Why Herman Bavinck?

In the foreword to Magnalia Dei (the Wonderful Works of God), the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) makes a statement that, from a 2026 vantage point, seems almost quaint. Writing in 1907, he notes, “those preparing for or employed in any profession are under such heavy demands that there is no…time,” and “…the reading of daily and weekly newspapers, of magazines and brochures, devours our every blink.” Hearing this today, one almost wants to say, ‘I see your daily papers and heavy demands, and I raise you late-stage capitalism, YouTube, TikTok, and the invention of generative AI.’ If, in the words Bilbo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings, the pace of life in Bavinck’s day was “thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread,” then we live in a time that makes us question if we even have time for butter at all, forsaking even simple delights in the frenzied pursuit of efficiency. And yet, even if we look back at Bavinck’s day through nostalgia-tinted glasses, his attention and his response to the concrete, material conditions of his day can help us navigate what it looks like to live as Christians in the complex context(s) we find ourselves in. How? By articulating a vision of faith that is big enough to form and inform the task of living out the Christian faith in the complex contexts we find ourselves in. 

Before exploring Bavinck’s vision, it can be helpful to give a short sketch of his life, work, and posture. Bavinck lived from 1854-1921 in the Netherlands, during which modernization began to leave its mark on “every square inch” of Dutch society. Over the course of his life, Bavinck served as a pastor, professor, and politician. He, along with Abraham Kuyper, was one of the main leaders of the neo-Calvinist movement—a nineteenth-century revival of confessional Reformed theology in and for the modernist context they found themselves in. Rooted in its theological account of Christ’s Lordship over all creation and the sovereignty of God, neo-Calvinism also articulated a Christian political and social vision. 

Throughout his life, Bavinck maintained a sense of wonder and awe about the gifts of the modern world—particularly scientific discoveries, academic insights, and inventions. At one point in a lecture on “Modernism and Orthodoxy,” he describes “God [as] busy doing momentous things in these times.” However, while Bavinck was grateful for modernity’s gifts, he was also deeply aware of its ills—both intellectual and existential. According to Bavinck, even worse than the accelerated pace of life and the scarcity of time was the growing disconnect he perceived between older works of theology and the challenges of modern life. For Bavinck, this gap gave “rise to the thought that Christianity no longer fit…” within modernity and produced—at best—an intellectualist approach to faith by which one assented to doctrine but no longer perceived it as relevant for daily life. Or, at worst, Christians who could only see the world through the lens of critique. As he wrote, It is much easier to curse capital, to condemn war, and to reject all culture than it is to walk in all these areas as a child of God and a follower of Christ. And yet, it is precisely this that is required of us if we wish to remain standing…” 

His response to these conditions and challenges? To do the slow, careful, attentive work of articulating the Christian faith in and for modernity. Rooted in Scripture and attentive to the Reformed tradition, Bavinck sought to “view the wonderful works of God in their own light” in such a way that the “internal beauty” and “inherent truth and glory” may “commend itself to the consciences of humanity” and “thank God not that we must but that we may believe.” In other words, he invited believers, again and again, to behold God and his wonderful works and sought to show how the gospel is “a joyful tiding not only for the individual person but also for humanity, for the family, for society, for the state, for art and science, for the entire cosmos, for the whole groaning creation.” Throughout his life, Bavinck sought to articulate a theological vision that encompassed the whole of life by pointing to God and His wonderful works in creation and redemption. 

While Bavinck articulated his vision for his own day, there are three elements that I would like to highlight that can aid us in ours. First, Bavinck is radically theocentric—God-centered. In Bavinck’s time and our own, it can be easy to forget that God is present and active. Surrounded by questions and drawn into the frenetic pace of life, it can also be easy to not just criticize what we observe but functionally start to believe that God is not present. In other words, we can intellectually affirm His redemption and providence, but live as if He is actually absent. Bavinck, however, invites us to behold God again, the triune one who did not abandon his creation after sin polluted every part but is present and working to restore what sin has wrought. This God, the one who has come to us in Christ and drawn us to Himself, is present in the here and now. Even when the ‘wrong’ in the world seems ‘oft so strong,’ Bavinck reminds us that God is the ruler and redeemer yet. He invites us to set our attention on God, beholding Him in all His splendor as the God who is with us.

Second, Bavinck is relentlessly holistic. As Bavinck invites us to behold God, he does not bifurcate ‘heavenly’ and ‘earthly’ mindedness, personal piety and public action, individual salvation and social renewal. For Bavinck, the gift of faith by which one comes to Christ could not be reduced to one aspect of human life. If, as he argues, sin “corrupts much, in fact everything,” then the work of God in redemption cannot be contained to matters of individual piety but must go ‘as far as the curse is found.’ Bavinck is not a universalist, but he does affirm the universal implications of the gospel. For Bavinck, the redeemed in Christ who have been renewed by the Spirit bear witness to the universal implications of the gospel in every area of life. For Bavinck, this does not mean believers can bring the kingdom of God into this world. Rather, it means that believers bear witness to the kingdom of God in every area of life—displaying with our whole lives what it means that God remains the creator and redeemer of this world. In Bavinck’s day and ours, it can be easy to bifurcate the gospel and demand that one choose a side: individual salvation or social action, personal piety or public engagement. Bavinck reminds us that this is a false binary and invites us to be relentlessly holistic in our account of faith. 

Third, Bavinck is gracious, generous, and patient in his posture. Rooted in his theocentric and holistic account of Christianity, Bavinck was able to engage with the questions and conditions of his day graciously and generously. He was willing to celebrate aspects of his contemporary context and even learn from it. Moreover, he patiently listened to the challenges and responded carefully and thoughtfully, rooted in Scripture and informed by the Reformed tradition. For Bavinck, this posture was informed by his vision of faith. As the creating and redeeming God is present in every time and place, it is possible to articulate the faith in ways that speak to the particular questions and conditions of every era. For Bavinck, that meant doing it in and for modernity. For us, it means doing the same today. 

As we face a pace of life that is increasingly frenetic, a culture that is fragmented and polarized, and questions concerning the relevance of God for everyday life, we need guides who can show us what it looks like to faithfully articulate the faith and who present a theological vision from which we can start to do the slow, careful work of viewing the wonderful works of God in our time and place. For this task, Bavinck is a model and guide. He not only inhabited a posture that we can emulate, but he demonstrated what it looks like to communicate the faith we have received in the particular context(s) and culture(s) we find ourselves in. 

Note from the author: Portions of this article are reconfigured from two lectures: “That we May Believe: Herman Bavinck and the Christian Life,” and “Planting Gardens in Exile,” given over the course of October 2026 at Reformed Theological Seminary and the Center for Pastor Theologians annual conference, “Finding Church.”

References:

1. Bavinck, “Foreword to Magnalia Dei” in Essential Herman Bavinck Reader, 492.
2. Fellowship of the Ring. 
3. Bavinck, “Modernism and Orthodoxy,” in Essential Herman Bavinck Reader, 502.
4. Bavinck, “Foreword to Magnalia Dei” in Essential Herman Bavinck Reader, 493.
5. Bavinck, “The Imitation of Christ (1918),”
6. Bavinck, “Foreword to Magnalia Dei” in Essential Herman Bavinck Reader, 493-4.
7. Bavinck, “Catholicity of Christianity and the Church,” in Essential Herman Bavinck Reader, 58.
8. Bavinck, “Catholicity of Christianity,” 58.