Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies 6.2 (2021) on Herman Bavinck

The most-recent issue of the Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies is devoted to ‘Herman Bavinck (1854-1921): A Centenary Celebration’.

The summaries of the essays below are taken from the Introduction by N. Gray Sutanto and Justin McLendon, in which they ‘suggest three particular exemplary traits in Bavinck’s life and work that are particularly noteworthy for emulation:

1. Bavinck models the importance of theological priorities.

2. Bavinck models Christian charity with every interlocutor.

3. Bavinck models an expansive vision of the Christian faith.’

The full issue is available as a pdf here.

N. Gray Sutanto and Justin McLendon

Introduction to Herman Bavinck

George Harinck

Herman Bavinck on Antirevolutionary Politics

George Harinck explores Bavinck’s views on political developments and issues within the Antirevolutionary Party, of which he was a member. Harinck presents Bavinck as a “reflective theologian,” and one whose doctrinal commitments informed his awareness and appreciation of the state’s roles in society.

James Eglinton

Planting Tulips in the Rainforest: Herman and Johan Bavinck on Christianity in East and West

James Eglinton explores an unresolved tension in the thought of the “mature Bavinck” (distinguished from the “young Bavinck”); namely, the tension between Bavinck’s views on the global export of culture and religion and his affirmation of the catholicity of the Christian faith. In his analysis, Eglinton suggests Bavinck’s nephew, the missiologist Johan Herman Bavinck (1895- 1964), sought to resolve this tension with Augustinian remedies.

Gregory Parker Jr.

Encyclopedia Bavinck: The Case of the History of the Theological Encyclopedia

Gregory Parker, Jr. provides a survey of Bavinck’s narrative regarding the historical origin and development of the theological encyclopedia. Parker believes a Reformed catholic thread exists throughout Bavinck’s encyclopedia, and he explains how Bavinck appropriated modern grammar to answer his most pressing concerns.

Jessica Joustra

Jesus the Law Restorer: Law and the Imitation of Christ in Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Ethics

Jessica Joustra explores Bavinck’s understanding of the imitation of Christ within the Christian life. Joustra describes Bavinck’s commitment to couple imitation with a traditional Reformed emphasis upon the law. In the end, Joustra believes Bavinck’s view of the imitation of Christ to bring functionally new understandings of the law.

Gayle Doornbos

Bavinck’s Doctrine of God: Absolute, Divine Personality

Gayle Doornbos engages Bavinck’s utilization of “absoluteness” and “personality” in his doctrine of God proper. Doornbos suggests this aspect of Bavinck’s thought represents a creative appropriation of modern philosophical concepts from within his classical, Reformed tradition.

Cameron Clausing

Dogmatics: A Progressive Science?

Cameron Clausing explores Bavinck’s view that Dogmatics is a progressive science. Clausing argues that Bavinck’s view was an innovative move uniquely connected to his nineteenth century milieu and theological method.

Cory Brock

Revisiting Bavinck and the Beatific Vision

Cory Brock revisits Bavinck’s view of the Beatific Vision. In doing so, Brock challenges recent critiques of Bavinck (especially from Hans Boersma) that has questioned Bavinck’s analysis of this theme. Ultimately, Brock asserts that a careful reading of Bavinck’s overall corpus demonstrates a careful eschatological unity.

Matthew Kaemingk

Christology and Economic Ethics: Herman Bavinck’s Prophet, Priest, and King in the Marketplace

Matthew Kaemingk argues that Bavinck’s Christology offers relevant instruction for the economic marketplace questions of the day. Relying on Bavinck’s munus triplex formation, Kaemingk suggests Christians employ a prophetic, priestly, and royal model of economic engagement.

Themelios 46, 1 (April 2021)

The latest Themelios is online here (and available here as a single pdf), containing the below articles.

