Review of "Creation Regained" by Al Wolters

As a follow up to all of my posts on politics over the past week or so I thought I would post a couple of book reviews I have done for Amazon on some books that have affected my thinking.

My first introduction to Abraham Kuyper's thought came in a class in seminary, but it was furthered by reading the book "Creation Regained" by Al Wolters. It is kind of an intro to Kuyper and worldview primer all in one. Here's my review.

The subtitle of this book is "Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview," and as the book develops, the author clearly aligns himself with the Dutch Reformed school of thought. This school of thought is best represented by Abraham Kuyper and there is a real sense in which this book can be viewed as an introduction to Kuyperian thinking.

Wolters begins the book by defining what a worldview is. He distinguishes "worldview" from the academic disciplines of theology and philosophy. He says that one may need specialized education to engage in theology and philosophy, but a worldview is something that everyone has, regardless of education. He defines a worldview as "the comprehensive framework of one's basic beliefs about things."

He goes on to say that a Biblical worldview is to understand the world through the biblical lenses of creation, fall, and redemption. Chuck Colson's book "How Now Shall We Live," takes the same approach.

What is unique about Wolters book, and this is a theme that runs throughout, is his distinction between structure and direction. Structure refers to the way something was created. In other words, everything has a structure - the family, government, labor, etc., all have a structure given to them. Direction refers to their movement toward or away from God.

He shows that many Christians tend to reject the structure of a thing, when they should be dealing with direction. For instance, he speaks of human sexuality. Many Christians view sex in a negative light. However, sexuality has a biblical structure, i.e. it was created by God for a purpose and is to be pursued according to that purpose. To reject sexuality out of hand is to reject God's created order, or structure. It is the direction of human sexuality that we are to engage, not the structure. We are to seek to redeem it, pointing it in a godward direction.

Wolters goes on to develop these themes through looking at how the fall affected the created order (structure) and how redemption affects it. Redemption is concerned with reversing the effects of the fall. Because the scope of redemption is as wide as the scope of the fall, there is nothing in all of creation that is irredeemable.

All of this leads up to an explanation of the Kuyperian notion of sphere sovereignty - which states that no societal institution is subordinate to any other. In other words, the church is not subordinate to the state, nor vice versa. This applies to all institutions - family, education, etc.. If I read him right each institution has a created structure and though they are not subordinate to one another, they are subordinate to God's laws. Hence, all can and must be redeemed - i.e. put in a godward direction.

I enjoyed the book - there is a lot of meat in a few pages. It has motivated me to study Kuyper and his disciples more closely. I am not sure that I am completed persuaded on the sphere sovereignty notion yet, but regardless, this book is provocative and well worth a read.

Comments

[Joe Carter]

Thanks for the review. Oddly enough, I just started reading it last night. I'm glad to hear that it's a good introduction to Kuyper. Except for "The Problem of Poverty", I only know his work through other sources but I've been impressed by what I've heard.

It's a shame that more Christians don't read "meaty" books like Wolters and Kuyper's.

[maymon]

my eyes are opening up on this side of theology. i am really meditating on it. I don't know yet of some of the kuyper's theology but i believe it's worth studying it. Am preaching on some of the oints of Wolter's book this sunday, and was mentioning it on our bible study this evening. HIs book was our text in our Biblical Worldview. Thanks.

[Charles Hoke]

I purchased "Creation Regained" after reading "Total Truth" authored by Nancy Pearcy, who co-authored "How Now Should We Live" with Charles Colson. The subtitle is Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity. She also uses the creation, fall and redemption approach in her book and refers to the teachings of Herman Dooyeweerd, Abraham Kuyper and Al Wolters. I recommend "Total Truth" in your continuing studies in Christian worldview and the teachings of Abraham Kuyper and other writers influenced by him. Thank you for sharing your review of a "Christian Regained". I enjoyed reading your reflections on Wolters book. Thanks.

[David Wayne]

Thanks Charles - I actually did read Pearcey's book and it is as good as you said - you can find my review here - http://jollyblogger.typepad.com/jollyblogger/2005/08/review_of_total.html

[J.D. Harris]

Just started reading this book. It was being sold at our church's book table. I've always been attracted to Kuyper's thinking, and this book only augments that attraction. This is a solid introduction to neo-Calvinism which everyone, whether for or against it, should read.