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On June 10, 2020 By In Art, Books, Theology

Book Review: All That God Cares About by Richard Mouw

Richard Mouw is a big name in Kuyperian circles. He regularly writes about neo-Calvinism and Kuyper’s vision of Common Grace. His latest book, All that God Cares About (available June 16, 2020), continues that work. I will admit that this is my first look at Mouw’s work so I am behind in the conversation but I think it is worth jumping in here since Mouw says that this book is an update on his previous work on common grace. 

For those new to the discussion, common grace is the term theologians use to describe the work that God does in restraining unregenerate men from doing evil continually and instead enables them to do limited good in the world. This teaching comes from key passages in the Bible as well as John Calvin and other reformers. It is closely related to the doctrine of total depravity: fallen man is dead in his sin and is incapable of redemption apart from God quickening him. In teaching total depravity, Calvin and others acknowledge the Bible’s teaching that unregenerate Man is not absolutely evil in all actions but in fact often does real positive good in the world. 

In considering common grace, the primary question Mouw considers is how God can both bless non-Christians with artistic skills and also allow them to go to Hell. At one point, Mouw points to ancient Chinese pottery and asks: “What does God think of those pots and vases? I don’t think the production of these works of art is explainable simply in terms of the providential restraint of sin. My sense is that the Lord took delight in the talents of the artists themselves in crafting this pottery and wants us to delight in them as well” (Kindle Location 905). In this example, Mouw is pushing back on the frequent description of common grace as merely a restraint on evildoers and instead Mouw suggests that in some way God actually delights in these gifts that he gives to non-Christians. 

I appreciate much of Mouw’s discussion in this book and it was edifying to read about other theologians who have talked about this issue: Cornelius VanTil, Klaas Schilder, and Herman Hoeksema. I do have some concerns about this book but I will discuss one key appreciation first. 

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On May 13, 2020 By In Books

Productivity Without Purpose

Someone once asked R.C. Sproul–author of over 40 books and thousands of lectures–what he most regretted in his ministry. Sproul replied: “How much time I wasted!” When I heard him say that, I did not know how to relate to it at any level. Here is the world’s premier defender of Reformed orthodoxy who up to his last years of life was being productive and fruitful in the kingdom saying that he was ashamed of how much time he wasted.

Now, Sproul was no gnostic. He understood the importance of rest and relaxation. He was an avid movie watcher, golfer and a fanatical Steelers’ fan. In fact, the few memories I have of talking with him in a larger group was hearing his detailed analysis of the Steelers’ chances for the next NFL season. As a soccer fan, I did my best to act interested in the conversation because it was after all R.C. Sproul. I relate those facts because R.C. still believed he wasted time though his labors will probably live on for centuries.

As an adult Christian I have read a myriad of books on productivity. I consider myself someone who is always looking for the next project. There are things I am currently working on that folks will never know until it is completed. I have a goal to write around 500 words a day whether on an FB post or an article or a dissertation. It’s a habit I’ve had for years. Some of these things will never see the light of day, but it’s a fruitful activity nevertheless.

I have familial goals; husbandry goals and even keep a journal of my comings and goings to keep myself in check. On most days I try to get up before everyone else so I can get ahead of the world. It’s an annoying aspect of my personality that my family is grown accustomed. Yet, what I discover about myself daily is that I do not have a healthy theology of work.

What I mean is that often I don’t view work as the Bible views it. In Douglas Wilson‘s new book, “Ploductivity,” he elaborates on the nature of doing work. Quoting Peter Drucker, Wilson observes that there is a distinction between “efficiency” which is doing things right and “effectiveness” which is doing the right things. The efficient person has a mechanical dimension to him. He produces like a printing machine designed to print words on paper all day long. It does its job efficiently. But the Christian is called to a higher calling. As Psalm 1 says, he is like a tree planted by streams of living waters. We are to be effective. Work and productivity serve the purpose of fruitfulness. We work not merely to produce like machines, but we work to bear good fruit which serves as a benediction to others.

In many ways, the missing element of productivity ought to be its accompanying thankfulness. When productiveness is divorced from gratitude, we are no better than the pagans. If we are given the ability and capacity to produce, but yet treat our labors as a manufactured side-effect of our productivity we have missed the point altogether. But if our work is the acceptance of wealth as a gift; if, as Wilson notes, we treat the blessings of technology with fullness (technofulness), we are better prepared to view our labors unto the Lord.

Too often we work without purpose. It is too common to labor and produce without bathing our typing and accounting in thankfulness. I too regret and repent wasting time. Ultimately, I repent of being productive without God, which ultimately bears no fruit.

