All Articles For Kuyper, Abraham

Reprinted from When Thou Sittest In Thine House, by Abraham Kuyper, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1929. Used by permission of Eerdmans Publishing Co. Every one among us knows that in the so-called Sermon on the Mount our Savior declared and testified: “Blessed are they that mourn.” But do we also remember that, ten centuries before this, the Preacher said: “Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better” (Eccl. 7:3)? And do we bring to mind this yet stronger exhortation of the apostle James: “Be afflicted, and mourn,...

(Kuyper has begun his discussion of how a church which has deteriorated must be reformed. In the last paragraph which appeared he strongly emphasized that all reformation must be the work of God alone.)   

(Dr. Kuyper has finished his discussion of the special offices in the church: minister, professor, elder, and deacon. In this paragraph he turns to a discussion of the office of believer.)

Reprinted from When Thou Sittest In Thine House, by Abraham Kuyper, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1929. Used by permission of Eerdmans Publishing Co. Cheerfulness In our sin saturated life, laughter stands in such bad repute with us, that the very thought that the Lord our God can laugh is distasteful to us. If it were not written in Scripture, and if there you did not read in so many words: “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh,” it would never have come to you so much as to suggest “laughter” on the part of God....

(In discussing the positive side of the question, i.e., the renewal or reformation of the church, Kuyper has discussed the need for spiritual awakening in the hearts and in the lives of the individual members. In the last paragraph he insisted that this was essential to all church reformation. He proceeds now in the following paragraphs to the discussion of church renewal. This is a lengthy paragraph and we will divide it into separate articles.) 

(In this entire section of the pamphlet Kuyper has been talking about the causes of deterioration in the church and has discussed how this deterioration develops in the church as the church undergoes a change from a condition of spiritual strength to one of grave weakness.)

(In the first part of this paragraph Kuyper has been discussing the question of reformation by gradual church renewal. He has compared the deterioration of the church with a sickness which strikes a body and he has compared the work of reformation to the work of a doctor who attempts to cure the diseases of the body. Particularly, he has emphasized the need for personal repentance and conversion which comes from a deep and profound conviction of sin as being absolutely essential to all church renewal.

(Kuyper has discussed the unity of the church as that unity is expressed in broader ecclesiastical assemblies and in relationship with other denominations worldwide. He now concludes chapter 2 of his book with the following paragraph.)  33. Whether the Churches Ought to Interfere in What Does Not Belong to the Church 

(In the last part of the last article Dr. Kuyper began a discussion of the deformation of the churches. He defined what he meant by deformation, i.e., the deterioration of a church which had once held a correct form according to the Scriptures and was now in need of church reformation. This idea of the deformed church Kuyper continues to discuss in the following paragraphs.)  36. Concerning Imperfect Church Formation. 

(In the last paragraph Kuyper has begun chapter 3 of this pamphlet which deals with the deformation of the church. Kuyper introduced this general subject with a discussion of various kinds of imperfect churches: mission churches, churches under persecution, and aggrieved churches.)  37. How the Deformation Of the Churches Is To Be Explained