What do you think of John Piper and John MacArthur?

A friend of mine privately emailed me that given my "outspoken Calvinism" he wanted to know what I thought of John MacArthur and John Piper. I thought my response may make for a fun blog.*****I like both but am not over the top on either. They are both Calvinists only in their soteriology which is the least important piece of Calvinism to me. In other words, they are Reformed baptists. Yes, I am a predestinationist, and they are too. But I barely care about the issue any more and you will note I never, ever, ever talk about it. The pieces that matter most to me in my Calvinism are first and foremost the Lordship of Christ - the "God in the universe business" - the view that my faith matters outside my own personal relationship (this is the world and life view of Calvinism, and it is also called Kuyperianism after the great Dutch heir to Calvin). Piper and MacArthur sometimes can be very tribalistic (M more than P). I also am very covenantal in my Calvinism. I baptized my children within two weeks of birth. I believe God deals covenantally with families and societies. M and P loathe this. I appreciate much of their work, but am far less Romeaphobic than they both are, and happen to be less rah rah for the predestination piece (as Biblical as it is) than they are. Helpful?

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