What do you think?
Rate this book
A certeza da fé
A conveniência deste livro, publicado primeiramente em 1901, é vista pelo grande número de textos acadêmicos que o citam. A certeza da fé é um dos pequenos porém poderosos clássicos escritos por um dos maiores teólogos que a Holanda já produziu. Bavinck examina de maneira histórica, bíblica e teológica a diferença entre a certeza da ciência e a certeza da religião.
É essencial, para a fé e para a vida da fé, estudar pormenorizadamente a área dos princípios básicos, porque as questões aqui levantadas são de fundamental importância para todos. Não há questão mais importante do que aquela que diz respeito ao fundamento de nossa fé, à certeza de nossa salvação, ao embasamento de nossa esperança na vida eterna. Que benefício há no conhecimento, poder e honra se não podemos responder a questão acerca de nosso único conforto?
É essencial, para a fé e para a vida da fé, estudar pormenorizadamente a área dos princípios básicos, porque as questões aqui levantadas são de fundamental importância para todos. Não há questão mais importante do que aquela que diz respeito ao fundamento de nossa fé, à certeza de nossa salvação, ao embasamento de nossa esperança na vida eterna. Que benefício há no conhecimento, poder e honra se não podemos responder a questão acerca de nosso único conforto?
124 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
30 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
About the author
Herman Bavinck
111 books192 followersHerman 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.
His nephew was Johan Herman Bavinck.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
April 4, 2021
This is one of those rare books that is able to make profound epistemological points while always remaining at the level of the layman. Reformed people might claim they are above the charismatic desire for “experience” and “emotion.” I suggest many are on the same level. If your faith is pointed towards the intensity of your emotions, if you don’t like celebrating the Lord’s Supper often (not necessarily weekly) because it wouldn’t be spay-shul, then I suggest you are much closer to the charismatic than you might want to admit.
Bavinck’s profound insight is that knowledge isn’t the same thing as certainty. He writes,
Truth is agreement between thought and reality and thus expresses a relation between the contents of our consciousness and the object of our knowledge. Certainty, however, is not a relationship but a capacity, a quality, a state of the knowing subject. One’s spirit may assume different states in reaction to different statements or propositions (Bavinck 19).
If you can’t grasp and appreciate this distinction, then you will be fair game for all sorts of philosophical con artists. In other words, how I feel about the truth is quite irrelevant to the truth or falsity of the proposition.
Pietism: The Harbinger of Humanism
The early Reformers certainly had their doubts like us. There was a crucial difference, though. Bavinck writes,
But the difference between the Reformers and their later disciples was that they did not foster or feed such a
condition. They saw no good in it and were not content to remain in doubt (39).
We can add one more point: you can look to the intensity of your emotions or you can look to Christ (corollary: The Lord’s Supper helps. Take it). Bavinck doesn’t mention it but this is the problem of the terrible Halfway Covenant. You didn’t look to Christ. You had to convince the sessions of the intensity of your emotional experience. The sick irony is that the membership requirements for Halfway members were the same as the membership requirements of full members in the better Calvinist churches on the continent.
A few pages later Bavinck notes that this pietism paved the way for secularism. He is correct but he doesn’t develop the point. I think it can be argued like this. This leads to common-ground, emotionally-based political orders. While it isn’t clear how that then leads to liberalism, it almost always does.
I truly hate pietism with all my heart.
Bavinck has a side line on the nature of revelation that is sometimes controversial but nevertheless correct: “Revelation is an organism with a life of its own” (61). He doesn’t mean it evolves evolutionistically or in a Hegelian fashion (fun fact: Hegel was actually skeptical of evolution, if only because he didn’t come up with it). Rather, it ties all facts together under a single idea. It is its own idea by which it must be grasped.
Another fatal problem with experience-based religion is that none of the essentials of the Christian faith can be deduced from experience. Nothing in my day-to-day life tells me of substitutionary atonement, the Trinity, or the Resurrection.
