Kuyperiana

The main headings on this page are:

Introduction

Selective Bibliography:

Kuyper Writings

Joint Kuyper – Boer Writings

Boer Writings

Original writings

Translations of Kuyperiana

Guest Writings about Kuyper

What Others Say about Kuyper: Quotes, Stories, Theories

Websites with Similar Vision

NOTES TO READERS:

Each heading is marked by an * for easy location by means of the Find function (control ^F).

Please pay serious attention to the subject of ARCHIVES as explained under Miscellaneous Notes on the HOME page. Find it by the use of the ^F function on that page.


INTRODUCTION*

Readers of my publications on both the Boeriana and Islamica pages will notice a certain perspective common to all. In most cases it is there as background. In some cases it is more explicitly spelled out as in the following publications, the texts of which are found on the BOERIANA page.

This perspective is known to its adherents by various names, the most common ones being "Kuyperian(ism)," "Neo-Kuyperian(ism)," "Reformational," and "Neo-Calvinist." It stands in the Calvinist tradition, but is a further development of it pioneered by a movement initiated by a man called ABRAHAM KUYPER (1837-1920) in The Netherlands, but now spread around the globe.

By no means all Reformed scholars are familiar with either Abraham Kuyper or with the Reformational movement, the philosophical tradition that started to develop already during his day, but has since blossomed into an international movement. Apart from those who have never heard of it, there are scholars, including Reformed ones, who oppose or reject the entire tradition. However, amongst those there is also a considerable number who recognize it as a valid and respectable philosophical tradition and will readily acknowledge Kuyper’s genius.

Its viability is, among others, indicated by that fact that the movement includes not only an international group of individual scholars and activists, but also a respectable number of educational, social, labour, political and media institutions in The Netherlands itself, but also in Canada, the USA, South Africa, Korea, Hungary and a number of other countries.

In Canada, the home country of this website, the most effective, productive and famous social pioneering activist of this movement is the late Gerald ("Jerry") Vandezande, who was honoured with the Order of Canada for his efforts. You are encouraged to read:

Ben Volman, “Gerald Vandezande: Canada's unassuming prophet-Life lessons from a Christian social activist.” Citizens for Public Justice, August 4, 2009. For a shortened version go to Faith Today, the bimonthly of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), July/August 2009, pp. 24-28.

In a side bar to the above article in Faith Today under the title “What else can we learn from Jerry Vandezande?” we read the following from Ben Volman:

        John Redekop, adjunct professor of political science at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., and past president of the EFC, says, “Do not hesitate to tackle issues. If you believe that you are morally right, then no issue is too daunting or too controversial for a clear Christian response. Don't expect to win all the struggles but don't give up too soon. Christians are required to be faithful, not successful. Fight for causes, not against people.”

        Lorna Dueck, regular Globe & Mail columnist, president of Media Voice Generation and executive producer and host of the television program ListenUp, says: “Jerry was persistent, tireless, kind, diligent and wise. His message was never to forget that the poor need your voice, the broken need your strength and the lost need your help in direction, and that evil can be systemic and needs to be corrected at many levels.”

        Charles Pascal, executive director of the Atkinson Foundation, says: “We need to learn his tenacity. A phrase that describes Jerry is “visionary incrementalist.” He has always had a clear vision that the future has to be safer and more just for all Canadians. But to move to that better vision requires incrementalism. How do we get to that better future? With tenacity: baby steps and giant steps. And I never saw anyone with more optimism about the human spirit. He has tenacity and optimism.”

Another significant indication is the quality of the publishers who publish the steady stream of books and articles that emerges out of this tradition. They are among the most distinguished in the world: Brill – that’s a sure tell-tale sign –, McGill-Queens University Press, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Clarke-Irwin, Harvard University Press. If you don’t find them on this page, you will on the Guest Articles page.


SELECTIVE ENGLISH BIBLIOGRAPHY*

Kuyper Writings*

Note to Readers: (1) Since all the writings under this heading are Kuyper’s, his name does not appear at the beginning of each item. (2) Many of these Kuyper items are supported by other writings about them for additional explanation and context.

An Announcement: “New Society to Translate Kuyper’s Works.” CC, Dec. 26, 2011.

Jordan J. Ballor and Melvin Flikkema, Gen. eds. Collected Works in Public Theology. Lexham Press, on-going. This project can be accessed at: https://abrahamkuyper.com

Lexham Press is pleased to announce the publication of a major series of new translations of Abraham Kuyper’s key works in public theology. Never before available in English, these works will introduce a new audience to the thoughts of one of Christianity’s most thoughtful public theologians. Comprised of 8 key works spread over 12 volumes, this series will be made available in both a high-quality hardback edition and an enhanced electronic Logos edition. https://abrahamkuyper.com/

On Islam

On Islam compiles Kuyper’s significant writings on Islam. This anthology will allow readers to follow Kuyper’s model for observing another faith and its cultural ramifications from an informed Christian point of view. It will be of particular relevance for today’s readers—who live in a world where Islam’s role on the global scene is visible and controversial, its future so significant, and its relationship with Christianity so decisive for both faiths.

“At the Manger.” Acton Commentary, January 3 2018. For information about Acton Institute, go to < Reformational > page on this same website and perform a search function for “Acton Institute.”

The Dutch Reformed Translation Society announces plans for the translation of Kuyper meditations. DTRS Newsletter, December 2014. The announcement can be accessed at: http://www.dutchreformed.org/...

Steve Bishop, List of books and articles available by Abraham Kuyper translated into English and available online in the approximate order of the original.

Abraham Kuyper, trans. and editor Jan H. Boer; co-editor Frances A. Boer-Prins, From the Realms of Glory: Contours of the Angelic World. Vancouver BC: Jan H. Boer, 2022. An ebook.

James de Jong, Comments on the above translation from a professional translator of Kuyper. Private letter to translator, April 4, 2022.

DOWNLOAD

----------, transl. Jan H. Boer; co-editor Frances A. Boer-Prins, For still Our Ancient Foe: Contours of Satan's World. Vancouver BC: Jan H. Boer, < www.SocialTheology.com/kuyperiana >, eBook 2022.

In due time, this book is expected to be featured also on www.ccel.org of Calvin University and on < www.lulu.com >.

Adapted by Mike Wagenman, “The Wonder of Kuyper: In Christ, salvation has come! A Christmas reflection.” CC, Dec 10, 2019, http://www.christiancourier.ca/....

Trans. James A. De Jong, Honey from the Rock: Daily devotions from the Young Kuyper.. Bellingham WA, USA: Lexham Press, 2018 (600 pp.). Information about.

James A. De Jong, an edited version. “Learning from the faithful meditations of Abraham Kuyper.” Adapted from James A. De Jong's introduction to his translation of Abraham Kuyper's Ever in Thy Sight: 31 Devotions on the Psalms. Bellingham WA: Lexham Press, February 2020.

“The Worship of the Reformed Church and the Creation of Its Service Book.” Transl. James A. De Jong. CTJ, April 2015, pp. 59-90.

Scholarship: Two Convocation Addresses On University Life, d. H. Van Dyke; trans. N. D. Kloosterman. Grand Rapids: Acton Institute – Christian’s Library Press, 2014.

Covolo, Robert. Review of above. This review can be accessed at: http://tgcdocuments.s3.amazonaws.com/themelios/Themelios40-1.pdf#page=.

A helpful recommendation cum explanation of the Kuyper book can be accessed at: http://www.clpress.com/publications/scholarship.

Common Grace, eds. J. Ballor, S. Grabill; trans. N. D. Kloosterman, M. van der Maas. Grand Rapids: Acton Institute – Christian’s Library Press, 2013. This document can be accessed at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=qbHvAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&dq=Kuyper,+Abraham,+Common+Grace,+eds.+J.+Ballor,+S.+Grabill&source=bl&ots=tVF14kFP-g&sig=rLXDmF4LeqM3yZaE9atcJWjWrZk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiC3aqewq7QAhUY92MKHdBYD_sQ6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q=Kuyper%2C%20Abraham%2C%20Common%20Grace%2C%20eds.%20J.%20Ballor%2C%20S.%20Grabill&f=false.

Leithart, Peter J., “Kuyper’s Common Grace.” Comments on above in First Things, May 9, 2014. This item can be accessed at: https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/leithart/2014/05/kuypers-common-grace.

Van Til, “Common Grace.” Paper read before The Calvinistic Society Club in Philadelphia, Fall 1941. This document can be accessed at: http://files1.wts.edu/uploads/images/files/WTJ/CVT%20-%20Common%20Grace,%20pt%201.pdf

More information on this book can be found at: http://www.acton.org/sites/v4.acton.org/files/research/Kuyper_Common_Grace_Brochure.pdf and on numerous other websites.

Guidance for Christian Engagement in Government, ed. and transl. H. Van Dyke. Grand Rapids: Acton Institute – Christian’s Library Press, 2013. This book can be accessed at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=VysuCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2&lpg=PT2&dq=abraham+kuyper+Guidance+for+Christian+Engagement+in+Government&source=bl&ots=mlyy-_QZsr&sig=yJ1nihb_tZlP49cNQ5HKIQeM6pA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEyt6RqbHQAhVKs1QKHatPBEIQ6AEIOTAG#v=onepage&q=abraham%20kuyper%20Guidance%20for%20Christian%20Engagement%20in%20Government&f=false

Comments on the above can be accessed at: http://blog.acton.org/archives/64016-now-available-kuypers-guidance-christian-engagement-government.html

Rooted and Grounded: The Church as Organism and Institution, ed. and trans. N. D. Kloosterman. Grand Rapids: Acton Institute: Christian’s Library Press, 2013.

David Koyzis, “Statement on Social Justice, 8: The Church.” Notes from a Byzantine-rite Calvinist, October 12, 2018.

Wisdom and Wonder: Common Grace in Science and Art, eds. J. J. Ballor and S. J. Grabill; trans. N. D. Kloosterman. Grand Rapids: Acton Institute – Christian’s Library Press, 2011. This document can be accessed at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=qbHvAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&dq=Kuyper,+Abraham,+Common+Grace,+eds.+J.+Ballor,+S.+Grabill&source=bl&ots=tVF14kP-g&sig=rLXDmF4LeqM3yZaE9atcJWjWrZk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiC3aqewq7QAhUY92MKHdBYD_sQ6AEIJzAC#v=onepage&q=Kuyper%2C%20Abraham%2C%20Common%20Grace%2C%20eds.%20J.%20Ballor%2C%20S.%20Grabill&f=false

Anderson, Clifford B, Review of above article (3 pp.). It can be accessed at: http://www.marketsandmorality.com/index.php/mandm/article/viewFile/807/765.

Ballor Jordan J. and Grabil, Stephen J. “The Separation of Church and Art” by Abraham Kuyper. Religion and Liberty, Vol. 21, No. 3. This article can be accessed at: http://www.acton.org/pub/religion-liberty/volume-21-number-3/separation-church-art.

----------, Our Worship, ed. H. Boonstra. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.

