Salt and Ligh_t __

Illustrated
in History:
Abraham Kuyper
Rev. Don Crowe
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt
loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is
then good for nothing but to be thrown out
and trampled underfoot by men. "You are the
light of the world. A oity that is set on a hill
oannot be hidden." -Matthew 5:13-14,
Our subjeot is "The Christian as Salt and Light."
We will look at four areas in whioh Christians
may be salt and light: 1. In the Churoh. 2. In
the Media. 3. In Eduoation and 4. In Politios.
These four areas oould ocoupy the lifetime
aohievements of four different men, ~ l t this story
is about one remarkable man who excelled in all
four areas: Abraham Kuyper of the Netherlands.
His great oontribution was reminding us and
demonstrating for us, that Reformed Christianity
is not limited to a slioe of life, but is a faith for all
of life. This is vitally important beoause when a
Christian does not think biblioally in some area of
life, he will end up absorbing the current cultural
oonsensus. At this time in history, absorbing the
oultural consensus will undermine every article of
, the Christian faith. Abraham Kuyper was a man
who will not let us be oomfortable with a trunoated
Christianity for the religious oompartment of life.
The Netherlands, whioh inoludes Holland
and Belgium, has a rioh heritage of Reformed
ohurohes. The 16th century Reformation
took deep roots in Holland, with thousands of
The Counsel of Chalceclon
martyrs sealing their testimony
to Christ with their blood.
The Dutoh Republio struggled
during The Eighty Years "Tal',
resulting at last in independenoe
from the oruel rule of Spain.
The House of Orange oame to
power in the new Republio,
offioially reoognized in 1648.
The Dutoh Seoond Reformation
oontinued until about 1750.
One of the most outstanding
and beloved figures was pastor
'Vilhelmus a Brakel, whose
massive work The Christian's
Reasonable Servioe oould be found
in many a Dutoh household.
The late 18th oentury saw
the poisonous philosophy of
the Frenoh revolution afflioting
Holland. There was first a
fasoination of all things Frenoh,
then domination by the Frenoh
all the way up to the defeat of
Napoleon in 1813. Holland was
onoe again free, but the Reformed
Churoh still ohaffed under state
oontrol. In 1834 a seoession
ohuroh gained independenoe
from the state ohuroh, what is
known as a FREE CHURCH.
Abraham Kuyper ,vas born in
1837; his father was a pastor in
the Dutch State Church. At the
age of 18 he entered the Leiden
University ministerial prep sohool
whose foous was Latin, Greek,
Hebrew, Philosophy, and Theology.
He graduated with honors but had
adopted rather rationalistio views.
He no longer had a oompelling
reason to be a pastor, nor had he
any gospel to preaoh. At age 21
(1858) he entered Leiden's divinity
school where he eagerly soaked
up the new up-to-date theology.
Just before his 25th birthday, he
Making the Nations Christ's Disciples
was awarded a dootorate. 'Vith his
head now stuffed with nonsense,
he set out for his first pastorate.
He was intelligent, but God
would have to make him wise.
'Ve oan mention three things
that had an influenoe leading
to Kuyper's oonversion.
The first was an essay oontest
to oompare the writings of John
Calvin, with those of the Polish
Reformer John Lasko. Lasko
also labored in England during
the brief reign of Edward VI.
Kuyper was impressed \vith the
remarkable providenoe of being
able to looate some works of Lasko.
Although Calvin and Lasko were
just interesting figures to Kuyper,
he would eventually find that
the study of Calvin is hazardous
to your modernist theology.
The second influenoe,
surprisingly enough, was a novel
given to him by his fianoee
Johanna entitled The Heir of
Redolyffe by Charlotte Yonge.
Kuyper was drawn to identify
with the ,vorldly oharacter
Philip in the story, but later
to appreoiate the strength of
charaoter in the Christian Sir Guy.
The most telling influence
oame when at age 26 he had
his first pastorate. He was a
fine speaker but theologioally
wobbling between liberalism and
orthodoxy. He was impressive
enough for the little church at
Beesd to call him, but there were
a few people in the oongregation
who were very unhappy with their
new half-Christian pastor. One of
these discontented was a miller's
daughter, Peitronella Baltus.
She was a woman who lived
unequivooally the oonfession for
whioh the martyrs died. She was
of the plain Dutch folk who loved
"the old writers". Remember that
the Dutoh ohurohes had the early
version of the Belgic confession
since 1561. The much loved
Heidelberg Catechism of 1563
and the famous Canons of Dort
1618 making a strong statement
against Arminianism. 'Vhat could
be more troubling to a liberal
preacher than a congregation who
knows their catechism? 'Vhen
she spoke of the Old writers, there
were several Reformation writings
available. Several works of English
Puritans had been translated into
Dutch and the Dutch had their
own Puritan-like writers such
as "Tillhelmus a Brakel, from the
second Dutch Reformation. Many
a Dutch home had the father read
a chapter from the Bible, followed
by a section of beloved "Father
Brake!." Kuyper could easily have
dismissed the group of Reformed
Christian people as they were not
as highly educated as he, but he
learned from them and he himself
turned again to the "old writers."
Kuyper was never much for
doing something halfway. After
his conversion he became more
dissatisfied with the state church.
Typical of a state church the
Dutch Reformed church had
liberals, orthodox, and plenty
of just plain confused pastors.
The state church tried to ease
the problems by allowing the
congregations to elect their own
officers and call their o,vn pastors,
so they could have a pastor of
whatever stripe they pleased.
Every minister took vows to
the Three Forms of Unity (The
Belgic Confession, The Heidelberg
Catechism, and the Canons of
Dordt.) But the more liberal or
moderate pastors considered it a
9
10
Salt ancl Light Illustrated in History: Abraham J(uyper
mere formality one had to endure
to get a job in the state church.
Through reading John Calvin
again, he gained an appreciation
of the wider application of the
Christian faith. Kuyper also began
to take interest in the political
arena. His anti French-revolution
sentiments led to a greater
interest in the Christian political
movement of Groen van Prinsterer.
Kuyper gained a reputation as
a preacher of exceptional ability
and effectiveness, and in 1867 was
called to Utrecht where he had
not only a wider audience, but
also a center from which to carry
out his vision for the reforming
of the whole church. Kuyper
began to realize the' truth of the
old saying that it took only one
night to get Israel out of Egypt, .
but it took 40 years to get Egypt
out of Israel. He realized that his
seminary training had actt:tally
stunted his spiritual growth and
was in fact spiritually deadening.
He began to write pamphlets ,',
explaining his Reformed positions.
Yes, it was good that several
congregations were electing
orthodox pastors and elders,
but we must not miss the point:
REFORMED CHURCH OFFICERS
ARE THE ONLY LEGITIMATE
KIND. The churches had
departed from the lawful church
government set forth at Dordt.
Kuyper really stirred up a
hornet's nest when he began
advocating a wholly reformed
church, free from State control,
and free from a state controlled
national synod. Kuyper-phobia
spread in the State church-the
unreasonable fear of and morbid
dislike of Abraham Kuyper. Surely
he did not expect the cultured
and educated' state church pastors
to go 2 or 3 centuries backward
to the old Reformation faith!
While at Utrecht, at age 31,
Kuyper met Groen van Prinsterer,
then 67 years old. Groen was
thrilled to hear his thoughts
being so well expressed by
Kuyper. Groen looked to Kuyper
as the future leader of the
"Antirevolutionary Party." This
party was both pro-Christian
and anti-French Revolutionary.
To some who might question
his involvement, Kuyper said,
"Politico-phobia is not CalVinistic,
is not Christian, is not ethical." 1
In 1869, now age 32, he
accepted an unsought call from
Amsterdam church, seeing
the potential for a national
reformation. At Amsterdam, he
began a lifelong practice of writing
regular political and religious
articles in The Herald, a leading
weekly paper. The masthead of
the paper read, "For a Free Church
and a Free School in a Free Land."
About this time, the state
church decided that ministers do
not necessarily have to baptize in
the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit-if they preferred, they
may baptize unto "Faith, hope,
and love." Kuyper responded with'
a flurry of articles and pamphlets.
Kuyper was a Spurgeon-like
preacher, eloquent, preaching
topical sermons, but engaging the
culture to a much greater extent.
He compared liberal theology to
a MIRAGE which can look good
and draw your attention, but is
DEVOID OF REALITY. vVhat is
missing in Liberalism? Kuyper
answers: They can't have the real
God, they can't offet real prayer,
they substitute the unreality
of evolutionary thought for the
biblical reality of creation and
fall-their standard of morality
lacks a REAL foundation. In
sum their church is unreal,
lacking as it does the marks
of a true church. Whatever it
is, it can no longer rightly be
called the Church of Christ.
At age 35 Kuyper was the
founder and editor of a new
daily paper: De Standaard
(The Standard), to help spread
the Antirevolutionary Party
philosophy of Groen Van
Prinsterer. De Heraut (The
Herald) continued as a weekly
Christian newspaper.
With Kuyper's aggressive
leadership in the Church,
State, Education and the
Media-do you think he had
any enemies? He was the
most attacked and denounced
minister in the Netherlands.
As Kuyper was active in
the Antirevolutionary Party,
he became a candidate for
Parliament. His party did not
win the general election, but
Kuyper did win the district of
Gouda (where the cheese comes
from). Elections were not the
multi-million dollar campaigns of
today. Men of ability STOOD FOR
OFFICE, allowing their name to be
on the ballot. Kuyper sought to be
salt and light in every public area.
Politics in Holland was a
complex thing. There was
the Antirevolutionary Party
who opposed the ideas of the
Enlightenment and the French
Revolution, and there was a
Liberal Party, honest enough to
label itself as such. Therewas
also a Conservative Party, but
they were the useless kind of
The Counsel of Chalcedon
conservatives who look at liberal
polioies and say, "Me too, only
not so much." Kuyper said of that
so-called conservative party, "the
Conservative coterie is nothing
but an inconsistent bunoh of
liberals ... doomed to disappear."
That is a familiar reoipe for defeat.
Kuyper said of the Conservative,
Liberal, Radioal, and Sooialist
parties: They have no inkling
of [Jesus' royal authority in
the sphere of politios].
There was also a Catholio
Party, perhaps surprisingly
more sooially oonservative at
oertain pOints, and sharing the
Reformed church's interest in
maintaining a system of schools
free from state oontrol. V\Then
Kuyper proposed equal funding
for sohool publio or private, the
liberals reacted. Liberals then
as now, thought they should of
course go to private sohools, but
the oommoners should be satisfied
with the government provided
schools. Said one liberal; if these
people feel oppressed (by having
to support the unwanted state
sohools) they had better remain
oppressed. They are like a fly
in the ointment that oauses an
evil odor; they have no right to
exist in our sooiety. (Liberals
have not ohanged muoh -they
are still as depraved as ever.)
On eoonomio issues, Kuyper
was oonoerned about working
oonditions, suggesting some
labor laws and organization
of the labor "sphere" for
better working oonditions.
I\eep in mind that Kuyper
was an exploratory thinker, a
pioneering effort in modern
times. The BIG IDEA of sphere
Making the Nations Christ's Disciples
Salt and Light Illustrated in History: Abrahmn
sovereignty, needed to filled in
with the details. R. J. Rushdoony's
main oriticism of Kuyper is that
the details on issues needed to
. be filled in with the very speoifio
laws of God. It is easy for
Christians to think that if a man
is a Christian and listening to his
oonscienoe, he will do the right
thing. But a Christian solution is
not just any idea proposed by a
professing Christian. A Christian
solution is the one in whioh God
and man are loved enough to do
PRECISELY what God has said
in His God-breathed Soripture.
BUT if we are able to improve on
Kuyper in some areas, does that
not inorease our responsibility to
be salt and light in our sooiety?
After all merely oriticizing
Kuyper oannot be the extent
of our responsibility. To whom
muoh is given, muoh shall be
required. VIe need to be grateful
for Kuyper's 60 years of tireless
leadership in the ohuroh, the
State, the Media and in Eduoation.
Doing his best to apply the
Christian faith to all of life.
V\Torking himself to exhaustion,
Kuyper took the year 1876 off
to travel to favorite spots like
the mountains of Switzerland
and the shores of the Adriatio.
Resuming his work as editor of
The Standard and The Herald it;
1877 Kuyper learned to sohedule
times of rest and vaoations.
Liberals won the 1877 eleotion
and began making demands on
all sohools, publio and private,
but proViding funds only to
the publio sohools. V\Then the
king signed this bill over many
protests, the Antirevolutionary
Party and the Catholio Party were
awakened with ne,v energy.
--_ ... _----
Kuyper becolnes the
University Founder
In 1876 Holland had 4 million
people and 3 State oontrolled
universities. But these universities
all had divinity departments
operated by humanists,
rationalists, and radioals. As
Romans 1:22 says "Professing
to be ,vise, they became fools."
Kuyper proposed that the divinity
sohool be independent of the
university and privately funded.
The proposal sent a shook wave
among the liberals. They did not
want to give up oontrol of the
divinity sohools. They realized
that if the divinity sohools were
to be privately funded they would
all be oonservative. Liberals did
not believe in giving their own
money, but insisted that other
people pay the way through
taxation. Then the divinity
schools oould oontinue to
replaoe divinely revealed truth,
with the imagination of man.
Kuyper had toyed with the
idea of a broadly oonservative
university, but he oommitted
to work for a complete, free,
Calvinistio, national university.
The Free University (free of
government oontrol) would have
the Three Forms of Unity as
their confessional standards. It
must be reoognized that in every
subject there are fundamental
assumptions that are either
based on the \Vord of God or the
words of man. The foundation of
the university must be revealed
truth, not human reason.
The Free University was set to
open in 1880. The national ohuroh
said they ,vould aooept only
state granted divinity degrees.
Kuyper's opening address was on
Continued on Page 26
11
Continued .from page 13
"Sovereignty in the Individual
Spheres of Life" People gave
generously to the University as
few people believed they would. It
was a bold and pioneering effort to
establish a Reformed university.
Kuyper became the professor of
Systematic Theology and also the
Professor of Preaching. Students
had to go through some tough
reviews of their sermons.
I(uyper had a burning desire
to equip ministerial students in
a way he had not been equipped.
He knew from his own experience
how spiritually crippling seminary
indoctrination could be.
Kuyper continued to speak
and write against state university
divinity schools. Two big problems
were: 1. To have liberals teach
Bible is worse than useless; it
was downright harmful to the
student's spiritual ,veIl being.
2. The universities reduoed the
Christian
world and life view to a mere
Department of Religion. That
is just the kind of thing we
need to rid ourselves of.
All during the 1880's, Kuyper
continued writing for the
newspapers and teaching at the
Free University. His literary
output ,vas amazingly high. He
had taken an emeritus status
as pastor, but ,vas still active
in church life as an elder.
The Reiorl11ation
of 1886
\Vith the defeat of Napoleon,
Holland became independent
'vith King 'Villiam I returning
the House of Orange to power.
However he did not return the
church to the reformed structure
Jv/ahing the Nations ChTist's Disciples
Salt and Light Illustrated in History: Abraham [(u:vper
of Dort, but decreed a hierarchical
State Church. The next 60
years showed the predictable
slide from the Reformed faith to
liberalism. Liberals controlled the
university "divinity departments".
The subscription vows to the
Three Forms of Unity were
widely disregarded. In 1882
liberals managed to replace the
old vows with the minister or
elder's agreement to "Promote
the interests of the Kingdom of
God in general and especially
those of the state church."
Abraham Kuyper was a
very influential elder in the
largest church in Amsterdam
and organized a convention
of delegates who signed their
commitment to the Three Forms.
A Second Crisis
A crisis arose within the State
Church over the examination of
covenant children and transfers
from other congregations. The
more conservative reformed
churches, like Amsterdam under
Kuyper's leadership, insisted
on examining both covenant
children and transfer applicants
for membership. The conservative
churches ,vanted a credible
profession of faith as a condition
for membership. The liberals
felt that if the covenant child or
the transferee had no scandalous
behavior, they should be admitted
to membership ,"vithout further
ado. If someone was a member
in good standing of a liberal
congregation, the State Church
expected even oonservative
congregations to accept them
without question or examination.
The Amsterdam Consistory
(Session) represented at least 9
congregations, but acted as one
examining committee for all the
congregations. The State Church
moved to stack the examination
oommittees with ministers, with
only token representation of
ruling elders. This is because the
State Church ministers had been
trained by the liberal theological
departments of the universities.
The ruling elders were more
likely to be conservative and
to have read traditional Dutch
reformed literature, such as the
popular writings of a'Brakel.
Thus the State Church's pressure
to oonform was inoreasing.
Since the State church
objected to the power of the local
congregation to reject transferring
state church members, and when
the National Synod answered
the protests of the orthodox
by forming a study committee,
Abraham Kuyper went into action
writing brochures defending
the orthodox position. How
do you think the state church
responded? Did they perhaps
write a thoughtful essay in
refutation? Of course not! They
declared a massive suspension
of the Amsterdam
Consistory (The Session +
Deacons) including Abraham
Kuyper and four other professors
at the Free University. They
replaced the old consistory with
one that would process transfer
requests NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
Kuyper continued to write,
also holding Sunday meetings
in auditoriums for the ejeoted
members and officers. As people
became convinced by Kuyper's
speeches and writings, more
than 7,000 church members
in Amsterdam declared their
recognition of the deposed
officers and members as the true
25
26
Salt and Light Illustrated in History: .Abraham Kuyper
oonsistory. Thus Kuyper led an
exodus from the State ohuroh
known as the Doleantie Movement.
They were oalled Doleantie,
meaning "Grieving ones," beoause
they presented their grievanoes.
They oonsidered themselves as
the oontinuing Reformed ohuroh,
returning to the lawful ohuroh
government established at the
Synod of Dort. They had not
sought to leave the ohuroh, but
to reform it. For their efforts
they were expelled. As might
be expeoted the leading figure
in this new Reformed ohuroh
was Abraham Kuyper. They
oalled not merely for individuals,
but whole oongregations to
join with them in oontinuing
the historio gospel witness.
Of oourse there were those
pastors and ohuroh members
who were hung up by indeoision.
"Vas it really neoessary at
this time to leave the national
ohuroh? It sounded like a risky
soheme! They had emotionally
oharged arguments like: The
natioh is our Fatherland, the
ohuroh is our Mother, when
your Mother is siok, it that the
time to forsake her? But the
state ohuroh had so deteriorated
that it was more like a worldly
"Step-mother" than a mother.
The State ohuroh responded
with Operation Perseoution (not
their name for it), seizing ohuroh
buildings when possible, and
posting guards to keep dissenting
oongregations out of their ohuroh
building. They also evioted
pastors from state-owned housing,
often built next to the ohuroh.
They also seized ohuroh reoords.
Though they had no legal claim,
the oivil government generally
looked the other way. Finally the
Supreme Court of Holland denied
the reform group any claim to the
ohuroh properties and finanoes.
But the lemonade made
from this lemon was that the
Reformed ohurohes were now
free to organize along Biblioal
lines. The Free University oeased
to be a broad-based university
and beoame the sohool of the
Reformed oongregations.
Here's a quiz: Who was the
leading figure in the founding
of the Free University?
Who was the reoognized leader
of the new Reformed Churoh?
Who was the leading
orthodox voioe in the Media?
Who was the leader
of the reform minded
Antirevolutionary Party?
Four questions, one
answer: Abraham Kuyper.
His Political Career
In 1880 The Antirevolutionary
Party was reorganized under the
leadership of Kuyper. It was a
small but promising party. Dr.
Kuyper was the head of the
national oommittee. In the 1883
eleotions the suffrage base had
been inoreased as well as the
number of to
be eleoted. The Conservative
Party won that eleotion. The
Conservative Party, however,
was basioally useless, mostly
agreeing with the Liberal Party.
The opposition oame mostly from
the Calvinistio Party, sometimes
getting support from the Roman
Catholio Party. Kuyper had
written a broohure on "Rome
and Dort" insisting that the
parties must remain separate.
Nevertheless the Catholio
Party would support Kuyper's
initiative for a system of grammar
sohools independent of State
oontrol, leaving the Catholios
to organize their own system
and the Calvinists to organize
a Reformed system of sohools.
The Catholio Party oould also
support some more oonservative
positions on sooial issues.
In the 1888 eleotion, the
Liberals lost some seats; the
"me-too" Conservative Party
was reduoed to ONE member,
leaving the oombined foroes
of the Anti-revolutionary and
the Catholio parties a majority
of ten and the right to form a
new ooalition government.
Kuyper exhorted his party "to
oling to the banner of the Cross,
to go heroioally into battle, not
for personal honor or power, not
for high offioe or politioal gain,
but for the Christ and His future.
And in oonneotioh with that
future of our Lord, for the spiritual
deliveranoe of our oountry, so
that when Christ returns, there
will be found on our soil, too,
whioh onoe reoeived the blood
of the martyrs, a people that
does not strive against Him but
hails Him with a Hallelujah!"2\
The 1880's were the most
strenuous deoade of aotivity
for Kuyper as university
professor, ohuroh reform
leader, politioal party leader,
and his politioal and religious
journalism and other writing.
The Counsel of Chalcedon
The Early Eighteen
Nineties
The Liberals regained power in
1891. Kuyper continued to lecture
on systematic theology, which we
have in his Encyclopedia of Sacred
Theology. Although Kuyper
wrote in Dutch we have several
of his works in English. "'hether
writing for scholars or lay people
Kuyper effectively communicated
the Reformed faith. His profound
respect for the reformed
confessions showed that he had
not been educated beyond his
intelligence at the Leiden school
of religious anthropology. Frank
Vanden Berg, author of a biography
of Kuyper, said of him: "the
mighty thinker always remained
the child who bowed in humility
before the Vvord of God, bringing
every thought into captivity
to the obedience of Christ."
Also in the 1890's The Doleantie
secession formed a union with the
1834 Christian Reformed Church.
So about 400 Christian Reformed
congregations joined "'ith 300
of the Doleantie churches. The
new church would be known
as The Reformed Churches in
the Netherlands. They could
now train ministers at Free
University or Kampen seminary.
Kuyper addressed the church
mission conference: Allmission
work flows out of the sovereignty
of God, rests on man's creation
after the Image of God, is
necessary because of sin; is rooted
in the confidence that the Holy
Spirit proceeds not only from the
Father but from the Son. He urged
that missionaries sent out have the
same training and eXaIilination
process as church pastors. Every
local church has the right and the
duty to be involved in misSions,
Making the Nations Christ's Disciples
Salt and Light Illustrated in History: Abrahmn I(uype1-
including cooperation with
other reformed congregations.
At the 25th anniversary
of The Standard, Bavinck of
Kampen seminary was the
guest speaker, but Kuyper took
the oooasion to sum up one of
his most basio oonvictions:
"The Soriptures not only serve
to find justifioation through faith
and cast light on the path to
eternity. That same "'ord of God
also reveals the foundations of
all human life, that is, the sacred
ordinanoes which must govern
the whole of the life of men in
the family and in the churoh,
in the state and in society at
large. The Word of God contains
the ordinanoes for our personal,
our family, our eoclesiastical,
our eduoational, our political,
our industrial and oommercial,
our oulturallife-indeed every
sector of human life." 3
Kuyper wrote out his books
and artioles by hand, leaving it
to others to type or typeset his
non-award winning handwriting.
Kuyper had long been an avid
reader. The books came pouring
into the Kuyper home and
they were not for decoration!
Kuyper maintained a regular
sohedule for dinner, the daily
two mile walk along the same
route, the same three vaoation
weeks soattered through the
year. In 1897 he was 60 years
old, not thinking of retirement,
not desiring to limit his work
to a mere 40 hours a week.
In 1898 Kuyper spent several
months in the United States.
He delivered three leotures at
MoCormiok Theological Seminary.
There was a signifioant Dutoh
oommunity in the Chioago-
Northern Indiana area. Kuyper
was well reoeived. In October,
he gave his famous six leotures
on Calvinism at Princeton
University (Eerdmans published
the unabridged lectures, The
Plymouth Rook Foundation
published an abridged version with
subheadings and study gUide.)
First Lecture:
Calvinisln: a
Life-Systenl
Calvinism is what we oall
a world and life view.
It was not from Greeoe or
Rome that the regeneration of
human life oame forth; that
. mighty metamorphosis dates
from Bethlehem and Golgotha.
The Reformation dispelled the
clouds of sacerdotalism and
unveiled again to fullest view
the glories of the oross. But
against this Christian influenoe
in every sphere of life, the storm
of Modernism has now arisen
with violent intensity. A turning
point was reaohed in 1789 with
the Frenoh Revolution and
Voltaire's mad cry "Down with
the sooundrel" aimed at Christ
Himself. This oomprehensive
attaok on Christianity oan
be met only with Calvinism's
deoisive, oonsistent and
oomprehensive defense.
Calvinism orders our three
basio relationships: To God,
to Man, and to the \Vorld.
With God we are brought
into immediate fellowship
with the Eternal.
With man we recognize the
human worth of each person
by virtue of his oreation in the
divine likeness. \Ve reoognize
27
28
Salt and Light Illustrated in History: Abraham Kuyper
the equality of all men before
God and God's magistrates.
With the world we recognize
the curse upon the fallen world,
yet restrained by common grace.
That we must in every domain
discover the treasures and develop
the potencies hidden by God
in nature and in human life.
Second Lectnre:
Calvinism and Religion
Man's religion ought to exist
for the sake of God who created
all things for Himself. As
the anthem of the seraphim
around the throne was the
one uninterrupted cry HOLY,
HOLY, HOLY-so true religion
is one echoing of God's glory as
our Creator and Redeemer.
True religion has three petitions:
Hallowed be Thy Name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy Will be done.
True religion has one
watchword: Seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and
His righteousness.
The Christian's great confession
of God's sovereignty is this:
Romans 11:36, "For of Him and
through Him and to Him are all
things, to whom be glory forever."
True religion is not a part of life;
it is the lens through which we
see everything. When our Lord
Jesus says, Mark 12:30 'you shall
love the LORD your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, with
all your mind, and with all your
strength' it is all comprehensive,
nothing is left out. Whether a
man is in agriculture, commerce,
industry, art, science or whatever
else-he is constantly standing
before the face of his God.
"Can we imagine that at one
time God willed to rule things in
a certain moral order, but that
now, in Christ, He wills to rule it
otherwise? As though He were not
the Eternal, the Unchangeable ...
For the Calvinist, all ethical study
is based on the law. of Sinai. .. as
the divinely authentic summary
of that original moral law which
God wrote in the heart of man
at his creation and which God
is re-writing on the tables of
every heart at its conversion." 4
Once Calvinism was established
in the Netherlands, there was a
rustling of life in all directions
and an indomitable energy in
every department of human
activity. The fruit of Calvinism
was excellent fruit, but the fruit of
Modernism is corrupt and rotten.
