2008 Issue 4 - Salt and Light in History: Abraham Kuyper - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 2008 Issue 4 - Salt and Light in History: Abraham Kuyper - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Salt and Ligh_tIllustrated

n HistoryAbraham uyper

Rev Don rowe

You are the salt of the earth; but if the saltloses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It isthen good for nothing but to be thrown outand trampled underfoot by men. You are thelight of the world. A oity that is set on a hilloannot be hidden. -Matthew 5:13-14,

Our subjeot is The Christian as Salt and Light.We will look at four areas in whioh Christiansmay be salt and light: 1. In the Churoh. 2. Inthe

Media. 3.In

Eduoationand 4. In

Politios.

These four areas oould ocoupy the lifetimeaohievements of four different men, ~ l tthis storyis about one remarkable man who excelled in allfour areas: Abraham Kuyper of the Netherlands.

His great oontribution was reminding us anddemonstrating for us, that Reformed Christianityis not limited to a slioe of life, but is a faith for allof life. This is vita lly important beoause when aChristian does not think biblioally in some area oflife, he will end up absorbing the current culturaloonsensus. At this time in history, absorbing theoultural consensus will undermine every article of

, the Christian faith. Abraham Kuyper was a manwho will not let us be oomfortable with a trunoatedChristianity for the religious oompartment of life.

The Netherlands, whioh inoludes Hollandand Belgium, has a rioh heritage of Reformedohurohes. The 16th century Reformationtook deep roots in Holland, with thousands of

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martyrs sealing their testimonyto Chri st with thei r blood.

The Dutoh Republio struggledduring The Eighty Years Tal',resulting at last in independenoefrom the oruel rule of Spain.The House of Orange oame topower in the new Republio,offioially reoognized in 1648.

The Dutoh Seoond Reformationoontinued until about 1750.One of the most outstandingand beloved figures was pastor'Vilhelmus a Brakel, whosemassive work The Christian'sReasonable Servioe oould be foundin many a Dutoh household.

The late 18th oentu ry sawthe poisonous philosophy ofthe Frenoh revolution affliotingHolland. There was first afasoination of all things Frenoh,then domination by the Frenohall the way up to the defeat ofNapoleon in 1813. Holland was

onoe again free, but the ReformedChuroh still ohaffed under stateoontrol. In 1834 a seoessionohuroh gained independenoefrom the state ohuroh, what isknown as a FREE CHURCH.

Abraham Kuyper ,vas born in1837; his father was a pastor inthe Dutch State Church. At theage of 18 he entered the LeidenUniversity ministeri al prep sohoolwhose foous was Latin, Greek,Hebrew, Philosophy, and Theology.He graduated with honors but hadadopted rather rationalistio views.He no longer had a oompellingreason to be a pastor, nor had heany gospel to preaoh. At age 21(1858) he entered Leiden's divinityschool where he eagerly soakedup the new up- to-dat e theology.Just before his 25th birthday, he

aking the Nations Christ s Disciples

was awarded a dootorate. 'Vith hishead now stuffed with nonsense,he set out for his first pastorate .He was intelligent, but Godwould have to make him wise.

'Ve oan ment ion three thingsthat had an influenoe leadingto Kuyper's oonversion.

The first was an essay oontestto oompare the writings of JohnCalvin, with those of the PolishReformer John Lasko. Laskoalso labored in England duringthe brief reign of Edward VI.

Kuyper was impressed \vith theremarkable providenoe of beingable to looate some works of Lasko.Although Calvin and Lasko werejust interesting figures to Kuyper,he would eventua lly find thatthe study of Calvin is hazardousto your modernist theology.

The second influenoe,surprisingly enough, was a novelgiven to him by his fianoee

Johanna entitl ed The Heir ofRedolyffe by Charlotte Yonge.Kuyper was drawn to ident ifywith the ,vorldly oharacterPhilip in the story, but laterto appreoiate the strength ofcharaoter in the Christian Sir Guy.

The most telling influenceoame when at age 26 he hadhis first pas torate. He was afine speaker but theologioallywobbling between liberalism andorthodoxy. He was impressiveenough for the little church atBeesd to call him, but there werea few people in the oongregationwho were very unhappy with theirnew half-Christian pastor. One ofthese discontented was a miller'sdaughter, Peitrone lla Baltus.She was a woman who livedunequivooally the oonfess ion for

whioh the martyrs died. She wasof the plain Dutch folk who loved

the old writers". Remember thatthe Dutoh ohurohes had the earlyversion of the Belgic confessionsince 1561. The much lovedHeidelberg Catechism of 1563and the famous Canons of Dort1618 making a strong statementagainst Arminianism. 'Vhat couldbe more troubling to a liberalpreacher than a congregation whoknows their catechism? 'Vhenshe spoke of the Old writers, therewere several Reformation writingsavailable. Several works of Engl ishPuritans had been translated intoDutch and the Dutch had theirown Puritan-like writers suchas "Tillhelmus a Brakel, from thesecond Dutch Reformation. Manya Dutch home had the father reada chapter from the Bible, followedby a section of beloved FatherBrake ." Kuyper could easily havedismissed the group of ReformedChristian people as they were notas highly educated as he, but he

learned from them and he himselfturned again to the "old writers."

