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Reformed Theology As Worldview Theology: the Public Nature of the Gospel and Spirituality

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Reformed Theology As Worldview Theology: the Public Nature of the Gospel and Spirituality Volume 42 Number 4 Article 4 June 2014 Reformed Theology as Worldview Theology: The Public Nature of the Gospel and Spirituality Jay Shim Dordt College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Shim, Jay (2014) "Reformed Theology as Worldview Theology: The Public Nature of the Gospel and Spirituality," Pro Rege: Vol. 42: No. 4, 22 - 31. Available at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/pro_rege/vol42/iss4/4 This Feature Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Publications at Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pro Rege by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reformed Theology as Worldview Theology: The Public Nature of the Gospel and Spirituality its own position and function? Does it not mean that your position and your work is the place where you worship the great God? This confession captures the essence of the Reformed worldview and spirituality that inspired thousands of Calvin- ists to bravely serve God and people in the world. Now, listen again to the same author: Why did we, Christians, stand so weak, in the face of this Modernism? Why did we constantly lose ground? Simply because we were devoid of an equal unity of life-conception, such as alone could enable us with irresistible energy to repel the en- emy at the frontier.2 by Jay Shim While these two statements by Abraham Introduction Kuyper are related in various ways, Kuyper is In The Work of the Holy Spirit, Abraham Kuyper struggling with a particular problem, even with states, his confession that all creation reflects the glory of God’s glory in creation appears in various degrees God. Kuyper laments that Christians are losing the and ways. An insect and a star, the mildew on the battle with the enemy—modernism—even when wall and the cedar on Lebanon, a common laborer they are confessing the great God. For Kuyper, as and a man like Augustine, are all the creatures of the quotation above indicates, the reason for such God; yet how dissimilar they are, and how varied failure is the absence of a coherent Christian life their ways and degrees of glorifying God.1 system in the church. As secularism assails the church in a systemic way, Christians, armed in- What do you feel when you hear such a jubi- tellectually and emotionally with long-standing lant confession—that each part of the creation, big humanism, are not equipped with a coherent and or small, high or low, is praising the great God in comprehensive Christian life system. They are not ready to live out the power of faith in actual life 3 Dr. Jay Shim is Professor of Theology at Dordt College. situations. 22 Pro Rege—June 2014 It is my humble judgment that we can extract a world-reforming spirituality for the goal of living shining gemstone from the treasure box of Kuyper the comprehensive Christian life, and (3) suggest to shine on our Christian life in its battle with sec- that recognizing the public nature of the gospel ularism today, even though his gemstone is more and spirituality serves to motivate and guide the than a hundred years old. The power of the church inner power of the new life toward a comprehen- does not lie in confession itself but in confession sive Christian life. I will try to present these ideas that works in action. I think Kuyper’s words on the broadly, from the Calvinist tradition, particularly power of the true church make a relevant point to on the basis of Abraham Kuyper and the neo-Cal- conservative churches today: vinist development after him. Though the subjects of this presentation—gospel, theology, worldview, and spirituality—may sound heavily theological, I A Calvinist worldview and life will try to present this paper with a conviction that system shapes and determines they are not simply objects of study but also words of wisdom; for these subjects guide our thinking actual Christian thinking and and living. living from a particular vantage Kuyper found the basis of the then-needed true point, for it determines the Christian life in historic Calvinism. Let me begin with Kuyper’s broad definition of Calvinism: a way one interprets the world, “form of religion” or a religious “life-system” rather as opposed to other ways of than, understood in a narrower sense, a form of interpretation. theology or confession; in other words, Calvinism is a mode of Christian thinking and living, not simply a set of confessional statements. In a tech- nical way, Kuyper defined Calvinism as a Chris- True conservatism exerts itself not for the shell tian “world-and-life-view”; he preferred the longer but for the pearl within the shell. It loves not the term “world-and-life-view” to the shortened form appearance of things but the hidden germ of life “worldview” to prevent the otherwise misunder- with which Christ has impregnated it….Therefore stood connotation of the shortened term as one’s all its love is focused on that Word of God, the view of the physical world.5 Thus understood, Word not only as it is spoken in sound but also as it became flesh in Christ, and from Him entered Calvinism means a comprehensive framework of the joints of this world as the unique life-force in Christian thinking and judging with which Chris- which all things rest.4 tian humans experience, think, and live. It is an all-embracing mindset founded on and shaped by The essence of the true church lies in the power a trinitarian reading of the redemptive history of of the new life extended to the sanctified life in God as revealed in the Scriptures. As such, it is the world, not in any external form of the church, the vantage point from which we locate the mean- whatever that may be or whatever form the church ing of salvation and the proper mode of Christian may be self-righteously proud of. With the minis- life in the world. From this religious framework, try of the spoken Word, the church becomes the Kuyper developed a particular theology, the Cal- flesh of the Word. And the “flesh” is to live accord- vinist theology, and its life view. ing to the new life-system in the world. Thus, the He proposed this view, the Calvinist life-system power of the church lies not in the form of the flesh in his Lectures on Calvinism, as a Christian alterna- but in the mode of new living of the flesh. tive to the modernist life-system of his day and ap- On that basis, I will attempt to (1) describe plied it to the whole of human life. In doing so, the Reformed theology as a worldview theology he attempted to prove that the Calvinist life-view based on a broad perspective of God’s redemptive is a coherent system, based on the sovereignty of history from creation to re-creation, (2) describe God, which encompasses the whole of human life. the Reformed spirituality as a world-affirming and With this purpose in mind, Kuyper described and Pro Rege—June 2014 23 defended the Calvinist framework of life, through ing confessions. Understood this way, a Calvinist which Calvinist Christians believe, think, and live. life-system is an essential framework for living a Christian life. 1. Worldview comes with a power of interpre- The power of the Calvinist life-system comes tation from God’s own acts in the world. We come to Before we move on to Kuyper’s worldview, let me know the true view of life and the world from highlight the point that any view of the world pow- understanding God’s acts of creation and redemp- erfully shapes and determines our actual thinking tion of the world. The power of the Calvinist life- and living. A Calvinist worldview and life-system system is based not on any idea or promise but on shapes and determines actual Christian thinking God’s own acts! God, as the Creator and Law-giv- and living from a particular vantage point, for it er, the Lord in action, is thus the true Interpreter determines the way one interprets the world, as op- of the world. We come to know the true mean- posed to other ways of interpretation. In the post- ing and direction of human life in the world from modern culture, we are surrounded by a plethora his redemptive history: creation, fall, redemption, of challenging world-and-life views, each of which and consummation. The divine drama of salvation demands that we see the world from a particu- is well summarized in Col. 1:15-20. There Paul lar perspective and make decisions accordingly. summarizes the crucial Christian truth: salvation Temptation comes armed with reasonable ideas to is intrinsically related to creation. He makes two convince us. Temptations do not tempt us for the points regarding the salvation of the creation. The sake of temptation, devoid of reason. Temptations first is that Christ the Creator is Christ the Re- are often well-prepared intellectually and emotion- deemer: the One who created the world came to ally to persuade us. Every believer is tempted to save it. The second point is that Christ reconciles serve two lords: the Christian God of salvation and all things, the created world, to himself by his cru- the secular gods of success, happiness, or wealth.
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