Ligonier Ministries recently teamed up with LifeWay to conduct a
survey about the theological views of Americans with a particular focus on evangelicals. I have a few thoughts on
both the survey itself and its results.
The partnership between a Reformed para-church publisher and
the retail arm of the Southern Baptist Convention probably suggests something about
the inroads neo-Calvinists have made within that denomination. This is no
surprise, of course. Al Mohler has been in charge of the SBC’s flagship
seminary (SBTS) for quite some time. Additionally, Calvinistic Baptists seem to
be the only ones within that denomination who are consistently serious about
theology. I might be inclined to argue that when Christian fundamentalism intersects
with middle class pseudo-intellectualism, Calvinism is the meme most fit to
rise to the top. It's difficult not to agree with my friend Neil who observes that it is largely just “gentrified religious extremism.”