Faithful to covenant thinking, Bavinck contrasts experience-based religion with that of judicial, ethical choice. I either choose to believe in Christ or I don’t. Experience isn’t all that relevant (78ff). If faith includes understanding, either I believe in the promises or I don’t. I don’t have to answer “Do you know that you know that you really know” type questions.
That doesn’t mean emotions are wrong. Far from it. Bavinck is working with a creational view of man: man believes with his heart, his totality of existence (including both reason and emotion, the latter never controls the former).
The Mechanics of Faith
For more info, see Bavinck’s Prolegomena.
“Promise and faith are correlates. They address themselves to one another” (83). Moreover, “Faith is not the ground which carries the truth, nor is it the source from which knowledge flows to him. Rather, it is the soul’s organ.”
But can faith be certain? Answering this question might be tricky. We’ve already established that I can have varying degrees of certainty regarding something. Bavinck, however, suggests that faith can be absolutely certain. What is he getting at? This certainty is not something added on from the outside. Rather, it “is contained in faith from the outside and in time organically issues from it” (85). In other words, I do not trust salvation on the grounds of my faith but through it.
Bavinck has an admirable final section on the sacraments. It’s strange (well, not really) that many discussions on certainty and assurance often ignore the sacraments. The sacraments seal the promise of God to me (89). The final two pages end with the “cultural mandate,” though Bavinck doesn’t call it such. I share in Christ’s anointing and am a prophet, priest, and king.
Bavinck’s profound insight is that knowledge isn’t the same thing as certainty. He writes,
Truth is agreement between thought and reality and thus expresses a relation between the contents of our consciousness and the object of our knowledge. Certainty, however, is not a relationship but a capacity, a quality, a state of the knowing subject. One’s spirit may assume different states in reaction to different statements or propositions (Bavinck 19).
If you can’t grasp and appreciate this distinction, then you will be fair game for all sorts of philosophical con artists. In other words, how I feel about the truth is quite irrelevant to the truth or falsity of the proposition.
Pietism: The Harbinger of Humanism
The early Reformers certainly had their doubts like us. There was a crucial difference, though. Bavinck writes,
But the difference between the Reformers and their later disciples was that they did not foster or feed such a
condition. They saw no good in it and were not content to remain in doubt (39).
We can add one more point: you can look to the intensity of your emotions or you can look to Christ (corollary: The Lord’s Supper helps. Take it). Bavinck doesn’t mention it but this is the problem of the terrible Halfway Covenant. You didn’t look to Christ. You had to convince the sessions of the intensity of your emotional experience. The sick irony is that the membership requirements for Halfway members were the same as the membership requirements of full members in the better Calvinist churches on the continent.
A few pages later Bavinck notes that this pietism paved the way for secularism. He is correct but he doesn’t develop the point. I think it can be argued like this. This leads to common-ground, emotionally-based political orders. While it isn’t clear how that then leads to liberalism, it almost always does.
I truly hate pietism with all my heart.
Bavinck has a side line on the nature of revelation that is sometimes controversial but nevertheless correct: “Revelation is an organism with a life of its own” (61). He doesn’t mean it evolves evolutionistically or in a Hegelian fashion (fun fact: Hegel was actually skeptical of evolution, if only because he didn’t come up with it). Rather, it ties all facts together under a single idea. It is its own idea by which it must be grasped.
Another fatal problem with experience-based religion is that none of the essentials of the Christian faith can be deduced from experience. Nothing in my day-to-day life tells me of substitutionary atonement, the Trinity, or the Resurrection.
Faithful to covenant thinking, Bavinck contrasts experience-based religion with that of judicial, ethical choice. I either choose to believe in Christ or I don’t. Experience isn’t all that relevant (78ff). If faith includes understanding, either I believe in the promises or I don’t. I don’t have to answer “Do you know that you know that you really know” type questions.
