Neo-Calvinism

Neo-Calvinism is the movement initiated by the theologian and former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper. Neo-Calvinism is a form of Dutch Calvinism. James Bratt has identified different types of Dutch Calvinism:¹ The Seceders—split into the Reformed Church “West” and the Confessionalists; and the Neo-Calvinists—the Positives and the Antithetical Calvinists. The Seceders were largely infralapsarian and the Neo-Calvinists usually supralapsarian.

Kuyper wanted to wanted to awaken the church from its pietistic slumber. He declared:

No single piece of our mental world is to be sealed off from the rest and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’.²

This refrain has become something of a rallying call for Neo-Calvinists.

Neo-Calvinism has been described in the following ways:

Neocalvinism is postmodern Calvinism. Neocalvinism is a global cultural movement that is the result of people motivated by the religious dynamic of the Reformation trying to get to grips with the historical consequences and implications of modernity. —Gideon Strauss)³

and:

Neo Calvinism simply means “modern day Calvinism.” It is Calvinism contextualized to a later time period, as original Calvinism was addressing the issues of 16th C. Genevan culture. —Harry VanDyke)⁴

Emphases of Neo-Calvinism

• Jesus is lord over all of creation. Jesus’ lordship extends through every area and aspect of life—it is not restricted to the sphere of church or of personal piety.

• The idea that all of life is to be redeemed. The work of Jesus on the cross extends over all of life—no area is exempt from its impact.

• Cultural mandate. Genesis 1:26-28 has been described as a cultural mandate. It is the mandate to cultivate and develop the creation. There is a historical development and cultural unfolding.

• Creation, fall and redemption. God’s good creation has been disrupted by the fall. Redemption is a restoration of creation.

• Sphere sovereignty (Souvereinitet in eigen kring). Sphere sovereignty insists that created boundaries should be affirmed and respected.

• A rejection of dualism. According to Neo-Calvinists dualism has been rife in Christina thinking. The most notable dualism is the dualism between nature and grace that dominated much of Scholasticism. Neo-Calvinists reject this dualism and maintain that grace restores nature.

• Structure and direction.

• Common grace.

• The antithesis. There is a struggle in society and within every person - between submission and rebellion against God; between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.

• Worldviews. Neo-Calvinists reject the notion that theoretical thought can be neutral. All thinking and practice is shaped by worldviews. For the Neo-Calvinist life in all its aspects can be shaped by a distinctively Christian worldview.

• The role of law. For the Neo-Calvinists law is more than the decalogue it is the creation ordinances established by God. These laws provide the norms for living in God’s world.

Key individuals associated with Neo-Calvinism

• Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer
• Abraham Kuyper
• Herman Bavinck
• Herman Dooyeweerd
• D. H. Th. Vollenhoven
• H. Evan Runner

Neo-Calvinist institutions and organizations

• Calvin College
• The Center for Public Justice
• The Christian Labour Association of Canada
• Dordt College
• Free University in Amsterdam
• Institute for Christian Studies
• Redeemer University College
• The Work Research Foundation
• WYSOCS in Leeds
• Sin Mancha Transworld (California)

Key texts

• Abraham Kuyper Calvinism: Stone Lectures
• Jorge Armando Pérez Spanish father of Neo-Calvinism

Footnotes

• ¹ Bratt (1984)
• ² Cited in McGoldrick (2000)
• ³Gideon Strauss’s Blog^[1]
• ⁴The Round Table^[2]

References

• James Bratt Dutch Calvinism in Modern America, Wipf and Stock; original eerdmans, 1984
• James Bratt “The Dutch Schools” in David F. Wells (ed.) Reformed Theology in America (Baker, 1997)
• James E. McGoldrick Abraham Kuyper: God’s Renaissance Man (Welwyn, UK: Evangelical Press, 2000)
• Richard J. Mouw “Dutch Calvinist philosophical influences in North America”, Calvin Theological Journal, 24 (1) (1989): 93–120

External links

• Historic Calvinism and Neo-Calvinism
• Dutch Neo-Calvinism and the roots for transformation: an introductory essay (PDF file)
• Derek Melleby’s series on Neo-Calvinism: Neocalvinism 101
• All of life redeemed
• Al Wolters “What is to be done ...towards a neocalvinist agenda?”