Kingdoms Apart: Engaging the Two Kingdoms Perspective (McIlhenny)

The subject of Christ and culture has occupied the church since its inception. Some emphasize the reality of redemption and the imperative of cultural transformation; others criticize this approach because of the transient nature of this current life and the specific function of “kingdom” activity. 

This project focuses on the two competing positions rooted in the Reformed tradition: neo-Calvinism, a nineteenth-century school of thought associated with the Calvinist polymath Abraham Kuyper, and the Two Kingdoms perspective. 

How you think on this issue will affect how you interact with the culture around you. It’s an important debate because we want to speak God’s words fairly into that culture.

Table of Contents:

Foreword – James W. Skillen

Introduction: In Defense of Neo-Calvinism – Ryan C. McIlhenny

Part 1: Kingdom Reign and Rule

1. The Restoration of All Things to Proper Order: An Assessment of the ‘Two Kingdoms/Natural Law’ Interpretation of Calvin’s Public Theology – Cornel Venema

2. Calvin, Natural Law, and the Two Kingdoms – Gene Haas

3. Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms in the Thought of Herman Bavinck – Nelson Kloosterman

Part 2: Kingdom Citizenship

4. ‘Christ and the Magistrate’ and ‘Church and State’: Two Addresses by S.G. de Graaf

5. Dual Citizenship, Dual Ethics? Evaluating the Two Kingdoms Perspective on the Christian in Culture – Timothy R. Scheuers

6. Theologian of the Revolution: Abraham Kuyper’s Radical Proposal for Church and State – John Halsey Wood Jr.

7. Two Cities or Two Kingdoms? The Importance of the Ultimate in Reformed Social Thought – Branson Parler

Part 3: Kingdom Living

8. How Does “Thy Kingdom Come” before the End? Theology of the Present and Future Kingdom in the Book of Revelation – Scott A. Swanson

9. Eschatology, Creation, and Practical Reason: A Reformational Interpretation of the Two Kingdoms Perspective – Jason Lief

10. Christian Witness As Redeemed Culture – Ryan C. McIlhenny 

Author

Ryan C. McIlhenny (Ph.D., University of California, Irvine) is Professor of History and Humanities at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California.

Endorsements  

“This is not only an academic debate. The outcome of the debate will have broad implications for Christian schools, colleges, seminaries, and churches and for Christians in the academy, politics, business, the arts, and other realms of cultural activity.” — Gideon Strauss, Senior Fellow, Center for Public Justice, Washington, DC

“I have prayed for wise and courageous scholars to step up—and step into—this fraternal debate within the Reformed Christian community concerning Two Kingdoms. I am praising God, therefore, for . . . Kingdoms Apart.” — Michael A. Milton, Chancellor/CEO, James M. Baird, Jr. Professor of Pastoral Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary

“A very fine collection of essays . . . a valuable and constructive advance in the often heated debates surrounding the themes it treats.” — Al Wolters, Professor of Religion and Theology/Classical Languages, Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario

“This book engages this conversation, and deserves a careful hearing by all who believe God has made Jesus of Nazareth the rightful and ultimate king of everything.” — Russell D. Moore, Dean, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary