A few days later my friend and gracious boss surprised me with a new iPad which added to the fun of the latest addition to my electronic library. The free Logos app for the iPad grants users access to just about their entire library. Together the iPad and the Logos app combine to create a highly portable library on the road. For a closer look at this recent fusion of the iPad, Logos, and Bavinck, here are three screenshots (click for larger):

• 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.

… 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.

New College [University of Edinburgh] and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam invite you to a two-day symposium on the Dutch Neo-Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck (1854-1921).

Following the pattern of Bavinck’s work, the conference will first explore issues related to Bavinck’s theology before examining wider cultural and ethical applications of this doctrine.

The Conference will take place in New College 1-2nd September 2010.

More info here. Download the PDF flier here. The conference organizers welcome proposals for papers from graduate students.

“…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.”

HT:PhilGons

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.

“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.