Editorial

Brian J. Tabb

The Neglected Virtue of Contentment

Strange Times

Daniel Strange

Coming to Our Senses: The Case for a Civil Elenctics and an Elenctic Civility

Henri A.G. Blocher

Canonicity: A Theologian’s Observations

The topic of the biblical canon raises a specific, twofold difficulty for evangelical systematic theologians: the appeal to the Spirit’s testimony and a recognition of divine providence in history. It is crucial to recognize that “canon” entails both a principle – a body of teaching incorporating the word of God that binds the conscience of believers – and a list of books officially recognized as authoritative by the world-wide church. The principle of canon and specific canonical books are organically linked. While the validity of our confession of the canon of Scripture cannot be proven on any “neutral” ground, believers have sufficient clarity and confidence to confess the rule we need in radical dependence on God.

Matthew Bingham

Brains, Bodies, and the Task of Discipleship: Re-Aligning Anthropology and Ministry

Exploring the intersection of anthropology and ministry, this article offers an appreciative critique of recent authors who suggest that effective Christian discipleship requires holistic, bodily engagement. James K.A. Smith and others have helpfully drawn attention to ways in which contemporary evangelical approaches to Christian formation can risk over-emphasizing the transfer of information while neglecting things like desire, love, and imagination. Having thus diagnosed the problem, these authors suggest that the solution lies in a turn towards “embodied rituals” that they believe can more effectively form the whole person. Through a critical evaluation of this proposal, the present article seeks to distinguish between its attractive aspects and those which would unhelpfully undermine the Reformation emphasis on the primacy of Word ministry. The article concludes by suggesting ways in which evangelicals might advance a more holistic approach to discipleship that is congruent with longstanding Reformation priorities.

Daniel K. Eng

‘I Call You Friends’: Jesus as Patron in John 15

This article proposes that John 15:13–16 draws on the language of Roman patronage, which impacts the understanding of Jesus’s sayings regarding friends. We will suggest that φίλος conveys a regent obedient to a royal patron. Thus, the role of Jesus’s friend is one of subordination, not equality. After an introduction to patronage, this article makes the case that Jesus portrays himself as the greatest patron. First, John’s farewell discourse points to the disciples being subordinates. Second, Jesus makes a contrast between slaves and friends, which is consistent with many patronal relationships. Third, Jesus describes himself as a broker, mediating benefit from the Father. Fourth, inscriptions and provincial coinage contained terms like ΦΙΛΟΚΑΙΣΑΡ (friend of Caesar), referring to regents of the emperor. Patronage best explains the saying, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (15:13).” Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice for subordinates makes his patronage greater than Caesar’s.

Scott MacDonald

Spirit-Anointing and New Testament Church Leadership: Are Our Church Leaders Uniquely “Anointed?”

Does the church need Spirit-anointed leadership? “Anointing” is an increasingly common topic in relation to Christian leaders. This article aims to clarify the role of Spirit-anointing in the Old and New Testaments, with special attention to texts that are explicitly relevant to the church’s experience (i.e., 2 Cor 1:21–22; 1 John 2:20, 26–27). The misuse of the term “anointing” arises from a recast of Old Testament pneumatology as post-Pentecost. This misapplication of Old Testament texts denigrates the Holy Spirit’s expanded role of inhabitation in the New Testament era. Furthermore, the obfuscation of Spirit-anointing has incurred significant harm to the practices and doctrines that relate to local church leadership.

Doosuk Kim

The Parting of the Way: A Survey of  the Relationship between Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries CE

People today clearly view Judaism and Christianity as different religions. Undisputedly, however, Jesus and his followers were Jews in the first century. When did the parting of the way between Jews and Christians take place? What are the decisive factors that made the two ended up so far from each other? This essay examines this relationship in its social, theological, historical, and political context. The evidence suggests that though the exact time and impetus for the parting remain elusive, the parting of the way began in the first century and gradually became clearer in the second century.

John Kegley

The Nature and Task of Theology in John Owen’s Forgotten Work

Theologoumena Pantodapa may be John Owen’s most comprehensive theological work and his greatest contribution to the Reformed tradition. However, this work was not translated into English until 1994. Since its translation, it has received a noticeable lack of scholarly attention. This essay seeks to fill a part of the void in scholarship by examining Theologoumena Pantodapa’s historical context, structure, and key themes. This examination is profitable and pertinent for pastors, students of theology, and all Christians as it includes an analysis of Owen’s hermeneutical method, understanding of the relationship between theology and practice, and comments on the character of the gospel theologian.

