Nederland 2026, 8: ChristenUnie

The evening of thursday, 17 September, I was privileged to spend time with the good people of the Wetenschapelijk Instituut – ChristenUnie (WI – CU), or the Scientific Institute – ChristenUnie. This is the think tank connected with the ChristenUnie political party, which currently holds three seats in the Tweede Kamer and has been part of three governing coalitions. This was less a lecture than an interview conducted by Jasper Knecht on the subject of Burgerschap zonder illusies, or Citizenship Without Illusions, my latest book.

Prior to the evening event, and shortly after supper, I met also with Marcel Koning, pastor of Mozaiek33, a large church congregation located just outside of Amersfoort, and a municipal councillor for ChristenUnie in Amersfoort. Koning will be writing a column on our conversation for Groen, the periodical of WI – CU. Here we are in one of the offices:

Nederland 2026, 7: Lunch with Don Ceder

The primary reason for our visit to the Dutch Parliament was to have lunch with Don Ceder, a member of parliament for the ChristenUnie, one of three explicitly Christian political parties which currently holds three seats in the Tweede Kamer. Ceder is a lawyer who has served in parliament since 2021. He studied law at the Free University (VU) in Amsterdam. He has paternal roots in Suriname, a former Dutch territory in South America that became independent in 1975, and maternal roots in Ghana. He had requested this meeting because he had read and appreciated my first book, Political Visions and Illusions. The three of us ate in the parliamentary dining room at Bezuidenhoutseweg 67, the temporary home of the Tweede Kamer during the Binnenhof's extensive renovations. We had a great conversation together, and I very much enjoyed getting to know Ceder, who struck me as being a thoughtful person and conscientious legislator.

Nederland 2026, 6: Tweede Kamer

From Nijkerk we drove the roughly 100 kilometres to the capital city of Den Haag, or The Hague. My host for this leg of the journey was Hildebrand Bijleveld, who read my Political Visions and Illusions during his studies at the Free University of Amsterdam (VU). Prior to my visit, I had hoped I would be able to visit the Binnenhof, the complex of buildings where the Dutch Parliament meets. Dating to the 13th century, it has been the seat of the Dutch government since the outbreak of the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648), by which the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands gained their independence from Spain. Unfortunately, the Binnenhof has been undergoing renovations for the past five years. These are not expected to be completed until 2031.

During this lengthy period, the Tweede Kamer, or Second Chamber, is meeting at Bezuidenhoutseweg 67, the former home of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A very modern-looking building, it could be plopped down in the middle of a North American city and would fit right in. To enter the building we had to undergo airport-level security clearance. Bags had to be checked and stored in a locker, and even my hat (an inexpensive Walmart trilby I use for travelling) could not accompany me inside the premises. But I did have my phone with me so I could make a photographic record of the visit.

Nederland 2026, 5: Theologische Universiteit Utrecht

Utrecht is a city of 378,000 people, the capital and largest city of the province of Utrecht. It is the home of University of Utrecht, established in 1636. The city itself is nearly 2,000 years old, dating to Roman times, although it did not receive official city status until 1122. It is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands and for centuries has been the centre of Christianity in that country. In 1579 the Union of Utrecht federated several northern provinces of the Low Countries in opposition to Spanish rule. Another Union of Utrecht brought together dissidents from the First Vatican Council in 1889, creating the Old Catholic Churches, which are not in communion with Rome but have been in ecclesiastical fellowship with the Anglican Communion since 1931.

On wednesday evening of 16 September the first of my speaking engagements took place at the Theologische Universiteit Utrecht (TUU), which had moved to this city from its previous home in Kampen, a much smaller city some 80 kilometres northeast. The move has been an altogether positive one for the institution, considerably boosting its student numbers. Prior to this event, several of us ate supper together at an Indian restaurant. Although a double interview with Gert-Jan Segers, former member of the Second Chamber and head of ChristenUnie, was to have taken place between supper and my address, this had to be postponed for lack of sufficient time. The interview has now been rescheduled and will occur online.

Neocalviniana review: a hopeful philosophy

Some months ago I indicated here that I was reading the new book by Maarten Verkerk, Gerrit Glas, and Suzan Sierksma-Agteres, The Intellectual Legacy of Herman Dooyeweerd 1894–1977: A Hopeful Philosophy for Our Time. My review of this book has just appeared in the journal Neocalviniana and can be read here. An excerpt:

I was first introduced to Herman Dooyeweerd’s philosophy just over half a century ago and almost immediately took to it. This was in spite of its contents being locked within the confines of a dense prose likely to put off the uninitiated or fainthearted. Although I would eventually write a dissertation on his political thought, I often found myself wishing that Dooyeweerd had possessed the wittiness of a G. K. Chesterton, who once observed that the madman is not someone who has lost his reason, but someone who has lost everything except his reason (Chesterton, Orthodoxy). This clever adage has always struck me as a Dooyeweerdian insight of the first order, given the Dutch philosopher’s obvious esteem for what he calls naïve experience and others call intuition. Incalculable harm has been done throughout recent history by intellectuals who have become enamoured of their own reasoning at the expense of sound judgement borne of a fuller human experience. 

