Tracing the Hand of God: Divine Providence, Dutch Colonial Policy, and Herman Bavinck

In this essay, I trace the main contours of Herman Bavinck's account of divine providence, outlining its unique features. I then highlight ways that Bavinck's parliamentary speeches which touch on the subject of colonial policy in the Dutch East Indies expose a hidden risk in his formulation of this doctrine. In conversation with recent reflections on this doctrine, I then argue that this problem is not insurmountable. By way of conclusion, I suggest ways that it might be overcome so that the more promising features of Bavinck's doctrine of providence might be retrieved.