In Grand Rapids at the "Calvin for the 21st Century" Conference

[DMcFadden]

Sitting in my room at the Prince Center (@ Calvin College), I am impressed at the hotel like accommodations and sooooooo excited about the PRTS sponsored conference on Calvin which begins tomorrow.

Speakers:
* Joel Beeke
* Gerald Bilkes
* J. Ligon Duncan
* Michael Haykin
* Nelson Kloosterman
* David Murray
* Joseph Pipa
* Cornelis Pronk
* Donald Sinnema
* Derek Thomas
* Cornelius Venema

11 speakers, 13 sessions. Not bad for $65!

I'll keep you informed on the conference. It looks like a real blessing (including the 50% on a whole bunch of books).

(My wife and daughter show up on Friday so that we can get her accustomed to Grand Rapids before she reports to her college next week. After 33 years and 5 kids we will finally be EMPTY NESTERS!!!)

 

[BertMulder]

I thought the conference sponsored by PRTS is starting next week Thursday....

OH, this is by the Puritan Reformed, while that one is by the Protestant Reformed....

After 500 Years: John Calvin for Reformed Churches Today

same acronym....

 

[ewenlin]

Your daughter is going to PRTS? Woo! Or another college in the same area, MI?

13 sessions sounds packed. Let us know how it goes!

 

[jawyman]

Dennis,

I look forward to meeting you at the conference. If you would like any recommendations on what to do and what see while in GR let me know. I am very excited for this conference. We really have a great line-up of speakers. See you at the conference!

 

[DMcFadden]

Your daughter is going to PRTS? Woo! Or another college in the same area, MI?

13 sessions sounds packed. Let us know how it goes!

Smart alec! She is a freshman at Cornerstone University.

My staff (mostly Baptists) think I'm nuts and probably the only person on earth who would spend precious vacation time going to listen to historians, theologians, and biblical scholars discourse on the significance of a guy born 500 years ago, especially when we don't even know where his grave stands. But, then, they are also the ones who had the cool Calvin cake made for me for July 10 (see avatar above).

After attending the WSC Calvin 500 event earlier this year, listening to the MP3s from the GPTS one, this is the conclusion to my Calvin trifecta.

 

[ewenlin]

My staff (mostly Baptists) think I'm nuts

Are you saying if they were Presbyterians they wouldn't think you're nuts for spending your precious vacation time going to listen to a bunch of theologians talk about a dead theologian?

Have a great time!

 

[BertMulder]

Your daughter is going to PRTS? Woo! Or another college in the same area, MI?

13 sessions sounds packed. Let us know how it goes!

Smart alec! She is a freshman at Cornerstone University.

My staff (mostly Baptists) think I'm nuts and probably the only person on earth who would spend precious vacation time going to listen to historians, theologians, and biblical scholars discourse on the significance of a guy born 500 years ago, especially when we don't even know where his grave stands. But, then, they are also the ones who had the cool Calvin cake made for me for July 10 (see avatar above).

After attending the WSC Calvin 500 event earlier this year, listening to the MP3s from the GPTS one, this is the conclusion to my Calvin trifecta.

You don't want to stay an extra week and take in the PRTS conference?

 

[LawrenceU]

Enjoy! I wish I could be there with you. It sounds like a great conference.

 

[Radical_Pilgrim]

My pastor and elders are at that conference. I wished I coulda went but on the job hunt and interviews take priority right now. Should be an awesome time though.

 

[DMcFadden]

What a GREAT day!

Beeke has a knack for getting more significant things done than anyone I know. He pastors, leads a seminary, writes books, edits other books, runs a boutique publishing house that puts out (along with Banner of Truth) some of the best books around, and creates a conference that draws 4x as many people as the "other" group associated with the name "Calvin" does in the same venue earlier this year (hmmmmmm )*.

David Murray did a very fine job on speaking on "Calvin and Preaching Christ from the Old Testament," even finding time to gently critique the limitations of the Geneva Reformer on three points. He also stirred our hearts with a wonderful sermon, "What Kind of Love is This?" out of 1 John 3:1-5.

Michael Haykin dispelled the mythology of a lack of missiological passion on the part of Calvin. He cited the risky (and ultimately failed from a human standpoint) mission to Brazil. But, what was even more interesting was the figure of 1,500 pastors trained by Calvin who took the French church from 5,000 to 2 million members, up to 2,000 congregations, and claiming the loyalty of a full 50% of the middle and upper classes (prior to the crack down on the Hugenots).

