In surveying their eschatological vision of culture and the resulting imperative for Christians to be diligent in the cultural labors out of a sense of calling in light of God’s future work of recreation, Kuyper and Schilder impel Christians towards similar ends. Further, their respective differences, owing to divergences in their understanding of God’s purposes in creation, can help strengthen the others’ view by adding a counter-stress against where they each descend into problematic conclusions.

Abstract
Abraham Kuyper’s theology of culture is gaining interest in the English-speaking world, especially among those outside the Dutch Reformed tradition. Historic debates in the Dutch Reformed tradition over Kuyper’s hallmark doctrine of common grace often seem parochial or irrelevant to contemporary engagement with his thought. Revisiting one figure in those debates, this essay argues that Klaas Schilder, one of Kuyper’s most vocal critics, offers an important counterbalance to problematic features of Kuyper’s theology. While the divide between Kuyper and Schilder has historically been severe, consideration of their similarities regarding their eschatological vision of Christian cultural creation offers a way to harmonize their differences.

“Kuyperians were pluralists before pluralism was cool,” writes James K. A. Smith.1 Indeed, neo-Calvinists in the tradition of Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920) display a marked fondness for stressing the possibility and imperative of shared cultural labor between Christians and non-Christians in society.2 Christians can work alongside non-Christians to create God-glorifying artifacts of culture, such as art or music, as well as less tangible elements of culture, such as share values, language, philosophic systems, or social and political institutions. While Smith certainly appreciates such contributions of the Kuyperian tradition, his critique aims at correcting what he perceives to be far too great an interest in the commonness which Christians share with the rest of society, at the expense of neglecting their distinctiveness. Neo-Calvinists have lost a sense of Christianity’s prophetic cultural witness, he argues. Or, to put it in more Kuyperian terms: neo-Calvinists have neglected the ecclesial contours of the antithesis between Christ’s work of redemption and humanity’s rebellion in sin. More specifically, they have failed to live out the active ministry of the institutional church of shaping communities in the distinctiveness of Christian liturgical life, which in turn is to serve as a leavening force in society for civic virtue.3
To rekindle the force of the Kuyperian antithesis, Smith has shown interest in the lesser known influence of Dutch theologian Klaas Schilder (1890–1952). Schilder, a strident critic of Kuyper and his legacy, provides what Smith sees as an element lacking in many contemporary neo-Calvinist theologies of social and cultural life. This is namely a “dispositional deflection” away from public life steeped in non-Christian principles, while at the same time providing a call to remain faithfully present within society, for its good and for Christ’s glory.4 Smith is not alone in recognizing the value of the greater emphasis Schilder puts on what neo-Calvinists call the antithesis, the epistemic and existential divide between regenerate Christians and the unregenerate, especially concerning social and cultural cooperation. A growing group of Kuyperians have begun to look to Schilder in an effort to strengthen their Kuyperian heritage.5
This willingness of those sympathetic to Kuyper’s theology of culture and common life to reach across what has been a bitter divide in the Dutch neo-Calvinist tradition represents a promising new chapter in the conversation. Schilder rejected Kuyper’s foundational doctrine of common grace with great skepticism, and any effort to harmonize their thoughts must begin elsewhere. This essay proposes to put Kuyper and Schilder in conversation yet again, seeking to find some constructive unity in their varied understandings of culture, the antithesis, and common life shared between Christians and non-Christians. Whereas much of this discussion has historically focused on areas of disagreement, little serious effort has been given to those areas where Schilder and Kuyper’s theology bear similarities and can in fact work well together. The way to do this, this study proposes, is to begin where these similarities are the strongest.
For various reasons, Kuyper and Schilder disagree about much regarding creation, divine providence, and doctrines which serve to construct a “protology,” that is, a doctrine of the axiomatic beginning of all things. However, their eschatological vision for culture and human life does possess some crucial harmony. This study will therefore begin at the end, so to speak, examining both Kuyper and Schilder’s eschatological visions of culture, in order to discern how Christians in the present ought to understand their cultural task in light of the future. To frame this proposal, this study will survey the nature of the divide between Kuyper and Schilder on culture and common grace, before turning to their respective eschatological visions for culture to begin to work of synthesizing their views.
