The place and historical significance of Dooyeweerd's Inaugural Address of 1926 : 2nd quarter by D.F.M. Strauss - University of the Free State

Dooyeweerd entered the scene as a talented academic who soon caught the eye and was offered the position of Deputy Director of the Kuyper Foundation in 1922. 

A mere four years later he accepted a position at the Faculty of Law at the Free University as professor in Philosophy of Law, Encyclopedia of the Science of Law and Ancient Dutch Law. Apart from an extensive series of articles on the struggle for a Christian politics Dooyeweerd presented his Inaugural Address in 1926 onThe Significance of the Cosmonomic Idea for the Science of Law and Legal Philosophy. 

This Inaugural Address marks a significant shift away from the biblicistic appeal to "Scriptural principles" which obstructed the inner reformation of the special sciences and opened up an alternative approach to Christian scholarship. Moreover, this is not done in isolation but explicitly in confrontation with the dominant trends of thought within the discipline of law. At the same time he succeeded in advancing a novel and penetrating insight into the deepest dialectical motivation directing modern philosophy since the Renaissance, designated by him as the science ideal (nature) and the personality ideal (freedom). 

The basic antinomy entailed within this dialectical ground motive of modern humanistic philosophy manifested itself in multiple theoretical antinomies also within the science of law. His new intermodal understanding of theoretical antinomies is equally novel and innovative and it undergirded his analysis of the various sphere sovereign modal aspects of reality. 

The promise entailed in this Inaugural Address came to fruition in two directions: elaborating his philosophical foundation of the science of law in his multi-volume Encyclopedia of the Science of Law and presenting his new insight in the form of a general philosophical account to the academic world - in the publication of his magnum opus, De Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee (three volumes in 1935-1936), translated into English in the four volume work, A New Critique of Theoretical Thought (1953-1958). 

This Inaugural Address may be appreciated as the cradle of his immensely encompassing and penetrating intellectual legacy.

Strauss, D.F.M. - University of the Free State

Source: http://reference.sabinet.co.za/document/EJC121691

The elaboration of a demarcation criterion in reformational philosophy by Renato Coletto - North-West University

The elaboration of a demarcation criterion in reformational philosophy by Renato Coletto - North-West University

Contemporary philosophy of science has struggled considerably over an apparently simple question: how does one distinguish between scientific and non-scientific knowledge? The search for a criterion of demarcation between science and non-science has been laborious but not very rewarding. This article presents the contribution provided by Reformational philosophy, a relatively small Christian school in which, it is argued, a plausible solution to the demarcation problem was offered. The views of the relevant authors are sketched, with the conclusion that (since its beginnings in the 1930s) the discussion on the demarcation criterion among Reformational philosophers shows considerable consensus.

Source: http://reference.sabinet.co.za/document/EJC15528

Nuances in the Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea : original research by Marinus D. Stafleu

This article comments on Danie Strauss's Philosophy: Discipline of the disciplines. 

It deals with some differences between the author's interpretation of the Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea and the views of Dooyeweerd and Strauss. 

I call these differences 'nuances' because our religious starting point is the same. This implies a realist religious view, confessing that God created the world according to laws which are invariant because He sustains them. We know God only through Jesus Christ, who submitted himself to God's laws. Partial knowledge of God's laws can be achieved by studying the law-conformity of the creation. 

In particular, I shall discuss the relevance of artefacts for the future development of the Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea.

Fonte: http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication_article/koers_v79_n3_a1

Goals, ways and the roots of our economic crisis : other contributions by Bob Goudzwaard - Free University, The Netherlands

This article deals with the question if and how far religious points of view and messages of churches involved matter in the analysis of the roots of the present global economic crisis, and even more in the discussion about how to overcome the crisis itself. 

Economic experts such as Stiglitz point to the presence of factors such as greed, fear and utmost selfish behaviour. It inevitably leads to the ethical, but in fact also the religious question of how far people, especially economic agents, can go in the pursuit of their own economic interests without doing harm to others. Jesus asked his disciples to follow him: with Bonhoeffer, we could call that a Way-orientation. 

Where and how far can a conflict therefore arise between human goal-orientations, on the one hand, and a biblical Way-orientation, on the other hand? And is it indeed relevant when considering our present economic crisis? This article defends the last position, describing some categories (such as the choice of ultimate meaning, the sacro-sanctity of chosen instruments, and the demonisation of opponents) which indicate that the borderline has been passed between responsible and irresponsible goal-orientations. 

The glorification of greed and the delegation of ultimate power to financial markets indicate that at this moment elements of idolatry (or the obedience to Mammon) are at hand. They are also aggravating the present economic crisis. This implies that returning to the choice for decisive normative Way-orientations in economic life is possibly the only true way out of the present economic crisis.

Goudzwaard, Bob - Free University, The Netherlands

http://reference.sabinet.co.za/sa_epublication_article/koers_v79_n1_a14

Marina Silva is a radical communist disguised as "cristian" (pro-abortion) and "ecologist" (her husband smuggled illegal wood at Amazonia).

