What cultural conditions helped give rise to the surprising re-emergence of Reformed movement?

Many of us who were part of ethnic and historical Reformed churches while appreciating our tradition sometimes considered it sort of an acquired taste. The evangelistic power and migration of young adults from other segments of the American Christian church caught us by surprise.

Not only were the numbers surprising but also the shape. Hard line doctrinal Calvinism attractive in a traditional form was coming from John Piper but Mark Driscoll expressed an edgier, aggressive new breed. In the East Tim Keller was gathering a large, confessional, distinctively Reformed congregation with traditional sermons filled with CS Lewis style apologetics.

Is there a cultural logic behind this movement? Does postmodernity create a context where Calvinism makes a new kind of cultural sense? How might leading with a predestinarian attract some while others are drawn to a message that work on a more Kierkegaardian paradigm?

This question will take more than one blog post to unpack so I’ll make this a series.

Pt. 1: Postmodernity’s Submarine Races

Pt. 2: Augustine, Calvinism, and a Catechism of Suspicion

Pt. 3: The Emergent Bizarro Twins of Mars Hill

Pt. 4: Stalking Tim Keller

Pt. 5: The Epigenetics of Emergent Calvinism

Pt. 6: Tim Keller’s Gospel