Reformed Forum

A Theological Introduction to Neo-Calvinism

Christ the Center — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 06:00:00 +0000

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.

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

Christology and Christocentrism in Herman Bavinck

Christ the Center — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Rev. Dr. Bruce Pass discusses Herman Bavinck as a sytematic theologian and the role Christology plays within his theological system. Throughout his career, Bavinck identified different central dogma but developed his theology around Christology as a “middle point” to which all other doctrines relate.

Dr. Pass holds a doctorate in systematic theology from the University of Edinburgh. His thesis has been published as The Heart of Dogmatics: Christology and Christocentrism in Herman Bavinck (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht).

Participants: Bruce Pass, Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy

Herman Bavinck’s Use of Friedrich Schleiermacher

Christ the Center — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Cory Brock describes how Herman Bavinck interacted with and appropriated the theology of Friedrich Schleiermacher throughout his academic career. There is a significant shift toward a more pronounced and direct use of Schleiermacher later in his life. But any appropriation of Schleiermacher by Bavinck may surprise people.

Schleiermacher (1768–1834) is recognized as the father of modern liberal theology. It would appear that any incorporation of Schleiermacher’s theology or philosophy would compromise Bavinck’s Calvinist orthodoxy. Indeed, this manner of reading Bavinck gave rise to a so-called “two Bavincks hypothesis.” Brock builds a case for the relation of these two aspects in Bavinck in his book, Orthodox yet Modern: Herman Bavinck’s Use of Friedrich Schleiermacher (Lexham Press). Cory Brock serves as pastor of college and career at First Presbyterian Church (PCA), Jackson, Mississippi.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Cory Brock, Jim Cassidy

A Critical Biography of Herman Bavinck

Christ the Center — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Dr. James Eglinton speaks about the life and thought of Herman Bavinck. Eglinton has written a superb biography of Bavinck that has been published by Baker Academic. Bavinck and other Dutch people of his era were accustomed to chronicling their lives. Herman Bavinck’s father wrote an autobiography. Herman wrote in journals. These became primary sources for James Eglinton as he wrote a critical biography of Bavinck.

The Bavinck family faced questions about their place in society. Where does an orthodox Calvinist fit in modern society? These questions animated their lives—particularly as they related to monarchical rule and the relationship of the church to the state. In sum, Eglinton describes Herman Bavinck’s life as characterized by two things: conservative Calvinist orthodoxy and active participation in modern society. For Bavinck, these two were not mutually exclusive. He was a Calvinist who was simultaneously a man of his own day.

Participants: Camden Bucey, James Eglinton, Jim Cassidy

The Wonderful Works of God

Christ the Center — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Carlton Wynne and Charles Williams speak about the new edition of Herman Bavinck’s The Wonderful Works of God published by Westminster Seminary Press. The book was first published in English under the title, Our Reasonable Faith. The new edition is re-typeset and includes an introduction by Dr. Wynne, Bavinck’s original introduction translated by Nathaniel Gray Sutanto, and helpful indices collected by Charles Williams.

Carlton Wynne is assistant professor of systematic theology and apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.

Charles Williams is pastor of Bethel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wheaton, Illinois.

Bavinck’s Christian Worldview

Christ the Center — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 05:00:21 +0000

James Eglinton, Nathaniel Gray Sutanto, and Cory Brock speak about Herman Bavinck’s book, Christian Worldview. Sutanto, Eglinton, and Brock together have translated and edited this work and Crossway has brought it to print for the first time in English.

In the book, Herman Bavinck deals with pastoral concerns that arose within a culture that exchanged modernistic certainty for an appreciation of the unrecognizable and unknowable. Apart from the triune God revealed in Scripture, the culture was grasping for meaning.

Christian Worldview marks a new phase in his theological development. He spent the 1880s and 90s in Kampen wherein his main dialogue partners were liberal Protestants or materialist atheists. In 1900, two years before Bavinck moved to the Free University in Amsterdam, Friedrich Nietzsche died and something of a cult of his ideas developed in the Netherlands. Bavinck sought to address these new theological concerns. He developed a wholistic vision of all things and a wholistic way of living. He situated science and wisdom under a broader category of “worldview.”

Nathaniel Gray Sutanto is a teaching elder at Covenant City Church in Jakarta, Indonesia, and an adjunct faculty member at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of God and Knowledge: Herman Bavinck’s Theological Epistemology.