Comments and recommendations: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5981499-our-worship.

https://reformedreader.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/the-pastor-and-the-church-abraham-kuyper/

Joan Huyser-Honig, “Abraham Kuyper’s Our Worship: First English Translation.” Grand Rapids MI: Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, December 23, 2008.

--------. “Missions According to Scripture.” Transl. Pieter Tuit. CTJ, November 2003, pp. 237-247. Original Dutch title: De zending naar de schrift: Inleidend woord voor het elfde jaarfeest der Nederlandsche Gereformeerde Zendings-Vereeniging (in uittreksel weergegeven). http://www.calvin.edu/library/database/crcpi/fulltext/ctj/95607.pdf

--------, a lecture on missions, along with the original notes of the proceedings of the meeting. Transl. Rimmer De Vries. Delivered in January, 1890. Another translation of the same document as that of Pieter C. Tuit above. Unpublished but lodged at the Princeton Kuyper Center.

Particular Grace: A Defense of God's Sovereignty in Salvation. Trans. by Marvin Kamp. Grandville, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2001.

J. Mark Beach, “Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, and the Conclusions of Utrecht 1905.” Mid-America Journal of Theology, Vol. 19, 2008, pp. 11-68. This is a discussion of an old divisive theological issue related to election among the Reformed and still plays a role in the relationships between the various branches of that tradition. The article can be found at: http://www.midamerica.edu/uploads/files/pdf/journal/beach19.pdf.

For those really interested in the issue, go to: http://www.calltoreform.com/Articles/The%20Conclusions%20of%20Utrecht-An%20Obstacle.pdf

Sphere Sovereignty,” in James D. Bratt (ed.), Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998, pp. 461-490. An alternative translation by Harry der Nederlander, with the assistance of Gordon Spykman, will in due time be available in the Jan Boer archives slated to be deposited at Heritage Hall, Calvin College, Grand Rapids MI, USA. A partial preview of 5 pages.

Near Unto God: Daily Meditations Adapted for Contemporary Christians, trans. and ed. James C. Schaap. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.

With a sure hand and a passion for preserving the essential Kuyper, James C. Schaap has pared away the complex language of a century-old translation of the original Dutch text "Nabij God te Zijn" (1908) to reveal the heart of Abraham Kuyper's meditations in fresh, vivid words.

An earlier translation by J. H. de Vries, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans-Sevensma, 1918, can be accessed at: https://archive.org/details/tobenearuntogod00kuyp.

“... God himself is behind nature . In everything that lives in nature, rustles, throbs and stirs itself, we feel the pulse beat of God's own life . In nature also everything is for the sake of religion, to reveal to us in it the glorious presence of God, to bring us the fostering sense that in nature everywhere the living and almighty God is with us on every side, and to fill us with the sublime impression of his Power, Divinity and Majesty.” (1918 edition, pp. 229-230).

For comments, including readers’ comments, go to: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/804974.To_Be_Near_Unto_God

“Rich in God and / vs rich in money.” Chapter 3, pp. 10-16 of the De Vries translation above. Not original title.

“Evolution.” CTJ, April 1996, pp. 11-50. AND James D. Bratt (ed.), “Evolution,” in Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998, pp. 403-440. For its convoluted translation history, please see the editorial note at the top of the article on this website: http://www.asa3.org/ASA/resources/Kuyper.html.

Felch, Douglas A., “Science as God’s Work: Abraham Kuyper’s Perspective on Science: A Review Article.” The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, n.d., but 2011 or after. This article can accessed at: http://www.opc.org/os.html?article_id=463&issue_id=101

Gene Fant, “Vanity Fair Meets Abraham Kuyper.” The Institute of Religion and Public Life: First Things, March 2010. These comments can be accessed at:

https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2010/02/vanity-fair-meets-abraham-kuyper.

Van den Brink, Gijsbert, “Evolution as a Bone of Contention between Church and Academy: How Abraham Kuyper Can Help Us Bridge the Gap.” The Kuyper Center Review, n.d. This article can be accessed at: https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2010/02/vanity-fair-meets-abraham-kuyper

Bruinsma, Bob, “Abraham Kuyper and the Dinosaurs.” CC, September 25, 2016. This article can be accessed at: http://www.christiancourier.ca/...

Principles of Sacred Theology, trans. J. Hendrik De Vries, with Introduction by Benjamin B. Warfield. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1954 (683 pp.).

This book is a partial translation of Encyclopedia of Sacred Theology: Its Principles, the bibliography of which is found towards the bottom of this section. Though this book has no URL, it is included in the listing as an exception because of its importance in the history of English-language Kuyperiana.

The Problem of Poverty, trans. and ed. James Skillen. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991. An earlier translation of the same original was published under the title Christianity and the Class Struggle, trans. Dirk Jellema. Grand Rapids: Piet Hein Publishers, 1950. Original title: Het Sociale Vraagstuk en de Christelijke Religie. Amsterdam: Wormser, 1891.

The URL below is that of the Jellema translation: http://www.reformationalpublishingproject.com/pdf_books/Scanned_Books_PDF/ChristianityandtheClassStruggle.pdf

Notes from Jan H. Boer, the proprietor of this website:

(1) On the dedication page of the Jellema translation you will see three sets of initials. They represent the names of the following highly respected scholars at Calvin College:

W. H. J. – William Harry Jellema
H. S. – Henry Stob
H. Z. – Henry Zylstra

It is interesting that Dirk Jellema – whether related to WHJ, I do not know – chose those three scholars. Indeed, they were first-rate scholars, but this book is about fiery passion for the poor, not a characteristic for which these men were famous. I refer you to my book Nigeria’s Decades of Blood 1980-2002, pp. 22-23 for further thoughts along this line. Go to that book on the Islamica page of this website.

It is significant that Nicholas Wolterstorff dedicates his small but powerful book, Reason within the Bounds of Religion, to the same three scholars in these words: “To one Harry and two Henry’s – Jellema, Stob, Zylstra – who twenty-five years ago first gave me a vision of what it is to be a Christian scholar.” (For that book itself go to the GUEST ARTICLES page on this website.)

(2) It is interesting that during the very month this entry is written – September, 2016 – the Canadian magazine Maclean’s features an infomercial from the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) that is a direct product of the Kuyperian tradition as it has developed in Canada and can truthfully claim to represent the passion and insights Kuyper expresses in his book of so long ago. Here is a successful example of a contemporary application of the Kuyperian tradition in another culture, both philosophically and structurally (Maclean’s, pp. 32-35). Jellema and Stob, two of the scholars to whom this translation is dedicated, did not favour the rise of the CLAC as a culturally inappropriate transplant of Kuyperian thought to Canada that would discredit the “tradition.” If they could see what’s on the ground today, they would have to eat their words! Apart from the power of faith and the God this tradition seeks to serve, these scholars did not realize the power of the superior logic inherent in this tradition that was able to overcome the dualistic logic of their secular Canadian challengers even in the secular (!) courts.

The Practice of Godliness. Transl. Marian M. Schoolland. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948.

The Work of the Holy Spirit, trans. Hencdrik de Vries. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1941, 1946. This work can be accessed at: www.ccel.org AND http://www.calvin.edu/library/database/crcpi/fulltext/ctj/122693.pdf. Original title: Het werk van de Heilige Geest.

"Even though we honor the Father and believe on the Son, how little do we live in the Holy Spirit!" Throughout the history of the Christian tradition, the Holy Spirit has been one of the most elusive aspects of the faith. During Kuyper's time, very little attention had been given to the person and works of the Holy Spirit. Kuyper recognized this void, and as the editor of the weekly religious publication entitled The Herald, Kuyper dedicated approximately one hundred short entries to the works of the Holy Spirit. The Work of the Holy Spirit is a compilation of these entries organized into three Volumes. Volume One addresses the influence of the Holy Spirit in the Church as a whole, while Volumes Two and Three focus on the works of the Holy Spirit in the individual. Kuyper's entries provide a comprehensive study of the Holy Spirit, exploring in detail how the Holy Spirit sanctifies both the Church and its members.

Emmalon Davis
CCEL Staff Writer (see above CCEL URL.)
More comments on the above book can be accessed at: http://stevebishop.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

"A turning point in my life!" – Herman Dooyeweerd

Thought provoking! Abraham Kuyper’s Pentecost is a sort of systematic theology written from the viewpoint of pneumatology. Dealing with the centrality of the human heart, that focal point of one’s existence where God works within an individual, Kuyper directs his attention to the relatively lesser-read Christians. Conversational in style, short and incisive, he calls his readers to repentance by accepting the Holy Spirit as God who came to live among and within His people. His meditations include frequent quotations from the Dutch Psalter and Biblical references. Uplifting!

The Implications of Public Confession, trans. H. Zylstra. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1934.* This book can be accessed at: https://www.google.com/search?q=kuyper++the+implications+of+public+confession&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 AND at: http://www.reformationalpublishingproject.com/pdf_books/scanned_books_pdf/implicationsofpublicconfession.pdf.

Williams, Brett, “Reflections from the Evangelical Theological Society,” Part II, November 23, 2016.

John Witvliet, a scholar from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, presented an excellent paper entitled, “Protestant Suspicion of Liturgical Form: The Curious Case of Abraham Kuyper.” In his presentation, Witvliet explored Kuyper’s oft-changing and ever-evolving views on liturgical worship as a microcosm for evangelical angst between form and sincerity. A brief survey of Kuyper’s works and lectures revealed his back and forth views on the values and fears of formal liturgies in worship. Notice John H. Wood’s periodization of Kuyper’s views (from Witvliet’s presentation): https://centralmn.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/reflections-from-the-evangelical-theological-society-part-ii/

The following comments are from the URL below:

De Heraut from 11 Jan 1891 - 29 March 1891.

For Kuyper 'Baptism is not complete without its complement, the Holy Supper'. This posed a problem as Kuyper advocated infant baptism. In part to overcome this public confession was required after baptism…. http://stevebishop.blogspot.com/2012/08/kuypers-implications-of-public.html

This short booklet was translated by Henry Zylstra from part III of the Dutch Voor Distel een Murt (1891). It was originally published in English in 1934 by Zondervan. It has since been republished by Federation of Protestant Reformed People's Societies (1934) and by Kessinger Publishing as a print-on-demand book (2010).

Voor Distel een Murt comprised 44 devotions on the sacraments, baptism, public confession and the Lord's supper. The twelve on public confession make up this booklet. They were originally written for, and published taking the 'holy supper'. In these short chapters Kuyper examines the nature of this public confession. He looks at the 'who' and 'why' questions, as well as the questions of church membership and tithing. It is available here as a pdf.

--------, transl. G. M. van Pernis, The Biblical Doctrine of Election. Original Dutch text taken from Kuyper’s E Voto. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1934. This document can be accessed at: http://www.reformationalpublishingproject.com/pdf_books/Scanned_Books_PDF/BiblicalDoctrineofElection.pdf

Lectures on Calvinism. Kuyper's Stone Lectures delivered at Princeton. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1898, 1931. Continuous reprinting. This book can be accessed at: http://www.reformationalpublishingproject.com/...

