Flash Review of Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists by Collin Hansen
I’m going to tell you up front that I am not a Calvinist. I read this book hoping to get some insight into the new version of Calvinism that is taking evangelicalism by storm.
All of us are affected by the so-called “Neo-Calvinists.” Whether you are resisting the tide, or you are being pulled along with it, you are affected by it. I needed a book that would help me understand the beginnings of the movement.
I should have read this book as soon as it came off the presses. As an investigation into the origins of New Calvinism (which I have called Charismatic Calvinism) this book does a great job. Make no mistake, it is a sympathetic book with snippets of Calvinistic doctrine throughout. But I found it easy to read as a non Calvinist.
Here are a few bullet points I found helpful. Some are more important than others.
- Although the Neo Calvinist movement is certainly bolstered by a deep study of their theology, it does not attract new blood by theology alone. It attracts because of personalities that appear to be authentic and passionate. Without the passionate preaching and personality of John Piper, this movement would have never gotten off the ground. We like to think that we follow authors, topics, etc out of a pure love of the subject matter. But, we are all human, after all. We are attracted to the personas first, and then we delve into the content.
- Apparently, it is the Baptist pastor (Mark Dever) who has held back the music style at the T4G conferences. Some good friends of mine have encouraged me to attend the conference, noting that the music is largely within my comfort zone thanks to the worship leader, Bob Kauflin. According to the author, it’s Mark Dever who insists on a traditional approach, not Kauflin.
- Kauflin will perform prophetic songs that are given to him by the Holy Spirit during a service. I didn’t know this.
- Proponents of Neo Calvinism, according to Al Mohler, are looking for a community of people with whom they can connect. That is part of the draw toward the movement: finding others who think like they do. This motivates and encourages them. I found this very interesting since many involved in this movement have presented themselves to me as outside or above the need for a group. In fact, the “group” is precisely what they are trying to avoid, if the group is dispensational, and cessationist.
- The primary ways Neo Calvinism is different from Calvinism of the past is their embrace of charismatic gifts (although they dismiss the charismatic excesses), their attitude towards culture (trying to adapt it rather than reject it), and a willingness to focus on major doctrine (the gospel) without fighting about “unimportant” doctrine (mode of baptism, eschatology).
Living in the formative days of a movement makes it difficult to get a full perspective. This book was extremely helpful to me in this regard, enabling me to zoom out on the movement. As long as a person is biblically grounded and is able to avoid becoming the victim of their latest read, I would recommend this as an excellent book to get perspective on this movement which is gathering steam and affecting us all.