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On March 27, 2020 By In Books

How to Keep Writing During Quarantine

I love writing! I confess it has not always been a love affair. Through most of my youth, I treasured sports. It was a lot easier to put on a pair of shoes…well, to be clear, it was much easier playing soccer bare-footed with my friends in northeastern Brazil. Like any Brazilian, futebol was my life. It was the judge of our national mood. On Monday morning, anyone could decipher my emotions simply by knowing whether my soccer team won or not in the weekend round. Those days were simple and happy.

On the other hand, my educational habits were decent but left much to be desired. I have written and spoken about my late literary flourishment. When I attended high school in the U.S. in my eighteenth year of age, I was forced to read through The Tale of Two Cities. I read it in two days. It was quite a feat for someone who barely if ever read prior to that. Since that time I gained an enormous appreciation for reading. I am a personal testament to the fact that those who didn’t treasure reading in their early years can have a massive shift in their habits.

The Genesis of Writing

In my senior year, I attended a Brethren congregation in Pennsylvania. The pastor, now deceased, was a lovely man who encouraged me to pursue my studies. They had a morning and evening service on Sundays which allowed me to do a few things on Sunday night. On occasion, I offered my testimony and played my guitar and at least once I preached. I can’t recall the content of that sermon, but I remember taking some notes with me to the pulpit. It was my first official sermon. Though I was interested in theology, I had no interest in pursuing my father’s footsteps in the pulpit.

When college came around I began to write papers fairly consistently. They were functional papers. I wanted a good grade and therefore wrote them with no intention of making it precise and purposeful, just pragmatic. Then, came my election to student body chaplaincy. Suddenly I had to address 700 people in a 10-minute sermon. But before I spoke to the student body, I was invited to address a youth group. It was a great test before addressing a massive crowd. I used a prepared manuscript and read it to them with all the gusto I had. They were my first intentional words to an audience 21 years ago.

I pity those first listeners but I don’t pity the lessons I learned that day. It was the first time I wrote succinctly. I’ve probably written over 500 sermons since plus a few books and thousands of articles.a That first practice allowed me to hone my writing and think carefully about everything I say and write publicly.

Writing Habits

After one of my sermons in college, someone asked me for a copy of the manuscript. I had the brilliant idea of starting a Geocities account. Yes, it was that long ago. I posted my first sermon manuscript there and since then I have started at least five websites as venues for my writing. I began blogging in 2004 before it became a societal phenomenon. Blogging has forced me to articulate my thoughts. Some times they weren’t clear, but it forced me to think through my words carefully.

Yesterday a friend asked how I am able to write so often. I honestly have not stopped to think about it, except to say that writing is a habit that I have worked on for two decades. And still, I find myself so incomplete as a writer. I still have insecurities which is why I edit my work dozens of times before it goes live and still I find incoherencies and inconsistencies.

I have had the privilege of participating and writing a few published works. Looking back, I am sure they could receive another share of editing. But I am glad I wrote them because they removed the perfectionism so common in good writers who never write anything.

Writing Principles

There is so much to say, but I wanted to lay at least three principles for writing that have helped me through the years.

The first is the principle of plodding articulated in Douglas Wilson’s latest book, Ploductivity: A Practical Theology of Work. Wilson writes:

Productivity is more a matter of diligent, long-distance hiking than it is one-hundred-yard dashing. Doing a little bit now is far better than hoping to do a lot on the morrow. So redeem the fifteen-minute spaces. Chip away at it.

Doug’s productivity is phenomenal. I think he’s way past his 100th book. As an additional note, I’d encourage carrying a book everywhere with you on kindle or a physical copy. I once estimated that I lost over 30 minutes a day waiting for people or in transition when I could be reading or writing. Also, it’s a good practice for writers to take a little notebook to write down phrases or ideas that you may use for a future article. Life itself provides themes and I always find that those articles I least expected to write are most meaningful to me.

The second is the principle of reading broadly. I try to read about a novel a month. It does not come naturally to me, but these days I try to read whatever novels my kids are reading at school. It’s been more enjoyable than I expected. I have found lovely phrases and use of language that inspired me to write more creatively. It also encourages us to go outside our comfort zone in writing about subjects that we may not be experts in. There is no law against creativity.

Finally, I urge the principle of courage. One of the greatest hindrances to writers today is their timidity. They write not, so they publish not. They may be incredibly gifted rhetorically but don’t have the discipline to sit down and re-write a talk for public consumption. They prefer to imagine a time when life will provide them the perfect island for writing or when their children are grown. But there is no better time to write than now. There is no better time to make mistakes than now. There is no better time to hit the Publish button than now.

