It has to be Kuyper’s fault. I have been pondering his words ever since 2003. Someone gave me a copy of his Lectures on Calvinism and it hit me with electrifying power. Now, mind you, I was already versed in Rushdoony, North, Van Til, Bahnsen, and Sproul, but Kuyper was from the past; an ancient past. At least that’s how I viewed him as a novice in Church History. And what is it that brought me to my theological knees when I first read him? It was his non-exhausting claim of the exhaustive Lordship of King Jesus. Here are five propositions that makes him such a superb apologist for the kingdom of Jesus:
a) Kuyper was Trinitarian. In his Pro Rege: Living Under Christ’s Kingship (Volume 1),a he notes that “There can be no separation or contrast between the authority of God and the authority of Christ.” For Kuyper, the dominion power is not inherent in fallen humanity but comes from the divine power of the Son who creates all things. Kuyper does not separate the power of the Son from the Father, but he harmonizes the Triune work. As the Catechism states, “…and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.” Kuyper operates from beginning to end as a Trinitarian Christian. Dominion can only occur in a Trinitarian universe and the Father and the Son work together to ensure it.
b) Kuyper believed in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Though Kuyper did not use the theological categories of Postmillennialism in his writings, his vision harmonizes quite well with that of his fellow theologian B.B. Warfield who invited Kuyper for the Princeton lectures in 1898. Kuyper notes in profoundly optimistic categories:
Christianity [is] being carried forth into the world, coming into contact with the elements and laws of human life and through that contact modifying and changing life entirely.
Jesus’ Commission was not a mere hope, but the promise that the nations would fall under Christ’s authority. Everything Christianity touches, Kuyper notes, changes for the good.
c) Kuyper viewed the world through incarnational lenses. The reason Kuyper’s view of the world was not detailed in the abstract is that he believed that Jesus’ arrival on earth signaled a transition into a new way of being. Jesus did not come as a ghost, but he embraced humanity. He writes:
On the contrary, he becomes one of us—a human being just as we are; he organically incorporates all the elect into his mystical body, and he rules over them by ruling in them and making them spiritually free.
Kuyper affirmed that this world is guided by a flesh and blood King who sits at the right hand of the Father. He is not separated from his creation, but he entered creation so that we might live as new men and women in his kingdom. The incarnation was the turning point of redemptive history when heaven came to earth in human flesh. Thus, Kuyper advocated a Christian life deeply free from the slavery of sin and free to do the service of God on earth as it is in heaven. This freedom is achieved through the God/Man, Jesus Christ.
d) Kuyper’s theology was doxological. Again, the catechism famously notes that our chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. The goal of dominion is not to change people through the use of force but to see lives transformed by the Gospel and free to worship the great and Triune God. As Kuyper observes:
Our salvation is indeed the goal of Christ’s kingly rule, but its primary goal is the glorification of the Triune God.
We are not saved to live as we please, but we are saved to live as He pleases. That is true freedom; to use our gifts and callings to serve the God who created us. We are doxological beings.
e) Finally, Kuyper viewed the role of the Church as more than spiritual, but also didactic. He writes:
The church may not be content simply to bring the gospel to the lost. Instead, its primary calling is to lead those the Lord calls into a deeper understanding of God’s intentions…
If the Great Commission is going to be fulfilled on earth, it must be a commission rooted in discipling the nations, which includes a sacramental component (baptizing them) and a sanctification component (teaching them all my commandments). The Church’s call is to feed the people of God and send them out to feed the world. First, we are nourished and then we nourish.
The Kuyperian writes and thinks on the basis of these fundamental assertions advocated and taught by the Dutch theologian, Abraham Kuyper. A Kuyperian commentary must be faithful to these principles. Principles, which, are rooted in the very fabric of sacred Scriptures.
- The other quotations come from the same source (back)
This was quite helpful. I am currently rereading Kuyper’s Lectures, and they are such a powerful collection. His principles are so radical (and positively so), creating a clear cut distinction between Christian and non-Christian thought.