Calvin and Stuff and Calvin

Molly Worthen’s article has created quite a bit of discussion on the blogosphere, especially regarding new calvinism. Heres some stuff on it.

1. I emailed Molly Worthen who wrote last weekend’s New York Times article on Mark Driscoll, New Calvinism and WifeBeater Shirts . . or whatever it was called . . . hold on, here it is . . Who Would Jesus Smack Down? [PDF for non-members] . . . and she said . . responding to some of the comments on my blog [which she reads, of course, like any well-informed journalist] . . she said . .

“I wish very much that I could have droned on at length, with great historical detail and nuance, about Calvin’s Geneva and give a much more detailed explanation of Calvinism (and the difference between Mars Hill and the historical Reformed tradition), but as a magazine journalist one is forced (by word count and editorial fiat) to make a lot of sacrifices.”

2. John Calvin’s 500th birthday is July 10th. It only happens once a millennium! I already noticed Calvin500blog. Any there plans for the blogosphere that might prove a worthy distraction for me?

3. Yesterday, while watching House on TV, [it was Sunday] I was reading Giovanni’s Institution, most commonly known as John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion: Embracing almost the whole sum of piety, & whatever is necessary to know of the doctrine of salvation: A work most worthy to be read by all persons zealous for piety, and recently published, 1536 Edition, [did he say ALMOST?] and i stumbled on a most intriguing sentence on gluttony:



“Why? unless for them “their god is the belly” [Phil 3:9]; their kitchen their religion.”

From Plea for the Persecuted Evangelicals, Epistle Dedicatory to Francis

THEIR KICHEN IS THEIR RELIGION? Maybe a Calvin scholar can help me out here. By kitchen, did he mean the Geneva pubic bars/restaurants, or did he mean kitchens in homes [someone fire that translator], or was he referring to the refectories where Roman Catholic monks would eat too much for too long? And what equivalent idolatry in today’s world would get the same kind of rise from Calvin – addiction to restaurants? I ask because I think gluttony gets shoved under the carpet, and I am still feeling a little guilty about that big goose we ate for Christmas, but I would really like to know.

4. What is a Good Baptist to think of the rise of New Calvinism? An excellent resource came out last year – The Journal for Baptist Ministry and Theology [PDF] – which contains, as well as a worthy article by Ed Stetzer on the emerging church, a number of articles on how Baptists should or could or are responding to the new interest in Calvinism. Enjoy!

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