Reformed Social Ethics
- Theology
- World Religions
- Publisher: Baker Academic (Baker Publishing Group)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
The companion series to renowned theologian Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics masterworkHerman Bavinck's four-volume Reformed Dogmatics is one of the most important theological works of the twentieth century. The English translation was edited by world-class Bavinck scholar John Bolt, who now brings forth a manuscript from Bavinck that is being published for the first time. Serving as a companion to Reformed Dogmatics, Reformed Ethics offers readers Bavinck's mature reflections on ethical issues. In the process of translating Herman Bavinck's Reformed Ethics, John Bolt and his editorial colleagues discovered that the social ethics portion was unfinished. The first section will now be published as Reformed Ethics, vol. 3. The other five sections were outlined by Bavinck, but not completed. Following Bavinck's outline, John Bolt has reconstructed those last five sections on the basis of his extensive knowledge of Bavinck's work, culling Bavinck's other writings, in both Dutch and English, to summarize his teachings. This companion to Reformed Ethics offers readers Bavinck's main convictions and perspectives on critical topics of social ethics: society, art, scholarship, education, the state, the church, humanity, and the kingdom of God. Reformed Social Ethics completes the Reformed Ethics project and provides readers with a fuller picture of Bavinck's ethics. All four volumes are available in a specially priced set.
Endorsements (6)
“The social media age has not been kind to Christian social ethics. The kind of short form, fragmentary thinking—always performed before an aggressive and divided audience—normalized in that setting risks turning the Christian social ethicist into a cybergladiator whose bombastic views are largely determined by his need not to be his nemesis. Herman Bavinck warned against such reactionary dogmatism. In the works brought together as Reformed Social Ethics, we find an example often missing in our day: a Christian ethicist thinking carefully about complex issues in the light of Scripture and tradition rather than in the blue light of a smartphone.”
“Our debt of gratitude to John Bolt for reintroducing Bavinck to the Anglophone world continues to grow with this companion to the Reformed Ethics. Here, Bavinck’s writings on matters of deep moral interest are not only translated for the first time but, where they are incomplete, Bolt provides his own learned judgments to amplify or develop arguments in keeping with the spirit of Bavinck’s thought. Readers will find here not only matters of historical interest but also an exemplary model for a Reformed engagement with perennial social issues.”
“John Bolt and his accomplished team of translators and editors have added amazing value to Bavinck's recently rediscovered manuscripts in the field of moral theology. Their lucid translation, notes, and careful documentation of bibliographic sources used by Bavinck make Reformed Ethics an invaluable background study on the history of theological ethics.”
“The translation of Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics has been of major significance, and now it is followed, appropriately, by his Reformed Ethics. It is wonderful that this work has been discovered, translated, and published. John Bolt and his colleagues have provided us with a fresh resource for theological and ethical reflection.”
“The editors and translators deserve our gratitude and appreciation for this important achievement. They have transformed a rich but almost inaccessible manuscript into a clear, readable, interestingly annotated, well-structured, and attractive book.”
“What a treasure! John Bolt has done the church a tremendous service in translating and editing Bavinck's Reformed Ethics. It offers pastors, students, theologians, and ethicists--and Christians who would like to wrestle more deeply with the nature of the Christian life--a rich introduction to moral theology in all its contours.”
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