I have no idea if I have followed any principles consistently or not, but thinking about various internet discussions and monologues makes me wonder if I couldn’t articulate some that might explain why Calvinists can respond differently to various things out there.

• Being in error is a necessary but not a sufficient condition to be properly labeled as a “dangerous teacher.” In order to be dangerous you actually have to actually be persuasive on those points. Do I go around condemning Presbyterians for quoting Spurgeon? No. Why not? Because I don’t think any Presbyterian is in danger of becoming baptist by reading him.

  So then:

  Is any PCA minister who appreciates McLaren (which is not me, as yet) squishy on homosexuality? No. McLaren’s not convincing at that point. That’s not his attraction to Evangelicals. The fact is, reading some of the attacks on McLaren teaches you nothing about why orthodox pastors and thinkers find him worth reading. This is prima facie evidenc that these attacks are misdirected.

• In appealing to those of a different tradition, tradition itself is only as good as it is prima facie derivable from Scripture. You can appeal to it in an argument with a Christian only to the extent that you can reasonably expect that Christian to see the continuity.

  So who are you trying to persuade? Bible believers or those questing for the perfect Church with the authoritative tradition, in the hope you can scoop them up before they meet a Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Anglo-Catholic?

• Appealing to a set traditinal interpretation of a Scriptural passage, when the interpretation of that passage is the point of contention, is not an appeal to Scripture; it is an appeal to tradition. Again, who are you trying to persuade?
• The Church is like Noah’s ark the way John Calvin describes the ark–as full of animals and their associated, uh, stuff (as well as the smell of it). Any claim that, if you join our special group, the smell goes away and material can be picked up off the ground and eaten because here it is all chocolate fudge is deluded. Call this the anti-utopia principle.
• Christian Pastors in your tradition who point out that stuff is not really fudge are not disloyal to your doctrinal standards nor trying to promote other traditions.
• It is, in principle, possible for non-Presbyterians to tell you something accurate about what the Bible says and how it applies.
• It is, in principle, possible for those outside the Prebyterian/Baptist Banner-of-Truth reading club to tell you something accurate about what the Bible says and how it applies.
• There is no virtue in archaic speech and terminology.
• If you try to teach the doctrine of the divine decrees by reading paragraphs 1-7 of chapter 3 of the Westminster Confession of Faith then you are in violation of paragraph 8 in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases. The Confession teaches truths we must affirm, not terms we are under obligation to use in our teaching and preaching.
• When you are caught saying something inaccurate about someone, even if your motives in making the mistake were blameless, you should promptly apologize and correct your mistake. You can move on after that. If there are other negative things to say you can say them. Admitting a mistake does not represent loss of face. It represents Christian honesty and humility. You can still preach against error. If all you can do is attack other people for pointing out your mistakes, you are going to lose your audience sooner or later. This is called the stop digging principle.
• Eventually the truth wins. If you are feeling like a loser for telling the truth, you have an opportunity to learn patience and humility rather than letting ambition guide you into the circle of the Jordan.
• Evangelicalism is full of shoddy stuff. Pointing out bad things in Evangelicalism is like hunting dairy cattle with high powered rifle and scope. It doesn’t show that you are especially skilled or discerning.
• In some cases, it might lead to lasting good if you encouraged what was best about Evangelical fads and then suggested some directions that would make things even better.