Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Publications

November 19, 2012

Abraham Kuyper: Vampire Hunter

However history remembers me … it shall only remember a fraction of the truth. The multi-talented Abraham Kuyper is sometimes difficult to introduce. I often use the descriptors, “theologian, statesman, journalist” to highlight his many interests and talents. Continue Reading...
November 19, 2012

‘The Field Guide to the Hero’s Journey’: Newest Acton Book

Our world desperately needs heroic people—people who shape events, who act rather than watch, who are creative and brave. Such people are needed in every field, in every realm of life—not only in law enforcement and disaster response but also in science, education, business and finance, health care, the arts, journalism, agriculture, and—not least—in the home. Continue Reading...
November 07, 2012

New Baptist Primer: ‘Flourishing Faith’

As a part of our evangelical outreach at Acton, we have commissioned four primers from different evangelical traditions on the intersection of faith, work, and economics. The books will be written from the Baptist, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, and Reformed traditions and will be released throughout this coming year. Continue Reading...
November 05, 2012

Wisdom & Wonder & Interdisciplinary Studies

I was recently invited to write an essay on the importance of interdisciplinary studies for the Calvin Seminary student publication Kerux. In my essay “The Truth is One,” I reflect on the famous quote of Abraham Kuyper, [N]o single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and 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!” Continue Reading...
October 31, 2012

Always Reforming, Without Tarrying

Today is Reformation Day, and I wanted to pass along a quote that I have found to embody a valuable perspective about the imperative to always be seeking reform of one’s own life and manners, without needing to tarry for broader social or political change. Continue Reading...
October 16, 2012

Are Protectionism and Patriotism Incompatible Principles?

This morning at Ethika Politika, I argue that “acting primarily for the sake of national interest in international affairs runs contrary to a nation’s highest ideals.” In particular, I draw on the thought of Vladimir Solovyov, who argued that, morally speaking, national interest alone cannot be the supreme standard of international action since the highest aspirations of each nation (e.g. Continue Reading...
October 03, 2012

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Two Kingdoms, and Protestant Social Thought Today

Jordan Ballor’s paper, “Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Two Kingdoms, and Protestant Social Thought Today,” just made the Social Science Research Network’s current Top Ten download list for Philosophy of Religion eJournal. From the abstract: Last century’s Protestant consensus on the rejection of natural law has been quested in recent decades, but Protestant social thought still has much work to do in order to articulate a coherent and cogent witness to contemporary realities. Continue Reading...
September 28, 2012

Review: Redeeming Science and Art

Thanks to Andrew Walker for a great review of Wisdom & Wonder appearing in the fall issue of The City: It is important to remember that for Kuyper, reflection upon these disciples is not for the sake of their own merit, but instead, in an attempt to bring a coherent understanding of how, as the foreword states, ‘the gospel, and thereby the practice of the Christian faith, relates to every single area of society.’ Continue Reading...