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.
Kuyper suggests what is needed for the Christian side to win: a truly principled system that can respond to the deep attacks of Modernism. He says, “If the battle is to be fought with honor and with a hope of victory, then principle must be arrayed against principle” (p 11). It is not enough to have an answer for an atheist or an answer for a darwinist; the only method of attack that will succeed is one that has a sure foundation that can provide answers integrated across the board. These other systems of belief have something to say about everything; Christians must also have a position that can respond to anything and everything. In Kuyper’s mind, Calvinism is that system.
Kuyper says, “Calvinism, as the only decisive, lawful, and consistent defence for Protestant nations against encroaching, and overwhelming Modernism–this of itself was bound to be my theme” (p 12). He points to all the great nations in his time: “Calvinism has liberated Switzerland, the Netherlands, and England, and in the Pilgrim Fathers has provided the impulse to the prosperity of the United States” (p 14-15). Calvinism was the impulse behind true freedom in these nations and it will be the source of new, great nations that rise in the future.
Calvinism is a Life System
Kuyper then lays out how Calvinism is a life system because it deals with Man’s relation to God, Man’s relation to man, and Man’s relation to creation.
In the first area, the Bible teaches that there is no mediator between each man and God, except for the God-man, Jesus. Kuyper writes, “At every moment of our existence, our entire spiritual life rests in God Himself” (p 21). This means there is no human priest or church institution that stands between God and each man. Each and every Christian lives his life coram deo, before the presence of God. This means that God calls each man to a specific job and task in the world. This also means that each man will stand before Jesus as judge and answer for how he lived his life. It is only in the presence of God that a man can find true freedom in this world.
Kuyper then makes his second point: “If Calvinism places our entire human life immediately before God, then it follows that…[we] have no claim whatsoever to lord over one another, and that we stand as equals before God, and consequently equal as man to man” (LC, p 27). If every Christian is a priest before God, then there is no one who stands between each man and God. Every Christian man stands directly before Jesus the King. This is the foundation of all earthly freedom. It is also the foundation of the good differences that God has established in the world: male and female, husband and wife, parents and children, teacher and students, king and subjects. Each of these roles is given by God, our heavenly Father, and so we must fulfill our roles according to His divine will.
On the other hand, Modernism hates all differences. Kuyper rightly recognized over a hundred years ago the end game of Modernism. He says, “Finally Modernism, which denies and abolishes every difference, cannot rest until it has made woman man and man woman, and, putting every distinction on a common level, kills life by placing it under the ban of uniformity” (p 27). God has assigned each person to a specific role and task and it is only in the presence of God that these roles can be fully understood. This means that only a supernatural life system can explain the true and real difference between men and women, husbands and wives, parents and children, etc. A life system based on naturalism collapses everything into single blob of matter.
Finally, Kuyper’s third point is about our relation to the world: “Hence the curse should no longer rest upon the world itself, but upon that which is sinful in it, and instead of monastic flight from the world the duty is now emphasized of serving God in the world, in every position in life” (p 30). The work of God calls us to embrace all of life. There is no corner or inch that can escape the reach and authority of Jesus the King. We are not called to hide or ignore the world. We are called to proclaim Jesus to all of it. Kuyper sets forth our calling: “…the recognition that in the whole world the curse is restrained by grace, that the life of the world is to be honored in its independence, and that we must, in every domain, discover the treasures and develop the potencies hidden by God in nature and in human life” (p 31). There is much to discover in the world. We need Christians who are fathers, mothers, teachers, mathematicians, scientists, doctors, astronauts, politicians, ambassadors, senators, pastors, etc. Kuyper rightly understood that Calvinism, in submitting to the vision of Jesus, offers us a task that is truly global. Given this goal, we have barely began that mission.
Calvinism brings Freedom to Nations
In the final part of his lecture, Kuyper writes that Calvinism is a truly catholic unity that brings lasting and true freedom to nations.
Kuyper says, “Thus notice I was not too bold when I claimed for Calvinism the honor of being neither an ecclesiastical, nor a theological, nor a sectarian conception, but one of the principal phases in the general development of our human race” (p 34). Kuyper explains that Calvinism is a life system rather than a sectarian concept and so Calvinism offers a vision that makes a universal impact. Kuyper points to this reality in America. He says, “In America, where Calvinism has come to unfold itself in a still higher liberty, this commingling of blood is assuming a larger proportion than has ever yet been known” (p 37). In this quote, Kuyper uses the word “blood” to mean all the different people groups that have come to America: Irish, German, English, Jewish, Spanish, African, etc. Even if these groups have not directly joined the Calvinistic life-system, they have still been impacted by Calvinism because it was Calvinism that offered some level of freedom to all of these groups via the political structure established in America which was built on Calvinistic principles. Kuyper rightly places on the shoulders of Calvinism the ability to draw diverse peoples together and offer true freedom to all.
Kuyper says, “Thus far every forward movement had gone forth from the authorities in State, Church, or Science, and from thence had descended to the people. In Calvinism, on the other hand, the peoples themselves stand out in their broad ranks and form a spontaneity of their own, press forward to a higher form of social life and conditions” (p 38). Calvinism rightly teaches that each man must live in the presence of God and this means that every Calvinistic reformation occurs at the lowest level of the cosmos: the individual’s responsibility before God. This is the wind that brings true and lasting change to the world. This is the engine that runs the vision of the Calvinistic life-system.
Kuyper concludes his first lecture this way:
“…that only by Calvinism the psalm of liberty found its way from the troubled conscience to the lips; that Calvinism has captured and guaranteed to us our constitutional civil rights; and that simultaneously with this there went out from Western Europe that mighty movement which promoted the revival of science and art; opened new avenues to commerce and trade, beautified domestic and social life, exalted the middle classes to positions of honor, caused philanthropy to abound, and more than all this, elevated, purified, and ennobled moral life by puritanic seriousness…” (p 40).
Terrific summary of the Stone lectures.