Honey from the Rock: Daily Devotions from Young Kuyper

by Abraham Kuyper

Publisher:

Lexham Press

, 2018

An Unseen Side of Kuyper

Communion with the Lord is sweeter than honey.

In his meditations, Abraham Kuyper reveals a side of himself rarely seen in his well-known theological writings. First published in 1880 and 1883 and never before translated in English, the devotions in Honey from the Rock were written for the nourishment and health of his soul. Rather than the public figure and theologian, we see a man thirsting and hungering for God’s presence. Modern readers entering this sacred space will be spiritually renewed, restored, and replenished by the light of God’s Word, before returning to our daily callings. James De Jong introduces these powerful devotions from Kuyper.

Praise for Honey from the Rock

Imagine opening a collection of meditations by the young Augustine, a young Martin Luther or John Calvin. In this new volume we find a collection of meditations by the young Abraham Kuyper, never before published in English translation. Here are the devotional thoughts of one of the most significant Protestant thinkers of the last 150 years and from the most formative period of his influential life. This treasure is both timeless and timely.

—R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

I have been reading Kuyper’s Near Unto God collection of meditations for decades—so much so that I wore out my first copy. He is my favorite devotional writer. And now this wonderful collection of 200 more. I hope all who have come to appreciate Kuyper’s writings on politics and culture in recent years will now taste the spiritual sweetness of Honey from the Rock!

—Richard J. Mouw, President emeritus, Fuller Theological Seminary

Kuyper is best known for his Christian vision of cultural engagement. This is his legacy, but in Kuyper’s times he was beloved among the Reformed people in the first place for his weekly meditations. In these reflections on a Bible verse, Kuyper opened his heart to his readers by meditating about the personal relation with God in a creative, personal, and inspiring way. Of all Kuyper’s publications, his volumes with meditations sold best. His meditations seem largely to have been forgotten, and therefore it is more than apt that James de Jong translated one of the most famous volumes and presents the religious Kuyper to a new audience. If you want to learn to know Kuyper, his meditations are the best entree to his biography and work.

—George Harinck, Professor of History, the Free University of Amsterdam and the Theological University of Kampen; Director of the Neo-Calvinism Institute, Kampen, the Netherlands

Top Highlights

“As he stresses from time to time, meditating and Christian public worship are essential spiritual exercises, in which we leave external preoccupations at the door. Here we enter the sacred space where we consciously stand in the presence of God. Here we search our hearts and souls in the light of his Word. Here we are spiritually renewed, restored, and replenished for returning to our daily callings.” (Page xvi)

“No, no! Remaining here on earth is even less permissible for those redeemed by Jesus than for their Savior himself. They grow into one plant with their Lord and are thus cut off at the root from this world. To live in him is to live outside the world. Like pilgrims on a pilgrimage, they are no longer at home on earth but are on a journey to their real homeland. Whoever finds what they are looking for here below lowers them self beneath their true calling as a human being. They have no fellowship with God’s holy angels, but merely with the foxes, birds, and animals of the forest.” (Page 7)

“Above all, is it the greatest fruit of all, namely, the complete and pure love that flows from God into you? And does this love enable you to love and serve him not from a sense of obligation but from the adoration of your heart?” (Page 13)

“Accordingly, whoever follows Jesus turns his back on the world. She repeatedly finds its charms fading. In her heart and soul she crucifies its glories. She does so not because she relinquishes a desire for happiness, but because she yearns for a greater, higher, richer, and more brilliant glory. In hope, he desires a glory through which already now his quieted heart finds itself swelling with a holy joy. This is joy in the divine splendor and pure luster of God’s kingdom.” (Pages 7–8)

Product Details

• Title: Honey from the Rock: Daily Devotions from Young Kuyper
• Author: Abraham Kuyper
• Translator: James A. De Jong
• Publisher: Lexham Press
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 600
• Format: Logos Digital, Hardcover
• Trim Size: 7x10
• ISBN: 9781683592341

About Abraham Kuyper

Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920) was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905. He founded the Free University in Amsterdam and served as a professor of theology. At the invitation of B. B. Warfield, Kuyper traveled to the United States to deliver the Stone Lectures at Princeton and address Reformed congregations in Michigan and Iowa.

Kuyper studied at the University of Leiden, and received his doctorate there in 1863. He became a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church in 1863, and consistently called for the separation of church and state. He also led a secession from the Dutch Reformed Church and united several disparate Reformed churches in the Netherlands.

Kuyper also led an active political life. He served as a member of Parliament in the Netherlands beginning in 1874 and served as prime minister from 1901–1905.

Abraham Kuyper was instrumental in the development of Neocalvinism, and is remembered for his articulation of common grace and for popularizing the notion of a Reformed worldview. He has influenced such notable figures as Francis Schaeffer, Cornelius Van Til, Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and Chuck Colson.

Some of Kuyper’s publications, which are available in Logos, include Wisdom & Wonder: Common Grace in Science & Art, The Antithesis between Symbolism and Revelation, and Encyclopedia of Sacred Theology: Its Principles.