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The Church and Modern Constitutional Law
Philippus Jacobus Hoedemaker (1839-1910) was a Dutch preacher and theologian, best known for his diametrical opposition to Abraham Kuyper. Having started their careers as friends, these two ended up pronounced antagonists. Hoedemaker opposed Kuyper's "neocalvinist" agenda foursquare. He stood for a publicly recognized church as the central pillar of a confessional state and a Christian nation. Such an agenda could not hope for a hearing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Kuyper's notions of pluralism and neutrality enjoyed a high tide of success. But the current historical juncture has revealed the foundations of sand upon which that agenda was based. Today the need is for a rec...
Reformed Ecclesiology in an Age of Denominationalism
Once upon a time, the state shared the public square with the church. The central location of the church building in every European town is mute testimony to this state of affairs. But those days are long gone. Nowadays there is an implicit or explicit consensus regarding the proper place of the church: out of sight and out of mind. How has this sea change come about? Through a complete metanoia (“change of mind”) regarding the public square. Church and state used to be in agreement about ultimate reality, but then came the wars of religion and the desire for a neutral state. This gave us the agnostic state, incapable of making any judgement regarding truth or falsehood regarding religio...
The Calling of the Church in Times of Polarization
In many societies all over the world, an increasing polarization between contrasting groups can be observed. Polarization arises when a fear born of difference turns into ‘us-versus-them’ thinking and rules out any form of compromise. This volume addresses polarizations within societies as well as within churches, and asks the question: given these dynamics, what may be the calling of the church? The authors offer new approaches to polarizing debates on topics such as racism, social justice, sexuality and gender, euthanasia, and ecology and agriculture in various contexts. They engage in profound theological and ecclesiological reflection, in particular from the Reformed tradition. Contributors to this volume are: Najib George Awad, Henk van den Belt, Nadine Bowers Du Toit, Jaeseung Cha, David Daniels, David Fergusson, Jan Jorrit Hasselaar, Jozef Hehanussa, Allan Janssen, Klaas-Willem de Jong, Viktória Kóczián, Philipp Pattberg, Louise Prideaux, Emanuel Gerrit Singgih, Peter-Ben Smit, Thandi Soko-de Jong, Wim van Vlastuin, Jan Dirk Wassenaar, Elizabeth Welch, Annemarieke van der Woude, and Heleen Zorgdrager.
Article 36 of the Belgic Confession Vindicated against Dr. Abraham Kuyper
To this day, Abraham Kuyper stands as a shining example of responsible and effective Christian action in all areas of life. A leading journalist, theologian, churchman, and politician in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Kuyper effectuated, during a career spanning 50 years, an astonishing metamorphosis of the Dutch political and ecclesiastical landscape. Lifting high the banner of the universal lordship of Christ, he managed to revitalize a moribund political party and mobilize the so-called kleyne luyden, the “little guys,” into a social, ecclesiastical, educational, and political force to be reckoned with. And he did all of this while proclaiming, “There is not a square inch i...
The Politics of Antithesis
On August 1st, 1901, a new government was installed in the Netherlands, formed by Antirevolutionary Party (ARP) leader Abraham Kuyper. The culmination of decades of relentless effort, it represented a new departure in Dutch politics: a government explicitly invoking the Christian revelation as the basis for its policy. “Revelation over Reason!” had been the battle cry of the campaign, and the majority-Christian Dutch electorate had answered the call. But would the policy results of this Christian coalition government answer to such a high ideal? This was the question posed by P. J. Hoedemaker shortly after the coalition’s accession to power. In a series of lectures entitled A State wit...
Going Dutch in the Modern Age
Abraham Kuyper is known as the energetic Dutch Protestant social activist and public theologian of the 1898 Princeton Stone Lectures, the Lectures on Calvinism. In fact, the church was the point from which Kuyper's concerns for society and public theology radiated. In his own words, ''The problem of the church is none other than the problem of Christianity itself.'' The loss of state support for the church, religious pluralism, rising nationalism, and the populist religious revivals sweeping Europe in the nineteenth century all eroded the church's traditional supports. Dutch Protestantism faced the unprecedented prospect of ''going Dutch''; from now on it would have to pay its own way. John ...
The Gospel in the Age of the Judges
Deborah, “a mother in Israel,” sang the praises of Jael for killing Sisera. We might think this a most unmotherly notion. Does it not contradict the purpose of the Gospel? By no means. As P. J. Hoedemaker makes clear, while God is merciful He is also just, and during the Age of the Judges called upon His people to execute that judgment. Just as He will call His people to execute judgment over the 12 tribes of Israel (Matthew 19: 28), and over the world and the angels (1 Corinthians 6: 2–3). Contrary to the usual perception, the Age of the Judges constituted a major step forward in this program. For in it, judgment begins in the house of God (1 Peter 4: 17), a judgment which brings about mercy and redemption. What appear to be a series of failures are actually stepping stones to a greater and higher salvation. Hoedemaker unfolds this tale with a masterful hand.
Protestant Theology and Modernity in the Nineteenth-Century Netherlands
Protestant Theology and Modernity in the Nineteenth Century Netherlands examines how Dutch Protestant thinkers and theologicans met the challenges of the rapidly modernizing world around them. It shows that the nineteenth-century saw theology fundamentally transformed and reinvented in a variety of ways. Enlightenment values were fiercely attacked by orthodox Pietists but embraced by 'modern' theologians. Positions were not fixed and theologians has to work hard to maintain their intellectual integrity. Jewish Isaac da Costa converted to Christianity and fulminated against the Zeitgeist. Allard Pierson, who in his youth had been under the spell of Da Costa, resigned from his ministry and ado...
