I have not written a book review since high school (we called them 'book reports' then...remember those?). However, as I have been writing the blog, I have been asked several times about resources I would recommend. I recently posted what my First Five books were when I began to take reading and study more seriously. I will continue to create such lists as seem beneficial. In addition to this, I want to periodically write up longer treatments on particular books. Lists and rankings can be helpful, but a good review will go further. As with everything on this blog, I hope these reviews will serve those who are considering what to read or if a specific book is good to pick up.
Young, Restless, Reformed: A journalist's journey with the New Calvinists by Collin Hansen
I will confess at the beginning of this review that I have selected a book that is relatively easy to review. The content is not overwhelming in nature. It is written by a journalist who is, according to his sketch in the book, an editor-at-large with Christianity Today. Therefore, it is written as a journalist would write - not overly technical and very personal. It is easy to connect with for this reason. Since this is the inaugural review, I decided to go a little easy on myself while I figure out how to format this type of write-up. So, bear with me while I work out the kinks.
The purpose of this book is to put a name and face(s) to the resurgence of Reformed theology among Christians of my generation and younger. In the midst of much controversy surrounding the so-called 'emerging church' movement, the author notes that experience would indicate a larger swing toward Reformed theology and conservative views of Scripture rather than the general loosening of biblical orthodoxy. Hansen writes, "I started thinking about leading seminaries in the United States and noticed a number of Calvinists in leadership positions. I considered millions of books sold by (John) Piper and his yearly appearances at the popular Passion conference. Yale University Press had just released a major biography of Jonathan Edwards. Reformed theology had recently become a major point of contention in the nation's largest Protestant body, the Southern Baptist Convention (p.12)."
Hansen takes his readers on a trip around the United States to encounter how this 'New Calvinist' movement was manifesting itself in a variety of contexts. He starts at the Passion conference, then spends time with John Piper, moves over to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to discuss the impact of her current prominent leader, R. Albert Mohler, Jr. From there, readers are taken into more culturally accessible locations such as the New Attitude Conference and Mars Hill Church in Seattle. At each stop, readers are given a glimpse into how younger Christians are adopting 'older' view of Scripture, preferring to read the Bible and think about it deeply to discovering the next great church growth methodology.
While the book is by no means a technical work on what 'Calvinism' is, he does give a brief overview of TULIP in the opening chapter and draws the distinction between this and another, more prominent, view of God popular in evangelicalism - Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. This system, whose name was first coined by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, believes that "God is something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist: he is always on call, takes care of any problems that arise, professionally helps his people to feel better about themselves, and does not become too personally involved in the process." In response to this view, some young Christians have recognized the emptiness of this god and have turned to seek the God of the Bible. In so doing, and in looking deeply at the Word and reading from others who likewise have thought and written deeply and extensively about Scripture, these young people have found themselves theologically in the Calvinist camp.
Let me be perfectly clear: Other thinkers of other theologies have written excellent books and commentaries and are wonderful preachers. However, the obvious shift in evangelicalism has been away from the modern, 'seeker-sensitive' movement and toward one of two directions - either a postmodern/post-Christian mindset which inherently doubts truth claims or toward the particular conservative, biblical orthodoxy found in the Reformed camp. The question isn't "Is that really happening?" but rather "Why is that happening?"
Hansen's basic reason for this, when boiled down to its core, is that Reformed theology unflinchingly reveals the raw truth of what the Bible says with little need for exegetical gymnastics. And in this movement, call it what you will - New Calvinism; Young, Restless, Reformed; Emerging Reformers - the big ideas, according to Hansen, are, "Hunger for God's Word. Passion for evangelism. Zeal for holiness." In short, it's biblical Christianity that happens to ascribe to a specific theology and is working powerfully in the lives of younger believers.
Before I make a few additional comments, I will wrap up the review portion. This is a good, relatively quick read that is helpful in understanding how and why this 'old' theology has made a comeback. It is personally written, albeit by someone who would identify himself with this camp (thus it is a biased read), and it covers the big names in the movement and how they are impacting many lives the world over. If you are looking to understand what Calvinism, Reformed theology, or TULIP is, this is not your book. It is not technical. It is a look at how this particular theology is impacting a particular generation and a consideration as to why.
On a personal note, I would add that much of the power being experienced by this new wave of Calvinist thinkers is due to the openness of its leaders to speak to living a Spirit-filled life. John Piper, Mark Driscoll, CJ Mahaney, Joshua Harris, Sam Storms, DA Carson, and I would even put in Francis Chan, all hold to the belief that the power of God seen in the book of Acts and written more extensively about in 1 Corinthians 12-14 can be experienced today by the power of the Holy Spirit according to the will of God. In the past, Calvinism was seen as cold, calculated, academic, and based largely on Scripture plus tradition. While the traditions of the Church are not dismissed by the New Reformers, there is an increased emphasis on biblically-focused gospel contextualization as well as Spirit-empowered ministry, specifically in preaching and teaching. In this, I believe these teachers have struck what we in my generation, and the generations following, desire most: uncompromising Truth and powerful, transformational encounters with the living God.
0 comments:
Post a Comment