Lectures on Calvinism

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!

I think it's probably unlikely that anyone will read these lectures by Kuyper and agree word for word with absolutely everything that's in here. There are enough distinctives in Kuyper's thought that make his views somewhat particular, as are the views of everyone. But there is no question that one can surmise from reading this book that Kuyper, philosophically speaking, was a man ahead of his time.The basic point of this book is to present a Calvinistic worldview that penetrates and transforms all aspects of society - politics, science, the arts, religion, etc. In many ways, such an attempt was, and is, revolutionary by Christian standards. Surprisingly few Christians, either today or in Kuyper's day 100 years ago, think christianly about things beyond the pale of pure religion or spirituality. Many Christians who are indeed quite Christian in regards to religious beliefs and even personal holiness do not take Christianity beyond these areas into the world and in the world's legitimate disciplines like politics or science. There are several reasons that are regularly given for this, but clearly the most pervasive is that many Christians haven't thought about such things and have unnecessarily limited their ability to transform the world. This attitude is decidedly unacceptable to Kuyper, and this comes through loud and clear in this book.Not only was Kuyper ahead of his time in suggesting a full orbed Christian worldview in place of a compartmentalized Christianity, but he was also prophetic in laying down a solid framework for comparative religious and worldview studies. Those who struggle with answering assertions which suggest that all religions and worldviews are more or less the same should read Kuyper here. Kuyper is very good in contrasting worldviews, showing them to be incompatible with each other, and forcefully arguing for that worldviews can and should be differentiated from each other on the basis of truth versus error. In particular, Kuyper plunges head first into the modernist craze of his time and calling for a full orbed Christian rebuttal to modernism that can only be achieved by developing a full-orbed Christian worldview that can compete with modernistic tendencies in science, politics, etc.Not every Christian will agree with Kuyper's views, and not even all self-described Calvinists will either. Calvinism is not monolithic on many of these questions, though Kuyper's views are indeed compelling and often persuasive. I think the biggest compliment this book can be given is that it should raise the consciousness of the Christian reader to think outside his own backyard and yearn to develop his faith into a comprehensive life system which is applicable to any circumstance and any discipline or field of study. Kuyper wanted Christians to expand their horizons and expand their influence by outthinking and outworking their worldview opponents, and this is a message that is every bit as critical for Christians to hear t

This classic expression of the Reformed faith offers six lectures on Calvinism delivered at Princeton University, 1898 under the auspices of the L. P. Stone Foundation. Though these lecture were delivered in 1898, what Kuper (Dr Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a Dutch Calvinist theologian, philosopher and politician) addresses is still very relevant even after a century. This lectures are not just another set of theology. Dr Kuyper helps us discover the richness of calvinism with respect to our world view. These lectures include Calvinism with Life System, Religion, Politics, Science, Art and the Future.