My highlight of the day, however, was Ligon Duncan speaking on the reasons for "The Resurgence of Calvinism in America."

His list of factors was not anything you haven't heard already:
1. Three preachers: Spurgeon, Lloyd Jones, and John MacArthur
2. Books: Banner of Truth Trust, RHB
3. Evangelist: D. James Kennedy
4. Battle for the Bible – which gave prominence to the voices of Boice, Sproul, Packer, Nicole, etc., who brought Reformed leaders to the forefront among evangelicals.
5. Controversy in the old Southern Presbyterian church (1973 - 50k left to establish PCA) and in the SBC with the amazing work done by Al Mohler
6. Knowing God, Packer
7. Theologian Philosopher who can popularize – Sproul
8. John Piper – "truly a force of nature" who combined theological precision with an incredible passion and joy leading to costly sacrifice for the glory of God
9. Decline of liberalism sustained only by the "life support" of endowments; the liberal alternative to secularism is gone. Liberalism is dying everywhere. God chose to use those who neither feared nor flattered any flesh and cared more about faithfulness than "success."

Duncan was fascinating, told "insider" stories since he knows most of the people and institutions referenced. However, the real value of the evening came in his concluding observations and admonitions.

Can we poke holes in the weaknesses of the "new Calvinism"? Sure, at best it is an admixture. Everyone of these people or movements can be faulted for this, that, or the other thing. Most are not fully confessional. Some hold odd views. MacArthur is a dispensationalist, others charismatic.

But, you have to admire the wisdom of a God who would raise up liberal sceptics of his word in order to raise up a cadre of defenders of the Bible who would win the day by their uncompromising commitment to God's word and a passion for his glory who proclaimed the doctrines of grace without apology.

Duncan noted that weaker and more vapid versions of Christianity are fading in the face of secularism. Christian nominalism is waning and passing away quickly.

God has given us a biblical message and biblical means: the means of grace – word and sacraments. This generation is fatherless!!! They ache for a godly man to pour his life into them. They expect to be rejected (their father always rejected them). They need someone to come alongside of them, love them, then pour your life into them and teach them a better way.

Duncan basically pled with the conferees to adopt a posture of shepherding, mentoring, and coming alongside of the new Calvinists in order to "show them a better way" without alienating them. He sees their emergence as a token of God's wisdom and a call for us to engage them for the cause of God and his kingdom. They have "gotten" it about Calvinist soteriology but have no grasp of Calvinist ecclesiology. This is a golden opportunity for more confessional folks to seize the day.

All in all, it was powerful, inspirational, and transformational. Wish you all were here.

* My partly cynical take on the diffential in attendance (beyond the entrepreneurial genius of Dr. Beeke) relates to the fact that the people at Beeke's conference actually believe in the relevance of Calvin as a father in the faith, not as a historical curiosity for professional historians.

 

[CalvinandHodges]

Hay!

You may run into my pastor there - David Reese from Colorado Springs. If you do, then give him my warmest regards.

- Rob Wieland

 

[kvanlaan]

Michael Haykin lives five minutes from me now in the little town I grew up in (Dundas, Ontario, population ~20,000).

Yes, that's my only claim to fame.

Thank you.




Wish I was there!

 

[Bookmeister]

Dennis,
I am glad you enjoyed Ligon's speach so much. I too would have loved to hear him speak in person today, as I sat in the Systematic Theology class he was supposed to teach today watching a prerecorded dvd of his lecture I was sorely missing having him in person. I had him for covenant theology last semester and was truly blessed by his very informative lectures. I am glad he blessed you today but I am truly looking forward to having him back in class next week.

 

[DMcFadden]

Hay!

You may run into my pastor there - David Reese from Colorado Springs. If you do, then give him my warmest regards.

- Rob Wieland

I met a pastor from Colorado Springs with four kids (?) I think. Is he bald with a shaved (or closely cropped) rest of it? He sat next to me this afternoon among the 400 other folks. It couldn't be your pastor. This guy was going on and on about all of the pastoral problems he is having with some guy named "Rob" in his church back in Colorado Springs. Man did I get an earful about sin and disobedience. Oops! Never mind.