Marina Silva is a radical communist disguised as "cristian" (pro-abortion) and "ecologist" (her husband smuggled illegal wood at Amazonia). She is founder of Workers Party (actual party in power) from where she abandoned after a false break-up. She is member of FORO DE SAO PAULO, revolutionary organization who try to create at South America something like a "Soviet Union" of Bolivarianist Republics at Latin-America. Almost ALL latin-american presidents are member of this transnational marxist-revolutionary organization.

The tactic used is that of Hugo Chávez. Win a democratic election using demagogical programa and from within the government and democratic regime they DESTROY the democracy and State institutions. Electoral fraud and populism is the principal way to stay in power. by Francis Lauer

The Challenges of Cultural Discipleship: Essays in the Line of Abraham Kuyper by Richard Mouw

The Challenges of Cultural Discipleship: Essays in the Line of Abraham Kuyper by Richard Mouw

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012 (236 pages)
 

This volume is a collection of thirteen articles and chapters that Richard Mouw regards as the “back story” of his more popular presentation of ideas stemming from the work of Abraham Kuyper, the Dutch Calvinist theologian, journalist, and politician. The frase “in the line of” is an important indicator of the approach Mouw takes to Kuyper’s legacy; less a “party line” than a general framework of Reformed theology applied to a range of subjects. One vital dimension in this regard is that Mouw intends not only to extend Kuyper’s legacy, but also to offer important corrections of some of his ideas. This corrective move can be seen as early as the first essay, “Calvin’s Legacy for Public Theology,” which addresses not only Calvin’s complex legacy but also that of Kuyper, particularly the way in which his theory of sphere sovereignty was appropriated in support of the apartheid system in South Africa. Mouw acknowledges that while Afrikaners drew on Kuyper’s unfortunate view on race and the imprecision in his articulation of social spheres (which was taken in South Africa to include races as cultural spheres that should be separate), they failed to live up to and express the liberative dimensions of Kuyper’s thought that stem from his belief in Christ’s lordship over “every square inch” of life and the pursuit of a flourishing civil society.

Kuyper’s doctrine of sphere sovereignty receives significant attention in four chapters, and one of Mouw’s most interesting contributions to the Kuyperian conversation comes from his willingness to consider various ways to refine this well-known theory of structural and worldview pluralism. Sphere sovereignty is an idea Kuyper developed to articulate a world that is under the authority of the one true God, a God who structures the created order in such a way that various forms of social organization (church, family, business, state, education, and so forth) have their own integrity; it is also a way to carve out public space for confessional institutions such as Christian schools. Some discussions of this topic emphasize a strong distinction between sphere sovereignty and the Roman Catholic view of subsidiarity, which has a more vertical approach (one only moves up to the next level of institutions when it is necessary) in contrast to the more horizontal cast of Kuyper’s theory. Mouw argues that while it is important to place an emphasis on the integrity of spheres, at times there is a place (or even a need) for a vertical hierarchical dimension as Christians engage the various dimensions of life.

 

Mouw also gives attention to philosophical dimensions that stem from this line of Kuyper, such as the work of Herman Dooyeweerd. Mouw’s essay, “Modal Diversity in Dooyeweerd’s Thought,” will provide a helpful view of this philosopher’s approach to patterns of social interaction (modes) while presenting a good example of critical engagement and contemporary application.

Readers of this journal will be particularly interested in Mouw’s engagement with the work of Stephen J. Grabill in “Law, Covenant and Moral Commonalities.” The chapter expresses appreciation for the retrieval of natural law while also pointing to other ways that Reformed theologians have articulated the “commonness” that exists among all humans, regenerate or otherwise. Doctrines such as common grace and the idea of covenant are highlighted as ways in which humans can identify commonality though not in primarily cognitive ways. Mouw concludes that the natural-law tradition needs greater consideration but not exclusive attention as we consider human life together.

Following a very interesting chapter (“Creational Politics”) that sympathetically engages the Anabaptist tradition and specifically John Howard Yoder, there are several chapters in the latter half of the book that attend to the heirs of the Dutch Calvinist legacy. Klaas Schilder’s important contribution to faith and culture, splits in Calvinist denominations, the identity of genuine Christians, reflection on seminary education, the unique legacy of Dutch-American philosophical reflection, and the salvific status of infants in relation to baptism are covered; the ethnic emphasis should not dissuade any from entering these conversations and considering how the legacy of these Christians can illuminate the larger concerns of Christians everywhere. The book also contains a very helpful appendix that explains important terms and denominational identities.

While this reviewer wishes “the line of Kuyper” were familiar to most Protestants, such is not yet the case. This volume, along with Mouw’s recent introductory work to Abraham Kuyper, helpfully contributes to the aim of making this important theological legacy more prominent.

—Vincent Bacote

Wheaton College, Illinois