God's Word For Every Day

“Whoever reflects on the origin of sin cannot engage himself in a merely theoretical dispute; rather, he is engaged, intimately and personally, in the problem of sin's guilt.” —G.C. Berkouwer

“If theology is to speak adequately of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it must be thoroughly committed to hearing “the powerful witness of the ‘tremendous’ Word that always speaks against us so that we can learn to stop speaking against it.” —G.C. Berkouwer

In his discussion, "Election and the Hiddenness of God" in Divine Election (Chapter Four, pp.102-131), G. C. Berkouwer emphasizes that God's hiddenness is not to be set over against His salvation. He rejects a concept of God's hiddenness which "separates the God of revelation from our lives and mitigates the absolute trustworthiness of that revelation" (p. 125). Even in confessing God's salvation, faith acknowledges that it does not know everything about God (pp. 120-121, especially  the reference to Isaiah 45:15 - " Truly You are a God who has been hiding Himself,  the God and Saviour of Israel."). Although our knowledge of God in Christ is confessed to be true and reliable, we must not presume upon complete knowledge (p. 124 - especially the reference to John 14:9 - "He who has seen Me has seen the Father."). The attempt to attain to complete knowledge is admonished for its spiritual pride, when Christ speaks of these things which...

Warning against "the danger of going outside the sphere of faith into the area of observation", G. C. Berkouwer disputes the legitimacy of interpreting the ways of Providence on the basis of facts" ( The Providence of God , pp. 164-165). He aims to guard against the possibility that "everyone according to his own prejudice and subjective whim (can) canonize a certain event or national rise as a special act of God in which He reveals and demonstrates His favour" (p. 164). Acutely aware that "the interpretation of an historical event as a special revelation of Providence too easily becomes a piously disguised form of self-justification" (p. 166), Berkouwer insists that "no event speaks so clearly that we may conclude from it a certain disposition of God - as long as God Himself does not reveal that His disposition comes to expression in the given event" (p. 170). Concerning events in the history of Israel, which are recorded in Scripture, Be...

“Theology is not an excursion into the stratosphere that lies beyond scriptural speech in time: it may not travel beyond the borders of faith's perspective. Beyond the word of Scripture we dare not go, in speech or theological reflection; for it is in this word that God's love in Jesus Christ is revealed. There is nothing beyond that.” —G.C. Berkouwer

“There is room for a humble and courageous defence of Christianity. The combination of humility and courage is the combination that Christianity in our day sorely needs.” —G.C. Berkouwer

“Scripture ... does not derive its authority from the fact that we use it, not even when we use Scripture in faith.” —G. C. Berkouwer

Serving God is incomplete if it doesn't lead to serving others.   "The service of the God of Israel and total concern for life within our horizon are inseparable... His people can truly give all their attention to him without being lured away from their neighbors."(G. C. Berkouwer, A Half Century of Theology , p. 193). Serving others need not lead us away from serving God . "It is ridiculous to suppose that the Old Testament is guilty of being too heavily accented and one-sidedly concerned with the horizontal dimension of life, as though love for God might somehow get shortchanged by it." (p. 193).

James' attack on " dead faith" (G. C. Berkouwer, Faith and Justification , 137) and his protest for faith as "a truly experienced reality" (136), which dominates the whole of life, does not conflict with Paul who speaks against the works of the law but not against the works of faith.

“If apologetics becomes a fight over a system ... it becomes something very different from the 'giving an answer' for faith that the New Testament asks for. The struggle may not be waged for the sake of a fight, but only for the sake of the truth. There must, therefore, never be lust for victory in confrontation. Confrontations can easily be waged in a manner that alienates faith from science without the believing disputants even understanding the problems of science; quick counterarguments are then not even taken seriously by the other side. Apologetics may then celebrate some sort of victory, while in reality it has only exposed its poverty.” — G. C. Berkouwer

The Reformation Continues

G C Berkouwer presents a view of biblical criticism which promises to overcome theological polarization. Keeping the Gospel at the centre of his thinking, he maintains that it is possible to acknowledge that there are “hesitations and doubts … present at many points (which) do not in themselves indicate a deep and final uncertainty” ( A Half Century of Theology , p. 8). This hearing of the Gospel in the reading of Scripture does not involve the presupposition of a ‘ vox celestis , a heavenly voice … that human beings do not take part in” ( Modern Uncertainty and Christian Faith , p. 19). Such a view would exclude biblical criticism. One hears the Gospel in Scripture as one acknowledges what Scripture is, not as one speculates about what Scripture should be ( Holy Scripture , p. 33, n. 70). The recognition that, in Scripture, one has ” … the Word written by men … The Word of God …  going the historic way” ( Modern Uncertainty and Christian Faith ,  p. 19) leads to the view...

“Theology is a work of faith, and all of its statements must be such as the believer can recognize as objects of faith ... Theology ... lives in faith and for this reason works in creative response to the Word ... A genuinely biblical theology is not simply a theology buttressed with proper proof texts, but one done in responsive and believing listening to the Word.” —G.C. Berkouwer