Bavinck: A Critical Biography

By James Eglinton

This is a scholarly biography of the great Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck.  Born in 1854 and dying in 1921, Bavinck was a brilliant theologian who wrote extensively.  His most notable work is the four-volume Reformed Dogmatics, but he interacted with leading thinkers and philosophers of his day on a range of subjects.  He wrote voluminously.  He was also a close colleague of Abraham Kuyper.  Timothy Keller, in a blurb for the book, refers to Bavinck as the greatest reformed theologian of the 20th century.

It was interesting to learn about Bavinck’s life and contribution.  However, the book was overall disappointing.  Perhaps because this is a scholarly biography, there was little sense of his spiritual life, his marriage, and even his overall impact upon the world.