That doesn’t mean emotions are wrong. Far from it. Bavinck is working with a creational view of man: man believes with his heart, his totality of existence (including both reason and emotion, the latter never controls the former).
The Mechanics of Faith
For more info, see Bavinck’s Prolegomena.
“Promise and faith are correlates. They address themselves to one another” (83). Moreover, “Faith is not the ground which carries the truth, nor is it the source from which knowledge flows to him. Rather, it is the soul’s organ.”
But can faith be certain? Answering this question might be tricky. We’ve already established that I can have varying degrees of certainty regarding something. Bavinck, however, suggests that faith can be absolutely certain. What is he getting at? This certainty is not something added on from the outside. Rather, it “is contained in faith from the outside and in time organically issues from it” (85). In other words, I do not trust salvation on the grounds of my faith but through it.
Bavinck has an admirable final section on the sacraments. It’s strange (well, not really) that many discussions on certainty and assurance often ignore the sacraments. The sacraments seal the promise of God to me (89). The final two pages end with the “cultural mandate,” though Bavinck doesn’t call it such. I share in Christ’s anointing and am a prophet, priest, and king.
August 27, 2019
This was such an excellent book that, at this difficult time in my life, rooted me more in the Word of God. It is not an easy read. But Bavinck goes through the scientific certainty and why that type of certainty will not work for matters of faith. Then he works through the various ways we try to gain certainty in matters of faith. Finally he ends by making the ground of our certainty of faith in that we have a word from God. We cannot base our certainty in our own faith. It must be in God and His Word. Certainty, that unshakable, free, joyful, certainty comes from looking at God's Word and saying: Here my faith will rest. What God says I believe. I will not move from it. Really good book.
October 15, 2025
This is the best book on assurance in salvation that I’ve ever read . Bavinck unpacks what it means to have faith in God’s word. It’s technical but Bavinck’s tracing of the churches understanding of assurance and how he contrasts Christianity and secularism is tremendously helpful.
—
Even better the 2nd time through.
—
Even better the 2nd time through.
December 31, 2025
"Let the plant of faith therefore take root in the soil of the promises of God, and thus it will naturally bear the fruit of certainty. And the deeper and firmer it drives its roots into the soil, the stronger will be its growth, the longer its shoots, the richer its fruit." (93)
Simply outstanding.
Simply outstanding.
January 3, 2020
Excelente!
October 23, 2025
As is typically the case with Bavinck, just because the book is small doesn't mean its contents are light! In these 102 pages, Bavinck aims to answer the question of how to justify faith's sense of certainty. His answer is essentially that the certainty of faith, as opposed to scientific certainty, is rooted in the recognition of divine testimony rather than experience. Below are a few scattered thoughts about the book, in no particular order.
I've always felt a sort of affinity between Bavinck and Plantinga on the epistemology of faith. I think this book reinforces that sense, but it clarifies the nuances that distinguish them.
Van Til and his followers have always claimed Bavinck as their own. I remain unconvinced, but there are a few lines in this book that could undoubtedly be read in a Van Tillian sense. I doubt if that's the best sense to make of those lines, but I see how a Bahnsen or an Oliphant could read these words and come away feeling like Bavinck was on their team.
Bavinck offers some truly excellent criticisms of progressive theology (many of which are still applicable 100+ later), Romanism, Pietism, and even trends within 17th-18th century Reformed churches (especially the tendency among later Puritans and their Dutch Nadere Reformatie counterparts toward spiritual navel-gazing). In the latter case, I think he may go too hard in places, but the main points are valid and directly applicable to local church ministry.
I find it very interesting that Bavinck grounds the general Neo-Calvinist impulse for cultural engagement in the foundational nature of faith. Basically, if certainty of faith is the goal of the Christian life, your tendency will be to retreat into yourself and your spiritual practices. But if certainty of faith is the starting line, your tendency will be to live your whole life facing outward, working to benefit the world in gratefulness to God. I think there's something to this, even if I may not be as far on the Neo-Calvinist side of the scale as Bavinck was himself. It's also worth noting that he does offer a gentle critique of his own camp's wont to get "lost in the world."