Jarred Jung

Trinity, Creation, and Re-creation: A Comparison of Karl Barth and Herman Bavinck’s Trinitarian Doctrines of Creation

Karl Barth’s doctrine of creation, while rooted in his doctrine of the Trinity, errs in the way that creation is conflated into re-creation, resulting in a diminished doctrine of creation at the expense of his christological Trinitarianism. By comparing Barth’s doctrine of creation with that of Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck, this article argues that Bavinck offers a doctrine of creation that is as equally grounded in the doctrine of the Trinity as Barth’s and yet avoids the shortcomings of Barth’s doctrine by appropriately distinguishing between creation and re-creation. As such, Bavinck serves as an appropriate example of doctrinal emphasis for theologians and pastors.

Geoffrey Butler

Appeasement of a Monster God? A Historical and Biblical Analysis of Penal Substitutionary Atonement

Long considered a key tenet of evangelical theology, the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement has come under particularly intense scrutiny in recent years. Critics claim that it is a fairly recent innovation with little support prior to the Reformation, and that it depicts Yahweh as comparable with the pagan deities of the OT. This article makes the case that, on the contrary, the substance of penal substitutionary atonement has been taught from the church’s earliest days, arguing that the doctrine stems directly from a careful, thoughtful engagement with Scripture, which from beginning to end points toward the sacrificial death of Israel’s Messiah.

Robert D. Golding

Making Sense of Hell

Christian universalism (the view that all people are eventually saved) is largely predicated upon a negative reaction to the traditional doctrine of hell. It is therefore a “second option” to those who see hell as illogical, unnecessary, and/or cruel. In this article, I will argue that hell is not only logical and just but that it is also conceivably necessary. I will do this by way of a theological examination of those who occupy hell’s harrowing halls. This is essential because the loss of the traditional doctrine of hell can mean the loss of souls along with it. Doubting hell is playing with eternal fire.

Book Reviews

The Bavinck Review 8 (2017)

The Bavinck Institute has recently made available online volume 8 of The Bavinck Review. The contents are listed below. Individual pieces are available here, or the entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Editorial

Articles

John Bolt

Why a Bavinck Institute? Why at Calvin Seminary?

Henk van den Belt

Herman Bavinck’s Lectures on the Certainty of Faith (1891)

This article introduces two recently published manuscripts of lectures by Herman Bavinck from 1891 about “The Certainty of Faith” on which his later booklet The Certainty of Faith (De zekerheid des geloofs, 1901) is based. These manuscripts reveal a more critical attitude to pietism in the early writings of Bavinck than is common in his later works. This attitude is possibly due to his desire to promote the agenda of reunification of the churches from the Afscheiding with those of the Doleantie. A comparison between the two different manuscripts also reveals Bavinck’s struggle to articulate the foundation of the certainty of faith. Furthermore, compared with De zekerheid des geloofs, Bavinck’s 1891 manuscripts reveal his early reliance on “ethical theology” as he emphasizes that the certainty of faith is a result of the moral appeal of the gospel to the human conscience, which is answered through regeneration. 

Gijsbert van den Brink

On Certainty in Faith and Science: The Bavinck-Warfield Exchange 

Cornelis (Kees) van der Kooi

The Abiding Significance of Herman Bavinck’s Theology

In Translation

Henk van den Belt and Mathilde de Vries-van Uden

Herman Bavinck’s Preface to the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae 

Leo Mietus and Allan J. Janssen

Two Letters from J. H. Gunning, Jr. to Herman Bavinck Regarding Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics, Volumes 1 and 2 

Pearls and Leaven

John Bolt 

Précis of Herman Bavinck’s “Persevering in the Christian Life”

Book Review

Bavinck Bibliography 2016-2017

The Bavinck Review 7 (2016)

The Bavinck Institute has recently made available online volume 7 of The Bavinck Review. The contents are listed below, with much of the issue made up of a second and final installment article by Arvin Vos who, according to John Bolt in the Editorial, ‘puts his rich background of scholarly work on Aquinas to good use in illuminating the complex structure of Bavinck’s psychology’.

