# Young, Restless, Reformed



## jonmo (Jul 27, 2008)

Young, Restless, Reformed is relatively short (156-page) journey by a Christianity Today journalist (Collin Hansen) to a number of key churches, pastors and conferences of what he terms "New Calvinists."

I lack the theological nuance and depth that clearly many on this board possess so perhaps some of the people he speaks about or the specific theology don't fit everyone's view of "sound" but I found the book to be an encouraging read. The basic thesis is that Calvinism is now increasingly popular today among young American evangelicals as a response to the rather superficial faith that often emanates from seeker friendly churches. 

The author criss-crosses the USA from unlikely pockets of growth for Calvinism (eg, Yale University) to the controversial Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church, Seattle to South Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville) to the home of John Piper in Minneapolis. Mr. Hansen also visits a number of conferences (Passion and New Attitude) where old school school Calvinism often sits along side very contemporary worship.

The book is very readable (I finished it in a few days on my commute on the London tube) and is largely sympathetic to the growth of Calvinism beyond its normal habitat in the likes of Grand Rapids, MI. A lot of the "New Calvinists" appear to have found their desire for something more than "Jesus Loves You" in the writings of Edwards and Owen and are often radically reforming their home churches across the US. Often comes in the face of opposition from those who find Calvinist intrepretation difficult to accept.

The book is mainly a series of distinct chapters based on the specific pastor/church the author is visiting but he does a reasonable job of weaving a common theme throughout the book. The finance guy in me would like to have seen some hard numbers to back up the growth claims but, that minor geeky point aside, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it as an encouraging holiday read.


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## wmc1982 (Jul 27, 2008)

Thanks for the review. Someone bought this for me but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Look forward to reading it one weekend when I can push all my other "scholarly" work aside! (I've been getting deep in to the history of the church lately and it is good but is really draining me!)


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## christianyouth (Jul 27, 2008)

Does the author talk about how the new generation of Calvinists differ from the older generation?


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## jonmo (Jul 28, 2008)

christianyouth said:


> Does the author talk about how the new generation of Calvinists differ from the older generation?



I don't know if this is a major difference from the older generation but it almost seemed to me that the new generation is drawn to Calvinism by a desire to know God in a deeper way and to learn from the Scriptures and through that they start to read the Bible, aided by the likes of Piper and Grudem, etc., develop an understanding of theology and only then later realise it is Calvinism. Maybe I am being too simplistic there but that seemed to be the case for several of the people interviewed in the book and perhaps with the older generation there was already a stronger cultural knowledge of Calvinism? I don't know.

It didn't strike me that this generation (or at least the ones he interviewed) were watering down the "five points" but, as tends to be the way with Reformed Christianity, there were definitely differences in emphasis and big differences in style (eg, he talks about a Calvinist rap artist!).


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## Robbie Schmidtberger (Jul 28, 2008)

I've looked at the book and read portions of it, but I find it lacking in a few areas. He does not discuss RC Sproul's influence (which is the reason Sovereign Grace Ministries is reformed) or Boice (who got Sproul's name elevated with the council of inerrancy.) It is not a comprehensive volume, nor is it meant to be. It is a brief read on the resurgence of Calvinism in Evangelicalism "on the coat-tails" of Open Theism and Postmodernity. The new Calvinists are "reformed charistmatics, reformed southern baptist, and a reformed guy who is hard to define... (Driscoll). Nothing to say about the PCA and OPC. Sad. 

Look at Carl Trueman's "Machen's Worrier Children" over at Reformation21.org


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## jonmo (Jul 28, 2008)

I would agree with Robbie on some of the limitations of the book. I think it is more an attempt to look at Calvinism reaching places it had not really been in a substantive way in recent years. There is limited information on the PCA/OPC - my old pastor in New York, Tim Keller, gets a one-line mention.


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## Robbie Schmidtberger (Jul 28, 2008)

The fact that Keller gets a one liner is a shame. He influenced Driscoll and SGM's missiology. In a recent article Redeemer (Keller's church) planted 100 churches, the same number as Driscolls. 

How the author could have missed so much is beyond me. But what he says is dead on, but it is a portion of the picture. Most likely he wants a broad readership, not just presbyterian/reformed folk.


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