A few months ago, after reading Timon Cline’s review, I watched the recent documentary film Calvinist. The film is not a history of the Reformed tradition or even of the “doctrines of grace’ themselves.  Rather, it’s a celebration of a distinctly contemporary moment in American Christianity—namely, the “Calvinist turn” in evangelical theology and culture that goes by the moniker Young, Restless, and Reformed (often abbreviated “YRR”). In the film’s optimistic telling, this particular revival of

Christians are no strangers to ideological controversy. For generations, many have been inspired by the old story of a seemingly insignificant man from a poor village in the desert, who amassed a following of rag-tag nobodies to confront the most powerful empire of the day on behalf of the oppressed and downtrodden. He possessed supernatural abilities that enabled him to accomplish miraculous feats. The actions of this man and his followers would overthrow an empire,

Dr. John Piper’s ministry (desiringgod.org) recently re-published a sermon entitled “The God Who Commands Our Emotions,” which defends Dr. Piper’s theology of moral psychology. Having previously critiqued Dr. Piper’s beliefs on this site, I thought it would be appropriate to engage with the argumentative development found in this sermon. I will note what Dr. Piper contributes to the conversation in the sermon, and afterwards provide my initial reactions. Affections Are Emotive Dr. Piper’s teaching raises

Despite our considerable theological differences, I respect John Piper. Years before Catholicism was anything but a strange, half-pagan concept in my mind, I attended his church in Minneapolis. I was catechized and baptized there, and learned many truths from his preaching that I have never found a substantial reason to doubt, despite subjecting them to much greater scrutiny in later years. Even now, I find much to admire in his life and teaching. However, an

I have many thoughts and explanations to put forth on this topic so I will get right to it. THE DOCTRINE OF UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION I cite John Calvin to articulate what Reformed Christians refer to as “Unconditional Election” today: In conformity, therefore, to the clear doctrine of the Scripture, we assert, that by an eternal and immutable counsel, God has once for all determined, both whom he would admit to salvation, and whom he would

A merry weekend to you, dear reader! Laura and her husband are moving to the West Coast this week, which means your weekly reads have been entrusted to my care and may have a slightly different flavour. I invite you to curl up with a mug of piping hot tea or coffee to enjoy some quiet reading this weekend.   [The following articles do not necessarily reflect the views or mission of Conciliar Post. These articles have been

The following fictional conversation brings together two influential figures on completely opposite ends of an intellectual spectrum. On the evangelical “right,” we have John Piper, Baptist pastor and theologian, co-editor of the influential work Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. The central claim of the book is as follows, “The Bible reveals the nature of masculinity and femininity by describing diverse responsibilities for man and woman while rooting these differing responsibilities in creation, not convention.”1 On