Paul's Passing Thoughts

“….we must remember that Luther’s theology of the cross doctrine was primarily a metaphysical endeavor. Luther and Calvin believed that ALL of reality is interpreted through the gospel meta-narrative. So, and please don’t miss this: if you don’t interpret reality through the “gospel-driven” life, you are in fact incapable of properly interpreting reality and a diagnosis of mental illness is not far behind.”  

 “Check out the new sports blog CJ Mahaney has and the playful dialogue that goes on there while his empire is publically submerged in sewage. This is actually seen as astounding spiritual maturity in the midst of a trial. In this case, a civil one.”

 “Therefore, New Calvinists are going to feel completely justified in labeling anyone they choose as mentally ill. In fact, one of their heroes, Geerhardus Vos, bemoaned what he thought was a lost opportunity to have dispensationalists psychologically evaluated over the years to determine the lack of a ‘normally-constituted mind.’” 

I’m surprised that I haven’t heard much discussion (actually none) on how New Calvinist churches control people who ask too many questions by calling their mental stability into question. This is particularly effective and a favorite among totalitarian regimes worldwide. During the Cold War era, it was the staple method in the Soviet Union.

Unhelpful in falling victim to this ploy is the whole idea of, “mental illness” propagated by various fields of Psychology. This is the idea that we can become “mentally ill” in the same way that we catch a cold. The truth is much more hopeful than that, but when you have a bunch of educated elders and their psychiatrist lackeys telling you that’s the case—it’s very powerful. If you’re “mentally ill,” you wouldn’t necessarily be able to recognize that yourself, right? Then, this idea about you is also suggested through ambiguous prayer requests at mid-week flock groups. Game over. You have to admit, these guys are good at what they do.

This may also take an unfortunate turn in which the parishioner buys into the idea and agrees to taking psychotropic drugs in order to prevent church discipline. By the way, many New Calvinist churches are disciplining people who are genuinely depressed. I have written on this in the past. “Redemptive” church discipline is not to correct a wayward life, it is an attempt to reveal the “cross-driven life.” Hence, disciplining the depressed is seen as an act of love to open the person’s eyes to their “only hope.” If they won’t see the cross story, they are better off dead anyway. And yes, suicides in regard to this reality are not even on the radar screen in the anti-spiritual abuse offensive. Hear me well: counseling based on progressive justification is Russian roulette. Read Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation, and then imagine a depressed person being counseled based on that construct. Add cold chills up back.

Luther himself argued in the Disputation (which embodies all the major New Calvinist tenets) that depression would not be the result because of the continual deaths and rebirths produced by gospel contemplationism. This is the Reformed definition of the new birth, a series of deaths and rebirths until we reach final justification. Luther believed that the law (biblical imperatives) drives us (Christians and unbelievers alike) to despair—making a joyful rebirth possible (John Piper’s Christian Hedonism is a supplement to the Reformation idea of new birth). So, the Bible is not for encouragement, instruction, etc., it is for ascertaining how evil we are as Christians leading to “humbleness” and a new birth experience. This is the “cross-driven” or “gospel-driven” life. It could be surmised that the depths of despair get shallower as we “grow” in our Christian walk because a deep realization of our sinful state is circumvented by joy. Happy antinomians that rejoice in evil are the inevitable result. Do you doubt that? Check out the new sports blog CJ Mahaney has and the playful dialogue that goes on there while his empire is publically submerged in sewage. This is actually seen as astounding spiritual maturity in the midst of a trial. In this case, a civil one.

Incredibly, Luther’s theology of the cross construct (the foundation of the Reformation) causes Christians to be depressed if they are not aspiring antinomians, and then guess where they go to get help? Right. Of course, it will affect people in different ways—the decline in spiritual maturity will take many different forms.

Now, we must remember that Luther’s theology of the cross doctrine was primarily a metaphysical endeavor. Luther and Calvin believed that ALL of reality is interpreted through the gospel meta-narrative. So, and please don’t miss this: if you don’t interpret reality through the “gospel-driven” life, you are in fact incapable of properly interpreting reality and a diagnosis of mental illness is not far behind. One example is New Covenant Theology which was spawned from Reformed ideology. The first tenet of  NCT reads as follows:

New Covenant Theology insists on the priority of Jesus Christ over all things, including history, revelation, and redemption.  New Covenant Theology presumes a Christocentricity to the understanding and meaning of all reality.

Therefore, New Calvinists are going to feel completely justified in labeling anyone they choose as mentally ill. In fact, one of their heroes, Geerhardus Vos, bemoaned what he thought was a lost opportunity to have dispensationalists psychologically evaluated over the years to determine the lack of a “normally-constituted mind.” In regard to this statement by Vos, the father of contemporary Reformed hermeneutics, Barry E. Horner stated the following:

It is difficult for me to recall a more graceless, indeed intellectually arrogant denunciation of an opposing Christian perspective than this. While Richard Gaffin commended the gentle, retiring, pious manner of Vos, such virtue is quite absent here (Future Israel: p. 174).

It is also difficult to find anything in Reformed theology that accomplishes any good. Other than the positing of facts that are complicit in first-degree theological felonies, there is nothing but delusional arrogance and the muffled screams of those buried alive under mythological topsoil. Tyrants like CJ Mahaney were looking for an ideology to fulfill their filthy lust, and they found it in Calvinism.

paul