Highlighting the breadth of Herman Bavinck's experience in theology and politics, Ronald N. Gleason offers the English-speaking world a vivid picture of the Dutch theologian's life. Gleason, a leading authority on Bavinck's life and ideas, brings to light Bavinck's rich family heritage and contends that his family background played a crucial role in the development of the man who wrote the magisterial Reformed Dogmatics.
This is a thought-provoking portrait of an influential man whose "vigorous and winsome integrated Calvinism," as Roger Nicole describes it in the Introduction, continues to influence scholars and pastors today.
Table of Contents:
- Generation to Generation: The Forming of a Theologian
- Bavinck’s Youth: A Diamond in the Rough
- The Separatist Enrolls at Leiden: The Decision Heard Throughout Holland
- Franeker: Bavinck’s Only Pastorate
- Professor in Kampen (1883-92): Phase 1
- One of Kuyper’s Confidants and Hanny’s Husband
- A Tear in a Laugh – Kampen (1892-96): Phase 2
- Bavinck and Kuyper: The Medic and the General
- A Dark Chapter in the Anti-Revolutionary Party’s History: The Seinpost Debacle
- The Last Years in Kampen (1896-1902): Phase 3
- The Synod of Groningen: 1899 and Its Aftermath
- Saying Good-bye to Kampen
- The First Years in Amsterdam (1902-14)
- First Years in Amsterdam (II)
- Bavinck the Politician
- On Broader Terrain: Did Bavinck Change Theologically later in Life?
- Preparing to be with the Lord
Appendix A: The ‘Afscheiding’
Appendix B: Jan Bavinck’s Exposition of Lord’s Day 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism: Comfort in Life and Death
Appendix C: Jan Bavinck’s Exposition of Lord’s Day 7: What Is True Faith?
Appendix D: ‘The Science of Holy Divinity’: Bavinck’s Inaugural Address
Appendix E: The Christian Life and Worldview
Appendix F: Modernism and Orthodoxy
Author
Dr. Ron Gleason is the pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Yorba Linda, CA. He holds a Drs. from the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and a Ph.D. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is the Stated Clerk of South Coast Presbytery of the PCA and president of the California chapter of Exodus.org.
Endorsements
"This is a superb, even definitive biography, introducing the reader to one of the greatest thinkers in the life of the Church." — David F. Wells
"It is surprising that we've waited so long for a thorough and well-written account of the life and work of such a towering Reformed theologian, but it was well worth the wait!" — Michael Horton
"Gleason's contribution in these pages is nothing short of astounding. This is more than a biography; it is a theological and cultural analysis that aids us in grasping the significant contours of the past century. A magnificent achievement." — Derek W. H. Thomas
