Bavinck’s life as a theological titan began modestly. Born on December 13, 1854, in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands, he grew up (and remained) a loyal son of the marginalized Reformed community that stemmed from an ecclesiastical separation known as the Afscheiding. Bavinck’s father, the deeply pious Rev. Jan Bavinck, played a prominent role in the dissenting denomination, the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk (Christian Reformed Church). His mother, Gesina, strongly supported her husband in that regard, despite her family’s formal ties to the mother church, the Hervormde Kerk. 

This new publication of Herman Bavinck’s Magnalia Dei, helpfully retitled as The Wonderful Works of God, testifies to the relevance and value of great theology. Few theologians have plumbed the depths, probed the richness, and proclaimed the scope of Scripture, of history and redemption, of Christ and his reign, as has Herman Bavinck (1854–1921). Beyond his brilliance in theology—or better, as an extension of it—Bavinck addressed topics as diverse as ethics, philosophy, psychology, education, society, and politics. He wrote with exquisite erudition, positioning each field as an organic constituent of his expansive, trinitarian theological vision of God and the cosmos. For Bavinck, every endeavor, including the most mundane, is an occasion to praise God’s name, for all things are organically and intimately connected under the sovereign sway of his hand as he carries out his works of creation, redemption, and consummation. In this way, the world-encompassing character of Bavinck’s Reformed Christian outlook is a reminder never to despise the day of small things (cf. Zech 4:10).

Bavinck’s life as a theological titan began modestly. Born on December 13, 1854, in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands, he grew up (and remained) a loyal son of the marginalized Reformed community that stemmed from an ecclesiastical separation known as the Afscheiding. Bavinck’s father, the deeply pious Rev. Jan Bavinck, played a prominent role in the dissenting denomination, the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk (Christian Reformed Church). His mother, Gesina, strongly supported her husband in that regard, despite her family’s formal ties to the mother church, the Hervormde Kerk. Young Herman received his early theological training at the small seminary in Kampen that had been organized by the Secession churches. But after only one year—and with his parents’ blessing—he left Kampen to pursue more extensive training at the modernist University of Leiden. There, liberal professors broadened his mind but did not break his Reformed convictions. After a brief pastorate (one year in Franeker), Bavinck settled into life as a theology professor and church leader, first back in Kampen (1883–1901), and then later at The Free University of Amsterdam (1902–1921). From 1911 until his death a decade later, Bavinck also served as South Holland’s representative to the First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, applying his academic training and theology to the public square.

In The Wonderful Works of God, Bavinck the scholar reveals his core identity as a Christian, a lover of Scripture, and a worshipper of God. According to his original Foreword, he intended the work to serve as “a handbook on Reformed theology” for ordinary Christians. The reader should know, however, that this handbook is no less profound than his magisterial four-volume Gereformeerde Dogmatiek, translated and republished for the English-speaking world as Reformed Dogmatics. In fact, The Wonderful Works of God is a compendium of that grander work, chiseled and polished for popular use.

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