, not just the parts that make me feel good."

At the "Lord's Supper" once a month, members stand and recite an oath that ties them to one another. In addition to Sunday worship and Wednesday night Bible study, they spend hours each week in small-group study or one-on-one "discipling."

"Christian fellowship is so much more than hanging out with friends," says Claudia Anderson, a magazine editor. "It involves spiritual intimacy, support, learning, counseling, and stunning acts of kindness."

(this made me lol) They'll reel through names of 17th-century Puritan preachers like a pack of baseball cards.

...predestination means God has always regulated everything, even evil.


Many followers agree, adding that Calvinism is not fatalism: You are responsible for you behavior.
"Calvinism is 'big picture' Christianity," says Allen Guelzo, the author of "Edwards on the Will: A Century of American Theological Debate." "It is less interested in asking why God lets bad things happen to good people, and asks instead whether there have ever been any genuinely 'good' people."


New Calvinists talk about their sin a lot. Despite that – or rather because of it – they exude not guilt but great joy. Their explanation: If we play down our sinfulness, we'll play down our gratitude for the magnitude of God's love and forgiveness.

 

[Regenerated]

To God Be the glory
Soli Deo Gloria - The Glory of God Alone

 

[edie19]

love this description of Calvin

a man who recovered God-centric Christianity, set the stage for religious freedom, and encouraged countless believers to read the Bible for themselves.

how many churches teach this at all, if ever?

As morning light filters into a fourth-floor room on a Sunday, students huddle on tiered seats, listening to a lecture on substitutionary atonement.

I particularly like this about CHBC - mostly because I know that my church family is my true family, much more so than my blood relatives

"Christian fellowship is so much more than hanging out with friends," says Claudia Anderson, a magazine editor. "It involves spiritual intimacy, support, learning, counseling, and stunning acts of kindness."
Christopher Brown, a lawyer, concurs. "I came for the theology but stayed for the community," he says. "As Americans, we're so individualistic. But the New Testament rebukes this 'rugged individualism.' We're not saved to be lone rangers."

let me just say AMEN to this

American Christianity has splintered in myriad directions since the Puritans settled New England. But the God they worshiped – attested in the Bible, sovereign in all things, and merciful toward sinners through the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ – still captivates believers today

this would be me

New Calvinists talk about their sin a lot. Despite that – or rather because of it – they exude not guilt but great joy. Their explanation: If we play down our sinfulness, we'll play down our gratitude for the magnitude of God's love and forgiveness.
Many members were drawn to CHBC precisely because they had yearned to be "convicted of their sin" again and grown frustrated with "watered-down preaching."

thank you so much Tonks for sharing this - I will be sharing it with my Reformed Baptist family as soon as I get home tonight.

 

[DeaconDean]

I'm gonna repeat what I said in the GT area:

My question is, from the time of Augustine, who laid the foundation of predetination, when has Calvinism ever gone away?

Glad to hear that at least Baptists are getting back to their Calvinist roots.

Didn't God say He had a remnant who had not bowed their knees to Arminianism?

God Bless

Till all are one.