We may not all write well and surely most of us will get very few followers on our blogs or writing journeys. But if you treasure writing, don’t waste your time. There is a blank word document waiting for you.

  1. http://uribrito.com/10-questions-every-preacher-should-consider/   (back)

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On November 13, 2019 By In Books, Theology, Wisdom

Augustine on Prayer

Augustine’s book Confessions is a wonderful reflection on the sovereignty of God and the evangelical nature of the gospel. That is to say, in reading in the Confessions, you are steeped in the reality that God will judge every moment of your life. Augustine underlines and highlights this reality throughout the book by writing it as one long prayer to God.

One time I was talking with a friend about the book and he commented that he kept getting caught on the pronoun “you”. He would be reading along and then Augustine would say “you” and my friend said that pronoun would reorient everything: the book is not addressed to the reader but to God. This is true throughout the whole book even up to the end where Augustine writes, “Only you can be asked, only you can be begged, only on your door can we knock” (Bk XIII.38).

As I reflect on the nature of prayer and what Augustine is doing in this book, I am challenged in a couple of ways. First, do I have such a robust prayer life that I could pray to God like Augustine? Augustine prays about everything imaginable. Big things and small things: he prays about smiling as an infant, being beaten at school, dreams, friendships, reading, death, philosophy, memory, etc. Augustine’s prayer life is his whole life. I don’t know when I have ever heard someone pray about the nature of time. But Augustine does it.   

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On November 5, 2019 By In Books, Culture, Politics, Theology

Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism: Calvinism and the Future

This is the sixth part of a six part article series on Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism. He gave these lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary over a series of days in October 1898. Happy International Abraham Kuyper Month!

Here is an overview of Kuyper’s other lectures on Calvinism: Life-system, Religion, Politics, Science, and Art.

In this final lecture, Kuyper begins by summarizing his past lectures with these words: “[Calvinism] raised our Christian religion to its highest spiritual splendor; it created a church order, which became the preformation of state confederation; it proved to be the guardian angel of science; it emancipated art; it propagated a political scheme, which gave birth to constitutional government, both in Europe and America; it fostered agriculture and industry, commerce and navigation; it put a thorough Christian stamp upon home-life and family-ties; it promoted through its high moral standard purity in our social circles; and to this manifold effect it placed beneath Church and State, beneath society and home-circle, a fundamental philosophic conception strictly derived from its dominating principle, and therefore all its own” (p 171).

Kuyper then moves on to look at his current time and suggests where Calvinism can help in shaping and building for the future. He suggests that the topic of his final lecture is “A new Calvinistic development needed by the wants of the future” (p 171). 

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On October 29, 2019 By In Art, Books, Theology

Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism: Calvinism and Art

This is the fifth part of a six part article series on Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism. He gave these lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary over a series of days in October 1898. Happy International Abraham Kuyper Month!

Kuyper begins this lecture acknowledging the terrible idol that Art has become. He says, “Genuflection before an almost fanatical worship of art, such as our time fosters, should little harmonize with the high seriousness of life, for which Calvinism has pleaded, and which it has sealed, not with the pencil or the chisel in the studio, but with its best blood at the stake and in the field of battle” (p 142). Kuyper is reminding us to to see the vast difference between the artists in the art shop and the faithful men and women who sealed their confession with their very blood. While art does make an impact on culture and society, those who have died for the faith have the greater victory. 

Kuyper then says, “Moreover the love of art which is so broadly on the increase in our times should not blind our eyes, but ought to be soberly and critically examined” (p 142). We should not create art for the sake of art, nor should we enjoy it for itself. We must do art for God’s sake and glory. This means a high and serious examination of all art in order to bring it in submission to God.   

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On October 19, 2019 By In Books, Culture, Politics, Theology

Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism: Calvinism and Science

This is the fourth part of a six part article series on Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism. He gave these lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary over a series of days in October 1898. Happy International Abraham Kuyper Month!

In this lecture, Kuyper shows how Calvinism has impacted the field of Science. He argues that it has done this in four key ways: fostered a love for science, restored its full domain, set it free from unnatural bonds, and solved what Kuyper calls, the unavoidable scientific conflict. 

