Orthodox yet Modern

C. Brock Cory

Description

Herman Bavinck showed that othodox theology continues to speak authoritatively today. Since the English translation from Dutch of Herman Bavinck's magisterial 4-volume Reformed Dogmatics, there has been a blossoming interest in Bavinck's theology. Readers have been drawn to Bavinck for his faithfulness to the Reformed tradition while also engaging the questions of 19th-century Europe. Far from simply revisiting the older dogmatic systems, Bavinck faithfully engages modern trends like historical-criticism, the epistemological problems raised by Kant, the rationalism of the philosophes, and the radical changes ushered in through the French and European revolutions.The question then is, was Bavinck orthodox, modern, or both? In Orthodox yet Modern, Cory C. Brock argues that Bavinck acts as a bridge between orthodox and modern views, insofar as he subsumes the philosophical-theological questions and concepts of theological modernity under the conditions of his orthodox, confessional tradition. By exploring the relation between Bavinck and Schleiermacher, Orthodox yet Modern presents Herman Bavinck as a theologian eager to engage the contemporary world, rooted in the catholic and Reformed tradition, absorbing the best of modernity while rejecting its excesses. Bavinck represents a theologian who is at once orthodox, yet modern.

Sujets

• Calvinist
• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology
• Theology
• History of religions
• Calvinism
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Lexham Press
• Date de parution: 22 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781683593867
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

ORTHODOX yet MODERN
Herman Bavinck’s Use of Friedrich Schleiermacher
CORY C. BROCK
STUDIES IN HISTORICAL AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
Orthodox yet Modern: Herman Bavinck’s Use of Friedrich Schleiermacher
Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology
Copyright 2020 Cory C. Brock
Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225
LexhamPress.com
All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at [e-mail] .
Print ISBN 9781683593850
Digital ISBN 9781683593867
Library of Congress Control Number 2020935575
Lexham Editorial: Todd Hains, Eric Bosell, Erin Mangum, Danielle Thevenaz
Cover Design: Bryan Hintz

This book was made possible by
the Neo-Calvinism Research Institute.
The Neo-Calvinism Research Institute
at Theological Kampen University
examines the relationship among
religion, life, and thought,
how it takes shape, and
how it develops over
time in the global
tradition of
Neo-Calvinism.
 