Ballor, Jordan. “When Kuyper Came to Princeton.” The Calvinist International, December 5, 2013. https://calvinistinternational.com/....

Trans. Harry Van Dyke. “Eudokia: Address at the 25th juilee of Eudokia Hospital.” Rotterdam, October 21, 1915. Translated 2022.

----------, Pro Rege of het Koningschap van Christus. Vol. 3: Het Koningschap van Christus in Zijn Werking. Kampen NL: J. H. Kok, 1912. https://sources.neocalvinism.org.... See also https://abrahamkuyper.com/ and http://www.dutchreformed.org/...

This is one out of three volumes. Most if not all of this series has been translated by the Dutch Reformed Translation Society of Grand Rapids MI and published by Lexham, Bellingham WA. https://abrahamkuyper.com/

Christ and Mohammad.” Translation and editing is shrouded in history. From Pro Rege of het koningschap van Christus, vol. 1, chapter 1. Kampen, the Netherlands: J. H. Kok, 1911.

Christ's kingship eroded.” Translation and editing is shrouded in history. From Pro Rege of het koningschap van Christus, vol. 1, chapters 2-6. Kampen, the Netherlands: J. H. Kok, 1911.

Trans. J. Hendrik de Vries, “The Biblical Criticism of the Present Day,” The Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. LXI, No. 243, July 1904 (pp. 409-688). This document can be accessed at: http://www.reformationalpublishingproject.com/pdf_books/Scanned_Books_PDF/BibliothecaSacra_TheBiblicalCriticismofthePresentDay.pdf

Trans. J. Hendrik de Vries, Encyclopedia of Sacred Theology: Its Principles. With an introduction by Benjamin B. Warfield. 3 vols. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1898.

The first English translation was published in 1897. This edition was prepared and edited by Benjamin C. Richards, founder and President of Reforming Science.

Wyatt, Michael. “Abraham Kuyper’s Encyclopedia of Sacred Theology (Selections).” Post Barthian, March 15, 2012. Wyatt states his selective version was published on www.LuLu.com.

Trans. J. Hendrik de Vries, “Calvinism: The Origin and Safeguard of Our Constitutional Liberties.” The Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. LII, No. 207, July 1895 (pp. 385-675).

Trans. George Kamps, “Sphere Sovereignty,” a public address delivered at the inauguration of the Free University, October 20, 1880. Another translation is available in James D. Bratt, ed., Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998, pp. 461-490. Original title: “Souvereiniteit in eigen kring.”

De Engelen Gods. Kampen, Netherlands: J. H. Kok, 1923.

The Evolution of the Use of the Bible in Europe.” E4 Group – Free Bible Software.

Rich and detailed! Kuyper’s The Evolution of the Use of the Bible in Europe focuses on the progressive changes in mankind’s history, a time of tyranny and oppression, followed by national growth and finally a conscious development of individual lives. At the close of the 18th century, the mighty impulse for Bible distribution began in Holland, spreading to Great Britain. Bible societies became indispensable, springing up across Europe and America, spreading the Holy Scriptures. Kuyper teaches us affiliation to our family first, then our nation and finally, our world! Stupendous!

"Astounding scholarship!" – An anonymous reviewer

List of many Kuyper writings. Can be accessed at: https://www.bol.com/...

Anonymous, “Abraham Kuyper: Holland's universal man.” N.p; n.d.

Abraham Kuyper quotes— https://www.bing.com/...


Joint Kuyper-Boer Writings*

Jan H. Boer, Gen. Ed., Canadian Kuyperian Publications. www.SocialTheology.com/kuyperiana.htm, 2019 and Library and Archives Canada, 2019. An E-book.

Kuyper, Abraham and Boer, Jan H. Faith, Science, Miracles, Islam: Four Kuyperian Essays. www.lulu.com, 2010.

The two translated Kuyper documents are also available on the Calvin College website < www.ccel.org > and on < www.lulu.com > Search for "Abraham Kuyper."

Prefatory Information

Introduction

Kuyper, Abraham. You Can Do Greater Things than Christ: Demons, Miracles, Healing and Science. Transl. Jan H. Boer. Jos: Nigeria: Institute of Church & Society, 1991, 1993, 2014.

--------. “The Mystery of Islam.” Transl. Jan H. Boer. 2015

Boer, Jan H. “Miracles: Nine Propositions.” 1994, 2016.

--------. Science without Faith Is Dead. Jos, Nigeria: Institute of Church & Society, 1991, 1993, 2016.


Boer’s Writings about Kuyper*

Note: There are already three such items in the Boer-Kuyper book above.

“History and Nature of Kuyper Meditations.” Not yet published except here. August, 2015.

“Kuyper the Evangelical,” CC, May 26, 2014 (p. 11).

“The International Kuyper.” CC, March 24, 2014.

“Eight Social Kuyperian Summary Points.” 2003. Boer, Nigeria’s Decades of Blood – 1980-2002. Vol. 1 of Studies in Christian-Muslim Relations. Belleville, Ontario: Essence Publishing, 2003, pp. 16-23. See the volume on the Islamica page of this website.

“The Role of the Holy Spirit in Structural Transformation According to Abraham Kuyper: 29 Propositions.” Lecture delivered to Reformed Spirituality Network, Hope College, Holland, MI. 1999.

Your notes on the role of the Holy Spirit in structural transformation inspired me. It made me wonder whether you could write an article. on the topic of "Antithesis and Spiritual Warfare." I love that quote from Kuyper about the power of Satan (should "satan" not be capitalized?). Your point about our Christian schools being the result of thinking that embraced the antithesis is well made. How can we maintain this sense of contradiction without becoming isolationistic.? You might want to explain why we should not drop the term "antithesis" in favour of "spiritual warfare."

Bert Witvoet, an email, October 22, 1999,
Editor-in-chief, Christian Courier


Boer’s Kuyper Translations*

Abraham Kuyper, trans. Jan H. Boer, The ascent of the Son—The descent of the Spirit: 26 Meditations on Ascension and Pentecost. With an introduction from the translator. A Christian Classics Ethereal Library e-book, 2014. https://www.ccel.org/cc... AND at www.lulu.com - In both cases the book is free of charge. However, with Lulu you have to go through the normal purchase protocol but you end up with a bill for $00.00.

Bible quotations from the New International Version from Zondervan Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.

Thanks professor! I was able to access and download the book. I have it in my computer! I read it through. It is really good. I like it so much. It encourages my spiritual life and builds my understanding. I will follow up some of the other books on your website when at TCNN in August by God grace! - Ezekiel Sudu, Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria missionary to Sierra Leone, 2015.

Clay Cooke, “Restoring Abraham Kuyper's Call for Mysticism: 'Be near unto God' as a balance to Neo-Calvinist theology and studies.'” Laymen's Lounge, Kailua-Kona, Hawai. N.d. Restoring Abraham Kuyper's Call For Mysticism - The Laymen's Lounge (thelaymenslounge.com)

Note from Boer, the proprietor of this website: This item is not a Boer translation. However, it is so closely related to the above translated book that I have decided to place Cooke's article underneath the above.

“International Popularity – Local Unpopularity.” Trouw, January 20, 2014.

H. Algra, Transl. Jan H. Boer, “Doctor Abraham Kuyper.” Het Wonder van de 19e eeuw: Van Vrije Kerken en Kleine Luyden, fourth printing revised and expanded. Franeker, The Netherlands: T. Wever, 1976. Chapter 24, pp. 304-316.

A.C. De Gooyer and Rudolf Van Reest, transl. and eds. Jan H. Boer and Frances A. Boer-Prins. Abraham Kuyper – A Close-Up: A Treasury of the Personal and Pious Kuyper.

“The Cross Versus the Tree of Liberty.” Original full Dutch title: Niet de Vrijheidsboom Maar het Kruis: Toespraak ten Opening van de Tiende Deputatenvergadering in het Eeuwjaar der Fransche Revolutie. Amsterdam: J. A. Wormser. Translation published online right here by www.SocialTheology.com/kuyperiana.htm, 2017. It is also expected to be published on Calvin College’s < www.ccel.org > and < www.lulu.com >.


Guest Writings About Kuyper*

Annual Kuyper Lecture | The Center for Public Justice (cpjustice.org)

Previous Kuyper Lectures—this website will lead you to a whole series of (about) Kuyper lectures.

James Dekker, “New Life for 120-Year-old words.” Review of Jessica R. and Robert J. Joustra, eds., Calvinism for a Secular Age. Christian Courier, February 6, 2023, p. 11.

Michael Wagenman, “Abraham Kuyper: Cancel or celebrate?” The Banner, October 2021, pp. 32-34.

Johan Snel, De zeven levens van Abraham Kuyper: Portret van een ongrijpbaar staatsman. Netherlands: Prometheus, 2020 (400 pp.).

Aart Deddens, ed., Special Kuyper edition of Sophie, the bimonthly of the Stichting voor Christelijke Filosofie, Amersfoort, the Netherlands. February 2021. www.christelijkefilosofie.nl.

Download here

A special edition of Sophie containing contemporary updates and evaluations of Abraham Kuyper. The articles are all translated from the Dutch by Dr. Jan H. Boer with the exception of one item Boer is not qualified to translate. So, that one is left in the original Dutch.

----------, Editorial: “The sovereign sector of grace?” p. 3.

----------, “Oxygen for the soul,” a marginal commentary, p. 7.

----------, “Counting pages,” a marginal commentary about writing meditations, p. 47.

Johan Snel, “Opening essay: Kuyper as journalist,” pp. 4-7.

Henk de Vries, “Together and Sovereign against Corona: A Kuyperian Approach against the Pandemic.” Original title: “Samen en Soevereign tegen Corona: Een Kuyperiaansche Aanpak van de Pandemic,” pp.8-13.

Aart Deddens, “Henriette Sophia Suzanna in the Shadow of Father Abraham,” pp. 14-15.

Joost Hengstmengel, “Abraham Kuyper and Economics,” pp. 16-19.

Kees van der Kooi, “Kuyper as Democrat: The Theological Background,” pp. 20-23.

Jan Hoogland, “The Common People,” pp. 24-26.

Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaker, “Kuyper’s Influence on and Thinking about Art,” pp. 26-29.

Ab Flipse, “Faith and Science," pp. 30-34.

Rene van Woudenberg, “Advocate for Academic Freedom,” pp. 34-37.

George Harinck, “A Mighty Intuitive Grasp: How Kuyper Arrived at the Notion of Sphere Sovereignty,” pp. 38-41.

Hillie van de Streek, “God’s Ordinances and Christ’s Gospel of Salvation,” pp. 42-45.

Kathleen Ferrier, “The Kuyper Centennial,” pp. 48-49.

Johan Snel, De zeven levens van Abraham Kuyper. Prometheus (Netherlands), September 2020. Paperback 400 pp.

