# The Calvinistic Concept of Culture by Henry Van Til



## Stephen L Smith (Jul 18, 2017)

Hello. Has anyone read this book? What do you think of it in terms of a Christian understanding of our fast changing socity and culture? How does it compare to modern Reformed books on this subject?


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## JimmyH (Jul 18, 2017)

I hadn't heard of it before your post. Written in 1959 by a nephew of CVT, it has three positive reviews praising the book. You've probably been to Amazon and seen that though. I tacked it onto the wish list. Thanks for bringing it up.

https://www.amazon.com/Calvinistic-Concept-Culture-Henry-Van/dp/0801022738/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500418604&sr=8-1&keywords=the+calvinistic+concept+of+culture,+henry+r.+van+til#customerReviews

Reactions: Like 1


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## RamistThomist (Jul 18, 2017)

It's great. His thesis is that "Culture is religion externalized." It is kind of dated but probably the best worldview approach to culture. It tries to take the best of Kuyper without falling into the watered down common grace approach.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## yeutter (Jul 19, 2017)

Another helpful study of Christianity and Culture from the same tradition is Klaas Schilder's work on Christianity and Culture. www.contra-mundum.org/books/CandC.pdf

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## RamistThomist (Jul 19, 2017)

yeutter said:


> Another helpful study of Christianity and Culture from the same tradition is Klaas Schilder's work on Christianity and Culture. www.contra-mundum.org/books/CandC.pdf



some of my notes on that work.
https://negatingthevoid.wordpress.com/2017/07/14/notes-on-schilders-Christ-and-culture/

Reactions: Like 1


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## Stephen L Smith (Jul 21, 2017)

Thank you for the helpful comments. Does anyone know how Klaas Schilder's work compares to Van Til's book?


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## RamistThomist (Jul 21, 2017)

Stephen L Smith said:


> Thank you for the helpful comments. Does anyone know how Klaas Schilder's work compares to Van Til's book?



Henry Van Til's is more systematic. Schilder assumes the context of certain post-Kuyperian debates in the Nederlands. The online version of Schilder is difficult. Douma did a new edition where the annotations explain a lot.

Reactions: Like 1


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