The Davenant Trust should be commended for the production of For the Healing of the Nations. Edited by W. Bradford Littlejohn and Peter Escalante, the essays which comprise the book came out of Davenant’s 2nd Annual Convivium Calvinisticum, a conference which focused on “creation, redemption, and Neo-Calvinism.” While each essay is salient to the point of the book, each essay also stands on its own as a valuable contribution to its field. Over the next few weeks, I’ll post a few quotes from the book which might be of particular interest to our readers. This first quote comes from James Bratt’s first essay in the book, one which gives an overview of Abraham Kuyper’s life and thought. Says Bratt of Kuyper’s unique leadership:
“Through all these twists, turns, and variations, Kuyper consistently pursued a matched pair of ideals: to revitalize the pious faithful to reclaim the full scope of their Calvinistic heritage, especially its public compass, and to direct the ensuring force against liberal hegemony in politics and culture, thus bringing the full influence of Christian witness upon the Dutch nation. His chief distinction from contemporary and preceding movements of this sort was twofold. On the one hand, over against traditional establishmentarian types, Kuyper did not seek to push his initiative through official ecclesiastical institutions or to press a Christian pattern on everyone regardless of conviction. On the other hand, vis a vis sectarian revivalists, he was not content with proceeding by ‘spiritual’ change via interpersonal relations. That is, in a modern society ideological pluralism had to be represented, but the individualization and privatization of faith had to be avoided. Kuyper’s margin of excellence therefore was calling Christians to attend to the structural, institutional, and philosophical dimensions of their witness, both for the welfare of the cause and for the responsibility of their public performance.”
Additionally, Bratt offers seven principals which encapsulate Kuyper’s project. These include:
1) Principal psychology
(2) The Antithesis
(3) Common grace
(4) Sphere sovereignty
(5) Ideological pluralism
(6) Democratic populism
(7) The Kingdom of God<>
