The (lack of) reception of Reformational ideas by English Calvinists: a philosophical enquiry S Bishop orcid.org 0000-0002-4547-0597 Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy at the North-West University Promoter: Prof R Coletto Examination: May 2018 Student number: 27155218 Declaration of Authorship I declare that this thesis, entitled: The (lack of) reception of Reformational ideas by English Calvinists: a philosophical enquiry, and the work presented in it, is my own and has been written by me – as the result of my own original research. I confirm that: 1. This work was done wholly while in candidature for a PhD degree at the North-West University. 2. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly acknowledged. 3. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work. Stephen Bishop May 2018 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 9 Abstract 10 Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1 Some background 11 1.2 Problem statement and sub-questions 14 1.3 Leading theoretical arguments 15 1.4 Objectives 16 1.5 Proposed contributions 17 1.6 Area of study 18 1.7 Method 18 1.8 Definitions 19 1.8.1 An overview of the movements discussed in this study 19 1.8.2 Kuyperian and neo-Calvinist 20 1.8.3 Reformational 20 1.8.4 Calvinist 21 1.8.5 Evangelical 21 1.8.6 Science, scholarship, worldview and ground-motive 22 1.9 Outline of the chapters 22 Chapter 2. A brief introduction to Reformational ideas and English Calvinism 2.1 Introduction 24 2.2 Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) 25 2.2.1 A brief biography 25 2.2.2 Key Kuyperian themes: the sovereignty of God 27 2.2.3 The cultural mandate 28 2.2.4 Common grace 28 2.2.5 Christianity as a Weltanschauung (creation, fall and redemption) 30 2.2.6 The antithesis 31 2.2.7 Sphere sovereignty 32 2.2.8 Theological distinctives 33 3 2.2.8.a The church as organism and as an institution 33 2.2.8.b Supralapsarianism and presumptive regeneration 34 2.2.8.c The Holy Spirit 35 2.2.8.d Faith as a function 36 2.2.8.e The role of the heart 36 2.3 Herman Dooyeweerd (1894—1977) 36 2.3.1 A brief biography 37 2.3.2 Key Dooyeweerdian themes: the role of religious presuppositions 42 2.3.3 The nature of theoretical and pre-theoretical thought 43 2.3.4 The nature and relation of theology and philosophy 43 2.3.5 Modal aspects 45 2.3.5.a Qualifying functions 47 2.3.5.b Subject and object functions 48 2.3.6 Theory of entities 49 2.3.7 Ground-motives 51 2.3.8 Biblical contours of Reformational philosophy 54 2.3.8.a The sovereignty of God 54 2.38.b Sphere sovereignty 55 2.3.8.c Law as the boundary between Creator and creation 55 2.3.8.d Archimedean points, immanent and transcendental philosophies 55 2.4 Dirk Hendrik Theodoor Vollenhoven (1892- 1978) 56 2.4.1 A brief biography 57 2.4.2 Vollenhoven‘s basic approach 59 2.4.3 The consequent problem-historical method 62 2.4.3.a Types, time-currents and other categories 64 2.4.3.b Subjectivists, objectivists and realists 66 2.4.4 The enduring influence of Vollenhoven 67 2.5 A Brief history of Calvinism in England 68 2.5.1 Introduction 68 2.5.2 First phase — the start 71 2.5.3 The second and third phases – suffering and then settlement 72 2.5.4 The Clarendon Code – the separating phase 75 2.5.5 The Evangelical Revival 77 2.6 Summing up and concluding 80 4 Chapter 3. English Calvinism and socio-political relevance 3.1 Introduction 82 3.2 English Calvinism and socio-political involvement: a preliminary exploration 84 3.3 Some characteristics of English Calvinism 86 3.3.1 Individualism 86 3.3.2 Individual or communal involvement? What about Christian political parties? 88 3.3.3 Ecclesiastisation 91 3.3.4 A downplaying of creation 98 3.3.5 The question of priorities 101 3.3.5.a Priorities and sermons 103 3.3.5.b Priorities and social concerns 105 3.3.5.c Affirmation 2010 106 3.3.5.c Social concern or evangelism? Creation or kingdom? 108 3.3.6 Calvinism and politics 111 3.3.6.a A Reformational point of view 112 3.3.6.b An English-Calvinist point of view 113 3.3.6.c English Calvinist ‘allergies’, conferences and publications 115 3.3.6.d Past and future: sketching a Calvinist view of politics 116 3.4 The pre-scientific roots of the English Calvinist approach 118 3.4.1 The ground-motive of nature and grace 118 3.4.2 Intermezzo: a recent proposal by VanDrunen 121 3.4.3 Different versions of the nature and grace motif 124 3.4.4 At the roots of English Calvinism 130 3.4.4.a Preliminary notes 130 3.4.4.b Is it possible to ‘mix’ the (sub-versions of) worldviews? 