Piper’s Tweet: Evangelicals Don’t Understand That He is Talking About Our Children Too
“What’s the attractiveness of this philosophy? Simply, an escape from dealing with real life and responsibility in general.”
There is a lot of discussion among evangelicals (who don’t consider themselves New Calvinists) about John Piper. This is not unusual; we evangelicals love to talk about things we know nothing about. In regard to Piper’s heartless tweet concerning the little children who died in Moore, Oklahoma, evangelicals sit back and ponder why he would attempt to reach out to the lost in this way. What they don’t understand is he’s talking about our children too. All evangelicals can apply the principle of the same tweet to your child dying as a result of you fill in the blank.
Reformed theology is grounded in ancient paganism. It flows from the following basic construct:
1. Metaphysics. The material is evil, only spirit is good.
2. Epistemology. Truth cannot be obtained empirically. It must be obtained through some sort of gateway into the spiritual; usually contemplationism of some sort.
3. Ethics. Determined by the spiritual, and manifested by birthing the spiritual into the material realm.
4. Politics. The enlightened rule over the unenlightened masses on behalf of the spiritual. The masses are in bondage to empirical epistemology.
American evangelicals do not see the line in the sand that should be there. New Calvinism is a return to the same Gnosticism that plagued the first century church and even infiltrated Judaism. It has little patience for those who cling to the material in any way. And that includes children. The ability to dress up Gnosticism in biblical garb and its tsunami-like overtaking of Christianity mirrors what was going on in the first century church to a “T.” In New Calvinism:
1. Metaphysics: The idea that God will renovate heaven and earth with fire and dwell with us eternally in the same basic form that we perceive at this time is an abomination. Hence, Christ will not really dwell on David’s throne literally, Abraham wasn’t really looking for a literal city built by God, etc. It’s all allegory because it’s contradictory to basic Gnostic metaphysics (the idea that God would value a sliver of geography called “Israel” is an absurd notion to the average Gnostic). This is why Christians commonly think the Bride of Christ is the church and that we will dwell in heaven eternally.
2. Epistemology. ALL REALITY is interpreted by contemplating the personhood of Christ. Some call this “gospel contemplationism.” The Bible is a gospel meta-narrative (meta-narrative metaphysics) for contemplation purposes, not grammatical interpretation of reality. This is the basis of the Redemptive Historical hermeneutic.
3. Ethics. Manifested in the “flesh realm” by the imputation of Christ’s perfect life lived on earth, and a natural outflow of gospel contemplationism. New Calvinists call this, “The imperative command is grounded in the indicative event.”
4. Politics. Reformed enlightened elders rule over the unenlightened masses in order to “save them from ignorance” (Al Mohler). Adherence to Reformed elder rule and orthodoxy is one’s best chance to arrive at the final judgment covered by Christ’s obedience. As God’s rulers they also have the authority to declare someone saved or unsaved.
What’s the attractiveness of this philosophy? Simply, an escape from dealing with real life and responsibility in general. Contemplating the gospel and disregarding the material enables us to stand back and observe our lives without emotional attachment. Our only responsibility is to live by faith alone, and by the way, John Piper makes faith absolutely synonymous with joy. This is the premise of his Christian Hedonism philosophy. Therefore, the death of children leads to joy because it shows us the utter worthlessness of this present material world. This is also the thesis of Paul David Tripp’s How People Change: ALL events in life are preordained in order to contribute to gospel contemplationism resulting in spiritual fruit. See the chart below taken from a CCEF workbook based on the same book (click on to enlarge):
And another chart from the actual book:
To Luther, this meant a cycle of deaths and rebirths leading to joy—tragedy enables us to empty ourselves and eradicate connections with the present cares of this material world. Here is how one New Calvinist stated it:
What, then, is the subjective power of this message? Firstly, we find that there is real, objective freedom, the kind that, yes, can be experienced subjectively. We are freed from having to worry about the legitimacy of experiences; our claims of self-improvement are no longer seen as a basis of our witness or faith. In other words, we are freed from ourselves, from the tumultuous ebb and flow of our inner lives and the outward circumstances; anyone in Christ will be saved despite those things. We can observe our own turmoil without identifying with it. We might even find that we have compassion for others who function similarly. These fluctuations, violent as they might be, do not ultimately define us. If anything, they tell us about our need for a savior.
That’s it in a nutshell. And it explains Piper’s heartless tweets down to a gnat’s eyebrow. He has no patience for anyone who entangles themselves in the material world. They are ignorant.
