The Man with Ten Heads

A literal stone's throw from YWAM's training centre in Amsterdam, De Poort, is the house where, for twenty years, one of the fathers of modern Holland lived and worked to   'to carve as it were into the conscience of the nation the ordinances of the Lord, until the nation again pays homage to God'.

The impact of Abraham Kuyper on Holland in the late 19th century and the opening decade of the 20th century has left an indelible imprint on Dutch churches, schools, media and politics a full century later. 

After the elections of 1901, the queen asked Dr Kuyper to form a cabinet and to become the prime minister. In his opening speech, the new premier declared his intention to continue to build the nation on Christian principles. 

Holland's current prime minister, Jan-Peter Balkenende, describes himself as a true Kuyperian, and says he admires his faith-based vision of state and society. "Not that Kuyper's thinking is directly applicable to modern Holland," he adds, "but the core of his thinking is still of great significance for modern society."

This weekend, we started our annual Heritage Tour, as usual, in Amsterdam. Among the various locations we visited to learn about the city's rich layers of spiritual heritage, was the house where Kuyper lived between 1880 and 1900-at Prins Hendrikkade 173, just across the IJ Tunnel from De Poort. I have walked by this house dozens of times, but only recently discovered it's identity. 

There is no plaque or other indication of the national significance of what took place behind this typical Amsterdam facade.  

For from this house, this prolifically productive man continued to edit De Standaard newspaper,  Holland's most prestigious daily, write columns for De Heraut weekly, set up Holland's first modern political party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and start a new denomination, De Gereformeerde Kerk. It was in effect the first administrative centre for the Vrije Universiteit, today one of the city's two great universities. The premier and his two deputy premiers are all graduates of the VU. 

Under Premier Kuyper, many progressive social laws were introduced, creating rights for the poor, minorities and workers. In the competition between capital and labour, liberalism and socialism, he defended the workers' rights to be organized.

While in America, Kuyper has a growing and enthusiastic following, and Princeton University has an Abraham Kuyper Institute, it's difficult to find an appropriate monument in Holland to this remarkable figure, who was theologian, philosopher, educationalist, journalist and politician all at once. The one exception is the statue of 'Abraham the Great' (Abraham de Geweldige), unveiled last year in Maassluis, his birthplace, by the prime minister. 

On that occasion, Balkenende suggested that the most important lesson from Kuyper is that a society could not function well without a moral compass and a proper sharing of responsibilities. "Everything he achieved," he said of Kuyper, "rested on a few foundations: the anchor of faith, social engagement, the conviction that no-one lived for himself, and the readiness to bear social responsibility.

What then was the secret of this man, once described by an opponent as having 'ten heads and a hundred arms'?! On the 25th anniversary of his editorship of De Standaard in 1897, Kuyper declared: "One desire has been the ruling passion of my life. One high motive has acted like a spur upon my mind and soul. It is this: That in spite of all worldly opposition, God's holy ordinances shall be established again in the home, in the school and in the State for the good of the people."

Kuyper's theology of diversity-'sphere sovereignty'-explained how Christ's lordship extended into the real world of politics, education and society in general. Kuyper saw five domains or spheres of government, each directly accountable to God, and each relating to the other domains within God-given limits of authority; self-government, family-government, church-government, civil-government (the state) and societal-government (voluntary associations-significant players in what is called the 'social midfield', necessary for healthy democracies.)

In 1898, he delivered the Stone Lectures at Princeton University, explaining 'sphere sovereignty' and stating: 'There is not one square inch of human life, over which Christ who is Sovereign over all, does not say, "Mine!"'

Surely Prins Hendrikkade 173 should be turned into a museum telling the neglected story of this man to a younger generation, and applying his ideas to today's challenges! But last week we learned that the house and the two next door have been merged in an apartment complex worth €9 million. Anyone with spare cash?  

Till next week,