Today we welcome Cory C. Brock and N. Gray Sutanto to speak about their book, Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction (Lexham Academic), which is an excellent initiation and explication of neo-Calvinism as a nineteenth- and early twentieth-century movement in the Netherlands. It was “a revival of Reformed confessionalist theology in the Netherlands roughly beginning with the rise of Kuyper as a theology, with the founding of the Vrije Universiteit in 1880, the formation of the Gereformeerde Kerken in 1892, and its systematization in the theological output of Herman Bavinck (p. 4).”

Cory C. Brock is minister at St. Columba’s Free Church of Scotland in Edinburgh and adjunct lecturer in theology at Edinburgh Theological Seminary and Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi. Heh is the author of Orthodox yet Modern: Herman Bavinck’s Use of Friedrich Schleiermacher.

N. Gray Sutanto is assistant professor of systematic theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., and the author of God and Knowledge: Herman Bavinck’s Theological Epistemology of God. He is an associate fellow at the Neo-Calvinism Research Institute.

Links

• Along with James Eglinton and Marinus DeJong, Drs. Brock and Sutanto host the Grace in Common podcast.
• N. Gray Sutanto, “Consummation Anyway” Journal of Analytic Theology, Vol. 9, Summer 2021

Chapters

• 00:00:07 Introduction
• 00:01:24 Grace in Common
• 00:04:26 Defining Neo-Calvinism
• 00:15:08 What Is “Neo” about Neo-Calvinism?
• 00:21:37 Grace Restores/Perfects Nature
• 00:32:13 Anonymous Neo-Calvinists
• 00:40:54 Catholicity and Ecumenicity
• 00:48:45 Worldview
• 01:00:34 Developing a Global View of Christianity
• 01:08:45 Conclusion

Participants: Camden Bucey, Cory Brock, Nathaniel Gray Sutanto

At the invitation of B. B. Warfield (and the suggestion of Geerhardus Vos), Abraham Kuyper delivered the Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1898. In these lectures, he presented his vision for an international Calvinism. And while many people may be familiar with Kuyper’s famous work, few may know the complicated history of these lectures being written, translated into English, delivered in Princeton, and eventually published.

In this episode, Dr. George Harinck shares with us his thorough research as he speaks about the history of the text of Kuyper’s lectures. Dr. Harinck is the author of numerous books and articles, including the focus of this conversation, “Lost in Translation: The First Text of the Stone Lectures” in Calvinism for a Secular Age: A Twenty-First-Century Reading of Abraham Kuyper’s Stone Lectures edited by Jessica R. Joustra and Robert J. Joustra and published by IVP Academic.

Dr. Harinck is the Director of The Neo-Calvinism Research Institute and Professor of History at the Free University in Amsterdam.

Links

• Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism: Six Lectures from the Stone Foundation Lectures Delivered at Princeton University
• Peter Heslam, Creating a Christian Worldview: Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction
• 04:28 Being Introduced to Kuyper and His Stone Lectures
• 07:17 Kuyper’s Legacy in the Netherlands
• 09:19 The Stone Lectures
• 14:42 Kuyper and Geerhardus Vos
• 17:48 Kuyper and the English Language
• 29:51 The Modern Text of the Stone Lectures
• 39:44 Calvinism for a Secular Age
• 47:26 Conclusion

Participants: Camden Bucey, Dan Ragusa, George Harinck

In June 2011, we spoke with Bill Dennison, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Covenant College, about Transformationalism and Christian Higher Education. In that episode, we touched upon his article, “Dutch Neo-Calvinism and the Roots for Transformation: An Introductory Essay” from the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 42/2 (June 1999). We only had a few minutes to discuss the article in episode 180, and so today, we pick up where we left off. Dennison contends that while Dutch neo-Calvinism sought to transform culture in response to the threat of the Enlightenment, they stood upon a foundation of Enlightenment principles to do it. Many of the themes discussed in this episode were developed and applied in our twelve-part series on Christ and Culture, in which Dennison debated Darryl Hart, Nelson Kloosterman, and Doug Wilson.

Previous Episodes with Bill Dennison

• In Defense of the Eschaton
• Transformationalism and Christian Higher Education
• Machen and Bultmann at Marburg
• Paul’s Two-Age Construction and Apologetics

Participants: Bill Dennison, Camden Bucey, Glen Clary, Jim Cassidy

We introduce two new books from InterVarsity Press: Created and Creating: A Biblical Theology of Culture by William Edgar and Contours of the Kuyperian Tradition: A Systematic Introduction by Craig Bartholomew.

A Special Offer from IVP

Through the end of October 2016, visit ivpress.com and use the code 40556 for 40% off on volumes in the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series. If you call IVP at (800) 843-9487, you can also receive $2 flat rate shipping. The commentary on Romans 9–16 edited by Philip Krey and Peter Krey is forthcoming.

The Reformation Commentary on Scripture (RCS) gives you access to a wealth of Reformation-era commentary on Scripture that is largely unknown and for the most part unavailable in English. While the giants of the era, such as Luther and Calvin, will be presented, you will also be introduced to a host of figures with whom you might be unfamiliar, yet who contributed to the Reformation in important ways. In doing so, the RCS demonstrates both the unity and diversity of thought that characterized this vital period in the history of the Church.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Rob McKenzie, Robert Tarullo