Niet van deze wereld. De hedendaagse Gereformeerde publieke theologie en de ‘doperse optie’

Samenvatting

These days the Reformed tradition of public theology is challenged by a remarkable
revival of the so-called ‘Anabaptist option’ in political theology. In this essay a biblical
theological evaluation of this challenge is offered. It is argued that four key characteristics
of Anabaptist ecclesiology should correct and improve the Reformed tradition,
namely the radically eschatological character of the kingdom of God, the political features
of this kingdom, the vision that the church is the beginning of an all-encompassing
new society rather than one of the subsections of existing societies, and the view
that power and violence should not be used to serve aims that are directly connected to
the kingdom of God. At the same time the basic characteristic of the ‘Anabaptist option’
is rejected, namely the dualistic approach of creation and redemption. This leads to
a proposal to conceive the public calling of the church in a manner that differs from
traditional Reformed views, but also from contemporary Anabaptist ecclesiology. This
view is inspired by the Anglican theologian Oliver O’Donovan.