A Short Introduction to Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism By Jesse Sumpter

Jesse Sumpter is a Classical school educator based in Moscow, Idaho. In this brief - 48 page - introduction to Kuyper’s Stone Lectures he begins by identifying three of Kuyper’s “key ideas”. These he identifies as the lordship of Jesus; Calvinism as life system; and spheres of authority. 

The remaining chapters in this booklet then follow each of Kuyper’s lectures. Sumpter provides a summary of each one and provides copious quotes from each lecture. 

The book provides an entry-level introduction to the lectures and would be helpful for those who haven’t as yet read Kuyper’s lectures.

Fashion Theology - a brief review

 Fashion Theology

Robert Covolo

Waco Texas: Baylor University Press.

ISBN 978-1-4813-1273-8

Hbk, xiv + 200 pp

This book is a wonderful, nuanced discussion of the relationship between fashion and theology. Covolo shows that fashion is not independent of theology. Theologians have not been as silent about fashion, as has often been supposed, and their discussions go beyond accusations of fashion being trivial and being about vanity. Those discussed include Tertullian, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Kuyper and Barth.

In these excavations of theological discourse and 

fashion theory Covolo identifies several interesting interrelations. Fashion theology is much more than fig leaves!

Five Reasons for Reading Kuyper Today - a zoom seminar with Craig Bartholomew

 

To register go to:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/craig-bartholomew-on-five-reasons-for-reading-kuyper-today-tickets-128822711197

Mike Wagenman discusses Kuyper at the Layman’s Lounge

 

Mike Wagenman discusses Kuyper on the Layman’s Lounge podcast here. 

It’s well worth checking out.

Review of Toxel’s What is Man?

What is Man?

Basics of the Faith

A. Craig Troxel
Philipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing
Pbk, 36pp, £3.99
ISBN 978-1-59638-166-7

This is a brief introduction to biblical anthropology and is part of the rapidly increasing series on the Basics of Faith from P&R Publishing. Troxel is a professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and is the author of a fuller book on the subject With all Your Heart. 

The strength of this book is that it begins with humans made in the image of God. He sees humans as a unity of body and soul and espouses a holistic dualism. He provides good arguments for the rejection of the trichotomous views (ie body, soul and spirit). 

He then moves in briefly to discuss the heart: “the Bible’s principal word to describe humanity’ inner self”. 

The central core of the booklet then utilises Thomas Manton’s notion of the fourfold state of man: man in a state of innocence, in the state of sin, in the state of grace, and in the state of glory. 

This is a useful introduction to a holistic dualism - even if I don’t fully agree with some of his points. I look forward to reading his fuller treatment of the human heart.

Bartholomew’s review of Reformed Theology & Evolutionary Theory

 Craig Bartholomew reviews Gijsbert van den Brink’s Reformed Theology & Evolutionary Theory at Sapienta

Bartholomew concludes:

I am grateful to van den Brink for his stimulating work. My own hunch is that there is more potential conflict between evolution and the biblical metanarrative than the author thinks. I am not a creationist but am reluctant to diminish the primary authority of Scripture as the lens through which we read and interpret the world, including science. I side with Bavinck and Kuyper in thinking that Christian faith needs to be fully engaged in the practice of science, rather than being kept separate from science, as van den Brink suggests. I take comfort from the fact that Christians need not put all their eggs in one basket but have various possibilities open to them on the question of origins. My sense is that the above issues need to be attended to in detail as part of our quest for the truth of evolution.

Adventures in the Kuyper archive

 Jasmijn Vervloet, curator of the Protestant Heritage collections at the VU Amsterdam, is embarking on an adventure in the Kuyper archive to gain a better understanding of Abraham Kuyper, the founder of VU Amsterdam.

Details here.