Herman Bavinck

In anticipation of the release of Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics as an ebook for Logos, Kent Hendricks asked leading Bavinck scholar John Bolt four questions:

• Who was Herman Bavinck?
• What is the mission and role of the Dutch Translation Society in translating the works of Bavinck and other theologians?
• The translation project took a decade to complete. Can you describe the process? What was your role in the translation and editorial process?
• You write in the introduction to Bavinck’s Prolegomena in volume 1 that “the Gereformeerd Dogmatiek represents the concluding high point of some four centuries of remarkably productive Dutch Reformed theological reflection,” including “Voetius, De Moor, Vitringa, van Mastricht, Witsius, and Walaeus.” How does Bavinck both reflect and develop the theological system of his predecessors?

Read Bolt’s answers here.

Over at Feeding on Christ Joel Heflin has reviewed Ron Gleason’s new full-length Bavinck bio. Heflin concludes:

… Gleason has certainly captured the character and career of this essential theologian in a rare non-stuffy, non-boring lucid biography. We highly recommend this book especially to young pastors and seminarians worried about the great divide between the academy and the church, evangelism and a gospel-centered family. Gleason’s book is available May 31, 2010 from P&R Publications. Pray for hardcover.

More details and a full review forthcoming…

Newly added to the articles section of the website: “Sin, the Menace to Certainty” by Joel Heflin, a paper presented at ETS, Nov. 2009. View the PDF here.

“…This paper will present and evaluate Bavinck’s theology of sin and the donum superadditum. This paper will show that Bavinck’s doctrine of sin and salvation takes the  federalist position from confessional theology as a solution to the subjective approach of  positivism and the Neoplatonic duality of supernaturalism. To achieve these goals this paper will first address a few key themes in Bavinck’s prolegomena followed by analysis of the superadded gift within his doctrines of sin and salvation. We close with an assessment of Bavinck’s theology and his claim to certainty in the Reformed expression of the donum.”

But only for one week. See here.

Reformed Dogmatics is being converted electronically for integration with Logos Bible software. You can buy e-RD for $99 if you pre-order. More info here.

HT:PhilGons

Tuesday at Twin Lakes Fellowship, Dr. Ron Gleason presented an introduction to the life and writings of Herman Bavinck. His address is divided into six sections: (1) Bavinck the Pastor, (2) Bavinck the Theologian, (3) Bavinck the Churchman, (4) Bavinck the Man with Warts, (5) Bavinck the Statesman, and (6) Bavinck the Author.

An excellent summary was published by Nicholas Batzig here and audio of the address can be downloaded here or listed to online here:

Also, Gleason distributed two papers at the conference, including a helpful biographical sketch, which you can download here:

“Dr. Herman Bavinck (1854-1921): A Short Sketch of a Reformed Theologian, Pastor, Churchman, & Statesman.” [57 page PDF]

“Herman Bavinck’s Understanding of John Calvin on the Lord’s Supper” [32 page PDF].

Finally, Dr. Gleason has completed a full-length biography of Bavinck for P&R. The bio should be available by the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010.

A new article on Bavinck in a new British journal, Ecclesia Reformanda …

“Thinking Like a Christian: The Prolegomena of Herman Bavinck” (abstract only)

by Matthew Roberts

Abstract: This article outlines the main contours of Herman Bavinck’s Prolegomena. Bavinck’s insight was that theological method must be grounded in the substance of theology itself, specifically in its Trinitarian and covenantal aspects. Theology is to be understood as a critical part of the image of God, as he is reflected in the believing consciousness of men in the Church, in response to God’s revelation in Christ. This concept is tightly integrated with Bavinck’s central understanding of the gospel as God fulfilling his creation design in Christ. In this way Bavinck derives a robustly Christian account of knowledge and certainty.