| Abstract: | "What do Rome and Amsterdam have to say to each other? Roman Catholicism and Dutch Neo-Calvinism? In particular, the author raises this basic question with respect to the following thinkers: John Paul II (aka Karol Wojtyla) (1920-2005) and, Wojtyla's Doktorvater, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP (1877-1964), and St. Vincent of Lérins (died c. 445), on the one hand, and Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), G.C. Berkouwer (1903-1996), and Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977), on the other. This book engages in receptive ecumenism, an approach to ecumenical dialogue whereby the interlocutors seek to identify and exchange the distinctive gifts of each tradition for the benefit of the whole. The book deals with issues in philosophical theology: the relationship between faith and reason, nature and grace, theological epistemology, philosophical anthropology, metaphysics and the anti-metaphysical tendencies in thinkers, such as Berkouwer and Dooyeweerd, the complex question of law, its normativity, and its metaphysical foundation and corresponding epistemology, and, last but not least, doctrinal development. Mindful of the limits of receptive ecumenism, the book is not just about having a discussion regarding questions where there exists a common basis of discussion. The author pursues a critical discussion on issues for which the common basis is lacking between Roman Catholicism and neo-Calvinism. For example, with respect to the criticism of Roman Catholic anthropology and doctrinal development. Hence, the book engages in polemical philosophical theology between the two traditions. The author considers the whole of his adversary's position, engages in self-criticism, which involves the questioning of his viewpoint and taking seriously the honest questions posed by the critic. The author encourages an approach that understands a speaker's or writer's statements by rendering the best, the strongest possible interpretation of an argument's meaning, so that his response avoids a "straw man." This book is unique in its discussion of the traditions of Roman Catholicism and neo-Calvinism. The author not only seek prospects for rapprochement between these traditions, but also engage in critical discussion on many issues. One unique thing about this book is that it examines areas of neo-Calvinist thought, and neo-Calvinist thinkers, such as Herman Dooyeweerd, that are often overlooked by contemporary neo-Calvinists. For example, the widely acclaimed study on neo-Calvinism by Cory C. Brock and N. Gray Sutanto, Neo-Calvinism: A Theological Introduction, emphasizes a holistic theological anthropology in their account of Herman Bavinck and Abrham Kuyper. Still, they overlook in their account that for both Kuyper and Bavinck the human body is intrinsic to personhood, and hence Brock and Sutanto's account is less than holistic. Furthermore, that the human body is intrinsic to personhood is central to Berkouwer's biblical and theological account of the image of God. Brock and Sutanto's account of neo-Calvinism is theologically focused, but they are philosophically sensitive theologians, and so it is surprising that Dooyeweerd's philosophical thought is not discussed at all in any of their writings. For another thing, the book is unique in that it brings Roman Catholic anthropology, particularly the thought of Aquinas and John Paul II, into discussion with Dooyeweerd's thought. In particular, Brock and Sutanto's 2022 account of neo-Calvinism overlooks the neo-Calvinist account of conjugal marriage in Bavinck's and Dooyeweerd's thought. Here, too, the author brings neo-Calvinism into discussion with Roman Catholicism. For another, the question of doctrinal development is also unique to this book, bringing Vincent of Lérins, Berkouwer, and Garrigou-Lagrange into dialogue. The reader stands much to gain in this book about these traditions and the various approaches to the major themes discussed"-- |
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