Reformed Dogmatics - Prolegomena - 01

This is the second volume of Herman Bavinck's four-part systematic theology. While the sub-title of this volume is God and Creation, the writing contained within these pages is divided in six parts; Part 1: Knowing God (The Incomprehensibility of God; The Knowledge of God); Part 2: The Living,

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Acting God (The names of God; God's Incommunicable Attributes; God's Communicable Attributes; The Holy Trinity); Part 3: God's Will On Earth As It Is In Heaven (The Divine Counsel, Creation); Part 4: Maker Of Heaven And Earth (Heaven: The Spiritual World; Earth: The Material World); Part 5: The Image Of God (Human Origins, Human Nature, Human Destiny); and Part 6: God's Fatherly Care (Providence).

Bavinck is a master of Reformed theology. He is extremely well-read in Christian theology, from the time of the church fathers through his own day, the late 19th century. He is also thoroughly familiar with writing in philosophy, from the ancient Greeks through the philosophers of his age. His depth of knowledge with such a wide breadth of work allows him to dig deeply into each of his topic areas, pointing out strengths and weaknesses of various arguments, before arriving at a place of understanding that is grounded in the Reformed tradition.

Bavinck is thoroughly biblical as he works thorough a topic. He acknowledges strengths of the positions of others, and also gently probes their weaknesses. One of the strengths of his writing, besides its depth and breadth, is that he is consistently irenic. Where I might describe a position I disagree with in harsh or condescending terms, Bavinck's writing consistently displays a sense of peace, as if he was inviting a person with a differing view to reconsider their position in favor his own, and not because his own position is intrinsically better, but because he believes that at the end of the day his position will be found to be thoroughly biblical. For Bavinck, the biblical text is the place we continually place our feet on, not matter what the winds are that blow through our culture.

I'll confess that I am a bit of a fan of Bavinck, having read Part 2 of this book while in seminary. In that section Bavinck presents a rich and compelling view of God from a Reformed perspective that I just didn't see in other theological frameworks. It was the writing that drew me whole-heartedly into the Reformed camp. It was a delight not only to re-read that section but to read everything else that this profound theologian, professor and pastor has worked out in a systematic way about God and Creation.

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