31 January 1886 A.D. Rev. Prof. R.B. Kuiper Born—President
of Calvin Seminary & Professor of Homiletics, Westminster Seminary
Archivist. “January 31: R.B.
Kuiper.” This Day in Presbyterian History. N.d. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2015/01/january-31-4/.
Accessed 31 Jan 2015.
January 31: R.B. Kuiper
Distinctive
Calvinism
The
wording of the postal telegram in 1933 was simple enough to
Rienk Bouke Kuiper, who was president of Calvin College in Grand
Rapids, Michigan. Printed in all capital letters, it said, “UPON
THE UNANIMOUS RECOMMENDATION OF THE FACULTY AND THE TRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SEMINARY
IN SESSION MAY NINTH BY A UNANIMOUS VOTE HAVE ELECTED YOU TO THE CHAIR OF
PRACTICAL THEOLOGY. THE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD WILL SEND YOU FULL
INFORMATION. WE HOPE AND PRAY THAT YOU MAY BE LED TO ACCEPT THIS
POST. (signed) C. E. MACARTNEY, SAMUEL CRAIG, T. EDWARD ROSS,
(for the board).
R. B.
Kuiper was not unknown to the faculty and trustees of this new Presbyterian
seminary in Philadelphia. He had served the first year of its existence
as professor of Systematic Theology, but then had left it to become the
president of Calvin College. Now he was being asked to return two years
later to become the professor of practical theology. The prospective
teacher had all the spiritual gifts necessary for such a post.
Born January 31, 1886 in the Netherlands to
a ministerial father, the family had emigrated to the United States so the
father could take a congregation in Michigan of the Christian Reformed Church.
Later,
R. B. Kuiper was educated at the University of Chicago, Indiana
University, and with a diploma from Calvin Theological
Seminary, he finished up his training at Princeton Seminary in 1912.
After
this latter instruction from some of the finest minds of the Presbyterian
world, such as B.B. Warfield, R.B. Kuiper began his ministry in the pastorate,
serving several congregations in Michigan. He would have all that
was necessary to be a pastor of practical theology from that experience.
Below, the
Westminster faculty as composed upon Kuiper’s arrival, 1933-34.
R.B.
Kuiper answered the telegram’s invitation in the affirmative
and went to Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, where he taught
for 20 years. One of his students remarked that he had the gift of making
the profound simple as he proclaimed the whole counsel of God.
Among
that broad span of the whole counsel of God, and one which seminary professors
and students often fail, is the area of Reformed evangelism.
Listen to his words in his book “To be or Not to Be Reformed.” He wrote
“May God forbid that we should become complacent about our progress in
evangelism! Our zeal for evangelism is not nearly as warm as it ought to
be. Our evangelistic labors are not nearly as abundant as they should
be. Our prayers for the translation of souls from darkness into God’s
marvelous light must become far more fervent.” (p. 77) What R. B.
Kuiper wrote fifty years ago is no less true in our day. Ask
yourselves the question? Am I a zealous evangelist?
Words to
Live By: “And when the Gentiles heard this, they
began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the LORD, and as many as were
appointed to eternal life believed.” The apostle Paul, Acts
13:48 (ESV)
“Divine election, and it alone, guarantees results
for evangelism.” R.B. Kuiper
Pictured
above: Some of the courses taught by R.B. Kuiper in his first year
at Westminster.
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