I have two of these volumes (there are four in this series) and I find them very informative and wide ranging in their discussion. The Dutch Reformed tradition is fairly new to me (I think the only other theologian I know of is Kuyper)
These have only in more recent years been translated out of Dutch (by the late John Vriend - d. 2018). They are very thorough in their discussion. He does range over a lot ground so it is important for the reader to be alert for when he moves in and out of the Reformed understanding of the topic under discussion into for example explication how other Christologies diverge from that.
Bavinck is sometimes described as a man living between two worlds - In the Editor's intro he writes that :
There is a version published in a single abridged edition without so much of the discussion and without much of the footnotes and bibliographies. I don't have it to compare but its probably is a fairly good (albeit at 848 page quite thick) stand alone edition for anyone not wanting to have to read through too much discussion to find what they are looking for.
These have only in more recent years been translated out of Dutch (by the late John Vriend - d. 2018). They are very thorough in their discussion. He does range over a lot ground so it is important for the reader to be alert for when he moves in and out of the Reformed understanding of the topic under discussion into for example explication how other Christologies diverge from that.
Bavinck is sometimes described as a man living between two worlds - In the Editor's intro he writes that :
"It is too simple merely to characterise Bavinck as a man trapped between two apparently incommensurate tugs at his soul, that of other-worldly pietism and this worldly modernism. His heart and mind sought a trinitarian synthesis of Christianity and culture, a christian worldview that incorporated what was best and true in both pietism and modernism, while above all honoring the theological and confessional richness of the Reformed tradition dating from Calvin."
There is a version published in a single abridged edition without so much of the discussion and without much of the footnotes and bibliographies. I don't have it to compare but its probably is a fairly good (albeit at 848 page quite thick) stand alone edition for anyone not wanting to have to read through too much discussion to find what they are looking for.
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