The Christian Right in Europe, Book Recommendations, and a Case of Confused Worldview

https://cne.news/article/4772-seven-books-to-sharpen-your-christian-worldview

The article's set-up leads me to believe that once again the evocation of 'worldview' is not in the sense of a comprehensive and coherent system of thought but rather the rubber-stamping of an agenda. As such, it is in keeping with its frequent use within American Evangelicalism.

The Calvinist Legacy in South Africa

https://g3min.org/book-review-the-puritans-in-africa-by-w-de-klerk/

Cantrell offers some insightful commentary regarding Afrikaner Theology and how it devolved into Apartheid. I'm not sure I buy the True/False Calvinism distinction though. First, there's the issue and question of Calvinism which is broad and difficult to define. Second, there is the Dutch Calvinist legacy and its heavy emphasis on an integrated culture - seen particularly in the thought of Abraham Kuyper.

Hauerwas on Kuyper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BcZlxGt3xs

Since he was named by Time Magazine as America's Best Theologian in 2001, Stanley Hauerwas rightly raises some eyebrows. He's at his best when he's applying New Testament ethics and yet his theology is bankrupt. Sadly those sacralists and Right-wing adherents who oppose New Testament teaching can use Hauerwas' theological liberalism as a vehicle to discredit and dismiss what he says about ethics - even if it reflects apostolic teaching. This is why he's always frustrated me a bit. I have not found his books to be helpful and I never recommend them and yet he often makes decent standalone statements and has plenty to offer in the way of historical and cultural commentary.

Since I've been reading and writing about Abraham Kuyper as of late this interview clip caught my eye.

Clashing Dominionisms: Kuyperian Two-Kingdom Theology versus Theonomy

https://theaquilareport.com/thoughts-on-the-churchs-true-nature-and-mission-a-partial-rejoinder-to-larry-balls-challenge-to-the-spirituality-of-the-church/

I post this with a few comments just to call attention to the kind of Two Kingdom Theology which needs to be rejected and opposed. It caught my eye because the author (Tom Hervey) was critical of Larry Ball, a Theonomist writer I have countered on many an occasion. Happy to see someone answering him, I was nevertheless mostly disappointed in Hervey's response.

Democracy as a Worldview

https://breakpoint.org/no-mr-president-democracy-isnt-a-worldview-politics-cant-answer-our-deepest-questions/

I am fully aware that many consider John Stonestreet to be something of a lightweight and yet, when I find his commentaries appearing on Calvinistic websites like The Aquila Report, it indicates a growing appreciation for him. As such, I feel compelled to respond, since no one else seems willing to do so. There is much to be learned from his Evangelical-Kuyperian (or Colsonite) errors and the convoluted thinking his commentaries represent.

I'm not sure what that says about the likes of The Aquila Report.

Stonestreet, Kuyper, and Schools

https://www.breakpoint.org/parents_find_support/

As usual Stonestreet presents a dishonest assessment of the issues. In this case he's referring to questions of education, parental rights, and so-called sphere sovereignty, the doctrine usually associated with Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920).

Dominionism and Mainstream Evangelical Orthodoxy

https://currentpub.com/2021/05/08/seven-mountain-dominionism-at-the-mississippi-national-day-of-prayer/

Seven Mountains Dominionism is simply the Charismatic iteration and packaging put on the Kuyperian doctrine brought to them by the Calvinistic world. It's a little more blatant and crude in how it sets out its agenda as it openly proclaims its desire to capture key cultural institutions.

The story here is that it's not a story. John Fea's Current may cover it, but no one else really takes notice. This kind of thinking and the doctrinal assumptions which undergird it have become normalised and normative – to the point that it can be publically proclaimed without any real controversy.

