The Christian Idea of the State

by Herman Dooyeweerd

The basis of this book is Dr. Dooyeweerd's lecture "De Christelijke Staatsidee" addressed to ARJA (Apeldoorn, 1936) a youth movement of one of the two largest Christian political parties in the Netherlands, the Antirevolutionaire Partij. The lecture was subsequently published in expanded form by Libertas, Rotterdam 1936.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy

51 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Grant Van Brimmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this little book. This was my first time reading Dooyeweerd. His argument against the nature/grace distinction is compelling! I think, philosophically, he makes a strong argument for a Christian state. There were a couple of points I would ask some questions and possibly disagree. All in all,, well worth the read.

Here is the last paragraph of the book:

"Thus the Christian idea of the state in its only possible, radical, Scriptural sense remains the liberating message - also, yes especially in our dynamic times. And it is to us, kindred in spirit, to take hold of this incomparably rich idea, to make it our own, to possess it spiritually as the heritage of our fathers. May we carry it everywhere - to benefit the entire community, now drastically distorted, as the only balm for its wounds."

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. A nice soft intro into Dooyeweerd's thought.