Jordan Ballor
Abraham Kuyper visited the United States in 1898, and his trip occasioned not only the famed Stone Lectures but a number of other memorable events as well. Among these was the collection Varia Americana, in which Kuyper reflected on the real-world experiences in a country that had loomed large in his thinking and would continue to do so throughout the remainder of his career. For Kuyper, America stood as a kind of beacon among the nations, a place where Calvinism’s cultural and religious fruit had been allowed to develop fully and freely. In a kind of Dutch Calvinistic inflection of American idea of manifest destiny, for instance...
The Rise, Demise, and Global Resurgence of Abraham Kuyper
Listen in as we sit down with the treasurer of the heritage of neo-Calvinism himself: Dr. George Harinck. In this episode we survey the spread and implications Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck thoughts and teachings. This interview is kicking off a series that will run the next few months at TheLaymensLounge.com called "The State of Neo-Calvinism." Come back each week to read about the state and influence of neo-Calvinisim in nations ranging from Mexico and the Philippines to Wales and Egypt.
Naming the presence of God in our midst
“God with us.” God with us? “YHWH with us” (But isn’t that the first person of the Trinity?)? Jesus left, but he leaves the Spirit? And that’s better how? Join us as we sit down with Myk Habets to nuance the points of contact, the roles of, and the relations of the Trinity in our life as well as praying in a Trinitarian way.
Gettin’ stoked on metaphor, allusion, & foreshadowing
Chad Bird is in the business of turning on lights. If you crack open one of his books, or listen to his podcasts, don’t’ be surprised if one of his hands comes out of the book and flips the switch on your Old Testament understanding. Most of us see the Old Testament like a pepper-sprayed collection of curiosities and divinely bizzarro truth and most of my life has been riding shotgun with the Ethiopian Eunuch saying with him “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And then your boy Chad the “Phillip” Bird drops a few podcast episodes and pens a couple books in my chariot, and just like that, I’m looking around screaming “where’s the water?!!!!” cause it’s all starting to make sense and I’m stoked cause I see Jesus on every page.
“Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs.”
Mark Driscoll, based upon the charges brought against him from Mars Hill leaders and members, was unfit to be a pastor, but, if you didn’t attend Mars Hill, is that any of your business? What is your role (if any) in this painful experience?
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“Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs.”
Mark Driscoll, based upon the charges brought against him from Mars Hill leaders and members, was unfit to be a pastor, but, if you didn’t attend Mars Hill, is that any of your business? What is your role (if any) in this painful experience?
Genealogy, “14 Generations,” the "Son of David," the “Christ," the Exile
We had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Tom Schreiner to discuss the first chapter of Matthew – asking how best to make sense of it all and have our calloused hearts hear the story afresh. Join us as we take a Christmas stroll through advent portions of Matthew...
By Andrew White
In his autobiographical essay, “Confidentially,” Abraham Kuyper outlines the circumstances of his conversion to orthodox Christian faith. One pivotal moment is his reading of a popular mid-Victorian novel, The Heir of Redclyffe. Kuyper remarks: “[T]hough not in value, [it] stands next to the Bible in its meaning for my life.”...
The Man, the Faith, & the Life Behind “A Christmas Carol”
Everybody loves Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (well, at least the movies), but who was this man? Was he best friends with Hudson Taylor and annoyed with Charles Spurgeon? Was he an ideal husband or a bit of a playboy? Did he leave his children to their own devices, or...
A Hospitable Bed Interview on Spiritual with Jim Houston
“I came here to die.” That is what Christian pillar James Houston, who is 99 years old, told me on our chat today – yet he is still writing and still offering wisdom to weary souls and offers a lifetime of insight in these 45 minutes. In this interview with...
Henry Van Til on The Cultural Mandate & The Great Commission
Jesus did not call all men as individuals to the special task of being fishers of men, the modern contention that every Christian must be a missionary, to the contrary notwithstanding... Neither Christ himself, nor any of his apostles, ever intimated that every believer had to be a missionary. Indeed,...
Questions about what we have just assumed
A few weeks ago, I happened upon a 2-part article series by Michael Cooper called “Ephesiology and the Critique of Church Planting Movements” and “Is Church Planting a Biblical Mandate?” and so, I’m not a deconstructionist, but I do appreciate a good questioning of what has been assumed. Listen in...
1923 Report from the Dr. Abraham Kuyper Foundation regarding Compulsory Vaccination
Herman Dooyeweerd spent about 5 years as director of the Kuyper Foundation, the policy institute of the Anti-Revolutionary Party. From 1922-1926 he produced several reports, including one in 1923 concerning compulsory or mandated vaccination by the civil government. The report begins by saying that while some members of the political...
"Compulsory vaccinations should be out of the question."
In 1823, because of a deadly Cowpox epidemic in the Netherlands “The Dutch government decided to make the cowpox vaccination indirectly compulsory for children. From then on, anyone who wanted to go to school had to present proof of vaccination, the so-called smallpox certificate.” So, the situation is not that...
