tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post1364623568451566518..comments2024-03-29T06:58:28.383+13:00Comments on Anglican Down Under: If you have a momentPeter Carrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-36298379320230991052009-03-23T14:22:00.000+13:002009-03-23T14:22:00.000+13:00Hi AnonymousYes, new Calvinists have much to teach...Hi Anonymous<BR/>Yes, new Calvinists have much to teach us.<BR/>I note, incidentally, that Driscoll's recent posts have excited critical comment from people other than myself! E.g. http://solapanel.org/article/driscolls_new_calvinism/ and read the comments there.Peter Carrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-78049651640484198202009-03-21T19:43:00.000+13:002009-03-21T19:43:00.000+13:00Peter, I think one of the advances Richard Neuhaus...Peter, I think one of the advances Richard Neuhaus was able to achieve through instruments like 'First Things' and 'Evangelicals and Catholics Together' was an 'ecumenism of the trenches', recognising the hostility of much of the modern world to historic Christianity, especially its pro-life, pro-family, pro-chastity ethic - the very points at which Christianity separates from the wasteland of modern secular (even atheist) thought. 'Touchstones' magazine does something very similar to 'First Things'. I'm not interested in preaching against Roman Catholicism, but neither do I wish to enter the world of sentimental holy pictures, relics and Mariolatry. But Catholics, Orthodox and Evangelicals should stand together for the core trinitarian faith, study the Bible together and learn from each other. <BR/>The fault lines in Christianity are not so much denominational these days. The 'new Calvinists' have a lot to teach the wider church by way of robust cultural critique.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-33834015570424957082009-03-21T09:09:00.000+13:002009-03-21T09:09:00.000+13:00Hi AnonymousThank you for your responses to the qu...Hi Anonymous<BR/>Thank you for your responses to the questions I ask. I am helped by that!<BR/>I would wonder, in the light of your mention of Plantinga, if there might be two kinds of "new Calvinism"? One, for example, being more open to the compromises ecumenism requires and one being less open.<BR/>I would also wonder whether there are significant differences between 'real Calvinism' and 'new Calvinism'!Peter Carrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-37883098179156233232009-03-21T08:54:00.000+13:002009-03-21T08:54:00.000+13:00Peter's questions on Calvinism: - 'does it build e...Peter's questions on Calvinism: <BR/>- 'does it build ecumenicity?' <BR/>Maybe Alvin Plantinga, who teaches at Notre Dame U, can answer that. The 1,000 strong Society of Christian Philosophers owes a lot to neo-Calvinian thought. I think there's quite a lot of convergence among 'Great Tradition' Christians.<BR/>- 'does it exalt men over women?' <BR/>Calvinists have always thought they were exalting Christ. Are they big on feminism? Not so much. They do believe in loving marriages and families, though.<BR/>- 'does the emphasis on the sovereignty of God lead to pastorally helpful practice in the face of tragedy and evil?' It should - depends on the competence of the pastor ...<BR/>"Some of my reading on the internet has led me to ask this question: if God is sovereign over the details of our lives, as some bloggers under the influence of Calvin, seem to assert, what can be said about tragic accidents and evil perpetrated on innocent people? Has God lost control? Does he want people to suffer?" - Real Calvinists (ah, what a bracing expression!) don't believe in second-guessing Providence. But neither do they believe in 'Open Theism' or the 'process God'. 'Does God want people to suffer?' Maybe for their redemption or correction. C. S. Lewis was hardly a Calvinist, but didn't he say pain was God's megaphone for a deaf world? (Or was that just the film 'Shadowlands'?) Why infants should suffer is always a mystery - but not, as Calvinists believe, sub specie aeternitatis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-49532978687308317632009-03-20T17:04:00.000+13:002009-03-20T17:04:00.000+13:00Dear PeterWould you like to outline the programme ...Dear Peter<BR/><BR/>Would you like to outline the programme of historical and theological study you have undertaken to undergird your assault on calvinism<BR/><BR/>RhysAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com