Kuyper was neve r much fordoing someth ing halfway. Afterhis conversion he became moredissatisfied with the state church.Typical of a state church theDutch Reformed church hadliberals, orthodox, and plentyof just plain confused pastors.The state church tried to easethe problems by allowing thecongregations to elect their ownofficers and call their o,vn pastors,so they could have a pastor ofwhatever stripe they pleased.Every minister took vows tothe Three Forms of Unity (TheBelgic Confession, The HeidelbergCatechism, and the Canons ofDordt.) But the more liberal ormoderate pastors considered it a

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Salt ancl Light Illustrated in History: braham J uyper

mere formality one had to endureto get a job in the state church.

Through reading John Calvinagain, he gained an appreciationof the wider application of theChristian faith. Kuyper also beganto take interest in the politicalarena. His anti French-revolutionsentiments led to a greaterinterest in the Christian politicalmovement of Groen van Prinsterer.

Kuyper gained a reputation asa preacher of exceptional abilityand effectiveness, and in 1867 wascalled to Utrecht where he hadnot only a wider audience, butalso a center from which to carryout his vision for the reformingof the whole church. Kuyperbegan to realize the' truth of theold saying that it took only onenight to get Israel out of Egypt, .but it took 40 years to get Egyptout of Israel. He realiz ed that hisseminary training had actt:tallystunted his spiritual growth and

was in fact spiritually deadening.He began to write pamphlets ,',explaining his Reformed positions.

Yes, it was good that severalcongregations were electingorthodox pastors and elders,but we must not miss the point:REFORMED CHURCH OFFICERSARE THE ONLY LEGITIMATEKIND. The churches haddeparted from the lawful church

government set forth at Dordt.

Kuyper really stirred up ahornet s nest when he beganadvocating a wholly reformedchurch, free from State control,and free from a state controllednational synod. Kuyper-phobiaspread in the State church-theunreasonable fear of and morbiddislike of Abraham Kuyper. Surelyhe did not expect the cultured

and educated' state church pastorsto go 2 or 3 centuries backwardto the old Reformation faith

While at Utrecht, at age 31,Kuyper met Groen van Prinsterer,then 67 years old. Groen wasthrilled to hear his thoughtsbeing so well expressed byKuyper. Groen looked to Kuyperas the future leader of the"Antirevoluti onary Party." Thisparty was both pro-Christianand anti-French Revolutionary.To some who might questionhis involvement, Kuyper said,"Politico-phob ia is not CalVinistic,is not Christian, is not ethical." 1

In 1869, now age 32, heaccepted an unsought call fromAmsterdam church, seeingthe potential for a nationalreformation. At Amsterdam, hebegan a lifelong practice of writingregular political and religiousarticles in The Herald, a leadingweekly paper. The masthead of

the paper read, "For a Free Churchand a Free School in a Free Land."

About this time, the statechurch decided that ministers donot necessarily have to baptize inthe name of the Father, Son andHoly Spir i t - i f they preferred, theymay baptize unto "Faith, hope,and love." Kuyper responded witha flurry of articles and pamphlets.

Kuyper was a Spurgeon-likepreacher, eloquent, preachingtopical sermons, but engaging theculture to a much greater extent.He compared liberal theology toa MIRAGE which can look goodand draw your attention, but isDEVOID OF REALITY vVhat ismissing in Liberalism? Kuyperanswers: They can t have the realGod, they can t offet real prayer,they substitute the unreality

of evolut ionary thought for thebiblical reality of creation andfa l l - their standard of moralitylacks a REAL foundation. Insum their church is unreal,lacking as it does the marksof a true church. Whatever itis, it can no longer rightly becalled the Church of Christ.

At age 35 Kuyper was thefounder and editor of a newdaily paper: De Standaard(The Standard), to help spreadthe Antirevolutionary Partyphilo sophy of Groen VanPrinsterer . De Heraut (TheHerald) continued as a weeklyChristian newspaper.

With Kuyper's aggressiveleadership in the Church,State, Education and theMedia-do you think he hadany enemies? He was themost attacked and denouncedminister in the Netherlands.

As Kuyper was active inthe Antirevo lutionary Party,he became a candidate forParliament. His party did notwin the general election, butKuyper did win the district ofGouda (where the cheese comesfrom). Elections were not themulti-million dollar campaigns oftoday. Men of ability STOOD FOROFFICE, allowing their name to beon the ballot. Kuyper sough t to be

salt and light in every public area.

Politics in Holland was acomplex thing. There wasthe Antirevolutionary Partywho opposed the ideas of theEnlightenment and the FrenchRevolution, and there was aLiberal Party, honest enough tolabel itself as such. Therewasalso a Conservative Party, butthey were the useless kind of

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conservatives who look at liberalpolioies and say, Me too, onlynot so much. Kuyper said of thatso-called conservative party, the

Conservative coterie is nothin gbut an inconsistent bunoh ofliberals .. doomed to disappear.That is a familiar reoipe for defeat.

Kuyper said of the Conservative,Liberal, Radioal, and Sooialistparties: They have no inklingof [Jesus' royal authority inthe sphere of politios].

There was also a CatholioParty, perhaps surprisinglymore sooially oonservative atoertain pOints, and sharing theReformed church's interest inmaintaining a system of schoolsfree from state oontrol. V\ThenKuyper proposed equal fundingfor sohool publio or private, theliberals reacted. Liberals thenas now, thought they should ofcourse go to private sohools, butthe oommoners should be satisfiedwith the government provided

schools. Said one liberal; i f thesepeople feel oppressed (by havingto support the unwanted statesohools) they had better remainoppressed. They are like a flyin the ointment that oauses anevil odor; they have no right toexist in our sooiety. (Liberalshave not ohanged muoh t h e yare still as depraved as ever.)

