Common Grace, 1.58

Last updated on: July 7, 2020 at 8:00 am by Coyle Neal

Common Grace, 1.58 2020-07-03T10:34:53-06:00 Coyle Neal

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This post is part of a series walking through the first volume of Abraham Kuyper’s Common Grace.

When, in the previous chapter, Kuyper had said that some nations were given over to their sin as a result of their idolatry, does that mean to imply that they are utterly devoid of common grace?

“Is there no longer any common grace at work at all among the Chinese and Japanese, in our Dutch East Indies among the Javanese and Bataks, or in Africa among the Zulus and the peoples of Bechuanaland [Botswana]? A fire once lit but no longer contained keeps burning until all its fuel is consumed. So it is with the fire of sin in the nations. If God no longer contains the burning of the fire of sin, then it must continue to spread like wildfire and must end in the destruction of all human life.” (509)

We do see peoples disappear, so it may be that at times common grace does run out for some people.

“To this extent, therefore, we can say that idolatry leads to moral decay, and that moral decay can lead to total social disintegration, and that when God totally gives up a nation, such a nation perishes and disappears.” (510)

But! To say that common grace is sometimes withdrawn and that a people vanishes from the world does not mean that all common grace has withdrawn from the world. In fact, common grace clearly continues in operation even in the worst parts of the world. We see, for example, in the Great Commission the assumption that there will be points of contact through which we may communicate the Gospel to the nations. That implies some remaining common grace.

Besides, if nothing else the Noahic covenant promises the continuance of common grace in at least some ways–all post-flood nations receive at least the promise that the world will not again be destroyed by flood.

Still in the future common grace will withdraw, the Noahic covenant will no longer protect the world from destruction, and the Kingdom of Heaven will begin. At this point common grace and particular grace will merge and combine to the glory of God. That which contains “the life-principle” will “shine in glory”; that which does not will be destroyed. (512-513)

At this point, Kuyper asks the question: who is the man of lawlessness? (This is still related to common grace, which we’ll see.) We used to read the Pope as the man of lawlessness, to which the antidote was the preaching of the Gospel. Kuyper thinks there was truth to this (as do I), and we see the Reformation force changes even in Roman Catholicism. But the new threat has moved away from Rome, such that Roman Catholicism is now a political and cultural ally in ways that would have been unimaginable in the 16th and 17th centuries.

There is some logic to Kuyper’s point. Since Christ has not returned, Rome must not have been the seat of the final man of sin–though Roman Catholicism at the time of the Reformation may have been a predecessor of the man of sin, who comes at the end of history. (516-517)

Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO

Previous Post

July 3, 2020

Job for Children?

Next Post

July 10, 2020 Sexual Minorities on College Campuses

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to James, what does the prayer offered in faith do for the sick person?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ease their pain Shorten their suffering Make them well, and the Lord will raise them up Comfort their spirit