The Antirevolutionary: a review

Imagine growing up in a time of great political and social upheaval and coming to maturity in its aftermath. This was the experience of the young Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, who was born the first year of the 19th century and died 75 years later. At the time of his birth his native Netherlands had been under French influence for several years. The former Dutch Republic of the 17th and 18th centuries had been replaced in 1795 by the Batavian Republic, a centralized state modelled along revolutionary lines. In Groen's fifth year of life, the republic was further supplanted by a puppet monarchy under one of the Napoleon's brothers. This lasted for four years until the Netherlands was annexed outright to France. Groen was reaching adolescence as the Congress of Vienna was establishing a new European order at war's end. One of the features of this new Europe was an enlarged Kingdom of the Netherlands under a strong monarch from the House of Orange. Often referred to as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, it included what in 1830 would become an independent Belgium.

New book contract: 'Belonging to God'

I am pleased to report that I have just signed a contract for my next book, an in-depth exposition of the Heidelberg Catechism with a focus on its implications for our life in God’s world, especially public life. Although the timeline is admittedly short, the manuscript is basically complete and simply needs to be formatted to conform to the publisher's specifications. This will occupy my time for the next little while.

I see this new book as foundational for my other three published volumes, as it elucidates the faith that underpins them. If the books are to be read in logical order, proceeding from faith basics to application, one would begin with "Belonging to God," then proceed to We Answer to Another: Authority, Office, and the Image of God, then Political Visions and Illusions, and finally Citizenship Without Illusions. I will keep readers informed of the progress of this new project as it moves towards publication.