A century ago, 1921, the most famous Dutchman died. That is to say, besides Queen Wilhelmina, Kuyper was the only Dutchman to appear on the front page of The New York Times. Kuyper was a “wonder child” with “ten heads and a hundred arms,” elected in 1906 as the most popular man next to the most vigorous woman, the young Queen.

This book or portrait opens up surprising perspectives on the seven of his colourful lives. To begin with, the adventurer: alpinist and world traveler. Then there are those for which he is better known: a celebrated orator, scientist, activist, journalist and statesman. Each chapter is based on new sources, always with biographical disclosures.

Together, these chapters offer a caleidoscopic image of a man whose multi-sidedness was surpassed only by his improbable productivity. He wrote more than two hundred books, ten thousand articles, traveled half the world and was a fanatic mountaineer.

He had more admirers than opponents, but his sworn enemies comprised of almost the complete Dutch elite, including the young Queen. At the same time, he was praised as a statesman and dined with kings and emperors.

Tim de Wit, Review of above in Jonge Historici, March 8, 2021.

Harry Van Dyke—Bibliography

Author unknown, transl. John Vriend, “’Let my people go’—Abraham Kuyper’s Christian-Historical political imagination.”

Dylan Pahman, “’Going abroad’ in the German Academy: Abraham Kuyper as Continental philosopher.” Calvin Theological Journal, April 2023, pp. 3-28.).

ACTON Institute, “The Crisis in the Public Square: A Response from the Kuyperian Tradition”—A Conference to be held on November 5-6, 2018, Grand Rapids, MI.

Apart from the topics, 3 important features of this confeence rare:

  1.  The conference is called by ACTON, a Catholic think tank
  2.  The multi-denominational range of lecturers
  3.  The international roots of the lecturers—literally from all over the world

BIBLIOGRAPHY

David Koyzis, “Notes from a Byzantine-Rite Calvinist: Statement on Social Justice, 8:The Church.” October 12, 2018. 15Dec14c.pdf (christiancourier.ca)

Koyzis’ Notes also cover a dozen or so other justice issues.

---------- “Kuyper’s Moment.” CC, December 14, 2015, p. 14. 15Dec14c.pdf (christiancourier.ca)

“Nearly a century after his death, Abraham Kuyper’s moment may finally have arrived. It was a long time in coming.”

“At a time when an increasingly aggressive secularism is challenging a biblical witness in so many areas, Kuyper once again offers the tools we need to live obediently as redeemed sinners in the public realm—every square inch of it.”

----------, “Abraham Kuyper and the ‘bearer of principle.’” Christian Courier, July 13, 2015, p. 3.

Thiago Moreira, Abraham Kuyper e as Bases Para uma Teologia Publica. Editora Monergismo, 2020. Notes by David Koyzis.

Translation of title: Abraham Kuyper and the bases for a public theology.

Translation of Table of Content.

Lloyd Rang, “Pillarization and pluralism: Why Kuyper’s ‘marketplace of ideas’ has incredible relevance for 2019.” Christian Courier, November 2019.

Junggi Kim, Junzi of Confucianism and Neo-Calvinist Christian theology: Suggesting Neo-Calvinistic journalism ethics to journalists who live in Confucian culture: A thesis for the degree of Master of Intercultural Reformed theology. Kampen, The Netherlands: Kampen Theological University, August 2018.

Marvin Olaski, “Nuggets in a gold mine: Reporting through the Creator's lens.” World magazine, August 14, 2021. wng.org

Henk de Vries, “Professor's Opinion: tackling corona the Abraham Kuyper way.” Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, RSM Discovery, March 16, 2021. Professor's Opinion: tackling corona the Abraham Kuyper way - RSM Discovery

Jordan J. Ballor, “What Kuyper can teach us 100 years later.” Christianity Today, November 6, 2020.

James A. De Jong, “Learning from the Faithful Meditations of Abraham Kuyper.” Adapted by publisher Lexham Press, February 20, 2020. Includes reference to more Kuyper books from Lexham.

Derek C. Schuurman, “On Kuyper and Technology, or How a Voice From the Past Can Speak to our Digital Age”, Christian Scholar's Review, 49:2, 161-174.

Lloyd Rang, “Polarization and pluralism: Why Kuyper's 'marketplace of ideas' has incredib le relevance for 2019.” CC, November 11, 2019.

Michael Wagenman,Engaging the World with Abraham Kuyper. Bellingham WA: Lexham Press, 2019.

----------, “How should Christians engage the world? In conversation with Abraham Kuyper,” An interview. Grand Rapids: Acton Institute, February 5, 2020 (a recording).

Engaging the World with Abraham Kuyper is a wonderful little book. In it Michael Wagenman draws on Abraham Kuyper to teach God's people how to engage with the various spheres of culture. It is biblically conversant, culturally savvy, and wonderfully accessible. Highly recommended."

– Bruce Ashford, Provost/Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Theology and Culture, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

In Engaging the World with Abraham Kuyper, Michael Wagenman explores the practical application of Kuyper's public theology. Using Kuyper's own life as an example, he shows us how the gospel can permeate all aspects of society: our identity, public discourse, education, the church, politics. Ultimately, this means engaging the world with perceptive truth that's mindful of the dynamics at work in our time and place.

Todd Statham, Review of Engaging the World with Abraham Kuyper [Lived Theology Series] by Michael R. Wagenman, The Banner, January 27, 2020.

Oliver O'Donovan, “Every Square Inch” First Things, November 2018. and https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/./every-square-inch

Harry A. Van Belle, “The deaconhood of believers and the Kuyperian vision.” No further data obtainable.

Dayo Adewoye, “Christians in History: Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920).” The online home of The Christian Mind, Lagos, June 23 2018.

John Hiemstra, “What Did Kuyper Really Say? Rescuing ‘Sphere Sovereignty’ from Admirers.” CC, May 28, 2018.

Peter Schuurman, “Father Abraham’s Legacy and Future.” CC, October 23, 2017.

M. J. Broersma, transl. n. n., ed. Jan H. Boer, “The Naked Kuyper.” The original Dutch in Trouw, October 6, 2017.

Marten Stol, ed. R. J. van der Spek, transl. H. J. J. Feenstra and/or Dennis Teitsma, Was Abraham Reformed? A practical way of Reformed thinking. Exaugural lecture at the Vrije Universiteit at Amsterdam, November 10, 2005. It appears there either are two different versions or there is confusion about the origin and history of this document. version 1 AND version 2.

Steve Bishop, “Kuyperiana in 2015.” Koers: The Bulletin of Christian Scholarship, 20 December 2016.

----------, “Kuyperiana in 2017.” Koers: Bulletin for Christian Scholarship, July 10, 2018.

Richard Mouw, “From Kuyper to Keller: Why Princeton's Prize Controversy Is So Ironic: A former winner explains how the seminary honor that once brought the Reformed Community together is now splitting it.” CT, March 27, 2017.

Steve Bishop, “A History of the Reformational Movement in Britain: The pre-World War II years.” Koers (Online), Vol. 80, no. 4 Pretoria, 2015. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2304-85572015000400007.

Daniel Jin Su Hwang, “The pluriformity of the church by Herman Bavinck and Abraham Kuyper: A research paper for Calvin Theological Seminary", 2015 (20 pp.).

Emmanuel Agenebe Irimiya, The kingship of Christ in Abraham Kuyper's theology and its relevance to the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria (CRCN) Research project submitted to the Theological College of Northern Nigeria, Bukuru/University of Jos, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Theology degree (M.Th.), May 2015.

Robert Sweetman, “Reunite devotion, confessional literacy and Christian action.” CC, April 27, 2015, p. 4.

Joel Wilcox, “Missions to Muslims: Abraham Kuyper Illuminates an Unchanging Goal.” Lexham Press Blog, December 16, 2016.

J. Glenn Friesen, Neo-Calvinism and Christian Theosophy: Franz von Baader, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Dooyeweerd. Calgary: Aevum Books, 2015. Abstract at: https://www.amazon.com/Neo-Calvinism...

For a 30-day free reading trial: https://www.amazon.com/kindle...

James Eglinton and George Harinck, eds., Neo-Calvinism and the French Revolution. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014 (210 pp.).

James Bratt, “Conscious Christianity: The life and legacy of Abraham Kuyper.” The Banner, August 2014, pp. 18-20.

DeJong, James, “The Neglected Kuyper.” An unpublished lecture delivered at The Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, April 2014.

Reformed Churchmen, “Dr Abraham Kuyper, Dutch theologian, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, scholar and author,” a blog with a brief history and extensive source of Kuyperiana, November 8, 2014.

James Bratt with The Banner, “Conscious Christianity: The life and legacy of Abraham Kuyper,” an interview. The Banner, August 2014, pp. 18-20.

“The Role of the church in society: Two perspectives.” The Banner, August 2014.

Doug Vande Griend, “Sphere sovereignty: Engaging all square inches of life in the right way,” pp. 32, 34.

Kathy Vandergrift, “The ecology of Kingdom witness,” pp. 33-34.

Wageman, Mike. “Can Kuyper Still Speak?” CC, Feb 10, 2014. This article can be accessed at: http://www.christiancourier.ca/...

De Bruyn, Jan, Abraham Kuyper: A Pictorial Biography. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014.

James Eglinton and George Harinck, eds., Neo-Calvinism and the French Revolution. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. An extensive preview of this book can be found at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=uGYmBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=abraham+kuyper+niet+de+vrijheidsboom+maar+het+kruis&source=bl&ots=CRQPolWN-j&sig=APOlpxiwlGmp8CgBGntmqVhQkak&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG-8bQ64_RAhVUzWMKHePoA3YQ6AEIJDAC#v=onepage&q=abraham%20kuyper%20niet%20de%20vrijheidsboom%20maar%20het%20kruis&f=false.

Some important notes from Boer, the proprietor of this website:

To those not familiar with Reformational philosophy, the title of this book may seem arcane and uninteresting. I, on the other hand, regard this book as one of the most significant, most informative and most interesting of recent English-language Reformational publications. Hence I lure you into reading this book by providing you with the information below right here on this page, instead of “hiding” it in an attachment. Some of the chapters emphasizing the Bavinck contribution to this tradition are also found in the Bavinck section of this website, while the one about the headscarf also appears on the Islamica page.

Paul Wells, “Foreword,” pp. x-xi:
Wells summarizes the naked Neo-Calvinistic truth so resented by French academia and concludes that France is “a highly conservative country hidden behind libertarian rhetoric.”

James Eglinton, “Preface,” p. xii:
Eglinton writes, “Since the late 1990s, neo-Calvinism has enjoyed a resurgence of international scholarly interest. This has largely been centred on the ever-increasing availability of its foremost thinkers, Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck, in English. That having been said, this movement should not be typecast as an exclusively Anglophone occurrence. Bavinck and Kuyper are now being read in Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Hungarian, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese. In the global undertaking that is Christian theology, they are finding their place in often surprising contexts.

