An SBC Post-Mortem: New Calvinism Was the Trojan Horse They Said it Was
The leaders of the Reformed Resurgence were also leaders of something else...the Woke Revival. A Calvinist writer says "We were warned. We didn't listen."
This essay is free, but with Premium Membership you get MORE, including a FREE copy of my new book, Essays on the Counterrevolution. Join today.
NOTE: There are many incredible Calvinists in the Southern Baptist Convention, including my dear friends Tom Ascol, Tom Buck, and Voddie Baucham. They have led strongly and faithfully for what they believe doctrinally, against the Woke Marxist onslaught, and even for the evangelism Traditionalists feared they would diminish.
Unfortunately, most of the people you think of when you hear “Calvinist” and “Southern Baptist” together are not cut from the same cloth. Let’s just say they have a lot more in common with Harry Emerson Fosdick or Lewis Seymour Mudge than with J. Gresham Machen. The result has been a catastrophe.
My friend J.D. Hall, himself a Calvinist, has had a unique perch from which to observe these things and warn they were coming. He says the Traditionalists were right all along — though he opposed them until he saw it too.
While I certainly don’t agree with him that the SBC is dead, or even irretrievable, this essay is vital for understanding where we are today. And it should rally you, just before the Dallas Convention, to steward that which God has given us, better than the Baptist Union that censured Spurgeon, and better than the Presbyterian General Assembly that defrocked Machen. The hour is late, but the fight is not yet lost. — RDM
by J.D. Hall
June 1, 2025
A true post-mortem on the Southern Baptist Convention’s impressive streak as the nation’s largest and most conservative denomination couldn’t be done by a “Traditionalist.” Few would believe the results, chalking it up as some kind of anti-Calvinist bias. And so I set about to complete the posthumous review myself, with my reputation preceding me, as one who has no reason to be unfairly critical of the Reformed Resurgence that swallowed up the denomination whole…and ultimately, spit it out.
THE DECLINE, 2006
Some might claim that denominational death is hyperbole, a catastrophizing proclamation that once was, can never return. With the Baptist Press only pumping sunshine, which is what happens when the press is not an independent one, few who know little of the SBC besides what’s printed in the Baptist Press could possibly understand what’s befallen the denomination. Whatever decline one sees, they would likely think it’s only their anecdotal experience. Surely, some might think, it’s not this way everywhere.
But the passing away of the SBC as most know it is from sea to shining sea. All across the United States, the denomination once known for fiery preaching and a commitment to Bible and tradition, has been lost. It has been replaced with something new and fundamentally different from the denomination bequeathed to them by previous generations. It would be, in many ways, unrecognizable to the men who were nearing retirement when the Conservative Resurgence cast away the non-inerrantists and liberals in the 1980s. The slogans of thousands of churches, prominently displayed on their church marquees and websites that this isn’t your “grandmother’s church” and advertising that whatever they offer is “new and relevant” seems to have come to fruition. The old has passed away, and the new has come.
The state of things isn’t new to those paying attention. The Credentials Committee, formed to determine which churches are not in “friendly cooperation” with the Southern Baptist Convention, recently extended the right hand of fellowship to churches with female pastors. Clips show women preaching to mixed-gender assemblies on Sunday morning, and administering the Lord’s Supper. The polemics website I founded years ago, Protestia, last week revealed a Southern Baptist Church with ten female pastors on their staff. Its lobbying arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) boasts a ‘research fellow’ who called drag queen story hours, ‘desirable.’
That development is just one of a thousand different ways the ERLC has acted in rebellion against the church-goers that fund it, and aligned with the culture they are supposed to prophesy to. SBC seminaries are graduating women with pastoral ministry degrees and have been caught teaching explicit Critical Theory, complete with syllabi and teaching notes full of Cultural Marxist ideology that have been leaked to the discernment blogs. No real action has been taken by seminaries to stop it.
