Abraham Kuyper

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Abraham Kuyper (1905)

Abraham Kuyper (born October 29, 1837 in Maassluis , † November 8, 1920 in The Hague ) was a Dutch Reformed theologian , politician and journalist . He contributed significantly to the separation of the strictly Calvinist Gereformeerde Kerken from the established Dutch Reformed Church . Kuyper was the founder of the Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP) in 1879 and chairman for almost four decades, as well as being Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905.

Life

Abraham Kuyper was the son of a Reformed pastor. He studied theology in Leiden , where he received his baccalaureate in 1858 and (after an interruption due to a nervous breakdown in 1861) his doctorate in 1863. After a five-year engagement, he married Johanna Schaay in 1863. The couple had eight children.

From 1863 to 1867 Kuyper was pastor of the small Beesd congregation in Gelderland . From his doctorate until he moved to Utrecht, Kuyper was intensively involved in the teaching and work of the Polish reformer Johannes a Lasco . On the occasion of his research on a Lasco, Kuyper first came into contact with Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer in 1864 . At that time he was the leader of the “anti-revolutionaries” in parliament, an association of Christian-conservative and anti-liberal MPs, but not yet a party in the modern sense. A kind of teacher-student or even “spiritual father-son relationship” developed between Groen and Kuyper. In 1866 Kuyper published an edition of the works a Lascos, with which he laid the foundation for modern a-Lasco research. In 1867 he also brought out a pamphlet on questions of church politics, in which he criticized both theological liberalism and the cumbersome bureaucracy of the official Dutch Reformed Church. He attracted national attention and shortly thereafter received a call as a preacher in Utrecht , where conservative "ultra-Calvinists" set the tone. From 1870 Kuyper preached in Amsterdam. With his radical-conservative positions he mainly attracted a following of devout workers.

In 1870 Kuyper took over the editorship of the church weekly De Heraut , in 1872 he later founded the daily De Standaard . In these he spoke out in favor of “a free church and a free school in the free Netherlands” - by “free” church and school he meant above all free from influence by the government that was dominated by the liberals at the time. In 1874 he was elected to the second chamber of the Dutch parliament, where he joined the "anti-revolutionary" - d. H. Protestant-Conservative faction joined and ended his priesthood. As the second youngest MP and first clergyman in parliament, he stirred it up with his vehement rhetoric. Opponents called him a demagogue and compared him to Oliver Cromwell . The following year he attended Robert Pearsall Smith's sanctification conference in Brighton , England . He then spread his ideas in the Netherlands, but soon returned to traditional Calvinism. In 1876 Kuyper suffered another nervous breakdown, he gave up his parliamentary mandate and retired to the south of France to recover. The family then moved to Lake Como and the Swiss Engadine for Kuyper's further recovery .

In 1878 a school dispute between liberals and religious people that had lasted for decades broke out when the liberal government of Johannes Kappeyne van de Coppellos placed the schools under increased state control, raised the quality standards for teaching, but cut public funding for denominational schools (bijzonder onderwijs) . Kuyper headed a petition against the Education Act that was signed by 305,000 Protestants and 164,000 Catholics. Nevertheless, King Wilhelm III. the law in force. Kuyper then complained that the House of Orange had "broken with the past" and abandoned the people. From the anti-revolutionary parliamentary group founded by Groen and the committees against the school law, Kuyper founded the Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP) in 1879 as the first political party (in the modern sense) in the Netherlands. Until 1918 - almost four decades - he was its chairman. Its supporters came mainly from a section of the people known as the small luyden ("little people") - religious workers, farmers, artisans and small traders. To them he was a valued political leader. His opponents were initially mainly the liberals, later the socialists .

In October 1880 he founded the Free University of Amsterdam , where he also taught as a professor of theology. In the opening lecture he presented his concept of sovereignty in eigen kring (“sovereignty in one's own circle”). Then the world consists of different spheres, e.g. B. private life, nature, science, church, which should be independent in their respective fields. These interlock like gears, but no sphere, not even the state government or the church, is allowed to apply its own standards to the others. The state authority only has the task of delimiting the respective independent areas of influence through the laws. The highest, unrestricted sovereignty belongs only to God. In this state and social philosophy lies the origin of a social development in the Netherlands, which is referred to as Verzuiling ("Pillars"). As a result, an autonomous social structure of the Reformed was established within society (media, education, associations, etc.). Correspondingly, Catholics, Liberals and Socialists had their own “pillars”.

