Christian faith and economic life: some Kuyperian themes

This article argues that the legacy of the nineteenth-century Dutch statesman and theologian Abraham Kuyper merits renewed attention for the light it sheds on some topical economic issues of our time. Kuyper’s life and work (1837-1920) had a marked influence on the Dutch societal landscape and beyond, well into the twentieth century. He proposed an understanding of Biblical belief entailing an across-the-board understanding of how believers should live, with comprehensive and far-reaching effects. This study traces the implications of Kuyper’s views on faith and public life and his conception of sphere sovereignty, as well as the application of these ideas to the role of markets and governments and to economic development.