Garth Hodnett

Translation of AA van Rulers Ons Vader - I don't know who did the translation.
This little book on the Lord's Prayer is among the most beautiful books on prayer I know. It is like a mountain climber's guide, providing a route without detours, and offering only the essentials for our walk in faith. It is focused and never waivers from leading us away from our old self and towards a new beginning in a life of obedience to God. The original was written sometime in the late 1940's. I have used the 5th edition which I obtained early in the 1960's. The original work does not give any textual references, nor does it quote Bible texts (other than in the body of the work without any further comments); I have supplied the references and in most cases the text, for easy reference. I have made surprisingly few "updates" in the translation of the text to accommodate a new age and a new world. The original was distilled to reflect only the inner truths of the message and had not 'aged' appreciably. Where necessary, I considered the need of the current reader to understand, rather than the exact wording or image that the author used. I have done so for clarity, and trust that the author would have agreed if he had been in a position to give assent. Those who have access to the original text will find that it is faithfully and completely rendered into contemporary English. Jesus once told his disciples to go into the inner room. This small room, in a middle eastern home, could be locked from the inside. One could be alone there, alone with God. Jesus frequently urged his companions to seek this being-alone-with-God in their lives, to go into their 'inner room'. We can't truly serve God without silence. If we remain immersed in the rat race of our daily lives we will become completely absorbed by it. One of the greatest enemies of a vibrant spiritual life is the modern claim, too quickly made, "I don't have time." Today, people are afraid of 'wasting time'. But the quickest, most effective way to waste a lot of time is failing to make time for God, and for prayer. Time spent in our 'inner room' pays rich dividends. In response Jesus gave them the words of a prayer that has since then been known as the Lord's Prayer:

This article looks at the importance of the state in the theologies of Paul Tillich and Arnold van Ruler. The state is the community in which both the individual and the community are actualised. It is also the institution that organises the life of the nation. The orientation of the state has a direct impact on the direction of human life. The state is the centre of power and justice in reality; it is the political core of history. The state also has the power to actualise itself according to the justice that it posits and in this process love is embedded as the ultimate criterion of justice. Love, power and justice are intimately related to the kingdom of God. The state, even the pagan state, thus performs the reuniting and saving work of God on earth.

This dissertation examines the relationship of ontology and soteriology - the classic problem of nature and grace. Paul Tillich and Arnold van Ruler have been chosen as the best representatives of the classical tradition of the reformation. It is seen that although there is a significant formal difference between the theologies of these two theologians, there is a material identity. The combination of these two perspectives, Tillich’s philosophical theology with Van Ruler’s more traditional Calvinistic theology, helps to shed more light on the subject. The first subject to be considered is the ontological background for understanding reality as a whole. This is discussed as the trinitarian-predestinarian-eschatological framework of ontology. Everything finds its possibility in the trinitarian being of God, its reality in the eternal decrees and its purpose in the eschatological will of God. Creation has become (morally, not ontologically) separated from God in the fall and therefore salvation is needed. Christology is a function of soteriology and is to be understood in terms of substitution. This salvation, gained in Christ, is expressed in us by the outpoured Holy Spirit according to the eschatological will of God. Pneumatology is to be related to, and distinguished from christology. We are not replaced by the Spirit, but taken into a relationship with God. This is to be understood in terms of the struggle of the Spirit with the flesh. The presence of the Spirit is kerygmatic, paradoxical, anticipatory and miraculous. There is an ambiguous and fragmentary realization of salvation in the Spirit. Protologically and eschatologically there is an identity between culture (i.e. creation and history) and the kingdom of God. But in time and space there is a duality (not a dualism). This finds expression in the duality of church and state. The state is the kernel of culture and the church is the representative of the kingdom. The state is essentially the servant of God, and insofar as it orders life it is serving God. But it is separated from God and needs the church to call it back to its proper function. Where there is the duality of church and state in a nation, there is a theocratic situation. This leads to the Bible. That is a state where the Word is proclaimed and the state, because of its essential relationship to God, can understand this proclamation. In a theocracy there is a partial union of creation and salvation. Theocracy is a Spiritual reality. It is kerygmatic and paradoxical. It is not an ideal or an ethical system imposed on life. It has a conservative character as it stands in opposition to the demonic. As the document of God’s struggle with the religious nationalism of Israel, the Old Testament provides the paradigm for a theocracy. In this sense a christianized state is an incidental repetition - mutatis mutandis - of the nation of Israel. Eschatologically, the particularity of salvation is completely done away with. The incarnation and the outpouring are undone. Then there is only the triune God and the naked existence of creation.

