Neo-Calvinism

This article is about the Dutch Calvinist movement. For the movement that emerged in the late-20th-century United States, see New Calvinism.

Abraham Kuyper

Neo-Calvinism is a Calvinist theological movement that was initiated in the late-19th century in the Netherlands. It was originally developed by theologians like Abraham Kuyper, a former Dutch prime minister, and Herman Bavinck who insisted on holding fast to historic Calvinistic thinking, but with a willingness to actively engage in every new context offered by a modern and pluralistic society. In this regard, Kuyper famously stated:

No single piece of our mental world is to be sealed off from the rest and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'

While Neo-Calvinism originated in the Netherlands, it later found prominence in the United States, initially through Dutch immigrant theologians like Geerhardus Vos and Cornelius Van Til in the 20th century. It has since gained wider appeal in the United States and other countries, such as the United Kingdom and China.

Key Theological Points

Neo-Calvinism has often focused on certain distinctive ways of theological thinking. However, as a theological movement, there is also debate as to how best to understand these topics.

Cultural mandate

The "cultural mandate" is the key Neo-Calvinist view on creation and culture. It was first proposed by Klaas Schilder and is often considered synonymous with Neo-Calvinism. Based on Genesis 1:26–28, God's command to rule and to subdue the earth is understood as a divine mandate to humanity to cultivate and to nurture all creation. Kuyper understood creation as not just about "the beginning," but also its further potential. Therefore, humans are given a cultural mandate to be involved in appreciating creation and order within it, and aiding it to bring about God's glory. This means there is no division between that which is sacred or secular in this world. Humanity is mandated to be involved in the flourishing of all of creation.

Some neo-Calvinists hold that the Cultural Mandate is as important as the Great Commission.

Sphere sovereignty

Abraham Kuyper held the view of sphere sovereignty (Soevereiniteit in eigen kring), in which each sphere (or sector) of life has its own distinct responsibilities and authority as designed by God – for instance, communities dedicated to worship, civil justice, agriculture, family, etc. – and no one area of life is sovereign over another. Hence, neither faith-institutions nor an institution of civil justice (that is, the state) should seek totalitarian control or any regulation of human activity outside their limited competence.

Common grace

God providentially sustains the created order, restraining of possible evils and giving non-salvific good gifts to all humanity despite their fall into sin, God's curse, and his eventual condemnation of the unredeemed.

The antithesis

There is a struggle in history and within every person – between submission to and rebellion against God; between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness; between the age to come (already inaugurated in Christ) and this present evil age (of sin).

Key individuals associated with neo-Calvinism

• Abraham Kuyper
• Albert Wolters
• Auguste Lecerf
• Chuck Colson
• Cornelius Van Til
• Cornelius Plantinga
• Craig Bartholomew
• D. H. Th. Vollenhoven
• E. L. Hebden Taylor
• George Marsden
• Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer
• Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer
• Hans Rookmaaker
• H. Evan Runner
• James K.A. Smith
• Herman Bavinck
• Herman Dooyeweerd
• Klaas Schilder
• Mark Noll
• Nancy Pearcy
• Nathan O. Hatch
• Nicholas Wolterstorff
• Richard Mouw
• Stephanus Jacobus du Toit

Neo-Calvinist institutions and organizations

• Arrowhead Christian Academy in Redlands, California
• Calvin University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
• The Center for Public Justice
• Dordt University, Sioux Center, Iowa, USA
• Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Theological University of the Reformed Churches in Kampen, the Netherlands
• Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Kuyper College
• Geneva College, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States
• Covenant College, Lookout Mtn, Georgia, United States
• Redeemer University, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
• Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, Illinois, United States

Key texts

• Bavinck, Herman, Reformed Dogmatics.
• Kuyper, Abraham, Calvinism: Stone Lectures.
• Wolters, Albert M., Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview.
• Sutanto, N. Gray and Brock, Cory C., Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction.
• Plantinga, Cornelius, Engaging God's World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living.
• Goheen, Michael W., and Bartholomew, Craig, Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview.

References

Bibliography

• Bishop, Steve (2024). "Creation". In Sutanto, Nathaniel Gray; Brock, Cory (eds.). T&T Clark Handbook of Neo-Calvinism. London: T&T Clark. pp. 20–34. doi:10.5040/9780567698100.0006.
• Bratt, James D. (2002) [1984]. Dutch Calvinism in Modern America: A History of a Conservative Subculture. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 9781592441228.
• Colson, Chuck; Pearcey, Nancy (1999). How Now Shall We Live?. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House.
• Eglinton, James (2020). Bavinck: A Critical Biography. Baker Academic. ISBN 978-1-4934-2059-9.
• Frey, Bradshaw; et al. (1983). All of Life Redeemed: Biblical Insights for Daily Obedience. Jordan Station, Ontario: Paideia Press.
• Kuyper, Abraham (1998). "Sphere Sovereignty". Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader. By Kuyper, Abraham. Bratt, James D. (ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 461–490. ISBN 978-0-8028-4321-0.
• Marshall, Paul A.; Griffioen, Sander; Mouw, Richard J., eds. (1989). Stained Glass: Worldviews and Social Science. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. hdl:10756/607241. ISBN 978-0-8191-7253-2.
• McGoldrick, James E. (2000). Abraham Kuyper: God's Renaissance Man. Welwyn, England: Evangelical Press.
• Mouw, Richard (2002). He Shines in All That's Fair. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
• Spykman, Gordon J. (1992). Reformational Theology: A New Paradigm for Doing Dogmatics. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
• Sutanto, Nathaniel Gray; Brock, Cory (2024). "Editorial Introduction". In Sutanto, Nathaniel Gray; Brock, Cory (eds.). T&T Clark Handbook of Neo-Calvinism. London: T&T Clark. pp. 1–5. doi:10.5040/9780567698100.0003.
• Wolters, Albert M. (2005). Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-2969-6.
• Xu, Ximian (2023). "Give Us Dutch Neo-Calvinism: Retrieving and Reconsidering Dutch Neo-Calvinism in the Chinese Context". In Starr, Chloë F. (ed.). Modern Chinese Theologies. Vol. 2. Minneapolis: Fortress. pp. 69–88.

Further reading

• Bratt, James D. (1985). "The Dutch Schools". In Wells, David F. (ed.). Reformed Theology in America: A History of Its Modern Development. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 9780802800961.
• Dennison, William D. (1999). "Neo-Calvinism and the Roots for Transformation: An Introductory Essay" (PDF). Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. 42 (2): 271–291. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
• Mouw, Richard J. (1989). "Dutch Calvinist Philosophical Influences in North America". Calvin Theological Journal. 24 (1): 93–120. ISSN 0008-1795.

External links

• Melleby, Derek, Neocalvinism 101, CCO jubilee, archived from the original on 7 February 2005.
• Wolters, Al (December 2005), What is to be done ...towards a neocalvinist agenda?, WRF.
• Kuyper Foundation.
• Kuyperian.
• All of life redeemed, UK.
• The Center for Public Justice.
• Dutch Treat, Calvin fox, archived from the original (Web log) on 2 April 2015, retrieved 5 November 2008 – a Neocalvinist commentary.
• Friend of Kuyper (blog), Google – Neo-Calvinist resources.
• You Should Know Neo-Calvinism, 11 February 2021.
• You Should Know Abraham Kuyper, 27 February 2020. by Mike Wagenman