peterlumpkins.com

What Is Wrong With the Young, Restless and Reformed Movement? An Interpretive Essay by Dr. Paul Owen

Below is a solicited essay by Dr. Paul Owen. Dr. Owen is Professor of Greek and Religious Studies at Montreat College in North Carolina, where he has taught since 2001.  Founded in 1916, Montreat College is the only liberal arts college in North Carolina that holds membership in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.  Dr. Owen’s academic articles and book reviews have been published in numerous venues, including the Calvin Theological Journal, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Journal of Biblical Literature, and Journal for the Study of the New Testament. (see a fuller bio at the article's end).

Dr. Owen is an occasional contributor on the comment threads at SBC Tomorrow, and it was his insightful comments on the so-called "young, restless, and reformed" theological trend which occasioned my request he tease his thoughts out further. He did.

Thus, the essay below is a spirited look at what TIME magazine listed in 2010 as one of 10 ideas changing the world right now--New Calvinism. Some will dismiss Dr. Owen's analysis as much too blustery. Others will praise his insight as spot on. Still others may raise suspicions concerning his conclusions since Dr. Owen's theological tradition is rooted in the Episcopal Church (unfortunately, we Baptists are at times prone to consider only Baptist contributions). What one cannot do, however, is ignore his studied, scholarly opinion.

I trust that whether or not one agrees with Dr. Owen, he will receive the respectful response a scholar deserves.

The Calvinism Advisory Committee report online...

The committee Frank Page put together to consider how to approach the continued conflict Calvinism has become in the Southern Baptist Convention has published its report. Entitled TRUTH, TRUST, and TESTIMONY in a TIME of TENSION: A Statement from the Calvinism Advisory Committee, the reader may find it in the current online edition of SBC Life. For your convenience, I posted a link below so the reader may download it as a PDF file.

Whatever happened to Lake Ridge Church?

  It's been said of Acts 29 Network, "When you're looking for theologically vibrant, healthy models that lead to growing churches, where else are you going to look?" If I am not mistaken, Dr. Ed Stetzer introduced Southern Baptists to the church planting network known as Acts 29 while he was Director of Research and Missiologist at the North American Mission Board (NAMB). 

Contemporary Reformed authors on John 3:16: Joel Beeke

I've been posting some classic Calvinistic authors' renderings of KOSMOS in John 3:16. Thus far, we've considered:

John Gill vs. Jesus Christ on the World of John 3:16

Thus far, we've compared three strict Calvinists--John Owen, Arthur W. Pink, and Francis Turretin--and presumably their understanding of John 3:16 (especially, the term translated "world") with the clear words of the Lord Jesus Himself. Let's offer another popular strict Calvinist theologian and author--John Gill (1697-1771). Below are Jesus' words followed by my inference of John Gill's rendition of Jesus' words.¹

Francis Turretin vs. Jesus Christ on the World of John 3:16

Thus far, we've looked at John Owen and Arthur W. Pink's rendition of the word "world" in John 3:16. While some have logged on either denying it matters what the biblical text actually says (see here), others have falsely but desperately and incredibly claimed I'm putting words in the author's mouth (e.g see here, here). What no one has demonstrated thus far is, how either Owen or Pink's rendition of KOSMOS ("world" in John 3:16) as the world of "believers only" (or world of the "elect") is deduced from the biblical text itself and not inferred from preconceived theological notions imposed upon the biblical text.

Arthur W. Pink vs. Jesus Christ on the World of John 3:16

Here's our Lord Jesus in John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (NASB)

Here's Arthur W. Pink, strict Calvinist¹ and famed Reformed Baptist author, in his rendition of John 3:16:

“For God so loved believers, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life”²

 Do you think Pink has a point in substituting "believers" for "world" in John 3:16?

