Meeter - Basic Ideas of Calvinism

[py3ak]

I'd be glad if anyone (who is a member of the board) who has read this book or something else by this author would comment on it. Is it worth reading? If so, why?

 

[Wayne]

Dr. Henry H. Meeter was a member of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC). His working career dated from 1927-1957, well before the CRC began to slide into cultural accomodationism.

Dr. Meeter was a distinguished Calvin scholar, and

The primary goal of Dr. Meeter was to make scholarly research on Calvinism available to students and laypeople. This goal was articulated and achieved in his classic 1939 work, The Basic Ideas of Calvinism. Published by Baker Book House, the book is now in its sixth edition and has been translated into five languages: Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Russian.

The quote is from the web site for the Meeter Center in Grand Rapids. For more on the Center, see Calvin College - Meeter Center - Our Story

In short, I haven't read the book, but based on the caliber of Dr. Meeter's scholarship, I would expect the book to be well worth reading.

 

[Marrow Man]

Ruben, I bought a copy at Half Price Books a while back. It has a good endorsement on the back (Louis Berkhof -- "No other work in the English language offers us such a concise, and yet complete and thoroughly reliable resume of the teachings of Calvinism."). However, only the first 70 pages or so deal with Calvinism's theology; the last 2/3 of the book deals with the political ideas of Calvinism. So that might (or might not) influence your opinion.

 

[Wayne]

Tim:

Thanks for that info. I wonder what prompted Meeter to veer off onto Calvin's political views? Was Meeter in some way responding to issues of his own day? (FDR's New Deal?)

 

[Marrow Man]

I am not sure, Wayne. The last three chapters are not even Meeter's (they are by the reviser, Paul Marshall). My best guess is that he is writing in a Kuyperian context and is attempting to show how Calvinism applies to all of life and culture.

 

[py3ak]

Thanks, Tim. What did you think of Marshall's contributions?

 

[MW]

Ruben, Meeter's work sets forth the mixed Calvinism of the CRC -- of paradox, of sociological common grace, of cultural compromise, of politico-religious freedom. It is not the pure Calvinism of Calvin or his successors.

 

[Wayne]

So the seeds of present day accomodation were there that long ago?

Shows what I get for judging a book by the author's reputation.

 

[py3ak]

Thanks, Mr. Winzer. Is there a fairly concise way to show the differences on one or two points? I'd be particularly interested in a contrast with regard to the chapter on common grace.

 

[MW]

So the seeds of present day accomodation were there that long ago?

Shows what I get for judging a book by the author's reputation.

I'm not wanting to diminish from the author's reputation or the CRC's genuine contribution to the extension of Christ's kingdom. I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt because they had no idea where secularism would eventually lead in terms of the moral questions which are raised today. But "accommodation" is an apt description because the CRC's view does in fact require some acceptance of the status quo in "secular" society.

 

[MW]

Thanks, Mr. Winzer. Is there a fairly concise way to show the differences on one or two points? I'd be particularly interested in a contrast with regard to the chapter on common grace.

"Common grace" is a difficult subject because it means different things to different people. In traditional theology the subject came up in the context of discussions on the outward and ordinary means of grace, i.e., what grace do members of the church receive in common through the Word and sacraments apart from saving grace? It was not generally discussed in terms of developing a sociological structure. So at the outset we are faced with the problem that language is being transported to a different context.

Calvin of course would allow "common grace" in the sense that the whole world belongs to God and everything is governed by His providence, so all "benefits" in the temporal world are the consequence of God's disposing. The difference arises when men like Berkhof and Meeter call this "an attitude of favor, or grace, to the non elect" (Basic Ideas, 56). Calvin would not have recognised "attitudes" or "dispositions" in God apart from His will. In fact, the reformer would have called this idea of looking behind the revelation of Scripture as "prying." This demonstrates that "common grace" is being viewed as having a life of its own by modern exponents, and is not keeping within the contours of Calvin's own thought.

 

[Marrow Man]

Thanks, Tim. What did you think of Marshall's contributions?

I wouldn't know; I stopped reading when I got to the less interesting political section.