they supposed, Bavinck argues. The Jekyll and Hyde bi-polarity caricature mentioned above, while overstated, does have its ground in a real tension between an antipathy for much of the modern taxonomy of ideas and his embrace of aspects of the modern situation. He described his “new orientation” as the adoption of an ethic that cherishes the security of the temporal in order “to make this life as tolerable and as comfortable as possible.” He affirms its attempts to “alleviate misery, to reduce crime,
Page 7