Why Calvinism is Cool

As a graduate of the one and only Calvin College, I thought I might weigh in one this one.

Calvinism is not reducible to points of doctrine, not even the so-called “five points of Calvinism,” which were not written by Calvin, himself. There is an enormous difference, as you can imagine, between Calvin’s Geneva, Scottish Presbyterianism 200 years ago, contemporary “New Calvinism,” and the Reformed tradition as it is practiced in various places all over the world. The book that I feel would capture this picture best (in that it is both insightful and succinct) is James K. A. Smith’s recent book, Letters to a Young Calvinist (http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Young-Calvinist-Invitation-Tradition/dp/1587432943/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320292427&sr=8-1). The Reformed tradition is also very intentional about catholicity, and draws heavily upon Augustine, as Smith points out in the book. These qualifications aside, I will offer my perspective on a few of the points you mentioned:

In my experience, Calvinism is not about certainty. It might make sense, if you think about it for a while, that emphasizing God’s sovereignty and foreknowledge tends to downplay the importance of our own. That said, I should also mention that I have not encountered any Calvinist–theologian, layperson, or student–who considers the doctrine of predestination absolutely central to their experience of faith. I think what most of them would find central to their experience of faith is the Reformed tradition’s characteristic affirmation of the goodness of creation.

In my experience, Calvinism does not emphasize sin, per se. This will probably help us to understand the doctrine of total depravity a little better: total depravity does not mean total in the sense of rotten to the core. Rather, it means that depravity is total in breadth; that is, all things are touched by depravity. Thus, for a Calvinist there are no privileged, depravity-free zones, like Christian music or Christian magazines for example. In this way, Calvinism manages to escape the damaging sacred-secular dichotomy that plagues many other traditions.

These two points are part of the reason why Calvinism does not get caught up in the frantic obsession that much of contemporary American Christianity exhibits over these questions of sin and salvation, which, in my opinion, is a better explanation of why Calvinism seems like an solution to so many people right now.

In conclusion, I might mention one more thing. If I am understanding you correctly, then you mean to suggest that Calvinism is “edgy” because it is about “discipline and deference.” I think there is a danger in seeing Calvinists, because they are very rooted in tradition (i. e., theologically robust and often very confessional and liturgical), as beating parishioners into conformity. However, I think you will not find a more intellectually restless bunch than Reformed folks. I have been amazed at how much intense dispute and disagreement can happen under the umbrella of a single tradition. This kind of thing tends to be encouraged in Reformed circles, rather than quelled, which perhaps explains why Calvinists have always been such avid proponents of higher education.