The Ghost of Abraham Kuyper and American Right-Wing Evangelicalism

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2021/01/josh-hawley-betsy-devos-and-abraham-kuyper-a-reckoning/

This was a fascinating if unsurprising piece written by one formerly on the inside of the Dutch Calvinist and Evangelical world. One need not agree with all of the author's views or conclusions to acknowledge that Abraham Kuyper's ghost haunts and overshadows the Evangelical edifice that began to emerge in the post-WWII period. While few know his name or are familiar with his Stone Lectures at Princeton, his influence is pervasive.*

Trumpism Rightly Denounced as a Heretical Cult

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/cult-christian-trumpism/

Finally, there is a strong voice emanating from the Reformed community that is willing to call a spade a spade. But because the voice is that of Michael Horton and associated with Westminster California, it will be dismissed and decried by many as yet another manifestation of 'Radical' Two Kingdoms (R2K) thinking.

How Should We Then Live: The Schaeffer Legacy and the Great Evangelical Disaster

Though the series ended with Part 10, we're using this 11^th installment to reflect on the legacy of Schaeffer and his film. While at this point it's very dated, the leaders of contemporary Evangelicalism were greatly inspired by Schaeffer and his work. Whether they read his books or not, chances are they saw these films. Virtually every leader of the movement was either directly inspired by him or by those who took up his mantle. His presence both hovers and looms over the Evangelical world.

Redeemer PCA: Men in Tights

This video is generating a lot of reaction within Reformed circles.... a lot of people are saying, wait a minute, what are we doing here? This is particularly problematic within the Confessional sphere. The bulk of their churches have abandoned their historic doctrines when it comes to liturgy and its Scriptural regulation. They're left scrambling in trying to come up with solid arguments against some of the abusive forms of modern innovative worship.

Charismatics and Calvinist Transformation

https://theconversation.com/how-a-christian-movement-is-growing-rapidly-in-the-midst-of-religious-decline-73507

Thank you Abraham Kuyper and in particular Francis Schaeffer. The latter laid this foundation and planted this seed... which has now produced the rottenest of fruits.

Dominionist Scripture Twisting on Display

http://theaquilareport.com/debunking-citizenship-heaven-motif/

This article authored by a PCA pastor completely misrepresents the position of Two-Kingdom advocates, especially those within his own Reformed circles. Most of the Two Kingdom advocates in Reformed circles are actually Kuyperians and his criticisms are invalid. He falls into the classic straw-man argument, projecting 'dualism' on to people who aren't dualists. He accuses Two Kingdom theology of a world-abandonment mindset that no one actually advocates.

R Scott Clark's Obfuscations and Westminster West's GOP-friendly Two Kingdom Theology

https://heidelblog.net/2016/11/the-media-flyover-country-betsy-devos-the-new-yorker-and-the-truth/

There are two reasons I wish to respond to this piece by R Scott Clark. One is I think it provides an example of Westminster West's Two Kingdom Theology in action and demonstrates that its views (especially in application) are a far cry from 'radical' or 'Anabaptist'. This is to correct the false assertions of both Lutheran and Theonomist theologians.

Second, I think his piece is misleading on several points and deserves a response.

The New Basis for Ecumenicalism

When you venture back into the 19^th century you'll find an ever present fear among Protestants... Roman Catholicism.

Little did they realize the pope's political power would soon end. The Unification of Italy was a disaster for the papacy. The popes would strike back at Enlightenment Republicanism and Nationalism by claiming Papal Infallibility even as their lands were about to be taken from them. The Papal States, the kingdom in central Italy ruled for centuries by the popes was no more. And the dream of a Holy Roman Empire, a united Catholic Christendom had already been consigned to the dustbin of history.

Constantinian Confusion: A Kuyperian vs. a Theonomist

http://heidelblog.net/2013/06/surrounded-by-constantinians/

There's a faction within Reformed circles which promotes Two Kingdom Theology. Usually associated with Westminster Seminary's West coast campus (Westminster West) these folks have consistently opposed Theonomy and other theocratic elements within Reformed circles.