On eoonomio issues, Kuyperwas oonoerned about workingoonditions, suggesting somelabo r laws and organizationof the labor sphere forbetter working oonditions.

I\eep in mind that Kuyperwas an exploratory thinker, apioneering effort in moderntimes. The BIG IDEA of sphe re

Making the Nations Christ s Disciples

Salt and Light Illustrated in History Abrahmn u ~ y p e r

sovereignty, needed to ~ filled inwith the details. R. J. Rushdoony'smain oriticism of Kuyper is thatthe details on issues needed to

.be filled in with the very speoifiolaws of God. t is easy forChristians to think that i f a manis a Christian and listening to hisoonscienoe, he will do the rightthing. But a Christian solution isnot just any idea proposed by aprofessing Christian. A Christiansolution is the one in whioh Godand man are loved enough to doPRECISELY what God has saidin His God-breathed Soripture.

BUT i f we are able to improve onKuyper in some areas, does thatnot inorease our responsibility tobe salt and light in our sooiety?After all merely oriticizingKuyper oannot be the extentof our responsibility. To whommuoh is given, muoh shall berequired. VIe need to be gratefulfor Kuyper's 60 years of tirelessleadership in the ohuroh, theState, the Media and in Eduoation.

Doing his best to apply theChristian faith to all of life.

V\Torking himself to exhaustion,Kuyper took the year 1876 offto travel to favorite spots likethe mountains of Switzerlandand the shores of the Adriatio.Resuming his work as editor ofThe Standard and The Herald it1877 Kuyper learned to soheduletimes of rest and vaoations.

Liberals won the 1877 eleotionand began making demands onall sohools, publio and private,but proViding funds only tothe publio sohools. V\Then theking signed th is bill over manyprotests, the AntirevolutionaryParty and the Catholio Party wereawakened with ne,v energy.

_

Kuyper becolnes thUniversity Founder

In 1876 Holland had 4 million

people and 3 State oontrolleduniversities. But these universitiesall had divinity departmentsoperated by humanists,rationalists, and radioals. AsRomans 1:22 says Professingto be ,vise, they became fools.Kuyper proposed that the divinitysohool be independent of theuniversity and privately funded.The proposal sent a shook waveamong the liberals. They did notwant to give up oontrol of thedivinity sohools. They realizedthat i f the divinity sohools wereto be privately funded they wouldall be oonservative. Liberals didnot believe in giving their ownmoney, but insisted that otherpeople pay the way throughtaxation. Then the divinityschools oould oontinue toreplaoe divinely revealed truth,with the imagination of man.

Kuyper had toyed with theidea of a broadly oonservativeuniversity, but he oommittedto work for a complete, free,Calvinistio, national university.The Free University (free ofgovernment oontrol) would havethe Three Forms of Unity astheir confessional standards. tmust be reoognized that in everysubject there are fundamentalassumptions that are eitherbased on the \Vord of God or thewords of man. The foundation ofthe university must be revealedtruth, not human reason.

The Free University was set toopen in 1880. The national ohurohsaid they ,vould aooept onlystate granted divinity degrees.Kuyper's opening address was on

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"Sovereignty in the IndividualSpheres of Life" People gavegenerously to the University asfew people believed they would. It

was a bold and pioneering effort toestablish a Reformed university.Kuyper became the professor ofSystematic Theology and also theProfessor of Preaching. Studentshad to go through s ome toughreviews of their sermons.

I(uyper had a burning desireto equip ministerial students ina way he had not been equipped.He knew from his own experience

how spiritually crippling seminaryindoctrination could be.

Kuyper continued to speakand write against state universitydivinity schools. Two big problemswere: 1 To have liberals teachBible is worse than useless; itwas downright harmful to thestudent's spirit ual ,veIl being.2. The universities reduoed thea l l ~ c o m p r e h e n s i v eChristian

world and life view to a mereDepar tment of Religion. Thatis just the kind of thing weneed to rid ourselves of

All during the 1880's, Kuypercontinued writing for thenewspapers and teaching at theFree University. His literaryoutput ,vas amazingly high. Hehad taken an emeritus statusas pastor, but ,vas still activein church life as an elder.

The Reiorl ationo 886

\Vith the defeat of Napoleon,Holland became independent'vith King 'Villiam I returningthe House of Orange to power.However he d id not return thechurch to the reformed structure

Jv/ahing the Nations ChTist s Disciples

Salt and Light Illustrated in History: braham [(u:vper

of Dort, but decreed a hierarchicalState Church. The next 60years showed the predictableslide from the Reformed faith t o

liberalism. Liberals controlled theuniversity "divinity departments".The subscription vows to theThree Forms of Unity werewidely disregarded. In 1882liberals managed to replace theold vows with the minister orelder's agreement to "Promotethe interests of the Kingdom ofGod in general and especiallythose of the state church."

Abrah am Kuyper was avery influential elder in thelargest church in Amsterdamand organized a conventionof delegates who signed theircommitment to the Three Forms.

A Second Crisis

A crisis arose within the StateChurch over the examination ofcovenant children and transfers

from other congregations. Themore conservative reformedchurches, like Amsterdam underKuyper's leadership, insistedon examining both covenantchildren and transfer applicantsfor membership. The conservati vechurches ,vanted a credibleprofession of faith as a conditi onfor membersh ip. The liberalsfelt that i the covenant child orthe transferee had no scandalousbehavior, they should be admittedto membership ,"vithout furtherado. If someone was a memberin good stand ing of a liberalcongregation, the State Churchexpected even oonservativecongregations to accept themwithout question or examination.The Amsterdam Consistory(Session) represented at least 9congregations, but acted as one

examining committee for all thecongregations. The State Churchmoved to stack the examinationoommittees with ministers, with

only token representation ofruling elders. This is because theState Church ministers had beentrained by the liberal theologicaldepartments of the universities.The ruling elders were morelikely to be conservative andto have read traditional Dutchreformed literature such as thepopular writings of a'Brakel.Thus the State Church's pressureto oonform was inoreasing.

