Abraham Kuyper (/ˈkaɪpər/ KY-pər, Dutch: [ˈaːbraːɦɑm ˈkœypər]; 29 October 1837 – 8 November 1920)[1] was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905, an influential neo-Calvinist pastor and a journalist.

His father Jan Frederik Kuyper served as a minister for the Dutch Reformed Church in Hoogmade, Maassluis, Middelburg and Leiden.

In 1862 he was promoted to Doctor in theology on the basis of a dissertation entitled "Disquisitio historico-theologica, exhibens Johannis Calvini et Johannis à Lasco de Ecclesia Sententiarum inter se compositionem" (Theological-historical dissertation showing the differences in the rules of the church, between John Calvin and John Łaski).

In May 1862, he was declared eligible for the ministry and 1863 he accepted a call to become minister for the Dutch Reformed Church for the town of Beesd.

In 1864 he began corresponding with the anti-revolutionary MP Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, who heavily influenced his political and theological views (see below).

He was inspired by the robust reformed faith of Pietje Baltus, a single woman in her early 30s, the daughter of a miller.

[5] In his lectures at Princeton in 1898 he argued that Calvinism was more than theology—it provided a comprehensive worldview and indeed had already proven to be a major positive factor in the development of the institutions and values of modern society.

This time he was elected to parliament, defeating the liberal candidate Herman Verners van der Loeff.

More broadly, this programme articulated his broader political philosophy, emphasizing the proper role of government among the other spheres of life, including the family and the church.

In the election he joined the so-called Takkians, in a conflict between the liberal minister Tak, and a majority House of Representatives.

This orientation towards the lower classes gave him the nickname "The bellringer of the common people" (klokkenist van de kleine luyden).

Lohman opposed party discipline and wanted MPs to make up their own mind, while Kuyper favoured strong leadership.

Warfield, Kuyper delivered the "Stone Lectures"[7] at Princeton Seminary, which was his first widespread exposure to a North American audience.

During his time in the United States, he also traveled to address several Dutch Reformed congregations in Michigan and Iowa and Presbyterian gatherings in Ohio and New Jersey.

The portfolio of home affairs at the time was very broad: it involved local government, industrial relations, education and public morality.

While minister of home affairs, Kuyper allegedly received money from one Rudolf Lehman, to make him Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

In 1912, he resigned his seat in parliament for health reasons, but he returned to politics in the following year, this time as a member of the Senate for the province of South Holland.

Kuyper famously said, "Oh, no single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!

Instead, he wanted to honour the "intermediate bodies" in society, such as schools and universities, the press, business and industry, the arts etc., each of which would be sovereign in its own sphere.

In the interest of a level playing field, he championed the right of every faith community (among whom he counted humanists and socialists) to operate their own schools, newspapers, hospitals, youth movements etc.

With his ideals, he defended the interests of a group of middle class orthodox reformed, who were often referred to as "the little people" (de kleine luyden).

He called for workers to accept their fates and be happy with a simple life because the afterlife would be much more satisfying and revolution would only lead to instability.

At the same time, he argued that the system of unrestricted free enterprise was in need of "architectonic critique" and he urged government to adopt labour legislation and to inspect workplaces.

His championing of parity treatment for faith-based organisations and institutions created the basis for the alliance between Protestants and Catholics that has dominated Dutch politics to the present day.

There is still a small federation named the Continued Reformed Churches in the Netherlands which remains loyal to the foundations laid by Kuyper.

Others that have been influenced by Kuyper include Auguste Lecerf, Francis Schaeffer, Cornelius Van Til, Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Albert M. Wolters, Vincent Bacote, Anthony Bradley, Chuck Colson, Timothy J. Keller, James Skillen, R. Tudur Jones, Bobi Jones, and the hip hop artist Lecrae.

There, his Christian-National conception, centred upon the identification of the Afrikaner Calvinist community as the kern der natie became a rallying position for the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk.

[10] Saul Dubow notes that Kuyper advocated "the commingling of blood" as "the physical basis for all higher development" in the Stone Lectures (1898).

Harinck argues that "Kuyper was not guided by the cultural racism of his day, but by his Calvinistic creed of human equality".

[11] Kuyper's legacy includes a granddaughter, Johtje Vos, who is noted for having sheltered many Jews in her home in the Netherlands from the Nazis.