Cool-kid Calvinism? [open thread]

This is Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll.  Go on, read the NYTimes story on him.  Looks like any other edgy contemporary pastor, right?

But he curses at the same time he preaches Calvinism.  He talks about masturbation as easily as he quotes Ecclesiastes 9:10 (look it up for a ha-ha moment).  And his cool-kid version of "everything is determined by God and humans are worms" reaches beyond Seattle to the world via facebook and youtube short videos (search for Mars Hill on youtube to check it out).

I would hesitate to claim this as a hack for Christianity: he removes the puritanical prohibitions of dress, piercings, and form.   But he embraces the Calvinistic theology and puritanical understandings of woman's place in society and rejects Jesus' non-violence.

Since I'm on an anti-purpose-driven-life kick, my Methodist upbringing obviously can't handle Calvinism.  Can you imagine Wesley writing this :

You are not captain of your soul or master of your fate but a depraved worm whose hard work and good deeds will get you nowhere, because God marked you for heaven or condemned you to hell before the beginning of time.

Yeah, me neither.  I walked out of a United Methodist event where we played a bible study by Mars Hill because the underlying theology is completely antithetical to Wesleyan company.

Anywho, this is an open thread.  Comments on Mars Hill and his idea of hacking Christianity?  What do you think about him and his ministry?  Read the article (bonus for UM Pastor Katie Ladd's mention!) and sound off!

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