Neo-Calvinism and the French Revolution

The French Revolution was the scene of much intellectual and social upheaval. Its impact touched a wide range of subjects: the relationship of the church to the state, social relationships, science, literature, fashion, philosophy and theology. Although the French Revolution's momentum was felt across Europe and North America, it met a particularly interesting response in the Netherlands, at that time the scene of a burgeoning neoCalvinist movement. In that context, the likes of Groen van Prinsterer, Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck responded to the French Revolution's ideals and influence in a variety of intellectual and practical ways.This book approaches that Dutch response from a range of historical and theological perspectives, and in so doing explores the relationship between the French Revolution and the development of neoCalvinism. Beginning with historical portraits of Bavinck and Kuyper in relation to the Revolution, the perspectives offered also include, amongst others, the place of multilingualism in neoCalvinism and the Revolution, neoCalvinist and Revolutionary approaches to fashion, a dialogue between Kuyperian theology and Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy, and a contemporary neoCalvinist critique of French laïcité. This book forms part of a wider Project neoCalvinism supported by the Theologische Universiteit Kampen and the Vu University Amsterdam.