By: Abraham Kuyper Publisher: Cosimo Classics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Cosimo Classics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 200 Publication Date: October 15, 2007
Product Description: This series of lectures was delivered by Abraham Kuyper at the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1898. Over the course of the lectures, he discusses Calvinism and the way it pertains to many aspects of life including politics, science, and art. According to Kuyper, Calvinism has a natural affinity for scientific investigation, because like scientific inquiry, Calvinism seeks to unify the cosmos under universal laws. Predestination, he says, proves that a set of laws exist to govern the world, and science is merely trying to figure them out. When it comes to art, Kuyper launches into a defense of Calvinism, which is often maligned as a religion that seeks to stamp out art and its significance. Readers will find here a thorough and elegant explanation of Calvinism and its particular outlook on life. Anyone wanting to know how the religion is unique among the many Christian sects will find it an enjoyable and informative read. Dutch theologian ABRAHAM KUYPER (1837-1920) was prime minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905. He developed Neo-Calvinism, which emphasizes the sovereignty of Jesus over all mental pursuits and supports the idea that there exists a grace given by God to all things in order to sustain the continued unfolding of creation. Kuyper wrote a number of books including Conservatism and Orthodoxy (1870), The Social Question and the Christian Religion (1891), and Common Grace (1902).
Good, but a little outdated This is a good book and has some great redeeming qualities, but you should know on the front end that some of his examples are a little outdated. I appreciate some of his gleanings on God's sovereignty and the state, and God's interaction among His bride.
Brilliant One word describes this work by Kuyper: Brilliant
I have read and reread this work several times, and each time have come away from the endeavor with a greater regard for both Kuyper and Calvinism. Reading Kuyper's work has brought me to a place of greater awe for the Sovereign of this world and all worlds: The Triune God.
For Confirmation and For Equipping Abraham Kyper's "Lectures" and Richard Weaver's "Ideas Have Consequences" should top the list of essential reading for folks who have not been introduced to the idea of a distinctly Christian world view and those who need equipping to deal with the questions being asked in the world today.
Kuyper may seem dated on first reading (as may Weaver) but if you hang in there with him you will begin to see the significance of his thought. Essentially his attempt is to "take every thought captive." His presupposition is that God has made all things good and that this goodness can be developed and appreciated when carefully appropriated in a manner which does not obscure the goodness. Whether it is politics or art, there can be nobility in the enterprise even as there can also be depravity. What Kuyper enables us to do is understand how to approach life such that nobility is in greater proportion.
Be prepared for turn of the century (19th-20th) prose and language. Kuyper expects a certain level of literary acumen in his readers (and hearers, these were originally lectures). Once you settle in to his style though, you will find his thought stimulating even if you don't agree with everything.
Kuyper is like eating your wheaties Kuyper is essential reading for developing a reformed protestant worldview. Reading Kuyper is to developing your worldview is like eating your intellectual wheaties. Few have developed and expounded on a reformed worldview with the clarity of the Kuyper system of thought. A great resource for anyone interested in reformed theology as it applies to politics, culture, and life in general.
Anyone better than Kuyper? NO! Invited to speak at the Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1898, Kuyper took the opportunity to deliver this message on the importance of Calvinism as a comprehensive "life-system," or what today we might refer to as a worldview. Kuyper is simply brilliant and his writing is amazing - tackling difficult issues and concepts, yet making it accessible to an interested and engaged reader. Kuyper believed that God was (and is) interested in all facets of human life and that the belief-system of Christianity addressed all the various facets of human endeavor. Lectures on Calvinism begins with an overview of Calvinism as a Life-system and then is broken down into chapters that relate how Calvinism addresses religion, politics, science, art and the future.
Kuyper addresses three primary spheres of human involvement - (1) our relation to God, (2) our relation to man, and (3) our relation to the world. Kuyper believed that a proper understanding and perspective of these three spheres would give man a proper biblically-based relationship to God and others - and that proper perspective was one of engagement for the cause of Christ, not "monastic flight" from the issues of the day.
Avoidance of the world, according to Kuyper, is not biblical. But understanding how to engage and placing a proper emphasis on the importance of worldly things is also a must. For those who believe they have an understanding of Calvinism from the simplistic "five points of Calvinism," this book would blow them away! The book is not for everyone - I would suggest only a serious reader would enjoy this book - but if well-read, this book is definitely worth the time and effort!
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