I found the first chapter to be the highlight of the whole book. I felt like it was the most devotional part of the whole. As the argument wore on, it never totally lost that devotional character, but it did take onto itself a more technical flavor. Bavinck's technical argumentation always has devotion as its end goal, and that comes through here. Still, I'd love to have a book of his that I could hand to a regular church member (or even just my wife).
I appreciated Schrock's editorial footnotes. Unlike Brock and Sutanto's (excellent) translation of Christian Worldview, which largely expects you to be familiar with the ideas of figures like Renan, Kant, Schliermacher, Ritschl, etc., this one offers the basic information required to follow the arguments. Hopefully that makes this book more accessible to educated laymen who can handle technical theology but aren't particular familiar with 18th-19th century philosophy.
I've always felt a sort of affinity between Bavinck and Plantinga on the epistemology of faith. I think this book reinforces that sense, but it clarifies the nuances that distinguish them.
Van Til and his followers have always claimed Bavinck as their own. I remain unconvinced, but there are a few lines in this book that could undoubtedly be read in a Van Tillian sense. I doubt if that's the best sense to make of those lines, but I see how a Bahnsen or an Oliphant could read these words and come away feeling like Bavinck was on their team.
Bavinck offers some truly excellent criticisms of progressive theology (many of which are still applicable 100+ later), Romanism, Pietism, and even trends within 17th-18th century Reformed churches (especially the tendency among later Puritans and their Dutch Nadere Reformatie counterparts toward spiritual navel-gazing). In the latter case, I think he may go too hard in places, but the main points are valid and directly applicable to local church ministry.
I find it very interesting that Bavinck grounds the general Neo-Calvinist impulse for cultural engagement in the foundational nature of faith. Basically, if certainty of faith is the goal of the Christian life, your tendency will be to retreat into yourself and your spiritual practices. But if certainty of faith is the starting line, your tendency will be to live your whole life facing outward, working to benefit the world in gratefulness to God. I think there's something to this, even if I may not be as far on the Neo-Calvinist side of the scale as Bavinck was himself. It's also worth noting that he does offer a gentle critique of his own camp's wont to get "lost in the world."
I found the first chapter to be the highlight of the whole book. I felt like it was the most devotional part of the whole. As the argument wore on, it never totally lost that devotional character, but it did take onto itself a more technical flavor. Bavinck's technical argumentation always has devotion as its end goal, and that comes through here. Still, I'd love to have a book of his that I could hand to a regular church member (or even just my wife).
I appreciated Schrock's editorial footnotes. Unlike Brock and Sutanto's (excellent) translation of Christian Worldview, which largely expects you to be familiar with the ideas of figures like Renan, Kant, Schliermacher, Ritschl, etc., this one offers the basic information required to follow the arguments. Hopefully that makes this book more accessible to educated laymen who can handle technical theology but aren't particular familiar with 18th-19th century philosophy.
December 19, 2025
As someone who has struggled with certainty of faith for many years, this book is a true balm! I have always said that Bavinck doesn’t miss and all Christian’s should be reading him, but this was such a helpful little book.
My biggest take away is the importance of faith. No where in the Bible does it glorify or encourage doubt. No- it’s always TRUST in the Lord for He is good. I’m sure that a lack of assurance is caused by too much thinking of oneself and not enough on Christ.
“Because they are Christians, they are human in the full, true sense. They love the flowers growing at their feet and marvel at the stars sparkling above their heads. They do not despise art, which is a precious gift of God to them, and do not scorn science, which is a gift to them from the Father of lights. They believe that everything created by God is good, and that nothing is reprehensible if partaken with thankfulness. They labor not for success or wages, but do what their hand finds to do, seeing by [the light of] the commandment but blind to the future. They do good works ere they think about them, and bear fruits before knowing it. They are like flowers which spread their sweet fragrance unawares. In a word, they are people of God, perfectly equipped unto every good work. And while for them to live is Christ, to die is gain.”
