Festschrift for Theodore Plantinga

Next week (Friday 21 January, 7-10:30pm), Redeemer University College is hosting an evening to honour the late Dr. Theodore Plantinga (1947-2008). This event will mark the publishing of a special series of essays penned by colleagues and students interacting with Prof. Plantinga’s ideas which has recently appeared from Clements Academic Publishing. The evening will feature a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Arie Leder (Calvin Seminary) and featuring Dr. John Bolt (Calvin Seminary), Dr. Craig Bartholomew (Redeemer University), and Dr. Jason Zuidema (Concordia University) on the theme:

“Does the Reformational Movement Need Left and Right Wings to Fly?”

Readers of this blog will note that Theo Plantinga was well-known in the Canadian Reformed churches, and frequently wrote about Schilder, church unity, as well as the interesting quirks he found in the CanRC and other Reformed churches with Dutch roots. He edited and wrote most of a book entitled Seeking Our Brothers in the Light: A Plea for Reformed Ecumenicity (Neerlandia: Inheritance Publications, 1992), which was essentially an appeal to the Christian Reformed churches to reconsider their response to the events of 1944 which were so formative for the CanRC. Plantinga also translated Rudolf van Reest’s biography of Schilder, entitled Schilder’s Struggle for the Unity of the Church (Inheritance Publications, 1990).

From 1996 to 2006, Theo Plantinga blogged at Myodicy, particularly addressing the CanRC in these pieces:

• “Commemorating Schilder: Have We Learned Anything Yet?” link


• “The Truth About the Truth: Reflections on Denominational Exclusivism” link


• “In the Beginning It Was Not So” link


• “Ken Wilber and the Quest for a Theory of Everything” link


• “Trimming Our Sails with the Help of Philosophy” link


• “No More Zorro Outfit” link


• “It Goes Without Saying: Reflections on Vanzelfsprekendheid” link

I mention these only to remind our readers of Plantinga’s connection with us. The Festschrift focuses on his contributions to Calvinist philosophy.

For more information on the Festschrift see this Redeemer webpage or the Facebook event page. The book can be ordered via the Redeemer bookstore or online at Amazon.

If any of our readers wishes to offer a review of the book, please contact us.