Reformed Dogmatics : Volume 4: Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation

Reformed Dogmatics #4

by Herman Bavinck, John Bolt (Editor), John Vriend (Translator)

The fourth and final volume in Herman Bavinck's masterwork of Reformed theology is now available in English for the first time. Includes enhanced documentation.

Genres: Theology, Ecclesiology, Reference, Christian, Christianity, Religion, Nonfiction

1835 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) succeeded Abraham Kuyper as professor of systematic theology at the Free University of Amsterdam in 1902.

His nephew was Johan Herman Bavinck.

Reviews

[Zach Barnhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magisterial. The last chapter, "The Renewal of Creation" contains some of the most heart-stirring theological writing you'll ever read.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 5 out of 5]

And so ends the greatest theologian of all time. The following are highlights around the central theme of grace restoring nature. Indeed, with Bavinck we see the rejection of dualisms: "The dualisms between the internal and the external, the spiritual and the material, eternity and time, essence and form...are products of a false philosophy and contrary to Scripture” (458).

*The Church*

In his discussion of the church Bavinck always comes back to the truth that it is in the Reformed churches that preaching is exalted. Bavinck makes an important distinction that Lutherans see the Spirit working per verbum, while Reformed see him working cum verbum.

*Ethics*

Ethics

While Bavinck appreciated a Christianized society, he didn’t think all sins (e.g., fornication, drunkeness) should be punished by the State (437).

Bavinck's discussions on the sacraments are par for the course with most Reformed dogmatics, so no need to explicate them here. He takes Calvin's view as a middle path between Roman realism and Anabaptist gnosticism. He believes the Supper should be monthly.

*New Creation*

This is the most important section. When you want good eschatology, always go to the Neo-Calvinists, never American neo-Puritans. Recreation

“The resurrection is the principle of the renewal of all things” (428).

Judgment

Bavinck ably rebuts the hippy, humanitarian idea that hell is too mean for God, especially when evaluated on human sentiment. “For when the interest of society becomes the deciding factor, not only is every boundary between good and evil wiped out, but also justice runs the danger of being sacrificed to power...Human feeling is no foundation for anything important, therefore, and neither may nor can it be decisive in the determination of law and justice. All appearances notwithstanding, it is infinitely better to fall into the hands of the Lord than into human hands. The same applies with respect to eternal punishment in hell (708).

The New Earth

“The state of glory will be no mere restoration of the state of nature, but a re-formation that, thanks to the power of Christ, transforms all matter into form, all potency into actuality, and presents the entire creation before the face of God, brilliant in unfading splendor and blossoming into a springtime of eternal youth (720).

“The difference between day and night, between the Sabbath and the workdays, has been suspended. Time is charged with eternity of God. Space is full of his presence. Eternal becoming is wedded to immutable being. Even the contrast between heaven and earth is gone (730).

Conclusion:

Perhaps, as others have noted, this book isn't as good as volumes 1-2. But it's still the best thing on the market regarding this locus of systematic theology.

[Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent. Nobody can compete with Bavinck in combining breadth of knowledge, depth of insight, and rhetorical style. This systematic is as edifying and devotional as it is technical and informative.

[Mitchell Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost four years of my life has been spend reading Bavinck’s “Reformed Dogmatics. It is truly the Everest of systematic theologies as JI Packer comments on the back. Reading Bavinck has shaped me and formed me in ways hard to describe. Bavinck not only what to believe but he also taught me how to think. More importantly how to engage with positions different from my own. His form, style, content, and tone are exemplary models.

Volume 4 was the weakest of all of his works, which you can learn why about from his biography. It was still amazing to read and his work on the sacraments and the church were personally incredibly helpful.

Bavinck has shown me why being a Protestant is the truly catholic thing to do.

Take up and read.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me over three years to finish all four volumes and it was worth the effort. These are a timeless achievement of reformed theology. I appreciated his charity and explanation of various ideas even when I disagreed with his conclusions.

[Peter Krol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated this one the most of the four volumes.

[Jon Pentecost · Rating 5 out of 5]

As in previous volumes, Bavinck is a steady guide.
Examining the Spirit’s work from salvation through glorification, the church, and the end times, Bavinck both lays out his own arguments, and represents the other views from throughout church history/traditions. He does this latter aspect so well that regularly, if I wasn’t paying close attention, I would get confused if Bavinck was representing his own position or someone else’s.
And ultimately, Bavinck is most interested in submitting all views to the scrutiny of Scripture. Even where I think his position is unconvincing, he helpfully provokes the reader to dig into the Bible.

Bavinck has a shorter systematic theology; but I recommend this for anyone wanting a fuller, historically informed consideration of doctrines.

