This is great perspective and a helpful rebuke. We're doing great at defining what we're against but not what we're for. Do you think 2018's Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel (which Voddie signed) provides some footnotes? There's also language in our confessions (London Baptist Confession ch 24). Maybe some of the work has been done but it's not been consolidated
or expounded upon, or maybe we're just over-emphasizing the faults of the "other side".
Great write up fam. I got a few more receipts of men like Charles Spurgeon that spoke out against racism.
Currently Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck is getting a lot of attention in reformed circles as his excellent works are now being translated to english and are more accessible.
Even Bavinck had issues with the racism he saw in America. In my quest to better understand Bavinck I've been reading a new book "Bavinck: A Critical Biography" by James Eglinton. Eglinton a lecturer in Reformed Theology at the University of Edinburgh. Eglinton wrote:
"In his public lectures on his impressions of America, he made dire forecasts on the future of a country founded on enslaved labour, and warned young Dutch people not to emigrate there. He predicted increasing violence and bloodshed on account of racial hatred, and even contemplated publicly that this would lead the American experiment to fail altogether. In a lecture in Rotterdam in 1909."
"In a journal entry from that period, he wrote about how “a Southerner” had told him African Americans were “not humans” (rather, he was told, they were a mixture of human and ape). This shocked him. (By this point, in the Reformed Dogmatics he had already written an elaborate account of the imago Dei as the entire, organically united human race. And shortly after this trip, he took an anti-apartheid stand at the Vrije Universiteit.)"
Even famed English pastor and theologian Charles Simeon was a founding member of the The Clapham Sect (a.k.a The Clapham Group) that was lead by William Wilberforce to abolish the slave trade in England.
Ronald, that was good information on Bavink. His RD is one of my go to's for things related to ST. Its good to hear about more dissenting voices and perhaps there are many, many more receipts that can be brought out. It looks as if they were drowned out and/or their warnings weren't heeded closely. The good thing is and perhaps we are dealing with today is the fact that God is not mocked and what is sown, will be reaped. The question for christian is what is our responsibility now. Thanks for sharing!
This is great perspective and a helpful rebuke. We're doing great at defining what we're against but not what we're for. Do you think 2018's Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel (which Voddie signed) provides some footnotes? There's also language in our confessions (London Baptist Confession ch 24). Maybe some of the work has been done but it's not been consolidated
or expounded upon, or maybe we're just over-emphasizing the faults of the "other side".
Feels like a chapter in an upcoming book..
Great write up fam. I got a few more receipts of men like Charles Spurgeon that spoke out against racism.
Currently Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck is getting a lot of attention in reformed circles as his excellent works are now being translated to english and are more accessible.
Even Bavinck had issues with the racism he saw in America. In my quest to better understand Bavinck I've been reading a new book "Bavinck: A Critical Biography" by James Eglinton. Eglinton a lecturer in Reformed Theology at the University of Edinburgh. Eglinton wrote:
"In his public lectures on his impressions of America, he made dire forecasts on the future of a country founded on enslaved labour, and warned young Dutch people not to emigrate there. He predicted increasing violence and bloodshed on account of racial hatred, and even contemplated publicly that this would lead the American experiment to fail altogether. In a lecture in Rotterdam in 1909."
"In a journal entry from that period, he wrote about how “a Southerner” had told him African Americans were “not humans” (rather, he was told, they were a mixture of human and ape). This shocked him. (By this point, in the Reformed Dogmatics he had already written an elaborate account of the imago Dei as the entire, organically united human race. And shortly after this trip, he took an anti-apartheid stand at the Vrije Universiteit.)"
https://jameseglinton.wordpress.com/2020/06/05/bavinck-on-racism-in-america/amp/
Even famed English pastor and theologian Charles Simeon was a founding member of the The Clapham Sect (a.k.a The Clapham Group) that was lead by William Wilberforce to abolish the slave trade in England.
https://georgianera.wordpress.com/tag/charles-simeon/
Ronald, that was good information on Bavink. His RD is one of my go to's for things related to ST. Its good to hear about more dissenting voices and perhaps there are many, many more receipts that can be brought out. It looks as if they were drowned out and/or their warnings weren't heeded closely. The good thing is and perhaps we are dealing with today is the fact that God is not mocked and what is sown, will be reaped. The question for christian is what is our responsibility now. Thanks for sharing!