The SBC has made decisions that seem like self-sabotage, turning belly-up to a clear and preemptive plan to bankrupt the Convention, choosing inexplicably to forego attorney-client privilege. And those are only the start of the Convention’s legal troubles, much of it brought upon itself. More churches than ever refuse to give to the Cooperative Program, feeling there is no assurance that the basic elements of stewardship will be used with the funds, or because churches feel they can no longer support the liberal drift of its entities.
But most of all, it feels to many that the SBC has lost its first love, turning away from “Billy Baptist and his Bible” of years past and now turned to Social Justice and political correctness, and has done so just in time to watch a Populist Social Revival in America turn away from those things. If the past indicates the future, the SBC may indeed be more liberal than the rest of Red State America for the next decade or more, if it even survives that long.
The eternal optimists, like my friend, Rod Martin, may still insist that the SBC is worth saving. If nothing else, they will argue, it’s worth a shot. They make a point that valiant efforts are still required to salvage what is left, if for no other reason, because the SBC has ‘good bones’ and resources require an attempt be made to steward them.
But even the most optimistic will admit that there is little left of the SBC soul to save. Churches that are still faithful to Jesus — and there are many — are faithful in spite of their affiliation and not because of it. There’s simply little, if anything, the Southern Baptist denomination does to help them undergird that faithfulness. It’s become a denomination in search of meaning, as it pursues primarily relevance, doing what it can to slow the decline.
And that’s how you know that it’s already dead. Growing isn’t even a goal any longer; slowing the decline is the topic of conversation. In every metric, from numbers to nominal commitments to their own doctrine, the Southern Baptist Convention can no longer look at the other mainstream evangelical denominations and snicker at their sad self-inflicted estate. The SBC is now shoulder-to-shoulder with them, on the same trajectory, the same assembly line to obscurity and irrelevance, of denominations that have their better days all behind them.
After peaking at 16.3 million members in 2006, the SBC reported a drop to 13.2 million by 2022, according to its Annual Church Profile, marking a steady erosion of nearly 3 million members. Baptisms — a key metric of evangelistic vitality — have also plummeted, falling from over 400,000 annually in the 1990s to just 180,000 in 2021, the lowest in over a century.
The only entities not experiencing collapse are the seminaries — and then, only some. And unfortunately, this is largely due to the seminaries embracing wide-tent enrollment, graduating those with no allegiance to Southern Baptist doctrine or tradition, with no shortage of rank heretics.
THE REFORMED RESURGENCE, 2006
Collin Hansen’s article, titled "Young, Restless, Reformed," was published in Christianity Today on September 22, 2006, and is widely recognized as a pivotal moment in identifying and naming a growing movement within American evangelicalism: the Reformed Resurgence, often referred to as "New Calvinism." As a journalist and editor-at-large for Christianity Today, Hansen observed a notable shift among younger evangelicals — particularly those in their teens, twenties, and thirties — who were increasingly drawn to the doctrines of Reformed theology, rooted in the teachings of John Calvin and the Protestant Reformation. His article gave this phenomenon a catchy label, "Young, Restless, Reformed" (YRR), which stuck and became a shorthand for the movement.
Hansen’s piece was based on his travels and interviews across the United States, where he encountered a surge of interest in Calvinist soteriology — specifically the five points of Calvinism. He noted that this resurgence was not confined to traditionally Reformed denominations like Presbyterianism but was crossing denominational lines, particularly among Baptists. Key figures included John Piper, a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. Beyond Piper, Hansen pointed to figures like Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and events like the Passion Conferences, where thousands of young people heard Reformed teachings.
Hansen’s article didn’t just report on the Reformed Resurgence; it helped define and amplify it. By giving the movement a name and a narrative, he provided a focal point for those already involved and drew attention from those outside it. The "Young, Restless, Reformed" moniker captured the energy of a generation that was youthful in age, restless for theological substance, and Reformed in conviction. This framing resonated widely, leading Time magazine in 2009 to list "New Calvinism" as one of the "10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now," a direct echo of Hansen’s work.