James Eglinton is the Meldrum Lecturer in Reformed Theology at New College, University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Trinity and Organism, Herman Bavinck on Preaching and Preachers and Bavinck: A Critical Biography (forthcoming from Baker Academic).

Cory C. Brock serves as minister of young adults and college at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi, and is an adjunct professor of theology at Belhaven University.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Cory Brock, James Eglinton, Jim Cassidy, Nathaniel Gray Sutanto

Bavinck’s Philosophy of Revelation

Christ the Center — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 05:00:32 +0000

Cory Brock and Nathaniel Gray Sutanto speak about Herman Bavinck’s Philosophy of Revelation (Hendrickson Publishers). Drs. Brock and Sutanto have edited a new annotated edition of Bavinck’s Stone Lectures, which were delivered at Princeton in 1908. Other than his Reformed Dogmatics, this is Bavinck’s most important work. We are blessed to welcome new editions and translations of these works. Along with James Eglinton, Brock and Sutanto are also editing Bavinck’s Christian Worldview, scheduled to be published by Crossway next year.

Cory Brock is Minister of Young Adults and College at First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Jackson, MS. He also serves on the faculty of Belhaven University teaching biblical studies. Nathaniel Gray Sutanto is Assistant Pastor at Covenant City Church in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Cory Brock, Dan Ragusa, Nathaniel Gray Sutanto

Herman Bavinck’s Trinitarian Theology and Organic Apologetic

Christ the Center — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 04:00:31 +0000

Dan Ragusa speaks about Herman Bavinck’s Trinitarian theology and its implications for a revelational epistemology and worldview. Bavinck argues for an organic connection between general and special revelation, which results in a “triniformity” in both.

Reason, Revelation, and Calvin’s View of Natural Theology

Christ the Center — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 04:00:07 +0000

Jim Cassidy and Camden Bucey discuss theological methodology in light of Calvin’s view of natural theology. As a starting point for the discussion, they turn to Thiago M. Silva’s article, “John Calvin and the Limits of Natural Theology,” Puritan Reformed Journal 8, 2 (2016): 33-48.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy

Bavinck on the Christian Life

Christ the Center — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 05:00:16 +0000

Today we welcome Dr. John Bolt to speak about his new book Bavinck on the Christian Life: Following Jesus in Faithful Service. Dr. Bolt is the Jean and Kenneth Baker Professor of Systematic Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary. He served as the editor of the English edition of Bavinck’s magisterial Reformed Dogmatics. Join us as we speak not only of Bavinck’s dogmatic theology, but also how that theology relates to the Christian life.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jim Cassidy, John Bolt, Nathaniel Gray Sutanto

Bavinck and Charitable Reading

Nathaniel Sutanto — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 11:00:07 +0000

