The Biography and Biology of Liberty: Abraham Kuyper and the American Experiment

This Article reviews the theory of rights and liberties developed by Dutch theologian, philosopher, and statesman Abraham Kuyper at the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing generously on the Calvinist tradition, Kuyper distinguished religious, ecclesiastical, associational, and political liberties, which he grounded in his signature theories of the created order, social pluralism, covenant doctrine, and sphere sovereignty. The Article then compares Kuyper’s theory of liberty with one historical Calvinist community in Puritan New England