Individual pieces are available here, or the entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Editorial

Articles

Arvin Vos

Knowledge According to Bavinck and Aquinas

In Translation

Herman Bavinck’s Modernisme en Orthodoxie: A Translation

Translated by Bruce R. Pass

Pearls and Leaven

John Bolt

An Excerpt on Prayer from Bavinck’s Reformed Ethics

Bavinck Bibliography 2015

The Bavinck Review 5 (2014)

The Bavinck Institute have just made available online volume 5 of The Bavinck Review. The contents are listed below, with the summaries of the main articles taken from Laurence O’Donnell’s editorial. Individual articles are available here, or the entire issue can be downloaded as a 13.2 MB pdf here.

Editorial

Articles

Bert de Vries

What Kuyper Saw and Thought: Abraham Kuyper’s Visit to the Holy Land

With the mind of an archeologist, the eye of a photographer, and the heart of a Reformed Christian, Professor Emeritus de Vries leads us back to the early twentieth century where we trace Abraham Kuyper’s footsteps in the sands of the Holy Land as he recorded them in his travelogue, Om de oude werldzee. In response to Kuyper’s enthusiasm for sacred soil, orientalist biases, and colonialist notions that come to light along the way, de Vries asks us to consider how much of what we think about Palestine-Israel today has been inherited from Kuyper and his contemporaries a century ago.

John Bolt

The Missional Character of the (Herman and J.H.) Bavinck Tradition

“Missional” is a buzzword in theology these days. But what does it mean? How is it defined theologically? In what sense is God on a mission? Should we replace ice cold, abstract “systematic” theology with white hot, relational “missional” theology? These are the questions professor Bolt addresses in his essay on the “missional character” of the Bavinck tradition. He presents a series of rhetorical questions to explain how Herman Bavinck (in dogmatics) and Johan Herman Bavinck (in missiology) together contributed a robustly “missional” voice within twentieth-century Protestant theological discourse and to suggest how that tradition offers wisdom that is still relevant for enriching “missional theology” today.

Gayle Doornbos

We Do Not Proceed into a Vacuum: J.H. Bavinck’s Missional Reading of Romans 1

How do Christians evaluate non-Christian religions? Gayle Doornbos looks at how J.H. Bavinck addressed this fundamental missiological question both psychologically and ultimately on the basis of his interpretation of Romans 1:18–32. She then offers several suggestions for how Bavinck’s psychological and theological insights can enrich current missiological discussions that flow out of the recent shift to the Triune-God-as-missionary-God paradigm.

John Bolt

An Adventure in Ecumenicity: A Review Essay of Berkouwer and Catholicism by Eduardo Echeverria

Professor Bolt’s ecumenical adventure introduces a longstanding friendship with a colorful criss-crossing of Roman Catholic and Neo-Calvinist traditions. What arises out of this friendship is the type of academic exchange that is at once amicable, critical, and real – a gift that invites the wounds of friend for sharpening and perfecting. Professor Echeverria’s close reading and patient analysis of Neo-Calvinist criticisms of Roman Catholic formulations of the relation between nature and grace will certainly interest if not challenge Reformed Protestants as will Professor Bolt’s frank assessment of where and how Echeverria’s critiques ring true in the Neo-Calvinist tradition.

In Translation

Herman Bavinck, trans. Nelson D. Kloosterman

The Pros and Cons of a Dogmatic System

Pearls and Leaven

John Bolt

Bavinck as Pastor (1880–82)

Bavinck Bibliography 2013

The Bavinck Review 4 (2013)

The Bavinck Institute have just made available online volume 4 of The Bavinck Review. The contents are listed below, with the summaries of the articles taken from Laurence O’Donnell’ editorial. Individual articles are available here, or the entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Editorial

Articles

Henk van den Belt

Religion as Revelation? The Development of Herman Bavinck’s View from a Reformed Orthodox to a Neo-Calvinist Approach