The Nature of the Divide
Beginning with the end of all things is a fitting endeavor in the study of Schilder’s theology of culture. “All threads of life and revelation,” he says, “lead in the end to heaven.”6 Though his thoughts on the cultural life of the eschaton certainly diverge from Kuyper’s, they do find significant common ground here as well. Schilder’s main conflict with Kuyper concerns instead the beginning of history. Kuyper is famous for his expansion of the doctrine of common grace in Reformed thought as the basis for his theology of cultural life. For Kuyper, God’s design for his creation is for humanity, his vice-regents, to develop the hidden potential sown into the created order as seeds awaiting germination.7 Cultural life, that is, the fruit of human labor as they interact together with God’s created order, is but one element of this latency.8 Humanity is charged with the task of creation’s development in Genesis 1:26–28 as part of God’s command to both fill the earth and to subdue it. The fall and the entrance of sin into the life of humanity, however, raises the question of how such a task and humanity’s capacity to fulfill it is affected by so deep a rift in God’s design for things. For Kuyper, God’s common grace accounts for the existential reality that humanity has indeed been able to develop creation’s latent potentials, sometimes for better though often for worse. Common grace, therefore, serves as Kuyper’s account for how cultural life remains possible, and reveals that God’s design for his creation has not been aborted, but continues to unfold and advance in this life prior to its consummation in the eschaton.9
Schilder, writing a generation after Kuyper, rejected Kuyper’s accounting for human cultural life in common grace, partly because of what he saw as problems inherent in Kuyper’s doctrine of divine providence. While both Kuyper and Schilder adamantly embraced a supralapsarian vision of God’s eternal decrees, the nature of Schilder’s critique highlights the supralapsarian tendency to frame the situation in more absolute terms.10 For Schilder, it cannot be the case that what allows both sinful humanity and the redeemed to both seemingly develop culture can be called grace.11 In reality, what Kuyper calls “grace” is simply the prolonging of judgment that will ultimately result in grace for the elect but condemnation for the reprobate, justified by reprobate humanity’s sinfulness manifest and magnified by their cultural labors.12 What accounts for present cultural life is a common “tempering” of God’s judgment against sin, so that his equal plans of both grace and wrath might come to completion in history.13
Despite such a dire prognosis, Schilder does retain a fundamentally positive view towards human cultural life, going so far as to call cultural abstention on the part of Christians a sin against God’s creational calling.14 For Schilder, cultural life is one area of responsibility for humanity under God’s covenant of works, which God entered into with the whole human race via Adam in paradise. This covenant bears actual expectations for faithfulness, namely to live out the fullness of the imago dei for which God created humanity and to the development of creation’s latencies in cultural life—covenant expectations which remain in force for all humanity even today.15
One Culture or Two?
One can begin to see in the above outline of Schilder’s thought the emergence of his emphasis on the antithesis. For Schilder, to properly speak of culture in its present reality is to speak only in connection with its ultimate telos. The problem of the fall is that it detaches human cultural striving from its proper integration with right orientation of cultural life, which hinges on right worship of God.16 The hope of the work of Christ is that regeneration restores the possibility of properly integrated cultural labor, that is work which sees “every part in its proper place in the whole”—even if this is only provisionally possible this side of the eschaton.17 The recognition this brings is that according to Schilder’s thought the vast majority of cultural development throughout history is debilitated by sin, even if cultural life as such remains inherently good according to God’s designs.
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We knock and listen so we are prepared for the day—the inevitable day—when the gates will open to receive us to new life or a second death, to the bliss of heaven or the horrors of hell. We knock to ensure we are waiting, to ensure we are ready, to ensure we will go to be with the Lord we love.

There is a sense in which we are less familiar with death than our forebears, more insulated from its horrors. Of course the death rate in the twenty-first century is identical to every century before and every century to come—“it is appointed for [each and every] man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” So perhaps it is better to say we are less familiar with what we consider premature death—the death of infants, children, and young adults.
Because we are less familiar with death, we tend to prepare less for its inevitable encroachment. With the average lifespan now extending well past the promised threescore and ten, it is easy enough to set death alongside retirement, pensions, and inheritances as matters that should concern us sometime in the future, but certainly not right now.
