As with nature, Scripture and the church are organisms – fifth of a series
Theologian and professor Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) is highly regarded for a multitude of reasons. Two of them stand out. First, his appreciation for philosophy resulted in him sparking a renewal of many aspects of Reformed theology in the light of the intellectual changes in our modern age. Second, he built upon the Bible-based ideas of one of the founding leaders of Protestant movement, John Calvin, advancing and deepening the Reformer’s contributions.
Educated at conservative and liberal schools in Holland, Bavinck was well-positioned to take on the huge task of keeping Reformed theology relevant and active in the modern context. Bavinck’s interaction with philosophy and with Calvin is exemplified by his use of the “organic” theme as applied to Scripture and the church, among other subjects.
Christian theologians up until the time of the Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries had usually spoken of God primarily as a philosophical concept. Heavily influenced by ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato, the personal dimension of God and an appreciation for his continuing care of his creation and its people was not foremost in their thinking.
Pioneer Protestant leaders, on the other hand, began with the God of the Bible, a God who was and is active in nurturing his chosen people and in guiding world events according to his own plan, in spite of sin’s considerable corrupting force. In addition, they stressed the personal relations among and distinctive work of the three persons of the Trinity.
No longer was God seen as static and impersonal to the great extent that he was. He was personal in his internal relations as a trinity and yet a unity. . .
Bavinck continued this tradition, organizing his four-volume study of Reformed dogmatics (teaching about doctrine for the benefit of the Church) in a Trinitarian pattern. Yet he blended this biblically orthodox approach with compatible elements of the philosophy from our Modern period as well as that of the ancient Greeks and Christian writers.
No longer was God seen as static and impersonal to the great extent that he was. He was personal in his internal relations as a trinity and yet a unity, and his “being” was not prioritized over his “becoming,” in the sense that he was seen as active in carrying out his will and plan every moment of our day.
Bavinck was always careful to avoid seeing God as Nature (pantheism) or as distant from the world (deism). God was always active, caring for Creation and all people but particularly his elect. God himself did not change, but he was ever active in our changing world.
Bavinck’s and Calvin’s stress on the personal aspect of God’s nature is very much in keeping with Jesus’ teaching about God, who was described as intensely in intensely personal terms. He was a Father to Jesus (as the Son) and also to those who believed in Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Also, Jesus’ parables made it very clear that God was active in the affairs of the world and was growing and governing his Kingdom (his kingly reign) in the world, a world that would one day be renewed without sin in glory.
For Bavinck, the organic theme was patterned on the nature of the trinitarian God, which encompassed both a unity and a diversity, albeit by way of analogy and not of essence. This motif includes a number of characteristics. It refers to something that is alive, is composed of many parts or members yet is a single entity, and that has an origin, grows with purpose and moves toward an end or goal. He cites the basic understanding of an organism in nature as an example, and views Scripture and the church as organisms. Both are made up of many elements, yet are independent unities (independent except under God, of course).
Scripture was an organism that was created and guided by God according to his eternal plan, making use of writers who were prepared by God to do the job and did it willingly.
Scripture: In terms of Scripture, he argues, the Bible is the Word of God, his revelation to humans. But it was not delivered “mechanically” through direct dictation by God, nor in many cases stemmed from the prophetic inspiration of its writers. The Bible is inspired, but its writers were not all inspired by the same kind of inspiration as that of the prophets.
The Bible was written by fully human authors, whom God prepared for the task before birth and who were guided by the Holy Spirit. The writers were free and not coerced to write what they did. The apostles were often moved to testify to Jesus, for example, but did so freely and without coercion. In very general terms, by analogy the written Word was “incarnated” in the Bible so that it was both fully human and fully divine.
Scripture was an organism that was created and guided by God according to his eternal plan, making use of writers who were prepared by God to do the job and did it willingly. The Word of God was written to reveal God’s will to humanity, then and now. It is not dead letters on a page but is a living organism that continues to bring God’s revelation to people today. It is a continuing instrument of God’s grace used by the Holy Spirit to convict and to convert people as God wills.
With regard to the study of the Bible, Bavinck sees value in studying the background and ideas of each writer, respecting them as individuals. Their varying perspectives on God’s nature and work and their various testimonies work together in an organic fashion (diversity) to provide life to the Scriptures as a whole (unity). Bible scholarship was endorsed, if its end result was to understand God’s revelation better.
He writes: “In the past, when a deeper understanding was lacking, this difference was explained in terms of the will of the Holy Spirit. Given the organic view, however, this difference is perfectly natural. Similarly, the use of sources, the authors’ familiarity with earlier writings, their own inquiries, memory, reflection and life experience are all included, and not excluded, by the organic view. The Holy Spirit himself prepared his writers in that fashion” (Reformed Dogmatics 1, pg. 443)
[The Church] is not primarily an institution, nor is it simply a collection of individuals. Its “living stones” have a purpose as an organism that moves towards the end in the world to come.
Church: Viewing the church as an organism is nothing special for many Protestants. It is, as Paul writes, a body that is made up of many parts or members. They all contribute and work together to fulfill God’s plan to use the church as an instrument of salvation and Christian growth, as well as a model for society as a whole.
It is not primarily an institution, nor is it simply a collection of individuals. Its “living stones” have a purpose as an organism that moves towards the end in the world to come. Its origin is God, it is guided by him, and it will be present with him in the world to come.
Bavinck stresses that variety and diversity in the church is not accidental but is intentional on the part of God. As such, church members must respect and love their fellow believers and be willing to work with them in unity and in humility for the sake of the church’s mission. Variety in unity was a positive, not a negative, and meant to be welcomed and enjoyed.
In keeping with his definition of organic, he writes: “Thus the church exists in the midst of the world with an origin, essence, activity and purpose of its own. While in every respect it is distinct from that world, it never stands apart from or alongside the world.” (RD 4, p. 435).
And: “Along this organic path Christian truth and the Christian life are introduced in all the circles of natural life, so that life in the household and the extended family is restored to honor, the wife (woman) is again viewed as the equal of the husband (man), the sciences and arts are Christianized, the level of the moral life is elevated, society and state are reformed, laws and institutions, morals and customs are made Christian” (RD 4, p. 437).
Conclusion: The organic theme opens up discussion of God, his plan and his work in a way that is familiar to us modern folk. It stresses the personal element in God’s work, all the while relating it to organisms that God forms and guides to accomplish his will.
The motif avoids modern views that God is to be equated with the natural world or is said not to be involved with its everyday operation. God is instead the living God, the heavenly father who saves and nurtures his own, who dispenses common grace to those who are outside of his family of the elect, and who grows the Kingdom for his own glory now and in the world to come.
There is much more to discover of Bavinck’s use of the organic theme. The masterly work of James Eglinton, who also wrote the theologian’s biography, an excellent article by J. Todd Billings on Calvin’s and Bavinck’s views on union with Christ, and three short summaries on the internet by Matt Marino are worth pursuing. See the sidebar for details.