In the 1908 Stone Lectures delivered at Princeton Seminary, Bavinck develops a sustained reflection on the function and necessity of divine revelation. The lectures were compiled as the Philosophy of Revelation. In it, he argues that contrary to the “mechanical” way in which Roman Catholicism relates revelation and nature, Protestant theology declares that revelation is foundationally related to every sphere of the created universe. While theology explicates the doctrine of revelation, a philosophy of revelation “will trace the idea of revelation, both in its form and in its content, and correlate it with the rest of our knowledge and life.” (p. 24) Again and again, Bavinck argues in a transcendental direction: revelation must be the starting point of every field of enquiry (p. 26). Revelation is the “presupposition, the foundation, the secret of all that exists in all its forms.” (p. 27) For Bavinck, philosophy and epistemology without revelation leads to skepticism (p. 79), science depends on an organic worldview (p. 109), history is the uncovering and response to God’s eternal plan (136), and religion dissolves into speculation when detached from revelation (p. 165). Throughout the work, one is struck by the seamless way in which Bavinck moves between fields and from thinker to thinker. He investigates the philosophy of Kant, the theology of Schleiermacher, the teleology of Hegel, the findings of anthropology, art and cultural history, ethnology, paleontology, biology, and even philology. Even though he ultimately critiques some of the work he engages, he doesn’t do this apart from expressing first his appreciation of their work, even incorporating aspects of them into his own thinking. There is a calm composure in Bavinck – one detects no hint of fear that his theological starting point would hinder him from a thorough research of the various areas of human life. In Bavinck, then, one finds someone who models well the act of charitable yet explicitly theological reading. This, I think, is a rare virtue to be cultivated, especially in the Reformed contexts with which I identify. I find that many of us are prone to reading thinkers with which we disagree with uncharitable eyes. One may be tempted to think “ah, but his theology is heterodox” and go on reading that author’s work in such a way that one takes certain strands of thinking (even taking them to what we may think are their view’s logical ends, while the authors may never have intended those ends), critiquing them immediately. In other words, here one interprets others as purely prescriptive readers. What tends to happen here is that readers end up learning more about the author’s views about what X thinks rather than what X really thinks. I was challenged when a particular professor in a seminar I attended opened up one of our sessions by saying this about a particular thinker: “I know that what X is saying is non-orthodox, that is obvious. But because this is so obvious it is also uninteresting. Let’s get over that he is non-orthodox, and that on some matters we must disagree with him. What I am after is understanding: why did he think the way he did?” Only in this mode of reading (a mode in which I am not yet, myself, adept!), can one truly learn, and, perhaps ironically, it is also only in this mode of thinking can one produce a profound critique of the thinker with whom one disagrees. It is not enough to thus read books with which one disagrees; it is also necessary to wrestle with these ideas (and, if possible, to engage directly with people who holds those views in the flesh). This, I think, is what Bavinck exemplified so well. Bad reading abounds not only because we are sinful creatures that tend toward wanting to assert ourselves over others but also because it is so much easier. It is easy to merely dismiss some particular thinker without engaging with them, so much easier to conclude that what they are saying is obviously absurd, and so on. It takes harder work to get at what a particular thinker is really articulating, and to re-state that thinker’s positions in ways with which one can sympathize. It also seems that uncharitable reading is easier because it gives us the excuse of staying within our own comfort groups – it may insulate one from what “they” are saying “out there” because they are “obviously” holding to some absurd or morally dubious views. One ends up shielding oneself from true criticism. This may be excusable in some contexts, but I want to argue that it cannot be so for Christians. Or, if I can be more specific, it cannot be so especially for Christians who hold to the theology of neo-Calvinism, especially in the expression of that theology in thinkers like Herman Bavinck and Cornelius Van Til. Indeed, these two thinkers hold to a particular set of claims that should provide one with the uniquely potent resources for one to rigorously engage opposing worldviews.[1] These include (1) that the Trinitarian God is a necessary being on whom everything depends (2) that general revelation is clear and sufficient to make sure that every individual knows the true God (3) that every culture, worldview, and philosophy that isn’t Christian in their expression are all manifestations of responses to that revelation (4) that Christians possess a true understanding of special revelation that general revelation anticipates, and without which responses to general revelation become absurd (5) that God’s common grace sustains the present order for the sake of special grace and therefore (6) that Christians are supposed to engage in the world as a single organism to witness to this Triune God. This Bavinck-Van Til theology, in other words, obligates one to look outward. It seeks to engage the world while being within a wilderness outpost. It witnesses in transformative power because it exists as a transcendent organism: the church. It has the unique intellectual capacity to fulfill the yearnings of the heart and the demands of the mind. It is urgent for us, then, to not merely nourish the church with the deep wells of wisdom that come from these thinkers. It is necessary also to take these conceptual tools to turn outward in engagement. The antithesis, after all, tells us that there are real intellectual confrontations to be faced – but let us be antithetical against not a mirage of our own misinterpretations, but the real substance. — [1] For a preliminary elaboration of these claims, see my “From Antithesis to Synthesis: a Neo-Calvinistic Theological Methodology in Herman Bavinck and Cornelius Van Til,” Journal of Reformed Theology (forthcoming).

The Life and Thought of Herman Bavinck

Christ the Center — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:00:54 +0000

Ron Gleason discusses his new intellectual biography of Herman Bavinck. The book, titled Herman Bavinck: Pastor, Churchman, Statesman, and Theologian, is published by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishers.

