It should come as no surprise that the “New Calvinists”, who are attempting to build their 21st century “City Upon a Hill”, have been greatly inspired by another group of Christians who attempted such a feat in a new land around 400 years ago – the Puritans. Of course, the Puritans were inspired by their hero John Calvin, whose goal was to build a city upon a hill (inspired by St. Augustine’s City of God) in Geneva, Switzerland.
As we have been researching the Calvinistas, we are amazed by how hard they strive to invoke the thinking of the Puritans. Mark Dever, C.J. Mahaney, Tullian Tchividjian, and their colleagues represent a broad swath of the hyper-Calvinist movement, and they make it a habit to quote Puritans regularly in their sermons and talks to outside groups, not to mention in what they write. In fact, we understand that when a baby is dedicated in one Sovereign Grace church, the parents are given a booklet containing Puritan thought on childrearing.
Obviously, there is a reason these hyper-Calvinists find the Puritans so appealing. It is our goal to explore the Puritans, their teachings, and their failings in order to better understand why Puritanism holds such a fascination for this Neo-Calvinist group.
Our journey begins tomorrow…
Looking forward to it.
Goodbye yellow, Hello hot pink!!
Goodbye pink, hello green! What’s next?
I am trying out colors. We have “the guy behind the curtain” coming over tomorrow to show me how to change the colors more gradually and build in some blacks and grays.This color wheel is bizarre. I chose a nice, subtle cool blue and when I checked, it looked like someone spilled blue jello. Why can’t someone invent a nice color wheel that will have choices like subtle blue or black gray, etc. Apparently its the theme.AAARGGHH.
I admit I went through my Puritan phase. It was mainly a response to the shallow seeker world. Howver, I have this research gene in me that cannot help but research topics I am interested in at the time. The Puritans were irresistable to me. The more I researched, the more disillusioned I became and saw the problems inherent in their OC approach to the NC. The same thing happened to my seminary friend when he researched a thesis on them and told me he can now see why they died out.
I still love to listen to the Valley of Vision prayers, though.
Lydia
You well outline the issue in your thoughtful comment. There are wonderful things that come from the Puritans. Unfortunately, there are some difficult things as well.
One of my current pastors puts it well. Dissonance! The moment we emphasize anyone or any group more than Scripture and Jesus, the more disappointed we will be. We can learn from those who went before us, enjoy them, and soundly reject the problems.
It seems like we love to follow the “cool” thing of the moment. Mahaney and Ed Young Jr., although different in their beliefs, are probably the same in their motivation. Both toodle off down the primrose path, merrily ignoring the developing problems; poor doctrine with Young and claims of abusive ministry practices in Mahaney’s Sovereign Grace MInistries. And all of their buddies studiously ignore their problems for many reasons. Sigh…
“One of my current pastors puts it well. Dissonance! The moment we emphasize anyone or any group more than Scripture and Jesus, the more disappointed we will be. We can learn from those who went before us, enjoy them, and soundly reject the problems.”
He is EXACTLY right! I believe Satan loves it when we emphasize humans.