Most of you probably wonder who this Geesink guy is I post about. Wonder no more!
I translated the recent biographical sketch on the @VUhistoricus site, & they have graciously posted it.
I hope you enjoy reading about the neo-Calvinist ethicist!
https://t.co/YgQuaXbj47
"We must first speak of that sin by which one seeks the satisfaction of his sexual drive in an unnatural manner.
This sin is, though inaccurately, associated with the name of Judah’s son Onan (Gen. 38:9).
It is this sin, committed in secret and therefore called the “secret” sin, which is often committed by young people who are just past childhood.
And it is continued in later life by those who have become addicted to it. Here there are dangers against which wise parents must warn their children, for young lives may be irreparably ruined in this path of unrighteousness. For not only does this often untimely and excessive satisfaction of the sexual drive permanently ruin one’s health and undermine physical strength, but the unnatural manner in which it occurs overstimulates the imagination to such an extent that the entire life of the soul is thereby paralyzed.
It is not surprising, even though other factors are often involved, that the number of weak individuals and those suffering from nervous disorders is alarmingly on the rise in our day."
Willem Geesink
tr. @RicheyAlex
The Sinfulness of Spilling the Seed
A Sourcebook on the 7th Commandment Violation of Onanism
Forthcoming, DV
@postnuance@BerithPress This reminds me of Geesink dedicating 200 pages to describing the laws of nature in space, nature, and animals in his Van ‘s Heeren Oordinantien!
@g_parker_jr Nice! I couldn't find a catalogue for his auction either. From a quick Delpher search, it looks like Geesink auctioned off portions of his library several times in the 1920s.
My ThM thesis rough draft (first image) and my last term paper (second image) have been submitted! Time to rest for the summer.
The Reformed moral tradition has much to teach us regarding sexual ethics!
This is tremendous news! This project and the forthcoming Kuyper’s Dogmatics will be a blessing to the church and academy.
The only major Kuyper work still awaiting translation is his Heidelberg commentary.
Now it’s time to translate the other great Neo-Calvinist: Geesink!
Some exciting professional news: thanks to a grant from the Abraham Kuyper Christian Leadership Fund, I'll be working from 2028-2030 on the first complete English translation of Kuyper's Encyclopaedia of Sacred Theology.
https://t.co/MRaj9yZ5dl
The most restless of travelers ends up pining for his homeland once again, & discovers in his cottage, in the arms of his wife & amidst his children,& in the labors that are necessary to support them, that joy he sought in vain in the wide world. -Goethe, Sorrows of Young Werther
"Boundless intemperance
In nature is a tyranny. It hath been
Th’ untimely emptying of the happy throne
And fall of many kings."
Reading Macbeth alongside Ames’ Conscience is illuminating. Shakespeare vividly portrays the rash decisions, actions, & torments of an evil conscience.
Evangelicals are going to need to get to the root of ethics over the next twenty years if we want our churches to survive, which will require dismantling the logic of "exceptions" that we so often assume.
https://t.co/8YP65jjazk
@DavidSchrock It’s unfortunately becoming commonly accepted among evangelicals. Mohler recently argued for the same position as the CT article: https://t.co/jSNaPq5K9V
Types of Law in the Creator/Creature Distinction
I put this idea together in my Christianity & Law class. A combination of Junius/Zanchi/Bavinck/Van Til.
Seriously?! It shouldn’t be the burden for the man or the woman.
Why can’t the majority of evangelicals understand that it’s morally impermissible to mutilate a healthy reproductive system? It dishonors the body and therefore dishonors the Lord.
@DeanAbbott The Christian moral tradition, before the 20th century, has taught otherwise. An act is "intrinsically evil" when its object directly violates God's law, regardless of circumstances or intention. A vasectomy is a violation of the natural law and is therefore sinful/evil.
@DeanAbbott And yes, this situation is rare, but the majority of evangelicals are not choosing to get vasectomies because of the possibility of harm to their wives. Other articles in this CT series have shown that. 3/3
@DeanAbbott As the esteemed Dutch Reformed moralist Geesink said, summarizing the Reformed tradition, the prevention of conceiving new children for morally legitimate reasons “may be pursued by no other means than self-control.” 2/3