But it was not always so and there are lessons we can and should learn from previous generations of Christians, for they had a heightened understanding of the importance of being ready. They had to. Like first responders, they had to be in a state of constant preparation, ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice. Like servants, they had to be dressed and ready for the moment they were summoned into the presence of the king. They did not have the luxury of associating death with a life well-lived to a ripe old age. Death could come quickly and at any time. It commonly did.
In reading the Puritans and their successors, I’ve often come across a captivating little phrase: “knocking at the gates of the grave.” Jeremy Taylor wrote a whole book about Christian dying and said, “He that would die well must always look for death, every day knocking at the gates of the grave; and then the gates of the grave shall never prevail against him to do him mischief.” Theodore Cuyler sometimes recounted strolling through Greenwood cemetery where three of his children had been laid to rest—two as infants and one as a young adult—and using his time there to metaphorically knock at the gates of the grave, “to listen whether any painful echo comes back from within.”
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Written by The Mary A. Rackham Institute |
Friday, July 7, 2023
Due to Jeff’s stroke and aphasia, he now is more expressive and smiles a lot more than he used to. His happiness and joy are very infectious to others, including strangers. People will ask Mariah, “How is he in such a good mood, even when he can’t talk?” Jeff attributes strength to his family, friends, and faith.
Read Chapter 1
Chapter 2Homecoming: The Church Community Steps In to Help
Nearly six weeks after the stroke, Jeff Windt was able to come home on July 28, much to the excitement of his family and friends. During the time he was in rehab, the family leaned on the support of their church family especially to help with taking care of the boys. They would watch the boys during the day, taking them on adventures and outings to provide Mariah time to be with Jeff and take care of errands and help the boys relax for a bit.
Jeff underwent intensive therapy sessions at home throughout August and September. During this time, his communication challenges became even more clear to the family. The boys especially struggled with no longer being able to easily communicate with their dad, when less than a few months before, they could hold a full conversation with him. He was not able to play catch or chase them around the house anymore because of physical limitations.
It all had changed so much in such a short time.
In early fall, time was running out on the number of therapy sessions that insurance would cover. Then, the limit was hit in September. Mariah shared this news with their community and asked for any support they could provide — whether it be financial or just saying a prayer. Through a Facebook fundraiser, they were able to raise $15,355 for additional therapy sessions. The donations carried them through the end of 2020 and into 2021. However, even in the new year, the Windt family would continue to be tested.
Like many who have suffered a stroke, Jeff had a seizure. In February of 2021, Mariah was awakened when Jeff was having the seizure and called 911 for an ambulance.
Mariah explained, “Because of the damage in Jeff’s brain from the stroke, the cells that send electrical signals to the nerves in his body can have a sudden burst of electrical activity, which can cause the signals to the nerves to be disrupted, causing a seizure.”

A Year Makes All The Difference
One year to the day, on June 19, 2021, Mariah posted on Facebook:
“Hello Everyone!Today marks a year since Jeff had his stroke that would completely alter our lives as we knew it.
I miss our life before his stroke on so many levels.I miss staying up with him after the kids go to bed at night talking about this, that, and the other.I miss watching him play catch with Jonah.I miss him carrying Jude on his shoulders.I miss watching him read books.I miss him getting ready for church on Sunday’s and heading off to do what he was born to do in preaching God’s word.
I am also grateful for the Lord’s blessings he has bestowed on us.I am grateful that Jeff and I can still communicate with each other even if it’s not in the way we used to.I am grateful that he can watch Jonah and Elijah play catch together.I am grateful for the close bond that Jeff and Jude have made through Jeff being at home during the day.I am grateful that there is an app on his phone that he can use to have things read back to him in a way that he can understand.I am grateful that Jeff is able to go to church on Sundays, walk into the Lord’s house, be comforted by the congregation he once preached to, and sit under the preaching of God’s word.”
A Beacon of Hope: U-M Aphasia Program
As they adjusted to the new reality a year out, Mariah began looking for aphasia therapy programs for Jeff.
