I’m going to run some of my favorite pieces while I try to come up with some rocking awesome new title for this website.
This one’s for people who think that everyone who disagrees with them is necessarily evil: Another Kind of Imputation.
Letters from the Perilous Realm
Theology, Politics, and Life in Elfland
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Boar's Head Tavern
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Photos
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Black Angus 05.30.08 at 12:45 am
Thnaks Travis for reposting this. I missed it the first time.
And I love the comments. Especially Rob. You can’t be accused of setting up a straw man when you’ve got Rob making those comments. Delicious irony.
Trouble is he reminds me of a young man I once knew, who I hope has since grown up.
I think there is something inherently dangerous in new converts to Calvinism in their early twenties…
holdridge 05.30.08 at 1:06 pm
Yeah. Cool post. You know I’m more of a Calvinist rootie-toot-tooter than others; but I appreciate the dialog.
I think we could add two things to that discussion that shed more light: first of all you introduced the “different positions with same hermeneutic” idea. I guess I would add that I’m not sure the two traditions have the same hermeneutic (no condescension…I just think the angles are different). So there.
Secondly I think we need to talk about the nexus of discourse that’s going on today. We’ve got debates about theology; then we’ve got debates about which theology actually translates best into living the Christian life. Obviously the old Calvinists have some catching up to do here. Guys like us (there’s that fateful line) have decided that if we’re to adorn the gospel, we’ve got to be a little more intentional about the work of our hands. For instance: I’m not even interested in debating the “L” anymore. It’s such a fact in my mind that it’s a waste of my freakin’ time. BUT it doesn’t end there: now I have to live that fact. In other words, with atonement being “limited” (particular, specific, whatever) as it is, I want to maximize my involvement in its application. So I don’t have time to talk about it anymore. People need Jesus, so clearly we’ve got work to do. No Arminian can disagree with that.
Theology is extremely important, and contrary to a few of those comments, I think Jesus was arguing theology regularly and passionately. But the key is that theological debate translates better in life, not in argumentation.
PS. I love new Calvinists in their 20s!
PPS. I loved when you were like, “I AM a Calvinist.” It would have been cool if Rob was like, “No you’re not,” and you were like, “Yes I am…” and so on.
Travis Prinzi 06.01.08 at 6:20 pm
Excellent, helpful observations, an anyone who uses the phrase “nexus of discourse” rocks in my book.
One minor quibble: There may be different hermeneutics in the two traditions, sure. But my Wesleyan profs used the same grammatical-historical principle all my Reformed friends use. And even if I’m wrong about that…what do you do with John Frame?