For Ethan, Juliette, Ames, and Lewis
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Modern-Orthodox Bi-Polarity?
The Authority of Philosophy in Theological Modernities
The Question and Answer
The Way Forward
Part 1: Deeply Misunderstood and Too Highly Esteemed
1. Reformed Catholicity between the Modern and Orthodox
Bavinck and His Interpreters
Two-Bavincks and Organic Unity
Between Calvin and Kant
Reformed Catholicity and its Task
Concerning the Nature of Proof
Conclusion
2. What Has Berlin to do with Kampen?
From Berlin to Kampen
Schleiermacher and the Development of a Theologian
The Origins of Dutch Theological Division
German Thought from Groningen to the Modern School
A Foray into Vermittlungstheologie
Mediation Theology and the Ethical
Bavinck and Kuyper
Conclusion
3. The Kingdom, Conscience, and Consciousness
The Subject and the Early Years
On the Glaubenslehre: Defining Appropriation through Critique
Conclusion
Part 2: Appropriation: Knowing and Depending
4. Concerning the Unity of Being and Thinking
Understanding the Philosophy of Revelation
Kant’s Autonomy and Schleiermacher’s Dependence
Self, World, and God
Between Augustine and Schleiermacher
Conclusion
5. True Religion as Absolute Dependence
Religion as Dogmatics
Religion as Feeling, Religion as Revelation
Between Calvin and Schleiermacher
Conclusion
Conclusion
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Biographies
Secondary Sources
Subject Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The gratitude I owe at the completion of this project to so many is very inadequately expressed in these brief words of thanksgiving. From the inception of the idea to forego full-time ministry in the local church for a season to take up a time of study for the completion of the present text (even now stamped with a conclusion as it is), it appears there are nearly a multitude who have generously supported my family and me in some form. First, there are those from our home in Mississippi that pushed us out of the door and did so with many gifts. In general, the congregation, Session, and pastors of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi, and notably the Rev. Dr. Guy Waters at Reformed Theological Seminary, and the ministers of the church at the time, Rev. Dr. Ligon Duncan, Rev. Billy Dempsey, Rev. David Felker, and Rev. Dr. David Strain encouraged the initial decision. Among the congregation, we are indebted especially to Clark and Pam Strange and Bill and Gayla Stone, champions of generosity. In addition, I am grateful to Sam and Elizabeth Hensley, Rob and Courtney Love, Beverly Harmon, Steve and Betsy Rosenblatt, and my cousins Megan and James Withers for their support. And from our family in Tennessee, Mike Andrews and Tracey Andrews have been consistent in their love and encouragement.
Upon our earliest moments in Scotland, we quickly learned the friendship and generosity of the local church, and especially that of a few families that have given all manner of support and made our time in that country precious. Among them are especially Derek and Catriona Lamont, Don and Lois Macleod, Neil and Louise MacMillan, and especially Colin and Georgie Armstrong. I must also thank in general the congregation of St. Columba’s Free Church and particularly its Kirk Session for allowing me to minister to them during my research.
While the content and errors in this study are my own, its merits are due in part to the attention of several readers. Thanks to Todd Hains and the editorial team at Lexham Press for taking this work on and being all one would hope in a publisher. I am especially grateful to Dr. George Harinck for his review, appreciation, and guidance regarding this book and its publication. Above all is the support of my primary doctoral supervisor, Dr. James Eglinton. As an excellent scholar, churchman, and friend his holistic supervision has benefited me in all domains of life over the last number of years. He helped guide me toward this project and his input has been most influential. And in addition, I owe thanks to Dr. Joshua Ralston, Dr. Zack Purvis, Dr. Henk van den Belt, and Rev. Dr. Gray Sutanto for their critical feedback. I will also always recall my time at New College Edinburgh as the rise of an Anglophone “Bavinck school” in which I enjoyed the communion of fellow travelers: Rev. Dr. Gray Sutanto, Rev. Dr. Bruce Pass, Rev. Gustavo Monteiro, and Rev. Dr. Cam Clausing. The faculty of New College Edinburgh are also due thanks for the blessing of a scholarship that aided the production of this work.
Finally, my highest gratitude and love is for those who have served this project when it was nothing but a faint future hope, my family. Long before such hope, through a lifetime of selfless generosity in all forms of care, my parents and sister, Steve, Traci, and Kelsey, were a bedrock community of Christian formation and are ever-present sources of all manner of encouragement, love, and generosity. And above all to my wife Heather is owed the highest honor. To her, I give my love and thanksgiving for being the most selfless of all others I know.
Cory C. Brock
Jackson, Mississippi
September 2019
ABBREVIATIONS
CF
Friedrich Schleiermacher. The Christian Faith: A New Translation and Critical Edition . 2 vols. Translated by Terrence Tice, Catherine Kelsey, and Edwina Lawler. Edited by Catherine Kelsey and Terrence Tice. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2016.
CPR
Immanuel Kant. Critique of Pure Reason . Edited by Paul Guyer and Allen Wood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
ET
English translation
GD
Herman Bavinck. Gereformeerde Dogmatiek . 4 vols. Kampen: J. H. Bos, 1895.
KGA
Friedrich Schleiermacher. Kritische Gesamtausgabe . Edited by Hans-Joachim Birkner, Gerhard Ebeling, Hermann Fischer, Heinz Kimmerle, and Kirt-Victor Selge. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1980.
“KGHG”
Herman Bavinck, “ The Kingdom of God, the Highest Good .” Translated by Nelson Kloosterman. The Bavinck Review 2 (2011): 133–70.
OR
Friedrich Schleiermacher. On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers . Translated by John Oman. NewYork: Harper and Bros., 1958.
OR (C)
Friedrich Schleiermacher. On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers . Translated by Richard Crouter. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
PoR
Herman Bavinck. Philosophy of Revelation : A New Annotated Edition . Edited by Cory Brock and Nathaniel Gray Sutanto. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2018.
RD
Herman Bavinck. Reformed Dogmatics . 4 vols. by John Bolt. Translated by John Vriend. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003–2008.
RE
Herman Bavinck. Reformed Ethics: Created, Fallen, and Converted Humanity . Edited by John Bolt. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2019.
WO
Herman Bavinck. Wijsbegeerte der Openbaring: Stone-Lezingen voor het jaar 1908, gehouden te Princeton N.J. door H. Bavinck. Kampen: J. H. Kok, 1908.
WTJ
Westminster Theological Journal
INTRODUCTION
“Modern … and yet orthodox,” so begins McCormack’s study of Barth. 1 This study begins with a parallel statement about its subject Herman Bavinck: “orthodox … and yet modern.” The latter dictum provides the answer to a question that much of Bavinck scholarship has been asking for the last half-century: what is the relationship of his orthodoxy to what has been called “the challenges posed … by modernity” in his turn-of-the-century Dutch context? 2
These terms “orthodox” and “modern” are difficult to define. Regarding Bavinck (1854–1921), there are two contexts for expressing their meanings. On the one hand, there is European culture—what of the spiritual kingdom of God in relation to the changing social milieu of post-Revolutionary Europe? This was a principal question for the leaders of the neo-Calvinist movement in the Netherlands, Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920) and Bavinck, leading to the public theology for which it is well known. How ought we, they queried, relate the social order after 1789 (French Revolution) and 1848 (European revolutions) with Christ’s hands and feet in an evolving polis ? On the other hand, there is dogmatics. With the epistemological barriers constructed by Kant, the lingering rationalism of the philosophes , the historical consciousness of the Romantic spirit, Hegel’s sublation ( Aufhebung ) of religious thinking, the reign of historical-critical hermeneutics, and the theology/religious studies division in the academy, so stands dogmatics wondering where it goes from here. Bavinck put it accordingly in 1895:
But today it is, above all, the philosophical underpinnings of dogmatics that are under fire; not some isolated doctrine but the very possibility of dogmatics is being questioned. The human ability to know is restricted to the visible world, and revelation is considered impossible. In addition, Holy Scripture is being robbed of its divi