Translation of four letters written by Herman Bavinck to Johan van Haselen, a student who died at the age of 21, accompanied by an introductory essay

Bavinck, Herman

Eglinton, James

English

Edinburgh Research Explorer

     Edinburgh Research Explorer                                      Letters to a Dying StudentBavinck’s Letters to Johan van HaselenCitation for published version:Eglinton, J (trans.) & Bavinck, H 2013, Letters to a Dying Student: Bavinck’s Letters to Johan van Haselen.The Bavinck Institute, Grand Rapids. <http://bavinckinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/TBR4_07_Eglinton.pdf>Link:Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research ExplorerDocument Version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordPublisher Rights Statement:© Eglinton, J., & Bavinck, H. Letters to a Dying Student: Bavinck’s Letters to Johan van HaselenGeneral rightsCopyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s)and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise andabide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.Take down policyThe University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorercontent complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright pleasecontact openaccess@ed.ac.uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately andinvestigate your claim.Download date: 09. Jan. 2026Letters to a Dying Student: Bavinck’s Letters to Johan van HaselenTranslated and introduced by James Eglinton (jeglinton@tukampen.nl), Theologische Universiteit KampenBetween Autumn 1886 and March 1887 Herman Bavinck wrotefour letters to Johan van Haselen, a student in Kampen who died atthe age of twenty-one.* In 2010 Wiljan Puttenstein, head librarianat the Protestantse Theologische Universiteit in Amsterdam,transcribed and chronicled the letters, and thanks are due to himfor making them available in electronic format.1These letters are striking for a variety of reasons. They presentan intimate picture of Bavinck in a new light: rather than a dog-matician or an ethicist, we find here a pastor and a friend. Althoughthe letters hint at Bavinck’s bookish nature—the third letter’s refer-ence to him spending a holiday in his office, where his “books were[his] true company,” for example—they also reveal a distinctlyhuman figure, one who encourages a young man facing death andwho, in so doing, could engage gracefully with the ultimate and thequotidian. And for those of us who are theological educators, theseletters remind us that our students’ lives include suffering, illness,and perhaps even premature death. Bavinck’s example is that of ateacher willing to offer comfort and theological consolation in thatcontext.Opportunity to observe the application of Bavinck’s thoughtwhen forced by circumstance to reflect on the issues of life anddeath is also interesting. Of particular significance is the manner inwhich he consoles van Haselen, a young man no doubt deeply* I would like to thank my colleague Wolter Huttinga, PhD student at theTheologische Universiteit Kampen, for proofreading my translation.1. See Wiljan Puttenstein, “‘Mijn boeken houden mij trouw gezelschap.’ Vierbrieven van Herman Bavinck aan een student,” http://goo.gl/CcY5h.The Bavinck Review 4 (2013): 94–10294pained at his enforced departure from his studies in Kampen, byemphasizing that Kampen was really quite dull and that its studentswere not entirely happy with their lot there. Heaven, in comparison,meant being with Christ, which was far better. At the time of writing Bavinck was an unmarried man in hisearly thirties. His correspondence from that time hints at variouspersonal struggles. He pined for Leiden University’s superior li-brary and was no doubt conscious of Kuyper’s Amsterdam—then inthe throes of the Doleantie—as the place to be in the Netherlands.For example, on 1 January 1887, the day after Bavinck’s third letterto van Haselen, he writes to his friend Christiaan Snouck Hurgron-je: “How often I long for the Leiden library! And how gladly I wouldmove from Kampen to Leiden or Amsterdam. Here [in Kampen] welive so far away and are becoming so provincial!”2 Evidently,Bavinck felt rather unsettled in Kampen at that time.Additionally, it is worth noting that his correspondence withHurgronje in 1885 deals with Hurgronje’s recently published “Mi-jne reis naar Arabië,” a celebrated account of his journey to Mecca.3Kampen, in comparison, most likely seemed a less glamorous loca-tion to the young Bavinck. Writing to Hurgronje a year before vanHaselen’s death, he remarks, “Not much has changed here in theNetherlands, I think, or if so, I do not know of it. It seems to methat in each area, also in that of the academy, we live in a time ofmalaise.”4Bavinck’s letters to Hurgronje from this time, of course, makeno mention of van Haselen. However, in reading of Bavinck’s owndiscontent in this period, it is worth noting that involvement withvan Haselen’s care no doubt had its own impact on his mood inthese years.2. “Hoe dikwerf verlang ik naar de Leidsche bibliotheek! En hoe gaarne zouik metterwoon van Kampen naar Leiden of Amsterdam verhuizen. We wonenhier zoo achteraf en worden zoo kleinsteedsch!” Jan de Bruijn and GeorgeHarinck, eds., Een Leidse vriendschap (Baarn: Ten Have, 1999), 131.3. Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, ‘Mijne reis naar Arabië,’ in NieuweRotterdamsche Courant, 26th and 27th November 1885. See also de Bruijn andHarinck, Een Leidse vriendschap, 125–26.4. de Bruijn and Harinck, Een Leidse vriendschap, 125.Letters to a Dying Student95In writing to van Haselen about the less exciting aspects of lifein Kampen, Bavinck adopts a tone quite different to that of his let-ters to Hurgronje. He does not speak the language of “malaise” orwrite critically of Kampen’s poorly stocked library; in fact, Bavinckstresses the opposite, writing of the books in Kampen as his friends.No doubt his letters to van Haselen are informed by a graciouspragmatism. Life in Kampen during the years in question was prob-ably less boring than Bavinck makes out. However, it served littlegood to remind van Haselen of the more positive aspects of studythere when the reality to which he was being ushered—that ofChrist’s presence in heaven—truly was much better.Letter 1Kampen, Autumn 1886Very Dear Friend,I had thought of writing to you earlier, but I was waiting forword from you which, at this point at least, has not yet come. How-ever, I understand well that you will feel no desire or strength withwhich to write. Therefore, having assumed that your condition isnot improving, I will not postpone my intention any longer.I would much rather write having heard that you were gainingstrength and would shortly be able to return to Kampen. But itseems that this is not the Lord’s will. Certainly, all things are possi-ble with Him. He is the Healer of Israel, even when all hope is lost(humanly speaking). He is the Almighty, who can do away withsickness and grant health. I also sincerely hope that the Lord wouldstill lengthen your days and give back your strength and once againuse you as a worker in his vineyard. Alongside you, your parents,and your family I pray and beg Him that He would once more grantthis and would make us joyful together with you by His mightydeeds.But I cannot disguise the facts at hand. Sometimes I fear thatthe Lord’s path can be very different from that for which we wouldwish. We know nothing. Our knowledge is yesterday’s. The Lord’sthoughts are different from our own. I can understand that it will bedifficult and hard to give you confidence through these thoughts. Soyoung and so fully in the prime of life—who would not shudder atJames Eglinton96the thought of death. To do so requires grace, but, after that, graceis also needed to want to die. Grace to be at one with God’s will, todeny one’s own will, and with joy and in quietness to follow theLord. Only the Christian can do this, who through faith has givenhimself over to the Great Leader and is now assured that nothingshall separate him from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus hisLord.And is it not so, my friend? You know something of this. Youseek your salvation and blessing through and in Him alone. Youknow and confess it: in me, there is nothing but sin and guilt, noth-ing that can stand before God’s face. But God made the one whoknew no sin to be sin for me, so that I would become God’s right-eousness in Him. But then there is no distress. Then we can die.Then death becomes victory, a passage to eternal life. Then youstand to lose nothing in this life, the sum of which is difficulty andsorrow, and we all must set it aside sooner or later. I hope, shouldthe Lord’s plan be to take you away—and I pray this of Him, that Hewould strengthen you in the faith and in the blessed hope of the res-urrection—that He would bring this life to an end and focus the eyeof your faith on Him who has won over death, who has achievedeternal life, in whom is our life, and in whom we have open accessto the Father’s House where there are many mansions and to whichHe has gone to prepare a place for us.I do not dare to ask you to write a short letter to me; it will cer-tainly be too much of a bother to you or be something you simply donot wish to do. In that case I would not wish to ask it. But other-wise, I would be so grateful to know, even if just in a single word,how you are bearing up under all of this. I was so grateful to hearfrom your own mouth that you had given yourself over to the Lord’swill and also that you named his doing Majestic and Glorious.I know how He can take us from life. When my friend Uninkdied some years ago in Almelo—also young and having only been aminister for but a few months—he had been prepared for some timeand had given himself over to the Lord. And when I met my friendDr. Klinkert this summer, a few weeks before his death, he alsoknew that in dying he went to be with Jesus. I was jealous when hesaid this. No, I did not envy him, but the question came to me: if Icould say this with such certainty, and if I also lived in this firmfaith, I would be able to, I would want to die.Letters to a Dying Student97No, then there is truly not much in this life that could suppressor remove our longing for the glory of [being] God’s children. Then,if you can say this—to be with Christ, which to me is by far thebest—then my dear friend, you are going before us. And then mayGod grant that we might follow you to where there shall be no moredeath.Here in Kampen, we carry on quietly and peacefully. Normallife goes on in its normal way. There is little change and little move-ment. You shall certainly hear from some of the students from timeto time. Your name is still mentioned often with much concern.Now, dear friend, the Lord bless you in all of your circumstances, inbody and soul. The Lord restore and heal you, or should His will beotherwise, the Lord prepare you and us for His coming and make usgo forth in peace.Your loving friend,H. Bavinck PS: It is Saturday evening. I had enough time and thus wrote now. I am posting the letter today so that it will reach you quickly. Tomorrow I must preach. I hope to remember you with the congregation in prayer. How glorious is it that our prayers are united in heaven above.HBLetter 2Kampen, Monday evening [December 1886]Very Dear Friend,I felt compelled to write to you once more. Your letter, and alsothat which I heard about you from Prof. Wielenga, has made medeeply happy. And I thought you would find it welcome if you couldhear something from Kampen. There is not much news here. Lifecarries on as usual. Each day is largely the same as the other. Butthat is perhaps for the best. We are beginning (slowly) to look to-wards the holiday. That said, time has flown by, and I can scarcelybelieve that we are already so near to Christmas and New Year.James Eglinton98Our