The Lordship of Christ

"Vern Poythress's fine book argues a truly radical thesis: that Jesus's lordship is as wide as creation and therefore is as wide as our everyday activities. He shows how Jesus's saving works and Word apply to absolutely every sphere of life-to art and science, business and entrepreneurship, scholarship and education, politics and economics. Any Christian who wishes to honor the Lord Christ in the totality of his or her life should buy this book and read it immediately." -Bruce Riley Ashford, Provost and Associate Professor of Theology and Culture, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary "Vern Poythress is one of the few writers today who combines rigorous scholarship and biblical theology with deep, practical spirituality. This volume is a defense of the notion, so powerfully expressed in the Reformed tradition in general and by Abraham Kuyper in particular, that Christ is Lord over every area of life. Building on this heritage, Poythress brings important clarifications along with practical applications not always found in the pioneers. Readers should not be deceived by the enviable simplicity of the arguments; they pack a wallop." -William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary "My good friend Vern Poythress has written Redeeming Science, Redeeming Sociology, Redeeming Mathematics, and Redeeming Philosophy, as well as excellent books on linguistics and logic. The Lordship of Christ expounds the foundation beneath all these other studies-namely, the fact that Christ rules over every area of human life. This is the principle rediscovered by Abraham Kuyper, that every square inch in the universe belongs to Jesus. Poythress's book contains a strong biblical defense of this principle. It also contains the best discussion yet of the one-kingdom/two-kingdoms controversy." -John M. Frame, J. D. Trimble Chair of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando "Thanks to Vern Poythress for providing an accessible, encouraging, practical study on the lordship of Christ. Any Christian who has questions about the authority of Christ and the joy of serving him will be greatly helped by this book. It revitalizes and reinvigorates a proper understanding of Christ the King. This book would be a useful tool for churches and Sunday school classes." -K. Scott Oliphint, Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary; author, Covenantal Apologetics "For anyone looking for a clear, accessible, and biblically sound introduction to the kingship of Christ as understood in the Kuyperian strain of the Reformed tradition, this is the book that fills the bill. What makes the Kuyperian understanding of the kingdom so attractive to many is that it calls Christians to be active in every sphere of society and culture (not least the academy), and this book does an excellent job of illustrating the cultural claims of Christ's rule. At the same time, Poythress is careful to highlight some of the potential pitfalls of such an emphasis on Christian cultural engagement. One of the book's strengths is its liberal use of pertinent Bible texts to illustrate its points, without falling into facile proof-texting. An added bonus is that the book includes an extensive appendix in which the author enters into dialogue with the proponents of so-called 'two kingdoms' theology, where in a non-polemical way he points out some of the conceptual confusions that have too often bedeviled the discussion around this topic." -Albert M. Wolters, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Redeemer University College; author, Creation Regained

Helping Christians understand the implications of Jesus’s lordship over all of life, Poythress explores the biblical call to serve Christ, detailing the many areas—including politics, science, art, and education—in which service is possible.