Kuyper's opposition to the official leadership of the Reformed Church (Hervormde Kerk) culminated on January 6, 1886, when he and his supporters broke into the room of the church council of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam and kept it occupied from then on. In February 1886 the parishes of Voorthuizen and Kootwijk appointed new pastors (who had been trained at Kuyper's Free University) without waiting for their approval by the relevant presbytery (classis) . This led to the split in the church, the so-called Doleantie (from Latin dolere , “to mourn” or “to complain” because their followers were “sad” about the development of the Reformed Church), which made up around 10% of the members of the Dutch Reformed Church connected. This spin-off was again united in 1892 with a large part of the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk , which had already split off in 1834. Together they formed Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland , which was consequently the second largest Protestant denomination group in the country.

Kuyper was Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905. In 1908 he was given the honorary title of Minister of State .

He was portrayed by the Dutch painter Jan Veth . Kuyper is often seen as one of the spiritual fathers of European Christian Democracy .

Works

  • The Work of the Holy Spirit , 1888.
  • Encyclopaedia Theologiae , 3 volumes, 1894.
  • Lectures On Calvinism , 1898.
  • E voto Dordraceno , 3 volumes, 1900.
  • Reformation against revolution , (German 1904).
  • Our Worship , new edition: William B Eerdmans Publishing, 2009.

literature

  • Cornelis Augustijn: Abraham Kuyper. In: Martin Greschat (Ed.): Gestalten der Kirchengeschichte. Volume 9, 2: The Latest Time. 2. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 1985, ISBN 3-17-008823-8 , pp. 289-307.
  • James D. Bratt (Ed.): Abraham Kuyper. A Centennial Reader. Eerdmans et al., Grand Rapids (MI) et al. 1998, ISBN 0-8028-4321-2 .
  • James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids (MI) 2013.
  • Wilhelm Kolfhaus: Dr. Abraham Kuyper. 1837-1920. A life story. Bookshop of the Erziehungs-Verein, Elberfeld 1924.
  • Tjitze Kuipers: Abraham Kuyper. An Annotated Bibliography 1857-2010 (= Brill's Series in Church History and Religious Culture. 55). Brill, Leiden et al. 2011, ISBN 978-90-04-21139-1 .
  • James Edward McGoldrick: God's Renaissance Man. The Life and Work of Abraham Kuyper. Evangelical Press, Darlington et al. 2000, ISBN 0-85234-446-5 .
  • Louis Praamsma: Let Christ be King. Reflections on the Life and Times of Abraham Kuyper. Paideia Press, Ontario 1985, ISBN 0-88815-064-4 .
  • Hans-Georg Ulrichs: Abraham Kuyper as an ideologist of Calvinism - reread. Luther-Verlag, Bielefeld 2019, ISBN 978-3-7858-0764-4 .
  • Jasper Vree: Kuyper, Abraham. In: Religion Past and Present . Volume 4: I-K. 4th, completely revised edition. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2001, ISBN 3-16-146944-5 , Sp. 1912 f.
  • Leroy Vogel: Abraham Kuyper's political ideas and his development as a statesman. Dissertation Heidelberg 1937.

Web links

Commons : Abraham Kuyper  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, p. 37.
  2. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, p. 21.
  3. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, p. 41.
  4. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, pp. 35-45.
  5. ^ Jan de Bruijn: Abraham Kuyper. A Pictorial Biography. P. 49.
  6. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, p. 397.
  7. ^ Henning P. Juergens: Johannes a Lasco in Ostfriesland. The career of a European reformer. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2002, p. 11.
  8. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, pp. 51-52.
  9. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, p. 61.
  10. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, p. 89.
  11. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, pp. 87-95.
  12. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, p. 97.
  13. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, pp. 115-116.
  14. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, p. 130.
  15. ↑ Michael Bridegroom: A Queen without a Throne? Harnack, Schlatter, and Kuyper on Theology in the University. In: Gordon Graham: The Kuyper Center Review. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2015, pp. 104-116, at p. 113.
  16. ↑ James D. Bratt: Abraham Kuyper. Modern Calvinist, Christian Democrat. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2013, pp. 149-150.
personal data
SURNAME Kuyper, Abraham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch Reformed theologian and politician
DATE OF BIRTH October 29, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Maassluis
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 1920
Place of death The hague