“The growth of engagement with neo-Calvinism is, however, particularly strong in North America. There, numerous conferences, periodicals, websites and books encourage research on neo-Calvinism. It is home to both the Kuyper Center of Public Theology (Princeton Theological Seminary) and the Bavinck Institute (Calvin Theological Seminary). At present, North America is the scene of a great exchange of ideas between neo-Calvinism and other theological traditions. By contrast, little comparable scholarly infrastructure has been developed in neo-Calvinism’s native Europe.”

Comments by Boer, the proprietor of this website:
1. The above comments give the impression that Neo-Calvinism is primarily a theological tradition. However, it is much wider: it is a total worldview tradition covering every field of academic endeavour and every aspect of life. Neo-Calvinist scholars are found in all disciplines and its activists in numerous social causes and crusades.
2. Eglinton for some strange reason has failed to mention what is probably the most aggressive Neo-Calvinist institution in North America, namely the post-graduate Institute of Church & Society of Toronto, Canada. Surely, the ICS deserves pride of place in this lineup. It is, furthermore, the prime example of the broad scope of Neo-Calvinism beyond theology.

Chapter headings and authors:

Chapter 1: James Bratt, “Abraham Kuyper and the French Revolution,” pp. 1-12.
Chapter 2: George Harinck: “Herman Bavinck and the Neo-Calvinist Concept of the French Revolution,” pp. 13-28.
Chapter 3: James Eglinton, “From Babel to Pentecost via Paris and Amsterdam: Multilingualism in Neo-Calvinist and Revolutionary Thought,” pp. 29-60. (This digital preview stops in the middle of this chapter.)
Chapter 4: Mark W. Elliott, “Revolution, Theology and the Reformed: Learning from History,” pp. 61-80.
Chapter 5: Robert S. Covolo, “The Theo-Politics of Fashion: Groen van Prinsterer and the ‘Terror’ of French Revolutionary Dress,” pp. 81-98.
Chapter 6: Alissa M. Wilkenson, “Long Films about Love: Kuyper and Kieslowski’s ‘Three Colours’ Trilogy,” pp. 99-114.
Chapter 7: Ewout Klei, “Dutch Orthodox Protestant Paries and the Ghost of the French Revolution,” pp. 115-126.
Chapter 8: Hans Burger, “Kuyper’s Anti-Revolutionary Doctrine of Scripture,” pp. 127-142.
Chapter 9: Wolter Huttinga, “‘Marie Antoinette’ or Mystical Depth?: Herman Bavinck on Theology as Queen of the Sciences,” pp. 143-154.
Chapter 10: Matthew Kaemingk, “French Secularity and the Islamic Headscarf: A Theological Deconstruction,” pp. 155-176.
Chapter 11: Hugo den Boer, “Another Revolution: Towards a New Explanation of the Rise of Neo-Calvinism,” pp. 177-194.

Michael R. Wagenman, A Critical Analysis of the Power of the Church in the Ecclesiology of Abraham Kuyper: An abstract. PhD Dissertation, Trinity College, University of Bristol, 2014.

John Bowlin, ed., Calvinism and Democracy. The Kuyper Center Review, Vol. 4. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014 (xi + 199 pp).

In 2012 a group of scholars gathered at Princeton Theological Seminary for a conference titled, “Calvinism and Democracy.” The purpose of this conference was to reflect upon the neo-Calvinist legacy, to explore its theological roots, and to assess in what ways this tradition might provide resources for democratic criticism and renewal. The Kuyper Center Review (Volume Four): Calvinism and Democracy represents the published proceedings of this conference. http://tgc-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/themelios/Themelios40-1.pdf#page=

Kuperus, T., “An Eclectic Inheritance: Kuyper’s Politics Today.” Comment, Oct. 25, 2013.

Smith, James K. A, “Naturalizing ‘Shalom’: Confessions of a Kuyperian Secularist.” Comment, June 28, 2013.

Neal De Roo, Review of Richard J. Mouw, The challenges of cultural discipleship: Essays in the line of Kuyper, Pro Rege, June 2013, pp. 37-39.

Van Boggende, Bert, “Kuyper on Art,” CC, April 8, 2013, pp. 11, 16.

Simon P. Kennedy, “Abraham Kuyper and his political thought: Calvinist and Pluralist.” The Reformed Theological Review, Vol. 72, No. 2, August 2013.

----------, “Abraham Kuyper: Calvinist anti-revolutionary politician and political thinker.” Australian Journal of Politics and History, Vol. 61, No. 2, 2015, pp. 169-183.

----------, “Abraham Kuyper and his political thought: Calvinist and pluralist.” The Reformed Theological Review, August 2013, vol. 72, No. 2.

Steve Bishop and John H. Kok, On Kuyper: A collection of readings on the life, work and legacy of Abraham Kuyper. Sioux Center, Iowa: Dordt College Press, April 2013.

This is an wide-ranging source of Kuyperiana from many authors on many subjects. Don't miss it.

James D. Bratt, Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist: Christian Democrat. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013. This book can be partially accessed at: https://books.google.ca/books...

An incomplete preview is accessible at: https://books.google.ca/books...

Daniel J. DeVries. Interview with James D. Bratt about his new book Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist; Christian Democrat. Kerux, a student publication at Calvin Theological Seminary, Oct. 2, 2013. This document can be accessed at: http://www.calvinseminary.edu/...

Davey Henreckson, “Can these bones live? Unexpected lessons from the life of Kuyper.” Review of James Bratt: Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Comment, Fall 2013 (pp. 56-62).

Eric Miller, “How a Dutch Neo-Calvinist Helped Birth an Intellectual Movement.” Review of James Bratt: Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. CT, April 2013. This article can be accessed at: http://www.christianitytoday.com/...

Robert Bruinsma, “Abraham Kuyper and the Dinosaurs.” CC, September 26, 2016, p. 8.

James Bratt, Abraham Kuyper and the Image of America in Dutch Neo-Calvinism. 2013. This document can be accessed at: https://books.google.ca/books?id=U4VqOAuQWagC&pg=PA614&lpg=PA614&dq=JAMES+BRATT+ABRAHAM+KUYPER+AND+THE+IMAGE+OF+aMERICA+IN+dUTCH+NEO-CALVINISM&source=bl&ots=ertPuiz-dr&sig=6eSS_BkbPY3jPssRYzUJr_uUu4M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjr8pS167XRAhUP-mMKHVC9C5cQ6AEIVTAJ#v=onepage&q=JAMES%20BRATT%20ABRAHAM%20KUYPER%20AND%20THE%20IMAGE%20OF%20aMERICA%20IN%20dUTCH%20NEO-CALVINISM&f=false

Wood Jr., John Halsey. Going Dutch in the Modern Age: Abraham Kuyper’s Struggle for a Free Church in The Netherlands. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Jacob Klapwijk, “Abraham Kuyper on Science, Theology and University.” Transl. H.D. Morton and G. Groenewoud. Philosophia Reformata 78 (2013), pp. 18–46. This article can be accessed at: http://www.allofliferedeemed.co.uk/Klapwijk/Klapwijk2013KuyperOnScience.pdf

Steve Bishop and John H. Kok, “On Kuyper: A Collection of Readings on the Life, Work & Legacy of Abraham Kuyper.” Sioux Center: Dordt College Press, 2013. Table of Contents

In this volume we have scholars using the Kuyperian framework to critique and develop Christian perspectives on the church, miracles, education, politics, scholarship, fashion, art, science….

Kuyper has been described as a renaissance man, and this renaissance man is certainly undergoing a renaissance. This reader, a collection of articles written on the life, work, and legacy of Kuyper, provides evidence that work on Kuyper and Kuyperianism is alive and well. This book provides and introduction to Kuyper's life and thought through the eyes of others. The breadth and scope of these articles all stand as testimony to Kuyper's desire to see the lordship of Christ extended to every area of life.

Table of Contents

Part I

Abraham Kuyper: heir of an anti-revolutionary tradition / Harry Van Dyke --
Abraham Kuyper: his early life and conversion / Catherine M.E. Kuyper --
Raging tumults of soul: the private life of Abraham Kuyper / James D. Bratt --
How Abraham Kuyper became a Kuyperian / Roger D. Henderson --
How Abraham Kuyper became a Christian Democrat / Harry Van Dyke --
The political spirituality of Abraham Kuyper / McKendree R. Langley Every inch for Christ: Abraham Kuyper on the reform of the church / James E. McGoldrick --
Abraham Kuyper, answering criticisms of his worldview / Cornelius P. Venema --
Claiming every inch: the worldview of Abraham Kuyper / James E. McGoldrick --
Called back to stewardship: recovering and developing Kuyper's cosmic pneumatology / Vincent Bacote --
Abraham Kuyper on creation and miracle / Chris Gousmett --
Abraham Kuyper and the church: from Calvin to the neo-Calvinists / Michael R. Wagenman --
The two-kingdom doctrine: a comparitive study of Martin Luther and Abraham Kuyper / Timothy P. Palmer.

Part II

Kuyper's philosophy of science / H. Dooyeweerd --
Abraham Kuyper: cultural critic / Edward E. Ericson --
The viability of Kuyper's idea of Christian scholarship / Daniel F.M. Strauss --
Abraham Kuyper's rhetorical public theology with implications for faith and learning / Vincent Bacote --
Abraham Kuyper on science, theology, and university / Jacob Klapwijk --
Common grace and Christian action in Abraham Kuyper / S.U. Zuidema --
Antithesis and common grace / Jacob Klapwijk --
Common grace or the antithesis? Towards a consistent understanding of Kuyper's "sphere sovereignty" / Timothy I. McConnel --
Spere sovereignty for Kuyper and for us / D.H. Th. Vollenhoven --
Abraham Kuyper's philosophy of science / Del Ratzsch --
Critical reflections of Abraham Kuyper's Evolutie address / Clarence Menninga --
A theology of the arts: Kuyper's ideas on art and religion / Peter S. Heslam --
Re-fashioning faith: the promise of a Kuyperian theology of fashion / Robert S. Covolo --
Rehabilitating the State in America: Kuyper's overlooked contribution / Timothy Sherratt --
E pluribus unum and faith-based welfare reform: a Kuyperian moment for the church in God's world / James Skillen --
Abraham Kuyper, South Africa, and apartheid / George Harinck --
Abraham Kuyper and the cult of true womanhood: an analysis of De Eerepositie der Vrouw / Mary Stuart Van Leeuwen --
Kuyper's legacy and multiculturalism: gender in his conception of democracy and sphere sovereignty / Hille J. van de Streek --
A bibliography of works on/about Abraham Kuyper / Steve Bishop.

Rang, Lloyd, “The Scandal of the Reformed Mind.” CC, Sept. 12, 2011, p. 3.

Kaemingk, M., “Faith, Work, and Beards: Why Abraham Kuyper Thinks We Need All Three.” Comment, July 8, 2011.

Mouw, Richard J., The Challenges of Cultural Discipleship: Essays in the Line of Abraham Kuyper. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011.

Mouw, Richard J., Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011.