My biggest take away is the importance of faith. No where in the Bible does it glorify or encourage doubt. No- it’s always TRUST in the Lord for He is good. I’m sure that a lack of assurance is caused by too much thinking of oneself and not enough on Christ.
“Because they are Christians, they are human in the full, true sense. They love the flowers growing at their feet and marvel at the stars sparkling above their heads. They do not despise art, which is a precious gift of God to them, and do not scorn science, which is a gift to them from the Father of lights. They believe that everything created by God is good, and that nothing is reprehensible if partaken with thankfulness. They labor not for success or wages, but do what their hand finds to do, seeing by [the light of] the commandment but blind to the future. They do good works ere they think about them, and bear fruits before knowing it. They are like flowers which spread their sweet fragrance unawares. In a word, they are people of God, perfectly equipped unto every good work. And while for them to live is Christ, to die is gain.”
October 20, 2025
“And the two develop in connection with each other. As refuge-seeking confidence increases, so too does assured confidence. And if the latter is small and weak, we may indubitably infer that the former is also infirm and imperfect.”
December 17, 2025
Herman Bavinck’s “The Certainty of Faith” is a small book, and that smallness is part of its strength. It does not wander or posture. Bavinck says what needs to be said and then stops. The brevity feels deliberate, even pastoral. He does not confuse length with depth, and the result is a work that feels clear rather than compressed.
What stands out most is the way Bavinck holds together qualities we often separate. He is both a mystic and a clinician. He speaks of faith as something lived and felt, rooted deep in the soul, and he examines it with careful, disciplined thought. He never turns faith into raw emotion, and he never dissects it until it goes cold. He studies faith as a living thing.
Bavinck moves easily between science and theology, and that ease gives the book its authority. He does not shy away from modern questions or psychological insight, but he also refuses to let them rule the conversation. Faith, for Bavinck, is not irrational. At the same time, it does not depend on laboratory proof. Its certainty rests in God’s self revelation and takes shape in the life of the believer. He keeps his balance where others often fall to one side or the other.
Reading Bavinck feels like watching an alchemist at work in a King Arthur’s court. He takes doubt, reason, experience, and doctrine and turns them into something solid and luminous. He does not rely on tricks. He trusts that all truth belongs to God and therefore has nothing to fear.
It is also worth saying how fortunate we are to be living in a period of recovery for Dutch theology. For a long time, figures like Bavinck were treated as specialists’ territory, cited more than read. Now they are being returned to the church. “The Certainty of Faith” feels especially timely in this recovery. It reminds us that this tradition was never merely academic. It was written for the life of faith, for pastors and people, for seasons of doubt as much as confidence.
What stands out most is the way Bavinck holds together qualities we often separate. He is both a mystic and a clinician. He speaks of faith as something lived and felt, rooted deep in the soul, and he examines it with careful, disciplined thought. He never turns faith into raw emotion, and he never dissects it until it goes cold. He studies faith as a living thing.
Bavinck moves easily between science and theology, and that ease gives the book its authority. He does not shy away from modern questions or psychological insight, but he also refuses to let them rule the conversation. Faith, for Bavinck, is not irrational. At the same time, it does not depend on laboratory proof. Its certainty rests in God’s self revelation and takes shape in the life of the believer. He keeps his balance where others often fall to one side or the other.
Reading Bavinck feels like watching an alchemist at work in a King Arthur’s court. He takes doubt, reason, experience, and doctrine and turns them into something solid and luminous. He does not rely on tricks. He trusts that all truth belongs to God and therefore has nothing to fear.
