Cigar Smoke and Mirrors and Transformation – C.Trueman

Cigar Smoke and Mirrors and Transformation – Reformation21 Blog.

Back in the middle of August, Dr. Carl Trueman created another stir with a stinging critique of neo-Calvinism and it transformationalist teachings (posted August 14, 2013 at “Ref21”). That is, Trueman takes to task those who believe it is the calling of true Calvinists (mostly followers of Abraham Kuyper and his “common” grace views) to transform culture, striving to make the world in all its aspects Christian. And, of course, he does so with his usual wit and humor.

Trueman wrote this partly in response to D.G.Hart’s new book on the history of Calvinism and partly in response to a post Hart had on his blog (“Old Life”) also critiquing the transfomationalist crowd.

You may find Trueman’s full post at the link above; here is a pertinent part of it.

DG’s critique at Old Life of the bombastic claims about transformationism is akin to one I have made frequently in the classroom about talk of the [singular] ‘Christian worldview’: such things are, by and large, code for the expression of the concerns of the middle class chatterati in a blandly Christian idiom.  As far as I know, for example, no conferences on the transformation of Christian toilet cleaning or turkey rendering have yet been successfully organised.

This is where DG’s history of Calvinism is interesting.  I was struck by his account of Abraham Kuyper.  Here was a (probable) genius and (definite) workaholic who had at his personal disposal a university, a newspaper and a denomination, and also held the highest political office in his land.  We might also throw in to the mix that he did this at a time when European culture was far more sympathetic to broadly Christian concerns than that of the USA today.   And Kuyper failed to effect any lasting transformation of society.   Just visit Amsterdam today, if you can bear the pornographic filth even in those areas where the lights are not all red.

Surely it is time to become realistic.  It is time to drop the cultural elitism that poses as significant Christian transformation of culture but only really panders to nothing more than middle class tastes and hobbies.  It is time to look again at the New Testament’s teaching on the church as a sojourning people where here we have no lasting home.  The psalms of lament teach us that it is only when we have realistic horizons of expectation will we be able to stand firm against what is coming.  If we do  not understand that now, we are going to be sorely disappointed in the near future.