The Reformed Resurgence, as chronicled by Hansen, wasn’t just about theology; it was a cultural and spiritual phenomenon. It coincided with the rise of digital media — blogs, podcasts, and YouTube — allowing figures like Piper, Mark Driscoll, and others to reach vast audiences directly. Organizations like The Gospel Coalition (co-founded by Hansen in 2005) and events like Together for the Gospel further institutionalized the movement, blending Calvinist doctrine with a missionary zeal.
Central figures in the Reformed Resurgence include the aforementioned names but also Kevin DeYoung, Mark Dever, Ed Stetzer, Tim Keller, C.J. Maheney, and within a few years, others, including Matt Chandler, H.B. Charles, J.D. Greear, David Platt, Eric Mason, Russell Moore, Thabiti Anyabwile, Joshua Harris, and a host of others who, as influencers, influenced greatly.
A CONSPIRACY CONFIRMED
The group who came to call themselves “Traditionalists,” those who opposed the Young, Restless, and Reformed (YRR) movement, or New Calvinism, or the Reformed Resurgence (whichever you prefer to call it) in the SBC, circulated warnings of danger. We made fun of them. I made fun of them.
At least I did, for a while.
One major critique came from leaders who felt the YRR’s strong Calvinism threatened the SBC’s traditional emphasis on evangelism and free will. Jerry Vines, a former SBC president (1988–1990) was a vocal opponent. Vines, a key figure in the Conservative Resurgence, warned that the YRR’s focus on predestination and election could undermine the SBC’s evangelistic zeal. His 2006 sermon “A Baptist and His Election” at the SBC Pastors’ Conference subtly critiqued the movement, emphasizing a more Arminian-leaning Baptist soteriology.
Similarly, Paige Patterson, another former SBC president (1998–2000) and a leader in the Conservative Resurgence, expressed alarm as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (2003–2018). Patterson cautioned that the YRR’s theological rigidity could alienate the majority of Southern Baptists who held to a “Traditionalist” view — essentially a non-Calvinist stance that affirmed general atonement and human responsibility.
In 2012, he endorsed the “Traditional Statement,” a document crafted by non-Calvinist SBC leaders like Eric Hankins, then a pastor in Louisiana. This statement warned that the YRR’s Calvinism risked redefining Southern Baptist identity, potentially marginalizing those who didn’t embrace TULIP. Hankins himself argued that the movement’s growth, especially in seminaries like Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) under Al Mohler, was a “Trojan horse” that could shift the SBC away from its revivalist roots.
Beyond theology, some Southern Baptists warned about the YRR’s influence on church governance and culture. Steve Lemke, provost at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS), voiced concerns in a 2010 article titled “The Future of Southern Baptists as Evangelicals.” He cautioned that the YRR’s rise, fueled by influential Calvinist leaders like Mohler, Piper, and Dever, could centralize power in Reformed-leaning institutions and megachurches, sidelining smaller, rural congregations that form the SBC’s backbone. Lemke worried that the movement’s “celebrity pastor” culture — exemplified by figures like Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler — might prioritize charisma and doctrine over congregational autonomy, a cherished Baptist distinctive.
Chuck Kelley, NOBTS president from 1996 to 2019, echoed these sentiments in a 2018 address titled “The Baptist Blues.” Kelley highlighted the tension between the YRR and older, traditional Baptists, warning that the movement’s momentum — evident in J.D. Greear’s 2018 election as SBC president — could shift the denomination’s focus from evangelism. He noted that the YRR’s Reformed theology, while robust, often clashed with the SBC’s pragmatic, soul-winning ethos, potentially exacerbating membership decline (already down from 16.3 million in 2006 to 13.2 million by 2022). Kelley’s remarks framed the YRR as one of several “unprecedented circumstances” threatening SBC unity.
Morris Chapman, SBC president from 1990 to 1992, issued a stark warning at an SBC Annual Meeting. He criticized the growing Calvinist influence, particularly Mohler’s leadership at SBTS, as a potential “hostile takeover” of the denomination’s cooperative program. Chapman feared that the YRR might divert resources and focus from missions.
