Common Grace (Volume 1): God's Gifts for a Fallen World

Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology #2

by Abraham Kuyper, Stephen J. Grabill (Volume Editor), Jordan J. Ballor (Series and Volume Editor)

In Common Grace Abraham Kuyper presents to the church a vision for cultural engagement rooted in the humanity Christians share with the rest of the world.

Kuyper fills a gap in the development of Reformed teaching on divine grace, and he articulates a Reformed understanding of God's gifts that are common to all people after the fall into sin. This first volume contains Kuyper's demonstration of the biblical basis for common grace and how it works.

This new translation of Common Grace , created in partnership with the Kuyper Translation Society and the Acton Institute, is part of a major series of new translations of Kuyper's most important writings. The Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology marks a historic moment in Kuyper studies, aimed at deepening and enriching the church's development of public theology.

Genres: Theology

672 pages, Hardcover

Published December 15, 2015

About the author

Abraham Kuyper was a Dutch politician, journalist, statesman and theologian. He founded the Anti-Revolutionary Party and was prime minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905.

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good stuff. My view of Kuyper has expanded, as has my respect for him. Look out for a review in the International Journal of Public Theology.

[Caleb Rolling · Rating 2 out of 5]

A real slog.

I have very mixed feelings about vol. 1. On the one hand, there are some real insights here and ought to be more prevalent in the Reformed tradition. On the other hand, Kuyper, establishing the biblical grounds for the doctrine in this volume, is trying to be too many things. He's a product of his time. His engagement with the text of Scripture is trying to be modern yet pre-critical at the same time, which ultimately yields a jumbled and non-sensible interpretation at many points--especially in his dealings with Genesis.

I really hope vols. 2 and 3 are better.

[Joshua Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first volume of Abraham Kuyper's trilogy considers the exegetical foundation of the Reformed doctrine of common grace. Kuyper was a Dutch Reformed theologian, the father of neo-Calvinism, and served as prime minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905. His writings are often lucid and easy to read as they reflect his journalistic style. Short chapters, clear concepts, plain and simple style. Highly recommended.

[NG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Tremendous insight. Kuyper is verbose. He takes his time explaining things. Rather than a succinct systematic statement on common grace (which is essentially what chapter 67 is), this is a sustained meditation on common grace as it appears in Scripture from beginning to end. Kuyper raises a number of thorny issues throughout and provides a resolution to each of these difficulties. He compares the reformed view to that of other systems. Can’t wait to read volume 2.

[Brock Rubin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am thoroughly grateful for Kuyper’s work on Common Grace. While at some points, concepts felt redundant, in the final pages, I truly realized why he hammered home the concepts that he did so many times.

This book led me to even more gratitude for the way that our world has been shown grace by its Creator. Thank you, Abraham!

[Austin Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sometimes, Kuyper can get repetitive and take some liberties I don't think the text allows. But, his insights into creation and common grace were so insightful and will be something I hold to as I walk away from this book.