The 1906 Catholic Encyclopedia'sarticle on Calvinism begins with the words “this remarkable (though now largely
obsolete) system...” Yeah, right. Try again, 1906 Catholic Encyclopedia (if that's your real name!);
The Calvinati are alive and well. And we are everywhere.
Fast-forward a hundred years. The cover of the September 2006 issue of Christianity Today reads "Young, Restless, Reformed: Calvinism Is Making a Comeback--and Shaking Up the Church." This was news to
many, but a mere confirmation of what the Calvinati already knew. The doctrines of grace were on an upswing. Young people were sick of bubble-gum pop music and life advice from Jesus in their churches. They were longing to return to the Scriptures, to sound doctrine, to a God who was bigger and a grace more amazing than they could fathom. Indeed, Calvinism was (and is) shaking up the church.
Since that issue hit the
stands, Collin Hansen has expanded his cover story into a full book, exploring
the phenomenon that is the new Calvinists.
And there is much to explore. Calvinism has been thriving in churches, on campuses, and
(perhaps especially) on the Internet. In fact, there seem to be new Calvinist websites and
blogs starting every day. A sad side effect of all this growth is the all-too-common scenario that finds proponents of the
doctrines of grace becoming hopelessly entangled in a never-ending web of inter-referential
blogrolls, hyperlinks, articles, and podcasts.
What we need at this point is a central hub of all things Calvinist.
www.calvinati.com is that hub.
Our vision is to be the caretakers of never-exhaustive-but-ever-growing lists of active
Calvinist blogs, websites, groups, periodicals, and even churches (all submitted by you, the
Calvinati).
calvinati.com is broken up into the following sections:
Sites: These are websites that, although they may contain
blogs, have as their main attraction a more or less permanent collection of online works,
resources, articles, etc. (e.g. www.spurgeon.org, www.monergism.com)
Blogs: Because new blogs are born and die every day and because
a bicycling enthusiast who runs even the most committed Calvinist blog will still have Bike Drool on his blogroll, we
keep an up-to-date list of submitted blogs, with an actual description of each (something
your average blogroll is lacking).
Board: Ever just get going in a great discussion in the
comments section of your favorite blog, only to find yourself all alone as the readership at
large abandons the conversation to comment on a newer post? Our message board is a place
where the Calvinati can plot, conspire, and debate any number of topics, both on- and
off-topic.
Cells: Let us help you find a church, denomination, association, ministry, student or fraternal group, and submit your own group to the database. This may likely be the slowest-growing, but most helpful portion of the site.
Whether you're young, restless, and Reformed; old, stodgy, and Presbyterian; or, like me,
thirty, hyper, and Baptist, we hope that you find www.calvinati.com to be a useful hub for all things Calvinist.