Since the State churchobjected to the power of the localcongregation to reject transferringstate church members, and whenthe National Synod answeredthe protests of the orthodoxby forming a study committee,Abraham Kuyper went into actionwriting brochures defendingthe orthodox position. Howdo you think the state church

responded? Did they perhapswrite a thoughtful essay inrefutation? Of course not Theydeclared a massive suspensionof the 8 ~ m e m b e rAmsterdamConsistory (The SessionDeacons) including Abra hamKuyper and four other professorsat the Free University. Theyreplaced the old consistory withone that would process transferrequests NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

Kuyper continued to write,also holding Sunday meetingsin auditoriums for the ejeotedmembers and officers. As peoplebecame convinced by Kuyper'sspeeches and writings, morethan 7,000 church membersin Amsterdam declared theirrecognition of the deposedofficers and members as the true

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Salt and Light Illustrated in History: Abraham Kuyper

oonsistory. Thus Kuyper led anexodus from the State ohurohknown as the Doleantie Movement.They were oal led Doleantie,meaning "Grieving ones," beoausethey presented their grievanoes.They oonsidered themselves asthe oontinuing Reformed ohuroh,returning to the lawful ohurohgovernment established at theSynod of Dort. They had notsought to leave the ohuroh, butto reform it. For their effortsthey were expelled. As mightbe expeoted the leading figurein this new Reformed ohuroh

was Abraham Kuyper. Theyoalled not merely for individuals,but whole oongregations tojoin with them in oontinuingthe historio gospel witness.

Of oourse there were thosepastors and ohuroh memberswho were hung up by indeoision.Vas it really neoessary at

this time to leave the nationalohuroh? It sounded like a risky

soheme They had emotionallyoharged arguments like: Thenatioh is our Fatherland, theohuroh is our Mother, whenyour Mother is siok, it that thetime to forsake her? But thestate ohuroh had so deterioratedthat it was more like a worldly

Step-mother than a mother.

The State ohuroh respondedwith Operation Perseoution (not

their name for it), seizing ohurohbuildings when possible, andposting guards to keep dissentingoongregations out of their ohurohbuilding. They also eviotedpastors from state-owned housing,often built next to the ohuroh.They also seized ohuroh reoords.Though they had no legal claim,the oivil government generallylooked the other way. Finally the

Supreme Court of Holland deniedthe reform group any claim to theohuroh properties and finanoes.

But the lemonade madefrom this l emon was that theReformed ohurohes were nowfree to organize along Biblioallines. The Free University oeasedto be a broad-based universityand beoame the sohool of theReformed oongregations.

Here's a quiz: Who was theleading figure in the foundingof the Free University?

Who was the reoognized leaderof the new Reformed Churoh?

Who was the leadingorthodox voioe in the Media?

Who was the leaderof the reform mindedAntirevolutionary Party?

Four questions, one

answer: Abraham Kuyper.

His Political areer

In 1880 The AntirevolutionaryParty was reorganized under theleadership of Kuyper. t was asmall but promisi ng party. Dr.Kuyper was the head of thenational oommittee. In the 1883eleotions the suffrage base hadbeen inoreased as well as the

number ofr e p r e s e n t t i ~

tobe eleoted. The ConservativeParty won that eleotion. TheConservative Party, however,was basioally useless, mostlyagreeing with the Liberal Party.The opposition oame mostly fromthe Calvinistio Party, sometimesgetting support from the RomanCatholio Party. Kuyper hadwritten a broohure on "Rome

and Dort" insisting that theparties must remain separate.Nevertheless the CatholioParty would support Kuyper'sinitiative for a system of grammarsohools independent of Stateoontrol, leaving the Catholiosto organize their own systemand the Calvinists to organizea Reformed system of sohools.The Catholio Party oould alsosupport some more oonservativepositions on sooial issues.

In the 1888 eleotion, theLiberals lost some seats; the

"me-too" Conservative Partywas reduoed to ONE member,leaving the oombined foroesof the Anti-revolutionary andthe Catholio parties a majorityof ten and the right to form anew ooalition government.

Kuyper exhorted his party "tooling to the banner of the Cross,to go heroioally into battle, notfor personal honor or power, not

for high offioe or politioal gain,but for the Christ and His future.And in oonneotioh with thatfuture of our Lord, for the spiritualdeliveranoe of our oountry, sothat when Christ returns, therewill be found on our soil, too,whioh onoe reoeived the bloodof the martyrs, a people thatdoes not strive against Him buthails Him with a Hallelujah "2\

The 1880's were the moststrenuous deoade of aotivityfor Kuyper as universityprofessor, ohuroh reformleader, politioal party leader,and his politioal and religiousjournalism and other writing.

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The Early EighteenNineties

The Liberals regained power in1891. Kuyper continued to lectureon systematic theology, which wehave in his Encyclopedia of SacredTheology. Although Kuyperwrote in Dutch we have severalof his works in English. 'hetherwriting for scholars or lay peopleKuyper effectively communicat edthe Reformed faith. His profoundrespect for the reformedconfessions showed that he hadnot been educated beyond his

intelligence at the Leiden schoolof religious anthropology. FrankVanden Berg, author of a biographyof Kuyper, said of him: themighty thinker always remainedthe child who bowed in humilitybefore the Vvord of God, bringingevery thought into captivityto the obedience of Christ."