 

¹Note: some Calvinist scholars refer to Pink as more than a strict Calvinist; they refer to him as a Hyper-Calvinist (e.g. Dr. Curt Daniel)

²The term “believers” is substituted based on an inference from what Pink wrote pertaining to the term “world” in John 3:16. He explained: ‘“Kosmos” is used of believers only: John 1:29; 3:16, 17; 6:33; 12; 47; 1 Cor. 4:9; 2 Cor. 5:19. We leave our readers to turn to these passages, asking them to note, carefully, exactly what is said and predicated of “the world” in each place’ (Arthur Walkington Pink, The Arthur Pink Anthology, Chapter 44). 

See also

John Owen vs. Jesus Christ on the World of John 3:16

John Owen vs. Jesus Christ on the World of John 3:16

Here's our Lord Jesus in John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (ESV)

Here's John Owen, the theological darling of many contemporary Baptist Calvinists, in his rendition of what Jesus said in John 3:16:

"God so loved his elect throughout the world, that he gave his Son with this intention, that by him believers might be saved" (The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, p.214)

For some reason, there seems to be a lot of unnecessary theological baggage Owen drags onto the words of Jesus. What do you think?

See Also:

Arthur W. Pink vs. Jesus Christ on the World of John 3:16

 

Calvinists and the World of John 3:16: Take Two

I was looking for something else when I ran across this piece I first posted on September 12, 2006. After scanning it, I thought it'd be good to offer a Take Two. Enjoy...

A Tribute to "Mary" and "Lydia", frequent commenters at SBC Tomorrow

I do not know who the insult is aimed at. Given my dealings with aggressive Calvinist, J.D. Hall, it's probably intended to be a three-way tie. Whatever the case, I thought ending this very tiresome, weary, heart-wrenching week with a little humor would be healthy for us all.

Is Calvinism comparable to a caste social construct?

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, a caste social structure is "any of the ranked, hereditary, endogamous social groups, often linked with occupation, that together constitute traditional societies in South Asia, particularly among Hindus in India" (//link).  The article goes on to suggest that "Although sometimes used to designate similar groups in other societies, the “caste system” is uniquely developed in Hindu societies."

Sovereign Grace Ministries and C.J. Mahaney want lawsuit to end

The Louisville-based Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) and, up until recently, head of the dwindling mini-denomination¹ of Charismatic-neo-Calvinist churches, C. J. Mahaney, are apparently claiming that constitutional rights of religious freedom shield them from an ever-expanding lawsuit mounting against the organization generally and certain individuals particularly (the plaintiffs' lawyers continue to amend the lawsuit adding more and more victims who allege wrong-doing against them). According to Louisville's Courier-Journal religion reporter, Peter Smith, the defendants contrarily allege that SGM's demands for unquestioning obedience led to the shielding of sexual predators.

An Open Invitation to James White: My Response by Peter Lumpkins

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I must keep James White up at night. Surely, no Southern Baptist blogger gets under the old boy’s skin like I do. Alas, I hold that to be no real accomplishment. I’m a peace-loving guy. I ‘m actually not internally wired for conflict. But when conflict comes to my door, begging to come in, neither do I slam the door in conflict’s face. This is especially true when it comes to bullies. And believe me when I say this, James White is perceived within a broad circle of identifiable casualties, composed of believers and unbelievers alike, as a veritable bully who reckons to strong-arm his opponents in submitting to his particular way of looking at things.

A Special SBC Tomorrow Critique: James White and Fred Phelps

Today on SBC Tomorrow, I’d like to critique two Calvinists, their churches, and their ministries. I’ll be dealing with James White, a well-known critic within evangelicalism and a vigorous critic of non-Calvinist evangelicalism. White serves as an elder at the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church and is a vocational debater who constantly takes issue with those whom he regularly insinuates are heretics apparently because they hold to less than what he sees as true biblical “Reformed” Christianity. Many times his criticisms are scathing and over-the-top toward fellow evangelicals.

James White and humility

Take a listen at one snippet from White's broadband broadcast critiquing The 2013 John 3:16 Conference speakers (including my booklet on Calvinism in the same broadcast). It's only 40 secs long but a powerful statement concerning how James White views himself compared with other brothers in ministry: