'Dooyeweerd', "Twentieth-Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge"

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An accidental blog 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 whole world domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: "Mine!" Abraham Kuyper

Dooyeweerd from Twentieth-Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge Dooyeweerd, Herman (1894-1977) Dutch theologian. Born in Amsterdam, he graduated from the Free University there, and was assistant director of the Kuyper Institute, The Hague (1922–26), before appointment as professor of the philosophy of law in the Free University (1926–65). His major work, A New Critique of Theoretical Thought (4 vols., 1953–58), challenged the "pretended autonomy" by which philosophical thought asserts self-sufficient independence from divine revelation. He attacked speculative metaphysics, insisting that true knowledge of God and self-knowledge come from the working of God's Word and Spirit in the heart. Accepting the concepts of general revelation and common grace, he held that neither provides any foundation for natural theology based on man's unaided reason. Moreover, orthodox theology was no guarantee of true spiritual understanding; the latter comes through submission of the whole person to the message of Holy Scripture concerning "redemption b y Jesus Christ." Acceptance or rejection of this was "a matter of life and death to us, and not a question of theoretical reflection." In 1935 Dooyeweerd cofounded the journal Philosophia Reformata, and was prominent in the establishment of the Association for Calvinistic Philosophy (later called Christian Philosophy). From 1948 he was a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of the Sciences. Charles M. Cameron From The Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, editor J.D. Douglas, consulting editor, with Robert G. Clouse et al (Grand Rapids, Baker, 1991)

For the love of God (23): Why I love G. C. Berkouwer

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Faith and Theology A blog for theological scholarship and contemporary theological reflection

For the love of God (23): Why I love G. C. Berkouwer A guest-post by Charles Cameron At a conference for Scottish students in 1975, I met two Dutch visitors, one of whom was a theological student. On the bookstall, there were some books written by the Dutch theologian G. C. Berkouwer (1903-1996). Some of my conversations with this theological student focused on Berkouwer. After the conference, I showed the Dutch students around our capital city, Edinburgh. We visited a Christian bookshop where I bought the book Creative Minds in Contemporary Theology, which contains an article on Berkouwer (written by Lewis B. Smedes). Describing Berkouwer's contribution to contemporary theology, Smedes writes: "Berkouwer has called orthodox Reformed theology away from its love affair with metaphysics…. [H]e has called it back to its prope r and humble service as hand-maid to the preaching of the gospel" (p. 96). For Berkouwer, "divine election is identical with the grace of God that was revealed in Jesus Christ … [and is] not to be confused with a notion of an arbitrary, graceless decree of a purely Sovereign Deity" (p. 74). After reading this I said, "I must read Berkouwer!" In 1976, while visiting Canada, I bought Berkouwer's book Holy Scripture. Living out of a suitcase, I didn't have many books with me. What did I do? —I read Berkouwer. Reading became studying and writing. By the time I met him in his home in 1986, I had written a PhD thesis based on his writings. I spoke with him for one hour, but I felt like I had known him for a decade. Long before I ever laid eyes on him, I had loved him as a "father in the faith" (1 Cor. 4:15). He had helped me to praise God and to preach the gospel of grace with joyful thanksgiving.