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Orthodox Yet Modern: Herman Bavinck's Appropriation Of Orthodox yet Modern: Herman Bavinck’s Appropriation of Schleiermacher Cory C. Brock New College This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh 2017 Declaration I confirm that this thesis presented for the degree of PhD in Systematic Theology, has (i) been composed entirely by myself. (ii) been solely the result of my own work. (iii) not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. ii Abstract Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), perhaps the most remarkable dogmatician and intellectual of the Dutch Reformed (gereformeerde) tradition in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, committed himself to what he called a ‘Reformed’ and ‘catholic’ theological task. For the modern dogmatician, this task is neither repristination nor abandonment of one’s confessionalist tradition, but, being driven along by the Scriptural witness, to appropriate ‘catholic’ dogma to the grammars of modern conceptual frameworks. Such a task led Bavinck to a certain eclecticism in style and source for which he earned in twentieth century scholarship the pejorative label of dualism, applied both to his person and his theological content. Regarding his person, this thesis of the two Bavincks follows a biographical narrative of a student and blossoming theologian divided between the orthodox and modern. Regarding his content, interpreters move to and fro between Bavinck the scholastic and Bavinck the post-Kantian, subjectivist dogmatician. This study nuances this picture and participates in James Eglinton’s recent call for an overturning of said dualisms applied to Bavinck’s person and work by outlining the most significant example of Bavinck toiling to complete his ‘catholic’ dogmatic task: his appropriation of Friedrich Schleiermacher. In distinction from Bavinck’s milieu, he did not demonize Schleiermacher, but, while willing to critique Schleiermacher’s material dogmatics, regarded Schleiermacher as ‘deeply misunderstood’. The two primary locales of Bavinck’s appropriation of Schleiermacher include (i) the question of the epistemic ground of the unity of being and thinking; (ii) the grammar of subjective and objective religion. In both, Bavinck adopts Schleiermacher’s concepts of ‘feeling’, ‘absolute dependence’, and ‘immediate self-consciousness’ to complete his own logic. Understanding Bavinck’s adoption of Schleiermacher’s conceptual framework, particularly that of the introduction from Schleiermacher’s Der christliche Glaube, makes visible just how Bavinck determined to work as a modern theologian post-Kant and within the freeing iii confines of his orthodox, Dutch confessionalist heritage. His appropriation of Schleiermacher is the paradigmatic example of his commitment to be orthodox… yet modern. iv Lay Summary Herman Bavinck was born in 1854 and died in 1921. He was an important theologian in the Netherlands during his lifetime and continues to be read widely today. Part of his interests as a Christian theologian, one who studies and writes about the Christian God, was to reflect carefully on how the older forms of theology (the study of God), including both the methods used and the doctrines cultivated relate to the modern forms of theology. By modern, he was interested in the time after the French Revolution especially. One of the ways he examined this relationship and enacted a modern and orthodox sentiment in his own work was by using a predominantly older form of theology that was guided by his own church’s confessions (texts that outline basic beliefs about God using the Bible as a primary source) but he constructed theological sentences with modern ideas drawn from the contemporary trajectories in philosophy. The most important person in the modern theological context that Bavinck studied and from whom he borrowed extensively was a German pastor and theologian named Friedrich Schleiermacher who died in 1834. From Schleiermacher’s books, he learned ways to speak about how the human mind relates to the world outside of the mind. And, Bavinck incorporated his beliefs about God and how God reveals himself to the human being into this idea of the relation between the human mind and the world. He also used some of Schleiermacher’s ideas to explain the relationship between humanity and religion. For example, why is it that religion is universal in all times and places? Using Schleiermacher’s terms, Bavinck explained that every human has a universal taste for the infinite, which arises in their normal life experiences in their heart, or more technically, in what he called the ‘feeling of absolute dependence’ or, the consciousness of being related to God. Bavinck’s use of Schleiermacher is a good example and the most important one that helps explain how Bavinck strove to let the modern and older theologies speak to one another. v He decided to ground his own theology in an older tradition in which he grew up in called ‘Dutch Reformed’ which takes its name from the Reformation in the sixteenth century and