Writings by the maintainer of the web site

Baptism is a function of the doctrine of sin. That is the point the Dutch Reformed theologian Oepke Noordmans makes in his book, Liturgy in the Reformed Tradition . Interestingly, he makes this point in the context of a discussion of liturgy. To wit, ...

Kuyper’s Concept of the Church in the Context of Strategic Christian Action Ruben Alvarado Original version 2015 ; this version 2021 Abraham Kuyper, the giant of Calvinistic philosophy, theology, politics, and indeed pretty much every area of life, c...

Book Review: Stephen C. Perks, The Politics of God and the Politics of Man: Essays on Politics, Religion and Social Order (Taunton: Kuyper Foundation, 2016) This is an incisive, timely, needed book, because it addresses the two fundamental issues...

Fountainhead of Liberalism Ruben Alvarado Copyright © 1994 Ruben C. Alvarado this edition published 2013 on commonlawreview.com Originally Published in Contra Mundum, No. 10, Winter 1994, Symposium on Fountainhead of Federalism: ...

This article developed out of my reading of, in particular, Aristotle. I noticed that the word used in the New Testament, ekklesia, had a particularly charged political meaning in Greek. That led me to look for other words pertaining to the church and ...

This article dates from 2000, and was originally entitled, "Overblown Views of the Clergy and Sacraments." As such, it was directed against tendencies I had personally experienced in the church. The actual culprits I will leave unnamed; I imagine they...

This book review discusses one of the most misunderstood institutions in history. But what one needs to understand is that inquisition in one form or another is inescapable, and forms part of every society. Even today, in our oh-so-tolerant and liberal...

This article dates from 1991. It was one of my original forays into the area of church and state. As such, it is somewhat lacking in the nuance or balance of my later work. The basic principles nevertheless merit the deepest consideration, especially...

This rather didactic piece follows the logic of church discipline into the arena of culture and public life. There can be no question of relegating the church to the private sphere; she will inevitably impinge on public life, or she will not be the church....

Writings by or about Dr. P. J. Hoedemaker

Delivered on October 19th , 1880 in the New Church, Amsterdam, by Dr. P. J. Hoedemaker And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not be allowed to make swords or spears.” Instead, all...

Translated by Ruben Alvarado (The fifth in a series of lectures on the subject of Cartesianism, given at the Free University, published in 1886) That the confessions of the Lutheran Church and of the Reformed Churches do not correspond in everything...

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 “Our struggle is not against flesh a...

The principle of the Reformation: God's Word alone

This is the text of a talk I gave back in early 1991 to various interested groups. The issue it raises is one that has only gotten more urgent; in fact, today it is a question of spiritual life and death. When will the church wake up to the dangers she...

Translations of work by A. A. van Ruler

A Critique of Neocalvinist Politics A. A. van Ruler translated by Ruben Alvarado From the chapter “Church and State,” in Droom en Gestalte [Dream and Reality] (Amsterdam: Holland Uitgeversmaatschappij, 1947), pp. 189—214. All of this makes clear...

A.A. van Ruler translated by Ruben Alvarado(excerpted from Religie en Politiek , Nijkerk: Callenbach, 1945, pp. 373–379.) I am thinking here of course about the famous doctrine of sphere sovereignty. It was drawn up by Kuyper, but it has been ap...

The following is the concluding chapter from Book II of Josef Bohatec's magnum opus, Calvins Lehre von Staat und Kirche: mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Organismusgedankens [Calvin's Doctrine of Church and State: with special attention to his ...