Tag Archives: David VanDrunen

Old Life in the Imperial Capital

CRC URC

Brian Lee, pastor at Christ Reformed Church (URC) in Washington, D.C., has put together another fall program of lectures and events, this year devoted to the theme of Christianity and Politics. I will be speaking with Michael Gerson, speech writer for George W. Bush, on Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 7:00 pm. Terry Eastland, publisher… Read More→

Posted in Shameless Selves Promotion | Also tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

At Least He Has An Ergo

Nelson Kloosterman and Brad Littlejohn have been tag-team reviewing David VanDrunen’s recovery and defense of two-kingdom theology. Apparently, VanDrunen is deficient because he does not follow Abraham Kuyper (according to Klooserman’s pious desires) or Richard Hooker (by Littlejohn’s Anglophilic standards). Never mind that VanDrunen may have historical, theological, or biblical reasons for arguing the case… Read More→

Posted in The Hinge | Also tagged , , , , | 27 Comments

Act Two, Scene Four: If the Bible Is the Standard, Are Faith and Repentance Required for Citizenship?

I haven’t been keeping up with Dr. Kloosterman’s serialized review of VanDrunen’s Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms. The series is reminiscent of the way that George Eliot and Charles Dickens wrote novels – you put together enough stories and episodes over a half-year in a magazine and you finally have one Home Depot of… Read More→

Posted in Christian politics | Also tagged , , , | 160 Comments

With A Little Help from Our Experimental Calvinist Friends

Some of the critics of 2k have created the impression that it is a radical or non-mainstream position in the history of Reformed teaching. David VanDrunen’s recent publications suggest otherwise. Sometimes it seems that the debates are merely conflicting interpretations of history, with theology and exegesis, not to mention the church’s confession, waiting on the… Read More→

Posted in Christ and culture | Also tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Christian Hell?

Mark Horne apparently thinks he has landed a damaging jab against 2k by ridiculing Jason Stellman’s point about the discontinuity between culture here and the new heavens and new earth – a point raised in Keith Mathison’s review of David VanDrunen’s new book, Living in God’s Two Kingdoms. Stellman wrote: If my marriage to my… Read More→

Posted in Lordship of Christ | Also tagged , , , , | 32 Comments

Act Two, Scene Three: How Soon They Forget

In his serialized review of VanDrunen’s Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms, Nelson Kloosterman finishes his inspection of the chapter on Calvin with the line, “Remember the Puritans.” This is a curious appeal because Kloosterman’s memory may not be as good as his review of VanDrunen is long. His major objection to 2k appears to… Read More→

Posted in Novus Ordo Seclorum | Also tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Act Two, Scene Two: Cheap Shot

Actually, the title should be plural since in one of his first reviews of VanDrunen’s Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms Nelson Kloosterman decided to insert a [sic] after VanDrunen’s phrase, “the Reformed tradition of natural law and the two kingdoms.” Kloosterman explained, “Because we are in danger of annoying our readers, we shall now… Read More→

Posted in Paleo Calvinism | Also tagged , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Nelson Kloosterman May Not Be But I Am Thankful for David VanDrunen

The reason is that Dave is a Calvinist who knows his Bible and is turning up the heat on that turkey we know as neo-Calvinism. Ultimately, however, neo-Calvinism needs to be questioned not because of its struggle to accomplish what it set out to do but because it is so foreign to the message of… Read More→

Posted in Paleo Calvinism | Also tagged , , | 219 Comments

Two-Kingdom Tuesday: Going Mainstream?

Terry Eastland, the publisher of The Weekly Standard, recently wrote a review essay of James Davison Hunter’s, To Change the World, and David VanDrunen’s, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms. After reading these books, Eastland is scratching his head that critics of transformationalism like Hunter are so dismissive of 2k theology. He writes: Oddly, To… Read More→

Posted in Novus Ordo Seclorum, Paleo Calvinism | Also tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments

If the Gospel Coalition Embraces It, Will 2k Lose Its Edge?

One of the smarter moves by 2k proponents was David VanDrunen’s to publish his sequel to Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms with Crossway, the firm with the most direct ties to the Gospel Coalition, thanks to Justin Taylor’s footprint in both organizations. So far 2k has come into print through outlier publishers, such as… Read More→

Posted in Piety with Excitement, Piety without Exuberance | Also tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments