I don’t like the phrase New Calvinism. Any time I’ve seen it thrown around its usually as an insult. And for that reason I was a little cautious when I picked up Jeremy Walker’s book, The New Calvinism Considered. But my unrest was quickly calmed. Instead what I found in the book were words from a friend.
I would likely fit the bill for a new Calvinist. At times I’m proud to wear that moniker. Like when Mark Dever is interviewed about the rise of this new Calvinism. I’m happy to be thrown in that mix. But at the same time there are things within this movement that cause me to shake my head. Sometimes I want to distance myself from this movement.
Apparently, that’s normal. As Walker notes the New Calvinism is not monolithic. In fact it is quite difficult to pin down.
Any survey and assessment of this order is admittedly like a snapshot of a recently discovered animal: just when you think you have captured the essence of the creature it moves again and you discover something new.
But even still there is something to this New Calvinism. It’s probably not as scary of a monster as some make it, nor is it going to save the world as some of my fellow Calvinists seem to think. Though it is difficult to pin down, New Calvinism is old enough now to take a look at and give some helpful critiques and commendations. Jeremy Walker aims to give the reader a pastoral and irenic assessment of the movement.
I believe he succeeds. His tone is tremendous. You can tell that he has the heart of a pastor and never once did I find him using a tone other than irenic. He’s writing as a friend, though outside the movement he’s giving us a great picture of ourselves and even being kind enough to suggest ways to improve.
Some that are not fans of the movement will likely need to read chapter three and really consider the commendations. I love Walker’s tone and his willingness to learn and commend a movement of which he disagrees. But I’m guessing that most of my readers do not fall into that category. Most of my readers are likely either unaware of, friendly to, or entrenched in this New Calvinism. So it will be of interest to note the critiques.
What are his critiques?
You need to read the book to really get a feel for these critiques, but here they are in summary form:
- Pragmatism and commercialism
- An unbalanced view of culture
- A troubling approach to holiness
- A potentially dangerous ecumenism
- A genuine tension with regard to spiritual gifts
- A degree of arrogance and triumphalism
This is what he deals with in chapter four but I think you can add a couple more than come to us from chapter 2. He notes there that this is a movement that is driven by personality. With that he mentions three dangers:
- A slavish capitulation which causes ordinary pastors and Christians to not think for themselves because our top men have it covered
- A mere imitation which not only follows the good but also exaggerates the not so good
- A unintended disconnection where “the apple is falling a fair distance from the tree and then rolling some way too.”
The critiques are legit. I have some of the same ones myself. Which leads to my only critique of the book itself.
Suggestion for Improvement
The book is helpful and needs to be read, especially by those of us that are probably within this thing called New Calvinism. There is one way, though, that I believe Walker’s book could have been improved.
Walker is very specific and not afraid to name names in the beginning sections. He even names certain figureheads in sections of his critique. I find that very helpful. But I wish he would have used the same specificity to note the differences within the movement.
In the first section and in the appendix in the back he puts someone like Mark Dever within this New Calvinism. And I think that is probably fair to do such a thing. But I also note that Dever (along with myself) would nod in agreement with everyone of the critiques. None of them really seem to describe him.
In my opinion there are different tribes that fall under the umbrella of New Calvinism. While Walker does mention that the reader should be careful not to assume that everyone in New Calvinism fits the critique, it might have been good to have actually mentioned names. Perhaps a chapter on the different segments within New Calvinism would have been helpful.
Nevertheless, this is a great book that would do us well to consider. You can get your copy here.