Professor Henk van den Belt leads the way with a thorough historical analysis of Bavinck’s formulation of the revelation-religion relationship. He inquires into the theological grounds for Bavinck’s affirmations of the truth, goodness, and beauty evident in non-Christian religions. In what senses does Bavinck consider non-Christian religions and religiosity itself to be divine revelations? How can a Reformed dogmatics with its affirmation of a religio vera nevertheless find theological grounds for affirming proximate goods in non-Christian religions? His historical findings lend themselves to further dogmatic reflection on the religio vera within the contemporary context of religious pluralism. They also help to clarify the meaning of certain controversial passages within the Reformed Dogmatics wherein Bavinck makes positive statements about pagan religions in general and Muhammad in particular.

Brian G. Mattson

A Soft Spot for Paganism? Herman Bavinck and ‘Insider’ Movements

These intriguing passages [where Bavinck makes positive statements about pagan religions] are the subject of Dr. Brian Mattson’s essay on the ‘insider’ debate in contemporary Reformed missiology and Rev. J. W. Stevenson’s response. Mattson argues that misguided appeals to these passages such as Stevenson’s suggest that Bavinck’s view of non-Christian religions in general and Islam in particular downplays the doctrine of total depravity in order to highlight the goods found in these religions. Against these appeals he argues that, rightly understood in context, Bavinck’s statements regarding the goods in non-Christian religions have the opposite effect, one that is grounded in the catholic tradition and is non-controversial. Further, he argues that Bavinck’s statements – when interpreted in light of his view of the relation between nature and grace – do not provide theological grounds for ‘insider’ models of missions.

J.W. Stevenson

A Brief Response to Mattson’s ‘A Soft Spot for Paganism? Bavinck and Insider Movements’

Stevenson’s reply challenges Mattson’s reading of his appeal to Bavinck’s statements as misguided. He further argues that his view of Herman Bavinck’s theology and J.H. Bavinck’s missiology in relation to contemporary ‘insider”’ movement missiological discussion is not at odds with but in harmony with Mattson’s.

Laurence O’Donnell

Bavinckiana digitalia: A Review Essay

O’Donnell’s review essay takes a turn to the technological. After surveying the current array of digitized Bavinck resources, sampling their functionality, and sharing some tips for rewarding digital research, [he reflects] upon the ways in which these digital tools can provide a boon to Bavinck researchers.

John Bolt

Herman Bavinck on Natural Law and Two Kingdoms: Some Further Reflections

Professor Bolt’s essay revisits the VanDrunen-Kloosterman duplex regnum debate with a significant revision of his earlier Bavinck Society discussion guide in light of two recent dissertations by Drs. Brian Mattson and James Eglinton. The underlying theological question in this debate is one that Bavinck calls the hardest theological question of all; namely, the proper relation between nature and grace. This difficult question comes into expression in smaller, even simple, questions such as whether Bavinck, who designated a portion of his student budget for ‘Glas bier,’ would consider those Leiden pints to be Christian in any sense; or whether in Bavinck’s view a fundamental, creational institution such as the family can be properly qualified as Christian, as the title of his recently translated book suggests. Though seemingly simple on the surface, such questions have a profound depth when viewed in light of the nature-grace relation. Bolt offers his own perspective on this discussion.

In Translation

James Eglinto

Letters to a Dying Student: Bavinck’s Letters to Johan van Haselen

Pearls and Leaven

John Bolt

The Imitation of Christ Is Not the Same in Every Age

Bavinck Bibliography 2012

Book Reviews

Protestant Reformed Theological Journal 46, 1 (2012) on Herman Bavinck

Thanks to Steve Bishop for the heads up that the latest issue of Protestant Reformed Theological Journal (contents below, and available here as a pdf) is devoted to Herman Bavinck. The Book Reviews section includes a review of Ron Gleason’s 2010 work, Herman Bavinck: Pastor, Churchman, Statesman, and Theologian.

