Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: A Refutation of Liberalism (Paperback or Softback)

In the middle of the 19^th century, the Netherlands struggled with revolutionary fervor. The Enlightenment ideas represented by the motto, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," threatened to destroy much of the good that the Dutch Fatherland had inherited. The Dutch historical icon, Groen van Prinsterer, picked up his pen in response.

The envisioned "progress" seemed positive-liberty, equality, and fraternity was the stated goal. But, as Groen van Prinsterer demonstrates in this work, the fruit of progress was anything but positive. The promises were never met and the goods never delivered; but how could they be? Reality itself was negated by unbelief, and delusion concealed in man's mind his fallen state. War was declared not against sin and oppression but against God's order itself and his remedy for sin; and hence, ironically, the politics of man came to be directed, perhaps unwittingly, against man himself.

It was in opposition to the doctrines of 1789 that modern Conservatism was born. A disciple of Edmund Burke, a mentor to Abraham Kuyper, and endorsed by Herman Bavinck, Dutch Conservatism found one of its greatest voices in Groen.

He argues that the Revolution promises freedom yet enslaves; promises equality yet promotes inequality; promises brotherhood, yet these ideas have made men more isolated and violent than ever before. By contrast, he argues, true liberty, equality, and fraternity are found only in Christ and the Christian faith. The secular rejection of God produces a false hope in a bankrupt ideology. Groen begins with a historical analysis of the effects of the Enlightenment motto, then the philosophy itself, followed by the Christian alternative.

Often witty and sarcastic, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity was originally a popular and accessible version of Groen's magnum opus, Unbelief and Revolution. Students of neo-Calvinism, Reformed Conservatism, or Dutch history in general will alike enjoy the accessible 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 and obtained his doctorate of literature 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 visiting fellow with the Neo-Calvinism Research Institute.