Neo-Calvinism
Neo-Calvinism, a form of Dutch Calvinism, is the movement initiated by the theologian and former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper.
Introduction
James Bratt[1] has identified a number of different types of Dutch Calvinism: The Seceders—split into the Reformed Church “West” and the Confessionalists; and the Neo-Calvinists—the Positives and the Antithetical Calvinists. The Seceders were largely infralapsarian and the Neo-Calvinists usually supralapsarian.
Neo-Calvinism has been described in the following way:
Neocalvinism is postmodern Calvinism. Neocalvinism is a global cultural movement that is the result of people motivated by the religious dynamic of the Reformation trying to get to grips with the historical consequences and implications of modernity.[2]
Kuyper wanted to awaken the church from what he viewed as its pietistic slumber. He declared:
No single piece of our mental world is to be sealed off from the rest and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’[3]
This refrain has become something of a rallying call for Neo-Calvinists.
Emphases of Neo-Calvinism [4]
- Jesus is Lord over all of creation. Jesus’ Lordship extends through every area and aspect of life – it is not restricted to the sphere of church or of personal piety.
- The idea that all of life is to be redeemed. The work of Jesus on the cross extends over all of life – no area is exempt from its impact. All knowledge is effected by the true knowledge of God through redemption in Christ.[5]
- Cultural Mandate. Genesis 1:26-28 has been described as a cultural mandate. It is the mandate to cultivate and develop the creation.[6] There is a historical development and cultural unfolding. Some Neo-Calvinists hold that the Cultural Mandate is as important as the Great Commission.[7]
- Creation, fall and redemption. God’s good creation has been disrupted by the fall. Redemption is a restoration of creation.[8]
- Sphere sovereignty (Soevereiniteit in eigen kring). Each sphere (or sector) of life has its own distinct responsibilities and authority as designed by God – for instance, communities dedicated to worship, civil justice, agriculture, family, etc. – and no one area of life is sovereign over another. Hence, neither faith-institutions nor an institution of civil justice (that is, the state) should seek totalitarian control or any regulation of human activity outside their limited competence.[9]
- A rejection of dualism. Dualisms are (purportedly false) bifurcations, dichotomies, contrasts, or oppositions, such as the dualism between nature and grace that [allegedly] dominated much of Scholasticism. In the Neo-Calvinist view, nature is the God-created and sustained cosmic order, not a "non-supernatural" category, and grace is God's means of renewing the cosmic order, it is not something "non-creational" added onto nature (albeit eschatological in consummated glorification of bodily resurrection to eternal life and cosmic transformation of the new heavens and earth).
- Structure and direction. Structure denotes created laws and norms for (other) created things. Direction denotes relative deviation or conformity to norms; primarily regarding the central orientation of the human heart toward or away from God in Christ.[10]
- Common grace. God providentially sustains the created order, restraining of possible evils and giving non-salvific good gifts to all humanity despite their fall into sin, God's curse, and his eventual condemnation of the unredeemed.[11]
- The antithesis. There is a struggle in history and within every person – between submission to and rebellion against God; between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness; between the age to come (already inaugurated in Christ) and this present evil age (of sin).[12]
- World views. Neo-Calvinists reject the notion that theoretical thought can be religiously neutral. All thinking and practice is shaped by world views and religious ground motives. For the Neo-Calvinist, life in all its aspects can be shaped by a distinctively Christian world view.[13]
- The role of law. For Neo-Calvinists, "Law" is more than the Mosaic Decalogue, or even the entire abiding moral will of God. Law is, rather, the order for creation (or creation ordinances) established by God and includes a variety of types of cultural norms including physiological, psychological, logical, historical, linguistic, social, economic, aesthetic, juridical, and faith norms.
Key individuals associated with Neo-Calvinism
Neo-Calvinist institutions and organizations
- Arrowhead Christian Academy in Redlands, California
- Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Cardus (formerly known as The Work Research Foundation), Hamilton, Ontario
- The Center for Public Justice
- The Christian Labour Association of Canada
- CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach), Pittsburgh, PA
- Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, USA.
- Free University in Amsterdam
- Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, Canada
- Kuyper College
- Kuyper Foundation
- Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
- Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, IL
- The Kings College, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Key texts
- Abraham Kuyper Calvinism: Stone Lectures
Notes
- ^ James Bratt, Dutch Calvinism in Modern America. Wipf and Stock; original Eerdmans (1984)
- ^ "What is a Neo-Calvinist" by Gideon Strauss. Retrieved from personal blog October 29, 2005.
- ^ James E. McGoldrick, Abraham Kuyper: God’s Renaissance Man. (Welwyn, UK: Evangelical Press, 2000).
- ^ Steve Bishop 'Neocalvinst distinctives' An accidental blog http://stevebishop.blogspot.com/2005/10/neocalvinist-distinctives.html
- ^ Bradshaw Frey et al. All of Life Redeemed: Biblical Insights for Daily Obedience (Ontario: Paideia Press, 1983)
- ^ Gordon J. Spykman Reformational Theology: A New Paradigm for Doing Dogmatics(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1992) p. 109
- ^ Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey. How Now Shall We Live? (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), p.295.
- ^ Derek Melleby 'Neo-Calvinism 101' http://www.vanguardchurch.com/neo-calvinism_101.htm
- ^ Abraham Kuyper 1998. 'Sphere Sovereignty' In Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader, ed. James D. Bratt. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans).
- ^ Al Wolters Creation Regained (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans) Ch 5
- ^ Richard Mouw He Shines in all that's Fair (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002)
- ^ Gordon J. Spykman Reformational Theology: A New Paradigm for Doing Dogmatics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992) p. 65
- ^ Paul A. Marshall et al.(eds) Stained Glass: Worldviews and Social Science (Toronto: University Press of America, 1989)
References
- James Bratt Dutch Calvinism in Modern America, Wipf and Stock; original Eerdmans (1984).
- James Bratt “The Dutch Schools” in David F. Wells (ed.) Reformed Theology in America (Baker, 1997).
- James E. McGoldrick Abraham Kuyper: God’s Renaissance Man (Welwyn, UK: Evangelical Press, 2000).
- Richard J. Mouw “Dutch Calvinist philosophical influences in North America”, Calvin Theological Journal, 24 (1) (1989): pp. 93–120.
- Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey. How Now Shall We Live? (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), p. 295.
- Albert M. Wolters, Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985; 2nd edition 2005), ISBN 0-8028-2969-4
External links