Abraham Kuyper - Christian Cultural Activist



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ABRAHAM KUYPER -

CHRISTIAN CULTURAL ACTIVIST

Gideon Strauss

During the latter half of the 19th century, Dutch culture was in the iron grip of a militantly secular humanistic cultural dynamic. This found expression in every realm of life. Politically, the Liberal and Conservative parties exercised a complete humanistic hegemony over the nation's life. Schools and universities were under their control, and they appointed only those who agreed with them, bringing about what they considered to be thoroughly "neutral" education for the children of the nation. The State Church was similarly in the hands of liberal theologians and ministers. Thus, Dutch society was subject to a process of rapid secularisation - against the wishes and interests of its largest components: the Reformed and Roman Catholic Christians.

Several voices had spoken out against the process of de-Christianisation of the Netherlands. In evangelical circles these included the poets Willem Bilderdijk and Isaac da Costa, and, of course, the historian and politician Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer. It is Groen who most clearly set the Christian understanding of reality - in the line of Calvin - against the humanism emerging out of the French Revolution. It is for this reason that the politicians allied to the cause of orthodox Protestantism called themselves "anti-revolutionary". But, despite the efforts of these courageous cultural activists, the Netherlands was relentlessly dragged into the wasteland where human Reason reigns supreme.

Abraham Kuyper was the son of a minister in the State Church and studied for the ministry at Leiden University under the greatest Dutch liberal theologians of his day. After receiving his doctorate for an award-winning dissertation on the church theory of the Polish reformer Laski, the young Kuyper received a call to the country parish of Beesd. This was a congregation with little spiritual fervour, with the exception of a few "malcontents" amongst the poorer members. It is among these simple country folk - farmers and labourers - that Kuyper was first confronted with a vigorous reformed faith. It is through the influence of these believers that Kuyper turned to a truly Biblical faith. Here he discovered common people who held in their everyday conversation the eternal truths which he had read about at university, in the well-crafted Latin of John Calvin - truths which he had not before taken seriously.

It soon became clear that the young Abraham Kuyper was a most gifted and able minister of the Word of God. While at Beesd he gained the attention of orthodox Protestants in the State Church for writing a pamphlet on church government. At the time the Dutch church was subject both to the supervision of the state and to a synodical bureaucracy - the ordinary believer had no influence in the affairs of the church. At the same time, all standards of faith and requirements of confessional allegiance were officially laid aside for members of the State Church. Against this situation, Kuyper set the teachings of Scripture and orthodox Reformed church order. After some time, Kuyper was called to pastor the State Church at Utrecht, and three years later, to the church in Amsterdam - at that time de facto the leading congregation in the Netherlands.

As his understanding of the Biblical imperative for cultural activism matured, Kuyper became increasingly committed to the reformation of the Dutch church and Dutch society. Through his leadership the reign of Christ was indeed again asserted over Dutch society. His influence lasted deep into the 20th century.

He became increasingly involved in Christian journalism, then emerging. On 1 April 1872, the first issue of the new Christian daily newspaper, DE STANDAARD (The Standard) appeared on the streets, under the editorial guidance of Kuyper. Through this initially small but influential medium, the forces of reformational Christianity in the Netherlands received clear and inspiring leadership in their struggle to bring into motion a Christian cultural dynamic in their nation. And on 21 January 1874, Kuyper was elected to the Dutch parliament for the Gouda district, under the banner of the Anti-Revolutionary Party.

Kuyper's increased political and journalistic responsibilities required him to resign his pastoral position. This did not put to rest his fervour for the reformation of the Dutch church. What did happen is that he suffered a nervous breakdown at the beginning of 1876, due to complete overwork (he regularly worked until 04h00!). This required an extended period of recuperation, which he spent in Italy and Switzerland, on the advice of his doctor. While in Switzerland, he developed a liking for mountaineering, and eventually became one of the most noted alpinists of the 19th century.

During Kuyper's absence, the Christian forces in the Netherlands entered a period of despondency. Groen van Prinsterer died during this time, and it seemed as if no leader was available to stand at the vanguard of the reformational effort. But in May 1877 Abraham Kuyper returned to his beloved Netherlands. And he returned with a carefully designed strategy - both for his own life, and for that of his nation. Henceforth, to prevent another breakdown, Kuyper followed a stringent regimen of work, rest and exercise. For the rest of his life he possessed an almost awesome ability to produce work of the highest quality as an academic, politician, and journalist.

