Neo-Reformed is #3!

I have referred to the neo-reformed types in the past.  They are passionate and at times, vexing group. Their most prominent spokespersons are Mark Driscoll and John Piper. I commented on a previous blog about Driscoll here.  

They have made a pretty sizable splash in the North American world as noted in a recent Time Magazine article.  Under the title, "10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now" this group lands as #3! That is an impressive feat and underlines how significant this group is becoming in our time. I prefer to identify this group as neo-reformed, as i have stated in other posts. Yet in this article they are identified as The New Calvinism. 

hmph. I wonder if this is giving them more credit than they are due? I think that many adherents of this group seem to encourage a simple, fundamentalist and anti-intellectual view of doctrine and belief. At least, that is what i am afraid of.  

Just last weekend i listened to a Calvinist try to challenge an older Christian man about his faith because he used the word "earn" to describe part of his relationship with God. I am not opposed to an open conversations about faith and actions but i wonder why we are so passionate to have finely tuned categories of theology above all else? I have listened to many rants about proper theology but sadly few about the plight of the poor or oppressed. Why is that?  

I suspect that many North Americans, because of our wealth and prosperity, have not dealt strongly enough with the problem of triumphalism. As for myself, I am hoping to move away from triumphalism while i stay robustly committed to the tenets of Christianity.