131 3.5 Utilising Vollenhoven’s categories 133 3.5.1 Intellectual influences on Calvin 133 3.5.2 Vollenhoven and van der Walt on Calvin and the Synod of Dordt 133 3.5.3 English Calvinism and Calvin 135 5 3.5.3.a English Calvinism and anthropological dualism 136 3.5.3.b English Calvinism, ontological dualism and a static view of creation 138 3.6 Conclusion 139 Chapter 4. English Calvinism and academic relevance 4.1 Introduction 142 4.2 English Calvinism and scholarship: a preliminary exploration 143 4.3 Positivist and logical positivist influences 146 4.3.1 Positivism and logical positivism 146 4.3.2 English Calvinism and positivism 148 4.4 Reijer Hooykaas, Donald MacKay, Oliver Barclay 149 4.4.1 Reijer Hooykaas (1906-1994) 150 4.4.2 Donald MacCrimmon MacKay (1922-1987) 152 4.4.3 Oliver Rainsford Barclay (1919-2013) 154 4.5 English Calvinist views of science and Christianity 156 4.5.1 Logical indeterminacy 157 4.5.2 Complementarity and the autonomy of natural science 158 4.5.3 Objectivity and objectivism 160 4.6 The pre-scientific presuppositions at work – Scholastic and complementary tendencies 161 4.6.1 Scholastic tendencies 161 4.6.2 The complementarity approach 163 4.7 Further explorations: worldview, philosophy, theology, objectivity... 167 4.7.1 English Calvinist use of the term worldview 167 4.7.2 Theology, philosophy and the Bible 170 4.7.3 Barclay‘s view of theology and philosophy 173 4.7.4 Objectivity and subjectivity 177 4.8 Interpreting the results 181 4.8.1 The rejection of worldviews – or at least Christianity as a worldview 181 6 4.8.2 The primacy of theology 181 4.8.3 Objectivity and subjectivity in English Calvinism 182 4.9 Sub-versions of the nature—grace motif influencing English Calvinism 183 4.9.1 A unique worldview or a variety of approaches? 183 4.9.2 A final comment 185 4.10 Conclusion: reasons for the neglect and rejection of Reformational thought 187 Chapter 5. Lessons and hopes for the Reformational movement 5.1 Introduction 190 5.2 Issues of attitude 190 5.2.1 A confrontational approach 190 5.2.2 A tendency towards arrogance? 192 5.2.3 A tendency towards dotting the i‘s and crossing the t‘s 192 5.2.4 The lack of piety or a perceived un-spirituality 192 5.2.5 Triumphalism? 193 5.3 Issues with presentation: opacity and relevance 196 5.3.1 Opacity 196 5.3.2 Relevance and applicability 198 5.4 Issues of content (with some misunderstandings) 200 5.4.1 Perceived as promoting subjectivism and idealism 200 5.4.2 The elevation of philosophy to the queen of the sciences 202 5.4.3 Minimising Scripture 203 5.4.4 Denigration of the church 203 5.4.5 From criticism to enrichment 204 5.5 Conclusions 205 Chapter 6. Conclusions 6.1 Introduction 207 7 6.2 Summary points from previous chapters 207 6.3 Answers to the sub-questions 211 6.4 Limitations of the study 213 6.5 Areas for further study 213 Bibliography 215 8 Acknowledgements The writing of this thesis has been a long time in coming. I would particularly like to thank Professor Renato Coletto for offering to supervise it. He has gone above and beyond the role of a supervisor/ promoter; his wisdom, insight, and continually pushing me to justify each point, has made the dissertation that much better. Thanks go to Revd Richard Russell and Mark Roques for first introducing me to Reformational philosophy. And also to Richard for long chats about the Reformational movement. My thanks to all who have offered advice and help along the way. Not least Mark Roques and David Hanson for taking the time to comment on a draft and to point out copious typos. Thanks too must go to the three (anonymous) external examiners who made some excellent suggestions for improvement. Above all, I would like to thank my family, and Susie, my wife in particular, for their patience, love and support. The thesis has seen a number of changes to family life; my wife, Susie, has become ordained; my son, Jack, married Megan, and my daughter, Sophie, has left home for university to study photo-journalism.