Calvinism Fostered Science

First, Kuyper shows how Calvinism encouraged a true love of science. The love of science is bound up with a love of God’s character and and how He has lovingly predestined everything. Kuyper says it this way: “But if you now proceed to the decree of God, what else does God’s fore-ordination mean than the certainty that the existence and course of all things, i.e. of the entire cosmos, instead of being a plaything of caprice and chance, obeys law and order, and that there exists a firm will which carries out its designs both in nature and in history?” (p 114) The very ground of scientific investigation rests up the way God has orchestrated and ordained the world. In a random world, there would be no laws of nature for science to study. It is only in a world that is governed by the fatherly eye of God, can there be real science.

Kuyper says, “Thus you recognize that the cosmos, instead of being a heap of stones, loosely thrown together, on the contrary presents to our mind a monumental building erected in a severely consistent style” (p 114). We do not live in an evolving pond of goo but in a grand cathedral with stained glass windows and ornate flying buttresses. All of it is designed by the hand of a loving artist. 

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On October 14, 2019 By In Books, Politics, Theology

Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism: Calvinism and Politics

This is the third part of a six part article series on Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism. He gave these lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary over a series of days in October 1898. Happy International Abraham Kuyper Month!

In this lecture, Kuyper shows how Calvinism has impacted politics over the last several centuries. Calvinism has had this impact not because of a particular soteriology, like justification by faith, but rather because Calvinism has given special focus to God’s sovereignty. This teaching impacts all areas of authority in the world: State, Society, and Church. Each of these authorities must submit to the highest authority: the sovereign God. In this lecture, Kuyper focuses on God’s Sovereignty over the State.  

The Nature of the State

Kuyper first begins by explaining the nature of the state, its origin and position in the world. He explains, “For, indeed without sin there would have been neither magistrate nor state-order; but political life, in its entirety, would have evolved itself, after a patriarchal fashion, from the life of the family” (p 80). He also describes the State as a crutch for a lame leg. In a perfect world, this crutch would not be needed, but in a fallen world, the State is a gift of God set up and established under His authority. 

Kuyper then draws out two key lessons. First, that we should gratefully receive the state from the hand of God and also recognize, “…that, by virtue of our natural impulse, we must ever watch against the danger which lurks, for our personal liberty, in the power of the State” (p 81). Kuyper saw correctly that the State is a necessary authority but it also must be restrained. 

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On October 11, 2019 By In Books, Politics, Theology, Worship

Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism: Calvinism and Religion

This is the second part of a six part article series on Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism. He gave these lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary over a series of days in October 1898. Happy International Abraham Kuyper Month!

Religion is For God

In this second lecture, Kuyper argues that Calvinism has a religious energy that other theological camps do not. This energy is found in how Calvinism places God and God’s glory at the center of all religious life. This energy restores the true nature of religion and this restoration in turn sets out the full task of man before God.

What is this religious energy in Calvinism? It is that all of the Christian religion must be for God. Kuyper says, “The starting point of every motive in religion is God and not Man” (p 46). God should be our primary and ultimate goal. We must love and worship God for His own sake, not because we are trying to get a reward out of Him. Kuyper says this is our goal: “…to covet no other existence than for the sake of God, to long for nothing but the will of God, and to be wholly absorbed in the glory of the name of the Lord, such is the pith and kernel of all true religion” (p 46). The true demand of the Christian life is that we must spend all our energy following God’s will. 

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On October 10, 2019 By In Books, Politics, Theology

Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism: Calvinism a Life-System

This is the first in a six part article series on Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism. He gave these lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary over a series of days in October 1898. Happy International Abraham Kuyper Month!

In his first lecture, Abraham Kuyper sets out his reason for lecturing on Calvinism. He sees that Modernism is on the rise and so we need a solid theological foundation that can combat this rising threat. He says that Calvinism is this true foundation because it is a life-system. It covers every aspect of man’s condition: Man’s relation before God, his relation with his fellow-man, and his relation to creation. Kuyper also argues that Calvinism is not tied to any one country or people group and so Calvinism is a truly catholic force that brings good to the whole world. 

We Need a Life System

First, Kuyper sets out the need for a life-system. In 1898, Kuyper saw correctly the threat of Modernism coming and he understood the dangerous nature of it to Christianity. Kuyper observes, “Two life systems are wrestling with one another, in mortal combat” (p 11). There is no neutral ground between these two life systems. He says that this is the struggle in Europe and in America. He describes the two sides this way: “Modernism is bound to build a world of its own from the data of the natural man, and to construct man himself from the data of nature; while on the other hand, all those who reverently bend the knee to Christ and worship Him as the Son of the living God, and God himself, are bent upon saving the “Christian Heritage” (p 11). Kuyer rightly saw that the worldview of naturalism and supernaturalism could not stand together. One must win in the end. 

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