God's Word in Servant-Form: Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck and the Doctrine of Scripture

by Richard B. Gaffin Jr.

From the "This study, written for the 100th anniversay of J. Gresham Machen on 28 July 1981, first appeared as a two-part article, uner the title, 'Old Amsterdam and Inerrancy?,' in the Westminster Theological Journal .... It is reprinted here with minor revisions...I offer it here confident that the views of Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck on Scriptrure it considers have perennial value for the well-being of Reformed and evangelical theology and church life and so make a singularly important contribution to the crucial debate about Scripture that continues unabated today within evangelical circles, further complicated as they currently are by recently emergent 'post-conservative evangelical' impulses."

Genres: Theology

107 pages, Paperback

First published February 11, 2008

About the author

Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. is a Calvinist theologian, Presbyterian minister, and was the Charles Krahe Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1999 to 2008. He became the Professor Emeritus, Biblical and Systematic Theology in 2008.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Word took on a servant form and became a human servant. Analogically, the Word took on a servant form and became human text.

[Rod Innis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not an easy read. Some parts are very difficult and frankly, were either beyond my ability to understand or were not important enough to me to bother with.
Bottom line / a couple of theologians (Rogers and McKim) wrote a book attacking the doctrine of inspiration and quoted a couple of respected German theologians to defend their position. The author of this book shows how in instance after instance they misquoted the two German theologians, taking their statements out of context and trying to make them agree with their view which this book clearly shows that they did not.
I read the book not because I was concerned about the reputation of these theologians but I read it for some insights into the orthodox defense of inspiration. The book did give me that. It was worth wading through all the difficult material (with quite a bit of German, Latin, and Greek thrown it)
in order to better understand the inspiration of the Bible. The Bible truly is the word of God. This book did not convince me of that. I already knew that, but it did give me some insights into how to explain it to myself and others.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the Rogers-McKim proposal is now over 30 years old, the issues are still relevant. Dr. Gaffin does excellent historical work to demonstrate that Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck both held clearly to the concept of inerrancy and cannot be enlisted in any proposals that posit the presence of error in Scripture.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prof. Richard Gaffin takes his readers through major portions of Abraham Kuyper's and Herman Bavinck's writing on Scripture. Gaffin brings the fruit of research into these great Dutch theologians in their original language, using his own translations for the benefit of English readers. This is a substantive study of Kuyper and Bavinck on matters such as biblical authority, inspiration and inerrancy. Gaffin shows how both of his subjects argued for an "organic" view of inspiration. He also sets them in the context of the conservative and liberal theologies of their day. The book thoughtfully enters contemporary debate, contrasting the Rogers/McKim view of Kuyper and Bavinck on Scripture with a more careful reading of Principles of Sacred Theology, Dictaten Dogmatiek, The Work of the Holy Spirit and Reformed Dogmatics. Highly recommended.

[Joel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very specific academic read with a very specific place in a specific argument over the view of several historically important Reformed thinkers (Bavinck and Kuyper) and their view of the inspiration of the Scripture, as two writers (Rogers and McKim) had argued that their view was against inerrancy. Gaffin, of course, does a good job, but this text is as limited as the first sentence communicates in terms of broad appeal.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely addressed to a specific need, though useful for questions peripheral to that need.

Main themes:
1. The relationship between Scripture and Incarnation
2. The unity of form and content as divinely inspired
3. The central importance of the doctrine of infallibility

Seemed a little waffly in its organization, probably partly due to its nature as summary/exegesis of other authors' ideas, and partly due to my wobbly late-semester brain.

[Lu Tsun]

Dr. Gaffin is making his best to introduce the Dutch Reformed thoughts into the prospects of American theology.

[Daniel Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best responde to the Rogers/McKim proposal and any other claim that Kuyper and/or Bavinck believed in something less than traditional inerrancy. Gaffin is superb in this little book.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful in understanding Bavinck's thoughts on Scripture and how he differed from Kuyper.