Time and Worldmaking: John Frame and the Reformational Philosophies

Why are new books appearing on John Frame's fifty-year-old controversy with the Reformational philosophies?

The original debate was triggered by the campaigns of promoters of Reformational thinking, that is the philosophies of Dirk Vollenhoven and Herman Dooyeweerd, against Reformed theology (as being scholastic) and against Christian institutions, especially schools, (as violating divinely mandated law-structures).

The current promoters of Dooyeweerd's philosophy aim at Frame's arguments, especially his opposition to basing Christian action on the implications of modalities from speculative philosophy.

This book adds several things to the discussion.

1 - The diversity of the Reformational philosophies needs to be recognized. The various streams have been far apart since the beginning.

2 - The basic metaphysical models of these movements are far from Christianity.

3 - The basic models control the philosophies and their neglect by critics leads to misguided analysis.

4 - Abraham Kuyper, with his third covenant, broke the unity of Reformed thought in its covenant theology and made it impossible for the Kingdom of God to be integrated into God's redemptive program. Supplementary philosophies, such as the Reformational philosophies and lately Thomism, fill the void he created.