It is also worth saying how fortunate we are to be living in a period of recovery for Dutch theology. For a long time, figures like Bavinck were treated as specialists’ territory, cited more than read. Now they are being returned to the church. “The Certainty of Faith” feels especially timely in this recovery. It reminds us that this tradition was never merely academic. It was written for the life of faith, for pastors and people, for seasons of doubt as much as confidence.
October 27, 2025
Truly a breath of fresh air. Bavinck navigates the issues of unbelief and doubt in an age that demands scientific knowledge for matters of faith. But scientific, empirical knowledge simply won’t do, we need a divine word from God if we are to establish in our minds, and also in our hearts, that God exists and rewards those who seek him.
Couldn’t think of a better book to read on the week of the reformation. It is brief! But it is not light. It is both intellectually gripping and weighty, but also pierces the heart and soul, as most of Bavinck’s writings do.
Heartily recommend to all believers and skeptics alike. Be challenged and be comforted by the certainty that faith brings by the spirit and word of Christ.
Couldn’t think of a better book to read on the week of the reformation. It is brief! But it is not light. It is both intellectually gripping and weighty, but also pierces the heart and soul, as most of Bavinck’s writings do.
Heartily recommend to all believers and skeptics alike. Be challenged and be comforted by the certainty that faith brings by the spirit and word of Christ.
November 12, 2025
Believing is therefore indeed a deed of moral energy, a deed of the highest spiritual power; it is the work of God par excellence, because it is his most precious and most glorious gift. It is to hold fast to God as seeing him who is the Unseeable, to know his love, to lean on his grace, to hope in his faithfulness. - Bavinck
December 31, 2025
The best book I’ve read all year. Probably the most important book I’ve read in years. Bavinck (in this new translation by Daniel Schrock) has given to us a knockout, sweeping exploration of saving faith—its true nature, the certainty that comes hand in hand with it, and its personal and corporate fruit.
April 22, 2017
A very good little book. A nice entryway to some of Bavinck's thought, while also showing some of his pastoral wisdom.
August 16, 2025
Absolute goldmine. So much wisdom packed into this little book. Hoping to reread soon.
March 18, 2021
This book was great. I did not want to put it down once I picked it up. Bavinck explains in detail humans need for certainty in Religion, what the effect of that certainty is on the heart and mind, and the only place that a solid and liberating certainty may be found. The most powerful part was as he contrasted Religious and Scientific certainty and how all people live with faith assumptions.
December 9, 2025
Herman Bavinck continues to bring new life to my soul, spilling forth the glory and grander of Christ in every word. He assures the believer that his faith does not rest in emotional experiences, intellectual erudition or mere historical evidences which fade in and with the desert sands. Nor does faith capitulate to the world’s philosophies and lust for doubt and uncertainty. Consider reading this tiny but mighty work from a most accomplished theologian to know upon what does the certainty faith rest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2018
Pequena pérola de Bavinck.
December 15, 2018
A great defense of the certain and organic nature of the Christian faith against rationalism, empiricism, positivism, introspective pietism, and radical 2K-ism.
April 27, 2020
Livro excelente, com uma conclusão especialmente bela!
December 5, 2025
Excellent work on faith! Faith is the best response to God’s revelation.
April 8, 2022
Bavinck provides and excellent summary of the certainty of faith. He shows the historical grounding of our preset struggle with certainty and the necessity of recovering it. All Christians will benefit from this short volume. Tolle lege.
October 17, 2025
Organicism, grace restores nature, gospel as levening agent in all of life, short and sweet Bavinck.
May we look to Christ - our confidence and certainty is in Him who is infallible - not our own philosophical reasoning or works.
May we look to Christ - our confidence and certainty is in Him who is infallible - not our own philosophical reasoning or works.
January 17, 2023
4.5 stars. Statement of the problem, analysis of the situation, and insufficiency of historical arguments and pietism was excellent and still timely. Solution was under-developed.