Peter Lumpkins, blogging at SBC Tomorrow, was a staunch non-Calvinist critic of the YRR. A Southern Baptist pastor and author, Lumpkins frequently targeted the movement’s leaders — like Mohler, Piper, and Dever — arguing that their Calvinist agenda threatened the SBC’s evangelistic heritage. In posts from 2008–2014, he warned that the YRR’s growth in seminaries (e.g., SBTS) and church plants was a “hostile takeover,” echoing Chapman’s 2008 SBC remarks. Lumpkins often cited declining baptism rates — down from 400,000 in the 1990s to 180,000 by 2021 — as evidence that Reformed theology dampened soul-winning, a critique shared with Vines and Patterson. His tone was combative, accusing the YRR of prioritizing TULIP over the gospel, a charge that resonated with the 2012 Traditional Statement’s backers.
We watched this clip and laughed at Lumpkins a hundred times. Nobody is laughing now. He was right.
Like Hankins, Rick Patrick, in a notable 2016 chapel sermon at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) famously described Calvinism — and by extension the YRR — as a “Trojan Horse” within the SBC. He argued that the movement’s emphasis on the five points of Calvinism (TULIP) was infiltrating the denomination under the guise of theological renewal, only to undermine its traditional soteriology, which he sees as affirming general atonement and human responsibility in salvation. Patrick warned that this shift could redefine Southern Baptist identity. He suggested that the YRR’s growth, particularly through influential figures like Al Mohler and institutions like Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS), risked changing the fabric of the SBC.
Patrick criticized the YRR’s reliance on celebrity pastors and Reformed-leaning institutions as a power grab within the SBC. In a 2014 SBC Today post, he accused Calvinist leaders of seeking “financially lucrative leadership positions” through their theological agenda, a charge leveled at figures like Mohler and David Platt. He saw the YRR’s dominance in seminaries (e.g., SBTS under Mohler) and its proliferation through conferences and media as a deliberate strategy to reshape the SBC, a concern shared with bloggers like Peter Lumpkins.
The first time I stopped laughing at them was when this chart went around their circles, showing the influence of Albert Mohler (I believe this was made by Alan Atchinson at Capstone Report, but I’m not positive). It shows the extent of Mohler’s influence, and indeed, you could see a solidifying of power, perhaps the most power of anyone in denominational history.
As we (at Pulpit & Pen, and later Protestia) saw Social Justice sneak into the SBC through the New Calvinism Trojan horse, it was largely too late. You can see a video from 2017 of me at the Judge Not Conference calling it a pernicious danger — to a room full of Calvinists.
At the time, Calvinists like myself (although I don’t use the term to describe myself that way any more, I indeed still hold the five points) were just excited to see the doctrine spread. But we were foolish, and we had lots of warnings. It’s just that those warnings came from Traditionalists, and we didn’t want to hear from them.
A CONSPIRACY OF CORRELATION
To be clear, when I describe the Reformed Resurgence as a conspiracy, I don’t mean one orchestrated by Tim Keller or Albert Mohler. I mean one that was orchestrated by Satan. As I’ve written and said many times, I believe that the powers and principalities in high places saw articles, like Hansen’s above, or the Ten Ideas Changing the World, and saw the potential to piggy back on an already-growing movement, and commandeer it for devilish causes.
The roots of the Reformed Resurgence are traced directly to Iain Murray, whose Banner of Truth organization dropped Puritan and Non-Conformist literature at pastor’s conferences and churches for nearly 50 years. It was that act, and others like it, that grew the movement from the ground up. But by the time 2006 rolled around, Lucifer took note. The devil, you see, can’t build. He can only steal. And he set about to steal the movement and use it for his intended purposes.
It’s here that I want to tell you what the Traditionalists were indeed wrong about. The danger of the Reformed Resurgence was not that Calvinist influencers would take the SBC’s focus off of the gospel and put it onto doctrinal disputes. I wish that had been the case, for it would have been far better than what actually happened. Instead, the Calvinist influencers turned our hearts and affections away from the gospel and toward Woke ideology, “Social Justice”, and a million little distractions that made us concerned about everything but the actual gospel.
