In the early 1900’s, the Netherlands was under the rule of a dynamic prime minister, Abraham Kuyper. A multi-faceted figure, he implemented significant change in a vast array of sectors and contributed his work to Dutch society as a statesman, a journalist, a historian, a University founder, and a Calvinist theologian, among many other things.
But what can contemporary economic and political reasoning gain from the work of a man who was not a conventional economist?
In this episode, Dan Hugger, librarian and research associate here at the Acton Institute is joined by Peter Heslam, director of Transforming Business and a senior member of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge to discuss Kuyper’s teachings on Business & Economics. Heslam is also published widely on business, economics, religion, and is the author of Creating Christian Worldview: Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism. Hugger and Heslam discuss the life of Abraham Kuyper, his genius, and the role he plays in societal understanding in our modern age.
Although not purely an entrepreneur or economist, Abraham Kuyper was able to comment on business and economics because he was engaged analytically in almost every sector of life, reflecting his belief that all spheres are interconnected under the sovereignty of God. For Kuyper, sound reasoning and action, no matter what sphere it pertains to, under the ordinance of God necessitates it as truth. Similarly, The Acton Institute is devoted to the mutuality and synthesis of economics and morals. When a worldview is good, true, and beautiful, the ultimate truth of every facet in human existence logically follows from one to another.
Bio | Peter Heslam, D.Phil.
Faith in Business
Acton Bookshop | On Business & Economics
Acton Bookshop | The Abraham Kuyper Collection
Acton Line | How should Christians engage the world? In conversation with Abraham Kuyper
Acton Line | Abraham Kuyper's "Common Grace"
Abraham Kuyper: ‘The school belongs to the parents’
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