Bert den Boggende, “Book Presents a More Approachable Kuyper,” a review of Richard Mouw, Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction. CC, February 27, 2012.

J. H. Wood, review of Richard Mouw, Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011 (148 pp.). This document can be accessed at: www.marketsandmorality.com/index.php/mandm/article/download/63/60

The Kuyper Center Review. The Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2010-2014.

Kristopher Walhof, “Afrikaner Origins and Neo-Calvinism.” A paper for a History class at Regent College, Vancouver BC, Winter 2010.

Van Boggende, Bert, “Abraham Kuyper and Work.” CC, 2010.

J. Visscher, trans. Jan H. Boer, “The Grave of Johanna Hendrika Kuyper.” Reformatorisch Dagblad, January 29, 2010.

Carl Tuyl, “Abraham Kuyper’s Life of Faith.” The Banner, January 2006, p. 38.

Jeroen Koch, “Abraham Kuyper: Een biografie.” Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Boom, 2006.

Reviews:

Roel Kuiper, “Met Kuyper zijn we nog niet klaar.Beweging, Winter 2006, p. 46.

Gerry Gerrits, “The complete Kuyper.” CC, November 12, 2018. http://www.christiancourier.ca/....

C. A. Tamse, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284783904_J_Koch_Abraham_Kuyper_Een_biografie/link/565925a008aefe619b2170ec/download.

Harry Van Dyke, "Hermeneutic of Suspicion." CC, December 10, 2018.

Pieter Hendriks, “Sphere sovereignty: The new, nineteenth-century crisis and its impact on society.” CC, September 25, 2006 and October 9, 2006.

Budziszewski, J., ed. Evangelicals in the Public Square: Four Formative Voices on Political Thought and Action, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.

Arie L. Molendijk, review of J. Vree and J. Zwaan, eds, Abraham Kuyper's Commentatio (1860). The young Kuyper about Calvin, A Lasco, and the church. In Webpublicatie, n. p., n.d., but 2005 or later.

Bacote, Vincent E, The Spirit in Public Theology: Appropriating the Legacy of Abraham Kuyper. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.

Review by Hans Boersma, CTJ, 2005 vol 40 no. 2, pp. 341-344. This item can be accessed at: http://www.calvin.edu/...

Richard Mouw and James Bratt, a video on the legacy of Abraham Kuyper.

In the video below, Richard Mouw, professor of faith and public life at Fuller Theological Seminary, and James Bratt, professor of history at Calvin College, discuss Kuyper’s legacy and how Kuyper’s thoughts speak into modern culture.

Perry, John, “The Weight of Community: Alasdaire MacIntyre, Abraham Kuyper, and the Problem of Public Theology in a Liberal Society.” CTJ, Nov., 2004, pp. 303-331.

Sproul, R. C., ed. Abraham Kuyper: A Man for All Spheres. Ligonier Ministries: Table Talk, Oct. 2002.

Peter C. Tuit, “Abraham Kuyper on the Meaning of Missions.” CC, April 22, 2002, pp. 13-14.

The above article probably refers to the Kuyper lecture translated by Rimmer De Vries referred to under “Kuyper’s Writings” earlier on this page. The following note is attached to Tuit’s article:

“The above was taken from a speech Kuyper delivered at the 11th anniversary of the Reformed Mission Society at the Scottish Mission Church. It was published from a transcript taken by a reporter and was almost twice as long as the excerpts published here.”

Cornelis Pronk, “Neo-Calvinism.” Banner of Truth Radio Broadcast, January 21, 2002. See also Reformed Theological Journal, November 1995.

Bolt, John, A Free Church, A Holy Nation: Abraham Kuyper's American Public Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.

Morel, L. E., “Citizen Kuyper: Born-Again American.” Acton Institute’s Religion & Liberty series, vol. 11, no. 4, July/Aug., 2001.

Kim, Jeom O., The Relevance of Abraham Kuyper’s Sphere Sovereignty for the Korean Presbyterian Church. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Calvin Theological Seminary, n.d. Abstract in CTJ, April, 2001, pp. 231-232.

David Naugle, “The Lordship of Christ over the Whole of Life: Introduction to Kuyper’s Thought.” Friday Symposium at Dallas Baptist University, February 2001 (14 pp.). This article can be accessed at: http://kuyperian.blogspot.ca/2004/08/introduction-to-kuypers-thought.html and http://www3.dbu.edu/naugle/pdf/abraham_kuyper.pdf

Lugo, L. E., Religion, Pluralism, and Public Life: Abraham Kuyper's Legacy for the Twenty-First Century. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000. Includes two relevant articles –

Van Leeuwen, Mary Stewart, "The Carrot and the Stick: Kuyper on Gender, Family, and Class."

Bolt, John, "Abraham I, Walter Rauschenbusch, and the Search for an American Public Theology."

McGoldrick, J. E., Abraham Kuyper: God's Renaissance Man. Darlington, UK: Evangelical Press, 2000. For review see John Bolt, CTJ, Nov. 2000, pp. 374-375.

John H. Martens, “The Doleantie, Anno 1886.” This article has no official reference to source or date, but it has the looks of the CRC Banner and internal evidence indicates a post-Watergate date; i.e. 1975 or later.

Stockwell, Clinton, "Abraham Kuyper and Welfare Reform: A Reformed Political Perspective." Pro Rege: Sept. 1998, pp. 1-15.

Mouw, Richard, “The Seminary, the Church, and the Academy.” CTJ, Nov. 1998, pp. 457-468.

Menninga, Clarence, “Critical Reflections on Abraham Kuyper’s Evolutie Address.” CTJ, Nov. 1998, pp. 435-442.

Van Dyke, Harry, “How Abraham Kuyper Became a Christian Democrat.” CTJ, Nov. 1998, pp. 420-434.

Haas, Guenther, “Kuyper’s Legacy for Christian Ethics.” CTJ, Nov. 1998, pp. 320-349.

Harinck, George, “’Give Us an American Abraham Kuyper:’ Dutch Calvinist Reformed Responses to the Founding of the Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.” CJL, Nov. 1998, pp. 299-319.

Bolt, John, “Editorial: Abraham Kuyper in Context.” CTJ, Nov. 1998, pp. 275-276.

Harry van Dyke, “Abraham Kuyper: Heir of an Anti-Revolutionary Tradition.” Paper read at the international conference “Cristianity and Culture: The Heritage of Abraham Kuyper on Different Continents” held on 9–11 June, 1998, Free University, Amsterdam. This document can be accessed at: http://www.allofliferedeemed.co.uk/Van%20Dyke/Kuyper'sForerunners.pdf

John Bolt, “Abraham Kuyper and the Holland-America Line of Liberty.” The Journal of Markets and Morality 1, no. 1 (Spring 1998), pp. 35-59.

Lambert Zuidervaart, “Deep water from the Kuyperian well: The future of higher education.” ICS Perspective, March 1998, pp. 7-11.

Bratt James D., Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.

G. Puchinger, trans. Simone Kennedy, ed. George Harinck, Abraham Kuyper: His Early Journey of Faith. Amsterdam: VU University Press, 1998 (32 pp.).

Heslam, P. S., Creating a Christian Worldview: Abraham Kuyper's Lectures on Calvinism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.

Stephen Lazarus, “Kuyper's gift to modern Christians.” Review of Peter Heslam, Creating a Christian worldview: Abraham Kuyper's lectures on Calvinism. Washington DC: The Center for Public Justice, Public Justice Report, Fourth quarter 1998, p. 10.

Donald N. Petcher, “What Does It Mean to Be Kuyperian?” April, 1996. This article can be accessed at: http://kuyperian.blogspot.ca/2004/10/what-does-it-mean-to-be-kuyperian.html

Bolt, John, “Editorial: Abraham Kuyper.” CTJ, April 1996, pp. 9-10.

Bratt, James D., “In the Shadow of Mt. Kuyper: A Survey of the Field.” CTJ, April 1996, pp. 51-68.

Skillen, James W., “From Covenant of Grace to Equitable Public Pluralism: The Dutch Calvinist Tradition.” CTJ, April 1996, pp. 67-96.

Van Leeuwen, Mary Stewart, “Abraham Kuyper and the Cult of True Womanhood: An Analysis of De Eerepositie der Vrouw.” CTJ, April 1996, pp. 97-124.

R. D. Henderson, “How Abraham Kuyper Became a Kuyperian.” (1992).

Rodgers, R. E. L, The Incarnation of the Antithesis: An Introduction to the Educational Thought and Practice of Abraham Kuyper. Durham, UK: Pentland Press, 1992.

G. Hopman, transl. Jan H. Boer, “The influence of Kuyper on the Americanization of the Christian Reformed Church.” An excerpt, 1989. For further details see footnote 1 in the article itself.

S. K. Chung (ed.), An Exhibition on Dr. Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), organized by the Institute for Calvinistic Studies in Korea (ICSK), October 1988.

Main Contents (but not all) in this version:

S. K. Chung, Director – Invitation

Congratulations including

R. F. M. Lubbers, Prime Minister of the Netherlands

J. van Ebbenhorst, Netherlands Ambassador to Korea

Bong-Ho Son, Professor at Seoul National University

Sumito Haruna, Chairman of Japan Calvin Ass.

Various other Dutch, American, Japanese reps.

51 photographs of Kuyper’s life and writings

S. K. Chung – Brief Kuyper bio by dates

--------. A Brief Sketch of Dr. Abraham Kuyper

--------. Kuyper’s Idea of Sphere Sovereignty

--------. A Kuyper Bibliography

Louis Praamsma, Let Christ Be King: Reflections on the Life and Times of Abraham Kuyper. Jordan Station ON: Paideia Press, 1985 (196 pp.). This book can be accessed at: http://www.reformationalpublishingproject.com/pdf_books/Scanned_Books_PDF/LetChristBeKing.pdf

Langley, McKendree R. The Practice of Political Spirituality: Episodes from the Public Career of Abraham Kuyper, 1879-1918. Jordan Station, ON: Paideia Press, 1984.

Irving Hexham, “Christian politics according to Abraham Kuyper.” Crux, Vol. XIX, No. 1, March 1983:2-7.

Vanden Berg, Frank, Abraham Kuyper: A Biography. St. Catharines: Paideia, 1978. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960 (282 pp.).

John C. Vander Stelt, “Kuyper’s Semi-Mystical Conception.” In The Idea of a Christian Philosophy: Essays in Honour of D. H. Th. Vollenhoven with an Introduction by Prof. H. Dooyeweerd. Toronto: Wedge Publishing Foundation, 1973 (pp.178-190). Also in Philosophia Reformata, Vol. 38, No. 1, 1973, pp. 178-190.

