 by nature all men are sinners in need of the atoning Blood of Christ. Great offense was taken at this. It was not long before Evangelicals could not be tolerated. It was not irreligion that was wanted, but religion such as would please every one, Jews included."
Hence when the subject of this sketch was a university student, it was not strange that he felt no inclination toward the Gospel ministry. He had no sympathy, he said, with a Church which trampled her own honor under foot; nor with a religion which was represented by such a Church. He drifted along with the modern stream, and warmly took part in applauding Professor Rauwenhoff, who openly denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
A series of experiences, however, made deep impressions upon the young scholar.
The University of Groningen offered a prize for the best essay on John a Lasco, the great Polish Reformer. By the advice of his teachers, Kuyper resolved to become one of the competitors. Imagine the disappointment when an earnest search in all the great libraries of his country and in those of all Europe failed to produce the necessary material for the work. As a last resort, Dr. de Vries, one of the professors at Leyden, who had taken a deep interest in the promising young scholar, advised him to visit his (Dr. de Vries') father at Haarlem, as he was a fine student of history and had an extensive library. He went, but only to hear the venerable preacher tell him that he would look for these books, but that he had no remembrance of ever having seen one of a Lasco's works in his collection. A week later Kuyper returned, by appointment. Let him tell himself the experience of that hour:
"How can I make you share my feelings when, being admitted to the venerable preacher, I heard him say to me in the most matter of fact way, while pointing to a rich collection of duodecimos heaped on a side table: 'This is what I have found.' I could scarcely believe my eyes. Having searched in vain all the libraries in the Netherlands; having carefully examined the catalogues of the greatest libraries in all Europe; having read again and again in anthologies, and in records of rare books, that the titles of a Lasco's works are simply copied, without the works themselves ever being seen; that his works, if any are still in existence, are extremely rare; that most of them are as good as lost; that with a possible exception of two or three, no one has had them in hand for as much as two hundred yearsand then as by a miracle to be brought face to face with a richer collection of Lasciana than could be found in any library in Europe; to find this treasure, which was the "to be or not to be" of my prize essay, with a man to whom I had been referred by a faithful friend, but who did not even know that he had it in his possession and who but a week ago scarcely so much as remembered the name of a Lascoin all seriousness one must, in his own experience, have been surprised like this, to know what it means to see a Divine miracle confront him in his path."
It need scarcely be said that he won the prize. But the experience did more"it reminded him of God." It threw a doubt upon his rationalism. He could no longer deny that there was such a thing as "the finger of God."
Another experience came to him about this time in the reading of the well known novel, "The Heir of Radcliffe." He devoured the book. It gave him an impression of Church life in England such as was almost altogether lacking at the time in the Church in the Netherlands. It brought him in touch with the deep significance of the Sacrament, with the impressive character of liturgical worship, and with what he afterward used to speak of as "The Anointed Prayer Book." But over and above this, he felt in his own soul an irresistible acknowledgment of the reality of every spiritual experience through which the hero, Philip de Norville, passed. The utter self condemnation of the broken-hearted man, indeed, his complete self abhorrence, the brilliant young student applied to himself; it became to him a power of God unto salvation.
Looking back upon this experience he writes: "What my soul went through in that moment, I have only later fully understood; but yet in that hour, nay, from that very moment, I learned to despise what formerly I admired, and to seek what formerly I spurned. But enough. You know the lasting character of the impression of such an experience; what the soul encounters in such a conflict belongs to that eternal something, which presents itself to the soul years afterward, strongly and sharply defined,as though it happened but yesterday."
But, under God, it was the simple country folk of his first parish that were instrumental in leading him into that fullness of spiritual life toward which his former experiences had pointed. As he ministered to them, they admired his talents; and soon learned to love him for what he was; but they set themselves earnestly to united and individual prayer for his entire conversion to Christ. "And," as Kuyper writes afterward, "their faithful loyalty became a blessing to my heart, the rise of the morning star of my life. I had been apprehended, but I had not yet found the Word of reconciliation. In their simple language they brought me this in the absolute form in which alone my soul can rest. I discovered that the Holy Scripture does not only cause us to find justification by faith, but also discloses the foundation of all human life, the holy ordinances which must govern all human existence in Society and State."
Thus began his Christian life. At the Cross he made the great surrender of himself to his Savior and to His service. "To bear witness for Christ" became the passion of his life. That Christ is King in every department of human life and activity was the key-note which he kept ringing in all his writings, addresses and labors, whether as theologian or as statesman, as a leader in politics, as president of the Christian Labor Union, as promoter of Christian education, it was all done from the burning conviction stated on page 275 of this book that: Christ rules not merely by the tradition of what He once was, spake, did and endured; but by a living power which even now, seated as He is at the right hand of God, He exercises over lands and nations, generations, families and individuals."
Thus the finding of some lost books, the reading of a novel, the teaching of uncultured folk, were experiences which explain in part Dr. Kuyper's great work.
The more one acquaints himself with the vast scope of the varied labors of this man, the more deeply one becomes impressed with the striking significance of the devotional, mystical output of his pen. Profound theological learning, great statesmanship, extraordinary intellectual acumen along any line is not thought as a rule to be compatible with childlike simplicity of faith, mystical insight and sweetness of soul. But in the words of a reviewer: "This Book of Meditations disproves the idea, that a profound theologian can not be a warm-hearted Christian." "Dr. Kuyper must have lived the life of Christ," says another, "else he could never have written up to the title of this Book." On page 230 the author himself tells the story: " By means of these Meditations we are bent upon opening the eyes of as many as possible to the need of making communion with, knowledge of, and love for God, more than ever before, our daily concern;" and on page 354: "The fellowship of being near unto God must become reality, in the full and vigorous prosecution of our life. It must permeate and give color to our feeling, our perceptions, our sensations, our thinking, our imagining, our willing, our acting, our speaking. It must not stand as a foreign factor in our life, but it must be the passion that breathes throughout our whole existence."
In pursuit of this ideal, Dr. Kuyper took time to add to his gigantic labors the writing of a devotional meditation every week. He wrote more than two thousand of them. They are entirely unique in character. They are well said to form a literature by themselves, and are in line with the best works of Dutch mystics, such as Johannes Ruysbroek, Cornelius Jansinius, and Thomas a Kempis.
This book offers one hundred and ten Meditations on this single thought from Psalm 73: "As for me, it is good To Be Near Unto God." The Rev. Edward Everett of Boston writes: "To me this represents a most precious idea in religion, the inexhaustible freshness of a single phrase of Divine utterance. With but a portion of a psalm embedded in one's heart, there is no lack of food for mind and soul. The secret of perennial bliss lies in the art of meditative repetition. The title, 'To Be Near Unto God,' is like an embryo of which the book is a harmonious development. There is nothing in the one that is absent from the other."
It is not strange that it has already been forecast that " a few decades hence this book will be recognized as one of the greatest devotional classics in the world."
With almost unabated vigor, Dr. Kuyper kept up his labors until shortly before the end. Standing by his deathbed, his friend and colleague asked him: "Shall I tell the people that God has been your Refuge and Strength to the end?" Though weak, the reply came at once in a distinct whisper: "Yes, altogether."
With grateful acknowledgment of a debt