Third Lectnre:
Calvinism and Politics
Calvinism is a root and branch
faith. Sometimes we do not realize
how much the religiously held
presuppositions of a people shape
their nation's civil government.
There was a reason historian
George Bancroft said: "The
fanatic for Calvinism was a
fanatic for liberty." Groen van
Prinsterer said, "In Calvinism
lies the origin and guarantee of
our constitutional liberties."
The fallen state of man made
civil government necessary. When
a people have a thirst for liberty,
they want the role of government
to be limited to the restraint
of evildoers. Otherwise civil
government will be a PROMOTER
of evil. All authority of civil
governments originates from the
sovereignty of God over all. The
ideal form of human government is
the constitutional republic. Kuyper
sees three examples of Calvinism's
drive for liberty. The triumph of
liberty over Spanish dominion, led
to Holland vVar for independence
under the leadership of William
the Silent. Second, the arrival of
William III of Orange in England,
overthrew the reign of the Stuarts.
Third, in the United States, liberty
was secured from Great Britain.
Calvinism protests against
State-omnipotence; against
the horrible conception that
no right exists above and
beyond existing laws.
Magistrates are and are to
remain God's servants. They
have to recognize God as supreme
Ruler, from whom they derive
their power. They have to
serve God, by ruling the people
according to His ordinances.
They have to restrain blasphemy,
where it directly assumes the
character of an affront to the
Divine Majesty. And God's
supremacy is to be recognized
by confeSSing His name in the
Constitution as the Source of all
political power, by maintaining
the Sabbath, by proclaiming days
of prayer and thanksgiving, and
by invoking His divine blessing. 5
Civil government must
not establish one Christian
denomination as a State Church.
"Calvinists have always struggled
too proudly and courageously for
the liberty, that is to say, for the
sovereignty, of the Church within
The Counsel of Chalcedon
30
Salt and Light Illustrated in Hist01:W AbTaham Kuyper
destroy; it could not build.
No human works or sentiments
can replace the importance
of the [objective] Truth of the
gospel message. Kuyper warns
us against abandoning truth:
"Everyone ,"vho thinks he can
abandon Christian truths, and
do away with the Catechism of
Reformation, lends ear unawares
to the hypothesis of the modern
and without knowing
how far he has drifted already,
swears by the Catechism of
Rousseau and Darwin."10
A great need of our time
is a historical study of the
prinoiples of Calvinism.
"Those churches which lay
claim to professing the Reformed
faith, shall cease being ashamed
of this confession. \Vhat one
confesses to be truth, one must
also dare to practice in word, deed,
and whole manner of life;" 11
Abraham Kuyper closed his
final Princeton lecture with the
illustration of the Aeolian harp.
Popular in the 18th century,
they were made of wood with
the strings tuned to sound when
the wind blew. "Tithout the wind
it was silent. To paraphrase
Kuyper: Now let us as Calvinists
tune our strings aright, and
pray the breath of the Holy
Spirit would sound through us,
that we be silent no longer.
Following his trip to America,
Kuyper returned to Holland
with a new zest for reform.
But 1899 was to be a year of
sorrow. \Vhile the Kuypers were
vacationing in Switzerland, his
wife Johanna became serious
ill and died at age 58. The next
week he published an article in
The Herald entitled "\Vhen \Vhat
is Mortal is Sv{allowed Up by
Life" based on 2 Cor. 5:4. Here
are excepts from that article:
HGiven what lies before your
eyes ... you can only say that Death,
the fearful enemy of God and man,
finally succeeds in swallowing
up a life so precious to you .. "
earlier assaults had been turned
away. After a night of weeping ...
joy came in the morning .... But
this time things turned out very
differently ... Death mocked you
with all your unheard prayers and
pointless anxieties. It whispered
derisively: 'I won; your morning
of joy will never come.' ... But
now comes God's \Vord which,
without in any way discounting
the harshness of that reality, turns
it around for you, Totally.". Then,
to your soul's eye a totally opposite
reality unfolds, a reality which
shows you that death does not
swallow up life but that in death
what is mortal is swallowed up
by life .... And then our death and
the death of our loved ones never
comes except at the moment, and
never otherwise than under those
circumstances, which He deemed
best for the full realization of
His counsel and for the praise
of his Name .... There is weeping
over the acute pain felt by [our]
wounded heart. But from that
same heart also rises the sound of
rejoicing'and praise for what God
prepared for the loved one who
went away and for ,,,hat He left
in this life by way of consolation,
love, and holy calling." 12
1899 also saw the Liberal
Party in control, passing
compulsory military training,
,"vith no substitutions allowed, and
compulsory school attendance
laws. Both of these measures were
opposed by Kuyper and, on these
issues, the Catholic Party too.
Both wanted parents to make the
educational choices, and the State
should not be making the choice
for private Christian education
more difficult 01' impossible.
Even if we cannot approve his
every choice, Kuyper attempted
in all his political activity to act
on prinCiple, build on his core
convictions, not on impulse
or expediency. As a speaker,
whether in the church or the
Parliament, Kuyper was impressive
in voice and appearance. As
the dominant voice in the
Antirevolutionary Party and his
party's National Committee, it was
like a cabinet in waiting. Kuyper
said of the Liberal government:
"Our battle is not against the
persons, but against the spirit
which forsakes God in matters of
political and governmental and
incorporates itself in the political
policies of all Liberals."13
\Vhen the 1901 elections
came around the
Party was optimistic. Imagine
a campaign with no TV, no
radio, no whistle stops, not even
a whirlwind tour of factories
and marketplaces; They gave
speeches in indoor auditoriums
and conducted debates with
actual substance! There were no
pollsters in the 1901 elections, so
voters actually were expected to
THINK! There was a great deal of
activity in newspapers, magazines
and campaign literature. The
combined "Parties of the Right"
won The new cabinet
The Counsel of Chalcedon
her own sphere, in distinction
from the Lutheran theologians. In
Christ. .. the Church has her own
King. Her position in the State is
not assigned her by the permission
of the government, but jure divino.
