Herman Bavinck was one of the premiere theologians of the modern era and arguably the most able theologian of the late-nineteenth century in the Netherlands. In recent years, many of Bavinck’s works have been made available in English for the first time, most notably his four-volume Reformed Dogmatics. The surge of access to Bavinck’s works has fuelled greater curiosity in his theology and of course the context that gave rise to it.

James Eglinton is the foremost expert on Bavinck today and has done us an immense favour by writing what is certainly a definitive biography of the Dutch dogmatician. This book is a serious piece of scholarship, but is also supremely accessible. It is serious in that Eglinton has done an immense amount of work in tracing Bavinck’s life through Bavinck’s own personal papers, journals, and letters and providing us insight from the primary sources themselves (which he reads in Dutch) about the twists and turns of Bavinck’s story. This book is also supremely accessible though in that it is well-written, non-technical, and gives enough backstory about the Dutch context and Bavinck’s family so that no one is lost as the story develops.

This is a must-read book. Bavinck’s story is gripping, inspiring, and soul-stirring. It certainly provides new light and brings new life to the books that Bavinck has left to us. Scholars will find a well-crafted biography to inform their reading of the theologian himself. Aspiring theologians will find a kindred spirit in Bavinck as he balances love for the church with ambitions as an academic. Ministers will see someone wrestling for the good of the church in his nation. And Christians will be moved by a man who gave his life to work for the best for God’s people in his own day and for the future.

This book is available to purchase from Mound Books.

Harrison Perkins, London City Presbyterian Church & Edinburgh Theological Seminary