Richard Mouw was first drawn to Abraham Kuyper?s writings about public life in the turbulent 1960s. As he struggled to find the right Christian stance toward big social issues such as the civil rights
Richard Mouw was first drawn to Abraham Kuyper?s writings about public life in the turbulent 1960s. As he struggled to find the right Christian stance toward big social issues such as the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, Mouw discovered Kuyper?s Lectures on Calvinism ? and, with it, a robust vision of active Christian involvement in public life that has guided him ever since.
In this ?short and personal introduction? Mouw sets forth Kuyper?s main ideas on Christian cultural discipleship, including his views on sphere sovereignty, the antithesis, common grace, and more. Mouw looks at ways to update ? and, in some places, even correct ? Kuyper?s thought as he applies it to such twenty-first-century issues as religious and cultural pluralism, technology, and the challenge of Islam.
James K. A. Smith
— Calvin College
"This marvelous little book pulls off an astounding feat: though it is both compact and accessible, it also gives us the whole Kuyper. Too often we get Kuyper in slices: folks gravitate to a 'side' of Kuyper, adopting his theology of culture but neglecting his emphasis on the church, or picking up common grace but neglecting antithesis. But Mouw, with typical wit and warmth, introduces us to Kuyper in all his multifaceted richness. A gift for the next generation."
John Bowlin
— Princeton Theological Seminary
"Part introduction to the principal loci of Kuyper's theology of culture, part personal reflection on the legacy of neo-Calvinism, part Kuyperian aggiornamento for the twenty-first century, Rich Mouw's book is a gem. Its engagement with Kuyper's work is thoughtful and sympathetic, but also questioning and critical, a combination that makes this book a perfect entryway into Kuyper's social thought."
John Stackhouse
— Regent College
"Richard Mouw's book does just what it is supposed to do: stimulate our thinking on subjects of consequence, quicken our interest in a mind many of us ought to know better, and improve already great concepts into ideas even better suited to our circumstances. That's a lot to accomplish in a small book — of which genre Mouw must now be acknowledged a master."
Books & Culture
“The genius of Mouw’s take on Kuyper is the way he also ‘lures in’ a Christian reader to a vision so compelling that, once a person sees it, she can’t un-see it, and life changes. . . . A splendid book. . . . If readers are not deeply moved by Mouw’s conclusion, I declare them here and now to be hard-hearted people! . . . We are much in Rich Mouw’s debt, again”
Christian Scholar’s Review
“Those seeking an overview of Kuyper’s thought from someone who has been personally transformed by this theology and who thus believes that Christians should care deeply about the broader culture will be indebted to Mouw’s work.”
Journal of Reformed Theology
“The importance of this book is that Mouw introduces the Kuyperian tradition to the Evangelical world, and there is no better ambassador for this work than he is. As a real ecumenical writer, he is able to discern the strong points in other Christian traditions and to acknowledge the weaker parts in his own.”
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