Paul's Passing Thoughts

Most people in our day that call themselves Calvinists or Reformed are really New Calvinists. And most of them are young, uninformed, and misinformed when they are informed by New Calvinists calling themselves Calvinists. John Piper is an example of this. Is he a Calvinist? Hardly.

Furthermore, the word needs to get out that New Calvinism, New Covenant Theology, Gospel Sanctification, and Sonship Theology are the SAME thing and came from the EXACT same source—a Seventh-Day Adventist turned atheist named Robert Brinsmead.  No wonder they constantly proclaim, “All truth is God’s truth.” I would also.

Neo-Calvinism is 41 years old, period. And the whole T4G, TGC bunch is the same bunch of antinomians who show-up and harass the church every 50-100 years. It’s the same bunch Ryle had to contend with and Baxter /Rutherford before him. Different doctrine, same goal: anti-law.

I was referred to the same old, worn out song and dance at the Facebook “Reformed Baptist Page,” where a member of the PPT peanut gallery asked a question about the connection between NCT and New Calvinism:

Is New Calvinism and Reformed theology the same Thing? The ones I was talking to think this doctrine is a combination of New Calvinism, Reformed theology and New Covenant theology all in one.

Well, she almost got the question right—NCT and New Calvinism are definitely based on the same doctrine. The uninformed Reformed Page then misinformed “Cindy”:

Hi Cindy,

Typically when folks speak of “New Calvinism” they are referring to the “young, restless and reformed” kind of Calvinism, the hip and cool Calvinists. Though the theology, when it comes to the five points is the same, their philosophy of worship, separation from the world, and other practical issues are not in line with historical Reformed theology and practice. As for New Covenant Theology, as was posted a few days ago is a modern hybrid between classical dispensational theology and biblical covenant theology. I think anyone who holds to New Covenant theology is simply confused, but certainly not heretical.

This is the typical take on NCT; supposedly, a mere attempt to find a middle road between dispensationalism and covenant theology. Not so. Jon Zens worked together with Robert Brinsmead to develop a view of the law that would fit with Brinsmead’s “centrality of the objective gospel.” Cindy then sought the following verdict from this source on Facebook:

Ok, is New Calvinism heretical then? Sorry for asking so many questions, I just want to be informed.

Notice that Cindy is confident that this source on Facebook will “inform” her. Hmmmmm. Makes one wonder how many professing Calvinists have read the Calvin Institutes? Or a Bible for that matter.

Regardless of the fact that many real Calvinists have condemned New Calvinism, the uninformed Reformed Page misinformed Cindy that it is not a heretical movement so now the misinformed Cindy thinks she’s informed. And that’s why she went to that page, because, “I just want to be Reformed informed.” We understand Cindy.

She then asked about Gospel Sanctification and Sonship theology and got the following answer:

The New Calvinists I  know are solid on the Gospel Sanctification. Sonship theology seems to be a new name for antinomianism.

This reveals how shallow research is among this bunch. They call Sonship theology antinomianism, but the forefathers of Sonship theology, Tim Keller and David Powlison, are major figures in the New Calvinist movement. The whole “We must preach the gospel to ourselves everyday” was coined by the father of Sonship theology, Dr. John “Jack” Miller, who was Keller and Powlison’s mentor. Powlison based CCEF counseling on Miller’s theology.

I responded by posting a short history of the movement which was answered with the typical response: Nothing can be ascertained because everybody in the movement doesn’t agree on every jot and tittle. And the usual ratcheting back from any information that enables people to connect the dots, followed by personal attacks.

The informed Reformed Page didn’t challenge my post, they pulled it down, I guess because such information isn’t possible because that’s where the Reformed go to get informed. So, if they didn’t know about it, well, it couldn’t be informative. Right?

paul