Dave, I hope you aren’t suffering from any health issues when I make that statement.
Over at Dave’s new blog, he says this:
And if that weren’t bad enough, by making Calvinism the central issue, he distracts us away from the real question that should be in front of us. What we really need to ask, it seems, is this, “If young men can find Calvinism within fundamentalism, then why are they leaving?” The answer to that question is where the message should have gone. And the answer to that question is far more complex that Pastor Sweatt seems willing to allow.
You can read the whole post here.
I agree that Calvinism isn’t the problem. I agree that we need to talk about why some are leaving. Dave seems to think that maybe the notion that young men are leaving isn’t true, but I’ll leave that up to him to demonstrate. (In some ways, I think the problem is that some are not leaving, just agitating and stirring up trouble. But I digress.)
I can think of a number of reasons why some are leaving fundamentalism. Some are the ‘fault’ of those leaving and others are the ‘fault’ of those staying. I wonder how many of the reasons are really new reasons. I know many of my classmates and compatriots at BJU who are no longer fundamentalists. People have been leaving for a long time. The reasons haven’t changed much.
Perhaps the only thing that has changed is the numbers of those leaving? Not sure about that. Certainly the loudness of leaving seems to be much greater these days.
And although Calvinism isn’t the central issue, there is a tide of Reformed theology sweeping the Church these days. It isn’t confined merely to Fundamentalism, but it is causing problems in Fundamentalism. It is, however, not the central issue in causing leave-taking, I am convinced.
So before I wax eloquent, I wonder if my five readers might care to contribute their suggestions for reasons people are leaving Fundamentalism?
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Comments