S. U. Zuidema, trans. Harry Van Dyke, “Common Grace and Christian Action in Abraham Kuyper.” In Communication and confrontation: A philosophical appraisal and critique of modern society and contemporary thought. Toronto: Wedge Publishing Foundation, 1972 (pp. 52-105). Also access Zuidema on Kuyper.indd (reformationalpublishingproject.com) PDF

* "Gemene gratie en Pro Rege bij Dr Abraham Kuyper," Anti-Revolutionaire Staatkunde 24 (1954), 1-19, 49-73. Cf. A. Kuyper, De Gemeene Gratie, Vols. I-III (Leiden, 1902-05), Vol. IV (Leiden, 1905); hereafter cited as G.G., according to the 3rd unaltered (pagination moved up 4) impression (3 vols.; Kampen, 1931-32); idem. Pro Rege, of het Koningschap van Christus ("3 vols.; Kampen, 1911-12). The translation is by Harry Van Dyke, who wishes to record his indebtedness to Donald Morton for numerous small and invaluable improvements to the final draft.]

A. C. De Gooyer and Rudolf Van Reest, transls. and eds. Jan H. Boer and Frances A. Boer-Prins. An Awesome Abraham: A Close-Up of Abraham Kuyper. Original title: Kuyper de Geweldige…van Dichtbij. Baarn, The Netherlands: Bosch & Keunink, n.d.

Calvin Theological Journal. Published by Calvin Theological Seminary. Miscellaneous issues.

Steve Bishop, “Kuyperiana 1898-2012: A Bibliography of Works On/About Abraham Kuyper.”

Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: Digital Library of Abraham Kuyper.

A. Rolloos and H. Hasper Jr., Tekstregister op de werken van Dr. A. Kuyper. Amersfoort, The Netherlands: Stoomdrukkerij Van der Want, July 1906 (352 pp.). This work can be accessed at: http://www.reformationalpublishingproject.com/pdf_books/Scanned_Books_PDF/Tekstregister.pdf

Note: This is the only Dutch-language document on this page. It is an index of the Bible texts Kuyper referred to or quoted in his writings. An English translation of the title might be “Textual Register of the works of A. Kuyper.” It is a work that must have taken the utmost in patience and love for Kuyper’s writings. Translating it would require even more of the same. It is included here because even for readers of the language, this document is not easily available, though a most useful tool for the careful student of Kuyper.


Benjamin B. Warfield, “Introductory Note” to Abraham Kuyper, The work of the Holy Spirit. New York & London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1900.

Paul van der Steen, trans. Jan H. Boer, “Gymnastics in the Nude: A closing humorous note.” Trouw. August 2018.

What Others Say about Kuyper: Quotes, Stories, Theories*

In the paragraphs below I reproduce what some leading scholars and social activists have said or written about Kuyper.

A. James E. McGoldrick

In his English-language book on Kuyper, Abraham Kuyper: God's Renaissance Man, (Evangelical Press, 2000), author James E. McGoldrick introduces him as follows:

While common people have always been the backbone and mainstay of the church, exceptional leaders such as Augustine of Hippo..., John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and John Calvin have appeared at crucial times to serve their undistinguished brothers and sisters in the faith. Such a champion... appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century when Abraham Kuyper became the dynamic leader of Protestants in the Netherlands.

Kuyper was a person of massive intelligence, immense learning, terrific energy and zealous faith. He... received great adulation from...the working and lower middle classes, many of whom struggled to survive economically and few of whom could afford a higher education. Throughout his long career as a pastor, journalist, educator and political leader, Kuyper maintained close contact with the common people and communicated with them effectively, even though he was far above them in intellect and formal learning (pp. 7-8).

Goldrick's list of heroes is hardly exhaustive and should certainly have included Thomas Aquinas, but the position he ascribes to Kuyper is clear. He may not be as well-known in English-speaking culture, but that is because of language problems, not because he does not deserve to be there.

Reviews by Jacob Aitken and others

A journalist, a theologian, a pastor, a prime minister, few people can boast of having such dimensions to their careers! Yet such was the remarkable life of Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), who played a major role in helping modern Christians to develop a consistently biblical and practical world-view, not only in his native country of the Netherlands, but throughout much of the world. All of life belongs to God. In Kuyper’s own words, No single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: “Mine!”

https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Renaissance-Man-Abraham-Kuyper/dp/0852344465


B. Charles Colson

Colson was a powerful White House personality who was involved in Nixon's Watergate and landed in prison. His prison experience led him to become a Christian. Before his death, he became a major national spokesman in the US for the Christian community with his radio programme Breakpoint and his Prison Fellowship campaign. He was a popular speaker. I have witnessed him waving Kuyper's Stone Lectures, delivered at Princeton University over a century ago, before his audiences as containing the seed perspective needed for the healing of America. Here’s a man at the vortex of American culture who has seen it all; his was no pie in the sky. Here are two quotes from Colson:

"The great Dutch Calvinist Abraham Kuyper said the battle facing Christians today is between comprehensive life systems – in which principle must bear witness against principle, worldview against worldview, spirit against spirit." – A Dangerous Grace

“Abraham Kuyper was a profound theologian, an encyclopedic thinker, and a deeply spiritual man who believed that it is the believer’s task ‘to know God in all his works.’ In a day when secular science is seeking to establish hegemony over all knowing, and when postmodern art is threatening to bring an end to art, Kuyper’s solid, biblical insights can help to restore perspective and sanity to these two critical areas of human life.” – Founder, Prison Fellowship & Colson Center for Christian Worldview

This is the burden of Colson's writings: to develop a bibilically-grounded worldview. The name Kuyper occurs throughout his books. The development of a Biblical worldview was/is a major concern in both Kuyper's writings (Kuyperiana) and my own (Boeriana).


C. Robert Butler

Robert Butler is an Afro-American who sought for a perspective or platform from which to launch a ministry in the inner city. After a long search he settled on the Kuyperian perspective. He explained, "I found the Kuyperian model to be exactly what I was looking for." (Calvin Mosaic, Spring 2000).


D. Richard Lovelace

A much-published American authority on revivals and spirituality. In a recent lecture on Kuyper, he pleaded that Christians should pray for 500 Kuypers with his intellect and Spirit-filled mind.


E. H. Evan Runner

This Irish-German American philosopher who died in March, 2002, wrote the following some decades ago:

After nineteen centuries of history the Church is here for the first time in possession of a worked-out theoretical accounting of the world of culture and of the Christian's relation to it.


F. Joel Carpenter

Joel Carpenter, formerly of Pew Foundation and now at Calvin College, has outlined the way this school of thought is influencing Christian higher education throughout North America and producing leading scholars. It is a world-affirming perspective that is as wide as life itself. As Carpenter put it:

Kuyper's solution to the problem of competing worldviews in his native Netherlands was to embrace pluralism and to emphasize the value-laden, commitment-driven nature of knowledge. He reasoned that people quite naturally formed communities of the like-minded that shared a singular view of reality, a distinctive pattern for living and a socio-political agenda. A just society would recognize this social, intellectual and religious pluralism and encourage the various communities to negotiate the common good.

Likewise, Kuyper insisted, one's knowledge of the world was inevitably coloured and shaped by one's prior commitments-most fundamentally, religious commitments-concerning the nature of reality. Knowing was never value-free; science could not be completely objective. Scientific naturalism thus had no claim to a privileged position over against other worldviews.

Kuyper was not calling for the fragmentation of public life, however. Given God's common grace, he argued, there would be much overlap in human's efforts to understand nature and humanity, and thus opportunities for conversation, debate and negotiation, both in learning and politics. Yet the social-intellectual and religious differences that drove outlooks and agendas were real, and they should not be forced into unitary national establishments, whether religious, intellectual or political. Various communities of faith and values could play public roles, yet not feel compelled to choose between domination, accommodation or withdrawal. They would have the social and intellectual space to work out their particular convictions, but would retain the right to put their ideas into play on an equal basis. (For further details go to my Studies in Christian-Muslim Relations, vol. 1, pp. 16-24, as listed in my Bibliography on the Islamica page of this website.)


G. Isaac Mutua

During a 2011 international conference dealing with the Kuyperian perspective, the Kenyan scholar Isaac Njaramba Mutua said,

What touched me was the heartfelt desire and the wholehearted determination to establish a relationship between faith with all sectors of life and society. This rich… (Kuyperian) tradition in which… Christians everywhere are interested, as this conference clearly indicated, contains the challenge to develop and protect….

This has forced me into the…work of Herman Dooyeweerd…. Others who have motivated me include Naugle, Plantinga, Goheen and Bartholomew, Wilkens and Sanford’s, Sunshine’s, Skillen, Kuyper, Newbigin,…Wolters and a host of important Western Scholars who offer a good critique of the Western thought. Fowler has continued to be an inspiration together with BJ van der Walt whom I am critically evaluating in my study. As I reflect on this during my study journey, I am strongly motivated by Abraham Kuyper’s confessions in Lectures on Calvinism… (http://www.cpchea.org/).

All the people mentioned in that above paragraph are either overt Kuyperians or heavily influenced by that tradition.


H. James Bratt

Bratt is a historian at Calvin College with specialization in the Kuyper tradition. In reaction to a Kuyper conference held at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1998, Bratt pointed to Kuyper’s notion of

…how to handle a plurality of religious convictions in public life. He wanted people of all faiths to be vocal in public life, in the public sphere. He said a person is one whole person; whether Christian or Islam or Marxist that set of beliefs will affect your point of view and cannot be separated.

You look at North America today, you look at Africa today … those are burning questions. How do societies deal with plurality of religious beliefs? Kuyper had some thoughts on such questions and I think we would do well to pay attention to him.

Bratt compared Kuyper to “such modern-day Americans as Martin Luther King, Jr., Pat Robertson and Jesse Jackson, all of whom possess(ed) Kuyperian qualities such as intellect, persuasion, mass organization and political savvy.” Asked about Kuyper’s relevance today, Bratt said, “He was asking questions 100 years ago that Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants are asking today.”

More important, Kuyper answered those questions in ways that could be useful to soldiers in today’s culture wars. How to remain true to one’s faith in a multi-faith society? How to blend faith and politics coherently? How to be Christian to the core and avoid either dropping out or giving in? He makes you think about the question more and come up with your own solution…. That’s what makes him really valuable now.


I. Kwama Bediako

The Ghanian scholar Kwama Bediako, during a visit to the campus of Calvin College and Seminary in Grand Rapids MI, participated in a discussion that featured a heavy emphasis on Thomas Jefferson, a major father figure in the political formation of the USA. One Calvin scholar asked Bediako whether West Africa was not badly in need of their own Jefferson, to which he responded, “What Africa needs even more today is its own Abraham Kuyper.” The person who had raised the question confessed to being “stunned, delighted and mildly embarrassed as the room broke out in applause.”


J. Iskander Saher

I have in front of me a letter from an Indonesian brother, Iskander Saher, a social activist in his own (Islamic) country, who wrote, “I found that it is what we need in Indonesia,” the “it” referring to the wholism of the Kuyperian tradition.