is specific to the Netherlands, but he did so adapting his language to a modern context that was different than the past, using especially Friedrich Schleiermacher. vi For Ethan, Juliette, and Ames vii Acknowledgments The gratitude I owe at the completion of this project to so many is very inadequately expressed in these brief words of thanksgiving. From the inception of the idea to forego the role of a minister to the local church for a season to take up a time of study for the completion of the present text (even now stamped with a conclusion as it is), it appears there are nearly a multitude who have generously supported my family and me in some form. First, there are those from our home in Mississippi that pushed us out of the door and did so with many gifts. In general, the congregation, Session, and pastors of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, MS and notably the Rev. Dr. Guy Waters, and the ministers of the church, Rev. Dr. Ligon Duncan, Rev. Billy Dempsey, Rev. David Felker, and Rev. Dr. David Strain encouraged the initial decision. Among the congregation, we are indebted especially to Clark and Pam Strange and Bill and Gayla Stone, champions of generosity. In addition, I am grateful to Sam and Ann Hensley, Rob and Courtney Love, Stuart and Beverly Harmon, Steve and Nancy Rosenblatt, and my cousins Megan and James Withers for their care. And from our family in Tennessee, Mike Andrews and Tracey Andrews have been consistent in their love and encouragement. Upon our earliest moments in Scotland, we quickly learned the friendship and generosity of the local church, and especially that of a few families that have given all manner of support and made our time in this country precious. Among them are especially Derek and Catriona Lamont, Don and Lois Macleod, Neil and Louise MacMillan, and especially Colin and Georgie Armstrong. I must also thank in general the congregation of St. Columba’s Free Church and particularly its Kirk Session for allowing me to minister to them during my research. While the content and errors in this study are my own, its merits are due in part to the attention of several readers. Above all is the support of my primary doctoral supervisor, Dr. James Eglinton. As an excellent scholar, churchman, and friend his holistic supervision viii has benefited me in all domains of life over the last few years. He helped guide me toward this project and his input has been most influential. And in addition, I owe thanks to Dr. Joshua Ralston, Dr. Zack Purvis, and Gray Sutanto for their critical feedback. I will also always recall my time at New College Edinburgh as the rise of an Anglophone ‘Bavinck school’ in which I enjoyed the communion of fellow travelers: Gray Sutanto, Rev. Bruce Pass, Gustavo Monteiro, and Rev. Cam Clausing. The faculty of New College Edinburgh are also due thanks for the blessing of a scholarship that aided the production of this work. Finally, my highest gratitude and love is for those who have served this project when it was nothing but a faint future hope, my family. Long before such hope, through a lifetime of selfless generosity in all forms of care, my parents and sister, Steve, Traci, and Kelsey, were a bedrock community of Christian formation and are ever-present sources of all manner of encouragement, love, and generosity. And above all to my wife Heather is owed the highest honour. To her, I give my love and thanksgiving for being the most selfless of all others I know. Cory C. Brock, Edinburgh, May 2017 ix Abbreviations PoR Bavinck, Herman. Philosophy of Revelation: The Stone Lectures from 1908-1909. Translated by Geerhardus Vos, Henry E. Dosker, and Nicolas Steffens. New York: Longman, Greens, and Co., 1909. WO ---. Wijsbegeerte der Openbaring: Stone-Lezingen voor het jaar 1908, gehouden te Princeton N.J. door H. Bavinck. Kampen: J.H. Kok, 1908. RD 1 ---. Reformed Dogmatics, Volume One: Prolegomena. Edited by John Bolt. Translated by John Vriend. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003. RD 2 ---. Reformed Dogmatics, Volume Two: God and Creation. Edited by John Bolt. Translated by John Vriend. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004. RD 3 ---. Reformed Dogamtics, Volume Three: Sin and Salvation in Christ. Edited by John Bolt. Translated by John Vriend. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006. RD 4 ---. Reformed Dogmatics, Volume Four: Holy Spirit, Church and New Creation. Edited by John Bolt. Translated by John Vriend. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008. CF Schleiermacher, Friedrich. The Christian Faith: A New Translation and Critical Edition, Vol. 1 and 2. Translated by Terrence Tice, Catherine Kelsey, and Edwina Lawler. Edited by Catherine Kelsey and Terrence Tice. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2016. KGA ---. Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Edited by Hans-Joachim Birkner, Gerhard Ebeling, Hermann Fischer, Heinz Kimmerle, and Kirt-Victor Selge. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1980- .
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