Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 28:1 (Sep 2019)
Article: Review Of Craig G Bartholomew, "Contours Of The Kuyperian Tradition: A Systematic Introduction"
Author: Robert D. Falconer

Conspectus 28:1 (September 2019) p. 197

Review Of Craig G Bartholomew, Contours Of The Kuyperian Tradition: A Systematic Introduction

Robert Falconer

Bartholomew CG 2017. Contours of the Kuyperian Tradition: A Systematic Introduction. Downers Grove: IVP Academic.

About The Author1

Robert Falconer (PhD SATS) holds degrees in Architecture and Theology. He is the author of ‘Spectacular Atonement: Envisioning the Cross of Christ in an African Perspective’, and currently serves at the South African Theological Seminary as the Coordinator of MTh and PhD Research.

This article: https://www.sats.edu.za/falconer-review-craig-g-bartholomew-contours-of-the-kuyperian-tradition

1. Author Profile

Craig G Bartholomew is a South African theologian working abroad and is the H Evan Runner Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the Redeemer University in Ancaster, Ontario. He is also the dean of the St Georges Centre for Biblical and Public Theology. In addition, he serves on the adjunct faculty at Trinity College, Bristol. He has authored a number of books including: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics: A Comprehensive Framework for Hearing God in Scripture (2015), The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story (2014), co-authored with Michael W Goheen, Christian Philosophy: A Systematic and Narrative Introduction (2013), co-authored with Michael W Goheen, Where Mortals Dwell: A Christian View of Place for Today (2011), The Baker Commentary, Ecclesiastes (2009).

Conspectus 28:1 (September 2019) p. 198

2. Background To The Book

It has been said that we are living in a ‘Kuyperian moment’, not to mention the recent translation of Herman Bavinck’s 4-volume Reformed Dogmatics, his Reformed Ethics under translation, and Abraham Kuyper’s 12-volume Collected Works in Public Theology nearing the end of its translation and publication. Some, like Bartholomew and myself, argue that in this fragile age of ours, the Kuyperian tradition may offer resources for discovering constructive ways that may defuse some of the major threats we face in our world, and yet also bring renewed life to the church, promoting human flourishing. In his life and theology, Kuyper was proactive in contextualising the Christian faith in whatever new situation it might find itself. To that end, Bartholomew begins by orienting the reader to the current context of our modern or postmodern world a hundred years after Abraham Kuyper. Interestingly, being South African, he also starts off by setting the book in the South African context, the problems of Apartheid and today’s current political and ...