[Jacob Rush · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote a big long review and then accidentally closed the page. Such is life.

Very good stuff. Some disagreements on the eschatology. Specifically his pessimism, handling of Matt. 24 texts, and understanding of the way OT prophecy speaks to Christ's 1st and 2nd coming.
Also his intermediate state stuff was very good, except I disagree that OT saints were in heaven. They were in the sleepy, resort side of Sheol.

Bavinck is great. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the broad Reformed traditions theology.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

The clarity Bavinck was able to provide on these fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith is incredible. I was required to read this for seminary but I am genuinely eager to reread this volume, as well as the other three, on my own for my own edification and pleasure

[Zachary Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. While, as a baptist, I clearly have my objections to some of his conclusions, my short review is simply: Bavinck is the man.

[Samuel Kassing · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is Bavinck. This was excellent. Outside of the last few chapters which felt rushed this final volume was superb!

[Tyler Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me about a year and a half to get through Bavinck's 4 volume work. He is such an impressive thinker and theologian. This volume was no different. And it is so large, it's hard to nail down what I want to write here about it! But here are two big take-aways.

First, Bavinck was a great example of charitable dialogue with other traditions while maintaining strong, orthodox convictions. I think this example is one I need to keep striving to emulate. I want to avoid cheap shots at other traditions and a subtle superiority complex to them; I also want to avoid nuance that loses clarity and an equally subtle theological relativism.

Second, Bavinck strains to find a third way (loaded term intentional) between deism and pantheism, between a materialist view of the world and a spiritual escapism, between grace destroying nature and grace elevating us beyond nature. Over and over again, Bavinck helped show how biblical orthodoxy is found between attractive half-truths.

[Grace]

Read all but chapters 5-7 for Doctrine of Salvation.

[Reid Selmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. The chapters on the means of grace were incredible. So worth the effort to work through all 4 volumes.

[Taylor Franchuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

It only took me 4 and half years but I finally finished this series. Hands down the most well written and comprehensive theological resource I've ever found.

[Joshua Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathtaking stuff on regeneration - the point that the regeneration of individuals is one step in the same process as the renewal of all creation was brilliant. Throughout the volume you realise how helpful Bavinck's covenant theology is for so many issues, like the salvation of children dying in infancy.

As was to be expected, I as a postmillennialist had many disagreements in the latter section with Bavinck's amillennialism. Nonetheless, Bavinck's commitment to 'Grace restores nature' really shines here. Wasnt overly keen on his overall critique of conditional immortality, but some points (especially about the finite/infinite punishment of sin) were very good.

[Darren Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought Bavinck's 4 volumes dogmatics set almost 3 years ago. And today is the day I finally completed his 4th volume.

I have to say upfront, as a Reformed Anglican, this volume is probably the most painful read ever due to differences in church polity and sacraments. Those familiar with Anglicanism will know that the Anglican confessions such as the 39 articles and 1662 BCP affirm episcopal polity and hold to a higher view of the efficacy of sacraments than Bavinck himself.

Since I have begun my review with disagreements and critiques, I might as well get the significant ones out of the way first before looking at the commendable things in this volume. Speaking of Anglicanism, it's quite clear that Bavink is not familiar enough with this tradition. Most of his interaction with Anglicanism deals with the Anglo-catholic and Laudian theologians rather than with the Anglican confessions. It is the confessions that define Anglicanism, and even if he wants to interact with Anglican theologians, he should spend more pages engaging with classical Anglican theologians such as John Jewel, Richard Hooker, Thomas Cranmer, Lancelot Andrewes, Matthew Parker, John Ponet, etc.

Moreover, he does not understand the Lutheran tradition sufficiently as well. Hence sometimes he misrepresented the Anglicans and Lutherans on some topics such as their liturgy, Absolution & Confession, and Apostolic Succession. He conflates the Anglican and Lutheran views on these topics with the Roman Catholic views which do have some significant differences. Moreover, he does not understand the concept of "Barely Protestantism" held by confessional Lutherans. He sees that Lutherans want to return to Roman Catholicism in some issues, but that wasn't the right narrative and representation of them. It was never the intention of the confessional Lutherans to return to Rome. They intended to barely reform the Church by going back to the teachings of the Catholic church before the corruption of Rome. There's a big difference between wanting to be "barely Protestant" versus "returning to Rome" which Bavinck did not quite understand. Hence, on these issues, he's not being fair to Anglicans and Lutherans. Furthermore, he doesn't engage with their exegesis about how they came to a different position than him. This is because he spent more time engaging with their narrative and neglected to engage with their exegesis.