In this sense, the Traditionalists’ predictions were largely wrong. Or, they were half-right. Although these soteriological debates indeed happened for about five short years, the last ten have been focused on other issues, brought to the forefront by the influence of these Calvinist influencers that have little to nothing to do with Calvinism. Russell Moore, for example, won’t be remembered for being a fire-breathing, five-point Calvinist. He’ll be remembered for being a registered Democrat who whispered about abortion and homosexuality, and screamed about Social Justice and why border walls are idolatrous.
What the Traditionalists were completely right about, however, is the power politics played in the SBC that squeezed out everyone who wasn’t firmly in the Calvinist camp in all of its institutions and positions of power. But ultimately, it wasn’t because they were Calvinists, it turns out. It was because they were in the hip-pocket of the epicenter of Woke ideology in the SBC…Southern Seminary and Albert Mohler.
Consider what happens when you ask Grok (Elon Musk’s A.I. accessible through his X platform) to list you ten prominent Calvinists of the last 15 years. This is the list it gives you:
John Piper
Tim Keller
Al Mohler
Mark Dever
Matt Chandler
David Platt
Kevin DeYoung
Ligon Duncan
John MacArthur
RC Sproul
(RDM Note: Tom Ascol and Voddie Baucham make the list if you restrict your query to Southern Baptist Calvinists. But so do more leftists.)
Notice anything? With the exception of Sproul and MacArthur, these men have been the tip of the Social Justice spear. Even those who aren’t renown for Wokeness — like Kevin DeYoung — have been at the helm at The Gospel Coalition, which has been the primary vehicle for pushing Wokism in American Evangelicalism. And the things that The Gospel Coalition has promoted include everything from endorsements for the Democrat candidates for president to “gay Christian” propaganda and beyond.
Piper and Desiring God, although now it appears they’re swinging back our way and correcting a bit, went off the reservation in Woke ideology. Tim Keller, mercy sakes. Where do you even start with him? Albert Mohler talks like a conservative for a few weeks before each annual convention, and says conservative things on his Briefing podcast, and then promotes the most rabid progressives in American evangelicalism without a word of rebuke for his proteges like Russell Moore. Chandler went Woke, as did Platt, and Ligon Duncan appears to have pushed his seminary to Woke status, taking money from James Riady as payment.
I could go on for days, and in fact, already have gone on for years, chronicling their unfathomable positions on important social issues and driving whatever institutions they control to the far left.
What does Calvinism have to do with it?
Soteriologically, Calvinism has nothing to do with it. So far as that goes, it’s only correlational and not causal. But as I often tell the tale, when I first criticized Russell Moore, a prominent Calvinist blogger at Pyromaniacs gave me messages telling me that I would “ruin my credibility” because Moore was a Calvinist, and “as everyone knows, Calvinists aren’t liberal.”
This is my thesis: The myth that “Calvinists can’t be liberal” was the very tool used by Satan to convince Southern Baptists that whatever they were witnessing come from these men could not be liberalism. Calvinism branded itself as the opposite of liberalism. How could it be liberal? And so just like that, the SBC let its guard down.
THE CALVINIST TROJAN HORSE, PART II
As I recalled in my sermon on New Calvinism at the Judge Not Conference in 2017, this isn’t the first time that Satan used Calvinist preachers to rend the American church asunder.
Calvinism played a significant role in shaping the religious and intellectual landscape of America during its founding period, particularly in the colonial era and the early years of the republic. Calvinism arrived with the Puritans in New England in the early 17th century, emphasizing God’s sovereignty, predestination, and a disciplined moral life. By the time of the American Revolution (1775–1783), Calvinist ideas were deeply embedded in the Congregational churches of New England, the Presbyterian churches in the middle colonies, and even among some Baptists. Prominent figures like Jonathan Edwards, a key leader of the First Great Awakening (1730s–1740s), reinforced Calvinism’s influence with his fiery sermons on divine wrath and grace, such as “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (1741).
