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On November 11, 2022 By In Podcast

Notable Kuyperians: An Interview with Rev. Jack Phelps from Palmer, Alaska

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I first met Jack Phelps in Conroe, TX, in 2008. I sat next to him on several occasions in those two days. We were at different stages of life back then, but two callings took place on one of the days. Jack was elected to become the Presiding Minister for the CREC, where he served two faithful terms (six years), and I was called to become the pastor of Providence Church in Pensacola, FL. He was already an experienced pastor then, and I was a young seminary grad filled with aspirations and dreams about pastoral ministry.

Our paths have crossed several times since then, but last week, I enjoyed sharing beautiful conversations with him in his town of Palmer, AK. The conversations were so delightful that even though all I had was an android phone, I decided to interview him on various issues under the themes of politics and religion. Jack is a Kuyperian, who—like Abraham Kuyper—dedicated his life to the political and ecclesiastical spheres.

Five decades of pastoral work interspersed with years of labor under high-ranking political officials in Alaska. It was an honor to spend time with this dear brother. Our two-hour interview is part of the “Notable Kuyperian” interview series. You can check out my other interview with Rev. Mickey Schneider.

In this conversation, we covered:

Christian Nationalism

Sarah Palin

Pastoral Ministry and Hardships

And many other topics.

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On October 29, 2021 By In Culture

A Novel Conversion

I recently read Charlotte Mary Yonge’s 1853 novel, The Heir of Redclyffe, which tells the story of the relationship between two principal characters, the youthful heir to the Redclyffe estate, Sir Guy Morville, and his rather impulsive and slightly older cousin, Captain Philip Morville, who stands to inherit the estate in the event of Guy’s death. It is not great literature. Yonge’s work has not stood the test of time and has been overshadowed by the likes of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and Charles Dickens. Yet in her day, Yonge’s books were tremendously popular, bearing the marks of early Victorian romanticism and sentimental piety.

From a literary standpoint, we can see that Yonge writes as an all-knowing narrator, inhabiting the thoughts of the principal characters in quick succession, constantly shifting vantage points–sometimes within a single paragraph–thereby making the story difficult at times to follow. The book is overly long, although I can’t say how many pages it has. The copy I purchased from Amazon was obviously downloaded and printed from an online source without title page or page numbers! It starts slowly and takes too long to build to its denouement, although at that point it nearly becomes a page turner, only to be followed by the final chapters once more taking their time to wrap things up.

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On May 11, 2021 By In Scribblings

The Church as Free

I am preparing to do a lecture on Kuyper in a few days, and I have been re-reading lots of his works (thanks to the marvelous task of the Acton Institute). Essential to the Kuyperian vision is the centrality of the church as free. In fact, for Kuyper, a holy nation can only be a reality when the church is allowed to be free to do what it was called to do. If the state, whose role is to protect the church, interferes with the premise of the church as church, she invests herself in an area outside her sphere.

Gary Demar analyzed well the case of the Canadian Pastor Artur Pawlowski. Gary argues that “the health argument is the foot in the door.” In the name of health and preservation, the state has increased its foothold on the church in remarkable ways. It is unlikely most of these churches will return with any degree of stamina to fight against authorial abuses.

However you feel about the pastor’s strategy, one cannot look at such an arrest from the perspective of Kuyperianism and be content with the outcome. In other words, one must embrace variations of two-kingdom theology, or a reduced understanding of the implications of ecclesiastical theology to accept the premise that the state has the authority to arrest a minister of the Gospel for opening his doors for worship.

For the record, I would not approve of such measures in early 2020 and most certainly not at this stage. The abhorrence of such acts in Canada and in the U.S. means that a restored vision of sphere sovereignty is necessary for the furtherance of public theology. And pastoral theology must incorporate Kuyperian thought, which is nothing more than a distillation of Genesis 1-3 applied to history.

Kuyper notes in his Lectures that while we are to be grateful for the state, “we must ever watch against the danger which lurks for our personal liberty in the power of the state.” Kuyper was a man well-aware of the fallacy of unchecked power. The Church needs desperate education in these areas, otherwise, it will quickly succumb to statist pressures and willingly hand over her keys and passcodes.

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On July 9, 2020 By In Culture

Herman Dooyeweerd: Christian Philosopher

I have recently completed a reading of Marcel E Verburg’s massive book, Herman Dooyeweerd: The Life and Work of a Christian Philosopher (Paideia Press, 2015). For those unfamiliar with him, Dooyeweerd (1894-1977) taught jurisprudence for decades at the Free University of Amsterdam, a Christian university established by Abraham Kuyper in 1880. As an undergraduate, I came into contact with his unique philosophical school, known in Dutch as De Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee and in English as the Philosophy of the Law-Idea. Eventually I would write a dissertation at the University of Notre Dame on Dooyeweerd’s political thought, comparing it with that of neo-Thomist philosopher Yves René Simon (1903-1961). (more…)

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On March 25, 2020 By In Culture, Theology, Wisdom

Kuyper’s Flawed Example: Sphere Sovereignty on the Personal Front

In book 2 of Plato’s Republic, Socrates’ conversation with his young friends takes an unexpected turn. Plato’s brothers Gaucon and Adeimantos have challenged Socrates to defend justice for justice’s sake and not merely to gain a reputation for being just. Why would people wish to do justice if they were deprived of its tangible rewards? To answer this question, Socrates memorably shifts the discussion to the building of a city. Why? Because if he can demonstrate what justice is within the city, he can by analogy reason back to locating justice in the individual person, which he and his companions undertake to do in the succeeding books of the dialogue.

I was reminded of Socrates’ rhetorical strategy several years ago as I read James Bratt’s magisterial biography of one of my heroes, Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Kuyper, as readers may know, originated the term “sphere sovereignty,” a translation of the Dutch expression sovereiniteit in eigen kring, or “sovereignty in one’s own circle.” Facing the twin threats of liberal individualism and socialist statism, Kuyper, based on his reading of the Bible and the larger Christian tradition, came up with this rather inelegant phrase to describe his party’s unique approach to society. (more…)

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On November 11, 2019 By In Podcast

Episode 68, KC Podcast, Abraham Kuyper and Lectures on Calvinism with Jesse Sumpter

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Abraham Kuyper’s most concise work is entitled Lectures on Calvinism which were lectures delivered at Princeton in 1898. Little did Kuyper know just how much these lectures would shape Calvinist thought to this very day. Kuyperian Commentary decided to dedicate the month of October to Abraham Kuyper and his famous work. Our very own Jesse Sumpter took on the task to summarize the chapters of this work by providing the central features of each section and adding his own observations. The end result is six fine articles focusing on Kuyper’s views on Science, Sphere Sovereignty, Election, Culture, and more.

This is a great interview to send to a friend who you think would benefit from a synopsis of the work of this Reformed giant.

You can find Jesse’s articles here.

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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 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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