Triangulating the Foundations of Kuyperian Spirituality

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46567/ijt.v9i2.188

Keywords:

Kuyperian spirituality, Reformed spirituality, Abraham Kuyper, Kuyper's meditations, ecclesiology

Abstract

Spirituality is an under-developed topic on Abraham Kuyper, perhaps it is due to Kuyper’s strong emphasis on the public implications of Christian faith. But things are not supposed to remain that way, since Kuyper also has an equally strong emphasis on the importance of the private dimension of Christian faith. For more than 40 years, Kuyper had written a multivolume of meditations which amount to 2,200. In those meditations, his personality and spirituality are clearly reflected. This article argues that his meditations would be a suitable starting point to construct a Kuyperian spirituality alongside other Kuyperian themes such as his doctrine of regeneration (palingenesis) and his ecclesiology. The term “palingenesis” (from Greek word palingenesia) refers to both personal rebirth and the rebirth of all cosmos. This doctrine bridges the private and public implications of Christian faith, between spirituality and Christian actions in Kuyper’s theology. And while his distinction between the Church as institution and as organism is well-known, his emphasis on the role of the institutional Church as mother which nurtures the spirituality of the believers is lesser known. A deeper examination shows how his ecclesiology plays a central role in his spirituality.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

David Kristanto, Vrije Universiteit

David Kristanto is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His main research interests are Abraham Kuyper and religious pluralism in Indonesia. He teaches theology at Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Injili Arastamar (SETIA) Jakarta and Harvest International Theological Seminary, Tangerang.

References

Banks, Matthew. “An Analysis of Abraham Kuyper’s Distinction between the Church as Institute and the Church as Organism.” Th.M. thesis. Oak Hill College, 2013.

Bartholomew, Craig G. Contours of the Kuyperian Tradition: A Systematic Introduction. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2017.

Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics. Vol. 4. Ed., John Bolt. Trans., John Vriend. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Boersma, Hans. “Blessing and Glory: Abraham Kuyper on the Beatific Vision.” Calvin Theological Journal, Vol. 52 No. 2 (2017): 205-241.

Bratt, James D. Abraham Kuyper: Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013.

_______. Abraham Kuyper: A Centennial Reader. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.

Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Ed., John T. McNeill. Trans., Ford Lewis Battles. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011.

VanDrunen, David. “Two Kingdoms and Reformed Christianity: Why Recovering an Old Paradigm is Historically Sound, Biblically Grounded, and Practically Useful.” Pro Rege, Vol. 40, No. 3 (2012): 31-38.

Gordon, Bruce. John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion: A Biography. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016.

Himes, Brant Micah. “For a Better Worldliness: The Theological Discipleship of Abraham Kuyper and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” Ph.D. dissertation. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 2015.

Ive, Jeremy. “A Critically Comparative Kuyperian Analysis and a Trinitarian, ‘Perichoretic’ Reconstruction of the Reformational Philosophies of Dirk H. Th. Vollenhoven and Herman Dooyeweerd.” Ph.D. dissertation. King’s College, 2012.

De Jong, James A. “The Heart and Soul of Abraham Kuyper: Reflections on His Meditations.” Calvin Theological Journal, Vol. 52, No. 1 (2017): 37-61.

Klapwijk, Jacob. “Abraham Kuyper on Science, Theology and University.” Philosophia Reformata, Vol. 78, No. 1 (2013): 18-46.

Kuipers, Tjitze. Abraham Kuyper: An Annotated Bibliography. Leiden: Brill, 2011.

Kuyper, Abraham. Asleep in Jesus: Meditations. Trans., John Hendrik De Vries. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1929.

_______. Concise Works of the Holy Spirit. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers: 2009.

_______. De zegen des heeren over onze kerken. J. A. Wormser: Amsterdam, 1896.

_______. Honey from the Rock: Daily Devotions from Young Kuyper. Trans., James A. De Jong. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2018.

_______. In the Shadow of Death: Meditations for the Sick-room and at the Death-bed. Trans., John Hendrik De Vries. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1928.

_______. Lectures on Calvinism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1931.

_______. Rooted and Grounded. Trans., Nelson D. Kloosterman. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian’s Library Press, 2013.

_______. To Be Near unto God. Trans., John Hendrik De Vries; condensed into modernized English by James C. Schaap. Grand Rapids: CRC Publications, 1997.

O’Connor, Elizabeth. Journey Inward, Journey Outward. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.

Rullmann, J. C. Kuyper-Bibliographie. 3 vols. Kampen: J. H. Kok, N.V., 1923-1940.

Strange, Daniel. “Rooted and Grounded? The Legitimacy of Abraham Kuyper’s Distinction between Church as Institute and Church as Organism and Its Usefulness in Constructing an Evangelical Public Theology,” Themelios, Vol. 40, No. 3 (2015): 429-444.

Wood, John Halsey, Jr. “Going Dutch in the Modern Age: Abraham Kuyper’s Struggle for a Free Church in the Nineteenth-Century Netherlands.” The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 64, No.3 (2013): 513-532.

Zwaanstra, Henry. “Abraham Kuyper’s Conception of the Church.” Calvin Theological Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2 (1974): 149-181.

Published

2021-12-31

How to Cite

Kristanto, D. (2021). Triangulating the Foundations of Kuyperian Spirituality. Indonesian Journal of Theology, 9(2), 150-167. https://doi.org/10.46567/ijt.v9i2.188