By the 1790s however, liberal theologians like William Ellery Channing began questioning the Trinity and eternal damnation, core tenets of Calvinist orthodoxy. Channing’s 1819 sermon “Unitarian Christianity” marked a formal break, advocating a rational, benevolent God over the Calvinist deity of wrath. Many Congregational churches, once bastions of Calvinism, split or drifted into Unitarianism — Harvard College, founded by Puritans in 1636, became a Unitarian stronghold by 1805 when Henry Ware, a liberal, was appointed Hollis Professor of Divinity, signaling the shift in elite circles.
This transformation wasn’t uniform but was pronounced in New England, where Calvinism’s intellectual heirs — like Edwards’ disciples — lost ground to a more optimistic, human-centered theology. While Calvinism persisted in Presbyterian and Reformed pockets, its early prominence at America’s founding gave way to Unitarianism’s rise, marking a broader turn from divine sovereignty to human reason — a shift that mirrored the young republic’s evolving identity.
Interestingly enough, the parallels between the man-centered, man-pleasing doctrines of Unitarianism coming to America through Calvinist preachers, and the Woke anti-revival coming through the leaders of the Reformed Resurgence, are many. It appears that perhaps the pride of the Calvinist theologian is fertile soil for Satan to sneak in false teaching…after all, if it’s presumed that Calvinists are so committed to sound doctrine they don’t have to be closely tested or discerned, it makes a fine Trojan horse indeed.
RESULTS OF THE AUTOPSY ARE IN
I don’t consider any of this a repudiation of the doctrines associated with Calvinism, ranging from Original Sin to Perseverance of the Saints. And although I don’t call myself a Calvinist any longer, merely because they appear to me largely to be insufferable, I still hold them. There’s no single doctrinal reason why Calvinism was used to plunder the SBC and evangelicalism in America as a whole.
Rather, it suffices to acknowledge that the pride that unfortunately often accompanies it facilitated the ouster of many steadfast stewards of the Southern Baptist legacy (like Paige Patterson and many, many more) with an almost cult-like allegiance to its champions (like Albert Mohler). Calvinism indeed formed a club in the denomination, and Traditionalists were shoved outside. And once their presence was gone, nothing and no one could restrain them from bringing in the doctrinal compromise and social liberalism that has so corrupted the denomination. The Traditionalists were right on that.
It’s also clear that the Calvinists who rose to prominence because of their theological depth and commitment to the gospel, forgot the gospel and their theological commitments as soon as they took charge of the conventions. While the Traditionalists weren’t right that their focus would be on doctrinal disputes, the Traditionalists were correct that their focus wouldn’t be the Great Commission; it would be an endless series of battles on things ranging from immigration to women in ministry (“soft complementarianism” they called it), from racial quotas for church and denominational leadership to celibate “gay Christianity,” from Mosque-building to Critical Theory.
But most of all, it’s clear that the treatment the Traditionalists received from us — myself included — was unwarranted. I’m sad to say that from my perspective, the Traditionalists were still busy fighting the Calvinism war in 2017 to 2020 when I tried to get them on our side in the fight against Social Justice, to understand the fight was no longer about Calvinism. But others just refused to partner with us in that fight because we burned bridges to brothers that should have gone without torching, years prior.
We should have listened to them, and although we would have found no agreement on Monergism vs. Synergism, should have found some of their concerns (for example, why the Calvinist leaders were so intent on taking political power) convincing. Or, for example, the wisdom of trying to reshape the traditions of a denomination that were put there to begin with (like the SBC’s hell-or-high water commitment to the Great Commission) for a reason.
Considering that pride is the reason we didn’t listen to begin with, perhaps we can learn from that, and be humble enough to apologize.
— This essay originally appeared at Insight to Incite, a subscription to which is highly worthwhile if you’re interested in these sorts of things.
See Also:
Recent Articles:
 |
|
Unless it's in the bible remove it
Return to ROMANS 12 rules for living 🙏🙏🙏