July 12, 2025
Prachtig boekje waarin Bavinck zijn inzichten laat gaan over epistemologisch-theologische vragen als: wat houdt een zekerheid des geloofs in? Wat onderscheidt wetenschappelijke zekerheid van religieuze zekerheid? En hoe kunnen we komen tot deze zekerheid des geloofs? Geschreven in mooi en helder oud Nederlands. Absolute aanrader voor Christenen en hen die geïnteresseerd zijn in theologie.
November 5, 2025
I am so blessed by this book. I highly recommend 5/5
“Such Christians have found their foothold in the promise of God's grace in Christ; the foundation of their hope lies firm, since it lies outside of them in the word of God which will never falter. They do not constantly have to examine the genuineness and solidity of the foundation on which the building of their salvation has been erected. They are children of God, not on the ground of their souls inner experiences but on the ground of the Lord's promise. And assured of this, they can freely look around and enjoy without restraint every good and perfect gift from above, descending from the Father of lights. Everything is theirs, since they are Christ's and Christ is God's. The entire world becomes material for their duty. Religious life does indeed have its own content and independent value. It remains the center, heart, and hearth from which all their thoughts and actions proceed, inspiring and stoking them. There, in communion with God, they strengthen themselves for the work and gird themselves for the battle. But that hidden life of communion with God still is not the whole of life. The prayer room may indeed be the inner chamber, but it is not the whole house in which they live and move. The spiritual life does not exclude the domestic and civil, the social and political, the life of art and science. It is indeed distinct from them and far superior in value, but it also does not form an irreconcilable opposition to them; rather, it is the power that enables us to fulfill our earthly calling faithfully and stamps the whole of life as a service to God. The kingdom of God may be like a pearl more precious than the entire world, but it is also like leaven which leavens the whole lump. Faith is not just the way of salvation; it is also the conquest of the world. It is in this conviction that Christians stand and labor, both as Scripture portrays them for us and as [those same Christians] speak in the words of the Heidelberg Catechism. Being reconciled with God, they are also reconciled with all things. Because they confess the Father of Christ the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, they cannot be narrow of heart or restricted in their affections. God himself, after all, so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. And this Son did not come
to earth to judge the world but that the world might be saved through him.In his cross, heaven and earth have been reconciled; under him as Head, all things have been united. According to the counsel of God, all things in history are directed to the redemption of the church as the new humanity, to the redemption of the world in an organic sense, to the new heaven and the new earth. Already now everything is, by right and principle, the church's, because it is Christ's, and Christ is God's. As priests in the temple of the Lord, they are kings over the whole earth. Because they are Christians, they are human in the full, true sense. They love the flowers growing at their feet and marvel at the stars sparkling above their heads. They do not despise art, which is a precious gift of God to them, and do not scorn science, which is a gift to them from the Father of lights. They believe that everything created by God is good, and that nothing is reprehensible if partaken with thankfulness. They labor not for success or wages, but do what their hand finds to do, seeing by [the light of] the commandment but blind to the future. They do good works ere they think about them, and bear fruits before knowing it. They are like flowers which spread their sweet fragrance unawares. In a word, they are people of God, perfectly equipped unto every good work. And while for them to live is Christ, to die is gain. “
Herman Bavinck, The Certainty of Faith pg 99-102
October 26, 2025
"A lust for doubt became the soul-sickness of our age, dragging a string of moral woes and miseries along with it." So says the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck, writing in 1903, in the introduction of his short work The Certainty of Faith. And this quote points at why he produced this volume: we all want certainty. "To live in comfort and to die in beatitude, we need certainty about the things that are above, the things that are invisible and eternal. We must know who and what we are, and where we are going." He walks through a few concepts in this vein here.
Ultimately, "faith can rest in nowhere other than a word of God, in a promise of the Lord." "Let the plant of faith therefore take root in the soil of the promises of God, and thus it will naturally bear the fruit of certainty." See my blog for more detail, or (better) read the book, which was full of good insights and (ultimately) hope.