Actually, the last part is a total joke. However, I did sit next to a bald fellow /shaved head fellow from Colorado Springs using a Mac this afternoon.

 

[N. Eshelman]

Hay!

You may run into my pastor there - David Reese from Colorado Springs. If you do, then give him my warmest regards.

- Rob Wieland

I met a pastor from Colorado Springs with four kids (?) I think. Is he bald with a shaved (or closely cropped) rest of it? He sat next to me this afternoon among the 400 other folks. It couldn't be your pastor. This guy was going on and on about all of the pastoral problems he is having with some guy named "Rob" in his church back in Colorado Springs. Man did I get an earful about sin and disobedience. Oops! Never mind.

Actually, the last part is a total joke. However, I did sit next to a bald fellow /shaved head fellow from Colorado Springs using a Mac this afternoon.

You did sit next to David Reese as well as my best friend since middle school- Shawn Anderson. He told me that he met you.

Enjoy Grand Rapids. Tell her hello for me.

 

[ewenlin]

I hope they upload the messages online..

 

[Nate]

I hope they upload the messages online..

 

[DMcFadden]

Hay!

You may run into my pastor there - David Reese from Colorado Springs. If you do, then give him my warmest regards.

- Rob Wieland

I met a pastor from Colorado Springs with four kids (?) I think. Is he bald with a shaved (or closely cropped) rest of it? He sat next to me this afternoon among the 400 other folks. It couldn't be your pastor. This guy was going on and on about all of the pastoral problems he is having with some guy named "Rob" in his church back in Colorado Springs. Man did I get an earful about sin and disobedience. Oops! Never mind.

Actually, the last part is a total joke. However, I did sit next to a bald fellow /shaved head fellow from Colorado Springs using a Mac this afternoon.

You did sit next to David Reese as well as my best friend since middle school- Shawn Anderson. He told me that he met you.

Enjoy Grand Rapids. Tell her hello for me.

Yes, I met Shawn. He and David are sitting behind me as I write. Shawn is texting to someone, David is listening intently, and Dr. Gerald Bilkes is speaking on "Calvin on the Word of God."

I REALLY appreciate Beeke and his efforts at spreading Reformed theology. They are now posting their classes (with the ability to watch the instructor and a separate screen with notes) on the internet. You can actually take up to 50% of a degree in this online fashion.

 

[Pilgrim72]

The God and Culture Blog Blog Archive Grand Rapids Calvin Conference: Session Five

 

[DMcFadden]

Wow! Paul really gave a good overview of Duncan's message.

 

[DMcFadden]

Gerald Bilkes – “Calvin and the Word of God”
How God’s Word Comes to Us
• Speech –
• School –
• Sun –
• Spectacles –
• Strength (Sword) –
• Safety –
• Solace -
• Sweetness -
• Song -

How Should we Come to God’s Word
o Reverently
o Dependently
o Ardently

 

[kvanlaan]

Do tell, how was Gerald Bilkes? His brother is pastor to the FRC church just down the road from me and is an excellent preacher (though quite grave and serious for such a young man).

 

[Scott1]

DMcFadden
Can we poke holes in the weaknesses of the "new Calvinism"? Sure, at best it is an admixture. Everyone of these people or movements can be faulted for this, that, or the other thing. Most are not fully confessional. Some hold odd views. MacArthur is a dispensationalist, others charismatic.

But, you have to admire the wisdom of a God who would raise up liberal sceptics of his word in order to raise up a cadre of defenders of the Bible who would win the day by their uncompromising commitment to God's word and a passion for his glory who proclaimed the doctrines of grace without apology.

Duncan noted that weaker and more vapid versions of Christianity are fading in the face of secularism. Christian nominalism is waning and passing away quickly.

God has given us a biblical message and biblical means: the means of grace – word and sacraments. This generation is fatherless!!! They ache for a godly man to pour his life into them. They expect to be rejected (their father always rejected them). They need someone to come alongside of them, love them, then pour your life into them and teach them a better way.

Duncan basically pled with the conferees to adopt a posture of shepherding, mentoring, and coming alongside of the new Calvinists in order to "show them a better way" without alienating them. He sees their emergence as a token of God's wisdom and a call for us to engage them for the cause of God and his kingdom. They have "gotten" it about Calvinist soteriology but have no grasp of Calvinist ecclesiology. This is a golden opportunity for more confessional folks to seize the day.