Also in the 1890's The Doleantiesecession formed a union with the

1834 Christian Reformed Church.So about 400 Christ ian Reformedcongregations joined 'ith 300of the Doleantie churches. Thenew church would be knownas The Reformed Churches inthe Netherlands. They couldnow train ministers at FreeUniversity or Kampen seminary.

Kuyper addressed the churchmission conference: Allmission

workflows

out of the sovereigntyof God, rests on man's creat ionafter the Image of God, isneces sary because of sin; is rootedin the confidence that the HolySpirit proceeds not only from theFather but from the Son. e urgedthat missionaries sent out have thesame training and eXaIilinationprocess as church pastors. Everylocal church has the right and theduty to be involved in misSions,

Making the Nations Christ s Disciples

Salt and Light Illustrated in History: Abrahmn I uype1-

including cooperation withother reformed congregations.

At the 25th anniversaryof The Standard, Bavinck ofKampen seminary was theguest speaker, but Kuyper tookthe oooasion to sum up one ofhis most basio oonvictions:

"The Soriptures not only serveto find justifioation through faithand cast light on the path toeternity. That same 'ord of Godalso reveals the foundations ofall human life, that is, the sacred

ordinanoes which must governthe whole of the life of men inthe family and in the churoh,in the state and in society atlarge. The Word of God containsthe ordinanoes for our personal,our family, our eoclesiastical,our eduoational, our political,our industrial and oommercial,our oulturallife-indeed everysector of human life." 3

Kuyper wrote out his booksand artioles by hand, leaving itto others to type or typeset hisnon-award winning handwriting.Kuyper had long been an avidreader. The books came pouringinto the Kuyper home andthey were not for decorationKuyper maintained a regularsohedule for dinner, the dailytwo mile walk along the sameroute, the same three vaoation

weeks soatt ered through theyear. In 1897 he was 60 yearsold, not thinking of retirement,not desiring to limit his workto a mere 40 hour s a week.

In 1898 Kuyper spent severalmonths in the United States.

e delivered three leotures atMoCormiok Theological Seminary.There was a signifioant Dutohoommunity in the Chioago-

Northern Indiana area. Kuyperwas well reoeived. In October,he gave his famous six leotureson Calvinism at PrincetonUniversity (Eerdmans publishedthe unabridged lectures, ThePlymouth Rook Foundationpublished an abridged version withsubheadings and study gUide.)

First Lecture:Calvinisln: aLife-Systenl

Calvinism is what we oalla world and life view.

t was not from Greeoe orRome that the regeneration ofhuman life oame forth; that

. mighty metamorphosis datesfrom Bethle hem and Golgotha.The Reformation dispelled theclouds of sacerdotalism andunveiled again t o fullest viewthe glories of the oross. Butagainst this Christian influenoein every sphere of life, the storm

of Modernism has now arisenwith violent intensity. A turningpoint was reaohed in 1789 withthe Frenoh Revolution andVoltaire's mad cry "Down withthe sooundrel" aime d at ChristHimself. This oomprehensiveattaok on Christianity oanbe met only with Calvinism'sdeoisive, oonsi sten t andoomprehensive defense.

Calvinism orders our threebasio relat ionships : To God,to Man, and to the \Vorld.

With God we are broughtinto immedi ate fellowshipwith the Eternal.

With man we recognize thehuman worth of each personby virtue of his oreation in thedivine likeness. \Ve reoognize

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Salt and Light Illustrated in History braham Kuyper

the equality of all men beforeGod and God's magistrates.

With the world we recogn izethe curse upon the fallen world,yet restrained by common grace.That we must in every domaindiscover the treasures and developthe potencies hidden by Godin nature and in human life.

econd LectnreCalvin ism and Religion

Man's religion ought to existfor the sake of God who createdall things for Himself. Asthe anthem of the seraphimaround the throne was theone uninterrupted cry HOLY

HOLY HOLY-so true religionis one echoing of God's glory asour Creator and Redeemer.

True religion has three petitions:

Hallowed be Thy Name

Thy Kingdom come

Thy Will be done.

True religion has onewatchword: Seek ye firstthe Kingdom of God andHis righteousness.

The Christian's great confessionof God's sovereignty is this:Romans 11:36, For of Him and

through Him and to Him are allthings, to whom be glory forever.

True religion is not a part of life;it is the lens through which wesee everything. When our LordJesus says, Mark 12:30 'you shalllove the LORD your God with allyour heart, with all your soul, withall your mind, and with all yourstrength' it is all comprehensive,

nothing is left out. Whether aman is in agriculture, commerce,industry, art, science or whatevere l se -he is constantly standingbefore the face of his God.

Can we imagine that at onetime God willed to rule things ina certain moral order, but thatnow, in Christ, He wills to rule itotherwise? As though He were notthe Eternal, the Unchangeable ..For the Calvinist, all ethical studyis based on the law. of Sinai. .. asthe divinely authentic summaryof that original moral law whichGod wrote in the heart of manat his creation and which Godis re-writing on the tables ofevery heart at its conversion. 4

Once Calvinism was establishedin the Netherlands, there was arustling of life in all directionsand an indomitable energy inevery department of humanactivity. The fruit of Calvinismwas excellent fruit, but the fruit of

Modernism is corrupt and rotten.

