What happened to thinking?

This past weekend I found myself in a mini-van with 4 other guys en route to a side-job that I sometimes do for extra money.

3 of the 4 other guys are believers.  At some point in the conversation one of them, Chad (fake names) made a comment that caused another guy (Greg) to ask him "What are you a Calvinist?"

The subsequent interaction between Chad and Greg brought me and the other believer in the car, Adam, into the conversation.

As we drove along (about 30 minutes) Greg was adamant that the God of Calvinism wasn't the God of the Bible.  He went so far as saying this exact quote:

"There are like 10 verses in Bible that speak about predestination and hundreds that speak aganist it."

Of course that can't be.  The Scriptures don't conradict, they don't advocate different theologies at different times.  I then asked if he had ever done any study on Reformed theology.

Greg said he had looked into it but that it didn't match what the Bible said.  Of course, I wholeheartedly disagree but I did not have time to debate the fine points right then.

The more important aspect of the conversation was that Adam had no knowledge of Reformed theology.  I tried to summarize the tenets for him quickly and he immediately responded with disgust and anger.

He was pretty upset.  He kept saying that God wouldn't act like that.  He was concrete on our libertarian free-will choice for salvation.  The other Calvinist, Chad, and I were consciously humble in telling Adam that we didn't want to argue with a brother in the faith about the issue - but we did hope that he would do some research into Reformed thinking for himself.

Adam refused.  He simply said that he would not even consider it.  He actually said "I believe what I believe and I ain't gonna change."

At this point I highlighted a deeper division between Adam and I.  While I seek to find the truth through investigation of the Word and the extra-biblical writings of Spirit-filled men, Adam chooses to stick to his beliefs without any willingness to look into other viewpoints.

Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere, Chad and I dropped the conversation with Adam.  Chad and Greg kept talking as we reached our destination and unloaded.  They certainly disagreed, but it was ultimately cordial.

Throughout the early evening, Adam came over and tried to broach the subject with Chad and I again.  I refused to debate the merits of Calvinism with him, even though he made several digs and comments in an attempt to stir up some animosity about the issue.

I did try and reengage him in his deeper presupposition, the idea that there is no need to look into counterpoints when one is content in their faith.  I asked him if he put very much thought into purchasing the two houses that he bought over the past 5 years?

My hope was that he would admit to putting much research and effort into house-hunting, at that point I could explain how much more important theology is than a home.

He blew me away by answering that he put no real thought into his purchases, he simply acted on gut feeling.  I was at a loss.

He tried to turn the tables by asking why we needed to put so much effort into studying deep issues.  He said that it was only important that we love Jesus.

I agreed with him about the importance of Christ-centered theology, but I suggested that without deep study one might be confused about the Jesus that they worship (see Mormons) and be bound for Hell.

He continued to say that the deep things were unimportant and that Chad and I took our faith too far.  I decided to end the conversation because it was so fruitless.

This might seem like a sad and unusual incident, but I would bet that it is the way that most American Evangelicals think.

How do we get people to be willing to think about deep issues, heck to think at all anymore?