A godless political theory can only be opposed by a godly one. Groen van Prinsterer's (1801-1876) political theory is both Augustinian and simple. The forsaking of the supremacy of God's transcendent moral order in favor of the supremacy of mankind leads-not to freedom-but to arbitrary authority and tyranny. True and reliable knowledge begins with knowledge received from God; without this, man becomes lost in all spheres of knowledge. This includes political knowledge.
Like the rest of Europe, the Netherlands was abandoning the supremacy of God's transcendent moral order in politics. This same secular political theory wreaks havoc in politics today. As a devout Christian statesman, Groen opposed this anti-Christian liberalism with a theory grounded upon God's Word and God's providence in history, a faithful political theory still true today.
Students of neo-Calvinism, Reformed Conservatism, or Christian political philosophy will all alike enjoy the easy prose, rhetorical elegance, and fiery punch delivered by one of Holland's greatest parliamentarians.
Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (1801-1876) was a Dutch Christian statesman and historian whose Anti-Revolutionary political theory was characterized by its opposition to the anti-Christian liberalism and socialism inspired by the Enlightenment. He studied at Leiden University, obtained his literature doctorate, and graduated in 1823. He was the secretary to William II, a member of the Second Chamber of Parliament, and later became the leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party. Groen was a disciple of Edmund Burke, a mentor to Abraham Kuyper, and was endorsed by Herman Bavinck. It was in Groen van Prinsterer that Dutch Conservatism found one of its greatest voices.
Jan Adriaan Schlebusch is a Christian philosopher and historian. Born in 1989 in Bloemfontein, South Africa, he grew up on a cattle ranch near the city. Between 2008 and 2013, he completed a BA (Theology), a BA Honors (Latin), and an MA (Philosophy) at the University of the Free State. In 2018, he graduated with a PhD from the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Groningen. The title of his doctoral dissertation was "Strategic Narratives: Groen van Prinsterer as Nineteenth-Century Statesman-Historian." He has published several peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Trajecta and the Journal for Christian Scholarship, among others. He is a senior researcher at the Pactum Institute and a research associate with the Department of Systematic and Historical Theology at the University of Pretoria.