Third LectnreCalvinism and Politics

Calvinism is a root and branchfaith. Sometimes we do not realizehow much the religiously heldpresuppositions of a people shapetheir nation's civil government.

There was a reason historian

George Bancroft said: Thefanatic for Calv inism was afanatic for liberty. Groen vanPrinsterer said, In Calvinismlies the origin and guarantee ofour constitutional liberties.

The fallen state of man madecivil government necessary. Whena people have a thirst for liberty,they want the role of government

to be limited to the restraintof evildoers. Otherwise civilgovernment will be a PROMOTERof evil. All authority of civilgovernments originates from thesovereignty of God over all. Theideal form of human government isthe constitutional republic. Kuypersees three examples of Calvinism'sdrive for liberty. The triumph ofliberty over Spanish dominion, ledto Holland vVar for independenceunder the le adership of Williamthe Silent. Second, the arrival ofWilliam III of Orange in England,overthrew the reign of the Stuarts.Third, in the United States, libertywas secured from Great Britain.

Calvinism protests againstState-omnipotence; againstthe horrible conception th atno right exists above andbeyond existing laws.

Magistrates are and are toremain God's servants. Theyhave to recognize God as supreme

Ruler, from whom they derivetheir power. They have toserve God, by ruling the peopleaccording to His ordinances.They have to restrain blasphemy,where it directly assumes thecharacter of an affront to theDivine Majesty. And God'ssupremacy is to be recognizedby confeSSing His name in theConstitution as the Source of allpolitical power, by maintaining

the Sabbath, by procla iming daysof prayer and thanksgiving, andby invoking His d ivine blessing. 5

Civil government mustnot establish one Christiandenomination as a State Church.Calvinists have always struggled

too proudly and courageously forthe liberty, that is to say, for thesovereignty, of the Church within

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3

Salt and Light Illustrated in Hist 1:W bTaham Kuyper

destroy; it could not build.

No human works or sentimentscan replace the importance

of the [objective] Truth of thegospel message. Kuyper warnsus against abandoning truth:"Everyone ,"vho thinks he canabandon Christian truths, anddo away with the Catechism ofReformation, lends ear unawaresto the hypothesis of the modernw o r l d ~ v i e wand with out knowinghow far he has dr ifted already,swears by the Catechism ofRousseau and Darwin."10

A great need of our timeis a historical study of theprinoiples of Calvinism.

"Those chu rches which layclaim to professing the Reformedfaith, shall cease being ashamedof this confession. \Vhat oneconfesses to be truth, one mustalso dare to practice in word, deed,and whole manner of life;" 11

Abraham Kuyper closed hisfinal Princeton lecture with theillustration of the Aeolian harp.Popular in the 18th century,they were made of wood withthe strings tuned to sound whenthe wind blew. "Tithout the windit was silent. To paraphraseKuyper: Now let us as Calviniststune our strings aright, andpray the breath of the HolySpirit would sound through us,that we be silent no longer.

Following his trip to America,Kuyper returned to Hollandwith a new zest for reform.

But 1899 was to be a year ofsorrow. \Vhile the Kuypers werevacationing in Switzerland, his

wife Johanna became seriousill and died at age 58. The nextweek he published an article inThe Herald entitled "\Vhen \Vhat

is Mortal is Sv{allowed Up byLife" based on 2 Cor. 5:4. Hereare excepts from that article:

HGiven what lies before youreyes ... you can only say that Death,the fearful enemy of God and man,finally succeeds in swallowingup a life so precious to you . "earlier assaults had been turnedaway. After a night of weeping ..joy came in the morning ... But

this time things turned out verydifferently .. Death mocked youwith all your unheard prayers andpointless anxieties. I t whisperedderisively: 'I won; your morningof joy will never come.' .. Butnow comes God's \Vord which,without in any way discountingthe harshness of that reality, turnsit around for you, Total ly.". Then,to your soul's eye a totally oppositereality unfolds, a reality whichshows you that death does notswallow up life but that in deathwhat is morta l is swallowed upby life ... And then our death andthe death of our loved ones nevercomes except at the moment, andnever otherwise than under thosecircumstances, which He deemedbest for the full realization ofHis counsel a nd for the praiseof his Name .... There is weepingover the acute pain felt by [our]wounded heart . But from thatsame heart also rises the sound ofrejoicing'and praise for what Godprepared for the loved one whowent away and for ,,,hat He leftin this life by way of consolation,love, and holy calling." 12

1899 also saw the LiberalParty in control, passing

compulsory military training,,"vith no substitutions allowed, andcompulsory school attendancelaws. Both of these measures were

opposed by Kuyper and, on theseissues, the Catholic Party too.Both wanted parents to make theeducational choices, an d the Stateshould not be making the choicefor private Christian educationmore difficult 01' impossible.

Even if we cannot approve hisevery choice, Kuyper attemptedin all his political activity to acton prinCiple, build on his core

convictions, not on impulseor expediency. As a speaker,whether in the church or theParliament, Kuyper was impressivein voice and appearance. Asthe dominant voice in theAntirevolutionary Party and hisparty's National Committee, it waslike a cabinet in waiting. Kuypersaid of the Liberal government:

Our battle is not against thepersons, but against the spiritwhich forsakes God in matters ofpolitical an d governmental andincorporates itself in the politicalpolicies of all Liberals."13

\Vhen the 1901 electionscame around the n t i ~ r e v o l u t i o nParty was optimistic. Imaginea campaign with no TV, noradio, no whistle stops, not evena whirlwind tour of factoriesand marketplaces; They gavespeeches in indoor auditoriumsand conducted debates withactual substance There were nopollsters in the 1901 elections, sovoters actual ly were expected toTHINK There was a great deal ofactivity in newspapers, magazinesand campaign literature. Thecombined "Parties of the Right"won 5 8 ~ 4 2The new cabinet

The ounsel of halcedon


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her own sphere, in distinctionfrom the Lutheran theologians. InChrist. .. the Church has her ownKing. Her position in the State is

not assigned her by the permissionof the government, but jure divino.She has her own organization.She possesses her own officebearers." 6 A state church hasnever long remained pure.

