Groen van Prinsterer

Politician and Educational Reformer

One of my many hats is a Fellow of Classical Humanities and Theology over at the Beza Institute for Reformed Classical Education. I’ve been working through books about, and by, Groen van Prinsterer. Here’s the first article in a two-part series:

“If one has spent any time in the Reformed world, or even in conservative Christianity, they have probably heard the famous quote from Abraham Kuyper: “There is not one square inch of the universe over which Christ does not declare, ‘Mine!’”. Like most good quotes, this is more or less accurate to Kuyper’s original. But, it certainly captures what has become known as “Kuyperianism,” which takes its lead from the Dutch pastor-theologian-newspaper editor-writer-politican Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920). As evidenced by the chain of descriptors, Kuyper had a relentless drive to extend the authority of Christ over every area of life. He eventually was elected as prime minister of the Netherlands–a rare feat for a theologian! What is less well known is that Kuyper was not the progenitor of this approach. He was actually inspired by the work of another Dutch Reformed theologian-writer-politican, who served as his mentor in his early career: Groen Van Prinsterer (1801-1876). In this sense, Van Prinsterer deserves to be known as the god-father, or grand-father, of Kuyperianism and of the entire Neo-Calvinist movement. This article will briefly recount the highlights of Van Prinsterer’s life and work, and a subsequent article will summarize his theory of Revolution …” [read the rest over at the Beza Institute!]