Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat
By: James D. Bratt
The Pastor’s Monthly Book Selection – November, 2018
By any standard, Abraham Kuyper was a giant of the Reformed faith and the national life of Holland during the second half of the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries. Like most of Europe, the Dutch society into which Abraham Kuyper was born had been greatly affected by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Seeing these as destructive influences on both church and state, Kuyper sought to implement a Calvinistic worldview that would stand against a purely humanistic philosophy.
As a man of great intellect, organizational leadership, and remarkable energy, Kuyper brought his numerous abilities to bear as a pastor, theologian, author, editor, and politician. During his lifetime, he helped to merge two Reformed denominations as a bulwark against liberalism in the church. He also stood for political office, rising to the position of Prime Minister of the Netherlands, and he founded the Free University of Amsterdam.
In this book, James Bratt does an excellent job of tying together the many periods and influences of Kuyper’s life and work. In doing so, he avoids both glamorizing and demonizing Kuyper. Bratt gives us a picture of a man of his time whose ideas and decisions might seem misguided to many living in the 21st century. Yet, he was a person who also understood the damage of a godless philosophy to both church and state, and he was willing to use his talents to turn the tide for the glory of God.
Although this work does become weighty at times, I recommend it for its historic content and also as an aid in understanding the continuing debate of the place of the Church in the life of the nation in which it exists.