{"id":8579,"date":"2021-11-09T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T15:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/?p=8579"},"modified":"2021-11-05T14:36:02","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T20:36:02","slug":"common-grace-2-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Grace, 2.67"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This post is part of a series walking through the second volume of Abraham Kuyper\u2019s\u00a0Common<\/a>\u00a0Grace<\/em><\/p>\n

The point we\u2019ve been leading up to is that misery and sin must be resisted. It is especially noble to fight it lovingly \u201cin others.\u201d Such is the goal of \u201cpity, compassion, and mercy.\u201d (574-575) This is ultimately what God does for us\u2013He battles \u201csin\u2019s misery\u2026 in a twofold manner.\u201d (575)<\/p>\n

First, common grace \u201carrests the working of sin\u201d so that it breaks out less \u201cin our heart.\u201d Second, common grace \u201carrests the working of sin\u2019s effects\u201d so we are not overwhelmed. He does these \u201ceither directly himself or by means of man.\u201d (575) In either case, God gets the glory.<\/p>\n

And then Kuyper gives an awkward example of climate\u2013which is obviously under God\u2019s direct control in the grand sense (whatever the value of climate change arguments, that\u2019s obviously a modern issue rather than a historic one, and one of very small scale in the grand scheme of things relative to God\u2019s absolute sovereignty). While it\u2019s a bit obscure, the point is that even the weather affects whether or not we are flourishing. We as human beings don\u2019t add to the rain or sunshine.<\/p>\n

The broader point is that God resists sin and demands that we do so as well using the tools that He has given us. We see this point illustrated clearly in the flood.<\/p>\n

Noah was not exempted from judgment because He feared God\u2013many young children died in the flood who had not yet been hardened against God. Besides, Noah\u2019s wife and the families of his children were saved, and their faith as at best unclear in Scripture. Most importantly, in this life \u201ccommon misery\u201d does not spare the Godly and strike the godless\u2013and if you need proof of\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>just look at what happened to Jesus! Scripture and experience alike are clear on this point. Instead, Noah and his family were saved for<\/p>\n

\u201cthe procreation of the human race, the preservation of God\u2019s church, and the upholding of the glory of God in the continuation of his plan for the world.\u201d (576-577)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In all of this, did Noah submit passively to God\u2019s judgment?\u00a0No<\/span>. He resisted the misery of sin by the means which God had provided. This means of course was the ark, which wasn\u2019t exactly a \u201cship\u201d as it was designed for saving Noah and the critters alone. I think Kuyper\u2019s point here is that the ark is best read not as what we think of as a boat but rather as God\u2019s provision of everything that Noah needed (though of course it was a sort of boat too\u2013Kuyper just doesn\u2019t want to get hung up on the shipbuilding side of things\u2013though he goes on to point out that Noah almost certainly used local labor to help him build the boat, which means those who perish may very well have had a hand in the work that saved those who survived).<\/p>\n

Noah\u2019s driving force was faith; faith focused on both the coming destruction (the flood) and the promise of salvation (the ark). Both of these in turn were based on God\u2019s Word alone. Others could see the visible sign of Noah\u2019s faith as it was being built, but in seeing they did not believe.<\/p>\n

In all this God both brings punishment (the flood) and lessens the severity of the punishment (the ark that saved some of humanity). God in this way limits the severity of sin.<\/p>\n

Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the\u00a0City of Man Podcast<\/a> an Amazon Associate (which is sometimes linked in this blog), and 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 ark and the flood. <\/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-8579","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":"\nCommon Grace, 2.67<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kuyper on the ark and the flood.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Common Grace, 2.67\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kuyper on the ark and the flood.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Schaeffer's Ghost\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-09T15:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-05T20:36:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/266\/2020\/09\/CG2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"358\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Coyle Neal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Coyle Neal\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/\",\"name\":\"Common Grace, 2.67\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-09T15:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-05T20:36:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/54a602d4bf41a6b8aa4605781d58915e\"},\"description\":\"Kuyper on the ark and the flood.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Common Grace, 2.67\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/\",\"name\":\"Schaeffer's Ghost\",\"description\":\"Culture from a Christian Viewpoint\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/54a602d4bf41a6b8aa4605781d58915e\",\"name\":\"Coyle Neal\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645a05c01c5917cfe661c7a7cea92591?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645a05c01c5917cfe661c7a7cea92591?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Coyle Neal\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast and teaches Politics, Philosophy, and History in Bolivar, MO.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/author\/cneal\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Common Grace, 2.67","description":"Kuyper on the ark and the flood.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Common Grace, 2.67","og_description":"Kuyper on the ark and the flood.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/","og_site_name":"Schaeffer's Ghost","article_published_time":"2021-11-09T15:00:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-05T20:36:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":358,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/266\/2020\/09\/CG2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Coyle Neal","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Coyle Neal","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/","name":"Common Grace, 2.67","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-11-09T15:00:48+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-05T20:36:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/54a602d4bf41a6b8aa4605781d58915e"},"description":"Kuyper on the ark and the flood.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2021\/11\/common-grace-2-67\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Common Grace, 2.67"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/","name":"Schaeffer's Ghost","description":"Culture from a Christian Viewpoint","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/54a602d4bf41a6b8aa4605781d58915e","name":"Coyle Neal","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645a05c01c5917cfe661c7a7cea92591?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/645a05c01c5917cfe661c7a7cea92591?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Coyle Neal"},"description":"Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast and teaches Politics, Philosophy, and History in Bolivar, MO.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/author\/cneal\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}