“One night I looked up University Aphasia Programs,” she said. “When this aphasia program at U of M was the first one that popped up, I fell out of my chair!“
Jeff grew up in Bay City, Michigan, and has been a lifelong fan of the University of Michigan (U-M), especially the football program. His connection with U-M football stretched back to grade school. In 1986, Jim Harbaugh was a quarterback for U-M, and Jeff enjoyed following Harbaugh’s game statistics. He had no idea that this passion would lead to a personal encouraging message from Harbaugh someday.
Jeff has been a vocal U-M fan ever since, even after moving to South Carolina, and not meeting many other fans. His love of the university was widely shared with friends and family, especially since Jeff has a habit of only wearing U-M gear everywhere.
When Jeff exited inpatient therapy at their local rehab center in Greenville, Mariah received a phone call. The secretary asked them to come back, as there was a letter from the University of Michigan there addressed to Jeff.
When Mariah picked it up and opened it, she realized it was a personal card, written and signed by Jim Harbaugh, sent to Jeff.
Understanding the significance this would hold for her husband, Mariah planned a special event for Jeff to open the card. The card brought tears to Jeff’s eyes. It’s still one of his most prized possessions. However, the family had no idea how Jim had learned of Jeff, his situation, and his completing aphasia therapy in South Carolina. And it would remain a mystery for a while longer.
Chapter 3: Heading Home to MichiganAfter Mariah discovered the U-M aphasia Program, she learned that the program is unique and that people from all over the world come to work on their aphasia recovery. She learned that “there’s nothing like it anywhere,” and that people come from across the world to take advantage of the specialized, intensive approach.
“After looking at all of the data outcomes and reading personal testimonials from individuals that have Jeff’s same degree of aphasia, I realized that there is no way he would walk out of this program without having made some sort of improvement,” she said. “Any improvement at all, no matter how small, is going to improve his quality of life. It seemed too good to be true though. The logistics of it all made it seem like an impossibility.“
Mariah shared her discovery with Rick Phillips, the senior pastor of their church and a good friend of Jeff’s, who also happens to be a U-M graduate. However, she was worried about the cost and logistics of caring for their children while they were away. Rick was adamant that Jeff should go, and that “God would take care of the way to get us there,” Mariah recalled.
Their good friend Melton Duncan started a GoFundMe to help raise money for Jeff and Mariah to attend the U-M Aphasia Program (UMAP). Within just three weeks, they had raised enough money to cover the costs for the intensive, comprehensive aphasia program, travel, etc.
They attended in November 2021. The in-person session had Jeff working on speech and communication therapy daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with experienced speech-language pathologists who knew aphasia and how to approach his specific situation.
On November 8, Mariah shared this update via Facebook:
“Jeff had assessments done where a series of tests were used to evaluate where he is at in regards to Verbal and Written Expression, Naming/Word Finding, Sentence Formulation, and Auditory and Reading Comprehension.
He was then given a treatment plan based on those results. His treatment plan is very personalized in that they tailor it to his specific needs and personal goals.
Some goals:

Being able to say the boys’ names.??
Reading (without assistance from an app to read it back to him).
Formulating a prayer. (As I have stated in previous [Facebook] posts, aphasia affects his word-finding ability whether or not he is trying to say, write, type, or even formulate a coherent thought in his own mind).
Writing a complete sentence.

It was clearly evident that we were in the right place for Jeff’s treatment from the first day here at UMAP. To say that the therapists are amazing is an understatement. Each and every one of them has so much compassion for Jeff and shows a drive and enthusiasm to do anything they can to help him improve.
Thank you all for the prayers and contributions that have allowed Jeff to take advantage of this wonderful program.”
Hard Work and Homework
Jeff completed one session of the intensive, individual program at the U-M Aphasia Program, and he and Mariah returned home in late November.
On November 23, Mariah shared this update on Facebook: 
“While we’re so thankful to be home, Jeff and I left Ann Arbor with heavy hearts having to say goodbye to the very special group of therapists that worked with Jeff the 3 weeks we were there. Each of them went above and beyond any expectations that we might have had and I attribute Jeff’s improvements to their expertise and encouragement.
I also can’t forget to mention Jeff’s hard work and determination. His therapists would commend him for his positive attitude and perseverance. A lot of times when he couldn’t do something he would just laugh as if to say “What are you gonna do?”
Chapter 4: Mystery Solved!
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