But I do sympathize with him because it was not his intention to misrepresent them, this is largely due to ignorance from his side. Readers who do not know confessional Anglicanism and Lutheranism enough would not be able to identify Bavinck's misrepresentation of them in this volume.

And as to Bavinck's views on the sacraments, I think he's not being very consistent. His view on the Lord's Supper is on the Calvinist side, but his view on baptism leans more toward Zwinglian's school of thought. He's not aware of John Calvin's inconsistency on baptismal efficacy too, and how the other confessions such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, Knox's Scottish Confession, the Geneva Confession, and the French Confession have a higher efficacious view of baptism in a sense that water baptism literally saves and it's certainly not just merely a sign or as an instrument to strengthen faith as how Bavinck sees it. These confessions affirm that baptism does confer saving and regenerating grace.

Despite the critiques above, I think this book is still worth reading. There are a lot of gems to be mined from this book. For starters, unlike most theologians today, Bavinck is really familiar with the liturgy and theology of the Roman Catholic church. For most of us, it will not be a problem to understand the theological aspects of how he engages with Rome. But only those who have some familiarity with liturgy through experience and the study of liturgy history will understand what Bavinck is talking about when he engages with the liturgy of Rome. Moreover unlike most modern systematic theology books today, Bavinck does not write from an independent perspective. Instead, he writes from a Catholic (universal) and Confessional perspective that he is convicted of. This will not only help his readers to understand the Classical Reformed view (which is very different from today's New Calvinism by The Gospel Coalition, D A Carson, John Piper, Thomas Schreiner, etc) but will also help to shape their thinking to be more Catholic and Confessional (without discounting critical thinking) rather than the self-popery independent kind of reinventing the wheel thinking which has plagued many evangelical churches today. In other words, Bavinck's readers will be influenced to see theological thinking as not just a personal project, it is very much a group project across history and various denominations.

One can also see how pastoral Bavinck is across all 4 volumes of his Reformed Dogmatics. As good as this is, I don't think this is the selling point that sets him apart from other systematic theology. There are plenty ST and theological books out there that are more pastoral than Bavinck, i.e. Turretin, Brakel, and the Puritans. But what sets Bavinck apart from them is that he engages the worldviews of church history, human history in general, science, philosophy, various cultures, and other religions. The best part about him is that he's able to find some kind of common ground, problems, or hope from other worldviews and use them to point toward the Christian hope.
This is not to say he represents various views accurately all the time since he mostly relies on secondary sources, but nevertheless one will find more good apples than bad apples so it's still worth learning from him.

I hope to read Volume 1 to 3 in the future again and make some changes to the previous reviews I posted about them. But that will take me a while. Back then I read them with a biblicist mindset expecting the same biblicist hermeneutics from Bavinck. Only after I learned about Classical Theism, then I begin to realize that Bavinck was using lots of good and necessary consequences, in the sense of logic and inferences guided by Scripture to argue for his position. Bavinck does use explicit statements from Scripture too but most of the time he will only bracket them for that straightforward and obvious theology. So don't expect him to give an exegesis for all the straightforward issues because he is not writing a commentary in his dogmatics. Only for difficult and controversial issues he will give his exegesis. It is important to know this to get the most out of Bavinck. If I had known this earlier I would give his vol 1 to 3 a much more positive rating and review. Finally, knowing the original Hebrew and Greek biblical languages (vocabulary and grammar) will help one understand his explanation's nuances better. But one can still get the gist of what he's trying to convey even if one does not know the original biblical languages.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end of an excellent series, though I must admit I found volume 4 - particularly the discussions of the sacraments and eschatology - a bit less satisfying than the other three volumes. Still, all serious readers of systematic theology ought to read these four volumes.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took over 18 months for me to read through all four volumes...but Bavinck is well worth the labor. I'll be back to these books regularly.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A+. Worth every minute. I wish every serious theological student would read the Reformed Dogmatics.

[Josh Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bavinck’s work is a monumental one. His method of citing key Scriptural texts, and working through developments within the early centuries of church through the Middle Ages to the Reformation is invaluable. As a “Reformed” Dogmatics, the capstone of each topic is the Reformed interpretation established within this context.

In Book 1, Bavinck sets forth his method. The Prolegomena excellently demonstrates this method, and why he has chosen it. This book is the heuristic key for understanding the 3 subsequent books.

In Book 2, Bavinck discusses the Doctrine of God. Here, as in the rest of these volumes, his primary partners are the early Church Fathers, Augustine, Aquinas, and later Calvin (especially Calvin).

In Book 3, Bavinck considers the Doctrine of Christ. In my opinion this was probably my favorite of the 4 volumes. It includes rich considerations of the various doctrines surrounding Christ and his Incarnation and Work. Bavinck ties the Doctrine of Scripture to the incranation and discusses how the Human and Divine natures of Christ are helpful categories for understanding the human and divine attributes of Scripture.

