Two journeys

In a September 2006 cover story for Christianity Today Collin Hansen correctly asserted that the most important phenomenom in contemporary American evangelicalism was the resurgence of Reformed theology, not the rise of the so-called Emergent church. According to Hansen "Calvinism is making a comeback and shaking up the church." Brian McLaren may get the Larry King invites, but John Piper is more likely to be on a young evangelical's bookshelf or iPod. Now Hansen has followed up with Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists which is basically a book-length expansion of the CT article. It's an entertaining and worthwhile read.

I couldn't help but see elements of my own biography of the last 5-10 years in Hansen's travelogue. Many of the leaders and organizations he profiles have had an influence on my life in profound ways. Hansen has a journalist's eye for the telling detail and anecdote. I enjoyed reading that the Piper house doesn't have a TV and that Pastor John unwinds over a bowl of cereal after preaching his Saturday evening sermon. I chuckled over the fact that C.J. Mahaney has a copy of Encyclopedia Idiotica in his office, and was saddened (but not surprised) that the church once pastored by Jonathan Edwards now advertises support for alternative lifestyles. Though Hansen is clearly writing as a sympathetic insider he treats fairly and respectfully opposing voices including Piper critic Roger Olson and several Southern Baptist leaders concerned about the revival of Calvinist theology within the SBC.

In an autobiographical epilogue South Dakotan Hansen writes affectingly on how the rise of Reformed evangelicalism is having an effect even back home, "Hunger for God's Word. Passion for evangelism. Zeal for holiness. That's not a revival of Calvinism. That's a revival. And it's breaking out in places like Emery, South Dakota." There's no doubt in my mind that the Reformed resurgence is having a positive effect on the American church. Young Christians are looking for something more than the shallow theology and pragmatism that characterized the seeker-sensitive churches of their parents. They are finding it in a radically God-centered view of the gospel and the church. I don't see how a fair-minded person could fail to be impressed by some of the young pastors and leaders in this book. Hansen profiles Josh Moody, the 37-year old pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in ultra-secular New Haven, Connecticut. Trinity bought what was once St. Boniface's Catholic Church. The Southern Baptist congregation was down to 30 members when Moody was called in 1999, but has grown to over 300 under Moody's Puritan-influenced, Gospel-centered preaching. Moody says, "we like to think of this as the Reformation all over again."

Will the young Reformed resurgence bring lasting reformation and renewal to the American church or will it be just another passing fad? Will the revival of Calvinist doctrine lead it's young adherents to an embrace of a more, fully-orbed Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions and catechisms?

An excellent book to read in tandem with Hansen's is An Unexpected Journey: Discovering Reformed Christianity by W. Robert Godfrey. Godfrey is the President of Westminster Seminary California and a lover of church history and the Psalms. Godfrey grew up in a nominally church-going home, but didn't meet his first Calvinist until he was in high school. Paul Hoekenga was a member of the Alameda High School swim team with Godfrey, and Hoekenga's family were members of the Christian Reformed Church in town. Hoekenga invited his teammate to church and thus began the unexpected journey of the title.

Part autobiography and part apologia, Godfrey weaves his own story into an introduction to the various strands of Reformed theology, practice and piety. This book is especially valuable because it spends relatively little time focusing on five-point Calvinism. Why? Godfrey's WSC colleague Michael Horton makes the case in Hansen's book that believing in TULIP doesn't make one Reformed. Godfrey agrees:

Much confusion has arisen from the tendency of the Reformed to talk of the five points of Calvinism. Such talk implies that Calvinism is simply summarized in five points. In reality, Calvinism cannot be reduced to five points, but is summarized only in its confessions, such as the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Westminster Confession.

I know there are some that would disagree with that, but one should at least read a lucid exposition of historic Calvinism -- the kind that's been around for several centuries -- before dismissing this view as too narrow. An Unexpected Journey does this well. Not to say that much of Godfrey's critique of American evangelicalism doesn't track with the young, restless crowd. It does. Godfrey and Mark Driscoll agree on a lot, but Godfrey's regulative principle of worship rules out most of what goes on at Mars Hill. Although I come down somewhere in the middle on this issue, I have a better understanding of the historic Reformed view of worship having read this book, and I agree with Godfrey that we could do with more simplicity, reverence and awe -- "as Psalm 2:11 says, 'Rejoice with trembling.'"

An Unexpected Journey also contains a spirited call for a return to keeping the Christian Sabbath, and chapters on the Reformed view of the two kingdoms and calling. It's thoughtfully arranged and sprinkled throughout with Scripture, especially from the Psalms. John Calvin believed the Psalms expressed all the emotions of the Christian soul, and so does Godfrey. When he does address Calvinist doctrines such as election, he does so clearly and concisely. Young, Restless, Reformed is an exciting book for those of us who believe Reformed theology is the fullest expression of what Scripture teaches. I had a blast reading it. Though not as exciting, Godfrey's book may well point the way to something more lasting, once the young and the restless are no longer either. Read them both.