Bavinck

Dutch Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck, a significant voice in the development of Protestant theology, remains relevant many years after his death. His four-volume Reformed Dogmatics is one of the most important theological works of the twentieth century. James Eglinton is widely considered to be at the forefront of contemporary interest in Bavinck's life and thought. After spending considerable time in the Netherlands researching Bavinck, Eglinton brings to light a wealth of new insights and previously unpublished documents to offer a definitive biography of this renowned Reformed thinker. The book follows the course of Bavinck's life in a period of dramatic social change, identifying him as an orthodox Calvinist challenged with finding his feet in late modern culture. Based on extensive archival research, this critical biography presents numerous significant and previously ignored or unknown aspects of Bavinck's person and life story. A black-and-white photo insert is included. This volume complements other Baker Academic offerings on Bavinck's theology and ethics, which together have sold 90,000 copies.

This classic work of Reformed theology is the third of four volumes now available in English.

Herman Bavinck's four-volume Reformed Dogmatics is one of the most important theological works of the twentieth century. The recently completed English translation has received wide acclaim. Now John Bolt, one of the world's leading experts on Bavinck and editor of Bavinck's four-volume set, has abridged the work in one volume, offering students, pastors, and lay readers an accessible summary of Bavinck's masterwork. This volume presents the core of Bavinck's thought and offers explanatory materials, making available to a wider audience some of the finest Dutch Reformed theology ever written. Praise for Reformed Dogmatics "Bavinck's magisterial Reformed Dogmatics remains after a century the supreme achievement of its kind."--J. I. Packer, Regent College

For the First Time in English, a Foundational Work of One of the Church's Most Important Theologians As some point in life, we all wonder: Who am I? What is the world, and what is my place within it? Only Christianity offers answers to these questions in a way that meets our truest needs and satisfies our deepest longings. In this important book, translated into English for the first time, Herman Bavinck provides a framework for understanding why the Christian worldview is the only solution to the discord we feel between ourselves, the world, and God.

The doctrine of God is the foundation of Christian theology and the prerequisite of all true faith. This translation provides, in the words of Hendriksen, 'a spiritual treat' for the serious reader.

“In writing this Guidebook,” Bavinck says in his preface, “I had in mind, the pupils in the highest classes of our Christian gymnasium, public schools, in the education of teachers, and in normal schools, etc. and moreover those who desire to understand the main content of our Christian, Reformed confession of faith through a not too comprehensive or expensive book.” Herman Bavinck completed Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion in 1913 and reprinted it in the Netherlands in 1931. He originally intended it for high school students and Christians of every confession. Bavinck’s goal was to make Christians more familiar with the rich, deep thoughts of Scripture as universally expressed in the Christian faith. Guidebook for Instruction in the Christian Religion is an introductory systematic theology by one of the foremost theologians of the past century. Alongside The Sacrifice of Praise, this is Bavinck at his best doing catechetical theology. To this end, Bavinck sets off to explain in a simplified manner the main contents of the Christian religion, even giving it a title that is a tip of the hat to John Calvin’s Institute of the Christian Religion. While Bavinck’s lengthy Reformed Dogmatics is an academic work, Guidebook for Instruction serves a more egalitarian aim. It is a theological guide for the everyday person in the pew. In this one—and much shorter—volume, Bavinck walks Christian readers through all the major topics covered in Reformed Dogmatics with theological depth and insight.