Is your doctrine cool?

There has been a recent surge of Calvinism in the Southern Baptist Convention. Many of us who hold to Reformed theology have been greatly encouraged by this movement toward biblical truth and away from traditional Arminianism. Unfortunately, I fear that many of those who have turned toward the theology known as Calvinism have done so not because they are convinced by scripture but because "Calvin is cool." Holding to a theological system because it is "cool" is a very dangerous thing, even if that theology is true.

In the "Calvin is cool" post mentioned above, the author said:

I know there are many non-Calvinists who are God-centered, but I think you have to notice that Calvinism is God-centered by definition, and it simply makes a marvelous difference. Look at the music of Steve Green, the sermons of Al Martin or the books of Douglas Wilson, John Piper, Jerry Bridges or R.C. Sproul. Whether in evangelism, worship, or the Christian life, Calvinists have a suspicion of humanism that is healthy and helpful in retaining the God-centered nature of the Christian faith.

Now, I would agree with everything said in that quote; in fact, I would agree with pretty much everything in the original quote, except for one of the final sentences of that post:

Even with all this, trust me, it's cool to be a Calvinist.

The danger evident in that basis for your theology is that when it ceases to seem "cool" or when something else comes along that's "cooler" you drop your theological system and run after the new coolness.

The author of the quote above began attacking the very people he thought were "cool" just a year or so after he posted that comment on his blog.

Another well-known internet Calvinist was Rob Schlappfer of the highly popular reformed bookstore "The Discerning Reader" and now-defunct companion website, antithesis.com. The Discerning Reader had the best collection of Calvinistic books available anywhere and held a strong stand against such aberrations in the Christian world as openness theology and postmodern thought exemplified by the emergent church.

But as Rob began to rub elbows with those who proclaimed the "openness of God" and those who held to postmodern hermeneutics, he was drawn in by their arguments and actually turned rabidly anti-Calvinistic, dropping most of his reformed book line and writing public and private attacks on various Calvinists. His attacks became more virulent and venomous as they accumulated and eventually it proved to be the downfall of a very successful internet enterprise.

Why did these once Calvinistic apologists turn against the theology they had once held as biblical? Because they weren't deriving their theology from scripture. They were part of the crowd of young people that like something in the system of Calvinism. Perhaps it was the ruggedness of it. Perhaps it was the literal interpretation of scripture that seemed to allow them to flaunt their acceptance of alcoholic beverages. Perhaps it was the adrenaline of debate against Arminians who can at times make Ann Coulter seem well-mannered and sweet.

Whatever the draw, it was not scripture. So when postmodernism seemed more cool, they ran after that. When other Calvinists held them to a standard of Christian living, they threw in the towel and ran after open theism. When holding fast the faithful word became a burden, they joined forces with the heretics rather than suffer the pangs of Christian fidelity.

We must derive all our theology from scripture. It is the only way to stand true.

2 Timothy 3:16, 17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.