Christians better get a grip on this. This is not mere disagreement on obscure biblical ideas—this is a completely different way of looking at reality that has wreaked havoc on mankind for thousands of years.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Reblogged this on Clearcreek Chapel Watch.
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The fact that Piper sought treatment for his cancer shows us he does not apply the determinists god he teachers to himself.
BTW: did you see this? Hilarious!
http://theamericanjesus.net/?p=9761
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Reformed theology is grounded in ancient paganism. It flows from the following basic construct:
1. Metaphysics. The material is evil, only spirit is good. [Where do they get this from, if not the Gnostic Paul?]
2. Epistemology. Truth cannot be obtained empirically. It must be obtained through some sort of gateway into the spiritual; usually contemplationism of some sort. [Again, Paul: wisdom of the world vs “God’s wisdom” which is what, Jesus on the cross not real wisdom.]
3. Ethics. Determined by the spiritual, and manifested by birthing the spiritual into the material realm. [Again, Paul: the law is no good, only the “Spirit” can instruct us in morality.]
4. Politics. The enlightened rule over the unenlightened masses on behalf of the spiritual. The masses are in bondage to empirical epistemology.” [Paul: obey those that have the rule over you.]
At some point we non-Calvinists have to stop being retarded and admit its Paul’s that the problem, not just misinterpretation of Paul, but Paul himself.
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Well, there you have it. It isn’t the interpretation of Scipture that is the problem; it is the Scriptures themselves. How sad is it that people have actually dared to believe the Scriptures. Apart from dg’s misunderstanding of Paul’s teaching about material vs. spirit, [neither Paul nor Calvinists teach that the material is evil in and of itself], he is right that Calvinists merely follow Paul’s teachings. Either we believe the Scriptures or we don’t. If you want to reject the Scriptures, feel free.
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Barba,
Calvinists absolutely do hold to the idea that matter is evil in and of itself. Calvin was a Gnostic par excellence. Furthermore, Calvinism is an extreme antithesis to the teachings of the apostle Paul, especially in the category of the law and its different relationship to believer/non-believer. Paul taught that the believer’s relationship to the law is radically different than before. Calvinists teach in no uncertain terms that the law’s relationship to believer/non-believer DOES NOT change.
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Perhaps you could give me an example of a Calvinist teaching that matter is evil in and of itself. What you say about law is true regarding Calvinists and Paul’s teaching except that Calvinists do believe that Jesus satisfied the Law’s righteous requirements so that the believer stands justified before the Law.
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Barba,
You just stated it yourself. Calvinists believe Jesus had to fulfill the law for us and not in us because we are of matter and not Spirit. Paul taught that the new birth enabled the righteous requirements of the law to be fulfilled in us in sanctification–and the law is abolished in regard to justification.
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Wait…the apostle Paul was a gnostic? Is that what is believed here, or is that just dg’s opinion?
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Matt,
By no means! I am a biblicist to the core.
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wait…the Apostle Paul was a gnostic?! Is that what is believed here? Or is this just dg’s opinion?
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No, I was asking for an example of a Calvinist teaching that matter is evil in and of itself. Where does any Calvinist teach that Jesus had to fulfill the law for us because we are matter and not spirit? Now I even have questions about your statement that Paul taught that law is abolished in regard to justification. Where does he ever say the law is abolished in regard to justification?
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Barba,
Calvinists teach that the righteousness of the law cannot be fulfilled within us because they reject righteousness being united with mortality; ie, same difference. We are declared righteous APART FROM THE LAW.
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Calvin, himself, in commenting on Romans 6:6, made it clear that “the body of sin” does not refer to flesh and bones. Anyone who believed that matter was sinful in and of itself would have to believe that the body of flesh and bones would be evil. Additionally, Jesus’ body would also have been evil in and of itself. Find me a Calvinist who believes that.
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Barba,
Calvin rejected the idea that any saint has ever done one righteous deed that pleased God. Was he speaking of flesh or spirit? And if both are depraved, why would it make a difference?
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Oh, by the way, you seemed to approve, by your silence, a statement concerning “the Gnostic Paul.” Apparently, your friend thinks Paul taught that matter is evil and spirit is good. Perhaps, for the sake of clarity, you would like to correct this egregiously false idea.
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Barba,
Silence? There are over 1000 posts on this blog that reject that idea. Stop wasting my time.
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