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Author: Philippus Jacobus Hoedemaker
Publisher: Pantocrator Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 239
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Book Description
Once upon a time, the state shared the public square with the church. The central location of the church building in every European town is mute testimony to this state of affairs. But those days are long gone. Nowadays there is an implicit or explicit consensus regarding the proper place of the church: out of sight and out of mind. How has this sea change come about? Through a complete metanoia (“change of mind”) regarding the public square. Church and state used to be in agreement about ultimate reality, but then came the wars of religion and the desire for a neutral state. This gave us the agnostic state, incapable of making any judgement regarding truth or falsehood regarding religion. Freedom of religion has been the result. But this freedom has come with a price – the loss of a grip on ultimate reality, on transcendent standards and values. It is every person for him- or herself, the triumph of congeries of opinion over truth. Under these conditions, the church has itself experienced a transformation. It has been fragmented into myriad churches, none of which may claim ultimacy, all of which claim to proclaim the truth. We no longer have the body of Christ visibly expressed; instead we have denominations, private-legal constructs expressive of various consumer-oriented flavors of faith orientation. Has unity then been abandoned? No; for it is not a question of unity or no unity, it is a question of what kind of unity. In the modern world, the churches have exchanged unity in terms of confession, with unity in terms of politics. Political parties are the vehicles through which Christians express a joint conviction. And this has brought the church down to the level of the interest group and the lobbyist, the inevitable result of an age of denominationalism. Over 100 years ago, P. J. Hoedemaker already delineated and analyzed this state of affairs. The abysmal condition of the Dutch Reformed church formed the historical backdrop for his analysis, but the principles he developed during the course of his critique of the national church are applicable across the board in the modern world. Hoedemaker excavates the biblical and Reformational foundations of ecclesiology, the basics apart from which the church cannot escape from its current abasement.
Author: Philippus Jacobus Hoedemaker
Publisher: Pantocrator Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Get Book Here
Book Description
Once upon a time, the state shared the public square with the church. The central location of the church building in every European town is mute testimony to this state of affairs. But those days are long gone. Nowadays there is an implicit or explicit consensus regarding the proper place of the church: out of sight and out of mind. How has this sea change come about? Through a complete metanoia (“change of mind”) regarding the public square. Church and state used to be in agreement about ultimate reality, but then came the wars of religion and the desire for a neutral state. This gave us the agnostic state, incapable of making any judgement regarding truth or falsehood regarding religion. Freedom of religion has been the result. But this freedom has come with a price – the loss of a grip on ultimate reality, on transcendent standards and values. It is every person for him- or herself, the triumph of congeries of opinion over truth. Under these conditions, the church has itself experienced a transformation. It has been fragmented into myriad churches, none of which may claim ultimacy, all of which claim to proclaim the truth. We no longer have the body of Christ visibly expressed; instead we have denominations, private-legal constructs expressive of various consumer-oriented flavors of faith orientation. Has unity then been abandoned? No; for it is not a question of unity or no unity, it is a question of what kind of unity. In the modern world, the churches have exchanged unity in terms of confession, with unity in terms of politics. Political parties are the vehicles through which Christians express a joint conviction. And this has brought the church down to the level of the interest group and the lobbyist, the inevitable result of an age of denominationalism. Over 100 years ago, P. J. Hoedemaker already delineated and analyzed this state of affairs. The abysmal condition of the Dutch Reformed church formed the historical backdrop for his analysis, but the principles he developed during the course of his critique of the national church are applicable across the board in the modern world. Hoedemaker excavates the biblical and Reformational foundations of ecclesiology, the basics apart from which the church cannot escape from its current abasement.