Editor’s Notes

David J. Engelsma

Herman Bavinck: The Man and His Theology

David J. Engelsma

Herman Bavinck’s Doctrine of the Covenant

James A. Laning

Herman Bavinck’s View of Common Grace

David J. Engelsma

Another Defender of Shepherd (and the Federal Vision)

Book Reviews

The Bavinck Review 3 (2012)

The Bavinck Institute have just made available online volume 3 of The Bavinck Review. The contents are listed below, with the summaries of the articles taken from John Bolt’s editorial. Individual articles are available here, or the entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf here. I’ll be paying particular attention to the essays by Ortlund and Kaemingk.

Editorial

Articles

Dane C. Ortlund

“Created Over a Second Time” or “Grace Restoring Nature”? Edwards and Bavinck on the Heart of Christian Salvation

The claim of a number of scholars, led by Eugene Heideman and Jan Veehof, that ‘grace restores nature’ is the key theme for understanding Bavinck has come under criticism in recent years. In particular, it has been suggested that ‘grace restoring nature’ contributes to this-worldly triumphalism in which, for example, sin is understood ‘more as an offense against the creational norms than an offense against our personal relationship with God.’ By bringing together under one purview Bavinck’s ‘grace restoring nature’ theme and Jonathan Edwards’s insistence on salvation as ‘the implanting of something new’ (regeneration), Dane Ortlund shows convincingly that these two themes (and thinkers) can be reconciled and hence belong together. Though they lived in different times and fought different battles, their vision of salvation for the individual person and for the eschatological goal of history were not at odds. Ortlund summarizes it nicely by asking, ‘Could we say, then, that it is that which is new which restores?’ And further: ‘Salvation is new normalcy. Utter newness; yet also a return to our true home.’

Robert S. Covolo

Beyond the Schleiermacher-Barth Dilemma: General Revelation, Bavinckian Consensus, and the Future of Reformed Theology

Robert Covolo uses Bavinck’s doctrine of revelation to bring us beyond the Barth-Schleiermacher dilemma: revelation only from divine presence within creation or revelation only as a lightning bolt of illumination from on high – Absolute Dependence or ‘Nein!’ After qualifying this conventional portrait somewhat, Covolo considers Jürgen Moltmann’s theology as a possible way forward only to dismiss it and propose the ‘Herman and J.H. Bavinck accord’ as the better way. This consensus includes the conviction that God continues to reveal himself in two ways, that both forms of revelation are the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that special revelation has an epistemic priority over general revelation. This both-and posture (in contrast with the Barth-Schleiermacher dilemma) is of current value in the battle against secularism, provides for commonness with humanity along with ecclesiastical distinctiveness, and establishes a basis for theology to be both kerygmatic and apologetic. Covolo believes that this is a valuable guide for the future of Reformed theology.

Steven J. Duby

Working with the Grain of Nature: Epistemic Underpinnings for Christian Witness in the Theology of Herman Bavinck

Steven Duby’s paper builds nicely on Covolo’s by looking at Bavinck’s appreciation for the viability of human knowledge as a natural given. Duby provides a helpful survey of Bavinck’s theological-epistemological reflections on rationalism, empiricism, and idealism and applies it to the linguistic constructivism proposed by Stanley Grenz and John Franke in their book Beyond Foundationalism. The key to Bavinck’s coordination of nature and grace is his doctrine of the imago Dei. The Fall corrupted the imago Dei but did not annihilate human nature altogether. The work of the Holy Spirit in renewal therefore does not deactivate human reason but purifies it. The import of all this is the conviction that ‘the gospel does not impose upon us the task of asking unbelievers to become other than what they are as human beings; rather, it urges us to call unbelievers by faith to shift back toward true humanity as creatures living not by bread alone but by every word of God.’ This also means an end to the faith-reason antithesis; in fact, faith itself is a habitus of the mind. We have here an answer to both atheism and pluralism.

