Abraham Kuyper and Reformed Public Theology

Abstract

This article introduces and illustrates the public theology developed by Dutch theologian, philosopher, and statesman Abraham Kuyper at the turn of the twentieth century. Much like Pope Leo XIII transformed modern Catholicism with a new social teaching movement grounded in neo-Thomist thought, Kuyper transformed modern Protestantism with a new public theology grounded in the Reformed tradition going back to John Calvin. Combining close biblical and catechetical exegesis with sweeping theological and political doctrines of the created order, social pluralism, covenant doctrine, and sphere sovereignty, Kuyper defended traditional teachings on the family, offered strikingly modern theories of ordered liberty and orderly pluralism, and stuck to a principled but pragmatic program on property, labor, and economics.

Keywords: Law, Religion, Law and Religion, Abraham Kuyper, Calvinism, creation order, orderly pluralism, family, freedom education, labor, property, social wefare