Author: Adolph Harnack
Publisher: Pantocrator Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 110
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Book Description
What is the place of "organization" in the church? To what degree does the church need to be "organized"? At bottom, that was the question addressed by the famed Lutheran legal scholar and church historian Rudolph Sohm (1841-1917). His conclusion was radical: organization was anathema to the church as a spiritual body, and was only tolerable as a concession to the necessities of temporal life. While this conclusion sounds radical, it is actually, in practical terms, the baseline position of the denominational framework as we experience it in our day. Denominationalism treats outward organization as a matter of indifference, so that any number of options are available, all of them equally legitimate. The rationale behind this indifference lies in the notion that each individual Christian is the source of authority in the church, the framework of which depends upon consent and choice. It is not a question of what God says about it, but what man says. For to think otherwise is to impose upon us, upon our wills, our choice, and that is not something moderns can tolerate. Sohm and the moderns meet at the point of departure: the church in terms of outward, external order is the product of man's decision, not God's command. The two authors included in this book beg to differ. Adolph Harnack (1851-1930), distinguished church historian, argued that the church developed an organizational structure early on, and it did so in obedience to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Organization and law are indeed spiritual values, not just earthly constructs. Josef Bohatec (1876-1954) similarly argued that John Calvin's opposition to Lutheran indifference in matters of organization and law was a matter of obedience to the Word of God. Their positions are presented here, in their own words. The issue is anything but academic. A proper doctrine of the visible church is the prerequisite for a recovery of Christian culture and politics, indeed for the extension of Christ's kingdom on earth. Indifference in this is in fact supremely dangerous, because by belittling Christ's body it betrays Christ's lordship. The arguments presented, taken together, lead to the inescapable conclusion that Sohm's concept of the church and of law are crippling to a proper ecclesiology. They provide aid and comfort to the notion that the visible, organized church is the problem, when in fact it is the solution.
Author: Oepke Noordmans
Publisher: Pantocrator Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 165
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Book Description
There are many forms of liturgy in the contemporary church, but they are not always critically assessed. Liturgy can be viewed as a sealed encounter in which behind closed doors heaven and earth meet and participate in each other. But it can also be viewed as an exercise in acceptance of the world outside, where critical assessment is neglected in favor of socio-political engagement for what passes as “ethical” on the world stage. But true liturgy, writes Dr. Noordmans, is accomplished in the full consciousness of sin, and the sacrifice by which that sin is dealt with. There can then be no unquestioned acceptance of the world; by the same token, there is no turning away from the world in an otherworldly flight to transcendence. There is only the critical confrontation with ourselves and the world around us, in the liturgy which, as the apostle Paul emphasizes, takes place not behind church walls so much as in the “field of the world” (Matthew 13: 38). The liturgy is restrained by the eschatological realizations of original sin and the death and resurrection of the Savior, as contained in the sacraments. And the Word can then operate in the field of the world as it ought to. Reformed liturgy as it has come down through the ages is, Dr. Noordmans is convinced, a reflection of these realities. And only such a liturgy can do justice to the gospel.
Author: Philippus Jacobus Hoedemaker
Publisher: Pantocrator Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 171
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Book Description
To this day, Abraham Kuyper stands as a shining example of responsible and effective Christian action in all areas of life. A leading journalist, theologian, churchman, and politician in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Kuyper effectuated, during a career spanning 50 years, an astonishing metamorphosis of the Dutch political and ecclesiastical landscape. Lifting high the banner of the universal lordship of Christ, he managed to revitalize a moribund political party and mobilize the so-called kleyne luyden, the “little guys,” into a social, ecclesiastical, educational, and political force to be reckoned with. And he did all of this while proclaiming, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” What is less well understood is the degree to which Kuyper spoke out of two sides of his mouth. In fact, Kuyper shortchanged his trumpeted Christocratic agenda in the interest of political expediency. From early on he redefined theological categories in order to implement a dualism between church and state that could allow him to harness the church as a political action committee in the secularized democratic environment, all the while posturing as a champion of historic Christian theopolitical civilization. The epicenter of this revaluation of Christian values was Article 36 of the Belgic Confession, which mandated that the civil magistrate “remove and prevent all idolatry and false worship; that the kingdom of anti-christ may be thus destroyed, and the kingdom of Christ promoted.” This, in the view of Kuyper and his movement, was a denial of true Calvinism, which championed freedom of conscience and religion. Hoedemaker disputed this, arguing that Kuyper had set up a straw man. Did Article 36 really entail violation of conscience and the elimination of religious freedom? No – this was a smokescreen. In fact, Kuyper’s solution was the problem, as it did not take the Bible seriously. Hoedemaker returned to the Reformed fathers to recover a sound Reformed political theology, capable of being defended and advanced in the modern world. Hoedemaker had once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Kuyper to advance the very same agenda of Christ’s lordship over every area of life. But he came to realize that Kuyper’s practical agenda deviated fundamentally from this proclaimed agenda, starting with the separation from the national church and culminating in Kuyper’s “mutilation” (A. A. van Ruler) of Article 36. This book presents Hoedemaker’s argument, involving a detailed analysis of Kuyper’s published statements on the subject, mainly his extended discussion included in vol. 3 of Common Grace. It is the translation of Artikel XXXVI onzer Nederduitsche Geloofsbelijdenis tegenover Dr. A. Kuyper gehandhaafd: beoordelingen van de opstellen in de “Heraut” over kerk en staat (Amsterdam: Van Dam, 1901).