Matthew Kaemingk

Herman Bavinck, Lesslie Newbigin, and Reformed Mission in the Global Workplace

Matthew Kaemingk’s paper applies the sort of insights highlighted in my summary of the previous two essays to a Reformed theology of the work place. He borrows insights from Herman Bavinck’s ‘robust theology of work’ and Lesslie Newbigin’s ‘vocational understanding of ecclesiology’ and links them to Redeemer Presbyterian Church’s ‘model of professional missions in New York City’ in order to propose a model for urban church planters. If a theology of cultural engagement such as Bavinck’s is to truly benefit the church, it must also answer ecclesiological questions about mission, preaching, worship, and communal life for urban professionals in today’s world. Here, Kaemingh argues, Newbigin is helpful and provides a ‘workplace ecclesiology’ that has been tried with great success by Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

Daniel Sung-Ho Ahn

Johan H. Bavinck’s Missiology and Its Implications for the Term Question in Korean Bible Translation

The final essay, by Daniel Ahn, uses J.H. Bavinck’s missiology as a template for interpreting the ‘Term Question’ in Korean Bible translation. Does one use the name traditional Korean religions use for the Supreme God or create a neologism? Ahn tracks this discussion from the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century mission to China (Matteo Ricci and various papal decrees), through nineteenth-century Protestant missions to China (London Missionary Society), to the nineteenth- and twentieth-century mission to Korea (Methodist and, especially, Presbyterian). The story is fascinating, and the conclusion that a more sympathetic and respectful attitude toward Korean indigenous religions which led to using the native name for the Supreme God, Hananim, may have been a factor in the rapid growth of the Korean church is surprising and challenging.

In Translation

Herman Bavinck, translated by John Bolt

The Theology of Albrecht Ritschl

Herman Bavinck, translated by Henk van den Belt

Herman Bavinck on Scottish Covenant Theology and Reformed Piety

Pearls and Leaven

John Bolt

Bavinck Tributes

Bavinck Bibliography 2011

Book Reviews

Willem J. de Wit on Herman Bavinck

Willem J. de Wit, On the Way to the Living God: A Cathartic Reading of Herman Bavinck and an Invitation to Overcome the Plausibility Crisis of Christianity (Amsterdam: VU University Press, 2011), x + 208 pages, ISBN 9789086595860.

Fans of Herman Bavinck will be interested to see that this book by Willem J. de Wit is available for free download here.

The blurb says:

‘Post-Christian Amsterdam is a place where life seems to be good without God, where Jesus is seen as a figure of a distant past, and where only a few people still go to church. However, it is also a context from which a deeply reflected invitation springs to face and overcome the plausibility crisis of Christianity.

‘By telling the story of the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck (1854–1921) and his struggle to remain standing as a Christian over against the modern worldview of his day, this study offers interested readers all over the world a mirror in which to face their own struggle.

‘Moreover, in a world explained without God and marked by evil, it extends the invitation to adopt a binocular worldview and to live with open eyes on the way to the living God, even if this implies dying with Christ.’

The author, Willem J. de Wit, is Lecturer of Biblical Studies and Systematic Theology at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt. Earlier he worked as a junior research fellow for the International Reformed Theological Institute at VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The Bavinck Review 2 (2011)

About this time last year, I linked to The Bavinck Institute and their publication of The Bavinck Review, which is made freely available on the website six months after publication. The second volume (contents below) has just become available. Individual articles are available here, or the entire issue can be downloaded as a 1.6 MB pdf here.

Editorial

Articles

Willem J. de Wit

“Will I Remain Standing?”: A Cathartic Reading of Herman Bavinck

Robert S. Covolo

Herman Bavinck’s Theological Aesthetics: A Synchronic and Diachronic Analysis

Timothy Shaun Price

Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck on the Subject of Education as seen in Two Public Addresses

Laurence R. O’Donnell III

Neither “Copernican” nor “Van Tilian”: Re-Reading Cornelius Van Til’s Reformed Apologetics in light of Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics

Michael S. Chen

Herman Bavinck and Augustine on Epistemology

Travis Ryan Pickell

“To See Darkness, To Hear Silence”: St. Augustine, Herman Bavinck, and the Incomprehensibility of Evil

Research Précis

Wolter Huttinga

Herman Bavinck and Radical Orthodoxy: Elements of Participation in the Reformed Dogmatics

Aart Goedvree

An Impenetrable Mystery: Herman Bavinck’s Concept of Regeneration and Its Sources

In Translation

Herman Bavinck, translated by Nelson D. Kloosterman

The Kingdom of God, The Highest Good

Pearls and Leaven

John Bolt

Herman Bavinck and Islam

Bavinck Bibliography 2010

New and Forthcoming Books from P&R Publishing

There are several new and forthcoming books from P&R Publishing; the ones that that I’ll be checking out are listed below, along with brief blurb from the publisher and links to excerpts:

Paul K. Helseth, “Right Reason” and the Princeton Mind: An Unorthodox Proposal (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2010), ISBN 9781596381438.

