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by Groen Van Prinsterer (Author), Jan Adriaan Schlebusch (Translator)
In the middle of the 19th century, the Netherlands struggled with revolutionary fervor. The Enlightenment ideas represented by the motto, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," threatened to destroy much of the good that the Dutch Fatherland had inherited. The Dutch historical icon, Groen van Prinsterer, picked up his pen in response.
It was in opposition to the doctrines of 1789 that modern Conservatism was born. A disciple of Edmund Burke, a mentor to Abraham Kuyper, and endorsed by Herman Bavinck, Dutch Conservatism found one of its greatest voices in Groen.
He argues that the Revolution promises freedom yet enslaves; promises equality yet promotes inequality; promises brotherhood, yet these ideas have made men more isolated and violent than ever before. By contrast, he argues, true liberty, equality, and fraternity are found only in Christ and the Christian faith. The secular rejection of God produces a false hope in a bankrupt ideology. Groen begins with a historical analysis of the effects of the Enlightenment motto, then the philosophy itself, followed by the Christian alternative.
Often witty and sarcastic, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity was originally a popular and accessible version of Groen's magnum opus, Unbelief and Revolution. Students of neo-Calvinism, Reformed Conservatism, or Dutch history in general will alike enjoy the accessible prose, rhetorical elegance, and fiery punch delivered by one of Holland's greatest Parliamentarians.
