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HONEY FROM THE ROCK: Daily Devotions from Young Kuyper
ABRAHAM KUYPER, Translated by James De Jong
A BRILLIANT NEW VOLUME OF DEVOTIONAL MEDITATIONS FROM THE HEART AND MIND OF A YOUNG ABRAHAM KUYPER. THE FIRST TIME EVER IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
James De Jong introduces this new volume with the following words_
"One cannot understand Abraham Kuyper apart from his meditations. The more one delves into them, the better one comes to know Abraham Kuyper.
…As a theological professor, he produced major theological works, many now being translated into English for the first time. Kuyper's amazing stamina and productivity, seen in these initiatives, were nurtured by the spirituality so transparent in his meditations. Kuyper did not wear his heart on his sleeve, but his meditations are the lens through which we are privileged to look into his soul.
The title Honey from the Rock is based on Psalm 81:16: “But you will be fed with the finest of wheat. I will satisfy you with honey from the rock.” While Kuyper never did write a meditation on this verse, it perfectly captures how he felt about meditating on Scripture. Communion with the Lord is sweet. It feeds the deepest hungers of the human spirit.
Spiritual nourishment comes from all parts of the Bible. This collection draws heavily from the Gospels, Psalms, New Testament Letters, and Old Testament Latter Prophets. But it also includes meditations based on passages from the Pentateuch, Former Prophets, and wisdom literature.
The themes and topics in this collection are rather wide ranging. Emphasis on personal assurance based on God’s covenant promises is prominent. So is God’s patience and long-suffering with his often-indifferent people. The power and glory of the Christian life are frequent motifs. Endurance and perseverance in the face of hardship appear consistently. The responsibilities of Christian parenting are regularly treated, as are the sad consequences of neglecting them. Formal, empty, powerless religious practice is often denounced, as are hypocrisy and religious practice for social recognition.
The meditations are equally emphatic against cultivating subjective religious experience as the basis for assurance; Kuyper unmasks the spiritual peril of such piety. He is graphic and candid about the power of sin in the lives of Christians as well as among unbelievers. For him, the Devil, sin, and hell are looming realities regularly referenced in his material. He emphasized the ministering power of angels in Christian experience. He stressed the urgency of vibrant Christian community, the Sabbath as a time of sacred refuge and renewal, and the centrality of worship and preaching and sacraments in the ministration of grace. Worldly diversion and the pursuit of material gain and human recognition elicit his warnings.
Kuyper does employ theological terms in these meditations: calling, election, adoption, regeneration, sanctification, atonement, and others. But he does so not to teach doctrine; he assumes that readers understand this vocabulary. He uses these terms only to stress the riches of fellowship with God. Kuyper’s handling of his chosen themes and topics, and his occasional use of theological terms, occur in a surprisingly fresh, creative style. His meditations are spiritually gripping and memorable."
ENDORSEMENTS
"Imagine opening a collection of meditations by the young Augustine, a young Martin Luther or John Calvin. In this new volume we find a collection of meditations by the young Abraham Kuyper, never before published in English translation. Here are the devotional thoughts of one of the most significant Protestant thinkers of the last 150 years and from the most formative period of his influential life. This treasure is both timeless and timely." —R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
"I have been reading Kuyper's 'Near Unto God' collection of meditations for decades—so much so that I wore out my first copy. He is my favorite devotional writer. And now this wonderful collection of 200 more. I hope all who have come to appreciate Kuyper’s writings on politics and culture in recent years will now taste the spiritual sweetness of Honey from the Rock! —Richard J. Mouw, President emeritus, Fuller Theological Seminary
"Kuyper is best known for his Christian vision of cultural engagement. This is his legacy, but in Kuyper’s times he was beloved among the Reformed people in the first place for his weekly meditations. In these reflections on a Bible verse, Kuyper opened his heart to his readers by meditating about the personal relation with God in a creative, personal, and inspiring way. Of all Kuyper’s publications, his volumes with meditations sold best. His meditations seem largely to have been forgotten, and therefore it is more than apt that James de Jong translated one of the most famous volumes and presents the religious Kuyper to a new audience. If you want to learn to know Kuyper, his meditations are the best entree to his biography and work." - George Harrick, professor of history at the Free University of Amsterdam and Theological University of Kampen
ABRAHAM KUYPER (1837–1920) was one of the most extraordinary individuals of his time. A prolific intellectual and theologian, he founded the Free University in Amsterdam and was instrumental in the development of Neo-Calvinism. He was also an active politician, serving as a member of Parliament in the Netherlands beginning in 1874 and serving as Prime Minister from 1901 to 1905.
At this intersection of church and state, he devoted much of his writing towards developing a public theology. His passion was to faithfully understand and engage culture through a Christian worldview. The most famous example is his articulation of the doctrine of common grace. His work has influenced countless others, including Francis Schaeffer, Cornelius Van Til, and Alvin Plantinga.
lvs 7/18
OVER 700 PAGE LARGE HARDCOVER VOLUME
 SGCB Price: $27.00 (list price $40.00)
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