It takes a lot of hard work through the ordinary means of grace and covenant community to absorb the basic constructs of reformed theology. We owe a debt of gratitude to our forefathers in the faith, like Mr. Calvin.

Reformed theology is:

Doctrines of grace + covenant theology + confession of faith

It has a "high" view of the church and a "high" view of the sacraments.

All that before one gets to the charismatic/pentecostal doctrine, either implicitly or explicitly taught that new revelation equal to or above that of Scripture ordinarily comes outside of Scripture. (That is not biblical, and not reformed theology).

So, there is both promise and peril in all the "Calvinism" and "reformed" going around-

peril in that a pseudo type is popularized rather than the genuine, historical substance.

Promise in that so many want to be identified this way.

In the Providence of God, it is an exciting time to be alive!

 

[DMcFadden]

Joseph Pipa was very good this morning on Calvin and the Holy Spirit.

 

[DMcFadden]

Beeke ended the conference with a collation of the observations he received after asking three dozen Calvin scholars to opine on the topic: Why is Calvin still relevant today?

The "top 12"

• 12 - Calvin the Educator – models for us a proper recognition for education, especially seminary training (e.g., Genevan academy).
• 11 – Calvin the Socio-theologian – models for us the wide ranging impact of his theology on western European and American societies; science, scholarship, human liberty, rule of law, etc. The despair of our day with its statism, socialism, and unfettered capitalism all exemplify what happens when you try to follow these goals without God.
• 10 – Calvin the Evangelist. He models both the teaching and practice of evangelism and missions: A duty, a delight, an act of gratitude.
• 9 – Calvin the Pastor. He models how to pastor as a faithful undershepherd. Geneva for 25 years, Strassborg for 3. His letters and sermons reveal the sharing of hopes and dreams of his people. It was forged in the furnace of affliction, as he was moved to compassion for people.
• 8 – Calvin the Pietist. Models for us how to bring all of life under the rubric of a biblical pietas. Pietas was “the reason I have written my Institutes.” A right attitude toward God: true knowledge, heart felt worship, saving faith, philial fear, prayerful submission, reverential love. All directed to the glory of God.
- Theologically – the root of our mystical union with Christ Communion with Christ – participate in his benefits HS and saving faith the double bond of piety. Justification and Sanctification related to piety: imputed and actual piety
- Ecclesiastically – nurtured through the church; preaching is spiritual food and offered by the spiritual physician; experiential/experimental; the “ought” to of faith (embracing full assurance) and the “is” of faith; communion of saints is the bond of corporate piety. Extends to the sacraments – “exercises in piety” promoting a right attitude toward God. Lord’s Supper = piety of grace received and the piety of gratitude given.
- Practically – in living the Christian life. Five words identified by Calvin: Prayer, repentance, self-denial, cross bearing, and obedience. To be a Calvinist is to be obsessed with God. Took away the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and called every person to devotion to God.
• 7 – Calvin the Commentator – sets the bar for high quality commentaries; sensible, sane, and judicious; penetrating with an emphasis upon application.
• 6 – Calvin the Churchman – he models for us a high view of the church without idolatry or absolutism. Status, substance, and success of the body of Christ.
• 5 – Calvin the Trinitarian – he models for us how to hold an exalted Trinitarian view of God. Sovereignty of God, the munis triplex and union with Christ, “the” theologian of the HS (he discredited the medieval doctrine of divine assistance in human merit channeled through RC sacramentalism and championed the partnership of the Spirit working through the Word).
• 4 – Calvin the Preacher - Expository, experiential, applicatory. Every sermon preached by two ministers: external minister and the internal minister (i.e., the HS). Exposition followed by application.
• 3 – Calvin the Christian – how to live a difficult life of constant suffering under persecution with Godliness. The man suffered greatly from illness, stresses, pains, emotional pain, rejection, death of a wife, etc. Yet, he came out of it all with an incredible joy.
• 2 – Calvin the theologian – models the best in exegetical, historical, doctrinal, and practical theology for the church. Readable, balanced, and edifying.
• 1 – Calvin the exegete – models how to handle the text of Scripture with conscious fidelity. He is the best exegete in history (although not always right). Sound exegesis. Clarity and brevity.