This post is part of a series walking through the second volume of Abraham Kuyper\u2019s\u00a0Common Grace<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n As a city on a hill, the church must \u201cglow\u2026 into the distance.\u201d This begins with \u201cadmiration for valor\u201d through persecution. Then follows \u201creverence\u201d for \u201cpurity of life\u201d and earnestness \u201cin the ecclesiastical sphere.\u201d Then \u201csympathy\u201d for the \u201clove and compassion that develops in the church.\u201d Lost, \u201cit must purify and raise general understanding, elevate public opinion,\u201d and cause people to accept these principles and live a higher life in society. (308)<\/p>\n We see this over time in history. Through persecution into prominance,<\/p>\n The first of these is the result of particular grace, but 2. is common grace at work.<\/p>\n It\u2019s true that in our own time there has been a decline both in the church\u2019s state as a city on a hill and in society\u2019s flourishing, but let\u2019s not lose sight of our relative blessings. By way of example, Kuyper points to the treatment of women in the Christian-influenced Western world as opposed to the Muslim and pagan worlds. True, we have a long way to go with regard to this issue, but there\u2019s no real comparison between the different settings in Kuyper\u2019s view.<\/p>\n Such an influenced society is named \u201cChristian\u201d or \u201cChristianized.\u201d The national church cannot hold to this, and abandons both the confession and discipline with the goal of bringing in everyone. So we see, for example, the collapse of baptism in the national church. By contrast the particular grace\/common grace distinction lets us keep a pure church while recognizing good things in society. To be sure, there\u2019s common grace in pagan and Muslim societies as well, but because of the church\u2019s influence there is more in our society (though robust attempts are being made to weaken the church\u2019s direct influence and long-established common grace legacy, especially with regard to marriage). (310-311)<\/p>\n Some say that only through the expansion of the historical national church can we influence society. In reality, we can\u00a0never\u00a0<\/em>directly influence society, but only indirectly. Therefore we should always:<\/p>\n A confessional church must be held to,\u00a0not<\/span> a confessional state or society. A secular state\/society \u201cis one of the deepest foundational notions of Calvinism,\u201d though it takes a while for this to filter through history. \u201cMoral triumph\u201d is the tool of the Calvinist church in society, \u201cnot the establishing of confessional ties, nor the exercise of authoritarian dominance.\u201d (312)<\/p>\n The United States is an example of this in practice. This nation alone [the US] distinguishes properly between the church and the world. The national church [in the Netherlands] confuses these two spheres, so we must clarify the difference. Then the church will resist the world\u2019s influence while influencing it for good in turn. We all care for the nation; the difference is in how: directly via the national church? Or indirectly through influence? (Though obviously we are to pray for the conversion of all, we know it will never happen.)<\/p>\n As we\u2019ve seen, the national church obscures common grace all the way back to repentance and conversion. And yet, we see a stark difference between a converted pagan and a converted (former) member of the national church. Common grace explains some of the difference, and we are led to the suggestion that particular grace tends to generally use common grace as a springboard more in the \u2018higher\u2019 common grace-filled nations. Which is not to say that conversion is the result of common grace (and so Kuyper doesn\u2019t quite get to racial or ethnic conclusions here), just that there seems to be a pattern akin to that which we see in farming well-prepared soil as opposed to soil first put to use.<\/p>\n More on this topic in the next chapter.<\/p>\n Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the\u00a0City of Man Podcast<\/a>\u00a0and an Associate Profess<\/em>or of Political Science at\u00a0Southwest Baptist University<\/a>\u00a0in Bolivar, MO<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kuyper on the city on a hill. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1469,"featured_media":7410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,6,115],"tags":[942,1128],"class_list":["post-8024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-christian","category-classics","category-philosophy","tag-abraham-kuyper","tag-common-grace"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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