Did you know that common grace advocates seek to “Christianize” the world with a “grace” apart from that of the incarnate and crucified Christ?
Did you know that Abraham Kuyper’s chief biblical basis for common grace lies in his unique reinterpretation of Genesis 6-9 which removes it from the history and development of God’s covenant of grace, contrary to the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition?
Did you know that Kuyper taught that common grace means that not one human being on planet earth is totally depraved, contrary to Holy Scripture (e.g., Romans 3) and the Reformed faith and creeds, represented, for example, in the very first head of doctrine of the Canons of Dordt, the original Five Points of Calvinism? No wonder Kuyper’s common grace ideas and movement were, and are, called, not Calvinism but Neo-Calvinism!
Did you know that Kuyper’s theory of common grace was designed to enable a coalition government in the Netherlands involving a Roman Catholic party and Kuyper’s Reformed party? Similarly, the translation of Kuyper’s multi-volume work into English in our day is an ecumenical effort involving purportedly Protestant, evangelical and Reformed theologians and institutions with Roman Catholics.
Are you aware of the utter failure of Kuyper’s common grace to Christianize the Netherlands, America, Canada and elsewhere? Instead, this theory has facilitated apostasy and worldliness in the churches.
Did you know that common grace brings forth the Antichrist—according to its leading advocate, Abraham Kuyper!
Prof. David Engelsma’s book is a devastating critique of Abraham Kuyper’s cultural theory of a common grace of God and its grandiose mission. Its first and main part is a much-expanded version of the public lecture given in Grand Rapids in 2014 under the auspices of the evangelism society of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church in Wyoming, Michigan (pp. 11-123). The second part of the book consists of Prof. Engelsma’s answers to 27 wide-ranging questions raised by the audience at the conclusion of the lecture (pp. 125-191).
The publication of this book, which is based on a speech given by Professor Engelsma in a public lecture in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2014, coincides with the appearance of the English translation of Abraham Kuyper’s three-volume magnum opus on common grace which has been funded by various Reformed and Presbyterian churches and the Acton Institute—which is essentially Roman Catholic.
Engelsma’s points are incisive, convincing, and devastating of all Kuyper’s errors. “Christianizing the world” is NOT a Reformed calling and it denies total depravity, breaches the antithesis, destroys the oneness of the true Reformed worldview, causes world conformity, leads to an erroneous belief in postmillennialism, and ultimately the apostasy of churches and the rise of antichrist (the latter point actually made by Kuyper himself!). On a more local level, it has led to the falling away of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) and Calvin Theological Seminary. Many, many other Reformed churches are erring through espousing this doctrinal system.
Engelsma shows that Kuyper’s interpretation of the Noahic covenant is wrong, and that what he taught was anti-confessional and not Reformed.
Among the charges made about the Protestant Reformed Churches—the only denomination to oppose Kuyper’s view and its adoption by the CRC—was that they were “Anabaptist.” Engelsma again shows that this is spurious and false stating, “The Reformed Christian is permitted, indeed required, to live this godly life in physical contact and even earthly cooperation with the ungodly, for example, at work, in the neighbourhood, and in the life of the nation.”
The second half of the book consists of Engelsma’s answers to questions from the floor and others posted later. It also delves into several ramifications of Kuyper’s views.
It is a much-needed book that ought to be read by every member of Reformed and Presbyterian churches whose seminaries and leaders are almost all falling away from the biblical truth of the five points of Calvinism and in particular sovereign, irresistible, particular grace.
To read another review of this book, click here.
“Thank you for writing (and publishing) this important book [i.e., Christianizing the World]. For me, it connected so many dots that I knew were there, but just could not figure out the ‘common’ denominator.”
“I already have a copy of this book but [I think] that I should keep a second copy that is available to pass on to someone else should opportunity present itself. I find the book quite astounding. I think I must be a superficial reader. First up, and with most books, I have to read a second time to get the proper gist of the contents. But this book of Mr. Engelsma’s I have read 4 or 5 times so far and each time am rather staggered at some of the things that Abraham Kuyper comes out with. I think if I read again I will still find new things to impress me.” – Australia
“I have just finished Prof. Engelsma’s Christianizing the World, which I found a sound and useful book in the common grace debate.” – Hungary
