Calvinism as a Life-System

"In 1789 the turning point was reached. VOLTAIRE'S MAD CRY, 'DOWN WITH THE SCOUNDREL,' WAS AIMED AT CHRIST HIMSELF, but this cry was merely the expression of the most hidden thought from which the French Revolution sprang. The fanatic outcry of another philosopher, 'We no more need a God,' and the odious shibboleth, 'No God, no Master,' of the Convention;—THESE WERE THE SACRILEGIOUS WATCHWORDS WHICH AT THAT TIME HERALDED THE LIBERATION OF MAN AS AN EMANCIPATION FROM ALL DIVINE AUTHORITY. And if, in His impenetrable wisdom, God employed the Revolution as a means by which to overthrow the tyranny of the Bourbons, and to bring a judgment on the princes who abused His nations as their footstool, nevertheless THE PRINCIPLE OF THAT REVOLUTION REMAINS THOROUGHLY ANTI-CHRISTIAN, AND HAS SINCE SPREAD LIKE A CANCER, dissolving and undermining all that stood firm and consistent before our Christian faith." 

"There is no doubt then that Christianity is imperilled by great and serious dangers. TWO LIFE SYSTEMS ARE WRESTLING WITH ONE ANOTHER, IN MORTAL COMBAT. MODERNISM IS BOUND TO BUILD A WORLD OF ITS OWN FROM THE DATA OF THE NATURAL MAN, AND TO CONSTRUCT MAN HIMSELF FROM THE DATA OF NATURE; while, on the other hand, all those who reverently bend the knee to Christ and worship Him as the Son of the living God, and God himself, are bent upon saving the 'Christian Heritage.' THIS IS THE STRUGGLE IN EUROPE, THIS IS THE STRUGGLE IN AMERICA, and this also, is the struggle for principles in which my own country is engaged, and in which I myself have been spending all my energy for nearly forty years. " 

"From the first, therefore, I have always said to myself,—'IF THE BATTLE IS TO BE FOUGHT WITH HONOR AND WITH HOPE OF VICTORY, THEN PRINCIPLE MUST BE ARRAYED AGAINST PRINCIPLE; then it must be felt that IN MODERNISM THE VAST ENERGY OF AN ALL-EMBRACING LIFE-SYSTEM ASSAILS US, then also it must be understood that WE HAVE TO TAKE OUR STAND IN A LIFE-SYSTEM OF EQUALLY COMPREHENSIVE AND FAR-REACHING POWER. And this powerful life-system is not to be invented nor formulated by ourselves, but is to be taken and applied as it presents itself in history. When thus taken, I found and confessed, and I STILL HOLD, THAT THIS MANIFESTATION OF THE CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE IS GIVEN US IN CALVINISM. In CALVINISM MY HEART HAS FOUND REST. From Calvinism have I drawn the inspiration firmly and resolutely to take my stand in the thick of this great conflict of principles.

Source: An Excerpt from Abraham Kuyper's "Lectures on Calvinism", pp. 10-12