Book 4, his focus is on the Church. In his discussions of the Sacraments, his analysis of the 7 sacraments in Roman Catholic Theology is quite good. It is here on the subject of the Sacraments that his method is especially helpful.

His work, as a whole, is very even handed and careful. That said, I would still rank Frame’s Lordship series as my favorite (it is quite dear to me). For what it aimed to do, Bavinck’s Dogmatics were edifying in ways that no other work has been for me. It is much appreciated. I highly recommend!

A few caveats: Preterism would have greatly enhanced his discussions of the Return of Christ. Additionally, a better understanding of the Oikumune as it formed in the 2nd temple period and functioned through AD 70 would have helped smooth over some his weaker exegetical moments in book 4. His views of the Millenium were mostly pessimistic, though his overall theology was strong in its avoidance of the nature/grace dichotomy. His view of the Torah as it functioned in the 2nd temple period lacks nuance especially in light of some of the work of recent theologians. Lastly, some of the Greek (idolatrous?) influence was not completely exorcised from his theological views, though he handled it very well all in all.

[Michaël St-Amour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alors je ferai un commentaire regroupant l'ensemble de la série "Reformed Dogmatics" de Herman Bavinck.
En premier lieu, nul doute que Bavinck était un homme hautement capable. Ses connaissances dans différentes disciplines regroupent non seulement la pensée germanique de son époque mais s'étend jusqu'au philosophe de l'ancien monde et font de son oeuvre l'une des plus complètes jamais écrite sur le sujet.
Il est extrêmement difficile d'écrire une oeuvre aussi complète sans répétition, chose qu'il réussit avec brio.
Assurément, il ne s'agit pas d'une série à conseiller à un débutant en théologie, elle peut rapidement devenir complexe, puisque Bavinck navigue constamment entre différentes positions qu'il compare à la doctrine réformé qu'il défend. Si nous ne sommes pas pleinement concentré sur le fil de notre lecture, il peut devenir facile de mal synthétiser l'information.
Somme toute, il offre généralement un excellent rendu de plusieurs doctrines maîtresses de la théologie réformé. Quelques points où j'ai apprécié apprendre et d'autres avec lesquels j'étais en désaccord.
Il faut également notifié que Bavinck est un écrivain de type "scholar" et non "experiential". Son exposition peut parfois sembler un peu déconnecté. Le tome 1 et 3 sont mes favoris.

[Tyler Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warm and wise theology. I read these four volumes as a way to bring myself back into the world of theology after a number of years focused on biblical studies and am glad I did. It was a long reading project but also didn't give Bavinck anything like the time he actually warrants. The plan is that I will keep Bavinck's voice alongside me as I go forward, returning to sections throughout the coming years. I did a fair amount of re-reading as I went through and everything I returned to I appreciated all the more. I am not with Bavinck in all that he says and does, but am glad to have him with me as I go.

[J. Alfred · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mountinous book which will make you much better at thinking through the minutia of theology and explaining the Reformed tradition's historical stance on many theological issues. Not all issues? No, because this is volume 4 in the series. Is it especially readable? It is not. It is quite hard work. But a pastor I like and trust told me that reading Bavinck will essentially give you all the information that you'd get in seminary, so, you know, there's a little bit of a price point win on this side.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This last volume of Bavinck's RD continues to demonstrate why he is considered a premier theologian working in the Dutch Reformed tradition. One of best things he offers is a detailed discussion of historical theology, especially as it relates to Roman Catholicism. He is also aware of trends in modern theology. His teaching on eschatology is sane and measured. His defense of hell while holding to the vastness of God's mercy is intriguing and worth considering.

[Dwayne Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. The most helpful sections in this volume were on the general doctrine of the sacraments, the specific doctrines of baptism, and the broader concept of the Word (more than just Scripture). Additionally, Bavinck is friendly to a 2K/SotC conception of the church and its relationship to the nations. So definitely check out IV.2.7, "The Church's Spiritual Power."

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished this after a long break from the other 3 volumes. Many topics are covered, such as the sacraments and church government. As with the other volumes, Bavinck is comprehensive and fair in his presentation of counter arguments. Some of the ideas he talks about are less relevant today, but overall he continues to be a good reference on just about any topic of theology.

[Sean McGowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Bavinck should be read by every Reformed Christian....every Christian, for that matter.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ch 5-7

[Andres Valencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Espero que pronto tengamos una traduccion al español de esta obra, si ya lees a Berkhof de corrido, los argumentos y explicaciones filosoficas de Bavinck es lo que sigue