An accidental blog

"If God is sovereign, then his lordship must extend over all of life, and it cannot be restricted to the walls of the church or within the Christian orbit." Abraham Kuyper Common Grace 1.1.

Wednesday 31 October 2012

Three books by Dooyeweerd recently (re)published

Paideia Press have recently reissued three key works by Dooyeweerd - and each one is under £10.

The Roots of Western Culture

This work is a must-have item for both the general Christian community and students and teachers alike. Teachers will find the book a excellent entrée to Dooyeweerd’s broad historical and systematic vision, and a work that can be assigned for student use in introductory classes. Written as a series of articles for a weekly newspaper in The Netherlands, it is Dooyeweerd’s attempt to provide “renewed reflection on the meaning and scope of the religious ground-motives that have controlled our western culture in its historical development.”



In the Twilight of Western Thought


The publication of Twilight in this PAIDEIA edition will finally provide easy access to the essential systematics of Dooyeweerd’s position.
Based upon a lecture series given by Dooyeweerd in North America during the late nineteen-fifties, this work was prepared in English by Dooyeweerd himself and first appeared in 1960, published by The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was reprinted in 1968 by The Craig Press, Nutley, New Jersey. This latest edition contains some significant new features that have been added by the editor. “For instance, the text has been divided into four main parts and, with the exception of chapter eight, all other chapter headings have been revised or added by the editor. They are intended to more accurately indicate the development of the argument and to break up the text into more manageable sections, particularly for use in teaching.” (From the editors remarks)


The Struggle for a Christian Politics

This early study (1924-27) reveals the depth and scope of Dooyeweerd’s emerging philosophy. The historical topics covered include Early Christianity and the birth of the idea of the Corpus Christianum; the unitary ecclesiastical culture of the Middle Ages and its dissolution; the emergence of modern Humanism in the Renaissance; and the rise and self-destruction of the Humanist theories of natural law. The attention that Dooyeweerd pays to the development of the modern concept of science and the new concept of matter may appear a needless digression yet paves the way for his probing analysis of the mathematical method prevalent in the views of political theorists like Grotius and Hobbes. (From the Foreword)




Which book to read next?

Whichbook can help you find an interesting fiction book to read - based on criteria you choose

Tuesday 30 October 2012

A Mormon redaction of the Nicene Creed


    From the archives:

We believe in one God, the main God of a number of Gods(1), who acquired His place as Supreme Being over a long period of time by living a righteous life(2), the FatherAlmighty, Maker one of the Makers (3) of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible (and Who is married, by the way) (4);
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, one of the spirit children of God (Lucifer being another), (5) the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father (6) by whom all things were made: Who won God’s favor by agreeing with God’s plan of salvation when Lucifer disagreed,(7) and who was called Jehovah in the Old Testament(8).
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, of a physical relationship between God the Father and Mary, (9) and was made man, and was married at the wedding in Cana (10);
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father in the celestial kingdom, the highest of the three kingdoms of heaven;(11) And He and Joseph Smith (12)shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets;
And we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. in the Mormon Church, which restores Christianity to the form it had in the time of the apostles.(13)
We acknowledge one Baptism – for both living and dead – (14) for the remission of sins as long as that baptism is conducted by the Mormon Church (15)
We look for the Resurrection of the dead which will be presided over by Joseph Smith,(16)
And the Life of the world to come. And Joseph Smith. (17) Amen.

Monday 29 October 2012

Odds and sods

These links are well worth checking out:

David Koyzis on 'Tracing the logic of liberalism'
Douglas Groothius 'The need for Christian education'
Wess Daniels 'Quakers, tithes and a chocolate factory' [link now corrected]
James Sire 'Is atheism a worldview?'

Bob Goudzwaard "Daring to hope'

Koers: Bulletin for Christian Scholarship

The South African reformational journal Koers is now online and open access. The editor is Helena Hoogstad.

Koers promotes the development of Christian scholarship/science in all fields of science and publishes original (mainly reflective) research contributions with an integrated worldview as foundation. We provide a platform for authors to engage constructively and criticallywith Christian scholarly/scientific points of view in all fields ofscience.

The latest issue has two excellent papers by Bennie van der Walt and James Olthuis.

Original Research - Worldview & Education
Flying on the wings of Vollenhoven’s radical Christian worldview: A
reconsideration of the usual typology of Christian worldviews

Barend J. van der Walt
Vol 77, No 1 (2012)

Original Research - Worldview & Education
A vision of and for love: Towards a Christian post-postmodern worldview
James H. Olthuis
Vol 77, No 1 (2012)





Sunday 21 October 2012

Abraham Kuyper's Particular Grace (Part II) - mindmap

Abraham Kuyper's Particular Grace Part II - a mindmap. Part I is here. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)


X Factor: three in a row

Bored with X factor? The rest of the family aren't? Then play X Factor three-in-a -row. First one to get three in a row is allowed to decide if the TV stays on or off.
Cut out the four cards and give them to members of the family - and wait for the cliches to come.
  X Factor: three in a row

Music for a Sunday Morning - Sigur Ros

Saturday 13 October 2012

Kuyper Particular Grace (part I) - a mindmap


A mindmap of Abraham Kuyper's Particular Grace: A Defense of God's Sovereignty in Salvation (Granville, Michigan: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2001)

Thursday 4 October 2012

George Harinck on the Barmen Declaration


The Barmen Declaration from Fuller Seminary on Vimeo.
Speaker(s): Dr. George Harinck
Professor of History and Archivist at the Free University of Amsterdam

"Dr. Harinck brings a fascinating--and challenging--interpretation regarding the historical context in Nazi Germany in which this confessional document came forth.” President Richard J. Mouw
Dr. Harinck is also one of the leading present-day Dutch experts on theologian Abraham Kuyper.

Michael Polanyi's view of knowledge - a concept map

A concept map of Michael Polanyi's view of knowledge.


Polanyi Knowledge

Wednesday 3 October 2012

The antithesis in pictures


The antithesis in pictures. Cartoon by Albert Hahn.

The text underneath reads: "Free thought against/ opposite dogma". 

Multatuli was the author of the satirical novel Max Havelaar.  


Source: BG C13/308 (print), The Dutch Labour Movement till 1918, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam.

Tuesday 2 October 2012

(Some) reformational basics by David Hanson

These are the slides from David Hanson's presentation at WYSOCS' Open day on 29 September 2012.
The talk is a summary of a series of talks on a presented at Leeds and Sheffield.
If you'd like to book David to do a series of talks contact him via WYSOCS.



Monday 1 October 2012

Richard Mouw's Abraham Kuyper (Eerdmans, 2011) - a mindmap

This is a mindmap of the second section of Richard Mouw's Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction. Eerdmans, 2011. The first part appeared here.