Neo-Calvinism and Roman Catholicism

Description

In their theological and historical interactions, neo-Calvinism and Roman Catholicism have often met in moments of conflict and co-operation. The neo-Calvinist statesman Abraham Kuyper polemicized against the Roman Catholic Church and its theology, whilst building bridges between those traditions by forging novel political coalitions across ecclesiastical boundaries. In theology, Gerrit C. Berkouwer, a neo-Calvinist critic of Roman Catholicism in the 1930s, later attended the Second Vatican Council as an appreciative Protestant observer. Telling their stories and others—including new research on lesser-known figures and neglected topics—this book presents the first scholarly volume on those dynamics of polemics and partnership. Contents Notes on Contributors 1 Introduction: Neo-Calvinism and Roman Catholicism 1 A Tense Relationship 2 Breaking New Ground 3 A Shared Struggle 4 Twentieth Century Development 5 Contemporary Scholarship 6 Scripture and Tradition 7 Theological Interaction with the (Modern) World 8 Christian Ethics/Moral Theology 9 Worship 10 Constructive Theological Engagement Bibliography Part 1 Scripture and Tradition 2 “In More or Less Figurative Language”: The Dutch Neo-Calvinist Fascination 1 Introduction 2 Providentissimus Deus – Context and Content 3 Herman Bavinck 4 Jan Ridderbos 5 Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer 6 Hermeneutics of Genesis 1–3 7 Concluding Observations Acknowledgement Bibliography 3 Bavinck’s View of the Relation Between Scripture and Tradition 1 Introduction 2 Bavinck 2.1 Theological Principles 2.2 Christology and Pneumatology 2.3 Tradition 2.4 Church 2.5 Principium Internum 2.6 Rome 3 Constructive Evaluation Bibliography Part 2 Theological Interaction with the (Modern) World 4 Shared Principles, Diverging Paths: Neo-Calvinism, neo-Thomism and the Natural Sciences, 1880–1960 1 Introduction 2 The Dutch Context: Neo-Calvinist and Neo-Thomist Scientific Organizations 3 Neo-Calvinist and Neo-Thomist Views of the Sciences: Foundational Ideas 4 Neo-Calvinist and Neo-Thomist Views of Evolution 5 Scientists and Theologians in the Interbellum Period 6 Neo-Calvinist and Neo-Thomist Scientists in the 1950s 7 Conclusion Bibliography 5 “All the More Reason to Exercise Caution while Discussing Genesis” 1 Introduction 2 Berkouwer on “Creation and Evolution” (1956) 3 Berkouwer’s Theological Anthropology (1957) and Doctrine of Scripture (1967) 4 The Catholic Connection 5 Conclusion Bibliography 6 Herman Bavinck the Neo-Thomist? A Reevaluation of Influence 1 Introduction: Herman Bavinck and His Interpreters 2 Herman Bavinck’s Neo-Thomist Window 3 Toward a Neo-Thomistic Center: Joseph Kleutgen’s ‘Vorzeit’ Theology 4 Bavinck on Supernaturalist Deviation 5 Conclusion Bibliography 7 Vatican I, the ‘duplex ordo cognitionis’, and the Nouvelle Théologie 1 Introduction: Doctrinal Development? 2 Duplex Ordo Cognitionis 3 Hermeneutical Principle for Interpreting Ecclesial Texts 4 Faith and Reason, Nature and Grace 5 Conclusion Bibliography Part 3 Christian Ethics and Moral Theology 8 A Reformed Spirituality for Our Daily Labor: Towards a Bavinckian Theology of Work 1 Introduction: How Changing Locations for Work Reshapes Societies & Creates Social Problems 2 Herman Bavinck’s Engagement with the ‘Social Question’ 3 New Century, Similar Problems: Pope John Paul II and Laborem Exercens 4 The Theological Anthropology of Laborem Exercens 5 Sin’s Dehumanizing Effects on Work in Both Capitalist and Communist Societies 6 Capitalism: When Humans Become the Object of Work 7 Communism: Stripping Humans of a Rightful Claim to the Outcomes of Their Work 8 Laborem Exercens’s Third Way Between Rigid Capitalism and Communism 9 What Should Neo-Calvinists Learn from Laborem Exercens? 10 A Bavinckian Theological Anthropology for Today’s Work Environment 11 Fragmentation and Dehumanization 12 The Search for a New Locus Classicus 13 Tuning Our Lives to Sense God’s Presence: The Liturgical Rhythms of Psalm 104 14 A Dynamic View of God’s Presence in the World 15 The Liberating Guidance of God-Intended Boundaries 16 Conclusion Bibliography 9 Theologizing Social Pluralism: Catholic and Neo-Calvinist Approaches 1 Social Pluralism in the Catholic Tradition 2 Social Pluralism in the Neo-Calvinist Tradition 3 The Challenge of Theologizing Social Pluralism 4 Grounding Social Ontology: Anthropology or Creation Order? 5 The Church and Social Structure: Hierarchy or Collegiality? 6 Christology: Participation or Prostration? 7 Conclusion: Implications for Pluralistic Societies Bibliography 10 Consuming Christ and Creation: Catholic and Neo-Calvinist Responses to Capitalism 1 Christianity and Economics 2 A Comparative Exercise 3 William Cavanaugh 4 Contested Rituals of Market and Church 5 Bob Goudzwaard 6 The Calvinist Disclosure of the Tunnel Society 7 Calvinism and Catholicism in Dialogue Bibliography 11 How Should the Church be Involved in Modern Politics? Edward Schillebeeckx’s Bibliography Part 4 Worship 12 “Spirit and Imagination”: Secularism and the Role of the Liturgy in Joseph Ratzinger 1 Liturgical Theology in Ratzinger and Smith 2 Secularism in Ratzinger and Smith 3 Nature and Grace 4 Conclusion Bibliography Part 5 Constructive Theological Engagement 13 “The Clay of Paganism with the Iron of Christianity” 1 Between Metaphors and Philosophical Categories 2 Between the Aristotle-Christ and the Kant-Christ 3 Van Til’s Prophetic Insights and Their Limits Bibliography 14 Why Not Join the Roman Catholic Church? 1 Emergency Measure 2 Transitions and Conversions 3 Historical Developments 4 Pope and Image 5 Unity of the Church 6 Authority 7 Objectivity of Grace 8 Why not Join the Roman Catholic Church? Bibliography 15 Neo-Calvinism and “the Catholic Imagination” Bibliography Index of Names