Calvinista moderno, cristiano democratico : così viene definito, fin dal titolo, la figura del politico e teologo olandese Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) nella biografia che James Bratt gli ha dedicato e che ora viene proposta in italiano dalla casa editrice fiorentina BE Edizioni. L'importanza di Kuyper, vissuto a cavallo tra Otto e Novecento, sta nel suo ruolo preminente - dal 1901 al 1905 è stato Primo ministro del suo Paese - ma anche nella figura emblematica che ha rappresentato: la sua convinta fede cristiana non gli impedì di prendere parte alla battaglia politica, ma anzi gli diede la consapevolezza necessaria per comprendere l'importanza del suo impegno e lo motivò a trasmettere anche in quella sede i valori del suo credo. Kuyper, sintetizza Valdo Spini nell'introduzione al volume, «ha rivestito ruoli eminenti sia nella chiesa che nelle istituzioni politiche, partendo da posizioni di conservatorismo socialmente ispirato e collaborando con i cattolici», dando vita a quella corrente di pensiero secondo la quale il calvinismo «non è semplicemente un ordinamento ecclesiastico, è un sistema di vita, non è solo una costruzione teologica, è una visione del mondo». La attenta biografia dello storico americano James Bratt - quasi cinquecento pagine e un ampio apparato di note a corredo - si divide in tre sezioni, che corrispondono a tre periodi della vita di Kuyper: la formazione (Fondamenta, 1837-1877), l'impegno spirituale (Costruzioni, 1877-1897), il contributo politico (Premonizioni, 1898-1920). Ne emerge il profilo straordinario di un uomo che lasciò il segno nella società

In today's pluralistic context, many evangelicals struggle to navigate between an absolutist position on Christianity and a relativistic religious pluralism. J. H. Bavinck, a prominent twentieth-century missiologist in the Calvinist tradition, wrestled with this tension as he thought and wrote about major world religions, particularly based on his own experience in Indonesia. Offering a constructive way forward, Bavinck affirms both the particularity of salvation in Christ and the universality of the Christian hope. Editors John Bolt, James D. Bratt, and Paul J. Visser have gathered a selection of Bavinck's significant writings, very little of it readily available in English until now. A substantial introduction by Visser provides the most thorough biographical sketch of Bavinck currently available in English.

In this first full-scale English biography of Abraham Kuyper, the highly influential religious and political leader of Dutch Calvinists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, historian James D. Bratt draws connections between the life and thought of Kuyper and current debates in America today. Bratt's study covers Kuyper's early years, his development as a person, his various leadership roles and spheres of influence, and the considerable ongoing impact of his ideas.

A convinced Calvinist and a distinctly modern public figure, Kuyper held a wide variety of roles over the course of his life -- minister, newspaper editor, educational innovator, politician, religious reformer, and prime minister of the Netherlands (1901-1905). Kuyper's life demonstrates how devotees of any faith can carry on a responsible public life in contention -- and concert -- with people of other convictions.

This book samples the rich variety of worship practices in American history to show how worship can be a fruitful subject for historians to study and, alternatively, how past case studies can enrich our understanding of worship today.

By the Vision of Another World gathers highly regarded historians and other scholars who usually are not read together because of the widely different subject areas in which they typically work. Yet their essays all fit together here as they address how worship, work, and worldview converge and reinforce each other no matter what particular place, era, denomination, or ethnic group is under consideration. The variety of methodologies and voices will appeal to a breadth of critical interests, while the consistently high quality of historical narrative will keep readers engaged.

Contributors
Dorothy C. Bass
James D. Bratt
Ruth Alden Doan
Paul Harvey
George M. Marsden
Timothy Matovina
Harry S. Stout
Leslie Woodcock Tentler
Michael Woods
Joyce Ann Zimmerman

For four decades, from 1951 to 1990, The Reformed Journal set the standard for top-notch, venturesome theological reflection on a broad range of issues. With a lively mix of editorial comment, articles, and reviews, it addressed topics as diverse as the civil rights movement, feminism, the Vietnam War, South African apartheid, the plight of Palestinian Christians, and the rise of the Christian Right, all from a Reformed perspective. In this anthology James Bratt and Ronald Wells have assembled select pieces that exemplify the Journal's position at the cutting edge of thoughtful Christian engagement with culture.

Traces the history of American Calvinism from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s and examines the development of the Dutch American community