Drawing by H.J. Haverman, 1896

Kuyper organized the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) around a clear and well-founded program of action, entered into an alliance with the Catholic party around the question of educational justice, and forged DE STANDAARD into a journalistic sword which he wielded with great skill. While the ARP had a political program that covered all areas of public justice, it concentrated on the school's struggle, the colonial question, and the social question. Kuyper and the ARP fought that Protestant and Catholic schools receive state support equal to that given to the "neutral" humanistic schools. They fought for an end to the exploitation of the Dutch colonies, and they fought for the just treatment of working men in industry.

During 1876, the Dutch Parliament - in which the Christian parties had gained considerable influence - passed legislation enabling the freedom of higher education. Henceforth any public body or individual could establish a university, provided they could fund it and it met certain legal requirements. The orthodox Christians established the Free University of Amsterdam on 20 October 1880 under Kuyper's leadership, against considerable opposition and under very difficult circumstances.

A satirical cartoon drawn by Albert Hahn during Kuyper's premiership, but adopted by Kuyper's supporters as a beloved classic!

It is important to understand that Kuyper did no attempt to "churchify" Dutch society. He understood, in the light of the Scriptures and following Calvin and Groen van Prinsterer, that the various spheres in society (e.g. family, church, state, and school) are sovereign in relation to one another, while each is subject to the sovereign reign of Christ. He did not attempt to make the church into a political or educational institution, nor did he try to establish church schools or a church newspaper. What he did confess was the Lordship of Christ over all of life. This led him and his fellow cultural activists to establish

- sovereign parent-governed Christian schools

- a Christian university free from both state and church controls

- and a political party which was by no means subject to the wishes of an ecclesiastical bureaucracy, but strove to obey the will of God in the political sphere.

It had always been the intention of Kuyper and his fellow reformers to reform the State Church. During 1886 the situation in the State Church had deteriorated to such an extent that it could not but come to a showdown between orthodox believers and the liberal bureaucracy. At the end of 1886, by means of various unethical procedures, the orthodox faction was physically excluded from the church buildings and excluded by law from the organization of the State Church. The reformational members of the Dutch church now entered what is known as the "Doleantie", from the Latin for mourning. They stated clearly that they did not consider themselves to have ecclesiastically seceded from the Dutch church and that they did not give up any of their rights or responsibilities within that church of their own will. But in a spirit of love and mourning, they would withdraw provisionally in the hope that the church would eventually continue as a united reformed church.

Kuyper continued an astoundingly productive life as a cultural activist, striving to live in obedience to the Word of God. He remained the editor of DE STANDAARD almost until his death in 1920. He wrote an incredible amount of theological and devotional literature. He wrote numerous works expounding the consequences of a Christian worldview for various areas of human cultural activity. The best known of these is probably the so-called Stone Lectures on Calvinism given at Princeton University during a trip to America. He taught theology and aesthetics at the Free University, and served as its rector for the greater part of his later life. From 19011905 he was the Dutch Prime Minister, with a Christian government a situation virtually unimaginable 30 years earlier.

Abraham Kuyper's life and writings deserve the careful attention of all Christians who take the Lordship of Christ over all of life seriously. While he certainly had flaws, both personally and philosophically, he was nonetheless a man singularly gifted and used by God for the reformation of his society. His influence continues to reverberate around our globe, wherever Christians seek to serve our Lord in all areas of life. A devout believer with a deep personal relationship with God in Christ, he never shrank from his cultural responsibilities, despite difficult and discouraging circumstances. Through his obedience, the nations of God's earth continue to be blessed.

RESOURCES

There is an extensive literature by and about Kuyper. I would suggest the following two volumes as an initial introduction to the man and his work:

Abraham Kuyper, LECTURES ON CALVINISM. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1931, ninth printing 1976.

This is Kuyper's clearest exposition, in English, of the contours of a Christian worldview, and its consequences for our spirituality, politics, scholarship, and art. It is available in the UCT library at 284.2 KUYP.

Frank Van den Berg, ABRAHAM KUYPER: A Biography. St. Catherine's, Ontario, Canada: Paideia Press, 1978.

This is the most accessible popular biography of Kuyper in English. A touch too "hail-fellow-well-met" in style for my liking, but without doubt worth reading to get an overview of Kuyper's life and his phenomenal achievements.

M2M Issue 2 October 1992 p.91


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