Fourth LectureCalvinism and Science

Calvinism is not just a differentchurch form, but also an entirely

differen t form of human life andsociety, giving the world newfoundational truths for all oflife. The Calvinistic doctrineof predestination is a strongmotive for the study of science."7

As Cornel ius Van Til remindedus, every fact is a God -created factand must be a God-interpretedfact. As Kuyper said, scienceis not mere empiricism. Thesubject matter

ofthe

severalsciences must be broughttogether under the sway of oneprinciple by means of theoryor hypothesis, and finallySystematics, as the queen ofsciences, comes forth from hertent to weave all the differentresults into one organic whole."B

God's predestinating purposeguarantees that there is anorder in creation. BecauseGod's decrees have stability,there is predictability.

Reformed theologians speakof God's revelation in nature andin SCripture. Kuyper remindsus of Calvin's picture of theScriptures as a pair of spectaclesenabling us to decipher again the

aking the Nations Christ s Disciples

Salt ancl Light Illustratecl if ' History Abraham Kuyper

divine thoughts written by G o d S l f we succeed only is savmghand in the book of nature. theology, ours will be the tactics

Modern theologians, who think

of themselves as descendants ofKuyper, often abuse this principleby mindlessly repeating: "Alltruth is God's truth, whileforgetting the corollary: "Alllies are Satan's lies" The abuseis seen most often in the area ofscience. These erring theologiansassume that theories devised byreprobate scientists are on thelevel of proven fact. Then thesetheories are looked upon as

superior to and corrective of theScriptures themselves Becausethe Bible is not a textbook onscience, they state, it must bereinterpreted away from its plainmeaning . The Bible, however,is absolute unchanging truth, itis far superior to any textbook.The modern theologians betraytheir false presupposition aboutthe nature of Scripture and itsauthority. There is nothing morecertain than the

plainly revealedWord of the omniscient Creator.There is nothing man can everlearn that the living God has notalready known from all eternity.That truth we must remember.

Another important truth towhich Kuyper calls attention isthat our world, as we observeit today, is a fallen abnormalworld. The world as it is is notthe world as it was created. Theuniformitarian naturalist, whomKuyper calls a "N ormalist" , gives afalse account of all they observe.

What is Kuyper's counsel? f weconsole ourselves with the thoughtthat we may without danger leavesecular science [scholarly study]in the hands of our opponents,

of the ostrich. To confine yourselfto the saving of your upper room,

when the rest of the hou se ison fire, is foolish indeed . 9

Fifth LectureCalvinism and the Arts

Although art may be and hasbeen abused, it may also be usedfor the glory of God. t is a giftof God's common grace. In thescriptures we could think ofthe unbelieving family of Cain

who were gifted with music.We could also thin k of thetabernacle craftsmen of Israel'who were specially gifted. Art isthe expression of Divine beautyand perfection. Calvinists haveappreciated the beauty and,power of music, especially whenused in the worship of God.

ixth LectureCalvinism andthe Future

Calvinism is more than adbgmatic or ecclesiasticalmovement; it embraces all

\ of life. Our anti-Christianopponents, like the Frenchatheistic Encyclopedists, arenot satisfied to attack particulardoctrines of Christianity. Theycompose an entire system ofthought, a worldview that isopposed to Christianity atevery point. We may concludefrom Kuyper's analysis that ourapologetic also must include anall-comprehensive antitheticalworldview. The French Revolutionwas the negative of Calvinism. tpromised to destroy Christianityand replace it with somethingbetter. All it could do was to

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had no difficulty naming the newprime minister: who else butAbraham Kuyper? That Groenvan Prinsterer could only dream

of, but did not live to see, AbrahamKuyper and the AntirevolutionaryParty had achieved.

But in 1901 it would still notbe easy to get new legislationpassed. The Boer '\Tar wasgoing on. Queen '\Tilhelmina,whose signature was required,was serious ly ill. In 1903 therailroad strike, encouraged bySocialists and a narchists, brought

Holland to a standstill. Kuyperwas criticized for being too harshwith new laws to stop the strikes,but would have been criticizedeven more had he had donenothing. In 1904 the RussoJapanese war create d problemsfor the Dutch ast Indies.

One significant achievement ofthe Kuyper administra tion vas theIIigher Education Law of 1905. As

the founder of the Free Universityhis opinions on education wererespected. Four provisions:

The final examinations atprivate schools were put onpar with the public 'gymnasia'schools. Subsidies to privateschools were greatly increasedtoward more equal trea tment.

A church or association maycreate special university chairsto propagate their philosophy.

Technical schools wereestablished for training inengineering careers.

A kind of certifica tion issuefor Free University, the billeliminated the requirementthat Free University graduates

Mahing the Nations Ch1'ist's Disciples

Salt and Light Illustrated in History: Ab nhmn (uype1'

take a second set of exams froma certified state university.

Kuyper also worked hard

and successfully to protect therights of private schools. He alsoinsisted that bills requiring largeexpenditures include provisionto pay for it. Having to workwith the coalition government,he could not always get approvalfor the ideal solutions.

