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Oliver O’Donovan reviews Kuyper’s ‘Pro Rege’
Oliver O’Donovan reviews Kuyper’s ‘Pro Rege’
Jan 29, 2026 9:08 PM

Last year, in partnership with the Acton Institute, Lexham Press releasedPro Rege, Vol. 2: Living Under Christ the King, the second in a three-volume series on the lordship of Christ (find Volume 1here) by Abraham Kuyper.

At First Things, the esteemed evangelical ethicist Oliver O’Donovan reviews the first two volumes and explains why the Dutch theologian and statesman is still relevant today:

Kuyper is at his most persuasive when he lays out his vision of the moral solidarity of the human race in Christ, the Second Adam, lord over nature and culture. The whole sphere of human society, the ­ugliness of modernity notwithstanding, is Christ’s to claim; the little flock need not be afraid to emerge from the sanctuary to confess his name in public and do battle for his right. The lament has turned into a summons to cultural ambition. For the Church’s cultural mission cannot float on the cultural stream in a spirit of quiet acceptance. It must exert ­counterpressure, deploy the hard virtues of courage and endurance, and issue a word of challenge where such a thing is not often heard. The naming of Christ in all kinds of endeavors is paramount, for it is the name that gives cultural engagement meaning as a witness to the hidden wisdom of God. And on this point Kuyper seems still to have something to say to our present condition, living in a world where the question of effective Christian presence is constantly raised but rarely answered persuasively.

Read more . . .

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