The book can be ordered or downloaded in its entirety from this website.

Nederland 2026, 4: Maassluis and the Kuyper Library

After I had become accustomed to the UTC +2 time zone, the next few days were exceedingly full, as we moved in quick succession from one event to the next. Wednesday, 18 September was the first of these work days. In the morning we drove to the village of Maassluis, the birthplace of Abraham Kuyper, one of the key influences on my own thought. Unlike Leiden, with its frenetic youthful energy, Maassluis is fairly quiet, with a population of around 35,000. Located in the province of South Holland, it lies to the west of Rotterdam along the Scheur River, a branch of the Meuse at the Rhine delta. 

Here are some photographs of Maassluis:

Nederland 2026, 3: Leiden and environs

Monday and tuesday were spent in and around Leiden. Leiden is a famous university city, and as such there are a lot of young people walking and biking in it, raising the general energy level accordingly. These first days were given me to enable me to acclimatize to an as yet new environment. I quite enjoyed Leiden, a city that dates back to the 9th century AD. Living in Canada, it is difficult for us to comprehend the age of many European cities. What would it be like to live in a place where countless generations of one's ancestors had lived before oneself? Here are some photographs of Leiden:

 

Nederland 2026, 2: Arrival and Oud-Poelgeest

My journey began with an overnight flight from Toronto's Pearson Airport to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The flight was about an hour late in leaving and took approximately seven hours in total. Having cleared customs, which takes some time for travellers with non-EU passports, I was greeted by my great friend Samuel Vandeputte, whom I was delighted to see again. As I wrote in my last post, we saw each other regularly during his studies in Canada. After he returned to the Netherlands and then entered graduate studies at Leuven, Belgium, we kept up with each other via regular online conversations. He now works in the field of journalism.

We deliberately kept monday and tuesday fairly free of commitments to allow me to adjust to the UTC +2 time zone covering western Europe. My first days were spent at the Hotel Landgoed Oud-Poelgeest in Oegstgeest, a village north of the city of Leiden. The hotel sits on a beautifully wooded property on which stands a kasteel, or castle. No, not a mediaeval castle, but a stately mansion in which lived the famed Dutch botanist and polymath Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738). During my stay there, I would walk around the property every morning after breakfast, enjoying the footpaths, water channels, and diverse flora, much of which is unfamiliar in North America. However, Boerhaave planted a famous tulip poplar that lived into the mid-20th century. Only shoots survive into the 21st. This tree is definitely familiar to me because we have one in our front garden. Many locals walk or run through this lovely property on a daily basis.

Nederland 2026, 1

I have recently returned from a week's visit to the Netherlands, a country to which I owe a deep debt of gratitude. This is due to the spiritual and intellectual influence that several notable Netherlanders have played in my own thinking, especially on the relationship between Christianity and politics, but more broadly on the cultural and social implications of the faith. I personally am heir to a tradition that extends back to John Calvin and includes such later figures as Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer (1801-1876), Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920), Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977), Bob Goudzwaard (1934-2024), and many others.

A broken communion

Christian Courier just posted my monthly column, titled, A broken communion. What about? "At Synod 2026, the CRC decided to withdraw from the World Communion of Reformed Churches. Was this the right choice?"

I do not normally weigh in on ecclesiastical issues in this space, but given my long association with and current membership in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), I think it is appropriate to comment on Synod 2026’s decision to withdraw from the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). I understand that church denominations have to weigh their associations carefully to ensure that they align with their mission and identity. But I believe Synod was too hasty in ending our relationship with this global communion, and I hope it isn’t too late to correct this.

 Read more to learn my reasons for this conclusion.

Recent activities for September 2026

My Global Scholars Canada newsletter for September is now posted online. Activities for the past month include three remote lectures and conversations, an expression of gratitude from a Brazilian reader, a brief reflection on the "deep state," a comment on dominion theology, and the submission of the manuscript for my next book to the publisher. As always, I am grateful for your continued support for my work.

The hubris of dominion theology: Bruce Barron

Last year Bruce Barron reviewed my most recent book on his Substack under this title: Should churches endorse political candidates? Two weeks ago Barron published a new post, The hubris of dominion theology, in which he published my own comments on an earlier draft of the post. An excerpt from my comments:

I don’t think the faith of our political leaders is altogether irrelevant to doing justice in their respective offices. This is the grain of truth in Christian nationalism and similar movements. However, this is dependent on such Christians cultivating and retaining an awareness of how the several political ideologies work to distort their perceptions of reality. Adding Christian to nationalism, or to any other ideology, in no way guarantees that it will produce just governance. Sad to say, even otherwise orthodox believers are susceptible to the allure of the ideological visions (or illusions) on offer in the public realm. 

Read the entire post here.

Belonging to God: manuscript submitted

I have just submitted the final draft of my forthcoming book, "Belonging to God: A Catechism's Relevance for Private and Public Life." The publisher is Cascade, a division of Wipf & Stock. 

The earliest material in the book dates to around 2009 when I wrote a series of commentaries on the Ten Commandments for the benefit of my students. In 2016 I decided to write a fuller exploration of the Heidelberg Catechism, incorporating much of this material, although I was not yet clear as to its purpose. I completed this during the summer of that year. The following year I was caught up in the events surrounding the loss of my teaching position and efforts to find something new. In the short term this led to a revision of my first book, Political Visions and Illusions, which came out in a second edition in 2019. This was followed by translations in Portuguese and Spanish. By then I was affiliated with Global Scholars Canada, an association I have found extremely fruitful for advancing my work. Then came Citizenship Without Illusions, something of a sequel to my first book, applying its principles to the practice of citizenship.

The 'Deep State'?

My latest column in Christian Courier is titled, The 'Deep State', a term much used in certain quarters while mystifying many others. What is it? Here is an excerpt:

Those who speak of a deep state suspect that there is a vast network of persons working clandestinely within the institutions of government to derail the intentions of elected officials. Their goals are hidden from public scrutiny; their nefarious activities dressed in the garb of public service. If any official threatens to expose them, they will ensure that he or she is thwarted or removed from office.

What do we make of this "deep state"? Read more here for my take on the matter.

Recent activities for August 2026

I have now posted my Global Scholars Canada newsletter for August 2026. Included are two articles drawing on my analysis in Political Visions and Illusions, three podcast interviews, and a farewell to a beloved sister. In the meantime, I am near the end of preparing my monograph for publication. Thank you, as always, for your continuing support for my work!

Evangelical 360 interview

In January of this year Brian Stiller interviewed me in studio at the offices of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) in Scarborough, Ontario. Brian is a longtime leader of the evangelical movement in this country, having served as the president of the EFC and of Tyndale College and Seminary. He is now a Global Ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance. Our interview has now been posted and can be accessed below.

 

UpNext interview: 'Faithful Citizenship'

Back in January (note my winter beard length) I was interviewed by Tommy Lee, founder and president of Resource Global, for his UpNext Podcast on the subject of my most recent book, Citizenship Without Illusions. We had a good conversation that covered a lot of ground, including two treasured mentoring relationships and my sideline in music and psalm versification. The interview has now been posted and runs for a little over half an hour.

 Here is the description from the YouTube page:

Politics can feel exhausting, divisive, and overwhelming. As Christians, should we engage, or step away entirely? In this episode of UpNext, Tommy Lee sits down with political scholar and author David Koyzis to explore what faithful citizenship looks like in today's polarized world. Drawing from his book Citizenship Without Illusions, David shares why political ideologies often become idols, how Christians can engage politics without becoming cynical, and why lasting change often begins in our local communities. Whether you're passionate about politics or prefer to avoid it altogether, this conversation offers a biblical perspective on navigating disagreement, serving your neighbors, and keeping your ultimate allegiance to the Kingdom of God. 

Citizenship: blessing and burden

I was first introduced to the work of Rick Barry and the Center for Christian Civics by my niece Bethany during a family gathering near Boston late last year. I subsequently met Barry personally at the Kuyper Conference at Calvin University in March of this year. We had some great conversations together at that event, and I agreed to assist him in his work in whatever way I can, including joining and serving on his advisory council.

Recently he interviewed me for his Christian Civics Podcast, and the episode has been posted here: The Blessing and Burden of Citizenship. The length is a little over half an hour.

Four Americas: ideologies & idolatries, part 2

In May Gospel in Life published the first part of the late Tim Keller's analysis of political life in the United States, to which I link here. Among the sources he cites are my own Political Visions and Illusions, which he endorsed several times beginning six years ago. This month the second part has been published here: A Political Case Study: Four Americas: ideologies & idolatries (part 2). Given his enthusiasm for my first book, I hope Keller would have liked my most recent book, Citizenship Without Illusions, as well. We certainly miss his presence among us, but even in death his influence for the kingdom of God continues.

Political Faithfulness in a Polarized Age

Writing in Christianity Today, Kyle Tucker writes about the political polarization besetting both the United States and American churches: Political Faithfulness in a Polarized Age. We are seeing more such articles published today, with pastors and other church leaders attempting, often with great difficulty, to address this divisiveness in their own congregations. Tucker mentions my own work:

In his book Political Visions & Illusions, David Koyzis argues that the dominant political ideologies of our day—from socialism to nationalism—are undergirded by idolatry. By idolizing the individual, the past, the future, or the collective, we transfer our love to false gods. This idolatry fuels identity politics, public discourse that is less about the common good and more about individual performance.

Tucker is a pastor at City on a Hill Church Brighton in Boston, Massachusetts.