Author: P. J. Hoedemaker
Publisher: Pantocrator Press
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 247
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Book Description
On August 1st, 1901, a new government was installed in the Netherlands, formed by Antirevolutionary Party (ARP) leader Abraham Kuyper. The culmination of decades of relentless effort, it represented a new departure in Dutch politics: a government explicitly invoking the Christian revelation as the basis for its policy. “Revelation over Reason!” had been the battle cry of the campaign, and the majority-Christian Dutch electorate had answered the call. But would the policy results of this Christian coalition government answer to such a high ideal? This was the question posed by P. J. Hoedemaker shortly after the coalition’s accession to power. In a series of lectures entitled A State with the Bible, he began to weigh the coalition in the balance, setting forth criteria to determine whether the result would answer to the promise. A second series of articles published just prior to the election campaign of 1905 had Hoedemaker drawing up the balance sheet. The conclusion was not encouraging: The coalition had fallen short precisely in the areas where a “state with the Bible” should have stood strong. For Hoedemaker, it had become clear that the question was not one of right or left in terms of party politics. No, it was Neither Right nor Left but the Royal Road, the way of a Christian public policy that transcends party politics. This conclusion was hammered home in a third publication promulgated after the election defeat for Kuyper in 1905. The title speaks volumes: The Birthright for a Mess of Pottage, an allusion to Esau’s contemptible bargain with Jacob. This was what came of a Christian coalition pursuing the “politics of antithesis,” and Hoedemaker’s assessment hits the mark not only with regard to the politics of Abraham Kuyper but with the politics of today. For it is the same set of issues with which we still struggle, revolving as they do around the presupposition of the neutral state. The three titles translated here are set in their proper context and as such are allowed to disgorge the wealth of vision contained in them to a generation far downstream from these events, but still feeling their effects. The bottom line: electoral politics in their current configuration are a failure and cannot help but be a failure. The approach needs to be rethought from top to bottom. Hoedemaker offers us a place to start.