K. John Vriend

The late John Vriend – he died suddenly in February, 2002 – was a professional translator of Dutch literature that came out of the Kuyperian movement. He told me that he was getting enough letters of inquiry from all over the world that he came to the tentative conclusion that the real Kuyper century was not the 20th but the 21st. Well, the world could do worse. (For further details on Mutua, Bratt, Bediako, Saher and Vriend, go to my Every Square Inch—A Missionary Memoir, vol. 4, pp. 45-52, as listed in my Bibliography on the Boeriana page of this website.)


L. Gerald Vanderzande

For close to 50 years Gerald Vanderzande, Toronto, has worked for social justice under the auspices of Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ). He did this very deliberately from a Kuyperian perspective. In 2001, he was awarded with the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada. See CPJ website www.cpj.ca.


M. Josiah Idowu-Fearon – Bishop of Kaduna Diocese (Anglican Communion), Nigeria

In a prepared introduction to a lecture I was to deliver, he wrote:

“He (Boer) has also introduced another term “Kuyper(ian), a term I came across in the year 2000 while reading up for my research at Ahmadu Bello University. As he has said and I agree with, for Nigeria to develop evenly and make any progress, we have no option but endorse this concept as the only safe future for us as a country and those coming after us.”


N. David Koyzis, “Kuyper's Moment.” Christian Courier, December 15, 2015. 15Dec14c.pdf (christiancourier.ca)

“Nearly a century after his death, Abraham Kuyper’s moment may finally have arrived. It was a long time in coming.”

“At a time when an increasingly aggressive secularism is challenging a biblical witness in so many areas, Kuyper once again offers the tools we need to live obediently as redeemed sinners in the public realm—every square inch of it.”

After a brief flirtation with Anabaptism and Pacifism, a friend alerted me to the writings put out by the old Wedge Publishing Foundation and the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Among other things, I read H. Evan Runner’s Scriptural Religion and Political Task and The Relation of the Bible to Learning. Runner’s dictum that life is religion strongly resonated with me, as did Kuyper ’s commitment to the comprehensive lordship of God in Christ over the whole of life. Here was something worth celebrating. Biblical truths that had previously been in the background for me suddenly came alive and made sense in a new way.

But almost none of my Christian friends and family had heard of Kuyper or know of the vibrant intellectual tradition associated with his legacy. … But the notion of a Christian statesman seeking to honour God in concrete political service was far from view.

(Much of Koyzis' article describes a library of English works on and by Kuyper already published as well as those in process.)

Kuyper's moment may at last have come. My hope is that, with the increasing availability of Kuyper's writings in English, more North American Christians will immerse themselves in his world and in his distinctive piety. At a time when an increasingly aggressive secularism is challenging a biblical witness in so many areas, Kuyper once again offers the tools we need to live obediently as redeemed sinners in the public realm--every square inch of it.

– “Kuyper’s Moment,” CC, December 15, 2015.


O. Bruce Wearne, retired Australian Reformational scholar. “The New American Standard Calvin.” Published on Thinknet, Sept 9, 2009.


P. Nicholas Wolterstorff

To what does Nicholas Wolterstorff credit his vast and multiform philosophical achievements that have launched him as one of the most distinguished Christian philosophers of our day? Above all else, he points to his Dutch reformed heritage, heavily influenced by the thought of Abraham Kuyper. A Kuyperian vision of vigorous practical and intellectual Christian cultural engagement serves as a foundation and impulse for Wolterstorff, launching him into every corner of the philosophical arena, from ethics, metaphysics and epistemology, to politics, art and education. Behind it all is a sustained theological chord that keeps to the fore his concern that his work might serve people and particularly those who suffer.

Bio to Wolterstorff’s Gifford Lectures. His many achievements, honours and positions include President of the American Philosophical Association and Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale University. http://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/nicholas-wolterstorff. Accessed on July 14, 2016.


Q. Richard J. Mouw

“Abraham Kuyper on Jesus and Poverty.” The Banner, May 20, 2016. http://thebanner.org/departments/2016/05/abraham-kuyper-and-dorothy-day


R. Justus M. van der Kroef

Few men in modern Dutch history have played such a significant role as Abraham Kuyper. A theologian of European renown, a church reformer whose activities lastingly changed the existing church order in his country, a statesman who during five decades of an active political career combined his religion with a unique theory of government, and last but not least, a journalist and outstanding man of letters, Kuyper, during the course of his long life, placed a stamp upon the civilization of the Netherlands which it never was to lose. The immense breadth of his intellect, sustained by a tremendous energy, allowed him to speak with authority on subjects ranging from Calvin’s concept of grace, through Islamic architecture, to the future of colonial reform and earned him the epithet of Abraham de Geweldige (Abraham the Magnificent). His greatest achievement, however, was the foundation of a system of religious dogma upon which he erected a political and social philosophy which in the Protestant Netherlands since 1850 was the only one of lasting influence.

Originally published in December 1948; online July 1, 2009 as an abstract under the title “Abraham Kuyper and the Rise of Neo-Calvinism in the Netherlands.” Accessed September 15, 2016.

S. “Nature Sings: The beautiful picture of the Seminary Pond (summer 2016) spoke to me along with the words of Abraham Kuyper quoted on the bottom of the page: ‘In everything that lives in nature, rustles, throbs and stirs itself, we feel the pulse beat of God’s own life.’

“I’ve been a pastor for over 50 years…and am a great admirer of Kuyper. For six years, I pastored with Native American people and this quote reminded me of a Native American prayer that contains these words: ‘Make my hands respect the things you have made and my ears sharp to hear your voice. Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.’” – John Helmus, Calvin College Alumni Spark Magazine, winter 2016

T. Nowadays, if you want to talk to the people of The Netherlands about Abraham Kuyper, you need to explain just who he was: preacher, theologian, statesman, journalist. He was founder of the first Dutch political party, the ARP or Anti-Revolutionary Party, in 1879, as well as of the Free University in Amsterdam, 1880. In addition, he was Premier (1901-1905) and advocate for the masses, the poor Reformed people who seceded from the former state church.

In the US, Kuyper’s brand of Neo-Calvinism has for some years been up and kicking. Amazon markets over a hundred English-language books about him. The theological seminary of the Princeton University boasts the largest collection of Kuyperiana in the world, while it also sports an Abraham Kuyper (AK) Centre, an AK Prize, an AK academic chair and publishes the Abraham Kuyper Review. – Bert Wagendorf, “Betsy Loves Abraham.” De Volkskrant, February 10, 2017. Transl. Jan H. Boer.

“Then Bala told me his story. When he was young, he wanted to become a football player, but a pastor of the Christian Reformed Church-Nigeria (CRC-N) told him that if he chose football as a vocation, he would go to hell. So Bala stopped going to church. Somehow he ran into Abraham Kuyper, who blessed him and said that even football can be done to God’s honour and glory. Then he came back to the CRC-N and eventually to TCNN. So Kuyper (and Jesus) is his saviour.”

Letter from Professor Tim Palmer of the Theological College of Northern Nigeria about one of his students—December 19, 2012. An example of how dualistic Evangelicalism has penetrated the CRC-N.


Websites with Similar Vision*

Describes Kuyper translation project www.abrahamkuyper.com

Calvin College www.calvin.edu

The King's University College www.kingsu.ab.ca

Redeemer College www.redeemer.on.ca

Dordt College www.dordt.edu

Paul Henry Institute for the Study of Religion and Politics www.calvin.edu/academic/pols/henry/

Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto www.icscanada.edu

Formerly known as International Assoc. for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education (IAPCHE) iapche.dordt.edu/index.html

Institute for Reformational Studies (Potchefstroom, South Africa)

Association for Christian Higher Education in Australia (ACHEA) members.ozemail.com.au/~centre/

Reformatorische Politieke Federatie
Marnix van St. Aldegonde Foundation (Thinktank for Christian Politics) Email: marnix@rpf.nl

www.acton.org/compassion Features an article about Kuyper's social thought.

Charles Colson's Radio Programme BreakPoint www.breakpoint.org

Shepherds for Peace (legal issues and reconciliation) www.shepherdsforpeace.com

Citizens for Public Justice www.web.net/~cpj/

Center for Public Justice www.cpjustice.org

Centrum voor Reformatorische Wijsbegeerte home01.wxs.nl/~srw/

Centre for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education in Africa http://amani.org.au/cpchea

Christianity and Society, the journal of the Kuyper Foundation, is available from this web site as a downloadable PDF file only.
http://www.kuyper.org/christianity-and-society/

http://Kuyperian.blogspot.com

www.kuypercentre.ca (for emerging scholars—in Ontario) See CC Feb 10, 2014, p. 1

Steve Bishop

He blogs regularly at http://stevebishop.blogspot.com. He has compiled a serious bibliography of over 400 works on Kuyper. It is too long for inclusion in this page, but, in addition to the above, I refer you to his other websites for his Kuyper products as well:

www.kuyper.org
http://www.allofliferedeemed.co.uk/kuyper.htm
“An accidental blog” – This can be accessed at: https://stevebishop.blogspot.ca/2007_03_01_archive.html
He can be contacted at: stevebishop.uk@gmail.com

Abraham Kuyper: Collected Works in Public Theology. Lexham Press in partnership with Acton Institute. A website with information about English translations of Kuyper publications. This item can be accessed at: www.abrahamkuyper.com.

Complete Kuyper bibliography

Tjitze Kuipers. Transl. Clifford Anderson. Abraham Kuyper: An Annotated Bibliography 1857-2010. Brill’s Series in Church History, Vol. 55. Leiden: Brill, 2011. This item can be partially accessed at:

https://books.google.ca/books?id=hovxL4X_5NsC&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=kuyper+perel+in+verkeerde+schelp&source=bl&ots=VZZ0l1LMSh&sig=5CC0iEBrBCfMkjIaU7qv_ef5XCA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhptz6tZnQAhUJ5WMKHR7GBAMQ6AEILDAD#v=onepage&q=kuyper%20perel%20in%20verkeerde%20schelp&f=false

A friend recently sent me the following information:

“A complete annotated bibliography of all Kuyper’s writings was published two years ago by Brill, a Dutch publisher of scholarly works. It comprises some 700 pages and it costs, I think, $150. It was a ten year project. Only in English. It is on pts website and I believe it needs copyright approval.”

Abraham Kuyper books for sale: http://www.bookfinder.com/author/abraham-kuyper/2/


[1] The following gives some background to Kuyper's reference to spiritism. It indicates that the situation was surprisingly common in the Western world during the second half of the nineteenth century. Hans Heesen, trans. and ed. Jan H. Boer, “A. F. H. De Lespinasse (1829-1881), een Nederlandse schrijver in een Amerikaanse roman”-excerpts. In English: “A Dutch writer in an American novel.” (99+) (DOC) A.F.H. de Lespinasse (1819-1881), een Nederlandse schrijver in een Amerikaanse roman | Hans Heesen - Academia.edu. See also Leidsch Dagblad | 15 april 1863 | pagina 2 - Historische Kranten, Erfgoed Leiden en Omstreken (courant.nu)

Contact Information:

Dr. Jan H. Boer
Vancouver, BC, CANADA
Email: boerjf@hotmail.com
< www.socialtheology.com >