Maintaining
that Berkouwer has continually failed to expound the full teaching of
Scripture concerning the ‘before’ element of divine election, Baker
insists that “Berkouwer cannot communicate what the Bible means by
‘election’ if he neglects such a determinative concept” (pp. 102-103).
Referring to the phrase “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians
1:4; John 17:24; 1 Peter 1:20), Baker states that “Berkouwer has never
commented at any length in any of his Dogmatics on the significance of
these words” (p. 102).
It may also be argued that Baker’s failure to discuss at any length
Berkouwer’s concept of the “depth-aspect” of salvation weakens his
criticism of Berkouwer’s interpretation of the ‘before’ element of
election.
Here, we may note what Berkouwer says about the depth-aspect of
salvation.
Recognizing the inadequacy of human language, Berkouwer seeks to
understand the language of predestination in connection with the
“depth-aspect” of salvation (Divine Election, pp. 113, 150, 168). He
emphasizes that “the depth-aspect of salvation … is not a matter of
hiddenness which goes beyond the knowledge of faith … not something far
distant, not a vague, threatening reality, but the foundation of
salvation … ” (pp. 113-114 - in a discussoion of Biblical passages which
speak about “the Book of Life”).
With this idea of the depth-aspect of salvation, Berkouwer seeks to
understand the idea of ‘before the foundation of the world.’ He
emphasizes that “These words do not occur in Scripture as a threat, but
in the decisive depth-aspect of salvation. They are not placed in a
context in which they make us dizzy in the face of an unapproachable
‘eternity’, … but they are intended to show us the source of our eternal
salvation … ‘Before’ indicates that this divine act of salvation,
preached to us by the gospel, is free from what we know in the world to
be arbitrary and precarious … in this depth-aspect of God’s salvation it
becomes … evident that this salvation did not originate in our flesh
and blood, and that it is by no means of human merit or creation. But
precisely this fact does not obscure the way; on the contrary, it
illumines it. ‘Before the foundation of the world’ means to direct our
attention to what can be called the opposite of chance and contingence.”
(pp. 150-151).
Berkouwer’s basic understanding of the depth-aspect is defined thus:
“When we speak of the depth-aspect, we mean that eternity does not stand
in contrast to what in time becomes historical reality, but rather that
the salvation accomplished by Christ’s death of reconciliation cannot
be merely historical, but that it has its eternal foundation in the love
of God” (p. 168)
In this post, I will draw comparisons between Arminius and Berkouwer. * Bangs points out that the historical situation in Holland was not a simple one - Calvinism coming in, Arminius nearly ruining it and the Synod of Dort restoring it: “The earliest Dutch Reformed leaders don’t seem to be Calvinists at all. They rise out of the soil, here and there, nurtured by the old Dutch biblical piety, not seized by dogmatic insights, but steadily pressing toward a purified life of faith according to Scripture” (p. 21). This emphasis is similar to Berkouwer’s insistence that election is not a special gnosis for the theological elite. Rather, it is a confession of faith, arising from the hearts of those who have come to know the grace of God ( Divine Election (DE), p. 216). * Bangs observes that Arminius’ theological method is “practical and through faith”: “For the Theology which belongs to this world, is practical and through faith: Theoretical Theology belongs to the o...
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