Category: Gospel and Culture

Contemporary Value of Calvinism (according to Kuyper)

This is the final reflection in my series of posts on Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism.

Considering the contemporary value of Calvinism, it is interesting to note that when confronted with the claims of modernism (Scopes Trials etc.), Kuyper asserted that Christians failed to offer a substantial and coherent answer due to absence of a “unity of life system”. This unity of life system is indeed crucial if we are to thoughtfully and seriously engage the multifarious ideologies propagated by the thousands of cultures present in the global village.

 

The phrase, unity of life system, expands our understanding of Weltschauung, encompassing its inherently integrative ability. Kuyper points out three main conditions necessary for a complete life-system: 1) our relation to God 2) our relation to man 3) our relation to the world. Beginning with our relation to God, Kuyper reasons that we must start our thinking where the consciousness of all life has its unity- theologically in God and existentially in drawing near unto God.

Calvinism and Man, God, and the World
Concerning these three conditions, Kuyper states: Relation to man – Calvinism views man both positively and negatively. The glory of man is that he has been made in the image of God, yet the image has been disfigured through the fall. According to Calvinism these two things are held in common by all men. Relation to the World – Paganism places too high a value on the world and Romism, especially in Monasticism, places too low a value on creation. Contrary to Romism, Calvinism does not argue that the church is to rule over all other areas of life, the sciences, education, etc. Instead of the particular grace associated with salvation, it is God’s common grace that reaches the world over, through which he “relaxes the curse.”

Calvinism vs. Modernism & Postmodernism

It could be argued that Modernism (or Post-modernism) has provided the necessary worldview to deal with cultural, social, and political issues, therefore rendering the Calvinistic one unnecessary. However, as Kuyper lucidly points out, Modernism develops its worldview in reaction to God. Its entire system, although pragmatically driven by the Scientific Method, is philosophically errant, producing an aberrant of view of God. This is reflected in Modernism’s claim that God is: 1) somehow removed and disinterested from the inner workings of the world he created (Deism) 2) handicapped in his ability to infallibly communicate with his creation (Liberalism), or even worse, 3) the rejection of God as our ultimate reference point in substitution for the sole substance of reason (Descartes).

Whatever the philosophical origins of the Enlightenment, it is clear that at the philosophical level there was an attempt to repudiate the God of the Bible with rationale of man. Modernism asserts a negation of God, Calvinism assumes the existence of God and finds our dependence upon Him.

Postmodernism, on the other had, relatives God. Driven by the hermeneutic of suspicion, PM renders all notions of God as unreliable, as relative and therefore empties them of power and meaning. We are all telling different stories about God that, though the contradict one another, can possess meaning for their respective cultures. The problem with this worldview is, of course, its instability.

Calvinism Responsible for Human Flourishing?

After asserting the three conditions necessary for a coherent Weltschauung, Kuyper argues for the positive contributions of Calvinism to mankind in general, pointing out that it is through Calvinism and the spread of Christianity that peoples of the earth intermingled and shared culture and ideas, advancing human flourishing. From Judaism to present day Calvinism (New World, Africa, etc.) he argues that it was the tenants of this brand of the reformed faith that led to the political and social advance of human rights and scientific discovery. It is interesting to note that Christian Historian Kenneth Latourette makes a similar observation in his chapter on “The Expanding Effect of Christianity.” However Latourette does not limit these sources of these contributions to Calvinism, but perceives various Protestant groups to be instrumental in accomplishing global reform. In short, Kuyper’s contributions to the source of integration and a coherent Weltschauung are massive. Although we have been limited in our exploration, hopefully, this final post has provided enough insight to whet the appetite for more of Kuyper.


[1] Kuyper reflects his deep understanding of the necessity of drawing near unto God in his devotional, Near Unto God. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997).

[2] Ibid., 30

[3] Ibid. 24

[4] Kenneth Latourette, A History of Christianity, Vol. II (Peabody: Prince Press, 2003), 967.

Abortions Drop to All-time Low

The Center for Disease Control released its latest annual abortion report, covering 2004, and the agency reports abortions nationwide have dropped 1.1 percent to their lowest levels since 1974. Though not all abortions are reported, this does proved a fair amount of accuracy, with only three states not providing statistics (California New Hampshire and West Virginia). The CDC reports that there were 839,226 abortions in 2004, which is lower than the 848,136 abortions reported the year before, bringing the amount of annual abortions to the lowest total since the year following Roe v. Wade.

This Is No Fairy Tale

We read This is No Fairy Tale children’s book to our son once or twice a week. It is among the best I’ve come across. In fact, I read some excerpts from it to a group last night and people seemed to really like it.

Dale alternates between what the fairy tale version of the Jesus story would be and the biblical version. For example:

If this were a fairly tale, the young prince Jesus would have been taught to rule over people so that when he grew up, he would become their king.

The truth is, Jesus learned to work hard with his hands. His father taught him how to make things for people out of wood.

Dale Tolmasoff also happens to be a friend. His big heart and a deep love for God and others really come through in this book. The book concludes with a delightfully simple, Christian Hedonistic phrase (you’ll have to read it to find out!). Fittingly, the book’s forward is by John Piper.

Mind-numbing Multi-tasking?

I multi-task with the best of you, but sometimes I wonder if my multi-tasking is less efficient than I’d like to think. In fact, I often wonder if by spinning in the information age, responding to emails, blogs, IMs, cell calls, text messages, and the old phone, I am slipping in my ability to concentrate on one thing, to have sustained, fruitful reflection on important issues and topics like my marriage, spiritual life, parenting, etc.

In a 2006 article entitled, “The Multitasking Generation” Time magazine outlined some of the dangers of multi-tasking. What do you think? Do you struggle? What are your solutions? Here are a few observations/reflections from the article:

Drawbacks to Multitasking

  • Its Just Inefficient: “When people try to perform two or more related tasks either at the same time or alternating rapidly between them, errors go way up, and it takes far longer—often double the time or more—to get the jobs done than if the were done sequentially.” – David E. Meyer, Dir of the Brain, Cognition and Action Lab at Univ of Michigan.
  • Loss of Sustained Logic: Full length books infrequently assigned at Duke University.  Students write internally coherent paragraphs but don’t sustain arguments or sustained line of thinking well
  • Community Decay: Disruption of family and community life. With all the media distractions, family dinners seem to be virtually gone from the fabric of American life.