She has her own organization.
She possesses her own office
bearers." 6 A state church has
never long remained pure.
Fourth Lecture:
Calvinism and Science
Calvinism is not just a different
church form, but also an entirely
different form of human life and
society, giving the world new
foundational truths for all of
life. The Calvinistic doctrine
of "predestination is a strong
motive for the study of science."7
As Cornelius Van Til reminded
us, every fact is a God-created fact
and must be a God-interpreted
fact. As Kuyper said, science
is not mere empiricism. "The
subject matter of the several
sciences must be brought
together under the sway of one
principle by means of theory
or hypothesis, and finally
Systematics, as the queen of
sciences, comes forth from her
tent to weave all the different
results into one organic whole."B
God's predestinating purpose
guarantees that there is an
order in creation. Because
God's decrees have stability,
there is predictability.
Reformed theologians speak
of God's revelation in nature and
in SCripture. Kuyper reminds
us of Calvin's picture of the
Scriptures as a pair of spectacles
enabling us to decipher again the
Making the Nations Christ's Disciples
Salt ancl Light Illustratecl if!' History: Abraham Kuyper
divine thoughts written by God'Slf we succeed only is savmg
hand in the book of nature. theology, ours will be the tactics
Modern theologians, who think
of themselves as descendants of
Kuyper, often abuse this principle
by mindlessly repeating: "All
truth is God's truth," while
forgetting the corollary: "All
lies are Satan's lies" The abuse
is seen most often in the area of
science. These erring theologians
assume that theories devised by
reprobate scientists are on the
level of proven fact. Then these
theories are looked upon as
superior to and corrective of the
Scriptures themselves! Because
the Bible is not a textbook on
science, they state, it must be
reinterpreted away from its plain
meaning. The Bible, however,
is absolute unchanging truth, it
is far superior to any textbook.
The modern theologians betray
their false presupposition about
the nature of Scripture and its
authority. There is nothing more
certain than the plainly revealed
Word of the omniscient Creator.
There is nothing man can ever
learn that the living God has not
already known from all eternity.
That truth we must remember.
Another important truth to
which Kuyper calls attention is
that our world, as we observe
it today, is a fallen abnormal
world. The world as it is is not
the world as it was created. The
uniformitarian naturalist, whom
Kuyper calls a "N ormalist", gives a
false account of all they observe.
What is Kuyper's counsel? If we
console ourselves with the thought
that we may without danger leave
secular science [scholarly study]
in the hands of our opponents,
of the ostrich. To confine yourself
to the saving of your upper room,
when the rest of the house is
on fire, is foolish indeed. 9
Fifth Lecture:
Calvinism and the Arts
Although art may be and has
been abused, it may also be used
for the glory of God. It is a gift
of God's common grace. In the
scriptures we could think of
the unbelieving family of Cain
who were gifted with music.
We could also think of the
tabernacle craftsmen of Israel'
who were specially gifted. Art is
the expression of Divine beauty
and perfection. Calvinists have
appreciated the beauty and,
power of music, especially when
used in the worship of God.
Sixth Lecture:
Calvinism and
the Future
Calvinism is more than a
dbgmatic or ecclesiastical
movement; it embraces all
\ of life. Our anti-Christian
opponents, like the French
atheistic Encyclopedists, are
not satisfied to attack particular
doctrines of Christianity. They
compose an entire system of
thought, a worldview that is
opposed to Christianity at
every point. We may conclude
from Kuyper's analysis that our
apologetic also must include an
all-comprehensive antithetical
worldview. The French Revolution
was the negative of Calvinism. It
promised to destroy Christianity
and replace it with something
better. All it could do was to
29
had no difficulty naming the new
prime minister: who else but
Abraham Kuyper? "That Groen
van Prinsterer could only dream
of, but did not live to see, Abraham
Kuyper and the Antirevolutionary
Party had achieved.
But in 1901 it would still not
be easy to get new legislation
passed. The Boer '\Tar was
going on. Queen '\Tilhelmina,
whose signature was required,
was seriously ill. In 1903 the
railroad strike, encouraged by
Socialists and anarchists, brought
Holland to a standstill. Kuyper
was criticized for being too harsh
with new laws to stop the strikes,
but would have been criticized
even more had he had done
nothing. In 1904 the Russo-
Japanese war created problems
for the Dutch East Indies.
One significant achievement of
the Kuyper administration "vas the
IIigher Education Law of 1905. As
the founder of the Free University
his opinions on education were
respected. Four provisions:
The final examinations at
private schools were put on
par with the public 'gymnasia'
schools. Subsidies to private
schools were greatly increased
toward more equal treatment.
A church or association may
create special university chairs
to propagate their philosophy.
Technical schools were
established for training in
engineering careers.
A kind of certification issue
for Free University, the bill
eliminated the requirement
that Free University graduates
Mahing the Nations Ch1'ist's Disciples
Salt and Light Illustrated in History: Ab1nhmn !(uype1'
take a second set of exams from
a certified state university.
Kuyper also worked hard
and successfully to protect the
rights of private schools. He also
insisted that bills requiring large
expenditures include provision
to pay for it. Having to work
with the coalition government,
he could not always get approval
for the ideal solutions.
