As to be expected, this morning I came across a few posts responding to Mark Driscoll’s comments regarding the New Calvinism vs. the Old Calvinism. I am sure a few more are likely to surface before day’s end. Many of the authors make some excellent points. I too was a little alarmed by the way a new and old Calvinism could be put at odds with one another. I would in no way label myself as a qualified church historian, however, this is a subject of interest and I have been working hard to become proficient in this area. Mark’s comments seemed to be inconsistent with much of what I have come to understand about the history of the reformed tradition. As usual, I appreciate the response of Dr. Clark on the Heidelblog. I had a strong suspicion that he would offer a correction and critique to Mark’s comments. Here is a excerpt from Dr. Clark.
To strip out and isolate the doctrine of predestination and to re-contextualize it changes its character. There were several medieval theologians who taught a high doctrine of predestination. They also taught that God sovereignly infuses grace into and creates righteousness within the sinner on the ground of which God may rightly justify the righteous. There were medieval theologians who taught, in effect, the five points of Dort but none of these theologians would be admitted to the ministry of the Reformed Churches. They all taught a doctrine of justification incompatible with the Protestant (Reformed) doctrine. Many of them held to a Christology at odds with ours. They held a view of the church and sacraments incompatible with ours. In other words, the doctrine of predestination, even limited atonement, did not make them “Reformed.” If that is so then, it is so now.
You can view Dr. Clark’s post in it’s entirety here.
Dr. Darryl Hart and Dr. James Grant also offered a response as well. Here is an excerpt from Dr. Grant’s response.
He has created a category called “Old Calvinism,” and I don’t know what that is, and for the most part do not recognize it.
Here is the point: let’s be appreciative of the work God is doing among the “New Calvinists” without sticking it to Calvinists from previous generations who were faithful in their time. Let’s all have some humility about our present moment because in 50 years, our moment (or movement) will be gone and something else will take its place.
I would like to make a few brief comments in closing. First, I have a lot of respect for Mark. He is a part of a great work going on in Seattle. His church has had a profound impact on my life and continues to do so. Do I think he inserted his foot in his mouth on this one, yes. I say that humbly, knowing that I have done the same on more occasions that I care to remember. However, the primary difference is that Mark is leading a very large and influential church which has gained a lot of public attention. When he inserts his foot in his mouth, everyone sees and hears. When I do it, very few people ever hear or care. (I had to start a new blog for this very reason. The foot-in-mouth comments outweighed any redeemable content.)
