This is the first full English-language biography of Kuyper (1837-1920), the Dutch polymath who moved from the pastorate to the Dutch parliament. Many readers of The Banner need no introduction. However, for those who desire a comprehensive, overview of Kuyper’s extraordinary legacy, Calvin College historian James Bratt has painted a story, “warts and all,” of a career that Mark Noll has called “as filled with noteworthy achievements as that of any single individual in modern Western history.”
Bratt expertly traces the origin and development of Kuyper’s signature concepts—common grace, Christian worldview, sphere sovereignty, and Christian engagement with contemporary culture—in the dynamic context of a life story. “Kuyper stood consciously and proudly in the extroverted, Puritan, New-School tradition of political activism and cultural engagement.” As such, the biography is a laboratory study in Calvinism, showing how faith works out in someone who is self-conscious in working out his religion. (Eerdmans)
About the Author
Robert N. Hosack is Executive Editor for Baker Publishing Group, and he is a member of Church of the Servant CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich.
