Thread by @DannySlavich

I think this article by Carl Trueman really misses the mark, for a number of reasons.

firstthings.com/web-exclusives…

1. It names only disqualified leaders and doesn't address those leaders from @collinhansen's original book (2008) who are still leading well. For example, Hansen had chapters on @JohnPiper/@hopeinGod and @albertmohler/@SBTS.

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 2. He seems to correlate "Big Eva" and the YRR, but they are not really the same thing.

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 3. He says, "At no point has there been any apparent heart-searching, among those left in the movement..."

I don't know what he has been reading, but I have seen *much* heart-searching both personally, on social media, and in more formal writing and speaking.

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 4. He falls into the trap of some confessional Protestants of taking pot-shots at free church practices and leadership, while not acknowledging that similar problems run rampant in Christian denominations and tribes of all sorts.

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 5. Back to the first point, he doesn't acknowledge those leaders who have come from and stand within a robust confessional tradition. He dismisses the entire thing as "a diluted form of Calvinism." This is unfair and untrue.

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 6. He takes the tragic story of Josh Harris's journey (see what I did there) and makes it a symptom of the problems in the YRR/Big Eva which it might be or it might not be, but he doesn't make the case. The article seems to argue a form of "correlation equals causation."

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 7. Was Josh Harris an "arrogant" leader who "derided and ignored" then "vilified and bullied" his opponents? This is Trueman's account of the problem of YRR leadership, but Harris seems to have had the opposite reputation.

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 8. In sum: Trueman publishing this in First Things strikes me more as preaching to those already suspicious of evangelicalism than trying to actually help those within it.

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 9. I agree with those who say he has some true things that both YRR and Big Eva need to hear. For me, those things are nearly drowned out by the loud "background music" of issues I mentioned above.

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS (Also, I just realized that this thread is @ replying to everyone I mentioned in the second tweet. Sorry, all!)

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 10. He critiques "clever use of social media [...] and professional-grade websites," while writing on a professional grade website, specifically a blog. Remember when people debated whether blogs were good? Now they're taken for granted and people debate social media.

@collinhansen @JohnPiper @hopeinGod @albertmohler @SBTS 11. The popularity of this article being posted with positive comments by (YRR) evangelicals on social media also undermines his point about (YRR) evangelicals being unwilling to engage in critical self-assessment.