In the 1905 campaign,Liberals did not talk about theiragenda but attacked Kuyper. A

disgruntled splinter group refusedto cooperate with Kuyper'scoalition government an d theirfive votes changed the balanceof power. So at age 68 Kuyperwas again a private citizen. Hewent on a tour of the asternMediterranean and the HolyLand. At age 70 he was honorablyretired from the Free University,leaving systematic theology in thecapable hands of Herman Bavinck.

This was no retiremen t to therocking chair; he kept writingarticles for the Herald. HermanBavinck resigned as chairmanof the Antirevolutionary Partyand Kuyper resumed his formerposition. Kuyper was hopefulthat the people of Holland wouldbe sick of the Liberal governmentby the 1909 elections, but theywere sick of it sooner, defeatingthe liberals in 1908. If Kuyperhad gotten back into politicalaction sooner he would likelyhave had another term as primeminister. Kuyper ,vas elected toparliament again in 1909 withthe Right coalition winnin g60-40 their largest margin ofvictory. The Victory of the Left in1913 effectively ended Kuyper'spolitical career at age 76. Hecontinued to write and speak.

By age 80, in 1917, Kuyper hadto slow his activities. From thispoint on are the years of decline.He was not able to take his usual

vacation times because vacationtrips were now more of an ordealthan a rest. At age 82 he sadlyrealized he must resign partyleadership, even though there wasmuch work to be done. Also atthis time, like giving up a piece ofhis life, Kuyper res igned as editorof The Stand ard, a work he lovedand had given himself to for 50years. He kept The Herald whichwas d edicated to mostly biblical

and Christian worldview articles.

In 1920 at age 82 he still hadThe Herald paper and his seat inParliament. He pushed himselfto write enough articles aheadof schedule so they could rununtil November By Septemberof 1920 he resigned his seatin parliament, and knew thatsomeone else would have to carryon the work of The Herald. He

was to live just 10 days past his83rd birthday. On November 8,1920 his gravestone noted that hehad Fallen Asleep in his Savior.

I close with a statementmade by Abraham Kuyper inhis October 1880 inauguraladdress at the Free University ofAmsterdam. In his lecture wason Sphere Sovereignty he madethis memorable statement:

Oh, no single piece of ourmental world is to be hermeticallysealed off from the rest, andTHERE IS NOT A SQUAREINCH IN THE ,\THOLE DOMAINOF OUR I-IUMAN EXISTENCEOVER ,\TI-UCH CHRIST, V HOIS SOVEREIGN OVER ALL,DOES NOT CRY: 'MINE. '14

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32

9 Lectures. (139/94)Enonotes

1 Frank Vanden Berg. Abraham Kuyper, A Biography.(St. Catherines, Ontario: Paideia Press, 1978), 48.

10 Lectures . (189/113)11 Lectures. (195/118)

2 Ibid. 155.3 Ibid. 173.4 .Abraham Kuyper, Lectu res on Calvinism

12 James D. Bratt, ed. Abraham Cuyper, ItCentenn ial Reader. (Grand Rapids, lvIl: William B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 408-415.13 Frank Vanden Berg. Abraham

(1898). (Grand Rapids, MI: ~ V mB. EerdmansPublishing Company, 1931) and Abraham Kuyper.Christianity A Total ~ V o r l dand Life System.(Marlborough, NIl: Plymouth Rock Foundation,Inc., 1996. An abridged version oj the lectures.Citations are given with the first page numberreJerring to the standard Eerdmans edition andthe second number reJerring to the Plymouth

Kuyper, A Biography. 194.14 James D. Bratt, ed. Abraham Kuyper, ACentennial Reader. (Grand Rapids, lvIl: ~ V i l l i a mB. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 488.

Rock abridgement. This citation: (71J/41])5 Abraham Kuyper. Lectures onCalvinism (1898). (103/62)6 Lectures. (105/63)

7 Lectu res (112/69)8 Lectures (113/69-70)

RP US hurches

The RPCUS presently hcschurches, mission works andschools in Georgia, Virginia,Texas, Tennessee, Washington,Great Britain, and Ecuador.

Chalcedon Presbyterian ChurchRev. Joe Morecraft,(entering its 3 th year)302 Pilgrim Mill RdCumming , GA 3 4(770) 205-9693 . Fax(770) [email protected]

Christ ReformedPresbyterian ChurchRev. Paul McDade7050 Whitlock RdParis, TN 38242(731) [email protected]

Covenant Presbyterian ChurchRev. Chris Strevel1420 Rock Springs RdBuford, GA 30519(770) [email protected]

Covenant ReformedPresbyterian ChurchRev. Greg Green(336) 227-7957Meeting Location:2579 Eric Lane, Unit EBurlington, NC 27215(336) 260-2384ww [email protected]

Iglesia del CalcedonRev. William FarrRev. Farr has ministered

in Ecuador since 1972)Casilla 12-02-42 Quevedo, .Ecuador, S outh America(Phone) 011-593-57-58 133Knoxville RPCUS Mission .Contact: Harrison Painter946 Abners Ridge RoadKnoxville, TN 37922(865) 671-8450

Providence ReformedPresbyterian ChurchRev. Jeff BlackChurch: PO Box 374, 180West Main Stree tvVytheville, VA 24382Home: 157 Max Meadows RoadMax Meadows, VA 24360(276) [email protected]

. The Counsel of Chalceclon

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2008 Issue 4 - Salt and Light in History: Abraham Kuyper - Counsel of Chalcedon