In the 1905 campaign,
Liberals did not talk about their
agenda but attacked Kuyper. A
disgruntled splinter group refused
to cooperate with Kuyper's
coalition government and their
five votes changed the balance
of power. So at age 68 Kuyper
was again a private citizen. He
went on a tour of the Eastern
Mediterranean and the Holy
Land. At age 70 he was honorably
retired from the Free University,
leaving systematic theology in the
capable hands of Herman Bavinck.
This was no retirement to the
rocking chair; he kept writing
articles for the Herald. Herman
Bavinck resigned as chairman
of the Antirevolutionary Party
and Kuyper resumed his former
position. Kuyper was hopeful
that the people of Holland would
be sick of the Liberal government
by the 1909 elections, but they
were sick of it sooner, defeating
the liberals in 1908. If Kuyper
had gotten back into political
action sooner he would likely
have had another term as prime
minister. Kuyper ,vas elected to
parliament again in 1909 with
the Right coalition winning
60-40 their largest margin of
victory. The Victory of the Left in
1913 effectively ended Kuyper's
political career at age 76. He
continued to write and speak.
By age 80, in 1917, Kuyper had
to slow his activities. From this
point on are the years of decline.
He was not able to take his usual
vacation times because vacation
trips were now more of an ordeal
than a rest. At age 82 he sadly
realized he must resign party
leadership, even though there was
much work to be done. Also at
this time, like giving up a piece of
his life, Kuyper resigned as editor
of The Standard, a work he loved
and had given himself to for 50
years. He kept The Herald which
was dedicated to mostly biblical
and Christian worldview articles.
In 1920 at age 82 he still had
The Herald paper and his seat in
Parliament. He pushed himself
to write enough articles ahead
of schedule so they could run
until November .. By September
of 1920 he resigned his seat
in parliament, and knew that
someone else would have to carry
on the work of The Herald. He
was to live just 10 days past his
83rd birthday. On November 8,
1920 his gravestone noted that he
had "Fallen Asleep in his Savior."
I close with a statement
made by Abraham Kuyper in
his October 1880 inaugural
address at the Free University of
Amsterdam. In his lecture was
on Sphere Sovereignty he made
this memorable statement:
"Oh, no single piece of our
mental world is to be hermetically
sealed off from the rest, and
THERE IS NOT A SQUARE
INCH IN THE ,\THOLE DOMAIN
OF OUR I-IUMAN EXISTENCE
OVER ,\TI-UCH CHRIST, V"HO
IS SOVEREIGN OVER ALL,
DOES NOT CRY: 'MINE."'14
31
32
9 Lectures. (139/94)
Enonotes
1 Frank Vanden Berg. Abraham Kuyper, A Biography.
(St. Catherines, Ontario: Paideia Press, 1978), 48.
10 Lectures. (189/113)
11 Lectures. (195/118)
2 Ibid. 155.
3 Ibid. 173.
4 .Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism
12 James D. Bratt, ed. Abraham !Cuyper, .It
Centennial Reader. (Grand Rapids, lvIl: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 408-415.
13 Frank Vanden Berg. Abraham
(1898). (Grand Rapids, MI: B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1931) and Abraham Kuyper.
Christianity A Total and Life System.
(Marlborough, NIl: Plymouth Rock Foundation,
Inc., 1996. An abridged version oj the lectures.
Citations are given with the first page number
reJerring to the standard Eerdmans edition and
the second number reJerring to the Plymouth
Kuyper, A Biography. 194.
14 James D. Bratt, ed. Abraham Kuyper, A
Centennial Reader. (Grand Rapids, lvIl:
B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 488.
Rock abridgement. This citation: (71J/41])
5 Abraham Kuyper. Lectures on
Calvinism (1898). (103/62)
6 Lectures. (105/63)
7 Lectures (112/69)
8 Lectures (113/69-70)
RPCUS Churches
The RPCUS presently hcs
churches, mission works, and
schools in Georgia, Virginia,
Texas, Tennessee, Washington,
Great Britain, and Ecuador.
Chalcedon Presbyterian Church
Rev. Joe Morecraft,
(entering its 30th year)
302 Pilgrim Mill Rd
Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 205-9693 . Fax
(770) 205-9390
www.chalcedon.org
church@chalcedon.org
Christ Reformed
Presbyterian Church
Rev. Paul McDade
7050 Whitlock Rd
Paris, TN 38242
(731) 782-3119
westtnreJormed@wk.net
Covenant Presbyterian Church
Rev. Chris Strevel
1420 Rock Springs Rd
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(770) 614-0209
www.covenant-rpcus.org
strevelc@gmail.com
Covenant Reformed
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Rev. Greg Green
(336) 227-7957
Meeting Location:
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ww'w.crpcalamance.org
ecc1213@triad.rr.com
Iglesia del Calcedon
Rev. 'William Farr
(Rev. Farr has ministered
in Ecuador since 1972)
Casilla 12-02-42 :: Quevedo, .
Ecuador, South America
(Phone) 011-593-57-58 133
Knoxville RPCUS Mission .
Contact: Harrison Painter
946 Abners Ridge Road
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(865) 671-8450
Providence Reformed
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Rev. Jeff Black
Church: PO Box 374, 180
West Main Street
vVytheville, VA 24382
Home: 157 Max Meadows Road
Max Meadows, VA 24360
(276) 625-0880
www.thebiblealone.com
jmblack@wythenet.com
. The Counsel of Chalceclon