Ultimately, "faith can rest in nowhere other than a word of God, in a promise of the Lord." "Let the plant of faith therefore take root in the soil of the promises of God, and thus it will naturally bear the fruit of certainty." See my blog for more detail, or (better) read the book, which was full of good insights and (ultimately) hope.
December 29, 2025
This review isn't fair.
Bavinck has solid theology and I don't necessarily disagree with anything he's teaching...it's just that I struggle so much to follow his teaching.
This book was promoted at the 2025 CCEF National Conference as a great, short, easy-to-read commentary on confidence within personal faith for counselors and counselees. Yet, the whole reading experience just gave me flashbacks to my masters apologetics course...and not in a good way. It felt like I needed a separate book outlining just the subjects Bavinck was even referencing to understand the points he was trying to make.
All that said, the last 10 pages (no seriously) were concise, easy enough to follow, and equipping for helping insecure believers (me among them) have great confidence in following Jesus. Bavinck challenges the entire paradigm of looking within yourself for greater confidence for your faith (e.g. your positive emotions, your christian disciplines, etc.) and instead asks: do you trust the Lord God to be faithful to his promises? Let God's faithfulness, not yours, be your confidence.
Bavinck has solid theology and I don't necessarily disagree with anything he's teaching...it's just that I struggle so much to follow his teaching.
This book was promoted at the 2025 CCEF National Conference as a great, short, easy-to-read commentary on confidence within personal faith for counselors and counselees. Yet, the whole reading experience just gave me flashbacks to my masters apologetics course...and not in a good way. It felt like I needed a separate book outlining just the subjects Bavinck was even referencing to understand the points he was trying to make.
All that said, the last 10 pages (no seriously) were concise, easy enough to follow, and equipping for helping insecure believers (me among them) have great confidence in following Jesus. Bavinck challenges the entire paradigm of looking within yourself for greater confidence for your faith (e.g. your positive emotions, your christian disciplines, etc.) and instead asks: do you trust the Lord God to be faithful to his promises? Let God's faithfulness, not yours, be your confidence.
October 27, 2025
Bavinck the pastor comes to the fore in this wonderful little book.
“Because they are Christians, they are human in the full, true sense. They love the flowers growing at their feet and marvel at the stars sparkling above their heads. They do not despise art, which is a precious gift of God to them, and do not scorn science, which is a gift to them from the Father of lights. They believe that everything created by God is good, and that nothing is reprehensible if partaken with thankfulness. … They are like flowers which spread their sweet fragrance unawares. In a word, they are people of God, perfectly equipped unto every good work.” (102)
“Because they are Christians, they are human in the full, true sense. They love the flowers growing at their feet and marvel at the stars sparkling above their heads. They do not despise art, which is a precious gift of God to them, and do not scorn science, which is a gift to them from the Father of lights. They believe that everything created by God is good, and that nothing is reprehensible if partaken with thankfulness. … They are like flowers which spread their sweet fragrance unawares. In a word, they are people of God, perfectly equipped unto every good work.” (102)
January 18, 2018
In this short treatment and the essence of faith, Bavinck clearly defines faith while also compares and contrasts true faith against science, philosophy, and false religious faith. Too often Christians are accused of holding a blind faith. Bavinck dispels that notion as he grounds faith in God's revelation. He also shows that faith is not inferior to belief in science. The last section of the book is comforting for those who struggle with assurance of faith as he grounds our faith in God's revealed promises.
December 26, 2025
True, objective certainly is not impossible, despite what postmodernism might tell you. In fact it is vital to faith. And Bavinck successfully makes a case for these realities. He uses too many words to do so, and the translation could have used a bit more editing, and I hate small gifty-sized books, but nevertheless this is a volume worth perusing.
Yes, subjective assurance is a blessing, but don't settle for merely that. Pursue in addition the certainty of faith. You will be richly rewarded.
Yes, subjective assurance is a blessing, but don't settle for merely that. Pursue in addition the certainty of faith. You will be richly rewarded.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews