Abraham Kuyper

This is the first full-scale English-language biography of the highly influential and astonishingly multifaceted Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) - theologian, minister, politician, newspaper editor, educational innovator, Calvinist reformer, and prime minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905. James Bratt is the ideal scholar to tell the story of Kuyper's remarkable life and work. He expertly traces the origin and development of Kuyper's signature concepts - common grace, Christian worldview, sphere sovereignty, Christian engagement with contemporary culture - in the dynamic context of his life's story.

Richard Mouw was first drawn to Abraham Kuyper s writings about public life in the turbulent 1960s. As he struggled to find the right Christian stance toward big social issues such as the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, Mouw discovered Kuyper s Lectures on Calvinism and, with it, a robust vision of active Christian involvement in public life that has guided him ever since. In this short and personal introduction Mouw sets forth Kuyper s main ideas on Christian cultural discipleship, including his views on sphere sovereignty, the antithesis, common grace, and more. Mouw looks at ways to update and, in some places, even correct Kuyper s thought as he applies it to such twenty-first-century issues as religious and cultural pluralism, technology, and the challenge of Islam.

In Our Program, Abraham Kuyper presents a Christian alternative to the secular politics of his day. At that time, the church and state were closely tied, with one usually controlling the other. But Kuyper's political framework showed how the church and state could engage with each other while remaining separate. His insights, though specific to his time and place, remain highly relevant to Christians involved in the political sphere today. This new translation of Our Program, created in partnership with the Kuyper Translation Society and the Acton Institute, is part of a major series of new translations of Kuyper's most important writings. The Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology marks a historic moment in Kuyper studies, aimed at deepening and enriching the church's development of public theology.

Abraham Kuyper (1837 - 1920) is a significant figure in the history of the Netherlands and one of the most remarkable figures in the annals of Calvinism. Kuyper celebrated the Reformed founders, subscribed heart and soul to their teachings, and worked ceaselessly to restore their authority in an age that had either forgotten them or contradicted their word. From their theology, Kuyper extruded a whole worldview, and by that worldview he hoped to refashion the politics, scholarship, art, and social arrangements of his time. "Calvinism" was his soul and system, the purest form of Christianity, the treasure of the past, the hope of the future. This anthology, published in the centennial year of Kuyper's famous Stone Lectures, gathers sixteen key writings by Kuyper never before available in English. Included are his definitive statements on politics, education, culture, and the religious currents and social problems of his time. Also included are Kuyper's own conversion narrative, his critiques of Modernism and of Holiness theology, his proposals on common grace and Calvinist politics, his reflections on a culture in thrall to pantheism and evolution, and his classic address on "sphere sovereignty." In his introduction, editor James Bratt sets Kuyper's work in its 19th century context and shows the relevance of his ideas to contemporary debates on modernism, evangelicalism, and fundamentalism. Bratt also provides helpful explanatory notes and a brief introduction to each piece. Photographs, cartoons, and short excerpts from some of Kuyper's better-known works make this an attractive volume that will stand as the definitive Kuyper anthology for years to come.

Kuyper on the Divine Purpose for Education Among Abraham Kuyper's many accomplishments was his founding of the Free University of Amsterdam, where he also served as president and professor of theology. This collection of essays and speeches presents Kuyper's theology and philosophy of education, and his understanding of the divine purpose of scholarship for human culture. Included are convocation addresses given at the Free University, parliamentary speeches, newspaper articles, and other talks and essays on the topic of education. Much of the material deals with issues still being debated today including the roles of the family and state in education, moral instruction, Christian education, and vouchers.

Abraham Kuyper firmly believed that Jesus Christ was King not just of Christians, but of the entire cosmos. In volume two of Pro Rege, he continues his analysis of the extent to which Christ rules—first in the human heart, then in the life of the church, and continuing to the life of the Christian family. Kuyper believed that it was nonsense to distinguish between life inside and outside of church walls. Here, he shows that although the Jesus’ kingship has been denied and denigrated, Christ still exerts his power in the world through his people. This new translation of Pro Rege, created in partnership with the Abraham Kuyper Translation Society and the Acton Institute, is part of a major series of new translations of Kuyper's most important writings. The Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology marks a historic moment in Kuyper studies, aimed at deepening and enriching the church's development of public theology.

In Common Grace Abraham Kuyper presents a constructive public theology of cultural engagement rooted in the humanity Christians share with the rest of the world. He addresses a gap in the development of Reformed teaching on divine grace, and he articulates a Reformed understanding of God's gifts that are common to all people after the fall into sin. This first volume contains Kuyper's demonstration of common grace in its origin and operation. This new translation of Common Grace, created in partnership with the Kuyper Translation Society and the Acton Institute, is part of a major series of new translations of Kuyper's most important writings. The Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology marks a historic moment in Kuyper studies, aimed at deepening and enriching the church's development of public theology.

"Over one hundred years ago, Dutch theologian, politician, and educator Abraham Kuyper delivered six remarkable addresses at Princeton University on the importance of Reformed theology in every part of our lives." "With passion borne from years of education and spiritual commitment, Kuyper asserted that Calvinism is a system of life that influences each aspect of human experience. Reformed theology provides a framework that leads us to obedience with God in politics, art, science, religion, and the future. It is a way of discovering how we are to relate to God, engage with others, and live well in the larger world." "Kuyper's words do more than provide historical insight into a theology that would change the lives of many. More than a century after they were first delivered, these lectures offer direction to a world looking for meaning."--BOOK JACKET.