Calvin George Seerveld (born 1930) received a BA from

Calvin College Calvin University, formerly Calvin College, is a private Christian university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed (Calvinist) ...

in 1952 and an MA in English literature and classics from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1953. He then went on to study under D. H. Th. Vollenhoven at the Free University (VU) in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, where his doctoral dissertation dealt with Croce's

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, Epistemology, knowledge, Ethics, values, Philosophy of ...

. It was supervised by Vollenhoven and Carlo Antoni. He then taught philosophy and German at

Trinity Christian College Trinity Christian College is a private Christian college in Palos Heights, Illinois. It was founded in 1959 by a group of Chicago businessmen who wanted to establish a college providing students with a Christian higher education in a Reformed ...

and went on to teach philosophical aesthetics at the

Institute for Christian Studies The Institute for Christian Studies (ICS or ICS Toronto) is a private, graduate-level Reformed philosophical and theological school in Toronto, Ontario. At ICS, students and faculty take part in shared learning through participatory seminars, m ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. Seerveld has been influential in the reformational movement. In fact he was the first to coin the term ''reformational'' to describe the philosophical aspects of

neo-Calvinism Neo-Calvinism, a form of Dutch Calvinism, is a theological movement initiated by the theologian and former Dutch prime minister Abraham Kuyper. James Bratt has identified a number of different types of Dutch Calvinism: The Seceders, split into ...

. He has taken

Herman Dooyeweerd Herman Dooyeweerd (7 October 1894, Amsterdam – 12 February 1977, Amsterdam) was a professor of law and jurisprudence at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam from 1926 to 1965. He was also a philosopher and principal founder of Reformational philo ...

's aesthetic modal aspect and developed Dooyeweerd's ideas. His book ''Rainbows for a Fallen World'' has influenced many Christian artists. In it he argues that "aesthetic obedience is required of everyone by the Lord-artist or not." Lambert Zuidervaart identifies four claims that constitute Seerveld's contribution to aesthetics:In Zuidervaart and Luttikhuizen (ed.) ''Pledges of Jubilee: Essays on the Arts and Culture in Honour of Calvin G. Seerveld'' Eerdmans, 1995; cited in Bartholomew (ed.) 2000 * The aesthetic is part of the fabric of created reality, and aesthetic norms can be violated or ignored only at great cost. * The arts, despite their variety and their continuing development, are a unified sphere distinct from other spheres of cultural endeavour, offering opportunities for vocational service to Christians today. * The aesthetic is not limited only to the arts, just as the arts have many facets other than the aesthetic. * The core meaning of the aesthetic – and distinguishing characteristic of the arts – is "allusiveness" or "imaginativity".

Publications

*''Take Hold of God and Pull'' Trinity Pennyasheet Press, 1966 LCCN 66-24940. *''Rainbows for a Fallen World'' Tuppence Press, 1980. *''On Being Human: Imaging God in a Modern World'' Welch Publishing, 1998. *''Take Hold of God and Pull'' Paternoster, 1999. *''In the Fields of the Lord: A Calvin Seerveld Reader'' Craig Bartholomew (Editor) Piquant/ Tuppence Press, 2000. *''Voicing God's Psalms'' Eerdmans, 2005. *''Redemptive Art in Society: Sundry Writings and Occasional Lectures'' Dordt College Press, 2014. *''Normative Aesthetics: Sundry Writings and Occasional Lectures'' Dordt College Press, 2014. *''Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves: Alternative Steps in Understanding Art'' Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2019.

References

* In Zuidervaart and Luttikhuizen (ed.) ''Pledges of Jubilee: Essays on the Arts and Culture in Honour of Calvin G. Seerveld'' Eerdmans, 1995; cited in Bartholomew (ed.) 2000 * Seerveld, Calvin "Rainbows for the Fallen World" Tuppence Press, Toronto 2005 * Craig Bartholomew and Gideon Strauss Bread'' and not stones: an introduction to the thought of Calvin Seerveld' in Bartholomew (ed.) 2000.

External links

Seerveld pages
fro

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seerveld, Calvin American male poets Calvinist and Reformed philosophers Calvin University alumni Living people University of Michigan alumni 1930 births American male non-fiction writers