Calvinist Flyswatter

Mohler's fast talking

MOHLER'S MAGNI-VERBOSITY

I noticed on Phil Johnson's blog of 3/10/08 that Phil was interviewed by Dr. Al Mohler on the latter's radio program, recently originating in Los Angeles while Mohler was attending John MacArthur's "Shepherds' Conference" last week. Commenting on the rapidity at which Mohler thinks and speaks, Phil said --

"Despite how rapidly he speaks, Dr. Mohler never seems to be fumbling for words or thoughts. Its hard to keep up with him and exhausting to watch. I didn't know about the broadcast until a few minutes before going on the air, and I went in without a clue what he might want to talk to me about, so my part is unscripted as well. Note that both my brain and my mouth work considerably slower than Dr. Mohler's—and unlike Dr. Mohler, I can't seem to get both brain and mouth in gear at the same time."

I listened to the interview, and Phil's observation does not seem to be an exaggeration. After listening to the interview I can somewhat understand Phil's "problem" -- Mohler does seem to have the gift of magni-verbosity which can probably tax the "normal" mind, not to mention my own!

I recall someone's describing the Y2K guru, Gary North, as being similar to the man who appeared to have "swallowed the dictionary and spat it out." That description reminds me somewhat of Mohler's gift.

But I'm not being critical of Mohler about his fast thinking or talking. I'm not really concerned with how fast he thinks and speaks; I'm not writing to cast aspersion upon his rapidity of speech.

However, what is really worthy of concern by Southern Baptists who support the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville is that Mohler is head of this historic SBC institution which is now hatching ministerial graduates such as Timmy Brister, who has found a roosting place with the "headquarters" church of the Flounders. Are other grads of SBTS going to take a similar path -- into Flounders'-friendly churches which want to "presbyterianize" Southern Baptist churches?

With the Flounders, Timmy Brister, under Top Flounder Tom Ascol, will have the aid and comfort to continue to downgrade Southern Baptist preachers and churches which are not in sympathy with the Iain Murray-Ernest Reisinger-Tom Ascol-Tom Nettles-pedobaptist "Reformed" version of "Calvinism," and thereby seek to proselyte others to Hybrid Calvinism. Is this really the type of field of ministry that Mohler prefers for his SBTS grads?

It seems that Mohler is "all over the place" with his thinking and fasttalk, covering the landscape from Dan to Beersheba, but what is he doing to promote evangelism and new church-starts? Would it not be interesting to know if any of Mohler's Hybrid Calvinist SBTS graduates has started any churches from "scratch," and not merely from proselytes to the pedobaptist "Reformed" version of Calvinism?

posted by Bob L. Ross @ 2:37 PM