Herman Bavinck has been dead for 100 years. Why should we pay attention to this long-dead white man?

Dr. James Eglinton explains why in his new book Bavinck: a Critical Biography published by Baker Academic (2020). He prefers to return to the primary sources of Bavinck's leters and personal journals to get an up-close view of the man. His biography "is more interested in presenting an accurate picture than a flattering one." (Reformed Journal, June 16, 2021).

Eglinton's biography points out how Bavinck attempted to "stand astride two worlds": the one of his father's conservative denomination, (his father was a pastor in the Succession Movement), and that of the modernist and scientific Leiden University, which Bavinck attended after his theological training in Kampen.

Hekman Library received a collection of the works of Bavinck from Professor John Bolt, Director of the Bavinck Institute. The collection numbers 1,808 volumes. The Collection Management Department cataloged the books over a five month period, finishing in August of 2019. The collection is shelved in the Rare Book Room.