Pneumatology is the link between christology and eschatology. Pneumatology must be related to and distinguished from both christology and eschatology. The Spirit is the power of the Word and the Word is the form of the Spirit. In this sense there is a point of identity between pneumatology and christology: every manifestation of the Spirit stands under the criterion of the revelation given in Christ. But pneumatology cannot be reduced to christology as, in the Spirit, we are not replaced but rather taken into a relationship with God. This relationship is to be understood eschatologically, because the work of the Spirit is to express God’s eschatological intentions in us. However, pneumatology cannot simply be identified with eschatology. This relationship with God is a matter of the struggle of the Spirit with the flesh - there is no perfectionism. Tillich and Van Ruler complement each other in their discussion of this multifaceted understanding of the position and work of the Holy Spirit.

This article looks at the importance of the state in the theologies of Paul Tillich and Arnold van Ruler. The state is the community in which both the individual and the community are actualised. It is also the institution that organises the life of the nation. The orientation of the state has a direct impact on the direction of human life. The state is the centre of power and justice in reality; it is the political core of history. The state also has the power to actualise itself according to the justice that it posits and in this process love is embedded as the ultimate criterion of justice. Love, power and justice are intimately related to the kingdom of God. The state, even the pagan state, thus performs the reuniting and saving work of God on earth

This dissertation examines the relationship of ontology and soteriology - the classic problem of nature and grace. Paul Tillich and Arnold van Ruler have been chosen as the best representatives of the classical tradition of the reformation.
It is seen that although there is a significant formal difference between the theologies of these two theologians, there is a material identity. The combination of these two perspectives, Tillich’s philosophical theology with Van Ruler’s more traditional Calvinistic theology, helps to shed more light on the subject.
The first subject to be considered is the ontological background for understanding reality as a whole. This is discussed as the trinitarian-predestinarian-eschatological framework of ontology. Everything finds its possibility in the trinitarian being of God, its reality in the eternal decrees and its purpose in the eschatological will of God. Creation has become (morally, not ontologically) separated from God in the fall and therefore salvation is needed. Christology is a function of soteriology and is to be understood in terms of substitution.
This salvation, gained in Christ, is expressed in us by the outpoured Holy Spirit according to the eschatological will of God. Pneumatology is to be related to, and distinguished from christology. We are not replaced by the Spirit, but taken into a relationship with God. This is to be understood in terms of the struggle of the Spirit with the flesh. The presence of the Spirit is kerygmatic, paradoxical, anticipatory and miraculous. There is an ambiguous and fragmentary realization of salvation in the Spirit.
Protologically and eschatologically there is an identity between culture (i.e. creation and history) and the kingdom of God. But in time and space there is a duality (not a dualism). This finds expression in the duality of church and state. The state is the kernel of culture and the church is the representative of the kingdom. The state is essentially the servant of God, and insofar as it orders life it is serving God. But it is separated from God and needs the church to call it back to its proper function.
Where there is the duality of church and state in a nation, there is a theocratic situation. This leads to the Bible. That is a state where the Word is proclaimed and the state, because of its essential relationship to God, can understand this proclamation. In a theocracy there is a partial union of creation and salvation. Theocracy is a Spiritual reality. It is kerygmatic and paradoxical. It is not an ideal or an ethical system imposed on life. It has a conservative character as it stands in opposition to the demonic.
As the document of God’s struggle with the religious nationalism of Israel, the Old Testament provides the paradigm for a theocracy. In this sense a christianized state is an incidental repetition - mutatis mutandis - of the nation of Israel.
Eschatologically, the particularity of salvation is completely done away with. The incarnation and the outpouring are undone. Then there is only the triune God and the naked existence of creation.

This book is a translation of the Dutch Theologian, Arnold. A. van Ruler's book on the Apostles Creed. It was originally a daily radio devotion, and is therefore presented in clear, non-technical language. But it plumbs the depths of Van Ruler's theology, and of the Christian tradition.
The Apostles Creed is explained for the modern person, who either wants to know more about Christianity, or about Van Ruler's theology. It serves as an excellent introductory work for both!

This is the full text of my MA thesis on the theology of A.A. van Ruler. I have decided to publish this on this site as I believe that it is a useful introduction to the theology of one of the great Dutch theologians of the twentieth century who deserves much more recognition than he has, as most of his serious theological works remain untranslated.
Also, this text is no longer available on the site that it was published on in 1998.
I hope there are theologians out there that will find this study useful!