Only for the completionists?
And here we have the (quasi) final entry in Herman Bavinck's Reformed Ethics series. Originally in 2019, the series was planned as a three volume set. This present work grew out of the translation material for the third volume but was axed there because the source notes were mostly unfinished outlines. Hence, Bolt and his team filled in the outlines with Bavinck's own words from his Reformed Dogmatics, the main 3 volumes of Reformed Ethics, and other various books, articles, and lecture notes---and this volume was born.
Sad to say, the result is readily evident that this is not directly from Bavinck's pen. It reads, and is formatted, much like a doctoral student's thesis on the study of Bavinck's social ethics: different typesets for original quotes and editorial supposition, written in third person (about Bavinck, not Bavinck merely writing), and it's somewhat dry (as opposed to Herman's usual rich warmth). It's not that the material is without value; it's just that it isn't Bavinck.
Content-wise, I could go either way on this volume being essential to the official 3 volume series. 'Volume 1 mines the moral teachings of the early church and medieval and Puritan spirituality while addressing a variety of topics. Volume 2 covers the duties of the Christian life and includes Bavinck's exposition of the Ten Commandments...[,and the] third volume addresses family, marriage, and divorce.' Seems somewhat complete as a trilogy. Social Ethics addresses society, art and scholarship, the state, the Church, and humanity and the kingdom of God. See pics for the table of contents. So, it covers things not treated elsewhere in Reformed Ethics but does seem somewhat tacked on or added for the sake of exhaustive completeness, as mentioned even the original plan was to have only 3 volumes despite it now being marketed as a 4 part set. Plus, you may very well have some the Bavinck quotes on your shelf already if you own some of his other works, albeit not cast in this form. Finally, even the chapter sequencing evidences the separate nature of this volume. Volumes 1-3 all share the same sequential chapter numbering: vol. 1 is comprised of ch. 1-12; vol. 2 of ch. 13-21; and vol. 3 of ch. 22-26. The present volume of Social Ethics has its own distinct chapter sequence of 1-5.
If you're a total Bavinck fan, if you have all of his other works and want more, or if you simply must have the 'complete series' on the shelf (I fell in here), then you won't go wrong in picking up a copy. But, bear the above in mind if you're on the fence: it's not Bavinck's direct voice; it's very thesis-like. I can wholly recommend waiting if you're not sure. It's not essential to the set; it has the different cover; the separate chapter sequencing; it's a challenging read in that it combs the utter depths of Bavinck's writings to develop his likely positions on the topics discussed. Add it to a wish list to pick up sometime down the road, especially if you're newer to Bavinck. He has so many other great places to explore before plumbing the nitty gritty of his unfinished social ethical thought.
All that said, congrats to Bolt and the team. There is likely noone alive under heaven that knows Herman as well as John Bolt and co. They have done an immense service to the church and to history with their translations of Herman Bavinck. Well done! Best wishes to you the reader of this review in your selection.
