Natural Law And The Two Kingdoms

Conventional wisdom holds that the theology and social ethics of the Reformed tradition stand at odds with concepts of natural law and the two kingdoms. This volume challenges that conventional wisdom through a study of Reformed social thought from the Reformation to the present.
David VanDrunen begins by exploring the early development of Reformed thought in its first few centuries on the continent, in Britain, and in America. He argues that natural law and the two kingdoms were common themes in this early theology. In fact, he says, these ideas were embedded in crucial anthropological, christological, and ecclesiological doctrines, shaping convictions about the state, civil rebellion, and the role of the church in broader social life.

VanDrunen then turns to more recent thinkers of the Reformed tradition – Abraham Kuyper, Karl Barth, Herman Dooyeweerd, and Cornelius Van Til – tracing how each contributed in his own way to the decline of these doctrines in Reformed theology and social ethics. Finally, he reflects on recent signs of renewed interest in natural law and the two kingdoms, suggesting how their recovery is a hopeful sign for the Reformed tradition.

“The strength of this book is the overwhelming amount of historical evidence, judiciously analyzed and assessed, that positions the Reformed tradition clearly in the natural law, two kingdoms camp. This valuable contribution to our understanding of the Christian life cannot and should not be ignored or overlooked. The growing acceptance of the social gospel among evangelicals puts us in jeopardy of losing the gospel itself; the hostility to natural law and concomitant love affair with messianic ethics opens us up to tyranny. This is a much needed and indispensable ally in the battle for the life of the Christian community in North America.” / – John Bolt / Calvin Theological Seminary