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VU Research Portal On the Way to the Living God de Wit, W.J. 2011 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) de Wit, W. J. (2011). On the Way to the Living God: A Cathartic Reading of Herman Bavinck and An Invitation to Overcome the Plausibility Crisis of Christianity. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 27. Sep. 2021 VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT On the Way to the Living God A Cathartic Reading of Herman Bavinck and An Invitation to Overcome the Plausibility Crisis of Christianity ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad Doctor aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr. L.M. Bouter, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van de promotiecommissie van de faculteit der Godgeleerdheid op vrijdag 23 december 2011 om 9.45 uur in de aula van de universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105 door Willem Jan de Wit geboren te Bodegraven promotor en: prof.dr. A. van de Beek prof.dr. C. van der Kooi On the Way to the Living God A Cathartic Reading of Herman Bavinck and An Invitation to Overcome the Plausibility Crisis of Christianity Willem J. de Wit VU University Press Amsterdam 2011 To my parents VU University Press De Boelelaan 1105 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.vu-uitgeverij.nl © 2011 Willem J. de Wit Website: willemjdewit.wordpress.com Cover: Mushroom and Chicken, White Desert, Egypt ISBN 978 90 8659 586 0 NUR 700 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys- tem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy- ing, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher. Scripture quotations marked “ESV” are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; used by permission; all rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked “NET” are from The NET Bible®, copyright © 2005 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C., www.netbible.com; used by permission; all rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked “NIV” are from HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society; used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. Scripture quotations marked “NRSV” are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; used by permission; all rights reserved. Unmarked quotations use wordings that are common to (at least) the English Standard Version and the New Revised Standard Version. Contents Preface ................................................................................................... vii 1 On the Way to the Living God in Post-Christian Amsterdam A Sevenfold Invitation to Overcome the Crisis of the Church ...................... 1 Part One: Post-Christian Amsterdam 1.1 The Location, Statistics, and Question of Post-Christian Amsterdam........................................... 1 1.2 The Threefold Plausibility Crisis of the Church ............................................................................ 3 1.3 Answering the Post-Christian Condition ..................................................................................... 4 Part Two: A Sevenfold Invitation 1.4 The Existential Invitation: Understand the Desire of the Heart as a Desire for the Living God ....... 6 1.5 The Theological Invitation: Believe in the Living God Only ........................................................... 6 1.6 The Anthropological Invitation: Live on the Way to the Living God .............................................. 8 1.7 The Ethical Invitation: Walk the Way in Love and Liberty............................................................. 9 1.8 The Christological Invitation: See Christ as a Glorious Accident and as Sacramentally Present .... 11 1.9 The Hermeneutical Invitation: Read Scripture in Relationship to the Living God ........................ 13 1.10 The Ecclesiological Invitation: Base the Actuality of the Church on the Actuality of the Living God 14 2 “Will I Remain Standing?” A Cathartic Reading of Herman Bavinck (1) .............................................. 16 Part One: Overcoming by Prayer and Faith 2.1 A Tragic Hero of Faith ............................................................................................................... 16 2.2 “For the Sake of Conscience” ..................................................................................................... 20 2.3 “Trying to Understand the Opponent” ...................................................................................... 23 2.4 “The Innocence of a Child’s Faith . That Is What I Have Lost” ................................................. 27 2.5 “An Unspoken Desire That Scripture Might Not Be True” .......................................................... 29 2.6 “In Prayer He Does Not Seek Himself but the Honor of his Father” ............................................ 31 2.7 “This is the Victory That Overcomes the World, Even Our Faith” ............................................... 35 Part Two: Fighting with Reformed Weapons 2.8 “I Become and Am More and More Reformed” .......................................................................... 39 2.9 “Calvin Did Not Teach a Special, Calvinist Truth” ...................................................................... 43 2.10 A Catholic Reformed Manifesto ................................................................................................. 46 3 Worldview against Worldview A Cathartic Reading of Herman Bavinck (2) .............................................. 52 Part One: Answering the Modern Worldview 3.1 Prologue ................................................................................................................................... 52 3.2 From Reformed Dogmatics to Worldview of Revelation ............................................................. 54 3.3 Introduction to The Philosophy of Revelation ........................................................................... 60 3.4 An Apologetic of Despair (1) ...................................................................................................... 62 3.5 An Apologetic of Despair (2) ...................................................................................................... 70 Part Two: Difficulties of the Christian Worldview 3.6 The Problem of Scripture .......................................................................................................... 77 3.7 Difficulties ................................................................................................................................ 82 3.8 Evaluation ................................................................................................................................86 3.9 Epilogue .................................................................................................................................. 88 3.10 Perspective ............................................................................................................................... 92 v vi ON THE WAY TO THE LIVING GOD 4 Searching for Truth On Theological Method ........................................................................... 95 Part One: Searching for Truth 4.1 Search for Truth Concerning the Living God ..............................................................................96 4.2 Search for Truth by Focusing on Ultimate Questions ............................................................... 101 4.3 Search for Truth beyond Church Dogmatics and Religious Studies ........................................... 102 4.4 Search for Truth in Context for the Sake of Catholic Theology .................................................. 105 4.5 Search for Truth in a Creative Reflective Way .......................................................................... 106 4.6 Search for Truth Recognizing the Person of the Theologian ..................................................... 108 4.7 Search for Truth in an Existential-Intellectual Conversation .................................................... 110 4.8 Search for Truth in Conversation: Psalm 42–43 and the First Essay ........................................... 113 Part Two: Speaking the Truth 4.9 Speak the Truth Modestly, in Invitations ................................................................................. 119 4.10 Speak the Truth Boldly, if Necessary contra Deum aut bonos mores .......................................... 121 5 Toward a Binocular Worldview Recognizing