Another New Calvinist Apostate

https://julieroys.com/how-shannon-harris-kissed-biblical-womanhood-goodbye/

This article is about the wife of Josh Harris and with her story the sad circle of apostasy is now complete. Both of them have abandoned Christianity in what is another mark against New Calvinism testifying to its often superficial and shallow nature.

It's telling that with these people their understanding of the gospel (and apparently what they're taught) includes no concept of mortification, no need for ongoing repentance and at most there is but lip service being paid to the concept of the renewed mind. They are in the end little more than garden variety Evangelicals.

It's almost as if with New Calvinism things get 'turned up' a few notches - the zeal factor is increased. But then if it's not sustained, the fall is more pronounced.

It's clear that this gospel (that didn't really challenge her) left the door wide open to the world's thinking and influences and without realizing it (and apparently without church leaders realizing it), she had in fact embraced an explicit rejection of New Testament teaching. It does not speak well of the kind of formulaic and ostensibly Calvinist Evangelicalism promoted by the likes of CJ Mahaney and so many others in the movement.

And with Evangelicalism (and most expressions of Calvinism) there is no real concept of apostasy or perseverance. Lip service is paid in some quarters, but the definitions are changed and lack substantive meaning.

As such everyone tries to do a post-mortem on these people and usually the determination is that they were never Christians. In fact they were. They professed Christ, were baptised, and part of the Church. They were Christians. We cannot tell whether or not they are elect or whether they were regenerate or not. These examples make it clear - people can manifest the fruits of the Spirit and taste the heavenly gift and yet fall away. They did not continue in the faith grounded and settled. Like the plants in the Parable of the Sower, these received the word even with joy and yet they were deceived by the world, by its cares, riches, and lusts. These choked the word within them and they became unfruitful. Or as another passage puts it - they did not abide in Christ, they withered, and are cast off.

We needn't try and understand this in light of election. The doctrine as taught in the New Testament is not meant to address such situations - nor are they to be read through its lens.

Regardless it's a sad story and men like Mahaney will give an account for it, but we need to call it what it is - apostasy.

I will applaud her on this one point – she has the integrity to basically say she's not a Christian anymore.

What's troubling is that there are many just like her that are in the Church and some are ministry leaders and the like. I think in fact far more than people realize.

One wonders why Roys and some of the other women that surround her are drawn to these stories. What is it they want us to take away from them? Is the message that the conservative Church is de facto abusive and needs to move toward what they perceive to be the centre - which is in fact a capitulation to feminism? Is Harris to be pitied? On one level, but not because her feminist proclivities were crushed in the Church. If that's the message, then it's a rotten one.