Overturns the historical consensus that Old Princetonian theologians were nothing more than enlightenment rationalists – and re-establishes them within the reformed spiritual tradition that considers the renewed mind as a servant to the Holy Spirit.

[Having read articles by Helseth on this topic some years back – when it was trendy in some quarters to accuse the Old Princetonians of being dry-as-dust rationalists – I’ve been looking forward to a fuller treatment.]

Excerpt here.

Peter Enns, Douglas J. Green, and Michael B. Kelley (eds.), Eyes to See, Ears to Hear: Essays in Memory of J Alan Groves (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2010), 288pp., ISBN 9781596381223.

Groves was a pioneer of modern biblical studies, using computers to analyze the Hebrew Old Testament. These articles have been collected to honor his work and also his character as a loving Christian exemplar.

[This looks like a interesting collection of some pieces of biblical-theological reflection.]

Excerpt here (which includes an essay by Tremper Longman on suffering, worth checking out).

John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God, A Theology of Lordship Volume 4 (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2010), 720pp., ISBN 9780875522647.

‘The Word of God’ is a multi-faceted concept. God speaks but Word is one of Jesus’s names. God’s personal communications take other forms, through prophets, apostles, and the written Word. Frame investigates them all.

[This is the fourth volume in Frame’s ‘Theology of Lordship’ series, each successive one seeming to be larger than the previous one; I caught some of this as the chapters were serialised online, and there’s no doubt it will come to stand as one of the fullest evangelical treatments of Scripture for years to come.]

Excerpt here.

Arie C. Leder, Waiting for the Land: The Story Line of the Pentateuch (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2010), 224pp., ISBN 9780875521961.

How should Israel’s waiting for their land shape our reading of the Pentateuch, and how should this shape the hope of the church today? Treating the Pentateuch as a coherent and progressive story, Waiting for the Land is the first book-length exploration of these questions. Following an introduction to the Pentateuch, Leder examines each book, showing that the promise of the land was not realized. He then shows how the contemporary church should wait for its land.

[Looks like it will provide a careful holistic reading of the Pentateuch.]

Excerpt here.

Christopher W. Morgan, A Theology of James: Wisdom for God's People, Explorations in Biblical Theology (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2010), ISBN 9781596380844.

Chris Morgan accomplishes a seldom-attempted task, laying out a biblical, coherent theology of the epistle of James. He connects the particulars of James to the big picture of the Bible and argues that its instruction is both grounded in theology and is theology applied.

[Part of P&R’s growing ‘Explorations in Biblical Theology’ series, this is the first title devoted to a particular book of the Bible rather than a distinct theme.]

Excerpt here.

Ron Gleason, Herman Bavinck: Pastor, Churchman, Statesman and Theologian (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2010), 512pp., ISBN 9781596380806.

Highlighting the breadth of Herman Bavinck’s experience in theology and politics, Ronald N. Gleason offers the English-speaking world a vivid picture of the Dutch theologian’s life. Gleason, a leading authority on Bavinck’s life and ideas, brings to light Bavinck’s rich family heritage and contends that his family background played a crucial role in the development of the man who wrote the magisterial Reformed Dogmatics.

[This will nicely complement the recent-ish four-volume English translation of Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics, especially for those of us unable to read Dutch.]

Excerpt here.

Bryan Gregory, Longing for God in an Age of Discouragement: The Gospel According to Zechariah (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2010), ISBN 9781596381421.

[Part of P&R’s ‘The Gospel According to the Old Testament Series’, with some volumes stronger than others, in my opinion; I’m looking forward to this one.]

Excerpt here.