Author: Ruben Alvarado
Publisher: WordBridge Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 277
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Book Description
It is no secret that Western civilization is under siege. Outside the gates, the world demands a share of the wealth as well as the power that the West enjoys. Inside the gates, the Western way of life is challenged by those who demand fundamental change in the direction of social justice. Upon closer inspection, Western civilization evinces a divergence within itself. It proves to comprise two blocs, with opposing agendas and opposing ideologies. The one bloc is located within the Anglo-American orbit, the other within the orbit of Continental Europe. This explains the drive toward European Union. The EU gives formal shape to this ideological coherence among the Continental European nations. By the same token, it explains the drive toward “Brexit” in the United Kingdom, the UK being part of the Anglo-American orbit. This perspective opens the door to understanding the dynamic of global politics. Far from being a case of the “West versus the Rest,” the global political dynamic is driven by this divergence within Western civilization itself. The drive toward global governance, universal jurisdiction, the normalization of the sexual revolution, the climate change agenda, are all expressions, not of the rest of the world, but of the West, and within the West, of the Continental European bloc. As such, this is a question of how we are to understand the law of nations: what is sovereignty, and where is it located? This also explains why the USA inevitably stands in the way of the Continental European agenda. Its tradition, its ideology, is fundamentally other, and the two cannot be reconciled. This also explains unrelenting anti-Americanism even in the USA itself, propagated by media, academia, even political parties. The ideological split runs right through American society itself, weakening it from within. For the one tradition is home-grown, the other is imported. How are we to explain this divergence? Where did these two opposing orientations come from? What more can be said about their conflict, and what will be the result of it? These are the questions raised in A Common Law. Published on the 20th anniversary of the first edition, this second edition includes the first edition in its entirety, and supplements it with running commentary as well as additional material bringing the issues forward to the situation post-2016.
Author: Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer
Publisher: WordBridge Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 179
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Book Description
Author: J.B. Skemp
Publisher: WordBridge Publishing
ISBN: 9076660344
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 146
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Book Description
Author: Joseph D. Small
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467450634
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 359
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Book Description
How can we reconcile the ideal church described by theology with the broken church that we see in the world? In this book Joseph Small argues that the church’s true identity is known somewhere in the tension between the two. Small revisits familiar ecclesiological concepts—people of God, the body of Christ, the communion of the Holy Spirit—but rather than focusing on theological abstractions or worldly cynicism, he carefully evaluates the church in its scriptural, historical, theological, and social contexts. Both sociologically honest and theologically discerning, Flawed Church, Faithful God offers a constructive Reformed yet ecumenical ecclesiology for the real world.
Author: Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer
Publisher: Pantocrator Press
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 131
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Book Description
“Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer. I heard that you don’t know who Stahl is. And I could not help wondering – please pardon my incivility, but … what rock have you been hiding under? Never heard of Stahl? Why, he is simply one of the greatest statesmen and legal scholars that Germany ever produced. “Everyone knows Stahl – usually without wanting to. For he has many opponents, who execrated what he stood for. They had a host of names for him: ‘a friend of compulsion, of princely absolutism, of medieval prejudices and misconceptions, a thoughtless fanatic, attached to obsolete forms, who foolishly mixes politics with religion; an ultra-Lutheran, Puseyite, head of the Junker party, proponent of feudal abuses, sophist in scientific outfit, dreamer about whose metaphysical speculations one reluctantly racks one's brains.’ When he died, they were happy to see him go: ‘Every sane person gladly sends such wicked men as this crusader chasing the holy cross, when heaven pleases to call them.’ Crusader! And they say that of someone who is Jewish! That’s right, Stahl was a convert to Christianity. And then, about his legacy – they are certain it will not follow after him: ‘It does not look as if Stahl will rise from the dead anymore.’ “But it will. I – we – will make sure that it does. Stahl was a voice crying in the wilderness, but his message is timeless. The kingdom of God and of His Christ will be recognized, on earth as it is in heaven. Here and now, among the rulers and powers, among the nations. ‘Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.’ That is Stahl’s message, not only in private, among the congregation and around the dinner table, but in public, in the halls of power, the groves of academia, the popular consciousness, the public’s opinion. The gospel is an affair of public interest, it is a message to the nations. It concerns their weal and woe, their destiny. Such is by no means a matter of indifference to the kingdom of God. “That has been my message as well. Believe me, it is not a popular one in this day and age. The entire Zeitgeist is running against it. No one wants to hear of ‘the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth’ – not even His followers! But does that mean that we are to be silenced? Or worse yet, to silence ourselves? Forbid it, Almighty God! “It is time men like Stahl were recognized for their work, their achievement, and their vision for the church, the nations, and the kingdom of God. It is past time to embrace and build upon their legacies, especially Stahl’s, which is so rich, profitable, rewarding. Read this memorial and acquaint yourself with someone who well deserves your undivided attention.”
