Dr. J. Glenn Friesen

Studies relating to Herman Dooyeweerd Linked Glossary of Terms

© J. Glenn Friesen 2003, 2004

Linked Glossary of Terms
(references to De Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee, unless indicated.See concordance for correlation with pages in the New Critique. The concordance is in pdf format.)

During World War II, the Dooyeweerd family sheltered a Jewish woman (Verburg, 291). It would not be fair at all to characterize Dooyeweerd as anti-Semitic.

However, Dooyeweerd does make a strong statement about Jewish nationalism:

“Daarmede heeft de christelijke religie de heidense en nationalistisch-Joodse overspanning van de zedelijke waarde der gemeenschap in onze tijdelijke samenleving in de hartader getroffen.”["Bedrifsorganisatie en Natuurlijke Gemeenschap," in Vernieuwing en Bezinning]

[With this, Christian religion has struck a blow to the heart of the heathen and Jewish-nationalistic over-estimation of the moral worth of community in our temporal society].

In this article (written after 1945), Dooyeweerd was opposed to what he saw as an over-emphasis on community insofar as it was based on the idea of a whole and its parts. And he warns against the totalitarian implications of seeking a temporal community. He contrasts this with the Christian view of a root-community of all humanity, which transcends all temporal human relations and lies at the foundation of them. One wishes that he would have made this point without generalizing as to Jewishness.

At page 219 of this article, Dooyeweerd makes a very peculiar argument, based on the parable of the Good Samaritan. He says that Jesus says our neighbour is the one with whom we are not in community. He seems to use this as a basis for defending sphere sovereignty. In my opinion, this argument does not succeed, and only serves to cast doubt on the otherwise valid principle of sphere sovereignty.

Baader is certainly not anti-Semitic. He expresses great appreciation for Judaism. This is not only in the fact that Christianity grew out of Judaism, but in the fact that the Jews preserved the Kabbalah, some of which writings Baader considered as the original revelation of God.

And yet Baader makes some very peculiar and suspect statements, too. He cites 2 Cor. 5:1:

For we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

He sees this as the reason why the Jews lost their national identity after their goal was completed of "collecting the sparks."

Revised Dec 27/04