Got an email last night from a prof saying Carl Trueman’s no feminist.
He is, as we’ve been warning for some time now. But our criticism goes beyond feminism to character. The guy teaches history but can’t bring himself to admit they misquoted Calvin—seriously misquoted him. Anyhow, here are some links:
From September 4, 2012: The tragedy of complementarianism….
The post begins: Carl Trueman is a complementarian. Really.
He recently assured us of this, despite previously suggesting on his blog that disagreement over the Biblically-ordained roles of men and women is no basis for separation in ministry and despite holding the opinion that many complementarians embrace complementarianism “less because of the Bible and more because they apparently watched Conan the Barbarian a few too many times in their early teenage years.”
From September 3, 2012: Prof. Trueman’s bad questions and worse answers…
The post begins: Two weeks ago Prof. Carl Trueman wrote a short piece saying he doesn’t like it that some parachurch organizations are dividing over father-rule. He asks why organizations divide over sexuality if they refuse to divide over the Sacraments? After all, he says, the Sacraments are “the very doctrinal differences which made Protestant confessions necessary in the first place.”
Well of course, the only reason the Sacraments are mentioned in Protestant confessions while sex distinctions and father-rule are not is that, back in past centuries when confessions were written, no one alive questioned father-rule. So when Dr. Trueman points out that the Reformers didn’t feel the need to divide with egalitarian feminists, it might be helpful to point out to Dr. Trueman there were no egalitarian feminists pushing women onto Calvin’s consistory or into Geneva’s pulpits.
From September 10, 2012: Burk & Trueman agree: feminism no “erosion of fundamental Evangelical commitments”…
The post begins: Denny Burk has written a very polite and respectful response to Carl Trueman’s defense of the egalitarian feminists’ bona fides as faithful inerrantists (about which David and I commented in this and this post). A good summary of Burk’s making nice is this commendation of Roger Nicole he gives in the middle of his post:
“Roger Nicole remained a convinced egalitarian and an evangelical stalwart all the way to the end. We can think of other individuals for whom egalitarianism has not and likely will never lead to an erosion of their fundamental evangelical commitments.”
It’s notable that, in his follow-up to the original post defending feminists’ doctrinal integrity at the point of the doctrine of Scripture, Trueman joined Burk in tipping his hat to the late Roger Nicole. Why such obsequiousness toward the late Roger Nicole…
From June 18, 2016: The crisis in complementarianism…
The post begins: Dr. Carl Trueman has just proclaimed that “complementarianism as currently constructed would seem to be now in crisis.”
From July 19, 2016: On the death of truth: a lament…
The post begins: Recently, we’ve had several posts calling out Liam Goligher and Carl Trueman for misquoting Calvin. David Talcott’s post explained why reformed men want to claim Calvin for their side. To the contrary, as Dr. Talcott gently warned readers, “Calvin thought sex meant something in civil society.” This is the heart of the issue.
Sadly, the point is lost on reformed men today.
From June 29, 2016: Dr. Goligher’s misuse of Calvin…
The post begins: It is now crystal clear that Dr. Goligher has misquoted Calvin on the question of women in civil government, incorrectly claiming that Calvin would be on his side in the current debates about the meaning and purpose of sexuality.
When conservative Reformed men are engaged in theological argument, being able to claim Calvin on one’s side is a big deal. We are protestants, and so no appeal to church history can prevail in the face of the clear testimony of scripture. But because we are conservative and because we are Reformed we care about what the church has taught, particularly the reformers, and particularly Calvin.
Carl Trueman, Aimee Byrd, and Todd Pruitt, the collective authors and podcasters at Mortification of Spin, are engaged in a persistent campaign to limit the meaning and purpose of sexuality. I think “persistent campaign” is a very fair description of the wide range of posts and podcasts on the subject over the last year.
From June 27, 2016: Carl Trueman’s embarrassing silence…
The post begins: Carl Trueman teaches church history at Philly’s Westminster Seminary. In his WTS profile, among his credentials, Trueman includes…