time has probably not passed as slowly as yours. If one ishealthy and has work, the days pass as quickly as seconds. But thenwe also forget to number our days so that our hearts become wise.God uses illness and adversity as excellent teaching means to trainus for heaven. In illness He turns our soul from the earthly andstrips us of all that upon which we so lightly build on—our healthand powers, our work and industry—and He draws us to Himself sothat we would seek our stability and strength in Him. And then,when received by us as God’s messenger, illness brings forth thepeaceful fruit of righteousness.Sometimes I still have a quiet hope that you shall become bet-ter. I pray to God for this, that He would restore you fully to yourparents and family and would give you back to us all. But I wasnonetheless made glad that you are at one with God’s will, whateverthat may be.His will is always wise and holy and good. To follow Him as achild is also—under pressure and testing—blessedness. May Godgrant that you would remain in this humble position. May He begood to you in every way, glorify His grace in you, and make youbear witness with Paul: whether I live or die, I am the Lord’s.I thank you heartily for your dear letter. You certainly exhaust-ed yourself in writing it. I was so thankful with but a few sentences.Still, now that you have written, I am so glad. If you should have thedesire and strength to write a few words, you know how pleased Iwould be to receive it. But please do not exhaust or overly strainyourself on account of me.Greet your parents on my behalf. May God bless you in Hisgrace now and always, in body and soul.From your loving friend,H. BavinckLetter 3[Kampen, 31 December 1886]Amicissime,Letters to a Dying Student99I have little time, but I did not want this year to end withoutwriting a few words to you. A turning point in our lives is alwaysimportant. The change from one year to another calls each of us toearnestness. How much more if we are ill. I thank God that youmight still bring in the year 1887. And I pray to Him that He willlead you through it, strengthen and restore you, and will richly blessthe year ’87 in your body and soul.Sometimes my hope increases that we will yet see you here inKampen with restored powers. All things are possible with the Lord.That said, at all times he keeps our minds ready for His coming. In Kampen it is very quiet, but not too quiet. For a teacher, aholiday is also refreshing, one I enjoy in my office. My books are myfaithful company.Sincere greetings to your parents and others in your household, andmay God bless you,t.t.5H. BavinckLetter 4Kampen, 2 March 1887Beloved Friend,You have perhaps thought that I had wholly forgotten you. Ihad given reason for such a thought. Since New Year you have re-ceived no word from me. Nonetheless I have thought of you often,also in prayer. But writing to you has sometimes been unintention-ally delayed. However, I heard yesterday that your condition wasonce again not so favorable, and so I resolved to write to youimmediately.I wonder how your state of mind is? So constantly living be-tween hope and fear, at one moment better and then worse, some-times facing life with some courage and then again being cast intodespondency! What can go on in a human soul during such circum-5. Totus tuus (wholly yours).James Eglinton100stances! I wished that I could cheer and comfort you, but as I thinkof your condition I feel powerless in that regard. Could it really bethe Lord’s will to take you away and receive you into His glory atsuch a youthful age? It is indeed possible. When I hear how you are,I sometimes receive courage, but then again all hope fails me. But itgoes on for so long, the path towards the good seems so far off. Of-ten I feel sorry for you: life is so attractive, death seems so burden-some. But sometimes, momentarily, if I consider the glory of beingwith Jesus and understand this life in its futility and idleness, onthese occasions I envy you and others called out of the fight early bythe Lord.I sincerely hope that you might always remain so, that Paul’swish would be yours: to be with Christ is by far the best. Then dyingis no longer dying, and to die young even becomes a privilege. Yes, Iask it of the Lord that He might still restore you and renew yourstrength and health. But a Christian learns to pray after his Savior:Your will, O Father, be done. You know better than I what is goodfor me. Is it not a glorious thought—the weeks of the Passion re-mind us again—that Jesus, the Great Leader has also gone before usin suffering and death?Following Him, imitating Him, we are also assured throughHim, and then we go with Him into the deepest of deaths, but wealso rise with Him out of the grave. After death follows life and theresurrection. May this rich, full Christ, who Himself is life, be allyour comfort and treasure in your heavy path, my friend. If it isGod’s will that you must pass on, may Jesus Himself take you by thehand and lead you through the door of death into the heavenlyJerusalem. And God give grace that I might follow you sooner orlater! This earth is not our resting place.Everything carries on here as normal. Tomorrow evening Imust give a lecture for the students at the Vrije Krans [a studentmeeting]. There is not much life or movement. The students are, Ibelieve, sometimes unhappy, and not unjustly, that the typical stu-dent activities [het “studentikoze”] are ceasing. At present there isnothing but going from home to lectures and from lectures backhome, and that gets monotonous.Greet your dear parents and family. May God bless you ineverything.Letters to a Dying Student101Your friend,H. BavinckJames Eglinton102

Letters to a Dying Student:Bavinck’s Letters to Johan van Haselen

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Letters to a Dying Student:Bavinck’s Letters to Johan van Haselen

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