Rediscover the Forgotten Bavinck

In 2022, Christianity Today ran an article titled “Everybody Loves Bavinck” written by James Eglinton, theologian and author of the critically acclaimed biography of Herman Bavinck (1854–1921). There’s been a Bavinckian boom in recent years, which is welcome in strengthening the church’s theological backbone. But did you know there’s another Bavinck who should be brought from obscurity and into the limelight?

J. H. Bavinck (1895–1964) was the nephew of Herman. He was a Dutch Reformed missionary in Indonesia who later became a professor of missiology in the Netherlands. I’m convinced J. H. deserves to come out from behind his uncle’s shadow and, at least in terms of missiology, demands equal attention.

Personal Influence

While you might not be familiar with J. H., if you’re interested in missions and cultural engagement, there’s a good chance you’ve felt his presence. In the dust jacket of J. H.’s An Introduction to the Science of Missions (1960), Edmund Clowney lauds it as “not merely a text on missions; it is the text on missions of this generation.” Harvie Conn, Clowney’s Westminster colleague, drew heavily on J. H., as did Conn’s younger student, Tim Keller.

Speaking personally, J. H. is possibly the formative influence and inspiration in my thinking on Christianity’s relationship to other religions and the missionary task. More than most, he appears to have modeled what it means to be suaviter in modo fortiter in re—bold in approach, gentle in manner.

Although he’s been called “more passionate thinker and prophetic seer than systematic theologian,” and although his active ministry was more than 60 years ago, I believe J. H.’s commitment to both a Reformed confessional orthodoxy and a semper reformanda creativity means his writing is rich and relevant not only for missionaries but for all Christians in our late modern world. As J. H. himself said, “Missions is not simply a by-product of ecclesiastical life and theology. Missions belongs to the very essence of the church and therefore always pushes itself to the fore in all theological reflection.” Amen!

Missions is not simply a by-product of ecclesiastical life and theology. Missions belongs to the very essence of the church.

For those wanting to explore the writings of J. H. Bavinck, the high point of his voluminous output is a triptych of works available in English: Religious Consciousness and Christian Faith (1949), An Introduction to the Science of Missions (1960), and the posthumous The Church Between Temple and Mosque (1966), now republished in a new edition. These three works cover similar material. In proper methodological order, J. H. builds a biblical theology of religions, with a focus on Romans 1:18–32, before moving to missiological implications and applications.

His theology also draws on other disciplines, particularly psychology, in which he had a lifelong interest and which influenced another work, Personality and Worldview.

Forgotten Discipline

One specific passage from J. H.’s Introduction typifies the message and the man. He championed the forgotten and strangely named discipline of elenctics, from the Greek word “to convict” or “to unmask” (Matt. 18:15; John 16:8; 1 Tim. 5:20; Jude 14–15; Rev. 3:19). He writes,

When we speak of elenctics we do well to understand it in the sense that it has in John 16:8. The Holy Spirit will convince the world of sin. The Holy Spirit is actually the only conceivable subject of the verb, for the conviction of sin exceeds all human ability. Only the Holy Spirit can do this, even though he can and will use us as instruments in his hand. Taken in this sense, elenctics is the science which is concerned with the conviction of sin. In a special sense then it is the science which unmasks all false religion as sin against God and calls people to the knowledge of the one, true God. To be able to do this well and truthfully it is necessary to have a responsible knowledge of false religions, but one must be able to lay bare the deepest motifs which are therein expressed. This can actually occur only if one recognizes and unmasks these same undercurrents within himself. Elenctics is possible only on the basis of a veritable self-knowledge, which is kindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Here we see a model profile of the missionary in terms of knowledge, skills, and character. First is our complete dependence on the work of the Holy Spirit in our missionary endeavors. It’s he who convicts. Second is our need to have “professional” knowledge of those we’re serving. This requires careful listening and phenomenologically, ethnographically, and theologically informed study.

Third—and complementary to the second—is the importance of personal relationships, what J. H. calls the “living approach.” As he writes, “Each generalization, every systematization, carries within itself the danger that one will do injustice to the living person.” In our engagement with those who don’t know Christ, J. H. argues there must be the “warm undertone of meeting-in-love.” This requires “the recognition of myself in the other person, a sympathetic feeling of his guilt and a sincere desire in Christ to do with this [person] what Christ has done with me.”

J. H. Bavinck for Today

Cross-cultural ministry, which increasingly should be recognized as simply “ministry,” is complex and bewildering. In our everyday witness, how do we get traction with those who share our common humanity but are captivated by idols? How do we both connect and confront?

In our engagement with those who don’t know Christ, J. H. argues there must be the ‘warm undertone of meeting-in-love.’

Moreover, the discipline of missiology is often complex and bewildering. How are we to understand and navigate the slew of new techniques and terminologies we encounter, which are sometimes removed from theology and Scripture?

In J. H. Bavinck, we have a faithful and humble guide. He gives us a rock-solid, theologically orthodox foundation for mission and a carefully nuanced theology of religions and “religiosity.” He understands the nature of the human condition and the power of Christ to bring light and life. From this theological base, he calls us to deploy tools in related disciplines because we want to listen to and love people well. J. H. epitomizes the humility that comes from recognizing our evangelism flows from our discipleship.

Finally, as a bonus, he writes with a wonderful turn of phrase and use of illustration. His style is evocative and impressionistic—deep, devotional, and doxological. It’s time everyone loved the Bavincks.