Rick Warren: Self-Professed Calvinist

Let me qualify the title of this post. Warren did not use the "C" word, but he did call himself a monergist in an interview with Modern Reformation magazine, which is basically a synonym for Calvinism. Indeed, I would argue the term is an even stronger affirmation of the sovereignty of God in salvation than the more popular label of Calvinist. Here are a couple of excerpts from that interview from a few years ago:

Theologically, I am a monergist and firmly hold to the five solas of the Reformation. It’s pretty obvious from the book that I believe in foreknowledge, predestination, (see chapter two, “You Are Not An Accident”) and, especially, concurrence—that God works in and through every detail of our lives, even our sinful choices, to cause his purposes to prevail. Proverbs 19:21 (NIV) is one of my life verses.

...Third, the book is about the Christian’s walk, not justification. I did include a simple call to Christ in case unbelievers picked up the book (which thousands have). But to know my full view of the doctrines of grace, you’d need to have heard my two year, verse-by-verse exposition through Romans.

Turns out Warren's great-grandfather was led to Christ by Charles Spurgeon, was trained at Spurgeon's College, and then sent to America to pastor.