30+ Abraham Kuyper Quotes (Progressive, Reformed And Activist)

Abraham Kuyper was a Dutch theologian, statesman, and journalist who was a prominent figure in the Neo-Calvinist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for his views on the relationship between faith and culture, which he articulated in his famous 1898 Stone Lectures at Princeton University. Kuyper's influence extended beyond the Netherlands and was felt in the United States, England, and other countries.

Top 10 Abraham Kuyper Quotes

1. He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God.
2. There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!
3. Do not bury our glorious orthodoxy in the treacherous pit of a spurious conservatism.
4. There is not an inch of any sphere of life over which Jesus Christ does not say, 'Mine.'
5. God created hand, head, and heart; the hand for the deed, the head for the world, the heart for mysticism.
6. The Holy Scripture is like a diamond: in the dark it is like a piece of glass, but as soon as the light strikes it the water begins to sparkle, and the scintillation of life greets us.
7. The seminaries must be like the churches' poor relations, prolonging their existence with austerity.
8. Every science in a certain degree starts from faith, and, on the contrary, faith, which does not lead to science, is mistaken faith or superstition, but real, genuine faith it is not.
9. To have faith in the Word, Scripture must not grasp us in our critical thought, but in the life of the soul.
10. There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus does not cry out, 'This is mine!'

Abraham Kuyper Short Quotes

• Unity is the ultimate goal of all the ways of God.
• We cannot be passive and silent towards those who reject God's Word and our holy faith.
• What is hell other than a realm in which unholiness works without restraint in body and soul?
• Sin lives solely by plagiarising the ideas of God

Abraham Kuyper Famous Quotes And Sayings

There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is a beauty which God grants when by His grace men are born again. That kind of beauty never vanishes but blooms eternally. — Abraham Kuyper

When the principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then the battle is your calling, and peace has become sin. You must at the price of dearest peace lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy with all the fire of your faith. — Abraham Kuyper

The greatest gift a church can receive is to have a group of families who take their responsibilitie s with such Christian seriousness that they are willing to completely alter their lifestyle to raise up disciples for Jesus Christ. — Abraham Kuyper

The curse should no longer rest upon the world itself, but upon that which is sinful in it, and instead of monastic flight from the world the duty is now emphasized of serving God in the world, in every position in life. — Abraham Kuyper

... we have gratefully to receive from the hand of God the institution of the state with its magistrates as a means of preservation.... On the other hand ... by virtue of our natural impulse, we must ever watch against the danger which lurks for our personal liberty in the power of the state. — Abraham Kuyper

How often has not the parallel been drawn and the golden age of the Roman Empire, when the external brilliancy of life likewise dazzled the eye, notwithstanding that the social diagnosis could yield no other verdict than 'rotten to the very core'? — Abraham Kuyper

Calvinism is an all-embracing system of principles... It is rooted in a form of religion which was peculiarly its own, and form that specific religious consciousness there was developed first a particular theology, then a special church-order, and then a given form for political and social life. — Abraham Kuyper

Whatever man may stand, whatever he may do, to whatever he may apply his hand - in agriculture, in commerce, and in industry, or his mind, in the world of art, and science - he is, in whatsoever it may be, constantly standing before the face of God. He is employed in the service of his God. He has strictly to obey his God. And above all, he has to aim at the glory of his God. — Abraham Kuyper

The question is not if the candidate's heart is favorable to Christianity, but if he has Christ as his starting point even for politics, and will speak out His name! — Abraham Kuyper

The motive of art comes to us not from what exists, but from the notion that there is something higher, something nobler, something richer, and that what exists corresponds only partially to all of this. — Abraham Kuyper

We understand hereby, that the family, the business, science, art and so forth are all social spheres, which do not owe their existence to the State, but obey a high authority within their own bosom; an authority which rules, by the grace of God, just as the sovereignty of the State does. — Abraham Kuyper

A charity which knows only how to give money is not yet Christian love. You will be free of guilt only when you also give your time, your energy, and your resourcefulness to help end such abuses for good, and when you allow nothing that lies hidden in the storehouse of your Christian religion to remain unused against the cancer that is destroying the vitality of our society in such alarming ways. — Abraham Kuyper

It is impossible, Bible in hand, to limit Christ's Church to one's own little community. It is everywhere, in all parts of the world; and whatever its external form, frequently changing, often impure, yet the gifts wherever received increase our riches. — Abraham Kuyper

Lutheranism restricted itself to an exclusively ecclesiastical and theological character, while Calvinism put its impress in and outside the church upon every aspect of human life. — Abraham Kuyper

Genius is a sovereign power; it forms schools; it lays hold on the spirits of men, with irresistible might; and it exercises an immeasurable influence on the whole condition of human life. This sovereignty of genius is a gift of God, possessed only by his grace. It is subject to no one and is responsible to him alone who has granted it this ascendancy. — Abraham Kuyper

The sovereignty of the state as the power that protects the individual and that defines the mutual relationships among the visible spheres, rises high above them by its right to command and compel. But within these spheres ... another authority rules, an authority that descends directly from God apart from the state. This authority the state does not confer but acknowledges. — Abraham Kuyper

Life Lessons by Abraham Kuyper

1. Abraham Kuyper taught that all of life should be lived in service to God, and that faith should be applied to all aspects of life, including politics and education.
2. He emphasized the importance of individual responsibility and the need for Christians to be active in the world.
3. Kuyper's work encourages Christians to be engaged in society and to strive for justice and righteousness in all aspects of life.