Links

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, Jim Cassidy, Ron Gleason

Herman Bavinck

Christ the Center — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:00:08 +0000

Rev. Dr. Ron Gleason, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Yorba Linda, CA converses with the Christ the Center panel about the forthcoming volume Reforming and Conforming? and his work on a forthcoming biography of Herman Bavinck to be published with Presbyterian & Reformed Publishers. Dr. Gleason discusses his concerns with the emergent church, but the lion’s share of this episode is devoted to an assessment of Bavinck as theologian. Gleason notes that Bavinck was a first class systematician and, like his contemporary Benjamin B. Warfield, was adept in Old and New Testament studies as well as historical theology and philosophy. All of this is evident to the reader of Bavinck’s magisterial Reformed Dogmatics. Listeners of this episode may find themselves entertaining an inexplicable desire to learn Dutch.

Panel

Ron Gleason
Lane Keister
Jeff Waddington
Camden Bucey

Bibliography

Bavinck, Herman. Essays on religion, science, and society. Grand Rapids MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

—. Our Reasonable Faith. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956.

—. Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 2: God and Creation. Vol. 2. Reformed Dogmatics. Baker Academic, 2004.

—. Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 3: Sin and Salvation in Christ. Baker Academic, 2006.

—. Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 4: Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation. Baker Academic, 2008.

Bavinck, Herman, and J. Mark Beach. Saved by Grace : The Holy Spirit’s Work in Calling and Regeneration. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Reformation Heritage Books, 2008.

Bavinck, Herman, John Bolt, and John Vriend. Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 1: Prolegomena. Baker Academic, 2003.

Beeke, Joel R., and Sinclair B. Ferguson. Living for God’s glory : an introduction to Calvinism. Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust, 2008.

Carruthers, S. W., Presbyterian Historical Society., and Presbyterian Historical Society of England. The Everyday Work of the Westminster Assembly. Philadelphia: Pub. jointly by the Presbyterian Historical Society (of America) and the Presbyterian Historical Society of England, 1943.

Duncan, J. Ligon, and Social Science History Association. Moses’ law for modern government: the intellectual and sociological origins of the Christian Reconstructionist Movement. Greenville, SC: Reformed Academic Press, 1994.

Edwards, Jonathan, and Peter Johannes Thuesen. Catalogues of Books. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.

Gaebelein, Frank Ely, J. D. Douglas, Walter C. Kaiser, Everett Falconer Harrison, W. Harold. Mare, Murray J. Harris, et al. The Expositor’s Bible commentary Volume 10, Romans-Galatians. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 10. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1976.

Hall, David W., and J. Ligon. Duncan. The Westminster Assembly : a guide to basic bibliography. Greenville, SC: Reformed Academic Press (Post Office Box 8599 Greenville 29604), 1993.

Hansen, Collin. Young, Restless, Reformed : A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2008.

Jesus and the God of Israel God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity. Eerdmans Pub Co, 2008.

Johnson, Gary L. W., and Ronald N. Gleason. Reforming or Conforming? : Post-Conservative Evangelicals and the Emerging Church. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2008.

Johnson, Terry L. The pastor’s public ministry. Greenville, S.C.: Reformed Academic Press, 2001.

Köstenberger, Margaret Elizabeth. Jesus and the feminists : who do they say that He is? Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2008.

Lawson, Steven. The unwavering resolve of Jonathan Edwards. Orlando Fla.: Reformation Trust Pub., 2008.

Nichols, Stephen. Jesus Made in America: Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ. Downers Grove Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2008.

Nichols, Stephen J. Getting the blues : what blues music teaches us about suffering and salvation. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press, 2008.

Parsons, Burk. John Calvin : a heart for devotion, doctrine, and doxology. Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust, 2008.

Piper, John, and Justin Taylor. Stand : a call for the endurance of the saints. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2008.

The Advent of Evangelicalism Exploring Historical Continuities. B & H Academic, 2008.

The Whole Counsel Of God. Presbyterian & Reformed Pub Co, 2008.

Witherington, Ben. Jesus the sage : the pilgrimage of wisdom. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994.

—. Matthew. Smyth & Helwys Bible commentary. Macon, Ga.: Smyth & Helwys Pub., 2006.

—. Paul’s letter to the Romans : a socio-rhetorical commentary. Grand Rapids Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 2004.

—. Paul’s narrative thought world : the tapestry of tragedy and triumph. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994.

—. The Acts of the Apostles : a socio-rhetorical commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich.; Carlisle, U.K.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. ; Paternoster Press, 1998.

Witherington, Ben. John’s wisdom : a commentary on the Fourth Gospel. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1995.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, Lane Keister, Ron Gleason