To show this is not just a Lutheran blog, I offer here Carl Trueman offering some semi-whimsical reflections about taking life as it comes, which he calls Zen Calvinism:
Like the Buddhist movement which shares the same name, Zen-Calvinism is a school of religious thought which allows its adherents to live at one with the world, untroubled in any ultimate sense by the slings and arrows which life throws their way. It is also counter-cultural and thus represents a deeply alternative lifestyle. Let me elaborate a little on this counter-cultural mentality.
At the heart of Zen-Calvinism is the belief that all human beings are morally flawed, unlike the worldviews projected by the celebrity-saturated commercial culture of the modern West. . . .Zen-Calvinists also accept that they are themselves no better than anyone else; and, understanding their own tendencies to treat everyone else in a less-than-perfect fashion, they will not be surprised when they are repaid in kind. Zen-Calvinists are at one with the depravity of the fallen universe; they expect to be treated as they know they have treated others.
The second major element of Zen-Calvinism is the mantras which we use to worship. Unlike those used to hide from reality, whether the latest Britney Spears ditty or some nostalgic song extolling the mythical virtues of yesteryear, the Zen-Calvinist mantra book is rooted in the 150 songs we find in the Bible’s book of Psalms. Here, both Zen master and novice find words to express their deepest longings, their profoundest fears, and their most passionate desires in words which, as inspired by God, have the divine imprimatur. . . .
The final element of Zen-Calvinism is perhaps the most important: the realization that all evil has been subverted for the greater good purposes of the God who loves his church. If the supreme crime of human history – the judicial murder of the very Son of God – can be used for the greatest good, then any other crime, sin or moral failing can also be frustrated and turned to good account. And that applies not just to the loutish and corrupt behaviour of others; it applies supremely to that of the Zen-Calvinist who reflects upon these things.
The most conservative Calvinists sing only Psalms in their worship. (Though they are actually metrical paraphrases: to Calvinists, I ask, why don’t you chant them, a musical form that allows you to sing non-metrical lines directly from the Bible? Surely you can’t think chanting the Psalms is too “Catholic” when it would allow you to be even more directly Biblical!) Anyway, I respect that practice, and it’s similar to our liturgical worship that consists nearly always of worshipping with texts from the Word of God.
Anyway, what do you think about this Zen-like serenity? What is distinctly Calvinist about this particular formulation? What is lacking (Christ’s Atonement? His presence? His Gospel? Suffering and the Cross?) and what difference would these make to the Christian’s serenity?
HT: Rob Spinney
2 comments ↓
To me it sounds a bit too fatalistic and universalistic (which certainly is Zen-like enough). To say that the death and resurrection of Christ simply declares that God is going to make everything right in the end is not yet the Gospel. The crucified and risen Lord Jesus declares a justification by grace through faith in Him and what He has done for me. Christian serenity (”the peace that passes all understanding”) is experienced only by those who can confess what Luther says in the Explanation of the Second Article, “I believe that Jesus Christ…is my Lord, who has redeemed me…purchased and won me…that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness and innocence forever…”
This view also leaves out any place for the Church and the Sacraments for being necessary for such serenity.
Gene,
I am pastor of a church that only sings Psalms (Immanuel Reformed Presbyterian in West Lafayette, IN).
Our current psalter has some selections of chants within it.
But the reason we don’t use more chants is the sheer difficulty of the musical form for western, Protestant ears. Personally, I would love to learn and use more chants. However, most of the folks in our church grew up with hymns or choruses in church. The jump to psalms-only is often difficult enough without adding a new style of singing on top of it.
To partially answer the obvious question (”Well, isn’t that just a paraphrase then, and not the actual Psalms?”), we regularly update our psalter with the best translations possible. Never perfect, of course, but always improving in accuracy.
Thanks for the post. I enjoyed it immensely.
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